It's (almost) official: Pope Benedict XVI is expected to sign a new rule prohibiting any homosexual, even a celibate one, from becoming a priest.  The new rule supposedly will apply only to candidates, not to already-ordained … [Read more...]

Little Bush has appointed a member of his inner coterie to investigate the blunders of his inner coterie during the Katrina disaster. Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend, a lawyer with no disaster relief experience, will lead the … [Read more...]

Recent headlines from the Gulf Coast this week have been dominated by a familiar combination: federal fumbling and payoffs to cronies. The incompetence is so stunning that even administration lackeys like Joe Scarborough have revolted.Who … [Read more...]

Thanks to Lynne for noting the release of the (nonpartisan) Congressional Research Service's report which concludes that, in fact, Louisiana Governor Blanco did what was required of her to invoke federal disaster assistance.  >From … [Read more...]

I have written before that the reality of biological systems - in particular, that many if not most of them have significant and obvious design flaws - is compelling evidence against the "theory" of intelligent design.  The … [Read more...]

Turning now to the "news that may not directly affect you" category, the Democratic primary for the New York City Mayor's race was today.  It was a four-way race, winnable outright only if the first-place finisher receives … [Read more...]

The report, written by Rick Blum, the organization's director,  charges that "Secrecy continues to expand across a broad spectrum  of activities. Openness in our government and society is  increasingly threatened. A … [Read more...]

Tim Russert had an interesting guest on Meet the Press yesterday: John M. Barry, the author of ''Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America." Here's a Globe article about him.The fascinating thing about … [Read more...]

Republicans continue to desert the President.  This excellent article by Doug Bandow, a former Reagan aide and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, asks "is George W. Bush a serious person?"  Bandow recognizes that the … [Read more...]

Did you ever have one of those bad dreams, where you show up to an exam, but you haven't taken the class and haven't studied? Or -- I have this one -- where you're on stage but don't know the play or the lines?link:Brown's biography on the … [Read more...]