Boston police work, oil profits, shared spelling

Hello!

More ranting by Boston on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force publicity stunt. They've been talking about suing them for the "hoax" (which there is no hoax that I can see. The devices aren't intended to look like bombs.) If these devices looked to be a threat, then I think the people of Boston should sue their city for not reacting until three weeks after these things were placed. That's some top notch policing. But, I also don't see how the Lite-Brite like devices would be thought of as a terrorist threat. What terrorist puts colorful LEDs in the shapes of cartoon characters on their bombs? Is Boston more used to dealing with the Joker and the Riddler instead of Al Qaida?

Other stuff:

• Exxon Mobil posts the biggest profit ever in US history. Whew! I was so worried that those fluctuating oil prices would hurt them!
• Tonight, I spent way too much time on WannaSpell.com, which is a shared whiteboard with "magnetic" letters you can drag around. It was fun and frustrating. There were bits of collective comedy laughs, but you are also always fighting everyone else's agenda on it (and then eventually a group of people start dragging all the letters into a corner). Check it out to see what I mean.
  

Saddam spectacle, fringe economy, apple suits, back taxes

Last post of 2006! Hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's celebration!
A few items to read when you have the day off work tomorrow:

• Saddam execution shown on tv and web (links to a story about this; I'm not linking to any execution footage). I hope I'm not the only one that finds this absolutely horrendous. I will not be looking for this footage. I don't care what you thought of him, I think it is disturbing that anyone would want to watch footage of someone dying. It is vengeful thinking or extreme morbid curiosity. For it to be shown on CNN and Fox is no better, in my opinion, then terrorists floating around videos of killing captives. (And yes, I know those were available on the web too, and that people here would want to watch that makes me sick.) The trial and fact he was executed is certainly news, but that can be covered adequately without showing this footage. I fear it is only a few years before real executions are part of America's reality tv culture. Time to rebuild the Coliseum for gruesome entertainment!
  
• Millions living in America's "fringe economy". Read this if you get a chance, because it was fascinating and sad. It is amazing to think about how much money these people are losing, just in order to survive. It also will further divide the rich from the poor in this country.
• Apple facing more lawsuits: Is iTunes/iPod an illegal monopoly? Does the iBook G4 logic board fail at an unusually high rate? Does the Nike/iPod infringe on patents? Stay tuned in 2007 for the exciting answers!
• Mystery billionaire pays $200M in CA back taxes, almost single-handedly closing their revenue shortfall. That's a lot of tax, and my question is how did the state not know someone owed $200 million?