News Bits!

-Surprise, surprise: NCLB has, in fact, left most behind.

-Considering weight loss surgery? You're 4.6% likely to die. Better options: eating right, vigorous exercise, or picking up a cocaine habit.

-Yet another reason why we wish we were twelve: Star Wars Transformers!

-As a rule, when you throw a house party, uninvited guests will invariably show up.

-These 2006 SXSW wristbands are going for a great cause.

-They're actually arguing that intelligent design is a valid scientific theory. Under biochemistry teacher Michael Behe's definition, so would astrology.

-eBay auctions for the new Xbox 360 gaming console are already upwards of $1,500.

-The World Stem Cell Foundation was formed in Seoul, Korea.

-Now it turns out that while running for the Dallas City Council in '89, Miers was staunchly anti-abortion.

-A small Fedex plane crashed into a house in Georgetown after losing power. Amazingly, no one was hurt.

-Bartlett mayor Bobby "Not Hank" Hill, already forced to resign earlier this week, was named in a search warrant.

-Former UT student Jackson Ngai, accused of murdering his piano teacher, plead insanity yesterday.

-Are the Beckhams "cynically and hypocritically trying - for financial reasons - to convince the public that they continue to enjoy a happy marriage"? Of course they are - they're a celebrity couple, for fuck's sake!

-Saddam's trial went underway yesterday, with the deposed tyrant declaring himself not-guilty of all charges presented before the court.

-Hurricane Wilma's been upgraded to a Cat-5, and it's headed for Florida! Parts of the coast are being evacuated in advance of what's already "confirmed as [the] strongest Atlantic storm ever recorded". End times? Yes, very much so.