Skid row, the Swedish mobster, and today's articles from Maria

ACLU's victory is a loss for skid row

The 9th Circuit's decision will only reinforce the view of law enforcement authorities and mental health officials from outside Los Angeles that public drunks, drug users, homeless people and those suffering from mental illness belong not in their city, but in downtown L.A.

Jay has more.

VCrisis has a report on Venezuela: drug dealers paradise.

The Swedish mobster, and today's articles from Maria
A Pileup of Charges in the Case of the Totaled Ferrari:

According to Swedish police records contained in the prosecutors' court filing, Eriksson in the late 1980s and early '90s was involved in counterfeiting, assault and drug crimes tied to a Swedish underworld group in Uppsala, a city 50 miles north of Stockholm. He was sentenced to prison three separate times, according to the records.

I didn't even know they had mobsters in Uppsala.

Talking Trailer Trash

There are two Al-Kindis that relate to this story. One of them is the Al-Kindi Research Complex, "one of the largest and most secret arms project[s] in Iraq," located in Mosul. It looks like they mainly did missile research there, but also did nuclear and chemical weapons research at some point. This location is important because one of the two vehicles was found on their lot in April 2003. It's also important because the 2003 CIA report on the biolabs mentions that "Senior Iraqi officials of the al-Kindi Research, Testing, Development, and Engineering facility in Mosul were shown pictures of the mobile production trailers, and they claimed that the trailers were used to chemically produce hydrogen for artillery weather balloons." That's a logical answer for a technician in a rocketry plant that had missile test facilities, a wind tunnel, and a launch range.

The other Al-Kindi Company is located in Abu Ghraib, near Baghdad. Its full name is the Al-Kindi Company for the Production of Veterinary Vaccines. According to UNMOVIC, it is a declared and monitored site which produces a "variety of viral and bacterial veterinary vaccines, using basic glassware and techniques."

Illegal aliens recruit workers. While Maria's favorite, Bert Preluski, wants you to Wake up and smell the salsa, here's how you can send a brick. Timothy Birdnow calls for the closing of Plantation America

Mel Gibson's 'Apocalypto' Delayed. Can't say I've been waiting for it.

Bellevue Community College displays where it stands on racism.

Seoul man Alan Greenspan makes $200,000 for each speaking engagement so he can regret "irrational exhuberance". Nice gig if one can get it.

Dick Morris hurls the ultimate insult at Pres. Bush, calling him a Republican Jimmy Carter.

Hu's not coming to dinner at the White House, but the Gates were open. Meanwhile, Chinese dash hopes for researcher's release. China, Russia, and Qatar blocked a British-American motion at the Security Council to impose targeted sanctions against four Sudanese individuals accused of atrocities in Sudan's Darfur region. Last Thursday I pointed out that the current trend appears to be increasing cooperation between China and Russia as far as restraining the power of the USA, the EU, and Japan.

Who will be singing for Moammar Khadafy to commemorate the airstrike that killed 40 people? Lionel Richie and Spanish tenor José Carreras. Aren't they precious? Jeff has more on the festivities. Here in the USA the University of North Texas was planning to award an honorary degree to Adbel Al-Jubeir, a spokesman for Saudi Arabia, which sells amputation machines.

The cat's out of the bag wall

Librarian attacked by profs for promoting 'Marketing of Evil'


Ralph Peters looks at Euro-Losers. Jorge Valín examines French Naiveté, Total Losses, and the French mentality.

When I was sick last week I watched TV and I agree with Mona Charen that the level of vulgarity that now seems utterly ordinary is just unbelievable.

Because offending Catholics is easy and cheap, and Catholics don't blow up people: PETA staged a mock crucifixion in Vienna.