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The cultural confusion I expected as a result of the invasion of Iraq has presented itself in a way that is both ironic and intriguing. Lawyers in the city of Najaf are protesting the appointment of a female judge by American overseers. The protests have prevented the woman, an educated and experienced attorney, from being sworn in.

The swearing-in ceremony was scheduled for today for Nidal Nasser Hussein, a 45-year-old lawyer with a history of breaking precedent in Najaf. She was the first female lawyer to begin working here when she started 16 years ago. There are now 50.

A huge white cake decorated with multicolored flowers surrounded by dozens of cans of chilled Pepsi sat at one end of the chief judge's somewhat battered chambers when Colonel Conlin arrived for the ceremony.

Outside, a group of about 30 male and female lawyers were chanting in English: "No No Women" and "Out Out Roe," referring to Specialist Rachel Roe, a Wisconsin lawyer serving as the adviser to the court system in Najaf. A lone Marine gunnery sergeant prevented them from storming the chambers.

"We refuse the appointment of a woman judge, because it contradicts Islamic law," said Rajiha al-Amidi, one of the women in the group protesting the appointment. "This is what the Americans wanted to achieve in the first place with their invasion, to undermine Islam."

The rationalizations offered for refusing Hussein's ascension are incoherent and contradictory. If the situation had arisen in the U.S. I would say that there is no rational reason to listen to the naysayers. However, I find myself conflicted when it comes to telling people in other countries what to do -- especially when American guns pointed at them are involved. For example, I oppose genital mutilation of women in some Muslim and/or African cultures, but believe the people in those cultures should take the lead in ending the practice. In regard to Ms. Hussein, my hope is that enough of the bar in Najaf can be persuaded by appeals to reason to allow her appointment to go forward.

Liberian dictator Charles Taylor is using continued fighting in the country as an excuse to hold on to power.

Holed up in the capital, Taylor's government reacted angrily to the spread of fighting to new fronts outside the city. A spokesman said the attacks had made Taylor rethink ceding power, a pledge Taylor has made and repeatedly broken or hedged since the rebel siege began in June.

The rebels read Taylor's pledge to step down "as weakness," Taylor spokesman Vaanii Paasawe said. "In fact, it has escalated the war."

"We are of a different opinion now in the government about the validity of the overtures of the president to step down," the Taylor spokesman said. "So if you start hearing differently, you shouldn't be surprised."

Taylor, who was educated in the United States, took power in Liberia in 1989. The country has been in turmoil, with rebel groups attempting to topple what is considered a corrupt government, since. Currently, rebels hold the ports at both Monrovia and Buchanan, making importation of food almost impossible. Relief does not appear to be in sight for the starving citizens of those areas. Promises of a West African peacekeeping force remain unkept.

Arguments over funding are believed to be delaying deployment of a peace mission, pledged by West African nations with assurances of U.S. and other international assistance.

Nigeria, West Africa's military power, has offered two battalions but says it needs help with what it expects to be a multimillion-dollar daily tab. Asked after meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair in London when peacekeeping troops might go in, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo told reporters, "a few days."

Similar promises have been offered for more than a month.

The only encouraging sign is the arrival of an assessment team yesterday.

An advance team has arrived in Liberia to assess conditions for a West African peacekeeping force, as fighting continues in the nation's two largest cities.

The team led by a Nigerian military commander General Festus Okokwu arrived Wednesday in Liberia's capital city, Monrovia, ahead of a proposed peacekeeping mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The United Nations may -- or may not -- be closer to acting on a resolution approving an international peacekeeping force for Liberia.

The Catholic Church has not been deaf to recent legal decisions softening the presumptions against homosexual acts and unions.

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican launched a global campaign against gay marriages Thursday, warning Catholic politicians that support of same-sex unions was "gravely immoral" and urging non-Catholics to join the offensive.

The Vatican's orthodoxy watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a 12-page set of guidelines with the approval of Pope John Paul II in a bid to stem the increase in laws granting legal rights to homosexual unions in Europe and North America.

"There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God's plan for marriage and family," the document said. "Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law."

The campaign urges non-Catholics to join the Vatican in opposing gay sex, marriage and adoption. It focuses on politicians, urging them to be moral leaders who oppose homosexuality.

The document says Catholic politicians have a "moral duty" to publicly oppose laws granting recognition to homosexual unions and to vote against them if proposals are put to a vote in legislatures.

If the laws are already on the books, politicians must speak out against them, work to repeal them and try to limit their impact on society, it said.

"To vote in favor of a law so harmful to the common good is gravely immoral," the document said.

The current resident of the White House continues to oppose marriage for homosexuals. However, the Bush administration has also courted conservative gays with some success.

Tech talk

•Teens and the wireless frontier

Will teenagers be the demographic that takes wirelessness to the next level? I am wondering after reading articles from several cutting-edge tech periodicals. No one has come out and explicitly said so, but the group is crucial to many IT companies' plans.

Wired reports that Sony will offer a gaming device with a wireless LAN.

TOKYO -- Sony said Tuesday its new handheld PlayStation console would be equipped with a wireless network system which allows users within a close area to play games together and download game characters.

Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony's game unit, mapped out technical details of the upcoming "PSP" handheld platform, which will compete head-to-head with Nintendo's dominant Game Boy Advance handheld console.

This innovation will occur while most adults are still very wired, despite the promises of WiFi, Bluetooth and IR. The highlight of transferability for most of us is still bouncing our virtual business cards from one Palm PDA to another.

Meanwhile, Business 2.0, a magazine I read regularly and recommend, devoted its current cover to the wireless revolution. But not to WiFi. How can one wax wisely about going wireless while not saying much about 802.11b and its kin? Easily. The editors of B2.0 believe the wireless revolution will be dominated by cell phones, not PDAs or laptops. They say many more consumers need or want telephone communications than desire pure data functionality.

The major content seller among new IT products in the wireless market is ringtones -- the sounds you can choose to have emanate from your cell phone when someone calls. A major demographic of purchasers of ringtones is adolescents.

To have some of your preconceptions challenged, read this month's print edition or online cover story for Business 2.0. The magazine's website is also a place you may want to visit or bookmark.

•The Cube stylishly soldiers on

Too many older computers wind up landfills, but Macs disproportionately keep on keepin' on. Among the most sought after of legacy Macintoshes is the Cube.

Though discontinued two years ago, Apple's Power Mac G4 Cube commands a strong -- almost fanatical -- following. Used Cubes fetch premium prices on eBay, there's a thriving trade in aftermarket upgrades, and dedicated owners are going to extreme lengths to keep their much-loved machines current.

New processor upgrades for the Cube may soon make it one of the fastest G4 Macs on the market, and a computer boutique specializing in high-design technology has just started selling a line of upgraded Cubes to its well-heeled customers.

"It was derided and abandoned, and yet here are thousands and thousands of users who say this is the greatest thing (Apple) ever did," said Laurie Duncan, who runs the popular CubeOwner website. "It's a thing of beauty. People are holding onto them for dear life."

The Cube was a victim of poor sells despite its award-winning design. When it debuted in 2000 the market had never seen anything like it. I remember coveting a Cube desperately though I was 'off' desktop computers by then. However, the equally striking and lower-priced current design iMac may have stolen some of its thunder and potential purchasers.

The latest selling point for the Cube is its processor can now be upgraded to make it one of the fastest Macs available.

Kemplar, an online computer boutique that sells sleek sub-notebooks, fancy cell phones and other trendy devices, has just started selling a line of upgraded Cubes.

Equipped with a 1.2-GHz G4 chip, a CD-RW, an Nvidia GeForce 3 video card, 1 GB of RAM and a 120-GB hard drive, the $2,000 machines are selling at a brisk pace.

"The response has been astounding," said Sage Waters, Kemplar.com's director of sales. "People are interested in the Cube because it's the Cube. It's the only computer people are interested in buying because of its design alone. But you have to upgrade it to keep it going."

A larger case for upgraded Cubes, allowing more air circulation, will also soon be available.

I suspect the Cube, like other well-designed Mac products, will have an extended life without Cupertino's support.

•Virtual keyboard will rely on light

The main reason many of us favor laptops over smaller devices is that we refuse to give up fully functional keyboards for less weight. A solution favoring PDAs and other small devices is just around the corner.

The Canesta keyboard essentially gets rid of the hardware part of the equation. The chipset consists of three basic parts: a light source that beams a blanket of infrared energy onto a surface, a sensor that tracks finger movements, and a pattern projector that displays an image of a QWERTY keyboard in red.

The sensor, the key part of the equation, pinpoints where the light is reflected. It then transmits data about where reflective surfaces (the back of your fingers) move and stop. The processor then translates this into keystrokes.

The virtual keyboard is usable on just about any flat surface. Canesta says its chipsets will be available next year. Competitors are also perfecting their versions of the virtual keyboard.

Councilman paid ultimate price for envy

The councilman and his assassin were probably much more alike than not. Both were youngish African-American men with political ambitions who had worked in more than one field. New York City Councilman James E. Davis had been a security guard, police officer and, most recently, a politician. The man who murdered him, Othniel Boaz Askew, had a college degree in accounting, had attempted to start businessness and dabbled in modeling. That all ended last Wednesday.

A New York City councilman was killed inside City Hall yesterday afternoon by a political opponent who accompanied him to a Council meeting, pulled out a pistol and shot him in front of scores of stunned lawmakers and onlookers, officials said.

The gunman was then fatally shot by a police officer assigned to City Hall, who fired six shots from the floor of the Council chamber to the balcony where the councilman, James E. Davis, had been killed, officials said.

Investigators said the killing appeared to stem from a simmering political dispute between Councilman Davis, 41, of Brooklyn, and the gunman, Othniel Askew, 31, who had planned to challenge Mr. Davis this fall for his seat representing central Brooklyn in the Council.

The rivalry between the two seems to have been more in Askew's mind than in reality. Davis had proven his mettle as a politician, even coming close to defeating a heavyweight, Clarence Norman Jr., the Democratic Party leader in the city. He easily made the ballot for reelection to his seat, while Askew, a gadfly and inexperienced, failed to qualify.

Though most of Askew's personal history seems mundane, there are glimpses of a man who may have considered himself a failure behind the hyperbole. He could be volatile. In 1996, Askew was charged with assaulting his lover after chasing the man out of their home with a hammer. In 1993, he had a driving under the influence arrest. His claim to be a developer seems to have been inflated. Askew had filed for bankruptcy in 1997 and appears to have been unemployed at the time of his would-be candidacy.

There are other clues suggesting the assailant was unstable. A viable competitor against Davis says Askew approached him with bizarre suggestions.

Anthony Herbert, another candidate in the race against Mr. Davis, said he also considered Mr. Askew to be unstable. He said Mr. Askew had approached him recently and told him that he would drop out of the race if Mr. Herbert, once elected, would make him his chief of staff.

"He wanted me to agree to providing him with his own office and his own secretary and some of the powers of being councilman," Mr. Herbert said. "He suggested that we could be sort of, co-candidates. He came in here and wanted me to put this down on paper. He wanted it signed. I thought he was crazy."

In addition to a will and a good-bye letter to his brother, Askew left behind two unsigned agreements. One was a recommendation of himself as a person with political potential. The other was a contract making him an aide to Davis once the councilman was reelected. Investigators believe Askew may have prepared both of the documents himself. They were found in his blood-soaked suit pockets after he was slain.

Furthermore, he contacted the FBI will apparently spurious claims that Davis had been harassing him.

Though the mental instability angle is intriguing, I find myself focusing on jealousy as the motivation for the slaying. Envy is an emotion I have been on the receiving end of often enough, but still have difficulty fathoming. I look at the tragedy and see Davis as someone who achieved some worthwhile, but far from extraordinary, goals. So, how could Askew have become jealous enough of the man to murder him? Why didn't he apply himself to acquiring a political position by earning it instead of attacking someone who had achieved what he hoped to? It seems to me that Askew, who was 31, with some hard work, might have achieved similar results by the time he reached Davis' age, 41.

Perhaps I am blundering by not considering that Askew's likely mental problems and his jealousy were probably combined motives for murder. However, bad behavior motivated by jealousy is far too common to be fully explained that way, though it usually stops short of homicide. If there is a lesson in the this tragedy, it is that we should realize envious people will sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to achieve their goals of harming the objects of their jealousy and try to curtail their actions before the worst occurs.

James Davis' body will lie in state in the rotunda of New York City Hall, near where he was slain, Monday afternoon. You can learn more about Davis, an anti-violence activist, by visiting his web site.

Note: Mac-a-ro-nies is being updated less often than previously for two reasons:

1) This is writers' conference season, so I am often traveling; and

2) I've been having some serious problems with my laptop, which needs replacing. It is currently in the shop.

I hope to return to more consistent publication soon.

In the news

• Greens may choose McKinney

One could easily get the impression deposed Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is friendless based on her reputation in Bloggersville. However, some members of the Green Party disagree. They are proposing the former U.S. representative as a candidate for chief executive.

An Internet site -- www.votemckinney.org -- has been created by a committee of Greens "who have a deep and enduring respect for Ralph Nader but do not take it for granted that he will be our candidate for the president next time around."

It touts 10 reasons why McKinney would be a good candidate, including:

• She has a reputation for being one of the most progressive members of Congress.

• She is black, female and Southern.

• She has a following of political allies and a team of experienced organizers.

• She has experience working within the federal government, unlike many other Greens.

Party polls rank McKinney second as a choice and Ralph Nader, who is becoming a perennial, first. Some Greens have expressed concern about the party becoming too widely identified with Nader. Another reason given for supporting McKinney is making inroads with minority voters.

• S.F. cop 'scandal' debunked

Jeffrery Toobin, who should probably be one of my role models, has weighed in on the San Francisco police department scandal that really wasn't a scandal. The lawyer and writer for The New Yorker believes the whole thing is a tempest in a teapot -- or perhaps a blunt at a coke party since we are talking about S.F. Warren Hinckle of the San Francisco Examiner has in turn reviewed Toobin's review of the mess.

He does not buy the theory aggressively advanced by the Chronicle in "a stream of stories suggesting that a coverup was in progress" in the High Arctic of the SFPD command staff over a November late-night street beef on Union Street involving three off-duty cops and two civilians, all fresh from bars.

Toobin found no evidence of the coverup conspiracy advanced by the Chronicle and Hallinan in the grand jury transcript. His interpretation was that the DA was not in control and the grand jury was out of control. He was appalled by the casualness of the process through which: "For the first time in American history, the entire command structure of a major police department had been indicted in a single stroke."

Knock of the competing hometown paper notwithstanding, Hinckle is right. So are Toobin and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. A fistfight among patrolmen and civilians should never have resulted in an indictment of police brass. That was my opinion from the beginning and it has not changed.

The New Yorker's article is in this week's print edition.

• Basketball player charged in teammate's disappearance

The name of the sports star charged with a crime on most people's lips is Kobe Bryant. However, I find the apparent murder of Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy more intriguing. First, it is hard for me to picture Baylor, a school I associate with early to bed and a ban on dancing, with homicide. Second, the story so far suggests a suspect with profound mental problems.

CHESTERTOWN, Md., July 21 -- Former Baylor University basketball player Carlton Dotson was charged today in the murder of his teammate and former roommate Patrick Dennehy after confessing to FBI agents here, law enforcement sources said.

Dotson, 21, was named in a murder warrant out of Waco, Tex., and appeared tonight before a Kent County court commissioner before heading off to jail for the night, Chestertown police said.

The situation reminds me of the unsympathetic treatment a disturbed defendant is likely to get in in Texas, most memorably demonstrated by the Andrea Yates case.

Dotson was arrested after turning up in a town in Maryland for no apparent reason.

Police took Dotson for evaluation to the Chester River Hospital Center, from where he contacted FBI agents today. Agents took Dotson from the hospital to an undisclosed location where he discussed the slaying, law enforcement sources said.

It is unclear why the suspect asked to speak to FBI agents. According to the local sheriff, Dotson said he had been hearing voices.

Dennehy has been missing since June 12.

If anyone still has any doubts that the American criminal justice system is usually not equipped to handle mentally impaired defendants, this case, like Yates,' is likely to serve as a wake-up call.

Geekcorps: Capitalism and caring

Most people if asked what Third World countries need most would not put Internet technology near the top of their lists. That may be an error. An argument can be made that poor countries need functional computer networks as much as they need better nutrition or improved medical care. Among the persons who have convinced me countries like Senegal and Mongolia need improved IT is Ethan Zuckerman, open source software supporter and co-founder of Tripod. He is also the founder of Geekcorps, an organizaton that tranfers IT skills from the United States to poor countries. The group achieves that goal by sending American volunteers to those nations to teach interested persons their skills. We discussed some of the work Geekcorps has done earlier this month. Zuckerman expanded on his vision for his initiative during the national O'Reilly Open Source Convention in Portland, which he attended.

He first points out that he is not saying reading email or browsing Yahoo is more important than clean water to a citizen of Ghana or Jordan. "It is not a matter of either/or," he says. "We can work on a few things at the same time."

Zuckerman (pictured) believes adequate Internet services can help improve some of those other things. For example, a computerized system of land records can make it much easier to establish ownership without the costs of trips to governmental offices or paying intermediaries to search for information. Or, a computerized system of business licensing can help people evade the stage to stage bribery common in many Third World countries. Zuckerman says that the having such data available to anyone with computer access can provide the transparency currently lacking.

However, of most significance is the potential role of the Internet in business. Without computer expertise would-be Third World entrepreneurs are cut out of the supply chain because they cannot follow the procedures required by those in the First World who would purchase their products. With adequate Internet services, such businesses at least get the opportunity to compete.

Some of the goals Zuckerman hopes Geekcorps and similar organizations will achieve are:

•Digital independence for people in the Third World so they no longer need to import talent.

•Enabling of "global commerce on a more equal footing."

•Helping Third World countries become laboratories for innovation -- because solving hard problems can provide insights into how to solve easier ones.

Geekcorps sends its personnel to countries where there are already threshold Internet businesses and where it is is invited. So far, most of its funding has come from USAID (the U.S. Agency for International Development). Currently, the group is administering the Digital Freedom Initiative, a $7 million program to help Senegal upgrade its IT infrastructure. The support will come in the form of some capital plus 'loaned' Americans with the needed skills, which will be provided by Geekcorps. It also has current projects in Ghana and Mongolia.

Zuckerman says he has found working with the Bush administration easy, despite holding liberal political views. He says common ground can be found when it comes to encouraging business and development in the Third World. According to him, a similar process occurs when it comes to attracting the computer geek volunteers Geekcorps relies on. Key to convincing them to travel to another country gratis and provide people there with valuable information is discovering some commonality between them and the people they will be assisting. Often, that common interest is the belief in freedom of information, both here and abroad. By helping develop Internet resources in poor countries, First Worlders help make information freely available throughout the world.

According to Zuckerman, volunteers with the needed expertise have been easy to recruit, despite the image I have of most high tech professionals being uninterested in social issues. He says the interest is there if one frames the issues in ways computer geeks can relate to.

Geekcorps veterans agree.

Our volunteers are international and all over the political map as well. What they have in common is that they all come from technology companies and have had for-profit experience. That's the appeal of our organization; it focuses on for-profit businesses. We also get a huge number of volunteers for only a few slots.

In addition to bodies, Geekcorps uses educational materials, including computer books and programs, and accepts donations from foundations and individuals. Learn more about the organization by visiting its site.

Wil Wheaton: Dancing Barefoot

I've spent much of the last week at the national O'Reilly Open Source Convention, which was in Portland July 7 through 11. I will be talking about several topics related to the convention. Let's start with one of the lighter ones.

Among the people I met at there was Wil Wheaton, actor, writer and self-described computer geek. And, blogger, of course. You may remember Wheaton as Wesley Crusher, the only child allowed on Captain Picard's bridge in the Star Trek Next Generation series. Wil Wheaton has grown up, but still derives some of his notoriety from the teenager he played from ages fourteen to eighteen. One of the things he did at the open source event was promote his new book, Dancing Barefoot.

To write about Trek one should establish one's Trekker cred first. Mine is only moderate. I have watched and usually enjoyed the original series and its sequels. The only one I've seen all the episodes of is the progenitor. STNG qualifies as second most watched. DS9 comes in third, though I intend to watch all the episodes at some point to establish a since of continuity in regard to it. I've seen less than a dozen episodes of Voyager.

Learning Wheaton was traumatized by fan reaction to his role on STNG surprised me. The only character I found somewhat irritating on the show was Counselor Troi. That was because of the saacharine quality of the character at times, which I would blame on the writers, not Marina Sirtis, the actor who appeared in the role of Deanna Troi. However, it would never have crossed my mind to send her nasty mail or boo her off the stage at Star Trek conventions -- things that have happened to Wheaton.

An effect of his experiences is Wheaton is wary of fans. My own exposure to gung-ho Trekkies is limited to covering a couple Star Trek conventions as a reporter. I agree with Wheaton that some advocates of the series, the sort who've seen all the episodes, dress in the uniforms and may speak Klingon, are intense. However, that does not justify being mean-spirited. I've also had my share of encounters with folks who are eager to put down anyone with any kind of achievement because they feel threatened by such people. Some of Wheaton's critics are probably of that ilk. And, the bad behavior was not limited to the hoi polloi.

It's hard for me to share with anyone how much shit I've gotten over the last 15 years because of Star Trek. The lousy treatment at the hands of WILLIAM FUCKING SHATNER is nothing compared to some of the things Trekkies have done to me. They've insulted me. They've called me names. They've hated me without knowing why. It was risky for me to put up this show. . .if it tanked, I would never have been able to show my face at a Star Trek Convention again.

In Dancing Barefoot, Wheaton provides five autobiographical narratives of events that have impacted his life during and since STNG. The topics range from a real life teenage romantic adventure to being snubbed by William Shatner again and again over the years. Wheaton has come to terms with his past and present. He describes that process in "The Saga of SpongeBob Vegas Pants," the longest story in the 110-page paperback. The book is a supplement to his autobiography, Just a Geek, which will be released in the Fall of 2003 by Monolith Press.

Wil Wheaton seems to have come through the child star phenomenon as well as anyone does. He has established his geek cred by becoming a computer specialist in Topeka, Kansas. Now 30, he has returned to acting and writes, as well. His award-winning web log is here.

In the movie of the novel The Color Purple there is a scene in which Celie describes her children, who were taken away from her and given up for adoption, as her "best thing." Sug corrects her, telling Celie she is her own best thing. I believe that is a goal we should all aspire to. Wil Wheaton seems to have made that discovery for himself.

The Bijani operation: A twin interest

I've been following the career of neurosurgeon Ben Carson for years. I first head him speak when he was the featured guest for a banquet for gifted students I attended while in high school. Later, I interviewed him a few times as a reporter. Dr. Carson is currently in the news as one of the surgeons who operated on the craniopagus twins who were willing to risk their lives to be separated. They died during the procedure.

The twins were aware of the operation's high risks but had pressed for the surgery anyway.

Laden, the more talkative of the twins, had wanted to continue studying law and become a lawyer. Laleh, also a law school grad because she had little choice in the matter, had hoped to become a journalist.

On Tuesday, diplomats were arranging for the return of their bodies to Iran for burial in separate caskets.

"At least we helped them achieve their dream of being separated," [Dr. Keith] Goh said.

The operation, the first attempt to separate a pair of adult twins born joined at the head, was fraught with difficulties not seen in infants.

Ben Carson was the lead surgeon for Laden and Dr. Goh led the team for Laleh. The twins did not survive the operation because of uncontrollable bleeding once their heads were apart. The physicians encountered obstacles they had not been able to anticipate from pre-op investigation, including thick skullbone and fused tissues.

The second reason I've been interested in this story is my longterm fascination with twins. It began with my own identical twin sisters as a child. One of my earliest memories is of being punished by my grandmother for telling the twins they came from a single egg that split and produced two people. Gran was not up on her biology and took exception to my 'meddling.' I must have been about five and the twins maybe four.

When the twins started school, I was regularly pulled out of my classes to interpret what they were saying to their teachers. Like many multiples, they had developed their own secret language. Perhaps because we are so close in age, I learned it, too. Eventually, speech therapy ended twin talk.

I remained a fan of multiples and have read most everything written in English about the phenomenon. That has resulted in a head full of arcania, such as:

•Once best friends identical twin advice columnists Ann Landers and Dear Abby did not speak for nearly a decade after having a falling out that seemed to be about mutual jealousy.

•There is a set of twin girls in the Midwest who share nearly everything except their heads. From the waist down they have the body of one person.

•The original Siamese twins could have been separated without injury to either because their connective tissues did not include vital organs and had negligible blood flow.

One of the questions I asked Ben Carson during an interview was how he felt about the criticism he was subjected to after an operation to separate German conjoined twins did not go well. He and other members of the team are subject to similar criticism since the Bijani twins died.

Goh said he had tried to talk the twins out of it but couldn't.

After the deaths, the surgeon said he expected the ethics debate over whether he should have proceeded with the surgery could rage forever.

"This decision of going ahead with surgery which seems so impossible to do was a very difficult one to make," he said.

"But having seen and understood how these girls have suffered over their last 29 years, I and many other world-renowned experts decided to contribute our time and skills to trying to give these girls some measure of a decent, normal life as we know it."

Dr. Benjamin Carson, the other lead surgeon on the operation who has separated three sets of twins fused at the head, agreed.

"These were individuals who were absolutely determined to be separated. The reason I felt compelled to become involved is because I wanted to make sure they had their best chance," said Carson, who is head of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.

His response to my question was similar. He believes that the opportunity to lead the normal lives most of us take for granted is a right an individual, or a child's parents, has a right to choose. A quietly religious man, Dr. Carson seemed to be unshaken by the criticism he endured. I suspect his response to any fall-out from this operation will be the same.

I agree with Dr. Carson. My twin sisters do, too.

Carson to speak at Urban League gathering

One of the most respected African-American men in the country, Dr. Carson has long been an advocate of civil rights issues. He will address the topic this month at the Urban League's convention in Pittsburgh.

Conference speakers include internationally renowned surgeon and head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions Dr. Ben Carson who addresses the guild luncheon on Sunday, July 27. . . .

If you intend to attend the conference or live in or near Pittsburgh, he is a speaker you should try to hear.

Poisonwood and the Congo

Having recently completed reading Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, I've been thinking about the Congo. (Yes, I know I was late reading that novel.) I knew the United States may have knocked off the only democratically elected president of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba, via the Central Intelligence Agency in 1961, though some sources say the Belgians did it.

When Lumumba arrived in Katanga, on January 17, accompanied by several Belgians, he was bleeding from a severe beating. Later that evening, Lumumba was killed by a firing squad commanded by a Belgian officer. A week earlier, he had written to his wife, "I prefer to die with my head unbowed, my faith unshakable, and with profound trust in the destiny of my country." Lumumba was 35.

The next step was to destroy the evidence. Four days later, Belgian Police Commissioner Gerard Soete and his brother cut up the body with a hacksaw and dissolved it in sulfuric acid. In an interview on Belgian television last year, Soete displayed a bullet and two teeth he claimed to have saved from Lumumba's body.

What remains unclear is the extent, if any, of Washington's involvement in the final plot. A Belgian official who helped engineer Lumumba's transfer to Katanga told de Witte that he kept CIA station chief Lawrence Devlin fully informed of the plan....

I was also aware of current strife in the ill-defined country, though not the specifics.

Congolese lived the missing decades under the thumb of Mobutu Sese Seko (nee Joseph Mobutu), one of the most corrupt, Western-backed dictators to ever rule anywhere. The people starved while he erected mansions throughout Europe.

Over the next three decades, Mobutu led one of the most enduring regimes in Africa -- and, said his critics, one of the most dictatorial and corrupt.

Despite the country's obvious natural resources, including copper, gold and diamonds, much of Zaire's [the country was renamed by Mobutu] population continued to sink further into poverty. But Mobutu, known for his trademark leopard-skin hat, amassed a personal fortune estimated to be as much as $5 billion, with homes in Switzerland and France.

Mobutu died in 1997. Parts of the country had been controlled by rival Laurent Kabila for much of his rule and Kabila grasped more power, becoming President after his death. Kabila died in 2001.

Reading The Poisonwood Bible led me to catch up with the Congo. The latest plan for peace in the Congo relies on one of the most difficult of human endeavors -- cooperation for the common good.

The Defence Ministry is in the hands of a rebel organization closely linked with neighbouring Rwanda. So is the Economy Ministry. Foreign Affairs goes to a rival movement originally sponsored by Uganda, another of Congo's neighbours.

The United Nationas has been asked to increase the numbers of its peacekeeping force in the Congo. The French has dispatched 1,200 troops there. A cease fire, which appears to have mainly held, was reached in April.

President Joseph Kabila's allies retain the Interior and Energy portfolios -- but not the potentially lucrative Ministry of Mines, which goes to the peaceful political opposition based in the capital, Kinshasa.

Rural development for the sprawling country of 51 million people will fall to the Mai Mai, a pro-government militia known for its prowess with spears and bows and arrows as well as guns.

The power-sharing deal made public on Monday is aimed at keeping a lid on violence for two years until elections can be held. But success appears to depend largely on support from other countries.

There will be four vice presidents representing various factions. Uganda has lost influence in this peace plan and Rwanda has gained some.

The big winner appears to be the Rwanda-backed Congolese Rally for Democracy-Goma (RCD-Goma), a Rwanda-backed movement formed to fight against the regime of Mr. Kabila's father, Laurent Kabila, who died in 2001.

With the Defence portfolio, it will oversee the integration of rebel and government troops into the Congolese army. The group did "better than expected" in the portfolio handout, Ms. Des Forges said.

"It reflects the disproportionate power of Rwanda in the regional balance," she said.

Considering the history of the Congo, this idealistic attempt at a settlement of sorts does not seem very promising, though I hope it works.

If you are also a laggard in regard to reading The Poisonwood Bible, now is a great time to correct that oversight. The novel is about a Baptist evangelist from Georgia who takes his wife and four daughters to the Congo in 1960. At the beginning of the book, the sisters range in age from five to 15. Reverend Price's objective is to baptize as many Africans as possible to compensate for what he considers a defining failure in his own life. Instead, the family finds itself sharing the tragedies that are often the lot of its Congolese neighbors. Africa leaves its stamp on each of the daughters, though in different ways. Identification with the Congo allows Orleanna Price to finally break free of her domineering and abusive husband. Only 'Tata Price,' the reverend, cleaves to his terrible vision as a white Christian in Africa.

Poisonwood is Metopium toxiferum, a poisonous dioecious tree that grows in West Africa, the West Indies and southern Florida. Exposure to poisonwood causes a rash.

Around the Web

•Bull's Eye is targeted

Victor at Balasubramania's Mania has the latest news about Bull's Eye Shooter Supply, the gun dealer who may have sold the weapon used in the D.C. area sniper killings under the table. After years of malfeasance the store has finally lost its license and it appears Bulls-Eye will also have its day in court.

Well unluckily for proponents of gun store immunity and of gun industry immunity legislation , the DEA yanked Bull's Eye's license just the other day, as reported in the Seattle Times here . I don't know about Bushmaster, but Bull's Eye is gonna lose this one, and as well it should (see my earlier post here ). An early article aired the following nasty stats about Bull's Eye -- dismiss the stats, the loss of license is a big deal:

1. guns sold by Bull's Eye (b/w 97-2001) were involved in 52 crimes;

2. Bull's Eye could not account for 238 guns or confirm whether the purchasers (if there were any) underwent background checks; and

3. between 1997 and 200, it sold 663 guns to 265 buyers.

Readers of Mac-a-ro-nies are already aware of Congress and gun activists' plan to grant the gun industry nearly complete immunity from lawsuits. Cases such as Bull's Eye's may lead some legislators to reconsider that bad idea.

Be sure to read Victor's longer entry about gun industry immunity, too.

•Rushton unveiled

Bill L. is interested in J. Phillipe Rushton, the 'scientific' racist who is most often used as a source by people such as the bigots at Gene Expression. You may recall Rushton as the fellow who stalks men of color in shopping malls and asks them the size of their penises and how far they can ejaculate.

Blacks, according to Rushton, have larger genitals, making them more promiscuous, and smaller brains, making them less intelligent than whites and Asians. Using 60 different measures, Rushton ranks the races along an evolutionary scale with blacks at the bottom and Asians at the top.

The man (penis size unknown) achieved notoriety during the 1980s after being generously funded by the eugenicist Pioneer Foundation. However, buying interest in his 'work' was not successful in the long run.

Rushton became an outcast from the reputable scientific community. After seeing his scientific career spiral downhill since the 1990s, Rushton was dealt some final blows to seal his fate. His reputation was so lowly he was booed off the unreputable Geraldo Rivera stage set. The only major supporters of the racial ideology of this failed scientist remaining into the 21st century are David Duke, former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who lost the Louisiana governor's race over a decade ago, and today a worldwide spokesman for the white supremacy movement, and Steve Sailer to whom this site is dedicated.

Bill has assembled a great list of sources about the risable Rushton. Read them. To know how far we have to go in race relations we need to realize how low some people have sank.

•A contract on O'Connor?

Jeff Hauser reports on a near miss for Sandra Day O'Connor and others. (And, no, I'm not talking about her opinions in SCOTUS' recent controversial decisions.)

PHILADELPHIA - What was to have been a spectacular opening of the National Constitution Center was marred Friday when a huge wood and steel frame collapsed on the stage, injuring several people and narrowly missing Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The frame, which was at least 15 feet high, slowly toppled as the guests of honor at the ceremony pulled on red, white and blue streamers that were supposed to trigger the drop of a screen at the museum's front entrance.

Instead, the streamers pulled down the frame, which came crashing down on officials including Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.

The crowd of 4,000 gasped as the frame came down around O'Connor, who had counted down from three to start the ceremony.

"We could have all been hit, bumped," O'Connor said into a microphone.

I wonder if Chief Justice William Rehnquist was around. He has been known to take extraordinary measures to get his way.

Doing something about the digital divide

Talking about the digital divide is relatively easy for those of us who keep ourselves informed. Doing something about it is much more difficult. I recently learned of some people who are doing something about it. They call themselves geek activists and will be meeting in my neck of the woods the coming week.

Like many ideas in the field of computer technology, geek activism is a fluid concept. But the basic premise is pretty simple. Along with hospitals, schools and roads, emerging nations need help building up their technological infrastructure -- and that means geeks.

The summit is the brainchild of two mega-nerds: computer publisher Tim O'Reilly and hacktivism evangelist Ethan Zuckerman. "I decided to invite a group of the best minds in the field--in this case, geek activists--to a summit where we'd tackle thorny issues, look for synergies and efficiencies, and get the creative juices flowing," O'Reilly wrote in his Web log announcing the event.

If you are computer literate, you are likely familiar with O'Reilly. But, who is Ethan Zuckerman? He helped found Tripod, among other Webbish endeavors. In 2000, Zuckerman founded Geekcorps. It is an international resource for grass roots 'Net know-how. The organization sends volunteer nerds to developing countries to help locals start or improve Web ventures. So far, Geekcorps is in Ghana, Mongolia, Rwanda, Jordan, Armenia and Bulgaria.

A similar group affiliated with the University of Oregon, Network Startup Resource Center, sends specialists to the Third World to help with setting up infrastructure and intends to bring some trainees to the United States for additional instruction.

Why do I believe this issue is important? I've written about the need to spread the computer revolution to have-nots as well as haves before. In the U.S., that means bringing the 46 percent of the population that does not use the Web into the circle or at least providing them with the needed skills if they want to participate.

In the Third World, that mission expands enormously. We who follow technology news know that the cell phone has become an almost revolutionary mechanism in some poor countries by allowing much of the population to jump right over the need for wired telephones. Entrepreneurs can avoid the high cost of wiring and cabling by using the newer technology. The same kind of leap forward may be possible with WiFi and other wireless technologies. At its most idealistic, the Internet can stand in for many of the expensive resources scare to most people in poor countries, including books and magazines, educational material and newspapers. In other countries, the Net can supplement what is already available.

Zuckerman emphasizes that the help provided by Geekcorps is of the teach a man to fish variety.

We contribute to local IT projects while transferring the technical skills needed to keep projects moving after our volunteers have returned home.

Most funding has come from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Funds from foundations and individuals are also accepted. To learn more about how Geekcorp operates, read this interview with Zuckerman about his start-up efforts in Ghana.

The Geek Activism Summit is part of the national Open Source Convention which is in Portland July 7 through 11. The site is the Marriott Hotel downtown.

Vist the Network Startup Resource Center in Eugene or via their website.

Neo-Confederate watch

•N.C. and the neo-Confederates

I mentioned during our discussion of Eric Robert Rudolph that the area of North Carolina where he was captured has become a redoubt for Right Wing extremists. It has now been chosen as the site for a reunion of neo-Confederates.

ASHEVILLE, NC - The Sons of Confederate Veterans and Military Order of the Stars and Bars will hold their 2003 National Reunion nestled high in the clouds near the mighty and majestic Smoky Mountains of Asheville, NC July 30-Aug. 2.

The event, which is hosted by Zebulon Vance Camp 15, will be headquartered at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel.

Already the stomping grounds of League of the South and SCV leader Kirk Lyons and his crew of bigots, Asheville seems to be becoming even more the place for persons who share such beliefs.

•UDC assault on Vanderbilt continues

A neo-Confederate group is continuing its efforts to stop Vanderbilt University from changing the name of a campus building.

Members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy said they decided last weekend at their convention in Jackson, Tenn., to use any legal means necessary to stop the name change of Confederate Memorial Hall.

In a meeting last week with members of the UDC, top Vanderbilt administrators said they made it clear that the name will change.

"Chancellor (E. Gordon) Gee was clear at the meeting that we've done what we've done," said Michael Schoenfeld, vice chancellor for public affairs. "He offered them the opportunity to make some other suggestions that we would consider."

The UDC's lawyer, Bob Notestine, said there will be no compromise.

The UDC's argument is that since the organization donated some of the funds to have the hall, built in 1935, constructed, it is entitled to control the name of the building. In the interim, much has changed, including the name of the college and an end to its historic policy of racial segregation.

When it was built, Confederate Memorial Hall's name was agreed to by both parties, and this agreement was formalized by the signing of contracts by legal and official representatives of George Peabody College and the UDC, according to the resolution passed last week.

I don't find the Daughters' argument at all convincing. The gift of $50,000 68 years ago was not premised on control of the name of the building as consideration. Furthermore, even when donors have explicitly stated they are giving to an institution because of its racially segregated nature, courts have held those provisions in contracts to be void because they violate public policy. Though the argument is about the maintenance of symbolic support for segregation here, I believe the same result would be reached.

The remaining question is why the Daughters of the Confederacy want to retain Confederate Memorial Hall as the name of a building on a modern, integrated campus.

"They have decided to take whatever steps are needed to preserve the name on Confederate Memorial Hall," Notestine said. "Their stance is that the name needs to remain on the building."

The UDC's lawyer offers no reason for the "need" for that particular name on the building. The only one I can think of is that such symbolism is a kind of last gasp reaction of neo-Confederates. If they had their way, segregation would still be in effect. Unable to achieve that goal, or even to encroach on integration to the extent they would like, they fight to the finish over issues such as the Confederate flag as a state emblem and the word Confederate on a quasi-public building because that is the closest they can get to having things their way. That reason seems like a 'want,' not a 'need' to me.

•Lester Maddox: Good riddance

Jim Tharpe of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has written a very sympathetic account of the funeral of former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, who died last week at 87. Maddox, an ardent segregationist, is praised for his common touch.

[Sen. Zell] Miller said Maddox's invention of "Little People's Day," a kind of people's court where a citizen could meet face to face with the governor, forever changed Georgia government. That sentiment was echoed Friday by former President Jimmy Carter, who paid his respects to Maddox as he lay in state in the rotunda of the state Capitol.

. . . It's difficult to forget a man who rides a bicycle backwards, whistles birdcalls, refers to newspapers as 'fishwrappers' and says 'Phooey' to those with whom he disagrees," Miller said.

I suppose some of the praise can be explained by the dictum that people should not speak ill of the dead. But, it also brings up a failing I must take issue with -- the tendency of white folks to be very forgiving of each other no matter what harm has been caused by the conduct they are all but dismissing. Lester Maddox earned his image in history by an act that is not mentioned until the middle of Tharpe's piece, and then sympathetically.

Maddox was a high school dropout born into poverty. His tenacity and business acumen led him to open a successful fried chicken eatery called the Pickrick Restaurant near Georgia Tech.

It was there in 1964 where he gained national notoriety by chasing away a group of would-be black diners. Maddox brandished a pistol, and supporters wielded pickax handles. He instantly became a symbol of resistance to racial integration that was being forced on a reluctant region by the federal courts [sic].

It was a freeze-frame Maddox never lived down.

It was Maddox's support for segregation that had the most impact on people during his careers as both a businessman and as a politician, not whether he was kind to African-Americans who knew their place. During his terms as governor, from 1967 to 1971, he was a supporter of massive resistance to integration, despite the much ballyhooed hiring of some black employees.

Maddox was a longterm member of the SCV. His place among neo-Confederates was not overlooked during his funeral.

"When I die, hallelujah bye and bye, I'll fly away," Maddox's voice could be heard singing as his flag-draped casket rested at the front of the cavernous sanctuary surrounded by red, white and blue flowers. One wreath, from the John B. Gordon chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, featured a Rebel battle flag dominating the center of the arrangement.

Jimmy Carter and Zell Miller may be forgiving, but the gun-wielding member of the SCV is the image of Maddox I will carry to my grave.

People are saying: Bush must go

*A regretful farewell

We're losing one of our best bloggers. Jesus' General has announced a hiatus.

I've really enjoyed doing this. I love showing the bigots and the conservatives and the bigoted conservatives and the conservative bigots for the buffoons they are. I'd like to keep on doing it, but I've decided to devote all of my free time to booting Bush out of office. I can't justify spending a single moment doing anything else. It's just too important.

I've been away from politics for a decade now. It was once my life. I have a masters in political management from The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University and ten years of campaign experience -- I did it for a living for three of those years. I was good at it. Every campaign I had complete control over succeeded and I'm talking about Democrats in Utah. I quit doing it because I needed to be home with my family more and I was at a stage in my career where I had to travel around the country to make it to the next level. I don't regret doing it, but now I think I need to dust off those old skills to help put this country back on track.

I agree with Tim that evicting George W. Bush from the White House should be the top priority of anyone who calls him or herself a liberal or progressive. I hope he has the best of luck in his new endeavor. However, I wish he would continue blogging. Too much of the liberal blogosphere consists of phoneys and blowhards. He is neither. We need people like him to compensate for their excesses.

*Bush's career: A crazy salad

Speaking of la administration, Beatnik Salad offers us the personal history of George W. Bush, starting with the life story that made him an, um, viable, candidate for President, with an assist from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Past work experience:

Ran for congress and lost.

Produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.

Bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas, company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

Accomplishments:

Changed pollution laws for power and oil companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the Union. Replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America.

Cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government to the tune of billions in borrowed money.

Set record for most executions by any Governor in American history.

Became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of my father's appointments to the Supreme Court and my brother Jeb.

Go to the Salad and keep reading. You will become more and and more, um, impressed, with the current resident of the White House. Ryan has George's number.

*WMD or a keg of beer?

Via Ara Rubyan at E Pluribus Unum Byte Back has more intelligence on the Commander in Thief.

. . . Time magazine's fly-on-the-wall account of Bush's trip to Qatar:

Meeting last month at a sweltering U.S. base outside Doha, Qatar, with his top Iraq commanders, President Bush skipped quickly past the niceties and went straight to his chief political obsession: Where are the weapons of mass destruction? Turning to his Baghdad proconsul, Paul Bremer, Bush asked, "Are you in charge of finding WMD?" Bremer said no, he was not. Bush then put the same question to his military commander, General Tommy Franks. But Franks said it wasn't his job either. A little exasperated, Bush asked, So who is in charge of finding WMD? After aides conferred for a moment, someone volunteered the name of Stephen Cambone, a little-known deputy to Donald Rumsfeld, back in Washington. Pause. "Who?" Bush asked.

Feel free to try to convince me that a middle-aged frat boy has not taken over running of this country and is treating it the same way he did the beer keg committee back at the frat house. Go ahead. Try.