Free Republic

YUCCA MOUNTAIN UPDATE Scientists and the U.S. Court of Appeals reject plan, but Bush Administration says: We're confident in our science and we're moving forward." (Washington Post, 7/10/04) George Bush Is Making Yucca Mountain the Nation's Nuclear Dumping Ground FACT: 77,000 tons of radioactive waste will be dumped at Yucca Mountain over the next 24 years. That's one shipment every four hours, 365 days a year, for the next 24 years. FACT: A study by the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects estimates as many as 129 accidents as a result of the shipping of nuclear waste. Transportation routes put millions...

A Political Look at HollywoodBesides looking like Sen. John Edwards' older bro, John Grisham is one of the best-selling fiction writers of our generation. He has taken the legal thriller genre to new heights. His best-selling books "The Firm," "The Client," "The Pelican Brief," "A Time to Kill" and "Runaway Jury" were lobbed onto the big screen, too, each generating lots of dough for Hollywood insiders. With that kind of leverage one would think Grisham would have no trouble finding a distributor for his latest flick, called "Mickey." Not so. Mel Gibson's recent experience proved that Hollywood clout isn't necessarily...

5:11pm (UK) Jacko Video Not Finished for Totp Relaunch By Anthony Barnes, Showbusiness Editor, PA News Top Of The Pops bosses had to drop a planned worldwide premiere of Michael Jackson’s new video tonight – because it was not finished. The promo was supposed to be one of the highlights of the relaunched BBC1 chart show. But this afternoon show chiefs were told by Jacko’s record label Sony they would be unable to screen the troubled star’s film. Jackson is currently being investigated in the US over allegations of molestation. Makers of the programme stressed the cancelled screening was nothing...

For the hell of it... I'm conducting a survey. What was your favorite Seinfeld episode? I need a good laugh.

Austria launches bid for Mickey Mouse copyright Austria has launched a tongue-in-cheek attempt to claim the Mickey Mouse copyright after discovering a picture of the Disney character on a medieval fresco. The 700-year-old Austrian Mickey Mouse was uncovered in a church in the village of Malta in the province of Carinthia. Siggi Neuschitzer, manager of the local tourism office, confirmed that the legal process to claim the copyright had already started. He said: "I visited Vienna and had a long meeting with our legal team. They have been instructed to demand Disney return the mouse to its rightful home here...

The US Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in Eldred v. Ashcroft this week, in which the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 will be challenged. The legislation, which extended existing copyrights an additional twenty years, was originally conceived by talent powerhouse Sonny Bono and is coplloquially known by his name, and also as the "Mickey Mouse Act" because of the intense lobbying pressure Disney brought to bear on Congress in getting it passed just as old Mick was set to pass into the public domain. The good fight is spearheaded by Stanford University law professor Lawrence Lessig, who...

Scientists Confirm Earth-Like Planet Orbiting Nearby Star  by John C. Snider  Researchers at the University of Toronto announced that they have photographic evidence of an Earth-like planet orbiting Kapteyn's Star, a red dwarf only 12.8 light-years away.  The images posted to the UTC website show two views of a deeply cratered, apparently airless world approximately 34,000 kilometers (21,000 miles) in diameter.  (Earth is 7,926 miles in diameter.)  Scientists have nicknamed the planet "Mickey," although its official designation for the time being is UTC-27745-3665. "By 'Earth-like' what we mean is that it's a rocky planet - not a gas giant, which...