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Bush tells Pat Robertson "Oh, no, we're not going to have any casualties" when discussing potential Iraq war.

Robertson, the televangelist who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, said he wishes Bush would admit to mistakes made.
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Hey, he says he's still voting for Bush, but at least it's a start.

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Peruvians develop "plumper, tastier" Guinea Pig.

The average Peruvian guinea pig weighs in at best at a modest one-and-a-half pounds and offers the locals a lean, sinewy eating experience. The new überpig, by contrast, tips the scales at a whopping two-and-a-half pounds packing plenty of low-fat, low-cholesterol meat. It took 30 years to develop and the team behind the advance reckons that it might sell the consumption of the animal to westerners who are traditionally averse to eating household pets.

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The Bush Administration has decided that it will stand by its approval for a book claiming the Grand Canyon was created by Noah’s flood rather than by geologic forces, according to internal documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).

Despite telling members of Congress and the public that the legality and appropriateness of the National Park Service offering a creationist book for sale at Grand Canyon museums and bookstores was "under review at the national level by several offices," no such review took place, according to materials obtained by PEER under the Freedom of Information Act. Instead, the real agency position was expressed by NPS spokesperson Elaine Sevy as quoted in the Baptist Press News:

"Now that the book has become quite popular, we don’t want to remove it."


In August of 2003, Grand Canyon National Park Superintendent Joe Alston attempted to block the sale of Grand Canyon: A Different View, by Tom Vail, a book explaining how the park’s central feature developed on a biblical rather than an evolutionary time scale. NPS Headquarters, however, intervened and overruled Alston. To quiet the resulting furor, NPS Chief of Communications David Barna told reporters that there would be a high-level policy review, distributing talking points stating: "We hope to have a final decision in February [2004]." In fact, the promised review never occurred –

· In late February, Barna crafted a draft letter to concerned members of Congress stating: "We hope to have a final decision on the book in March 2004." That draft was rewritten in June and finally sent out to Congressional representatives with no completion date for the review at all;

· NPS Headquarters did not respond to a January 25th memo from its own top geologists charging that sale of the book violated agency policies and undercut its scientific education programs;

· The Park Service ignored a letter of protest signed by the presidents of seven scientific societies on December 16, 2003.

"Promoting creationism in our national parks is just as wrong as promoting it in our public schools," stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, "If the Bush Administration is using public resources for pandering to Christian fundamentalists, it should at least have the decency to tell the truth about it."

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A sunfish that washed up near the base of Farewell Spit is a monster with a strange sense of timing, a marine expert says.

The 3m sunfish was discovered at Taupata Creek near Puponga by passers-by on Sunday.

Department of Conservation worker and Pakawau resident Heather Gunn said she was driving past when she saw "a big lump" on the beach, which she initially thought to be a whale.

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A justice of the peace has ruled that a "no left turn" sign in Toronto is unenforceable because it is not written in both English and French.

The ruling Monday by Justice Alice Napier could result in thousands of traffic tickets being dismissed.

Lawyer Jennifer Myers argued that a traffic sign near Bay and Dundas streets violated the Highway Traffic Act and the French Languages Service Act because it was not in both official languages.

Napier agreed at a night court hearing Monday, and threw out a ticket issued to Myers for making an illegal left turn.

Myers does not speak French.

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10-year-old schoolchildren in Colorado better educated and more willing to indulge in critical thinking than real voters

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Iranian government endorses Bush for President, stating they don't like Democrats because "Democrats usually insist on human rights and they will have more excuses to pressure Iran."