News – SpaceShipOne Flies High

US

SpaceShipOne has flow the words first commercial manned space flight. IT reached a height of 62.2 miles above the earth with Michael Melvill at the controls and has opened a new door to the potential reality of space tourism.

The Supreme Court has decided that patients cannot sue HMOs for refusing to pay for doctor-recommended care. It was a unanimous ruling that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act completely preempted such lawsuits. It’s also been decided that folk stopped by the police are required to give the cop their name(when asked to do so by the police, based on reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing), which doesn’t violate the right to silence.

Sen. Edward Kennedy says the last four years of Bush’s nuke policy has been “a constant flirtation with nuclear disaster”. The senator exaggerates, but current determination to poke fingers into the nuclear cookie jar again are a seriously dangerous issue.

Bush plays up the compassion in Ohio and aligns himself with a welfare measure enacted under Clinton. Bush’s strength as an anti-terror fighter has waned some according to polls(for what they’re worth). Might be a good idea to play the softer side now, as I doubt he can carry through with focus on just one issue.

The Senate defeats a bill put forth, keeping the ban on media at Dover, keeping the flag draped coffins from filling the airwaves. For good or for bad as one looks at the issue.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland resigns amid growing scandal.

Charlene Singh, a woman with the only known human case of the human counterpart to mad cow disease, has died.

There’s been a significant rise in the detentions of illegals coming across the US-Mexico border, though there is no consensus on the cause of the influx yet.

Iraq

Some good news for once. The South Korean being held by militants has gained some time as his captors agree to postpone his beheading for talks over his fate. Perhaps some deal can be made.

Looks like the US has come up with a way to straddle the fence on Saddam. They’ll give legal custody of him to the Iraqis while maintaining physical custody. That’s a good way to kick the issue down the road a bit.

James Pavitt, departing head of the CIA’s spy service has said “As some critics have claimed, during the pre-war period, we did not have many Iraq sources. We certainly did not have enough,” as well as “Until we put people on the ground in northern Iraq, we had less than a handful.” An interesting tidbit. I’m sure the administration rebuttal will try and paint him as disgruntled, as they tend to paint all of those who speak negatively once leaving. The world is full of bitter people, it seems.

US auditors who are watching for waste and fraud in Iraq reconstruction contracts should stay in Iraq, even after the CPA has made it’s official exit says Sen. Russ Feingold. Considering Halliburton’s misdeeds, I would agree, so long as US money is being spent over there.

A UN audit of US use if Iraq oil revenues is being criticized in an report, a copy of it leaked. “The CPA does not have effective controls over the ministries’ spending of their individually allocated budgets, whether the funds are direct from the CPA or via the ministry of finance,” the report is quoted as saying.

A military judge has given defense lawyers the right to call evidence from America’s senior commanders in the Iraqi prisoner abuse case. He also ordered the declassification of secret evidence given to the internal inquiry into the scandal by General Antonio Taguba and declared Abu Ghraib a crime scene, forbidding it’s destruction.

Iran

What was mildly amusing the day before has lost that aspect. Iran plans to prosecute the eight British sailors they arrested on the charge of illegally entering Iran’s waters. Britain has been prodding Iran for the answers to questions and access to their people. A broadcast which had the sailors sitting in a room said that the small patrol boats they were in had weapons, cameras for spying and detailed maps of areas of Iraq and Iran. Britain’s defense ministry says the men were involved in training Iraqi police and were delivering a small craft to the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service when arrested and that the boats only had the sailor’s personal weapons.

Obviously this could become quite the international incident.

Russia

Suspected Chechen rebels struck in southern Russia, taking and holding the interior ministry building in Ingushetia region for several hours, raided police arms depots and reduced police headquarters and a building housing border guards to gutted wrecks.

Africa

The death of Nabil Sahraoui in Algeria is being seen as a strong blow to terrorism in the region. He was an important guy it seems, though I’m wondering if it will really mean as much as they hope to the terrorists.

General

World scientists will be gathering soon to muse the possibility of gathering solar power from the sun through satellites and beaming the power down to the earth. Will the US get involved? Considering Bush’s playing up of looking for alternate sources of energy, a rep should be sent to take the measure of the discussions at least.

Docs fine thatSARS can be transferred through the tears. And detected early as well.

Everyone is opining on Fahrenheit 9/11. I wonder if any of my readers plan to see it in the theaters. I don’t, as I’m sure I’ll hear enough reviews and analysis'(pro and con) to gather the content without plunking down $7 at AMC. One thing is for sure. Ole Mikey is a famous and infamous guy now.

The demonizing of dodgeball.

Today’s Papers has South Korea planning to evac workers and keep soldiers in Iraq and mostly added info on matters already covered above in the one page news.

Amusements

Movie studios ante up $500 bounty for catching movie pirates in theaters

You think you got problems? Try not being able to afford to get your wheelchair out of the impound lot

Fidel Castro warns Bush about launching an attack on Cuba, threatening all-out war(Who’s he kidding?)

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop theme: What happens to all the merchandise made in advance for the losing team of a national championship

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop theme: With all the X-Treme products, photoshop products that don’t benefit from being extreme (X-Treme)

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Karl Malone says losing the NBA championship isn’t the worse thing that could happen to him. Photoshop the worse thing that could happen to him

PS: Broken link in Africa portion fixed.