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A crackdown in Texas. America - land of the free. And to guarantee that freedom, everyone has to be constantly watchful. Like the photo store clerk from Eckerd who dutifully reported a Peruvian-born couple's lewd shots of their infants to the Richardson (Dallas/Texas suburbs) police. The photos showed the parents' two infants bathing naked, lying together in bed with their mother (again naked) and the 1-year-old Rodrigo suckling his mother's (naked) breast. So the couple was arrested -- the maximum prison sentence for the crime in question being 20 years -- and the children taken away. (verbatim k5)
comment posted at 9:58 AM on Apr-21-03

were'nt we told that the war was about weapons of mass destruction?
comment posted at 6:29 PM on Apr-20-03
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comment posted at 7:02 PM on Apr-20-03

So they finally arrested Scott Peterson... Modesto Police got their big break. Laci is indeed dead. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, somebody must have killed her, and indeed, Scott is somebody. Seriously: "It was a process of elimination," Wasden said. "At the outset you have the universe to work from. ... we were never able to eliminate Scott." Nothing says "we've got nothin'" like "hair noticeably lighter than before and a new Vandyke beard".
comment posted at 7:03 PM on Apr-20-03
comment posted at 8:22 AM on Apr-21-03

Which Country Has The Most Beautiful Women? The best quality of life? The most divorces? The most mobile phones? The highest cost of living? Which one is the most visited? Rank the bastards! After browsing through this website, I'm sure the conclusion that we're all living in the wrong one is inescapable. The statistics and sources may be questionable, but there sure are a lot of interesting lists here! Meanwhile my own country, Portugal, has just been denounced as the the laziest in Europe and the booziest in the world. They lie! They lie! [Actually, it's a fair cop, guv. And it was nice to drag down the Brits with us.]
comment posted at 12:18 PM on Apr-17-03
comment posted at 8:26 AM on Apr-21-03

Elocution lessons are helping staff working at call centres in India neutralise their accents and make their sales pitch more effective
call-center workers, computer programmers, these and other positions are being transferred to countries like India. We all know why. Only one reason, they call it Tight labor markets.

This is great news for India, but what exactly will the current call-center workers, programmers and other white collar workers in US do if their jobs will be gone to India ?
Are you worried that your position will one day be replaced by someone on the other side of the world working for 1/3 of your salary ?
comment posted at 9:17 PM on Apr-15-03

Sixth-grader goes to jail for stomping in a mud puddle. Police called it a proper arrest.
comment posted at 10:01 AM on Apr-15-03

The one and only Dead Rock Stars Club. This site, while nothing really to look at, does represent one hell of an effort. Only on the web.

1980, as it happens, was a particularly bad year, taking Ian Curtis, John Bonham, John Lennon, Bon Scott and Peter Sellers.
comment posted at 10:20 AM on Apr-15-03

The non-serious voice of Scientology? Scientology apparently used to have a sense of humor. Make sure to check out the cover art! (via boing boing)
comment posted at 1:08 PM on Apr-9-03

Euphoria in Baghdad • In scenes reminiscent of the Cold War's final days, citizens are filling the streets, throwing flowers, tearing down monuments of Saddam Hussein and any reminders of his long, brutal regime. As this is a moment of reckoning for many people, a lot of questions lie ahead: Was it a risk worth taking, despite the casualties? Could any amount of liberation and jubilation compensate for those casualties? Will this be a celebrated historical moment, or the staging ground for new aggressions? However one feels about the war, it sure is good to see all the smiling Iraqi faces.
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comment posted at 3:19 PM on Apr-9-03

The Limbless Association has set up a fund to assist Iraqi children who have been rendered amputees by the war. They were prompted by the public response to the plight of 12 year old Ali Ismail Abbas, who lost both his arms (and most of his family) in a missile strike on his house in Baghdad.
comment posted at 3:20 PM on Apr-8-03

The CRACK Program (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity) The organization's premise is radical, if dizzyingly simple: CRACK gives addicts $200 (they'll throw in an extra $50 if a participant recommends a friend) and sets up the medical procedures at a public hospital or clinic. All Nicole had to do was sign a release form, and two weeks later she had her tubes tied at a local hospital. She received a check the following month.
comment posted at 2:01 PM on Apr-8-03
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comment posted at 3:17 PM on Apr-8-03

Iraq in a Nutshell
by O'Reilly Books (not really)

A WARMONGER EXPLAINS WAR TO A PEACENIK

A light hearted look at the oft repeated justifications for war in Iraq and their counter arguments.
comment posted at 1:10 PM on Apr-7-03
comment posted at 1:37 PM on Apr-7-03

Who needs to coast? With a fixed gear bicycle, you can't. Not to be confused with single-speeds or multi-gear derailers, this minimalist setup is used in track racing, including Japan's Keirin. Messengers and others ride track bikes on the street (sometimes illegally without a brake): the simplicity means there's less to brake or be stolen. Not all fixies are tracks bikes though, with conversions often more focused on utility and comfort than speed. (Perfect for the commute!) They're great in the winter and offroad, too. You can make your own (you just need horizontal dropouts) and then learn some special techniques.
comment posted at 12:52 PM on Apr-7-03
comment posted at 1:07 PM on Apr-7-03

With reconstruction at a staggeringly low pace, resources dwindling, and the Red Cross suspending operations, Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of Afghanistan's president and his representative in southern Kandahar, is worried about a small but strong group slowly grabbing onto power in regions of his country. They call themselves the Taliban. Although the limited funding has done some good for Afghanistan, Karzai fears it's nowhere near enough to fix the major problems of the country, and combined with sentiments raised by the war on Iraq, there are strong signs that the Taliban is significantly restructuring.
comment posted at 1:54 PM on Apr-7-03
comment posted at 3:12 PM on Apr-7-03

US forces 'move on Baghdad centre' .
US tanks and armoured vehicles are advancing on the centre of Baghdad after reaching the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital on Saturday morning, US officials say.
Also, US troops in 'Baghdad centre'
Wow, this is definitely breaking news.
comment posted at 5:48 AM on Apr-5-03

REbranding a few famous sites to more honestly represent the true nature of the sites.
comment posted at 1:33 AM on Apr-4-03

The first conscientious objector of the war? Marine Lance Cpl. Stephen Funk said he had had a lapse in judgment when he signed up as a 19-year-old, swayed by his recruiter's pitch of new skills, camaraderie and a naive belief that it would be "like the Boy Scouts."
comment posted at 11:12 AM on Apr-2-03
comment posted at 1:49 AM on Apr-3-03

My name is Rod and I can't handle Money. "You see, I never open my bank statements, ever. My only point of contact with my bank is through the ATM next door to the estate agents in Warminster. Even here, I never knowingly press that button which tells you what your balance is, and if I press it by mistake I screw shut my eyes." This is me. Is it you? What's wrong with us? Chrometophobes unite.
comment posted at 4:44 AM on Apr-2-03

Human Filter. "U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint Monday when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, a military official said."
comment posted at 2:37 PM on Mar-31-03
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comment posted at 4:38 AM on Apr-2-03

Secret Police strike again. What country is this, again?
comment posted at 2:57 PM on Mar-31-03
comment posted at 2:57 PM on Mar-31-03

Operation: Cover George's butt? As the backpeddling and fingerpointing over "cakewalk" predictions continues, Talking Points Memo notes a recent article in the Charlotte Observer that quotes "senior administration officials" in saying that "dissenting views [about the war plan]' were not fully or energetically communicated to the president.'" Sounds like someones taking out an insurance policy, don't it?
comment posted at 3:30 PM on Mar-31-03

Friday Monday Fun ('cuz we need it now): Hip, very '70s-flavored t-shirts. Fun stuff (and almost totally WarFilter-Free).
comment posted at 1:04 AM on Apr-4-03