Wednesday's links and comments

Washington Editors: Reluctant to Publish 'D.C. Madam' Client List. Personally, I don't care who had the DC Madam on speed-dial. However, it is rather telling about the priorities of the editors that this story bothers their sensibilities, but they have no problem disclosing national secrets during a time of war. Separately, as a cynic, I have to believe their reluctance means there are more liberals than conservatives on the list.

I've been attacked for referring to Global Warming as more a matter of pseudo-religion that actual scientific study. Well, here is some ammunition to back up my contention:

Visitors to the Gaia Napa Valley Hotel and Spa won't find the Gideon Bible in the nightstand drawer. Instead, on the bureau will be a copy of ``An Inconvenient Truth,'' former Vice President Al Gore's book about global warming.

Some have suggested that we should have a more open dialogue with the countries like Iran and Syria. Consider this article and then tell me you can have normalized relations with countries controlled by Islamic fanatics.

The President of Iran has been accused of indecency after he publicly kissed an elderly woman who used to be his school teacher. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed by state media stooping to kiss the woman’s hand and then clasping her arms in an embrace, at a ceremony yesterday in honour of Iranian teachers’ day.

According to sharia law, it is forbidden for a man to have any physical contact with a woman to whom he is not related.

We may consider Ahmadinejad to be a crazy hardliner, but in Iran he is criticized for being way too liberal. Bear in mind Sharia law has started to gain a foothold in several countries outside the Middle East.

Apparently, Democrats have trouble accepting criticism.

the entire Democratic caucus in the United States Senate — 50 senators — has sent a letter to the Washington Post attacking the dean of the Washington press corps, David Broder, for a column in which Mr. Broder dared to criticize their leader for his preemptive surrender to the terrorists in Iraq.

There is a famous LBJ quote from the Vietnam era "If I've lost Cronkite I've lost middle America." To paraphrase that quote, if the Democrats have lost the David Broder's of the newsroom then they've gone too far. Far from a right-winger, Broder is liberal enough to fit in comfortably in any newsroom. The last paragraph of the NYSUN editorial attempts to explain why Broder criticized Reid.

One starts to get the feeling here that some of the divides in the rift between Mr. Broder and the Democratic caucus are not so much political but cultural. The chairman of the Washington Post Company, Donald Graham, served in Vietnam, and Mr. Broder himself is an army veteran. The notion of a Washington politician declaring a war lost even as American GIs are appearing in arms on the field of battle in the cause of freedom abroad, well it has a way of grating on those who have worn the uniform, a fact that many of Mr. Broder's readers, if not the 50 senators, understand.

Feinstein’s Cardinal shenanigans by David Keene is a story I'd get more excited about if there was much chance of the Senate Ethics Committee taking action.

Illinois is following the lead of several other states in making smokers into second class citizens.

The Illinois House overwhelmingly approved a statewide smoking ban in public places Tuesday that would eliminate a confusing patchwork of local laws and leave smokers in every community with one place in common to light up—outside.

I would be more concerned about these stupid laws if smokers didn't have the habit of throwing their lit butts out their car windows. Every car I've owned had an ash tray why don't they use theirs?