A judge doesn't think mentioning "intelligent design" in Pennsylvania classrooms is a smart thing to do — and he has banned it in a major legal ruling: "Intelligent design" cannot be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, a federal judge said Tuesday, ruling in one of the biggest courtroom clashes on evolution since the 1925 Scopes … [Read more...] about Judge Says “Intelligent Design” Not Smart In PA Classrooms

Needless to say, there's been a lot of reaction in the blogosphere to President Bush's Sunday speech on Iraq. Two leading conservatives, Michelle Malkin and Ed Morrissey, even live-blogged it. Also needless to say, those on the Right loved the speech and took advantage of the opportunity to slam Democrats and other opponents of the war — indeed, to slam anyone and … [Read more...] about Patriotic pretension: President Bush and the un-Americanism of the Right

Is it April Fool's Day? No, it's just the occasion of Time's yearly foray into nonsense... Not that I've ever cared much about the nonsense that is Time's XXXXX of the Year award (man, woman, thing, being, etc.), but this year's recipients, Bill and Melinda Gates and U2's Bono, seem particularly underwhelming to me. That is, the award seems particularly underwhelming to me … [Read more...] about Time‘s (underwhelming) People of the Year

Speaking of Ariel Sharon (see below), there is much cause for concern: Over the weekend, Mr. Sharon suffered a minor stroke. In my view, he should have won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. More, his health and well-being should be of concern to anyone who cares about the prospect of peace between Israel and Palestine. … [Read more...] about The health of Ariel Sharon

...Because I believe that transparency, checks and balances, and a discussion about presidential power during the war on terror are all absolutely vital to preserving American values. Thank you Mr. President, for clearing that up. … [Read more...] about I Love Terrorists

The leftist surge in Latin America continues. Last week it was Chile. On Sunday it was Bolivia: Exit polls from Bolivia's presidential election suggest a clear victory for left-wing Aymara Indian candidate Evo Morales — though not an outright win. Several polls give him 42-45% of the vote ahead of his nearest challenger, former President Jorge Quiroga who, the polls say, … [Read more...] about Bolivia moves to the left

Jonathan Alter, writing in Newsweek, says his sources tell him President George W. Bush tried to get the New York Times from running the story about the NSA wiretaps on American citizens. Alter makes it clear where he stands in his piece's lead:Finally we have a Washington scandal that goes beyond sex, corruption and political intrigue to big issues like security versus … [Read more...] about Bush Tried To Get Times Bigwigs To Kill Snooping Story

...at Random Fate, for what it is worth. … [Read more...] about Post #1759…

The Washington Post says the FBI monitored the animal rights group People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals as a terrorist threat: FBI counterterrorism investigators are monitoring domestic U.S. advocacy groups engaged in antiwar, environmental, civil rights and other causes, the American Civil Liberties Union charged yesterday as it released new FBI records that it said … [Read more...] about FBI Papers Show PETA Was Watched As Potential Terrorist Threat

Let's call it The Pajamas Media Factor (uh, oh, O'Reilly will sue...). … [Read more...] about A New Complication In Blog Rankings

A Miami seaplane crashes. … [Read more...] about A Harrowing Video

More here from The Mighty Middle. Our personal view? It is nowhere near where Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton were. And impeachment is not in the cards, although some Democrats (particularly those from the party's left) are talking about it. But some form of Congressional hearings — perhaps a lot more difficult than the White House thinks — will likely be in the … [Read more...] about Reagan Justice Official Raises Impeachment

The question continues to rage: on one side, President George W. Bush who says what he did was legal. But on the other side we're now seeing an array of legal experts saying "NOT!"....plus some politicos who don't confirm the White House version of events. But watch some videos courtesy of Crooks And Liars and judge for yourself (we'll include a few of C&L's non-video … [Read more...] about Did The NSA Wiretaps Violate The Law?

Has the GOP leadership overreached in its latest ploy to get federal authorization to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by super-gluing it to a defense spending bill — to, in essence, blackmail members of Congress to choose between voting to oppose it and denying funding to the troops or passing the big bill and letting it go through? Perhaps, even if … [Read more...] about Senate Democrats Could Filibuster GOP Arctic Oil Drilling Ploy

A military blogger is murdered. (His blog is here.) … [Read more...] about Tragedy In The Real World And In Blogtopia

Is this the executed murderer's real legacy? … [Read more...] about More On Tookie Williams

...at one of TMV's favorite weblogs. … [Read more...] about A True Milestone

Cross-posted to Random Fate. --- Amid all the sound and fury over the revelation of NSA monitoring of international communications of US citizens without warrants, something fundamental is being overlooked as the usual suspects give their usually suspect blatherings that are more predictible than the rising of the sun in the east every morning. The situation is summarized … [Read more...] about NSA wiretaps: Why was the existing secret warrant system circumvented?

...but not Santas. An incident described as "Santarchy." … [Read more...] about We Expect Christmas Decorations To Be Lit Up

Yet another sign that Iran is regressing: Hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from Iran's radio and TV stations, reviving one of the harshest cultural decrees from the early days of 1979 Islamic Revolution. Songs such as George Michael's "Careless Whisper," Eric Clapton's "Rush" and the Eagles' "Hotel California" have regularly accompanied Iranian … [Read more...] about Iran President Bans Western Music From TV And Radio