http://tlc.discovery.com/news/afp/20031215/bullet.html?ct=6788.92970857309 Doctor killed while testing his anti-bullet charm. Surprise, suprise, it didn't work.

My new Xmas ornaments - after Christmas sales rule! Note the Sharpie for size comparison.

Took a few cute photos today of my cats "kissing" under the Christmas tree.

Am back from finals! Seemed to go well, etc. Although I have a cold and have been otherwise mostly nonproductive over the last two weeks, I did feel adequately prepared. Now I need to do laundry, clean, etc. During the last week of classes a classmate and friend noted that I was dressed nicely (at least, more nicely than usual, although she didn't say that), and was I going out after class. You see, I explained, all my casual clothes were too dirty to wear and I'd probably be wearing formalwear to my finals. Not that I did, I raided my store of animal-themed t-shirts and sweatpants and have worn variants of that style for the last two weeks. Mostly because it was better than paying for the dry cleaning for the formalwear. ;)

Put up my Christmas tree. A large number of soft toy ornaments and sturdy metal and wood ones - cat-proof, you know. A few glass balls - very small, and thus resistant to breakage despite their delicate nature (none lost yet, despite several spills). Colorful and animal-themed. The tree has the requisite mushrooms - mom claims it is a German tradition that having a mushroom on your tree brings good luck; I have several, including a few semi-antique ones given me by my parents.

Djali is lurking in the lower left-hand corner. They cats have taken to sleeping under the tree.

Several new, cool ornaments this year. First is the angel top of the tree, a gift from cousins Michal and Georgina, they know I like blue (and especially gold-trimmed blue, I'll add); most beautiful, and I needed something to put on the top of the tree, last year it went untopped. Second is the lampshade thing in the middle, above the giraffe, which I adore for its unusual shape and the fact that it has appliqued flowers. Got it at the Knorr Candle Factory, where I also acquired the little handbag ornament, directly below the angel. The two standing Santas are new, too - one from Michal, one from Costco. The candle holders are also new. I ordered more and will put them up next year, along with a bunch of glass icicles, when I get a better fake tree, one that actually resembles a _tree_. This one was a $20 Walmart special. *laugh*

A bit of Yahoo fun tonight. Got hit on by some "attorney" (yeah, right) who happened to have hit on me about a year back. He used the _same_ trite lines he used a year back (charming the first time = pathetic the second time. get some new material, already.) I also recalled how easily he got enraged when he was questioned or challenged in any way (and he's hitting on law students WHY?). So, being me, I decided to have a bit of fun. Edited transcript follows (full transcript available upon request), name changed to protect the loser:

ImaLoser: do you need a new penpal.... do you like poets.... are you allergic to lawyers
imbrium44: hello
ImaLoser: hi
ImaLoser: so you wanna be a lawyer..... should i warn you, or should i encourage you to finish
imbrium44: oh doesn't matter much each way
ImaLoser: so would you rather tell me about yourself, or read one of my poems about law school
[…] imbrium44: sorry to disappoint, I know everyone expects horror stories about law school, but I have none
ImaLoser: well, law school is fun
ImaLoser: it is being a lawyer that sucks
[…] ImaLoser: my motto is this... if anyone tells you they love being a lawyer, they are either psychotic, or a liar
imbrium44: perhaps it is just the field in which you work?
ImaLoser: nope
ImaLoser: i know lots of lawyers
ImaLoser: i know a heck of a lot abou a heck of a lot
imbrium44: do you now?
ImaLoser: did i tell you i am humble????
ImaLoser: it is my best quality, my humility
ImaLoser: lots of people go around pretending to be humble, but they got nothing to brag about
[...] ImaLoser: but me, i got lots to brag about, so in comparison, i am overly humble
ImaLoser: hey, what is yoru second grad degree going to be in
imbrium44: international relations
ImaLoser: so you want to deal in international trade, where there really is no law
imbrium44: no, I don't particularily want to deal in international trade
[…] imbrium44: so if you hate your job so much, why do you continue to do it?
ImaLoser: i said i did not love it
ImaLoser: i said it sucks
ImaLoser: i never said i hated it
imbrium44: then why continue to do it? why not chuck it all and buy a farm in montana?
ImaLoser: most jobs suck, that is why they call it a job
ImaLoser: you need money for a farm, even in montana
[…] imbrium44: yes, but you could do that on a gas station attendant's salary...in montana
[…] ImaLoser: you are sounding a little like ronald reagan, when he held up the newspaper back in the 80's, and said, "you want a job, check out the wantads in the newspaper"
imbrium44: but certainly better than much of the coasts, where even attorneys can't afford 1 acre
imbrium44: so perhaps you're tied to the status and prestige as well?
[...] ImaLoser: so you really think a bank is going to loan a gas station attendant enough money to buy a farm..... and then the bank is going to loan the start-up capital so that the new farmer can work the farm...... and then the bank is going to wait around until the crops come in to collect its money..... ??????
[…] ImaLoser: you are republican, huh?????
ImaLoser: you probably call yourself conservative, huh
imbrium44: not a bit
ImaLoser: i bet you do not last fives years practicing law...... nope, not five years....... no offense, but you have no idea how hard it is........
[…] imbrium44: yes, my poor fellow. but if you hate it so much, quit
ImaLoser: you are so wrong....... about the bank...... why do you think john mellencamp had to put on a concert called farm aid..... why do you think the government gives out billions of dollars a year in welfare to farmers.... and, what crop is the farmer going to grow in montana???????
imbrium44: I don't care for people who complain but do nothing to solve their situation. It's like the woman who stays with the rich abusive man because she otherwise couldn't afford designer clothes
imbrium44: it isn't an argument I find appealing or swaying, sorry
[…] imbrium44: ahhh farm subsidies!
imbrium44: so do you know much about the CAP? How do you feel the entry of the ten new states will affect it?
ImaLoser: good luck........ you are going to need it when you get out in the real world.... goodbye.....
imbrium44: laugh bye bye mike esq
imbrium44: you'd already talked to me about a year before, I recalled your amusingly patronizing attitude quite quickly
imbrium44: next time, do remember on whom you've tried your trite, tired out hit-ons. good BYE

And, with my closing line, I blocked him.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=405949§ion=news Yes, Michael Jackson, go ahead and antagonize the DA.... Cutest quote: "Indeed, a profile of Sneddon on the official Web site of the National District Attorneys Association mentions that 'he's the only DA in the nation to have an angry song written about him by pop megastar Michael Jackson.'"

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap11-15-163124.asp?t=apnew&vts=111520031650 "Milwaukee postal workers find live alligator chewing through shipping carton." What intrigues me most is the explanation that "alligators longer than 20 inches are not allowed to be sent through the mail." So seems you can still buy a 20 inch alligator off ebay and have it shipped via regular mail.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/11/13/lawyer.kidnap.ap/index.html You knew working at law firms was a tough job, but did you think it'd be this tough? "An attorney accused of burying an associate alive under the floor of his Manhattan apartment..."

Thought of the day: Luxembourg: A buffer zone in which to park your tanks.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/11/06/putin.ap/index.html While doubtless Khodorkovsky didn't pay his taxes, he's hardly an exception. No one pays taxes in Russia. Selective enforcement for political ends. The Russian government doesn't seem to have adapted to operating with the light of international scrutiny shining in. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

http://www.msn.match.com/msn/article.aspx?articleid=89&TrackingID=516311&BannerID=544658 Horrid, historically inaccurate article. No idea where he got his information about Elizabeth I of England , but he's obviously gotten her confused with Catherine II "The Great" of Russia. While some fringey group claims Elizabeth had scads of lovers, that is a highly controversial minority opinion. Catherine is a much safer target and the one I'd choose myself for making stupid assertions of the kind he makes. I hate idiots. Would e-mail the author if he didn't hide his e-mail address (obviously out of fear someone would correct his shoddy research).

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap11-09-174712.asp?reg=mideast&vts=11920031753 Yick. Bad baby formula. Can’t you see some execs saying, whoops, forgot the Thiamin, gee, do babies really need that? Nah….

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/reuters11-09-180601.asp?reg=europe&vts=11920031810 The Romanian film industry. Is good that they’ve been able to expand to sorts of movies other than just gothic horror. As I commented earlier regarding Vampire wineries, vampires are Romania’s biggest claim to fame, and certainly the one with the most mass appeal. They need to beat that horse till its good and dead and then keep beating. If the Dracula theme park gets built, I'd go visit. Am still trying to find more Vampire wine...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/11/08/peru.inca.reut/index.html A lost city found near a lost city. Why is anyone surprised? Lost things cluster together, it's the law.

Have been reading Bill Bryson's book "Made in America" for quite some time - keep it by the bathtub as it is excellent for reading in snippets when I'm not in the middle of a longer book. One bit struck me as especially funny in the discussion of early American table manners and how they were ridiculed by the Europeans. The author points out that the Europeans had a rather dubious claim to good table manners themselves, and quotes an 1840's French book on etiquette: "If your fingers are very greasy, first wipe them on a piece of bread." *giggle*

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/07/international/asia/07INDI.html?ex=1068786000 On population control in India. There is much to be said for not over populating the world, but some of their proposed methods are idiotic: "Some states have considered denying educational benefits to third children." Yes, create a permanent underclass having lots of kids, that's a plan. Also some discussion of removing town council-type politicians from office for having more than two children. Stupid.
This sounds much more reasonable: "But critics of the laws call them gimmicks. They point out that the countries, and even Indian states, that have most successfully limited population growth have done so more by increasing education and work opportunities for women, improving health care and providing a wide range of contraceptive choices. " But of course, the key lies in greater social problems: "'Everyone wants a small family — two children,' explained her husband, Rajaram Sonkar, as their girls flitted around his small shop. 'But if you have a daughter, you have to keep going.'" I have to say, I'm tempted to punish people with that attitude, too. Once women get equal status in terms of educational , career and financial opportunities, the cultural emphasis on male children will shift. Another irritating quote: "Like tens of millions of Indian women, especially across the northern Hindi belt, Ms. Bai was never schooled. She was married off at 15, and had her first child soon after. She said that she did not know how to prevent a pregnancy, and that in any case, the number of children she would bear was for her in-laws to decide." Yick.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/reuters11-06-193548.asp?reg=pacrim&vts=11620031956 And who says international law is all boring? Warning: slightly suggestive content.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2090675/ Supreme Court fun. For those of you who haven't been to law school, that hypothetical game playing is basically what you do, all day long.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2090622/

Cute little sequence today of a Djali/Bryansk squabble over territory, namely a flokati rug in front of my big bookcases.

The DMZ:


Sortie rebuffed:


Rout and full retreat by invaders, territorial expansion by defenders:


Fortifications (my favorite part is that Djali's ears clearly show annoyance, a Mongol outside the Great Wall):

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/parenting/11/02/grown.up.ap/index.html Fits in with my own observations, age 18-22 were college years, I didn't really start to do anything interesting until maybe 27. Of course, that was the dot com roller coaster, which was financially lucrative and gave me a lot of great "stupid business decisions" to share... ;)

Made the cats a new cat bed today out of a beautiful wood basket my mother gave me a while back. Put a soft dark blue towel in there, in decent shape but unused for ages (I've got a lot of towels, I went through a period of buying high quality bath sheets, so now my regular bath towels sit around looking pretty in the linen closet). Besides, it matches my bedroom decor, which is mostly royal/navy blues with touches of gold and silver, while my bathroom is now done in sage green with touches of gold. Basically, the recipe for the cat bed was: basket + towel + pinch of catnip. Just add one cat. Gypsy gave the basket a whirl, sitting in it for a few seconds, but Djali noticed her almost immediately and started to repeatedly swat her on the butt. Then he tried to bite her. The butt-swatting was a refreshingly unambiguous command of "get *your* butt the heck out of *my* bed." Outweighed, Gypsy finally left. Djali sat in it about two seconds before getting bored and wandering off to eat (Djali's life is a series of naps punctuated by meals, or perhaps a series of meals punctuated by naps, with occasional bouts of Gypsy-harrassment thrown in). Life is like that sometimes, you only want something when you see someone else enjoying it. Especially if you're a cat. All things are mine, in a cat's world view. As far as they're concerned, everything I own (except the vacuum cleaner), my family and friends, a neighbor boy, the rabbit, etc. belong to them. *chin rub* Watching two such sweetly selfish creatures interact can be quite amusing. As with the basket. At any given moment, either two cats want the basket, or no cat wants it. I considered making another bed, but no solution there. From experience, Djali will always want the basket Gypsy is in. I can draw a parallel here to world affairs, but it's just too obvious.

http://entertainment.msn.com/news/article.aspx?news=138814 "Sean John, the clothing line of rap music mogul Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs, is under scrutiny from a workers' rights group for allegedly using laborers from a Honduran sweatshop. ... Workers there are subjected to daily body searches, contaminated drinking water and 11- to 12-hour daily shifts, the report said. In exchange, they are paid 24 cents for each $50 Sean John sweat shirt they sew ... The study also found women were given mandatory pregnancy tests, and that those who tested positive were fired, Kernaghan said." Oh the irony. Singing about being repressed by the man takes a whole different meaning when you're the man. I'd suggest a boycott except I don't know anyone who buys his clothing, anyway. ;)

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters10-27-163611.asp?t=renew&vts=102720032234 "Manhattan prosecutors Tuesday are expected show about 15 minutes of video footage from the 2001 party that cost $2.1 million - about half paid by Tyco - and featured singer Jimmy Buffett, gladiators, chariots, and an ice sculpture of Michelangelo's David spewing vodka from his penis. ... But Judge Michael Obus ruled that jurors will not see footage of the ice sculpture or a birthday cake in the shape of a woman's breasts with sparklers mounted on top." Now, truthfully, I already thought he deserved prison for blatant stupidity (not to mention fraud), but now I think he deserves the death penalty for his taste. Not to mention it was his _wife's_ birthday party. Sorry, but if my husband threw me a party that featured genetalia as a major decorating theme, my attorney would be serving him with divorce papers at the earliest possible time. Not to mention that Jimmy Buffet was considered a special treat? Shiver. Intolerable cruelty, says I. But you have to pity whatever poor, money-grubbing harlot married that low-class scum. You can take the person out of the trailer park, but you can't take the trailer park out of the person...Or prison, as it looks like. Heh heh.

Fire update. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/fires/images/aerial01.html Satellite photo of the fires. Scary photo: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/fires/20031026-1350-sdfires.html

My classes have been cacelled for tomorrow. Almost as much fun as a snow day in school, except smokier and more orange than white.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/10/26/russia.magnate/index.html Claims of political motivation and selective enforcement of laws dog the Russian governent's decision to arrest magnate for tax fraud and evasion. And I thought all those guys had joined their money in Switzerland...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/26/nude.shoot.ap/index.html Nude installation art piece. Great pickup line: But, baby, it's art!

Wildfires!

I woke today around noon with a headache. It was so dark that when I groggily glanced at the clock, my first thought was that I'd slept through the entire day until midnight, unlikely as it was. I'm very much tuned to daylight and my sleep schedule goes off when the sunlight isn't right (the hazard of living in a near perfect climate). Then I noticed the orange glow seeping around my heavy blinds and drapes. Concerned, I risked a glance outside. My next still-groggy thought upon seeing the sky was that I'd lived through the apocalypse and would have to rebuild society, what a bummer. (Seriously. Perhaps that gives some insight into the way my mind works.) The skies were so clouded with smoke that I could look at the sun without squinting. But then I realized that the electricity was still on, which ruled out the doomsday scenario with a high degree of certainty. Didn't consider that it was caused by multiple fires until I stepped out on the balcony and smelled a familiar smell (I run air filters inside, which removed the sharp tang from the air). Cousin Michal and I were in Temecula yesterday, which is also suffering from a rash of wildfires, and I got a good snort of that unpleasant charred smell yesterday. The orange skies surprised me, as Temecula's skies were a patchy, smoky gray.

A picture of the sky, taken at high noon. That little light is the sun. A yellow gradient splashed across the sky:



Two articles of interest:
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters10-26-083130.asp?t=renew&vts=102620031147 '''The sky is absolutely yellow like Armageddon,'' Sarah Tippit, a Reuters reporter, said as she prepared to evacuate her home in the San Diego area, which is facing a rapidly-spreading set of fires. ''It's filling our lungs. There's not anything that's stopping it.'''

http://www.msnbc.com/local/knsd/a1847491.asp?vts=102620031142, which pinpoints affected locations.
"Interstate 15 north at Balboa Avenue
Interstate 15 south at state Route 125
State Route 67 north from Lakeside To Poway Road
State Route 52 all the way to Interstate 805
The Scripps Poway Parkway
State Route 163 north at Interstate 805." Several of those closures are within two or so miles of me.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/10/24/boim.diary/index.html "A high school freshman expelled for writing a fictional account of a student who falls asleep in class and dreams of killing a teacher can return to school Monday while officials reconsider the disciplinary action." Sad. Suspended for a story about a dream about killing a teacher. Of course, rather foolish to take it to school and show it around, but what 14 year old hasn't wanted to throttle a teacher at some point? That she can work out her frustration by putting pen to paper seems a very positive thing. Would have to see the story, perhaps it was truly vile and violent, but it smacks of overreaction. Isn't as if she had blueprints of the school labelled "die die!!" with red X's indicating the teacher's lounge...

Well, isn't just science that people don't understand. Thought of another example, this time on a fairly basic legal issue. There was an interview on television about the Middle Eastern women who come to the U.S. to give birth (see http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031002_34.html for details), obviously so their kids would have citizenship by the principle of jus soli (by birth on US soil). Seems pretty simple, no? But an "expert" on "International Law" was saying that the laws had changed since 9/11 and people no longer became citizens simply by birth on U.S. soil. Some expert: it's in the Constitution, stupid. More specifically, the Fourteenth Amendment, section 1 states that "[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." Do YOU recall a Constitutional amendment in the last few years? I don't.

The last couple of articles have set me to lamenting the poor understanding of basic scientific principles among the vast bulk of humanity. A few simple, logical rules, e.g. Rule of Parsimony, goes so far to make the world a more orderly, understandable place. How many conspiracy theories could stand up to Occam's razor? Presumably, only the true ones. ;) But that doesn't seem to stop people from believing that they were "probed" by aliens that just happened to be the spitting image of E.T., or in vast government conspiracies, or that little black holes fly around the Bermuda triangle sucking up planes and boats, etc. P.T. Barnum had it right....suckers.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2090186/ Interesting article on bullying, makes a number of thought-provoking points, mostly just leaving me with the impression that the bullying campaign is yet another example of trend-based psychology run amuck. Brings back some amusing memories from when I was doing my Zoology B.S. I recall my animal behavior/zoology professors and classmates snickering about the concept of psychology as a "science." Yes, arrogant, but sometimes arrogance is warranted. We covered in a week of animal behavior class (taught through the biology department) what it took a semester to cover, and in less depth, in a equivalent class through the psychology department.

Anyway, this is a favorite rant of mine whenever I identify some new trend and get irritated by the spate of studies that cluster around it. God save us from psychologists who jump on a new fad every few years. E.g. remember the whole multiple personality thing that was so hot a while back (remember Sybil?). How often do you hear about it now except in schlocky, poorly-researched novels and movies? Not bloody often. To my understanding, that's because most experts now believe that Sybil's multiple personalities were induced by the well-intentioned hypnotic therapy meant to help her. Yet didn't stop a large number of such cases from being "diagnosed" when the trend was hot. Not that I believe it is at all intentional on the part of the psychology profession - they, like everyone, are open to suggestion. When a practitioner hears about some spiffy new "disease" that causes a wide range of ills, I can see how strong the temptation might be to start applying that label when you see a case that fits within the ill-defined description of the illness...even when there is a much simpler solution. But this couldn't even be called _bad_ science. It isn't science at all. Hence the snickers emanating from the biology department. Forgive me for being a stickler on such matters, but Occam's Razor/Rule of Parsimony should govern such cases, i.e. the simplest solution that adequately accounts for all the data is the solution one should use. Even if that solution is unbearably dull.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/News/10/22/pamela.death.ap/index.html "[Pamela] Anderson isn't taking interferon, the injectable drug hepatitis patients often use. Her homeopathic doctor, Wendy Hewland, tells the magazine she 'made a single remedy specifically for Pam' that Anderson is using as an alternative form of medicine." Trusting your life to homeopathy?! Natural selection strikes again!

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/nyregion/22SUSH.html?hp Stupid law firm fun. "A Paul, Weiss partner, Kelley D. Parker, apparently received a subpar order of takeout sushi. So, according to the memo, she asked a paralegal to research local sushi restaurants. The paralegal took to the task aggressively, interviewing lawyers and staff members at the firm, reading online and ZagatSurvey reviews, and producing a three-page opus with eight footnotes and two exhibits (two sets of menus). The memo concludes by expressing the hope that Ms. Parker will now be able to choose 'the restaurant from which your dinner will be ordered on a going-forward basis.'"

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/10/21/calfornia.bachelors.ap/index.html "if you're serious about seeking a male mate, go to Orange County or Silicon Valley -- two areas with cities where, in an unusual twist, single men outnumber single women." Just goes to prove all statistics are lies. Sure, if you're desperate enough to consider an unemployed dot-com refugee a good catch, go to Silicon Valley, or Orange County if a shallow, superficial yuppie is more to your taste. All I can say, there's a reason those men are single. Probably several reasons. ;)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/21/ufo.records.reut/index.html "Now the Sci-Fi Channel is supporting what could turn into a series of lawsuits, first against NASA and then against the Department of Defense, the Army and Air Force, to get classified documents released to the public." Not complying with FOIA, shame shame.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/conditions/10/21/cancer.genes.reut/index.html "A father's genes, already known to urge a developing embryo to grow faster and bigger, may be to blame in some cancers" Just goes to show, men really are a cancer. ;)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/20/un.shooting.sentence/index.html Man takes shot at UN building. Note that he's a postal worker, too.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/982543.asp Diana allegedly wrote letter predicting car accident. She was afraid they'd tamper with her brakes. How does that relate to a high-speed crash while trying to outrun paparazzi? Besides, if you were afraid of someone tampering with your car, wouldn't you at least drive slowly and wear your seatbelt, as Michal pointed out? Seriously doubt she wrote it; if she did, sounds like it was at some depressed semi-paranoid low point. Have serious trouble imagining Prince Charles ordering a hit on anyone.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/10/20/britain.blaine/index.html More stupid people tricks: David Blaine released from his little box. Makes a mockery of true starvation and hunger strikes, whether it is true or not. For his next "trick," let's airdrop him in some famine-struck region...

Cousin Michal bought me a great present for Halloween. A bottle of Vampire Vineyards Merlot. "Taste the blood of the vine." http://www.vampirewine.com/flash/vampire.html. Yes, really from the Carpathian region of Romania. They have cute little "wine gargoyle" stoppers.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/981625.asp Well, at least I can take comfort that ignorance is worldwide. "Driven by a desire to give their kids an edge in an increasingly competitive society, a surprising number of South Koreans have turned to the knife in a seemingly drastic bid to help their offspring perfect their English." I judge it another case of preying on the stupid with too much disposable income. Another annoying quote: “There’s the potential for life-damaging after-effects. Learning a foreign language too early, in some cases, may not only cause a speech impediment but, in the worst case, make an child autistic.” I understand the point about not pushing one's kids, but everything I've read about autism indicates you can't "make" a child autistic. Duh.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/981058.asp?vts=101620031426 "Gene therapy that corrected an inherited immune system disease in two French children also activated a cancer-causing gene in the youngsters, leading to leukemia, according to a new study." Very sad, but just illustrates that we're just starting to learn about the long-term effects of direct tampering with genes.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap10-16-105506.asp?reg=mideast&vts=101620031102 Plastic surgery for men in Iran.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/reuters10-16-102507.asp?reg=europe&vts=101620031046 Romanians long for the old days, yet also are applying for EU membership (expected 2007) and membership in NATO. Yes, countries can be schizophrenic, too.

http://travel.discovery.com/news/afp/20031013/bicycle.html Man biking around the world runs into a snag when his bicycle is stolen in...Vladivostok!! Bad PR for Vladivostok in the last few weeks. Note to self: If ever in Vladivostok, nail things down so they're not stolen ... especially bikes and pets.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/10/02/interpol.terror.reut/index.html The African-American head of Interpol is frequently hassled by airport screeners confused by his race and variously suspect him of being a drug dealer (i.e. Latino), terrorist (i.e. Middle Eastern descent) or misc. other (i.e. African descent). Negative stereotypes survive worldwide. Former law professor, head of Interpol, you'd imagine he _should_ be low on the list of suspects. Poor guy.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/bizarre/2133389 Pay up, or we snatch Fido, says a Vladivostok utility company to collect from deadbeat (likely destitute) customers. Parent company (apparently not Russian) denies all knowledge and, I suspect, wonders what the hell they were thinking investing in a power company in Vladivostok.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters10-15-181754.asp?t=renew&vts=101520031953 More (former) Iraqi foreign minister fun! Most hypocritical quote: ''To the contrary, with all these pictures I believed and prepared myself to continue the resistance. What does the fall of a statue mean? There are lot of statues. What is the effect of the fall of the statue? We should do our duty and continue (resisting) to the last moment.'' Note that he, himself, "reportedly took off his military uniform and went to hide." Obviously martyrdom is for other people.

Flew to Sacramento and back today. Lots of time spent in airports, with lots of repetition of the same sorts of messages. I found myself constantly reminded of a Bender quote from Futurama as he's about to beat the crap out of someone: "Final boarding call for flight 406, non-stop service to pain." The security check was no more rigorous than it was pre-9/11, although I did have to take off my hiking-boot style shoes and put them through the x-ray machine - "Richard Ried," the screener sheepishly explained. A woman in the boarding area had a cell phone with a ring that went something like "bok-bok-BOK-bok-BRAAAACK." She admitted that she had no idea how to change it, but I thought it was charming in a rustic, corny way. Was up there for a Vet. Med. board meeting, was very interesting and actually enjoyable in a wonk-sort of way. Most interesting offhand tidbit was about a vet who overuses radioactive techniques and releases the patients too early. I guess one family got their pet back, hauled it over to UC Davis, the vets there ran tests on it and found it had ten times (!) the acceptable level of radiation and, as a result, necessitated the family and the employees who tended to the animal getting thyroid scans and replacing some of the equipment used in the exam room (gas chromatographs, etc., I guess). Pretty scary! Obviously the vet is under investigation, but you wonder how many other families took their irradiated pets straight home....

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/reuters10-12-224038.asp?reg=mideast&vts=101220032343

Jordan's King Abdullah on involvement in Iraq: ''No border country should play an active role because all have an agenda. It is not in the interests of Iraq as its neighbours can't be honest.'' Nice to see an honest politician, but one has to ask...what is his agenda in saying this? Or am I just cynical?

Gypsy on the right, Djali on the left.

Djali started doing something rather pathetic today. In his frustration to get the fish, and utter ineptitude at fishing (the fish *eat* at the surface in front of him and he still can't catch them), he's found easier prey: pond plants, especially the floaty little "frogs bits". He snagged, lightly chewed then spat out quite a number of them today, leaving them to gasp for water on the concrete. Then again, I've got quite a surplus, so perhaps some "natural predation" will thin the ranks a bit. (The damn things breed like mad. Started with five in spring, now have over one hundred individual frogs bits, at a rough estimate.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/magazine/3161310.stm

PC gone wild: "Four years ago a (white) local government official in Washington DC was forced to resign for uttering "niggardly" in public. The word is not even related to "n*gger" and the official was later reinstated."

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-11-125807.asp?t=apnew&vts=101120031418

Rush Limbaugh is addicted to pain pills. Most ironic quote: "'Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. ... And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be convicted and they ought to be sent up,' Limbaugh said on his short-lived television show on Oct. 5, 1995." The gent doth protest too much, methinks. Side note, I've actually been to Cape Girardeau to visit relatives. A town of 35,000, yet people drive an hour to go to the mall there, because it is the closest mall in the area. Says a lot to us urbanized sorts, doesn't it? Just not sure if it says something good or bad.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20031010/od_nm/odd_gambia_penis_dc&e=3

Beware, they're out to snatch your naughty bits....

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2150107

Followup to the grad student threatened with a lawsuit for revealing flaws in CD "copyright protection" software. The company has decided not to sue, ostensibly because they didn't want to "chill academic research." Yeah, right, more like they'd be snickered out of the courtroom. The company goes on to say that the student's paper cost the company $10 million in market capitalization. Quite a stretch, that. Isn't having a _functional_ product the best way to capitalize on the market? Then again, we are talking about record labels...the fact that they'd apparently been lining up to buy the faulty software says a lot, doesn't it? Shift key, indeed. Of course, having worked in the dot com world for a few years, I did learn that vaporware has its place. But, of course, that house of cards came tumbling down....

http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/10/10/student.janitors.ap/index.html

Special education high school students made to do menial labor for free. I thought slavery was illegal, I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere...Oh yes, the 13th amendment.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/10/09/ny.priest/index.html

Very odd. Priest arrested for making harrassing calls to another priest. Police searched his home and found "$88,000 in cash [suspected to be stolen from a church], an unlicensed handgun, homosexual pornography and Nazi paraphernalia." A gay, gun-toting, Nazi-sympathizing thief? You'd think that'd keep him pretty busy, but he also managed to squeeze in teaching religion, English and history until he retired last June. Must not have been an expert on WWII history, as gays weren't too high on the list of the Nazi party's favorite people. Duh.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters10-10-143509.asp?t=renew&vts=101020031724

Most self-delusional (or PR-oriented) bit: "Wynn said he felt certain that the tiger was trying to take his trainer to safety during a moment of confusion." Tiger trainer David Tetzlaff, however, argued that "[The tiger] was going backstage to find a safe place -- for itself. 'It was taking its prey to a safe place to eat.'" The most astute quote, representing the middle ground with which I'd tend to agree, although David Tetzlaff makes a good point, too: "Animal behaviorist Louis Dorfman, who works with big cats at the International Exotic Feline Sanctuary in Boyd, Texas, said the tiger was probably Horn's friend, but it was probably confused, and when Horn fell its hunter instinct took over. 'He didn't mean to kill. Even though his instincts took over he was mindful of the fact this was Roy,' Dorfman said."

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tigers/stories/story11.html

More on tiger training. Best quote: "Hackenberger says the real danger for tiger handlers arises when they refuse to accept the biological realities of big cats. 'They don't only kill for food,' he says. 'Lots of times they kill for giggles. It doesn't make them bad. We just need to recognize it for what it is.'" I can almost hear Montecore chortling...here Seigfried, Siegfried...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/biztech/10/10/bmg.protection.reut/index.html

More record company lawsuit fun, this time threatening to sue a grad student who claims to have found a very easy way to defeat anti-copying software. What happened to your one legal archival copy? Let's sue!!
Interesting quote: "The RIAA had threatened action under the DMCA against [the student's graduate advisor] and colleagues after they said they would publish a paper disclosing flaws in an industry security initiative. That suit was eventually dismissed." I support the concept of copyrights and trademarks, but does anyone out there disagree that the RIAA is handling the matter in a foolish, incompetent and utterly heavy-handed way?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/09/24/tech.lawsuit.ap/index.html

Speaking of lawsuits the RIAA has dropped due to apparent lack of merit, how about the one filed against a 66-year-old artist for sharing 2,000 rap songs.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/10/10/russia.vodka.anniversary/index.html

Happy anniversary, vodka! Na zdarova (to your health)!

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap10-08-124256.asp?reg=europe&vts=10820032012

Tear gas fired on protesting Greek police officers. The irony.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/reuters10-08-153243.asp?t=renew&vts=10820031623

Someone is stalking Sheryl Crow. Most pathetic quote: "According to the complaint filed in Manhattan criminal court, Kappos told detectives he 'followed a bird to Sheryl Crow's father's house in Missouri and knocked on his door to ask for a date with her. Mr. Crow refused his request.'" Gee, wonder why?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3174214.stm
Warning, vampires movies are hazardous to your health! Man killed friend after watching Queen of the Damned over 100 times. Rumor is that the fight was over who got to watch the video. Lamest quote: "At the end of the day I knew I would have to murder somebody anyway. It was the only way you could do it. If you don't murder somebody you couldn't become a vampire."
Quote I'd most like to put to the test: "Menzies said he was convinced he was now a vampire and became immortal after the killing."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/10/07/pope/index.html
Oddest quote: "The pope flew to Pompeii from Vatican City in an Italian air force helicopter, using a special small lift devised by Vatican technicians to board and leave the craft." Vatican technicians?

http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/10/08/muslim.barbie.ap/index.html

I'm judging the doll on purely superficial aesthetic appeal and ignoring cultural content, not because I don't find it an interesting issue, but because it is more complex than I want to get into. Anyway, I rather like the royal blue dress. Most offensive quote: "In the United States, Mattel, which makes Barbie, markets a Moroccan Barbie and sells a collector's doll named Leyla. Leyla's elaborate costume and tale of being taken as a slave in the court of a Turkish sultan are intended to convey the tribulations of one Muslim girl in the 1720s." Just the story I want tell a young girl. See http://www.americangirlstore.com/pls/ag/AG_goml_leyla?catid=400168 for specifics, and don't miss the other wretched sexist, historically inaccurate, borderline racist yet somehow yearing-to-be-PC dolls. Poor girl makes good, Horatio Alger eat your heart out. Brief side rant: Is it just me, or has anyone detected a hidden duality to the PC movement which may serve as a cover for less than charitable sentiments: "We must help those poor [fill in the blank with your favorite race, gender, orientation, culture, nationality, etc], since they're incapable of helping themselves, what losers." Giving a hand up is one thing, giving a patronizing handout quite another.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/977560.asp?vts=100820031306

Bear "expert" mauled to death. Darwin strikes again? You decide. Most ironic quote: "Treadwell was known for his confidence around bears. He often touched them, and gave them names. Once he was filmed crawling along the ground singing as he approached a sow and two cubs."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/recall.exit/index.html

Quote: "Schwarzenegger scored highly among those who said a candidate's personal attributes are more important than the issues." i.e. idiots. And Schwarzenegger is better than Clinton how?

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-07-210708.asp?t=apnew&vts=10720032157

First lady of Maryland says she'd shoot Brittany Spears if she could. Why are people criticizing this?

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap10-06-170904.asp?t=apnew&vts=10620032055

About a fellow who kept a tiger and an alligator in his apartment because he wanted ''to show the whole world that we all can get along.'' Until the tiger bit him, at least. Chomp.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/10/06/roy.attacked/index.html
Delicious irony. Roy of Seigfried and Roy attacked. As Bukowski said, "You can cage a tiger, but you're never sure he's broken. Men are easier."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/10/03/ignobel.awards.reut/index.html

IgNobels, always worth a laugh. The main site is http://www.improb.com/

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/03/shriver/index.html

Stupidest quote from Maria Shriver: "I have met thousands and thousands of women who have come up to me and said they have worked with him, they have worked for him, alongside [him] and he has been an extraordinary gentleman."

Thousands and thousands??

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/03/sprj.irq.kay/index.html

Funniest quote: Kay said that Iraq had paid North Korea $10 million for No Dong missile technology but that the North Koreans did not give it to them. The Iraqis asked for their money back, and the North Koreans refused, he said. "It's a lesson in negotiating with the North Koreans," he said.

No dong, no duh. Dongless in Baghdad. The potential jokes are endless.