Fine Line

Senators hoping to pass a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations this week are frantically trying to resolve tough — and controversial — provisions limiting, regulating and shedding light on the largely hidden world of complex investments known as derivatives. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced a last-minute compromise Tuesday that would approve, but hold in abeyance for two years, a proposed ban on banks' engaging in nearly all derivatives trading.

For the last decade, U.S. Muslim organizations have faced criticism that they don't do enough to condemn -- or prevent -- extremism and terrorism. But now that many of the groups are speaking publicly about the radicalization of Muslim youths and even developing scared-straight-type programs to steer young people away from extremism, they are being criticized in their own community for saying too much. Critics contend that organizations such as the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Muslim American Society are pandering to outsiders who equate Muslims with extremism.

Why does the Museum of Contemporary Art's board of trustees dislike art museums? That's the uncomfortable question hanging in the air as the nation's premier contemporary art museum names Jeffrey Deitch, 57, its fourth director in 30 years. In selecting new leadership, trustees shunned candidates from an international museum roster that has grown vast in recent decades. Instead they reached deep into the New York art market to find a director for the critically admired, financially strapped institution.

One is called crafty. The other crazy. One astute. The other arrogant. Maurice Jones-Drew made an unexpected decision that worked. Bill Belichick tried one that failed. Jones-Drew, the Jacksonville running back, tore off a nine-yard run and took a knee at the one Sunday instead of crossing the goal line -- even though his team was trailing the New York Jets by a point inside of two minutes. The Jaguars were able to burn the final ticks off the clock and win, 24-22, on a 21-yard field goal.

Republicans have reaped a political windfall from their unflinching opposition to the Democrats' ambitious healthcare proposals: President Obama's popularity has waned, and public confidence in his handling of the issue has eroded. Some analysts predict that fallout from the debate could push 30 or more House seats out of Democratic hands next fall. But the GOP faces political risks of its own. Some Republicans worry that the healthcare debate is reinforcing an unflattering image of them as the "Party of No."

Vice President Joe Biden stood before the Georgian parliament, vowing support for a small, struggling, pro-Western country in its clashes with Moscow. Russian officials rejoined with threats and veiled accusations of American tampering. On the surface, it looked very much like the status quo: Washington and Moscow jousting for influence in the former Soviet space.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor seemed determined Tuesday to put to rest the talk of her as the "wise Latina" who might make better decisions than a white male because of her gender or ethnicity. The statement was a "rhetorical flourish that fell flat," the Supreme Court nominee told senators, saying for the first time that her most famous words had "created a misunderstanding" about her views of the law and judging.

Subpoenas have gone out, the DEA has been brought in, and every doctor who has ever come within a prescription pad of Michael Jackson can probably expect a phone call soon. But even absent the results of the inquiries and toxicological reports, it seems obvious that prescription drugs played a role in the pop star's sudden death.

Sadness settles into "My Sister's Keeper" like rain over Seattle in this troubling and troublesome drama of a dying child, the sister who has been created to save her and the family that is wasting away alongside of her. Starring Cameron Diaz as the mother, Abigail Breslin as Anna the sister/donor and an especially fine Sofia Vassilieva as Kate, with a lifetime of pain filling her 15 years, how could you not be moved by director Nick Cassavetes' latest effort?

With the election of President Obama, environmentalists had expected to see the end of the "Appalachian apocalypse," their name for exposing coal deposits by blowing the tops off whole mountains. But in recent weeks, the administration has quietly made a decision to open the way for at least two dozen more mountaintop removals. In a letter this month to a coal ally, Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), the Environmental Protection Agency said it would not block dozens of "surface mining" projects.