For this coming year:

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind always be at your back,
May the rain fall soft upon your fields,
And till we meet again
May the grog flow plentiful and the mutton be tender.

I hope that all your dreams for this new year come true.
But,
If they do not,
Remember,
It's our dreams that keep us young and spunky.
When you give up your dreams
You become old and cranky.
Keep on stayin' spunky!

Keep on thinking free

Round and round we go,
When we will stop
Nobody knows!

Sierra Club readers rank Bush Administration's 2003 attacks on the environment

The Sierra Club - sierraclub.com - 12/31/03

1. MERCURY RISING - Issued public health warnings to pregnant women and children about mercury after announcing policy changes to triple amount of mercury pollution allowed from power plants.
2. SUPER DUPED - Became first administration to support shifting burden of Superfund toxic waste cleanups from polluters to taxpayers.
3. SOOTY SANTA - Dismantled provision of Clean Air Act that requires oldest, dirtiest power plants and refineries to curb soot and smog pollution.
4. BACK IN BLACKOUT - Proposed a national Energy Bill that did nothing to reduce dependence on foreign oil, repair or address antiquated electricity grid, or protect special places from oil and gas drilling.
5. DRILLING WILDERNESS - Opened nearly 9 million pristine acres in Northwest Alaska to the oil and gas industry for exploration and drilling.
6. STONEWALLING, BIG TIME (tied)- Continued to withhold documents from secret meetings between Bush/Cheney Energy Task Force and energy industry lobbyists.
7. DON'T AX, DON'T TELL (tied) - Promoted a wildfire policy that expanded commercial logging in the backcountry but did little to protect people where they live.
8. NEXT STOP, SHINOLA - Allowed untreated sewage to be blended with treated sewage, cut funding for local sewage treatment, and didn't require health officials to warn public about sewage in water.
9. CRITICAL CONDITION - Obliterated the process of critical habitat designation for imperiled wildlife under the Endangered Species Act.
10. COP OFF - Continued pattern of willful negligence for enforcement of even basic clean water and clean air laws.
11. POST 9/11 LIES - Discovered by EPA Inspector General to have lied about post 9/11 environmental health hazards near Ground Zero.
12. ROAD WARRIOR - Expanded the legal loophole that allows obnoxious road claims through federally protected wilderness, national parks, and public lands.
13. HOG WASH - Secretly negotiated backroom deal to exempt giant animal factories from laws governing air and toxic pollution.
14. POLLUTED LOGIC - Refused to classify industrial carbon emissions, linked to global warming, as an official pollutant under the Clean Air Act.
15. HOT AIR - Proposed fantasy hydrogen power initiative to improve auto fuel efficiency rather than promoting more proven technologies like gas-electric hybrids.
16. ESTATE TOX - Ended a 25-year ban on the sale of PCB-laden real estate.

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16211

From Westword:
Rich in wildlife and natural resources, the Roan Plateau survived the last energy boom. Will this one destroy it?
By Alan Prendergast
The stark shale cliffs rise north of the interstate, towering over the town of Rifle. From below, the 3,500-foot stone pillars look forbidding and lifeless, like books placed on a shelf for show. But to Joe Clugston, there's nothing dead about the geologic upheaval looming over his home -- not yet, anyway.
The Article

Brett Hull isn't the only man in the game with something to say. From Paul Kariya to Bill Wirtz to Alpo Suhonen, here's a selection of the year's most interesting and revealing hockey quotes.

http://proicehockey.about.com/b/a/052242.htm

Support Proper Judicial Review for Extradition Requests: The U.S. Senate may soon be asked to ratify a treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom that would weaken long-standing protections against politically motivated extradition requests.
Under this new treaty -- crafted in part by Attorney General Ashcroft -- the Administration would have expanded powers to approve the extradition to the United Kingdom of an American citizen or foreign guest. The proposed treaty weakens due process protections that ensure an extradition request is lawful and is not a pretext for punishment on account of race, religion, nationality or political opinion.
The proposed treaty would allow, for example, Irish-Americans and others to be extradited because they disagree with the U.K. government's policies in Ireland -- without having any ability to challenge whether the charges were politically motivated in an American court.
Take Action. Urge your Senators to reject ratification of the proposed treaty.
Click here to get more information and to send a free fax to your Senators: http://www.aclu.org/NationalSecurity/NationalSecurity.cfm?ID=14624&c=24

A Hillarious Article In Westword - Cross-Dress for Success: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the show that transforms sloth-like macho men into burgeoning metrosexuals, received the seal of approval from American television audiences this year..
Imagine how much more exciting life would be if, say, Governor Bill Owens did his budget slashing while garbed in cute little capris. Or if Mayor John Hickenlooper occasionally addressed the Denver City Council from behind a silky set of one-inch lashes...
http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-01-08/sidebar.html/1/index.html

E-Ballots: Will Your Vote Count?: Controversy surrounds new e-voting systems set for wide use in 2004 elections. http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,114032,tk,wb010504x,00.asp

The NHL Entertainment Rankings: Which NHL teams provide the most amusement for your buck? The fun teams are not always the winners, and the winners are often not much fun. So forget the standings and the final score. When it comes to thrills, chills and spills, which NHL teams deliver the best value for a $150 ticket or an evening in front of the tube?
http://proicehockey.about.com/cs/nhlnotebook/a/entertain_rank.htm

Mission Control Alerts Station Crew to Slow Air Leak: The international space station is experiencing a slow, steady drop in air pressure, and American and Russian flight controllers are investigating possible causes of the leak. Mission Control notified astronaut Michael Foale and cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri about the leak just before their bedtime late Monday afternoon. 'There's no action for you at this time and no immediate concerns,' Mission Control assured the two men. 'We'll continue to investigate this on the next shift and we may have some actions for you tomorrow [Jan. 6th].'
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/exp8_update_040105a.html

Anonymity complete GUIDE: Nowadays, everyone wants privacy on the web, because no matter where you go, someone could be watching you. Someone like your employer, someone trying to hack your system, companies gathering all your info to sell to yet other companies, or even the government, may be on your track while you peacefully surf the web. Thus, anonymity on the web means being able tu use all of its services with no concern about someone snooping on your data.
http://www.governmentsecurity.org/articles/AnonymitycompleteGUIDE.php

FYI, I went down on the bike yesterday morning and thus I have been stuck at home mending some ribs. It is comfortable to sit and that is about it. This has given me lots of time to cruise the information highway!

I.M.F. Says U.S. Debts Threaten World Economy: Excessive fiscal deficits in the US could hurt the long-term sustainability of the American and global economies, the International Monetary Fund warned.
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3377795.stm
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/08/business/08FUND.html?th

Warming May Threaten 37% of Species by 2050 : In the first study of its kind, researchers in a range of habitats including northern Britain, the wet tropics of northeastern Australia and the Mexican desert said yesterday that global warming at currently predicted rates will drive 15 to 37 percent of living species toward extinction by mid-century.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A63153-2004Jan7.html

Wraps come off solo record plane: Richard Branson and Steve Fossett have unveiled the plane which will attempt the first solo-piloted non-stop trip around the world without re-fuelling.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3380137.stm

Feds seek wiretap access via VoIP: In pursuing "criminals, terrorists and spies," the FBI and the Justice Department are renewing their efforts to listen in on voice conversations carried across the Internet.
http://news.com.com/2100-7352_3-5137344.html

Study: Wi-Fi weaving its way into homes: An estimated 50 million homes in Europe, the United States and Asia will have Wi-Fi connections by 2007, according to new data released Wednesday.
http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-5136533.html

"Year after year, a few dozen Washington consultants make the great majority of political ads. They look the same, they sound the same – even the actors seem familiar. Perhaps as a result, voters tune out, even when there are critically important messages to convey.
For the last three years, President Bush's policies have ransacked the environment, put our national security at risk, damaged our economy, and redistributed wealth from the middle class to the very wealthiest Americans. Yet thanks to a complacent media, the President has managed to hide behind a carefully constructed "compassionate" image. As the 2004 election nears, it's crucial that voters understand what President Bush's policies really mean for our country. And to do that, we need creative new ads that clearly show what's at stake." - bushin30seconds.org

Take some time and go check out these ads made by people like you and me. It is a political advertising contest sponsored by moveon.org voter fund, part of moveon.org. These folks put some time into them and they are worth watching.

Created a cycling slideshow from the few pictures I took this summer. - Keep Pedalin'

U.S. to Push Airlines for Passenger Records
Travel Database to Rate Security Risk Factors

Despite stiff resistance from airlines and privacy advocates, the U.S. government plans to push ahead this year with a vast computerized system to probe the backgrounds of all passengers boarding flights in the United States.

The government will compel airlines and airline reservations companies to hand over all passenger records for scrutiny by U.S. officials, after failing to win cooperation in the program's testing phase. The order could be issued as soon as next month. Under the system, all travelers passing through a U.S. airport are to be scored with a number and a color that ranks their perceived threat to the aircraft.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8504-2004Jan11.html

Tom Toles:


Tony Auth:

A Free Service of the Non-Proliferation Project, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The Faulty Weapons Estimates - (New York Times - Editorial) - Sunday, January 11
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/11/opinion/11SUN1.html

There seems little doubt that the Bush administration's prime justification for invading Iraq — the fear that Saddam Hussein harbored weapons of mass destruction — was way off base. Nine months of fruitless searching have made that increasingly clear.

But last week three new reports cast further doubt on the administration's reckless rush to invade Iraq. Taken together, they paint a picture far different from the one presented to Americans early last year. They depict a world in which Saddam Hussein, though undeniably eager to make Iraq a threatening world power, was far from any serious steps to do that. The reports strengthen our conviction that whatever threat Iraq posed did not require an immediate invasion without international support. And they underline the importance of finding out how far the Bush administration's obsession with the Iraqi dictator warped the American intelligence reports that did so much to convince Congress and the public that the attack was justified.

The World Just Got Safer. Give Diplomacy the Credit - (Joseph Cirincione, Washington Post Outlook Piece) - Sunday, January 11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5046-2004Jan9.html

In the past few weeks we have witnessed remarkable changes in some of the most difficult and dangerous global nuclear proliferation threats. Rather than heading toward military conflicts, the United States seems to be moving toward negotiated solutions that could end the nascent nuclear weapons programs in Iran, Libya and possibly also North Korea.

It is unclear whether these breakthroughs, which are still tentative but hold extraordinary promise, are the result of the American success in Iraq or of our failures there. That is, have we been able to work out deals with Iran and Libya, two of the most difficult regimes in the world, because they feared that they were next in the Bush administration's cross hairs, or because the United States is so tied down in Iraq that the administration finds it necessary to seek diplomatic solutions?

Keeping a Nuke Peddler in Line - (Jon B. Wolfsthal, Los Angeles Times Op-Ed) - Sunday, January 11
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-op-wolfsthal11jan11,0,4239508.story?coll=la-news-comment-opinions

It's been a poorly kept secret for several years that Pakistan helped develop nuclear programs in Iran, North Korea and probably in Libya. For the United States, however, Pakistan's help in the war on terror has been more important than its peddling of nuclear technology to rogue states. As a result, Islamabad has felt no significant U.S. pressure to impose tighter controls on Pakistani nuclear experts, expertise or equipment. But as evidence of Pakistan's role in nuclear proliferation mounts, that's no longer an acceptable trade-off. A country that arrests terrorists one day and sells nuclear technology the next is not contributing to greater U.S. security.

After Sept. 11, 2001, news reports revealed that two Pakistani scientists had direct contacts with Osama bin Laden while he was operating in Afghanistan. Investigators later alleged that Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, had traveled almost a dozen times to North Korea to help Pyongyang develop a uranium-enrichment program. And International Atomic Energy Agency officials reported that uranium-enrichment equipment inspected in Iran was identical to that found in Pakistan. Now, Pakistani officials confirm that several of the country's top nuclear experts are being questioned for providing nuclear technologies to other countries. And there is a growing possibility that Libya's nuclear program, which Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi recently pledged to shut down, bears Pakistan's nuclear signature.

U.S. to Send India Nuclear, Space Technology - (Peter Slevin, Washington Post) - Tuesday, January 13
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11369-2004Jan12.html

President Bush pledged yesterday to help India with its nuclear energy and space technology in return for India's promise to use the assistance for peaceful purposes and to help block the spread of dangerous weapons.

A series of reciprocal steps is designed to produce stricter Indian controls over the spread of weapons and technology, in return for expertise and supplies India has long sought from the United States, where a succession of wary U.S. administrations has refused to approve sales.

The WMD Road to Damascus - (Jim Geraghty, National Review Online) - Monday, January 12
http://www.nationalreview.com/geraghty/geraghty200401120834.asp

It's the question that has dominated the postwar Iraq debate: Where are Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction? Do they exist, or did none remain in Iraq's arsenal after they were used on the Kurds? If they do, why have American inspection teams not found them in the nearly yearlong period since the war ended? One of the most troubling and intriguing theories has been the idea that Hussein smuggled them to Syria or some other nation before the war began. Now Nizar Nayyouf, an exiled Syrian journalist now living in Paris, claims to have contact with a Syrian military intelligence official who is confirming that theory.

The idea of Syria taking Iraq's weapons is theoretically possible, but highly unlikely, says Joseph Cirincione, senior associate and director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "We got into a lot of trouble in Iraq by listening to exiles and dissidents," he says, speculating that some dissidents may exaggerate or invent claims for attention, money, asylum, or influence. He says that he doesn't want to dismiss an exile's reports that Syria has Iraq's weapons, but that he would want to see a great deal more supporting evidence before considering this source credible.

For past stories and further proliferation resources, see the Project's web site: www.ProliferationNews.org

Robert DeNiro's SNL Opening
Be on the lookout for these terrorists:
I'Bin Pharteen, Shaif Hirbolls, I-zheet M'Drarz and I'stiqa M'Diqin
(warning: it's outloud and hilarious)
http://www.jillsjokeline.com/snl.html

I added a couple new pages to the library yesterday:
Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy and
Deep Thoughts by Kids
Check them out if and when you get time and I hope you enjoy.

Laters, Pedro

"Although it is trendy among teens like myself to pursue the opposite opinion, I admire President Bush because of his abilities to lead, and to do the right thing. He repairs the economy not by introducing new regulations and increasing business costs, but instead uses fundamental economic principles and by reducing taxes. Furthermore, his unwavering stance on terror not only makes my fellow Americans and I safe, but gives a sense of security to the world as well. Bush in '04! "

-- Derek Tam of Sacramento, CA

State of the Union - The Atlantic's annual survey, with reports on the economy, society, and governance.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2004/01/index.htm#sotu
=>Losts of reading material here. Way to much to even try to comment on.

NASA Cancels Trip to Supply Hubble, Sealing Early Doom - Savor those cosmic postcards while you can. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration decreed an early death yesterday to one of its flagship missions and most celebrated successes, the Hubble Space Telescope.
In a midday meeting at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., two days after President Bush ordered NASA to redirect its resources toward human exploration of the Moon and Mars, the agency's administrator, Sean O'Keefe, told the managers of the space telescope that there would be no more shuttle visits to maintain it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/17/science/17HUBB.html

Why Hubble is being dropped - Without doubt the Hubble Space Telescope is one of the most important telescopes ever built. Its clear view of the Cosmos, above the turbulent and distorting atmosphere, has changed our understanding of the Universe in which we live.
Its science is remarkable, its images iconic and it had much more to give. So why is it being abandoned?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3406079.stm
=>What ever the reasons are, this is a sad day for science all around. One thing not widely being reported is that there are hundreds of millions of dollars of equipment that has been built and is ready to fly that will never make it to Hubble. This includes two $60 million dollar cameras build by a Boulder firm. A sad waste of money and resources.

Woke up way to early this morning and spent a couple hours perusing the JPL web site and all the Mars Rover info. Downloaded quite a few images from their press library. There are lots of cool pics to be had. The detail of some of the photographs is incredible. Pretty amazing when you consider that the info is traveling over 35 million miles to get here.

(Sports Network) - Vesa Toskala made 32 to saves to help the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on Saturday.

The game was a contest between two division leaders, as San Jose holds a sizeable lead in the Pacific Divsion, while Colorado is tied with Vancouver atop the Northwest Division standings.

John-Michael Liles notched the lone goal for the Avalanche, who had their four-game win streak snapped. David Aebischer turned aside 22 shots for Colorado, which lost for just the second time in their last 10 games (8-1-0-1).

Liles has two goals and two assists in his last four games while Alex Tanguay, who had an assist, has recorded four goals and nine assists in his last 13

The Avs also had to play without one of their best players, as Peter Forsberg missed the game after tweaking his groin before the game. Forsberg has been tearing up the league lately, posting points in eight-straight games -- the longest current scoring streak in the NHL. The Swedish center has five goals and 11 assists in those eight contests.

However, San Jose was without its two leading scorers, as Patrick Marleau and Marco Sturm were scratched with ankle and chest injuries, respectively.

The Avalanche, who completed a three-game homestand on Saturday night, begin a four-game road trip in Tampa on Monday.

Game Notes

I saw an amazing show by David Bowie at the Fillmore Auditorium on Monday night (01/19). It started with Macy Grey opening the show and then David put on a full energy 2+ hour show. It was great to see him in the small setting (3600 concert goers) and he left just about everyone speechless. Not bad for a guy who is 57! Just an amazing show is all I can say, just amazing.

The Reviews:
RockyMountainNews
Sometimes fans just have to stare at a musician and wonder to themselves "How do they do it?" It's hard even for musicians to explain where their inspiration comes from. At times it seems as much a mystery to them as it is to the rest of us.

After a bit of a lull that still produced some notable work, David Bowie has found himself at another creative peak. He's 57, he's more than three decades into his career, yet he's able to leave fans ecstatic and nearly speechless. Bowie's explanation is that his touring band is simply playing very well at the moment.
more

DenverPost
Lasting 30-plus years in the music industry is nearly impossible. Most who have endured the decades did so by relying on nostalgia and not pushing what got them there in the first place, and the resulting situation is sticky, especially when seeing these acts "Live in Concert."

The musicians play what made them famous in the '70s while occasionally, almost shamed, sneaking in a new track every now and then. Try watching Peter Frampton live. It's saddening. It makes you question his relevance and your taste. But this is what makes David Bowie so extraordinary.
more

The Daily Camera
On Monday night at the Fillmore Auditorium, Bowie took the stage as himself, both literally and figuratively: there were no appearances by Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke or any other of the rocker's mythical musical disguises.

And after years of genre-hopping, Bowie's all but abandoned his dalliances with drum 'n' bass, new wave, blue-eyed soul and industrial sounds. The once shiftless rocker has, over the course of his last couple of records, honed in on a mature, art-rock sound that can be every bit as captivating as anything he's done.
more

The Set List
01 Rebel Rebel
02 New Killer Star
03 Reality
04 She'll Drive The Big Car
05 Hang On To Yourself
06 Cactus
07 All The Young Dudes
08 China Girl
09 Fantastic Voyage
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 Days
12 The Man Who Sold The World
13 Hallo Spaceboy
14 Sunday
15 Under Pressure
16 Life On Mars?
17 Changes
18 Fame
19 Never Get Old
20 Panic In Detroit
21 Ashes To Ashes
22 White Light, White Heat
23 I'm Afraid Of Americans
24 Heroes

(Encore)
25 Bring Me The Disco King
26 Blue Jean
27 Five Years
28 Suffragette City
29 Ziggy Stardust

Some Photos

I have been thinking about Pres. Bushs' State of the Union Address the other night and I have to say this left me pretty cold. Not a very uplifting speech from my perspective. There was no real comment of the future of the country and what we need or have to do. I was not impressed.

He patted himself on the back real well about Iraq and then skimmed over David Kays report about the no existence of WMD's. Oh, and there was that big part about having to renew the Patriot Act so that our civil liberties remain in question. Oo, how about all those tax cuts for the rich that are helping drive the economy, but don't mention how we are still losing our jobs to other countries. I do kind of give him credit about slightly touching on how if we follow his budget in 5 years we will cut the deficit in half, just be sure not to mention how it is not at 500 Trillion Dollars and the World Bank is very concerned about how this could affect the world if we don't to anything about it.

By the way, what happened to those big plans about going to the moon and Mars? Why not bring that up? Ah, must be part of that discretionary spending we need to cut back on.

In Memoriam
Bob Keeshan
1927 - 2004

Who I knew growing up as
Captain Kangaroon
Died yesterday

Another notch in Bush's go to war cap, oops, no it's not. Doh!
David Kay said that he had concluded that Iraq did not have stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons at the start of the war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/24/politics/24WEAP.html?th

The ad CBS will not air

During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House. But you won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it.

Meanwhile, the White House and Congressional Republicans are on the verge of signing into law a deal which Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says is custom-tailored for CBS and Fox, allowing the two networks to grow much bigger. CBS lobbied hard for this rule change; MoveOn.org members across the country lobbied against it; and now the MoveOn.org ad has been rejected while the White House ad will be played. It looks an awful lot like CBS is playing politics with the right to free speech.

Of course, this is bigger than just the MoveOn.org Voter Fund. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) submitted an ad that was also rejected. We need to let CBS know that this practice of arbitrarily turning down ads that may be "controversial" – especially if they're controversial simply because they take on the President – just isn't right.

To watch the ad that CBS won't air and sign the petition to CBS to run these ads, go to: http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/

MoveOn.org will deliver the petition by email directly to CBS headquarters.

A week or so late, but still timeless ...



- Stuart Carlson

Put this Art Wolf image on the desktop today. It is The Chamonix Needles in Lac Blanc, France

Desktop Images

Citing Free Speech, Judge Voids Part of Antiterror Act
For the first time, a federal judge has struck down part of the sweeping antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act, joining other courts that have challenged integral parts of the Bush administration's campaign against terrorism.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/politics/27PATR.html

White House Is Less Certain Now About Iraq's Arms
The White House began to back away from its assertions that Iraq had illegal weapons, saying it now wants to compare prewar intelligence with what may be actually found.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/politics/27WEAP.html

Mr. Cheney, Meet Mr. Kay
The vice president still asserts that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, while the former inspector calls such assertions a fiasco.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/27/opinion/27TUE1.html

9/11 Panel Faults U.S. For Letting Hijackers In
The U.S. government fumbled repeated opportunities to stop many of the men responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks from entering the country, missing fraudulent passports and other warning signs that should have attracted greater scrutiny, according to a preliminary report released yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50466-2004Jan26.html

The Jobless Recovery
AS THEY AWAIT the results of the New Hampshire primary, Democrats should take a lesson from the nation's central bankers. Out on the campaign trail, the candidates (with the honorable exception of Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut) have been blaming the "jobless recovery" on President Bush, the trade system and the new phenomenon of "offshoring" service jobs to India. In rather less arresting tones, meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has been trying to explain why this blame is exaggerated. As Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday, the United States has lost jobs to foreigners before, yet it has always created others. The Fed committee that sets interest rates meets today and tomorrow, and will demonstrate one of the reasons why the new protectionism is misguided.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50822-2004Jan26.html

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
NEWS RELEASE: 2004-040 January 27, 2004

NASA memorialized the Apollo 1 crew -- Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee -- by dedicating the hills surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing site to the astronauts. The crew of Apollo 1 perished in flash fire during a launch pad test of their Apollo spacecraft at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., 37 years ago today.

"Through recorded history explorers have had both the honor and responsibility of naming significant landmarks," said NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe. "Gus, Ed and Roger's contributions, as much as their sacrifice, helped make our giant leap for mankind possible. Today, as America strides towards our next giant leap, NASA and the Mars Exploration Rover team created a fitting tribute to these brave explorers and their legacy."

Newly christened "Grissom Hill" is located 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) to the southwest of Spirit's position. "White Hill" is 11.2 kilometers (7 miles) northwest of its position and "Chaffee Hill" is 14.3 kilometers (8.9 miles) south-southwest of rover's position.

Lt. Colonel Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom was a U.S. Air Force test pilot when he was selected in 1959 as one of NASA's Original Seven Mercury Astronauts. On July 21, 1961, Grissom became the second American and third human in space when he piloted Liberty Bell 7 on a 15 minute sub-orbital flight. On March 23, 1965 he became the first human to make the voyage to space twice when he commanded the first manned flight of the Gemini space program, Gemini 3. Selected as commander of the first manned Apollo mission, Grissom perished along with White and Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.

Captain Edward White was a US Air Force test pilot when selected in 1962 as a member of the "Next Nine," NASA's second astronaut selection. On June 3, 1965, White became the first American to walk in space during the flight of Gemini 4. Selected as senior pilot for the first manned Apollo mission, White perished along with Grissom and Chaffee in the Apollo 1 fire. He is buried at his alma mater, the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.

Selected in 1963 as a member of NASA's third astronaut class, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Roger Chaffee worked as a Gemini capsule communicator. He also researched flight control communications systems, instrumentation systems, and attitude and translation control systems for the Apollo Branch of the Astronaut office. On March 21, 1966, he was selected as pilot for the first 3-man Apollo flight. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Va.

Images of the Grissom, White and Chaffee Hills can be found at: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mer2004/rover-images/jan-27-2004/captions/image-1.html

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Additional information about the project is available from JPL at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov and from Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., at http://athena.cornell.edu.

My roommate is famous now. Paula and her cockerspaniel, Mr. Green, made it on the internet.
http://www.javelinahunter.com/javelina_attacks_1_(cont).htm

Avalanche right wing Milan Hejduk, who recorded eight points and a +8 rating in four road games, has been named the NHL's Offensive Player of the week for the period ending Sunday, January 25.
Details

Pacific Dictates Droughts and Drenching
The cooler and drier conditions in Southern California over the last few years appear to be a direct result of a long-term ocean pattern known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, according to research presented recently at the 2004 meeting of the American Meteorological Society.
more...

To Reopen Monument, Cash Is Order of the Day
NEW YORK -- The Statue of Liberty, a worldwide symbol of this nation's freedom, remains shuttered and closed to visitors more than two years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
National Park Service officials say they cannot afford the estimated $5 million needed to build emergency exits and reopen the statue. So although tourists can ride a ferry across the harbor to Liberty Island, they cannot walk into the bronze monument, which has yellow police tape stretched around its perimeter.
more...

Kay Cites Evidence Of Iraq Disarming
U.S. weapons inspectors in Iraq found new evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime quietly destroyed some stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons in the mid-1990s, former chief inspector David Kay said yesterday.
The discovery means that inspectors have not only failed to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq but also have found exculpatory information -- contemporaneous documents and confirmations from interviews with Iraqis -- demonstrating that Hussein did make efforts to disarm well before President Bush began making the case for war.
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Bush Backs Away From His Claims About Iraq Arms
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — President Bush declined Tuesday to repeat his claims that evidence that Saddam Hussein had illicit weapons would eventually be found in Iraq, but he insisted that the war was nonetheless justified because Mr. Hussein posed "a grave and gathering threat to America and the world."
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9/11 Commission Says It Needs More Time
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 — The independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks announced on Tuesday that it was seeking an extension of its deadline to complete the investigation until at least July, raising the prospect of a public fight with the White House and a final report delivered in the heat of the presidential campaign.
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My God Is Your God
Let's get this straight: The god called variously "Allah," "Yahweh" and "God" are all one and the same.
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