May 1, 2002

Melissa virus author jailed for 20 months. Long time coming [The Register] 1:58:11 PM

Biotechnology May Make Superhero Fantasy a Reality: "In the 1930s and 1940s, the powers of these superheroes were fantasies. Today, we are entering a world in which such abilities are either yesterday's news or tomorrow's headlines. Nobody even blinks when Olympic committees worry about "gene doping" in the 2008 China games -- a biotechnology that today, in mice, produces creatures that are astonishing to look at." 1:43:48 PM

From the Survivor's Network regarding the Catholic (and fundie in general) scapgoating of their molestation problem on gays: [Purging gay priests] may make sense to many, since the sex cases that have received the most attention have involved priests who have molested young boys. And turning the scandals into a "gay" issue allows the church to suggest that it, too, is a victim in the scandal. Rather than being responsible for pedophile priests, the church can portray itself as victimized by gays who have sneaked into the priesthood. But it blurs a central fact at the heart of the controversy: No one, including the church itself, seems to know exactly how big the sex scandal really is, who it involves or what role homosexuality plays in child abuse by priests. At least one well-known clinical psychologist says he believes the victims are much more likely to be girls and women. "There are far more heterosexual cases than homosexual," says Gary Schoener, a clinical psychologist who has been diagnosing and treating clergy abuse for 28 years. "The Vatican damn well knows that, and the leadership in the American church knows that." 12:38:08 PM

The Dallas Morning News is threatening to sue a site called Barkingdogs.org unless it quits linking to individual articles and starts linking only to the paper's front page.  Some people don't get it, and probably never will.  Forcing everyone to go the home page first and then hunt for the story is absurd. Imagine that AMAZON, instead of giving the power to the associate websites to take their readers directly to the book they wanted, just had them link to the Amazon home page?   Old school! 11:39:31 AM

JONAH GOLDBERG understands the European Street: After all, according to most dictionaries, "massacre" means "to kill indiscriminately and wantonly; slaughter." Europeans never use the word — at least, not with any outrage — when fanatics strap bombs to their bodies and kill as wantonly and indiscriminately as conceivably possible. They are never deplored for launching another "cycle of violence." But when Israelis send soldiers into crowded camps in order to kill very discriminately, that is a "massacre," a tragic renewal of the cycle of violence. A great read. 11:13:54 AM

Jack Stoddart, a central figure in the Canadian book trade, has taken his publishing and distribution businesses into a form of bankruptcy to fend off creditors while he tries to regroup. If he fails, it could orphan countless books and many authors and shatter other Canadian publishers, since Mr. Stoddart has traditionally handled much of the distribution work in Canada and is far behind in paying them for their books.  The story here at The Globe and Mail   10:39:27 AM

States' Attack on Microsoft May Be Hurt. A judge indicated that she might not allow nine states challenging Microsoft's settlement with the government to introduce what they contend is a central part of their case. The states were counting on bringing in the evidence during examination of certain Microsoft witnesses.  Now the lawyers for Microsoft are no longer planning to call those key people (cutting their witness list from 28 to 20) so this key 'evidence' might not be seen. By Bloomberg News. [New York Times] 7:12:12 AM