President Obama is on the campaign trail. In this tough election year for the Democrats, the president has been bringing up the name of a familiar foe, Karl Rove.

With November's mid-term elections only weeks away, Democrats and Republicans across the country are setting up their strategic political endgames.  

Celeste remembers Dame Jane Sutherland, the opera singer who Luciano Pavarotti called the voice of the century, English opera-goers called "The Incomparable," and who, after a memorable performance of Alcina in 1960, the audience dubbed La Stupenda.

Dan Savage's message is simple: It Gets Better. The message is to teens coming to grips with sexuality issues and his video project is a call for gay adults around the world to tell their stories. The project and YouTube channel comes as a spate of anti-gay harassment has been making headlines, especially the death of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi, who jumped off a bridge in New York last month after his roommate outed him on the internet.

Just days earlier, Billy Lucas, 15, of Greensburg, Ind. hanged himself after being taunted by classmates for being gay. Before that, Justin Aaberg, 15, of Andover, Minn. met the same fate.

The San Francisco Giants had a chance to close out its divisional series against the Atlanta Braves yesterday and meet the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Championship. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin wonders if the Braves will be able to live another day. He also previews Game five of the ALDS between the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays.

There’s so much focus put on homeowners and the problems they're facing in our current economic climate, but what about all the renters out there? There’s been a 10 percent increase in renters in the past five years according to the Census Bureau, and a whole new world of problems as landlords face the threat of foreclosure and instability. What are these issues? And what are a renter’s current rights?

Ten years ago, when the USS Cole was attacked while in port in Yemen, no one realized it was the opening salvo of what has come to be called the war on terror.

Ten years ago today, in the deadliest Naval attack in more than two decades, the USS Cole was bombed in Aden, Yemen. Al Qaida claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that killed 17 American sailors and injured 39 others. It was the first time many Americans had heard of the terrorist organization and Anwar al-Awlaki, the man who later be know for his involvement in the Fort Hood shooting and working with the "underwear bomber" in 2009.

The new video game, "Medal of Honor" comes out today, but it's already mired in controversy. Unlike most first-player shooter war games that take place in past or fictional wars, this game is set in present-day Afghanistan. American fighters face off against a Taliban-like faction, and players can choose to be the opposing side. That side was originally called the Taliban, but the game makers relented to calls from protestors and changed it to "Opposing Force." Is this war too raw to get video game treatment?

When we look back on the wild west of American history, we frequently celebrate cowboys and Indians, wild buffalo and wide open country. But what we often leave out are the thousands of Chinese-Americans who worked on the Union Pacific railroad, lived in the many coal-mining towns, and struggled against the prejudices of their white neighbors and employers.

The Russian military has launched a new defense program to inflate the size of its military: pretend weapons. The military has stationed inflatable weapons, including tanks to entire radar stations. Our partners at the BBC share the story.

In 1994 during the Republican Revolution, which former House Speaker Newt Gingrich led, the rhetorical artillery of the right was wrapped up in his “Contract with America.” Could a similar rhetoric work this time around?

As Dan Savage, an openly gay man and writer of a sex advice column, Savage Love, travels the country telling gay kids that life gets better as you get older, we wanted to know from you, what would you tell kids gets better with age?