Use your credit card, Luke

July 10, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Gaming

I'm a Star Wars fan, but other than a few weirdos, who isn't? Now I'm not the rabid type of fan who dresses up as my favorite character, but I know a sarlacc from a tauntaun, and I care enough to be angry that Greedo shoots first in the Special Edition release.
Which is why, along with thousands of others, I was really looking forward to the appearance of Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided. And ultimately, it's why I am disappointed with the final product. On the other hand, it's still much better than Episode I
[Star Wars Galaxies.jpg]

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Going on Vacation!!

July 8, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Travel

Going on vacation this weekend. Going for a drive. To Banff, Alta. Pretty schway, no? Yup, a cross-Canada road trip:...

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President Bush Was Wrong on Iraq Evidence

July 8, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Politics

Amid questions about who knew what about prewar intelligence, the White House has admitted that U.S. President George W. Bush was wrong when he said last January that Iraq had recently sought significant quantities of uranium in Africa.
The White House acknowledgement came as a British parliamentary commission questions the reliability of British intelligence about Saddam Hussein's alleged efforts to obtain weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the war in Iraq.
Democrats in Congress also have questioned how the Bush administration used U.S. intelligence on Iraq's weapons programs.
Bush said in his address to Congress in January that the British government had learned that Saddam recently sought significant quantities of uranium in Africa.
The president's statement in the state of the union was incorrect because it was based on forged documents from the African nation of Niger, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said yesterday.

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PETA Accuses KFC of Animal Cruelty

July 8, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Food

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is suing KFC Corp., claiming the fast-food giant is misleading the public by denying it mistreats hundreds of millions of chickens headed for its outlets each year.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court yesterday, claims more than 700 million chickens slaughtered each year for KFC chicken restaurants "often endure suffering, often intense, for most, or all, of their lives."
The lawsuit is the culmination of a six-month campaign waged by PETA against KFC and its parent company, Yum! Brands Inc., to force the company to adopt standards designed to maintain and slaughter them more humanely.

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U.S. Cop Shoots Self at Canada Customs

July 8, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Weird

A Detroit police officer accidentally shot himself in the leg Monday when he tried to hide his gun after his car was pulled over by Canada Customs at the Ambassador Bridge.
Michael Allen, 22 and three friends were heading to Casino Windsor around 2:30 a.m. when a customs officer at the bridge directed the off-duty Detroit cop's Monte Carlo to the secondary inspection area.
After parking the car, Allen is believed to have pulled his .40-calibre Glock pistol from either a waist holster or concealed leg holster in an attempt to hide it under the car's front seat.

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Troop morale in Iraq hits ‘rock bottom’

July 8, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Politics

US troops facing extended deployments amid the danger, heat, and uncertainty of an Iraq occupation are suffering from low morale that has in some cases hit "rock bottom."
Even as President Bush speaks of a "massive and long-term" undertaking in rebuilding Iraq, that effort, as well as the high tempo of US military operations around the globe, is taking its toll on individual troops.
Some frustrated troops stationed in Iraq are writing letters to representatives in Congress to request their units be repatriated. "Most soldiers would empty their bank accounts just for a plane ticket home," said one recent Congressional letter written by an Army soldier now based in Iraq. The soldier requested anonymity.

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American troops looted and vandalized Iraqi airport

July 8, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Politics

Much has been written about how Iraqis complicated the task of rebuilding their country by looting it after Saddam Hussein's regime fell. In the case of the international airport outside Baghdad, however, the theft and vandalism were conducted largely by victorious American troops, according to U.S. officials, Iraqi Airways staff members and other airport workers. The troops, they say, stole duty-free items, needlessly shot up the airport and trashed five serviceable Boeing airplanes. "I don't want to detract from all the great work that's going into getting the airport running again," says Lieut. John Welsh, the Army civil-affairs officer charged with bringing the airport back into operation. "But you've got to ask, If this could have been avoided, did we shoot ourselves in the foot here?"

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Australian Police Ban/Seize U.S. Movie

July 7, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Film

Sydney, Australia -- Police shut down a public screening of a U.S. movie banned in Australia because of its explicit sex and violence, sparking outrage from free-speech advocates.
"Ken Park", a provocative film by "Kids" director Larry Clark and Edward Lachman, catalogues the dysfunctional lives of teenage skateboarders in the suburbs of Visalia, Calif.

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Lightning Strikes Woman’s Tongue Stud

July 7, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Weird

A holidaymaker narrowly escaped death when lightning struck her tongue stud in an electrical storm.
Becky Nyang, 26, was temporarily blinded, unable to talk and badly blistered by the bolt of electricity that surged through her body via the piercing.

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America Running Oil out of Iraq?

July 7, 2003 D. H. McKee
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Skeptic

On May 25, while scanning the Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program images pipelined into his desktop from 450 miles in orbit, Hank Brandli skidded at a nighttime photo of Iraq. It looked familiar. But not exactly.
Brandli retrieved another DMSP image he'd archived from May 3. He compared the two. The most recent photo showed a blazing corridor of light running the length of Kuwait, south to north, all the way to the Iraqi border. The image wasn't there on May 3.
"It's going right up to Iraq's oil fields," says the retired Air Force colonel from his home in Palm Bay. "Maybe I'm full of s---. Maybe all they're doing is building a highway to put in McDonald's and sell hamburgers. But why go that way? I think we're in bed with Kuwait. I think we're pumping oil out of Iraq to pay for this war."

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