Despite all the mea cuplas regarding the unacceptable abuse of detainees in Iraq, Defense Secretary Rumseld and his comrades in the chain of military command still look more like Keystone Cops than members of a well-honed organization that President Bush and VP Cheney claim to run. It reminds of the recent corporate governance scandals that caused heads to roll and reforms in corporate governance. Restoring the reputation of a government, company or individual can take years and some never recover. Computer Associates has been undergoing trial by fire, although it's deposed chairman and CEO Sanjay Kumar still has a prominent role in the company. And, Rumsfeld isn't going anywhere unless the tide turns against Bush in his quest for a second term and something or someone has to be thrown in front of the bus. So, the question is how can the U.S restore it reputation beyond the endless panels, inquiries, and scapegoats. A fundamental cultural change is required, and that will be difficult with or without a change in the administration. The 20-year-olds involved in the torture probably learned the techniques from watching TV and movies, which provide a steady diet of murder, torture and mayhem. 

Intel is cancelling a version of the Pentium 4 due out later this year and a similar Xeon chip for servers that had been slated for 2005. Instead, Intel is prepping dual-core chips for desktops in 2005 and notebooks in 2005 or 2006. Apparently, heat dissapation problems in the single core processors running at higher clock speeds drove the decision.

Coop gives Google a hard time in parsing its SEC filing. He's right that the the company's idealism sounds phony (he calls it 'Mary Poppins at 30,000 feet') when you put it in the context of the world of high finance, but at least they are trying to preserve their innocence and set a better example for corporate governance. It will be interesting to watch how well they adhere to their principles under the pressures of a public market and intense scrutiny.

Rather than try to reverse the outsourcing wave, the best way for America to fend off foreign competition is to invent technologies, according to a news.com special report.