For people who are devout and committed to their faith, I doubt this will matter, but the results are pretty conclusive. [tag]Prayers[/tag] offered by strangers had no effect on the recovery of people who were undergoing heart surgery, a large and long-awaited [tag]study[/tag] has found. And patients who knew they were being prayed for had […]
Though it may not be obvious at first, this story seems to have a political angle. This is a story about words we can’t print in this story. You probably hear these words often, and more than ever before. But even though we can’t print them — we do have our standards — we can […]
The U.S. [tag]Debt Clock[/tag] has a special significance in American culture; it’s a depressing reminder not only of our astonishing national debt, but also of each Americans’ share of the national fiscal liability. But it now appears that there’s a practical problem with the clock: It’s run out of digits. Tick, 20,000 dollars, tock, another […]
Today, [tag]Murray Waas[/tag] has the latest in a fantastic series of National Journal articles about pre-war intelligence, this one focusing specifically on the [tag]aluminum-tubes[/tag] debacle. Apparently, this specific breakdown was uniquely important to the Bush White House in advance of the presidential election because there was ample evidence that the president and his team repeated […]
What’s the latest on Sen. [tag]Russ Feingold[/tag]’s (D-Wis.) [tag]censure[/tag] resolution? For one thing, it’s stuck at three co-sponsors (Feingold, Boxer, and Harkin), which is where it’s been for a couple of weeks. Regardless, Senate Judiciary Chairman [tag]Arlen Specter[/tag] (R-Pa.) said yesterday that he’s moving forward with a scheduled hearing on the resolution, in advance of […]
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items that wouldn’t generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers: * Rep. [tag]Katherine Harris[/tag] (R-Fla.) received some mildly encouraging news yesterday when [tag]Tom Rooney[/tag], nephew of Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, announced he will not take on Harris in a Senate primary. Rooney […]
Responding to a question about Iraq’s future, the president suggested he’s getting a little impatient with the progress — or lack thereof — in establishing a government in Iraq. His comments are in desperate need of a follow-up question. “[T]here also has to be tangible benefits on the street. I try to speak to the […]
Roll Call reported today that the president was scheduled to deliver his latest speech on his Iraq policy at 1:30 yesterday afternoon, but made a last-minute switch. The White House decided it preferred that the speech “begin just minutes before the planned Democratic rollout of their security agenda.” Democrats interpreted the timing of Bush’s speech […]
[tag]Dick Cheney[/tag] sat down with [tag]Fox News[/tag]’ Tony Snow yesterday, as part of the conservative pushback against the Dems’ new national security strategy. I realize there’s no real point anymore to fact-checking the Vice President’s remarks — he’s dishonest, we get it — but I was nevertheless struck by how well Cheney can interweave fact […]
The good news is the federal government established new fuel standards for small and large trucks yesterday, including SUVs. The bad news is the new standards are terribly weak. The Bush administration will require auto makers to build more [tag]fuel-efficient[/tag] sport-utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks, but standards finalized yesterday are no stricter than proposed […]