] Kobe Bryant has met with Denver general manager Kiki
] Vandeweghe, opening up the possibility that the Lakers
] free agent could be moving his basketball home to the
] state where he will stand trial for sexual assault next
] month.

How convenient! "Kobe... we understand you have some legal preceedings here in Denver. What better way to save travel expenses then to sign with the Nuggets and relocate here?"-LB

AP Source: Nuggets GM meets with Kobe Bryant

] A previously unknown militant group in Iraq is
] threatening to kill the most-wanted terror suspect in
] that country: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
]
] The Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya said it
] received a taped statement from an organization that
] calls itself the Rescue Group warning al-Zarqawi and his
] followers to leave Iraq or face the consequences.
]
] One masked militant read a stamen denouncing the actions
] by al-Zarqawi and his followers as hurtful to Iraq,
] particularly the kidnapping of foreigners.
]
] The group has called for the killing of the
] Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi if he doesn't leave Iraq.
]
] Coalition officials blame al-Zarqawi for dozens of
] attacks on coalition forces and Iraqi civilians. The
] United States recently raised the bounty on his head to
] $25 million.
]
] Al-Zarqawi is also believed to be behind the beheading of
] two hostages in Iraq, an American and a South Korean.

Its about freaking time people in the middle east started taking counter terrorism matters into their own hands. -LB

Militant group threatens death for al-Zarqawi

] The United Nations is aiming to bring a "modern day
] epidemic" of junk e-mail under control within two years
] by standardizing legislation to make it easier to
] prosecute offenders, a leading expert said Tuesday.
]
] "(We have) an epidemic on our hands that we need to learn
] how to control," Robert Horton, the acting chief of the
] Australian communications authority, told reporters.
] "International cooperation is the ultimate goal."
]
] The International Telecommunications Union is hosting a
] meeting on spam in Geneva this week that brings together
] regulators from 60 countries as well as various
] international organizations, including the Council of
] Europe and the World Trade Organization.
]
] The U.N. agency said it would put forward examples of
] anti-spam legislation which countries can adopt to make
] cross-border cooperation easier. Many states currently
] have no anti-spamming laws in place, making it difficult
] to prosecute the international phenomenon.
]
] Top priority is "pornographic material ... that may come
] to the attention of children," said Horton, who is
] running the meeting. "I think it's time we did something
] formally about this. We will have to come to some sort of
] general understanding."

UN aims to bring spam under control within two years

IconoclasT wrote:
] LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- A California man who
] collected 1 million pennies for a bet is having a hard time
] cashing in on his $10,000 fortune.
]
] Ron England has amassed 3.6 tons of copper in his garage in
] the Los Angeles suburb of Granada Hills after making a bet
] with his brother 30 years ago that he could collect 1 million
] pennies.
]
] But neither the U.S. Mint, the U.S. Comptroller of Currency,
] coin collectors nor the local bank is interested in cashing in
] his stash -- at least without a charge.
]
] "I've been working seriously for the past two weeks to get rid
] of these pennies," England, 60, told the Los Angeles Daily
] News. "It's kind of frustrating. Nobody will take them without
] charging me."
]
] What's worse. England is still waiting for his brother to
] honor his side of the bet -- a meal in Paris.
]
] "I don't remember making the wager. Am I still good for it?
] I'm not going to answer that question," Russ England told the
] Daily News.

Lets see... what to do with 3.6 tons of pennies...

Tell the US mint that unless they take them, they are going to meet Mr. smelting pot...

Find an artist to turn them into some work of art...

Donate them in $100 lots to 100 different charities...

Bound to be more - c'mon get creative. -LB

RE: Penny for your thoughts? How about a million pennies?

janelane wrote:
] ] The Hubble Space Telescope has looked deep into the
] ] cosmic abyss and created a unique baby picture of the
] ] universe. Until now, images returned by Hubble showed
] ] galaxies as they appeared when they were cosmic
] ] youngsters. The new images reveal the galaxies as
] ] toddlers, in the midst of a period of rapid developmental
] ] changes.
]
] It's interesting to hear about the Hubble after so many years
] of it not being in the news.

Depends on where you get your news! ;) Hubble is the star at space.com and is mentioned on the science and tech pages of CNN and USAToday.com quite regularly. -LB

RE: Hubble Space Telescope Sees Where Time Began

k wrote:
] ] "It's not new physics nothing new has to be
] ] discovered, nothing new has to be invented from scratch,"
] ] he says. "If there are delays in budget or delays in
] ] whatever, it could stretch, but 15 years is a realistic
] ] estimate for when we could have one up."
] ]
] ] Edwards is not just some guy with an idea. He's head of
] ] the space elevator project at the Institute for
] ] Scientific Research in Fairmont, W.Va. NASA already has
] ] given it more than $500,000 to study the idea, and
] ] Congress has earmarked $2.5 million more.
] ]
] ] "A lot of people at NASA are excited about the idea,"
] ] said Robert Casanova, director of the NASA Institute of
] ] Advanced Concepts in Atlanta.
] ]
] ] Edwards believes a space elevator offers a cheaper, safer
] ] form of space travel that eventually could be used to
] ] carry explorers to the planets.
] ]
] ] Edwards' elevator would climb on a cable made of
] ] nanotubes - tiny bundles of carbon atoms many times
] ] stronger than steel. The cable would be about three feet
] ] wide and thinner than a piece of paper, but capable of
] ] supporting a payload up to 13 tons.
]
] [ I love space stuff, and the things i've read about space
] elevators all excite me to no end. I really want to see a
] viable plan. I want to blow my retirement funds on a trip to
] space. So, the scientists have 40 years, at the outside, to
] get it working... hop to! -k]

Here here. Spaceship One is very exciting, but $100,000 for a sub orbital? Don't think so. I want orbit - I want to VACATION in space for a few DAYS. I have a friend who did some parabola manuvers in a small plane with me on board, so I've experienced "weightlessness" (about 10 seconds each time) and it IS as much fun as it looks, but I wouldn't pay $100,000 for 3 minutes of that. Now a week in orbit might be worth $100k if you had the $$$, but I think if this elevator becomes a reality, you might eventually see a week jaunt in orbit for under $10,000. -LB

RE: Scientist sees space elevator in 15 years

] "It's not new physics nothing new has to be
] discovered, nothing new has to be invented from scratch,"
] he says. "If there are delays in budget or delays in
] whatever, it could stretch, but 15 years is a realistic
] estimate for when we could have one up."
]
] Edwards is not just some guy with an idea. He's head of
] the space elevator project at the Institute for
] Scientific Research in Fairmont, W.Va. NASA already has
] given it more than $500,000 to study the idea, and
] Congress has earmarked $2.5 million more.
]
] "A lot of people at NASA are excited about the idea,"
] said Robert Casanova, director of the NASA Institute of
] Advanced Concepts in Atlanta.
]
] Edwards believes a space elevator offers a cheaper, safer
] form of space travel that eventually could be used to
] carry explorers to the planets.
]
] Edwards' elevator would climb on a cable made of
] nanotubes - tiny bundles of carbon atoms many times
] stronger than steel. The cable would be about three feet
] wide and thinner than a piece of paper, but capable of
] supporting a payload up to 13 tons.

Scientist sees space elevator in 15 years

] Here's a story that isn't getting as much coverage as I
] think it should. Yesterday World Net Daily was reporting
] that in July George Bush will announce a sweeping new
] mental health initiative that will recommend mental
] health screening for every U.S. citizen.
]
] In 2002 Bush set up something called the New Freedom
] Commission on Mental Health. The goal was to study the
] U.S. mental health service delivery system. Soon the
] commission will deliver its report, complete with a
] suggestion that government schools would be in a "key
] position" to screen 52 million unfortunate children who
] attend government schools and the 6 million adults who
] work there. The commission is going to recommend that
] this screening be linked somehow with treatment ..
] including medications.
]
] Are you comfortable with the idea of your friendly local
] government school screening your child for mental
] problems, and then recommending or perhaps even requiring
] certain medications?
]
] Now .. without delving into details, here's something
] else you need to know. The commission will recommend
] something called The Texas Medication Algorithm Project
] (TAMP) as a model for the medical treatment of Americans,
] and government school students, found to be suffering
] from medical problems. There is evidently some
] relationship between huge pharmaceutical companies and
] TAMP. One of these companies, Eli Lilly, has some rather
] extensive relationships with George Bush. George Bush
] (41) was once a member of the Eli Lilly board of
] directors, and George Bush (43) appointed a Lilly chief
] executive to the Homeland Security Council.
]
] I'll have much more to say on this if and when the
] predicted initiative sees the light of day. For now,
] just consider the idea of your local government school
] screening your child for mental diseases. And also
] consider where and how you are going to receive your
] screening!

I agree with about half of what Boortz says - the other 50% is unabashed pandering to the right wing. Occasionally (like this instance), he trashes the GOP when they deserve it. -LB

boortz.com: SCREEN ME FOR WHAT?

] naturally caffeine-free coffee plant has been found
] growing wild in Ethiopia, heralding the prospect of a cup
] of freshly-ground arabica that will not keep you awake.
]
] Scientists in Brazil have discovered three arabica coffee
] plants that do not produce caffeine in their leaves or
] beans among a batch of 6,000 wild specimens originally
] collected in the late 1980s.
]
] The scientists believe the wild plants could be
] cultivated to produce their own caffeine-free beans, or
] could be cross-bred with other varieties of arabica
] coffee to introduce the natural caffeine-free trait into
] commercial crops.
]
] About 10 per cent of the coffee consumed in the world is
] processed to remove caffeine, a natural chemical linked
] with heart palpitations, raised blood pressure, anxiety,
] tremors, gastrointestinal upsets and insomnia. But the
] decaffeination process also removes organic compounds
] that can affect coffee's taste and aroma.
]
] The wild plants that lack caffeine were found by a team
] led by Paulo Mazzafera, professor of plant physiology in
] Brazil, whose study is published in the journal Nature.

Doesn't apply to most of us who need our caffeine fix, but for those forced to drink decaf, this might be good news. -LB

Caffeine-free coffee tree is discovered

Cool photo!

SpaceShipOne and chase jet form X Prize logo high above Mojave