Goodness... What's Happened to France?  —  ** Pajamas Media has the official response from the US Embassy on this unbelievable development in France.  —  Here's a closer look:  —  Volunteers form a human chain to honor fallen U.S. troops in World War Two and form the words …

Tammy Faye Messner dies  —  (CNN) — Tammy Faye Messner, the former televangelist and Christian singer who battled drug addiction and later inoperable cancer, died Friday morning, CNN's Larry King said Saturday night.  He said the family had asked him to make the delayed announcement.  —  She was 65.

Spokesman: Romney Not "Equating Or Comparing Anyone" When Holding "Obama Osama" Sign  —  As you may have seen today, TMZ.com has obtained two photos of Mitt Romney posing with a supporter in South Carolina.  The supporter was holding a sign with the homemade writing, "NO TO OBAMA OSAMA AND CHELSEA'S MOMA" (sic).

BBC in need  —  Poor old Auntie Beeb is unwell.  She's confused and no longer knows right from wrong, truth from fakery  —  The BBC executive board gathered for its regular meeting last Tuesday morning for coffee, biscuits and meltdown.  The previous evening, at 5pm …

Christopher Booker's notebook  —  A lunatic crop of laws for global warming  —  The cool wet summer of 2007 may be looked back on as the moment when global warming finally got serious: in two respects.  First, we are beginning to see the scarcely credible costs of the legislation our politicians …

How Can You Distinguish a Budding Pedophile From a Kid With Real Boundary Problems?  —  In the early 1980s, a therapist named Robert Longo was treating adolescent boys who had committed sex offenses.  Their offenses ranged from fondling girls a few years younger than they were to outright rape of young children.

Amid Talk, Rising Frustration  —  Sen. Johnny Isakson expected to be bored by the war speeches on the Senate floor Tuesday night; instead, the Georgia Republican was riveted by the passionate debate and spent hours soaking it in.  But Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, a recent GOP convert to the antiwar cause …

Don Surber: Democrats 'achieve' 14 percent approval  —  WHEN I looked at the numbers last month, the Gallup Poll showed President Bush's job approval was at 32 percent, and Congress was at 24 percent.  Could things get any worse?  —  Of course they can.  Never underestimate the power of the Democratic Party to self-destruct.

The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul  —  Whipping westward across Manhattan in a limousine sent by Comedy Central's "Daily Show," Ron Paul, the 10-term Texas congressman and long-shot Republican presidential candidate, is being briefed.

Shallow breaths, save planet  —  Decrease Increase -  —  Submit comment:  —  IN A wonderful act of subversion, the Sydney Morning Herald's splendidly-named Stephanie Peatling this week managed to sneak a comic gem past her vigilant editors: "The greenhouse gas cuts Australia must achieve …

Gas Prices Rise on Refineries' Record Failures  —  Oil refineries across the country have been plagued by a record number of fires, power failures, leaks, spills and breakdowns this year, causing dozens of them to shut down temporarily or trim production.  The disruptions are helping …

Wall Street and Main Street: What Contributes to the Rise in the Highest Incomes?  —  University of Chicago - Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)  —  University of Chicago - Graduate School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)  —  Abstract:

"Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser  —  America's political reporters don't like John Edwards, and have tried to destroy him.  —  But don't take my word for it.  —  Marc Ambinder was one of the founders of ABC's The Note and is a contributing editor to the National Journal's Hotline newsletter.

Rudy Giuliani: Asked About HIV, He Answers With 9/11  —  Rudy Giuliani gets Iowa punctuality.  In fact, he may be the first presidential candidate in years to show up early at a caucus campaign stop.  Razzed by the Des Moines Register for running late in his last Iowa trip …

'24' Star Sutherland: 'Global Warming Is A Crime For Which We Are All Guilty!'  —  Remember all that media chatter in January about the hit TV series "24" being conservative?  —  Well, likely to the applause of Jack Bauer's green fans, the producers announced the following Saturday (emphasis added, h/t NBer amber):