MSNBC reports that Bush is expected to veto a bill Wednesday “that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research.” If Bush indeed vetoes this bill – and he will – he will have, in total, vetoed three bills, two of which dealing with the stem cell issue (the other one “set timetables for U.S. troop withdrawals from Iraq”).| MORE ›

Ahmed Yousef wrote an op-ed for the New York Times about the situation in Gaza. Strangely, Yousef defends Hamas – in the very first paragraph he explains why, according to him, Hamas’ take-over of Gaza was not a “coup.” At the very end of the op-ed all becomes clear: “Ahmed Yousef is the political adviser to Ismail Haniya, who became the Palestinian prime minister last year.”

Ah, that explains it then.

Lawhawk at A Blog For All says it all:| MORE ›

That’s what Smithsonian secretary Lawrence M. Small must have been thinking when he “took nearly 10 weeks of vacation a year during seven years running the vast museum complex and was absent from his job 550 workdays while earning $5.7 million on outside work.”

Andrew Sullivan notes that Maxim presents the hottest women from Israel’s Defense Forces.

That’s it: I want to convert to Judaism, move to Israel and serve in its army.

The New York Times has a couple of interesting articles up about the situation in Gaza: after the fighting, Hamas is now busy trying to enforce its authority. Of course, we will have to wait a bit longer to see what Hamastan will look like, but so far, the first signs are not exactly encouraging:

Ghada, 50, a Palestinian Christian, is afraid to go outside.| MORE ›

How about this idea to give third parties a chance of actually winning the presidential elections, without screwing things up: redesign the voting system by introducing two voting rounds. In the first round, it is not about electoral votes; instead, it will strictly be about the popular vote. After that first round, the number one and number two will go on to the second round which will be the same as the Presidential elections are today (with this difference that there only two candidates allowed to particiate).| MORE ›

The LA Times reports that “in a sharp rebuke to President Bush, House Republicans unveiled legislation Tuesday that would bar illegal immigrants from gaining legal status in the U.S., require tamper-proof birth certificates for Americans and make English the nation’s official language.”

The measure’s core principles include gaining control of the border and enforcing existing immigration laws. It does not provide a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, as the Bush plan does.| MORE ›

In a surprising development (on the face of it at least), quite some Republicans are siding with Senator Barack Obama:

There is an interesting phenomenon that has arisen over the last few months: a trend of moderate Republicans who want to vote for Barack Obama.| MORE ›

Another fun quiz: the Political Compass. Take it and let me know where you stand. My results:

Economic Left/Right: 3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.95

H/t Patrick Edaburn.

Mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg has left the Republican Party to register as an Independent (or rather as unaffiliated). Chris Cillizza explains:

This decision operates on several political levels.

On its face, it makes perfect sense. Bloomberg was never a Republican in any true sense of the word. When he first ran for office in 2001, he decided to do so as a Republican because the Democratic primary was already crowded with well-known candidates.| MORE ›