Winds of Change has a remarkable story about a young Kurdish woman and her fight for a free Iraq.

Q and O is all over the al-Qaqaa story. My own two cents is that it is much ado about nothing. There is nothing all that special about the explosives, or the amount, or the non-involvement of the Bush administration.

Consternations advises how Bush should respond to Kerry’s handling of al-Qaqaa. Of course, Bush could have responded this way over several other issues. 

In the wake of the latest caca, I’ve been thinking to myself that in any other line of work, Dan Rather would be off the air hoping his name would be cleared in the Rathergate fiasco, instead of on the air waiting for the fury to die down. So I’m with Rich and Dodd on boycotting CBS affiliates, and I can still watch my Survivor.

Sir Charles takes a look at the Heartland of America and thinks it can be trusted and invites your comments as to why.

Deroy Murdock takes a look at Saddam Hussein and terrorism. It isn’t pretty. (via INDC Journal).

I hope you can stand one more al-Qaqaa link, because it’s time for some humor to ease the pain. Blame Bush! gives the big picture response to the hype with verve and enthusiasm. I know it’s no laughing matter, but it keeps the crying at bay.

Robert Musil looks at polls so you don’t have to – and concludes with the wisdom of James Carville: “You know what they call a candidate who’s counting on a lot of new voters? A loser.”

JOHO the blog reports on a study that shows that people on the internet do come into contact with more points of view than people who aren’t internet users (who is that anymore, I wonder). 

Into the Sunset has already voted (I’d do that too if it meant I didn’t see any more political ads) in Arizona, and tells us who and why. I’m with Brad on Bush — on those issues where I’m disapointed (yes Virginia, Bush isn’t perfect), Kerry has promised to be worse, and has the record to back it up.

Da Goddess has already voted too, only in California, and she too lays it all out for us.

The Interocitor, who I think is a wonderful guy, looks at what the lunar eclipse portends — he thinks good news (except for that Red Sox thing). Years ago when America Online was my ISP, another Kevin Murphy IM me about how neat our name was. I replied I was happy for us both, and he replied with some profanity about how he thought it was a great name. He seemed a little young to me at the time. Hope that wasn’t you, Interocitor.

The Belmont Club (can you really be a club with just one person?) looks at Arafat and his legacy. It, too, isn’t pretty.

Dust in the Light responds to a letter to the editor about the separation of Church and State brought on by the Catholic Church’s recent attempts to explain how their faith intersects with politics. I wonder if anybody responds to my letters to the editor?

OK, that’s enough politics. Time for some beauty, so go check out Shelley Power’s Tinfoil project for some gorgeous photos, mainly of scenery in and around St. Louis. Trust me, her pictures look better than the reality.