Four men allegedly gang-raped an eighteen-year-old Pakistani girl to punish her family. Why? Because her younger brother had an affair with a woman, considered to be higher caste, from another tribe. Local police stood by and did nothing. cnn.com has the story.

In Mexico, a student tries to use a subway pass he found on the floor of the terminal, because he doesn't have twenty cents for the fare. He spends two months in jail, before paying an exorbitant fine to get out. In other news, in Mexico, a man steals forty-five million dollars. He doesn't go to jail. Can you spell C - O - R - R- U - P - T - I - O - N ? Story at msnbc.com.

The city that I live in (population 184,256) has just recorded the twenty-ninth homicide of 2002. A wife and mother of five was shot multiple times as she sat in her car outside the family home. Her husband is being held without bond in the local lock-up. Sad.

I have been fascinated by Nietzsche, ever since I read in Durant (The Story of Philosophy), "His inexpungable merits dwarf all criticism." The online edition of "The New Statesman" has an article about Nietzsche, which includes a review of two books about him.

"[T]he Islamic world, far from catching up with the West, is going backwards," writes Peter Watson in "How the East didn't win" on The Times website.

Here is a follow up to my entry of 5/30/2002, about the murder that occurred across the street from where I live. Under the headline "2 sought in fatal shooting," this is how the local newspaper reported what happened:

A 19-year-old man shot to death Thursday morning was [name of town]'s sixth killing in a week [emphasis added], raising the city's homicide total to 23 so far this year.

Michael Banks, of 137 Taylor St., was pronounced dead on the scene at 1:55 a.m. by Sharon Grisham-Stewart, the . . . county coroner.

Murder warrants have been issued for Chad Harris and Anthony James, occupants of a gray Chevrolet seen parked at a Conoco station in the 3700 block of North West Street, where the shooting took place.

The motive is still unclear, but drugs may be involved [emphasis added], said Robert Graham, a . . . [police] spokesman.

"Both individuals wanted in connection with this murder should be considered armed and dangerous [emphasis added]," Graham said.

The incident began around 1 a.m. after Harris and James allegedly flagged down Banks as he drove south on North West Street in a brown Chevrolet. The three got out of their vehicles and spoke for a while. They got back in their vehicles and Banks allegedly rammed Harris and James' car. They, in turn, allegedly backed up and smashed into Banks' vehicle. Harris and James got out and opened fire on Banks, Graham said.

Banks was struck in the arm, leg, shoulder, groin and head, said Grisham-Stewart.

Banks was raised by his grandmother in . . . [a nearby town], but his mother and sister live in . . . [the town where the killing happened], the coroner said.

Today was a typical Saturday: I took my Mother to the grocery store and the post office. After lunch, I took her to the pharmacy and the library. Later, my Mother telephoned my brother. His wife is recuperating from an operation.

There was a murder, right across the street from my house. Not across the street and down the block. Right across from my house. I woke up at 1:00 am. I heard the sound of a car crashing into something. At the time, I didn't know what it hit. Then, I heard several gun shots, in rapid succession. I looked outside and saw what looked like an abandoned car in the parking lot of the convenience store. The hood was crumpled. I went back to sleep and woke up again at 3:00 am. This time, when I looked out the window, I saw four police cruisers, an ambulance, and a car belonging to a private security company. I still didn't know that there had been a killing. This afternoon, when I got home from work, it was on the news: a nineteen year old male had an argument with two other men, he rammed his car into their car, and they shot him multiple times, killing him.

Once again, a suicide-homicide bomber has targeted innocent civilians. This is barbaric.

On the fifteenth of this month, I wrote that I was going to work on fixing the archives feature on this site. I lied.

The National Education Association is slapped with a warning for violating the civil rights of its own members.

Slate has an article which concludes that President Bush could not have prevented the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The mystery illness has been identified as "winter vomiting."

Mystery illness hits British troops in Afghanistan

Everything seems to be working O. K., except for the archives. I'll work on that.

I am experimenting with a new template. Please bear with me. Thank you.

Today, I bought two pair of Rockport "Halton" shoes: one pair of black and one pair of "sport white," i. e., light gray. Thanks to my Mom! I used the money that she gave me on my birthday.

As a follow on to yesterday: I prepared my Mom's lunch and supper and washed the dishes after each meal. My brother telephoned her from Georgia. I think that she had a nice day.

Pakistan reluctant to pursue al Qaeda

I must have tried a dozen application launchers, but I have finally found one that seems just right: not too simple and not too complicated, and it is freeware, to boot! You can download it from the program's home page.