from the first-casualty dept.

An interesting, if depressing, story connected with the ongoing Israeli military operation in the West Bank is the war of words regarding the number, and nature, of Palestinian deaths in the Jenin refugee camp. As of yesterday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had announced they were going to start burying the bodies of dead Palestinians; Palestinians cried foul, claiming the IDF was seeking to cover up large-scale massacres of Palestinian civilians. In response, the Israeli Supreme Court issued an injunction last night halting the burials. The dead were unavailable for comment.

from the with-criticism-like-this,-who-needs-praise? dept.

Washington Post film critic Stephen Hunter has written a delicious review of Cameron Diaz and her new film, The Sweetest Thing. What makes the review so much fun is the way Hunter complains about Diaz’s complete lack of acting talent, while admitting that he can’t look anywhere else when she’s on-screen. Anyway, you shouldn’t miss it. (The review, I mean. I wouldn’t suggest going anywhere near the movie.)

from the lies,-damn-lies,-and-Texas-narcotics-officers dept.

Guardian Unlimited has the story of the dropping of charges against Tonya White, a woman accused of selling cocaine to Tom Coleman, a narcotics officer whose undercover investigation during 1998 and 1999 led to the arrests of 43 people. The problem in White’s case was apparently that she didn’t live anywhere near Tulia, Texas (the site of the alleged drug sale), and was able to produce bank records proving she was in Oklahoma, hundreds of miles away, at the time Coleman says she was selling him drugs. White’s attorney says the outcome shows that Coleman, who worked alone and used no audio or video surveillance, was simply a liar willing to send innocent people to prison to further his own career.

from the life-during-wartime dept.

As legal maneuvering continues in the upcoming trial of “American Taliban” John Walker Lindh, Pentagon sources have acknowledged that they possess souvenir photographs showing a shackled and blindfolded Lindh being “posed” alongside his Special Forces jailers. Lindh’s lawyers say the photographs, which have not yet been provided to them, demonstrate that Lindh was not treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention, and that statements obtained from him therefore should not be admissable in court. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, bristled at the suggestion that Lindh was mistreated. “Hey, give me a break. We’re trying to fight a war here. Sure; we put his nuts in a vise until he talked. You happy now?”

from the does-he-or-doesn’t-he? dept.

CNN has a story about German Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder’s efforts to get a court to stop a German news agency from saying he dyes his hair. The court declined to make a decision today, instead postponing its ruling until May 19. Apparently the issue is important to him because some conservative opponents have suggested that the 58-year-old’s alleged hair dying reflects poorly on his trustworthiness.

from the she-always-picks-such-nice,-wholesome-young-men dept.

Just in time to take our minds off the ongoing Middle East bloodbath, the L.A. Times is one of several outlets carrying the AP story on Kid Rock’s marriage proposal to Pamela Anderson last night, and her acceptance of same. Wishing them every joy.

from the he’s-joking.-I-hope. dept.

Worth a look is http://www.realultimatepower.net/, a site all about ninjas, at least as interpreted by a frighteningly typical adolescent American male. Then there’s this site, which is a parody of the first one (I think, though since the first one is hopefully a parody already, I’m not sure if that’s completely kosher), with the focus shifted to hippos.

from the no,-not-THOSE-women-of-Maxim dept.

From the Boston Globe comes this story about the women who work behind the scenes at men’s magazine Maxim, giving the magazine a kinder, less-sexist side. Those interviewed claim that the resulting feminist influence is a key part of the magazine’s success. Well, that, and the pictures of naked women.

from the kids’ll-stick-anything-in-their-mouths dept.

From CNN comes this story of a 12-year-old Nigerian boy who arrived in New York yesterday on a British Airways flight, then became ill, went to the hospital, and told police he had swallowed 87 condoms filled with heroin in return for a promise of $1,900 for smuggling the drugs into the U.S. The boy is in stable condition, facing charges, while the investigation continues.

from the oops,-sorry dept.

Highlighting the unique nature of a sport where octogenerians participate in headline events, 89-year-old golfing legend Sam Snead teed off the opening ceremonial shot at the U.S. Masters golf tournament yesterday, sending a 100-yard slice into the gallery. Spectator Phil Harrison was knocked down and had his glasses broken by the errant shot, but apparently was otherwise unhurt.

from the welcome-to-the-future dept.

This is one of those stories that starts off sounding pretty boring but just gets weirder and weirder the more I think about it. As described in an article from Newsday, owners of a building in Times Square are suing Sony (backers of the upcoming Spiderman movie) because in images of Times Square that appear in the movie’s trailer (and presumably in the movie itself), ads for Samsung (a Sony competitor) that were displayed on the building at the time of the filming have been airbrushed out and replaced with ads for USA Today and Cingular Wireless. The specific charges in the suit are “deceptive trade practices” and “trespass”. Trespass?

from the bribery,-extortion,-racketeering,-tax-fraud… dept.

A jury in Cleveland has found U.S. Representative James Traficant (D-OH) guilty of a host of corruption charges, according to this CNN report. Traficant added to the news value of his conviction by his characteristically “flamboyant” behavior during the trial; representing himself (though not a lawyer), yelling at the judge, questioning a prosecutor’s manhood, vowing to “kick their [the prosecution’s] ass”, etc. Traficant, who faces up to 63 years in prison, has vowed (profanely) not to give up his House seat, despite House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt’s (D-MO) call for him to step down in the wake of his conviction.

from the yes,-just-the-PREVIEW dept.

The Louisville Cardinal wins some sort of award for this: A review of the 4-minute preview for The Two Towers that has been spliced onto the end of the The Fellowship of the Ring. So, um, is it December yet? Darn. How about now? Darn!

from the have-a-cookie dept.

From Guardian Unlimited comes the story of a claim by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB – the successor to the KGB) that CIA agents secretly administered psychotropic drugs to a Russian defense worker in an effort to obtain information from the man. A CIA spokesman and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow declined comment.

from the meals-ready-to-mutate dept.

From ABC News comes the story of a breakthrough at the Army Soldier Systems Center: a sandwich that remains edible (for certain values of the term) for up to three years. The secret? Control of the “water activity” of the included meat, achieved via an “array of chemicals”. Yum.

from the want-some-candy,-little-girl? dept.

According to an article in the Washington Post, The Food and Drug Administration has cracked down on three online pharmacies that were selling nicotine-containing lollipops, saying the “smoking cessation products” had not been tested for safety. FDA attorney David Horowitz explained that “we at FDA understand the tobacco industry’s need to find innovative ways to promote tobacco use among children, but they need to follow the rules.”

from the up-close-and-personal dept.

From CNN (or AllPolitics, or Time, or something; I guess it doesn’t make much difference these days) comes this insider’s look at dubya’s recent change of heart about the need to pay attention to the Arab-Israeli conflict. I find it pretty interesting, but I realize that for some it will fall squarely into the category of the sort of sausage-making that is better left unexamined. Like a train wreck, though, it’s hard not to watch the President’s mind at work, the wheels slowly turning as he listens to the miniature devils and angels on his shoulders, the Rumsfelds and Cheneys and Powells with their “nuke ’em! nuke ’em all!” or, conversely, “be a statesman! make peace!” exhortations.

from the oh,-gee,-sorry-about-that dept.

The LA Times has the story of an Arizona man who has been freed from prison after DNA evidence showed he could not have committed the murder for which he had been convicted and sentenced to death. Death penalty foes say this marks the 100th time since the death penalty was revived in the mid 1970s that a person sentenced to death has subsequently been found to have been wrongly convicted. Ouch. So, anyway, sorry about the 10 years you spent in prison and the messed up life and all that, but hey, it could have been worse, right?

from the yeah-baby dept.

After some nasty scuffling, it appears MGM will let New Line use the name “Goldmember” for the new Austin Powers movie after all, according to an article at E! Online. Apparently the thing that tipped the scales was New Line’s willingness to run trailers for Die Another Day, the upcoming Bond movie, before a certain heartbreakingly good fantasy trilogy from Peter Jackson & Co.

from the Jeeves-was-never-this-conflicted dept.

Actor Stephen Fry, the quintessential Jeeves from the British TV series based on P.G. Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster stories, has this fairly interesting interview currently running in the New Zealand Herald. The thing that makes it interesting to me, besides the fact that I love everything he’s done, is the way he comes across as so dreadfully exhausted with the whole endless treadmill of movie publicity (Gosford Park is opening in New Zealand on Thursday, apparently), that he’s just saying whatever nutty thing comes to mind, in the process painting a pretty compelling picture of a guy who really needs a vacation. This part, for example: “Fry appears perplexed when asked if he would ever entertain suicidal thoughts again. ‘How can I know?’ he asks in a tone of incredulity. ‘I haven’t the faintest idea.'”