Two cool stories:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/02/04/cuba.car.ap/index.html

A floating vintage car chugging toward the Florida Keys from Cuba was piloted by two of the same men who tried to sail a converted truck to the United States last year, relatives said.

Marciel Basanta Lopez and Luis Gras Rodriguez, who were brought back to Cuba after they failed to reach Florida in a converted 1951 Chevy pickup in July, were allegedly at the helm of the newest vehicle-boat conversion.

The U.S. Coast Guard would not confirm the status of the tailfinned 1950s car.

Relatives told Basanta’s cousin, Kiriat Lopez, who lives in Florida, that they knew the men were planning a second escape attempt.

“My cousin isn’t crazy. He wants to be free,” Lopez said. “That’s how crazy he is.”

http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/02/04/gay.marriage.ap/index.html

The Massachusetts high court ruled Wednesday that only full, equal marriage rights for gay couples — rather than civil unions — would be constitutional, erasing any doubts that the nation’s first same-sex marriages could take place in the state beginning in mid-May.

The court issued the opinion in response to a request from the state Senate about whether Vermont-style civil unions, which convey the state benefits of marriage — but not the title — would meet constitutional muster.

“The history of our nation has demonstrated that separate is seldom, if ever, equal,” the four justices who ruled in favor of gay marriage wrote in the advisory opinion. A bill that would allow for civil unions, but falls short of marriage, makes for “unconstitutional, inferior, and discriminatory status for same-sex couples.”

[Edit: the actual ruling, http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/conlaw/maglmarriage20304.html, is really interesting.]

And some email:
———————-
Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 10:50:38 -0800 (PST)
From: AJ Shankar
To: xxx
Subject: Re:

yeah but they want my employment history for the last 5 years!
———————-

Date: Wed, 04 Feb 2004 18:58:15 +0000 (UTC)
From: xxx
To: AJ Shankar
Subject: Re:

year 1    _)
year 2    _)_____
year 3    _______)
year 4    _)
year 5    _)

i can fill out the rest of your app for you too, if you want.
———————-
I love that guy.