(no subject)

I got spam, as usual, and one that was backdated was titled "casual pig." I got a giggle out of that.

Then when I got down to deleting my spam, I looked again and saw that it was actually titled "causal pig." That's even funnier.

(no subject)

Oh, and this is a bunch of crap.

as seen in neuroscience

Brain inflammation link to autism

Yay for the Constitution!

Ky. Court Overturns Sniper Conviction

The Kentucky Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a murder conviction in the 1994 sniper death of a University of Kentucky athlete, saying the prosecutor committed a "flagrant" violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The court ordered a new trial for Shane Ragland, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2002 in the killing of football player Trent DiGiuro.

The 4-3 ruling issued Thursday faulted prosecutor Mike Malone for mentioning in his closing statement that Ragland did not testify, calling the comment "intentional and flagrant."

( Read more... )

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Reporter Convicted for Protecting Source

I've neglected the Guardian for nearly a month

CIA memo urging spies to support Bush provokes furore

The new US director of central intelligence, Porter Goss, told CIA staff this week their job was "to support the Bush administration and its policies in our work", stirring a new controversy over the future of the agency.
The memorandum, circulated on Monday, was attacked by critics as an attempt to suppress dissent, particularly over Iraq, and ensure the agency only produces assessments the White House wants to hear.

But a CIA spokesman insisted yesterday that Mr Goss's note was not a call for partisan support but rather "intelli gence support" intended to help policy-makers in their decisions.

"The Central Intelligence Agency is not a policy organisation," the spokesman said.

The note comes at a raw time for the agency, in the wake of high-profile resignations and a campaign by Mr Goss to weed out leakers.

Michael Scheuer, a former head of the CIA's "Bin Laden station", who denounced the Iraq war, said: "I've never experienced this much anxiety and controversy."

Mr Sheuer, who resigned last week, added: "Suddenly political affiliation matters to some degree. The talk is that they're out to clean out Democrats and liberals.

"The administration doesn't seem to be able to come to grips with the reality that it was a stupid thing to do to invade Iraq... If it goes too far like this into the political realm our fortunes overseas are going to be hurt."

Mr Goss, a Bush appointee, is seeking to use the CIA's counterintelligence department to weed out leakers to the press, a controversial move that has triggered resignations by senior staff who argued it was an inappropriate use of the agency's mole hunters.

(no subject)

'Original' great ape discovered