September 30th, Country-of-Origin labeling got underway in the USA. Sort of. Doesn’t apply to a host of items, most notably anything processed (i.e. canned) or containing more than one ingredient. That means 99% of foodstuffs will still not inform us of whence it came.

Charles Hill installed five surveillance cameras around his McMansion after vandals destroyed a bunch of pricey windows. Nothing notable about that. Lots of people install cameras on their property for a variety of reasons. What is notable is he is the first private homeowner taking Chicago up on their offer “to connect privately owned exterior surveillance cameras to Chicago’s 911 emergency center.”

Orthodox Jewish “modesty patrols” are on a campaign to “stamp out behavior they consider unchaste,” and while they are not government sponsored or endorsed outright, it doesn’t seem like anyone is really doing anything to stop them. In my opinion, this sort of vigilante behavior places Israel on the same list as their Middle Eastern neighbors they complain so loudly about.

That economy-saving bailout bill that was passed contained the usual amount of fatty pork. I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but just the bits and pieces others have been highlighting verges on ridiculous. A tax break for the manufacturers of children’s wooden arrows? Really?!

Yet another person sitting in prison for decades saying he didn’t commit the crime was set free last month when DNA evidence found him to be innocent. He makes twenty in Dallas County alone since 2001.

Pakistan’s military has ordered its forces to open fire if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said Tuesday.

“The orders are clear,” Abbas said in an interview. “In case it happens again in this form, that there is a very significant detection, which is very definite, no ambiguity, across the border, on ground or in the air: open fire.”

I did mention recently that Pakistan isn’t very happy with us right now, didn’t I? I wasn’t kidding.

The EPA has decided there’s no point in ridding public drinking water supplies of perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, even though it is present in at least 395 sites at levels high enough to “interfere with thyroid function and pose developmental health risks” particularly for children and babies. No real surprise there, as every government agency designed to protect Americans from health hazards don’t seem to be bothering with that task anymore.

PETA wants Ben & Jerry’s to start using human breast milk in their products to “lessen the suffering of dairy cows” and “benefit human health.”

Homeland Security has a new system called MALINTENT, which they are just certain will determine who is thinking bad thoughts and is a terrorist by reading peoples’ nonverbal cues. More security theater and who-knows-what-number reason to never fly anywhere again.

Ah, a mostly clean desktop. I have saved the politics links for later, as I may have something more I want to say about them. Now on to the housework.