Wednesday, February 05, 2003

The price of gold is back down to around $370/ounce. It's been fluctuating much more than usual recently--I suspect it will go back up again when the war starts, if not before. comment () trackback ()  10:26:22 PM     Big rise in race hate crime. The number of racially-motivated crimes reported by the police to the Crown Prosecution Service rose by 20% last year. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] I wonder if this has anything to do with their new policy of ignoring "minor" crimes like assault, but prosecuting "hate crimes." It would make sense. If you tell the police someone punched you and they ignore it, but if you tell them someone called you a name and punched you they care, which would you do? comment () trackback ()  6:55:47 PM     Nasa rejects launch damage theory. Nasa says it is unlikely a piece of foam that hit the Columbia space shuttle's wing on launch fatally damaged its heat protective shield. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition] I'm interested in seeing what they come up with as an alternate theory, given that the knowledgeable people who have written about it on the web agree that debris damaging tiles was probably the cause. comment () trackback ()  6:50:25 PM     ATF Junior. Hey, kids! Been wondering if your science project violates any federal regulations? Just ask the ATF.... [Hit & Run] I thought it was a hoax at first, but it appears to be a genuine page on the BATF website. comment () trackback ()  10:29:49 AM     Iraq Arms Civilians As Second Line of Defense Against U.S.. Semira Ahmed, a schoolteacher, keeps her battered AK-47 assault rifle in her bedroom closet, next to her dresses, shoes, jewelry and cosmetics. Abbas Mahmood, a shopkeeper, displays his in the living room, on a shelf with pictures of his children. Mohammed Abdullah, a farmer, totes his wherever he goes, because he wants to be ready 'to fight at any time.' From dusty villages to the bustling streets of Baghdad, guns are omnipresent in Iraq. They are, as people here are fond of saying, more common than telephones or cars, and perhaps even portraits of President Saddam Hussein. 'Everyone has one,' Abdullah said. 'And some people have two or three.' [FirearmNews.com] Most of this article is devoted to propaganda about how Iraqi civilians will defend Saddam, but the report that weapons are so readily available is interesting by itself. If true this would, along with the Baghdad gun store story, cast doubt on just how oppressed the people of Iraq actually are. comment () trackback ()  10:14:28 AM

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