Lotsa dicta

• MSNBC:Ancient tablet echoes Bible passage
• MSNBC: More young people drop insurance — Laid-off workers unable to afford health coverage Count me in this bunch. There is no way in hades that I can afford health insurance, yet at the same time I really can’t afford not to have it.
• Slate: G.I. Joe — Joe Lieberman’s risky conservative campaign. — Right now, having Lieberman as Prez is even more scary than continuing with Bush.
• MSNBC: Machinery of mercy — Inside the historic death penalty decision in Illinois
  It was a brief ad lib after a technical glitch Saturday that may have unintentionally revealed the core reason why outgoing Illinois Gov. George Ryan made his historic decision to commute the sentences of all 167 death row inmates in that state to life in prison.

  “GOVERNMENT TELEPROMPTER,” Ryan muttered in disgust about three quarters of the way through his speech at Northwestern University Law School. The teleprompter had briefly failed, and Ryan was forced to look down and read off the printed text.

  Today is Ryan’s last day in office. The rotund party hack from Kankakee didn’t run for re-election because of a scandal (involving bribes for truckers’ licenses) that is expected to lead to his indictment. But what’s more relevant is that Ryan is a conservative Republican and longtime supporter of the death penalty who finally concluded that capital punishment was just another failed government program — no more reliable than any other lousy bureaucracy or faulty government teleprompter.

• MSNBC: Text of the letter Illinois Gov. George Ryan sent Friday to families of victims of Illinois death row inmates to explain his decision to commute all death sentences, most to life in prison without parole
• Slate: Fool Me Twice — The press swallows a story. — One of the most inventive and thought provoking stories I’ve read in some time. Read the whole thing if you have a chance to do so.
• Washington Post: Anti-War Activists Descend on Baghdad — Demonstrators From Around the World Protest Against War
• Washington Post: Antiwar activitst from across the U.S. preparing for weekend of protests
• Washington Post: Nightmare on Constitution Avenue — The logistical horror of making movies in Washington is getting worse. Just ask Carol Flaisher, the capital’s location queen – a very interesting story. It definitely makes the reader appreciate all that it takes to make a movie on location.