?!???
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani ...has checked into the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for a series of medical tests that could last for a few weeks, the clinic said on Monday.
He arrived at the medical center in Rochester, Minnesota, on Sunday, the announcement said, “for a comprehensive examination, including a series of medical tests.”...Talabani, a former Kurdish guerrilla who is in his 70s, had announced earlier this month that he was going to the United States “to undergo general medical checks and to reduce my weight,” according to his office in Iraq.
Claire, Ideologically Stubborn Heatist Ruralite 05/22 at 09:00 PM •
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but it’s obviously notable and made me go wow:
Don’t lead the vulnerable astray
At the risk of falling into the cavern of rigidity, I feel compelled to publicly disassociate myself from Mary Olney-Loyd and the inference she makes that Christians can believe that there are many pathways to God as stated in her recent Perspective column.
As a Christian, I DO NOT believe that there are many pathways to God in the way Olney-Loyd suggests. There are perhaps many ways God uses to draw his people closer to himself but Jesus says of himself that he “is the way, the truth, and the life” and that no one comes to the Father but by him.
For me, that rules out the ways practiced by Buddhists, by those in the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is, Muslims, Hindus and any other belief system for which Jesus is not rightly understood to be lord and savior alone.
Indeed, that is the central truth which distinguishes Christianity from every other religion. Her declaration that she is a Christian while stating that there are many equally valid ways to God reveals a fatal error.
Contrary to what is often stated in the media, one cannot agree with Olney-Loyd and truly call himself or herself a Christian. The danger of my falling into the cavern of rigidity of which Olney-Loyd speaks is more attractive to me than the danger faced by those who, under a guise of spiritual leadership, lead astray the vulnerable.
Kathleen Winterstein, Olympia
SondraK, Lympian Slayer 
Claire, Ideologically Stubborn Heatist Ruralite 05/22 at 08:21 PM •
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So, am I the only one who says to themselves take THAT!!! Algore! HA! every time they turn something on?…
take THAT!!! Sheryl Crow! every time they flush the toilet?…
take THAT!!! Ted Kennedy you bloated turd!!! every time you poop scoop?…
Because I’ve been called mean like 6 times in the last week....
Not only is Edwards pampered to the point of getting $400 haircuts, but he’s also pampered to the point where he has to hire people who themselves hire people to come and cut his hair?
Venezuela is to give the American actor Danny Glover almost $18m (£9m) to make a film.........
The teacher who supervised the yearbook staff at Conifer High School issued an apology Monday after parents complained about pictures and pages in the book they said glorified drug use and underage drinking.
“I hope that as we move forward you will allow me to become part of a positive and constructive response to this situation,” said English teacher Amy McTague in a prepared statement released by Jefferson County Schools.
District administrators said they were investigating the controversy and will take action if necessary.
The Ugly American 
A 33-year-old woman has been jailed on allegations she exposed herself to her 13-year-old neighbor and made him touch her, police said.
Michelle Seddon, unemployed and disabled, was booked into the Washoe County Jail on Thursday on suspicion of lewdness with a child, authorities said.
According to a police report, the charge stems from incidents in March that occurred in her Booth Street apartment where she lived with her girlfriend.
Her upstairs neighbor, a 13-year-old middle school student, told police that he had visited Seddon at her apartment one day where she stripped and asked him to touch her, the report said. Her girlfriend was not home.
So just what kind of a monster did this? Click if you dare.
RandyM
Presidential hopeful John Edwards said Monday that Americans should speak out against the war in Iraq this Memorial Day weekend, renewing an anti-war call that has been criticized by the leader of the American Legion.
Edwards also said all young people should serve their country, ”not just poor kids who get sent to war.”
After the event, Edwards said he had not meant to imply that only the poor go to war, only that everyone should serve in some way.
“We have people from all walks of life in America who are serving, including Reservists and National Guard,” Edwards said. “What we want to do is to have all Americans to have a chance to serve their country.”
What we want to do is to have all Americans to have a chance to serve their country ????????
~*~
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Syria last month, and the related question of whether or not the U.S. should formally re-engage this Baathist republic, remains as controversial a topic on the streets of Damascus as it was in the days afterwards among Beltway bloggers. And, perverse as it may seem to some American liberals, it is the Syrians who are most sympathetic to their progressive values who have been most critical of Ms. Pelosi’s attempts to begin a dialogue with Syria’s government.............
“America desperately needs to reclaim our moral position in the world, which has been so devastated,” he [John Edwards] said. “America has to be a force for good. ... The world thinks we’re a bully and we’re selfish.”
Bully? Like putting hospitals and doctors out of business in order to make a buck?
Selfish? Like charging $55,000 to talk at college students about poverty?
Ah, I see…
