Even McCain has been promoting a rosier view of conditions in Iraq. If only it were true. From an article of the same title by Joshua Partlow in the Washington Post:

A day after twin truck bombings laid waste to predominantly Shiite neighborhoods in the northern Iraqi city of Tall Afar, marauding Shiite gunmen and police executed dozens of Sunnis in retaliatory attacks that many Iraqis feared might precipitate a resurgence of open sectarian warfare.

The killings took place in a city once cited by President Bush as a sign of the U.S. military's success in pacifying the insurgency. Bush said in a speech almost exactly a year ago that the "example of Tall Afar gives me confidence in our strategy."

But parts of the city reverted to chaos and carnage Wednesday as gunmen went door to door assassinating as many as 60 people in revenge for the previous day's truck bombings, Iraqi military and government officials said. The attack was startling for several reasons, including the alleged participation of police officers in the killings and the implication that the six-week-old Baghdad security plan might be allowing violence to metastasize outside the capital.

But perhaps most ominous was the resurgence of reprisal killing at a time when U.S. and Iraqi officials have noted optimistically that Shiites have responded with restraint to recent insurgent bombings. The violence in Tall Afar follows Shiite reprisal attacks on three Sunni mosques south of Baghdad on Sunday, and it suggested to some Iraqi officials that Shiites are losing patience with government security forces.

I've been down on Dobson for a while now (link), but his latest comments judging whether Fred Thompson is a real Christian or not seem to be a new low. I know many people look to Dobson as a leader among Christian evangelicals, but to me his credibility is gone. From an article by Dan Gilgoff in US News and World Report:

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared to throw cold water on a possible presidential bid by former Sen. Fred Thompson while praising former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is also weighing a presidential run, in a phone interview Tuesday.

"Everyone knows he's conservative and has come out strongly for the things that the pro-family movement stands for," Dobson said of Thompson. "[But] I don't think he's a Christian; at least that's my impression," Dobson added, saying that such an impression would make it difficult for Thompson to connect with the Republican Party's conservative Christian base and win the GOP nomination.

Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Thompson, took issue with Dobson's characterization of the former Tennessee senator. "Thompson is indeed a Christian," he said. "He was baptized into the Church of Christ."

In a follow-up phone conversation, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger stood by Dobson's claim. He said that, while Dobson didn't believe Thompson to be a member of a non-Christian faith, Dobson nevertheless "has never known Thompson to be a committed Christian—someone who talks openly about his faith."

I've had a little trouble during this past week. Last weekend while I was cleaning out our basement, I came across a burned cd "slideshow" of one of Elliot's pre-school classes. Seeing the cd reminded me of Elliot at pre-school, his pre-school graduation, etc. For some reason that stopped me in my tracks and made me extremely sentimental about my two little boys...like I want to take a 15-year break from work and spend every minute that I possibly can with these two kids.

Tonight I watched the first episode of Acceptable TV on VH1. From the Wikipedia entry:

Acceptable.TV is a television program from the makers of Channel 101, which first aired on VH1 on March 23rd, 2007. Each 30-minute episode consists of five 2.5 minute mini-shows created by the Acceptable.TV team, and one submitted by a viewer. After each episode, viewers can go online and vote for their two favorites. The two that receive the most votes will be continued in the following episode, and the remaining three will be canceled and replaced by new mini-shows.

Only one of the skits was acceptable to me, the obviously high-brow "Who Farted."

I had the unique experience this week of two different strangers telling me what I look like.

First, as I walked down the aisle in the grocery store, a lady who obviously needed some information asked me if I worked there. I said, "Nope." She said, "Well, you look like you do."

Then, at the post office I asked to buy a book of stamps. The clerk said, "You look like a flag kind of guy. Is that the kind you want?" I said, "Sure, that's fine."

Yep, that's me, your flag-stamp-loving Kroger-employee wannabe.

Last night Lisa and I celebrated her birthday with dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings and a movie. We saw Amazing Grace (2007,PG) (ScreenIt! Review). We probably would have seen something else, but there seemed to be nothing else interesting showing. The Adam Sandler movie, maybe, but it seemed to be getting tepid reviews. So, we went to see Amazing Grace. It was good...an inspiring story of a long fight for the greater good that finally won out. I also couldn't help seeing parallels with today...talk of lives wasted in a war gone bad and a tendency to allow our principles of decency to be violated in war time (tolerating slavery then...tolerating torture now).

From the Wikipedia entry:

Amazing Grace is a 2007 film directed by Michael Apted about the campaign against the slave trade in 19th century Britain, led by famous abolitionist William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the film also recounts John Newton's writing of the hymn.

I give it 4 out of 5.

Elliot had a birthday party with his friends a week ago. Here are some photos:

You folks who are giving Al Gore and other environmentalists a hard time for talking the talk but not walking the walk (as you see it) should be careful about what you ask for...you might get it. From an article of the same title by Penelope Green in the NY Times:

...Colin Beavan, 43, a writer of historical nonfiction, and Michelle Conlin, 39, a senior writer at Business Week, are four months into a yearlong lifestyle experiment they call No Impact. Its rules are evolving, as Mr. Beavan will tell you, but to date include eating only food (organically) grown within a 250-mile radius of Manhattan; (mostly) no shopping for anything except said food; producing no trash (except compost, see above); using no paper; and, most intriguingly, using no carbon-fueled transportation.

Ms. Conlin, acknowledging that she sees her husband as No Impact Man and herself as simply inside his experiment...Ms. Conlin is clearly more than just a good sport — giving up toilet paper seems a fairly profound gesture of commitment...

Don't push them, please! You don't want your neighbors giving up toilet paper, do you?!?