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Slaughter in Atlanta - At least five people were killed and another seven wounded when a gunman opened fire at the office of a stock daytrading firm in an upscale area of Atlanta Thursday afternoon. The shooter, described by CNN as a disgruntled former customer of the All-Tech Investment Group, entered the office at Two Security Center and began shooting at "anyone in sight," according to one witness. The suspect, a white male about 6-foot-4 with a receding hairline and wearing glasses, fled the scene. He is reported to be still at large. [Wired News]
Snow Job - You have lemons, you make lemonade. You have snow, you make a snowman. The good people of Bethel, Maine, decided to put their burg on the map by building the biggest snowman ever. Under construction now, the big fella will top out at 110 feet, obliterating the current Guinness Book of World Records holder, a 96-footer built in Yamagata, Japan, back in 1995. Bethel's behemoth -- christened Angus, King of the Mountain -- currently stands around 80 feet high. [Wired News]
Sobering News - During the first 20 days of June, reports The New York Times, 89 people drowned in Moscow's rivers and reservoirs. Over a recent holiday weekend, 13 bodies were fished out the city's waterways, roughly equivalent to the daily drowning rate for the entire United States. In fact, Russians are far likelier to die from accidental drowning than Americans; the Times cites statistics showing that death by drowning occurs more than five times more frequently in Russia. All told, about 25,000 Russians drowned in 1998. The overwhelming majority of victims are male, but here's the kicker: 94 percent of them were legally drunk when they died. [Wired News]
Soft Pitches to Cuba - The Clinton administration is tiptoeing toward a slightly softer policy on Cuba. Among the new overtures: The US would permit the Baltimore Orioles to play a couple of games against the Cuban national baseball team, one in the States and one on the island -- as long as the proceeds go to charity, not to the Castro regime. [Wired News]
Sorry, Wrong Number - Manhattanites take pride in their 212 area code, a distinctive symbol of living in The Most Important Place on Earth. But starting Thursday, some of them are going to have to adjust to life without 212, when Bell Atlantic begins issuing 646 area codes to new phone subscribers in Manhattan. The move, necessitated by too many phone numbers, is not going down too well, although former New York Mayor Ed Koch expects the grousing to stop after an adjustment period. Besides, residents of Gotham will still hold on to all the other perks that make living there such a joy: astronomical rents, overpriced restaurants, and living cheek-by-jowl with one another. [Wired News]
Spanking OK'd - If you're a kid in Oklahoma, don't tick off your old man. The state legislature passed a bill last week making it legal for parents to employ "reasonable force" in disciplining their children, including spanking, paddling, or whipping them with a switch. The legislation, which passed overwhelmingly in the wake of the Littleton school massacre, is sitting in Gov. Frank Keating's in-tray, awaiting only his signature to become law. Child welfare organizations are lining up to fight it, however. One California group blasted the law, which elicited this response from the governor's office: "For a group in California to watchdog Oklahoma, I find that interesting. If they want to come and live here, we will listen." [Wired News]
Spousal Support - In a landmark decision Thursday, Canada's Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling changing the legal definition of "spouse" to include same-sex couples. While the decision does not legalize gay marriage, or even extend legal rights to same-sex couples, it does represent a major shift in that direction. Thursday's decision culminates a case that began when a Toronto lesbian tried to sue her ex-partner for alimony and was rebuffed because Ontario law did not recognize her as a spouse. The justices ruled 8-1 that the heterosexual-only definition of spouse is unconstitutional. [Wired News]
Spring's a Comin' - Just after dawn on Tuesday, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his lair, took a look around, and lo! No shadow anywhere. So, according to legend, spring is definitely on the way. Good news indeed to members of the Groundhog Day club who shivered through a cold, rainy Pennsylvania night to watch the legendary rodent perform his annual ritual. Groundhog Day has its origins in German folklore, which decrees that winter will continue if an animal casts a shadow on the Christian holiday of Candlemas. [Wired News]
Spying on Di - The United States has secret files on Britain's late Princess Diana, but refuses to release the contents because it poses a threat to national security, according to a story in Friday's edition of the Guardian. According to government documents obtained by the newspaper, the United States came by this material only "incidentally from intelligence gathering." The files are classified both top secret and secret and will stay that way because of "exceptionally grave damage to the national security," the paper said, quoting the National Security Agency. That's OK. We don't need to see any more photos of Diana romping on a nude beach in southern France anyway. [Wired News]
Stamping Out History - As part of the Post Office's "Celebrate the Century" program, Americans were asked to select themes for stamps commemorating the 1990s. Their picks have been tabulated and now stamp collectors in the 22nd century will go to their graves thinking that the Titanic sank in the last decade of the 20th century instead of in 1912. Along with stamps commemorating cell phones, the Web, and sports utility vehicles, there will be a stamp for the blockbuster movie as well. Does that strike anyone as a bit odd? Remembering the movie rather than the actual event? [Wired News]
Starcrossed - Actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, taking umbrage at a report in a British tabloid that they needed coaching from sex therapists before they could do their love scenes in the new movie Eyes Wide Shut, filed a defamation lawsuit in a Los Angeles court. On Monday, a judge dismissed a motion by The Star to throw out the case, clearing the way for a jury trial. What's the big deal if they did consult the experts? Do they think they're the only married couple to need a little, er, help? [Wired News]
Steakman's Mistake - Benihanas former top dog is facing 18 months in the doghouse for insider trading. Apparently, Rocky Aoki -- former Olympic wrestler, member of the first crew to fly a balloon across the Pacific, and founder of the 50-unit Benihana steakhouse chain -- found out from a consultant pal that a small company called Spectrum was about to hire Apple Computer boss John Scully. Figuring that Spectrums stocks would rise with Scullys announcement, he picked up 125,000 shares. When he sold them for a $350,000 profit, he may have made the fatal error: depositing 10 grand into the tipsters brokerage account. On Monday, Aoki plead guilty to insider trading, and could get up to 18 months in prison. Shoulda stuck to steaks. [Wired News]
Stiff Drink - It's not that unusual to see someone slumped over in a bar, but for the patrons of a local watering hole in the Kenyan town of Embu, it was the harbinger of disaster. The man was dead and it was the drink -- a potent, homemade concoction -- that killed him. Since his death Sunday, at least 18 other customers of the Muungano Joint have died and others have been blinded after consuming a bad batch of the spirit. One of the two men arrested for distilling the stuff told police that he's been making it for years and had no idea what went wrong this time. Doctors at the hospital that treated the victims believe that the drink was laced with methanol. [Wired News]
Stoned - Mick Jagger's supermodel wife, Jerry Hall, filed for divorce last week, accusing the ageless rocker of fathering a child by a 29-year-old Brazilian model. She's asking for a settlement of around US$50 million, which apparently got Mick's attention. Now Jagger, 55, says that his 9-year marriage to Hall was never valid in the first place because the proper papers were not filed following their wedding in Bali. If the court sides with Jagger, he'll probably save a bundle, although legal experts say he runs the risk of having his visitation rights severely limited. Did we mention they have four kids? [Wired News]
Stop the Presses - It's not like the New York Post has ever been renowned for its discretion, but this is over the top, even by tabloid standards: On the day the bodies of John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, and his sister-in-law were retrieved from the Atlantic, the Post ran a column by John Podhoretz that imagines a conversation between the devil and Joe Kennedy, JFK Jr.'s grandfather and builder of the Kennedy fortune. The devil chides Kennedy, reminding him that he'd sold his soul to acquire power and wealth. "I said Id make Jack president," the devil says. "I didnt say hed finish out the term. And I didnt say youd get another. That was your mistake, trying again with Bobby." The devil goes on to tell Kennedy that it's occasionally necessary to deal the family another blow to remind old Joe of his bargain. Hence the latest tragedy. Needless to say, that went over real well with the Post's readers ... so well that the paper pulled it after one edition. [Wired News]
Straight Shooting - It's interesting to note that on the day the House of Representatives voted to allow the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools, it also approved the weakest possible version of a law to regulate firearms sales at gun shows. In a victory for the NRA, the House narrowly passed a bill that would give the government only 24 hours to run background checks on gun purchasers, rather than the three days originally proposed. Meanwhile, legislators decided that despite the separation of church and state, it's OK for public schools to display the Ten Commandments (ie. "Thou shalt not kill") on school property, on the rather flimsy grounds that it will inspire an end to campus violence. Banning guns won't, apparently. [Wired News]
Straightening Up - The leaning Tower of Pisa may need a new nickname soon. Workers have started to remove 10-ton blocks of lead they placed around the base of the monument half a dozen years ago. And it looks like the famous tower has lost some of its list. The 12th-century tower has tilted for most of its life, but the problem had become so bad that a decade ago it was closed to the public. Experts hope the structure will straighten enough so that it can continue to stand. Stay tuned. [Wired News]
Strike Three? - Angry, frustrated major-league umpires say they'll resign en masse on 2 September and not work the final month of the season unless their grievances are addressed and resolved. Aside from contract issues, the umps are upset by what they perceive to be a lack of respect coming from the highest levels of Major League Baseball. And they may be right. This was how Sandy Alderson, executive VP of baseball operations, responded to the umpires' declaration: "This is either a threat to be ignored, or an offer to be accepted." Yer out! [Wired News]
Super Rowdy - There were tears in the streets of Denver Sunday night following the Broncos' inspired Super Bowl win over Atlanta, but they had nothing to do with the possibility that quarterback John Elway had just played his final game. For the second year in a row, police found it necessary to quell an unruly mob of fans with tear gas, after the high-spirited louts lit bonfires in downtown streets and refused to disperse. As for the game itself, a few significant numbers: With the win, Denver became the seventh team to repeat as Super Bowl champ (no one has won three straight); Elway (38) and Chris Chandler (33) surpassed Jim Plunkett (36) and Joe Theismann (34) as the oldest coots to start at quarterback; Falcons linebacker Cornelius Bennett is now 0-5 in the Super Bowl (he lost four others in consecutive years with Buffalo); and the Broncos set a Super Bowl record for interception return yardage, with 180. [Wired News]
Surf 'n' Turf - This might be tantamount to putting earrings on a hog, but the whiz kids at Burger King, one of America's premier fast-food emporiums, think it'd be kinda cool to provide Internet access to their gorging patrons. A Burger King in Hartford, Connecticut has installed a couple of "surfing stations," and is offering 15 free minutes of "filtered" Net access to customers who purchase a combo meal. That means no naughty sites, and no sending or receiving of email. Regular patrons might want to start out by looking for a good cardiologist online. [Wired News]
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