Minor shake up

I was just wrapping up the dishes at about 5:20 this morning when I heard a loud rumbling upstairs. At first, I thought, 'What the hell are the cats', who were being rough and noisy this morning, 'doing up there?' I turned and saw Baraka sitting in the living room. Then it occurred to me that the noise was so loud and expansive that it couldn't be the cats. The noise of a truck driving down the road was quickly dismissed as the cause as well. Windows were rattling a little, I felt the ground moving a tad. Then all stopped, and I went on to begin watering the plants.

Shawn came downstairs looking startled and excited. "OK, I'm awake, now" she said. We confirmed for each other that we had felt an earthquake. It was a small one, but Shawn was as rattled as the windows. Nothing fell from any shelves, the pictures remain on the walls as they were. After about 20 minutes, Shawn went back to bed. Here's the info on the quake.

The New York Times reports today that the Bush administration approved the policy which lets the CIA fly terror suspects to countries whose laws allow torture. Folks, that's a war crime by any definition.

The Age in Australia reports on a lesbian student teacher who was harassed and fired from her job after revealing her sexual orientation. Jackasses.