Bogus Lancet Study

...this study published in Lancet which purports that 100,000 Iraqi have died from violence, most of it caused by Coalition air strikes, since the invasion of Iraq. Needless to say, this study will become an article of faith in certain circles but the study is obviously bogus on its face.

(emphasis added - from Chicago Boyz).

Fun Flash: I Love Egg

The I Love Egg song (family-friendly).

Tiny Human Ancestor Found in Asia

Scientists have found skeletons of a hobbit-like species of human that grew no larger than a three-year-old modern child. The tiny humans, who had skulls about the size of grapefruits, lived with pygmy elephants and Komodo dragons on a remote island in Indonesia 18,000 years ago

(from National Geographic).

Ex-Detainees Return to Terror

Despite gaining their freedom by signing pledges to renounce violence, at least seven former prisoners of the United States at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have returned to terrorism, at times with deadly consequences

(from Associates Press, via Yahoo News).

Bush, Kerry Both Employ Fear to Get the Job Done

The attempt by both sides Friday to suggest that the other would put the country on risky ground seemed to fulfill what both sides had predicted: a harsh conclusion to an extremely close race

(from Los Angeles Times, via Yahoo News).

Rest in Peace, Superman

For my generation, Mr. Reeves will always be remembered as Superman, not only the character who bravely battled the evils of Lex Luthor, but also the man who gave hope to so many people who suffer from catastrophic injuries or live with a disability.  Through grit and determination, he proved that he was more than an actor portraying a hero, he, in fact, was a hero

(from beyondabsurdity).

Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth - more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible...

- Bertrand Russell

New Lincoln Library Opens

Once the dusty domain of Civil War scholars, the thousands of artifacts and documents of the state's Abraham Lincoln collection are now in a library set to open this week, when curators will lay out the welcome mat to students, genealogists and amateur historians

(from The Chicago Tribune, via Yahoo News).

Derrida deconstructed

French philosopher Jacques Derrida, the founder of the school of deconstructionism, has died of cancer at the age of 74, France Info radio said on Saturday

(from CNN).

Fun Flash: popoint - you click on squares in the right order as fast as you can; mindless, but fun and family-friendly.

CTA Crashes Buses, Hurts People:

Fire ambulances took a total of 33 people to hospitals Tuesday afternoon after a CTA bus rear-ended another bus stopped at a red light on the west side

(from nbc5.com). Instead of focusing on cutting service and demanding more cash from the state, perhaps CTA Executives could focus on making the CTA not hurt people. They can lower their own salaries to help the budget (as is often done by executives in the private sector when their companies are in crisis).

SpaceShipOne traveled to space for the second time in five days and won the XPrize:

The private rocket ship SpaceShipOne traveled into space and back this morning for the second time in five days, and was declared the winner of a $10 million prize intended to spur the development of private space flight.

The tiny ship, a sleek combination of rocket and glider designed by the engineer Burt Rutan and financed by the billionaire Paul G. Allen, soared beyond an altitude of 62 miles, the arbitrary line that is widely accepted as the beginning of space

(from The New York Times).

CTA adds Executives and Managers, cuts service:

Administrative jobs more than doubled during the first five years of Frank Kruesi's leadership of the Chicago Transit Authority - which on Monday will announce details of a contingency plan to cut service and lay off bus drivers and train crews to reel in a 2005 budget deficit.

The number of employees working desk jobs at the CTA, a traditional enclave for City Hall patronage, swelled after Mayor Richard Daley chose Kruesi, a longtime Daley political confidant, to become president of the transit agency in late 1997

(from The Chicago Tribune).

U.S. Supreme Court let do not call list ruling stand

The U.S. Supreme Court opened its new term on Monday, with two hours of arguments on federal sentencing rules and the rejection of some 1,800 appeals, including a challenge by telemarketers to the government's popular do-not-call list

(from Reuters, via Yahoo News).

Technology Companies put Government code in products to foil counterfeiters:

Uncle Sam is making sure that computers won't cooperate with would-be counterfeiters - even as it tries to accommodate consumers who legitimately want or need images of the currency

(from MSNBC).

U.S. Warns of Big Mount St. Helens Blast

Government scientists raised the alert level Saturday for Mount St. Helens after its second steam eruption in two days was followed by a powerful tremor. They said the next eruption was imminent or in progress, and could threaten life and property in the remote area near the volcano

(from Associated Press, via Yahoo news).

Mount St. Helens Awakes, Erupting Steam and Ash

Mount St. Helens spewed steam and ash high into the skies above Washington on Friday as it awoke from years of slumber, but remained far below the scale of the catastrophic 1980 eruption that killed 57 people

(from Reuters, via Yahoo News).