THE TENSION: The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 25 Oct.

The Decline and Fall of Western Civ.: Barbarians are Crashing the Gates

Between Google's Blogspot host servers hosing up whenever I wanted to post . . . and battling with Internet Explorer 7's annoying quirks, I was able to compile the collection of stories offered below:

With a combative and negative pre-election press running emotional stories about the Iraq war daily, President Bush conceded Wednesday that the United States is taking heavy casualties in Iraq and said, "I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation" there, reports AP.

Bush said that as those fighting American and Iraqi forces change their strategies, the United States is also adjusting its military tactics.

"There has been heavy fighting, many enemy fighters have been killed or captured and we've suffered casualties of our own," he said. "This month we've lost 93 American service members in Iraq, the most since October of 2005. During roughly the same period, more than 300 Iraqi security personnel have given their lives in battle. Iraqi civilians have suffered unspeakable violence at the hands of the terrorists, insurgents, illegal militias, armed groups and criminals."

AP reports U.S. and Iraqi forces raided the stronghold of a Shiite militia led by a radical anti-American cleric in search of a death squad leader in an operation disavowed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

New Jersey's Supreme Court opened the door to gay marriage Wednesday, ruling that homosexuals are entitled to the same rights as heterosexuals, but leaving it to lawmakers to legalize same-sex unions, according to AP. The high court gave lawmakers 180 days to rewrite marriage laws to either include same-sex couples or create a new system of civil unions for them.

The Seattle Times reports environmental policy took center stage in this year's congressional races on Tuesday, with candidates for U.S. Senate holding dueling news conferences across the state and former Vice President Al Gore expressing incredulity at Republican Rep. Dave Reichert's views on global warming. It's important to note that scientists who study the environment are not at all in agreement about global warming.

Speaking of the environment, hybrid cars are all the rage in Hollywood. Celebrities drive them like they're a badge of honor. You save a few gallons of gas, you save the planet. Right? Well, not when you hop on a private jet and burn enough fuel to propel NASCAR through 2050, reports TMZ.

Of course, the stars need to go here and there. The location shoots, the fabulous vacations, etc. But that's why God created United Airlines. G-IV's, on the other hand, were created in the image of precious celebs. Check out the list. Maybe the stars who claim they are green are really talking about their envy.

About that envy thing, envy this: transgender men are free to legally use women's rest rooms in New York's transit system under an unprecedented deal revealed yesterday, reports the Daily News.

LiveScience reports a researcher has come up with some simple math that sucks the life out of the vampire myth, proving that these highly popular creatures can't exist.

University of Central Florida physics professor Costas Efthimiou's work debunks pseudoscientific ideas, such as vampires and zombies, in an attempt to enhance public literacy. Not only does the public believe in such topics, but the percentages are at dangerously high level, Efthimiou told LiveScience.

What this story proves to me is that Florida has a lot of cash to throw at their state university system, even without state income taxes. Keep that in mind on your next trip to Disney World.

A new generation of ultra-powerful radio telescopes designed to peer into the origins of the Universe could reportedly also be used to look for any radio or TV emissions by extraterrestrial civilisations, according to AFP.