House conservatives just passed a lobbying reform bill that the Washington Post called a “sham,” diluted snake oil and an insult to voters. Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., said, “I happen to believe we are losing our moral authority to lead this place.”
Sidney Blumenthal says Stephen Colbert delivered the “most scathing public critique of the Bush presidency and the complicity of a craven press corps,” so it’s not surprising his routine was met by silence by the journalists in the room.
States like Colorado are holding dances in which fathers goad their daughters into pledging to remain virgins until marriage. (Never mind that abstinence pledges actually increase risky sexual activity.) You won’t believe the creepy anti-sex scripts the fathers read.
The Brazilian city becomes the third at least the fourth worldwide (after Mexico City, Tokyo and Cairo) to mandate female-only cars during rush hour--to guard against gropers and harassment. But many consider the law a major step backward for women’s rights.
(thanks to reader Hilary Tate for the correction)
Literary rock star Dave Eggers’ magazine The Believer does a cover story on how 1980s teenage sex comedies “reflect a larger human and cultural failure to ... integrate sexual desire into regular life.”
Amnesty International’s report says the U.S. has failed to eradicate “widespread” torture in its jails in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba. Also, no senior U.S. officials have been held accountable for the practices.
The nation’s largest beverage distributors have agreed to remove the sugary drinks from school vending machines and cafeterias. Bill Clinton brokered the deal.
The Mexican president will sign a bill that drastically weakens penalties for possession of personal amounts of drugs like pot, coke, ecstasy and acid. But local judges can still detain or deport those found with the drugs.
Upon the publication of his first book in 14 years, the legendary reporter talks sex, plagiarism and his place in the journalistic pantheon. Check out the exclusive Truthdig interview.
In the wake of even more plagiarism allegations against the Ivy League sophomore, publisher Little, Brown and Co. has canceled her $500,000 two-book deal and permanently pulled copies of her book from store shelves.
The No. 3 man in the spy agency is being probed for his connections to two defense contractors accused of bribing a member of Congress and Pentagon officials, reports ABC News.
The exiled Iraqi who provided faulty intelligence on Iraqi WMDs to the Pentagon and the N.Y. Times is acting as a broker between the U.S. and Iran, according to Raw Story.
Even the House majority leader, a Republican, has rejected the Republican Senate leadership’s idea to send taxpayers a $100 check to cover rising gas prices.
Reactions to Stephen Colbert’s Bush roast largely break down along lines of political affiliations. But there are exceptions. Check ’em out.
Also, watch Tucker Calson call it an ”embarrassing public flop.”
The FDA says there is no medical benefit to marijuana. Tell that to the assistant D.A. in this story, who used to prosecute drug busts but who now smokes pot to build up an appetite ravaged by AIDS.
The Los Angeles Times explores the contradictions inherent in the burgeoning religious hybrid. (Via Huff Po.)
(Zen Judaism joke sample: “If there is no self, whose arthritis is this?")
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi officially resigned today after weeks of refusing to concede defeat in April 9-10 elections. Berlusconi, the largest media owner in Italy, has had a stranglehold on the country’s media, but even an all-out television blitz could not convince the public to ignore a failing economy, which the new center-left government must now revive.
Pope Benedict XVI has requested a report on whether Catholics might be allowed to use condoms--but only within a marriage in which one partner is infected.
The former inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security says he was confronted by then-Secretary Tom Ridge to intimidate me, to stare me down, to force me to back off” from criticizing security failures in advance of the 2004 presidential election.
Chevron in the White House
