Volume 2 Issue 45

April 4, 2003

Spring Forward

Changing the clocks again, the final days of Saddam, and the RIAA is looking for you...

Once again this weekend we will do the annual rite of switching our clocks forward an hour, to enter Daylight Saving Time or "Summer Time" as it is known abroad. But, if you've been following the war in Iraq closely, or have friends in Europe or Britain, you'll notice that the rest of the world has pretty much been on Summer Time since last week. Why do we do it a week later? Actually, we used to not start DST until the end of April, so what we have now is an improvement (it was changed in 1986). While the benefits of Daylight time are probably canceled out in the winter, most scientists say that the only months when standard time is preferable are November, December, January, and February. So...why do we spend March and October in early darkness? I thought of this during the week, when the weather was nice, yet it got dark so early. Anyway, here's all you ever needed to know about Daylight Saving Time, and more -
http://www.boulder.nist.gov/timefreq/general/daylightsaving. html

Oh, and if I ever find the weatherperson who said it was going to be 80 degrees today...enjoy the weekend!

Random Cherry Blossom Fact of the day: Ever wonder how many blossoms there are on the 3700 trees around the Potomac? Well, according to the Park Service, there are 12,482,312 plus and minus 5 or 6.

He's alive! After the US started the whole "is he still alive" thing again, Saddam Hussein gave a TV address and then appeared in public today. This is really amazing when you consider that US troops are within miles of the city -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/04/sprj.irq.war.main/ index.html

The Battle of Baghdad International Airport: The US has supposedly seized control of the airport, but Iraq has threatened some sort of non-conventional action against the troops this evening -
http://www.thisislondon.com/til/jsp/modules/Article/print.js p?itemId=4203529

The Battle for Baghdad: The US is pausing again with the troops on the outskirts of Baghdad -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-634043,00.html

How the battle could shape up...what are the options?
http://slate.msn.com/id/2081098/

A look at the tunnel system underneath Baghdad -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,343-634382,00.html

Western Iraq: A suicide attack killed 5, including 3 American troops -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2917107.stm

Northern Iraq: Iraq has begun shelling in some Northern areas held by US and Kurdish troops -
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-War-Northern-Front.html

Reporters being good: Michael Kelly, the editor of the Atlantic Monthly, and columnist for the Washington Post was killed today in Iraq. He is the first American journalist killed in the war -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27396-2003Apr4.html

Kelly's last column, filed yesterday, about the crossing of the Euphrates river -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15806-2003Apr2.html

CNN's Sanjay Gupta, a doctor embedded with a medical unit, performed surgery on an Iraqi boy in an attempt to save his life yesterday -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23329-2003Apr3.html

Jessica Lynch: An Iraqi lawyer helped the US locate and rescue the POW, in a growing example of Iraqi cooperation with US Troops -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23979-2003Apr3.html
Lynch also has undergone multiple surgeries in Germany -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/international/worldspecial /05CND-LYNCH.html

An empty house: Iraqi's have looted the house of "Chemical Ali", Hussein's close friend who was responsible for both the gassing of the Kurds in Northern Iraq, and the quelling of the 1991 rebellion -
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5944-634032,00.html

The Big Picture: Nick Kristof says that Iraq won't be another Vietnam -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/opinion/04KRIS.html

A Veteran's Thoughts: The Vietnam Vet who threw out the ball at the first game in Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium will throw out the first ball at the last season opener today. His thoughts on war and it's effects down the line -
http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m040403a.h tm

Look Who's Running for President: Dick Gephardt pulled in a disappointing $3.6 million during the first quarter, though that does put him in 3rd -
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/politics/campaigns/04MONE. html

Look Who's Running for President 2: John Kerry has been attacked by Republicans for saying that America needs a "regime change." Even though the people attacking him now said much the same thing about Bill Clinton during the Kosovo Campaign..and they've never served in uniform -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23490-2003Apr3.html

And Dean's campaign criticized him for again being ambivalent on the war -
http://www.nypost.com/news/nationalnews/56193.htm

But Kerry said it again last night in Atlanta -
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/today/news_ e3d8e32753db4031007c.html

Congressmen Being Bad: A Conservative Republican Congressman from New Jersey apparently got himself into some trouble in a Georgetown bar the other night -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23714-2003Apr3.html

Outbreak: SARS has begun to effect business -
http://www.iht.com/articles/92089.html

And doctors may have traced the illness back to the first person to contract it in China, but the case just becomes weirder. Why didn't he spread it to the rest of his family?
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/04/04/sars.victim/index.html

Freedom Restored? The Independence National Park in Philadelphia will reopen today -
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5553629.htm

The Final Frontier: Even though the US seems to have pulled away from Space Exploration, India has become the latest country to consider a manned program -
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,574 4,6236731%255E401,00.html

And the Europeans are getting more into exploration as well. -
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23470-2003Apr3.html

Unstable Ground: A new fault line has been found directly underneath downtown LA, which could produce a devastating quake -
http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/04/03/la.fault.ap/index .html

They're coming to get you! The RIAA has sued 4 students for file-sharing -
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2003/04/04/state0732EST0039.DTL&nl=fix

Have a great weekend!