I am going to vote right after I post today's edition.  Hopefully, my vote will be counted---I live in Flori-dubya, after all.

Blasts Kill 143 at Iraq Shiite Shrines
Las Vegas Sun, NV - 3-2-04
... attacks on Shiites, aimed at sparking a Sunni-Shiite civil war in order to ... Iraq's
Governing Council blamed the attacks on "terrorists" seeking to enflame ...
 

"Saddam Hussein was recently visited by the Red Cross and he is in very good health and he is expected to remain that way until we, of course, kill him." Jay Leno

Gas prices soar; many wonder why
The Desert Sun, CA - 3-2-04
... billion. Those profits are making it hard for some local gas station
owners to see why prices are so high now. "This is beyond us. ...
 

"Here in California gas prices have gone up to more than $2 a gallon. So not only didn’t we find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq…apparently we didn't find any oil there either. Didn't we win the war? I thought that gas would be free now." —Jay Leno

A half century ago, on March 1, 1954, the United States conducted its largest nuclear test. Code-named Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb detonated on Bikini Atoll, producing an intense fireball followed by a 20-mile-high mushroom cloud. The Bravo test is seen in this Department of Energy archival photo.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/life_bikiniatoll_dc

Disturbing News

Aristide Tells U.S. Contacts He Was Abducted

Reuters - Tue Mar 2,12:08 AM ET

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said on Monday he was forced to leave Haiti against his will by the United States, a claim dismissed by senior Bush administration officials as nonsense.

CDC warns of pandemic dangers posed by avian flu

USATODAY.com - Tue Mar 2, 7:28 AM ET

The flu season is fading away, but experts warn that a far greater menace may be on the horizon: The avian flu galloping across Asia poses "the most serious pandemic threat since 1968," Keiji Fukuda said Monday at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
 

The real thing? Coca-Cola's bottled water comes from the tap

AFP -

Soft drinks giant Coca-Cola is using ordinary tap water as the source for a fancy brand of bottled water being promoted in Britain.

Paper Says Warner Music to Cut Work Force

Reuters - Tue Mar 2, 6:19 AM ET

The new owners of Warner Music Group are expected to announce job cuts that could involve 1,000 employees, or 20 percent, of its work force, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Broken Windows: Will Your PC Ever Be Secure?

PC World - Thu Feb 26, 3:00 AM ET

It seems a week doesn't go by without some malcontent writing a worm that attacks holes in Microsoft products. What can you do to protect yourself?
 

Video Games Make Kids Fat, Violent, Swedish Experts Say

Reuters - Mon Mar 1, 4:20 PM ET

Video games can make children fat and, in the case of violent games popular among teenage and younger boys, aggressive and even criminal, Swedish experts said on Monday.

Bush Replaces Advisers on Cloning, Medical Issues

Reuters - Fri Feb 27,11:57 PM ET

President Bush reshuffled his advisory council on cloning and related medical issues on Friday, adding a prominent neurosurgeon known for his work on conjoined twins and two conservatives who have spoken out strongly against cloning.

FBI Failing to Seek Files for Defendants

AP

In an oversight that could impact cases nationwide, the FBI hasn't routinely searched a special computer space where agents store investigative documents to see whether those materials should be sent to defense lawyers, Congress or special investigative bodies like the Sept. 11 inquiry.

18,000 guardsmen put on alert for Iraq deployment: Pentagon

AFP - Mon Mar 1, 6:42 PM ET

Some 18,000 national guard soldiers from four states have been alerted for possible deployment to Iraq late this year…

Senate Faces Show-Down on Gun Laws

Reuters - Tue Mar 2, 1:22 AM ET

The Senate on Tuesday was set to pass legislation giving the gun industry sweeping protections from lawsuits as gun control advocates sought to add amendments extending the 1994 assault weapons ban and requiring background checks at gun shows.

FEC Wants Campaign Finance Suit Dismissed

AP - Mon Mar 1,12:09 PM ET

The Federal Election Commission is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit by sponsors of the nation's new campaign finance law accusing the agency of opening loopholes in the restrictions…

Afghanistan Opium Production Levels Soar

AP - Mon Mar 1,12:37 PM ET

Opium poppy cultivation levels in Afghanistan approached the highest levels ever recorded last year despite the counterdrug efforts of the U.S.-backed government, the State Department said Monday.

U.N.: Iraq had no WMD after 1994

USATODAY.com 3-2-04

A report from U.N. weapons inspectors to be released today says they now believe there were no weapons of mass destruction of any significance in Iraq after 1994, according to two U.N. diplomats who have seen the document....

"George W. Bush is calling for a constitutional amendment to ban gay weddings. Sounds like someone didn't get an invitation to Rosie's wedding." —David Letterman

Today in History – March 2

1776 Americans begin shelling British troops in Boston

1789 Pennsylvania ends prohibition of theatrical performances

1807 Congress bans slave trade effective January 1, 1808

1819 US passed its 1st immigration law

1836 Republic of Texas declares independence from Mexico

1867 US Congress creates the Department of Education

1937 Mexico nationalizes oil

1950 Silly Putty invented

1966 215,000 US soldiers in Vietnam

1974 Grand jury concludes President Nixon is involved in Watergate cover-up

1981 Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WWDC in Washington DC

1984 Iran offensive against Iraq fails

1989 Exxon Houston runs aground in Hawaii, spills 117,000 gallons of oil

1991 UN votes in favor of US resolutions for cease fire with Iraq

1997 Saudi Arabia billionaire Prince al-Waleed bin Talal aquires 5% of Apple

Graphic by chipshodt@aol.com

ODD NEWS

Anti-Boy T-Shirts Get Boost from Boycott

Reuters - Sun Feb 29, 5:08 PM ET

The maker of T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like "Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them" says business is booming despite -- or maybe because of -- protests that led some major U.S. retailers to stop selling them.

666 Appears on Some 'Passion' Tickets

Mon Mar 1,10:21 AM ET

Tickets at one movie theater screening Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" are being deemed decidedly unholy.

Thousands rush to join British spy agency

Tue Mar 2, 2:14 AM ET

Some 3,000 would-be secret agents have responded to an official drive to boost the size of Britain's domestic intelligence service, a newspaper reported.

IRS Allows Weight-Loss Tax Deduction

AP - Mon Mar 1, 8:32 PM ET

Obese Americans who take drastic, expensive action to lose weight under a doctor's orders will at least be able to lighten their tax load...

www.buckfush.com

Good News

Former WorldCom CEO Ebbers Indicted

AP -3-2-04

Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers has been indicted on federal charges stemming from the multibillion dollar accounting scandal at the telecommunications giant…

Patch Up Problems

PC World - Thu Feb 26, 3:00 AM ET

Get your software fixes here.

NASA to Release Significant Mars Findings

AP - Tue Mar 2, 7:31 AM ET

The Opportunity rover has apparently found something on Mars that's got scientist buzzing back on Earth.

Clinton, Gore Set to Face 9/11 Commission

AP

The federal panel reviewing the Sept. 11 attacks has scheduled interviews with former President Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore this month but is struggling to get similar cooperation from President Bush and administration officials.

Greek Scientists Find Way to Weaken Cancer Cells

Reuters - Mon Mar 1,10:55 AM ET

Greek scientists said they have found a way to lower cancer cell resistance to medical treatment in what could be a major step in treating a disease that kills more than six million people every year.

"This is another squandered opportunity for U.S. leadership on a crucial arms control and humanitarian issue." -- Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., on the Bush administration's refusal to join 150 other nations that have signed an anti-land mine treaty.

Bush Wants Transition Cash to Train Aides

AP -3-2-04

President Bush is making an unprecedented request to use up to $1 million budgeted for a possible presidential transition to train top officials who would join his administration if he should win a second term...

I guess President Arrogant feels he has the election all wrapped up.

The Witch's Broom Nebula
Credit (T. A. Rector (U. Alaska), NOAO, AURA, NSF )

Peace.