Some Updates and an Out-of-Town Notice
- posted by Jim Leitzel @ 5:38 PM

(1) The Charlotte pastor arrested on prostitution-related charges earlier this month is, as Vice Squad speculated, out of a job. Vice Squad also questioned the newsworthiness of the arrest; the Charlotte Observer later explained its own decision regarding the coverage.

(2) The death toll in the Iranian tainted alcohol disaster has reached 22; at least five others have been blinded.

(3) Squabbling over the circumvention of the cartel created by the 1998 Big Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) continues. One of the tobacco companies that eventually joined the settlement is suing states that it feels are not sufficiently going after non-signatories. Vice Squad has tried to keep up with the MSA maneuvering, at least half-heartedly; here's one relatively recent entry. Maybe the MSA will be determined to be unconstitutional and Vice Squad will find better uses for its pixels.

Oh, the out-of-town notice. I will be out of town for the next week, if all goes according to plan, and blogging will be limited. (Although it is my understanding that blogging capabilities have now come to some non-Chicago communities.) Vice Squad members are encouraged to pick up the slack -- or rather, to repair the damage.

Labels: alcohol, Master Settlement Agreement, prostitution, solipsism, tobacco