What on Earth are we doing to our planet?. HUMANS are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and increasing the risk of abrupt collapses in nature that could spur disease, deforestation or “dead zones” in the seas, an international report has found. [The Scotsman]

The Wrong Standard. Barron's (reg req): The Most Respected CEOs. (Warren) Buffett is the ultimate example of a CEO who counts — Berkshire Hathaway wouldn't exist without him. Some worrywarts at Barron's were concerned about putting him on the list because of the ongoing investigation into a potentially dubious reinsurance contract that Berkshire's General Re [...]

TSA Lied About Protecting Passenger Data. According to the AP: The Transportation Security Administration misled the public about its role in obtaining personal information about 12 million airline passengers to test a new computerized system that screens for terrorists, according to a government investigation. The report, released Friday by Homeland Security Department Acting Inspector General [...]

“Fail to see any harm”? What?!?. Reading the dissent in today's Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling on the Schiavo case, I think I found the words to explain what's so offensive to me about the actions of Congress and Schiavo's parents to date. The following quote, from the dissenting judge's reasoning on why a [...]

Today's Schiavo take. Two quick morning observations about the continuing Terri Schiavo abomination: First, it's at least a little heartening to me to see that this afternoon's Federal court hearing is before James D. Whittemore, a Clinton appointee and someone who's expressed an understanding of the difference between state and federal powers. We'll see how [...]

Matt Conigliaro on Terri Schiavo. For those who are interested in a reasonable attempt to look at the reality of the Terri Schiavo case, Matt Conigliaro has an amazingly detailed information page, including a list of questions and answers that demonstrates how reductionist the media coverage (and Congressional “inquiry”) has become. Conigliaro is an appellate [...]

Excess Fuel Billing by Halliburton in Iraq Is Put at $108 Million in Audit. The fuels report, involving a subsidiary of Halliburton, was completed in October 2004, but the Bush administration has kept it confidential. By ERIK ECKHOLM. [NYT > Home Page]

Dollar Woes. AT. The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), which acts as a bank for the world's central banks, has just released a study showing that the ratio of dollar deposits held in Asian offshore reserves declined to 67% in September, down from 81% in the third quarter of 2001. India was the biggest seller, [...]

Another case of massive consumer data theft. It must be the season for playing free and easy with consumer data. Consumer data aggregator Sesint reports that hackers broke into one of their databases and made off the info on 32,000 US consumers. [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

ChoicePoint Says “Please Regulate Me”. According to ChoicePoint's most recent 8-K filing: Based on information currently available, we estimate that approximately 145,000 consumers from 50 states and other territories may have had their personal information improperly accessed as a result of the recent Los Angeles incident and certain other instances of unauthorized access to our [...]