Tuesday's links and comments

Some good news on the investing front.

In the category of longest prison sentence, WorldCom Inc. founder Bernard J. Ebbers recently bested the organizer of an armed robbery, the leaders of a Bronx drug gang and the acting boss of the Gambino crime family. . . . . . Ebbers, 65, is to report to prison on the same day that former Enron Corp. finance chief Andrew S. Fastow will be sentenced by a federal judge in Houston. Fastow, who secretly pocketed more than $45 million in a scheme to disguise mounting financial problems at the energy company, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison as part of his plea deal.

Trust in the system is essential for the stock market to operate. There will always be those who tempted to manipulate the market so it is important that these crooks go to jail to discourage others.

Former president Bill Clinton lost his cool this weekend after being asked a softball question about pre-9/11 anti-terrorism actions. Clinton is reputed to have great political instincts, but he chose to attack the current administration instead of just giving an answer like "Prior to 9/11, none of us took the threat seriously enough. We had a false sense of security that the oceans protected us from the horrors of terrorism." That type of answer would have put the matter to rest. By getting so defensive and comparing his actions to other administrations and lying about various verifiable matters he guaranteed that his actions (or lack thereof) would receive continued scrutiny. The New York Post has Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's response to some of Clinton's misstatements.

Last week, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez when speaking to the United Nations recommended that people read a book by Noam Chomsky and expressed his regret that he didn't meet Chomsky before he passed on. Never mind the fact that Chomsky is actually still alive. The Wall Street Journal has an article today titled "Who Is Noam Chomsky?"

How did they get a volunteer for this?

A team of French doctors say they will perform the world's first zero-gravity surgery Wednesday, operating on a man in an airplane as it arcs and dives in and out of weightlessness.

I'm not an art buff and usually think schools waste too much time on that subject. However, even I think this is ridiculous:

Art Teacher Loses Job After Kids See Nude Sculpture
Children Were On School-Approved Field Trip

Don't want kids to see nudity. Don't approve fields trips to art museums. However, if you approve the trip don't turn around and act surprised to find out they they saw "art" at an art museum.