Is NASA about to find a way to defy gravity? Read the article and then decide for yourself.

Mr.Clinton is unrepentant about his many sins and crimes. In fact, like most teenage boys caught being naughty (even when the teenager is in his fifties), he blames most of his troubles on others. That being the vast right wing conspiracy. Even so, since he seems to be raking in ten mil or so a year from speaking fees, he is proving that sometimes crime does pay.

The sad bit is that Newsweek reporter Jonathon Alter is doing the equivilent of walking and chewing gum at the same time, when he criticizes Clinton while sucking up to him.

Palestinians are complaining that Israelis are using captured televsion broadcast facilities to broadcast porn to West Bank TV viewers.

Obviously an evil Israeli plot to get the Palestinians to make love, not war.

This would be the news if we were to treat Palestinian terrorists the same way we treat Al Qaeda:

Tel Aviv 28 March, 2002. A new front in the war on terror was opened up as the United States and Israel launched strikes at terrorist targets throughout the Middle East.

Israeli troops entered several West Bank towns and it is reported that Yassir Arafat and several of his top aids have been taken into custedy.Israeli Prime Minister Sharon vows that the Palestinian leader will be put on trial for "crimes against humanity going back over thirty years." Street fighting is reported to be occuring in several West Bank towns as Palestinian gunmen vainly try to stop Israeli mechanized formations.

American B-52 and B-2 stealth bombers, as well as carrier based planes from the 6th Fleet, have launched massive strikes against terrorist camps in Lebenon and Syrian army formations facing the Golan Heights. Israeli armored units are reported to already be deep inside Lebenon and Syria, which were recently added to the "Axis of Evil" by US President GW Bush. The goal seems to not only to destroy terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Lebenon, but to effect a regime change in Syria.

European and Arab leaders have roundly condemned the new action and have called for a cease fire.

As of this writing, Yassir Arafat is caged up in a couple of rooms at his headquarters, while the Israeli Army makes free in his compound, arresting his henchmen, and making away with the contents of weapons' caches and-no doubt-filing cabinets and computer hard drives. The Israelis have cut off his power and water, which raises an interesting possibility. A person cannot survive without water for more than about two or three days. Even if Arafat has the strength of will to try to become a martyre via dehydration, the Israelis can simply break in and carry him off on the pretext of saving his life, which they have pledged to do.

Then, maybe, a fast trip out of the region to some place more suitable. I would suggest the tribal areas of Pakistan where the remaints of the Al Qaeda are skulking. It would be just the place for that horrible little man to spend his last days.

One of NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe's more visionary projects is to develop technologies to use nuclear power to conquer distances in space and reach destinations in the Solar System (like Mars) quicker. He might want to read a new book about a very old project which used atomic explosives to propel huge space craft at speeds which would bring them to most places in the Solar System in weeks (or Mars in days).
The book is called Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Space Ship by George Dyson.

Under a NASA grant, a bioengineer has grown fish flesh in the lab. So far it's gold fish, so it's hardly appetizing, but there seems to be no reason why we can't also grow trout, salmon, and even-eventually-chicken, lamb, or beef.

Aside from the obvious benifits for space settlements, such lab grown flesh has a lot of implications. Will vegetarians (those who are for ethical rather than health purposes) have to rethink their adversion to such food now that it might nit involve the killing of animals? Will PETA lose an issue?

I'm also reminded of an Arthur C. Clarke story about a particular kind of delicacy which becomes available with such technology. You know what I mean. The one that's Hannibal Lecter's favorite.

With that in mind, I predict calls for the banning/heavy regulation of this technology real soon.

With almost exquisit timing, Arafat is now hinting that he's ready for a cease fire.

Right. Fortunately the Bush Administration doesn't seem to be buying. And as for the Israelis, they're getting ready for their response by calling up reserves.

Ellen Goodman is shocked that Hollywood movies often fudge about history. She points at A Beautiful Mind, which left out some of the more unsavory aspects of John Nash's life, as an example.

I have news for Ms. Goodman. Hollywood has rarely if ever got history right. Braveheart, for example, had William Wallace impregnating the Princess of Wales with the future King Edward III, even though Edward was born nine years after Wallace has drawn and quartered.

One wonders if Ms. Goodman was as irate about Oliver Stone's various massacres of history, in particular JFK?

Just when you though Palestinian barbarism couldn't be topped, now comes the fellow who blew himself up and nineteen (at last count) Jews who had sat down for a Passover Seder.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating. It's time for the Israelis to go through the West Bank and Gaza like Sherman through Georgia. Since the Palestinians don't want to negotiate peace, it's time that peace be imposed. And I'm increasingly of the opinion it should be a Roman peace (i.e., make a desert and call it peace.)

The Arab Summit seems to be descending into chaos. The Lebenese hosts (probably on orders from the Syrians) refused to allow Arafat to address the Summit via live sattelite hookup. Why?

"Lebanese officials also said there was concern that Israel could interfere with a live satellite hookup, and might use it to beam Sharon into the conference hall."

I'm not sure whether that means Sharon's image via television or whether they think Israel has a Star Trek style transporter.

A reader named Sara Callaman takes me to task for siding with the Israelis:

lawks a day, you yanks ! How come the rest of the world can see how pushy and aggressive america is being towards Palestine, and what double standards the government is using against 'terrorists' who they were sponsering five minutes ago!

How can Jews go to Palestine and try to shove out the people who live there, when they above many, should know what it is like to be persecuted for no reason except your race/ creed- whatever.

Finally, it does no good fighting everyone- it's like a school yard- soon everyone in the yard wil be fed up of old bossy boots, who wants to run everything! Such a sophoisticated (?) country should be able to think of more adult ways of negotiation and diplomacy to sort problems out!

Finally II As I understand it, there are plenty of Israelis and Palestinians living happily side by side- being treated together in hospital(s) so maybe the politicians need to look at themselves.

Sara

I assume Sara comes from some country in the British Commonwealth, which certainly was never "pushy and aggressive" toward anyone.

The farcical Arab Summit opened in Beruit with an endorsement of the fraudulent Saudi "peace" proposal. It also opened without the President of Egypt, the King of Jordan, or Yassir Arafat. Arafat was not able to attend because he could not bring himself to stop killing women and children and to publicly promise to stop doing that.

Forget about tweaking rockets to get Cheap Access to Space. There is a group of engineers and businessmen who think that a space elevator is doable in about ten to fifteen years for less than ten billion dollars.

Current House Majority Whip and future House Majority Leader Tom Delay has spoken out on the general malaise afflicting the US civil space program.

Here's a suggestion, Tom, for doing something about it. Use your influence to get a little bit of money added to NASA's budget to develop technologies for sending and sustaining people beyond Low Earth Orbit. It doesn't have to be a lot of money, but it would set down a marker and set the stage for a Presidential decision in-say-2004 when O'Keefe has gotten NASA's finances in order.

Some sharp eyed astronomers have gone over maps of the lunar surface created by the Clementine mission and have concluded that Malapert Mountain, overlooking the ice fields at the Lunar South Pole. Read the article and then ask yourself: Why aren't we assembling the first expedition to there?

George Will gives the Bush Administration the back of his hand for applying a double standard to Israel. We're in effect asking the Israelis to appease terrorists, while we hunt down other terrorists and kill them.

I know why Bush is doing this. He wants to keep the Arabs quiet so that we can go after Saddem. But this strategery is only delaying the inevitable. At some point, Israel will have to take Arafat and his absurd terrorist kingdom out. Better, in my view, that it be sooner than later. Let the Arabs howl all they want. If we show strength, there is nothing they can do about it.

A reader named Randolph Addison has some interesting thoughts on the best actor/best actress Oscars:

The saddest part of the Oscars and Halle Berry/Denzel winning is that they (Hollywood producers and actors) will pat themselves on the back as though they are pushing the envelope of acceptance for blacks--"Look at us, we're special. We gave, oops, we awarded a black person." So, did they earn the awards or were they given the awards? It is an ugly question but it must be asked after the gaudy acceptance speech by Halle. She should have said something simple about blacks but spent the majority of her speech on her acting skills and her future prospects (or something along those lines)--that's what Oscars are about, right?

Lest Hollywood forget that the American public goes to the movies and makes them wealthy; thusly, it is the American people who pay money to go see movies (with blacks in lead rolls) and have long crossed the hurdle of stereotypes and subtle or implied racism.

It simply saddens me that someone could receive an award and seem to wholly believe that the award was for being a little melanin-rich and not for acting ability...

Never let it be said that even the worst catastrophe does not contain within it certain opportunities. It looks like Playboy is looking for candidates for the Women of Enron spread.

Even though the Enron scandal is old news, a reader suggests thjat we still need to pay attention to it. That is to say, the real scandal:

Certainly there is a political dimension here.
Enron's chairman did meet with the president and the vice president in the Oval Office.

Enron gave $420,000 to the president's party over three years.
Enron donated $100,000 to the president's inauguration festivities!
The Enron chairman stayed at the White House 11times.

The corporation had access to the administration at its highest levels and even enlisted the Commerce and State Departments to grease deals for it.

The taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank subsidized Enron for more than $600 million in just one transaction.

BUT...the president under whom all this happened wasn't George W. Bush.

It was Bill Clinton.