] According to the lower request, the $25 billion would be
] placed in a fund under Bush's control. He could decide
] how the money would be spent, as long as he informed
] Congress that his request was "an emergency and essential
] to support activities and agencies in Iraq or
] Afghanistan."
]
] "This reserve fund will ensure that our men and women in
] uniform continue to have the resources they need when
] they need them," Bush wrote in a brief request barely
] longer than three pages.

I wonder if the "request" (which is inappropriate nomenclature since they are asssured of providing what he asks) included provisions for where the hell the money would come from (not that most of us can't guess).

--
janelane

CNN.com - Wolfowitz: Iraq, Afghan costs could top $50B - May 13, 2004

] Vehicle to autonomous biped robot conversion for the Mini
] Cooper r50.
]
] I first had the vision to build a robot while working as
] an engineer on the old Mini Coopers in the late 1960s.
] There were no real robots at the time of course, so it
] was purely science-fiction. But I always believed a robot
] would be the most natural complement to the automobile -
] a full biped, intelligent version having great strength,
] dexterity and a library of mechanical knowledge. I
] imagined a robot with the ability to repair vehicles,
] direct traffic and watch over high-accident crossroads to
] preempt accidents.

The first word that comes to mind is "Transformers".

The second is "Terminator."

Be sure to check out the "Car Stopping" test.

http://www.r50rd.co.uk/research/internal/v2i/engin/

Scroll down and turn on your speakers. It'll make you happy, too.

Hippo love the island

Your tuition dollars at work.

Go Tech!

] Nader said the meeting will take place in Washington in
] April but said no specific date has been set. He told CNN
] that he and Kerry "have a common objective, and that's to
] defeat the giant corporation residing in the White House
] masquerading as a human being."

Ha! Well, masquerading as _several_ human beings, at any rate.

God, but the man knows what he's doing; too bad the two party system will never, ever let him get his foot in the door.

-J

CNN.com - Nader says he'll meet with Kerry - Mar 29, 2004

Ewww....

Severed Seal's Head

] BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Patrick McSorley, who said
] he had been molested by defrocked priest John Geoghan and
] was one of the most outspoken Boston clergy sex abuse
] victims, was found dead early Monday, his lawyer said.
]
] The cause of the death was not immediately announced.
] McSorley, 29, nearly drowned in a river last year but
] denied he had attempted suicide.
] ...
] McSorley had been one of the most vocal critics of the
] Boston Archdiocese since the sex abuse scandal first
] broke two years ago.

Part of me hopes that it wasn't suicide that caused the death of such an outspoken, courageous young man. Of course, a homicide would only be slightly less grim.

] ...
] McSorley's lawsuit in the Geoghan case was among the
] first of hundreds eventually filed against the
] archdiocese. The church settled with 86 plaintiffs,
] including McSorley, for $10 million in 2002. Geoghan was
] slain in prison last year.

Yes, even axe murderers have their standards and don't trust the legal system to give pedophiles what they deserve.

Consoling him for his father's death, for Christsake!

CNN.com - Outspoken sex abuse victim Patrick McSorley found dead - Feb. 23, 2004

] A Step-by-Step Guide to joining the Forces of Darkness
]
] Congratulations on your decision to join the forces of
] darkness! Evil always needs more tools... I mean...
] agents... for its unholy army of the night, and by
] joining now you can rest assured that your remaining
] years will be spent pursuing the 'good' things of life:
] lust, greed, debauchery, the construction of enormous
] weather machines... Your favorite hobby can become a
] lifelong career! Thus, this handy guide has been created
] to nurture any potential lunatic into a lifetime of evil
] and destruction.

Careers, Lair Locations, even Fashion advice...they've got it all!

So You've Decided to be Evil

] As a result of this study, I must conclude that cooked
] flavor is a result more of ancestral inheritance than of
] convergent evolution. Many animals taste similar because
] they evolved from a common ancestor that tasted that way.
] The meat of our argument is that "chicken-like" flavor is
] ancestral (that is, plesiomorphic) for birds and many
] other vertebrates, as well. Indeed, the emphasis on
] chicken in the statement "tastes like chicken" is
] misleading. The common ancestor of most tetrapods would
] have tasted similarly, if we had only been there to cook
] and eat it.
]
] I therefore propose that the use of "taste like chicken"
] be banished from common speech in favor of "tastes like
] tetrapod."

Check out the "Taste Like" diagram at the bottom. This guy ate some seriously gross stuff for this study. Cat taste like tetrapod, in case you were wondering.

They also have an article that literally compares apples to oranges.

Tastes Like Chicken...[aka 'Have you seen Fluffy?']

] LONDON, England -- British anti-terrorism police have
] started an investigation into five Britons to be freed
] from the U.S. Guantanamo Bay prison camp in Cuba after
] being held without trial for two years.
]
] London and Washington announced on Thursday that the five
] would be sent back to the United Kingdom in the next few
] weeks and could be freed on their arrival.
] ...
]
] Washington says the prisoners are "enemy combatants" who
] have no right to lawyers. The U.S. government has been
] interrogating the detainees and deciding whether they
] will face military tribunals or be released.

Any thoughts on the rights of "enemy combatants"? What are their actual rights (if any) and what are they entitled to?

I definitely am not cool with the U.S. just holding them with trial, or, I'm assuming, even charging. Of course, this kind of thing probably happens all the time, especially after 9-11.

CNN.com - UK investigates Guantanamo five - Feb. 20, 2004