Spyros Capralos [and so much more]

is about to become either synomous with a development catastrophe of world-scale proportions or coming a hairsbreadth away from said catastrophe. [link].

"Tackled by Face the Facts presenter John Waite, the general secretary for the Olympic Games, Spyros Capralos, admitted he had no idea how many workers have died constructing the games."

Now for today's news. [a whole lotta links from all over the place]

More from the B. Blogging the DNC is hot now [link]. Revenge of the Sith [link] has been chosen as the title for the next Star Wars film.

Silly Duke, giving iPods to freshman isn't going to make them better students. Oh, wait. Did you say iPods? Really! Well, where do I apply. [link]

I've been half-heartedly tracking the stories about the marshes in Iraq. Well, here's some news, apparently the UN is going to get involved [link].

"The wetlands were drained as punishment after the Marsh Arabs gave sanctuary to rebels fighting the Saddam regime. About 250,000 Marsh Arabs now live in refugee camps and Iraqi cities. It is estimated that during the Saddam period, around 95% of the marshes dried out, largely due to the deliberate diversion of water."

At a loss for words: [link]

"At least 46 children in Peru have died during one of the coldest spells in the Andes Mountains in 30 years."

I saw this on CBS this morning [link]. A little historic preservation, a little peacekeeping, a little religous tolerance. Voila.

How can you read this and not laugh. [link] below.

"INDIA'S railways minister has absolved himself of blame for accidents plaguing the world's largest train network, saying the fate of its 13 million daily passengers rested with the Hindu god of machines, Vishwakarma."

Holy Cow [no pun intended], India has over 100,000 kilometers of rail lines [nearly 60,000 miles based on the rough 100km/h = 60 mph conversion I do in Canada]. They better get on their knees cause apparently it's all in Vish's hands now.

On the topic of leadership: What President Bush is Not. [You can google search any of these quotes and find where they came from.] Here are my picks, but you really have to read the whole list [link]. via Harpers.

"The President of the United States is not a fact-checker... I’m not a very good novelist... I’m not an emailer... I’m not an Iraqi citizen."

It doesn't get any easier than this. Censorship doesn't always come from the government: List of songs deemed inappropriate by Clear Channel following the September 11, 2001 attacks [link].

Quite possibly the most interesting single post I've read from Defective Yeti. The Pioneer 10 Plaque [link].

Fuel Cell Breakthrough in Houston [link]. 60+mph jet powered go-kart for sale [link].