Yeah, Right, Whatever

A Slovak man trapped in his car under an avalanche freed himself by drinking 60 bottles of beer and urinating on the snow to melt it.... He had 60 half-litre bottles of beer in his car as he was going on holiday, and after cracking one open to think about the problem he realised he could urinate on the snow to melt it, local media reported.

Rescue teams found him drunk and staggering along a mountain path four days after his Audi car was buried in the Slovak Tatra mountains.

A man accused of leaving voice mail on the City Council president's phone saying "killing 100,000 people would get people's attention," was arrested Thursday, accused of making a bomb threat....

The message began, "Hi Elaine." A man who said his name was Albert Strickland left a cell phone number police traced to Jacksonville resident Albert Ray Strickland, 56. He was charged Thursday with threatening to discharge a destructive device -- a felony. No bomb was found in his Hyde Park home.

In the message, the man said Jacksonville didn't deserve the Super Bowl and said he wanted the mayor, city council and members of law enforcement to resign. He said police had tried to kill him several times. In the message, the man described himself as a scientist intent on stopping the Super Bowl, that he believed in the Big Bang theory and was "obsessed with the size it needs to be." The police report indicated that officers who interviewed Strickland said his voice matches that in the recorded message.

Strickland is being held at the Duval County jail and is scheduled for a first appearance Friday afternoon.

Mexican officials have repeatedly complained about Proposition 200, which went into effect Tuesday. The statewide measure denies most taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens and requires state workers to report applicants for such benefits who may not be eligible. It also requires anyone registering to vote in the state to show proof of citizenship and bring a government-issued ID to the polling place.

The bill seeks to forbid public assistance and voting rights to illegal immigrants. Huckabee says it "enflames those who are racist and bigots and makes them think there's a real problem'' when there is not...

Huckabee, also a Republican and a Baptist minister, said Arkansans should welcome hardworking immigrants of all races. He singled out Holt, who often talks of his strong Christian beliefs. The governor said "I drink a different kind of Jesus juice. My faith says don't make false accusations against somebody. In the Bible, it's called don't bear false witness.''

St. Louis School Board member Bill Haas, who also is running for mayor, says in a Web log that loneliness, depression and financial problems have led him to consider suicide....

Haas writes that his online diary, called a blog, is "a little bit of a cry for help, and a lot just coming to peace with my passing, and sort of a last note." The blog entry - which covers two and half printed pages - provides extensive details about Haas' life, his bouts with depression and his money troubles. It says his "last day" may come sometime this spring or early summer after he euthanizes his three-legged cat and other pets.

The Web posting is extraordinary even for Haas, whose political career has been marked by the outrageous. He has moonlighted as a sex columnist while a member of the School Board, ran ads for a rich wife to help pay for his 1997 mayoral bid, applied for a reality TV show called "American Candidate," sought election to Congress, the state Legislature and the circuit attorney post, and continues to bombard the city's media daily with meandering e-mails.

The week he died, science-fiction humorist Douglas Adams was honored with an asteroid named after one of the characters from his classic "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." Now, almost four years later, Adams has his own name in the heavens as well...

Asteroid Douglasadams was among the 71 newly named celestial objects announced Tuesday by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Mass...

When Adams died of a heart attack in 2001, at the age of 49, tributes came in from around the world — but one of the biggest tributes was actually announced just days before his death: the naming of an asteroid after Arthur Dent, the Earthling at the center of the "Hitchhiker" story.

My Give a Damn's Busted (well, part of the lyrics, at least)
I really wanna care, I wanna feel somethin'
Let me dig a little deeper... Nope... Sorry... Nothin'

You can say you've got issues. You can say you're a victim.
It's all your parents fault, After all you didn't pick em
Well maybe Oprah's got time to listen. My give a damn's busted.

(*Well let me get this straight now) Your therapist said
It was all just a phase, A product of the prozac
And your co-dependent ways, So uhh ... who's your enabler these days
My give a damn's busted.

(*Oh you're tellin' me) It's a desperate situation,
No tellin' what you'll do. If I don't forgive you,
You say your life is through. Well honey... give me somethin' I can use.
(My give a damn's busted.) (*Ahh you knew I was gonna say that, didn't ya.)

Miracles do happen. Great news.

The young Saudi man told investigators this month that he wants revenge against the Iraqi terrorist network that sent him on the deadly mission that he survived.

Shaya's video statement describes the journey of a young man ready to die in his zeal to drive Americans from Arab lands.

Shaya says he left Saudi Arabia for Syria in late October, right after the start of the holy month of Ramadan. A smuggler he knew as Abu Mohammed took him over the border into Iraq and into the hands of other Islamic extremists who call themselves mujahedin, or holy warriors.... Shaya moved to Baghdad in December to prepare for his final mission, which he expected to be as the suicide pilot of a bomb-laden car.

But on Dec. 24, he was given a preliminary job of driving a butane-gas delivery truck that was rigged with bombs. It wasn't supposed to be a suicide mission.

“They asked me to take the truck near a concrete block barrier before turning to the right and leaving it there,” he says. “There, somebody will pick up the truck from you,” they told him.

“But they blew me up in the truck,” he says.

Shaya told the interrogators that he regretted his mission now.

“I want the Iraqi people to live in peace,” he says, and he can no longer support Osama bin Laden because “he is killing Muslims.”

As for the Zarqawi network that sent him on the mission that left him permanently disfigured and in prison, he says, “I want revenge for what they have done to me.”

1. The First Amendment of the US Constitution states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

2. A woman was given a warning because of a... well... rude bumper sticker she had on her car. She claims it's a First Amendment issue.

3. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.

4. Lawmakers are asking the FCC to investigate a radio station for airing a tsunami relief song parody.

Shasta Bates, 26, was standing in the shopping center store when a man walked in and started arguing with her about a bumper sticker on the back of her truck that had "F--- Bush" in white letters on a black background.

"He was saying it was very sick and wrong and you shouldn't be doing that," Bates said. "He was very offended by it. I said, 'You didn't have to take it so personally.' " McCrimmon, who had followed the officer into the store, said Karasek wrote down the woman's license-plate number and then told her: "You take those bumper stickers off or I will come and find you and I will arrest you." Colorado ACLU Legal Director Mark Silverstein said that the alleged threat of arrest clearly violates First Amendment protection.

Several New York City Councilmembers gathered on the steps of City Hall to denounce the station which played a song that used racial slurs when referring to Asians and had lyrics about God laughing at those drowning in the waves.

Now City Council members want the Federal Communications Commission to take action. Queens Councilman James Gennaro said station management has to be responsible for their product.

The station's owner issued an apology after it pulled the song off the air. The station added that the seven-person staff has agreed to contribute one week's pay to the tsunami relief efforts.

"The Supreme Court considered a case about 30-some years ago where a person was prosecuted for wearing a jacket that said, 'F--- the draft,' on the back. The Supreme Court said states could not prohibit people from wearing such a jacket," he said. "They said, 'One man's profanity is another man's lyric.' "

"I don't like impugning anyone's integrity, but I really don't like being lied to," Dayton said in opposing Rice's nomination on the Senate floor. "Repeatedly, flagrantly, intentionally." Dayton accused Rice and other Bush administration officials of "lying to Congress, lying to our committees, lying to the American people."

"There was no reason to go to war in Iraq when we did, the way we did and for the false reasons we were given," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

"But she is responsible for her own distortions and exaggerations of the intelligence which was provided to her," Levin said.

"Dr. Rice is responsible for some of the most overblown rhetoric that the administration used to scare the American people," Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said.

While FOX may be the largest news network [and has overtaken Turner's CNN], it's not the best, Turner said.

He followed up by pointing out that Adolph Hitler got the most votes when he was elected to run Germany prior to WWII. He said the network is the propaganda tool for the Bush Administration.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's certainly legal. But it does pose problems for our democracy. Particularly when the news is dumbed down," leaving voters without critical information on politics and world events and overloaded with fluff," he said.

A FOXNEWS spokesperson responded: "Ted is understandably bitter having lost his ratings, his network and now his mind -- we wish him well."

Identical twin brothers have steered safely through their driving tests after making a small but identical mistake with the same examiner.

Adam and Scott Barker passed their tests with one minor mark after stalling at the same set of lights.

The justice... told a largely Roman Catholic crowd of 350 at the Holiday Inn Select that there's nothing wrong with "traditional Christianity."

"God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools ... and he has not been disappointed."

"It is not irrational to accept the testimony of eyewitnesses who had nothing to gain. There is something wrong with rejecting a priori (deductively) the existence of miracles."

"If I have brought any message today, it is this: Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity. Be fools for Christ. And have the courage to suffer the contempt of the sophisticated world."

"Not only that--count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens--give a cheer, even!-for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble." (Matt 5:11-12 The Message Bible)

He has described himself as an "originalist," following the Constitution as written by the Founding Fathers, rather than interpreting it to reflect the changing times.

The previously undisclosed organization, called the Strategic Support Branch, arose from Rumsfeld's written order to end his "near total dependence on CIA" for what is known as human intelligence. Designed to operate without detection and under the defense secretary's direct control, the Strategic Support Branch deploys small teams of case officers, linguists, interrogators and technical specialists alongside newly empowered special operations forces.

...Pentagon officials said they established the Strategic Support Branch using "reprogrammed" funds, without explicit congressional authority or appropriation. Defense intelligence missions, they said, are subject to less stringent congressional oversight than comparable operations by the CIA.

Defense Department spokesman Lawrence DiRita, however, said there was "no unit that is directly reportable to the secretary of Defense for clandestine operations as is described in The Washington Post article." "Further, the department is not attempting to 'bend' statutes to fit desired activities, as is suggested in this article," he added in a statement.

The speaker attacked democracy as a springboard for "un-Islamic" practices, claiming that its emphasis on majority rule violates the principle that all laws must come from a divine source.

One of Saudi Arabia's most influential clerics urged Muslims to eschew terrorism, saying attacks on the innocent were not in accordance with the teachings of Islam.

"Islam is a religion of moderation. Extremism has no place in Islam," Sheikh Abdurahman Al-Sudais of the Masjid'l Haram (Grand Mosque) said in a sermon delivered for Friday's Eid'l Adha (feast of sacrifice).

1. My Blog, My Rules.

2. Dissent is tolerated. This means that you can disagree with me on what I post about. Try to keep it on topic, don't ramble for no apparent reason, and don't call people names when you get flustered.

3. Jerks are not. This means that if you copy/paste entire articles or personal manifestos, or come across like a bezerk pre-schooler in your comments, it'll be delete/edit/ban city for you.

4. Keep foul language to a minimum, if at all. Use common sense on this one - if anything, use lots of asterisks: * * * There are a couple of people who can use foul language on this site. If I haven't given you permission, you're not one of them.

5. I reserve the right to be a jerk and to cuss. And when I am, I'll admit it and/or warn you.
6. I reserve the right to ban jerks and spammers. Here in my house, I am the Queen and can act accordingly.

7. Spellcheck is your friend. I'm not a perfect typist, but I at least try. Good grammar and proper use is always appreciated.

8. I reserve the right to change/add/delete/ignore The Rules™™ as I see fit. See Rule #1.

9. When in doubt, see Rule #1.

"He's always talking about symbols of evil, using Jesus as a political pawn," said Rod Murphy from a group called, "10,000 Jesuses."

"The GOP and Bush sound like they have a mandate from Jesus, and I am sorry, but that is not the Jesus that I grew up with," Murphy told Cybercast News Service, noting his opposition to the war in Iraq.

"[Bush] talks all the time and his fundamentalist base about ... Jesus," said Ben Stern of Potomac, Md. "He makes his faith very public, yet at the same time he is doing things I consider -- and I am not even a Christian -- that Christian doctrine ... is in opposition to," said Stern, who carried a sign reading, "Who Would Jesus Bomb?"

Bush has not acted like a Christian, according to Stern, because of the "amoral way he is [defecating] on the little guy and, you know, racial minorities."

..."He always says that he is talking to God, but what he should be doing is saying, 'I am wrong and I need forgiveness," Richter said, referring to Bush's policies in Iraq.

We're still looking for a few good Jesuses ....

It's important to let Mr. Bush and the American media know that their talk of 'values' is misplaced. The idea is to take back the symbols of Christianity for those who actually practice it in spirit, if not in name. (So, are you Christians? Or do you just invoke the name of Jesus Christ when the mood strikes you?)

Jesus, the idea of Jesus and the man, has become a profound symbol for many Christians. (No, He's not a "symbol" to me- He is my Lord and Savior. No symbolism there.) ...Recently, in the last decade or two, we've witnessed a hijacking of Christian terminology and thought by institutions on the far right of the political spectrum. (No, recently, in the last decade or four, secularists have done everything in their power to REMOVE Christ from the mainstream community.)

... We don't believe, for example, that 'the Christ' would appreciate a church that supports the pre-emptive war on Iraq (not even to save millions of innocents from tyranny and potentially a forced religiosity that demeans and demoralizes its "believers"?), our use of napalm (renamed Mark 77 to avoid controversy) and cluster bombs. We don't think he'd like a church supporting an administration that ignores international conventions on torture (ignore? They didn't ignore it- there was an investigation ongoing before it was made public. The people who committed the torture are being prosecuted). Nor do we think he'd much like the rapacious culture the fundamentalists align themselves with when supporting Republican radical free market ideology (by the way, we also don't believe Jesus would shop at Wal-Mart, which has a history of using Haitian laborers who toil for 12 cents an hour).("radical" free market economy? So... in your world, Jesus is a communist? Too bad that's not Biblically backed up). We don't think he'd approve of churches that support an administration whose tax code disproportionately hurts the poorest in our nation, while helping the very richest. (Written by somone who obviously never read and has absolutely no understanding of the tax code in this country.)

On the other hand, we think that Jesus would accept gays and women who have had abortions and he'd be furious with the clerical hypocrites who would suggest otherwise. (The Church is open to all sinners - ie- all of us- all have fallen short of the Glory of God.) In fact, like the merchants of old, he'd probably cast those clerics from the temple. Just call it a wild hunch. (I agree with this, to a point. The Church needs to be open to all, but... no where in Scripture does it say that we are to be tolerant of sin. When one goes to Church, it is presumed that one goes in order to become closer to God and turn away from sin. A person active in the gay lifestyle is sinning. A woman who has had an abortion has not only sinned, but is also hurting. It is the moral obligation of believers to minister to her and help her heal as much as she can. Anyone who shuns her (presuming she's not planning on having more abortions) should be cast out.)

...One idea we've had is to march on the mall dressed as Jesus, 10,000 Jesuses to represent the dramatic differences within Christianity itself on what it means to be Christian. Perhaps, more realistically, we should have 10,000 prophets or 10,000 saints because many religious traditions bleed into Christianity, just as Christianity has influenced many other institutions, religious as well as secular. (So, you're saying that you're not really as interested in a personal relationship with Jesus, just a dramatic interpretation of your views of the Almighty. Hmmm... sounds a bit like what you're accusing President Bush of.)

A few enligtening examples:

* Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor," and "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's." He did not say, "Ensure the wealthiest elite in our nation get the easiest tax load; especially when this cuts funding to educational and health programs that help the poor." (Jesus also said "render unto God what is God's" and that it was for the individual to help the widow and orphan, not government.)

* Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." He did not say, "Make your living building death machines at Northrup Grumman or Boeing or GE. Ensure your wealth even further by authorizing and condoning no bid contracts in the crassiest example of war profiteering in this century." (Jesus also said to protect the innocent and fight evil.)

* Jesus said, "Turn the other cheek." He did not say, "Drop 500 lbs bombs on the civilization centers of ancient Mesopatamia." Nor did Jesus say, "torture prisoners in a sexually humiliating manner to advance the cause of nation building. Or, shoot wounded soldiers in the head while they lie before you, supine and desperate." ( First, Jesus was talking about personal, one-on-one relationships, not nation against nation. God allows for just war. Read the Old Testament.)

* Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin caste the first stone." He did not say, "Condemn those who disagree with you as being Godless heathens who will be thrust into the bowels of hell for not accepting Jesus as their personal saviour." (Actually, Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.[John 14:6])

* Jesus said, "I pass judgement on no man," He did not say, "Judge all those whose religion you do not understand or whose sexuality you fear."(Jesus said "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. [John 5:26-27] As for "religion you do not understand", see John 14:6)

* Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: love one and other." He did not say, "love only people who go to church." Nor did he say, "love only white, non-gay, Christian borne-again Americans with good grooming habits and no history of pre-marital sexual relations." He did not say, "Love only people who may know the verses of the Bible, but who have forgotten how to throw the merchants out of the temple and so support one of the most repressive and intolerant regimes in America's history." (Jesus did say to love one another. That is the fulfillment of all of the Commandments.)

President George W. Bush, who rarely carries a wallet, is caught empty-handed when the offering plate came around during a church service.

It happened during Friday's national prayer service in Washington.

Vice President Dick Cheney quickly offered some cash.

However, Bush refused and instead accepted help from his dad, former President George H.W. Bush.

• "Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty," he said, "though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt." (amen! Preach on!)
  
• "So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world." (ending tyranny in our world- wow!)
  
• "Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way," (which has already started)
  
• "Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon." (too bad many Liberals don't understand honor)
  
• Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.
  

Another custody battle involving a child in line for adoption took a heart-tugging turn in Atlantic Beach in northern Florida Saturday. Three-and-a-half-year-old Evan Scott was taken from the only home and parents he's ever known and given to his birth mother.

"We should be just as concerned with students' physical health and performance as we are with their academic performance," said Van de Putte.

When the measurement, which calculates body fat based on height and weight, indicates a student is overweight, the school would provide parents with information about links between increased body fat and health problems, Van de Putte said.

"We can say we have developed a might that no country can attack us because they do not have accurate information about our military capabilities," said Shamkhani, whose comments were released Tuesday.

"We have produced equipment at a rapid pace with the minimum investment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent force," the ministry quoted Shamkhani as saying.

Hersh wrote that he had repeatedly been told by intelligence and military officials, on condition of anonymity, that "the next strategic target was Iran."

The man who led Saddam Hussein's "Army of Muhammad" during 2004 has confessed that Iran is the primary source of funding for his jihadists battling U.S. forces in Iraq.

"We can have this discussion in any way that you would like, but I really hope that you will refrain from impugning my integrity," Rice told Boxer. "I really hope that you will not imply that I take the truth lightly."

A masked guerrilla from an unknown group called the Islamic Jihad Army, eschewing past impassioned Arabic-language threats of holy war, told US soldiers: "This is not your war, nor are you fighting for a true cause in Iraq."

"To the American soldiers we say you can also choose to fight tyranny with us. Lay down your weapons and seek refuge in our mosques, churches and homes. We will protect you," he said.

A Brazilian man arguing with his 88-year-old mother threw her into a neighbors' yard where two pit bulls mauled her to death, police said on Friday... Polidoro told police his mother had jumped over the wall on her own.

Management consultant William Fried told eighth-graders at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School on Tuesday that stripping and exotic dancing can pay $250,000 or more per year, depending on their bust size...

...The principal said Fried's comments to the class came after some of them asked him to expand on why he included "exotic dancing" on his list of 140 potential careers.Fried spent about a minute answering questions, defining strippers and exotic dancers synonymously. According to Jason Garcia, 14, he told students: "For every 2 inches up there, you should get another $50,000 on your salary."

• expanding Medicare to include all citizens
• funding college educations for everyone who makes it into college
• defeating Social Security reform
• not yielding on any aspect of a woman's right to choose

"This is the first image of a planet outside our solar system," said UCLA astronomer Eric Becklin, quickly correcting himself to say it was an image most likely to be of an extrasolar planet. "So we really need to be sure."

Becklin and others eagerly await the April observations.

If confirmed, the finding would have "enormous impact" on the ability of astronomers to get funding for future telescopes that would look for Earth-like planets, said Steve Maran, press officer of the American Astronomical Society.

David Livingstone says the idea behind the economic boycott he's organizing is simple: If people don't show up at work or buy things, companies lose money. As he sees it, that's money the Bush administration can't tax, and can't use to run the war in Iraq, protect polluters or chip away at the Constitution.

So the Detroit Democrat and a handful of other anti-Bush groups across the country are urging others of like mind to withhold their cash and labor on Inauguration Day - from all businesses. They don't think they'll inflict a huge economic pain, but they do want to make a point.

"I view the inauguration of Bush as a black Thursday for this country," Livingstone says. "We've tried marching in the streets to stop the war, we tried writing letters, we tried initiatives on the Web, but Bush doesn't listen. It seems to us the only thing Bush and the Republicans will listen to is money."

...Gordon doesn't expect to shake the economy, but does want to see the president recognize dissent.

"I think Bush should acknowledge the boycott. If we're effective, he'll know about it, and he should acknowledge it," Gordon says.

The Jazz Funeral for Democracy is a coalition of concerned individuals and groups that oppose the war in Iraq as unconstitutional and undemocratic. Additionally, the coalition aims to raise public awareness of other dangerous national policies designed to curtail civil rights, narrow the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, widen the divide between the wealthy and the poor, deny equal educational opportunities and health services to millions of Americans, ignore crucial environmental indicators for change, and promote discriminatory practices regarding gender, race, ethnicity, worship, and sexual orientation.

Feminists Face Tough Times After Election By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer

NEW YORK - America's feminist leaders and their critics agree on at least one current political fact: These are daunting times for the women's movement as it braces for another term of an administration it desperately wanted to topple.

"The next four years are going to be tough, so we must be tougher," National Organization for Women (news - web sites) president Kim Gandy recently told supporters. "Our health, our rights, and our democracy are teetering on the brink."

NOW, the Feminist Majority Foundation and numerous like-minded groups campaigned zealously against President Bush (news - web sites), contending that his economic agenda would inflict disproportionate harm on women and that his potential judicial appointments could jeopardize abortion rights.

To the feminists' dismay, Bush not only won — but he sharply reduced the Democrats' "gender gap" edge among women voters. Republicans also increased their majorities in Congress; new GOP senators include several staunch foes of abortion...

..."The issue isn't whether they're mean-spirited or anti-women," Greenberger said. "What I do see is an administration with policies that are fundamentally out of touch with what women really need. ... They have other priorities that consistently outweigh and trump the everyday concerns that women have."

Referring collectively to conservative Republican leaders, Gandy said: "They like women just fine — as long as we know our place, which is preferably under a man's protection.

"Their primary allegiance is to corporations and the wealthy," she said. "Giving tax breaks to them means the economic burden falls more on women."

Bush, of course, can make a strong case that he respects women — his new Cabinet will likely have four, including Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) as secretary of state, and women for years have been among his closest political and legal advisers.

Beyond Washington, meanwhile, women are making impressive professional gains — as big-city police chiefs and university presidents, for example. They now comprise roughly half the enrollment in U.S. medical schools. And though a wage gap persists, woman now earn 80 percent of what men do, compared to 62 percent in 1980.

"Feminist leaders have failed to keep up with the times," said Christina Hoff Sommers, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, whose writings are often critical of groups like NOW...

...Gandy, a NOW activist since 1973, is amused by suggestions that the women's movement is moribund.

"They've been writing headlines about the death of the feminism since the '70s," she said in an interview. "It's a lot of wishful thinking on their part."

Among the movement's biggest worries are that Bush might appoint federal judges who favor outlawing abortion, that family-planning programs will lose crucial funding, and that the president's proposed changes to Social Security (news - web sites) would harm many widows and low-income women.

"Social security privatization is a bad deal for women," said Lisa Maatz, public policy director for the American Association of University Women. "It's not just a retirement program, it's a family insurance program that protects a lot of women who earn less then men throughout their lifetime and are less likely to have a pension of their own."

Maatz and her colleagues at AAUW also feel the government should do more to help low-income women gain access to colleges and vocational schools, and to crack down on sexual harassment throughout the educational system.

Looking ahead, feminists say one of their most crucial tasks is drawing more women into politics. Though the number of women in Congress increased slightly in the Nov. 2 election, the number of female state legislators has been stagnant for six years at about 22 percent of the total.

"We're looking for candidates now for 2006, for 2008," said Llenda Jackson-Leslie of the National Women's Political Caucus, which tries to encourage progressive women to run for office.

Despite conservatives' success in the election, feminists found some encouragement — notably an increased turnout by low-income women in many areas, and the overwhelming re-election in populous California of Sen. Barbara Boxer (news, bio, voting record), an outspoken women's rights advocate.

"We have to hang tight," said Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation. "This is going to be a tough time for us, but in the long run we have many things going in our direction. One important thing we've got — people know they want more opportunities for their daughters."

The new Internet across the solar system would help scientists understand other planets and would also help astronauts in their communications with earth..."Even light takes six minutes from Earth to Mars, and the farthest planets are 40 minutes apart. So our protocol had to be faster than light," he said, adding that it took him five years to design the new one.

Mars should be connected by 2009 and Jupiter by 2012, Cerf told IANS on the sidelines of the 92nd Indian Science Congress here.

The development comes in the wake of US plans to send a man to Mars some time after 2020.

The total of private donation is rapidly approaching the $350 million pledged by the government as private citizens made many of their donations online.

By Friday afternoon, relief charities had raised more than $324 million in cash pledges, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy - up from $245 million as of Wednesday. Some of that money has been donated by companies and foundations.

Visiting with U.S. troops in Baghdad on Thursday, failed presidential candidate John Kerry trashed Commander-in-chief George Bush for making "horrendous judgments" and "unbelievable blunders" that have undermined the war effort.

In a series of demoralizing comments first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the defeated Democrat griped, "What is sad about what's happening here now is that so much of it is a process of catching up from the enormous miscalculations and wrong judgments made in the beginning."...

...Then, perhaps sensing he'd gone too far, the 2008 White House hopeful cut short the Bush-bashing, saying, "Now, it's a different time and different set of judgments that have to be made. I'm here to make judgments about what moves are available to us."

Arthur, Barney, Bear, Big Bird, Clifford, JoJo and SpongeBob, as well as over 100 other beloved children's characters, have united to re-record the smash hit "We Are Family" in an unprecedented music video to promote tolerance and diversity to America's children. The video, which demonstrates to children the importance of togetherness embodied in the word “family”, will be distributed to 61,000 public and private elementary schools in the United States on March 11, 2005, in celebration of the proposed National We Are Family Day. (taken from the We Are Family Foundation web site.)

Tolerance is a personal decision that comes from a belief that every person is a treasure. I believe that America's diversity is its strength. I also recognize that ignorance, insensitivity and bigotry can turn that diversity into a source of prejudice and discrimination.

To help keep diversity a wellspring of strength and make America a better place for all, I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, sexual identity or other characteristics are different from my own.

The commander of an Army Reserve detachment is begging friends back home to send food for Iraqi police dogs.

"The dogs are starving and urgently need dry dog food," Capt. Gabriella Cook, commander of the Las Vegas-based 313th Military Police Detachment, said in a Dec. 28 e-mail reported Wednesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"Some of them have already died," Cook wrote. "Half of them are sick. We have no way of buying actual dog food here."

"PetSmart has donated a pallet of food, and we hope PetCo will do the same," Judith Ruiz, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society said.

Ruiz said several companies have donated food and that with the money, the Humane Society will be able to buy more dog food at a discounted rate and will also pay for shipping to Iraq.

"All funds will go directly for the animals," Ruiz said.

The Humane Society is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization. So your donation will be tax deductible.

Send donations to:

Las Vegas Valley Humane Society
Funds For Dogs In Iraq
2250 E. Tropicana
Suite 19
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Make checks payable to the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society. The group asks that you indicate in a letter or on the check that you want your donation to go to the dogs in Iraq.

In December, her attorneys told a three-judge panel of the appeals court that she deserves a new trial because of 19 errors that were committed in her 2002 trial.

In a transcript obtained by The Associated Press, he said: "Hi, I'm Richard Gere, and I'm speaking for the entire world. We're with you during this election time. It's really important: Get out and vote."