Some interesting thoughts on the use of torture as a tactic in the war on terror:
The torture victim faces incredible pain and perhaps death at the hands of his torturer. If these costs are to be born by the victim then we had better make damn sure that the benefits are also high and the only way we can do that is to make the torturer also bear some of the costs. Torture must not be cheap.
Man, the toys for adults are just getting cooler and cooler:
The Packet8 VideoPhone delivers high-quality, full-motion video and clear, delay-free audio over any broadband (high-speed Cable or DSL) Internet connection.
There, there, it's all right. A college student helpfully explains to Hoosiers that they can cope with daylight-saving time without having a nervous breakdown:
At first, it could be difficult for Hoosiers to adjust to daylight-saving time. I believe it can be done!
I feel better already.
You might be under the impression that patents are supposed to be given only for things that might actually work. If Boris Volfson of Huntington had thought that way, he never would have been awarded Patent No.
You know they've taken the anti-smoking crusade a tad too far when they start messing with Arthur Miller.
Love this headline: "Knight Ridder to Explore Selling Newspapers." What a concept. I thought that's what we were doing. Not enough, apparently.
So, what are the 10 most important books you've never gotten around to reading? In addition to many of the ones acknowledged in this post and the post it links to, I'd have to admit to at least:
"The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." I always get to the point where we learn that Hitler was a failed Austrian painter named Schickelgruber, put the book down and decide to pick up again in a day or two. I don't, then pick it up in a year or two to start all over again.
Haven't visited the Daily Rant for awhile. The one in last night's paper was a good one:
Another reason Fort Wayne is the Dumbest City: They say they are ahead of schedule for picking up leaves. Take a look. The leaves are still on the trees. Eventually, the leaves will fall, and they will be behind schedule.
Never thought of it that way. Guess the city could say it's waaaaaay ahead of schedule on snow removal.
No, I don't have much to say at this point about Rep. B. Patrick Bauer's intention to fight Gov.
You all knew nobody is responsible for anything anymore, so it seems only right that we have a list "Top 10 victims stories of 2005," even though the year isn't over yet. My favorite:
REDHEADS ARE VICTIMIZED BY CRUEL JOKES AND SLURS. New Zealanders with red or ginger hair have organized against hair-color bigotry, founding groups such as the Ginger Revolution and Redheads United.
Yesterday I went off on the people who seem to want a theocracy in the United States. It seems only fair to also say a word or two about the nuts on the other side. Michael Newdow, the pest who has been trying to get the Pledge of Allegiance banned on account of the "under God" phrase, is now going after "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency.
Oh, yeah, Al Gore would have been a good president:
In in interview with Australia's The Age, the 2000 Democratic presidential nominee and former senator drew parallels between those who dispute global warming, and its investment implications, with Neville Chamberlain and others who wanted to appease the Nazis before World War II.
Just when you think you've seen every possible inappropriate use of the Hitler analogy . . .
When is getting fired not the worst thing that could happen to you? When the alternative was the beginning of the end of the world.
I don't believe for a minute that this female bank robber is talking to a co-conspirator or just using the phone as a prop. Imagined conversation: "Betty, you wouldn't believe what this teller is wearing. It's so tacky. And that hairdo! Yes, I can meet you for lunch in about half an hour. Yes, I'll pay this time, no problem. Hang on a sec. Hey, Hon, just the 10s and 20s, all right? Skip the small stuff. Betty? I'm back. Bill? No, that's over.
Science marches on: Researchers at Brown Medical School did a big study and concluded that sleepy students don't perform well. Shocking, simply shocking.
"Happy Holidays" is all right, but Happy HanKwanMas has a nice right, don't you think? Christkahzaa, maybe? Maybe we should just call it the Joyous Shopping Season and be done with it.
Here's more on San Francisco's idiotic handgun ban:
So bad guys will keep their handguns, and only good guys will give theirs up. That may be good for the bad guys, but it looks bad for the good guys.
"Why do we need townships?" is a fair question. The answer is porbably a little more complicated than either township advocates or detractors will admit:
It looks as if there's an outside chance the short session of the General Assembly won't be derailed by a contentious debate on intelligent design. Even some Republicans who might be inclined by philosophical predisposition to support including ID in science classrooms, such as Bill Friend and Brian Bosma, seem to have a good conservative aversion to the state dictating local education issues.
Anyone who has been following this site and a few others knows the local blogosphere has gone to a new level, from observation and criticism to original reporting. One of these days, probably soon, someone is going to start doing something like this, which a lot of blogs will then link to and add to and jump off from, and then we will be at the next level, a local blog version of a wire service.
TODAY'S UPDATE
