Once trailing far behind leftist frontrunner Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the conservative Calderón rapidly became a serious contender for the Mexican presidency when he started–what else?–running negative campaign ads. Since March, polls have shown him neck-and-neck with his opponent. The race, which ends on July 2, is still too close to call.

American poet laureate Donald Hall’s new title, awarded by the Librarian of Congress on June 14, carries few official duties and only lasts one year (with the possibility of reappointment), but Hall hopes to use his new platform as “a pulpit,” he told the New York Times. “If I see First Amendment violations,” he said, “I will speak up.”

The first time Blankfein interviewed with Goldman in the early ’80s, the company rejected him. Maybe that’s why he recently told Fortune, “If I weren’t afraid to assert anything with any kind of confidence, I would tell you that I’m the most insecure person in the world.”

Few Harvard alumnae have spent time behind bars, and fewer have taken bullets—yeah, the small round metal kind. Of course, not many Harvard alumnae are vice president of a Pacific nation with a major economy and unflinching tension with China. Meet Taiwanese Vice President Annette Lu.

Conservatives grumble as supporters of marriage equality breathe a (perhaps short-lived) sigh of relief in the unlikeliest of states. On May 16, Judge Constance Russell revoked Georgia’s gay marriage ban. After a year of hearings, Russell ruled that the ban violated the state constitution’s “single subject rule,” which prohibits referendums from hitching two issues together (in this case, marriage and civil unions).

Here’s proof that great lawyers need not sympathize with their clients. Luskin—a firm liberal and Democratic voter—seems to have kept senior White House adviser and campaign wizard Karl Rove from a grand jury indictment. After more than two years of verbal and legal wrangling, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, J.D. ’85, decided against charging Rove with obstructing justice amidst Plame-gate.

Purple is usually the color of royalty. But Rogers is the ultimate green queen: She entered the Miss Rhode Island contest to promote sustainable living. Rogers will champion “Protecting our Environment for Generations to Come” at the Miss America pageant in January 2007.

With disgraced Enron execs Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay headed for prison, Sean Berkowitz is sitting pretty. The prosecutor—whom U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald J.D. ’85 hand-picked for the investigation—even indulged in a bit of public speechifying after the verdict: "The jury has spoken, and they have sent an unmistakable message to boardrooms across the country—No matter how rich and powerful you are, you have to play by the rules."

There’s nothing Joel Kaplan won’t do for his boss. Kaplan, who recently replaced Karl Rove as deputy chief of staff for policy, skipped out on his Hawaii honeymoon to return to the White House. Kaplan previously worked under Joshua Bolten, President Bush’s recently appointed chief of staff, in the Office of Management and Budget.

The fledgling CEO recently scored $25 million in venture capital for Facebook, his addictive social networking site. The infusion quells rumors that Zuckerberg had been looking to sell his brainchild, at a sticker price that made even Viacom blink.