Sister Joan does it again

Another terrific essay from Joan Chittister: if you’re not reading her regularly, you’re really missing something. Putting herself side by side next to the apparently clueless Karen Hughes is a nice creative move, and Joan pulls it off with her usual aplomb. I sometimes think of her as the Molly Ivins of the religious world.

Juan Cole in Palo Alto

The esteemed Juan Cole will show up in our part of the world next month to talk about Iraq, at an event in Palo Alto sponsored by the Peninsula Peace and Justice Center. For those of us who admire and follow his blog, Informed Comment, it’s a great opportunity to hear his views in person. Here are the particulars:

Juan Cole
Professor of History, University of Michigan

Iraq: How did we get into this mess and where do we go from here?

Tuesday, October 18
7:30 p.m.
Fellowship Hall, First Presbyterian Church
1140 Cowper Street, Palo Alto
$5 ~ $15 sliding scale admission - Wheelchair accessible

Juan R. I. Cole is Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the History Department of the University of Michigan. He has written extensively about modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. He has given numerous media and press interviews on the “War on Terrorism” since September 11, 2001, as well as on the Iraq War of 2003. His current research focuses on two contemporary phenomena: 1) Shiite Islam in Iraq and Iran and 2) the “jihadi” or “sacred-war” strain of Muslim radicalism, including al-Qaeda and the Taliban among other groups.

Cole commands Arabic, Persian, and Urdu and reads some Turkish, knows both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam, and has lived in a number of places in the Muslim world for extended periods of time. His most recent book is Sacred Space and Holy War.

"Intelligent Design" back in court

Last spring when Kansas was holding its bizarre “evolution” show trial, I promised that I would hunt down a favorite old cartoon and share it with you. I finally found my well-worn paper copy (by Chip Bok, posted above), and then found the linkable version here.

Now “I.D.” is back in court, this time in Dover, PA where teachers and parents are actually challenging the constitutionality of the school board’s decision to require the inclusion of Intelligent Design in the biology curriculum. You can find regular updates here.

There’s a refreshingly not-bad summary of current evolution research and how it supports evolution theory in the Washington Post. It’s actually worth the annoying (free) registration. (See this Chris Mooney article from CJR for evidence of how rare good evolution coverage really is.)

And before* it slips into their pricey archives section, see this New York Times story on how science museums are preparing docents to deal with roving bands of Creationists. (*Update: Dangit. It’s already there.)

The Big Tent

A Street Prophets diarist asks whether he is conservative or liberal. It’s entertaining, thoughtful, and a useful reminder (to me, at least) of why it is impossible to make sweeping assumptions about people of faith.

The Incredible Shrinking Ice Cap

Cue the climate loonies. The Arctic is “becoming a profoundly different place than we grew up thinking about.”

The floating cap of sea ice on the Arctic Ocean shrank this summer to what is probably its smallest size in a century, continuing a trend toward less summer ice that is hard to explain without attributing it in part to human-caused global warming, various experts on the region said today.

The findings are consistent with recent computer simulations showing that a buildup of smokestack and tailpipe emissions of greenhouse gases could lead to a profoundly transformed Arctic later this century in which much of the once ice-locked ocean is routinely open water in summers.

It also appears that the change is becoming self sustaining, with the increased open water absorbing solar energy that would be reflected back into space by bright white ice, said Ted A. Scambos, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo., which compiled the data along with NASA.

“Feedbacks in the system are starting to take hold,” Dr. Scambos said. “The consecutive record-low extents make it pretty certain a long-term decline is underway.”

Read on.

Geez, this is good

Here is the transcript of Washington Wizard forward - and poet - Etan Thomas’s speech at the DC anti-war protest this past weekend. It’s wonderful to read; I’ll bet it was even better to hear.

Joe Jr.

Barbara Lee, a Democrat from Oakland, CA, wanted to name a Berkeley post office in honor of a 94-year old local civil rights activist. Iowa Republican Steve King started a “whisper campaign” linking the activist to the Communist Party, and then rallied enough votes to block Lee’s effort - using a roll call vote, no less. THEN he called Joe McCarthy “a hero for America.”

A hero for America.

There are no words…

Tom DeLay Indicted!

Tom DeLay has been indicted and under GOP rules, will have to step aside as majority leader!

Bush joke of the day

For your reading amusement, here’s a little story a friend sent along:

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing.
He concludes by saying: “Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers
were killed.”

“OH NO!” the President exclaims. “That’s terrible!”

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously
watching as the President sits, head in hands.

Finally, the President looks up and asks, “How many is a
brazillion????”

Saturday Cat Blogging

Riley, “birding” from the windowsill.