"Strong earthquakes in the New Madrid seismic zone are certain to occur in the future," states a fact sheet from the U.S. Geological Survey. "There is a 9-in-10 chance of a magnitude 6 to 7 temblor occurring in the New Madrid Seismic Zone within the next 50 years."

I'd love to get the original article, but the $18 to Nature for it seems a bit steep.

New Data Confirms Strong Earthquake Risk to Central U.S.

I'm not sure who they go after next, is there anyone left?

Republicans vs the Red Cross

The federal agency in charge of aviation security collected extensive personal information about airline passengers even though Congress forbade it and officials said they wouldn't do it

Why am I opposed to things like TSA and PATRIOT? Because they've demonstrated time and again they don't pay any attention to minor niceties like what's legal. Add to that the fact that they are notoriously bad at safeguarding that sort of information and you have a recipe for being a bigger threat than the one they are trying to stop.

Government Collected Personal Data On Airline Passengers

"What skill sets would they need to better identify, penetrate and/or prevent a future
Osama bin Laden-style terrorist attack?" Kohn asked.

Watson answered: "They would need to understand the attorney general guidelines for counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigation."

"Anything else?" the lawyer inquired.

"No," Watson answered.

Cool, so all I need to get a job at FB1 in counterterrorism is to understand a couple rules written by an idiot the magnitude of Ashcroft? Hell, let's just hire a few fourth graders.

If anyone thinks the world is safer for Americans today than it was 4 years ago, they need their head examined.

FBI Failed to Hire, Promote Terror Experts

The bill has yet to be considered by the full House of Representatives. In the meantime, Amtrak is facing tough opposition from critics who say the federal government can't afford to subsidize a poorly run passenger rail system.

Well why the hell not? They subsidize poorly run airlines all the time!

Politicians Rally for Struggling Amtrak - Yahoo! News

"The issue isn't one of whether or not we will be forced into a draft," said Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, commander of Army Recruiting Command. "I think the issue is whether people will get behind and stand behind the all-volunteer force concept that has served us quite well for 32 years."

Well, with the current state of affairs (see the current administration approval numbers) they won't, and will be even more adamantly against reinstating a draft.

Army Misses Recruiting Goal for 4th Month

At a time when the United States is tightening its borders, how could a man toting what appeared to be a bloody chain saw be allowed into the country?

Well he's an American nutjob so it's okay.

Man With Chain Saw Allowed to Enter U.S.

Saw this last night, absofreakinglutely great. This is easily the best action movie I've seen in years.

Batman Begins

In the court's main decision, Stevens raised concerns about abuse of marijuana laws. "Our cases have taught us that there are some unscrupulous physicians who overprescribe when it is sufficiently profitable to do so," he said.

While I certainly understand what Stevens is saying here, what I don't understand is how it applies. In this case they are talking about growing your own, not someone trying to make a profit.

There is an old adage that says tough decisions make bad law. From what I can see here, this was just a decision that doesn't address the issues. That will always result in bad law.

Court Rules Against Pot for Sick People - Yahoo! News

Police stopped the car after a concerned caller told them he had seen a woman locking someone in the boot. However, on opening it, they were greeted by the sight of the 39-year-old man wearing nothing but a leather thong and a collar.

Police 'free' S&M sex slave from car trunk - Yahoo! News