May 23, 2002

Whitehouse sent over more of the information requested by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) right after getting the subpoenas.   The letter mentions Lay held a 30-minute meeting with Vice President Cheney and a few other people, but he did not "seek help in connection with (his) financial difficulties".  I wonder if more complete minutes are available? This is what should be investigated by a special prosecutor, not the 9/11 warning stuff.  6:40:38 PM

Army Recruiting Through Video Games. LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Uncle Sam is going digital to attract new military recruits as the U.S. Army unveiled two new computer games Wednesday that simulate life as a soldier in combat and basic training. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: Technology] Anyone remember THE LAST STARFIGHTER?  That is what this alien culture (in the movie) was doing.  Setting up video games, and the kids that were good at the games were recruited for the real thing. Somehow I didn't think it was THAT far fetched at the time. UPDATE: the link to THE LAST STARFIGHTER seems to have stopped working.  Here is a substitute. 5:53:42 PM

Arafat Calls for Winter Elections. Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat said today that he plans to hold presidential and legislative elections for the Palestinian Authority by early next year. By Reuters. [Headlines From The NY Times] Again I ask how real will they be?  Last time he did the election thing, his sole opponent was in fact, social worker Samiha Khalil, a 70 year old woman.  Unless a plausible person, someone with political experience, steps forward the election will once again be a fraud.  It is interesting to note that although Samiha Khalil was not well known or a politician, she did get 10% of the vote.  Imagine what would have happened if Yasser hadn't rigged it. 11:10:08 AM

Hooters Sued For Harrassment - anyone surprised? "Plaintiffs Allege Restaurant Owners And Managers: Offered Money for Sex, Encouraged Male Managers to Seek Sexual Favors From Female Manager and Hooter Girls, Masturbated While On Phone With Female Manager, Propositioned Female Manager and Hooter Girls for Sex, Strip-Searched Hooter Girl, and Called Hooter Girls Bitches and Whores" via  [PR Web - Legal] I'm sure the media will cover this closely.  So I'll reserve commentary and let the facts come out, but we do live in a world where sexual harrassment happens all the time.  Sometimes people make up stories that are hard to disprove, but a lot of harrassment goes unreported and if there was ever an environment that would be conducive to having males slip into harrassment-mode Hooters would have to score high in the danger-zone rankings. [Ernie the Attorney] Not that anyone is giving these guys an excuse to act this way.  However creating a safe place for people to work is the managments responsibility right? 8:49:47 AM

Stanford Researchers Establish Link Between Creative Genius And Mental Illness For decades, scientists have known that eminently creative individuals have a much higher rate of manic depression, or bipolar disorder, than does the general population. But few controlled studies have been done to build the link between mental illness and creativity. Now, Stanford researchers Connie Strong and Terence Ketter, MD, have taken the first steps toward exploring the relationship. Do you think the movie "A Beautiful Mind" helped get the funding for this?  Looks like it did.  8:34:00 AM

Internet users look for health information Nearly two in three U.S. Internet users go online for health information, and many may not be applying a healthy enough dose of skepticism to the advice they find, a new study shows.  I know I do this all the time.  Use google to try and find symptom and drug interaction information.  [ Canoe.ca ] 7:09:40 AM