* Charles B. Rangel, a Democratic Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, gave up his prominent position as chairman of the House Ways and Means (tax-writing) Committee amid a swirl of allegations of unethical behavior, including that he accepted corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean and neglected to pay federal taxes on rental income he received from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. Rangel had a troubled childhood in Harlem, received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star after serving in the Army during the Korean War -- where he led a group of soldiers out of an encirclement by the Chinese Army at the Battle of Kunu-ri, graduated from college then law school, and was one of Harlem's "Gang of Four" powerful black politicians in New York City. Rangel was the first black chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
* A bill has been introduced in the Kentucky state legislature that would add global warming to evolution and other scientific concepts that some religious conservatives find objectionable subjects to be taught at school -- the bill encourages teachers to discuss the "advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories," including "evolution, the origins of life, global warming and human cloning." Similar -- and more aggressive -- laws are already in effect in some states. Louisiana's state legislature passed a law in 2008 that the state board of education may assist teachers in "critical thinking" about these topics, and last year the Texas Board of Education began requiring teachers to present "all sides of the evidence on evolution." (The New York Times)
* The American Family Association, a far-right religious organization, has called for Tillikum ("Tilly"), a Sea World whale that killed a trainer, to be stoned to death, in accordance with the Bible. The organization has also cited a portion of the Bible to put pressure on Sea World's curator in charge of animal behavior, Chuck Thompson: "But, the Scripture soberly warns, if one of your animals kills a second time because you didn't kill it after it claimed its first human victim, this time you die right along with your animal. To use the example from Exodus, if your ox kills a second time, 'the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death.'"
* DJ Ruth Flowers is a 69-year-old deejay who's currently rocking the Paris nightclub scene. The British granny describes going to her grandson's birthday party, which she described as a "disco": "I went along quite late and the gentleman at the door said, 'I don't think you want to go in there, Madame.' And I said, 'Well I rather think I do.' I went in and it was very noisy and the lights were flashing, but there was an awful lot of energy and joy."
* A 67 million-year-old fossil was discovered that crystallized a scene in which a baby dinosaur had hatched in front of an 11-foot snake waiting to devour it. Both animals were killed in an avalanche of mud or sand that preserved the scene until its recent discovery in India.