News from Around the World

Our new governor, Rod Blagojevich (for out-of-state residents, that's pronounced "blahg-OY-ovitch", which is my best phonetic shot), seems particularly eager to make a name for himself early on. He made recent headlines when he allocated, by executive order, $10 million of the state's budget (which had previously been hidden in a vague line item for hospital and university research) specifically for embryonic stem cell research -- neatly side-stepping the legislature to do so.