16 Jul 2004
Don't Read This ...

... if you ever want to feel safe while flying again. Not that I need this reminder. I drive everywhere. Haven't been on an airliner since 1998. I wonder if Ms. Jacobsen will now be adopting my style of travel?

You are about to read an account of what happened during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that should be shared. What does it have to do with finances? Nothing, and everything. Here is Annie's story.

(link) [Womens Wall Street]

00:00 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link

Medicare Redefines Obesity As an Illness (AP)

Well, this will help the Federal deficit, no doubt! You've not been eating too many Big Macs - you're sick! Let Uncle Sam pay for that Slim-Fast!

The real sickness here is stupidity.

AP - Medicare now recognizes obesity as an illness, a change in policy that may allow millions of overweight Americans to make medical claims for treatments such as stomach surgery and diet programs.

(link) [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Patent Busters

This is a good general overview of the situation with the USPTO. As Greg Aharonian points out in the piece:

There are plenty of people trying to bust patents. If patents are really stupid, they will go down, but it'll cost money and take some time. The real question is how do we help the patent office so they don't issue the crap in the first place?

A small company called Acacia Research Corp. went after some of the biggest names in broadcasting last month, suing nine companies for an estimated $100 million for allegedly violating its patent on streaming video.

(link) [CNN]

00:00 /Copywrongs | 0 comments | permanent link

Japan Detains Ex-Chess Champ Bobby Fischer (AP)

Gee - this is the guy (who was a childhood hero of mine, incidentially) who

...praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards."

He'd become quite the little Nazi in the years following his classic championship match in 1972, and was wanted in the US for violating specific State Department (and United Nations) edicts regarding trade for appearing in Yugoslavia in 1992 to play a rematch with his old nemesis Boris Spassky. He won the match, but became a fugitive. What an idiot.

AP - Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, wanted since 1992 for playing a tournament in Yugoslavia despite U.N. sanctions, has been detained in Japan, clearing the way for his extradition to the United States.

(link) [Yahoo! News - Top Stories]

00:00 /Politics | 0 comments | permanent link

Mr. Condom

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words ...

A Thai waiter wears a condom over his head while serving a cocktail as a patron looks on at the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant in Bangkok on July 8, 2004. The restaurant, founded by Mechai Viravaidya, better known as 'Mr Condom', aims to educate the public about safe sex. Bangkok will be the host for the upcoming 15th International AIDS Conference from July 11-16.

(link) [Yahoo!News]

00:00 /Humor | 1 comment | permanent link