(World News Trust) -- All the blue and white “Unity” signs didn't make nearly as vivid an impression as did the Lady in Gold on Night Number Two in Denver. Hillary Clinton Night at the Democratic Convention was actually the first night we've seen any real red meat served up in prime time. And no woman in there was a vegetarian on this night. Neither were the men present, of course, but Hillary Clinton's message to many of her ardent devotees -- many of them women who were heartbroken that Obama and not she will be their nominee -- was as clear as could be. And hardly medium-rare.

(Bloomberg) -- New-home sales in the U.S. improved in July from a 17-year low and construction cutbacks by builders reduced the glut of properties on the market by the most in almost five decades.

In commenting on the war in the Caucasus, most American analysts have tended to see it as a throwback to the past: as a continuation of centuries-old blood feud between Russians and Georgians, or, at best, as part of the unfinished business of the Cold War.

(World News Trust) -- What a great opening night! And what an historic journey the Democratic National Convention highlighted in its kickoff. It was a night of Great Democratic Bookends.

(World News Trust) -- As the political conventions descend like the soggy forces of nature they have become -- the tropical depressions of politics -- the Republican party will be seen, with growing clarity, as the party that wrecked America. So many shoes are about to drop, and so many dominoes lined up to fall 'out there' on the financial landscape that the thump and clatter of crashing institutions will sound like the percussion section of the renowned USC marching band as the nation tramps toward the general election.

So there I was, in one of my more reflective moods, wondering where the site traffic went.

Automakers plan to urge Congress to support funding up to $50 billion in low-interest loans over three years to help them modernize their assembly plants and develop next-generation fuel-efficient vehicles.