Odds and Ends

Thanks for the feedback; blogging (thoughts on Ahmadinejad) resumes today. Here's news...

Here's a look at a key reason why GOP front-runners were wise to skip the religious right "Values Voter" debate last week... a church choir there sang a remixed version of 'God Bless America' entitled 'Why should God bless America?' The lyrics condemned America for its sinful ways. Democrats might have tried to make an issue of this, but--unlike the right's daily outrage machine-- perhaps (?) they have better things to do.

The saga of the Myanmar monks gains global attention, particularly from the U.S.

News from the labor front... around 73,000 automakers (members of the United Auto Workers) went on strike against General Motors. They are fighting over job security concerns. The last such strike was 37 years ago.

Darn that liberal media! CBS News had history burying stories about the Bush administration.

The war on terrorism everyone continues! According to the Washington Post, "The U.S. government is collecting electronic records on the travel habits of millions of Americans who fly, drive or take cruises abroad, retaining data on the persons with whom they travel or plan to stay, the personal items they carry during their journeys, and even the books that travelers have carried." Very serious war they're fighting.

Finally, why does this week's U.N. climate meeting matter? Matthew Yglesias has a really good post explaining the long-term political thinking guiding it. Bush skipped, natch.