CPT Statement: CPTers Released  —  Our hearts are filled with joy today as we heard that Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember have been safely released in Baghdad.  Christian Peacemaker Teams rejoices with their families and friends at the expectation of their return to their loved ones and community.

Some clerics call for killing Afghan Christian  —  Man on trial for converting from Islam; Bush, Rice weigh in on case  —  KABUL, Afghanistan - Senior Muslim clerics said Thursday that an Afghan man on trial for converting from Islam to Christianity should be killed regardless of whether a court decides to free him.

Are Late Innings the Time for a Relief Pitcher?  —  Karl Rove, center, in the Cabinet Room last week with Senators Rick Santorum, left, of Pennsylvania and George Allen of Virginia.  "I'm an idiot one day and a genius the next," he said about experts' views of him.

Taliban Man at Yale  —  The story thus far.  —  Something is very wrong at our elite universities.  Last month Larry Summers resigned as president of Harvard; today Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi will speak by video to a conference at Columbia University that his regime is cosponsoring.

Worried About 2006  —  Chris Bowers is.  And with good reason.  The Duckworth-Cegelis fiasco in Illinois (which I happened to be following closely for various reasons) is exactly what happened in Ohio with Paul Hackett.  (Except, in this case, a war veteran was hand-picked by Rahm and Company …

Don't Do Unto Others  —  The difference between gay marriage and polygamy.  —  Uh oh.  Conservatives are starting to hyperventilate again.  You know the symptoms: In a haystack of right-wing dominance, they find a needle of radicalism, declare it a mortal danger to civilization, and use it to rally their voters in the next election.

Texas arresting people in bars for being drunk  —  SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.  —  The first sting operation was conducted recently …

Another Bad Slip for 'NY Times': Katrina Victim Unmasked  —  NEW YORK For the second time in less than a week, The New York Times today admitted to a serious error in a story.  On Saturday it said it had misidentified a man featured in the iconic "hooded inmate" photograph from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

In Florida, 'Uniform' Foolishness  —  MIAMI — What Florida's teachers unions consider a menace, and what Florida's Supreme Court considers an affront to the state's constitution, weighs 105 pounds, smiles shyly, speaks softly and wants to be a nurse.  Octavia Lopez, 17, an 11th-grader …

THE SITUATION ROOM  —  President Bush Tries Another Approach To Make Case For War; President Bush Called Reporters In For News Conference And Suggested U.S. Troops Will Be In Iraq Awhile; Helen Thomas Interview; Alan Dershowitz Interview; Pepsi's Gatorade Sues Coca-Cola's Powerade …

The obligation of unwanted fatherhood  —  REAL MEN - good men - take responsibility for the children they father.  If they get a woman pregnant, they do the right thing: They stand by her.  They support their child.  They don't try to weasel out of a situation they co-authored.

Poetic Justice: These Bribes Are Going, Going, Gone  —  RANCHO DOMINGUEZ, Calif. — Behold!  The disgraced congressman's silver-plated, five-light candelabrum with matching "bobbishes" (that would be Lot No. 61) out on the auction block in this cavernous and cold warehouse east of the Port of Los Angeles.

Summary of Findings  —  Public acceptance of homosexuality has increased in a number of ways in recent years, though it remains a deeply divisive issue.  Half of Americans (51%) continue to oppose legalizing gay marriage, but this number has declined significantly from 63% in February 2004 …

Ex-Iraqi Official Unveiled as Spy  —  Deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's last foreign minister, Naji Sabri, was a paid spy for French intelligence, which later turned him over to the CIA to supply information about Iraq and its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs more than six months …

Church Sign Smackdown!  —  H/T: Ace, for pointing me to the Church Sign Generator  —  Speaking of signs...