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OK : VATICAN CITY - Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion, the Vatican newspaper said Sunday. "For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," Monsignor Vittorio Formenti said in an interview with the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. Formenti compiles the Vatican's yearbook. He said that Catholics accounted for 17.4 percent of the world population — a stable percentage — while Muslims were at 19.2 percent. But before people start going into a frenzied "Muslims are everywhere!" mode, understand that: When considering all Christians and not just Catholics, Christians make up 33 percent of the world population, Formenti said. I don't know about anyone else, but wouldn't a better comparison been between two different sects or denominations? Y'know, like the percentage of Catholics versus the percentage of Shia? Or am I completely off-base here?

Yeah the economy is going in the tank, but why can't we have a little fun with it ?

Less Jobs = More Food Stamps . Gilbert Arenas is willing to take a potential pay cut if that means the Wizards can keep Antwan Jamison. Temporary Truce Time in Iraq. According to Chris Brown, he and Rihanna are not gettin' it on . A sad conclusion for a missing soldier. R.I.P.

There are blowouts, where you just have to acknowledge that the opposition is better than you...by a light year. There are buzzer-beaters, which can come down to a missed defensive assignment, a superior one-on-one opponent, or just plain luck. Then there games like last night , where you're watching and hoping that your team can deliver the knock-out punch...but it just doesn't happen. Your team's punch aren't hard enough, and the opposition doesn't have a glass jaw. While everyone else was falling in love with the New Look Lakers, I was trying to figure out why people were swooning over a jump-shooting team that just happens to have Kobe Bryant. I mean, these guys run the Triangle Offense about half as often as they did during the Kobe & Shaq Era, and that's saying something considering one year they had Karl Malone and Gary Payton on the roster. The difference, of course, is that these guys don't have a glass jaw, meaning that the typical reasons a g...

McCamy Taylor from Democratic Underground can think of at least ten .

Rare Saturday Edition: Celtics take down the Hornets. Madonna speaks up for her "protege." Somalia is in big trouble . Rep. John Murtha comes to Sen. Clinton's rescue .

It's a start , I guess. WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that Congress give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee financial market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the overall system. The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the nation’s hodgepodge of financial regulatory agencies, which many experts say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until after they set off what is now the worst financial calamity in decades. Democratic lawmakers are all but certain to say the proposal does not go far enough in restricting the kinds of practices that caused the financial crisis. Many of the proposals, like those that would consolidate regulatory agencies, have nothing to do with the turmoil in financial markets. And some of the proposals could actually reduce regulation. Can't say I'm surprised; since Reagan, redu...

...between catching up on episodes of The Office and watching Blades of Glory , I've realized that Jenna Fischer is a younger, cuter, Jennifer Aniston. So, if in like ten years her beau leaves her for Megan Fox (oh c'mon; you know who she looks like) don't act surprised.

C.R.E.A.M. get the money ; dollar-dollar bill, y'all!

Another trial, another victory . When will these people realize that the guy who does documentaries can also be smart, passionate and political? So many people focus on that third trait, learn that he leans left, and think that everything he makes will be a pack a lies to promote his agenda. If that was true, he would have spared Hillary Clinton in SiCKO . He didn't. And as far as health care is concerned, he's chastised Barack Obama as well. And this, the fact that he holds all politicians accountable -even when he agrees with them 90% of the time- is one reason why he can claim an undefeated record.

Well, they have their own answer to that .

Forget that new Indiana Jones movie. The guy behind Pan's Labyrinth and Blade II may bring back " Magneto " to do a prequel to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy . And the director of that movie is producing. Again: awesome.

Author Alice Walker explains her support for Sen. Obama. Slate.com has a Sen. Clinton " deathwatch ." Don't forget the power of the superdelegates, guys. Via ThinkProgress: Ex-Gov. Don Siegelman will be released from prison . The Washington Wizards will be in Europe for a preseason game next year . If you ever get these error messages , well, more power to you.

In regards to dealing with the occupation: about damn time .

Sometimes I wonder how America got into the mess we call the Iraqi Occupation. Of course we know a big chunk of it deals with the election George W. Bush "won" (he did push for it), but what about the military? What was going through the minds of the top-notch generals while the Bush Administration was saber-rattling? The answer: alcohol . As for the human factor figuring into war planning, try retired Marine Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong's explanation of how he and Army Gen. Tommy Franks decided to endorse the bid by Rumsfeld and Cheney to convince Bush to order an invasion. " Gen. Franks likes margaritas ," DeLong said, " and I've got a margarita recipe -- of course, I'm a tequila connoisseur. And so we sat down and had some margaritas and tequila and walked through 'Is this the right thing to do for us, for the country? Can we look our troops in the eyes and say, 'You're going to die tomorrow and here's why?' And the answer was yes ...

Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton get economical . Iraqi leader, upon discovering that factions haven't stopped fighting yet, gives them more time to stop fighting . It's hard out there for a Monk . Mom shoots kids to death, goes to class . Howard Dean to Democrats: I don't want to have to stop this car and come back there !

So there's no reason to think that Heath Ledger's will hurt the new Batman movie .

Via Daily Kos: Sen. Clinton has alot of rich elite Democrats backing her ; can she really claim to be a candidate of the People? Oliver Willis doesn't think so . JP goes over the..." foreign policy differences " between Sen. Clinton and Sen. McCain. Easy Like Sunday Morning...or not, if you've got clay in your ears like Sen. Graham . Once again, the classical media wants to make "liberal" equate to "dangerous." Six stereotypes that Hollywood insists on using again and again . How did Tyler Perry make conservative black evangelicalism so popular? Will President Bush ever truly define what "victory" means ? Bill Simmons on the future of sports movies .

CNN reports : The fighting among Shiite militias and government troops in Basra is a glimpse of Iraq's future, and pivotal cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is in deep trouble, according to two CNN correspondents and a CNN military analyst. The fiery religious leader has a loyal following in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood and other enclaves thanks to generous social programs, but his political movement, his Mehdi Army militia and the cease-fire al-Sadr recently extended are no match for Iranian intrigue, according to CNN's experts. " Al-Sadr is involved in a very complicated relationship with the Iranians ," said CNN Baghdad correspondent Michael Ware. " The Iranians do provide funding and support for his militia, yet at the same time they're trying to rein him in and get him to adopt a certain political agenda, which from time to time he resists ." Ware said Iran wants to use al-Sadr's populist base to advance its agenda in Iraq. " However, they don...

A new study suggests that: Having a large gut in midlife increases the chance of dementia in old age, according to new research published Wednesday that suggests that abdominal fat is a bigger risk factor than even family history. The study of 6,583 adults found that people with the highest amount of abdominal fat between the ages of 40 and 45 were about three times more likely to develop dementia than those with the lowest amount... ..."This ought to be a wake-up call to baby boomers in terms of diet and exercise," said Dr. Sam Gandy, a spokesman for the Alzheimer's Assn. who was not involved in the study. "If they are not frightened enough about heart disease, maybe they will worry about losing their mental function." Dementia is an age-related condition that involves the loss of memory and other cognitive functions. It affects 5.7 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 people over age 65. Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, accounting for 60% to...

Can we finally squash this non-issue now?

John McCain's foreign policy speech contains a "lets get along" message, but it looks like he's said these things before . Maybe people are better off reading his daughter's blog . How badly did the Bobcats beat the Lakers ? Coach Phil Jackson: " Well, I may look like I'm here to explain something, but I have nothing to explain. I can't explain it, so don't ask me any questions ." D.C. School Chancellor Michelle Rhee's plans are being blamed for the planned retirement of several hundred veteran teachers . Shaq's comments made Pat Riley sad . I'm sure when Pat Riley stabbed Stan Van Gundy in the back and stole the Heat from him made him sad too. First the housing market, then the home equity loans . In Hyattsville, MD: Two have been killed and two are injured in a shooting . Dr. Pepper really wants that new Guns 'N Roses album. The longer the Democratic Primary goes on, the more absolutist each camp gets... and the better Se...

Because of his question : Campaigning in Indianapolis for her mother, Chelsea Clinton had a quick retort when asked a question she had never had before. When a male student asked her if her mother's credibility had been hurt during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Clinton quickly responded. "Wow, you're the first person actually that's ever asked me that question, in the, maybe 70 college campuses that I've been to," Clinton bitterly said at Butler University. "And I don't think that's any of your business." Get used to it, Chelsea; if your mom wins you're going to get this question every single day from the Clinton-haters. Little Known Fact: Chelsea went to the same school as Ken Starr's daughter during the Scandal They Do Not Talk About. So, I'm sure she's used to (and tired of) hearing this crap.

As only they can .

Former Democratic candidate Mike Gravel goes to the Libertarian Party, continues his bid for president .

Hmmm ... Los Angeles Times Editor Russ Stanton said today he will launch an internal investigation into the authenticity of documents used in a story last week asserting that the newspaper had uncovered new evidence implicating associates of rap impresario Sean "Diddy" Combs in a bloody 1994 assault on hip-hop superstar Tupac Shakur. Stanton ordered the review after the editor of the celebrity-centric website, The Smoking Gun, told the newspaper that he had reason to doubt The Times' account and in particular the FBI records that were supposed to buttress the story... [snip] ...Although The Times has not identified the source of the purported FBI reports, The Smoking Gun story asserts that they were created by convicted con man James Sabatino, who the website contends was a starry-eyed music fan with a long rap sheet and a history of exaggerating his place in the rap music world. The purported FBI reports were filed by Sabatino with a federal court in Miami four months ag...

You wouldn't believe who Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama are related to . Money problems hasn't stopped the Mars rover. Simon Pegg ( Shaun of the Dead , Hot Fuzz ) talks about being Star Trek's new Scotty. " Major combat operations " in Iraq. Brittney Spears 16-year-old pregnant sister gets an engagement ring . Sen. McCain's fight against Big Tobacco seems to be going up in smoke .

In Michael Lee's musing about NBA COTY, he splits the candidates into the Conferences, East then West . I'm reading these breakdowns and thinking, Why can't the League do awards in this manner ? These NBA awards should be divided between the East and the West, period. Wouldn't it be better to have a Defensive Player, MVP, and Rookie of the Year from each Conference? How many times have we heard critics and fans alike say that "the West is tougher," or "the East is more guard-oriented" or some other qualifier that differentiates the two. I mean, it's not like baseball with different rules for the NL and AL, but there is certainly a different mindset when addressing a team like San Antonio versus a team like Boston.

I'm...73% confident that this was not a Brokeback Moment. In trying to address his religious convictions and the words of his pastor, Sen. Obama ended up opening a Pandora's Box of neo-conservative racism . For right now , Gilbert Arenas has no problem being a sixth man. Well, we now know how Sen. Clinton fells about other people's pastors ; how does she feel about her own ? How does Destiny's Child play into the James-Stevenson mini-feud? Well ... They were crazy, kooky and elected .

That girl is poison .

Despite protests, the only two satellite radio companies in existence are merging . Like MSN's Kim Peterson , I'm a wee bit skeptical: The first thing I thought after seeing the news was that the price of satellite radio will go up . But the DOJ sees it differently. The merged company won't be able to raise prices, according to the DOJ, because doing so would send customers into the arms of traditional radio, HD radio, iPods and the audio content available on cell phones. OK, I could maybe buy that. The iPod might look an awful lot better to people if their satellite radio bill increases. But the next part of the DOJ's news release is downright silly. XM and Sirius are going to save a "substantial" amount money by merging, the DOJ said, and those savings could be passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices. Uh-huh. OK. Sure. Yet in the same paragraph, the DOJ said it wasn't possible to estimate how much money would be saved because XM and Sirius wou...

Arab politicians don't think that a McCain Administration will be any different than the Bush Administration . In Maryland, illegal immigrants aren't feeling the love . Truckers, who are dependent on (the rising price of diesel) fuel, are calling for a strike . Even the Resurgent Bostocalypse couldn't stop the Sixers Revolution. More aftermath of the VA Tech massacre. President Bush's plan for troop levels: Stay The Course .

Glenn Greenwald : Its seems that some conservative bloggers have used Sen. Obama's speech on race to legitimize racist statements and sentiments. Michael Moore : 4,000 dead soldiers, the Founding Fathers and Dick Cheney's "So?" C&L: What a world we live in when Debbie Wasserman Schutlz protects Republicans , and Chuck Hagel talks like a Democrat . Think Progress : Chris Matthews gives us a hint as to who he's supporting (You'd think he'd have learned his lesson ). Media Matters: Scratch that; Matthews obviously didn't learn his lesson because he's blaming the Clintons for the deaths of the 4,000 soldiers lost in the Iraq War/Occupation .

One reason why the prison industry is popular. Story here .

New York Times : " New York is accustomed to job losses on Wall Street. They come with just about every economic slump, and their impact is felt throughout the city. But now, as the city braces for a big contraction in the financial sector as a result of the credit crisis and the collapse of Bear Stearns, the fallout could be worse than in the past ." MSNBC.com : " A roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, the military said, pushing the overall American death toll in the five-year war to at least 4,000 ." Washington Post : " A government laptop computer containing sensitive medical information on 2,500 patients enrolled in a National Institutes of Health study was stolen in February, potentially exposing seven years' worth of clinical trial data, including names, medical diagnoses and details of the patients' heart scans . The information was not encrypted, in violation of the government's data-security policy ." Boston Gl...

How did George W. Bush gets his "Coalition of Willing?" Well, according to one diplomat, it was by emulating The Godfather : UNITED NATIONS -- In the months leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration threatened trade reprisals against friendly countries who withheld their support, spied on its allies, and pressed for the recall of U.N. envoys that resisted U.S. pressure to endorse the war, according to an upcoming book by a top Chilean diplomat . The rough-and-tumble diplomatic strategy has generated lasting "bitterness" and "deep mistrust" in Washington's relations with allies in Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, wrote Heraldo Muñoz, Chile's ambassador to the United Nations, in his book "A Solitary War: A Diplomat's Chronicle of the Iraq War and Its Lessons," set for publication next month. "In the aftermath of the invasion, allies loyal to the United States were rejected, mocked and even punished...

Dan Balz from the Washington Post gives us five (ways Gov. Richardson's endorsement helps Sen. Obama): The first is timing . Richardson has ridden to Obama's rescue during what has been the roughest stretch of his candidacy. It comes after the uproar over Obama's spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, which has knocked Obama off stride. It comes after losses in Ohio and Texas, which cost Obama the opportunity to force Clinton out of the race... ... Second, Richardson sends a signal to superdelegates that they too should back Obama . This may be the most significant aspect of his decision to back Obama. Superdelegates will decide the nomination. There is no way either Clinton or Obama can get to the 2,024 votes necessary to win the nomination without the superdelegates... ... Third, Richardson is close to both Clintons . He served as United Nations ambassador and later as Energy secretary in Bill Clinton's administration. He and the former president famously munched...

Shorter Charles Krauthammer : Barack Obama should have slapped Jeremiah Wright in the face the minute the words "damn" and "America" were put in the same sentence together, instead of passing the collection plate around and singing hymns. Krauthammer proves, much like Michael Gerson , that he doesn't get "the race thing" or "the religion thing." Obama condemns such statements as wrong and divisive, then frames the next question: "There will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church?" But that is not the question. The question is why didn't he leave that church? Why didn't he leave -- why doesn't he leave even today -- a pastor who thundered not once but three times from the pulpit (on a DVD the church proudly sells) "God damn America"? Obama's 5,000-word speech, fawned over ...

Man with gun robs a paraplegic for painkillers . Sex for Green Cards ? What the hell? In MD: Howard Co. judge says porn cannot be used in child abuse case . Details on the new "90210" show has been leaked . Gov. (and superdelegate) Bill Richardson endorses Sen. Barack Obama (even though his state went for Sen. Clinton). Boston becomes the first NBA team since 2001 to beat all three Texas Teams (Dallas, Houston and San Antonio). NASA may have found something beneath the surface of one of Saturn's moons.

Wow; interesting stuff tonight, with one of my favorite actors (if not characters) from the show involved. What did we learn? Michael told Walt about killing Ana-Lucia and Libby . It's just one more thing to add to the "Why Michael is the worst TV dad ever" List. Tom is gay . Although, from he convo with Kate last season, this was more of a conformation than a revelation. Widmore was behind the staged crash . Which means that the captain was either lying, or he thought telling Sayid and Desmond a tall tale was more entertaining than the truth. Oh, and if it was Widmore, than he makes Lex Luther look like Team Rocket. Miles saw through Michael's bullshit . You'd think for a guy who has strange abilities, he'd find a way of making $2.3 million that didn't involve extorting Ben Linus. Michael's "mission" was to kill everyone, not spy/be a saboteur . It's not like he hasn't killed anyone before as part of a deal with the Others (even tho...

Not good: LOS ANGELES - Authorities on Thursday were investigating the apparent suicide of a construction worker found hanged inside a house being built on a piece of property owned by Oscar-winner Mel Gibson. The victim was found Wednesday morning by the foreman of the job site, located in the Agoura Hills area northwest of Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective Eddie Brown, who is conducting the investigation.

Flashback Time : There is one story about Bush's particular brand of certainty I am able to piece together and tell for the record. In the Oval Office in December 2002, the president met with a few ranking senators and members of the House, both Republicans and Democrats. In those days, there were high hopes that the United States-sponsored ''road map'' for the Israelis and Palestinians would be a pathway to peace, and the discussion that wintry day was, in part, about countries providing peacekeeping forces in the region. The problem, everyone agreed, was that a number of European countries, like France and Germany, had armies that were not trusted by either the Israelis or Palestinians. One congressman -- the Hungarian-born Tom Lantos, a Democrat from California and the only Holocaust survivor in Congress -- mentioned that the Scandinavian countries were viewed more positively. Lantos went on to describe for the president how the Swedish Army might be an ideal can...

...I think of the guy in this video . I don't know why, though.

mcjoan of Daily Kos: Beware the words of a certain "Blue Dog" Democrat. Perrspectives: Wrong, wrong, wrong...wrong John McCain . Glenn Greenwald knows exactly what Obama's campaign is about, as he notes in a post about his speech ( Michael Gerson , I'm looking at you): " The entire premise of Barack Obama's candidacy is built upon the opposite assumption -- that Americans are not only able, but eager, to participate in a more elevated and reasoned political discourse, one that moves beyond the boisterous, screeching, simple-minded, ugly, vapid attack-based distractions and patronizing manipulation -- the Drudgian Freak Show -- that has dominated our political debates for the last two decades at least ." Sadly, No!: What do the "experts" have to say about Sen. Obama's speech ?

More than 200 anti-war protesters have been arrested . Sen. Barack Obama: too white for Black People, too black for White People . Sigh. Did we blow our chances to infiltrate al-Qaida ? Wouldn't that imply that the Bush Administration wasn't prepared to tackle terrorism (like they claimed)? 59% of Americans want American troops home within the year. The Miami Heat scored only 54 points... for the game . The Pat Riley "Rock Fights" are back, baby! Forget what you thought you knew about coal as an energy source . The trifecta Sen. Clinton needs to gain the Democratic nomination doesn't look as probable as it used to.

It's people like Gerson who make it easy to believe in Thom Hartman's "Theory of Conservatives Vs Liberals;" which is (in a nutshell) that conservatives believe that humanity is bad and that people need to be punished/protected from themselves (by prisons, churches and corporations), and that liberals believe that mankind is basically good and should (on top of being protected by government) be encouraged to fulfill it's potential (that "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" thing). I say this because of Gerson's response to Sen. Obama's speech on race in America . Here are some highlights (with my commentary): Barack Obama has run a campaign based on a simple premise: that words of unity and hope matter to America. Now he has been forced by his charismatic, angry pastor to argue that words of hatred and division don't really matter as much as we thought. Sorry, but that's not the premise of Obama's campaign, but close. It's th...

CNN's Anderson Cooper has skin cancer .

Here's some of those " Girls Gone Wild " pics of A. A. Dupree (I'm only calling her this because I wanna see if a trend starts). Why do I refer to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino as a "Pimbo?" This is why . Seriously, what is she being paid for? It's certainly not for keeping up with what the President says and does on a daily/weekly basis. Types of men women should be avoiding...but don't . Sen. Barack Obama is like that clutch athlete ; you may doubt if he's gonna do it, but only for a second. Others seem to agree .

Just kidding; it isn't : A day after an interest rate cut fueled the best stock session in five years, the Dow Jones industrials slid back nearly 300 points on Wednesday and commodity prices plummeted, signs that a sense of unease has yet to disappear from financial markets. The Dow lost most of its Tuesday gains as a morning rally gave way to afternoon declines, closing down 293 points at 12,099.66. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, the broadest measure of the American stock market, and the Nasdaq composite index both fell back about 2.5 percent. Though investors had cheered the Federal Reserve’s move on Tuesday to lower interest rates, many remained unsure whether the central bank’s actions would effectively ease the credit crisis that has gripped the market for months. “I’m not quite sure people are all that ready to stick with their convictions,” said Bart Melek, a commodity strategist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “We’re not quite sure what other skeletons exist ...

Boondocks takes on BET (about time someone did). Of course, it goes without saying that the episode was banned.

New York Times blogs about Baghdad . No "Girls Gone Wild" cheddar for A.A. Dupree. More speed cameras in Maryland. Any excuse I can get to mention Soleil Moon Frye , I'll use it. Even the record-setting Rockets couldn't stop the Bostocalpse Resurgence. Title says it all: " More Baby Boomers at Risk for Alzheimer's ."

LaBron responds to Deshawn Stevenson. Not that it wasn't expected. Mariah Carey has low self esteem . Joe Lieberman's takes another step toward emulating Count Dooku . Just like Sen. Obama, Will Smith (and his wife Jada) finds himself having to clarify his religious beliefs . For the record, he and Jada are Christian.

Sen. Barack Obama is showing the doubters that he's not backing down to the various attacks being lobbed at him. Text of his speech is here ; and Crooks And Liars has a link to the video .

The headline speaks for itself: " Economic Quicksand ." R.I.P.: Anthony Minghella . Bush Administration runs out of ideas on fighting terrorists, decide to dust off the Communist Playbook .

...because really, there's always other storylines to these types of businesses: The mortgage banks - including Washington Mutual, Bear Stearns and JP Morgan Chase - are all named in a lawsuit filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). NAACP has recently filed paperwork to speed up the class-action lawsuit, in which it alleges that the banks steered black borrowers into taking predatory sub-prime loans. Sub-prime loans are at the heart of the current global credit crisis, and were offered to individuals who often could not afford the mortgages they were being signed up to. NAACP's latest filing is aimed at fast-tracking the lawsuit, which was originally filed in federal court in Los Angeles in June. It alleges that black people of all income levels were more likely than their white counterparts to end up with sub-prime loans. So keep this in mind as the Bush Administration continues to bend over backwards to help this company and defend th...

It just dawned on me that whenever Fox Studios produces a movie, they can't help but try to have Fox News people (either local talent or the better know kin from the cable network) do cameos. I don't see this from other networks. For example, Disney owns ABC but I don't see the people from "Nightline" popping up in "The Incredibles" or "Angels in the Outfield." But on the flip side, movies like "Fantastic Four" and "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" has enough Fox News clips to be noticed by the average viewer.

Because her camp hasn't floated this picture of Sen. Barack Obama around in another attempt to shore up the Bigot Vote . In a twisted way, it shows that she hasn't completely gone off the deep end. But even if she did try something stupid like that, it's not like Obama's mad skills wasn't on display before. Check this video of him going all Reggie Miller:

With the Fifth Anniversary of Iraq here, I thought would be very appropriate to mention this site . So much has gone on since the Bush Administration has come to power, and it's very easy to forget how we got to this point.

...but it's kinda odd for Sen. John Kerry too skip being part of this story about our modern day Winter Soldiers .

JP: Yeah; why is Bush so darn happy ? Oliver Willis: Do the Clinton people really want to have a "judgment battle" with Barack Obama ? k/o: People think they know Jeremiah Wright, but they don't .

The Science of Sleep . President Bush tries to make the public feel better about the crumbling economy , but I have a feeling that people aren't buying it . Gilbert Arenas looks like he may be coming back soon . Halle Berry is now a mommy .

You know how in Lost , the character Sayid Jarrah went from an Iraqi communications officer to an outright torturer? Well : CAMBRIDGE - Liz Jackson's eyes were fixed on a screen showing a live broadcast of anguished testimonies by Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans describing what they had seen and done during their combat tours. Jeffery Smith recalled how his Army unit beat and humiliated Iraqi prisoners. Former Marine Bryan Casler recounted how fellow Marines urinated and defecated into food and gave it to Iraqi children. Former Marine Matthew Childers talked about how he used to humiliate Iraqi civilians during predawn raids on their homes. When he described turning away an Iraqi father who was asking American troops to help the badly burned baby he carried in his arms, Jackson began to weep silently. "These soldiers are saying: 'I'm complicit,' " said Jackson, 29, a community organizer from Cambridge. "But every American citizen who saw this happen and...

Looks like Sen. McCain won't be buying any rugs on this trip to Iraq (H/T: ThinkProgress).

It's amazing how a person can, almost simultaneously, fret about the presumed limitations of government yet justify stretching the role of government with their recent socialistic move : Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said today that there are limits to what the government can do to contain the unfolding economic downturn, but he defended the steps taken to stimulate the economy and stabilize the financial markets. "When there are excesses, excesses we've seen in the housing market, a correction there is inevitable. You're going to see a correction. Can we outlaw the forces of gravity? You know, how much can government do?" Paulson said on "Fox News Sunday. "But this administration has been focused on this." Paulson stood by the decision last week by the Federal Reserve to help bail out investment bank Bear Stearns. "I think we made the right decision. I think the Federal Reserve made the right decision here," Paulson said. Pauls...

I've heard that if the media has to ask whether or not we're in a recession, than it's already happened. If that's true, than this news must mean that we're in the eye of the storm: The United States has already slipped into a deep recession that could be the most serious since World War II, said Martin Feldstein, president of the Cambridge group that is considered the official word on economic cycles. "The situation is bad, it's getting worse, and the risks are that the situation could be very bad," Feldstein said in a speech yesterday at a financial industry conference in Boca Raton, Fla. Feldstein, president of the National Bureau of Economic Research and a professor of economics at Harvard University, said the chief causes of the shrinking economy are sinking housing prices, months of job losses, and turmoil in the financial markets.

Actress Terri Vaughn talks about her film , which deals with black actresses and Hollywood.

...because President Bush is positively giddy about our crappy economy . I say this because (like Iraq) he believes that we'll come out on top. Of course (like Iraq) he's a little stuck on how we get from a "slowdown" to "having so much cash we're using it for toilet paper" while avoiding "OHMYGODITSTHEECONOMICAPOCALYPSE!!!" But he does know what he doesn't want : I want to talk to you about a couple of ideas that I strongly reject. First, one bill in Congress would provide $4 billion for state and local governments to buy up abandoned and foreclosed homes. You know, I guess this sounds like a good idea to some, but if your goal is to help Americans keep their homes, it doesn't make any sense to spend billions of dollars buying up homes that are already empty. As a matter of fact, when you buy up empty homes you're only helping the lenders, or the speculators. The purpose of government ought to be to help the individuals, not thos...