And so the new year begins...

I just wanted to make a record of how this year 2006 started out and where we've been in 2005. I might want to look back on how it was.


Fires Ravage Oklahoma City, Texas Towns
AP
CARBON, Texas — Wildfires raged across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico on Sunday, burning homes and sparking a patchwork of flames across the region as gusting winds blew flaming embers into the dry grass.

2nd Storm Prompts California Evacuations By JUSTIN M. NORTON Associated Press Writer GUERNEVILLE, Calif. Jan 1, 2006 — The second major storm in two days washed across Northern California on Sunday, prolonging the threat of flooding as residents tried to clean up thick layers of mud and debris left behind as the first wave of floodwater receded. Hundreds of homes and businesses across the region had been inundated Saturday as heavy rain sent the Napa and Russian rivers spilling over their banks.

Palestinian militants end truce, destroy UN club
Daily Times - Pakistan
GAZA CITY: Palestinian militants marked the end of a truce agreement Sunday by firing a barrage of rockets towards southern Israel and detonating explosives in a beachfront UN club in Gaza City.

Bush is still talking crap out both sides of his mouth. Deniability was not possible when it came to Bush's Snoopgate Scandal. It's not nice to spy on your fellow Americans, Mr. President. You weren't just investigating terrorists and everybody now knows it. So that's why you are now behaving like a recalcitrant child caught with his hand in the cookie jar - your "best defense" by going on the offense and demanding to know who dared let the American people know the truth (Gasp! Who'da thunk it?) isn't working, Mr. President. Behavior and words stuck in the "belligerent brat mode" just aren't cutting it. 2005 was definitely NOT your year, George. Here's a few highlights: Bush’s Snoopgate Terrorism cases in US may be reopened after wiretap scandal How Much Power Should They Have? Bush Blows Katrina The Scandal Sheet Plamegate Lewis "Scooter" Libby Karl Rove Halliburton & Dick Cheney (background article from 2003) Halliburton & Dick Cheney (2005) STATE BY STATE GOP SCANDAL SCORECARD

Rootkit fiasco shows sterner laws needed
Toronto Star
The Sony Rootkit controversy, in which the world's second largest record label rendered hundreds of thousands of computers vulnerable to hackers by inserting faulty copy-protection software into CDs, was one of the top technology law blunders of 2005.

Google sued over Talk Techworld.com A firm that holds patents for technology used in Internet voice calling is suing search giant Google for US$5 billion over its Google Talk instant-messaging client.

Recovering from Hurricane Katrina

Time Magazine's Best Photos of the Year 2005