Former Reds owner in Jewish Hospital

Palestinians are one thing, but Marge "Hitler was good in the beginning" Schott?

Indian jailed for smuggling tortoises : HindustanTimes.com

Singapore has jailed -- for eight weeks -- an Indian national who attempted to smuggle endangered star tortoises into the the country. (City? City-state? What's the proper term for Singapore?) These are apparently very small tortoises, since he got 1,092 of them into four suitcases. He also has to pay to feed and care for them and to ship them back to India.

Yay, Singapore! (Yay, my reader or readers in Singapore! I see you!) Unfortunately, he won't be caned.

Wildlife extinction rate down dramatically: UN
Conservation credited

That is good news. It's not to say that species aren't still in danger, of course, or that the collapse of a major ecosystem couldn't cause the rate to skyrocket. But for now, human efforts to preserve wildlife are paying off.

Indonesia's rich keeping endangered pets

As a status symbol. I can only hope that occasionally a tiger or komodo dragon takes a few bites out of one of them.

Got a blog?

Gleep. I'm in the newspaper.

Oh, to answer Larry's question, a large part of it is that once you get me talking it's very difficult to get me to shut up. Ms. Hoops could have filled the whole section with my babbling.

A little spray to keep the mosquitos away

West Nile advice from the Mobile County experts. There haven't been any human cases in Alabama yet, but I have to think that if it's happening in Louisiana it will move east soon enough.

Gas station owner's suit against OPEC dismissed

Oh, well, it was a good idea. OPEC apparently has to be served through diplomatic channels, and it wasn't this time. Probably, I guess, because the diplomatic channels make it difficult or impossible.

Prewitt contended in his suit that the group manipulates oil prices around the world.

No, really?

Required abortion booklet expected to stir controversy

One of these stupid pamphlets that the Zealots have foisted upon the world. It almost makes me feel sorry for the Montgomery bureaucrats who have to write and publish the damned thing. Of course, they're charging abortion clinics five bucks a pop for the pamphlets they're required to distribute.

I'll give them this; over Zealot outcry, the State Health officer indicated he's going to include birth control information. That the anti-abortion fringe didn't want birth control discussed in the pamphlets tells you a lot about their real motives.

Tim Burton to film 'Big Fish' novel

Daniel Wallace, a native of Birmingham, says he's thrilled that a movie based on his novel, Big Fish, will be shot in his home state.

Hmm. The movie will star Albert Finney and Ewen McGregor as a father and son. It sounds like the usual horsebleep about the son who returns home to be with his dying father, like a hundred other movies that didn't feature an Englishman and a Scot pretending to be two guys from Alabama. However, the involvement of the eccentric even by Alabama standards Burton would indicate that even if it's horsebleep, it won't be the usual horsebleep, but horsebleep of an entirely different color.

Here's the Birmingham News story referenced in the first article. Mainly the film commission seems happy to have actually gotten a major picture based in Alabama filmed here for once. The football scenes in "Forrest Gump", for example, were filmed out of state -- in South Carolina, I think.

The Nando Times: U.S. seeking to cut peacekeepers patrolling Sinai

Odd timing... This is just weird. They're saying it's because the troops are needed for the War on Terrorism, but that doesn't make a whole heck of a lot of sense. There are only 865 Americans in the Sinai; surely the WoT won't fail for the lack of a couple of hundred soldiers. If it did, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to pull them from Europe, where they're busy guarding NATO members from an attack coming from other NATO members?

The Nando Times: Seeking EU entry, Turkish lawmakers abolish death penalty

I don't care much about the death penalty one way or another; I just ask that it be applied fairly and humanely. But I'm not happy at all about this sort of meddling from the Eurocrats. It is nice that Kurdish-language schooling and broadcasts were legalized, though.

The Nando Times: Uruguay police deployed to deter looting amid bank closure

Uruguay's always been one of the stable countries in South America, the one where you wouldn't think something like this would happen. But now the country appears to be going the way of Argentina. Leaders are talking with the IMF, which might give them enough cash to get by in the short term. This being the IMF, it will have strings attached, and the IMF's strings are razor wire.

Powell Still Plans to Meet Palestinians

Next week! The bodies from the University atrocity aren't even cold yet. I suggest he wear a bulletproof vest, and get ready to duck.

Man sentenced in road rage incident

You know, when you've just been convicted of road rage, looking in the paper like you're about to snap and charge the photographer may not be the best idea. Even if it's justified.

Salon.com People | Bill Moyers vows to contest DUI charge

He's not actually denying being drunk, only saying that the police shouldn't have pulled him over. Personally, I think Bill Moyers is creepy.

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The writing on the wall

Standard Guardian/Observer "Oh, those poor Iraqis" garbage.

Feisty 'frankenfish' now fugitive in N.Y.

The Dreaded Chinese Snakehead Walking Fish is getting harder to find in New York, and soon may only be available on the black market. Don't they understand, if snakeheads are outlawed, only outlaws will have snakeheads?

Reuters AlertNet - Israel retaliates for university bombing

The IDF bulldozed the houses of the families of Islamikazes. Yasser the Weasel called this a "crime against humanity". No such statements were forthcoming about how the mass murder of civilians is a crime against humanity, which doesn't surprise me any.

Jackson Previews Rings

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson told Cinescape Online that the upcoming sequels, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, will take the story into darker territory.

You know, just a little info for the eight people who don't know what happens next. Jeez, it's not like this is a new plot.

Four die in Louisiana outbreak of West Nile virus; governor declares emergency

Okay, this isn't funny anymore. Seriously, older people and children need to be careful. Wear mosquito repellant, and try to stay indoors in the twilight hours when the bugs are most active.

Okay, I seem to have an enemy. I'm not sure why, but someone has taken to insulting me in the comments on both of my sites. (He also checks my site more regularly than anyone, and spends a lot of time here.) I've banned his IP from the comments. I don't like doing that, but I like personal insults even less. I've never posted a comments policy, but it's pretty simple. Use your common sense, and don't insult me or other posters, and keep it at least PG-13.

Suspects moved to cells with arrows pointing to Mecca

Oh, how awful. We certainly are mistreating the Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo, aren't we?

CNN.com - Dallas schools sued over religious e-mail - August 2, 2002

A school district employee (her exact job isn't said) sent an email to friends pushing W's ridiculous national day of prayer. The school district said this was inappropriate and threatened to suspend her email privileges if she did it again. I've got to side with the religious zealots here -- at least given the information in the AP story -- and say that the school district stepped over the line. If some private use of email is allowed, you can't say that she can't use it to send religious messages to her friends. If she was spamming people and making it look official, or sending it to everyone on the system like people at my (religiously affiliated) employer do, that would be a different matter.

Search finds 225 pounds of pot

That's a lot of pot. I'm sure it was all for personal use.

CNN.com - Week-old girl raped in S. Africa - July 30, 2002

Given the way I feel about people who eat turtle eggs to get an erection, you can imagine how I feel about the kind of slimeball who rapes an infant to supposedly cure his AIDS. I don't know what to say except that if anyone deserves to have AIDS it's this guy and I hope he gets cancer too.

McKinney, Majette are in tight race in 4th

It's a statistical dead heat. Denise Majette actually holds a two-point lead over the Arab Lobby's favorite Congresswoman in the latest poll, but that's well within the margin of error. At any even, McKinney is in deep trouble and even her campaign manager says he's worried.

CNN.com - Florida gets tough on sea turtle poachers - August 2, 2002

I don't think I've mentioned this lately, but people who kill animals for bizarre, superstitious reasons -- in particular those associated with reproduction -- are high on my hate list. So you can imagine how I feel about people who eat the eggs of endangered sea turtles as an aphrodisiac.

Shelby wants Iraq attack

I can't believe I agree with Benedict Shelby!

WASHINGTON An American military strike against Iraq is inevitable and should not wait for further provocation, an international consensus or this fall's elections, U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby said Thursday.

What he said, the traitor.

washingtonpost.com: Anti-Killing Rally in N. Ireland

A mixed group of Protestants and Catholics rallied against terror in Belfast. Notice how you never see that sort of thing in the Middle East?

Campus attack could further deter U.S. Jewish students from visiting Israel

I don't think it will. But the attack killing foreign students (not necessarily Americans) was no coincidence. I'm convinced Hamas is targeting non-Israelis now, workers and students and (I expect) tourists as part of a program to isolate Israel and damage the economy.

ESPN.com: MLB - Bowden apologizes for comparing strike to 9/11

Bowden, the General Manager of the Cincinnati Reds, is a complete idiot. Actually, I knew that already, this just confirms it.

news.telegraph.co.uk - Holy Mother with a media empire

I'm not sure how I feel about the English getting to see Mother Angelica.

Planet Ark : Atlantic sharks coming closer to shore - researchers

One of those unintended consequences things. Since the Atlantic has been overfished, there isn't enough prey to go around for the sharks. So they're moving towards the shore, where they'll find something to eat, which might well be human.

On the good side, maybe they'll eat the snakeheads.

Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | Greenpeace, Bush Team Up in Fight

It's like one of those weird comic books where Superman and Lex Luthor join forces to fight a common enemy. You can decide on your own who's Superman and who's Luthor, but in this case the common enemy is foreign lumber companies. Since both Bush and Greenpeace are essentially anti-free trade, it's a logical combination.

washingtonpost.com: Biden: U.S. Must Consider Effects of Ousting Hussein

Well, how's this... Saddam won't be able to build nuclear weapons and nuke Tel Aviv. How's that for an effect? The fear of chaos shouldn't keep us from action to fix a situation we know is only going to get worse. Ignoring Saddam won't make him go away. The sanctions regime only causes human suffering and isn't slowing him down much.

I'm going to be labeled a warmonger, of course. But I knew I would when I got into this. War is a terrible thing, of course. But sometimes war is inevitable, and this is one of those times. We can deal with Saddam now, or we can wait until he has nuclear weapons, but we're going to have to fight him. Our choice is when.

Inevitable Biden Plagiarism Joke

When Biden was asked if he was running for President, he said "Yeah, and I'm gonna win."

CNN.com - Hubble gets a taste of sun's future - August 1, 2002
Scientists see clues in star, and it looks like a hamburger

I dunno. To me, it looks more like a yo-yo.

Yahoo! News - Ted Turner in S.C. Land Fight

Nice to see the AP can manage to get a story up no more than a month after it was broken in the AJC. Though contrary to Instapundit, at least one liberal -- and Atlanta Braves fan -- has been paying attention from the beginning.

AP Wire | 08/01/2002 | Powell Defends Talks With N. Korea

Of course he does. General Colin is irretrievably tied to the European worldview that says that you always have to talk, that "process" is important. That the "process" never seems to result in any actual progress doesn't seem to matter. At least we're having dialogue!

North Korea is a brutal dictatorship. All any "engagement" has done is string out the process of its collapse. Instead of tightening the screws we (and the South Koreans even moreso) keep bribing them. The problems aren't going to go away by talking to the despots, but by finding a way to get rid of them.

You may have computer bugs - real ones

Grossed-out technicians reported finding mice - live ones and dead ones - as well as bugs, marijuana and cash stashed inside computers.

Yes, that's pretty gross.

Sessions-Kennedy bill on prison rape hailed

Wait... Jeff Sessions is sponsoring a bill to combat prison rape? Together with Ted Kennedy? Wow. Good. I'm still not going to vote for him.

Big Brothers Big Sisters loses Dobson support

And why did they lose the support of said bozo Focus on the Family founder? Big Brothers/Big Sisters doesn't discriminate against gays and lesbians. The jackass rightwing bigots of FotF can't have that, of course.

UPDATE: Rantin' Andy has more good dirt on Focus on the Family.

CNN.com - Look at what Traficant swept under the rug - August 1, 2002

I don't really believe anyone thought that was real. At any event, he'll have to take his toupee off when he goes to Federal prison, bringing up the question of who will get custody. I want it.

CNN.com - No Israeli massacre at Jenin, U.N. concludes - August 1, 2002

You think the people shouting about the "massacre" will apologize? Heck, you think they'll stop saying there was a massacre? Fat chance.

washingtonpost.com: Economic Crisis Swells in S. America

We need to be paying attention, even if what's going on in the Middle East and in the financial world is distracting. As was feared when Argentina melted down, the problems have spread. Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Venezuela... It's getting very bad. And I don't have any faith in the current Administration's willingness to prop these nations up.

Google Search: tupperware offices, kolkata

Always glad to see completely bizarre searches come across the referrer log.

Boston.com / Latest News / Business / Proposed listing of beluga sturgeon as endangered species would make beluga caviar illegal

Once again, the government needed to be sued to consider an Endangered Species listing. Get used to it.

At any event, I don't eat caviar but have no objection to it in theory, so I don't have any reason to say that it shouldn't be imported -- if the species can survive. If the story is correct, the Beluga Sturgeon's population is a tenth of what it was twenty years ago. (I expect that the decline has accelerated since the breakup of the Soviet Union.) It's pretty easy to see what that trend promises for the species' long-term viability. Given that, the US should take a very close look at banning import of Beluga caviar. The former republics where harvesting takes place seem unable to control illegal harvesting; removing the demand seems the only other option if the supply can't be restricted.

Barbecuing the Enemy

Apparently the Dreaded Chinese Snakehead Walking Fish is delicious. And tastes like chicken. Complete with a recipe for barbecued snakehead.

Palestinians Gather in Gaza In Support of Jerusalem Bombing

Honestly, could they be any more loathsome? An estimated 10,000 Palestinians rallied in support of Hamas' atrocity at the Hebrew University. And we're supposed to support these people in their desire for a state?

Salon.com News | Florida manatee refuges at stake

Fortunately, there are still some Federal judges interested in actually enforcing the law, even if it's one the Executive Branch doesn't want to. There was an agreement in place, under court sanction, to build sixteen refuges. Fish & Wildlife set up two, then stopped due to a request by the Governor of Florida who is -- what a coincidence! -- the President's little brother. Judge Emmet Sullivan has told them to get cracking.

Here's your Federal Government at work, after being told to create the refuges:

Chuck Underwood, a Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman in Jacksonville, Fla., said once a plan is issued in November -- one month earlier than the government planned -- it would take six months to actually create more refuges. But the agency will not necessarily agree to create all 14, he said.

"We may do all of them or only some of them," Underwood said.

Un-flipping-believable.

Ananova - Scientist proves dogs can count

We'll see. I'd wonder about the "Clever Hans" syndrome myself (where the animal studies human body language to "solve" math problems) but at any rate I like dogs. If they can count, more power to them.

Man arrested after alleged carjacking

At a Krispy Kreme. Which makes me wonder where all the police were, if they weren't at the donut shop.

Yes, cop-and-donut jokes are hackneyed, but in many ways I am hackneyed.

Aquarium fish threat to environment

I hadn't heard that the Dreaded Chinese Snakehead Walking Fish had been seen in Florida waters, but it appears so. 31 times. Yipes. Where in Florida, I don't know. In some places it could presumably get into Alabama waters. I'm only a mile from the river!

Anyway, it appears that Auburn University is actually doing something useful for once:

For more information on proper disposal of aquarium plants and animals, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to "Aquarium Hobbyists," c/o Auburn University Marine Extension and Research Center, 4170 Commanders Drive, Mobile, AL 36615.

Really, if you have exotic animals, do, okay? Even if they're dead, they can carry other organisms that can cause problems.

Lodging tax clears after debate

Meanwhile, Birmingham is moving forward on its plan to expand the Civic Center, perhaps by building a domed stadium that has no reason to exist.

"We have to expand the Civic Center whether it's a dome or a big room," said Councilman Elias Hendricks.

Not doing anything, or spending the money to fix the city's infrastructure, apparently isn't an option.

4 juveniles arrested in Goldwire fire cases

This is the abandoned apartment complex, about to be purchased by the City of Birmingham, which saw eight fires in eight days recently. It was kids being kids, like I'd thought. No charges have been brought.

Heat, mosquitoes, put city fifth on Lanacane's itch list

Honestly, I can't believe there are four itchier cities than Birmingham. Also, I'd like to point out the mosquitoes again. Any wonder I'm paranoid about West Nile?

New plan to rescue ancient Stonehenge from the clutter of the modern world

"Will somebody do something to straighten up these damned rocks?"

Terror bombing kills 7, wounds 86 at Jerusalem university

Hamas claimed responsibility for the atrocity. Many of the wounded were foreign students, some were Israeli Arabs, and one of the dead was an American. As usual, the Palestinians are showing their amazing ability to destroy any sympathy they might have garnered in the last couple of weeks.

The Nando Times: North Korean foreign minister meets with U.S. Secretary of State

Hey, Colin finally found someone who will talk to him!

Larry is gonna get it for this one. BTW, if the lightning bolts don't get you, a little warning next time? I just cleaned my monitor.

NEWS.com.au | Giant squid 'taking over world' (July 31, 2002)

Oh, I think someone will have something to say about that.

Planet Ark : Japan cuts price of whale meat from hunts - report

These whales are killed in "scientific" whaling, of course. Jackasses.

Saint Canonized in Guatemala
Pontiff Appeals for Justice For Indians and the Poor

As long as the Indians and the Poor weren't molested by their local priests. Then they're on their own.

Yes, that was probably a low blow. But I don't care.

Lobbyist indicted on felony charges

A crooked lobbyist? What are the odds?

The Village Voice: Features: Richard Goldstein: On Being Called a Commie

I'm breaking the Great American Sully-Out, I know.

Mets Online - Your Information Source for the New York Mets

Not anymore, thanks to MLB's lawyers. This one strikes close to home, in that I also have a baseball fansite and have had one for years. I'm probably safer than the Mets Online people, since I don't use images. Plus they sell merchandise and I don't.

I should point out that MLB did something similar in trying to shut down Astros Daily a few weeks ago. I hate to accuse Instapundit of Eastern Media Bias, but...

CNN.com - Sources: Bodyguard capture may mean bin Laden died - July 30, 2002

Okay, I'm starting a pool. Put a message in the comments predicting when the next report saying he's alive will come out.

alDrug testing may be expanded

The Vestavia Hills school board wants to test all students who participate in extracurricular activities. Thanks, Justice Scalia! Anyway, I'm going to ask my brother, former Vestavia football player and current law student, for comment.

Shooting blamed on father-son fight
Police say son, 54, hospitalized for buckshot injury after dispute with father, 83, turns ugly

Daddy got angry, apparently, and put a load of buckshot into Sonny's forehead. Sonny has decided to stay with other relatives. Really, once you hit your fifties it's probably time to move out of your parents' house.

IOL : Absurd legal system makes flirting illegal

An "Oh, those crazy Americans" column from South Africa, cribbed entirely from one of those "small town laws" lists. Pathetic, really.

CNN.com - Fleeing males, manatees beach in Florida - July 30, 2002

Female manatees, when they got sick of the attention of male manatees, crawled up on a beach in Florida to escape them. The Bush Administration immediately claimed that this was evidence that manatees don't really need to stay in the water and authorized everyone with a motorboat or jet ski to drive through protected habitats at the highest speed.

Chicago Tribune | Alderman warns of ravenous walking fish

Said Alderman actually went to a pet store and bought one, by the way. Since "It is unclear if the city has the authority to prohibit snakehead sales", I wouldn't bet on this meaning anything. Still, this is obviously an issue that resonates with voters.

Traficant sentenced to 8 years in prison for taking bribes

When Michael Milken was jailed, he wasn't allowed to bring along his toupee. Assuming that precedent holds, what will happen to Traficant's hairpiece? I mean, I don't think we want that thing to be wandering around loose.

rediff.com: Hizbul rejects Powell's plea on J&K election
BJP snubs Powell on J&K proposal

"Hizbul" is a Pakistan-based separatist group that denies the legitimacy of upcoming elections in Kashmir and is calling for a boycott. "BJP" stands for "Bharatiya Janata Party" and considers Kashmir an integral part of India. In other words, both sides want nothing to do with Colin.

CNN.com - U.S. won't block Spann's father's testimony - July 29, 2002

Occasionally, even John Ashcroft's Justice Department can do the right thing. By the stopped-clock method, I assume.

Ananova - Angler attracts fish with Eminem on ghetto-blaster

Who likes Eminem? Animals with tiny brains, that's who!

ScienceDaily Magazine -- Sex Genes Of Fish Disrupted By Common Household Products

Apparently, some chemicals found in many household products can wreak havoc with fish, producing areas where all the fish born are male, or all are female, or they're kind of half and half. As you'd expect, this tends to keep the birthrate low. This is according to a study by the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Maryland! So while DNR is busy trying to keep fish from reproducing, UM is trying to make them reproduce.

Morrocan party accuses US of supporting Israel in attack on Palestinians

If by "party", they mean an actual party, a celebration of some sort, then it was a fairly large one. If they mean a political movement, however, 300 people isn't a particularly impressive number. Heck, I can probably get a couple hundred people to protest American foreign policy without even trying, and I live in Alabama.

At any event, if they mean that the US supports Israel in general, then sure we do. Proud to do it. If they mean we support their specific action in the assassination of Salah Shehadeh -- as it appears -- that is not true. It's been condemned pretty strongly by the Administration.

Funerals begin for two brothers killed in W. Bank shooting

I have a question for the moral equivalence brigade: How many more Israelis do the terrorists have to kill to make up for the Gaza air-raid assassination?

blog*spot internal error page

It's a completely new (to me, anyway) Blogspot error message. It's a big day!

Everyone probably knows this already, but James Lileks is back from vacation.

Salon.com Politics | Texas governor ties rival to drug money

The man who replaced George W. Bush as Texas governor apparently has Bush's dad's dirty campaigning M.O. down pat.

2 workers slain at South Fulton Library

Great! Outside, I have to worry about disease carrying mosquitoes, and inside they're assassinating librarians.

Dog meat to go; ready for the microwave

While "Koreans Eat Dogs" stories are so June, I wonder what took them so long to come up with microwavable canine. At any rate, it remains hard to see how eating dog is any worse in an animal rights sense than eating any other animal. Personally, I believe that the relationship between humans and dogs is a special circumstance and eating dog is a violation of our contract, but that's a mystical sort of thing.

Asteroid Collision Ruled Out

Well, somebody tell the BBC, which is still going on about it. I should point out that the odds even before it was ruled out were on the order of those of a lottery ticket paying off.

rediff.com: India vitiating peace, security in South Asia: Musharraf

India replied that it was either gratified or insulted, depending upon what "vitiating" means.

Slipknot to throw animal entrails into Glasgow festival crowd - NME.COM

This story makes me glad that I have absolutely no idea who "Slipknot" is.

NEWS.com.au | Supersonic rocket test (July 29, 2002)

Well, if at first you don't succeed, right boys?

Lobster colour-change mystery solved

Well, I know we were all on the edge of our seats waiting for the answer. It turns out that lobsters change "colour" when they're cooked because a pigment becomes unbound from the shell and changes from blue to its normal orange color.

Trade dispute "spells death for Dutch pigs"


When you get down to it, though, the pigs were going to be slaughtered anyway. So it's not like they're being robbed of a long and happy life.

Springsteen band to play 'Letterman' twice

He's appearing on "The Late Show", with the E Street Band (I wonder what Conan O'Brien thinks about that) on back-to-back shows, Thursday and Friday. They'll actually both be taped Thursday.

USATODAY.com - Budget Group files for bankruptcy

I should make a Bushonomics joke here, but we're talking about the rental car people.

Ananova - Bin Laden's son 'in charge of al-Qaida since October'

It's always good to see them keep the business in the family, isn't it?

Ananova - Ancient Buddhist city uncovered in Afghanistan

A Gandharan city, called Kaffir Got ("Kaffir"? I hope that's a coincidence and not a loanword from Arabic but I'm not betting on it) dating from the 2nd Century (AD, I assume) was discovered in southern Afghanistan. Thank goodness it was found now and not a year ago, or the Taliban would have blown it up.

Ananova - Zimbabwe to prosecute over Mrs Mugabe and bin Laden link

You know, I don't care if Robert Mugabe's wife is linked with Osama bin Laden, as long as she doesn't send me spam asking for my bank account number.

Actually, Mrs. Mugabe probably is the wronged party here, at least judging from this story. I'm not saying that the newspaper should be prosecuted for it, and it wouldn't be in a country with real press freedom.

Bangkok Post Tuesday 30 July 2002 - `Pla ra' cleared of foul charge

Public health permanent secretary Vinai Viriyakijja said samples of pla ra, or fermented fish, had been examined and found to be free of contamination.

You know, in most contexts, rotten fish is itself considered contamination.

Orange Beach, Ono Island leaders discuss annexation

Ono Island? Oh, no!

Mosquito spraying gets off the ground
Two more cases of West Nile virus reported in Baldwin

Baldwin County finally got its spraying plane working, complete with insecticide, and started going after skeeters. 45 minutes later, it started raining.

The state health department says that West Nile is probably present throughout the state now, and everyone should be careful to avoid mosquito bites. If you must go outside, first take the precaution of putting a lit citronella candle on your hat.

Newly ousted Middelhoff mulls AOL offer - Tech News - CNET.com

AOL apparently is actually offering the top job to someone just fired by Bertelsmann.

The Nando Times: Unusual project studies effects of wastewater on fish

Yes, in the future, you might be able to buy fish raised in untreated human sewage! Yum!

CBS News | Monster Hunter

I don't know what's worse: that CBS is wasting bandwidth (and airtime?) on the Loch Ness monster, or that they don't know the difference between dinosaurs and plesiosaurs.

I'm adding Scott Rosenberg's Links & Comment to the blogroll. I'm disturbed that he seems to only link Salon blogs, (and a few outside news stories) but I guess that's his job. Oh, and that's a really memorable url they've come up with. Are they expecting ten million blogs? Never let it be said that Salon doesn't aim high.

Paranormal beliefs linked to brain chemistry


People with high dopamine levels "are more likely to find significance in coincidences, and pick out meaning and patterns where there are none". So they wind up believing in the occult. Other reasons people believe in the paranormal:

Lobotomy
Brain damage
Abnormally small cerebral cortex
Just stupid

I made those up, except that on a very real level they're all true, especially the last.

Psychics to be put to the test in experiment

You notice how psychics never seem to get proven to have powers in these? That's because they always fail. Not that they ever go away, or stupid people don't keep giving them money. Speaking of giving people money, I suggest not giving any to Edinburgh University, considering they're sponsoring this waste of time. Meanwhile, Oxford and Cambridge have to jump through hoops for the government. But there never was any justice.

"If this study proves successful, it would mean we would be able to predict disasters such as plane crashes and accidents. You might even be able to win the Lotto."

I would savage the logic here, but I don't have the energy for it. Talk amongst yourselves about the possibility of the lottery existing in a world where psychic powers operate.

Troubled Goldwire Apartments burn for eighth time in days; cause sought

That's eight fires in eight days. The abandoned apartments have been bought by the city of Birmingham for redevelopment, but apparently someone has other ideas. The building is apparently pretty open and it might just be kids having fun, but I'd think they'd get tired of that pretty quickly.

Bundles of joy?

Want a nice litter of mewling children? Go to a fertility clinic!

Bus station may gain museum status

The station in Montgomery is where a mob attacked a group of Freedom Riders in 1961. The Alabama Historical Commission wants to turn it into a museum.

The Miami Herald | 07/29/2002 | Unsolicited e-mail can be a good thing, author says

No it can't.

NWHC: Wildlife Species Affected by West Nile Virus

Combustible Boy sends me to the US Geologic Survey's West Nile page. I'm particularly drawn to the list of affected (afflicted?) species. They left "Human / Homo sapiens off the list of free-ranging mammal species, however. I suppose it's good news of a sort that those damned European Starlings fall victim to the disease. Also my stepmother's bête noire, the common grackle. She likes to feed birds in the backyard, but the grackles (which kind of look like flying oilslicks) would chase off all the more colorful ones.

ajc.com | Opinion | Bastes like chicken!

A market solution to the snakehead situation. It's actually the same one the Singaporeans favor.

allAfrica.com: Malaria Undermines Performance

And you know, really, it does.

Apparently, in Uganda a number of children were sent home from school with malaria, which really puts chicken pox in perspective. What's worse is that according to this story malaria can effect a child's grades! The author gives us some friendly advice, though:

Since worms and poor diet can cause anaemia, deworm your child every three months also.

State: Leaping sturgeon become boating hazard

Karin points me to this fun bit about the "Giant Leaping Sturgeon". They actually jump over boats and have been known to knock people unconscious. Presumably not intentionally, though you can never tell with fish. I notice one of the knockout victims was on a personal watercraft, which may indicate some sort of environmental consciousness on the sturgeon's part.

CNN.com - Professor jailed in Egypt image case - July 29, 2002

Perhaps this comes under the heading of "Your Tax Dollars At Work", considering how much money we waste propping up Mubarak's little tyranny. The professor in question was actually working with an EU grant, though. And he's going to jail for making a documentary that indicated -- of all things -- that Egypt's electoral system is corrupt. Imagine.

The Miami Herald | 07/27/2002 | DCF aide is found drunk, cops say

Florida's Department of Children & Families is a fun bunch, yes? This worker was slumping in her car with a seven-month-old foster child crying in the backseat. At least this baby didn't disappear of the face of the Earth.

Blood-suckers give something back - JULY 29, 2002

I told you lawyers had their good points!

Oh, this is about getting drugs from actual blood-sucking animals. Forget what I said about lawyers.

AP Wire | 07/28/2002 | West Nile virus now found in mosquitoes around St. Louis

They'd already found birds with it, so they knew there were infected skeeters. It's just that now they've found those. Another place to stay indoors.

IOL : Exotic fish chart warming ocean

Guess who else is having problems with fish showing up where they don't belong? The Brits are seeing unusual species off their shores, probably due to the surface water being warmer in recent years. But luckily, there's no such thing as global warming, right?

Mercury News | 07/26/2002 | Congressional bill would benefit small Webcasters

Wait a second... small webcasters don't have millions of dollars to lobby for this! They're violating the sanctity of the entire political system for some people who might be rich one day.

USATODAY.com - Stem cells grow eye blood vessels

Good for the scientists who carried out this study. Bad for the Luddites and Zealots, many of whom work in the current Administration, who would make this sort of study illegal.

Coke reportedly plans diet version of Vanilla Coke

Then, Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke. Then Diet Vanilla Cherry Coke Clear. Well, maybe not. I might try this, before my kidneys shut down.

Arabs boycott U.S. goods over Mideast policies, but critics say Arab businesses are hurt

Oops!

What's more, the Arab world really doesn't represent a big portion of America's foreign trade (except for oil, of course) so we aren't hurt much. And moreover, they're only really able to boycott stuff like cola and fast food. It's not like they can do without American computers and the like.

Idiots.

Your Tax Dollars At Work Department

Styx, Kansas will rock Redstone Arsenal

"Okay, boys, stand right there. Right, under the rocket."

"Quick, Harvey, hit the ignition sequence!"

Yelas reels in BASS victory

For the people who kept putting a fishing competition on the front of the local sports sections: Fishing is not a sport.

AP Wire | 07/28/2002 | Singaporeans Love Snakehead Fish

Freaks.

Of course, snakeheads are native to the region and won't destroy the ecosystem.

AP Wire | 07/28/2002 | Sen. Lieberman assails Bush demand

I'm with Lieberman on this one, even if he is running for President. The whole attempt to overturn civil-service rules on the "Homeland Security" bill is just Bush trying to do his normal anti-labor garbage, with no real national security angle.

The Nando Times: Palm seeking a reverse stock split

Hey, Palm is still in business! Not for long though, not with a stock price of $1.23.

Pope says sexual abuse by 'some' priests causes 'sadness and shame'

You think? Apologies are all well and good, but asking children and others to support the Church when the Church keeps refusing to put its own house in order won't do any good. They want to support the Church; you're making it impossible.