+The Nightowl Newswrap - a roundup of news you might have missed

Boeing might opt out of tanker bid James McInerny, CEO of Boeing, told a top Pentagon official in a face-to-face meeting that the company may opt out of the process unless they granted an extra four months to prepare the bid.

Liberalism on the Ascent Support for traditionally liberal positions on the issues is up significantly, not only among Democrats, but among independents and republicans as well.

It's about damned time! The lackeys in the traditional media asre (finally!) starting to hit McCain for his constant attempts to deflect criticism by invoking his
status as a former POW. "It does seem like they're flirting with Giuliani/9-11 territory here," wrote Ben Smith of Politico, "in which a subject that seems utterly immune to humor, used as a first resort, suddenly becomes a running joke among your political enemies and your late night comic friends."

I have long said that if there is a God, and if any creature was made in his image, it is not humans, but dogs and this just bolsters that opinion. In Argentina (it's winter down there right now, you know) a 14-year-old girl gave birth outside and abandoned the baby girl, but she did not perish. Instead, she was rescued a few hours later by a farmer who found the baby with a mother dog and her puppies who were huddled around the babe to keep her warm. The farmer called police and the baby was taken to a hospital where she is in good condition with the only physical manifestations of her ordeal being a few bruises.


So let me get this straight...Hans Von Spakovsky, one of the Justice Department officials who was forced out when his exceptional work in voter suppression was revealed...has been appointed to the Federal Election Commission. We are officially on the other side of the looking glass.

Lindsey's back from Georgia, and he wants action! Too bad for him that we are pinned down in the quagmire in Iraq and couldn't do anything even if it would be the right thing to do (and we are not saying one way or the other).

Our Fourth Amendment rights aren't enough - the FBI wants even broader powers A new totalitarian scheme cooked up by the Justice Department to expand the powers of the FBI would allow agents to open criminal and terrorism related investigations on individuals without so much as suspicion of wrong doing. No worries. We know that the FBI would never abuse their powers. Oh wait...

Violence claims eight in Kashmir as police and separatists clash. Five separatist fighters, two Indian soldiers and a Colonel in the Indian Army were killed in the Machil sector of the Line of Control in Indian-administered Kashmir on Friday, according to reports from the Indian Defense Ministry.

Bacterial pathogens and division of labor Researchers have discovered the mechanism by which random molecular processes during cell division allow some cells to engage in a self-destructive act to generate a greater common good, thereby improving the situation of the surviving siblings. Apparently, the Salmonella bacterium has a better sense of ethics than any Freeper or Corner dweller.

$25 Billion wasn't enough The "big three" are asking for more federal assistance as they try to cram thirty years of infrastructure development and research into six weeks as market forces catch up to our greedy wasteful asses and consumers suddenly demand smaller, more efficient cars. The carmakers, each of which has lost billions of dollars in the last several years, say the loans would allow them to overhaul their plants more quickly than they can otherwise afford to.