Heartening news on the religious front. More here. … [Read more...] about Episcopal Bishop On Homosexuality…

You have to pause and ask yourself what has happened to American political debate when people can say crap like this and others can welcome it and agreeingly nod their heads, wanting more. FOOTNOTE: Yours truly does not agree with many of the blogs that want an immediate pullout from Iraq. But the comment linked above is beyond inaccurate. It is truly worthy of utter contempt. … [Read more...] about And So American Political Rhetoric Sinks To A New Low

Criminal sanction and moral outrage. And not completely out of reach from each other. Just...a bit of breathing room. … [Read more...] about You Gotta Keep ’em Separated

..."And thank YOU Cathy." … [Read more...] about And TMV Sincerely Says And Means

Washington Post: Two Missing U.S. Soldiers Found Dead BAGHDAD, July 20--Two U.S. soldiers missing since an attack on a checkpoint last week have been found dead near a power plant in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi defense official. Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Muhammed-Jassim, head of operations at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said the soldiers had been … [Read more...] about UPDATED & MOVED UP: Our Missing Soldiers Have Been Found (In Pieces)

Washington Post: Two Missing U.S. Soldiers Found Dead BAGHDAD, July 20--Two U.S. soldiers missing since an attack on a checkpoint last week have been found dead near a power plant in Yusifiyah, south of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi defense official. Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Muhammed-Jassim, head of operations at the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, said the soldiers had been … [Read more...] about UPDATED & MOVED UP: Our Missing Soldiers Have Been Found (In Pieces)

The folks at alphaDictionary and the Harvard Computer Society have released an amusing little linguistics quiz, "Are You a Yankee or a Rebel?" It'll calculate your relative score based on how you use or pronounce certain words. My score was "30% Dixie. You are a Yankee Doodle Dandy." Not surprising, considering I grew up in upstate NY. That 30% must be from my two Alabama … [Read more...] about “Yankee” or “Rebel”?

Looks as if David Safavian will go to prison: AP via Washington Post: Safavian Found Guilty of Lying, Obstruction WASHINGTON (AP) — A jury found former Bush administration official David Safavian guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff. Safavian was convicted on four of five felony counts of lying and obstruction. He … [Read more...] about Safavian Sunk By Four Felonies

Do you get a creepy feeling from normal businesses that operate religious-themed dating websites? Perhaps this is of no concern to anyone else, but I've seen ads for these sites - along with a barrage of forgettable secular websites - all over the Internet, which either means they haven't blown through their startup cash yet or they're (gulp) actually making money from people … [Read more...] about The morality of religious dating websites run by secular companies

Bad polling news for Hillary Clinton and the concept in general of political dynasties — or national presidential candidate political retreads:With the presidential election more than two years away, a CNN poll released Monday suggests that nearly half of Americans would "definitely vote against" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Respondents were asked whether they would … [Read more...] about Hillary Clinton And Dynasties Get High “No” Vote In Poll (UPDATED)

Newly-minted Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has rejected a proposed policy shift for national park management which would have allowed snowmobiling and increased commercialization, according to a report in today's LATimes. Instead, policies will continue to encourage preservation as the preeminent function of the park system. Kempthorne said yesterday that preservation "is … [Read more...] about New NPS Plan Emphasizes Preservation

The battle lines are clearly drawn for what could be one of most closely watched Senate primaries — and races — this year, one that all sides agree could have a huge impact on the Democratic party and how many voters perceive it. In one corner, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. In the other, his challenger and "netroots" favorite, challenger Ned Lamont. The … [Read more...] about Lieberman Will Run In Primary But Hints Could Run As Independent (UPDATED)

Joseph Nye, writing in The Ripon Society journal, looks at the challenge facing Karen Hughes in terms of "soft power."Karen Hughes, the Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, has a daunting task. The United States spends only a little over a billion dollars a year on public diplomacy to get our message out, about the same as Britain or France though we are five times … [Read more...] about Getting The U.S. Message Out Abroad

Ann Althouse comments on Norway's new "biodiversity freezer": So it will protect us in the event of "climate change," and it will always be frozen "due to permafrost"? Oops. … [Read more...] about That one slipped by me too

Are U.S. officials tempting fate by giving the green-light to the accident-prone space shuttle? The answer: we'll soon find out. CBS News:NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has cleared the space shutting Discovery for launch on July 1, reports CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, over-riding warnings from his own chief engineer and top safety officials. "If we're going to fly, we … [Read more...] about Is The Shuttle’s Safety As Certain As A Card Shuffle’s Outcome?

On the one hand: The NHL shows why it hosts the most exciting game on earth with tonight's grueling Game 7 win by Carolina. On the other hand: Ghana--whose star defender showed a rare moment of solidarity with Israel by waving their flag after a goal--apologizes under Arab pressure. As usual, any acknowledgment of Israel's existence is "offensive" to some people. … [Read more...] about Wide World of Sports

Is the Dubai company still controlling the ports? If so, it will mean the country was massively misled. It'll be interesting to see what develops in terms of future news reporting, if this is the case. … [Read more...] about Remember The Dubai Ports Controversy?

That's the talk. (And I can see Bush going either way on this in the short term. In the long term, however, a pardon is likely inevitable. Which is a shame. Not because I want to see Libby scapegoated as the only one who did anything wrong, which is what's happening now, but because he clearly didn't act on his own. Whatever happens to Libby, wouldn't it be nice to know what … [Read more...] about Pardon Libby?

Speaking of another major threat that the Bush Administration has steadfastly refused to talk to directly — Iran's the other one, and yesterday I spoke of it here — it looks like North Korea may be planning to test a new weapon. The NYT reports here: North Korea appears to have completed fueling a long-range ballistic missile, American officials said Sunday, a move … [Read more...] about North Korea set to test new ballistic missile; or, why Washington ought to talk to Pyongyang

According to the U.N. (via Guardian Unlimited), "[d]amage to the once pristine habitats of the deep oceans by pollution, litter and overfishing is running out of control". Consider: Last year some 85 million tonnes of wild fish were pulled from the global oceans, 100 million sharks and related species were butchered for their fins, some 250,000 turtles became tangled in fishing … [Read more...] about Destroying the deep seas