But a good day for real people. CNN is reporting that a Texas jury convicts Tom DeLay on money laundering charges

Austin, Texas (CNN) — A Texas jury on Wednesday convicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on charges of illegally funneling corporate money to help elect GOP candidates to the Texas Legislature.

DeLay was found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court bailiff Gilbert Soto said. He was accused of funneling $190,000 to help elect Republicans to the state House and Senate in 2002.
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DeLay’s sentencing was set for December 20, and he faces a possible maximum prison term of 99 years on the money laundering charge and 20 years on the conspiracy charge.

This was a very simple case under Texas law, and DeLay violated the law by accepting money from corporations and then giving it to state candidates. He needed to add more steps to his system to hide what he was up to, but was too arrogant to bother. He gave the money more of a “light rinse” than a real “laundering”.

The Miami Herald reports that Legislators inadvertently give ‘pill mills’ a break

TALLAHASSEE — In their zeal to slow down government regulations, Florida lawmakers have inadvertently halted an effort to regulate so-called “pill mills” that fuel an epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

The regulations were set to take effect Sunday for most pain clinics. But they are stalled by a new law intended to crack down on expensive state regulations. The law requires legislative approval of rules that have a significant fiscal impact.

The twits in Tallahassee “accidentally” passed a bill that would stop the cut off a certain radio host from his Oxycodone supply from cash-only “pain clinics”.

In Florida medical clinics are currently only subject to inspection and regulation if they accept insurance payments. Barbers have more stringent requirements than doctors, and that is a relic of their profession’s past as the surgeons and dentists in the 19^th century.

This highlights the need for a Swiss Army knife in every room: Woman stuck in bathroom for three weeks

French firefighters have freed a 69-year-old woman who spent three weeks trapped in her bathroom.
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Police said the woman, who is recuperating in hospital, survived by drinking warm water from the bathroom tap and at night tried to call for help by tapping on piping.

But neighbours in the apartment block said they thought someone was doing home repair work and launched a petition to find out who it was and to have it stopped.

Apparently the lock on the bathroom door jammed trapping her inside without the ability to dismantle it.

For future reference: ‘S’ is three short and ‘O’ is three long. It is important to tap on the pipes in a consistent pattern as most humans will eventually realize that it is a message and not random noise.

The next housing association meeting should be ‘interesting’. You have to wonder why it required a petition to find out who was doing the tapping. There may be a rule against knocking on your neighbor’s door 😈

Thought for the day: They put the gaskets in the faucet stem kits for a reason, so it really does make a difference if you don’t use them [you bloody stupid, incompetent maroon who wasted my day locating the leak inside the wall].