Executed

Well, it looks like the Chinese could not be persuaded to let this guy off - Akmal Shaikh was executed on Tuesday. In China, the penalty for drug smuggling is death. They consider it a very serious crime because it destroys the fabric of society - slowly but surely. The Chinese tend to think as one. They protect their economy too - in the same way. They have executed some men who stole money from investors. They also executed people involved in manufacturing poisoned milk and defective toys. They do not execute topless women. Topless women are not a threat to anyone. On the contrary.

Quirky Science

I did not know until just recently that Albert Einstein, upon whom hangs practically all of the Atomic Age, was denied a security clearance for the Manhattan Project (which developed the atomic bomb) by J. Edgar Hoover, the fussy head of the FBI at that time. I found that really hilarious, not just ironic. I had to laugh out loud. Really loud. That's like telling the Pope he cannot enter St Peter's Basilica. hehehe It's like telling this topless woman she cannot go swimming in the French Riviera. What a contradiction, no?

Anonymity 101

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Canadian model has won a landmark case in a New York court after Google was forced to disclose the online identity of a blogger who anonymously posted derogatory comments about the Vogue cover girl. Justice Joan Madden of the New York State Supreme Court ordered the Web giant on Monday to hand over identifying information about the person who created the blog a year ago using Google's blogger program.” This is nice. I think that if you are going to attack or accuse someone, never do it anonymously – only cowards do that. Please.

Inquisitor General

From a Yahoo! News story: “WASHINGTON – IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman says Swiss banking giant UBS will give his agency the details of 4,450 client accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets. The deal to end a contentious international lawsuit between U.S. tax collectors and Swiss bankers was announced Wednesday morning. Shulman said in prepared remarks that the deal will give the IRS thousands of long-sought account names and is expected to provide even more UBS clients who voluntarily disclose their financial details to the agency. The two sides told a federal judge last week they had reached a tentative agreement, but the details were not released until Wednesday.” The most important detail here is the word “suspected.” This is like the Spanish Inquisition. Jews were burned at the stake (after they were tortured into confessing) when they were “suspected” of being fake converts. Their property was confiscated, then the informers shared (with the church) in the confiscated loot. What a nice setup. How many fortunes were made in this way? Hundreds – maybe thousands. All because someone came under suspicion. Nothing more was needed. Sort of like the Salem witch trials, no? Please.