Skim of posts.

Glue traps evil. I have no mice issues because of killer cat. Trapping them to give to snakes ok I suppose. If you like snakes, which I do not so much. Can the office have a pet cat?

Thanks to all for saving me the time I was going to spend watching House. Will put this time to better use. I don't want to see lame House.

My office is freezing, and the hot tea I made is barely helping. Also, I just laughed out loud at really dorky in-jokes on the MySpace page of my grad school's alumni relations office. And everything I have due today is going to be late, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Today is off to an AWESOME start.

So, if you are a university professor in London, and you send in a request for something to an institution on the other side of the Atlantic, at 7 pm EST, don't you look like a complete ass when you send another email not 45 minutes later with the text "r u seepin'?"

Why yes, yes you do.

Sometimes I can be amazed. OTOH, I hear stories of the behaviour of the examiners at my brother's qualifying exam and really, I should not be surprised. (At one point, a food fight nearly broke out during an argument. And my brother wasn't even involved!)

Bill Bailey is a musician/comedian. I've never heard of him.

Bill Bailey! Black Books! QI!

The one thing about glue traps that makes them less cruel is that they mostly don't work. Unless the critter is very tiny, most mice and rats can just walk right over them.

Huh. I found last night's House quite good. The Cameron section was kind of pointless, granted, but an interesting note, considering she's the one who performed the euthanasia on Joel Grey's character. It's another hammer to her "I know best" thing. And did anyone else flash on Buffy and Willow during the "perjurer" "felon" exchange?

Then the different takes from the team on what House should tell the girl was funny. Chase trying to figure otu what House wanted him to say was perfect.

As for the girl--I was expecting a more involved trauma than a basic rape--someone she knew etc.--but I can see her fixating on somebody who she thinks is not going to coddle her. As for the abuse? I regret they went that way, but military families do have that sort of thing happen (Hubby was raised military, and his family's dynamics have some dark parts). It was a bit anvily in places, but it was a--somewhat, especially for modern TV--subtle way of making House connect to someone, no matter how much he hated to do it. I noted that except for a scene with Cuddy, they didn't show him popping any Vicodin. This Means Something.

Anyway, I liked it.

My poor officemate was stuck outside for twenty minutes unable to cross the street to go into work b/c of the President's motorcade. Now Bush has gone TOO far!

Ha! I just figured out what all the drama this morning was about.

I saw some wild turkeys across on the hill from the Subaru dealership when I dropped off my car this morning! Man, those suckers are damn big.

My poor officemate was stuck outside for twenty minutes unable to cross the street to go into work b/c of the President's motorcade.

At least Bush didn't try to run down your officemate with a tractor.

IOButSortaRelatedN, Germany may indict U.S. agents in 2004 abduction

BERLIN — German investigators have recommended that prosecutors issue arrest warrants for 13 U.S. intelligence operatives in connection with the kidnapping, beating and secret detention of a German citizen suspected of having links to terrorist networks.

The operatives are said to have been part of a CIA-sponsored team that transported alleged terrorists to interrogation camps around the world. Investigators say the group forced a handcuffed and blindfolded Khaled Masri, a German citizen of Lebanese descent, onto a Boeing 737 in Macedonia and flew him to Afghanistan in January 2004. Masri was never charged with a crime, and was released after five months.

German law enforcement officials said indictments could be filed as early as this week against the suspects, including four pilots, a medic and members of an operations unit. The most serious charge is expected to be kidnapping, according to an official who asked not to be named. None of the suspects, who include CIA contract employees, have been named publicly.

The Masri case has strained U.S.-German relations and led to a parliamentary investigation of allegations that German intelligence agents were involved in the abduction. Investigators also have examined discrepancies about when high-ranking government officials were informed of Masri's fate.

The prospect of criminal charges in the Masri ordeal comes as an Italian court is deliberating whether to order the trial of 26 Americans and nine Italians implicated in the February 2003 abduction of a radical Egyptian cleric known as Abu Omar. The Italian government may demand the extradition of the accused Americans, including the former CIA station chief in Milan, where Omar was snatched from a sidewalk.

The CIA has not commented on the Masri case, although White House, Justice Department and agency officials have argued that U.S. laws authorized such covert operations, and that they have been assured that no suspects have been tortured.

Legal experts say it is extremely unlikely the U.S. government would turn over suspects for legal proceedings in either Germany or Italy.

...

Good thing we didn't agree to be part of that World Court thing, huh? Actually, I'm sure cases like this are exactly why neocons are opposed to the World Court.