Monday, 8-14-06: In local news, yesterday 32-year-old Dung Nguyen made an illegal right turn into the path of a city bus. It was at the intersection next to Old Wives Tales. The bus hit him. His Isuzu spun, bouncing off two other cars. A passenger in the Isuzu flew out of the car, bounced off a minivan, and landed in the street. A bystander, 66-year-old Marvin Lewis rushed over to the fallen man. But it later turned out it wasn't to help. It was to steal his wallet. Police arrested Lewis and found the wallet nearby. Tuesday, 8-15-06: A woman in Pahokee, Florida, was driving herself to the delivery room when she had such a strong contraction that she wrecked the car. The car was mangled and partially submerged, and it was an hour before anyone found her. She had the baby in the car, and named her Myracle. The deputy who found her said, "As I looked around her, I saw the newborn baby laying in the passenger seat with the placenta and umbilical cord still attached." Yesterday a Japanese tanker collided with a cargo ship and spilled 1.4 million gallons of crude oil into the eastern Indian Ocean. The Exxon Valdez spill, for comparison, was 11 million gallons. The spill in the Mediteranian from Israeli airstrikes is bigger than that.... Segway is coming out with a new line of vehicles. The new 2-wheeled scooters allow riders to make turns by leaning rather than using the handle-bar-mounted grip. Cool. I want one.... It costs $4995. The outdoor version with knobby tires sells for $5495. Wednesday, 8-16-06: Luciano Pavarotti said in an interview published yesterday, "Now I only need God's help, and it really seems to me that he is giving it to me." The famous tenor has pancreatic cancer. 3 fishermen from San Blas, Mexico, were rescued after being lost at sea since October. They were rescued 5500 miles from home by a fishing boat, more than halfway to Australia. The men said they survived by eating raw fish and capturing seabirds. They collected rainwater to drink. "Sometimes out stomachs would hurt," one of them said in an interview, "because we would go up to 15 days without eating." Thursday, 8-17-06: The Afghan opium crop is up by more than 40% since last year, despite hundred of millions in anti-nartcotic money. Last year Afghanistan produces enough opium to make 450 tons of heroin, 90% of the world's supply. 52% of Afghanistan's gross domestic product is opium. Here's the irony. In 2000 the Taliban had eradicated the drug trade. Now they're involved in it, raising funds tiht it to fight the US. Cultivation increased the fastest in Helmand province, where the Taliban are the most active. And a place I lived when I was a boy.... In local news, a man in McMinnville told investigators he killed a neighbor because he "wanted to know what it felt like to be God." Wow! He's pled guilty to aggravated murder. His girlfriend was with him and goes on trial next January. Friday, 8-18-06: A federal judge ruled yesterday that President Bush's secret eavesdropping program is unconstitutional, and she ordered it to stop immediately. Bush immediately ordered the Justice Department to appeal the ruling. That delays things till Septemeber 7th. 3 rebels in Rwanda are charged with murdering two tourists from Portland in 1999. They were facing a possible death penalty until a federal judge threw the US government's case out because the three were tortured into confessing. Saturday, 8-19-06: Yesterday federal health officials approved the use of viruses on food. A mix of 6 viruses can now be sprayed on cold cuts, hot dogs, sausages, ham, turkey and poultry. The idea is that the viruses kill bacteria. As a person who has studied enough science to know how rapidly viruses evolve, I find this a frightening idea.... In local news, police destroyed a plantation of 5000 marijuana plants, with an estimated value of $15 million, near the Eastern Oregon town of Kimberly. Oh, the tragedy....