ajc.com: Life expectancy climbs to record high in America

"Life expectancy has risen for men and women and for white and black Americans, the report said. On average, men can expect to live 74.4 years on average, women 79.8 years, whites 77.7 years and blacks 72.2 years...

...In a one-year jump that officials hope will not be repeated, the rate of deaths from homicide rose by 17 percent from 2000 to 2001. That resulted from the 2,953 deaths in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks being classified as homicides."

Military.com: Infected Corpses Won't Be Cremated

"The military will not cremate any soldiers who may die from smallpox or other biological weapons."

Kids fashion these days

I'm beginning to take a tiny, tiny little bit of interest in what they wear. Not that I'm going to start wandering about kids clothes shops, maybe it's because Amanda's getting better kit for them as witnessed in these pix. Fashion victims? Not really. I must take them shopping for clothes.

Another bath time set. The video's much funnier. Esme's singing a song about bumble bees, and I have to pay attention to her. Out of the corner of my eye I spy Bradley with the bar of soap. He gives it a big lick, leaving a white trail on his tongue. 2 seconds later, he starts to screw up his face... While Esme sings her song. This lasts three verses, and Bradley all the way through is gagging, or scratching his tongue.

BBC: Mobile snaps getting cleverer

"O2 in Germany and Vodafone D2 are testing services that turn camera phone images into postcards.

Anyone using the service specifies the postal address they want it sent to and writes the text they want to accompany the image. Images, text and address are e-mailed to the post office."

39 Euro cents each postcard... Story also talks about mugs, t-shirts, et al.

FOXNews: FBI Flying Planes Over U.S. to Track Suspected Terrorists

""The cop on the beat now has Superman's X-ray eyes," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union. "We need to fundamentally rethink what is a reasonable expectation of privacy.""

Judge Dread is coming.

Washington Post: Bush Bets Future on Success in Iraq

"Even a successful result contains risks in the eyes of those who have pondered the recurring cycle in human history in which power leads to hubris, hubris leads to overreaching, and overreaching leads to collapse. Victory could tempt the United States to overreach."

I guess the US is feeling very cocky at the moment. But, after the conflict, and lets hope that it is a war measured in days, I think they'll listen more to world opinion, or be seen to be listening, more like, and pull back for a while at least over confronting Syria, or Iran. But make no mistake these are already on the target list. No point taking WMD off Iraq if they are left elsewhere for bin Laden's followers to get hold of.

Washington Post: Al Qaeda's Top Primed To Collapse, U.S. Says

" Because the CIA and FBI are much more familiar than they were a year ago with the organization and individuals involved in al Qaeda, they are more able to put the new leads to use. Also, with a handful of other high-ranking al Qaeda members imprisoned and undergoing CIA interrogation, the information "can be bounced off five other senior guys now anxious to tell us what they know," said one knowledgeable intelligence expert."

I wonder what difference taking bin Laden out of the loop would make? Very little, strategically, just the moral victory for the US. The smaller units that have tried to attack European targets of late have all been self starters from Northern Africa.

As this will be a generational war, taking out bin Laden, will not stop the terrorist threat, it may even make matters worse. There'll be no leadership to track and watch.