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Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. December 6, 1999 M83: The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy from VLT Credit: FORS Team, 8.2-meter VLT, ESO Explanation: M83 is one of the closest and brightest spiral galaxies on the sky. Visible with binoculars in the constellation of Hydra, majestic spiral arms have prompted its nickname as the Southern Pinwheel. Although discovered 250 years ago, only in this century was it appreciated that M83 was not a gas cloud ...

SEATTLE -- The goal of last week's meeting of trade ministers here -- to start a new round of global trade negotiations -- was sufficiently vague and modest that few imagined it could fail. But fail it did, and in spectacular fashion, replete with tear gas, rubber bullets and riot gear. By late Friday night, the delegates from 135 nations were so weary from their week-long ordeal that some cheered when U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky announced the group would take an indefinite "timeout and find a creative means to finish this job." Shortly before midnight, the World Trade Organization's ...

MANCHESTER, N.H. You can always tell when a Republican is peddling snake oil about taxes, and George W. Bush dropped the classic hint here last week during the Great Non-Debate. It's the old Goldilocks line about the porridge. Bush, through his smug smile, said some have called his tax cut ideas too much; some have called them too little; so, he grinned, this must mean they are ''just right.'' Does not. The truth is that the president-in-waiting has committed such an irresponsible political and substantive act, one so dangerous to a prosperous economy, that the yelps of left, right, ...

December 6, 1999 By FOX BUTTERFIELD A decision by an Illinois state judge last week to continue a private lawsuit that accused the gun industry of knowingly creating an underground market in handguns has encouraged 28 cities and counties suing the firearms companies and may suggest that judges have become more receptive to innovative claims against gun makers. The decision, by Judge Jennifer Duncan-Brice of Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago, was in a case brought by the families of three people killed by handguns and not in a better known lawsuit by the city of Chicago. But lawyers involved ...

NewsweekNewsweek: National Security Agency Drafts 'Memoranda of Understanding' To Work With FBI in the U.S.;May Be Falling Behind the Techno-Curve in Surveillance Techniques NEW YORK, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Security Agency is now drafting ``memoranda of understanding'' to clarify ways in which it can help the FBI track terrorists and criminals in the United States, territory in which it is generally off-limits, Newsweek has learned. The FBI, never known for its technical know-how, welcomes the help from the high-tech NSA, but some senators are uneasy about letting the NSA eavesdrop more in the United States, report Washington Correspondent ...

Daily thought for; Monday December 6th, 1999 So, what is Dr. Luke telling us? Luke 2:11 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. ( KJV) Just what is Dr. Luke telling us in verse 11? Was this only for those 2000 years ago? Or is there a message there for us today as well? And. As we enter into this, the season of joy, the season in which we celebrate the birth of the Lord, what is your favorite Christmas scripture verse and why. Now, before some ...

WHO WILL WIN UPI? By KEITH J. KELLY Canadian press baron Conrad Black is battling Lou Dobbs, the former CNN kingpin who is now running Space.com, to take over United Press International -- the once-mighty news service that has fallen on tough times. UPI insiders in the Washington office said the staff was told recently they were on the block and that Black and Dobbs were bidders. "Those are the two suitors," one staffer said. "There has been no timetable -- nothing. I think they are keeping things secret because they don't want to spoil the deal." In a sense, ...

Val Kilmer and fellow American actor Tom Sizemore have taken out restraining orders against each other while working together in Australia on the film The Red Planet. Kilmer refuses to be in any scene with Sizemore, so some of their scenes will have to be spliced together in post production. They play two of the astronauts meant to be saving the human race by figuring out if people can live on Mars - the Red Planet. Kilmer, who also starred in The Saint, is a fine actor famous for being difficult and his performance behind the scenes of The Red ...

Riviera mystery spotlights nurse FROM ADAM SAGE IN MONTE CARLO A MALE nurse was last night at the centre of the deepening mystery surrounding the death in Monaco of the powerful Lebanese-born banker, Edmund Safra. Police here described as "vague to say the least" the nurse's version of the events leading to Mr Safra's asphyxiation in a fire in his penthouse on Friday. French newspapers said the man, a 31-year-old American, who had not been named last night, had contradicted himself at least twice in evidence given to detectives over the weekend. Mr Safra, whose personal fortune is estimated at ...

Back to the '60s on swells of nostalgia This has been a good week for Pat Buchanan. Even Bill Clinton is speaking his language, with a good ol' boy's accent. A president, even this president, couldn't look at the ragtag army in the streets of Seattle, the unionists and protectionists, the Dyke Action and the Raging Grannies, the anarchists and the greenies, and not want someone, a cop or a Guardsman, to (as Jimmy Carter might phrase it) "whup their arse." But Bill Clinton, organizer of riots against the Vietnam War he dodged, couldn't help himself. So he lined up ...

10:00 am (Eastern Standard Time) Duration: 1:15 minutes (est.) LIVE Forum Congress on the Cusp: 2000 Elections University of Virginia, Center for Governmnental Studies Charles Cook , Cook Political Report Bob Franken , CNN

C-Span 11:30 am (Eastern Standard Time) Duration: 1:15 (estimated) LIVE Forum The Road to Pennsylvania Avenue University of Virginia, Center for Governmnental Studies Larry Sabato , University of Virginia Dotty Lynch , CBS

Clinton said to torpedo WTO talks By Charles Clover LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH SEATTLE European sources yesterday said President Clinton instructed his negotiators to let world trade talks in Seattle collapse over the weekend, infuriating participants from Britain and other European Union countries. The discussions among 135 countries foundered because Mr. Clinton decided the likely result would not have been favorable for the United States or have won support from the labor unions who are backing Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign, said these EU sources. Facilities were booked for the talks to run until 7 a.m. Saturday and the delegations ...

Philly Journalist Stabbed To Death The Associated Press Sunday, Dec. 5, 1999; 10:19 a.m. EST PHILADELPHIA –– A veteran Philadelphia Daily News columnist was stabbed to death outside a convenience store by a man who demanded his money, authorities said Sunday. Russell Byers, 59, and his wife had just bought a pint of ice cream at the store near his home in the city's Chestnut Hill section late Saturday when the suspect yelled "Give it up," referring to their wallets, police said. Byers was stabbed once in the chest after he pushed the robber away from his wife, police said. ...

December 3, 1999 Major Parties in Tight Competitive Situation: Public support for Republican and Democratic parties is evenly split By Lydia Saad GALLUP NEWS SERVICE PRINCETON, NJ -- With Republicans now controlling Congress by the slimmest majority of either party in a half century, several findings in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll suggest that the contest for control of Congress in the 2000 elections could be another highly competitive one, similar to 1998. The poll shows Americans today are evenly divided in their support for the Republican and Democratic parties on several measures, including their voting preferences for Congress, party ...

THE Rockefeller family, heir to what was once America's greatest fortune, is to have its closest secrets made public in a divorce case. Amy O'Neill, the daughter of one of President Reagan's closest aides, is accusing her husband, George O'Neill, of sexual perversion, violence and repeated adultery. In order to defend himself, Mr O'Neill, a great-grandson of John D Rockefeller Jr, the founder of Standard Oil and once the richest man in history, is expected to have to disclose the terms of his family's vast trust, kept secret from the public since they were laid down in 1934. The ...

New Intelligent Signals From Space SIGHTINGS New Intelligent Signals From Space George A. Filer <Majorstar@aol.com> MUFON Skywatch Investigations Director - Mutual UFO Network Eastern Filer's Files #48 12-5-99 ARECIBO, PUERTO RICO - Gannett News Service reports that on November 29, 1999, the world's largest radio telescope, picked up what appeared to be an intelligent signal coming from a small star named HD119850. What's more, a backup telescope at Jodrell Bank near Manchester, England was hearing the same beacon a clear sign the signal was not from Earth. Astronomer Jill Tarter, 55, is chief scientist with the SETI Institute of ...

The Dallas Morning News, on page-1A reported that this has been the most "intense" primary season in Mexican history.... they forgot to mention that the PRI was the only primary and that this was thier first real primary.... I guess it could be the MOST intense in history if its the first. RUSSIA Who would you vote for they were asked on a web-poll by Russia Today and with 88 votes counted: Yobloko-30.61% COMMUNIST-19.39% Fatherland-All Russia-14.29% Union of Right Forces-15.31% Zhirinovsky bloc-10.2% Unity-7.14% Our Home is Russia-3.06% So which of these parties is anti-USA anti-Democratic?Will they continue to hold onto ...

hello fellow freepers-in case things get bad here in the United States for us all.i am hoping i can find a source of contact at Ft.Knox Army post. i have a young son(21) that is stationed up there at the main post chapel.freepers-he doesn't have a clue as to the extent wjc has damaged this country.and to how bad it could get here.i need a good God fearing family to take my son under their wings and help keep him safe. he is a great young man-and he will be an asset to you.and help protect yours'.however ths week he ...

From Newsweek NEW YORK, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Security Agency is now drafting "memoranda of understanding" to clarify ways in which it can help the FBI track terrorists and criminals in the United States, territory in which it is generally off-limits, Newsweek has learned. The FBI, never known for its technical know-how, welcomes the help from the high-tech NSA, but some senators are uneasy about letting the NSA eavesdrop more in the United States, report Washington Correspondent Gregory Vistica and Assistant Managing Editor Evan Thomas in the current issue of Newsweek. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19991204/HSSA003 ) While a secret court ...