Sunday, 10-15-06: There's a measure on Nevada's November ballot to legalize marijuana. Adults could legally possess an ounce, and they could buy it at government regulated and taxed pot shops. A study at the University of Nevada estimates the new taxes would supply $28.6 million to the state. A coalition of clergy endorses the measure on moral grounds. Rural newspapers say it would be hypocritical not to pass it. Part of the point is that it would put drug dealers out of business. 12 states have decriminalized pot, and 11 allow medical marijuana. In November South Dakota will vote on medical marijuana, and Colorado will vote on decriminalizing statewide rather than just in Denver. Married couples are now the minority in America. 49.7% of the nation's households are made up of married couples, down from 52% five years ago. The highest is 69% in Utah, and the lowest is 26% in Manhattan. The highest proportion of unmarried couples living together is 11% in Medocino, California. The highest share of male couples is 2% in San Francisco. The highest share of female couples is 1.7% in Hampshire County, Massachusetts. Monday, 10-16-06: 22,000 people were evacuated from Hanover, Germany, yesterday while experts disposed of three World War 2 bombs. They were dropped in a raid in 1943, and were buried at least 21 feet deep. One was smashed and harmless, but the other two had to be defused. Unexploded bombs are found regularly in Germany. Wednesday, 10-18-06: Iceland said yesterday it will resume commercial whaling, after not doing it for almost two decades. They're going to kill 9 fin whales and 30 minke whales. Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law yesterday. He's now allowed to hold prisoners indefinitely without lawyers or charges, allows people to be tried on evidence they don't get to see, and continues the use of torture. The act states flatly, "no alien unlawful enemy combatant may invoke the Geneva Conventions as a source of rights." In local news, remember the guy, James Chasse, that the police kicked to death? The grand jury found no criminal wrongdoing. The police are claiming that an officer "accidently and inadvertantly fell on top of him," thus breaking 16 ribs in 26 places and causing massive internal bleeding. One of the officers freely admits kicking James in the chest, and the other admits punching him twice in the head. The two officers have been on paid leave, but they can now return to work. Thursday, 10-19-06: A cat in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, jumped onto a table and tipped over a lit candle. It ignited artificial plants, and then the whole house. A dog named Jesse brought Jamie Hanson her artificial leg and a phone she used to call 9-1-1. The dog got her outside, and then heard the cat upstairs, so she went up to get the cat. Both pets died. Friday, 10-20-06: Researchers at Duke University have develped an object that's invisible. Electromagnetic waves flow around it like water around a smooth rock. Since no light reflects back, you can't see it. The current device cloaks a copper cylinder four tenths of an inch tall. The next one will cloak an object the size of a toaster. The key to the device is a new family of materials called "meta-materials," in which metals are deposited in patterns on a surface. "The Paul McCartney/Heather Mills divorce is getting really nasty. The alimony is expected to be so high Paul's started a rumor he's dead." Jay Leno In local news, the Oregon Supreme Court upheld a law yesterday that was passed by voters in 2000, making it illegal for the police to sieze the property of people until they've been convicted of a crime. You wouldn't think a law like that would be necessary, would you?.... In more local news, a domestic violence sweep in Clackamus County lasted one day and went after 130 people. By the end of the day, they'd arrested 4.