Police blotter: Child porn in Web cache OK -- This is an interesting case, because the law in question required the suspect to "knowingly" possess child pornography. The suspect viewed it over his web browser, but was unaware that the browser cached the images. Since he was not aware of possession, his conviction was overturned despite the fact that he sought out and viewed the contraband material. I wonder if this will lead child-porn viewers to simply use a browser with a disabled cache (although perhaps they would still know about copies resident in the computer's memory).
Iraqi Kid Runs for Water. "Why do they hate us?" Gee, I wonder. Occupation brings out the worst in occupiers (see Burmese Days by George Orwell). Poor kids.
Against Compassion -- This thoughtful post by a former professor of mine (Jim Johnson) reviews a series of paintings inspired by Abu Ghraib. I find the paintings compelling because they enable us in the West to identify with the suffering that was inflicted upon these prisoners by our soldiers. I don't understand why the paintings work so much better than the actual photos, but they do. Dr. Johnson, on the other hand, argues that compassion is too far removed from politics to provide a real solution to problems like torture. He seems to imply, if I read his argument correctly, that we need to think in more general terms in order to systematically attack problems -- individual cases move us, but provide poor bases for making policy.
Test your musical skills in 6 minutes! -- This Flash-based test is fascinating. My score was just above 80%, or slightly above average. Actually, I was a bit surprised I wasn't higher, since even minor differences in performances are usually glaringly obvious to me. I guess I should feel lucky that I didn't fall into the tone deaf category...
Hotline On Call: A Republican's Take -- This Republican pollster's election predictions come very close to my own. I had my students predict the election two weeks ago using the best available mathematical models, polling, and their own opinions as citizens. The results: A Democratic House by 223 to 212 and a Republican Senate by 52 or 53 to 47 or 48 (the prediction was 52.5 Republicans). My own prediction is that Democrats will get between 220 and 225 seats in the House (222 = best bet) and 51 or 52 seats in the Senate (52 = best bet). Now just convince everyone you meet tomorrow to go vote and we'll see what the 35% who actually bother voting have to say...
