Joshua Rosenau spends his days defending the teaching of evolution at 
The best of Kansas blogging returns this week to Thoughts from Kansas.
We didn't get a lot of submissions this week, so I've picked some on my own.
From Blog Meridian, we get a close reading of Hopper's Conference at Night. I've been a big fan of Hopper since I designed a set for Inge's Bus Stop to look like it was painted by Hopper. John captures the mystery of Hopper's figures; while you can tell a story about them, they will never tell you if you are right.
At In This Moment, Nancy points out that Congress has the power to stop Bush's troop escalation:
New Kansas Rep. Nancy Boyda and a number of other members of Congress are mistaken: The Constitution does give Congress the power to stop Bush from increasing the number of troops in Iraq.Click through to find out more about what Congress can do to stop a very bad idea. For what it's worth, this Journal-World article suggests that Rep. Boyda knows Congress can do more.
Tom Hull reviews the Quagmire of the Vanities.
Blog Meridian weighs in again, this time with a fascinating discourse on film, perceptions of Kansas, and the creationists' hatred of nature. You'll have to read A Kansas troglodyte ponders the death of the movies to see how it all comes together.
A little further from home, KU astronomy student Jon Voisey, the Angry Astronomer, gives us One more reason to love Google. It isn't that we needed more, but their involvement in handling data for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope unquestionably rocks.
Twelve Two Two Fondue is written by an honorary Kansan, and his latest missive relates to adventures in physics of a different sort.
My contribution is a story about dirt, and how it moves between continents.
The Unholy Moses tells Steve Kraske why the crime rate in Kansas City actually does merit some media attention.
Kansas RINO points us to a profile of Sam Brownback's Chief of Staff/Presidential campaign chair. The Anti-Sam passes along an invitation from Brownback.
J.D. asks some timely questions about what items you can conceal and carry.
Red State Rabble reminds us that Evolution Sunday is approaching again.
Nitpicker looks over what we've wrought in Iraq: capitalism's terrarium.
Finally, Rereason gives us a great resolution for the New Year: I resolve to work to deserve the best leadership.
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