Suspect who dropped wallet at robbery arrested

One for the "Criminals are Stupid" file... The story doesn't say how much money the guy had in his wallet; I assume he at least made a profit on the holdup.

Lay sold $70 million of firm’s stock

That's a little incomplete; he sold $70 million back to the company, and about $30 million on the market. Supposedly, this was to repay loans. Where can I get one of them $100,000,000 loans, huh? What reason could he possibly have had to borrow that much money? Really, I want to know.

Center keeping Wehrner von Braun papers
Outcry leads to historic documents withdrawn as AmSouth collateral

Personally, I wouldn't want anything that Nazi bastard touched in my house. But up in Huntsville they think he was some kind of hero. They even named the civic center after him, even though it (presumably) was built without the use of slave labor.

At Funeral, Karzai Vows to End 'Oppression of the Gun'

Does the NRA know about this?!?

Karzai appears to be doing his best, but the odds are greatly against him. And there's just so much that the US and UN can do; in the end, he can only succeed if he gets the Afghan people on his side. Seeing how he doesn't even have everyone in his own government on his side...

Japan praises Bush's anti-pollution plan

They're still asking for acceptance of Kyoto, but that won't happen under Bush, or any Republican; every little bit helps.

I doubt that the President's proposal will be as strong as I'd want, but it's actually close to what this environmentalist would like. In the USA, at any rate, any emission reductions would be "voluntary" to some degree. Either you get credits for not polluting, or you get fines for polluting; we're not likely to shut anyone down for it. My preference would actually be along the same lines as the Bush proposal, to use economic measures -- tax credits, in this instance -- for companies that voluntarily reduce emissions.

What Is Warm and Fuzzy Forever? With Cloning, Kitty

Oooh, kitties!

The Humane Society and related groups seem to have some sort of problem with this, as if people are going to rush out and start cloning pets. That's silly, at least in the short-term; it would cost a ridiculous amount to do and even if it becomes practical will probably be restricted to people of the same type as the guy who funded this project -- crazy rich people. When the price comes down, it'll still be restricted to crazy people. The lady with 44 cats will become the lady with 44 identical cats.

The New York Times on the Web

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That is all I get when I try to access the NYT front page. I know it's partly my connection, but mostly it's the ridiculous NYT site...

Powell Urges Condom Use (washingtonpost.com)

Colin, are you sure you're a Republican? I mean, you don't have to be a Democrat -- you can be an Independent, or a Libertarian, or join the Natural "Maharishi" Law Party, whatever.

Study Links 8 Hours' Sleep to Shorter Life Span (washingtonpost.com)

What about those of us who get six hours during the week and try to make it up over the weekend? I can make it on five or six hours a night, but I get cranky and headachy.

FTC Says Psychic Hot Line Is Fraud (washingtonpost.com)

In other news, the sky is up.

They want to shut down Ms. Cleo, but only because the company has been accused of fraudulent billing practices, not because the entire idea is stupid and an obvious con, or because there's no such thing as psychic powers. They don't want to make that judgment.

7 Hartsfield employees lose security clearance
More than 10% of city airport workers have criminal records

So, in "the world's busiest airport" (they're very proud of that, for some reason) 43 of 372 employees have criminal records. Fun!

You know, that might not be such a bad idea. Why not have security screeners with criminal records? You're supposed to set a thief to catch a thief, right?

U.S. Avoids Confronting Syrians on Iraqi Oil (washingtonpost.com)

I don't have any problem with the "Axis of Evil" concept; those three countries are all pretty much evil. But how are they any worse than the Syrians? Syria supports terror, especially in Palestine. And remember this little number?

But I understand. We can't fight everyone. Not all at once, anyway. But it's hard to claim that you're out to extinguish evil when at the same time you're cozying up to it.

Milosevic begins defense against chilling evidence of Balkan atrocities

Slobo's not stupid, and he knows the new reflex of dictators -- it was a fight against terrorism!

Country great Waylon Jennings dead at 64

Ah, hell... It's not a surprise, really, since he was known to be ailing, but still it comes as a shock to the system.

Independent Argument
Rupert Cornwell: Today sees the start of a new system of international justice

I was struck by something in this editorial on the Milosevic War Crimes Trial. Here it is:

Vladimir Putin will never be prosecuted for Chechnya, nor the United States for its misdeeds in Central America, nor even Ariel Sharon for Sabra and Shatila.

In other words... Vladimir Putin is solely responsible for Chechnya, and Ariel Sharon (who wasn't even directly involved, if I remember correctly) for Sabra. But the entire United States of America is responsible for its "misdeeds" in Central America. (I'd guess he's talking Nicaragua and El Salvador.)

(Link from Slate's "International Papers".

Looking Anew at Nuclear Power for Space Travel

NUKES IN SPACE!

Let me just point out, first, that the Huntsville (AL) Times scooped the New York (NY) Times on this, by a couple of weeks.

If you have nuclear power, you're going to use it. And where better than in space? It's not like space isn't saturated with radiation anyway, or like there's anything up there that will be hurt.

The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, a group based in Florida, said it remained opposed to any nuclear systems in space and speculated that any new technology developed might be applied to military uses.

Find me a technology that doesn't have a military application... My guess is that they're the sort of people who are against any new technology anyway. But this isn't a weapons system, and (I assume) won't use weapons-grade nuclear material. People get so worked up about anything using the words "nuclear" that they don't think things through.

Turkey Will Not 'Tolerate' Unilateral U.S. Action Against Iraq

We probably can't attack Iraq without Turkey, even if we're allowed to use Kuwait. Not only do we need Turkish airfields and airspace, Turkey has provided a lot of "cover" for us in this campaign, helping us claim we're not "anti-Muslim".

I have a great amount of sympathy for the Turkish position here. They're terrified of an independent Kurdish state, and it's likely that would be one result of Saddam's overthrow. Iraq's more powerful neighbors -- Turkey, Iran, Syria, and the Saudis -- are all perfectly happy with the current situation. Saddam is crippled and can't project force outside his own territory, but is strong enough inside Iraq to at least keep the country together. That being said... I think we'll try our hardest to talk the Turks around, and we'll probably succeed.

projo.com/news

More on Ted Turner's latest episode.

OLYMPIC CURLING UPDATE

"American curlers opened the Olympic tournament with a 10-5 upset of world champion Sweden on Monday thanks to a difficult shot by skip Tim Somerville."

Skip?

Anyway, I now know that I could be an Olympic athlete. I may already be -- look at this guy, he's pretty much me.

Turner says Sept. 11 was act of desperation

The Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Media mogul Ted Turner says the Sept. 11 attacks were an act of desperation, and the hijackers were "brave" but probably "a little nuts."
Turner, in a lecture at Brown University, also compared President Bush to Julius Caesar.

Thanks, Ted. Now go make some buffalo burgers.

You know, I think Ted identifies with the terrorists. "Brave, but a little nuts," probably comes pretty close to Turner's self-image. I think he probably thinks that one can't be brave and sane at the same time.

He said the attacks were an act of desperation, and that Americans lack an understanding of a willingness to die for one's country.

You know, except for the people on Flight 93, or the soldiers fighting in central Asia right now, or any number of police officers and firemen... Man, what a stupid comment.

CNN.com - Iridium satellites launch after false starts - February 11, 2002

I thought Iridium was out of business.

CNN.com - Woman declared dead Saturday dies Monday - February 11, 2002

"We really mean it this time. She'd definitely dead. No two ways about it."

For Outsiders, Worship Is Risk in Saudi Arabia

At a secret location every Sunday evening, a young Catholic priest does a dangerous thing. He says Mass.
He arrives in street clothes and retrieves his vestments, liturgies, hymnals, Bibles, crucifix and chalice from a locked cupboard. Discretion is crucial, he says, because the Mutawwain, the street-patrolling morality police employed by the kingdom, has threatened to hunt him down.

Excuse me, Mr. President, but if "evil" means anything, doesn't it apply to a country where this goes on? Where apostasy is punishable by death? Where the Cross and the Star of David cannot be shown? I'm sorry, but this has been bothering me...

Anyway, the anti-Saudi trend of the press continues. The House of Saud are not our friends; eventually the US Government will have to acknowledge that.

U.S. Widens Global Crossing Inquiry

The federal investigation of the accounting practices of Global Crossing, the troubled communications company, expanded yesterday into an inquiry on a type of financial transaction also used by Enron and many other companies.

Here we go again... It looks like GC, like Enron, was using bogus accounting methods to boost reported revenue. And their accounting firm, of course, was Arthur Andersen.

Let's face it, this isn't EnronGate, it's AndersenGate.

'Rings' Leads Oscar Nominations (washingtonpost.com)

Thirteen nominations!

To be honest, when I first heard that they were doing a live-action LotR movie series, I just hoped it wouldn't suck. Then I saw it, and it was so good. And now, this.

Corporate raider Victor Posner dies

What kind of sorry corporate raider buys RC Cola and Arby's? I mean, you're really scraping the bottom of the barrel there.

CNN.com - Scalia opines on Oregon assisted suicide law - February 11, 2002

In a speech at Lewis & Clark Law College, Scalia said Oregonians should decide democratically whether ill residents have the right to take their own lives. He said the law shouldn't be the subject of a constitutional battle because it was not based on federal law.

"Unless it's an election and the Republican is in danger of losing," he didn't add.

Actually, as Jon Stewart would put it, I can't believe I agree with Antonin Scalia! Of course this doesn't have anything to do with federal law, and that Injustice Minister Ashcroft is getting involved in this sort of thing is a bigger scandal than Enron. (I thought these guys were Federalists!) Here's another good one from Nino:

"Conservatives are just as willing to distort the Constitution as liberals are," he said. "I say a pox on both their houses."

My sister, the Communist Trial Lawyer, went to Lewis & Clark Law School, because of its environmental law program, as a lot of their students do. Those students weren't too happy to see Scalia.

Lewis & Clark's most famous alumna is, of course, Monica Lewinsky.

CNN.com - U.S. finds 'forensic evidence' at airstrike site - February 11, 2002

Presumably, they can use this to identify Osama's remains, if he was one of those killed in the airstrike. We don't have anything of his, but could get DNA from his relatives.

For some reason, I like the idea of Osama being killed by a robot.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia death cases rife with errors, critics say

Confession time... The whole death penalty debate? I don't much care. I don't think it makes much difference in crime rates. I don't know what's worse, life in prison or execution. There are a few guys I'd like to see hanging from a rope (Osama, of course; Eric Rudolph; Ted Kascinski maybe) but I wouldn't be broken up about it if they wound up spending a few decades in jail instead. (Of course, Osama in jail is probably too dangerous and he'd have to die to protect American citizens.)

What does concern me -- a little, I'm not broken up about it -- is the way that the death penalty is applied. The study reported here takes up my concerns: the racial bias in death penalty decisions, the use of the ultimate punishment when it probably isn't justified, and the cheapness of the states, which (in particular) leads to incompetent counsel for indigent defendants.

What bugs me more than anything else is the way in which my particular state has chosen to put people to death. Alabama, like Florida but unlike its other neighbors, has chosen to stick with the electric chair. The chair should be considered cruel and unusual punishment; there's no question but that we only use it because it's painful, since it's more expensive, harder to maintain, and less reliable than lethal injection.

In Ohio School Hearing, a New Theory Will Seek a Place Alongside Evolution

Theory (n): a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena.

Intelligent design (n): the same old establishment of religion in a new package.

It's a big pile of crap, that's what it is. And I'm sick and tired of the religious right trying to foist God on everybody.

Key Venezuelan Dissenter Surrenders

He was an army officer and has reported to his superiors; the odds are he won't live to see next week. Things are bad in Venezuela and are only going to get worse; the biggest difference between it and Argentina is that the Argentine authorities were still answerable to the people. Right now, a military coup is the best that we can hope for.

U.S.: Iran Making Headway on Nukes

Great, just great... The Iranians probably know how to build an atomic bomb already; it's supposedly not all that difficult. Getting the materials has been the bottleneck, and the CIA says that they're only few years away from refining enough material to build one.

Of course, this is the CIA we're talking about here; their track record isn't all that good. And they're also saying that Iran and North Korea could have ICBM capability by 2015, which I doubt; I think they're just trying to prop up missile defense. They also mentioned Iraq as an ICBM possibility. Now, where have I heard those three names together before...

Released Afghans Tell of Beatings

If it is true that American soldiers beat prisoners (I have my doubts) it doesn't matter if the prisoners were taken mistakenly or no. The soldiers should be court-martialed. I realize things happen in war, and if the prisoners were injured during capture I might understand. But if the story these people tell is accurate, our soldiers were acting illegally and need to be punished.

Ex-Chief of Enron Will Not Testify Before Congress

Kenny-Boy took the fifth. Which -- in the real world, if not legally -- amounts to an admission that somebody was doing something illegal. Thanks, I was wondering about that.

Poultry Industry Quietly Cuts Back on Antibiotic Use

I link to this story because it touches on something that's been disturbing me, the growing number of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. It's a potential public-health nightmare, and the poultry industry was hastening it along by feeding antibiotics to chickens.