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HOUSTON, Feb. 28 — The dramatic video from the flight deck of the space shuttle Columbia, shot just minutes before it was destroyed, has sparked new interest in a nagging question: What could NASA have dreamed up to save the astronauts? THE “WHAT-IFS” all assume an early realization that the shuttle’s thermal protection system — its tiles — had been mortally wounded. Perhaps, if program managers had been alarmed enough by the debris impacts noted after Columbia’s launch on Jan. 16, they would have wanted more information before deciding it was no big deal. In that case, again “perhaps,” the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell says he intends to ask France and Germany whether they are opposing war with Iraq in order to get President Saddam Hussein "off the hook." The confrontations are set for Friday in New York when chief U.N. weapons inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei report on searches that have not turned up what the Bush administration has characterized as hundreds of concealed and illicit biological and chemical weapons. U.S. and Russian officials on Wednesday said international missile experts this week did find that an Iraqi missile exceeds the maximum 93-mile range allowed...

<p>WINNIPEG, Canada (Reuters) -- It took an airport metal detector to give a Canadian woman a clue to why she was suffering from persistent stomach aches four months after having abdominal surgery.</p> <p>Despite the detector's beep, airport security guards in Regina, Saskatchewan, were unable to find any metal on her body before the woman's October flight to Calgary, Alberta.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Some passengers still haven't gotten the word about what they can and can't take on planes. Seized at airports during the Thanksgiving crush: 15,982 pocket knives, 98 boxcutters, six guns and a brick.</p> <p>Still, transportation officials said the airport chaos predicted by many never occurred. Passengers waited less than 10 minutes on average at security checkpoints during the first holiday travel season since an all-federal work force took over screening.</p>

<p>LONDON, England (Reuters) -- The World's Biggest Liar kept his title for a second year, fending off competitors at a northern England pub by boasting of his exploits on a wooden motorcycle.</p> <p>George Kemp, 35, told how he rode a balsa wood motorcycle to victory at the Isle of Man TT race, stopping to take advice from formula one driver Nigel Mansell who was walking his dog on the course.</p>

<p>Ritter also criticized his ex-boss, former chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard Butler, saying that Butler allowed the inspection process to be corrupted.</p> <p>Butler forcefully disagrees, and he stated his case in an interview Tuesday with CNN's Paula Zahn.</p> <p>ZAHN: There is a lot for you to react to here. For starters, your reaction to [Ritter's] accusation that you allowed the inspectors to be used as spies for the U.S. government?</p>

LONDON (Reuters) - More than 200 years after they went out of fashion in Britain, professional hermits are back in the job market. A newspaper advertisement seeking a resident hermit for the stately Shugborough Home in Staffordshire, central England, has prompted a flood of replies from men eager to ditch stressed-out modern life for a spot of peaceful cave-dwelling. "There have been a few hermits in Britain since their heyday but they've usually just been recluses and loners. This is the first time the job of a resident hermit has been advertised in more than 250 years," organizer Corinne Caddy...

<p>NEW YORK (CNN) -- The first complete audio record known to exist of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center provides a chilling slice of life starting with the ordinary sounds of the start of a business day and ending with the chaos and panic of the immediate aftermath.</p>

FARNBOROUGH, England (Reuters) - Highly strung rock stars beware -- your airline seats may soon betray you A British company has developed a system of seat-based body sensors that measure passenger anxiety levels, and could signal aircraft cabin crew when they may face a case of the unruly behavior dubbed "air rage." "The thin-film sensors could aid cabin crew in monitoring passengers for things like anxiety or high stress or someone who has been motionless for some time," said Mel Foster of QinetiQ Plc, the British government-owned company behind the sensors. Airlines and governments are now taking a hard line...

Jose Padilla was on the move, but his alleged mentor, Abu Zubaydah, was in custody in a secret location—and talking. A glimpse inside the underground war June 24 issue — It was the usual transatlantic flight: nine hours of fidgeting to get the pillow right, first-run movies flickering mutely on small screens, an indigestible flow of starchy food and drinks. Bound for Chicago from Zurich on the morning of May 8, the passengers of Swiss International Air Lines Flight 8 saw nothing amiss. Certainly they didn’t know they were on the front lines of a global war being waged under...

June 10 — Nicolai Lassen considers linking such a fundamental element of the World Wide Web that he sees nothing wrong with creating a service around linking to news articles at more than 3,000 other sites. Danish publishers, however, equate such linking with stealing — and have gone to court to stop it. The case, scheduled for hearings in Copenhagen later this month, is among the latest to challenge the Web’s basic premise of encouraging the free flow of information through linking. REQUIRING PERMISSION before linking could jeopardize online journals, search engines and other sites that link — which is...

LOS ANGELES—Tara Reid's agent, publicist, and other members of her management team are working feverishly to avert a potential political awakening in the 26-year-old actress, sources reported Tuesday. "Thus far, Tara has been blissfully oblivious to world affairs," said Rick Stein, Reid's agent at International Creative Management. "But we must remain ever-vigilant of the possibility that, as her star continues to rise, she will develop a political consciousness like so many others in Hollywood." "As bad as she is, could you imagine if, during an interview for a new movie, she started going off on saving the animals or ending...

I was working in my garden, and for some reason I came up with 'blotto voce', and I thought it was a great play on words. So I came up with a few more phrases, altered them a bit, and used them to rag on the Dems. I hope that my vanity post is OK because it's for a good cause (again, ragging on the Dems). Feel free to add your own!Blotto voce: The speaking style of Ted Kennedy when hitting on Hillary Clinton during a joint session of CongressIn flagrante de-lick-toe: How Dick Morris was caughtVeni, Vidi, Bitchy: Hillary...

Hi all. I checked my checking account and saw that I had received my refund. It was $300 less than the figure I put on my 1040 form. Is this because of the checks the government mailed out to us? Were just advances on our refunds? I think I thought they were additional refunds to LAST year's taxes. Can anyone confirm that they had this happen as well? Thank you.

WASHINGTON, DC#151;At a Pentagon press conference Monday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld touted the military's upcoming Gulf War II: The Vengeance as quot;even better than the original.quot; Above: Donald Rumsfeld debriefs reporters on the upcoming Gulf War sequel, scheduled to hit Iraq March 22. quot;If you thought the first one was good, just wait until you see the sequel,quot; Rumsfeld said of Gulf War II, scheduled to hit Iraqi theaters of operation March 22. quot;In the original, as you no doubt know, we defeat Saddam Hussein, only to let him slip away at the very end. This time, we're going back...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Call this particular illusion the "after" effect.</p> <p>After Sept. 11, says Laura Bush, divorce is down, weddings are up and "families have come together."</p> <p>In fact, fewer folks are taking vows and more are splitting up, says the available data, and hounds are twice as likely as husbands to get wifely attention.</p>

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I was driving home from work (I work in Hartford, CT). I got onto State Street in my Jeep, and all these police cars are in the area, sirens bleeping. I see a little parade of people start to come down State Street. One of them is carrying an upside-down U.S. Flag. A few of them are carrying a sign: "War: Another Form of Terrorism". I got really ticked off at this sight, and rolled down my Jeep window. I yelled out at them "You people don't deserve the [police] protection you're getting! You're a disgrace!" Was I overreacting? To ...

This morning, I flipped on the TV around 8am EST, and turned to Fox News. The headline at the bottom of the screen was 'Nuclear Nightmare'. I nearly had a heart attack. I thought that someone had set off a bomb, or crashed a plane into a power station. But no, they were just chatting away about the THREAT of a nuclear nightmare. Did anyone else get irked by this? Oh, and then later, they identified Dick Gephardt as R-MO. Gee, I didn't know Dick was a Republican! I expect better from Fox News.