The good, the interesting, the bad and the ugly

* Women's eNews today has a commentary on the lack of visibility of prominent women in the media. I found it hopelessly naive and US-centric, but it did remind me I'd been meaning to point to Pratie Place's post on the Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai. If you were going to write a book on "great women of the modern world" she'd be near the top of the list.

* Research into the death of Christopher Marlowe that looks somewhat better founded than such reports usually are.

* Two Australian journalists face jail for refusing to reveal a source. This was not some issue of "national security", but a wrangle over veterans' pensions that embarrassed the government. So sad to think that little more than a decade ago Australia was one of the world's leaders in human rights. It is getting more like the "Land of the Not-Free" every day - which of course suits John Howard just fine. Still, I suppose it is at least not yet AS bad ....

* Alabama's use of the death penalty sounds like something out of the 19th century:

All 19 of Alabama's appellate court judges are white, as are 41 of its 42 elected District Attorneys. Odds are 1 in 3 that your jury will be all white as well. ...Though black people account for only 26% of Alabama's population overall, nearly 63% of its prisoners are black. Of the 23 people executed in Alabama between 1975 and 2001, 70% were black.

So much for the right to life.
(Via Pen-Elayne.)