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It's LA's Fault - Another reason to love the oil companies: For years, geologists have believed in the existence of large earthquake faults running directly under the city of Los Angeles, but have been unable to confirm it. For years, oil companies drilling in the area have conducted tests that could have provided that confirmation ... and kept their mouths shut. The current issue of Science reports that two researchers, using oil company data that only recently became available, finally confirmed the existence of a large fault -- measuring 250 square miles on the surface with a depth of nine miles -- smack dab under the Hollywood Freeway. Why did the information suddenly become available? With Southern California essentially depleted of natural oil and gas and tougher environmental laws in place, the oil companies are pulling out. So they no longer consider their data proprietary. Thanks, fellas. [Wired News]
It's a Small World - Jerry Lewis will laugh and sing and sob his way through another Muscular Dystrophy telethon on Labor Day, his 34th. Like last year, this one will be webcast as well as telecast, but there's a new wrinkle: In addition to English (rumored to be Jerry's native tongue), there will be streaming audio available in Japanese and Spanish, too. They won't be doing it in French, which must be a profound disappointment to all those people over there who consider Lewis a comic genius. On the other hand, do you really want to hear Ed McMahon trying to sound like Maurice Chevalier? Maybe in Japanese, he'll sound like Sessue Hayakawa. Check it out. [Wired News]
It's the Pits - Next time you're feeling kind of blue, go stick your nose in the armpit of an old lady. According to researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, the armpit odor given off by elderly women can have a "mood enhancing" effect on those fortunate enough to be within sniffing distance. The researchers somehow recruited 300 university students to sample the armpit bouquet of six different age and sex categories: young girls and boys, young men and women, and men and women in their 70s. Sniffers were given gauze pads that the subjects had worn under their arms for six days and told to breathe deeply. The point, apparently, is to establish whether or not hormones can change body odor, which in turn might indicate an individual's aggressiveness or approachability. Young men, incidentally, exude the most unpleasant odor. But we already knew that. [Wired News]
Italy's Capo di Capo? - Government lawyers in Italy are recommending 15 years behind bars for seven-term Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. The recommendation came during final arguments in Andreotti's trial for alleged Mafia ties. His underworld association has earned him the nickname Mr. Italy. But Andreotti claims the charges are part of an elaborate Mafia plot to punish him for his crackdown on organized crime. [Wired News]
Jackson to Lakers? - Phil Jackson, who coached the Chicago Bulls to six championships in nine seasons, is reportedly ready to return to the NBA as coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. According to the New York Post, Jackson has agreed to a four-year deal worth just over US$6 million a year to take over the Lakers, an underachieving team of superstars that was swept out of the 1998-99 playoffs by San Antonio. Jackson, who is vacationing in Alaska, is expected at a Tuesday press conference in Los Angeles. [Wired News]
Jail for Child-Porn Reporter - Even if he was researching a story about child pornography as he claimed, the judge was not impressed. Larry Matthews, a producer for National Public Radio, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment Monday for distributing kiddie porn online. Matthews pleaded guilty to accessing child pornography, but claimed he was gathering research for a freelance article about child molesters. In passing sentence, US District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. said, "I believe Mr. Matthews crossed the line. I also believe that it was immoral." Williams did not allow Matthews to claim First Amendment protection, ruling that reporters can't break the law in pursuing a story. Matthews has 60 days to surrender. His attorneys will appeal. [Wired News]
Joining the Troops - Not every girl gets to be a Girl Scout. When Dianne Donovan approached the local Girl Scout council looking for a troop for her HIV-positive daughter, she received an enthusiastic response. But she said she was later rejected by troop leaders, who individually hold the power to decide who joins their troops. The Legal Action Center of New York City filed a complaint on Wednesday against the Girl Scouts for initially denying membership to Quashawn Donovan. The complaint seeks unspecified damages to compensate Donovan for the emotional distress she suffered when she was rejected by troop leaders. The complaint accuses the local Girl Scout council of violating the state's human rights law. The national organization, Girl Scouts USA, is accused of "aiding and abetting" that discrimination. An administrative judge will hear the complaint. [Wired News]
Joy Rides-R-Us - A six-year-old boy managed to escape from his preschool, nab a battery-powered toy truck on the way out, and cruise nearly a mile on open highway before being reported by a flabbergasted motorist, police said Tuesday. The boy walked out of the Kiddie Kampus Pre-School and Day Care Center in Fairfield, Ohio, and came upon the toy truck parked outside a second-hand children's store. Although the truck's wires had been unhooked, the child reattached them, pulling off the price tag for good measure. Police later accounted for his familiarity with the escape vehicle's specs when they discovered he had the same truck at home. The truck was returned to the store unscratched and quickly found an amused buyer. [Wired News]
Judgment Day - President Clinton's impeachment trial -- only the second in American history -- gets underway Thursday in a sea of confusion. Senate inquisitors must still decide on how long the trial will last and whether they will call witnesses. The Republicans are in a tougher spot than the Democrats; their strategy -- whether to push hard for conviction or to begin backing off -- remains unclear. Clinton, charged with perjury and obstruction of justice, is assuming a presidential mien: "My opinion is not important here," he said. "I should be doing my job for the country." [Wired News]
Just Another Joe - Joe, a general interest magazine that, in the words of its managing editor, will explore "the important, the beautiful, the funny, and the provocative," made its debut at Starbucks on Tuesday. The chain store, which has done for the traditional coffeehouse what the Dust Bowl did for Oklahoma, wants to be a literary force as well. "It is our wish that Joe magazine ... create conversation in the tradition of great coffeehouses," said Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, who formed a partnership with Time Inc. to launch the mag and its accompanying Web site. Now you can get generic ideas served up with generic coffee in wonderfully sterile surroundings. It's a perfect metaphor for the '90s. Who needs a real coffeehouse, anyway? [Wired News]
Keeping Tom - Well-known as a man of logic and reason, it appears Thomas Jefferson was also a sentimental son of a gun. This summer, a West Point professor discovered four small leather-bound scrapbooks while doing research at the University of Virginia. And scholars have determined that handwritten notes on some of the pages were in Jefferson's own hand. An oak leaf was pressed into one book along with an article on friendship. Scholars believe it's a souvenir from the oak tree where Jefferson studied with Dabney Carr, his boyhood friend. Carr was buried beneath the tree, which later became the site of the family graveyard at Monticello. [Wired News]
Keeping the Faith - The leaders of the world's two largest monotheistic religions got together in Rome Thursday, as Iranian President Mohammad Khatami spent a historic half-hour with Pope John Paul II during a state visit to Italy. Khatami, a moderate Shiite Muslim cleric, told the leader of the Roman Catholic Church that he hoped their two faiths could work as partners in building a "more equitable world order." Between them, Christianity and Islam claim more than 2 billion adherents worldwide. Khatami's visit offers another tangible sign that Iran is beginning to pull away from the more hard-line clerics, who have run the country for the past 20 years. It should be noted, however, that they still control the military, the judicial system, and the media. [Wired News]
Kevorkian Sentenced - Dr. Jack Kevorkian was sentenced Tuesday to 10 to 25 years imprisonment for killing a Michigan man in a physician-assisted suicide which was taped and later aired on 60 Minutes. Kevorkian, 70, was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the death of Thomas Youk, who was in the advanced stages of Lou Gehrig's disease and wanted to die. In sentencing Kevorkian, the judge ignored pleas of mercy from Youk's relatives, saying that while laws can be criticized, they cannot be broken. [Wired News]
Kill Your TV - It's been common knowledge for years that, for the most part, TV is a purveyor of mediocrity and that the average viewer drinks it in like mother's milk. But now comes a warning from the American Academy of Pediatricians that little kids shouldn't be watching TV at all, and not just because prime-time programming is inane. The docs are concerned that children younger than 2 will have their development stunted by television, since it's been proven that babies need direct interaction to stimulate brain growth. Otherwise, they might grow up to become television executives. [Wired News]
Kill Your TV - It's been common knowledge for years that, for the most part, TV is a purveyor of mediocrity and that the average viewer drinks it in like mother's milk. But now comes a warning from the American Academy of Pediatricians that little kids shouldn't be watching TV at all, and not just because prime-time programming is inane. The docs are concerned that children younger than 2 will have their development stunted by television, since it's been proven that babies need direct interaction to stimulate brain growth. Otherwise, they might grow up to become television executives. [Wired News]
Killed with Kindness - The US Army's new tungsten bullet will still splatter your guts against the wall, but at least the environment will be spared all that icky lead contained in the traditional slug. According to Reuters, the Army is replacing its lead bullets -- which leave a residue harmful to sediment, surface water, and groundwater -- with tungsten-based slugs. Since the pulverized organs of an enemy soldier are completely biodegradable, this appears to be a win-win situation for all concerned. [Wired News]
Killer Surrenders - Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, the subject of an intensive manhunt in connection with slayings in Illinois, Kentucky, and Texas, surrendered to the FBI Tuesday in El Paso, according to NBC News. Resendez-Ramirez, a 38-year-old Mexican drifter with a long criminal history, was wanted for a string of serial killings that led the media to dub him the "Railroad Killer," since he is believed to have been riding the rails and finding most of his victims near rail lines. [Wired News]
Killer Will Die - The white supremacist convicted of murdering a black man by chaining him to the back of a pickup truck and dragging him to his death has been sentenced to die by a Texas judge. Judge Joe Bob Golden agreed with the jury recommendation, that John King should die by lethal injection rather than be sentenced to life imprisonment, for the murder of James Byrd Jr. In a poignant moment after the sentencing, one of Byrd's daughters embraced King's father, who had broken down in tears. The elder King, who said he didn't agree with his son's racist views, is wheelchair-bound and suffering from emphysema. "I told him God bless him," Byrd's daughter said. "It wasn't his fault." [Wired News]
Killings 'Justified' - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the shooting deaths of three Kurds -- who were among dozens of protesters who stormed the Israeli consulate in Berlin -- saying the security guards acted in self-defense. "We are sorry when lives are lost, but we are committed to protecting Israeli citizens wherever they may be and Israeli facilities anywhere in the world," Netanyahu told a news conference in Jerusalem Wednesday. The three victims were part of a general Kurdish uprising across Europe, triggered by Turkey's arrest of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. The Kurds accused Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency, of helping the Turks track down Ocalan. [Wired News]
King's Ransom - Horror writer Stephen King was in serious but stable condition after surgery early Sunday for injuries sustained when he was hit by a minivan while walking near his home in Maine. King sufered a collapsed lung, a broken leg and hip, and lacerations. But hospital officials said the novelist was feeling well enough after the surgery to joke with the staff and to inquire about his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. [Wired News]
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