This vibrant image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. The Large Magellanic Cloud, located 160,000 light-years from Earth, is one of a handful of dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way.

The infrared image offers astronomers a unique chance to study the lifecycle of stars and dust in a single galaxy. Nearly one million objects are revealed for the first time in this Spitzer view, which represents about a 1,000-fold improvement in sensitivity over previous space-based missions. Most of the new objects are dusty stars of various ages populating the Large Magellanic Cloud; the rest are thought to be background galaxies.

The blue color in the picture, seen most prominently in the central bar, represents starlight from older stars. The chaotic, bright regions outside this bar are filled with hot, massive stars buried in thick blankets of dust. The red color around these bright regions is from dust heated by stars, while the red dots scattered throughout the picture are either dusty, old stars or more distant galaxies. The greenish clouds contain cooler interstellar gas and molecular-sized dust grains illuminated by ambient starlight.

Astronomers say this image allows them to quantify the process by which space dust -- the same stuff that makes up planets and even people -- is recycled in a galaxy. The picture shows dust at its three main cosmic hangouts: around the young stars, where it is being consumed (red-tinted, bright clouds); scattered about in the space between stars (greenish clouds); and in expelled shells of material from old stars (randomly-spaced red dots).

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI


+ Full Resolution

Google: "Your dreams represent your future and now it is time for you to resurrect them. This isn't necessarily about the dream you had last night, but rather the ones you've had over the years. Bravely explore that dark corner in your life where shadowy feelings can be quite scary. Be careful not to stiffen up. Instead, reclaim your flexibility; your most hopeful dreams can remind you to stay loose.
Thursday, September 28, 2006"

American Masters PBS

i am channeling, we, you and are, were made special by the ufo, and we can not give up on this mission, we must keep healthy, and do our art, for they have reasons for us, specificially us, and perhaps others

keep painting, and i will fight my pain and depression, for these tests shall continue working their majic upon us as humans, and the ufo energy, in us, in you, in me, will manifest itself daily, and it is growing, and it shall manifest itself forever
forever

i
and
you
we are now more then human, we are whatever they gave us, either future humans, or beings from another galaxy, or beings from another dimension, but they
picked you, and they picked me
and of that summer night
and they gave us a great gift
and it is growing
and it is a reason to survive, to fight, to live
just to find out, what its all about

i love you
and my energy is your energy
\n \nand you shall grow your plants, paint your exceptional paintings,\nand above all\nwe shall love\nwe are the energy of beings beyound our comprehension\nbut they have a plan\nand that plan is as new as that day in deland\nand it grows, as energy can not be destroyed\nthis energy, is us\n \nit is us, and we are it\nas it speaks thru me, in my dreams, and in my daily thoughts\nit thinks me, they think me\nthey are still here\n\n",0]
);
//-->
and i will make you well, powerful, full of health, and any thing else withing my majic

and you shall grow your plants, paint your exceptional paintings,
and above all
we shall love
we are the energy of beings beyound our comprehension
but they have a plan
and that plan is as new as that day in deland
and it grows, as energy can not be destroyed
this energy, is us

it is us, and we are it
as it speaks thru me, in my dreams, and in my daily thoughts
it thinks me, they think me
they are still here

i am channeling, we, you and are, were made special by the ufo, and we can not give up on this mission, we must keep healthy, and do our art, for they have reasons for us, specificially us, and perhaps others

keep painting, and i will fight my pain and depression, for these tests shall continue working their majic upon us as humans, and the ufo energy, in us, in you, in me, will manifest itself daily, and it is growing, and it shall manifest itself forever
forever

i
and
you
we are now more then human, we are whatever they gave us, either future humans, or beings from another galaxy, or beings from another dimension, but they
picked you, and they picked me
and of that summer night
and they gave us a great gift
and it is growing
and it is a reason to survive, to fight, to live
just to find out, what its all about

i love you
and my energy is your energy
\n \nand you shall grow your plants, paint your exceptional paintings,\nand above all\nwe shall love\nwe are the energy of beings beyound our comprehension\nbut they have a plan\nand that plan is as new as that day in deland\nand it grows, as energy can not be destroyed\nthis energy, is us\n \nit is us, and we are it\nas it speaks thru me, in my dreams, and in my daily thoughts\nit thinks me, they think me\nthey are still here\n\n",0]
);
//-->
and i will make you well, powerful, full of health, and any thing else withing my majic

and you shall grow your plants, paint your exceptional paintings,
and above all
we shall love
we are the energy of beings beyound our comprehension
but they have a plan
and that plan is as new as that day in deland
and it grows, as energy can not be destroyed
this energy, is us

it is us, and we are it
as it speaks thru me, in my dreams, and in my daily thoughts
it thinks me, they think me
they are still here

amidabuddha.org - Daily Meditation:

"This is the way of peace: 'Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.' - Peace Pilgrim"

Aussie prime minister defends anti-gay sect -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Aussie prime minister defends anti-gay sect

TODO More by
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published Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday that he "did not have a problem" with the rabidly antigay sect the Exclusive Brethren, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The prime minister confirmed that he had met with leaders of the Exclusive Brethren, who have been substantial donors to his political party in Australia since the federal election in 2004.
"Yes, I've met with people from the Exclusive Brethren," Howard said. "It's a free country. They are not breaking the law, (and) like any other group, they are entitled to put their views to the government."
The prime minister's comments oppose almost every story filed about the Exclusive Brethren in the Australian media and follow a scathing investigative report that aired this week on the Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s "Four Corners" program.
The hour-long report, titled "Separate Lives," depicted "life inside the secretive and puritanical Brethren Sect and the heartrending price extracted from those who leave."
Despite widespread anecdotal evidence of inappropriate methods practiced by the sect, including hiring two private investigators who claim the Brethren paid them to "dig up dirt" on New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and her husband's sex life (which led to allegations being published in a right-wing publication), Howard said he did not have a problem with the group.
"We don't (run) a police state in this country, and unless people are an unlawful organization, they are entitled to meet with the government," the prime minister said.
Despite believing themselves to be the flag-bearers of family values, Exclusive Brethren members refuse to socialize with anyone outside the sect, including close relatives, purposefully separating themselves from a world they see as morally corrupt.
Disobedience of internal rules, even unsubstantiated, can lead to excommunication, or being "withdrawn from," and complete, permanent isolation from loved ones.
"You cannot understand the horrific mistreatment of people," a former member said of life inside the sect.
Ex-members also alleged on the "Four Corners" program that large sums of cash have been transported by members across international borders and accused the group of hushing up child abuse.
While the exact figures of the sect's spending to prevent same-sex marriage and civil unions while promoting conservative policies in Australia is still unknown, the Brethren spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the U.S. elections in 2004, buying ads backing President Bush and U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez, who is opposed to same-sex marriage and who won his Florida race.
The sect also spent almost another million in an attempt to quash candidates supporting gay rights in the last New Zealand election (namely the Greens).
Following that election, it then spent a considerable amount of money equating a vote for the Greens with a vote for same-sex marriage in March elections in the Australian state of Tasmania.
This summer, Australia's federal government -- on Howard's strong urging -- overturned a law passed in Australia's Capital Territory to legalize same-sex unions.
When asked about the cult's activities, Howard told reporters, "I've met a lot more fanatical people in my life than the Exclusive Brethren." (Cath Pope, Gay.com U.K.)

Washington justices say no to marriage -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Washington justices say no to marriage
Ann Rostow, PlanetOut Network

TODO More by Ann Rostow
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published Wednesday, July 26, 2006
In a crushing blow to the gay and lesbian community, the Washington Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the legislature has the constitutional right to restrict marriage to two members of the opposite sex.
Acting on the appeal of two lower court rulings in favor of same-sex couples, the high court took more than 16 months to deliberate on the issue.
The decision caps a devastating month for same-sex marriage advocates, who have lost two highly significant cases in New York and Nebraska, one lower-court ruling in Connecticut, and three technical challenges to state constitutional amendments in Tennessee, Georgia and Massachusetts.
The long delay in delivering a ruling led many observers to speculate that the court might be hammering out a landmark decision in favor of marriage equality.
Instead, the nine justices turned in a scattered array of concurring and dissenting opinions, led by Justice Barbara A. Madsen for the plurality.
Madsen arrived at her conclusion through three main legal avenues. First, she interpreted the state constitution's key Privileges and Immunities Clause to apply, not to all instances of unequal treatment, but only to situations where a minority group is impermissibly receiving special benefits, subsequently concluding that keeping gay couples from marriage does not violate the provision.
The state clause, she wrote, concerns "prevention of favoritism and special treatment for a few rather than prevention of discrimination against disfavored individuals or groups."
Second, Madsen rejected the idea that discrimination against gay men and lesbians required the hard scrutiny given to laws based on racial or gender bias.
Homosexuals, she wrote, are not politically powerless; nor has it been proven that sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic, as is the case with protected minority groups.
Finally, the plurality ruled that same-sex couples do not have a fundamental right to marry, overturning not just the results, but the reasoning of the two lower courts.
Although the Supreme Court has indeed articulated a fundamental right to marry, she wrote, nowhere has that right included the right to marry a same-sex partner, which is not rooted in our nation's tradition and history.
These three threshold assumptions paved the way for Madsen to defer to the state legislature, which enacted Washington's Defense of Marriage Act in 1998. Holding lawmakers to the easiest standard of judicial review, Madsen wrote that link they drew between marriage and inadvertent procreation was enough to meet constitutional requirements.
Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander and Justice Charles W. Johnson concurred in Madsen's comments. The chief justice wrote a brief concurrence, adding that the legislature retained the power to expand marriage laws in the future, or offer civil unions.
Justice James M. Johnson authored a long concurring opinion, signed by Justice Richard Sanders.
Writing in strong dissent were justices Mary Fairhurst, Bobbe J. Bridge and Tom Chambers. Justice Susan Owens, in turn, signed the Fairhurst and Chambers dissents, bringing the total number of opinions to six.
"Future generations of justices on this court and future generations of Washingtonians will undoubtedly look back on our holding today with regret and even shame," wrote Bridge, "in the same way that our nation now looks with shame upon our past acts of discrimination.
"I will look forward to the time when state-sanctioned discrimination toward our gay and lesbian citizens is erased from our state's law books, if not its history," Bridge wrote.

Gay rights lawyer wins Wash. legislative primary -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Gay rights lawyer wins Wash. legislative primary

TODO More by
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published Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Jamie Pedersen, a gay Seattleite who was lead volunteer attorney in Lambda Legal's failed bid to persuade the Washington Supreme Court to allow same-sex marriage, is the Democratic nominee for a seat in the state House of Representatives, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Tuesday.
Pedersen, 38, had maintained a slim lead after the Sept. 19 primary in central Seattle's 43rd District. The nomination is tantamount to election in one of the state's most liberal districts.
"One down, one to go," Pedersen told Gay.com on Tuesday. "But that was the hardest one."
His closest competitor at 252 votes back, former judge and Seattle City Councilman Jim Street, conceded the race Monday night and said Pedersen has "tremendous potential," the Associated Press reported.
Pedersen hopes to succeed Rep. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, who is giving up the seat to run for the state Senate.
Murray, who is also gay, endorsed Pedersen late in the campaign, saying he could best fight for marriage equality. The Washington Legislature is expected to consider a same-sex marriage bill next year.
"If we had won in the courts . . . there would not be a major gay or lesbian issue in front of the Legislature," Murray told the Post-Intelligencer on making the endorsement Sept. 5.
"But that negative decision has created a political earthquake in the gay and lesbian community. That's why I changed my earlier position to not get involved in this race."
Pedersen's election would keep at four the number of gays in the House; if elected, Murray would be the state Senate's only out member.
"I don't think there's any question that we'll introduce a marriage bill," Pedersen told Gay.com on Tuesday. "We're working on strategy.
"If that bill doesn't pass, we'll be working on other votes on relationship issues to protect couples to make the time they have to wait more bearable."
Pedersen said he was "reluctant to put a label" on any such partnership measures, "particularly the label of civil unions.
"I don't mean to denigrate the accomplishments" of achieving same-sex civil unions in Vermont and Connecticut, he said, "but in my 10 years of activism I have seen civil unions become a stopping point. And the LGBT community here (in Washington) is united in wanting marriage."
The six-person Democratic primary was the costliest in Washington state history, the Post-Intelligencer reported. The candidates raised at least $549,000, with more than $170,000 of that raised by Pedersen, the AP said.
Pedersen was the only gay candidate in the race, though his five opponents all said they supported marriage equality, and some gay figures backed other candidates. (Advocate)

Gene trait suspected in moms of gay sons -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Gene trait suspected in moms of gay sons
Randy Dotinga, PlanetOut Network

TODO More by Randy Dotinga
-->
published Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Scientists have reported that they've found an "extremely unusual" trait in the cells of some mothers with two or more gay sons, providing more evidence to suggest that homosexuality might be inherited.
Mothers of multiple gay sons were about six times more likely than other women to process their X chromosomes in a certain way, researchers discovered.
Researchers aren't entirely sure what the findings mean, said study co-author Sven Bocklandt, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA. Making things more complicated, about 75 percent of mothers of multiple gay sons don't have the trait.
Still, the study, released Tuesday in the journal Human Genetics, raises plenty of questions, Bocklandt said, especially as researchers try to figure out whether homosexuality has genetic roots and if there truly is a "gay gene" -- or genes.
"What everybody wants is the gene, and we don’t have it yet," Bocklandt said. "But this is an independent confirmation that the X chromosome is involved."
Bocklandt and colleagues looked at a phenomenon known as X-chromosome inactivation, in which cells inside the bodies of females automatically turn off -- or inactivate -- one of their two X chromosomes. That leaves them with one working X chromosome -- just like males, who have a single X and a single Y chromosome.
Normally, each cell in a female's body randomly turns off one or the other X chromosome. In some cases, such as when families share a genetic disease, there is "extreme skewing" -- one X chromosome is more likely to be turned off than the other, Bocklandt said.
In the new study, the researchers looked at 97 mothers of one or more gay sons and 103 women with no gay sons to see what their blood cells did with their X chromosomes. The researchers recruited many of the women with the help of PFLAG.
They found that nearly a quarter of the mothers of multiple gay sons inactivated the same X chromosome -- in other words, nonrandomly -- compared to just 4 percent of the women without gay sons. Of those with one gay son, 13 percent inactivated the same X chromosome.
Dr. Ionel Sandovici, a genetics researcher at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, England, who is familiar with the research findings, cautioned that the study is small, with just 44 mothers of multiple gay sons being examined. More research in larger groups must be done to confirm the results, Sandovici said.
The research does provide "circumstantial evidence" that the X chromosome contributes to the development of male sexuality, Sandovici said. But "we still understand very little about molecular mechanisms of sexual orientation, and this seems to be rather a complicated biological puzzle."

More researchers probe gay-gene question -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com: "More researchers probe gay-gene question
published Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Researchers at Illinois' Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute are preparing to tackle a contentious question: Is there a gay gene?
The institute is now recruiting 1,000 pairs of gay brothers in hope of finding an answer, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. While the scientific world now rejects the view of homosexuality as an illness, there is still dispute over whether it's learned behavior.
Timothy Murphy, a University of Illinois bioethicist and consultant to the study, believes the research will show homosexuality is genetic, the Sun-Times reported. Murphy believes that finding would encourage more acceptance of gays by the public.
Alan Sanders, the director of the Evanston study, echoed those sentiments. 'We hope our study will dispel mythologies and ignorance about homosexuality,' Sanders told the Sun-Times.
Previous studies have shown that homosexuality is tied to both genetic and environmental causes. Identical twins, who share the same genes, are more likely than fraternal twins to both be gay.
Environmental factors, including exposure to certain hormones during pregnancy and having older brothers, have been shown to increase the likelihood of a male child being gay as well. (The Advocate) "

FDA OKs New Cancer Pain Drug: "FDA OKs New Cancer Pain Drug
Fentora Treats Severe, Brief Pain Flare-Ups in Cancer Patients By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Wednesday, September 27, 2006

FDA OKs New Cancer Pain Drug
Fentora Treats Severe, Brief Pain Flare-Ups in Cancer Patients
By Miranda HittiWebMD Medical News
Reviewed By Louise Chang, MDon Wednesday, September 27, 2006

.lclist {text-indent: -6; margin: 0 20 6 18; font-size: 9pt;}

More From WebMD
Pain Relievers: What to Take and When
Back Pain: Your Warning Signs
Cancer Pain Scale
Sept. 27, 2006 -- The FDA has approved Fentora, a new prescription drug, to treat severe, brief pain flare-ups ("breakthrough pain") in cancer patients who are already taking opioids for underlying, persistent cancer pain.
Fentora contains fentanyl, an opioid. The FDA approved Fentora on Sept. 25.
Cephalon, the drug company that makes Fentora, expects Fentora to be available in the U.S. starting in the first week of October, according to a Cephalon news release.
The drug comes in tablets, but those tablets aren't swallowed. Instead, they're placed in the mouth, between the upper cheek and gum, above a rear molar tooth.
Saliva helps the tablets dissolve and quickly pass into the body. The medicine enters the bloodstream faster than if the pills were swallowed and sent through the digestive system, according to Cepahlon.
Fentora is the first pain medicine in seven years to be approved for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients. It's also the first tablet of its kind, says Cephalon.
Other pain medications can take 30 minutes-45 minutes to take effect, but some patients in Fentora's clinical trials had pain relief within 15 minutes, according to Cephalon.
Fentora was "generally well tolerated" in clinical trials, states Cephalon.
Fentora's most common side effects in clinical trials were nausea, vomiting, abnormalities at the application site, fatiguefatigue, anemiaanemia, dizzinessdizziness, constipationconstipation, swelling, weakness, dehydrationdehydration, and headache.
Most side effects were mild to moderate in severity and were typical of opioid drugs, according to Cephalon.












More From WebMD


Pain Relievers: What to Take and When
Back Pain: Your Warning Signs
Cancer Pain Scale



Sept. 27, 2006 -- The FDA has approved Fentora, a new prescription drug, to treat severe, brief pain flare-ups ('breakthrough pain') in cancer patients who are already taking opioids for underlying, persistent cancer pain.
Fentora contains fentanyl, an opioid. The FDA approved Fentora on Sept. 25.
Cephalon, the drug company that makes Fentora, expects Fentora to be available in the U.S. starting in the first week of October, according to a Cephalon news release.
The drug comes in tablets, but those tablets aren't swallowed. Instead, they're placed in the mouth, between the upper cheek and gum, above a rear molar tooth.
Saliva helps the tablets dissolve and quickly pass into the body. The medicine enters the bloodstream faster than if the pills were swallowed and sent through the digestive system, according to Cepahlon.
Fentora is the first pain medicine in seven years to be approved for the management of breakthrough pain in cancer patients. It's also the first tablet of its kind, says Cephalon.
Other pain medications can take 30 minutes-45 minutes to take effect, but some patients in Fentora's clinical trials had pain relief within 15 minutes, according to Cephalon.
Fentora was 'generally well tolerated' in clinical trials, states Cephalon.
Fentora's most common side effects in clinical trials were nausea,"

Google: "Intense emotional issues are being emphasized in your planetary picture, but now you are thinking further into the future. You see a long-term plan beginning to take shape and you might like the way it looks very much. The danger comes from getting too far ahead of yourself. The future will arrive when it's ready.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006"

Wired News: Moving Beyond String Theory:
By Mark Anderson Also by this reporter02:00 AM Sep, 26, 2006
Ask any credentialed nerd what the ultimate theory of physics is, and chances are they'll reply, "string theory."
In string theory -- an idea that's been around since the late 1970s -- the universe is a 10-dimensional place, with six of those dimensions curled up inside themselves like a cat in front of a fireplace. All particles and forces are different resonances and vibrations of these 10-dimensional strings.
Strings are far from the only game in town. There are other, potentially equally promising approaches to unifying physics' two seemingly incompatible visions of the cosmos: general relativity and quantum mechanics.
This fall, Columbia University mathematician Peter Woit has published a critique of string theory (Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory), pointing out that in more than three decades, string theory still has yet to make a single prediction that can be verified in the lab or through the lens of a telescope. If all scientific disciplines maintained such fluffy and forgiving standards, Woit argues, science would devolve into little more than medieval disputations about angels and heads of pins.
Lee Smolin of Canada's Perimeter Institute has taken the next step in his new book, The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next, outlining the most promising non-stringy paths to reconciliation between Einstein and the quantum.
Oxford University mathematical physicist , author of The Road to Reality, invented a mathematical tool called "twisters."
Smolin and Penrose take a look at the diverging paths beyond string theory.
Twistor String Theory. This retooling of string theory uses Penrose's twistors, which reduce the number of dimensions in the theory to the familiar four -- three spatial dimensions plus time. Twistors are by definition four-dimensional objects that locate not a position in space and time but rather a network of possible causal relationships between space-time events. Depicting a particle such as an electron as occupying a definite x, y, z and t gives a false sense of definiteness: Space and time are fuzzy at quantum scales. But cause and effect are not, and cause and effect are effectively what twistor space maps.
"What's rather striking about this twistor string approach is that it really is four dimensions," said Penrose just after a conference on twistor string theory. "So my objections (about string theory's extra hidden dimensions) essentially evaporate."
Pros: The mathematical beauty of string theory remains mostly unassailed, while the universe gets its four dimensions. Actual predictions for future particle accelerator experiments may yet emerge.
Cons: It's still unclear what this "theory" is -- and it may just be a sidelight on the 10-dimensional theory that yields more solvable equations. The inventor of twistors himself said, "I need to see a clear theory which I might be able to use, but I didn't get that."
Loop Quantum Gravity. If string theory evaporated tomorrow, something called Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG) would probably be the odds-on favorite to take its place. LQG, and a related approach called Spin Foam theory, posits that Einstein's theories of space and time break down at very small scales (called the Planck scale, one-billion-billionth the size of an atomic nucleus) and in its place are entities described by another mathematical tool Penrose invented, called spin networks.
These graphs represent loops of field lines that, like string theory, become the fundamental building blocks of the universe. But unlike strings, no extra hidden dimensions are needed. The end result is that LQG predicts specific, quantifiable ways in which classical Einsteinian relativity would break down -- and could soon be observable in fine-tuned measurements of the Big Bang's microwave background or in observations by GLAST, a gamma-ray telescope scheduled to launch next year.
Pros: Smolin, one of the originators of LQG, makes an eloquent and persuasive case for the theory, which has been able to make bold new predictions. And it reduces to something resembling classical, Newtonian gravity at low-energy and long-distance limits.
Cons: No one has yet been able to get spacetime itself, the stuff Einstein made famous, to emerge from LQG's spin networks.
Causal Dynamical Triangulations. Here we encounter one of a couple ideas that, if its profile ever increases, will probably need a catchier title. CDT breaks down tiny units of volume and area -- the crucial stuff that makes up any spacetime -- into tiny tetrahedra, a little like a computer graphics chip renders complex surfaces by decomposing them into many itsy bitsy squares and triangles.
CDT can be seen, says Smolin, "as a very simplified form of Loop Quantum Gravity." And even if it is not The Ultimate Theory, CDT's practitioners have developed clever solutions and approximation methods that could be used for the real thing.
Pros: Classical spacetime, as described by Einstein, does emerge from CDT models.
Cons: It's not clear yet if falsifiable predictions can be made that would distinguish CDT from LQG or other theories.
Non-Commutative Geometry. Behind this clunky name lies a clever idea, developed by a French mathematician named Alain Connes. It recognizes that observable quantities of a particle such as position and momentum cannot both be precisely measured -- a quintessential aspect of quantum systems. Connes and his colleagues have outlined the spatial geometry that would produce this kind of "non-commutative" algebra. (Technically, a non-commutative operation is one in which AB does not equal BA.)
"Connes keeps one eye on what the physics tells us and the other eye on his mathematical notions, and tries to build from these a specific ... geometry which he claims goes more deeply into how physics and spacetime structure combine with one another," said Penrose.
Pros: An extremely useful mathematical toolkit that has turned up both in string theory and in LQG.
Cons: May just be another extremely useful mathematical tool -- along the lines of twistors and spin networks -- and not a physical theory unto itself.
No Ultimate Theory. Some holdouts maintain that the universe may simply have two sets of operators' manuals -- the Einsteinian for the massive and cosmic and the quantum mechanical for the tiny and energetic.
Of course, as Smolin points out in The Trouble With Physics, science is littered with present-day commonplaces that were once radical and courageous acts of unification: Copernicus said the Earth and the other planets were not two separate things but one. Giordano Bruno said the sun and the stars were not two separate things but one. Isaac Newton said the force that makes an apple fall from a tree is the same force that moves the planets through the heavens.
Skeptics of previous scientific grand unification efforts are often, though certainly not always, proved to have been lacking only in imagination.

Google: "Your life has settled down enough for you to temporarily take charge of your career. You have been riding the waves of change, but now the destruction caused by the incoming waves is clearing the way for new and better goals. Keep your eyes on the future, even if your nerves get rattled with uncertainty. With patience, you will reach your desired destination.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006"

Gay Australians wary of sect's lobbying -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Gay Australians wary of sect's lobbying

TODO More by
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published Monday, September 25, 2006
Until last week, most gays, like most straight people in Australia, had never heard of the religious sect the Exclusive Brethren.
And this was something the Exclusive Brethren were quite happy about.
However, thanks to intense media scrutiny, that's all changed -- and now we know more than we ever wished to about this strange but often wealthy group of people who like to call themselves "the chosen ones."
Last week in New Zealand, two private investigators confirmed that they were paid by the Exclusive Brethren to dig up dirt on New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, her husband and senior Labour Party lawmakers, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. A story claiming the prime minister's husband was gay surfaced in a right-wing magazine, forcing her to hold a news conference to tell the world it wasn't so.
Most of the Brethren's beliefs are so ridiculous (mobile phones and electronic transit tolls are a tool of the devil, God chooses the government; universities are not good for education) they're laughable. However, it's their hatred and condemnation of gays that has been the focus of much of the media attention.
What has emerged is the frightening reality that the Exclusive Brethren have both money and power -- and even though the sect forbids its members to vote, it has every intention of influencing the outcome of elections all over the world, this time in the Australian state of Victoria.
The Brethren, whose Web site says they "do not live in countries that do not have a Christian Government," dislike Australia's Green Party because it supports equal rights for same-sex couples in the way of civil unions or marriage. They hope to eradicate Greens' hope of being elected or re-elected via a difficult-to-trace smear campaign.
Their strategy for the Victoria election, coming up Nov. 25, is to purge the Greens from the Upper House and encourage voters to support the conservative anti-civil union stance of the Nationals. (They dislike Liberal leader Ted Baillieu for his socially progressive policies, and have met with shadow minister Victoria Philip Davis, an accused homophobe in Victoria's gay press.)
A wealthy group numbering about 18,000 throughout Australia, the Brethren take full advantage of federal disclosure laws that allow anonymous political donations of up to $90,000.
They used some of this money to print anti-gay pamphlets informing households that if the Greens get in, then gays will be allowed to marry -- a strategy that was particularly successful in scaring the bejeesus out of voters in March elections in Tasmania.
The Exclusive Brethren have been big cash donors to conservative Australian candidates since the 2004 federal election, in which their horse, Prime Minister John Howard, came home in spectacular style (albeit on the world's shortest odds).
Last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, pro-Howard and anti-Green political ads by Stephen Hales, the brother of Bruce Hales, a Sydney businessman and world leader of the Brethren's 70,000 followers, were traced to one of the sect's schools -- for which it receives AUS$2.4 million in annual public subsidies.
During the 2004 U.S. election season, the St. Petersburg Times reported, Brethren gave roughly U.S. $500,000 to buy ads in the New York Times supporting President Bush and in two Florida newspapers backing Republican U.S. Senate contender Mel Martinez -- the latter because of his support for traditional marriage. Both campaigns denied knowing anything about the committee or its members.
The placing of the political ads was "the first time I've known this to happen in the history" of the Brethren, Ian Markham, professor of theology and ethics and dean of the Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, told the St. Petersburg Times. Markham was born into the Brethren -- sometimes known in the States as the Plymouth Brethren -- but said his father pulled his family from the sect about 30 years ago. (Cath Pope, Gay.com/UK)

Oden defends "Christian" welcome to "ex-gays" -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Oden defends "Christian" welcome to "ex-gays"

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published Monday, September 25, 2006
The openly gay mayor of Palm Springs, Calif., said in an opinion piece published Friday that he was only showing "Christian courtesy" in welcoming an "ex-gay" group to his city Saturday, CBS News reported.
Mayor Ron Oden has been under fire from the city's many gay and lesbian residents over a welcome letter he sent to the organizers of the Love Won Out conference, taking place 20 miles away in Indian Wells.
"It's a pleasure to welcome you," the mayor wrote to the notoriously anti-gay right-wing activist group Focus on the Family, which organized the conference. "We are so proud to have you here in the Palm Springs area."
Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colo., teaches that gay men and lesbians lead "deviant un-Christian lifestyles" and that with the group's help, they can "change" their sexual orientation. Officials with the group were pleased with the mayor's letter.
"We were refreshingly encouraged that here was a city official walking out genuine tolerance," said Melissa Fryrear, director of the group's Gender Issues division. "He's public about being a gay man, which made it even more significant that he was showing us so much respect."
But the city's gay residents were "completely unified in their outrage" about the mayor's letter, Palm Springs gay rights advocate Claire Jordan Grant told CBS. She organized a Unity Rally to ferry busloads of protesters to picket Saturday's conference. Out lesbian Councilwoman Ginny Foat called Oden's letter "unfortunate."
But Oden, an ordained minister, said he was only being a good Christian.
"I do not agree with Focus on the Family," he wrote in an opinion piece published in the Palm Springs Desert Sun, dismissing the argument that gays can change their sexual orientation as a "discredited claim."
"Yet, I believe that I should show them common or Christian courtesy." (The Advocate)

Guardian Unlimited Science Is there anybody out there? How the men from the ministry hid the hunt for UFOs: Special reportSpace exploration Interactive guidesSpace exploration: interactive guidesNet notes12.04.2001: Yuri Gagarin22.03.2001: Mir space stationUseful linksThe Planetary SocietyNasa Watch (not a Nasa site)Space.comHouston Space ChronicleEncyclopedia AstronauticaNasa homepageWelcome to the Nasa WebNasa Human Spaceflight (shuttle homepage)Kennedy Space CenterGalileo: journey to JupiterNasa's Mars Exploration Rover MissionEuropean Space AgencyUnited Nations Office for Outer Space AffairsBritish National Space CentreSearch for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Guardian Is there anybody out there? How the men from the ministry hid the hunt for UFOs: "
Is there anybody out there? How the men from the ministry hid the hunt for UFOs
· MoD tried to cover-up secret investigation unit · 10,000 eyewitness reports 'mostly due to weather'James Randerson, science correspondentMonday September 25, 2006
GuardianThe Ministry of Defence went to extraordinary lengths to cover up its true involvement in investigating UFOs, according to secret documents revealed under the Freedom of Information Act.
The files show that officials attempted to expunge information from documents released to the Public Records Office under the "30-year rule" that would have revealed the extent of the MoD's interest in UFO sightings.
In particular, the ministry wanted to cover up the operation of a secret unit dedicated to UFO investigations within the Defence Intelligence Staff. UFO conspiracy theorists have likened the unit, called DI55, to a sort of "Men in Black" agency for defending the Earth against invasion but the released documents show this is far from the truth. One 1995 memo from DI55 to the MoD's public "UFO desk" said: "I have several books at home that describe our supposed role of 'defender of the Earth against the alien menace' - it is light years from the truth!"
The files were made public following FOI requests by David Clarke, a lecturer in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University and his colleague Andy Roberts.
"These documents don't tell us anything about UFOs but they do show how desperate the MoD have been to conceal the interest which the intelligence services had in the subject," said Dr Clarke.
The trail begins with a request, in 1976, from a UFO enthusiast called Julian Hennessy for access to the MoD's records on UFO sightings. A note from the UFO desk to the MoD's head of security on March 23 shows that officials intended to refuse him access on the grounds that the files contain confidential information and "very little of value to a serious scientific investigator".
But the note continues: "This is not to say that the investigation is not taken seriously. The branches have their own methods - and [the public UFO desk] has no 'need to know' about them - but we are aware that DI55 for example sometimes makes extensive inquiries.
"It is undesirable that even a hint of this should become public and we are currently consulting the [Air Historical Branch] on ways of expurgating the official records against the time when they qualify for disclosure [at the Public Records Office]."
Hearing of the background to his fob off 30 years ago Mr Hennessy, who is a local magistrate, was not surprised. "Everything led me to believe there was a major cover up going on," he said."They didn't want to let the public know just how interested they were in these phenomena."
Attempts to alter the public record went on into the 90s. In a note dated April 28 1993 from DI55 to the public UFO desk the unnamed author argued the unit's involvement should be excised from records due to be released under the 30-year rule. But the cat was already out of the bag. A clerical error in 1983 had meant that the distribution list was incorrectly left on a publicly released UFO-related document, so UFO enthusiasts were already asking questions.
"Since then they have obviously been bombarded by people saying who is this DI55, what do they do, what is the extent of their involvement," said Dr Clarke.
Eventually, DI55 decided to allow its involvement to be made public. A note from DI55 to the public UFO desk on 5July 1995 said: "I see no reason for continuing to deny that the [Defence Intelligence Service] has an interest in UFOs. However, if the association is formally made public then the MoD will no doubt be pressured to state what the intelligence role/interest is. This could lead to disbelief and embarrassment since few people are likely to believe the truth that lack of funds and higher priorities have prevented any study of the thousands of reports received."
At this point someone, presumably from the public UFO desk, has scribbled "ouch!" in the margin.
"The lengths they went to to remove any mention of the Defence Intelligence Staff's central role in investigating sightings suggests they had something to hide," said Dr Clarke. "But what they were hiding was not evidence of ET visits but embarrassment at the fact they were never allowed to spend public money on investigating the subject in any depth." The full extent of DI55's involvement has subsequently been made clear by a report released to Dr Clarke in May and reported in the Guardian. That threw up a 500-page document which brought together everything the unit knew about UFOs, or Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs) as the MoD prefers, including more than 10,000 sightings. It said the existence of UAPs was "indisputable", but blamed the most vexing sighting on airborne "plasmas" formed during "more than one set of weather and electrically charged conditions", or during meteor showers.
Sighting aliens or otherwise?
August 10 1965 A man reported seeing a crimson ball fly out of the side of a hill in Warminster, Wiltshire. A fortnight later, another man photographed a UFO in the centre of Warminster. In 1994 it was claimed the photo was a hoax and the object was made from a cotton reel and a button.
Boxing Day 1980 A UFO reportedly crash landed in Rendlesham forest, Suffolk, near the Woodbridge US air force base. The incident was nicknamed Britain's Roswell in a reference to the famous UFO sighting in New Mexico in 1947. Witnesses said the craft was covered in markings similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs and aliens emerged from it. An airman later confessed the incident was a hoax.
November 28 1980 Policeman Alan Godfrey reported seeing a six-metre wide dome-like object hovering in the air in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. He returned to the site with colleagues and they found the area where the object had supposedly been hovering was dry even though the rest of the road was wet because of earlier rain.
Early 1990s A string of sightings by residents in north Scotland of a UFO regularly flying overhead at great speed. Documents released earlier this year suggested the aircraft was a spy plane called Aurora, designed by the Americans to take covert pictures of the Soviet Union.
May 2006 The MoD released details of Project Condign, a four-year secret study into possible explanations for UFOs. The report concluded that many sightings could be explained as by glowing "plasmas" of gas created by charges of electricity.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

Pro-gay church rebuffs IRS challenge to tax-exempt status News Advocate.com: "09/23/06-09/25/06

09/23/06-09/25/06 Pro-gay church rebuffs IRS challenge to tax-exempt status
A liberal, pro-gay church in Pasadena, Calif., that has been threatened with the loss of its tax-exempt status over an antiwar sermon delivered just days before the 2004 presidential election said Thursday it will fight an IRS order to turn over documents on the matter. "We're going to put it in their court and in a court of law so that we can get an adjudication to some very fundamental issue here that we see as an intolerable infringement of rights," Bob Long, senior warden of All Saints Church, told the Associated Press.
Long said the church's 26-member vestry voted unanimously to resist IRS demands for documents and an interview with the congregation's rector by the end of the month. The church's action sets up a high-profile confrontation between the church and the IRS, which now must decide whether to ask for a hearing before a judge, who would then decide on the validity of the agency's demands.
IRS spokesman Terry Lemons would not comment specifically on the dispute but noted in a statement that the agency could take a church to court. "We recognize the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and religion," Lemons said. "But there is no constitutional right to be exempt from federal taxation."
Religious leaders on the right and left have expressed fear that the dispute could make it more difficult for them to speak out on what they consider to be moral issues, including same-sex marriage and abortion, during the midterm election campaign. At a news conference Thursday, church officials were flanked by about 40 representatives of mosques, synagogues, and other churches. "We smell intimidation, it smells rotten, and we should not allow any aspect of intimidation to be directed to any member of our great country," said Maher Hathout, senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but to retain tax-exempt status, they cannot endorse candidates or parties. The dispute at the 3,500-member Episcopal church centers on a sermon titled "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush," delivered by a guest pastor. Though he did not endorse a candidate, he said Jesus would condemn the Iraq war and Bush's doctrine of preemptive war.
According to the IRS, the only church ever to be stripped of its tax-exempt status for partisan politicking was a church near Binghamton, N.Y., that ran full-page newspaper ads against President Clinton during the 1992 election season. (AP)

Gay News From 365Gay.com: "Rochester To NY Legislature: Legalize Gay Marriage
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
September 25, 2006 - 12:01 am ET
Rochester To NY Legislature: Legalize Gay Marriageby 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
September 25, 2006 - 12:01 am ET


(Rochester, New York) Rochester City Council is sending a strong message to state lawmakers: allow same-sex couples to marry. The entire city council has signed a letter to Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno calling for an end to discrimination against same-sex couples.
Councilmember Bill Pritchard - who is openly gay - said all nine council members signed the letter without hesitation.
That it is coming from the usually conservative Upstate area the letter could have a greater impact in Albany than if it came from the more liberal New York City.
The letter was drafted as LGBT civil rights groups in the state ratchet up the pressure on candidates for gay marriage support.
In July the Court of Appeals, the highest court in New York State, ruled that the state "Constitution does not compel the recognition of marriages between members of the same sex."
The court heard arguments in May in an omnibus case involving four different lawsuits brought by 44 gay and lesbian couples.
In its ruling the high court said that the issue of same-sex marriage should be left up to the legislature.
Democratic candidate for governor, Attorney General Elliot Spitzer has said he supports gay marriage.
"I think same sex marriage should be legal. I will propose a bill to permit that to be the case in the state of New York," Spitzer said in July.
Republicans oppose gay marriage, and GOP Senate leader Bruno has a long history of stonewalling LGBT legislation.
Spitzer leads in the polls and Democrats are hopeful of gaining control of both houses in the legislature in November.
















("

"There are hidden treasures to discover when you confront new depths of your feelings, even though it could be quite upsetting. Since you Aquarians can be so comfortable in the rational world of intellect, you are often uncomfortable leaving this realm. But leave it you must, for there are gifts awaiting you in the non-verbal world of emotions, where analysis is less important than process. Throw away your words and act on what's in your heart.

Monday, September 25, 2006"

"Exciting ideas of travel may consume much of your free time today, but remember that you can go places in your mind via your imagination. Either way, you are hearing the call of a great adventure and it is your time to answer. There is no need to hold yourself back. Anything is possible now, but you must be able to visualize it before it can happen.
Sunday, September 24, 2006"

my nose has a nose


David Hughes
to BigBlkMusc256
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12:06 am (1 minute ago)
well here i am up late, unable to sleep, this thing under my nose is red and literally the size of my nose, thanks to james and the stress he put on me this weekend, so at 8am im gonna have to call the dentist and reschedule the appt, its just too big and as we all know , herpes simplex two is contagious, its not 'leaking', but i know if the dentist sees it he will recoil and kick me out of his office pronto, i certainly would, never in my life have i had a sore this large and red, im taking acyclovir 800mg 3 times per day, but its not even stopping it, and i use alcohol on it to keep it from spreading, i caught this in 1982 from randy brewer, curse his soul, and for the last four years i have not had one single breakout, till this week, thanks to my beloved james, so in the morning i will have to cancel the dentist, and pinellas county is canceling dental appts right and left, so i will be lucky to get my lower teeth pulled, thanks to my beloved james, he was a bitch when i said good night to him tonight, he is still in monster mood....what did i do to deserve this, absolutely nothing....

at least i got a new knee brace out of all of this, when he felt bad from yelling at me last week at the publix, but im gonna have to avoid him for a few weeks till he realizes how much harm he has done to me

he is the love of my life, i got a ten dollar voucher from albertsons from pinellas county and instead of buying me stuff i got him toilet paper and stuff he asked for, so now i am out of yougurt, which keeps all these pills from hurting my stomach

i typed up and will fax the food stamp letter in the morning, it came out fine, even james typed it up to make the margins right, so that should work out right

im just pisssed i can not see the dentist in the morning, and i have to cancel my cab ride, they hate it when us clients do that, and pinellas county is canceling dental work asap, so it will be a miracle if i get my teeth pulled, the last thing my case manager said to me was not to forget my dental appt, but i had not shaved and no one could see the sore under my nose, it wasnt until tonight i shaved and oh my god, the red herpes sore is an inch long, it swollen, and its gonna take weeks to get ride of, even with 3o acyclovir, take one tablet three times a day for a week and then one a day to keep it from comingback, usually for the past five years i have remained calm and prevented a breakout, but with james
going ballistic on me, here i am up at 12am watching 'underworld and vampires and werewolfs, "

and i feel like a vampire for sure, well, im sure you are tired of mye mails, i am going to blog all of this, it will make for a good book

thank you so much for your kindness, love, and energy, you are a true friend, and even thou i love james, he doesnt understand me at all, he continues to think i exist to annoy him, when the truth of the matter, i would give my soul and life for him

make the maker bless you this week, i will channel what energy i have left to bring you money, protection, and wonders

with all my love and energy

for i am david alan hughes, the metallic ape, with one hell of a cold sore

LOLOLOL

Liberal Calif. church to fight IRS challenge -- Queer Lesbian Gay News -- Gay.com



Liberal Calif. church to fight IRS challenge

TODO More by
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published Friday, September 22, 2006
A liberal pro-gay church in Pasadena, Calif., that has been threatened with the loss of its tax-exempt status over an anti-war sermon delivered just days before the 2004 presidential election said Thursday it will fight an IRS order to turn over documents on the matter.
"We're going to put it in their court and in a court of law so that we can get an adjudication to some very fundamental issue here that we see as an intolerable infringement of rights," Bob Long, senior warden of All Saints Church, told the Associated Press.
Long said the church's 26-member vestry voted unanimously to resist IRS demands for documents and an interview with the congregation's rector by the end of the month.
The church's action sets up a high-profile confrontation between the church and the IRS, which now must decide whether to ask for a hearing before a judge, who would then decide on the validity of the agency's demands.
At a news conference Thursday, church officials were flanked by about 40 representatives of mosques, synagogues, and other churches.
"We smell intimidation, it smells rotten, and we should not allow any aspect of intimidation to be directed to any member of our great country," said Maher Hathout, senior adviser of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
Under federal tax law, church officials can legally discuss politics, but to retain tax-exempt status, they cannot endorse candidates or parties.
The dispute at the 3,500-member Episcopal church centers on a sermon titled "If Jesus Debated Senator Kerry and President Bush," delivered by a guest pastor. Though he did not endorse a candidate, the pastor said Jesus would condemn the Iraq war and Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive war.
According to the IRS, the only church ever to be stripped of its tax-exempt status for partisan politicking was a church near Binghamton, N.Y., that ran full-page newspaper ads against Bill Clinton during the 1992 campaign. (AP)
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Google: "Exciting ideas of travel may consume much of your free time today, but remember that you can go places in your mind via your imagination. Either way, you are hearing the call of a great adventure and it is your time to answer. There is no need to hold yourself back. Anything is possible now, but you must be able to visualize it before it can happen.
Sunday, September 24, 2006"

The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. -Chuang Tzu

david alan zeus hale hughes. i fought till the end, and i go to my maker with joy. wonder, and perfection of spirit and a being of pure energy, endless, and eternal, for i shall exist forever in that dimension of thought, mind, and i forever shall be

David Hughes
to BigBlkMusc256
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12:51 pm (0 minutes ago)
i am going to give himself one month, then i am going to proceed into pure energy, i refuse to live my life of pain, and hardship and cruelty from humans, it is my time to ascend i refuse to live a life of hardship and lack of dignity, if my life does not improve my i will become a being of light, free of pain, and on one will stop me, and no one will no the time. and this is to me mentioned to no one, no one., it is my time to join my ancestors, my god, and be free at last. i wish to leave in peace, love, and friendship, with no bad feelings toward anyone. especially you, teri, james griffin, my mother, my aunt, for i have a plan where i will just disappear, to vanish in either

Exciting ideas of travel may consume much of your free time today, but remember that you can go places in your mind via your imagination. Either way, you are hearing the call of a great adventure and it is your time to answer. There is no need to hold yourself back. Anything is possible now, but you must be able to visualize it before it can happen.
Sunday, September 24, 2006

Army Corps Faked Budget Entries


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Army Corps Faked Budget Entries By T. Christian Miller The Los Angeles Times
Saturday 23 September 2006
Funds for Iraq work, set to expire, were stashed. It's called improper, but not criminal.
Washington - The Army Corps of Engineers improperly created fake entries in government ledgers to maintain control over hundreds of millions of dollars in spending for the reconstruction of Iraq, according to a federal audit released Friday.
Corps officials listed $362 million in potential contracts for a nonexistent contractor labeled "Dummy Vendor" in a government database, an accounting trick to preserve funds due to expire at the end of this fiscal year, the audit said.
"They took this money and parked it to use later," said one senior U.S. official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to elaborate on the audit.
"It's improper. It's wrong. This is not the way you do government business."
Corps officials acknowledged Friday that the technique was improper but said that there was no intent to deceive. They said that the entries were designed to ensure that the government had enough money on hand to pay contractors already at work in Iraq.
After being confronted with the audit's findings, corps officials changed the entries in the database to reflect that the money was being used to close down existing contracts in Iraq, the agency said.
"It wasn't the proper bookkeeping way to do this," said Suzanne Fournier, the corps' chief spokeswoman. "Apparently someone didn't understand that."
The audit by the Special Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Iraq is the latest to raise questions about accounting for the multibillion-dollar program, which has been plagued by accusations of waste, fraud and corruption.
At issue is $18 billion in funding approved by Congress in November 2003 to build new schools, power stations and sewage treatment plants in Iraq. At the time, Congress ordered that the funds be spent by Sept. 30.
Iraq's violence and continually shifting government priorities bogged down the pace of the rebuilding effort, leaving the corps with nearly $1 billion still to spend.
To prevent the money from reverting back to the Treasury, Corps officials in Iraq listed the "Dummy Vendor" as receiving 96 different contracts to build infrastructure for oil, electricity and other sectors, the audit said.
Such accounting trickery is not confined to Iraq.
The U.S. Special Operations Command, based in Tampa, Fla., was accused of "parking" $20 million in 2003, leading to language in this year's Defense Department budget to criminalize the practice.
That bill has yet to pass, and the inspector general for Iraq, Stuart Bowen, found no criminal wrongdoing involved in the corps' use of the dummy vendor. "We do not believe … there was any attempt to mislead on the true status" of the contracting process, the audit said. Bowen was in Iraq and unavailable for comment.
The audit marks the second time in recent months that a government agency has been charged with accounting improprieties.
The U.S. Agency for International Development was accused in June of resorting to accounting tricks in an effort to hide the spiraling costs of a children's hospital in Iraq, a project that received special backing from First Lady Laura Bush.
San Francisco-based Bechtel, the chief contractor, was removed from the project after the inspector general determined that the cost to finish the hospital had soared from $50 million to almost $170 million.
U.S. officials now hope to have an Iraqi company finish the work.

Learn More at Space.com. From Satellites to Stars, NASA information, Astronomy, the Sun and the Planets, we have your information here.

SCIFI.COM

Real Simple TV . PBS

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly PBS

Through the progress of natural science the totality of the world and our oneness with it becomes clearer to our spirit. When this realization of the complete unity is not only an intellectual realization, when it opens up our whole being to the light of total consciousness, then it becomes a radiant joy, an all encompassing love. - Rabindranath Tagore

At this time, dear Aquarius, most of your focus is on either a group you're affiliated with or an intellectual subject in which you have an intense interest. Or perhaps both! The arts, particularly writing and drawing, might be among these subjects. A number of your closest friends may share your interest, particularly a woman who lives close to you, so you can expect some exciting discussions over the next few days. Enjoy!

Google: "Increased stress on your emotional world can give the day a tense undertone. You can, however, turn this into a fine day and can even have a good time. It's most important that you cut yourself some slack. Be gentle on yourself. Don't waste energy in negative self-judgments. Also, don't close down before you hear the constructive criticism -- whether it's from yourself or others.
Saturday, September 23, 2006"

NASA - Surprises from the Edge of the Solar System

Google: "Increased stress on your emotional world can give the day a tense undertone. You can, however, turn this into a fine day and can even have a good time. It's most important that you cut yourself some slack. Be gentle on yourself. Don't waste energy in negative self-judgments. Also, don't close down before you hear the constructive criticism -- whether it's from yourself or others.
Saturday, September 23, 2006"

Google: "Increased stress on your emotional world can give the day a tense undertone. You can, however, turn this into a fine day and can even have a good time. It's most important that you cut yourself some slack. Be gentle on yourself. Don't waste energy in negative self-judgments. Also, don't close down before you hear the constructive criticism -- whether it's from yourself or others.
Saturday, September 23, 2006"

Increased stress on your emotional world can give the day a tense undertone. You can, however, turn this into a fine day and can even have a good time. It's most important that you cut yourself some slack. Be gentle on yourself. Don't waste energy in negative self-judgments. Also, don't close down before you hear the constructive criticism -- whether it's from yourself or others.
Saturday, September 23, 2006

Google: "Intense emotional interactions can drive you into endless self-analysis, but logic didn't prevent today's conflict and it's not going to give you an easy way out. Don't be too quick to judge irrational feelings, for they can be important to your health and can bring new meaning into your life. Be brave; explorations of unfamiliar landscapes are likely to be rewarded.
Friday, September 22, 2006"

Schedule: "Digging For The Truth: The Real Temple of Doom.
Thousands of years before the Inca ruled the nation now called Peru, a strange and unique civilization dominated the region. It was called Chavin, and its story is one of the most bizarre in history. Unlike the other civilizations of the Americas, Chavin's status as a regional superpower wasn't based on its military muscle. Instead, the rulers of Chavin exercised a cult-like control over their subjects with the aid of hallucinogenic plants. Josh Bernstein ventures deep into the miles of tunnels beneath the ruins of Chavin de Huantar, comes face to face with some of the most fearsome animals of the Peruvian Amazon, and investigates a real temple of doom. As he tries to understand this mysterious culture, he takes part in one of the ancient rituals still practiced by the country's powerful shaman-priests.
TVPG Visit the website "

Google: "Relationshipshave become more complex and you may feel overwhelmed trying to sort it all out. This goes beyond the straightforward one-on-one partnerships and touches on a more subtle support network. People who have particular resources or capabilities can be of assistance now, so pay careful attention to how others can contribute to your life.
Thursday, September 21, 2006"

Google Toolbar

American Masters . Andy Warhol PBS

Google: "Stay focused now on the work you must do and powerful lessons will be yours for the learning. Oftentimes there is pain associated with making gains, but today the difficult side of your experience is minimized. You can dig deeply, extract the juice and then get on with your day. But move slowly so you have enough time to soak it all in.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006"

Google: "Today your resistance to change is being tested. Even if you feel quite subdued these days, significant shifts are about to shake your life awake. Still, you probably do not have a handle on what is going down. Be sure to watch the wide swings of your emotions rock back and forth. Don't act on your feelings until the currents settle down."

Google: "Things seem to be falling your way now as the rough path magically turns to smooth pavement just in time to let you glide along. But it's not all as easy as it sounds, for there are minor irritations that cannot be buried. Expect your thoughts to come out into the open even if they are not politically acceptable.
Friday, September 8, 2006"

Google: "It's hard to know what is most crucial to your success now. It's like there's a fog that has settled in and you cannot see yourself as clearly as you usually do. You might have to rely on others to give you the feedback you need in order to make important decisions. If you ask for help, be sure to listen"

Aquarius: Jan. 20 - Feb. 18 - Horoscope - MSNBC.com: "Have you just recently reached a cherished goal, dear Aquarius? If so, you might temporarily be confused as to what you're going to pursue in the future. You may be toying with a number of options, but aren't sure which one's right for you. Perhaps it's none of them. Maybe the perfect goal for you to strive for is still just around the corner. Don't feel you have to get started on something right away. Be patient and have faith."

Google: "Your life could look sweet and easy from the outside, but you are struggling between keeping your strongest feelings to yourself and just revealing everything. It's hard to rely on your intuition, for your hunches just don't seem to fit. You know that your feelings are right and you want to trust them, but your current situation may not give you the opportunity to choose. Don't get concerned if you cannot make the changes now. Your time will come"

Google: "Your life could look sweet and easy from the outside, but you are struggling between keeping your strongest feelings to yourself and just revealing everything. It's hard to rely on your intuition, for your hunches just don't seem to fit. You know that your feelings are right and you want to trust them, but your current situation may not give you the opportunity to choose. Don't get concerned if you cannot make the changes now. Your time will come.
Wednesday, September 6, 2006"

conversations with frank le�n roberts

You can feed off of the energy within a group. What others feel as tension is excitement to you. Stay open to big changes now, for if you attempt to hold on to the safety of old habits and structures, unexpected events may shake your world. If you let go of whatever is restricting you, the transition will be much smoother.

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

You may feel as if someone is trying to control you, but it's hard to know the best way to react to the situation. There are unknown pieces to the puzzle and it's impossible to fight an unseen enemy. Rather than just lighting the fuse and picking up the pieces afterward, try holding on to familiar healthy routines during this phase. The truth will come out soon enough and there will still be time enough to act once it does.
Monday, September 4, 2006

BBC NEWS Entertainment Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank

Google: "You could be hiding a more ambitious side of your nature, as if sharing it might somehow compromise your current success. The truth is, however, that you have a lot of energy to put towards anything that you assist in manifesting. You can play dumb, but you aren't. If others realize what they can do to help, let them.
Sunday, September 3, 2006"

H&M � hm.com

The Buzz

by Brandon Marx

Kissy Kissy
The National Enquirer is running a full page photo in its current edition of John Travolta locking lips with an unidentified man, but the supermarket tabloid is being verrrrry careful not to specifically out the actor.
The paper says the picture was taken on the tarmac at Hamilton (Ontario) Airport. Travolta is has been in nearby Toronto shooting "Hairspray" where he plays Edna Turnblad, the drag character made popular on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein.
The picture shows Travolta with one arm around the back of the good-looking male who sports a blonde buzz cut. The guy has his arm around Travolta's shoulder and the two are in mid kiss.
An inset, purportedly taken a few seconds earlier shows the two with an arm each around one another gazing into each other's eyes.
In big bold type the Enquirer says "Travolta and Pal Ready For Takeoff".
The copy says the shot was taken at the airport on the steps to Travolta's private 707.
But, the Enquirer's copy contains a caveat that it obviously hopes will keep it out of court. The very last line says "Was [Travolta's] wife Kelly watch as John and his buddy locked lips? It's possible! Kelly was already on board while the men kissed - and threesome jetted off together."
It isn't the first time that questions have been raised about Travolta in the Enquirer. A few years ago the paper published claims by porn star Paul Barresi that he had a two-year affair with the actor. Barresi was reportedly paid $100,000 for the story but he later recanted it and then suggested he was right the first time.
Now I don't particularly care what camp Travolta is in. He hasn't made a career of slagging gays. What I do care about is publications that use the gay factor to somehow suggest homosexuality is a bad thing. That picture wouldn't raise an eyebrow in Europe where straight men frequently kiss one another as a greeting. And, yes, on the lips

Aquarius
Think of yourself as a marathon runner. You have a very long distance to travel, but the sweetness is not only to be found in crossing the finish line, but also in relishing all the sights along the way. While your head today is overflowing with plans and ideas, you may feel deflated when you begin to consider all the logistics of realizing these dreams. Fret not, dear Aquarius. The Universe has blessed you with an energy level that is equal to the task, so go ahead and get started!

Google: "You have entered into an electrical storm and your nervous system is sending and receiving impulses faster than your logical mind can decipher them. Anyone else would probably be totally stressed, but for you this is refreshing, even exciting. It may take more than you realize to keep up with it all, but there is potential for revolutionary change. Be ready to act quickly so you can tip the scales more in your favor.
Saturday, September 2, 2006"

Mockumentary of the assassination of Bush to premiere in Toronto
The Toronto International Film Festival will premiere Death of a President, previously referred to only as DOAP, in the festival's "Visions" program on September 10. A fictional drama, the film focuses on the assassination of President George W. Bush in the style of a retrospective documentary.

"We’re thrilled to be screening the film at Toronto," said writer-director Gabriel Range. “It’s a striking premise, which may be seen as highly controversial. But it’s a serious film, which I hope will open up the debate on where current U.S. foreign and domestic policies are taking us.”
Death of a President is described as a critique of the contemporary American political landscape.

In the film, President Bush is confronted by a massive antiwar demonstration as he arrives in Chicago to make a speech for business leaders. Unperturbed, Bush proceeds with the visit, but as he leaves the venue, he is gunned down by a sniper. While the nation mourns, the hunt for his killer swings into action, and the state apparatus tries to make sense of this horrific attack on the Administration. The investigation soon focuses on a Syrian-born suspect.

Death of a President is cowritten and directed by Range (The Day Britain Stopped) and is produced by Borough Films' Range, Simon Finch, and Ed Guiney. (The Advocate)

Google: "You might be thinking about issues concerning intimacy today, as your feelings heat up. It's time to revitalize a current relationship or consider establishing a new one, even if you have recently been through a dry spell. And although love may be on your mind, remember that you have more time than you think. There's no need to rush into anything too quickly.
Friday, September 1, 2006"