Columnist Dan Froomkin noted that it was possible to do a word search on messages posted at Americasupportsyou.mil, and wondered if certain words were more likely to show up in a search than others. A participant in his Live Online chat today obliged with an interesting list of searches: White House Talk: Dan Froomkin Douglassville, PaRe: americasupportsyou.mil Keyword search: pray – 9,425 god – 5,488 Christian – 96 Islam / Muslim – 4 Republican – 46 Democrat – 18 media – 230 democracy – 137 Interesting results. Dan Froomkin: Fabulous. Thanks. Other word searches are encouraged. Some attendees obviously think…
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Leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths have urged Tony Blair to play “the fullest part” in helping the world’s poorest countries. The prime minister must use the UK’s G8 presidency to help “halve extreme poverty”, they say in a letter. The G8 leaders must cancel the debt of the poorest nations, they add. The letter is from by the Archbishops of Canterbury and Westminster, the Chief Rabbi, the Council of Mosques and Imams chair and the Free Churches head. Now that’s what I call ecumenicalism in action. There’s actually hope they’ll succeed, too.
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So the big question about Bush’s address on Iraq tomorrow night is whether he will come to the podium equipped with a speech that addresses the mounting concerns of the American people — or whether he will simply roll out a repackaging of the talking points that contributed to the disconnect in the first place. What is “audio-animatronic?” See? That was an easy one. Fortunately, the Resident is a Pod People. So he never lacks for tunes… or text.
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Saturday dawned warm, hazy, and humid, but off to the Morton Arboretum we went to see a performance of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. If you’re not familiar with this play, it’s the one where girl meets boy, boy likes girl, boy runs off into exile into the woods, girl runs off into exile into the woods but dresses as a boy, boy meets “boy” and is tricked into “pretending” he’s wooing the girl so that he can be cured. Sundry rustic bumpkins and foppish courtiers intrude, and we get the famous “All the world’s a stage” speech from one…
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BBC NEWS | Middle East | Jerusalem gay march ban set aside Well, that’s good and joyful all right. A judge came down hard on the Jerusalem mayor’s unilateral banning of this year’ Gay Pride parade. Not only will it go on, but the city of Jerusalem will pay 30,000 shekels to the gay and lesbian center to underwrite the vent, plus another 30,000 shekels just for good measure, and they have to line the parade route with banners. So there, nyah. It’s good news, much better than those crotchety old religious clerics of various faiths who came together last…
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It has been to Downing Street, caught the imagination of Nelson Mandela and attracted a plethora of celebrities – so just what is Making Poverty History? In just six months the campaign has grabbed numerous headlines and can count on the support of pop stars, clergy and statesmen alike. So what are the coalition’s AIMS? How is it FUNDED? How are the CHURCHES involved? What has it got to do with the POLITICIANS? Why does it attract the CELEBRITIES? And just what are those WRISTBANDS? I’ve ordered some of the British wristbands. The American version is available here. Live 8…
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Oh well. It was silly to think there’d be humanity, understanding, or reconciliation from the opportunists who grabbed Terri Schiavo’s inert body and dragged her, head lolling obscenely, into battle. They’re too busy sending out inflammatory fundraising emails and preparing the heavily-Photoshopped “2006 Terri Schiavo Swimsuit Calendar.” Being at war, even a “culture war,” means admitting no errors, not until it’s over. Which is why we’re fighting wars on “terror” and “the culture of death” rather than wars on “Iraq” and “The Schiavo Case.” Those might end, after all. Adam rightly notes that the lack of apology from the “activists”…
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Freak season lets Utah skiers go 4th – Yahoo! News Okay, I heard this on WXRT on the way in, and now it’s front page in the Chicago Trib. The people of Chicago are might envious of this thing you call “snow.” Today’s temp is supposed to get up to 95 or higher. No rain in sight, it was a dry spring, and there are watering restrictions out here in Burbclavia. I expect later in the summer there’ll be an outright ban. And then the other day, there was a massive hailstorm in Colorado Springs, and right now there’s flooding…
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Okay, so I’m podding already. Downloaded 4 6 7 songs from iTunes already. My husband David’s going to regret this already. I’ve already realized it’s pretty trippy to play Cirque du Soleil’s Icare, then segue into Tiny Hat Orchestra’s Sing, Sing, Sing, then Rachel Yamagata’s Worn Me Down… and so on and so on. Hmm, there’s a new album by Cam Newton on iTunes… well, David has only himself to blame. I’d better get to bed…soon. Right after synching up and listening to that Cam Newton tune. I used to go to the weekly Beer Garden ‘way, ‘way back in…
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Personally, this horrifies me on so many levels: Arkansas Family Expecting 16th Child How can someone justify this large a family as a moral imperative? Our country consumes the bulk of the world’s resources in fossil fuels and yet are behind other nations in the percentage of our gross national product that we donate to poor countries. We don’t donate 0.7% like some of our peers. “Extreme poverty can be reduced, and indeed eliminated, in our generation,” Sachs told journalists last week in a national conference call. “What it will take is increased investment.” How much? To the American who…