Events

The jury is no longer out: one can now say, without fear of libeling them, that Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling are a couple of theiving fraudsters.

Today, actually. I took lots of photos but I'm too pooped right now to deal with them. So tomorrow morning check back for a cohort—nay! a plethora!—of photos. And possibly a limerick. The flight down went quickly (1.2 hours from Nashua to Nantucket), I had a great landing, and took a leisurely stroll into town. (A side note: With AVGAS approaching $5 per gallon, the $100 hamburger now costs $320.) On the way back I encountered (a) rain at Martha's Vineyard that kept me circling offshore for ten mintues...

Microsoft has suspended at least 1,000 contracts with developers for a week, just like (*snap*) that: Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said Monday that Microsoft told vendors who supply the contractors that about 1,000 workers globally would not be needed this week. The vendors, whose workers do software development for Microsoft, also were told to schedule two other days off, Gellos said. Gellos also said the decision was unrelated to a move, announced late last week, to offer new perks to its Redmond...

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne writes today about Sen. James Inhofe's (R-OK) asinine English Language amendment: There is no point to this amendment except to say to members of our currently large Spanish-speaking population that they will be legally and formally disrespected in a way that earlier generations of immigrants from—this is just a partial list—Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Norway, Sweden, France, Hungary, Greece, China, Japan, Finland, Lithuania, Lebanon, Syria, Bohemia, Slovakia...

A while ago Anne and I heard an NPR story about East St. Louis, Ill., that mentioned Police Chief Mister and Mayor Officer. Then this morning NHPR referred to a Manchester, N.H., Police Captain Dick Tracy. Now the Chicago Tribune reports on an Illinois State Police Capt. Negro, who no doubt is best friends with Chicago Police Lt. Honkey. Is there someone out there making up names for public officials? Perhaps inspired by Catch 22's Major Major? Weird.

Montenegro has voted to secede from Serbia: With 95% of the votes counted from Sunday's referendum in Montenegro, on independence from Serbia, 55.4% of voters were in favour of the break. It is possible, but unlikely, that the few votes still to be counted will change this. The much more likely prospect is that Serbia and Montenegro will negotiate their divorce in the weeks and months ahead. Montenegro's prime minister will visit Brussels next week to formally request recognition from the European...

A fast-moving storm system blew through Southern New Hampshire yesterday, dropping pea-sized hail and buckets of rain. I watched it from the Peddler's Daughter in Nashua. I noticed what I thought was a wall cloud, but seeing no rotation I disregarded it. It turned out I may have been right, because several people reported a tornado and water spouts touching down northeast of me: As the storm arrived, observers a few miles north on Ocean Boulevard in Hampton saw a strange, wedge-shaped cloud. It was not...

I may have opined on this subject earlier, but here follows my prediction, with which people may ridicule me in three years: In approximately 974 days and 15 hours, we will see the inagurations of President Gore and Vice President Warner. I believe I am making this prediction with considerably more evidence than Shrub made his prediction that democracy would flourish in Iraq within the same time-frame.

My accountant, whom I always considered to be a nice person and free of malice, sent this to me this morning: A Good Pun Is Its Own Re-Word Energizer Bunny arrested - charged with battery. A pessimist's blood type is always b-negative. Practice safe eating - always use condiments. A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. Shotgun wedding: A case of wife or death. I used to work in a blanket factory, but it folded. Marriage is the mourning after the knot before. A hangover is the...

I took a quick trip up to Kennebunk, Maine, and then to Portsmouth, N.H., yesterday. In Kennebunk I found the Wedding Cake House, constructed (legend has it) by a sea captain who was forced to put to sea during his wedding: And Portsmouth is just plain charming: