Mikel Grenzner.com

I never skip past C-SPAN 2 when this guy has the floor. I’d miss anything from rants on the barbarism of dog fighting to odes to other senators on their birthdays done in the style of Dr. Seuss.

From the staff writers at WaPo:

“Baiting is putting an object out there that we know they will use, with the intention of destroying the enemy,” Capt. Matthew P. Didier, the leader of an elite sniper scout platoon attached to the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry Regiment, said in a sworn statement. “Basically, we would put an item out there and watch it. If someone found the item, picked it up and attempted to leave with the item, we would engage the individual as I saw this as a sign they would use the item against U.S. Forces.”

[Read more →]

From Boston.com:

An MIT student wearing a device on her chest that included lights and wires was arrested at gunpoint at Logan International Airport this morning after authorities thought the contraption was a bomb strapped to her body.

Star Simpson, 19, was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and approached an airport employee in Terminal C at 8 a.m. to inquire about an incoming flight from Oakland, according to Major Scott Pare of the State Police. She was holding a lump of what looked like putty in her hands. The employee asked about the plastic circuit board on her chest, and Simpson walked away without responding, Pare said.

Picture of the “bomb” after the jump.

[Read more →]

From The Post and Courier:

Charleston novelist James Oliver Rigney Jr., 58, known to millions of readers by the pen name Robert Jordan, the best-selling author of “The Wheel of Time” fantasy series, died Sunday after a fight with the rare blood disease amyloidosis, a progressive disorder first diagnosed in December 2005 at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Ouch, I always thought the jokes about not starting his “Wheel of Time” series until he had finished them in case of an untimely death were just that, jokes.

Ever wanted to browse through a human genome? PLoS just released the genome of J. Craig Venter with an interactive browser.

Behold the full interactive DNA of Craig Venter – online and zoomable.

(Via The Daily Dish.)

Also, this is the first time I’ve really had a chance to browse the Public Library of Science. What an incredible publication. It’s about time we started being able to see more primary results in the public domain.

If this hits the larger media groups out there, this will be bound to cause a good bit of controversy.

From Human Rights Watch:

“Human Rights Watch shares the public’s goal of protecting children from sex abuse,” said Jamie Fellner, director of the US program at Human Rights Watch. “But current laws are ill-conceived and poorly crafted. Protecting children requires a more thoughtful and comprehensive approach than politicians have been willing to support.”

In many states, registration covers everyone convicted of a sexual crime, which can range from child rape to consensual teenage sex, and regardless of their potential future threat to children. Unfettered public access to online sex-offender registries with no “need-to-know” restrictions exposes former offenders to the risk that individuals will act on this information in irresponsible and even unlawful ways. There is little evidence that this form of community notification prevents sexual violence. Residency restrictions banish former offenders from entire towns and cities, forcing them to live far from homes, families, jobs and treatment, and hindering law-enforcement supervision. Residency restrictions are counterproductive to public safety and harmful to former offenders.

Sex offender laws reflect public concern that children are at grave risk of sexual abuse by strangers who are repeat offenders. As the report documents, however, the real risks children face are quite different: government statistics indicate that most sexual abuse of children is committed by family members or trusted authority figures, and by someone who has not previously been convicted of a sex offense.

In addition, the laws reflect the widely shared but erroneous belief that “once a sex offender, always a sex offender.” Authoritative studies indicate that three out of four adult offenders do not reoffend. Moreover, treatment can be effective even for people who have committed serious sex crimes.

The full report (all 146 pages) can be found here, in both .pdf and browsable formats.

Here are a few interesting bits I found:

[Read more →]

A rather nice piece by Jill Lepore in The New Yorker on the partisanship of the very early elections. It’s a bit long for the internet, but I highly suggest taking a look if you have a few minutes to spare. You may find that your history teachers didn’t tell you the whole story, and this will shed some light on the current tone of presidential politics.

Or rather, on those who were guests in the gallery of the House.

While watching today’s coverage of the Petraeus/Ryan meetings, I was struck by the utter lack of tact and forethought in the actions of some lucky enough to get a seat in the gallery. Despite being warned of the decorum to be followed during official proceedings by the Chair, some felt it appropriate to chant, yell and prevent the proceedings from continuing. When it came to the point of being arrested, they screamed and resisted and generally made their existence known to all around them.

[Read more →]

One can watch the Iraq War Report right now on CNN, MSNBC and C-SPAN 3, available online for streaming.

I’m not expecting any huge surprises, but I’m hoping for a good grilling.

Hagel Will Not Run for Re-Election: “The Omaha World Herald reports Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) is calling it quits. Hagel plans to announce on Monday that ‘he will not run for re-election and that he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008,’ said one source.

Hagel informed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of his decision yesterday morning and informed his staff later in the day.

(Via Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire.)

[Read more →]