"The Bush administration has sought, the panel said, to place its actions "beyond public scrutiny." That's yesterday's 6th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion on the Bush Administration's attempts to close deportation hearings. The Administration gets credit for perseverance, however: now it's asserting executive privilege for "officials in any part of the government who are asked for input about pardon requests."
Lest you think domestic policy is the only area where the Administration is trying to bully institutions, here's a quote: "the administration is wielding a new law that permits cuts in military aid to governments that do not comply [with demands that no American ever be brought before the International Criminal Court]."
Ok, enough grousing. Here's a nifty idea: send a robot into the Great Pyramids!
Posted by Linkmeister at August 27, 2002 11:46 AMre the Robot: it's been done, and I saw it on TLC. A couple of years ago, a little teathered, wheeled robot was sent into a long narrow shaft. All you saw were spiders and pieces of debris left by construction crews (thousands of years ago). The shaft was about 1 1/2 x 1 1/2, with some turns and a sudden incline. I don't recall whether they determined what the shaft was for, but I believe it was so the entombed soul could get it's low-opacity butt out of the tomb.
Posted by: Mike at August 27, 2002 12:38 PMI was in one of the Great Pyramids. I wanted to go into the big one at Giza, but the door fell in that day.
Anyway, I was very claustrophic there, and the humidity was quite high. The king's chamber was a disappointment once I got there, because all the gold and statues were stolen....Bummer...
The ancient ones were so gifted, definitely from another planet, if ya ask me...
Posted by: toxiclabrat at August 27, 2002 02:34 PMI forgot to mention: an eccentric aunt of mine was permitted to spend the night in one of the pyramids, and sent me a chunk of the stone. not really very respectful of the ancient place, but cool nonetheless.
Posted by: mike at August 27, 2002 06:19 PMMike, people take lava rock from Kilauea volcano all the time, and regret it; there are lots of stories about misfortune occurring to them. I hope that didn't happen to your aunt.
Posted by: Linkmeister at August 27, 2002 08:46 PM