Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.

The most fun in breaking a rule is in knowing what rule you're breaking.

Never put the story in the lead. Let 'em have a hot shot of ambiguity right between the eyes.

A dependent clause is like a dependent child: incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.

The CEO era gave rise to the CFO (not certified flying object, as you might imagine, but chief financial officer) and, most recently, the CIO, chief investment officer, a nice boost for the bookkeeper you can't afford to give a raise . . .

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.

To 'know your place' is a good idea in politics. That is not to say 'stay in your place' or 'hang on to your place', because ambition or boredom may dictate upward or downward mobility, but a sense of place - a feel for one's own position in the control room-is useful in gauging what you should try to do.