Now I’m sure he is a man of the people. Salon

“Sen. Orrin Hatch’s Web woes just won’t go away. Until Friday, a link on the conservative Republican’s website led to a pornographic site.

As previously reported, Hatch’s website used unlicensed software for its menu system.

Earlier in the week, Hatch (R-Utah) suggested in Congress that people who steal copyright works off the Internet should have their computers automatically destroyed. Under such a scheme, Hatch’s own website servers probably would have qualified for the punishment.” Wired

“A study of mercury levels in the baby hair of children who were later diagnosed with autism has produced startling results. The babies had far lower levels of mercury in their hair than other infants, leading to speculation that autistic children either do not absorb mercury or, more likely, cannot excrete it.” New Scientist

Mark Glaser’s Guide to the Blogosphere: “This past year has seen the world of Weblogs, aka the blogosphere, grow in power and stature, if not to the general public, then to the other media. So we’ve created a graphical depiction of what I believe to be the most influential blogs, pushing the direction of media coverage and perhaps even public policy.” Online Journalism Review

An Academic Field’s Take on Race Stirs Interest and Anger: “The privilege walk was part of a course in whiteness studies, a controversial and relatively new academic field that seeks to change how white people think about race. The field is based on a left-leaning interpretation of history by scholars who say the concept of race was created by a rich white European and American elite, and has been used to deny property, power and status to nonwhite groups for two centuries.

Advocates of whiteness studies — most of whom are white liberals who hope to dismantle notions of race — believe that white Americans are so accustomed to being part of a privileged majority they do not see themselves as part of a race.” Washington Post

“J. K. Rowling is an Inkling. That’s the well-argued thesis of John Granger’s fine book The Hidden Key to Harry Potter. Granger demonstrates the absurdity of the claim that Harry Potter is anti-Christian. And even if you’ve never worried about charges brought by misguided fundamentalists, The Hidden Key will substantially augment your understanding of what’s really at stake in Harry’s adventures.

The Inklings were originally a group of Oxford dons who wrote Christian fiction. The most famous of them are J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Lord of the Rings and the Narnia series never mention Christianity overtly, and in Tolkien’s books, religion itself is absent from the plot. Yet these mythopoeic books aim to ‘baptize the imagination’ of the reader — to teach her the importance of fighting for the right, no matter how powerful the forces of evil may appear.” National Review [via walker]

For those who follow the various series of children’s fantasies attracting attention these days, I found the following interesting:

The villain in Chamber of Secrets is Gilderoy Lockheart — the gilded, or false, king (“roi” in French) with a “locked heart.” Lockhart, best-selling author of a string of false books, is, Granger suggests, modeled on Philip Pullman, the militant atheist and best-selling real-life author of the Dark Materials children’s series — books that were written as a deliberate refutation of (C.S. Lewis’) Narnia.

U.S. Experts Say:

American intelligence analysts now believe that Saddam Hussein is much more likely to be alive than dead, a view that has been strengthened in recent weeks by intercepted communications among fugitive members of the Saddam Fedayeen and the Iraqi intelligence service, according to United States government officials.

The officials said the recently obtained intelligence had re-intensified the search for Mr. Hussein along with his sons, Uday and Qusay. The search is being led by Task Force 20, a secret military organization that includes members of the Army’s highly specialized Delta Force and of the Navy’s elite counterterrorism squads, with support from the Central Intelligence Agency.

Intercepts of credible communications indicating that he is alive and must be protected have fueled this speculation. It is felt that if alive he would likely stay in Iraq rather than attempt to flee. Chalabi said more than a week ago that Saddam is in a loyalist area of Iraq with a remnant of his private fortune, offering bounties on American soldiers’ heads, but this was largely laughed off at the time. Could the continued loss of an average of one American soldier a day be contributing to a reevaluation of this intel, along with the inability to find any definitive physican evidence of his demise in the sites of our attempted assassinations?

Related: Captured Official Is Said to Tell U.S. Hussein Survived: ” top lieutenant to Saddam Hussein has also told American interrogators that he had fled to Syria with Saddam Hussein’s sons after the conflict.” NY Times

“Pfc. Jessica Lynch did not mow down Iraqis until her ammo ran out, was not shot and apparently was not plucked from behind enemy lines by U.S. commandos braving a firefight. It looks as if the first accounts of the rescue were embellished, like the imminent threat from W.M.D., and like wartime pronouncements about an uprising in Basra and imminent defections of generals. There’s a pattern: we were misled…

None of this is to put down Private Lynch… Ms. Lynch is still a hero in my book, and it was unnecessary for officials to try to turn her into a Hollywood caricature. As a citizen, I deeply resent my government trying to spin me like a Ping-Pong ball…

The Iraqis misused our prisoners for their propaganda purposes, and it hurts to find out that some American officials were misusing Private Lynch the same way.” —Nicholas Kristof, NY Times op-ed

TV graphic labels Bush ‘professional fascist’: “A graphic on an evening news broadcast identifying President Bush as a ‘professional fascist’ has touched off confusion, apologies and an investigation.

The estimated 360,000 viewers of New Zealand’s TV3 news program last night were ‘surprised and confused’ by the graphic, which was supposed to promote an upcoming weather report, the New Zealand Herald said.”

“The United States says it is working with African governments to try to find a stolen passenger jet that it fears may end up being used by terrorists.” BBC Several days ago, there seemed to be some premature reassurance about the whereabouts of this jet, but concerns have reemerged. Of course if it becomes too difficult to hijack a commercial flight, stealing a vulnerable jet from the ground becomes an attractive option.

In Spike War, Lee Takes Lead: ‘TNN has argued that the new name was inspired by the verb “spike” as opposed to the name “Spike.” “From day one, when we came up with the name ‘Spike,’ it was always thought of as an action word,” a spokesman said.

Nevertheless, network president Albie Hecht said in a round of press interviews in early April that Lee, as well as other figures such as director Spike Jonze, had at least partially inspired the name.’ Newsday

Silly headline but an important finding: “In today’s issue of the journal Nature, a 40-person research team describes in detail the ‘male-specific region’ of the Y, which makes up 95 percent of the stubby chromosome. The portrait they paint is of a Yoda-like entity that has physically shriveled over the eons but nevertheless has found a way to keep its unique powers.

Specifically, the Y chromosome has evolved a way to correct harmful mutations — or preserve and promote useful ones — without the benefit of having a nearly identical partner with which to trade DNA, as all other chromosomes do.

Study of the Y’s newly revealed genetic contents may eventually shed light on such broad mysteries as why male fetuses are more vulnerable and why men generally do not live as long as women. It may also help physicians better understand the cause and diversity of male infertility.” Washington Post

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix goes on sale tonight at 12:01, a fitting kickoff to the summer vacation season in my family, with the solstice upon us and school having ended for my 9-year-old son yesterday afternoon. He and I will be at the Children’s Bookstore for the Harry Potter gala tonight, culminating in a 12:01 trip to the cash register.

One of my recurring pleasures since the first Harry Potter book came out has been that we have read them aloud together, feverishly at times. But my son gingerly approached me this morning and let me know that he wants to read the book himself this time, he hopes I don’t mind. His rationale is that he will be able to read it more rapidly not having to wait for the limited evening-times we have to read together. The Artemis Fowl series, which we are reading aloud together, will go on hold (as Lord of the Rings did once, to my amazement, at my son’s receipt of a previous Potter release). There certainly is something bittersweet in this rite of passage. [Not to mention I will have to wait for him to be done with it before I can read it!]

Will the massive tome be worth the three-year wait? Literary critic Harold Bloom predicted the series will have no lasting appeal because it is atrocious writing. I have wondered whether, because of the phenomenal success of her film contracts and other tie-ins (Rowling is highly touted as now having a net worth greater than the Queen of England) the books would increasingly sacrifice subtlety for cinematic appeal. And, finally, I have misgivings about the remarkable growth in length from tome to tome (at this rate, the seventh book will have to appear in two volumes, someone quipped). Only exceptional books avoid collapsing under the weight of their own verbosity at this length; among recent ones, Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, which I recommend to everyone as an engrossing and complex read, comes to mind. What could Rowling possibly have to say that would take more than 800 pages?

This book is such a potential bonanza for its publisher (if not booksellers, although on the basis of HPOP alone, it is reportedly like Christmas rush at amazon.com this week) that I am not sure I trust the gushing early reviews that have appeared today. But they are suggesting that Rowling’s writing has grown in nuance and sophistication as well as mere voluminousness. The book reportedly has a far broader geographic and emotional scope. This adolescent Potter, having grown a year from each volume to the next, is manifestly a much more tormented and angst-ridden character than the innocent wizard discovering his power and heroism my son and I had previously gotten to know. It would have been fun to read aloud and discuss with a quick-minded 9-year-old something with this depth…

As everybody knows by now, a major character is rumored to die in this novel. Rowling has undoubtedly made it difficult for Harry to bear, but my son and his peers have a good idea, from the buzz on the street, who it is and are prepared for the death, they say. Perhaps this too will be an important rite of passage experienced through the literary lens…

“Real indigenous democracy does not seem to fit American plans for post-war Iraq – at least for now. Paul Bremer, the American proconsul, has said on the record that elections in Iraq are ‘premature’ – that’s how he justified his personal ban, last Saturday, on the election for governor of the holy city of Najaf, which was supposed to take place this coming Saturday and for which local political parties had been preparing for over a month. Bremer invoked technicalities, saying ‘there’s no electoral law’, ‘no ballot boxes’ and ‘no procedure’ in place. Bremer, a Pentagon favorite, former Henry Kissinger collaborator and specialist in counter-terrorism, has no Middle East – or democratic – experience.” Asia Times [thanks, walker]

Walker sent a link to this Seattle Catholic article, seeking refutations. I’ll forward them along if you send them to me here.

It is disturbing that many Catholics have adopted a philosophical preference for Islam over Judaism. Furthermore, in some instances, some prominent Catholics have even made the unfortunate suggestion that there is much commonality between the true Faith and the religion of Islam.

I have to believe that in doing so, they have little or no idea what Islam preaches or how its followers manifest their faith in the real world. It’s time for an expose of what the Koran and Islamic Law actually teach, and how that teaching is applied by its proponents.

It is not enough to simply say that life for Moslem girls is harsh and leave it at that. Catholics must come to some understanding of what life is really like for young girls in Islamic countries, so no reputable Catholic may ever again make the absurd claim of commonality between the Mohammedan religion and the one, true Catholic Faith.

The article goes on to characterize Islam as supporting forced genital mutilation of women, protection of men who violate women, ‘institutionalized pedophilia’ and ‘slavery’. [As contrasted with American Catholicism’s institutionalized pedophilia and protection of men who violate boys?] The logical fallacy of condemning Islam for what happens in Islamic nations goes entirely unexamined…

FDA Statement Regarding the Anti-depressant Paxil for Pediatric Population: “The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said today it is reviewing reports of a possible increased risk of suicidal thinking and suicide attempts in children and adolescents under the age of 18 treated with the drug Paxil for major depressive disorder (MDD). Although the FDA has not completed its evaluation of the new safety data, FDA is recommending that Paxil not be used in children and adolescents for the treatment of MDD. There is currently no evidence that Paxil is effective in children or adolescents with MDD, and Paxil is not currently approved for use in children and adolescents. Other approved treatment options are available for depression in children.” Also: Questions and Answers on Paxil. FDA/Center for Drug Evaluation and Research