jamotto

quote:Originally posted by Scrivener: On a related note, been playing some Beyond Good and Evil - fantastic game. is this the first game for "PC and next generation consoles" you have liked Scrivener? Hell must be freezing over now As far as new RPG's I have not heard any coming of late

Link quote:By LEIGH STROPE, AP Labor Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush says his economic policies, including billions of dollars in tax cuts, are helping to create new jobs. But not the millions he promised. Democratic challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) says 10 million new jobs would be added in his first term. Don't bet on that either. Economists say both candidates' plans falls short in combating the problems that are impeding job growth: skyrocketing budget and trade deficits, and soaring costs for health care, oil and gas. The centerpiece of Bush's job creation plan is making permanent his nearly $1.9 trillion, 10-year tax cuts. He also says he wants to restructure and simplify the tax code, give tax breaks to encourage private investment in lower-income communities, reduce government regulation on businesses, restrain federal spending, limit frivolous lawsuits and expand energy exploration, production and capacity. Kerry wants to lower employers' health care costs through tax credits and premium relief. He proposes tax cuts for small businesses, middle- and lower-income earners and businesses hurt by outsourcing. He wants to reduce the federal deficit in four years, pursue energy-efficient technology and end tax breaks for companies that send Americans' jobs overseas. Jobs, the economy and other domestic issues are the topics for Wednesday's third and final presidential debate. Many of the job creation proposals come with large price tags, a concern to economists amid ballooning federal budget deficits, which they say ultimately will stifle job growth with rising interest rates that limit business investment and slow production. "The question is, who is going to pay for all of this," said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. Some businesses might get relief, "but the fact is, somebody is going to have to shell out more resources. There ain't no free lunch." Kerry and Bush have pledged to slice the deficit in half in four years. The deficit was estimated at $415 billion for the 2004 budget year that ended Sept. 30. But if Congress enacted all of Bush's proposals, or all of Kerry's, the deficit wouldn't shrink much. Under Bush, it would be $375 billion by 2009, and $447 billion under Kerry, said economic research firm Global Insight Inc. "Despite a lot of lip service to cutting the deficit, neither comes close," said Nariman Behravesh, Global Insight's chief economist. On tax proposals, a huge component of both candidates' jobs plans, economists were skeptical. Bush's tax cuts hadn't lived up to the millions of jobs promised, while Kerry's tax-cut proposals were too small to fuel the creation of 10 million jobs he promised in a first term. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Economy.com, said the addition of 7.2 million jobs in the next four years is more realistic than Kerry's 10 million goal. Bush's tax cuts were structured to boost business investment and provide a break to top earners ÔÇö not to create jobs, he said. "We can see that in the results," said Zandi, who thinks that aid to states and bigger tax cuts for lower-income earners would have created more jobs. In 2002, Bush's economic advisers predicted average nonfarm business payrolls would rise to 138.3 million in 2004, but they have continued to revise the estimate downward since. September's payrolls were at 131.6 million, 821,000 fewer than when Bush took office. Among Bush's four rounds of tax cuts approved by Congress, businesses got a temporary break on equipment purchases, such as machinery and computers. But it did not trigger big hiring. "If pension costs are going up and health care costs are going up, and interest rates are low and the cost of capital is low, am I going to choose a person or a machine?" Mayland said. But the cuts helped revive the struggling manufacturing sector, which lost 2.7 million jobs, said Dave Huether, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers (news - web sites). They were "the shot in the arm and we needed it," he said. "It was one of the critical things that got the manufacturing recovery on track." Huether said making the cuts permanent would make manufacturers more competitive overseas. The corporate tax rate in the United States is about 36 percent higher than those of its main trading partners, he said. Balancing the expansion of global trade opportunities and keeping jobs at home is a dilemma. Kerry said he will raise taxes on employers who ship jobs overseas. Economists aren't sure that will work. "To the extent we can induce, but not mandate, businesses to keep more jobs here, that's obviously a laudable goal," said Sung Won Sohn, Wells Fargo chief economist. "But how you do that, I'm not sure." For Kerry, many of his tax plans to spur hiring, while "laudable," are "much too small to make any difference at all," Zandi said. The benefits of Kerry's health care plan to employers could be outweighed by its cost ÔÇö $653 billion over 10 years, economists said. That plan and his deficit reduction pledge "work against each other," said Jared Bernstein, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute. "I'm not convinced either candidate has the solution to the health care problems" that are holding down hiring, Sohn said. Rising oil prices is a longer-term problem, economists said. Bush's energy plan, emphasizing drilling, exploration and production, will add jobs, as will Kerry's plan, which is heavier on conservation and developing new technology. But the country must do a better job of finding alternative energy sources and conserving: "We need to wean away from OPEC oil for the economy and for national security reasons," Sohn said.

Starfight VI: Gatekeepers Babylon 5 ÔÇ£I've Found HerÔÇØ prequel campaign Mars Simulation Project not really a space sim but still fun, it is more like SimIsle on Mars. Wing Commander: Unknown Enemy very nice add-on for Wing Commander: Secret Ops

Link quote:By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - One in every five U.S. jobs pays less than a poverty-level wage for a family of four, according to a study by the nonpartisan Working Poor Families Project. The result of so many low-paying jobs is that nearly 39 million Americans, including 20 million children, are members of "low-income working families" ÔÇö with barely enough money to cover basic needs like housing, groceries and child care, the study found. The study classified a "working family" as one in which there was one or more children and at least one family member had a job or was actively seeking work. Besides staying current on bills, many of these folks also struggled to save up for a bigger home or for a child's college education, said Brandon Roberts, one of the report's authors. "These 20 million children are the future of our workforce," Roberts said. "Their future economic abilities are at risk growing up in families that don't have the resources to support them." The report said federal and state lawmakers should put more money into adult education and job training programs, increase the minimum wage and expand subsidized child care for low-income parents. Doing so would create more skilled workers who will make more money and, in turn, increase the tax base, the study said. "We do not think that the current federal-state system designed to support these families is sufficient for the task," Roberts said. The report is based on Census Bureau (news - web sites) data from 2002 and was to be officially released Tuesday, the day before the third and final debate between President Bush (news - web sites) and Democratic challenger John Kerry. That debate will focus on domestic issues, with an emphasis on jobs and the economy. The government's poverty threshold varies depending the size of a family. For instance, a family of four with two children was considered impoverished if its income was less than $18,244 in 2002. The study, sponsored by the Annie E. Casey, Ford and Rockefeller foundations, looked at working families with kids that earned no more than twice the poverty level. Anyone below that level was considered "low-income." For a family of four, that threshold was $36,488. The median U.S. income for such families is $62,732. About 28 million jobs in the United States provided less a poverty-level wage, which works out to about $8.84 an hour for a family of four, the study said. The median wage for a waiter was about $6.80 an hour; for a cashier it was $7.41 an hour. That points to the need for the federal minimum wage to be raised from its current $5.15 an hour to ensure those in such positions can support their families, researchers said. Besides child care, the report also suggested expansion of the federal earned income tax credit, as well as more incentives for states to offer similar refundable tax credits for such families. The report also called on states to improve educational opportunities, such as adult education and literacy programs, for low-income workers who want to move on to higher-paying jobs. Sheri Steisel, director of human services policy at the National Conference of State Legislatures, commended the study but said state lawmakers are hamstrung by tight budgets. "It's not a lack of interest in the topic, but it's a question of financing," she said. "States have had to struggle on where to put their limited dollars." The study urged federal and state lawmakers to work more closely to evaluate government policies and make better use of limited funding. "Obviously under the current (economic) circumstances, that's going to be a very contentious issue, but we would suggest that it's a high priority issue," Roberts said.

Link quote: 1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of shit. 2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce. 3. How about never? Is never good for you? 4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public. 5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way. 6. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter. 7. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message... 8. I don't work here. I'm a consultant. 9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying. 10. Ahhh... I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again... 11. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid. 12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers. 13. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't give a damn. 14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth. 15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you. 16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view. 17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist. 18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental. 19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!? 20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant. 21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off. 22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial. 23. And your crybaby whiny-butt opinion would be...? 24. Do I look like a people person? 25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting. 26. I started out with nothing & still have most of it left. 27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer. 28. If I throw a stick, will you leave? 29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed. 30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed. 31. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality. 32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door. 33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #1? 34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses. 35. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it? 36. Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done. 37. How do I set a laser printer to stun? 38. I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks.

Link quote:By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer SAN FRANCISCO - Amid fanfare fit for actual world-class athletes, five Americans with really quick fingers took home the gold medal Sunday in the popular "Counter Strike" competition of the World Cyber Games championships, capping five days of intense gaming by the world's elite. Team3D defeated the Titans of Denmark in the counterterrorism-themed PC game, where operatives stake out ramshackle buildings with high-powered sniper rifles and other weapons to take out their foes. Team3D consists of "team master" Salvatore Garozzo, Johnny Quach, Dave Geffon, Ronald Kim and Kyle Miller. The squad also took home $50,000 for their video game prowess. If they plan to pop a bottle of celebratory champagne, only Geffon is old enough to take a legal sip; his teammates are all under 21. The event's organizers said the final match was watched by an enthusiastic crowd, affirming what others in Europe and Asia have known for years: top-tier video game playing can become a viable spectator sport when the stakes are high. Winners at this year's event, which took over the streets near city hall, took home a combined $400,000, according to organizers. The video game industry rakes in $10 billion annually in the United States alone. The competition had its share of upsets, for those who knew who the favorites were. The Netherlands' Manuel "4KGrubby" Schenkhuizen upset Hwang Tae-Min of Korea in "WarCraft III: Frozen Throne," bumping up the Dutch gold medal count to four. In "WarCraft III," a real-time strategy game, players find themselves in the futuristic war-torn world of Azeroth, fighting on behalf of the so-called Human Alliance to save the world. This was the first time in its four-year history that the World Cyber Games has been held outside of Korea. The event is primarily the brainchild of marketing whiz Hank Jeong, backed by the financial muscle of Samsung. In addition to "Counter Strike: Condition Zero" and "WarCraft III: Frozen Throne," players competed in "FIFA Soccer 2004," "Need For Speed: Underground," "StarCraft: Brood War," "Unreal Tournament: 2004," "Halo" and "Project Gotham Racing 2." All of the games were played on PCs, except "Halo" and "Project Gotham Racing 2," which were played on Microsoft's Xbox.

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs. Bush inherited a recesssion from the Clinton administration, and then got 911, not Bushes fault at all. source at http://stats.bls.gov/ quote: Annual 1994 Jan 6.6 Feb 6.6 Mar 6.5 Apr 6.4 May 6.1 Jun 6.1 Jul 6.1 Aug 6.0 Sep 5.9 Oct 5.8 Nov 5.6 Dec 5.5   1995 Jan 5.6 Feb 5.4 Mar 5.4 Apr 5.8 May 5.6 Jun 5.6 Jul 5.7 Aug 5.7 Sep 5.6 Oct 5.5 Nov 5.6 Dec 5.6   1996 Jan 5.6 Feb 5.5 Mar 5.5 Apr 5.6 May 5.6 Jun 5.3 Jul 5.5 Aug 5.1 Sep 5.2 Oct 5.2 Nov 5.4 Dec 5.4   1997 Jan 5.3 Feb 5.2 Mar 5.2 Apr 5.1 May 4.9 Jun 5.0 Jul 4.9 Aug 4.8 Sep 4.9 Oct 4.7 Nov 4.6 Dec 4.7   1998 Jan 4.6 Feb 4.6 Mar 4.7 Apr 4.3 May 4.4 Jun 4.5 Jul 4.5 Aug 4.5 Sep 4.6 Oct 4.5 Nov 4.4 Dec 4.4   1999 Jan 4.3 Feb 4.4 Mar 4.2 Apr 4.3 May 4.2 Jun 4.3 Jul 4.3 Aug 4.2 Sep 4.2 Oct 4.1 Nov 4.1 Dec 4.0   2000 Jan 4.0 Feb 4.1 Mar 4.0 Apr 3.8 May 4.0 Jun 4.0 Jul 4.0 Aug 4.1 Sep 4.0 Oct 3.9 Nov 3.9 Dec 3.9   2001 Jan 4.2 Feb 4.2 Mar 4.3 Apr 4.4 May 4.3 Jun 4.5 Jul 4.6 Aug 4.9 Sep 5.0 Oct 5.4 Nov 5.6 Dec 5.7   2002 Jan 5.6 Feb 5.7 Mar 5.7 Apr 5.9 May 5.8 Jun 5.8 Jul 5.8 Aug 5.7 Sep 5.7 Oct 5.7 Nov 5.9 Dec 6.0   2003 Jan 5.8 Feb 5.9 Mar 5.8 Apr 6.0 May 6.1 Jun 6.3 Jul 6.2 Aug 6.1 Sep 6.1 Oct 6.0 Nov 5.9 Dec 5.7   2004 Jan 5.6 Feb 5.6 Mar 5.7 Apr 5.6 May 5.6 Jun 5.6 Jul 5.5 Aug 5.4 Sep 5.4 Just a little background info on the unemployment rate for people 16 and older.

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: I believe that you are correct. But, that was over 10 years ago, and the oil drilling technology has gotten better in the last 10 years. depends at what part of the study you are looking at. The caribou, polar bear and muskox study was done from 1995 to 2001. quote: We drill down, sideways, up, and we can do it for miles. We no longer have to have a rig on top of the oil reserve, we can be miles from it. THe oil platforms and rigs are some of the cleanest on earth, because of environamental restrictions, even the vehicles are not allowed to leak oil, each and EVERY vehicle must have some sort of dropcloth or sponge under it to catch ANY leaking oil. Also, the environamental damage of the pipeline was thought to be great when it was built, but the caribou herds have flourished ALL around the pipeline. The heat from the pipeline itself allows grass to grow where it never grew year round before. THe herds are thricing BECAUSE of the pipeline. The environmental impact on the wildlife etc would be negligible, if any at all.I don't think it's all about the oil. Some of the worst "contamination" is not done by the oil, but by the presence of people around these oil facilities. The vehicle traffic, airplane traffic, the foot traffic etc. The animals move away from this traffic in droves.

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: The experts are of 2 opinions, some the scientists believe that they are indeed mobile WMD labs. They are VERY well put together for that purpose. They seem to be missing some stuff. 1.)System sterilization 2.)Media/water sterilization 3.)Aseptic growth conditions 4.)Agitator/stirrer 5.)Aeration sparger 6.)Process control instrumentation & sensors 7.)Addition and sampling ports 8.)Sight glasses 9.)Provision of sterile air 10.)Sterile filtration of off-gas 11.)Provision of steam for sterilization purposes all this info can be found in the Deufler report linked by Jaguar on page 81.

quote: quote: And always a buddy to big oil, Bush has made drilling of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (established in 1960 by President Eisenhower) a top priority, despite US Geological Survey (USGS) and National Academy of Sciences reports warning that such drilling would harm wildlife and cause widespread environmental damage, USGS estimates that it would have little or no impact on oil imports, as well as the polls showing opposition by the American public. We would be drilling in less then 1% of the wildlife refuge and our oil drilling technology is some of the cleanest and least damaging in the world, and it would actually make us LESS dependent on foreign oil!!! Again, brain full of mush, don't let actual facts get in the way of all that emotional BS... I think this is one of the studies being referred to Arctic Refuge Coastal Plain Terrestrial Wildlife Research Summaries

Link quote:By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - President Bush (news - web sites) and his vice president conceded Thursday in the clearest terms yet that Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) had no weapons of mass destruction, even as they tried to shift the Iraq (news - web sites) war debate to a new issue ÔÇö whether the invasion was justified because Saddam was abusing a U.N. oil-for-food program. Ridiculing the Bush administration's evolving rationale for war, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry shot back: "You don't make up or find reasons to go to war after the fact." Vice President Dick Cheney brushed aside the central findings of chief U.S. weapons hunter Charles Duelfer ÔÇö that Saddam not only had no weapons of mass destruction and had not made any since 1991, but that he had no capability of making any either ÔÇö while Bush unapologetically defended his decision to invade Iraq. "The Duelfer report showed that Saddam was systematically gaming the system, using the U.N. oil-for-food program to try to influence countries and companies in an effort to undermine sanctions," Bush said as he prepared to fly to campaign events in Wisconsin. "He was doing so with the intent of restarting his weapons program once the world looked away." Duelfer found no formal plan by Saddam to resume WMD production, but the inspector surmised that Saddam intended to do so if U.N. sanctions were lifted. Bush seized upon that inference, using the word "intent" three times in reference to Saddam's plans to resume making weapons. This week marks the first time that the Bush administration has listed abuses in the oil-for-fuel program as an Iraq war rationale. But the strategy holds risks because some of the countries that could be implicated include U.S. allies, such as Poland, Jordan and Egypt. In addition, the United States itself played a significant role in both the creation of the program and how it was operated and overseen. For his part, Cheney dismissed the significance of Duelfer's central findings, telling supporters in Miami, "The headlines all say `no weapons of mass destruction stockpiled in Baghdad.' We already knew that." The vice president said he found other parts of the report "more intriguing," including the finding that Saddam's main goal was the removal of international sanctions. "As soon as the sanctions were lifted, he had every intention of going back" to his weapons program, Cheney said. The report underscored that "delay, defer, wait, wasn't an option," Cheney said. And he told a later forum in Fort Myers, Fla., speaking of the oil-for-food program: "The sanctions regime was coming apart at the seams. Saddam perverted that whole thing and generated billions of dollars." Yet Bush and Cheney acknowledged more definitively than before that Saddam did not have the banned weapons that both men had asserted he did ÔÇö and had cited as the major justification before attacking Iraq in March 2003. Bush has recently left the question open. For example, when asked in June whether he thought such weapons had existed in Iraq, Bush said he would "wait until Charlie (Duelfer) gets back with the final report." In July, Bush said, "We have not found stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction," a sentence construction that kept alive the possibility the weapons might yet be discovered. On Thursday, the president used the clearest language to date nailing the question shut: "Iraq did not have the weapons that our intelligence believed were there," Bush said. His words placed the blame on U.S. intelligence agencies. In recent weeks, Cheney has glossed over the primary justification for the war, most often by simply not mentioning it. But in late January 2004, Cheney told reporters in Rome: "There's still work to be done to ascertain exactly what's there." "The jury is still out," he told National Public Radio the same week, when asked whether Iraq had possessed banned weapons. Duelfer's report was presented Wednesday to senators and the public with less than four weeks left in a fierce presidential campaign dominated by questions about Iraq and the war on terror. In Bayonne, N.J., Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards on Thursday called "amazing" Cheney's assertions that the Duelfer report justified rather than undermined Bush's decision to go to war, and he accused the Republican of using "convoluted logic." Kerry, in a campaign appearance in Colorado, said: "The president of the United States and the vice president of the United States may well be the last two people on the planet who won't face the truth about Iraq." A short time later, while campaigning in Wisconsin, Bush angrily responded to Kerry's charge he sought to "make up" a reason for war. "He's claiming I misled America about weapons when he, himself, cited the very same intelligence about Saddam weapons programs as the reason he voted to go to war," Bush said. Citing a lengthy Kerry quote from two years ago on the menace Saddam could pose, Bush said: "Just who's the one trying to mislead the American people?"

quote:Originally posted by Grayfox: two more: monkey island... something about vegetarian cannibles always makes me chuckle. well you could add outlaws too quote: maybe hes to busy concentrating on the movies, and lets a few slip through the strainer... then again he did award this piece of excrement as winner of the 2003 SW fan film awards... no wonder huh? i couldnt even watch the whole thing it made me sick...Oh the horrors, the HORRORS of it all. Why did I watch that video from beginning to end. I think I'm scared for life.

quote:When was the last time they released an exceptional game? X-wing vs Tie Fighter?two words "Grim Fandango"

Link quote:LANSING, Mich. - Republicans say filmmaker Michael Moore should be prosecuted for offering underwear, potato chips and Ramen noodles to college students in exchange for their promise to vote. The Michigan Republican Party has asked four county prosecutors to file charges against Moore, charging that his get-out-the-vote stunt amounts to bribery. "We want everyone to participate in this year's election, but not because they were bribed or coerced by the likes of Michael Moore," said Greg McNeilly, executive director of the state Republican Party. Moore, a Michigan native, is touring the country and imploring "slackers" who usually don't vote to head to the polls this year, saying they could make the difference in the presidential race. Moore has made stops at three Michigan universities as part of a 60-city pre-election tour. During each program, habitual nonvoters are invited on stage to pledge to vote. First-time student voters are offered gag prizes such as clean underwear. The GOP said Moore also offered students a clean dorm room, a year's supply of Tostitos and a package of Ramen noodles. The GOP said it asked the prosecutors to charge Moore, a John Kerry supporter, with violating Michigan's election law, which prohibits a person from contracting with another for something of value in exchange for agreeing to vote. Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County prosecutor's office, refused to comment on the matter. Calls to Moore and the other prosecutors weren't immediately returned Tuesday.

Link He was not everybody's favorite comedian, but I thought he was funny. Maybe now he can find the ÔÇ£respectÔÇØ he was looking for.

quote:Originally posted by Kalshion: 401k?What is a 401k plan? Here Is A Quick Overview

quote:Originally posted by Tac: well at least its something 'understandable' albeit a bit over the top. But explain to me THIS The pillow makes sense to me makes them feel "safe". Now the "Sound Princess"

I guess it is time to get out the trusty pair of scissors and cut off all the tags on clothing.

quote:Originally posted by Cmdr Chavik: I had a female friend over once and had to excuse myself for a second. When she nosily asked what I had been doing I looked her square in the eye and said "Gaseous Expulsions". I bet the look on her face was priceless

Looks like, I will be unavailable from 12:30 to 11:00pm central. Assuming the same times as last time I will not be able to participate. Hopefully, the other members can help you rain fiery death upon the other teams

Link quote:By AIKO HAYASHI, Associated Press Writer TOKYO - When Naoko Ito uses a public bathroom, she cringes in embarrassment at the thought that other patrons can hear the sounds coming from her stall. That's when she turns to the "Sound Princess." Ito, like a rapidly growing number of Japanese women, presses a device installed in public toilets to simulate the sound of water flushing ÔÇö and mask the cruder noises of nature. "I usually use the flushing sound when I go to a public bathroom, such as at a department store, because I get a bit self-conscious," said Ito, a 60-year-old waitress. The device ÔÇö a curious mix of Japanese bashfulness and modern technology ÔÇö is spreading rapidly through public buildings and has now become standard equipment for new construction. Leading toilet producer Toto Ltd. has sold 500,000 of their "Sound Princess" ÔÇö "Oto-Hime" in Japanese ÔÇö since 1988, and the company says orders surged 125 percent in 2003 alone. "The core of our clientele is schools and companies," Toto spokeswoman Kumi Goto said. "Japanese women are very embarrassed by the sounds they make in a toilet." There's another reason behind the increase in the gadgets: ecology. Women in Japan have traditionally flushed several times to cover up their noises, so the Sound Princess is saving water and cutting down on public building operators' utility bills. The Sound Princess is fairly simple. The user passes her hand over a sensor, and the convincing sound of a torrent of water comes from a speaker. Such gadgets might seem a dainty, modern excess of a shame-obsessed society, but the Sound Princess has deep roots in Japanese culture. The Japanese are notoriously fastidious: the daily bath is practiced with near-religious fervor, and walking inside with your shoes on is considered filthy. The Japanese word for clean ÔÇö "kirei" ÔÇö also means beautiful. And what happens in a bathroom stall is, well, among the dirtiest things that humans do. Going to the toilet has been considered embarrassing and even shameful for women since ancient times in Japan, said Noriji Suzuki, a parasitologist at Kochi University Medical School. "Sometimes you see people talking to each other over a stall in Western countries, but that would never happen in our culture," he said. The trend is not limited to women these days. Some schools have done away with urinals because boys are increasingly too embarrassed to use the stalls, since going there would tell onlookers exactly what's going to happen next. Tadafumi Morioka, a spokesman for another Japanese toilet maker, INAX Corp., said his company also started selling a similar product in 1988 amid concerns of wasted water. He said the installment rate of such devices in modern skyscrapers in Japan is 100 percent. INAX's sales increased 25 percent in 2003, Morioka said, although he refused to give precise numbers. "Most of the demands for the device come from public facility owners and managers including department stores and elementary and junior high schools," he said. But for now, "Oto-Hime" seems to likely to remain for women only. "I still haven't heard of men who say they want 'Oto-hime' in men's rooms," said Goto.

Link quote: By Lucy Sherriff NASA has rejected Professor Pillinger's proposal that the Beagle 2 science package should have a place on the US' mission to Mars in 2009. At a press conference this morning, Professor Colin Pillinger said that the instrument package had been ruled out last week because, as a static lander, it didn't fit with NASA's philosophy of mobile exploration. He defended Beagle 2, maintaining that it is the best instrument package available and should be sent back to the Red Planet. He said that although the lander was not built to explore the surface, it was designed to burrow into the ground. "This isn't static," he said. "We were going to be the first to go below the surface, to look under rocks. No one else is planning to send a drill to Mars." He warned that the decision meant Europe would fall behind in space science, as no European mission is planned until after the US next go to the Red Planet. Although the UK has agreed to join the European Space Agency's Aurora programme, the first Aurora demonstrator mission is scheduled for 2011, and the first science mission won't take place until 2013. "Someone will have done the science by the time we get there in 2013," Pillinger said, "and I don't see the point in 'me too' science projects". Professor Ian Halliday, chief executive of PPARC, the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, said that some kind of package would go up on the first test flights, but that details would be worked out later. But Pillinger argues that the payload will be so small as to not be worth sending. "It will be a camera," he said. "So that Europe can show it's been to Mars." Asked whether he thought NASA's rejection was politically motivated, Pillinger smiled. "I will say that if they take ours, they'd have to leave a US science package behind, so you'll have to draw your own conclusions on that," he said. "I'd expect my minister to make the same decision." But Beagle may yet have another chance. Dr. Sarah Dunkin, vice president of the Royal Astronomical Society, said that a lander carrying the Beagle science package had not been ruled out.

Link quote:WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. senators from the electoral battleground states of West Virginia and Arkansas slammed the Republican National Committee (news - web sites) on Thursday for a pamphlet that suggested liberals would ban the Bible. "Two weeks ago, the Republican National Committee sent a mass mailing to West Virginians suggesting that liberals -- in other words, everyone but Republicans -- are out to ban the Bible," Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), a West Virginia Democrat, said on the Senate floor. "What a ridiculous claim! It is a flat-out, no-doubt-about-it, silly, sophomoric charge," Byrd said. "The Republican National Committee is spreading this tripe to smear Democrats, and the president ought to demand that the Republican National Committee apologize to the people of West Virginia." Sen. Blanche Lincoln (news, bio, voting record), a Democrat from Arkansas, said the same mailing was sent to Arkansans. "I hope that there will be an apology for their claims that Democrats want to ban the Bible and the inference that Democrats for some reason cannot have a faith as close or as deeply held as the other party," Lincoln said on the Senate floor. "I find that to be the pit, the absolute bottom of what is wrong in the political process." A spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee confirmed the mailing was sent to Arkansas and West Virginia, stressing it addressed the issue of "activist judges." "When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same sex marriage and people in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws, same sex marriage became an issue. Activist judges also want to remove the words 'under God' from the pledge of allegiance," spokeswoman Christine Iverson said in an e-mail. The e-mail noted the mailing did not mention the word "Democrats." Without providing details about the pamphlet, the e-mail did not dispute press reports indicating the pamphlet included a graphic showing a Bible with the word "banned" across it, and a graphic of a man placing a ring on the hand of another man with the word "allowed" across it.

Link quote:By JAN M. OLSEN, Associated Press Writer COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark is joining Russia and Canada to see if it can lay a claim to the North Pole ÔÇö and whatever natural riches may lie beneath it. The key to Denmark's claim is Greenland, the world's largest island and a semi-independent Danish territory, just 500 miles south of the North Pole. Researchers hope to find evidence that Greenland may be connected to a huge ridge beneath the floating Arctic ice, the country's science and technology minister said. If high-tech measurements can prove that Greenland is attached to the 1,240 mile underwater Lomonosov Ridge, then "maybe there is a chance that the North Pole could become Danish," Cabinet minister Helge Sander said Friday. Since the spring, teams of experts have used sonar, seismological instruments and Global Positioning Satellite data to survey the ridge and have drilled into the sea bed in search of natural resources. Last year, Denmark allocated $25 million for the project, which is also surveying four other areas around Greenland. The Canadian government allocated $55.4 million for similar sea bed mapping, said Allan Boldt of the science and technology ministry. The question Danish scientists are trying resolve is where Greenland's continental socket ends and the ocean sea floor begins. "We must be able to argue that it is a natural extension" of Greenland, added Trine Dahl-Jensen of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. Another key to claiming ownership of the territory lies in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, a 1986 accord that allows coastal countries an economic zone extending 230 miles from their shores. Only countries that have ratified the convention can claim the offshore economic zones, said Allan Boldt of the science and technology ministry. Of the countries surrounding the North Pole, Norway, Russia and Canada have signed the document, while the United States has not. Denmark's parliament is set to ratify it before the end of the year, though an exact date has not been set, Sander said. The North Pole is an ocean covered by ice and therefore falls under the U.N. convention. The mapping could be a bonanza. "It could give us access to natural resources. There could be oil and gas," Sander said. Neighboring Norway's offshore oil fields make it the world's third-largest oil exporter. Canada and Russia, which also is likely to claim ownership of the Lomonosov Ridge, are also making similar investigations around the North Pole. Mapping the Arctic is difficult because of moving ice floes, freezing temperatures, fog and poor visibility, said Dahl-Jensen. "We can only work there for about a month-and-half," she said.

quote:Originally posted by Jaguar: Saddam MURDERED an Al Quaeda Lieutenant of Osamam Bin Ladens, who came to Iraq for medical treatment. HE MET with Saddam, and then when he would not do what Saddam wanted him to do, mainly put his cell under Saddams DIRECT control, Saddam ad him murdered. Where did you read this? I would like to read this story.