] So let’s see if I have this correct. Have an audience
] and be overtly critical of the government, lose your job,
] or at least be beaten into impotency. On the grand scale
] our first amendment rights are non-existent. Doesn’t
] it scare people one little bit that one of the most
] important and basic freedoms we have is being trounced
] right in front of their faces. Freedoms that American
] soldiers are dying for right now? Do tax cuts mean that
] much? Do party hard-liners honestly; have no problem with
] this kind of thing from an elected government? Do they
] just chalk it up historical corruption, governments have
] been corrupt forever, and nothing is going to change
] that now? Am I just a fringe lunatic that thinks this is
] inherently wrong and dangerous? I don’t know anymore.
] It seems as if conservatives and the general public are
] content to let this blatant violation of the Constitution
] go unchecked, as long as it is their party doing the
] violating.

Payback: The Bush Connection to Clear Channel Firing  Howard Stern; It's Worse than You Thought.

These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD -- part of a test conducted by the US government during it's dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950's. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the medico that jabbed him.

First drawing is done 20 minutes after the first dose (50ug)

An attending doctor observes - Patient chooses to start drawing with charcoal.

The subject of the experiment reports - 'Condition normal... no effect from the drug yet'.

Acid trip 1

]
] Today, a significant milestone was achieved by Scaled
] Composites: The first manned supersonic flight by an
] aircraft developed by a small company's private,
] non-government effort.

SpaceShipOne Breaks the Sound Barrier - Press Release 17 Dec 2003

] The check made by the crew found no changes either
] in the equipment section or the atmosphere of the
] station, which would have changed instantly if the
] station's skin were punctured, Gorbunov said.
]
] The sound might have come from some of the
] station's equipment, not a collision, he said.
] However, a spokesman for the Russian Space
] Forces, which focus on monitoring the Russian satellite
] fleet but also keep track of the space station, said the
] station collided with a piece of space junk.

Orbital debris is a hazard that we have yet to truly address or contend with in LEO as of this time - it will be interesting to see how this pans out. Speculating that orbital debris was the cause of the mysterious crunch, it would have to be moving at a very low relative speed NOT to cause a catastrophe.

Debris hits space station; no damage

] Shenzhou, a wonderful vehicle shuttling between the Earth
] and space
] From 1999 to 2003, China successfully launched five space
] ships, four unmanned and one manned, and achieved
] breakthrough in 13 key technologies including reentry
] lift control of manned spacecraft, emergency rescue, soft
] landing, GNC malfunction diagnosis, module separation and
] heat prevention. As a cross-century project of China in
] the hi-tech field, "Shenzhou" is of a superior general
] performance, which reaches the world advanced level in
] the 1990s.

An unintentionally hysterical description of China's "Magical Vessel."

The People's Daily needs to hire better translators.

Expert on technological advantages of 'Shenzhou' spacecraft, 'Long-March' carrier rocket

] Human space flight is not a luxury, and the People's
] Republic of China, above all others, seems to recognize
] that. The PRC is poised to launch its first astronauts,
] and with them launch potentially the most ambitious plan
] ever for humans in space.
]
] They have their eyes on the moon, Mars and beyond. The
] question for our country is: Do we cede the future of
] human space flight, and the future in general, to them or
] another nation?

Spaceflight is worth the risks - opinion from Jake Garn

] The recall involves about 6,000 of the single-rider,
] two-wheeled scooters that can travel up to 12 mph. The
] scooter uses gyroscopes to keep it upright, making it
] less likely to fall or be knocked over.
]
]
]
] But the CPSC said that scooters being operated with low
] battery power may not have enough power to remain
] upright, causing the rider to fall.

Yahoo! News - U.S. Issues Recall for Segway Scooters

] The first U.S. Air Force/Boeing "Delta IV Heavy" Evolved
] Expendable Launch Vehicle, a strong candidate to
] be the next U.S. manned launch vehicle, has been
] assembled here in preparation for rollout to Launch
] Pad 37B for several months of checkout before a
] demonstration flight in May 2004.

Our Next Manned Launch Vehicle? - AWST

] Lurch was born October 11, 1995 in Missouri, and came to
] live with me at 5 weeks of age. As he grew up, his horns
] grew very slowly! However, at about 2 years old it became
] increasingly apparent that something was going on with
] those horn bases and people began to take notice. At 3
] years old he was already the largest horn circumference
] known, but since he was actively growing I decided to
] wait on the Guinness certification.  Thinking he was done
] at 37.5 inches (he held that measurement for about a
] year) I went ahead and fulfilled the requirements for
] this prestigious award. Incredibly, he now has broken his
] own record! He measures 38 inches around  and is over 7
] feet tip to tip!  I guess it remains to be seen if he is
] done yet!

certificate

] BEVERLY HILLS (Reuters) - Calling himself a "smut
] peddler who cares," porn king Larry Flynt on Monday
] formally announced his bid for California governor but
] acknowledged that voters might not be able to stomach his
] sleazy background.

Yahoo! News - Flynt Bids for Calif. Gov. as Caring Smut Peddler