Getting my last bit of blogging in before I go off to Delaware. Can’t help it…

* Amber alert for stolen fetus. (CNN). This is the weirdest, Law & Order: SVU-type of case. I am half-asleep in bed and hear the folks on CNN saying this headline and I burst out laughing. I logically knew that something horrific must have happened for this to have occurred (not having heard any more than the headline), but my crazy brain had visions of a “thinking fetus” on the run.

* Did Kerik even have a nanny? Considering all the sordid details of Bernie’s professional and personal life, the nanny problem is looking more and more like a cover story for his withdrawal. I called this one earlier. (NYT): “…six days after Mr. Kerik withdrew his nomination, citing ‘questions about the immigration status of a person who had been in my employ,’ the figure central to the scandal – the nanny – remains a complete mystery.”

* Sprint and Nextel to merge. (NYT). I’ve still not forgiven Nextel for foist that crap “push to talk” walkie-talkie feature. Why in the hell is it necessary for people to not only talk to people on the phone in inappropriate places, but to jabber on where you can hear both sides of the conversation. Stop the madness!

* Here’s a real internal vote of confidence: FDA scientists question safety. Apparently two-thirds of them thought two years ago that the FDA couldn’t adequately monitor prescription drug safety. And 18% of the almost 400 respondents said they had been pressured to approve or recommend a drug despite reservations about its safety, effectiveness or quality. WTF? Remember, the Bush admin wants to limit lawsuits against Big Pharma, using the fig leaf that if the drugs pass FDA muster, then they must be safe. Sigh.

* God, I am old. It’s the 20th anniversary of Bernie Goetz’s shooting spree on the NYC subway system. I was living there during that time. He was the nerd that shot 4 black teens that he said he felt threatened by. He paralyzed one of them (Darrell Cabey). It all happened during a particularly bad time in the city in terms of crime, especially in the subways. Muggings and shootings occurred every day. Goetz’s famous “Dirty Harry” line after he first shot Cabey, “You don’t look so bad, here’s another,” put some serious fear into the black community at the time, since folks were scared that it was going to start a whole new round of faux vigilante justice, based on fear and ingnorance. Of course there was an equal amount of fear over the crime wave in the minority communities, which by far are proportionally victimized more by it anyway. It was just an ugly time. The subways and NYC are so much nicer and cleaner now that it takes a reminder like this Goetz anniversary to remind you how things were.