Whatever she was in her rookie run in 2010 against Barbara Boxer, she has upped her game to a new level.  And she is solving the problem of how to run against Hillary Clinton, who is planning to run as the symbol of womanhood, immunizing herself against critiques of all kinds by calling them wholesale attacks on her gender in general, and thus on all women alive.

How to defuse it?  Have the toughest critiques come, coolly and civilly, from a woman, who is in all ways her equal.

TORONTO - Despite efforts by the Liberal government to distance itself from suggestions that disgraced bureaucrat Benjamin Levin had a hand in crafting the sex-ed curriculum, there’s ample evidence he put his fingerprint on what Ontario children learn in the classroom.

Levin — a former deputy education minister who is expected to plead guilty to child porn-related charges Tuesday — repeatedly highlighted his role as overseeing curriculum issues.

In a 2009 newsletter, the then-deputy minister said he was “responsible for ... everything that they do” and to “implement” the “new” approach.

When Obama first started making the claim that the crude oil in the Keystone pipeline would bypass the United States, we wavered between Three and Four Pinocchios — and strongly suggested he take the time to review the State Department report.

Clearly, the report remains unread.

The president’s latest remarks pushes this assertion into the Four Pinocchios column.  If he disagrees with the State Department’s findings, he should begin to make the case why it is wrong, rather than assert the opposite, without any factual basis.  Moreover, by telling North Dakota listeners that the pipeline has no benefit for Americans, he is again being misleading, given that producers in the region have signed contracts to transport some of their production through the pipeline.

Career diplomats are finding that they can't advance to top State Department posts such as ambassadorships because President Obama has stuffed political appointees into those jobs, the most ever in his second term.

To recap: Tsunis described Norway as having a president (“apparently under the impression that the country is a republic rather than a constitutional monarchy,” as the Local Norway's News notes dryly).   And he characterized the anti-immigration Progress Party as being among “fringe elements” who “spew their hatred” and have been denounced by the government.

That prompted McCain’s disbelieving answer: “The government has denounced them?  The coalition government — they're part of the coalition of the government.”

The U.S. Attorney explained that “the Muslim community can play an important role in helping law enforcement separate radical noise from radical action, and when it’s something to be worried about and when it’s not.   If the community can be successful in stepping in first, law enforcement will never have to be involved.”   But [Sacramento Bee reporter Steve] Magagnini pressed the point: “Are Californians in danger from the Islamic State and al-Qaida?”

“I would say it’s not a very high threat,” Wagner responded.  “It’s important that people be alert without being frightened.”  The U.S. Attorney and Obama appointee acknowledged that ISIS has been urging people to “take action in your own communities, attack police, government buildings.”  However, “there are limits to how much one person can do to arm people, mobilize and do damage without law enforcement intercepting it.”  Then the U.S. Attorney made clear his real priorities.

“What I’m more concerned about is some sort of backlash crime here – something gruesome will happen in Syria and someone will take revenge on the local community.”

The party had the feel of 1960s America, almost.  A group of women, thrilled to get a break from the daily routine of hanging laundry and shuttling their children to and from school, sat in a circle, listening to a friend hawk plastic storage bowls in a dizzying array of pastels.

Some shushed babies on their laps; others occasionally leaned in for juicy pieces of news.

The women were, in fact, at a modern-day Tupperware party in the company’s biggest market.  The twist?  That market is halfway around the world from the product’s Massachusetts birthplace — in Indonesia.

The great comedian Will Rogers gave voice to widespread doubts concerning American's diplomatic performance.  The United States has never lost a war or won a conference," he declared.  Rogers also claimed to be clairvoyant on the subject of future wars.  If you want to know when a war might be coming," he told audiences, "you just watch the United States and see when it starts cutting down on its defenses.   It's the surest barometer in the world." (p. 122)

Mohammed Emwazi might have been born in Kuwait. But his murderous alter ego was made in Britain.

With hindsight, the road to Raqqa — the Islamic State’s Syrian stronghold — was clearly signposted.

He grew up in the streets around Ladbroke Grove, in the inner suburbs of West London — an area that has become a breeding ground for Islamic militancy and home-grown terror suspects.

He was befriended by Cage, the so-called campaign and human rights group, whose leading light is someone who has expressed support for the establishment of an Islamic Caliphate and for the principle of death by stoning for adultery.

And, perhaps most significantly of all, he went to the University of Westminster, where, according to a report published yesterday, no fewer than 22 events have been held since March 2012, providing a platform for speakers with a history of extremist views or involvement with extremist organisations.