] President Bush plans a major policy speech next week in
] which he'll promote a new space initiative, senior
] administration officials said Thursday.
]
] Bush will lay out his "vision for expanding the space
] program," which is expected to include long-term moves
] for manned missions to the moon and an eventual manned
] mission to Mars, an official said. NASA's target for a
] moon mission is 2018.

WOW! The Bush Administration is finally going to do something I AGREE with! (Though I still would vote for Daffy Duck before I'd ever vote W)

But the time table for a return to the moon - 2018 - is rediculous IMO. We should be back on the moon within a decade (did it before) and shooting for Mars within 20 years.

Then again, thats probably just the ole' biological clock reminding me that I'll be 50 in 2018 - almost a half century since "One small step for man..." I'd really like people to be on mars before I visit my friendly neighborhood undertaker.

LB

Bush to seek manned flights to moon, Mars

] Visitors to the United States with visas will be greeted
] with a demand for fingerprints and photographs Monday as
] a government program intended to fight terrorism takes
] effect.
]
] The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says the goal of
] the US VISIT program is to track the millions of people
] who come to the United States every year on business,
] student and tourist visas -- and to use the information
] as a tool against terrorists.
]
] US-VISIT stands for United States Visitor and Immigrant
] Status Indicator Technology.

Don't you just get warm fuzzies all over everytime you are reminded you're living in a police state???

LB

Program to fingerprint U.S. visitors starts - Jan. 4, 2004

] "The Lord has just blessed him," Robertson said of Bush.
] "I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of
] it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or
] bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and
] God's blessing him."

I hope some of Pats followers take his advice and make largish contributions to Bush-whackers campaignn... then try to sue Robertson for fraud if W loses in November.

LB

Robertson: God says it's Bush in a 'blowout' in November

What was not expected, and most welcome, was the emphasis on civil liberties and the commission's reminder that these liberties and security concerns are not mutually exclusive.

Terrorism and Liberty

Decius wrote:
] ] Libya wants to solve all problems and we want to focus on
] ] development and advancing our country. This (weapons)
] ] programme does not benefit our people or country... We
] ] want to have ties with America and Britain because this
] ] is in the interest of our people.
]
] Saddam's capture has overshadowed two other major wins for the
] administration this week. The first was Iran's agreement to
] allow inspections of it's nuclear facilities. The second was
] Libya's disarmament agreement. In the wake of the Iraq war a
] number of our enemies have decided that opposing us is counter
] productive.

Either that or they just think Bin Laden's methods are more successful.

RE: BBC NEWS | Africa | World reaction to Libya's decision

] Wal-Mart is recalling a candle gift set collection
] because paint used on the candles could pose a fire
] hazard.
]
] The company, which hasn't heard any reports of injuries,
] is recalling 69,804 units of the Snow House Candle gift
] set; 29,064 units of the Snowman Candle gift set; and
] 62,428 units of the Snowflake Candle gift set.

BURN!!

TheHawaiiChannel - Money Watch 4 - Wal-Mart Recalls Candle Gift Collection

] OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Keiko, the killer whale made famous
] by the "Free Willy" movies, has died in Norwegian coastal
] waters where he remained after millions of dollars and a
] decade of work failed to coax him back to the open sea,
] his caretakers said early Saturday.
]
] The whale, who was 27, died Friday afternoon after the
] sudden onset of pneumonia in the Taknes fjord. He was old
] for an orca in captivity, though wild orca live an
] average of 35 years.
]
] David Phillips, executive director of the San
] Francisco-based Free Willy-Keiko Foundation, said Keiko
] had been in good health but started showing signs of
] lethargy and loss of appetite on Thursday.
]
] "This is a long sad day for us," Phillips said.

CNN.com - 'Free Willy' whale, Keiko, dies - Dec. 12, 2003

Congress, with only a limited debate, has given the Bush administration a green light for the biggest revitalization of the country's nuclear weapons program since the end of the Cold War.

##################################

HEY GEORGE - EAT ANOTHER PRETZEL, WILL YA???

LB

A new era of nuclear weapons / Bush's buildup begins with little debate in Congress

] Commentator Rush Limbaugh resigned Wednesday night from
] ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown amid a firestorm that erupted
] over the controversial statements he made this past
] weekend about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan
] McNabb.
]
] Later Wednesday, the National Enquirer and New York Daily
] News reported that Limbaugh was under investigation in
] Florida for illegally buying and abusing prescription
] painkillers.

LMAO!!!

] "My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media
] and were not racially motivated. I offered an opinion,"
] Limbaugh said in a statement released by ESPN. "This
] opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I
] regret.
]
] "I love NFL Sunday Countdown and do not want to be a
] distraction ... Therefore, I have decided to resign," he
] said.
]
] "We accept his resignation and regret the circumstances
] surrounding this," said George Bodenheimer, president of
] ESPN and ABC Sports.
]
] Limbaugh said Sunday that McNabb received undeserved
] credit for his team's success that came from media
] outlets with "social concern" and "very desirous that a
] black quarterback do well."

Who the hell at ESPN woke up one day and decided "Ya know, America isn't subjected to enough of this blow-hard on the airwaves as it is. Lets expand his soap box and make him a sports commentator."

Weird.

LB

Limbaugh quits NFL show amid race flap

] In a hotly contested lawsuit before a federal appeals
] court, two peer-to-peer companies are about to gain a
] vast army of allies: America's librarians.
]
] The five major U.S. library associations are planning to
] file a legal brief Friday siding with Streamcast Networks
] and Grokster in the California suit, brought by the major
] record labels and Hollywood studios. The development
] could complicate the Recording Industry Association of
] America's efforts to portray file-swapping services as
] rife with spam and illegal pornography.
]
] According to an attorney who has seen the document, the
] brief argues that Streamcast--distributor of the Morpheus
] software--and Grokster should not be shut down. It asks
] the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the April
] decision by a Los Angeles judge that dismissed much of
] the entertainment industry's suit against the two
] peer-to-peer companies.
]
] Among the groups signing the brief are the American
] Library Association (ALA), the Association of Research
] Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries, the
] Medical Library Association and the Special Libraries
] Association. The American Civil Liberties Union, in one
] of the group's first forays into copyright law, has
] drafted the brief opposing the Motion Picture Association
] of America (MPAA) and the Recording Industry Association
] of America (RIAA).

Librarians to the rescue!

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