If
I owned a newspaper, this is what you'd see in it. These are news item of which you
probably haven't heard, if you get all your information from television.
Some of these stories have appeared in the "mainstream media" briefly but they
deserve additional publicity. Special attention is given to stories which
show the alarming growth rate of the federal government's size and power, and
abuses of that power, as well as especially bad ideas which are being given
undue consideration. The links will be removed when they get stale or
when they are no longer valid. As a general rule, the most recent and
the most important items are at the top of the page.
The stories that interest me the most are the ones that show blind over-reliance on
technology — especially GPS-related systems and computers in
general. There is no shortage of minimum-wage clerks who believe anything that
pops up on a computer screen. (That's
why electronic voting is a very bad idea.) But
there are apparently a lot of politicians and cops who assume that GPS tracking devices are infallible,
too.
This page is for stories that the mainstream press seems to have overlooked. On the
other hand, the stories that appear to have been intentionally squelched are
on this page.
More odd/weird news that imply little or no political controversy can be found
on this page.
Note: The material about Hurricane Katrina has
moved here.
The information and commentary about Cynthia McKinney's scrape with the Capitol police
is now located here.
Material related to the NAFTA Superhighway, which had been on this page, is now
located here.
Additional weird, unusual and humorous news can be
found here.
Lawmakers
being forced to give up gas-guzzling cars. Congress has been bearing down to do more about global
warming. But a little-noticed amendment to last year's energy bill has hit especially close to home.
It requires House members who lease vehicles through their office budgets to drive cars that emit low levels of
greenhouse gases. Among the victims: Texas Republican Joe L. Barton, who will probably have to give
up his Chevy Tahoe, despite his protests that it is made in his district. "I guarantee you my district is
not upset that I'm driving a Chevy Tahoe," he said.
Milk Prices Rise to Record
Highs. It's cheaper than oil and, barring a global mad cow crisis, we'll probably never run out
of it. But milk has one thing in common with oil: It's trading at record highs.
Baskin-Robbins co-founder dies.
Irvine Robbins, who delighted ice cream afficionados by conjuring up ever more inventive flavours as co-founder
of the Baskin-Robbins empire, has died aged 90. Mr Robbins, who started the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream chain
with late brother-in-law Burt Baskin in 1945, died on Monday at the Eisenhower Medical Centre in Rancho Mirage,
California, company officials said.
Smallest car for sale in U.S.
receives top crash scores. Unlike most cars on the road, the pint-sized 2008 Smart fortwo evokes
a simple question at first glance: "How safe is it?" The micro car, the smallest car for sale in
the U.S. market, offers a good level of safety, according to new crash tests conducted by the insurance industry.
Paul
McCartney 'horrified' as his eco car is flown 7,000 miles from Japan. The Lexus LS600H, which
costs £84,000, was a gift from Lexus to the 65-year-old former Beatle, who helped promote the hybrid
vehicle. But instead of arriving by boat as expected, the car was flown to Britain on a Korean Air
flight, creating a carbon footprint almost 100 times bigger than if it had come by sea.
Sir Isaac and the Airbus: What
the GAO is saying, in its lawyerly language, is that the facts show that the Airbus 330 cannot reach a
sufficient speed to pull away from one or more aircraft it's supposed to refuel. And if it can't,
there could be a mid-air collision.
UN says Iceland
is the best place to live, Africa the worst. Iceland has overtaken Norway as the
world's most desirable country to live in, according to an annual U.N. table published on Tuesday
[11/27/2007] that again puts AIDS-afflicted sub-Saharan African states at the bottom.
France reaffirms its faith
in future of nuclear power. It looks like an ordinary building site, but for the two massive,
rounded concrete shells looming above the ocean, like dusty mushrooms. Here on the Normandy coast,
France is building its newest nuclear reactor, the first in 10 years, costing $5.1 billion. But
already, President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that France will build another like it.
Man says 9-foot tapeworm came
from undercooked salmon salad. Anthony Franz had started to eat healthy, but the salmon salad he
ordered for lunch from Shaw's Crab House in August 2006 wasn't the best choice, according to a lawsuit filed
Monday. Franz says he became violently ill for several days after eating that salad and later "passed a
9-foot tapeworm." A pathologist determined the giant tapeworm only has one source — "undercooked
fish, such as salmon," according to court papers.
Lost cameras "phone home"
to catch thieves. Alison DeLauzon thought the snapshots and home videos of her infant son were
gone for good when she lost her digital camera while on vacation in Florida. Then a funny thing happened:
her camera "phoned home." Equipped with a special memory card with wireless Internet capability, DeLauzon's
camera had not only automatically sent her holiday pictures to her computer, but had even uploaded photos of the
miscreants who swiped her equipment bag after she accidentally left it behind at a restaurant.
Airlines Are Safer
Than Ever. Flights on U.S. airlines have never been more crowded — nor have they ever
been safer. The last crash of a commercial jet occurred in November 2001, although the number of flights
has increased substantially in the past six and one-half years.
Editor's note:
The last crash was that of American 587.
Argentina lays new claim
to Falklands. Argentina's claim to the Falkland Islands, which remain in British hands after a
1982 war, is "inalienable", President Cristina Kirchner says. "The sovereign claim to the Malvinas
Islands (Argentina's name for them) is inalienable," she said in a speech marking the 26th anniversary of
Argentina's ill-fated invasion of the two islands 480km offshore.
Judge Denies McDougal
Bid To Unseal Whitewater Testimony. A federal judge has denied an attempt by Whitewater figure
Susan McDougal to unseal her grand jury testimony from the case. Lawyers for McDougal, who served
18 months in jail for civil contempt for refusing to answer grand jury questions, argued the reasons for
sealing the case had "grown stale and disappeared" in the time since.
Post-9/11
Dragnet Turns Up Surprises. In the six-and-a-half years that the U.S. government has been
fingerprinting insurgents, detainees and ordinary people in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa,
hundreds have turned out to share an unexpected background, FBI and military officials said. They
have criminal arrest records in the United States.
Sonny Bono 'assassinated' by
hitmen. Sonny Bono, former husband and singing partner of superstar Cher, was clubbed to death
by hitmen on the orders of drug and weapons dealers who feared he was going to expose them, a former FBI agent
claims. Ted Gunderson, now a private investigator, has told the US Globe tabloid that Bono, who served
as mayor of Palm Springs for four years, did not die after hitting a tree on a Nevada ski slope in January
1998 as everyone believed.
Climate change will boost
farm output. Australian agricultural output will double over the next 40 years, with climate
change predicted to increase, rather than hinder, the level of production. A recent spate of reports
forecasting the decline of Australian agriculture because of climate change have greatly exaggerated, and even
completely misreported the threat of global warming, according to senior rural industry figures.
Presidential Candidates
Find 51st State Overseas. The number of Americans living overseas is commonly estimated at about
6 million — twice the population of Chicago and greater than that of 33 U.S. states. Britain is home
to about 300,000 Americans, nearly the population of Pittsburgh.
Sex and the city leads to
this. Last week it was revealed that a staggering one in four adults in New York has the virus that causes
genital herpes, with the rate climbing to a colossal one in two for African-Americans. Far more women carry the virus
than men — 36% vs. 19%. This makes New York the national capital for genital herpes, something
which will surely grace the state's licence plates in years to come.
The OPEC of Vitamin C: Most U.S. consumers are
aware that Chinese products dominate the shelves of most retail stores, but few realize the dominance extends
to vitamins and drugs. Fully 90 percent of all the vitamin C sold in America comes from the
communist trade giant. This near-monopoly control of the vitamin-C market caused the Wall Street Journal
to dub China the "OPEC of vitamin C," and like the oil cartel it has been accused of price fixing.
Plane
flies five passengers from US to London. A major airline is under fire from environmentalists for
flying an aircraft across the Atlantic with only five passengers on board. The flight from Chicago to
London meant that the plane, a Boeing 777, used 22,000 gallons of fuel.
The Editor says...
There's nothing wrong with flying a plane with only five passengers aboard. The error was
in the use of such a large jet. Was that the only available jet?
Shock
horror for would-be power cable thief. Police in central England are hunting for a badly
scorched would-be copper power cable thief after finding a hacksaw embedded in an 11,000 volt power
cable Saturday night [2/9/2008]. … Copper prices have more than doubled in the last four years
as China has gobbled up huge quantities of it, sparking a wave of copper thefts across the globe from
South Africa and the United States to Italy and Britain.
Fake fears over Ethiopia's gold.
Ethiopia's national bank has been told to inspect all the gold in its vaults to determine its authenticity.
It follows the discovery that some of the "gold" it had bought for millions of dollars was gold-plated steel.
Canon is using Iris
watermarking. While visible watermarks are common among a variety of photographers, invisible watermarks,
which are embedded in the image file, are somewhat less prevalent — but gaining ground and acceptance among
photographers.
IBM to shove
ads onto DVDs. IBM hopes to slip commercials onto your DVDs. Big Blue has asked
the US Patent Office for the exclusive rights to a "system and method of providing advertisements
during DVD playback." If this thing ever shows up in your DVD player, your discs won't be
ad-free — unless you shell out some cash for some sort of digital certificate.
The Editor says...
The only difference between that and a virus is the size of the organization that produced it.
Capital
has severe HIV epidemic, report finds. Washington, D.C., has the highest rate
of AIDS in the United States, and more babies are born with the AIDS virus in Washington than
in other U.S. cities, according to a report released on Monday [11/26/2007].
NYC traffic fees closer
to fruition. A panel in charge of solving the chronic gridlock plaguing New York City made its
final recommendations Thursday [1/31/2008], offering a scaled-back version of the original plan but still
proposing an $8 charge on cars entering the most traffic-choked parts of Manhattan.
Do
As Dems Say, Not As They Dine. According to auditors, the chain of restaurants run by the Senate
food service, including the snooty Senate Dining Room, has almost never been in the black. It's lost more
than $18 million since 1993 and dropped about $2 million this year alone. If the food service
doesn't get an emergency bridge loan of a quarter-million dollars, it won't be able to make payroll. So
how will the Senate fix the problem? Well, with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein taking the lead, the
Democrats — that's right, the Democrats — have called a classic Republican play:
Privatize it.
Titanic search was cover for
secret Cold War subs mission. The man who located the wreck of the Titanic has revealed that the discovery
was a cover story to camouflage the real mission of inspecting the wrecks of two Cold War nuclear submarines. When
Bob Ballard led a team that pinpointed the wreckage of the liner in 1985 he had already completed his main task of finding
out what happened to USS Thresher and USS Scorpion. Both of the United States Navy vessels sank during the 1960s,
killing more than 200 men and giving rise to fears that at least one of them, Scorpion, had been sunk by the USSR.
Barr
forms exploratory committee. Former Republican Rep. Bob Barr said Saturday he has formed a presidential
exploratory committee and may seek the Libertarian party nomination. … He currently runs a lobbying and public
affairs firm with offices in Atlanta and outside Washington. His clients have included the American Civil Liberties
Union and the Marijuana Policy Project, a group pushing Congress to allow medical marijuana use and to cut spending for
what it says are failed anti-drug media campaigns aimed at young people.
Barr Fight: Libertarians are not
necessarily looking for the same things as anti-McCain Republicans. Barr's 98 percent American Conservative
Union rating, pro-life voting record, and hard line on immigration might help him in the general election. But
these positions aren't necessarily assets in a party that is officially pro-choice, supports open borders, and prefers
the Nolan Chart to the left-right political spectrum.
Judge blocks Clinton deposition
over FBI files. A federal judge has rejected an effort to force Hillary Rodham Clinton to testify
in a decade-old lawsuit over White House acquisition of FBI background files. The court ruling spares
Clinton a politically sensitive deposition at a time when she is fighting to overtake Barack Obama in the
race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Jihadists'
useful idiots: Given that hard evidence is often scarce in trials of unsuccessful terrorists,
prosecutors in Miami no doubt felt fortunate to be trying defendants who participated in a ceremony pledging
allegiance to al Qaeda — and it was captured on video. … Narseal Batiste stated — on
tape — that it was for creating an "Islamic army" to wage a "full ground war" and commit an attack that
would be "as good or greater than 9/11," such as blowing up the Sears Tower. It wasn't enough. He
wasn't convicted.
Alan
Keyes Leaving Republican Party. After 20 or so years of working within the GOP to try and reform
it into a more Christian/conservative Party, Dr. Alan Keyes is leaving the Republican Party. He will
soon make this announcement and explain why he can no longer, in good conscience, remain a Republican.
Army begins using $150,000 artillery
shells in Afghanistan. Canadian army gunners in Afghanistan are now cleared to fire GPS-guided
artillery shells at Taliban militants — at the cost of $150,000 a round. The Excalibur shell
could very well be the most expensive conventional ammunition ever fired by the military. Supporters
argue that the weapon, which has the ability to correct itself in flight, has pinpoint accuracy.
Pressing Need for Blue-Collar
Labor. I am going to be politically incorrect. The fact is not everyone
should go to college. Yet we have pushed the notion that the only way to get a useful
education is to obtain a college degree. Recently I spoke with an official of the New
York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). He supervizes an important part of
the subway system. He told me there are hundreds of vacant jobs. The result is
that the infrastructure is deteriorating. … Another downside is that many people who go
to college are out of place — they simply don't belong there.
Police concerned about order to stop
weapons screening at Obama rally. Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday [2/20/2008]
stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential
candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena. The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking
purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a
lapse in security.
Big Brother is a liar. Badda Bing Badda Boom. Even though
the satellite's orbit was over populated areas, the risk to humans was low according to research scientists at
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). "It certainly would seem that protecting people against
a hazardous fuel was not what this was really about," said Geoffrey Forden, a (sic) MIT researcher. Forden
and his colleagues calculated there was a 3-in-100 chance that the fuel tank would land within 100 yards
of someone and there was virtually no chance it would remain intact. So why did the president go ahead
with the estimated $40 million operation if the risk was so low? Apparently, the unspoken
advantages tipped the scales on the disadvantages.
Pastors in China Imprisoned to String
Christmas Lights. Their fingers bleed. If they don't see through their
day's quota — 5,000 bulbs, they are beaten. The next day they report to duty under
guards' eyes. They thread the fine wire through plastic frames for Christmas lights to
be strung for selling around the world. But their Christmas celebration is confined to
being imprisoned. Their crime? Preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. This
past year, 600 pastors alone were put behind Chinese bars.
Read
All About It. Papers remained quite profitable, for the most part. But as
the future began to look increasingly troubled, one publisher's stock after another got hammered,
starting around the turn of the century. Especially hard hit were publishers of
prestigious newspapers. Dow Jones stock was at less than half its high before News Corp.
made its successful bid for the Wall Street Journal publisher last spring. Times-Mirror
fell more than 50% before being acquired by Tribune Co., which in turn has fallen around 45%
from its high.
No
Safe Harbor. China's closing of its ports to the U.S. Navy is another action by a hostile power.
So why are we turning the other cheek to a dictatorship that threatens us? Apparently the phrase "any port in
a storm" does not translate well into Chinese. Two U.S. minesweepers, the USS Patriot and the USS Guardian,
found that out when they requested refuge in Hong Kong from an approaching storm and were refused by Chinese
authorities in clear violation of long-standing naval tradition.
A very mysterious foundation.
Some 3,000 scientists, including more than 100 Nobel laureates, have apparently accepted membership of a body
called the World Innovation Foundation (WIF), which claims to be a powerful world-changing network to provide
"the technological tools and miracle technologies that we shall all need to solve the world's impending global
problems". … [Robert] Huber, described as vice-president, claims that he has no recollection of joining the
organization. "I am not aware what this organization is," he says.
Proposal raises bones of contention.
Alarm is growing among anthropologists in the United States over a plan that could empty institutions of about
120,000 human skeletons currently stored for research purposes. Under a new proposal, the bones at
museums, universities and federal facilities across the nation could be given to Native American tribes now
living in the area from which the remains were excavated, even if the skeletons are not culturally
identifiable to the tribes.
None dare call it 'conspiracy'.
On Tuesday [11/6/2007], the U.S. national debt topped $9 trillion for the first time in history, according to the
U.S. Treasury Department's daily accounting of the national debt. Nine trillion dollars! The
number is so staggeringly high that it exceeds our ability to comprehend it in monetary units. Million,
billion, trillion — in financial terms, for most of us, it means a lot of money, really a lot of money, but
that is about as specific a picture as most ordinary people can grasp.
The Olympic Bible: The organizers of the 2008
Olympic Games in China have put the Bible on the list of items that athletes are banned from bringing with
them to Beijing … This would seem to undermine claims by a Chinese government official, Ye Xiaowen,
who told Reuters last month that China would accommodate the religious needs of visiting athletes.
Last pineapple cannery in the U.S. is gone.
The Ginaca machine is as Hawaiian as — well, as pineapple — maybe even more. Pineapple
was introduced, but the Ginaca was invented in Hawaii. It cores and peels pineapples with little human
labor. It made possible the Hawaii pine industry, which at one time produced 82 percent of the
world's canned pineapple.
Pilot of plane that bombed Hiroshima dies.
Paul Tibbets, who piloted the B-29 bomber Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, died
Thursday [11/1/2007]. He was 92 and insisted almost to his dying day that he had no regrets about the
mission and slept just fine at night.
On the
Death of 'Hiroshima Bomb' Pilot Paul Tibbets. A bulletin topping many news sites this afternoon
announced the passing of Paul W. Tibbets, pilot of the plane, the "Enola Gay" (named for his mother),
which dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Tibbets was 92, and defended the
bombing to the end of his life. Some of the obits noted that he had requested no funeral or headstone
for his grave, not wishing to create an opportunity for protestors to gather.
Robbery Suspect Charged With Murder After
Alleged Accomplices Killed by Homeowner. Three young black men break into a white man's home in
rural Northern California. The homeowner shoots two of them to death — but it's the surviving
black man who is charged with murder. In a case that has brought cries of racism from civil rights
groups, Renato Hughes Jr., 22, was charged by prosecutors in this overwhelmingly white county under a rarely
invoked legal doctrine that could make him responsible for the bloodshed.
Shooting of theft suspects may test self-defense
law. In a case legal experts say may "stretch the limits" of the state's self-defense laws, a Pasadena
[TX] man shot and killed two suspected burglars during a confrontation as they attempted to flee his neighbor's
property Wednesday afternoon [11/14/2007].
Battling
Ghost Calls, That Telemarketing Annoyance. The culprit behind what is becoming a common occurrence
in some households may have a less than otherworldly explanation. More often than not it is a
telemarketer — and one that complies with federal regulation. Indeed, adherence to the rules
may be one reason for the ghost calls.
Twenty
percent of Republicans vote 'present' on Ramadan resolution. Forty-one Republicans, more than
20 percent of the caucus, and one Democrat voted "present" on a resolution recognizing the commencement
of Ramadan on Tuesday. The 42 lawmakers make up more than 10 percent of the members voting on the
resolution. There were zero "no" votes, and 14 members did not vote. … Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)
said, "I voted 'present' because I read somewhere that Congress shall make no law respecting the
establishment of religion."
The Editor says...
If Congressman Pence really thought Congress was about to establish Islam as a
national religion, he should have voted "no" instead of "present".
Elian
II: The Sequel "Elian II," the sequel we hoped never to see, is what fathers'
groups are calling a Miami case that once again highlights our confusion about paternal rights
in child custody battles. This time, the dispute revolves around a 5-year-old Cuban girl,
her biological father in Cuba, her mentally unstable mother in the U.S., a passel of relatives,
therapists, guardians ad litem, activist attorneys and, finally, a wealthy, influential Cuban-American
foster family.
Headline translated from British to American English. War
Hero Dies As Paramedics Have Their Tea. An 82-year-old war hero choked to death in front of his
daughter — while a nearby ambulance crew were having their tea. Paramedics were just
500 yards from stricken Ernie Rutkiewicz. But a crew took 22 MINUTES to reach him because of a
Government rule which says crews can't be disturbed during their meal breaks.
Congress considers Concord hazardous?
NASCAR fans might seem rabid, but are they actually contagious? Getting a hepatitis shot is standard
procedure for travelers to parts of Africa and Asia, but some congressional aides were instructed to get
immunized before going to Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord and the racetrack in Talladega, Ala.
NASCAR cooties:
House Homeland Security Committee staffers are on a peculiar mission to study "public health issues at events
involving mass gatherings," which has personally insulted Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord, North Carolina. The
event: NASCAR. The rub: the requirement that the Democrat and Republican staffers attending
first be immunized against Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, tetanus, diphtheria, and influenza.
Homeland Security hires fired
MnDOT official. The Minnesota Department of Transportation emergency response director fired
following the Interstate 35W bridge collapse has been on the payroll for months at the U.S. Department of
Homeland Security. Now, she's the subject of an internal investigation. … [Sonia] Pitt, 44,
confirmed her new job to the newspaper but declined further comment. Her job title is "Transportation
Security Specialist" and she is paid $89,920 a year, TSA spokeswoman Ellen Howe said.
'USAF
struck Syrian nuclear site'. The September 6 raid over Syria was carried out by the US Air Force,
the Al-Jazeera Web site reported Friday [11/02/2007]. The Web site quoted Israeli and Arab sources as
saying that two strategic US jets armed with tactical nuclear weapons carried out an attack on a nuclear site
under construction. The sources were quoted as saying that Israeli F-15 and F-16 jets provided cover for
the US planes. The sources added that each US plane carried one tactical nuclear weapon and that the site
was hit by one bomb and was totally destroyed.
The Editor says...
The story above comes from Al-Jazeera, so there's at least a 99 percent chance that it's a pack of
lies. But just suppose that this is really true — what a story! The first hostile
use of nukes in 60 years! And I can't think of more deserving recipients.
How
Many Site Hits? Depends Who's Counting. The growth of online advertising is being stunted,
industry executives say, because nobody can get the basic visitor counts straight.
Threats
aren't confined to the war zone. Tainted toothpaste is only the latest in a series of Chinese
import disasters. As the New York Times reported last month, all 24 of the toys recalled for safety
reasons this year were made in China. Chinese exports have inspired a massive recall of pet food, a
recall of 450,000 tires, and a ban on China's farm-raised shrimp, catfish and eel, prompting this shot from
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.: "'Made in China' is rapidly becoming a warning label for American consumers."
Fire ants may have met
their match. Imported red fire ants have plagued farmers, ranchers and others for decades.
Now the reviled pests are facing a bug of their own. Researchers have pinpointed a naturally occurring
virus that kills the ants, which arrived in the U.S. in the 1930s and now cause $6 billion in damage
annually nationwide, including about $1.2 billion in Texas.
Surging
debate surrounds the use of 'smart' meters. As early as next year, some electricity customers
in western New York may be able to save money, thanks to new "smart" meters, by doing their laundry and dishes
at night or programming their air conditioner to raise the temperature in their homes if power becomes too
expensive. Advocates see the new meters as a tool that will help New Yorkers cut their utility bills,
reduce the demand for power and help the environment. But critics see a darker side to this idea.
Scientists hail 'frozen smoke'
as material that will change world. A miracle material for the 21st century could protect your
home against bomb blasts, mop up oil spillages and even help man to fly to Mars. Aerogel, one of the
world's lightest solids, can withstand a direct blast of 1kg of dynamite and protect against heat from a
blowtorch at more than 1,300C.
Drought? HOA requires grass be green.
Amid record drought and heat that have pushed cities across the state to severe water conservation measures,
residents of the Margot's Pond community outside Raleigh have been ordered by their homeowners association
to keep the grass green.
Chavez puts Venezuela's clock ahead 30 minutes.
President Hugo Chavez has announced that Venezuela's official time will be put ahead by half an hour starting
January 1, and its first-ever offshore oil rig will start pumping before the year is out.
FBI agents taped Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens
as part of corruption sting. The FBI, working with an Alaska oil contractor, secretly taped
telephone calls with Sen. Ted Stevens as part of a public corruption sting, according to people close to
the investigation. The secret recordings suggest the Justice Department was eyeing Stevens long before
June, when the Republican senator first publicly acknowledged he was under scrutiny.
Kathleen Willey Reports Stolen Manuscript,
Suspects "Clinton Operative". Kathleen Willey had planned to spend the Labor Day weekend proofing
pages of her forthcoming book, "Target: In the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton." Instead,
she says, someone broke into her Powhatan County home Friday, Aug. 31, and stole a copy of her unpublished
230-page manuscript. Her publishers are "aghast," she says. "I think it's a Clinton operative,"
Willey says. "It sounds like Watergate. It's amateurish, but I know they're not amateurs."
U.S.'s dilemma: It costs 1.7 cents to make
a penny. The U.S. penny is not what it appears to be, and some in Congress would like to see it
change further, if not disappear entirely. Because of a surge in the price of copper, the U.S. Mint
decided 25 years ago to manufacture the coins almost entirely with zinc, save for the coating on which
Abraham Lincoln's profile is engraved.
The poorest countries in the world are the ones with the worst pollution. Oxygen supplies for India police.
Police stations across the Indian city of Calcutta have been equipped with oxygen devices to enable police to
offset the effects of pollution. The extra air is for the benefit of hundreds of traffic policemen in
the city who have to brave some of the worst pollution in the world.
'Green' Means Money, Not Environmentalism to
Madonna. Madonna, who seems to be on top of all her many business endeavors, has actually
invested about $2.7 million dollars in companies that are creating the destruction that Live Earth is
trying to raise awareness about. She has invested in several companies named as the biggest corporate
polluters in the world.
Ranch exempt from 'Click
It or Ticket'. President Bush found himself in a flap Tuesday about seat-belt use, a day after a
federal agency began a campaign to encourage drivers to buckle up. Video cameras caught Bush without his
seat belt while driving a pickup on his Texas ranch last weekend, giving a tour to NATO Secretary-General Jaap
de Hoop Scheffer.
The Editor says...
Most of the reporters who cover the White House beat probably have very little experience with
wide-open ranch land. It is also possible that some of the reporters have never considered the
possibility that certain laws do not apply on private property.
Al
Gore's son busted for drugs in hybrid car. The 24-year-old son of former Vice President Al Gore
was arrested for drug possession on Wednesday after he was stopped for speeding in his hybrid Toyota Prius, a
sheriff's official said.
[So... if you stand on the gas pedal long enough a Toyota Prius will go 100 mph. That's newsworthy!]
Al Gore's Son Arrested on Drug
Suspicion. Al Gore's son was pulled over for speeding on a California freeway early Wednesday
and arrested on suspicion of possessing marijuana and prescription drugs, authorities said. Al Gore III,
24, was driving a blue Toyota Prius about 100 mph south on the San Diego Freeway when he was pulled over
by sheriff's deputies who said they smelled marijuana, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino.
The Editor says...
The Editor says...
Can you even imagine the media frenzy that would surround this story if it had been one of President
Bush's kids arrested?
Condo rule waived so
U.S. flag can wave. Although his condo complex has strict rules against decorations, Brendan
Davis figured he could put up a small American flag outside his unit door. After all, who would object
to a flag on Memorial Day? Apparently, a condominium security guard. Albert Gonzalez, a guard at
the ParkCrest Harbour Island condominiums, found the small flag stuck in a light fixture and warned, then
later fined, Davis for violating the rules.
Official caught
off-roading in preserve. In this 11-hour battle between mud and man, the mud won. It beat
Chris Sharek, the director of Venice's utilities department, whose job is to ensure that the city obeys
environmental regulations, though he apparently failed to do so himself. A judge slapped Sharek with
25 hours of community service and probation last month for off-roading through a protected wilderness
preserve with his wife and father-in-law.
Another target for terrorists... Spain and Morocco to link by tunnel.
Spain and Morocco are planning a joint effort to link their countries by undersea train tunnel, Spanish news
agency EFE reported Wednesday [3/7/2007].
Women
at Love Field 'acting suspiciously'. Dallas police and federal terrorism officials are investigating
two women, both dressed in camouflage pants under their traditional Muslim robes and scarves, who were seen
conducting what appeared to be surveillance and acting suspiciously at Dallas Love Field.
Airport
watch figure confirms terrorist tie. One of the subjects of a Dallas police intelligence bulletin,
Asma Al-Homsi, says she's known convicted terrorist Wadih el Hage and his wife for more than two decades.
Mr. el Hage, a former Arlington resident and naturalized U.S. citizen, was the personal secretary of
al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before he was sent to prison. But Ms. Al-Homsi said she still
considers him and his wife to be close friends.
Family film audience shown glimpse of horror
flick in New York. A family film audience was stunned to get an unintended glimpse of a horror movie,
which left some parents and their children shaken and the theatre chain apologizing for the movie mix-up.
All noise banned on thrill ride. No
screaming on the Screamer! A suburban amusement park has gotten so many complaints from neighbours
about blood-curdling screams that it has instituted a no-shrieking rule for its scary new thrill ride, the
Scandia Screamer. … Riders who let out a screech — or just about any other noise — are
pulled off and sent to the back of the line.
The Editor says...
What kind of an amusement park demands total silence from people riding on roller coasters and
other machines that are designed to be frightening? Only in a place like California would
this kind of prohibition be considered reasonable.
Habitat house sits
rejected. The house is neat and new, with three bedrooms, white concrete walls and a pretty
lawn. And no family searching for a deal could ask for a more generous seller: Habitat for
Humanity. But it seems Habitat can't find a buyer willing to live in Bartlett Park, even in a brand
new house that comes with a zero percent interest loan.
Coin
shortage could turn pennies to nickels. Sharply rising prices of metals such as copper and nickel
have meant the face value of pennies and nickels are worth less than the material that they are made of,
increasing the risk that speculators could melt the coins and sell them for a profit. … The best solution,
[Francois] Velde said, would be to 'rebase' the penny by making it worth five cents rather than one cent.
Doing so would increase the amount of five-cent coins in circulation and do away with the almost worthless
one cent coin.
[A penny very clearly has "ONE CENT" printed on it. That's
an iron-clad (or at least copper-clad) guarantee that it is never going to be worth five cents.]
Congress looking at steel pennies and nickels.
Further evidence that times are tough: It now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a
nickel is more than 7½ cents. Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying
to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II, and maybe using steel for nickels, as well.
House passes bill to make coin-making
cheaper. The House voted for cheaper change Thursday [5/8/2008], the kind that would make pennies
and nickels worth more than they cost to make and save the country $100 million a year. … The bill would
require the U.S. Mint to switch from a zinc and copper penny, which costs 1.26 cents each to make, to a
copper-plated steel penny, which would cost 0.7 cents to make, according to statistics from the Mint and
Rep. Zack Space, D-Ohio, one of the measure's sponsors. It also would require nickels, now made of copper
and nickel and costing 7.7 cents to make, to be made primarily of steel, which would drop the cost to make
the five-cent coin below its face value.
Metal
thieves knock Vancouver radio station off air. A Vancouver radio station was knocked off the air
for several hours Thursday after thieves raided its transmitter, stealing copper and other metal. CFUN
program director Stu Ferguson said the station went off the air around noon.
Public has almost
no access to new police radios. A new police and fire communications system designed to help
emergency crews stay in touch also means the news media has less access to information about incidents
affecting the public. Abilene police and fire departments recently ditched an 18-year-old dispatch
system for a new $14 million system that has better encryption capabilities and keeps many of the
conversations people using police scanners are accustomed to hearing off the air.
Scientists cast doubt on Kennedy bullet analysis.
In a collision of 21st-century science and decades-old conspiracy theories, a research team that includes a
former top FBI scientist is challenging the bullet analysis used by the government to conclude that Lee Harvey
Oswald acted alone in assassinating President John F. Kennedy in 1963.
JFK single-bullet theory in
question. More than four decades after his death, John F. Kennedy's assassination
remains the hottest cold case in U.S. history, and the clues continue to trickle in. Now Lawrence
Livermore Laboratory scientists say a key piece of evidence supporting the lone-gunman theory should be
thrown out.
The Editor says...
The single-bullet theory has been in question since the day it was announced.
Pot linked strongly to mental
illness. The report, released today by former Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick
Palmer, analysed the growing body of evidence of the long-suspected link between marijuana use and
mental disorders.
Jermaine Jackson wants Michael to convert to
Islam. Jermaine Jackson said on Monday [1/29/2007] he wants his brother Michael to convert to
Islam; and he believes the reclusive superstar has given it serious thought.
["Convert" from what?]
Dinner with Louisiana
Governor Goes for $1 at Auction. Call it a sign of the times for Louisiana's embattled
governor: A chance to dine with Gov. Kathleen Blanco fetched a winning bid of $1 at a recent
fundraising auction hosted by a group of business leaders.
Muslim census a
difficult count. A new census of Muslim congregations is reviving controversies over how
many Muslims are in the USA, how they are counted and why it matters. For minority religious groups,
particularly Muslims and Jews, higher numbers can mean enhanced social and political clout in the U.S.
public square.
Census Acknowledges
D.C. Undercount. After decades of losing residents to the suburbs, the nation's capital is
growing with its largest increase in population since 1950. The U.S. Census Bureau acknowledged on
Friday [7/21/2006] that it had underestimated the number of people living in the District of Columbia and
added more than 31,000 people to Washington's official population — increasing it to 582,049.
Web
chief warns of domain name chaos. Plans to fast-track the introduction of non-English characters
in website domain names could "break the whole internet", warns ICANN chief executive Paul Twomey. At
present there are 37 possible characters that can be used in domain names, but if non-English letters are
allowed, this number would rise to 50,000 or more, said Twomey.
California court says bloggers can't be sued.
The California Supreme Court ruled Monday [11/20/2006] that bloggers and participants in Internet
bulletin board groups cannot be sued for posting defamatory statements made by others.
Just for
a nickel token. Because Mrs. Romanski picked up an abandoned token, she was surrounded, arrested
and led to a security office. There the guards stole her orphaned nickel. They refused to let her
use a restroom by herself. They prevented her from having lunch with her friends. Finally they
threw her out of the casino.
Speaking of small change... Lawmakers Consider Elimination of
Pennies. The rising cost of metals isn't just hurting jewelry makers and aluminum
consumers. The price of copper and nickel, the very materials used to make U.S. currency, is
on the minds of House lawmakers trying to find a way to cut production expenses.
Ditch The
Penny. Giving money away for free is not behavior one expects from ordinary, rational
Americans. But it's something they do every day in massive numbers — that is if you
consider the penny to be money. At store counters around the country, people will leave
pennies for the next customer, something they'd never do with a dime or quarter or any piece of
currency they actually value.
FBI Probes
Office of Sen. Stevens' Son. The offices of at least six Alaska legislators, including the son
of Sen. Ted Stevens, were raided by federal agents searching for possible ties between the lawmakers and a
large oil field services company, officials and aides said.
Children charged in video store
holdup. Three children, including a 9-year-old boy, were taken into police custody after a video
store was held up by a 14-year-old girl wielding a BB gun that looked like a pistol, authorities said.
The holdup happened about 9 p.m. Wednesday at a Hollywood Video store downtown. A 14-year-old girl
and a 12-year-old boy were charged as juveniles with armed robbery. The 9-year-old was not charged
because police said he was too young. He was released to his mother.
Official in S.C.: Sterilize Bad
Parents. A City Council member, reacting to a video store holdup believed to have been carried
out by children, says parents who can't properly care for their kids should be sterilized. "We pick
up stray animals and spay them," Larry Shirley said in a story published Saturday by The Post and Courier of
Charleston. "These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. Once they have a
child and it's running the street, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable."
[The stray animals analogy is inappropriate. Stray animals are usually put to death.]
Getting
help to remember passwords. In 2005, RSA Security Inc. surveyed 1,700 business computer
users. It found that almost 60 percent had to manage at least six passwords, while 28 percent
had to manage more than 13. And that doesn't count personal passwords for who-knows-how-many e-mail
accounts, voice mail boxes and Web sites. Some are important, such as bank, credit card and stock
brokerages, and some aren't. But they require passwords all the same.
Poverty Reduction or Pork?
One likely reason for the World Bank's dearth of profits is its penchant for granting zero
interest loans — grants by any other name — to middle-income countries such as
China and India. The World Bank sends 80% of its loans to 12 middle-income countries,
including Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, and China. It sends only 10% of its loans to Africa.
Solved: the mystery of the
crumbling €50 notes. Thousands of Germans have been stuffing euro notes up their
noses — and destroying not only their health but also the currency, police believe. They say
that the mystery of why euro notes have been falling apart since the summer — many look moth-eaten
after only a day in the pocket — is down to an increasing use of crystal methamphetamine. In
Germany this drug is fast replacing cocaine as the illegal party substance of choice.
High metal prices drive coin
smuggling. Smugglers have tried to ship out millions of older one-peso coins from the
Philippines, not for their face value of less than 2¢ each but for the copper and nickel
content as metals prices soar. The central bank said customs authorities seized a 40-foot
container at the weekend that was loaded with 2 to 3 million coins, weighing 12.2-18.3 tonnes,
bound for Japan.
Speaking of money, the following article is
lengthy but very interesting. No Ordinary
Counterfeit. After the indictments were released, U.S. government and law-enforcement officials
began to say in public something that they had long said in private: the counterfeits were being
manufactured not by small-time crooks or even sophisticated criminal cartels but by the government
of North Korea.
Speaking of North Korea... Elk Grove man remembers the Pueblo. The
USS Pueblo still stands prisoner 40 years after its capture. Tethered on the Taedong River in
Pyongyang, the only commissioned U.S. Navy ship in foreign hands is promoted as a trophy celebrating the
communist nation's Cold War conquest.
Army to switch from green to blue
uniforms. The U.S. Army plans to eliminate the green uniform worn by its soldiers for more than
100 years and switch back to traditional blue worn by those fighting the Revolutionary War. Everyday-wear
uniforms will include a dark blue jacket, light blue trousers and gray shirt, the Army said.
Is 60 too old to be a pilot?
Robert "Hoot" Gibson was not the happiest camper Friday, despite a party in his honor. Not only was the
longtime astronaut piloting his last commercial airline flight because of a forced retirement, but the flight
was five minutes late, to boot. Gibson, a colorful member of NASA's elite astronaut corps who commanded
four of the five space shuttle missions he flew, is ending a 10-year run with Southwest Airlines because he
turns 60 on Monday, the mandatory retirement age for pilots in the U.S. Gibson calls it blatant age
discrimination.
[How many former astronauts are now airline pilots?]
Data files erased at Aznar Government
systems. Aznar Government deleted all the Spanish Government Presidency computer systems
in "La Moncloa" Official Palace after the elections (three days after the terrorism attacks in
Madrid-Atocha train station). There is a 12 thousand Euros bill just for deleting everything,
even data back-ups. … As far as we know, in USA is not possible to do anything like that, and even Henry
Kissinger files will be known in the years to come. I mean that USA presidents can encrypt and legally
protect that information, but they can not erase as Aznar did.
Deal With Wen Ho Lee Begets Warning of Yet More
Claims. A decision by five major news organizations to pay $750,000 to a nuclear scientist named
in news stories as the target of an espionage investigation is prompting warnings that the unusual payment
could embolden others aggrieved by government leaks and lead to more litigation involving the press.
Many drivers are on the road
illegally. About 5 percent of South Carolina's drivers — more than
156,000 — have suspended or revoked licenses, according to South Carolina Department
of Motor Vehicles records. Officials say many of those people continue to drive, causing
crashes and financial strain because many people with suspended licenses also are uninsured.
FOX News Steps
in the PC Puddle. It's official. FOX News has joined the rest of the politically correct
and liberal news outlets. Like CBS and NBC, FOX has given a $10,000 donation to the pro-homosexual
journalism organization National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association (NLGJA). FOX News is
listed as a "Feature Level" sponsor of the NLGJA annual convention which runs through this weekend in Miami.
FBI says Violent crime was on the rise in
2005. FBI statistics Monday [6/12/2006] confirmed what big cities like Philadelphia,
Houston, Cleveland and Las Vegas have seen on the streets: Violent crime in the U.S. is on the
rise, posting its biggest one-year increase since 1991.
As
DVD sales slow, Hollywood seeks a new cash cow. After more than half a decade as Hollywood's
savior, the DVD is looking a little tired — and the movie studios, for once, are having trouble
coming up with a sequel. DVD sales represent more than half of the revenue studios generate from most
of their movies. But those sales are expected to grow just 2 percent this year, a far cry from
the double-digit growth the industry enjoyed just two years ago.
Penny-wise, pound-for-pound
foolish? The cost of zinc, one of its main current component elements, is rising. A penny
was worth just under a cent (.97 to be exact) in metal last year; each one is worth 1.4 cents now.
New spyware
program blackmails computer users. A new spyware program that lures computer users by claiming
to give free access to pornographic Internet content ends up "blackmailing" them into purchasing a program
to clean the infection.
The Wrath of Grapes: In today's
remarkable economy, with just a few minutes online, you can buy almost any product imaginable from almost
anywhere in the world and have it delivered to your front door. Except wine.
Truth About Castro: The Lost
City not only is a loving tribute to Havana and Cuban art and music, it is also a loving tribute to
liberty, democracy and capitalism. Castro's regime is clearly portrayed as an evil dictatorship.
Speaking of Cuba ... Gonzalez
Backers Press Suit After Six Years. Six years after the government raid to seize Elian Gonzalez
and return him to his father, supporters of the Cuban boy continue to press their claims that federal agents
used excessive force in seizing him. Oral arguments were heard Wednesday [6/7/2006] before the
11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in an amended lawsuit against the government.
Moussaoui Sentenced To Life In
Prison. A federal jury rejected the death penalty for al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias
Moussaoui on Wednesday [5/3/2006] and decided he must spend life in prison for his role in the
deadliest terrorist attack in U.S. history.
Castro says he will resign if the US
proves him wealthy. Cuban President Fidel Castro has said that he would offer his resignation
if his arch-rival, the United States, can prove that he has a huge personal fortune as claimed by Forbes
magazine.
Does Rupert
Murdoch Own your MySpace Content? Originally, the MySpace terms of service granted the website a
limited license that give it non-exclusive rights to use the material users display there, but only while they
keep it there. If a user deletes the data, MySpace no longer has any rights to it (if they happened to
keep an archived copy). But soon after MySpace was bought by Rupert Murdoch's media empire News
Corporation last year, the terms were changed to indicate that "Content posted by you may remain on the
MySpace.com servers after you have removed the content from the services, and MySpace.com retains the
rights to those copies."
Murdoch could endorse Obama.
Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp, says he could endorse Democratic Sen. Barack Obama for president in several of his newspapers,
including the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal, according to an interview published in Silicon Alley Insider, a business
blog.
10
years after Ron Brown: Only weeks earlier, Brown had been Clinton's bag man in a trip to
New York where he collected about $1.2 million from Loral for the Democratic Party to use as "soft
money." … America's security was traded for Clinton's re-election campaign. Following the Clinton
meeting and the money delivery, a close friend of Ron Brown told a Justice Department presentencing
conference that he only had one option — to report the president's possible treasonous dealings
with China. Soon thereafter Ron Brown died in an air crash.
NJ Bill Would Prohibit Anonymous Posts on
Forums. Too much important opinion, including that leading to the founding of the country,
was published anonymously to permit the government to ban anonymous opinion. Even unto this day,
anonymous pamphleteering is an honorable activity at the core of the First Amendment. … I would
expect that such a statute, were it to be enacted, would be quickly challenged and almost as quickly
overturned.
Curt Weldon: Bin Laden
Is Dead. Rep. Curt Weldon, who broke the Able Danger story last year revealing that
military intelligence had identified lead hijacker Mohammed Atta as a terrorist threat before
the 9/11 attacks, now says that Osama bin Laden has died.
Massive fraud hits tsunami
aid. Of the 170,000 homes promised to the people of Aceh, only about 15,000 have been
built, one year and four months after the tsunami.
Tsunami aid 'spent on
politics'. Three years after Australians donated $400 million to rebuild Asian lives
devastated by the 2004 tsunami, aid groups are under attack for spending much of the money on social and
political engineering. A survey by The Australian of the contributions by non-government organisations
to the relief effort found the donations had been spent on politically correct projects promoting left-wing
Western values over traditional Asian culture.
'Hanoi Jane' Fonda Honor
Withdrawn. The sponsor of an effort to honor Jane Fonda in the Georgia state Senate
withdrew her resolution Thursday [3/16/2006], after a rocky reception from some colleagues and a
phone call from the actress' office.
[GPS receivers are not infallible. They do not work deep inside buildings, in underground
parking garages, or when wrapped in cement shoes at the bottom of a river.]
Neither King nor
abortion foes are racketeers. The Supreme Court's unanimous 8–0 decision this week rejecting
claims by the National Organization for Women that demonstrations at abortion clinics are extortion
and therefore punishable under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act was an important vote
for freedom and free speech.
Illegal
Broadcasts Hamper Miami Pilots. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement
is helping with the investigation under a state law that went into effect a year ago. It
makes it a felony for interfering with signals from licensed public or commercial stations,
or broadcasting without a license.
The Editor asks...
If the states have such laws, and the technology and manpower to enforce them, why
does the FCC still exist?
Bottled water, a
natural resource taxing the world's ecosystem. Bottled water consumption, which has
more than doubled globally in the last six years, is a natural resource that is heavily taxing the
world's ecosystem, according to a new US study. … "Making bottles to meet Americans' demand
for bottled water requires more than 1.5 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel
some 100,000 US cars for a year," according to the study. "Worldwide, some 2.7 million
tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year."
This is what "swift and sure" means... Prosecutor says Guilty Saddam would
hang quickly. The Iraqi High Tribunal's chief prosecutor says Saddam Hussein will hang
immediately if he is found guilty on charges relating to deaths of 148 Shiites. … "If the court
passes a death sentence on any of the defendants in the Dujail case, the law is clear, the sentence
must be carried out within 30 days following the appeal," Mr Mussawi said.
ACLU opposes creation of 'Catholic town'. The
founder of Dominos Pizza, Tom Monaghan, plans to create a town in Florida named Ave Maria. No
condoms, birth control pills or porn would be sold there. The ACLU of Florida's executive
director, Howard Simon, opposes it.
Invasion
of the Computer Snatchers. Hackers are hijacking thousands of PCs to spy on users, shake down
online businesses, steal identities and send millions of pieces of spam. If you think your computer is
safe, think again.
Special Subsection about Patrick Kennedy's brush with the law:
Another Kennedy Cover-up? If
this driver is you then you can get ready for your field sobriety test. Time to blow into the
little tube! Ohhhh … but not Patrick Kennedy! He's Ted Kennedy's son! According
to one of the Capitol Hill police officers on the scene superior officers did not permit them to perform a
field sobriety test. Patrick Kennedy was put into a supervisor's car and driven home.
The Kennedy Tradition: After
his second smash-up in three weeks — and a lot of unanswered questions about an alleged police
cover-up — Rep. Patrick Kennedy yesterday declared that he's entering rehab to deal with an
addiction to painkillers. Those questions need to be answered. Because not even a
Kennedy should be above the law.
Riding With Kennedy Worse than Hunting
With Cheney, Group Says. "I'd rather go quail hunting with Dick Cheney than get in a car being
driven by a Kennedy," said Second Amendment Foundation founder Alan M. Gottlieb. "As it stands right
now, I think Congress should consider mandating drug testing of its members before they vote on legislation
that would take away any of our civil rights.
Kennedy Sentenced After Guilty Plea
to DUI. Rep. Patrick Kennedy pleaded guilty Tuesday [6/13/2006] to driving under the influence
of prescription drugs and was sentenced to undergo court-ordered drug treatment and a year's probation.
Kennedy, D-R.I., also was ordered to pay at least $350 in connection with his middle-of-the-night car crash
last month near the Capitol.
The Editor says... Nonsense! Who among us has ever had such a reaction to prescription
medicine (...while driving at 3:00 a.m.)? And who, after having such a complete
loss of consciousness, would be able to drive a car at all? And how many of us ordinary
citizens, under the same circumstances, would escape DUI charges?
Sleepwalking Into History, Kennedy
Style. Police officers involved in the incident complained through their labor union about
the special treatment afforded Rep. Kennedy, whose "eyes were red and watery," according to the police
report, which added that his "speech was slightly slurred and, upon exiting his vehicle, his balance was
unsure." Rather than cop to drinking, Kennedy claimed he had no memory of the incident because of
an interaction between "the prescribed amount of Phenergan and Ambien."
Yeah, right.
The Sleeping Pill Ate My
Homework. A couple of months back, US Congressman Patrick Kennedy drove his car into a security
barricade near the Capitol building early one Thursday morning, leading many observers to think this scion of
Camelot had been throwing back a few too many at the Hawk 'n' Dove, a Capitol Hill bar where, according to the
Boston Herald, he'd been seen drinking earlier that evening. But, "no," said Paddy. "I consumed
no alcohol prior to the incident." In an excuse reminiscent of 'the dog ate my homework,' Kennedy said
it was his sleeping pills that did it.
Special Subsection about the Sony Copy Protection Scandal of 2005:
Sony's anti-file-sharing CD
causes a firestorm of anger. On Halloween, a developer with an Austin-based software
company posted on his blog a detailed report on a troubling discovery — a CD from Sony
BMG had installed software on his PC that uses the same technique for hiding itself as the most
pernicious type of spyware.
Sony halts
production of music CDs with copy-protection scheme. Stung by continuing
criticism, the world's second-largest music label, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promised
Friday [11/11/2005] to temporarily suspend making music CDs with antipiracy technology that
can leave computers vulnerable to hackers.
Editorial Comment:
If an individual had done what Sony did, peddling a product with a built-in rootkit, he could
have been sent to prison as an evil, pernicious hacker. But the courts seem to look favorably
on music companies that are trying to protect their intellectual property, no matter how they
do it.
Sony's
DRM Rootkit: The Real Story. On Oct. 31, Mark Russinovich broke
the story in his blog: Sony BMG Music Entertainment distributed a copy-protection
scheme with music CDs that secretly installed a rootkit on computers. This software
tool is run without your knowledge or consent — if it's loaded on your computer
with a CD, a hacker can gain and maintain access to your system and you wouldn't know it.
Texas
sues Sony BMG over alleged spyware. Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed
a civil lawsuit on Monday [11/21/2005] against Sony BMG Music Entertainment for allegedly
including spyware on its media player designed to thwart music copying.
Update: Sony BMG Settles Suit Over
CDs. Sony BMG Music Entertainment will pay $1.5 million and kick in thousands more in
customer refunds to settle lawsuits brought by California and Texas over music CDs that installed a hidden
anti-piracy program on consumers' computers. Not only did the program itself open up a security hole on
computers, but attempts to remove the software by some customers also damaged the PCs. The settlements,
announced Tuesday [12/19/2006], cover lawsuits over CDs loaded with one of two types of copy-protection software —
known as MediaMax or XCP.
Conyers Aides
Say He Used Them as Servants. Three former aides to U.S. Rep. John Conyers say
the lawmaker used them as baby sitters and personal servants while they were supposed to be
working in his Michigan offices. The aides said that Conyers had them tutor and care
for his two sons; help his wife, now-City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, with law studies;
and drive him to political and private events.
Five weeks later, the same story showed up on CNN's web site. Congressman accused of
using staff to baby-sit. Two former staff members of U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr.,
D-Michigan, say the longtime Detroit congressman made them baby-sit his children, run errands
and work on political campaigns while they were on his congressional payroll.
Tantrums:
[Al] Gore is bidding fair to become the Muqtada al-Sadr of America's Angry Left. Savor his recent
vituperations. He has called our suave president a "moral coward" who is in alliance with "digital
brown shirts." He refers to Abu Ghraib prison as "the Bush Gulag;" and, forgetting the discrepancies
of his former boss, he calls President George W. Bush "the most dishonest president since Richard
Nixon."
Pentagon anti-male
room? Sex scandals at the Air Force Academy in 2003 sparked several investigations and
constructive reforms. Recent surveys indicate harassment has diminished at the military
academies. You would never know it, however, because bad news is good news for civilian "victim
advocates" seeking more government contracts and jobs.
Man
fired after being caught smoking at home. A German company has sacked one of its
employees for smoking at home after hiring a detective to catch him in the act. Sandro
Beier was dismissed from his £19,000-a-year job with a Berlin printing company after
being photographed smoking in his back garden.
WHO
won't hire smokers. The World Health Organisation yesterday [12/02/2005] became
the largest international employer to ban the hiring of smokers in an effort to promote its
public health campaign against tobacco use.
The four-year
scandal of the 9/11 billions. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent
on projects that seemingly had nothing to do with 9/11 and lower Manhattan. … Millions
went to help projects already in the works before 9/11 or on the drawing board with no
prior funding source. … Substantial sums were given to companies to stay in lower
Manhattan even though they had no intention of leaving. In many cases, original
eligibility rules were expanded, and deadlines extended, so that virtually no one
was ineligible.
Or perhaps this is the next U.N. scandal: Overheads take
up to 1/3 of tsunami funds. Up to about a third of the $590 million U.N. fund spent
for the Indian Ocean tsunami relief may have gone to pay for overhead. The Financial Times
says its two-month investigation showed the money appears to have been spent on administration,
staff and related costs. The $590 million was part of the United Nation's $1.1 billion
disaster flash appeal.
Louis Freeh On
Clinton's Skeletons. In his upcoming book, My FBI, Freeh writes, "The problem was
with Bill Clinton — the scandals and the rumored scandals, the incubating ones and the dying
ones never ended. Whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in
the wrong direction. His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out."
Freeh at
last. In his book, Freeh says … "There was always some new investigation brewing,
some new calamity bubbling just below the headlines." Freeh continued: "The problem was
with Bill Clinton, the scandals and rumored scandals, the incubating ones and the dying ones never
ended. Whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in the wrong
direction. His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out."
Hands off the
Internet. The international bureaucrats and influence-seekers who want
to hand the Internet over to the United Nations just got a major boost from the European
Union. In an apparent about-face from its previous positions, the EU announced last
month that it supports transferring the assigning of Internet domain names — currently
handled by a California nonprofit — to an international body.
Who Should Control the
Internet? The United Nations next week will hold the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) in Tunisia, at which national representatives will discuss
strategies to bridge the "digital divide" and harness information and communication
technologies.
Will the Internet become the
UNTERNET? The United Nations wants control of the internet. … At the
WSIS Preparatory Commission meeting held this past September in Geneva, the European Union
joined with countries like China and Iran in rejecting the concept of not fixing what is
not broken and decided that increased international supervision — maybe even
international control — of the internet has become necessary.
Update: US retains hold of the
internet. The US has won its fight to stay in charge of the internet, despite opposition
from many nations.
Bored readers
cutting off Globe's circulation. Circulation is melting away at the Boston Globe,
on top of vanishing ad revenue, and the need for deep cuts is forcing closure of its national
news desk and two sections within the broadsheet.
Seceding seldom succeeds, but
Vermonters try. "If we had a right to join the Union, we certainly have a right to
disband from it," SVR founder Thomas Naylor told the assembly. In his view, Vermonters should
join the cause if they say the US has lost moral authority and is unsustainable, ungovernable, and
unfixable. [And if they] want to help take back Vermont from big business, big markets, and
big government — and do so peacefully.
The
Mother of All Connections. We know from these IIS documents that beginning in
1992 the former Iraqi regime regarded bin Laden as an Iraqi Intelligence asset. We
know from IIS documents that the former Iraqi regime provided safe haven and financial
support to an Iraqi who has admitted to mixing the chemicals for the 1993 attack on the
World Trade Center. We know from IIS documents that Saddam Hussein agreed to Osama
bin Laden's request to broadcast anti-Saudi propaganda on Iraqi state-run
television. We know from IIS documents that a "trusted confidante" of bin Laden
stayed for more than two weeks at a posh Baghdad hotel as the guest of the Iraqi
Intelligence Service.
What is wrong with the legal system in
this country? Michael Jackson
Called for Jury Service. Authorities want Michael Jackson back in court — this
time as a juror. Jackson received a jury summons at his Neverland Valley Ranch, four months after
he was acquitted of child molestation charges.
Republicans
Introduce Bill That Unions Won't Like. Labor unions and their Democrat allies
have been howling ever since President Bush suspended the Davis-Bacon Act in the aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina. The suspension allows federal contractors to hire employees
at less than the prevailing wage in hurricane-devastated Gulf states.
Sustainable Earth and UN
Delusions: The bureaucratic international boondoggle hilariously misnamed
the United Nations came together in 1992, without a great deal of fanfare that I recollect,
to build a new Tower of Babel called "sustainable earth." Very simply, all they want
to do is to manage the world … not a very new or very creative idea.
BRAC Wars, Episode
Three. One of the most important issues in military transformation today is
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). … President George W. Bush has initiated a new round
of BRAC designed to eliminate excess basing infrastructure and free up resources that can be
reinvested into the Pentagon's critical transformation initiatives.
Shortsighted
tall tales: Mr. Rove has testified before the grand jury several times. So
has Mr. Libby and many others. E-mails and memos have been produced. Phone logs
have been examined. There is no hint of complaint from Mr. Fitzgerald that the White
House has been anything less than cooperative. But top Democratic leaders, desperately
looking for an issue in the absence of a real agenda, are crying "stonewalling" and some people
apparently believe that's happening here.
I agree, let's
not let the Rove story die just yet. Before President Bush's Supreme
Court nomination of Judge John Roberts completely overshadows the misidentified
Karl Rove scandal, I think we better take a second look at the twisted direction
this sad story has taken. As far as Karl Rove's conduct in the Plame/Wilson
affair, there is no scandal. He didn't come close to committing a crime, nor
even an ethical infraction.
How the Media Created
Rovegate: It's clear, based on the notes of his discussion with Matt
Cooper of Time, that Rove wasn't aware of the facts and didn't have access
to classified information about Valerie Plame's service or status in the CIA. He
said she "apparently" worked at the agency. In any case, it turns out she isn't
covered under a law designed to protect the identities of secret CIA agents.
A role
model he is not. The American Heart Association believes you can trust President Bill
Clinton to mentor your daughter. But try getting the nonprofit organization to admit that
Mr. Clinton is a good role model for children.
Birth
Control Patch Claims 23 Lives — and Counting. Federal
drug safety reports obtained by The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information
Act request, "indicate that in 2004 — when 800,000 women were on the
patch — the risk of dying or suffering a survivable blood clot while
using the device was about three times higher than while using birth control pills."
Bollixing up
the Ballot: Once the Democrat pulled ahead, Washingtonians were told it was
time to move on. "The election is over," Gregoire announced in December. "I hope
we can move forward, unite our state and address the problems our state is facing." One
problem the state faced, and presumably will face again, is voter fraud. Even in dismissing
Rossi's lawsuit, the judge admitted there were at least 1,678 illegal ballots cast — more
than enough to flip the outcome in either direction.
FEC Rules Against DNC/Jesse
Jackson. The Federal Election Commission announced [May 26, 2005] that the
Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Democratic National Committee have been found guilty of
violating federal election law.
Earlier coverage, now somewhat outdated: Clinton Case Mystery: A
Democratic fund-raiser involved in Senator Clinton's 2000 campaign has offered a
guilty plea to bank fraud charges and is likely to become a government witness at
the upcoming federal trial of a top finance aide to Mrs. Clinton, David Rosen,
court records obtained by The New York Sun show.
Terri's
grave: "I kept my promise". Michael Schiavo had a grave marker placed
yesterday [6/20/2005] on the cremated remains of his wife Terri Schiavo that lists her
death as Feb. 25, 1990 — more than 15 years before she died of court-ordered
dehydration.
Terri
Schiavo's Autopsy Report Leaves Unanswered Questions. What is a surprise is
that Dr. Thogmartin found no evidence of bulimia or of a potassium imbalance that would have
caused Terri to collapse on February 25, 1990. There is no evidence she had a heart condition
before that date, either. Michael Schiavo made the talk show rounds, asserting that Terri's
profound disability resulted from undiagnosed bulimia. That means Michael Schiavo lied.
Vegetative Woman Awakens After Six Years.
A woman who went into a vegetative state more than six years ago awoke this week for three days and spoke with
her family and a local television station before slipping back. … Her neurologist, Dr. Randall Bjork, said
he couldn't explain how or why she awoke. "I'm just not able to explain this on the basis of what we know
about persistent vegetative states," he said.
In Canada, the Schiavo case
with an outrageous twist. An elderly Orthodox Jew is on life support. His children have
adamantly opposed his removal from the ventilator and feeding tube, on the grounds that Jewish law
expressly forbids any action designed to shorten life.
Funeral called off after dying mom
wakes from coma. As Raleane (Rae) Kupferschmidt lay motionless in her hospital bed, family
and friends said their final goodbyes and the funeral home was called. But just as the grieving
began in her Lake Elmo home, Kupferschmidt woke up from her coma.
First no more air maps, next no
more road maps? The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has
proposed to withdraw all aeronautical data and products from public distribution.
Information about political junkets paid by lobbyists: Rahall slips
in the freebie poll. The list of travel paid by lobbyists and other
friends of Congress has an interesting pattern. Democrats dominate the list,
holding the top 12 positions. The way Democrats have been demonizing Tom DeLay
of late, I figured DeLay would be one of the biggest mooches in Congress. But
he is way down at 119th in travel paid for by lobbyists and the like.
Here is the
list: the ranking of Members of Congress taking privately-funded
trips, from 2000 to winter 2005.
Also of interest:
Members
Receiving the Most Gifts of Travel during the last five and a
quarter years the ranking of Members of Congresss receiving privately-funded trips.
2001
Clinton logging plan challenged. The Wyoming attorney general and an
environmental lawyer challenged the legitimacy of a 2001 Clinton administration logging
plan Wednesday [5/4/2005] before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The plan set
aside 58 million acres nationwide as roadless areas in which logging is
prohibited. It also barred the U.S. Forest Service from maintaining roads
in those areas.
Less speech, and no more car
ads. In 1965 Russ Darrow founded the business — Russ Darrow Group Inc. —
that now includes 22 new and used vehicle dealerships. Because of [the McCain-Feingold legislation], the
company felt compelled to ask the Federal Election Commission whether it can continue to advertise when its
founder is running for federal office.
Hazel O'Leary,
Clinton's Energy Secretary, Removed From Plane. Nine days after being named president of Fisk
University, Hazel O'Leary found herself being questioned by the FBI after being escorted off a commercial
airplane. O'Leary disputes a report that she was loud and abusive.
United Flight 93 crashed
without cockpit struggle. Passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93
fought back against the hijackers but never actually made it into the cockpit,
the Sept. 11 commission concluded.
Subway's
Anti-American Tray-Liners. Subway's advertising strategy is a new low in
corporate behavior — exploiting cultural tensions and inflaming anti-American sentiment
abroad just to sell more sandwiches. It is appalling that Subway, a U.S. company, would
attack Americans and the Statue of Liberty in a time of war ... just to gain market share.
58 Million Wage Earners Pay No Federal Income
Tax. According to the Washington, DC-based Tax Foundation, "a record 44 million tax returns
filed in 2005 will be correctly demanding the return of every dollar (or more) that is being withheld from their
paychecks during 2004."
The silly
war against Wal-Mart: In response to Wal-Mart's broader plan to
build 40 new supercenters in California, opponents are mobilizing a coalition
that includes the Nation of Islam and the once-grand civil-rights group the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference. How everyday low prices violate civil
rights is a mystery.
Automatic
registration for the draft: The Texas DPS is going to automatically
register 18 to 26 year old males with the US Selective Service (military draft) when
they apply for or renew a Texas driver's license.
Editor's Note: This
raises some important questions. How many state agencies use their leverage
to gather information for federal agencies? And what other agencies will begin
using this technique?
Charges Dropped
Against Yee. Citing national security concerns, the Army on
Friday [3/19/2004] dropped all charges against a Muslim chaplain accused of
mishandling classified documents at Guantanamo Bay, which houses suspected terrorists.
Editor's Note: The charges
were dropped because of "national security concerns"? That's why he was arrested!
Cheney: War
Could Last Generations. Vice President Dick Cheney warned that the
battle against terrorism — like the Cold War — could last generations, according
to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Review
of death sentences "ordered". The International Court of Justice ruled
[3/31/2004] that the United States "must" review the convictions and death
sentences of 51 Mexicans in U.S. jails, saying local authorities had failed to
consult Mexican consulates in violation of international law.
Editor's Note: Obviously
the International Court has no leverage with which to enforce this order.
Dean
urged unilateral action in Bosnia. In a letter to President Clinton, Howard Dean appears to
contradict his core complaint that President Bush has followed a unilateral foreign policy, instead of a
multilateral approach that relies on consultation and joint action with allies. He has repeatedly
attacked Bush's decision to invade Iraq.
Supreme Court Upholds
Political Money Law. A sharply divided Supreme Court upheld key features of the nation's new law
intended to lessen the influence of money in politics, ruling Wednesday [12/10/2003] that the government may
ban unlimited donations to political parties.
Is Haiti Facing a
Voodoo-Christian Showdown? In late April, Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former
Catholic priest, declared voodoo an officially recognized religion. The decision means, among other
things, that marriage ceremonies conducted by voodoo priests now have equal standing with Catholic ones.
Hi-tech
hunt for music downloaders: Using a surprisingly astute technical procedure,
the RIAA examined song files on a woman's computer and traced their digital fingerprints
back to Napster.
Clinton Whitewater costs
won't be paid by taxpayers. An appeals court in Washington, D.C., [has] rejected a request
by former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Clinton that the federal government reimburse them for
legal fees incurred during the Whitewater independent counsel investigation.
Juanita
Broaddrick Dares Hillary: Clinton rape accuser Juanita Broaddrick took
to the radio airwaves on Friday [06/06/2003] to challenge Hillary Clinton's claim that
she didn't know about her husband's philandering.
Carter Silent On Castro's
Crackdown: Jimmy Carter is the self-appointed globetrotter on behalf of human rights. But
when Carter friend Fidel Castro unleashed a brutal wave of repression recently, that included extradjudicial
executions, Carter's reaction was silence, followed by muted criticism, and finalized with a stinging criticism
of — the United States!
Fidel Castro's Dupes: In
Castro's Cuba, it is a crime to meet to discuss the economy, to write letters to
the government, to report on political developments, to speak to international
reporters, to advocate human rights, to visit friends or relatives outside your
local area of residence without government permission.
Chicago Uses Storm-Troop Tactics to Trash Meigs. The
City of Chicago used surprise and shock tactics to start demolishing Meigs Field, the world-renowned airport
serving downtown, ripping up runway without notice in the dark of night under police guard.
Why not just
outlaw the potatoes? Homemade potato cannons have become popular in Germany, and "prosecutors in
the republic's 16 states are passing emergency rulings to try to outlaw them."
To
protect and serve: Chances are the 42-year-old mother of two who was
allegedly gang-raped in New York City by five illegal aliens did not know that Article
Four, Section Four of the Constitution says that the federal government will protect each
state against "invasion" and "domestic violence."
Smithsonian
Museum Blasted for Stressing America's Failures. A tour of America's
premier federal historical museum in Washington D.C., reveals an unflattering historical
portrait of America oppressing minorities. Some tourists and cultural critics say the
Smithsonian curators have "washed out" the nation's European ancestry in favor
of "diversity" history.
U.S. won't support Net "hate speech"
ban: The Bush administration said on Friday [11/15/2002] that it will not
support a proposed treaty to restrict "hate speech" on the Internet.
Political history – and
the future: Not since Ronald Reagan has a man who was supposed to be so dumb kept beating people
who were supposed to be so smart.
Crying
Wolf — The Genuine Dilemma of False Alarms: It's absolutely astonishing
that up to 98 percent — yes, 98 percent! — of all
alarms are false. Millions upon millions of dollars' worth of precious law
enforcement time and resources are squandered annually responding to erroneous alarm calls. And,
even more tragic, over the years numerous police officers have been severely injured,
and indeed killed, answering false alarms.
A New "Standard" For Customer
"No-Service": We have taken a giant step backwards with regard to the use of
the telephone based customer service. More and more companies are making it absolutely
impossible for customers to reach them by telephone.
Painting
Depicting Police Shooting Not a Threat, Court Rules: A California high school
student's painting, which depicted him shooting a female police officer in the head, does not
constitute a threat, according to a recent ruling by a state appeals court in Sacramento.
Excellent! Four Attacks on the Rule of
Law: The Rule of Law is of profound value to all of us. Yet most of us fail to
raise a finger against those who are waging flat-out war against its very foundations. The
assault comes from four directions.
Mailboxes
Vanish: If you've noticed that mailboxes seem harder to find than ever,
it's true: The government has removed almost 7,000 of them since September 11.
"Metric
Martyrs" Appeal To Go To UK's Highest Appeals Court: Five small businessmen who
were prosecuted for selling goods in imperial measures plan to take their case to Britain's highest
appeals court, arguing that a series of lower court rulings have resulted in a constitutional crisis
and may even jeopardize the U.K.'s sovereignty. The five "metric martyrs" are battling against
European Union regulations requiring loose goods to be sold in metric units only.
White
House vandalism report delayed: The investigation into last year's White House
vandalism has stalled because staffers have not been available for interviews for three months,
a General Accounting Office investigator told WorldNetDaily.
Survey:
1 in 5 Teenagers Ignorant About U.S. Independence: As
America celebrated its 225th birthday, a recent poll shows that almost a quarter of America's
teenagers have trouble passing a fourth-grade level U.S. history test. In fact, 22 percent
could not name the country from which the United States declared its independence.
