Midday Open Thread
February 7, 2008 by
Filed under Bush Powers, Capitol Hill, Clueless, Deserved, Double Standards, Idiot Ideas, Legal Ramblings, Money, Uncategorized
- A Georgia bridge inspector has confessed to faking inspection paperwork. Turns out that he wrote up reports on dozens of bridges that he never inspected. How could somebody do that? Especially after the disaster in Minnesota? Prosecutors say he could face criminal charges. I should hope so.
- Your government at work:
With minimal public notice and no formal environmental review, the Forest Service has approved a permit allowing a British mining company to explore for uranium just outside Grand Canyon National
Park, less than three miles from a popular lookout over the canyon’s southern rim.If the exploration finds rich uranium deposits, it could lead to the first mines near the canyon since the price of uranium ore plummeted nearly two decades ago. A sharp increase in uranium prices over the past
three years has led individuals to stake thousands of mining claims in the Southwest, including more than 1,000 in the Kaibab National Forest, near the Grand Canyon.– Plutonium Page
- The bee mystery continues. Bee researchers say that hives are being devastated again this year and they still don’t know why.
- Angelina Jolie showed up in Baghdad today to bring attention to the plight of 2 million Iraqi refugees. Say what you will about their movies, but I commend Angelina and Brad Pitt for using their celebrity status to bring attention to New Orleans and poverty around the world.
- The US has learned that the British are seeking to restart their nuclear weapons program. Can a US invasion of England be far behind?
- It is estimated that tobacco killed 100 million people during the 20th century. New estimates are out that project it could kill 1 billion people by 2100.
- Yet another sign that our economy is sucking, merchants in NYC have started putting “Euros accepted” signs in the window of US shops. Sad, sad, sad.
- A US businesswoman has been arrested in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for sitting with her male co-worker at a Starbucks. They were using the WiFi connection in the “family area” of the Starbucks because the power was out at their office. Apparently the fact they were sitting together and not married posed a problem with some extremist patrons and she was arrested, strip searched, and detained for a day.
