the next-generation Windows Media Player
Windows Media Player 10 is being refined to provide a great experience for discovering, playing, and taking your digital media anywhere. We are still in the early stages, but this technical beta lays the groundwork for the great end-to-end digital media experience coming with the final release for Windows XP.
Listen to this post
Smarty Jones is heavy favorite
Smarty Jones is the shortest priced Belmont morning-line favorite since Spectacular Bid, who was 1-5 before finishing third in the 1979 Belmont in his failed Triple Crown bid.
Affirmed, the last Triple Crown winner in 1978, was also the last odds-on favorite to win the Belmont. Since then, five horses -- all with a chance to win the Triple Crown -- failed. Real Quiet was the most recent, finishing second by a nose in 1998 as the 4-5 choice.
Listen to this post
FEAR RUN AMOK
Steve Kurtz is Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the State University of New York's University at Buffalo, and a member of the internationally-acclaimed
Critical Art Ensemble. Kurtz's wife, Hope Kurtz, died in her sleep of cardiac arrest in the early morning hours of May 11. Police arrived, became suspicious of Kurtz's art supplies and called the FBI.
Within hours, FBI agents had "detained" Kurtz as a suspected bioterrorist and cordoned off the entire block around his house. (Kurtz walked away the next day on the advice of a lawyer, his "detention" having proved to be illegal.) Over the next few days, dozens of agents in hazmat suits, from a number of law enforcement agencies, sifted through Kurtz's work, analyzing it on-site and impounding computers, manuscripts, books, equipment, and even his wife's body for further analysis. Meanwhile, the Buffalo Health Department condemned his house as a health risk.
Kurtz, a member of the
Critical Art Ensemble, makes art which addresses the politics of biotechnology. "Free Range Grains," CAE's latest project, included a mobile DNA extraction laboratory for testing food products for possible transgenic contamination. It was this equipment which triggered the Kafkaesque chain of events,
the vid
Listen to this post
Constitutional scholar Badnarik gets presidential nomination
In a stunning come-from-behind victory, Texas constitutional scholar
Michael Badnarik has won the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination.
Badnarik, 49, of Austin, Texas, won 423 votes -- or 54 percent -- from delegates at the Libertarian Party's national convention in Atlanta on Sunday. Coming in second was movie producer Aaron Russo, followed by longtime radio talk host Gary Nolan.
Badnarik's victory was considered a shock because he had been beaten in the polls and primaries by both Nolan and Russo. According to many undecided delegates,
Badnarik's superior performance in the Saturday debates propelled him ahead of the other candidates.
In an emotional acceptance speech on the convention floor, a surprised
Badnarik declared, "Never in my wildest dreams!" Then he thanked delegates for their support and made it clear that his campaign will stay focused on forcing the government to abide by the Constitution.
"The reason we can't find a relationship between the Constitution and the government is that there is none," he said. "If I can win the Libertarian nomination, there's no reason I can't win this election. We have a unique opportunity to change the world."
For the past three years
Badnarik has been teaching classes on the Constitution, and his message of forcing the government to strictly abide by that document appealed to many Libertarian delegates.
According to many political analysts, the Libertarian nominee could cost President George Bush the November election by attracting votes from frustrated Republicans in key swing states such as Wisconsin, Oregon and Nevada.
According to a May 21 article by David Paul Kuhn, chief political writer for CBSNews.com, many conservatives are so angry over Bush's spending increases that they may abandon the GOP in November.
If that happens, the Libertarian nominee "may do for Democrats in 2004 what Nader did for Republicans in 2000" and cost Bush the election, Kuhn says.
The Libertarian presidential candidate appeared on all 50 state ballots in 1992, 1996, and 2000, and the party is working toward that goal in 2004.
Two other candidates, David Hollist of California and Jeffrey Diket of Louisiana, were eliminated in the first round of voting.
In a separate vote, delegates chose Richard Campagna as their vice presidential nominee. Campagna, 52, is an attorney is Iowa City, Iowa.
Listen to this post
Dimmest Galaxy Could Give Clue to Dark Matter
As galaxies go, Andromeda IX is a mighty dim bulb.
In fact, it is dimmest galaxy ever detected, which means it could give clues to the mysterious dark matter that appears to be pushing regular matter around. And it's right in our cosmic back yard.
Andromeda IX is a small satellite of the Andromeda galaxy, the Milky Way's closest galactic neighbor at a distance of about 2 million light-years from Earth. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles, the distance light travels in a year.
Listen to this post
Memorial Day.
There have been 916 coalition deaths, 806 Americans, 59 Britons, six Bulgarians, one Dane, one Dutch, one Estonian, 18 Italians, four Poles, one Salvadoran, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and six Ukrainians, in the war as of May 28, 2004 The list reflects the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose families have been notified of their deaths by each country's government. There have been at least 4,524 U.S. troops wounded in action, according to the Pentagon.
This list is updated regularly.
Listen to this post
"
I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute. . . where no public official either requests or accepts instructions on public policy from the pope, the National Council of Churches, or any other ecclesiastical source -- where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials -- and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all." -JFK
Listen to this post
