Headlines below the fold

StrategyPage has details about why so many battles in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Summary: The troops are hitting the drug labs that fund the Taliban in Afghanistan, and the Pakistanis are angry at the Pashtuns causing trouble in the lowlands..

more HERE and here

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Noisy Wind turbans: could shape shifting help?

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The trouble with growig up in a Fundamentalist family is that you never meet people or ideas to challenge your religious assumptions. An excerpt from a new book: excerpt in Das Spiegel

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Novak from Johnstown takes a potshot at the Euroweenies at the Vatican.

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Want to save the earth? Paint your roof white...

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CNN discusses Sotomayor's "Type One Diabetes"...
If she really has type one diabetes since age 8, it means she has had it for 40+ years...the article gives some information, but read this one too... the dirty little secret is that her kidneys should be giving way any time now...
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# The risk of complications relates to diabetic control. With good management, patients can expect to lead full, normal, and healthy lives. Nevertheless, the average life expectancy of a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus has been variously suggested to be reduced by 13-19 years, compared with their nondiabetic peers.

however, her diabetes may explain why she is childless...