TODAY'S ACT IN THE CHICAGO SCANDALS VAUDEVILLE...is given the full and devastating attention of John Kass in this column from today's Chicago Tribune. Tonight on Extension 720, three expert observers of our town's unraveling dishonor will examine the still developing revelations and will attempt to answer the ultimate question: How high does it go?
More information on tonight's show is available at our program guide. You can listen to the show from 9 to 11 p.m. central time here.

THE THREAT OF SHARIYA IN PALESTINE...lurks in the background as the secular, post-intifada state begins to emerge. This story from Ha'aretz points up divisions between Palestinian intellectuals and artists and the "Talibanites."

A BRITAIN-HATING MUSLIM BRIT SPEAKS...to a sensitive interviewer from Prospect magazine who thinks that his subject is representative of a large portion of Pakistani-British youth.

A BROUHAHA AT MSNBC...broke out on camera yesterday but despite that (or because of that) we learn some interesting things here about the "sophisticated" Islamic hard line from one of its British spokesmen, Azzam Tamimi.

THE STATELY MARCH OF HILLARY CLINTON TOWARD THE CENTER...went a few steps forward at the Columbus meeting of the Democratic Leadership Council. Carl Leubsdorf, Washington Bureau Chief for the Dallas Morning News provides the full details.

THE PERPETRATORS OF THE HOLOCAUST...still defy easy comprehension though, by now, they have been studied by three generations of historians. Members of that newest generation have contributed to an anthology that is reviewed here with commendation and ferocity.

BEETHOVEN RULES! At least when it comes to the free downloads available at the BBC. Among others that he beats are Bono and Paul McCartney as demonstrated by the data reported here in the U.K. Guardian.

NO ONE EVER DID IT BETTER THAN THE MILLS BROTHERS: The "it" being vocal jazz quartet singing in perfect close harmony. Here they are doing five of their classic tunes.

THE TERRORIST POTENTIAL IN BRITAIN...is disturbingly high as demonstrated here by Dan Pipes as he reviews some devastating new opinion surveys reporting on how U.K. Muslims view the bombings and their lives in the "decadent west."

NOMINATING JOHN ROBERTS AND OUTFOXING THE BBC: The Beeb's man in Washington got flummoxed by the diversionary attention given to two female judges...and that seems to be his main complaint about Mr. Justice (to be) Roberts.

SITUATION NORMAL IN ILLINOIS: THE POLITICAL INDICTMENTS OF THE WEEK!! For those readers beyond our home-base state, the Illinois Leader is always on the corruption case...and there's always plenty to keep them eternally attentive.

AND SPEAKING OF CORRUPTION...Novosti is doing for Russia what the Illinois Leader is doing for Springfield and Chicago. And one must grudgingly concede that, for now, the Russkis are in the lead.

THE COMING HUNGARIAN PRESIDENT OF FRANCE...is Nicolas Sarkozy. Or, so one hopes after reading articles--and there have been quite a few--like this one from the current issue of Foreign Policy.

SEX AND VIOLENCE AND HILLARY AND JOHN: An Orlando Sentinel columnist examines the positioning on (and in) soft porn of two leading presidential contenders. Has it come to this?

ARE CATHOLICISM AND EVOLUTIONARY THEORY COMPATIBLE? Pope John Paul II said they were. Now, a ranking cardinal in Vienna (who is also closely connected to the new pope) says "aber nichtwahr." This article from Der Spiegel suggests a revisionary struggle to come.

WHAT'S SO GOOD ABOUT HIGH INTELLIGENCE? The question sounds naive but is artfully asked and intelligently pursued in this article by the editor of the Wilson Quarterly.

THE LATEST ANTI-SPAM PROGRAM...is described here at New Scientist. Is there any reason to think that it will work more effectively than all the other recent failures? Opinion on this matter would be welcome here as commentary.

PRAYING FOR HEART PATIENTS: Does it produce any positive effect? Despite claims based on an earlier study (which, according to this critique, were unjustified by the data) a new study has now been reported. Apparently, the results are even more unimpressive...but, say the skeptics, the quest for proof of the medical value of intercessionary prayer will continue because the hypothesis is "unfalsifiable."

WHAT WERE THE CRUSADES REALLY ABOUT? The question is of more than mere academic or historiographic interest at a time when the Jihadists label the West as "Crusaders." Some important new books bearing upon the real sources and purposes of the Crusades are reviewed here in a fine essay from First Things.

HOW FREE IS "SPEECH" AT THIS NEW JERSEY CENTER OF HIGHER LEARNING? No, its not Princeton or Rutgers. It's William Paterson University!! And their administrators ought to be ashamed of themselves and/or subjected to a corrective course in "diversity of opinion." This latest bit of pc idiocy is reported in a somewhat infuriating item from Erin O'Connor's great academic blog, Critical Mass.

FIRING THODORE DALRYMPLE...would have to be one of the most stupid things that an editor could do. And--as does now appear--that is just what the new editor of U.K. Telegraph has done. Here is Dalrymple's meditation on the matter, written with his usual easy eloquence and with, as well, some confessed (and quite justifiable!) resentment.

THE SOLO CONTRABASS: A large "classical" literature for the base fiddle is available for the playing. Here, various students in the Berlin doublebass class of Professor Michael B. Wolf are heard in pleasing--sometimes rather astonishing--performance.