December, 2003

  1. Indictments in Rhode Island Club Fire?

    It looks like a grand jury is getting ready to announce indictments in the Great White club fire in Rhode Island that killed 100 people last February. I didn’t blog about it at the time, but one of the news reports about the fire contained one of the most disturbing claims I think I’d ever…

  2. Barbara Streisand’s Political Donations

    USA Today’s Life section had a front page story today about Hollywood liberals who donate to Democratic candidates — no big surprise there. One of the people they highlighted as a Hollywood donor was Barbara Streisand. Again, no shock there that Streisand gives freely to Democratic candidates. What did shock me was the list of…

  3. Gynecology Chair for Sale — Cheap!

    One of the standard features of university life is watching fliers go up at the end of semester with students who are graduating (or dropping out) wanting to sell their worldly goods. Students put up ads to sell their computers, chairs, tables, couches, lamps . . . and even gynecology chairs: Oy.

  4. Jim Towey Reinforces Fears about Faith-Based Initiative

    Back on November 26, Jim Towey — Director of the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives — held an online chat to answer questions about the faith-based projects which President Bush championed before and after his election. Towey really flubbed a rather simple question seeking to find out if non-Christian groups would have an…

  5. Witches Committ Suicide in India

    Here’s a disturbing story from the BBC back a the end of October. In India, three people accused of being witches killed themselves after being publicly humiliated in their village in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. According to the BBC account of the incident, Local police told the BBC that one of the three…

  6. Everything in Moderation

    Everything In Moderation is a weblog dedicated to discussing moderating bulletin boards and discussion groups. Even though I tend to let my discussion forums be free-fire zones, there are still some interesting ideas in there for getting the more disruptive users under control. I avoid moderating my discussion forums largely because it’s simply too much…

  7. LRA Attacks World Food Program Truck

    Kamapala newspaper New Vision reports that Lord’s Resistance Army rebels ambushed a World Food Program truck. The truck was returning from a relief mission to deliver food to people displaced by LRA attacks. The truck was burned and six people in it were kidnapped by LRA soldiers. Two other passengers escaped. Source: LRA Rebels Burn…

  8. Uganda Purges Military

    Following an internal fraud investigation and criticism of the failure of Uganda’s military to halt attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army, the BBC reports that three of the five Ugandan army division commanders, the director of military intelligence, and 28 other senior military officers were fired this week. Some of the officers will face court…