News for August 8

Revisiting Race and Religion | Get Religion

     Yesterday we looked at that Pew report which criticized the mainstream media’s coverage of Obama’s speech on race and religion. The report claimed that the media got the race angle at the expense of the religion angle.

Perception of Pollution | Daily Kos

Four members of the US Olympic cycling team arrived in China, wearing face masks issued by the US Olympic Committee to protect against the city’s oppressive pollution. Given their dependence on healthy lungs, it seems only logical they would protect themselves.  But it offended the Chinese.

Bin Laden Driver Sentenced to a Short Term | NY times

Rejecting a prosecution request for a severe sentence, a panel of military officers sentenced the convicted former driver for Osama bin Laden to five and a half years in prison on Thursday. The sentence means that the first detainee convicted after a war crimes trial here could complete his punishment by the end of this year.

McCain Ad: Celebrity Obama Will Take Away Your Life Savings | Huffington Post

The McCain campaign’s focus on the candidate’s merits instead of his opponent’s shortcomings seems to be over.  Let the mudslinging continue:

The McCain camp released a harsh new ad Friday that, playing off of the idea that Obama is an out-of-touch celebrity, suggests — through the very cadence of the narrator — that the Illinois Democrat will tax away the life savings of senior citizens.