May 17-18  2003  Weekend Edition

NASA's check, balance system called ineffective
Houston Chronicle, TX - 5-17-03

An independent investigation has yet to uncover the root cause of the shuttle Columbia disaster, but it appears to have come to one conclusion: NASA has a ...
       Scuttling shuttle safety - Hindustan Times
       Same problems haunt NASA 17 years after Challenger loss - USA Today
       Giving NASA Some Space - Christian Science Monitor
 

Prober Faults NASA Shuttle Judgments
Washington Post - May 15, 2003
... The chief investigator of the Columbia disaster testified yesterday that NASA officials gravely erred by refusing to seek photographs of the damaged space ...

Space collection available to researchers
Collectspace.com - May 14, 2003
... collection focuses heavily on the space program, it also contains a substantial number of photographs ... In 1985, Desind applied to NASA's Teacher in Space program ...

Today's cartoon was inspired by how the once great NASA has become NASA, Inc. over the decades.  Taking shortcuts to save money -- corporate spacedheadthink.  This same mindset happened in Iraq.  Taking shortcuts to save money by not protecting the Iraqi people or their treasures -- but the Oil Ministry was fully guarded.  How Bushonian. We report. You decide.

WANTED:  Spokesperson, Will Train.

"Zelda and Lisa have lots in common but they disagree on some levels, as most, proud liberals are apt to do occasionally. They remain interesting. Zelda loves President Bill Clinton, Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Danny Glover. And Lisa just loves Brian Lamb. She is so twisted. I wish Lisa could be here with us on this trip, but she is busy Being Bill Bennett in Biloxi." - Anita Beer in Gusher's Lounge, Holiday Inn, Ardmore, OK

Click here for today's column WANTED: Spokesperson, Will Train.

Applications for All Hat No Cattle Spokesperson are being accepted.  State your case below.  Only famous people need apply.

 Zelda's Archives        Zelda's Mail Bag

How about them Texas Democrats!

The Texas Democrat Party has T-Shirts for sale in honor of the Brave Patriots who had the guts to stand up to the Bush Political Thuggery Machine.

Click here for the Texas Democratic Party Website

...what in the name of heaven was the governor thinking when he had handicapped people arrested? These were citizens who came to their capital to protest budget cuts affecting them, and they get arrested. Maybe it was because they were in wheelchairs -- don't even have to be hauled away, they can just be rolled away. - click here for Molly Ivins' latest column
 

The Texas Democrats are brave Americans.

We're both Bushed.

MAIL BAG

SUBJECT: Your site

What would we do without your website?! Thank you! Thank you! I was listening to Bill O'Reilly ( I always like to know what the enemy is up to) last night. He said that the tax cut is a joke. He said the House is already working on a bill to raise taxes on our gasoline. How can we get this info into the main stream media? Do you have any connections?
Dorothy and Mel N.
Millville, CA

You're welcome. I did a google on the gas tax increase proposal and came up with this:

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) slammed the proposal - about $245 billion for highways and $55 billion for mass transit - as falling far short of meeting the state and national need for highway maintenance and construction.

While the proposal partly addresses Ohio’s long-standing status as a "donor" state - one that pays more in federal fuel taxes than it receives in federal highway dollars - the overall result will still be negative for Ohio, she said. 

click here for entire story

And this article from Connecticut:

Federal transportation funds fall short of state's needs
Stamford Advocate, CT - May 16, 2003
 

These two articles provide information that show how cash strapped the individual states will be with fewer Federal dollars. The states will have to get the money somewhere--and my bet is that it won't be from Bush but from increased state taxes, of some kind.  The states have no choice. This way W's hands appear clean.

To answer your question about what connections I have -- I'm plugged into it right now, my Internet connection.

Thanks for writing. There's another under reported story below.

SUBJECT: Joe Scarborough

MSNBC should have investigated Joe Scarborough instead of hiring him.

Gee, that's a novel thought.

 News that was ignored by the U.S. media last October

Bush-Blair transcript 'seized by IRA spies'
By Thomas Harding, Ireland Correspondent
(Filed: 08/10/2002)
Secret documents obtained by an IRA spy network included transcripts of telephone conversations between Tony Blair and President Bush, security sources confirmed yesterday.

click here for entire article

How in the world did IRA spies do that and the story not be splashed all over US newspapers?  I wonder what transcripts Al-Qaeda has since they are more well funded than the IRA?

Where're Osama, Saddam and all those unused weapons of mass destruction?  - Lisa