] After many postponements, the trial for DragonCon founder
] and science fiction writer Ed Kramer, accused of
] molesting three teenage boys, is scheduled to begin in
] May.
]
] A trial date has been deferred several times since Kramer
] was arrested in almost four years ago. Most recently, the
] case was postponed in November after a third boy came
] forward with accusations of sexual abuse and
] Kramer's attorneys asked for a continuance. A new
] date has been set for May 3, prosecutors said Wednesday.

I look forward to seeing this resolved.

DragonCon founder's trial to start in May

] Plait has two words for the latest claims of alien
] objects on Mars. The first is "garbage." The second and
] more scientific word is "pareidolia." This is the same
] phenomenon that makes us see animals or other familiar
] objects in clouds.
]
] "It's pretty common," Plait said of pareidolia. "Just a
] few months ago, a water spot on my shower curtain took on
] the uncanny form of the face of Vladimir Lenin." Plait
] took a picture of the liquid Lenin and uses it illustrate
] his contention that, though objects on the surface of
] Mars can sometimes take on interesting shapes, they are
] just a bunch of rocks.

I can definately appreciate where he is coming from. I'm the founder of a paranormal research group. There are people that will SWEAR they see faces in leaves and everything they look at and it pisses me off because they make the ones doing real research all look like we are nuts. -LB

War of the words: Scientist attacks alien claims

] NEW DELHI, India. Secretary of State Colin Powell
] said here Tuesday that outsourcing U.S. companies
] hiring workers abroad to take the place of U.S. employees
] is "a reality of the 21st century," but that India
] should do more to offset the loss of U.S. jobs by opening
] its market to American goods.

TRANSLATION - "Its an election year and I'm just anoteer stooge trying to drum up the black vote for the GOP - just like I did back in 2000. This is a desperate plea to refrain from taking more votes from my boss till after November." -LB

Powell prods India on outsourcing

] All about shoelaces and shoelace knots, including my "Ian
] Knot", the
]
] World's Fastest Shoelace Knot (now celebrating it's 21st
] anniversary!).

/me thinks Ian needs to get outside more often. -LB

Ian's Shoelace Site

] MADRID, Spain - (KRT) - In a stunning upset triggered by
] last week's terror attacks, Spanish voters on Sunday
] dumped the nation's ruling party, which has been a
] staunch supporter of the United States in the war in
] Iraq.

Something about the timing of this smells funny...

KansasCity.com - The Kansas City Star, breaking local news, sports, entertainment, business

] On Sunday, Putin was helped by overwhelmingly positive
] coverage on Russia's state-controlled nationwide
] television stations, giving his competitors little
] opportunity to reach voters.
]
]
] Such media coverage drew criticism from Putin's
] opponents, international observers and U.S. officials,
] who said it gave the Russian president an unfair
] advantage.
]
]
] "You've got to let candidates have all access to the
] media that the president has," U.S. Secretary of State
] Colin Powell told "Fox News Sunday."
]
]
] "It's not entirely clear to me why they go out of their
] way to keep opposition candidates from fully
] participating in the electoral process," said Powell, who
] added that this does not mean there is yet cause to worry
] that democracy in Russia is crumbling.
]
]
] Putin's campaign manager, Dmitry Kozak, shot back on
] Sunday that democracy in the United States is far from
] perfect.

Touché.

Putin's victory criticized by foes

] The Justice Department investigation that criticized FBI
] agents for taking items from the World Trade Center site
] also found that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and a
] high-ranking FBI official kept items from the Sept. 11
] attack scenes.
]
] The final investigatory report said the Justice
] Department inspector general confirmed that Rumsfeld
] ''has a piece of the airplane that flew into the
] Pentagon.'' The Associated Press obtained a copy of the
] report Friday.

Thats smart Rummy. Really. -LB

Rumsfeld kept plane piece from 9/11

] The government's top expert on Medicare costs was told
] not to tell key lawmakers about cost estimates that could
] have torpedoed the White House-backed Medicare
] prescription-drug plan.
]
] Richard Foster, the chief actuary for the Centers for
] Medicare and Medicaid Services, told colleagues last June
] that he would be fired if he revealed a number higher
] than some lawmakers said they would approve.
]
] When the House of Representatives passed the
] controversial benefit by five votes in November, the
] White House was embracing an estimate by the
] Congressional Budget Office that it would cost $395
] billion in the first 10 years.
]
] But for months the administration's analysts in the
] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had concluded
] that the drug benefit could cost upward of $100 billion
] more than that.

[ So, they lied. Again. And not in a pseudo-mistruth, beating-around-the-bush kind of way. In an outright, unprincipled, we-need-this-political-victory-at-all-costs kind of way. The bill passed by 5 votes. More than 5 people would have jumped ship had they known the number was closer to $500 B than $400 B. It's stunning how much total bullshit this administration is willing to shovel.
Also, on the heels of all this indignation over Kerry calling them a bunch of liars, this couldn't be better timing. See, dammit, you *are* liars. Bush's people lied, conspired to get a bill passed under false cost estimates, all while the main administrator was interviewing for private sector jobs (which he eventually got, jumping the HHS ship). Completely outrageous. -k]

Charlotte Observer | 03/12/2004 | Medicare cost expert muzzled

] The Spirit rover on Mars took the first picture of Earth
] ever made from the surface of another planet. It also did
] a little astronomy, imaging bright stars.
]
] It also spotted what could be a Viking Orbiter spacecraft
] or a meteor -- scientists aren't sure which.
]
] The photo of Earth shows the planet as a bright dot above
] the horizon about an hour before sunrise. The image is
] not in color, though scientists say if a human stood in
] the same spot and looked earthward, home would probably
] appear pale blue.

-LB

Mars rovers see Earth, moons and stars

] Citing problems in last week's primary election, two
] leading senators Thursday asked the secretary of state to
] decertify the use of touch-screen voting systems for the
] upcoming November election.
]
] "California has a lemon law which protects consumers if
] they buy an automobile that doesn't work. So far,
] electronic voting in California is a lemon. It needs to
] be fixed," said Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine.
]
] Electronic voting machines have been controversial almost
] since their invention. Some computer scientists say the
] systems leave elections vulnerable to hackers, while
] other critics say that because most electronic voting
] terminals do not produce paper records, there's no way to
] ensure accurate recounts.
]
] There's also a concern that system problems in California
] could lead to voter confusion like that surrounding the
] 2000 presidential election in Florida.
]
] In the March 2 statewide election, where 14 counties used
] touch-screen voting systems, the number of system
] failures was "alarming," said Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland.

Lets hope this starts a domino effect trend into other states. -LB

USATODAY.com - Calif. senators want decertification of e-vote systems