SEPTA train strikes woman

An officer with North Wales Borough police said the woman was hit and then thrown back about 10 feet while attempting to run across the tracks.

The accident stalled the northbound SEPTA R-5 to Doylestown. A small pool of blood lay in the middle of the road‚ about five feet from the tracks.

“They were cutting her clothes off and her face was really bloody‚” said a witness. “We were coming in to stop and (the engineer) slowed up. Next thing‚ the lady got hit.” (Full story)

As seen up above the comic strip Red Meat:



I didn't even want the $250 gift certificate, but I kept pelting Bush with tomatoes for the catharsis of it.

I know Narendra Modi is a controversial figure, probably a racist, and that the riots in Gujarat in 2002 happened under his watch. And it's worth noting that the writer of the following article is a Fellow at the Brookings Institute. But I don't know enough to take a stance on the issue of whether he supported genocide and what that would say about American business:

Modi’s Operandi: American Business and Genocide Linked Again?
By Muqtedar Khan

The Asian American Hotel Owner Association (AAHOA), despite strong protests from several civil rights organizations and the Coalition Against Genocide is determined to honor Narendra Modi at their annual convention in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (March 22-24, 2005). Narendra Modi was indicted by many international humanitarian organizations for perpetrating a pogrom of mass murder, rape and arson against religious minorities in Gujarat in 2002 while he was the Chief Minister of that state in India. Even India’s Supreme Court acknowledged his complicity in the pogrom against minorities.

It is a shame that an American business organization, motivated by ethnic loyalty and greed has decided to overlook heinous crimes against humanity to honor him in exchange for investment opportunities in India. It is particularly hard to imagine such callous institutions in our midst even as we lecture the world on freedom, democracy and the rule of law. The AAHOA is sending a signal that while the Bush administration is determined to spread democracy they are determined to do business with mass murderers who have absolutely no regard for human life or rule of law. (Full Article)

I'm going to come up with my own content soon. Anyway, from Wired:

Goofy Thief
Next time you're planning to knock over a corner store, ditch the Disney disguise. A wannabe thief who put on a Pluto mask before walking into a Pennsylvania mini-mart and demanding money got nothing but laughter from the cashier, who initially thought the whole thing was a joke. "I noticed he had a pellet gun and I'm still laughing," said the worker. "'What are you going to do, shoot me with a pellet gun?' He was like, 'Oh, OK.' Then he left." A police officer cautioned against laughter as a crime deterrent, however, saying things could have turned out badly. "Pluto could have been a strung-out heroin addict," said the cautious cop. "You never know."
-- Lewis Wallace

Excerpts of two implausible stories I read today. . .

Story 1:
Microsoft has extended its antipiracy olive branch to China, offering users of bootleg copies of Windows a 50 percent discount on a legitimate version if they come clean on how they got their pirated copy.

To qualify for this offer, users with unlicensed copies of Windows installed on their machines need to complete an online form in which they disclose how they obtained the bogus software. (Link)

Story 2:
Domestic diva Martha Stewart, who saw the value of her stock soar since she began serving a five-month sentence at Alderson Federal Prison, has apparently now worked her magic on Alderson itself.

"If, instead of buying Compaq Computer, [former HP CEO] Carly Fiorina had stolen a Compaq computer from a Circuit City store, she might still have her job today," said Randall Trestman of the University of Minnesota's Graduate School of Business. (Link)

NYC Club Steals Money from Homeless
Apparently a "legendary rock venue", CBGB can't make rent and has been stiffing it's landlord--a charity organization that's dedicated to raising money for homeless shelters. The charity, Bowery Residents' Committee Inc., has been paying the city on CBGB's behalf since 2001 because this club won't pay rent for the space it's using. Then when the charity steps up and tries to evict CBGB, the club fires back with a lawsuit calling itself a "New York City institution" ?!

And I did a Google search and it seems people are actually sticking up for these guys. Insane. They should make a slogan: "CBGB: Making sure the Homeless Don't Have Shelters since 2001" and see how many people show up. Actually, according to the article, the club isn't up to the safety code either, so maybe the slogan should be: "CBGB: Making sure the Homeless Don't Have Shelters so You Can Go Down in Flames Since 2001". (NYT Story, MTV Story)