Briefly...

Polls: The latest Newsweek polls have the leading Democratic presidential candidates ahead of the leading Republican presidential candidates. The same poll, as you know, has Bush down to a sad 28% approval rating. Other polls, however, have Bush's approval up to 38%-40%. Ann Coulter recently went on a tirade in which she accused Newsweek of ignoring Republican voters.

Did Newsweek have a bad streak, or are the other polls misleading?

Terror in the UK: Remember this story from just last month? Remember when the American media announced that the 7/7 terror attacks in the U.K. were planned by one Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi, "a former major in Saddam Hussein’s army"? Remember how the right-wing bloggers pointed to this episode as proof of the mythical Saddam/Osama linkage? And -- by any chance -- do you recall the holes I poked in this unlikely story?

Well, a week ago there was a new 7/7 story in the Times: Tell us the truth about those 7/7 blunders. And guess what? No mention of Abd al-Hadi al-Iraqi.

Looks like the Brits have finally learned to stop devouring whatever bullplop Dubya scoops onto their plates.

All forms of fundamentalism stink, including Hindu fundamentalism. Now they are persecuting a respected artist because he dared to depict Hindu goddesses in the nude.

Remember the controversy over whether non-Muslims should draw pictures of Mohammed? Well, I say that artists around the world should combat the attacks on 91 year-old artist Maqbool Fida Husain by inundating the internet with nude depictions of Durga, Radha, Kali-Ma, Bharat Mata and all their gal-pals. Frankly, I never had the slightest desire to draw a likeness of the founder of Islam -- but nude goddesses are a very different story.

Our message to the Hindu fundies should be simple: We'll stop posting cheesecake shots of your goddesses if you ease up on Husain. The more you try to censor, the more divine nipplage we will foist upon the world. Artists, unite!

(I'll be happy to post any submissions, and will send the URL to any groups that have acted against Husain.)