CNN.com - Cuba to free best-known dissident on Sunday - May 4, 2002

Well, technically, Vladimiro Roca won't be free -- he's still going to be in Cuba. But he won't be any less free than most Cubans. This is a goodwill gesture towards Jimmy Carter, by the way.

Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich...

BBC News | SCOTLAND | MP stunned at actor's outburst

Bruce Hill points me to the story of Scottish Labour MP George Galloway, who is "taking legal advice" after learning that strange bald character actor John Malkovich has said that Galloway was one of two men he'd like to kill. Even better, the other was... Robert Fisk! Do you think Fisk understands why Malkovich feels this way? "If I were John Malkovich, I'd want to shoot me too."

In the case of Galloway, he appears to be a cretin; he's about to pay a visit to Yasser the Weasel, he's called for a boycott of Israeli goods, and has attacked western policy towards Iraq. And Malkovich didn't bring this up out of the blue; he was asked who'd he'd want to fight to the death, and responded, "I'd rather just shoot them". I'm not advocating actually shooting either man, BTW, but this really appears to be a more or less comic situation, and Galloway's reaction appears pretty typical of his type, the humorless moralist. You find them on both sides.

Pakistan Leader Talks of Democracy

I'm sure he did, but it's not like he's actually acting on it. And he says he wants the military to have a constitutional role in overseeing the civilian government, which is anti-democratic in the extreme. Not that I blame him; Pakistani democracy was basically a disaster.

Musharraf also said he won't extradite the Daniel Pearl murder suspect. Rightly so, since he committed his crimes in Pakistan. But if Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh is not punished for his crimes, there will be hell to pay.

Myth of the virgin cure

One of the world's more loathsome irrational beliefs is the one current in South Africa, holding that the cure for AIDS is to have sex with a virgin. And of its many loathsome effects, perhaps the worst is that it's unleashed a child rape epidemic.

You want to put a world leader on trial, how about Thabo Mbeki? He's not directly responsible for this, but his insane views on AIDS have to be a contributing factor.

Smith stressed that rapists who acted on the myth, were "not necessarily monsters". The reason for the prevalence of virgin rapes was a lack of treatment for the disease, she said. The rapists were desperate people, looking for ways of treating themselves.

No. They are monsters, and each and every one of them should be tried for rape and attempted murder. And if the law allows, hung by the neck until dead.

Weird Things I Have Cataloged

Main Author: Pechner, Tal.
Title: Escalation of discrimination & xenophobia against minority religions in today's Germany : a historical comparison to religious intolerance during the German National-Socialist era (1933-1945)

"Gosh, that's a long title. And for such a small book, only 20 pages. I wonder what their agenda is? Oh, I see, it's from the Scientologists."

They send us lots of this stuff, for some reason. Most of it is attacks on Germany. But one of the weirdest things I've cataloged is Psychiatry's betrayal : in the guise of help : creating racism. Frankly, I'm sick of this stuff.

Tampabay: Church targets lawsuit attorney

The Church of Scientology, natch. They're being sued in for wrongful death, and now they're trying to get an plaintiff's attorney removed from the case. They say it's because he's guilty of professional misconduct and perjury, but if that was the case, why would they want him removed? Really, they're trying to get rid of him because he might win.

BBC News | HEALTH | HIV-test fugitive awaits court verdict

The Jackass of the Week award goes to this guy, who ran away from the UK in 1999, and now is fighting a custody battle in an Australian court, all in an attempt to keep his baby daughter, who is HIV-positive, from receiving AIDS drugs. Why? Because he's an "alternative therapist" (that is, a jackass), that's why.

CNN.com - Transcripts
CNN CROSSFIRE
Should Pilots Have Guns?; Are Any Rules for New Media?

I caught a bit of the second part of this, and (as Josh Marshall has said) Begala was really giving Matt Drudge the what-for. (And Bowtie Boy was just sitting there and letting him.) There have been reports that the GOP is going to boycott Crossfire, basically because Begala and Carville are mean.

This is incredibly laughable, of course. Yes, they're mean, but they're just acting like mirror images of the usual Crossfire Republicans, or like any given Fox News talking head. Democrats are used to this, while Republicans usually have to face strawmen, or wimpy left wingers, or the occasional TNR Democrat.

Indonesian-Style Taliban Fights for Islamic Law (washingtonpost.com)

A group calling itself the "Taliban Brigade" is running around in Indonesia dispensing radical-Islamist vigilantism. They're helped out by the regional government. This was one of the feared outcomes of the Afghan campaign, a rise in radicalism in other Islamic countries. And Indonesia, the world's fourth-largest country, would be a lot more trouble than little Afghanistan.

Filipino Police Raid Terrorist Camp

Apparently this was one of those terrorist day camps -- you know, the ones attached to Islamic schools? Anyway, they say this camp is linked to al-Qaeda, but not to Abu Sayyaf, the preeminent Islamist terror group in the Philippines. Meaning there are at least two al-Qaeda-linked groups operating there. For fun!

The World After WTC

I didn't do anything with Bjorn Staerk, because I'm not sure what they play in Norway. I should probably look that up.

Marriott Drops Andersen As Auditor

Frankly, I'm surprised they have any clients left.

Mercury News | 05/03/2002 | FBI agent warned last July that Middle Easterners training at U.S. flight schools

I don't think this is a Great Moment, but the headline is unclear. Translated from the Headlinese, the agent warned headquarters that "several Middle Easterners were training at a U.S. aviation school and recommended contacting other schools nationwide where Arabs might be studying." There was talk about maybe checking up on them, but nothing came of it.

This will obviously excite the conspiracy nuts, but never attribute to villainy what can be best explained by incompetence. Even that's not fair; there's a lot of information out there, and most of it never gets the attention it needs. Eventually, there will be a thriving underground of McKinneyists, parallel to the nuts who think FDR knew about Pearl Harbor ahead of time. Some of them will probably be the same people.

The CORNDOG

I don't care what some people say, this is damn funny. Especially "Andrew Stutterer".

Great Moments in Headline Writing

AP Wire | 05/03/2002 | Right-Wing Wins British Elections

May 3, 2002: The Miami Herald (perhaps getting the head from the AP story) makes it sound like a tidal wave of extremism has swamped British politics. While the headline is technically true, it refers to only three council seats in one town, (the BNP ran 68 candidates, and the other 65 all lost) and in fact on a nationwide basis Labour did better than expected.

Great Moments In Headline Writing

BBC News | SHOWBIZ | Actor Hopkins to divorce again

May 3, 2002: The BBC makes it sound like Sir Anthony changes wives on a constant basis, when he's been married to his current one for 29 years and has only been married once before.

Great Moments In Subheadings

There are two subsections in this story, entitled "Riches" and "Psychotic".

I've made space in the blogroll by arbitrarily ejecting various nefarious furriners to their own sections, and promoting some people from the NIT to the Regionals. I put Tal G. among the Brits on the grounds that they play a lot of soccer in Israel. I've also added Evan Day to the roll.

Poynter.org - Jim Romenesko's Media News

A rep from Belo, the Dallas Morning News publisher writes to Romenesko:

I just want to clarify that Belo is not on a crusade against deep linking. We understand as well as any media company, or any Web user, the benefits of deep linking. However, deep linking without Belo's permission is a violation of DallasNews.com's terms of service, and in specific instances -- a small number of instances -- we seek to enforce these terms. I think if you look at many other content sites, you will see terms of service that are not dissimilar.

Someone with an electronic publishing background like Jeff Jarvis or Ken Layne would be better able than I to address this, but I'll give it a try.

As the flack notes, the terms of service do include a prohibition on deep linking. But as he also notes, it's not normally enforced. My understanding -- I am not a legal expert, but an interested layman -- is that that sort of selective enforcement is frowned upon. If they allow people to do something for years, even if it's supposedly not allowed, they can't start enforcing it all of the sudden. And they certainly can't simply enforce it against people they don't like. Moreover, it's a stupid policy, and is quite possibly illegal anyway. And if they really wanted to, DaMN could easily keep deep links from working at all. That they aren't indicates that what they're really interested in is smacking down someone they don't like.

It may be time to change my email again. Yahoo Mail keeps showing me this picture, and it freaks me out.

Bill: TV or Not TV?

The BBC is one of the networks after President Clinton. They want him to host a game show, of all things.

The Dirty Dozen: In honor of NBC's 75th anniversary

This is one of several stories I've seen this week intent on dragging skeletons out of NBC's closet because the network isn't going to talk about them on its anniversary special. (Imagine, a celebration that doesn't talk about the bad parts! It's not a flipping documentary, folks.) Because television critics, like Auburn librarians, are mean, spiteful, hateful people who can't let anything go.

TV psychic 'chats' with Blake's dead wife on ABC

Great. I say something nice about ABC, not knowing they'd aired this. And why is "psychic" not in quotes too? Finally, why can't the families of the dead sue for libel when some charlatan insinuates they contributed to their own deaths?

Mystical advisers star in Myanmar politics - [24/4/2002] - Hindustantimes.com

Where's Nancy Reagan when you need her?

Yes, astrologers have a big role in Myanmar's politics, and they're branching out. One took up the use of voodoo dolls to assist in a coup attempt. (Maybe we should have tried that in Venezuela.) They're trying to in with the civil service, even.

My favorite Charles Barkley story... Supposedly, when he told his mother that he was a Republican, she answered, "Charles, how can you be a Republican? They only try to help rich people." Charles replied, "Mom, I am rich."

Barkley's next campaign: Fixing Birmingham

Charles Barkley -- the funniest man on television -- wants to be to Birmingham what Magic Johnson is to Downtown LA, only more so:

"My No.1 priority right now is redoing downtown Birmingham and downtown Leeds," [Barkley's hometown, east of Birmingham] Barkley said. "I'm trying to buy up every vacant building, and I want to remodel the entire city. That's what I'm going to do."

No grandiose ideas here.

Barkley used to talk about running for Governor, but he seems to have given that up, perhaps because Jesse Ventura beat him to it. That's a shame, because I'd vote for him in a heartbeat, even if he did go to Auburn. Compared to the monumentally crooked Democratic incumbent, Don Siegelman, and his likely challenger, paleo-Republican Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, Barkley would be an easy choice.

ESPN.com: TENNIS - U.S. will host Israel this summer in Fed Cup qualifier

Well, that should be interesting. I've a feeling that the US was probably the only country willing to play Israel. "Random draw", right.

Unemployment rate jumps to 8-year high - May. 3, 2002

Eight years, hm. What lasted eight years?

For all the bold talk about economic recovery, there's no recovery when unemployment is pushing six percent. All you right-of-center types: the Democrats' chances of taking back the House just got a lot stronger.

BNP takes three Burnley seats in local election

Right-wing extremist parties: they're not just for France anymore!

I don't know that much about British politics, but the Liberal Democrats got, according to this story, 27% of the nationwide vote, versus 35 for the Tories and 33 for Labour. That is high for them, isn't it?

CNN.com - Lopes' funeral more like concert at times - May 2, 2002

For instance, she didn't sing at this, either.

Ray's Weblog: My Lost Marbles

Ray Mikell responds that he's going to start running his posts in the usual order -- that is, upside-down, newest on top. I don't know why we do it that way, actually; I guess it's because on a frequently-updated site you can immediately see if there's anything new. I know that when I was accidently re-inventing the weblog format four years ago for my baseball site, I instinctively did it newest-on-top. But I've always thought I was weird, so that doesn't say much.

France and Jean-Marie Le Pen
Why he has his admirers

Well, a lot of it is that a lot of Frenchpeople (like a lot of people everywhere) are bigots and morons. In the US, these people are mostly channelled into the extremes of the two parties, and rarely cause serious trouble. But in a multi-party system, the bigot and/or moron vote can cause trouble. Le Pen, as has been noted, didn't actually do any better in the election than he usually does, but the Socialists underestimated their own weakness and let Le Pen slip in.

To be fair, Le Pen reflects a lot of real concerns -- crime, unemployment -- that the French political mainstream was ignoring. The beauty of the American political system is that when the mainstream parties get out of touch and third parties spring one of the big boys will usually absorb it and its policies. The Republican ascendancy (in Presidential politics) of the seventies and eighties, and its current Southern dominance was built on George Wallace's supporters. Clinton took over Ross Perot's deficit-hawkism, and then Gingrich took over most of the rest of that agenda.

But as long as France's two major parties could continue to draw relatively small numbers in general elections and still know one or the other would win in the end, they didn't really have to address that. (I just want to point out that you could reject the two big parties without voting for Le Pen -- and a lot of Frenchmen did.)

Endangered Artillery System Under Review (washingtonpost.com)

Oh, sure, environmentalists will come out to support endangered animals and plants. But who supports the poor endangered weapon system? Only United Defense Industries, Inc., of Oklahoma, and the entire Oklahoma Congressional delegation.

Can anyone parse this sentence for me?

"I have a minimum of high regard for that kind of behavior," Rumsfeld said.

That's not actually English, is it?

Another reason to hate Auburn.

As if I needed any more... The evil librarians at Auburn don't allow for export of cataloging records. They have to have chosen to do this; we use the same system here and I know that the default is to allow it. They won't let you because they are mean, hateful, spiteful people who secretly wish they worked at Alabama, which does allow for export, as does UAB.

A writer, a weblog, her opinions: Yourish.com

HULK SMASH!!

washingtonpost.com: The Seriously Funny Jon Stewart

Everyone should be watching "The Daily Show"... Jon Stewart's take on "The Bachelor":

"He's a blackhearted sociopath."

Bush Hosts European Union Summit at White House

Whoopty-doo! Dozens of Euro leaders here to look down on us and make veiled anti-Semitic comments!

The main topic is trade. The Euros are all upset about steel tariffs. I wasn't in favor of them, either, but it's amazingly hypocritical for them to complain about protectionism. The EU is basically based on French practices, and has taken on France's overprotective farm subsidies.

Clinton Said to Want TV Talk Show

He wants $50 million a year. And he has aspirations of being the next Oprah. I'm not looking forward to the book club.

Using Robotics, Researchers Give Upgrade to Lowly Rats

New from Microsoft! Rat, Version 2.0! Climbs trees, plugs into your laptop!

Space work may take off in Huntsville
NASA narrows field for next spacecraft, which could be developed here

Huntsville's space flight center is hoping to get the X-37, the space plane that is supposed to eventually replace the shuttle. I know that eventually, space flight is going to have to pay for itself -- and that the government will have to move to a regulatory role rather than actually running a space program. But I don't think we're close to that yet.

Crisis of Alabama courts

Governor Siegelman released $500K to the court system yesterday; both he and trial court judges say that will be enough to keep things going through the rest of the fiscal year. But Chief Justice Roy "Thou Shalt Not Steal" Moore wanted moore -- uh, more -- something like $2.7 million. At any rate, it looks like jury trials are back on in Alabama.

Arafat Emerges Defiant After Israeli Siege Ends (washingtonpost.com)

The Weasel seems to think he's won some great victory; he flashed the V-for-Victory sign headed out. While I don't see that the Israelis accomplished anything cooping him up, I also don't see what he accomplished except to show how pathetic he really is.

PageSix.com: Page Six: 'BACHELOR' BEDTIME STORY By RICHARD JOHNSON with Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson

Jonathan Locker admits that he forged the emails Alex Rubalcava posted yesterday. So, unless Disney goons came around to beat him into saying it, so much for that.

Democracy in America

De Toqueville online.

Laurence Simon refers me to Pizza for Israeli Soldiers. I expect that any Palestinians around will think the pizza sauce is blood, though.

One Million Rally Against Le Pen (washingtonpost.com)

This whole Le Pen thing is making me re-evaluate my belief that you can judge a person by his enemies. Le Pen is scum, but so are a lot of his enemies. Attached to this story are an awful lot of red flags -- not the least of which are the actual red flags brandished by the anti-Le Pen marchers.

Many Bidders May Pursue New Method to Carry TV

They claim they can offer 96 channels and high-speed internet for $40 a month.

Babe 3: On The Rocks

Fraternity suspended for abusing pig

Authorities charged 23 members of the fraternity with misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty and abandonment after the drunk, dehydrated and severely sunburned pig was found at Tanglewood Park.

Yahoo! Entertainment > Humor > Science > Psychology Humor > Personality Tests

That should be enough personality tests for everyone.

ESPN.com - Clubhouse - Duke

Jason Williams is still expected to be the top player in the upcoming NBA Draft, maybe second if Yao Ming does well in his workouts. My question is, if the Memphis Grizzlies have the #1 pick, will they take Jason Williams? And if they do, what will they do with Jason Williams? Meanwhile, Jayson Williams has been indicted for manslaughter.

City allots $10 million for Roebuck Wal-Mart

TEN MILLION DOLLARS FOR A FRICKIN' WAL-MART?!?!

DallasNews.com | Half of inspection stations won't be ready today

I have nothing to say about this. I only link to it because the Dallas News' parent corporation wants sites to only link to its front page. Well, I just linked to a story. Nyah, nyah, nyah, you can't stop me!

(Via Romenesko.)

Rumsfeld Delays Decisions on Trimming Arms Programs

Jeez. I thought the whole idea of Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense was that he was going to re-invent the way we do business in the Pentagon. But hey, let's keep spending money on complex weapons systems that don't work and even if they did work would only be useful in wars that will likely never happen!

George Clinton Sues Cochran for Malpractice

Johnnie Cochran's law firm, actually, not him personally... Clinton claims he lost the copyrights on his music because one of Cochran's lawyers did a poor job. I was the worst law student ever, so you can't go by me, but of the two claims listed here, only failing to file an appeal on time seems to have merit. I would think that effective cross-examination would be a matter of opinion.

Alex Rubalcava claims to have the goods on "The Bachelor" being fixed. I don't know... The time codes on the email are messed up, which doesn't look good. Max Power, who is not a porn star, thinks the first email is real and the rest are fake.

ABCNEWS.com : No Iraq Meeting for Sept. 11 Hijacker

Just a couple of days ago, I saw some Iraq hawks try to dig this one up again, but even the administration seems to have admitted there was no Iraqi link to Sept. 11. Which is fine by me. Saddam needs to go down because of what he might do in the future, not what he's done in the past.

CNN.com - John Dean to reveal 'Deep Throat' guess - May 1, 2002

In an e-book published by Salon. My personal guess is that if Dean really had something he'd also have a real publisher.

ABCNEWS.com : Survey: Majority Believe in 'Pseudoscience'

Imagine. What with the constant drumming of specials touting pseudoscientic claims on the major networks, people start to believe this garbage -- who would have thunk it? (I'll give ABC credit; they are by far the least likely of the big four to play to the crystals-and-aliens crowd.) Or when the foundations of modern biology are suppressed from being taught in schools by religious zealots, that only a little more half of those surveyed believed that humans evolved from other animals?

When sixty percent of American "adults" believe in ESP, there's a problem. But hey, over half knew that the Earth takes a year to orbit the sun! (We won't get into the complexities of that right now.) And almost half knew that humans and dinosaurs didn't coexist! Now, that's progress!

UPDATE: Laurence at File 13 has the list of questions for the survey.

Boston.com / Latest News / Business / ABC network President Steve Bornstein resigns

Bornstein is leaving the troubled network ''to pursue other interests,'' according to a statement released by Disney.

Uh-huh. The fact that ABC has had, arguably, the worst season any major network has ever had probably has nothing to do with it. Really, they need a new phrase. Everybody always leaves to either "pursue other interests" or "spend more time with their families". And everyone knows what that means.

U.S. Indicts Colombian Terror Group (washingtonpost.com)

First, the article insinuates that the indictments are only because terror suspects thus far have all been Muslims. Leaving aside that it wasn't Colombians or Irishmen or Basques who killed 3000 Americans, I prefer to give even John Ashcroft the benefit of the doubt here. There is no doubt that FARC is a terror organization and needs to be shut down; the claims that the administration is "muddying its message" are foolish when you consider that the administration has always called the present conflict a war on terror generally.

Second, I like saying "FARC". FARC, FARC, FARC, FARC!

Singer Died in Idyllic Setting Where She Sought New Life

Maybe it was growing up in the eighties, but "Central America" and "Idyllic" don't associate in my mind. But Lisa Lopes apparently had no problem with it. On the other hand, she was an insane, drunken, pyromaniac, rapper, so she probably had different standards.

BIF Naked

U.S. Alleges Islamic Charity Has Bin Laden Ties (washingtonpost.com)

An affidavit filed with the complaint said that Benevolence International Foundation's executive director, Enaam M. Arnaout, has had a relationship with terrorist leader Osama bin Laden "and many of his key associates dating back more than a decade."

Hey, guess where BIF founder Adil Abdul Galil Betargy is from! I'll give you a hint: It's the same place as ObL, and one of its leaders was just visiting the President in Crawford!

Tapped, The American Prospect's blog, finally has a permanent url. It gets a permalink... Little Sanity hasn't been updated in three weeks, no word why, so it goes into the lost file. Hawkgirl gets a promotion from the NIT. And I'm almost out of space down there so need a new system, I think.

You can't spell "Barlow" without A-W-O-L

Ted Barlow is back after a week or so off (I am sorry about Chris, Ted) and he is on a roll.

The Miami Herald | 04/30/2002 | Gov. Bush attends drug summit, cries over daughter's arrest


"Waaaah! This isn't supposed to happen to us! I'm rich!"

CNN.com - Farrakhan banned from Britain - April 30, 2002

I don't know how I feel about this, other than thinking I prefer Farrakhan to be as far away from me as possible. Generally, I think it's a troubling example of Britain's problems with free speech. Farrakhan is hateful, but he shouldn't be banned.

Groening may pull plug on The Simpsons
The Simpsons: is this the beginning of the end?

Actually, Matt Groening said "we are closer to winding it up", which technically has to be true, doesn't it? I mean, barring time travel, every day brings you closer to the end.

Groening is bitter about what he sees as poor treatment of "Futurama", which he was more involved with these days anyway. I thought "Futurama" was OK, but it was an SF parody more than anything; I couldn't see it enjoying a broad audience for an extended period, and it was too expensive for a niche show.

OK, here's another damn survey.



Find out which Dead RockStar you are @ Useful Idiot.

Possumblog

Scholar/Marsupial Terry Oglesby delivers the complete history of "open a can of whup-ass". A must read.

The phrase "open up a can of whup ass," meaning to unleash an overwhelming beating upon a foe, actually has a form which predates Nicholas Appert's invention of canning in 1809. As far back as the Old Kingdom of Egypt, archeologists have found inscriptions which remark that those who disturb graves would be liable for punishment. In the tomb of Neferefre of the Fifth Dynasty, one inscription on a clay vessel has been interpreted as "I carry the curse of those who dare touch His treasures--You shall bear mightily upon your buttocks the flail of ten thousand servant men."

Skeptical Inquirer magazine

Got my new issue in the mail yesterday, and there's a (typically) wonderfully snide "Psychic Vibrations" column by Robert Sheaffer on "Islamic Science" (not online as yet); basically, the rejection of "Western" (that is, objective) scientific theory in favor of traditional Islamic ideas based on Aristotle and the Koran. I think I saw someone mention this idea awhile back.

Anyway, one "scholar" named Sultan Bashir Mohammed believes that the way to solve the world's energy needs is to harness djinns, which he interprets as beings made out of fire. Leaving aside that there's no such thing, I kinda doubt that the Saudis would be happy with the idea.

Hi, I'm Barbie! My creator may be dead, but I will live forever! Your daughters will be mine! Math is hard!

Official Blames Fog for Lebed Crash

Jeez, I didn't hear about this one. Alexander Lebed -- remember him? -- died in a helicopter crash Sunday. It appears to be an accident, according to investigators. If it were terrorists, I'd think they'd want to publicise that.

Rock band Creed cancels tour after lead singer injured in accident

Car accident, not falling off a horse or something. I was considering "The Creed Guy" -- I had no idea what his name was -- for the next poll. The current one is shaping up to be a dogfight between Celine and Yoko: Vote now!

al.com: Opinion

The chief justice of Alabama must not only know the law, he also must be a good administrator, a trait especially important in a state where money always is tight.

Unfortunately, Roy Moore doesn't know either. But he's got Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy down pat, and he looks snappy in a black robe. Surely that's enough?

Judge to reconsider life sentence in woman's'98 drug conviction

You gotta love the drug war. An Alabama court sentenced a 30-year old mother of two and first-time offender to life in prison without parole for selling a morphine mixture to an undercover police officer for $150. Street value, $10,000. For this, she was labeled a "drug baron".

The future of Pyra Labs :: Dotcom Scoop :: Business news, commentary, rumors & gossip

Robert Loch thinks Evan has a shot of making this thing work:

From where I'm sitting Pyra Labs has a wonderful opportunity to build upon their base, and turn themselves into a really successful company for the long term. In crazier times, analysts might have valued them at $20 to $50 million. However, in today's market up starts need to really prove their worth, and do so to an almost unreasonable degree, before they are taken seriously.

Pyra, in my opinion, deserves to be taken very seriously. They have a community of 400,000 websites, everything about their set up is positively compounding in nature, and they have limited direct competition.

Lara Croft outfit auctioned online

Again, I'm only passing along information.

BBC News | MUSIC | Sir Paul stops Hey Jude lyrics auction

He says it went missing from his home sometime about 1969; he did have break-ins at the time. Meanwhile, Christie's has a great suggestion:

He also suggested that if it had such great personal value then Sir Paul should bid for it himself at auction in case he later loses the right to keep it.

Terrific! Then, we'll steal his car and make him pay to get that back too!

DuPont plans 2,000 job cuts

In its textile division. Does Fritz Hollings know about this?

AP Wire | 04/29/2002 | H.S. Student in Bosnia Kills Teacher

He shot another teacher as well, then himself, fatally. I'm certainly no expert on school shootings -- nor do I have any desire to be -- but something just struck me. The student in Germany last week also concentrated on teachers, while American school shooters tend -- in my recollection -- to go after their fellow students. I don't know if that means anything.

IOL : Right-to-die woman sentenced to more life

Well, that's not a judgmental headline or anything, is it? My views on euthanasia are admittedly murky, but that was way too loaded a line.

Yahoo! News - Gary Glitter May Face Deportation From Cambodia

The Cambodian minister who says she might request deportation is, oddly, the "Minister for Women's Affairs". They have a government agency for that now?

Sorry, that was a cheap joke; I still don't understand why Glitter (who was convicted of kiddy-porn possession in Britain) comes under her purview. Though we can be pretty sure why Gary was there:

Cambodia's weak judicial system and lax law enforcement have in recent years made the impoverished Southeast Asian country a haven for pedophiles and child sex tourists.

Dumb and Dumler

CNN.com - Teen arrested in prom poison punch plot - April 29, 2002

Robert David Dumler, 15, was arrested Friday night after reports that he planned to spike the punch at Saturday's dance with a substance that would make people seriously ill or kill them, Police Chief Butch Rulla said.

I may point out that that description would work pretty well for what punch is usually spiked with. If you take enough of it, anyway.

Weird Things I Have Cataloged

Main Author: Barry, Dave.
Title: Dave Barry slept here /

That's not so weird in itself. What's weird is that somebody has gone through our copy and underlined parts of it, as for a test.

Former Chief of Sotheby's Gets No Jail Time for Price Fixing

Let's reiterate:

You steal eighty bucks from a gas station, you do jail time.

You steal millions, you get home detention and a stiff fine.

Dog Bites Man Department

Concert drug net snares 200 arrests

Unbelieveably, the police in Shelby County, south of Birmingham, arrested 200 people for possession of drugs or drug paraphenalia at a Widespread Panic concert. I know that I, personally, wouldn't go to one unless I was on something. Shame the Dead aren't around anymore. But the story says they're the new Grateful Dead. That's just pathetic, kids. Phish was one thing, but Widespread Panic?

I joke, but for some people it was no laughing matter:

Their prey ranged from Mountain Brook High School seniors to a U.S. Department of Energy employee. Agents found fans carrying everything from cocaine to OxyContin. Several overdosed. Police said one woman died Saturday night of an apparent overdose after she took Ecstasy.

Google Search: thomason

Since I never will, not in a million years, not if I become President, be the number one "Mac" on Google (but hey, I'm in the top 200 now!), I have to take what I can, and I'm at least the number one Thomason. It's the old site, but it'll do.

ajc.com | Living | Previous auto incident in Honduras during Lopes visit

I think that the AJC should have thought twice before putting this in the "Living" section, don't you?

Anyway, it turns out that three weeks before her death Lisa Lopes had been a passenger in a van that struck and killed a Honduran boy. And that she paid money to hush the whole thing up.

E-Mail Opens New Door For Familiar Scam Tactic (washingtonpost.com)'

Woe to the WP; not only has everyone on the Internet received the Nigerian email scam, I read (and blogged) a report from the Birmingham News on the same topic weeks ago. Technically speaking, I don't think that this counts as news.

The Sideshow
George Alec Effinger, 1947-2002
Remembered with love

Damn, damn, damn.

At Fox News, the Colonel Who Wasn't

Fox News: We put people with wholly made-up credentials on the air, you decide.

Cardinal Says Abuse Policy Must Wait

Cardinal Law, that is. And of course, he's right. (And hey, his boss is infallible!) I mean, this came up all sudden-like. It's not like he's known that there's a problem for years and tried to deal with it by moving priests around like a three-card-monte dealer.

Singing, dancing, laughing again make for fun Saturday in the park

Never liked that song.

I'm a sick, sick man

Or I'm just burned out. I'm watching a repeat of the Discovery Channel doc, "The Jesus: the Complete Story" -- you know, the one where they replace the hippie Jesus with a guy who looks like any given cabdriver, narrated by Avery Brooks. And I'm making sarcastic comments about the Intifada the whole time.

CAPTAIN SISKO: Then archaelogists made an amazing discovery.
ME: The world's first suicide bomber!

BROOKS: When peace was declared in 1994...
ME: BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

Ethanol May Kill Arctic Drilling in U.S. Energy Bill

Yikes. I'm against drilling in ANWR -- it's a frigging wildlife refuge, people! It's in the name! -- but now, I don't know. I have a few rules in politics, and one of them is, "Find what side Archer Daniels Midland is on, and then get on the other."

Ethanol is stupid; it takes more energy to grow, harvest, and refine than it produces. Maybe someday we'll find a better way, and we should experiment, but right now it's nothing but a farm subsidy.

I don't think we need either ANWR drilling or ethanol.

Israel Approves Bush Proposal, Defies U.N. (washingtonpost.com)

They're going to let Arafat out if he confines six wanted men -- apparently the ones from the kangaroo court last week -- and (importantly) lets them be guarded by American and British jailers. I'm surprised; I really thought they wanted to take out Arafat.

At the same time, they aren't going to let the UN inspect Jenin. The biggest reason for that is probably because the UN decided to leave anti-Semitic former Red Cross head Cornelio Sommaruga on the team, but they are saying it's a dispute over who will choose the Israeli witnesses in the probe.

CNN.com - Report: Greene resigns as Grammy president - April 28, 2002

This was apparently because of sexual harassment case, and not because of his embarrassing anti-file-swapping tirade at the last awards. Nor was it because the Grammys have evolved into a celebration of the sort of musicians prominently mentioned in the poll to the left. Nor was it because the Grammys are an embarrassment of massive proportions and make the Tony Awards look relevant. And it had nothing to do with that performance of "Lady Marmalade" at this year's awards which has scarred me for life.

But it should have been.

CNN.com - Millions mark Saddam Hussein's birthday - April 28, 2002

He doesn't look 65, does he? At any rate, Madass is on the Fidel Castro "Tyrant and inplacable foe of the United States" health plan, and will probably live to be 100.

CNN.com - Barbie creator, Mattel founder Handler dies - April 28, 2002

Now here's someone who has something to answer for.

"My whole philosophy of Barbie was that through the doll, the little girl could be anything she wanted to be," Handler wrote in a 1994 autobiography. "Barbie always represented the fact that a woman has choices."

Yeah, as long as she was blond, blue-eyed, and had a great body.