] Walters, the U.S. drug czar, says he has talked with his
] Canadian counterparts about the pitfalls of pot
] legalization and harboring of American drug fugitives.
] "If Canada wants to become the locus for that kind of
] activity," he says, "they're likely to pay a heavy
] price."

This is a really good article. I would not be suprised if Canada legalized pot. If they did, then this will segway with current conservative anger about the open border (thank you Bill "no spin (yeah, right)" O'Reilly). The result will be a very strange border situation, with major hassles involved in crossing one direction, but little trouble crossing the other direction... If this impacts the rate of trade, or if there are trade restrictions, then both sides will feel this in their wallets and their markets. The US may try to screw with the trade situation betting that it will hurt Canada more then the US. Of course, the US will have to contend with domestic pressures, both from the pot brigade, but also from corporate america and wall street...

So basically, this is worth paying attention to because it is certainly possible that there is a situation developing here that could have serious economic and policy implications. If this situation worsens rapidly this could prolong the recession.

The Drug War Refugees

I actually wrote documentation today. Hopefully this will make it a little easier for people to get oriented and figure the site out.

[[ MemeStreams ]] Documentation

] But there is one group of animals in which the peculiar
] combination of the contraction of these muscles and the
] closure of the glottis does serve a clear purpose:
] primitive air breathers that still possess gills, such as
] lungfish, gar and many amphibians.

Hiccups a holdover from when we had gills

] The drapes were installed last Monday and Wednesday
] — the days the council discussed Iraq — and came down
] Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, when the subjects included
] Afghanistan and peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and
] Western Sahara.

Elonka deserves credit for finding this link, a complete
coverage of the Picasso issue. The absurdity of this is so
thick you could cut it with a knife.

The picasso cover-up

Steven Bellovin is at it again. This time he is paying his keep at Lucent, and the implication are rather disturbing all around.

Remotely Counting Machines behind a NAT box (PDF)

The animated matrix series. Oh yes, I'll be hitting this link on a monthly basis.

THE ANIMATRIX

There are some REALLY nice computer art peices on this site. I really enjoyed just surfing through it. Check it out.

CHAPTER THREE digital creations

From the Captain Obvious Department:

In light of this, it would seem to make sense for managers to keep track of their workers' Web habits. Shouldn't employees conduct personal business on their own time? Think of all the lost productivity!

Not so fast.

Why you shouldn't act like Big Brother

NEW YORK.- The "Guernica" work by Pablo Picasso at the entrance of the Security Council of the United Nations has been covered with a curtain. The reason for covering this work is that this is the place where diplomats make statements to the press and have this work as the background. The Picasso work features the horrors of war. On January 27 a large blue curtain was placed to cover the work.

A diplomat stated that it would not be an appropriate background if the ambassador of the United States at the U.N. John Negroponte, or Powell, talk about war surrounded with women, children and animals shouting with horror and showing the suffering of the bombings.

Guernica Reproduction Covered at UN

] When the suit was filed last month, the United States
] argued that granting Mexico's request for a stay of all
] executions would be an unwarranted intrusion on the U.S.
] criminal justice system and U.S. sovereignty.

The US has been doing this for several years now. Frankly, I really don't understand it. If we don't offer forgein citizens legal counsel when they are arrested in the United States, then why should we expect the same when we travel? This inexplicable policy of neglecting to inform embassies and ignoring international protest only hurts Americans. These guys are putting my ass at risk, and I don't like it one bit.

World Court: U.S. Must Stay 3 Executions