9-4-08

9-4-08—A new study finds that the strongest of hurricans and typhoons have become even stronger over the last two and half decades, adding grist to the contentious debate over whether global warning has already made storms more destructive. NYT A18

9-4-08--Justice Minister Rachida Dati said Wednesday that she was pregnant and that it was “fundamental” for her to have a child. Ms. Dati, 42, is single and the highest-ranking Muslim minister in the French government. She would not reveal the identity of the father, saying, “I have a complicated private life and I’m keeping it off limits to the press.” Ms. Dati had an arranged marriage in her youth that was annulled. More than half of all births in France are outside of marriage. NYT A10

9-4-08—At the Petnecostal church where Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin worshipped for more than two decades, congregants speak in tongues, and are part of a faith that believes that humanity is in its “end times”—the days preceding a world-wide cataclysm bringing Christian redemption and the second coming of Jesus. –WSJ A6