Things going on less than a mile from my house that I'm not aware of.

Mailings to Scientology sites probed - Los Angeles Times

Mailings of a suspicious white powder to 10 Church of Scientology addresses prompted the evacuation of dozens of people and the closure of a major thoroughfare Wednesday as hazmat teams were called to examine the packages.The letters were sent via the Postal Service to Scientology properties in Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Monica, Glendale and Tustin. Police shut part of Glendale's busy Brand Boulevard for two hours before sounding the all-clear, while 60 people were cleared from buildings in Tustin, authorities said.

Welcome to Los Angeles, where crazy shit happens, and you never even know it.

I’d prefer if it were Hitler Porn, but…

Film in Staten Island basement sets off a real furor

Rare movie footage of Adolf Hitler hanging out with his buddies has been discovered in a Staten Island basement - and investigators are probing why the film was made.A reel of film plucked from the wartime rubble of a German opera house shows Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler enjoying a Richard Wagner music festival before the start of World War II.

The film, sent home by U.S. serviceman Walter Ladziak, was found 10 years ago after Ladziak's brother-in-law, who received the package, died.

Horrible Title Pun aside, what a bizarre piece of news.

Quote of the Week

"You know, it's not always the nuns that get raped. Sometimes it's strippers that get raped." - Geraldo

Thank you Daily Show.  I think that might be the opening quote of the new comic I'm working on.

Wal-Mart’s dirty secret is out

Wal-Mart's dirty secret is out The Dubai Ports World battle has trumpeted the gaping holes in our seaports' security systems, but few ask: Why are U.S. ports so poorly protected nearly five years after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001? Why has the government spent just $630 million -- less than 4 percent of the $18 billion-plus we have spent since 9/11 on airport security -- to make ports safer?

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., said it best: "(While we) talk about having strong homeland security, checking 100 percent of cargo containers. In the end, our commercial interests get ahead of us."

Those commercial interests are led by the world's largest retailer and the United States' biggest importer, Wal-Mart. Hunter let slip what is surely Wal-Mart's dirtiest secret: The company, through its Washington, D.C., lobbyist, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, has time and again since 9/11 opposed new port and supply-chain security rules that might cut into Wal-Mart's record profits. Its mantra is: "Security requirements should not become a barrier to trade."

Clink Link to read the rest.

I have these arguements with my boss all the time. He's a staunch Republican, and is pro-national security while also being pro-Bush and pro-corporation, and when I show him stuff like this... I actually don't know what he'll say.

He's probably reading this right now. At least now he has a few minutes before I come in to prepare.