This was originally going to be a comment to this article by Dr. Bacchus but I could tell it was going to get too long. The root of the matter is that Fujitsu-Siemens now has to pay a per-machine levy on computers sold in Germany because they might - might, mind you - be used to violate copyright.

First, let me echo the sentiments of countless journalists and others in saying that you are a smart and impressive young girl. You carry yourself in a way well beyond your 12 years and I won't be surprised to see your name in the years to come in either California state or national politics. I applaud you for taking an interest in and action about things that will affect your life for years to come. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the similarity between those comments and mine. Most of them continue on to fawn on you and your speech at the Democratic National Convention. And for good reason - it apparently made for great TV during an event that was lackluster by most accounts. Sorry, kid, but I don't let you off that easily.

Two great men died this week. Each changed the world and left it a better place for his being here, although in drastically different ways. Unfortunately, I don't have the time at the moment to write a nice bio of each as I usually do for these posts.

I'll be following this case and I suspect that Dr. Bacchus will too.

I have little use for money grubbing nitwits.

There is news today that Bob Keeshan died this morning at his family home in Vermont at age 76. Keeshan was the original Clarabell The Clown on The Howdy Doody Show but he was much better known to most as Captain Kangaroo.

Those were the words that Ambassador Paul Bremer used to announce that Saddam Hussein had been captured in an early morning raid just south of his hometown of Tikrit.

Operation Red Dawn involved about 600 US troops acting on good intelligence that a high level target was located in a specific area of about 2 square kilometers. They cordoned off the area and performed a search.

I've been wanting to write this for quite a while and today seemed a fitting time. This afternoon President Bush signed the ban on partial birth (D&X - Dilation & Extraction) abortions and, while I support that measure, I disagree with many conservatives on a fundamental cornerstone of the abortion debate.

I've been following the Terri Schindler-Schiavo case, albeit in bits and pieces, since I first heard about it over a year ago. It saddens me that we have reached such a depth that some people are willing to literally starve this woman to death. And that's exactly what began less than an hour ago.

I know if my pregnant wife had been missing since Christmas and her body had been found in the bay along with the body of my unborn son, the first thing I'd be inclined to do is bleach my hair, grow a goatee, take $10,000 in cash out of the bank and head for the Mexican border with my brother's passport.

This doesn't strike me as acting guilty at all. Frankly, I don't see what all the uproar is about.