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The Atlantic hurricane season is expected to produce above-average activity, a closely watched forecast issued by Colorado State University said.

Best of the Web Today - March 1, 2006 By JAMES TARANTO Who's Your Daddy? In the new issue of Foreign Policy magazine, Phillip Longman of the liberal New America Foundation has a fascinating essay on demographics and politics--the gist of which is that differing reproductive patterns are likely to make Western societies, including the U.S., more conservative. Specifically, those who practice patriarchy--which Longman defines not in the crude feminist sense of men dominating women but as "a particular value system that not only requires men to marry but to marry a woman of proper station"--are outbreeding those who do...

Yes: Here are 10 good reasons why the global-warming issue can be put to rest Monday, December 19, 2005 DENNIS T. AVERY The Kyoto Protocol has died. None of its supporters has cut carbon-dioxide emissions, and their big Montreal meeting this month failed again to agree on future cuts. With apologies to David Letterman, the top 10 reasons to rejoice over the death of Kyoto are: (10) Wind farms are expensive and really ugly. They kill birds and bats. Nor do they produce much electricity when really needed, during daylight hours. Kyoto would have planted them over huge stretches (9)...

Myths and Truths About Social Security By Karen Westerberg Reyes, March & April 2005 Yes, the system needs some adjustments, but we don’t need to destroy it in order to fix it Social Security is the ultimate support system, a monetary cushion for grandmothers and granddads, but also a lifeline for widows, widowers, divorcées, orphans, and people with disabilities. For the average American over 65, Social Security makes up nearly 40 percent of income. For about 20 percent, it is their only income. The system has worked well for some 70 years now with few adjustments. These days, it's on...

MoveOn.org Social Security Ad Liberal group's ad falsely claims Bush plan would cut benefits 46 percent. Summary MoveOn.org launched a false TV ad in the districts of several House members, claiming through images and words that President Bush plans to cut Social Security benefits nearly in half. Showing white-haired workers lifting boxes, mopping floors, shoveling and laundering, the ad says "it won't be long before America introduces the working retirement." Actually, Bush has said repeatedly he won't propose any cuts for those already retired, or near retirement. What MoveOn.org calls "Bush's planned Social Security benefit cuts" is actually a plan...

My daughter was the Judge at a precinct here in Ohio yesterday, and is familiar with election laws. Today, on Kerry's website (johnkerry.com) she saw photos of Kerry, Teressa, and a daughter(whatshername) casting their votes in Boston. The daughter is wearing a campaign button in violation of Massachausetts law. This was confirmed by a phone call to the Massachusetts Seceretary of The Commonwealth, elections division. They looked at the photos on-line and said it was a violation of election law, and would refer the matter to their legal advisor (ya, sure). Theressa didn't vote in Boston--she is registered in Pennsylvania--near...

Can someone tell me what happens to absentee ballots? Are they counted in every state even though there might not be enough of them to change the outcome of an election, even if they went 100% to one candidate?

Time to praise a new crop of bad titles in country music Sunday, March 07, 2004 MIKE HARDEN Last week, while perusing compact discs for my annual list of the Worst Country Music Song Titles of All Time (Until the Next Time), I happened upon a LeAnn Rimes recording titled The Early Years. One can only assume that the ‘‘early years" for the 21-yearold former child phenom must mean the prenatal period. Then again, in an industry where bad-hat acts and bare navels are over the hill at 40, age 21 might be considered middle-aged. I won’t complain, however, as...

SO TO SPEAK Same-sex unions attractive to heterosexuals Friday, March 12, 2004 JOE BLUNDO So To Speak is venturing into the future to see how the controversy over same-sex marriage turned out. Here’s a report from 2006: Same-sex marriage, legalized in December 2004 by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in O’Donnell v. Ashcroft, has changed the face of the nation. As expected, thousands of gay couples wed in the months after the ruling. Protests diminished as people grew accustomed to seeing two little grooms atop the wedding cake. What no one foresaw was that same-sex marriage would catch on with...

Claim: A Saudi Arabian newspaper ran an article claiming that Jews use the blood of Christians and Muslims in foods created to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim. Status: True. Example: [WorldNetDaily, 2002] A Saudi government-approved newspaper published a column asserting that Jews use the blood of teenagers to make a special pastry associated with the March holiday of Purim Origins: On 13 March 2002, the The Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) published excerpts of a translation of an article which had appeared in the Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Al-Riyadh on 10 March. The article, a column by...

Killer whale project loses big source of funding By Patrick McMahon, USA TODAY By Renee Byer, Gannett News Service file Keiko swims in an aquarium. SEATTLE — Keiko, the killer whale that won children's hearts in the 1993 hit-movie Free Willy and was later moved to Iceland aboard an Air Force cargo plane, is losing his biggest financial patron. Seattle telecommunications billionaire Craig McCaw is phasing out his financial support of Keiko after having spent more than $10 million to try to return the killer whale to the wilds. McCaw says that he hopes that others will take up Keiko's...

Theory on origin of man gets genetic overhaul By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY Modern man evolved from a mixture of ancient African immigrants and primitive humans elsewhere, suggests a genetic analysis released today that raises new questions about long-held theories of human origins. For decades, archaeologists, paleontologists and genetics experts have argued about the evolution of modern man. While the various disciplines had remained divided, the weight of genetic studies had recently favored the "Out of Africa" theory. It says modern-looking humans originated in Africa and spread worldwide about 100,000 years ago, slowly replacing Neanderthals and other evolutionary dead-end humans ...

As Europe fades away, USA will have to go it alone By Patrick Buchanan U.S. foreign policy is "absolutist and simplistic." America has gone into "unilateralist overdrive," thunders Chris Patten of the European Union, a Briton and a friend. Patten echoes the British, French and German foreign ministers, the last of whom, Joschka Fischer, rails that "a world with 6 billion people will not be led into a peaceful future by the mightiest power alone." Shocked by the "axis of evil" speech, enraged over the green light President Bush flashed Ariel Sharon to crush the Palestinian intifada, terrified that a ...

Great divide splits U.S., Islamic cultures, poll finds KUWAIT CITY, Kuwait — The 100 Kuwaiti men holding their weekly social event — a Diwania — say they are shocked by the results of a Gallup Poll that shows a large percentage of Kuwaitis believe the U.S. anti-terror campaign in Afghanistan is not morally justifiable, and that the attacks of Sept. 11 were morally justifiable. The men, professionals in government, politics and business, say they believe the survey is flawed. But the poll serves as a forum for discussion of important issues, not the least of which is the portrayal ...

Armed pilots a bad idea, Ridge says By Judy Keen, USA TODAY . WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge says pilots should not be allowed to keep guns in cockpits to thwart hijackings. "I don't think we want to equip our pilots with firearms," Ridge said in an interview. "That doesn't make a lot of sense to me." White House officials say Ridge's view reflects the thinking of President Bush, who has not yet commented publicly on the issue. Ridge's opposition echoes Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, who told the Los Angeles Times in an interview published Saturday that ...

Bush: 'We've got work to do' on image By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY President Bush said Wednesday that the United States must do more to improve its image in the Islamic world after a nine-nation poll showed most Muslims strongly disapprove of him, his country and its military intervention in Afghanistan. "There is no question that we must do a better job of telling the compassionate side of the American story," Bush said when asked about the Gallup Poll during a trip to North Carolina. "We've got work to do." State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said efforts began last ...

Many in Islamic world doubt Arabs behind 9/11 By Andrea Stone, USA TODAY A sweeping poll of attitudes in the Islamic world shows that most Muslims don't believe Arabs carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and disapprove of the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan. The Gallup Organization poll, released Tuesday, is the most comprehensive survey of Muslim countries taken since Sept. 11. It confirms anecdotal evidence of a huge gulf between the West and Muslim nations that existed before the attacks and remains deep. Although most Muslims condemn the terrorist attacks that sparked the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the ...

I was reading the USA today (Feb 26) and found that they have now established strong connections between the President and Ken Lay. I guess they have the President now. Did you know Kenneth Lay gave $100,000 to the President's inaugural fund, went on two overseas trade missions organized by the President's Commerce Department, AND even golfed with the President. With ties like that you know something was going on. Oh, by the way, the President was Clinton.

You aren't gonna belive this, but I just saw Katie on the TODAY show in a training simulator used for training anit-terrorist law enforcement agents. The simulator ran a film clip of several rooms with "terrorist" poping out and pointing/shooting weapons. Katie had what looked to be a 9mm Beretta and she "shot" back, hitting both of the two "terrorist" on the screen--one of which was a woman. She was very pleased with her marksmanship, and said it was "fun". Matt Laur was in the simulator before Katie, but I didn't see it.

Basic Engineering? The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet 8.5 inches. That is an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and the US railroads were built by English expatriates. Why did the English build them that way? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, ...