A blog posting on the website of Psychology Today asserted that black women were "objectively less physically attractive than other women" and then, as a backlash built — it vanished.

The posting was written by Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychology scholar associated with the London School of Economics, on a blog for the publication called The Scientific Fundamentalist. The posting's headline was initially tweaked and the entire essay was subsequently removed altogether on Monday.

More than 500 journalists are descending on Orlando, Fla., this week for the start of a murder trial that could be one of the largest in state history.

Casey Anthony, 25, is accused of killing her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

It's a drama-filled case that the judge says could rival the O.J. Simpson trial for media saturation.

A Real-Life Drama

In the past day, California, New Jersey and Michigan have all said they're collecting more tax money than they expected.

This fits with a broader trend. Twenty three states are on track to bring in more income-tax revenues than predicted, according to a recent report from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Only three states are bringing in less than predicted.

Putting the federal budget in perspective is always difficult. First because $1 trillion dollars doesn't mean much to most people. The financial author and radio host Dave Ramsey took the the numbers from the federal budget and imagines what it would look like as a household budget:

When it premiered in 1985, Larry Kramer's play, The Normal Heart, seemed ripped from the headlines. A thinly-veiled autobiographical work, it dealt with the early days of the AIDS crisis and elicited both admiration and controversy.

A judge convicted two American pilots for their role in a 2006 mid-air collision over the Amazon that killed 154 people.

The AP reports Brazilian federal judge Murilo Mendes sentenced pilots Joseph Lepore of Bay Shore, New York, and Jan Paladino of Westhampton Beach, New York, to community service in the United States.

France has entered a period of self-examination after the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn. In particular, people are asking if the long tradition of turning a blind eye to the sexual peccadilloes of the French elite has allowed men in powerful positions to abuse women with impunity.

Reports say that the U.S. is pushing harder to establish negotiations with the biggest faction of the Taliban in hopes of moving toward a political resolution to the war in Afghanistan. Michele Norris talks with Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post about the latest talks.

In the hands of a talented writer, the short story can illuminate the human condition with remarkable economy. It can leave you devastated — or elated — in a matter of minutes.

Election officials have been predicting low voter turnout for this primary election. But some people -- whether because of their strong belief in civic duty, a voting streak, or because their spouse made them -- found time to cast their ballot Tuesday. Here's what some voters in Lexington had to say, "The leaders will be chosen by the people who care enough to vote."