LOS ANGELES _ The NBA executives are talking shop in the back seat of a taxicab in Shanghai, China. The cab driver eavesdrops and, as cab drivers often do, offers an unsolicited opinion.

“Steve Francis pass ball to Yao Ming!” he says in fractured English.

Feeling guilty about that box of chocolates you have just sitting there on your kitchen table?

Chocolate has long been seen as an indulgence for most of us, a guilty secret for others and a complete addiction for some. It can seem to hold a special power over us.

It’s that time again. I’m sure you’ve noticed while flipping through the channels, back and forth from MTV, BET, and your soap operas, that the inundation of the television networks by the ongoing political campaigns has begun. Maybe you’re like me, and as soon as you even see the names of “Kerry” or “Dean,” and even strange words like “caucuses,” you immediately flip by to get to the next music video or reality show.

Powerful and upsetting, “The Passion of the Christ” is a movie about a Jesus who is, quite literally, dying to get up on that cross.

Focusing on the idea that Jesus was eager to fulfill his destiny and to do what was needed to save his people, Mel Gibson’s bluntly effective movie has to be the most single-minded cinematic version of the final hours of Christ ever.

A new email interface was debuted on Wednesday afternoon after a system crash frustrated many students.