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The State Department on Tuesday expressed concerns over the makeup of the new interim Afghan government announced by the Taliban, including the lack of female leaders and the past actions of some of those appointed to top posts. A State Department spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Hill that although the Taliban “has presented this as a caretaker cabinet,” the U.S. “will judge the Taliban by its actions, not words.” “We have made clear our expectation that the Afghan people deserve an inclusive government,” the spokesperson added. The Taliban are going to transform Afghanistan into a Muslim caliphate...

Click the source link to see the article (and a link to a larger version) of this picture: Here's a ground-level view of a portion, looking a lot like a vegetated version of the Goosenecks of Utah (click for full-size):

Grand Canyon Gorge Is 9 Times Older Than Thought Hope Hamashige for National Geographic NewsApril 9, 2008 New research on the Grand Canyon challenges the long-held belief that the canyon was carved by the mighty Colorado River about six million years ago. Parts of the canyon were formed more than 50 million years earlier than previously thought, according to the new study. The newfound evidence, which will be presented in the May issue of the Geological Society of America Bulletin, shows that part of the canyon known as Upper Granite Gorge formed more than 55 million years ago. The history...

Found this in the "waterfall" theme -- and only after taking a look at a few pictures did I realize this is another in my thematic category of waterfalls associated with columnar basalt! This place is almost beyond category in terms of geologic beauty. There are other pictures of the place on the Web; search with "Takachiho Gorge". Three views below. Note bridge at top for scale. And the rowboats, of course.

Two Western Pennsylvania men will belly up to the World Series of eating today. They will try to become the best of the wurst in the dog-eat-dog world of competitive eating, wolfing down wieners at Coney Island in Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. Brian Subich, of Johnstown, Cambria County, and Chip Simpson, 24, of Harrisville, Butler County, are two of 16 contestants who qualified to compete in the contest that's been won the past five years by a 5-foot-7, 150-pound Japanese man, Takeru Kobayashi. He once put down 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. The contest, which has...

Palace of Darius the Great Discovered in Bolaghi Gorge Discovery of remains of a gigantic palace in Bolaghi Gorge and its similarity to the constructions of the time of Darius I, Achaemenid King, in Persepolis show that it was built during the same period of time. Tehran, 15 May 2006 (CHN) -- Iran-French joint archeology team at Bolaghi Gorge succeeded in discovering and identifying the remains of a gigantic palace, believed to be from the Achaemenid era (648 BC–330 BC), during their second season of excavations in the area. “Before the start of this season of excavations, our geophysical tests...

A bit foggy on ideas this week, I decided to see what the first picture was if I Googled for images on the word "chasm". Though this is not the first picture that was found, it is the first place that was found, and it's called "The Chasm" in Milford Sound, New Zealand. Now here's a mini-challenge: where's your favorite chasm*? It has to actually be (officially) named "chasm" -- gorges, canyons, and gulches don't count. (I did a bit more Googling, and found a mind-blowing... well, have fun.) *and no chasmas from Mars, either

CORBETT -- David Annus didn't think twice about size when he decided to build a two-story house in his Columbia River Gorge hometown. After living in a tiny place on his parents' property with his wife and two children, he knew he wanted some breathing room when he designed a home more than eight times bigger at 5,700 square feet, including an attached three-car garage. Looking around the neighborhood, the scale blended right in with the other homes. "It's a four-bedroom house, but I don't think you could make a case for it being a McMansion," he said. But size...