Teen pregnancy rates lowest ever
Must be all that abstinence-only education.

Chalabi: 'Blame CIA'
I'd have to say that the WMD fiasco is the WH's doing, not the CIA's.

Stern fights back
Here:

Stern has also started to question ties between Clear Channel and the Bush Administration and now suggests his change in heart about his support for President Bush is the real reason for him being suspended by Clear Channel. "If you don' t think me going after Bush got me thrown off those stations, you got another thing coming," said Stern. "This has nothing to do with anything I said."

...

Stern also brought up the hiring of Michael Savage at CC's KPRC/Houston. Savage was fired from MSNBC for saying a caller was a sodomite who should "get AIDS and die." "Clear Channel had no problem hiring him after comments like that, because he's pro-Bush," Stern alleged.

Martha's guilt
OK, so some people feel bad. But am I the only one who likes to watch annoying celebrities get screwed? Hmmm?

Fuck you, Ralph

Anti-offshoring resources
I was directed by Richard Myers to http://www.onshorealternatives.com/

Check it out.

Bush defends ads
CNN:

"Your viewers saw the ad. I think it's very tasteful. It's a reminder of our shared experience as a nation. I mean September 11 is not just some distant tragedy from the past, it really defined our future." [Karen Hughes]

Yes, Karen....that's not the problem. The problem is that you are exploiting that tragedy in your ads, in order to win votes.

Republicans to pass budget
This says it all:

Republicans foiled Democratic efforts to shrink tax cuts and funnel money to deficit reduction, schools and ports Thursday as a Senate committee edged toward approving a $2.36 trillion budget for next year.

They "foiled" the Democrats' plot to actually do something to help the country. But hey, I'm sure the ports will be fine.

Repubs accessed 4700 Dem documents illegally
But apparently no action is being taken.

Bush pisses off 9/11 families
Using tragedy for political gain? Never.

Jerry Springer to assist Dems
He'll be pushing for Kerry in his home state of Ohio.

Roe v. Wade 12 years ago
Apparently the ruling was closer to being overturned than we think.

Did someone say "best show ever"?
Yes. I did.

What will those crazy Amish do next?!?!

New York makes gay marriage illegal
The first state to crack down.

Do Not Call to stay
Telemarketers have dropped their appeal.

Same-sex education under attack
Wow:

WASHINGTON - Federal officials plan to significantly loosen their restrictions on same-sex public education, giving schools the most freedom they've had to teach boys and girls separately in almost 30 years.

In changing its enforcement of Title IX, the landmark law that prohibited sex-based discrimination in schools, the Education Department says it will expand choices for parents without eroding equal opportunity. The regulations announced Wednesday reflect a push by both the Bush administration and female senators of both parties to give schools flexibility.

"We're not suggesting that any particular kid ought to be in a single-sex setting," said a department official familiar with the changes. "Educators and parents can make that decision. But the point is, they don't have the freedom to make that decision even if they think it's appropriate for their children...We're suggesting this ought to at least be part of the mix."

Since 1975, when current rules went into effect, single-sex classes have been allowed only in limited cases, such as gym classes involving contact sports. The proposed rules would broaden the options considerably, allowing school districts to launch single-sex classes to provide a diversity of choices or to meet the particular education needs of their students.

Schools would have to be "evenhanded," meaning they must treat boys and girls equally in determining what courses to offer, and ensure any involvement in single-gender classes is voluntary. For every single-sex class they offer, schools would not be required to offer the other gender the same separate class, but they would have to offer a coed version of it.

The department's plan would also make it easier to create entire single-sex schools.

As it was
After 20 years of unhindered movement towards raunchier media, the FCC is slowing things down. Bad thing? Well, that depends on how much you were looking forward to frontal nudity on television. I personally fantasize about it daily.

WH trying not to piss off the Jews
They have told Israel to hold off on withdrawing Jewish settlements from Gaza until after November. Don't wanna lose the Jew vote, I suppose.

Should the Ten Commandments be on license plates?
I think it's a stupid idea, but why not?

Wilson to name the leak
Joseph Wilson is going to name who he thinks leaked his CIA agent wife's name.

Topless rights
Because we have the right to argue about stupid bullshit:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Liz Book believes exposed breasts are a part of motorcycle culture, so the Volusia County mother plans to lead a protest of topless women on the last day of Bike Week.

Support Equal Topless Rights For Men And Women? Do you support equal topless rights, allowing women to show their breasts openly, just like men? Thank you for voicing your opinion in our online survey! Yes No Not sure Book hopes to lead 1,000 "top-free" women and men along a half-mile of Main Street at noon Sunday.

"I never want to see another girl handcuffed and crying in the street because she yanked her top," said Book, 42. "Exposed breasts have been a part of the biker lifestyle for more than 50 years."

New Paltz mayor charged
19 counts for marrying gay couples.

Killington to secede from Vermont
I smell a war between Vermont and New Hampshire (which may end up becoming a Fox reality show).

China glancing at capitalism
Private property may become a reality in the Far East.

Progress
Bloodshed in Iraq.

E-voting glitches
Man, who could have EVER predicted this?

Mars: Once a huge ocean
I guess this means that over time Earth will become a huge red rock.

Super Tuesday
Tomorrow is the big day! Any predictions? If anyone answered anything aside from "Kerry," they are incorrect.

Man dragged 8 miles by SUV
Wow.

Elections in Iraq early next year
AP:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraqi politicians agreed early Monday on an interim constitution with a wide ranging bill of rights and a single chief executive, bridging a gulf between members over the role of Islam in the future government, coalition and Iraqi officials said.

The document set national elections to be held by Jan. 31, 2005, to create a legislature, with a goal of having women in at least a quarter of the seats. But negotiators were unable to agree on many aspects of Kurdish autonomy, leaving them to be determined later.

The new constitution, a key step in the U.S. plan to turn over power on June 30, will be signed by top American administrator L. Paul Bremer on Wednesday, after the Shiite Muslim religious holiday of Ashoura ends, a coalition official said on condition of anonymity. The charter will remain in effect until a permanent constitution is drafted and ratified next year.

The coalition official said the document strikes a balance between the role of Islam and the bill of individual rights and democratic principles, by calling Islam a source, but not a primary one, for the implementation of civil law.

Bush to target painkillers
I guess this means they'll make Limbaugh an example. Right.

Forget charity
Convince your church to spend money on buying tickets to The Passion!

Voting with your beliefs
An interesting article I don't necessarily agree with:

If I were a Democrat, I'd vote for Dennis Kucinich for president. I'm not, and I won't. His politics and mine, for the most part, are polar opposites. But if I were heir to the populism of Andy Jackson and FDR, of W.E.B. DuBois and John L. Lewis, well, the favorite son of this gritty, old steel town would be the candidate for me. Why?

Because Dennis (and in this city, he'll never be known by any other name) carries the distilled essence of what the Democratic Party used to be about, and in which most rank-and-file members, down deep in their hearts, still believe:

Universal, government-sponsored health care.

A massive public works program to rebuild the national infrastructure and provide full employment.

Curtailed military spending.

Continuation of affirmative action programs.

Cancellation of NAFTA and a quick exit from the WTO.

Re-regulation of all things corporate.

Immediate with drawal from Iraq.

Now that's a list that would warm the hearts of practically anyone who carries a "D" on his voter registration card.

What continues to baffle me is why people don't see the difference between Dems like Kerry and Bush. The two parties are NOT one and the same, and hence I'd rather see someone who leans in my direction than someone who is on the opposite side of the spectrum.

Run Roy Run
The Constitution party is gearing up.

Palestinian boy shot in back
This can be a week of "anti-Semitism breeding."

When ultraChristians attack
Here:

"It took about 55 million years for the present family of horses, asses and zebras to evolve from their earliest horse-like ancestor," reads page eight of the children's book, "Horse" by Juliet Clutton-Brock.

While that statement seems innocuous enough, it was the subject of a public hearing Friday night at the Front Street Learning Center, where nearly 100 people turned out to support and criticize the book — that is part of the Eyewitness Books series — that one parent wants removed from a school library because she says it promotes evolution.

Roxanne Cleasby, a parent of an 8-year-old student attending Smith Elementary School in Helena, initiated Friday's hearing by filing a Request for Reconsideration of Educational Materials to the Helena School District.

Cleasby's request asks the district to remove the book from the library, or at least pages eight and nine, because she says it neglects to address creationism as an alternative theory to evolution.

"There remain too many questions with evolutionary theory to present it as a fact," Cleasby said. "Children and adults need the freedom to question, ponder and seek this very fundamental question of how they came to be."

Progress
Are terrorists funding their efforts through kidnapping in Iraq?

Gay marriage big issue
Perhaps the Dems should lay off this for now...with most people opposed to it, it seems that gay marriage is currently a bigger issue than abortion or gun control.

On the other hand, if we lay off talk of "gay rights" and use the phrase "equal rights," perhaps opposition will diminish.

Hell breaking loose in Haiti
I don't usually deal with non-U.S. politics, but with Aristide leaving Haiti, then some saying he's still there, and U.S. choppers flying overhead and international troops on their way, I feel it deserves a mention.

Kerry/Edwards over Bush/Cheney
More bad polling for the White House occupant.