That was not a foul, woman!  – A private high school in Kansas, center of American enlightenment, refuses to let a woman referee a high school boys’ basketball game, because – as described by the referees – the “[woman] could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy’s beliefs[.]”  You know, I try not to mock people for their religious beliefs, but . . .

What could possibly go wrong? – Was I the only person that thought that, when hearing about the US plans to shoot down the satellite it says is falling out of orbit?  When I first heard that the US was talking about the decaying orbit last month, it struck me as a bit odd – this isn’t really an Administration known for its open and straightforward approach.  Well, surprise of surprises, it turns out that the claimed justification for shooting it down – dangerous gas clouds forming from the remaining satellite fuel – is most likely bullshit.  Shocker.  I’m giving it, at best, even money that they hit the damn thing on their first try.

Don’t like it?  Tough.  That, essentially, is how Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA) office has responded to a request for an explanation of his vote for telecom immunity and the subsequent Senate FISA bill.  Get the details (along with a tidy explanation of this history of FISA) in Mark Levine’s diary at Raising Kaine.  I was particularly impressed with Webb staffer Jessica Smith’s attempt to get the proprietors of Raising Kaine to delete/edit what Mark wrote.  Fortunately, the RK folks did the right thing and ignored her request, but it should put the rest of us on notice that this is something thought to be acceptable.

Well, okay.  But just not when you’re hitting the ball.  In response to this earlier article on the BOA’s attempt at muzzling its athletes, a Blacknell.net reader and friend sent in this Guardian story outlining BOA’s walking back of the restrictions.  Apparently, athletes can say what they like, but just not when they’re in Beijing.  I suspect that by the time we get to Beijing, the restrictions will be gutted (as they should be).