I could write my shopping list in pen, sure.  But if I do it in pencil, I can always erase the item, 2 bottles Lagavulin 16-year-old Scotch and a footlong summer sausage, should my wife sneak into the office and try peeking over my shoulder.

From Jeff Taylor, “Blogged Down,” in the May 2007 issue of Reason (subscription only): In the last few months, legislators in both Texas and Tennessee have explored the idea of slapping blogs with special “online defamation” regulations. A Tennessee proposal, pushed by state Sen. Jamie Woodson (R-Knoxville), would give bloggers two days to take down any statement a public figure deems defamatory.  Those who fail to comply would face “a

Thanks again to all of you who contributed during my recent fundraising drive.  I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get my emails ported over to the Powerbook I’m using so that I can respond to each of you personally, but it looks like I’m going to have to gather email addresses from within PayPal itself (which, unfortunately, doesn’t create “mailto:” links—meaning I have to cut and paste

Dr Helen has an interesting post up in which she disputes the conclusions drawn by the authors of a British study which found that women are angrier than men.  Writes Dr H: The researchers speculate that women’s anger is prompted by feelings of powerlessness caused by “entrenched sexism in modern society.” As opposed to what, less sexism in ancient society? When sexism was more prevalent, women were even more “ladylike.”

From the AP, “US official says Russia ramping up espionage”: Russia has fully restored its espionage capabilities against the United States after a period of decline following the Cold War, a senior US counterintelligence official said yesterday. Joel Brenner, the head of the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, said the United States is concerned that Russia is continuing to ramp up its operations. “The Russians are now back at