CNN is running a story discussing a proposed law in Navada to ease restrictions on pot (aka marijauna). The new law would allow adults (over 18?) to possess as much as 3 ounces of pot without incident. Personally, I could care less if Joe Blow smokes a joint before bed every night. As a police officer I’d much rather deal with a carload of potheads than some raging drunk. In my opinion, we should legalize pot and tax the hell out of it. On a side note I think if you’re old enough to die for your country you’re old enough to enjoy an ice cold beer.

CNN is running this story about the increase in husband killing’s in Iran. I, personally, think it’s about damn time these women started fighting back against the opressive hands that have kept them down for so long. To a small extent I wonder how much western educations and influence has contributed to this.

The debate over file swapping has been raging for quite some time. A recent story states the RIAA is going to sue actual users. In response is this comment on Slashdot. The user posts two questions, but the one that I find most interesting is this one: “If User A has a Old97s CD and legit MP3 copies of the disc on his machine and I also own the same Old97s CD and download his copies (instead of burning my own) did either of us break a law?” Personally, I see nothing wrong with this (given they both own the CD), however, I think the RIAA would see it quite differently. The reason? The RIAA isn’t too hip on fair use.

WorldCom announced last night that they had overstated earnings over the past TWO years by ALMOST 3.8 BILLION dollars. As expected the CEO is “shocked” and had “no idea.” He should be fired. If I, as President of my fraternity, DON’T know that my VP of Finance is lying about finances I would be ousted in a second. For those of you wondering what GAAP stands for it means “Generally Accepted Accounting Practices” and is taught in all low level accounting classes that any worthy business school graduate has to take. Today’s widespread disregard for business ethics is making me lean towards NOT investing in the market.

CNN is running a story about a federal judge who could very well make the death penalty illegal. Now, as many law savvy people know, this decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court (as our legal system works mainly on “case law”). I, personally, believe in the death penalty, but only under certain circumstances (ie. the suspect admits to the offense, or DNA evidence unquestionably links the suspect to the offense). I’m going to be watching this story closely (as should everyone else).

Until recently I hadn’t given much though to the Israeli/Palestinian struggle. I was content to play the part of Ignorant American (as many others have been as well). However, today I found an astonishing article outlining what I believe to be the reason the Palestinians (and Arabs in general) are upset at Americans as well as Israelis about the Palestinian struggle. Read on for more …

The article I’m talking about can be found here.

The article goes over the monetary aid given to Israel by the US since it’s creation.

… Israel received $62.5 billion in foreign aid from fiscal year 1949 through fiscal year 1996 … in precisely the same 1949-1996 time frame, the total of U.S. foreign aid to all of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean combined was $62,497,800,000 … with a combined population of 486 million, all of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean together had received $38,254,400,000. This amounted to $79 per person … The per capita U.S. foreign aid to Israel’s 5.8 million people during the same period was $10,775.48. This meant that for every dollar the U.S. spent on an African, it spent $250.65 on an Israeli, and for every dollar it spent on someone from the Western Hemisphere outside the United States, it spent $214 on an Israeli.”

As an American tax payer (yes I pay taxes – lots of taxes) I’m outraged. I can easily see that Israeli citizens live rather decently, as outlined in the article.

“Israel’s 1995 per capita gross domestic product was $15,800. That put it below Britain at $19,500 and Italy at $18,700 and just above Ireland at $15,400 and Spain at $14,300.”

I did some digging and found the average per capita income in Kenya is roughly $350.00. Is something drastically wrong here? I would say so. I may not agree with how some of the fanatics try to reason with the US and its allies (ie. bombs), but I can definately see why they’re a little pissed about the subject. I recommend contacting your congressman (or woman) and complaining about how much money we give this already rich country.

Yahoo News is running this story about the high court of Italy’s decision to make fathers pay child support until the child has found a job. The story goes on to tell of a man with a law degree still being supported by his father – what a lazy ass. I can already hear what my father’s reply to a story like this would be …

There is a story running over at CNN.com about a researcher building a robot reporter that would be used to rove around battles and feed live audio/video back to the station. Read on for why this is a bad idea.

First off, how many mothers, fathers, daughters, and family members of servicemen are going to want to watch their loved ones dying LIVE ON THE TV? I have two family members whom are enlisted and I can vouch for my family when I say I DON’T want to watch them die in real time.

Second – do we WANT to see the destruction that our sophisticated military wreaks on the enemy? I personlly live in blissful ignorance about how much distruction actually happens. The Daisy Cutters which desimate everything within a 600 yard radius sounds devestating on paper, much less watching it live on a video screen.

Lastly, is the military going to allow this? Nevermind the fact that this is potentially an intelligence nightmare. This could turn into the largest PR fiasco the military has ever seen.

The thing that scares me the most is that this could possibly become POPULAR. That’s right – America’s well known appetite for destruction (ie. WWF, boxing, Ultimate Fighting Championship, etc.) combined with it’s large appetite for “real” TV (ie. Real World, Survivor, etc.) could prove to boost support for this type of reporting.

Personally, I think time would be better spent finding ways to PREVENT the use of our military than building sophisticated robots to view our weapons in action.

I’m all for security at airports, but I think those nutheads in charge of security have finally gone too far. It’s a scanner that pretty much allows you to see through clothing making the person look practically nude. Read on …

The worst part about this is that people actually support this. Have you not thought about your wives and your children walking through this thing? How long will it be before there is “scanner porn” on the internet? Are you comfortable letting the creepy scanner guy look at your small daughters naked body?

I’m completely against this and outraged that this might actually get used. If it does get put into place I will NOT be flying to or from airports using this technology. And in the even that I do have to I’m going to write rude messages all over my body to let them know how I feel.

Today I was doing my usual browsing of CNN.com and found this poll. The results scare the shit out of me. Basically, more than three fourths of the poll takers don’t care about suspects being detained indefinately without trial. Am I the only one scared about today’s civil liberties trends?