Balance Sheet

Jeff Taylor from the June 2005 issue

(Page 2 of 2)

Pennsylvania state Rep. Jeffrey E. Habay is charged in an anthrax hoax case. Habay, a five-term Allegheny County Republican, claimed he found white powder in a letter from a constituent who was critical of him.

Bank Dicked

Qusair Mohamedbhai says a Colorado bank denied him a checking account because it assumed he was a terrorist. The signs? His Florida Social Security number, and his presence at the bank with a white woman, his "cover."

Empire State

The New York Court of Appeals rules that a programmer has to pay income tax to the state of New York because he works for a New York�based labor union--even though he telecommutes from Nashville.

Nicotine Fixed

A handful of state attorneys general and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives make buying a carton of cigarettes online just about impossible. Officials convince American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Discover, Diners Club, and PayPal to refuse to do business with tobacco-selling sites.

Veiled Threat

The new Iraqi parliament includes women, but most of them belong to the conservative United Iraqi Alliance, which has the implementation of Islamic law as a primary goal. Adopting Shariah would ensure that men have a dominant position in Iraqi society.

Stryker Out

An Army study of its Stryker combat vehicle finds big problems. The extra armor put on the vehicle to fend off attacks in Iraq slows it down and wrecks the suspension while the onboard computer is too slow to be of much use. Speed and networkability were to be Stryker's strengths.