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Episcopalians * Southern Baptists How refreshing to read in the Post about former Senator John Danforth's call to Episcopalians to retreat from the increasingly militant position being adopted by church leaders on issues that mean nothing except in the minds of bigots. "COLUMBUS, Ohio -- John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and former U.S. senator, warned Thursday that the church risked irrelevancy by focusing on divisive issues such as gay clergy and same-gender couples. Instead, Danforth said the denomination should turn away from the "inside baseball" of church politics and put its energy behind reconciling a world increasingly polarized by politics and religion." "For 99 percent-plus of people, they really couldn't care less who the bishop of diocese `X' or `Z' is," Danforth said, during the church's national legislative meeting. "Nor could they care less whether a liturgy for blessing same-sex unions is available in a prayer book or over the Internet." *A Mellowing Among Southern Baptists ?Stranger things have happened but I am not going to bet on Southern Baptists becoming compassionate Christians. That would be like the compassionate conservative G.W. Bush talked about during his campaign in 2000. Op-ed column by E.J. Dionne in the Post covers the recent election of Rev. Frank Page as the group's president and the possibility of a "shift". "Sometimes very important elections receive very little attention.When the Southern Baptist Convention elected the Rev. Frank Page as the group's president at its meeting this week in Greensboro, N.C., the news appeared on the back pages of most secular newspapers -- or it didn't appear at all.But Page's upset victory could be very significant, both to the nation's religious life and to politics. He defeated candidates supported by the convention's staunchly conservative establishment, which has dominated the organization since the mid-1980s. His triumph is one of many signs that new breezes are blowing through the broader evangelical Christian world.No, this is not some liberal victory. Indeed, the Baptist Press reported that Page went out of his way to tell reporters that he was not elected "to somehow undo the conservative resurgence" in the convention. But he also signaled that the spirit he hopes to embody is quite different from that of the angry, right-wing, politicized preacher who has been a stock figure in American life for more than two decades."I believe in the word of God," Page said. "I'm just not mad about it."

The Gap between President Bush's View and A Worldwide SurveyFollowing his surprise visit to Baghdad and meetings with Iraq's prime minister and members of his cabinet, the president spoke of steady progress. "President Bush said yesterday that the United States is making steady progress in Iraq toward its goal of standing up a government that can sustain and protect the country, but he emphasized that the ultimate success of the U.S.-led venture lies in the hands of Iraqis. In a Rose Garden news conference just over six hours after his surprise whirlwind visit to Baghdad, Bush said that "I sense something different happening in Iraq" and predicted that "progress will be steady" toward achieving the U.S. mission there.""Biggest Danger to World Peace"A quite different picture emerges from Washington-based of Pew Research Center's worldwide survey released on Tuesday (June 13). The Guardian commented on the report. "Iraq war seen as biggest threat to peace. "The US occupation of Iraq presents a bigger danger to world peace than Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions, according to a worldwide survey published on Wednesday. "The annual survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center suggests that support for the US-led "war on terrorism" continues to be on the wane around the world, undermined by the Iraq conflict.The Pew, which is widely respected and has been running since 2001, polled 17,000 people in 15 countries between March and May. In a press release, it says: "Despite growing concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the US presence in Iraq is cited at least as often as Iran - and in many countries much more often - as a danger to world peace."Only in the US and Germany is Iran seen as presenting a greater danger than the US in Iraq. Public opinion in 12 of the other countries - Britain, France, Spain, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Nigeria, India and China - cite the US presence in Iraq as being the greater danger. Opinion in Japan was evenly divided.The complete text of the worldwide survey can be accessed at the Guardian: Pew Global Attitudes.

Democrats dithering * Karl Rove As the Democrats gathered in the nation's capital for Take Back America Conference, the war in Iraq cast its long shadow. Democratic leaders, including Hillary Clinton, who supported the decision to go to war, are scrambling to clarify their position. Not easy. As the saying goes "You can't have your cake and eat it too". Dan Balz in the Post: "Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) drew boos and hisses from an audience of liberal activists yesterday as she defended her opposition to a timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, and later she received an implicit rebuke from Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) for failing to acknowledge that her support for the war was a mistake. "Clinton and Kerry supported the 2002 congressional resolution authorizing the Iraq war. Kerry recently renounced that vote, but Clinton has never done so. She finds herself in opposition to a majority of Democratic activists and is the target of passionate criticism from some of them.Clinton won repeated applause through most of her speech, which dealt at length with domestic issues but also sharply criticized President Bush's handling of the war. But the audience turned against her when, in what she called a difficult conversation, she restated her long-standing position about timetables for withdrawing U.S forces. *Rove is off the HookIt is official. Karl Rove will not be indicted in the CIA leak investigation. One can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from the White House. "Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald told Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, in a short letter delivered Monday afternoon that he "does not anticipate seeking charges" against Rove in the case, Luskin said. Rove was told about 4 p.m. while aboard a Southwest Airlines flight en route to a campaign speech in New Hampshire, but he waited until early yesterday morning to publicly reveal the news."

Another KarlA perfect fit, that was my impression when I read about Karl Zinsmeister, new chief domestic policy adviser to President Bush. What he wrote as editor in chief of the American Enterprise Institute's magazine, as reported in the Post, leaves no doubt about his qualifications. "Bill Clinton is a "virtuoso deceiver" and Hillary Rodham Clinton a "true chameleon" guilty of "self-serving behavior, comparative radicalism, and dubious personal morality. Al Gore is a "mad dog" known to "foam at the mouth." John McCain is given to "showboating." And Jacques Chirac, Nelson Mandela, Gerhard Schroeder and Kofi Annan are all "feckless fools."For a dozen years until his appointment, Zinsmeister held forth on all manner of issues and personalities as editor in chief of the American Enterprise Institute's magazine. With a sharp pen, he skewered the left, taking special aim at environmentalists, anti-globalists, feminists, contemporary artists, university faculties, Hollywood, Broadway and particularly the media, composed mainly of "left-wing, cynical, wiseguy Ivy League types, with a high prima donna quotient."A review of years of articles reveals a formidable thinker with a powerful sense of what he considers right and wrong. As Zinsmeister sees it, racial profiling by the police makes sense; the military, if anything, treats terrorist suspects too gently; and casual sex has led to wrecked cities, violence and "endless human misery." In a "soft, often amoral, and self-indulgent age," he warned, some children "will be ruined without a whip hand," and he assured that "things generally go better with God."Not hard to imagine Zinsmeister foaming at the mouth. Yes, surrender yourself to the almighty and let the president give tax breaks to a privileged few. After all, GOP is said to be God's Own Party. Zinsmeister is now among people of high moral values and impeccable standards. He should be happy.

Exploitation of Fear * Catch 22 defense for Domestic Surveillance ProgramPrinceton Professor Paul Krugman's columns in the NYTimes are incisive. He is much more than a renowned economist. "The Some of All Fears", his column today is about the exploitation of fear; how vague allusions and hints about some people and/or statements are made to create fear and uncertainty in the minds of people. I am breaking my rule about not publishing complete texts of articles. The NYTimes makes it difficult to link items because some of the authors can be accessed only by subscription and the items which are accessible remain available only for a week.The Some of All Fears, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: Back in 1971, Russell Baker, the legendary Times columnist, devoted one of his Op-Ed columns to an interview with Those Who — as in "Those Who snivel and sneer whenever something good is said about America." Back then, Those Who played a major role in politicians' speeches. ...

Iraq -Deaths and Destruction in the Name of God and Righteousness * For Democrats, Money from the People 'He is not dead, he is alive with God This is a wedding, not a funeral' Ghaith Abdul-Ahad attended Abu Musab Zarqawi's funeral in the town of Zarqa, Jordan. Reading his account in the Guardian (June 10th) again made me think about the strange world of extremists. They look at the world quite differently than the rest of us, and not all of them are Islamic.In Amman, a jihadist told the Guardian: "The Americans created from him a pretext for the failures in Iraq. He was never in control of the whole insurgency, but they tried to negate the fact that the Iraqis had a legitimate resistance movement."His death will help the Iraqi mujahideen, because now no one can accuse them of being followers of international terrorism. He had created an umbrella network for the mujahideen in Iraq ... as an attempt to unify them and to have the nucleus of an Islamic state. And this group will continue to work."Zarqawi's main loss [will be felt] not in Iraq, but the region. He was trying to expand the jihad to the rest of region, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon," he added.From Baghdad, a commander of the Iraqi insurgency was more upbeat about Zarqawi's death. "May God have mercy upon him, but things will change now," he said. "[Zarqawi] was committing lots of mistakes. Just wait for a few weeks and you will see the difference."In the funeral tent, the teenager next to me was wearing a black cap. "My uncle might be dead, but his ideas are here," he said, pointing at his heart.The sheikh, Zarqawi's former comrade, was looking to the future: "Oh, Allah, we pledge our alliance to our brother Abu Abdul-Rahman." In reference to the new head of the shoura council of mujahideen, the umbrella group formed a few months ago by Zarqawi, he named Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi as the head of the new organisation."Allahu Akbar ... Allahu Akbar" came the cry. "Oh, Bin Laden, don't worry, we will be Zarqawis," shouted other men. * Depressing. The cycle of violence isn't going to end anytime soon. There is no justification for actions of Zarqawi and bin Laden. Zarqawi died as he lived. Think of the more than 40,000 Iraqi civilians who have died in our war to liberate them. Is there justification for that ? * Money from the PeopleAfter years of lagging behind, fund raising efforts by Democrats have succeeded in bringing them close to the Republicans who have had the advantage of fat cats' contributions. The good news is that money for the Democrats has come from ordinary people. The Post: " A surge in small, individual contributions is lifting Democratic campaigns this year and is helping close a Republican fundraising advantage that has existed for years in national politics, according to Federal Election Commission data. "Democratic House and Senate candidates and their two major campaign committees are enjoying stronger grass-roots support than at any time since the GOP took over both chambers of Congress in the 1994 elections, according to strategists from both parties who have reviewed the most recent FEC data released this spring."Grass-roots" support. As President Lincoln said "You can't fool all the people all the time". The Republican legislators became arrogant and corrupt. Their transgressions caught up with them. Let's hope that the Democrats will not squander what they have gained. Otherwise it will be back to the Red States and Blue States and lament for lost opportunity.

The caption "Whatever turns you on", in The Guardian caught my attention. The fact that women have an interest in pornography is not news, and it is not only women in Britain who are exploring pornography. But the article by Anna-Marie Fitzgerald and Phoebe Frangoul contains witty comments and interesting facts. "Ever wondered what might happen if For Women magazine was edited by Courtney Love with a bevy of shaggy-haired NME-fodder for models? Well, wonder no more. Flick through the pearly pages of new German "porn for girls" magazine Glück (created by Cologne-based music industry scenesters Nicole Rüdiger and Elke Kuhlen, available via Leckerheft.de) and you get a pretty good idea."Excerpts:There are no classically beautiful Adonises in these pages, just pale, skinny, sometimes hairy, indie boys. Photographed in the comfort of their own "bohemian" (read: dirty) bedsits, the Glück models pose naked, looking relaxed and natural, a million miles from the simulated "erotic" contortions of the girls in lads' mags. They gaze serenely, almost smugly, at the camera. In fact, these men seem to revel in their averageness: flaunting their flabby bodies and receding hairlines with aplomb. And the position of their hands is such that, whatever their appearance, your attention is drawn to just one thing (and it is not their come hither eyes).Glück is one of a clutch of alternative porn products that have sprung up, marketed to hip, urban, educated young women and supposedly offering a new take on porn, a guilt-free fix of boy-bod. There is also the US magazine Sweet Action and the SuicideBoys section of SuicideGirls website, both of which feature young, naked hipster boys. In the UK, Anna Span (apparently "Britain's first female porn director") has made films such as Hoxton Honey, in which she "decided to hang out in London's trendy Hoxton area to catch the beautiful people going at it like animals in their own stylish pads". Hmm. According to a Nielsen NetRatings survey for the Independent on Sunday last month, 1.4 million women in the UK downloaded pornographic images from the internet last year. Given this statistic, it is not surprising this indie niche has sprung up. It is certainly an alternative to the usual Playgirl/Cosmo beefcake, and, of course, to the über-creepy old-school porn stars - Ron Jeremy and his moustachioed ilk. But it raises the question: is this what young, educated women want to get off on? *As the ad for Virginia Slims cigarettes said: 'You've come a long way, baby'. A long way since Helen Gurley Brown's sensational Sex and the Single Girl appeared in print in 1962. Women have certainly become more aggressive in pursuit of sex. The covers of women's magazines at checkout counters of grocery stores in the United States leave no doubt that sex sells and publishers are making the most of it. Does aggressive pursuit result in success and satisfaction? I wonder. *Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation -the other eight are unimportant.---Henry Miller * Charities SufferingAs a volunteer in a local food kitchen I find it baffling that over the years contributions in cash and kind have decreased as level of affluence in the Silicon Valley has gone up by leaps and bounds. According to the Post, charities in Maryland and Virginia are feeling the crunch but for a different reason. ".........the soaring prices that have made housing affordability a growing concern throughout the region have claimed another casualty: generosity."

Does it mean the end of take no prisoners, mean-spirited politics ? Former House majority leader, Tom DeLay, aka the Hammer, aka the Exterminator, lived up to his records. His farewell speech before the 109th Congress on June 8th was typical DeLay. " DeLay suggested that pundits who complain about 'the divisive partisan rancor that supposedly weakens our democracy' are merely nostalgic for the days when most Republicans meekly accepted minority status. DeLay was never one of those Republicans. "The common lament over the recent rise in political partisanship is often nothing more than a veiled complaint about the recent rise of political conservatism," DeLay said.I hope that Democrats succeed in regaining majority in Congress. But adoption of the tactics that DeLay so successfully used against them and continuation of unethical practices are not what I want to see. I abhor Tom DeLay and his ilk. If Democrats decide to follow his footsteps I shall detest them too. Congress will never be clean but it can be less dirty than what the bloviating hypocrites have turned it into.Ann CoulterLot of noise in the blogosphere about Ann Coulter. I have heard of her but never paid any attention. Ms Coulter and her supporters will survive without me just as I shall survive without them.

March of Holy Rollers * Fallout from Outsourcing of TortureAnother Republican presidential hopeful, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, played his God card. Bill Frist and Jeb Bush have reason to be concerned. John McCain, who has been trying to become a Bible thumper, has no chance against these stalwarts. Holy Big Mac! The possibilities are endless: God Bless you for that pack of cigarettes; God bless you for that Bud; God bless you for liberating Iraqis; God bless you for that great roll in the hay (except that they would use an euphemism like sexual congress or something like that) and so on. You get the point. A long piece in the Post about Senator Brownback: "Three years ago he gave a speech at the Archdiocese of Denver. He spoke of the need to "convert the culture" by spreading God's love. He posed a question: "When we walk up to the McDonald's counter, what if we looked at that person in the eye . . . and we said, 'God bless you for that Big Mac?!' " Yes, and God bless you for that extra crispy fried chicken. * Extraordinary Rendition ProgramThe exposure of "Extraordinary Rendition", CIA's secret program for outsourcing interrogation of prisoners to countries where the Geneva Convention is a joke, must have caused consternation among those who were responsible for setting it up and managing it. Denials don't seem to do any good as more and more details keep coming out.The Guardian reported on a speech given by Tony Brown, former Foreign Office Minister in Britain. "The British government's apparent support of CIA rendition flights is "massively damaging" in the battle against international terrorism, a former Foreign Office minister said today. Tony Lloyd demanded that the Bush administration give "proper and definitive" answers to allegations that it has been kidnapping terrorist suspects and transferring them to countries where they could be tortured."He was speaking as the Council of Europe human rights' committee named Britain among 14 countries that had colluded with the CIA practice, and called on the government to ask Washington "the right questions" about what the US flights that passed through Britain were being used.

This time it is not a rumor. His death has been confirmed. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi died in an air strike on a safe house near Baquhba in Iraq. Now it is to be seen whether his death would have an impact on insurgents' activities---would we see less of it or a spurt in violence as a new leader tries to prove himself to his followers. "BAGHDAD, June 8 --Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the mastermind behind hundreds of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq, was killed early Wednesday by an air strike -northwest of Baghdad, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Thursday. " (The Washington Post)U.S. warplanes dropped two 500-pound bombs on a house in which Zarqawi was meeting with other insurgent leaders. A U.S. military spokesman said coalition forces pinpointed Zarqawi's location after weeks of tracking the movements of his spiritual adviser, Sheik Abdul Rahman, who also was killed in the blast.Following the attack, coalition forces raided 17 locations in and around Baghdad, seizing a "treasure trove" of information about terror operations in the country, U.S. Major Gen. Bill Caldwell told reporters at a military briefing here. Some of the raids focused on targets the United States had been using to monitor Zarqawi's location, Caldwell said.