Written by: Beck

The face of Marxism in Columbia shows itself again. Thirty-four farm laborers were rounded up by Marxist rebels, tied up with rope from the hammocks they had been sleeping in, and shot. The long standing civil war in Columbia claims an estimated 3,500 lives each year.

Another mid-level Iraqi interim government official has been slain. This time it's the security chief for Iraq's Northern Oil Company. At the same time, an attack on an oil pipeline has temporarily slowed export capacity from 1.7 million bbl/day to 500,000.

Finally, one completely random yet interesting tidbit: at a web site known as Intrade--a thinly disguised online gambling site (so you may not be able or want to access it from work)--you can trade "futures" on the likely outcome of the 2004 elections. The contract trades from a range of 0-100, and Bush's chances currently trade at 58. If Bush wins, the contract is worth a full $100, if he loses it's worth $0. In other words, internet gamblers and "traders" are strikingly confident of a Bush victory, regardless of what the polls may think.