So the Taliban (which is Pushtu for "everyone's a critic") have been firing artillery at ancient statuary. Don't tell Mayor Guiliani.

Speaking of picking on someone your own size, 35 Muslims on haj in Mecca were stampled during the Stoning Satan ceremony. That would be Muslims 0, Satan 35. Go team.

Now if only the giant Buddha would get off his fat ass and kick some tiny Afghani butt of his own.

Speaking of religious loons, the NY Times reported Monday that US AID money to aid victims of El Salvador's earthquake is being funnelled through a little organization called Samaritan's Purse, run by the son of Billy Graham, which forces people to sit through prayer sessions and talks about how Jesus (a Protestant Jesus, yet) loves them before they get any food and shelter. All of which leads to the question, what sort of a name is Samaritan's Purse, anyway? One thing about those God-botherers, they do know how to accessorize.

Speaking of sending a message, the Supreme Court says that the Klan should be allowed to pick up trash (but not white trash) on the highway between St. Louis and the suburbs. Please note that this is not just about free speech within a government program (and picking up garbage next to a highway in a government-sponsored program goes beyond even my expansive views of what should be covered by the 1st Amendment). They had actually been allowed into the program. No, what they wanted was a stretch of highway used by black children in school busing programs.

A few days ago, the Times noted that jury verdicts now decide the results of only 4.3% of federal criminal trials (down from 10.4% in 1988) and 1.5% in federal civil trials. It's not just in the US that lawyers no longer trust juries. In Britain too, government plans to eliminate the option of jury trials for certain crimes has been presented as a cost-saving measure but actually reflects the fact that juries will no longer reliably convict. Government-appointed judges, of course, will.