The anthrax was not the inhaled form of the disease

CBS News Saturday, December 22, 2001. "Hamid Karzai was sworn in as prime minister of Afghanistan's interim government Saturday, strengthening hopes he can heal a nation torn by war.

"In the nation's first peaceful transfer of power in decades, the 44-year-old Pashtun tribal leader signed the oath of office before Chief Justice Mohammed Qasim."

Bombing the b'jesus out of the Taliban government is "peaceful?"

The Senate Office building is still closed while further attempts are made to fumigate the building -- a few spores of anthrax found in the building we're told -- while postal workers go about their assigned tasks having been issued latex gloves -- not to worry, they're told.

Finally -- we get our priorities right.

The anthrax was not the inhaled form of the disease, which killed a Florida man a week ago. The female employee instead has a skin infection and is expected to recover, the network said.

When caught through the skin, anthrax is a much less serious disease than the inhaled form. The first symptoms are reddish-black sores on the exposed skin. If the disease is caught at that point and treated with antibiotics it is easily cured. Even without treatment, cutaneous anthrax is fatal in only one case out of four. "

Hmmm, "only fatal in one case out of four," --- nothing to worry about.

Richard - 12 Oct 2001

In Houston, authorities investigated the apparent theft of 700 pounds of explosives from a storage site. Federal agents said it was too early to tell if the theft from AirJac Drilling Inc. was terrorist-related.

Probably just some guy doing a little demolition work around the house over the weekend who ran out of explosives, and since the stores were all closed, he decided to borrow some in order to finish his work.

Richard - 12 Oct 2001

"There never was a good war or a bad peace."
Letter to Josiah Quincy, Sept. 11, 1773. -- Benjamin Franklin

"It hath been said that an unjust peace is to be preferred before a just war."
Speeches in the Rump Parliament. Butler’s Remains. -- Samuel Butler

Too simple, perhaps. I suppose it all revolves around what we mean by "peace." Peace is not the absence of war.

This isn't the future I'm looking forward to.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which funded the early Internet, sees pervasive or ubiquitous computing as a way to make communicating with computers easier, and has contributed $10 million to fund research into invisible computing at several universities across the country. Now DARPA plans to spend another $40 million on research that will bring about a whole new PC user interface. Although IBM, Xerox, and others have focused on user interfaces for decades, these companies did not have the benefit of mature voice recognition software, artificial intelligence, wireless networking, and other emerging technologies to deliver a better way to communicate with computers. Experts envision new systems that are able to collect data on their own, observe users, and use artificial intelligence in order to anticipate their needs. With the aid of microphones, video cameras, and speakers, the new systems would be able to listen, observe, and deliver information to users, who would no longer have to type commands. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, involved in Project Aura, want to give computer systems the power to create a digital aura of information that follows users around the office. Project Aura relies on sensors placed throughout the office that are able to identify the computer's user. Project Oxygen at MIT and the Portolano Project at the University of Washington are also high-profile research projects that involve pervasive or ubiquitous computing.

http://www.darwinmag.com/read/110101/invitro.html

Richard Darwin (11/01) Vol. 1, No. 14, P. 34; McKay, Niall