"The U.N. Security Council is sometimes dismissed as a 'debating society', but that's an insult to debaters everywhere" - from Stalemate, great article by Fred Kaplan in Slate.  It seems clear that the U.N. will not do anything more aggressive than send in more inspectors, so the ball is now squarely in Bush's court.

It was horrible that five people died in the Anthrax poisonings of late 2001 following the 9-11 attacks.  So what do we do about it?  We sue the government, of course.  Sheesh.  The U.S. need tort reform rather badly.  Hey, let's sue lawmakers to get it!

Here's a great paper exploring "the Case against Intellectual Monopoly", i.e. would innovation take place if there were no patents or copyrights.  It is dense reading but really thought-provoking stuff.  Personally I think patents and other social devices for establishing intellectual property stifle innovation (possibly a heretical view for the CTO of a small biomedical company with substantial IP to take :).  They certainly violate W=UH, being both U and H.

You guys probably know, there is no Robert X. Cringley; he's a placeholder for guest technology columnists on PBS.  But he sure writes well, anyway :)  His latest: Sunset, the pending demise of Sun, and how they could avoid it (by merging with Sony to revolutionize TV, no less).