Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the April 2005 issue

Assets

Over Spray

Afghanistan's expected war on opium will not include aerial spraying of pesticides onto poppy fields. The U.S. backed the idea (and may have tried it without permission), but the Afghan government thought such spraying would scare and anger the very rural population that must agree to grow alternative crops.

Indecent Proposals

The Federal Communications Commission finally turns off the goofy Parents Television Council, rejecting 36 indecency complaints from the group involving shows like Friends and The Simpsons. The only indecent thing about The Simpsons is that it isn't as funny as it used to be.

Sun Rises

Sun Microsystems releases more than 1,600 patents in a bid to make its Solaris operating system an open-source darling. The hope is that freelance developers will build on and improve Sun's work, creating value as they go.

White Trash

After way too much legal wrangling, the Supreme Court lets stand a decision allowing the Ku Klux Klan to be part of Missouri's "Adopt-a-Highway" program. Klansmen can now bag roadside garbage just like decent folk do.

Extreme Decision

A U.S. district court judge dismisses porn trafficking charges against the owners of Extreme Associates (see "Xtreme Measures," May). The government cannot ban material simply on the assumption that it is objectionable, the judge rules.

Revolution Resolution

At its annual meeting, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators passes a resolution condemning the war on drugs, which jails African-Americans at alarming rates. "The war on drugs has failed," the resolution declares.

Liabilities

War Economy