Finally, someone has had the guts to say it. Those of us who live north of Phoenix will love global warming.

The article discusses the economic and health benefits, should the anecdotal observations actually turn out to be a trend.

Bring it on!

Terri Schiavo is still responding, according to her father.

“She’s trying to talk but it’s very, very subdued,” Schindler said. “All we need, if it’s not too late, is for someone to save her,” he said.

LGF has a lively (though often not constructive) discussion of the silencing of GayPatriot. A co-writer on the blog, GayPatriotWest, is blogging now from here.

Outlet Radio Network summarizes:

GayPatriot was silenced.

GayPatriotWest, a co-writer on the blog, will continue to bring a voice to conservative gay Republicans. While I personally have the opposite political ideology, I value healthy debate and the precious right of free speech in America. I am proud of serving a diversity of opinions online. I also understand that free speech isn’t free of consequences. I am also sad to see this unfold.

Confederate Yankee points to this Democrat Underground post regarding the recent quake in the Indian Ocean.

18. Maybe Bush was testing nukes again.

Via Michelle, Ace, Rambling and OTB.

This gets better and better with each page. Keep reading.

Frank J. and the T-Shirt Babe are getting hitched!

If you’re having a bad day, click here. Your day will seem a bit brighter in comparison.

A Czech tractor driver died under eight tons of manure in a bizarre accident

Via OTB.

Check it out:

The well-paid civil servant who spent the last three years reading books and twiddling her thumbs on the state’s dime has landed a new post — as part of a settlement of a federal court lawsuit claiming religious discrimination.

From the AP:

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal Monday to reinstate a state law requiring girls under age 18 to get parental consent for abortions except under the most dire of medical emergencies.

Without comment, justices let stand a lower court ruling that struck down the Idaho law because its provisions on emergency abortions were too strict.

…

At issue was whether the Idaho law was unduly burdensome on young mothers by limiting abortions without consent to “sudden and unexpected” instances of physical complications.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said yes, saying there was no reasonable explanation for the restriction. Other emergency medical procedures are allowed on minors without parental permission that do not fit the “sudden and unexpected” category, it said.

The court said the rest of the law could not be salvaged because the emergency provisions were too important.

This is a riot.

It’s not that Sam Kimery objects to the views expressed on Fox News. The creator of the “Fox Blocker” contends the channel is not news at all. Kimery figures he’s sold about 100 of the little silver bits of metal that screw into the back of most televisions, allowing people to filter Fox News from their sets, since its August debut.

Next thing you know, crazy right wingers will be altering it to block CNN. :-)

Once again, Reuters is giving credence to debunked polls:

A Time Magazine poll released on Sunday found a majority of Americans surveyed who called themselves born again Christians or evangelicals agreed with the decision to remove Schiavo’s feeding tube. The poll was conducted March 22-24.

The truth?

Last Sunday, two days after Terri Schiavo’s water and food were cut off, 501 Americans were told by an ABC News Poll that Terri “has been on life support for 15 years,” and that “doctors say she has no consciousness and her condition is irreversible.”

Then they were asked: “Do you support or oppose the decision to remove Schiavo’s feeding tube?”

Not surprisingly, given the inaccurate picture conjured of a coma victim hooked up to multiple machines to sustain what amounts to a living corpse, 63 percent supported Michael Schiavo’s intent to kill his wife by slow starvation. Only 28 percent opposed it, and 9 percent were not sure.

Yep, it’s true.

Planned Parenthood of Central Washington (PPCW), headquartered in Yakima, has express health centers located in what you might call nontraditional locations. At an express health center, clients who are short on time and do not require a table examination can quickly pick up their birth control medication or get contraceptive advice.

Two are located in churches. Both the United Methodist and Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) have PPCW express health centers. In order to reach out to large, undocumented populations in rural areas, getting a federal grant wasn’t enough. PPCW had to think out of the box.

Via Dawn Eden, who has lots more on Planned Parenthood.

They’re listening…

Picardi said he’s even experimenting with a Big Brother bonus for unmarked police cars: a tiny microphone positioned near the windshield so powerful it can pick up conversations on the street.

“You could pull into a street corner and, if there’s a drug deal going on a half-block away, you can hear what’s going on. You could have all the windows shut and the air-conditioning on and you could hear everything going on outside the vehicle,” Picardi said.

Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said he would be concerned if the police recorded those conversations without a warrant.

“It would raise serious questions under the Fourth Amendment and the Illinois eavesdropping law,” Yohnka said.

If you’re talking on the street corner, I guess anyone has the right to photograph or record your actions. I don’t have a law degree, but I don’t see how this violates the fourth ammendment (”in their persons, houses, papers, and effects”). I haven’t read the Illinois eavesdropping law.

PSA: A parent’s primer to computer slang :-)