BBC: Staff and pupils have been evacuated from a US high school in Bailey, Colorado, where an adult gunman has taken up to four hostages. Denver Post: A gunman took five people hostage, and is still holding at least two of them at a Park County school. Several shots have been fired. Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado State Patrol, said it is unclear if anyone was injured … [Read more...] about Hostages Taken at Colorado High School

Interesting article about health care costs in the US The average cost of a family insurance plan that Americans get through their jobs has risen another 7.7 percent this year, to $11,500, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. In only seven years, the cost has doubled, while incomes and company revenue, which pay for health insurance, haven’t risen nearly as … [Read more...] about Health Insurance: Too Expensive

Football player Terrell Owens, from the Dallas Cowboys, tried to commit suicide Tuesday evening. Lt. Rick Watson, a spokesman for the police department, said police were called to Owens’ residence shortly before 8 p.m. Central Time by paramedics who were already there treating him. He said no criminal activity took place and there was no police investigation under way. He … [Read more...] about Terrell Owens Tries To Commit Suicide

JB published an interesting post (without the sneers) over at Balkanization. I am puzzled by and ashamed of the Democrats' moral cowardice on this bill. The latest version of the bill blesses detainee abuse and looks the other way on forms of detainee torture; it immunizes terrible acts; it abridges the writ of habeas corpus-- in the last, most egregious draft, it strips the … [Read more...] about JB At Balkanization: Why The Democrats Deserve To LOSE

Jon Stewart has a comment: … [Read more...] about How The News Media Covered Fox‘s Clinton-Wallace Showdown

Andrew Sullivan came under a lot of fire from the left because he supported the war. Then from the right because he questioned the war. He writes today that he has read the info that President Bush has released — and that it shows the war has been "a fiasco." Two key excerpts:Here's my summary: we've made real progress against the organized professional leadership of al … [Read more...] about Sullivan: NIE Terror Report Shows War Is “A Fiasco”

When I look at the campaign tactics used in America, I am often struck by the low grade personal attacks used, the hatred, the fear, the bitterness, the list goes on and on. It truly is incredible. There seems to be but one kind of strategy: make everything as negative as possible. Don't focus on your own, positive plans / ideas, focus on how much of a (incompetent) jerk your … [Read more...] about It’s All About Negativity

Heh. Every now and then the dictators / oppressive governments of the world say something that is nothing but hilarious. Today it's North Korea's government: An article on Wednesday in Pyongyang's official Rodong Sinmun daily said: "The U.S., after the September 11 incident, has murdered many Muslims in cold blood in its mainland, Afghanistan and Iraq and made no bones about … [Read more...] about North Korea: US Is World’s Biggest Oppressor Of Religion

You know someone had to do this. … [Read more...] about If You’ve Been Following The George Allen Controversy

The New York Times reports that "the European Commission recommended Tuesday that Romania and Bulgaria be admitted to the European Union on Jan. 1". The Times goes on to explain that the European Commission "attached unprecedented conditions, signaling that there is still deep unease about the union's expansion eastward and the potential economic and political problems that go … [Read more...] about Bulgaria And Rumania Set To Join EU

And now the prevalent question becomes: did an angry, nearly indignant President George W. Bush stir up a hornet's nest or open up a CostCo-size can of worms by releasing parts of an elite intelligence report to try and show that parts released so far cast the Iraq war's impact on the war on terror in an inaccurate light? This WAS supposed to be the big, national security … [Read more...] about Bush’s Release Of Terror Study Could Cost Him (UPDATED)

A lot of fish may carp about this:Researchers in Israel, the West Bank and Germany are pursuing a project to transform female freshwater fish into males, a sex change they hope will put bigger fish on the dinner table.But researchers aren't working on creating gender-bending fish just for the halibut:Male fish are larger, grow faster and weigh about a third more than females, … [Read more...] about Researchers Work On Gender-Bending Fish

According to MEMRI, "an Iranian TV report on Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean"... asserts that the film is a "Zionist" conspiracy to exert cultural influence by the Disney Company." Oh. (And all this while I thought Al Jolson's grave was a Jewish plot.) … [Read more...] about Did You Know That ‘Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest’ Is A Zionist Plot?

The GOP is getting just enough to run on and keep their original game plan (national security) — something which could reap dividends if the Democrats run the campaign figuring that being the anti-Bush and anti-GOP is enough:Congress on Tuesday was headed toward a split decision on President Bush’s pre-election national security agenda, moving closer to passage of … [Read more...] about Detainees And Eavesdropping: Final Result Half Empty Or Half Full?

How far have political correctness and political fears gone? This far:One of Germany's leading opera houses has unleashed an angry debate over free speech by canceling a production over security fears because a scene featured the severed heads of Buddha, Jesus and Mohammed. The Deutsche Oper Berlin yesterday said it had decided "with great regret" to cancel a planned … [Read more...] about Opera Cancelled In Germany For Being Offensive To Muslims

I've read with great interest the recent Ohio River Ramble series in the Washington Post on the nine hotly contested Congressional districts between West Virginia and Indiana. As the wonderful Post political reporters, Chris Cillizza, Chet Rhodes and Jim VandeHei have shown, this vast Ohio River Valley region is ground zero in the 2006 Congressional campaign. In three … [Read more...] about The Ohio River: Bellwether of the Past and Present

Both sides put out some great ads in the crucial Maryland Senate race. … [Read more...] about Maryland, My Maryland

It sounds like his nomination is definitely dead. READ THIS. Why did it fail, despite repeated attempts? We believe the real reason IS THIS. … [Read more...] about Will UN Ambassador John Bolton Finally Be Confirmed?

The following might be a bit confusing: Joe Gandelman published a guest post at Liberty and Justice: Will Pakistan President's Deal Weaken The War On Terror? Pakistan's President Pervez "Buy And Read My Book And You'll Find Out" Musharraf has made a deal with a hard-line Islamic party. And so, as the Christian Science Monitor notes, the question is: will this weaken … [Read more...] about Will Pakistan President’s Deal Weaken The War On Terror?

I have less time to publish posts at my own blog Liberty and Justice. Luckily I already have two magnificent co-bloggers, Isaac Schrodinger and Muslihoon. However, I could use more help. I am looking for co-bloggers, regular contributors, irregular contributors. If you are willing to become a co-blogger, send me an e-mail in which you explain your general political views and … [Read more...] about Wanted: Contributors