-Caveat Lector- SkeptiNews 991208b - - - - - - - - - - - All The News That's Fit To Question * Passages starting with ':' are editorial comments to provoke discussion. * Nothing contained here is ever endorsed for truth, accuracy, or meaning. * PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THE ENTIRE BULLETIN WHEN YOU REPLY; CUT/PASTE, EH? * No cheapskate beancounters were hurt during production of this bulletin. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @ DECK THE HALLS - Start celebrating a little early this holiday season with PlanetOut Personals: http://www.planetout.com/personals/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Past losses yield NASA frugality. (AP) - NASA's policy of exploring the solar system with less expensive, more frequent missions stems from the loss of the $1 billion Mars Observer in 1993 and budget cuts imposed by Congress. The "faster, better, cheaper" policy was intended to save money & distribute risk among several missions. With the failure of Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander, critics say NASA has reduced costs so drastically that their probes are now less reliable and prone to failure. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562486348-a58 : Do you blame NASA's failures on cheapskate beancounters, ET gunners, mind- controlled saboteurs, divine maliciousness, demonic possession, fuckups, me? # NASA abandons hopes for Mars lander - "played its last ace:" http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562477642-eae # Also: Plans for future Mars missions, see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562477847-c40 # And: Mars Polar Lander mission costs, see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562478008-eb5 # Mars 'wake up call' for Nasa - next planned trip may be scrapped: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_555000/555067.stm # Also: Mars probe silence signals failure - no news is bad news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_553000/553861.stm @ LINKS - Nasa Mars: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/ @ Mars Polar Lander: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/ @ Exploring Mars: http://www.exploringmars.org/mission/mpl @ Federation of American Scientists: http://www.fas.org/ @ SpaceRef.com: http://www.spaceref.com/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # CAPTURED BY ALIENS. I met two women who believed that they, themselves, were alien entities. Both were striking blondes, perhaps 40ish, and they were on an amazing voyage of self-discovery. Miesha Johnston ran a support group for people who had had "experiences" with aliens. She was gradually coming to terms with the theory advanced by her roommate, Jan Bingham, which was that they were aliens in human bodies, or "starseed." http://www.salonmagazine.com/people/feature/1999/11/03/aliens/ : Are you an alien entity? Does this explain your anomie, your inhumanity, your utter isolation? Are you a striking blonde? Do you strike blondes?? # Silver Spheres & Gray Discs <http://filersfiles.com/> - OHIO UFOs CIRCLE A JUMBO JET - TEXAS UFO DISC SIGHTING REPORT: http://caus.org/mu120799.htm # UPDATE Intelligent Signals From Space - SETI Correction - just a blip, not a cosmic connection: http://www.sightings.com/ufo5/correct.htm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Militant Jews Defile Mosque. JERUSALEM (AP) Militant Jews burned Palestin- ian flags & ascended one of Islam's holiest mosques to protest PM. Barak's acquiescence to a new Muslim-built entrance there. Security officials said the new entrance to the Al Aqsa mosque compound was necessary for crowds expected during the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which begins this week. But opposition leaders, Israeli archaeologists and lawyers have protested the opening, saying Jewish archaeological sites were damaged during construc- tion. The site, also called Temple Mount, is holy to both Muslims & Jews. See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562478052-50e : What/whose holy site would you most like to ascend/occupy/defile? Have you defiled any holy sites lately? Have you ignited any holy wars lately? Have your guardian deities strengthened your arm, smitten your opponents, yawned? # Finally, a Palestinian Homeland. ICANN will OK .ps as the official Pales- tinian National Authority domain. Is this terribly significant, mildly significant, or completely, utterly, terminally insignificant? To whom? http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,32908,00.html?tw=wn19991207 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ # Vatican's Holocaust Archives Probed.(AP) An international team of Catholic and Jewish scholars called for full access to the Vatican archives to help establish the role of Pope Pius XII in the Holocaust. At least one scholar questioned whether Vatican officials will allow the team to see sensitive archival materials. Some historians say Pope Pius XII could have done more to save European Jews from the Nazis. Was the Pope anti-Semitic? Vatican denies: http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2562477931-5f3 : Has your belief system been complicit in genocide? Do your holy teachings promote genocide? Have your deities ever encouraged you to slaughter your opponents, men, women and children? Have you slaughtered anyone lately? Who? # Pope's 3 Banks In America: http://sightings.com/politics5/popedough.htm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ @ Where does patriotism end and fascism begin? Where does civic life end and tribalism begin? Vlaclav Havel reflects on solidarity and mob rule: http://www.nybooks.com/nyrev/WWWfeatdisplay.cgi?19991216059F : Is nationalism the worst disease of the 20th century? Have you ever been infected? Are you cured? How is the nationalism meme implanted, uprooted? Is nationalism strengthened or weakened by globalization? What will prevail? # Russian War On Chechnya Becoming Crime Against Humanity - Canada: http://news.excite.com/news/r/991207/14/russia-chechnya-canada # Chechnya Website <http://www.amina.com/news/> Claims Chemical Weapons Used: http://www.itn.co.uk/World/world19991207/120705w.htm _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Millennia-R-Us: # Y2K bug to close sea lane. (BBC) The Turkish Government will prevent big ships travelling through the Bosphorus Strait due to millennium bug fears. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/europe/newsid_554000/554992.stm @ Action 2000: http://www.bug2000.co.uk/ # Y2K - World's Air Traffic Control Said Ready: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/y2kyeahsure.htm # Y2K - Thirty-Nine Seriously Unanswered Questions: http://www.sightings.com/politics5/2kq.htm @ THE QUEER CENTURY. We need your help! We're compiling a list of the 100 most inspiring queer people of the century. Our broad definition includes gay, lesbian, bisexual & transgender people who've made a notable impact on life in the 20th century. http://www.planetout.com/news/century/ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard to pronounce." -anon * Rev. 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