Emily Nordling has never met a Muslim, at least not to her knowledge. But this spring, Ms. Nordling, a 19-year-old student from Fort Thomas, Ky., gave herself a new middle name on Facebook.com, mimicking her boyfriend and shocking her father.

“Emily Hussein Nordling,” her entry now reads.

With her decision, she joined a growing band of supporters of Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, who are expressing solidarity with him by informally adopting his middle name.

The result is a group of unlikely-sounding Husseins: Jewish and Catholic, Hispanic and Asian and Italian-American, from Jaime Hussein Alvarez of Washington, D.C., to Kelly Hussein Crowley of Norman, Okla., to Sarah Beth Hussein Frumkin of Chicago....

...Mr. Obama is a Christian, not a Muslim. Hussein is a family name inherited from a Kenyan father he barely knew, who was born a Muslim and died an atheist. But the name has become a political liability. Some critics on cable television talk shows dwell on it, while others, on blogs or in e-mail messages, use it to falsely assert that Mr. Obama is a Muslim or, more fantastically, a terrorist.

“I am sick of Republicans pronouncing Barack Obama’s name like it was some sort of cuss word,” Mr. Strabone wrote in a manifesto titled “We Are All Hussein” that he posted on his own blog and on dailykos.com.

So like the residents of Billings, Mont., who reacted to a series of anti-Semitic incidents in 1993 with a townwide display of menorahs in their front windows, these supporters are brandishing the name themselves....

...Mr. Obama may be more enthusiastic, judging from his response at a Chicago fund-raiser two weeks ago. When he saw that Richard Fizdale, a longtime contributor, wore “Hussein” on his name tag, Mr. Obama broke into a huge grin, Mr. Fizdale said.

“The theory was, we’re all Hussein,” Mr. Obama said to the crowd later, explaining Mr. Fizdale’s gesture....

I looked at a mountain of pics from Tuesday's decisive night, and kept coming back to this one.

First, I appreciate the color of Michelle's dress, reprising -- at least to me -- the '04 conclusion that America (in contrast to the hyper-polarized red state/blue state dichotomy perpetuated by the media) is actually a lot more purple.

I also appreciate Michelle's proud, private, knowing, understated, intimate and unselfconscious expression, as well as the lack of tension in each partner's body. Observing them these many months, it is evident to me that the Obamas' ability to remain so relaxed is a natural expression of confidence.

Mostly though, I tried (fruitlessly) to imagine John and Cindy or Bill and Hillary celebrating the impending nomination with a fist bump, illuminating the fact that, as much as anything, the gesture -- just like this outcome -- is truly a generational thing.

Britain's oldest bride weds

HORNSEA, England, April 30 (UPI) -- A 94-year-old woman has become Britain's oldest bride at a ceremony in Hornsea, England.

Bess Atkins, 94, wed Winston Barraclough, 86, at St. Nicholas Church, the same location as her first wedding in 1939, The Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

Atkins said Barraclough proposed in January on New Year's Day.

"I thought it was some medical problem and feared the worst," she said. "He said: 'Will you be my wife please. I would love to marry you.' I was totally shocked but I said yes, that would be lovely."

The couple said they met three years ago while Barraclough was volunteering as a driver for a local hospital. Atkins said Barraclough picked her up and stopped to buy her a box of chocolates during the 30-minute drive.

Atkins' first husband, Charles, died in 1968. Barraclough's first wife, Alma, died five years ago. Neither marriage resulted in any children.

"It was lovely to be married in the same church. When I walked up the aisle it brought back a lot of happy memories," Atkins said.

jedicreeper

piglet05

...May ministers of grace defend us!
Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd?
Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell?
Be thy intents wicked or charitable?
Thou com'st in such a questionable shape.
A cyber-shade, by human mother loved,
Until thy brain was from its bony cup
Untimely ripped? [Scans with sonic screwdriver.
I see it is not so.

A gassy Gelth, a windy wanton wraith? [Sniffs
Not likely without calorific airs,
Nor yet sustaining suppurating flesh.
Perchance a hologram? En-bodied light
Doth dazzle blind the credent Danish eye
With smuggled tech from two millennia hence.
The projector of this apparition's shape
Must hidden lie not five and two score paces
From this not-so-haunting haunter. [More sonic screwdriver.