To read the tribute to SFC Marcus Muralles, please click here
Friday, August 12, 2005
Round Up Time
Since there's nothing really rantable in the news (unless I wanted to talk about Mrs. Sheehan or Able Danger... which would just cause my blood pressure to rise), here's a quick look at some of the quirkier news articles that caught my eye...
- A judge in Virginia has voided part of the state's DUI statutes.
A district judge has ruled that key components of Virginia's drunken driving laws are unconstitutional, citing a decades-old U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Uh... how else are you supposed to prove someone's drunk as a skunk?
The state law presumes that someone with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 or higher is intoxicated, denying their right to a presumption of innocence, Judge Ian O'Flaherty ruled in dismissing charges against at least two alleged drunken drivers last month. - Bao is a big guy... in fact, he's the biggest guy.
A Chinese herdsman measuring 236.1cm (7ft 8.95 in) in height was confirmed by Guinness World Records headquarters as the tallest naturally-growing human being in the world this July.
What's scary is that he was "average height" for kids his age until he got to be 16. And I thought my kids were tall..
- Most scientists believe in God.
About two-thirds of scientists believe in God, according to a new survey that uncovered stark differences based on the type of research they do.
Good point. Based on what you hear (in the MSM, of course), you'd think most scientists are atheists. Wonder how most of the people surveyed feel about evolution... just askin'...
The study, along with another one released in June, would appear to debunk the oft-held notion that science is incompatible with religion.
Those in the social sciences are more likely to believe in God and attend religious services than researchers in the natural sciences, the study found.
The opposite had been expected. - The artist who caused a stir when she misspelled several words in a mural at a library has finally fixed her errors.
On Tuesday, Maria Alquilar worked under the blazing sun, using power tools to reshape and install tiles changing "Eistein" to "Einstein" and "Van Gough" to "Van Gogh."
Artistic license? If this was a piece to be displayed at a gallery, I'd almost give her a pass on that one (only because I think many artists are pompous idiots and I would expect nothing more or less from one). But this was for a mural at a library. Could she not run in and look at a dictionary or something? An encyclopedia would have done wonders. Or... maybe she could have just googled 'em all and been done with it.
But Alquilar -- who last year claimed artistic license and said she wasn't going to fix the faux pas because people were being too mean about it - - was in no mood to talk. - According to police, a man shot his wife... because of dirty dishes...
A man charged with shooting his 17-year-old wife after an argument over dirty dishes was ordered to stand trial on criminal homicide and other charges.
Dang... talk about harsh! Maybe he needed to watch a little more Dr. Phil. Needless to say, the dishwasher is running, even as I type.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday, police said James Russell Petrie, 27, of Richhill Township, Pa., told them he was watching "Dr. Phil" — a psychologist's self-help TV talk show — on July 7, when his wife came downstairs and also started watching the show.
Petrie said he asked his wife, Jessica, why there were still dirty dishes in the sink. She told him she would "get to them," angering her husband, who felt he was being ignored, police said.
That's when Petrie took a .22-caliber gun and shot his wife in the head, police said.
