jamotto

ya and then uses the paycheck to pay for a couple of rounds down at the pub. oh ya can't wait.

Good to hear. Sometimes, I wonder If maybe I should have went for an ATI card myself. Nice card 9550 is.

mmm, well reading about, sounds like this is a known issue. For ATI cards the apparent fix is to update the drivers, for Nvidia owners, well your SOL. A patch is in the works supposedly.

Link quote:By BRAD CAIN, Associated Press Writer SALEM, Ore. - Maryann started gambling 10 years ago, playing video poker machines in hotel restaurants in Oregon as she traveled for her job. "It got so any place I would see a lottery sign and that was a restaurant or other place that was comfortable, I would play," says the woman, who is in her 40s. She figures she lost $60,000 on video poker before admitting she had a problem and enrolling in a gambling-addiction treatment program. Maryann, who doesn't want her last name used, is among a growing number of women across the nation who are getting hooked on gambling. A state agency that tracks gambling addiction says compulsive female gamblers in Oregon outnumber compulsive male gamblers 32,000 to 29,000, an estimate based on results of a statewide survey. Nationwide, men make up two-thirds of problem gamblers. But that may be changing in states where video gambling is no further away than a corner deli or tavern. Video gambling machines have particular appeal to women, said Rachel Volberg, a Massachusetts researcher who has conducted studies of problem gambling. "The games are a lot less intimidating for women to play," Volberg said. "You don't have to sit at a card table and have men making jokes about 'the little woman learning how to gamble.'" Oregon is one of nine states that allow games such as video poker and electronic keno in bars, taverns and other retail outlets apart from casinos. The National Council on Problem Gambling says there's been an uptick in compulsive gambling by women in those states with widespread "convenience" gambling. "As electronic gaming devices spread throughout the country, we are seeing greater numbers of women with gambling problems," said Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington-based group. Part of the reason for that is that the games often are located in brightly lit, attractive places such as coffee shops, delis and bowling alleys ÔÇö not just in smoke-filled bars and taverns, Whyte said. "Women feel comfortable in these places," he said. Few states with widely available video gambling have conducted studies to track rates of compulsive gambling among women, Volberg said. But officials in several of those states said there's no doubt that a "feminization" of gambling is taking place. "It's an opportunity to escape. Women tell us they go into a 'zone,' and that they are kind of mesmerized by the games," said Cindy Black, a spokeswoman for the state-run gambling addiction program in West Virginia, which has lottery-sponsored video poker games. Donna Johnson, head of the Montana Council on Problem Gambling, said equal numbers of men and women are calling the council's telephone hot line seeking help for gambling addictions. It used to be mostly men who called, Johnson said, "but gambling isn't just for the boys anymore. We're seeing more and more women coming into treatment programs." In Louisiana, where there are 10,000 video gambling terminals at 3,000 locations statewide, 57 percent of the calls to that state's gambling addiction hot line are from women. "The video machines are everywhere," says Reece Middleton of the Louisiana Association on Compulsive Gambling. "It's no wonder we've got women in trouble." There are nine tribal casinos in Oregon, but you don't have to go to a casino to gamble. You can do it at bowling alleys, neighborhood delis or restaurants, bars or taverns. Retail establishments must have a liquor license to have video poker, and each outlet is allowed to have up to six video terminals. In all, there are 10,300 state-owned video gambling machines scattered across the state. They have been installed in 2,000 retail establishments ÔÇö about 38 percent of the state's retail establishments with liquor licenses. Most Oregonians play video poker and the slots without getting addicted. The state estimates that about 2.4 percent of adult Oregonians who gamble are either addicted to it or prone to addiction. Still, the number of gamblers in state addiction-treatment programs grows about 15 percent a year, state officials say. A gambling addiction can break up marriages, destroy careers and send a gambler into bankruptcy. An example is Michelle, who also didn't want her last name used and is also in a treatment program. Michelle first got hooked on video gambling playing the slots at a casino, then fed her addiction by spending hour after hour at video poker terminals in retail outlets closer to her home. "I've spent thousands of dollars on video poker, and it's devastated me emotionally and financially," she says. Gambling addiction officials believe Oregon may soon see more women with gambling problems. The Oregon Lottery on July 1 will begin offering video slot machines, also known as line games, a move that's expected to raise around $120 million in additional lottery profits for the state's two-year budget. "I think it's safe to assume that women will make up at least 50 percent of the problem gamblers that will develop from the addition of line games," says Jeffrey Marotta, a clinical psychologist who manages problem gambling services for the state Department of Human Services. Marotta is forecasting that the introduction of slot machines will create another 8,000 problem gamblers, and he is urging the Legislature to provide at least $9 million for gambling addiction treatment programs in the coming two years. The current spending is $5.6 million. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who ordered the move to video slot games, also is urging the Legislature to spend more money on gambling-addiction treatment to handle the expected increase in caseload. Those programs have helped Maryann deal with her problem, although she says she isn't "cured." "I can't say never again," the Salem woman says. "I'm a compulsive gambler and I'm always just one bet away" from relapsing.

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died April 16 in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, while conducting combat operations. The soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey, Korea. Killed were: Sgt. Angelo L. Lozada Jr., 36, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Sgt. Tromaine K. Toy Sr., 24, of Eastville, Va. Spc. Randy L. Stevens, 21, of Swartz Creek, Mich.Link May you rest in peace...

quote: The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pvt. Joseph L. Knott, 21, of Yuma, Ariz., died April 17 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his convoy was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire and an improvised explosive device. Knott was assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pvt. Aaron M. Hudson, 20, of Highland Village, Texas, died April 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained April 15 in Camp Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol. Hudson was assigned to the 401st Military Police Company, 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Pfc. Steven F. Sirko, 20, of Portage, Ind., died April 17 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries. Sirko was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Spc. Aleina Ramirezgonzalez, 33, of Hormigueros, Puerto Rico, died April 15 in Tikrit, Iraq, when a mortar struck her forward operating base. Ramirezgonzalez was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Troop Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Capt. James C. Edge, 31, of Virginia Beach, Va, was killed April 14 by enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in Ramadi, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. During Operation Iraq Freedom, Edge was attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).Link May you rest in peace...

quote:The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Cpl. Michael B. Lindemuth, 27, of Petoskey, Mich., died April 13 as a result of wounds received from enemy mortar fire at Camp Hit, Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to Inspector/Instructor Staff, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Akron, Ohio. During Operation Iraq Freedom, Lindemuth was attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).Link May you rest in peace...

Link quote:OKLAHOMA CITY, United States (AFP) - Amid the crowds gathering outside the Oklahoma City National Memorial, one woman sat alone. Mary Adkins had a teddy bear on her knees. She had brought it in case one of the bronze chairs memorializing the 168 victims sat empty on the 10th anniversary of the worst domestic terrorist attack the United States has seen. But every chair was filled. Nobody was forgotten. More than one in every three people in this city of 500,000 knew someone who died or was injured in the blast. Adkins didn't, though both her husband and mother-in-law were supposed to be in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building the morning of the attack. "We feel like our family was very, very lucky," she said. The Luster family was not so lucky. Aurelia and Robert Luster left behind six children aged six to 22 when they were killed while taking care of a problem with their Social Security. Their son, Robert, had been working at an oil field 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of the city when he heard the echo of the explosion that ripped apart the building. It was an hour and a half before he found out his parents were in the building. "Being the oldest and having the burden laying on my shoulders, I didn't know what to do," he said. Luster described the days following the attack as "madness." Reporters swarmed the home. FBI agents came looking for hair to use as a DNA sample. And it was days before his parents were identified. Until Tuesday, Luster had never visited the site. "There are too many hard memories to come back here," he said as he sat by the reflective pool at the memorial. "I wanted to remember them the way they were." But he was glad that he brought his siblings to the remembrance ceremony, where Vice President Dick Cheney and Bill Clinton, who was US president at the time of the attack, spoke of courage, community and triumph over evil. "Our nation and much of the world looked on as emergency teams and recovery workers ignored their own grief and labored into the night. Volunteers assembled by the thousands. Citizens of all ages stood in line for six hours to give blood," Cheney said. "Your strength was challenged and you held firm." Mike Roberts can still remember the joy he felt when he rescued a woman buried in the rubble that day. Her name was Anna Perry, and he spotted her hand reaching out for help. It was a bright moment in a day marked by pain: the pain in his leg, which had been injured in the rescue efforts. The pain on the faces of those he saw running from the building, bodies bleeding from the flying glass. The pain he felt as he held the hand of another woman as her life slipped away. "You talk about terror, that was...," the retired firefighter said, looking at the ground for a moment. "Nothing has impacted my life more than this. I thought I was a big, tough guy. That all went away." Timothy McVeigh was executed for the attack at a federal prison in Indiana in 2001, while his convicted accomplice, Terry Nichols, was sentenced to life in prison without parole last year. During his time on death row, McVeigh, a Gulf War veteran, spoke openly of his part in the bombing and the anti-government hatred that motivated him.

Link quote:By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer VATICAN CITY - White smoke poured from a chimney at the Vatican and bells tolled on Tuesday evening, announcing to the world that a new pope was elected in the first papal conclave of the new millennium. Crowds in St. Peter's Square chanted: "Viva il Papa!" or "Long live the pope!" "It's only been 24 hours, surprising how fast he was elected," Vatican Radio said, commenting on how the new pope was chosen on the conclave's second day. It was one of the fastest elections in the past century: Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots on one day, while Pope John Paul II was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. John Paul II's successor was elected after either four or five ballots over two days. More pilgrims poured into St. Peter's Square, and the bells kept ringing 10 minutes after the original tolling. Pilgrims said the rosary as they awaited the name of the new pope, and prelates stood on the roof of the Apostolic Palace, watching as the crowd nearly doubled. The bells rang at 6:04 p.m. (12:04 p.m. EDT) ending confusion over the smoke signal that had risen from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. White smoke is used to announce the election of a new pope, along with the ringing of bells, which was added for this conclave. The world awaited the formal announcement of the new pope, to be made on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica by Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez. Niels Hendrich, a 40-year-old salesman from Hamburg, Germany, jumped up and down with joy and called his father on a cell phone. "Habemus papam!" he shouted into the phone, using the Latin for: "We have a pope." Antoinette Hastings, from Kent Island, Md., rose from her wheelchair, grasping her hands together and crying. She has artificial knees, making it tough to stand. "I feel blessed, absolutely blessed," she said. "I just wish the rest of my family were here to experience this with me." The 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church succeeds John Paul II, who died April 2 at age 84 after gaining extraordinary popularity over a 26-year pontificate, history's third-longest papacy. Millions mourned him around the world in a tribute to his charisma. Cardinals had faced a choice over whether to seek an older, skilled administrator who could serve as a "transitional" pope while the church absorbs John Paul's legacy, or a younger dynamic pastor and communicator ÔÇö perhaps from Latin America or elsewhere in the developing world where the church is growing. While John Paul, a Pole, was elected to challenge the communist system in place in Eastern Europe in 1978, the new pontiff faces new issues: the need for dialogue with Islam, the divisions between the wealthy north and the poor south as well as problems within his own church. These include the priest sex-abuse scandals that have cost the church millions in settlements in the United States and elsewhere; coping with a chronic shortage of priests and nuns in the West; and halting the stream of people leaving a church indifferent to teachings they no longer find relevant. Under John Paul, the church's central authority grew, often to dismay of bishops and rank-and-file Catholics around the world. Even though John Paul appointed all but two of the men who elected the new pope, it was no guarantee that the new man would necessarily be in his mold. Pope John XXIII was 77 when he was elected pope in 1958 and viewed as a transitional figure, but he called the Second Vatican Council that revolutionized the church from within and opened up its dialogue with non-Catholics. The new pope will have to decide whether to keep up the kind of foreign travel that was a hallmark of John Paul's papacy, with his 104 pilgrimages abroad. The new man may be locked into one foreign trip ÔÇö the mid-August Catholic youth day gathering in Cologne, Germany. John Paul had agreed to visit and organizers have already spent millions of dollars in preparations.

Link quote:By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Concerned about steadily expanding waistlines, the government flipped the food pyramid on its side, adding a staircase for exercise and giving consumers 12 individually-tailored models for improving their eating habits. Inside the pyramid released Tuesday, rainbow-colored bands representing different food groups run vertically from the tip to the base. The old single, triangle-shaped pyramid had a horizontal presentation of food categories that many found confusing. Exercise is key to the new system. Fitness expert Denise Austin delivered a pep talk about the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity, represented on the new pyramids by the figure of a person climbing steps toward the tip. Also in store are new Internet tools to help follow the guidelines. The new guide, dubbed "MyPyramid," encourages Americans to customize their diet and exercise regime along 12 models geared to specific calorie needs and levels of physical activity. Food groups are represented by six different colors: Orange for grains, green for vegetables, red for fruits, yellow for oils, blue for milk products and purple for meats and beans. The bands are wider for grains, vegetables, milk products and fruits, because people should eat more of them. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns called the new guide "a system of information to help consumers understand how to put nutrition recommendations into action." People have steadily grown fatter since the food pyramid debuted in 1992. A report last month in The New England Journal of Medicine contended that obesity, particularly in children, was shaving four to nine months off the average life expectancy. Johanns said the 1992 pyramid had "become quite familiar, but few Americans follow the recommendations." He said that knowledge about nutrition and food consumption patterns has grown significantly in the past dozen years and is reflected in the new food guidance symbols. "If we don't change these trends, our children may be the first generation that cannot look forward to a longer life span than their parents," said Eric Bost, the Agriculture Department's under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services. Food companies announced Tuesday they will distribute posters and guides for teachers and parents next fall aimed at reaching 4 million students. Materials for students to take home will be in both English and Spanish and will include math, nutrition and science activities. One big change is intended to help people control their portion sizes. The old pyramid explained its advice in "serving" sizes, but now, to make its advice more understandable, the government will switch to cups, ounces and other household measures. The switch was recommended in a 70-page booklet, "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005," that was developed by a panel of scientists and doctors and released in January. As the basis for revising the pyramid, the guidelines emphasize choosing good carbohydrates over bad ones; for example, choosing bread made from whole-grain flour instead of white flour. They also recommend eating 3 ounces of whole-grain foods a day; eating 2 cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day; and drinking 3 cups of fat-free or lowfat milk a day. Besides the suggested 30 minutes of daily exercise to reduce the risk of chronic disease, the government also advises even more exercise to prevent weight gain or maintain weight loss. In all, there were 23 general recommendations and 18 suggestions for older people, children and other special populations. That's too much to cram into a symbol that is supposed to be clipped out and stuck to the refrigerator, said Eric Hentges, director of the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. The Agriculture Department will offer Web pages that let people appraise their diet and exercise habits. Such a tool has already been available through the agency's Web site; the Interactive Healthy Eating Index has a notice on its home page that it will soon be updated. Even if the symbol and online tools don't motivate people to change their habits, they'll still have some healthier choices. Food companies have been removing trans fats from their products and adding whole grains because of the government guidance. "If you get the industry involved and make them feel that they're doing a good thing and that they're getting credit for doing a good thing, they'll do it. They'll change their product," said K. Dun Gifford, president of Oldways Preservation Trust, a Boston-based think tank that specializes in food issues. Critics have raised questions about the public relations agency hired to help create the new version of the pyramid. The firm, Porter Novelli, has food companies as clients, but both Agriculture Department and Porter Novelli officials have said the firm's industry work is handled separately and there would be no conflict of interest. Hentges said his staff of scientists, economists and nutritionists isn't equipped to promote its new approach. If it's not marketed effectively, he said, "then we're not going to be able to get this behavior change or improve anything for Americans."

nope, if you want the best, GB's got it.

Link

Link quote:JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African zoo is trying to persuade its star chimpanzee to kick a bad smoking habit. Charlie, a grown male chimp and the Bloemfontein Zoo, has been picking up cigarettes thrown to him by visitors and smoking them -- a habit he probably picked up by observing humans, zoo officials told the SAPA news agency on Thursday. "Baby chimps pick up habits by mimicking adults and we think he started mimicking smokers at his enclosure which probably led to smokers throwing him cigarettes," spokesman Daryl Barnes told SAPA. Barnes said Charlie was already showing the signs of a true nicotine addict. "He even acts like a naughty schoolboy by hiding the cigarette when staff approach the area," Barnes said, adding that the zoo was determined to help him quit. Barnes said the most important thing was that people stop providing Charlie with cigarettes or any other treats, noting the chimp already had three bad teeth because of all the cans of sweet soft drinks that people throw at him. Charlie is not the only smoking chimpanzee. A zoo in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou reported last year that one of its chimps had taken up smoking and was desperately bumming cigarette butts off visitors.

Link quote:LONDON (AFP) - A British restaurant emerged as the best in the world in an annual list that also revealed Britain -- a country often laughed at for its poor food -- is home to the largest number of top eateries. The Fat Duck, in a village in Berkshire, west of London, won the coveted title of top dining spot at The World's 50 Best Restaurant's 2005 awards on Monday night, which also featured 13 other restaurants in Britain alone. Critics, however, argued that the annual list -- compiled by the magazine Restaurant and chosen by more than 500 chefs and experts -- was more of a guide on good places to eat rather than the best the world has to offer. Comprising entries from mainly developed countries, France had eight restaurants inside the top 50, while the United States only had six. Asia was notably lacking in representation at the awards in London, with just one restaurant in Hong Kong, called Felix, coming in at number 49. Owned by chef Heston Blumenthal, The Fat Duck in Bray wowed the judges with original dishes such as sardine on toast sorbet and bacon and egg ice cream. "It's a complete package of enjoyment I am after," said Blumenthal, whose scientific approach to creating new flavours has seen him dubbed the guru of "molecular gastronomy", according to The Guardian newspaper. "If I discover something new and get a sense of excitement about it, I want to pass it on to the customer in the dining room," he was quoted as saying by the daily. "It is like when you see an incredible view or drink a great bottle of wine -- the experience is heightened if you share it with someone else." The restaurant, which offers three extensive menus ranging in price from 37.50 pounds (71 dollars, 55 euros) for lunch to 97.50 pounds, snatched the top slot from The French Laundry in California, pushing it into third place. Second in line was Spain's El Bulli, while fourth and fifth went to Tetsuya's in Sydney and Gordon Ramsay in London. Ella Johnston, the editor of Restaurant magazine, said the public's growing enthusiasm for food drove Britain's dynamic restaurant scene -- which has moved far away from the stereotypical, bland image of meat-and-two-veg in the past. "British chefs used to just go abroad to the US and France," she was quoted as saying in The Guardian. "Now, with people becoming more adventurous eaters and with more money in London and the surrounding areas, they know they will have an audience for great food," she said. Jay Rayner, a food critic in the weekly Observer newspaper, however, argued that the list was an unfair reflection of the world's dining industry. "By no stretch of the imagination are 14 of the world's best restaurants in the UK," he said in the Observer's sister Guardian newspaper. While agreeing that The Fat Duck deserved its number one rating and other eateries were tasty, Rayner said: "The list is a collection of 50 good restaurants, some of which deserve to be there, some of which don't. Johnston agreed that the list could be seen as "Angloscentric", but she denied that it was biased as it had been chosen by an international panel that included prominent figures such as the Chinese chef Ken Hom.bacon and egg ice cream? YUCK!

Link quote:By Colin McMahon Tribune foreign correspondent Marla Ruzicka should have left Iraq last week. But there was too much work, too little time and too many Iraqis who had been maimed, widowed or orphaned by a conflict they did not invite but could not avoid. Vacation could wait, Ruzicka said. The little Iraqi boy whose leg was blown off could not. So Ruzicka stayed. And on Saturday, Ruzicka died, killed by a car bomb that was not aimed at her but took her just the same. Along with an Iraqi colleague, the 28-year-old Californian became the very figure she had gone to Iraq to help: a civilian casualty of war. "She went from being just an anti-war activist to someone who realized that the war was a reality and that people needed to be helped because of it," said Sen. Patrick Leahy (news, bio, voting record) (D-Vt.), who credited Ruzicka with helping secure U.S. government funds to compensate Iraqi and Afghan civilians hurt by U.S. military operations. "You hear of that occasional thing where one person makes a real difference," Leahy said. "This is an example. She accomplished what large organizations don't accomplish. ... In my mind she is a real hero." What Ruzicka accomplished was simple in principle but dangerous and difficult in practice: She identified Afghan and Iraqi families who had been hurt by U.S. military actions and then helped them get medical care or financial aid. This was not just filling out forms. In Iraq, Ruzicka worked with local doctors, hospitals and tribal leaders as well as with the U.S. military authorities that controlled the aid. She lobbied policymakers in Washington. She charmed and needled donors in New York and San Francisco. And Ruzicka badgered reporters to do stories on her, knowing that an article or television piece about this young and endearing woman would bring donations to her group, the Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict. She wound up on network television and in publications as varied as The Washington Post and Elle magazine. To her friends Ruzicka was full of both humanitarian impulses and human frailties. She was something of a tortured soul, a friend said Sunday. But she was famous for arranging parties that would throb with salsa music and tip toward chaos. "She has no guile," said Catherine Philp, a foreign correspondent for the Times of London. "She has a pure sweetness and goodness that is totally inspiring, and I don't think she ever realized that." Ruzicka's highs were unmatchable, torrents of words and energy and productivity. Her lows brought friends and family to exhaustion as they fought to pull her back to her feet. Ruzicka took medication and underwent therapy to find the right balance, and in a recent e-mail to a friend she wrote: "i can deal with this illness. there will be good days and bad days--i just gotta fight them with love." Iraqis were sometimes taken aback by Ruzicka's mix of flower child and union steward. She passed out hugs to security guards. She called senior military officers "dude." She belittled governmental programs as too slow to provide aid and too complicated for the average Iraqi. Other aid workers and some reporters considered her methods inappropriate and overbearing. But families who were helped by Ruzicka spoke of her as an angel. And the money she raised bought enough shoestrings to keep running CIVIC, as her group was known. Aryeh Neier, president of George Soros' Open Society Institute, personally approved a grant of $60,000 to fund CIVIC last year. Just this month, in a decision that made Ruzicka giddy with gratitude, Neier renewed the grant. He praised Ruzicka for finding "the right tone" to win the military's cooperation and for "making them conscious of the suffering of the families with casualties." "On the one hand, Marla had this very naive quality about her, which made me wonder whether she would be effective," Neier said. "On the other hand she had a very direct quality. In a sense her naivete seemed to work to her advantage." What was naivete and what was fearlessness is hard to say. She and her twin brother, Mark, were the youngest of six children in a family growing up in Lakeport, Calif., north of San Francisco. Her brother told the Los Angeles Times that in 1991, when Marla was in 8th grade, she was suspended after leading a protest against the Persian Gulf war. In high school, the 5-foot-3 Ruzicka was a star three-point shooter on the basketball team. A firebrand leftist protester in her teens and early 20s, Ruzicka was once dragged away by police while trying to disrupt a speech by George W. Bush. But in her mid-20s, she became almost overnight a woman who could address authority without always confronting it. She put aside stunts. She talked to power. "She came to D.C. without knowing anything about how things work here," said Tim Rieser, an aide to Leahy who drew on Ruzicka's work in putting together a program to provide $10 million in U.S. funds to compensate civilian casualties. "What Marla wanted to do was help innocent families, and she would work with anyone who could help her," Rieser said. "She was not blaming anyone. She was finding ways to get a kid airlifted to a hospital in Germany." On Saturday, Ruzicka had plowed through a morning of interviews before checking in with a friend around 2 p.m., a common method for foreigners to keep track of one another in a country rife with kidnappings. She and her Iraqi associate, Faiz Ali Salim, wanted to follow up on an Iraqi family and would squeeze in one more meeting. But an hour later, the violence of Iraq that Ruzicka had tried so hard to mitigate struck. As the two traveled Baghdad's dangerous airport road, a suicide car bomber attacked a nearby convoy of armored vehicles belonging to a different non-governmental organization. The blast killed Ruzicka and Salim, a 43-year-old pilot for Iraqi Airways who had taken a leave from his job to help Ruzicka this month. A European security guard with the other agency also died. Ruzicka's funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Lakeport. "With Marla there are always a couple of more interviews that should be done," Leahy said. "She never talked as if her job was finished. There would always be more to be done."

Link quote:By DAVID KOENIG, Associated Press Writer DALLAS - A supporter of President Bush is suing the Republican National Committee and one of its suppliers, claiming they stole his design for the ubiquitous "W" bumper sticker logo in the 2004 campaign. Jerry Gossett of Wichita Falls says he pitched his design for a logo to the RNC's supplier of campaign materials, The Spalding Group of Lexington, Ky., in 2001 and to the RNC in 2003, and was turned down. But in early 2004, he says, a similar logo appeared on a Web site and he traced it back to the RNC. This month, Gossett's Rally Concepts LLC sued in federal court, seeking unspecified damages for copyright infringement and conspiracy. Tracey Schmitt, the RNC's press secretary, called the lawsuit frivolous. Officials at Spalding did not respond to calls seeking comment, but a company lawyer, William H. Hollander, said in a letter to Gossett's attorney that his design doesn't meet the legal test of being "substantially similar" to Spalding's. Gossett, inspired by scenes of firefighters raising a flag at the site of the World Trade Center, drew an American flag fluttering from a large W, next to the number 43 for Bush as the 43rd president. The Spalding design reads "W '04" instead of "W 43," and is rounded, unlike Gossett's rectangular design. Hollander said key elements in the company's design had emerged as early as 1999. Gossett says he is a loyal Republican and voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, but has become jaded by his experience. "The big RNC against little me, there was absolutely no chance to win," he said.

quote:As far as the budget is concerned, it doesn't matter, when it takes 10 fricking years to get something allowed for space, it is obsolete, the technology acceptance needs to be put on a fast track, because your P4 is obsolete before it hits the fricking shelves.It's not so much the technology, but how much they have had to remove from the station, because of the budget cuts. 60% of the research facilities, in fact the whole station is gonna be less that half it's original volume if I remember correctly. If they don't have the space and equipment to conduct the experiments that they wanted to do, then the technology is irrelevant. The ISS is a money pit without Tom Hanks. quote: And, no, no one wants to make the leap, and that is why private enterprise and the capitalist system needs to get involved in a BIG way. The profit motive is what is gonna get us to Mars, and the asteroids and everywhere else in the galaxy, government can't and WON'T handle it well, and prove it EVERY day...well, other than millionaires (2 ?) who got a quick trip in space the profit motive seems to be a bit elusive. Maybe they need to retire the whole space idea until someone comes up with a plan to make money on daily basis? I don't think the majority of the general public would mind or even notice.

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: I say that 2 above for obvious reasons, the otherside of the moon, which faces away from us forever, should have a radiotelescope on it, that is completely away from the radio garbage of earth. The clutter created by earth's radio emission is hard to filter out, and creates a lot of problems as far as how weak a signal we can recieve.It also leaves the telescope very vulnerable to meteoroids. quote: If the international community would like to get involved in such a thing, I think it would be excellent, because I think ISS is a waste of time, it is already obsolete.It was a waste of time as soon as the congress started reworking the budget for it. quote: The initial investment might be fairly large *snip*...and there lies the problem. Nobody seems to want to make the leap.

Gravity Wars XP quote:Gravity Wars is a game where you battle it out with many different players in a space enviroment in a turn based combat system. Its a classic projectile game where projectiles need both Angles and Velocitys to fire, but because it's set in space the many planets on the map influence the projectiles course as it attempts to find its target.

Gate 88 quote:Gate 88 is often described as "like subspace but with the ability to build turrets and command fighters." While a skillful pilot can decimate the enemy in one-on-one combat, a thoughtful player can overwhelm the opponent with strategic turret and fighter placements. However, only those who truly understand the intricate details of both action and strategy will win the day. Because alliances can be broken on a whim, players must interpret the social situation of the game to ensure that each alliance is sincere. For example, it is not uncommon for an allied player to plant turrets and fighters within your base only to break the alliance and watch your empire crumble from within. Always be careful with your trust. Gate 88 employs a unique user interface that allows players to pilot their ship while performing strategic operations. The tutorial and practice mode will get you up to speed.Windows, Mac and Linux versions available.

Link quote:SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - U.S. officials have arrested 13 people accused of pilfering mail en route from San Francisco International airport to U.S. troops based in Okinawa, Japan, prosecutors said on Friday. According to a criminal complaint, cargo handlers stole about $200,000 worth of merchandise from packages whose contents were revealed in customs declarations. "The alleged stolen items include laptop computers, digital cameras, DVD players, video game consoles, DVDs, jewelry, clothing, paintball guns, gift cards, Hugo Boss bath products, Victoria's Secret merchandise and collector coins," the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California said in a statement. "According to the complaint, after items were stolen from packages, the suspects would then re-tape the package and send it on to Okinawa where the victims would discover the contents missing upon arrival." Okinawa is home to a major U.S. military base.Darn sleazy, if you ask me.