Not to imply that I’ve been in any way looking forward to it, but it says something about the nature of this war that we just had the first fatal casualty of military personnel from hostile fire (not counting the Pentagon attack, of course). It will be interesting to see if, like the Gulf War, more of our casualties are caused by friendly than hostile fire.

According to this story in the BBC, Euro notes have already been forged.

According to this story in the BBC, Euro notes have already been forged.

According to this story in the BBC, Euro notes have already been forged.

James Morrow has some intelligent comments on airline security, here and in Europe, in today’s Reason On-Line.

I almost invariably love James Lileks’ daily bleats, but this statement today really tickled my funny bone.

Submarining is probably safe in this war, since Al Qaeda?s depth charges probably consist of a guy with a lit stick of dynamite in his pocket and a cinder block in his arms.

Go read the rest of it.

In today’s LA Times, self-proclaimed liberal San Diego State history professor Elizabeth Cobbs Hoffman offers a very thoughtful commentary on the reflexive tendency of academia to blame America first.

I haven’t said much about Sean Penn’s idiotic slamming of George Bush and Bill O’Reilly, but I couldn’t let this pass.

“He doesn’t provoke thought or challenge my head or my spirit,” Penn says of the highest-rated President of all time. “I don’t think he does the country’s either.”

I’ve never heard Sean Penn say anything that would lead me to believe that there is any possibility of provoking thought. And when it comes to challenging his head, it sounds like just metabolizing might do that.

As for the second statement, it would have been much more accurate if he’d just quit at the third word.

My question is, why does what entertainment figures say even get reported? Why is it news?

The Washington Times informs us that Marion Frances Berry is getting pro bono work from a Washington law firm to help her with her absurd case to keep a Clinton interim appointment on the Civil Rights Commission beyond the appointed term.

Only one problem–it’s illegal. According to commission statute, “”The Commission shall not accept or utilize services of voluntary or uncompensated personnel. This limitation shall apply with respect to services of members of the commission as it does with respect to services by other persons.”

Funny, she had no problem at all in invoking the same law to keep John Lott’s statistical data out of Abby Thernstrom’s dissent in the commission’s nonsensical report on the “disenfranchisement of blacks” in the Florida election.

As presently constituted, this commission has become a running joke, except that it’s not really funny, and, like Jesse Jackson’s antics, it continues to distract blacks from dealing with their real problems.

According to Space Daily, the main Japanese space agency (NASDA) is proposing building a space tourism vehicle to be launched on their H-2 rocket by 2008. I’m not sure that this is the best way to develop that industry, or that the Japanese government will decide to do it, given their financial straits, but it’s interesting that NASDA has much more vision on this subject than NASA, much of which still won’t even seriously discuss public space travel.