] Spacecraft propulsion is used to change the velocity of
] spacecraft and artificial satellites, or more accurately,
] to provide delta-v. There are many different methods.

Wikipedia has great coverage of Spacecraft propulsion theories.

Spacecraft propulsion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

] A new means of propelling spacecraft being developed at
] the University of Washington could dramatically cut the
] time needed for astronauts to travel to and from Mars and
] could make humans a permanent fixture in space.
]
] In fact, with magnetized-beam plasma propulsion, or
] mag-beam, quick trips to distant parts of the solar
] system could become routine, said Robert Winglee, a UW
] Earth and space sciences professor who is leading the
] project.

Awesome!

Newswise: Plasma Beam would get people in Mars in 90 days

] 9:13 p.m. Responding to Kerry's thoughts on health care,
] Bush says, "I want to remind the people listening tonight
] that a plan is not a litany of complaints." The president
] plops down the line with the gleeful pause of someone
] dropping the "Draw 4" card in "Uno."

True, its mtv.com...not exactly the website I would turn to for politics (or music for that matter), but I did find this funny recap of the third debate on there that some of you may find humorous, so I figured I would share it:)

MTV.com - Choose or Lose - Headlines

] ...because, as the Spanish philospher Unamuno said, "At
] times, to be silent is to lie."
]
] ...One actually has to be something of a specialist, today,
] to even begin to grasp quite how fantastically, how
] baroquely and at once brutally fucked the situation of
] the United States has since been made to be.

It seems like he has a point to make but as yet he has not made it.

William Gibson is blogging again...

] Found the following links which all seem to point to the
] same company that is suspected of tearing up Democratic
] voter registration forms in Las Vegas. It has set up
] registration drives in Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan,
] Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Nevada and is accused of
] the same things in most if not all of these states.
] Sproul & Associates is a Republican consulting firm run
] by Nathan Sproul, former head of the Arizona Republican
] party and Arizona Christian Coalition.

The mainstream press seems to be picking this up. Lawsuits where filed today...

Daily Kos :: RNC funds voter supression efforts

] Rackspace Managed Hosting, the San Antonio-based company
] that manages two Indymedia servers seized by the US
] government last Thursday, said yesterday that the servers
] have been returned and are now available to go back
] online. Immediate access to the servers, which host
] Indymedia's Internet radio station and more than 20
] Indymedia websites, will be delayed so that the
] Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) can ensure that the
] servers are secure and take steps to preserve evidence
] for future legal action.

And just like that, the servers were back...

] A global map of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere has
] revealed the most precise view yet of pollution hotspots
] around the world.
]
] The map, based on 18 months%u2019 worth of satellite
] data, shows very high levels of NO2 above major European
] and North American cities and across much of north-east
] China. South-east Asia and Africa also have raised
] concentrations of the gas due to their burning of
] vegetation.

Article: World's pollution hotspots revealed from space�| New Scientist

] "The FBI can't pull the plug on more than 20 news
] websites -- our modern printing presses -- based on a
] secret proceeding at the request of a foreign government.
] This is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment,"
] said Kevin Bankston, EFF attorney and Equal Justice
] Works/Bruce J. Ennis Fellow. "As far as the Constitution
] is concerned, Indymedia has the same rights as any other
] news publisher. The government can't shut down the New
] York Times, and it can't shut down Indymedia."

[ A story to keep your eyes on... -k]

EFF: EFF Challenges Secret Government Order to Shut Down Media Websites

Acidus turns 24 on Friday. Party time!

Happy Birthday Acidus!

] One trench contains only women and children while another
] contains only men.
]
] The body of one woman was found still clutching a baby.
] The infant had been shot in the back of the head and the
] woman in the face.

Saddam's Kurdish nightmare.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Babies found in Iraqi mass grave