global warming

Lesbians asking about same-sex marriage. Two unrelated parents with sons in Iraq asking about the war. And a snowman asking about global warming? Video questions submitted to the hip Web site YouTube shook up the usual campaign debate Monday night in Charleston, S.C. The questions, most of them coming from young people, were blunt and earnest, yet sometimes bizarre.

Talk about a civics lesson: A high school senior has raised questions about political bias in a popular textbook on U.S. government, and legal scholars and top scientists say the teen's criticism is well-founded. They say American Government, by conservatives James Wilson and John Dilulio, presents a skewed view of topics from global warming to separation of church and state to gay rights. The publisher now says it will review the book, as will the College Board, which oversees college-level Advanced Placement courses used in high schools. Student Matthew LaClair of Kearny, N.J., recently brought his concerns to the attention of the Center for Inquiry, an Amherst, N.Y., think tank that promotes science and which has issued a scathing report about the textbook.