] During the STS-87 mission, there was a change made on the
] external tank. Because of NASA's goal to use
] environmentally friendly products, a new method of
] "foaming" the external tank had been used for this
] mission and the STS-86 mission. It is suspected that
] large amounts of foam separated from the external tank
] and impacted the orbiter. This caused significant damage
] to the protective tiles of the orbiter. Foam cause damage
] to a ceramic tile?! That seems unlikely, however when
] that foam is combined with a flight velocity between
] speeds of MACH two to MACH four, it becomes a projectile
] with incredible damage potential.

I've also read that they could not dock with the ISS... Changing orbits on the fly is not, apparently, an easy thing to do. Makes sense if you think about it.

NASA article from 1997 describes tile damage from foam

] The space shuttle Columbia broke up as it descended over
] Texas Saturday toward a planned landing at Kennedy Space
] Center in Florida, showering debris across southeastern
] Texas and into Louisiana.

This might sound like a shitty thing to say, but I want to observe that this just doesn't seem as important as it did last time. Maybe its because I'm older. Maybe its because there has been so much bad news for the past few years that you don't really care anymore. You get numb after a while...

CNN.com - Columbia shuttle breaks up over Texas - Feb. 1, 2003

] Iraq will chair the United Nations' most important
] disarmament negotiating forum during the panel's May
] session.
] At the rules-minded United Nations, it's not a country's
] status with international weapons inspectors, but the
] letters in its name that determine which member state
] chairs the Conference on Disarmament.
] "The irony is overwhelming," a U.S. diplomat said.

Iraq to chair U.N. disarmament conference

] "I wanted to remind everyone that this 'old Europe' has
] resilience, and is capable of bouncing back," Mr. Mer
] told LCI television. "And it will show it, in time."
]
] "If you knew what I feel like telling him, to Mr. Rumsfeld
] ...," French Ecology Minister Roselyne Bachelot said on
] Europe-1 radio. She then stopped herself and said the
] word would be too offensive to publish.

The best thing about this story is the picture of Bush with his back turned. This is so well done that I almost find it humerous.

France/Germany pissed off about Rumsfeld comments

] When Al Jazeera expands its Arabic-language programming
] to offer an English-language website and eventually a
] full satellite broadcast, it could dramatically influence
] the way Americans perceive many Mideast issues.

Elonka recommended this article. I'm interested in these developments. I think Americans are too introspective. More intercommunication will encourage both sides to seek peaceful solutions. However, I think this is more important at the individual level then at the level of major news media.

GN Online: Comment: Al Jazeera can change American perspective

Downtown SF filled with people on a sunny day.

Helicopter Pictures of SF Demo : SF Indymedia

An nice collection of war protest pictures on this site.

SF Anti-War Protest Pictures

] Tens of thousands are gathering right now on Market
] Street in downtown San Francisco. I've ducked into my
] office just off of Market to compose this article for
] Memestreams.

Randy Bias reports live from the streets.

Jan. 18th San Francisco Protest - Tens of Thousands Gather

] Peace in a country like the Ivory Coast is a myth. It's
] tribe vs. tribe, religion vs. religion, till one side
] wipes out the other. And if that never happens, then the
] sneak attacks and small-time massacres will just go on and
] on. And if that seems terrible to you, try this thought on:
]
] Maybe they LIKE it.

An informative if also informal brief on the basic problems in Africa.

eXile #157 - War Nerd - Live from the Skeleton Coast - by Gary Brecher

] A poster depicting missiles hitting the U.S. Capitol
] building hangs on a wall of a shoe factory in Sinuiju,
] North Korea, in this Sept. 25, 2002 file photo. The
] isolated regime's bellicose rhetoric reached a new
] pitch in the past week, when North Korea escalated
] its nuclear standoff with Washington, warning of a
] 'Third World War,' 'a sea of fire' and a 'holy war'
] against the United States.

Wow, file this one right up there with the British Tube System's "Secure beneath the watchful eyes" poster under forgien propaganda items I wish I could get a copy of!

AP Photo - North Korea bombing US Capitol