Whoa
Lets hope THIS bill
passes! (but it probably wont)
The space shuttle era could get a new lease on life under a
bill filed today by U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
The measure would delay the shuttle’s planned retirement
in 2010 until NASA is confident that a replacement
spacecraft is ready or that the shuttle and its massive
payload bay is no longer needed to keep the International
Space Station afloat through 2020.
The 37-page bill
also authorizes an additional $1.3 billion in NASA spending
next year above President Barack Obama’s request of $19
billion. The extra money would help prepare NASA for as many
as two additional shuttle flights per year after 2010, as
well as fund new spacecraft development.
“This must
not be an ‘either or’ proposition where we are forced to
choose between continuing to fly the shuttle to service the
station and maintain our independence in reaching space, or
investing in the next generation of space vehicle. We can
and must do both,” Hutchison said in a statement.
Last month, Obama moved to cancel NASA’s Constellation moon
rocket program in favor of an approach that would rely on
commercial rocket companies to ferry cargo and crew to the
space station after the shuttle’s final four missions.
MORE:
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2010/03/shuttle-flights-would-continue-under-new-proposal.html
US to monitor Canadian
flights
Starting in December, some passengers on Canadian
airlines flying to, from or even over the United States
without ever landing there, will only be allowed to board
the aircraft once the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
has determined they are not terrorists.
Secure
Flight, the newest weapon in the U.S. war on terrorism,
gives the United States unprecedented power over who can
board planes that fly over U.S. airspace.
Secure
Flight applies to flights to, from or over the United
States, from Canada to another country. Flights between two
Canadian cities, that travel over U.S. airspace, are
excluded, but about 80 per cent of Canadian flights to the
Caribbean and other southern points and to Europe fly over
the U.S.
The program, which is set to take effect
globally in December 2010, was created as part of the
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, adopted by
U.S. Congress in 2004.
Parliament never adopted or
even discussed the Secure Flight program — even though
Secure Flight transfers the authority of screening
passengers, and their personal information, from domestic
airlines to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Read more:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/gets+which+Canadians/2639893/story.html#ixzz0hDXKZynG
Not very smart.
The Israeli military called off a raid in Palestinian
territory after a soldier posted details, including the time
and place, on social networking website Facebook, Israel's
Army Radio reported on Wednesday.
The soldier --
since relieved of combat duty -- described in a status
update how his unit planned a "clean-up" arrest raid in a
West Bank area, the radio station said. Facebook friends
then reported him to military authorities.
The
Israeli military spokesman's office had no immediate
comment.
MORE:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE6220NW.htm
Gore to be honored with a
doctorate degree
Ironically, on the same page
as the story, was this "Winter Weather Advisory"... More
snow for Smoky Mountain area, which has seen more snow than
its gotten in the last 100 years... along with the rest of
the region.
Former vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al
Gore will receive an honorary doctoral degree from the
University of Tennessee.
The degree - an Honorary
Doctor of Laws and Humane Letters in Ecology and
Evolutionary Biology - will be given to Gore at the spring
commencement exercises of the College of Arts and Sciences
on May 14, where he will be the featured speaker.
"Vice President Gore's career has been marked by visionary
leadership, and his work has quite literally changed our
planet for the better," UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G.
Cheek said in a statement. "He is among the most
accomplished and respected Tennesseans in history, and it is
fitting that he should be honored by the flagship education
institution of his home state."
MORE:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/feb/27/ut-to-give-gore-honorary-degree/
Family told to dress their
snow-woman
Police told a Rahway, New Jersey family to cover their nude
snow woman after an anonymous complaint.
Maria Conneran's family sculpted Venus de Milo in last
week's snow outside their home on Colonia Boulevard.
Gonzalez says Sgt. Dominick Sforza was apologetic when he
went to the house and asked the family to dress the snow
woman.
The family added a green bikini top and a blue
sarong bottom.
The snow woman melted as the
temperatures warmed up this week.
MORE:
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/offbeat/nude-snow-woman-100303-apx
Greetings!
