May 22, 2002

Lord of the Rings in Lego! And that is all I am going to say about that. 8:48:32 PM

A Fool for a Client  Edward Brewer is representing himself in a lawsuit against the Firelands Regional Medical Center, the Sandusky (Ohio) Register reports. (We found this story through Overlawyered.com.) Brewer accuses the hospital of negligence in connection with a 1998 rape. What's curious about this is the Brewer was the rapist: Brewer, 47, was found guilty in October of raping a 44-year-old acquaintance in her hospital bed in June 1998. The patient, who had cerebral palsy, was undergoing chemotherapy and was unable to defend herself. She died in October 1998 of esophageal cancer. Now he wants $2 million from the hospital, which he claims "negatively affected his criminal case." It's clear that this guy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. After plea-bargaining his rape charge down to sexual battery and being sentenced to five years in prison, he appealed and won--only to be tried again, convicted of rape and sentenced to 10 years.  [  WSJ.opinion Journal   ] 8:30:47 PM

From Pejman Yousefzadeh:  THE STATE DEPARTMENT BLUNDERS ONCE MORE In releasing its list of terrorist sponsoring states, the State Department not only neglects to mention the Palestinian Authority as sponsoring terrorism, it actually blames Israel for the terrorism in the area. The State Department theory is that Israel weakened the PA's police force, and thus prevented the PA from cracking down on groups like Hamas and Hizbollah. Never mind the fact that Yasser Arafat made statements in Arabic praising various attacks against Israel. Never mind as well, the fact that Palestinian prisons are revolving doors for terrorists, allowing them back out on the street almost immediately. In light of this attitude, what good is the Palestinian police force anyway? And what good is the Palestinian Authority. They don't try to stop terrorism. They only seek to encourage it. 7:30:48 PM

The Human remains found in Washington D.C. park are those of intern Chandra Levy, a law enforcement source tells the Associated Press. [ CNN ] 4:57:01 PM

Isn't Deep Linking just like Footnotes for websites? 4:54:12 PM

The ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, Tom Lantos, has asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to conduct a formal probe into the operations of the UN Relief and Works Agency in the territories prior to the June 30 scheduled renewal of its mandate. Much like we pointed out MARTIN PERETZ did here. 4:51:44 PM

A new worm that targets Microsoft's SQL Server database management software has inundated networks with thousands of scans for vulnerable servers.  Until this worm is stopped traffic on the internet might slow down even further.  So although you can't do anything about it, unless you are running a Microsoft's SQL Server, it might effect you when you surf the internet.  The worm spreads to computers that are running Microsoft SQL Server version 7.0 and which have a blank SQL administrator password.   It is spread by web servers just like the CODE RED Worm was.  [ CNET ] 3:55:25 PM

Federal Judge Orders $1 Million Judgment In DIRECTV Signal Theft Case DIRECTV announced today that it has obtained a $1 million judgment against an Indiana man, who was one of several individuals accused of trafficking in illegal signal theft devices following a series of raids last year.   The defendants, including Sang, advertised and sold signal theft devices over the Internet and provided software programs for illegally modifying DIRECTV access cards. This guy was in big business.  This case was a civil action that cost him his house and his bank account.   Strange that I couldn't find this in Google news or any other of my normal news searches.  I would really like to confirm this with another source other than the DirectTV website. 3:31:32 PM

I am seeing foreign terrorists everywhere.  I am not alone in this.  The Ontario Provincial Police are reporting that they found a cell that has closed down shop and moved out of Ontario.  It would be nice if they knew where the group has gone. However, although they watched the groups every move, following these individuals and keeping close tabs on their activities, they slipped away. (Hey they were very smart foreign terrorists, they left a note on their door that said "Back In 15 Minutes".)  How do we know they were foreign terrorists?  Did they apply for visa's and not check the little box that says that they were NOT foreign terrorists?  Maybe it was the bowling team they belonged to, the "Al-Qaida Avalanch"? 2:15:01 PM

Palestinians head for European exile. Five of the 12 Palestinian militants flying into exile in six European Union countries reach their final destinations in Athens and Rome. [BBC News: world] I wonder if a version of Meagans Law should be applied here.  Should the authorities have to notify the neighbours that terrorists are moving in? 11:59:50 AM

Trekkies Bid on the Holy Grail. One of the most coveted items in Star Trek lore, Captain Kirk's chair, is expected to be auctioned off next month. By Mark Baard. [Wired News]  To think that they didn't think Trekkers had disposable income. Everything will be for sale at some point.  Wil Wheaton is going through his old Wesley Crusher stuff and selling it on ebay.  8:42:09 AM