MORE MISSION DETAILS REVEALED ...

Blix will be dropped from an orbiter over the most likely source of Martian water. NASA imaging specialists will then determine whether he creates a 'splush' or a 'splat' upon reaching the surface.

A NASA expert told reporters, "Of course, even if the result is a 'splat', that would not rule out water being present in the form of ice. But we kinda like the plan anyway."

Allah be praised, we will miss Chief Inspector Clouseau... er, Blix... Perhaps he will have better luck finding things on Mars...

I have so many questions;
1;is this like when Stalin sent the nin-com-poops and mal-con-tents to Siberia??
2was the water planted as a decoy on Mars to confuse Blix, wo he wont see that is where Hussein was hiding his WMD?
3;who is funding this trip, the UN normaly drops the bill on the USA?
4;are the French behind this, so Blix wont tell?
5;has any one told Blix where he is being sent??
ok so I'm old and ask a lot of questions.

"...as far as we know." Heh.

Yup, like cubists.

The image that immediately popped in my mind was Tim Robbins being frozen to death in "Mission to Mars." That was Mr. Robbins only redeeming scene in any movie, ever.

And from William Safire's NYT column today, Mars may be the only place where Iraq is NOT hiding any weapons, thereby allowing him to accomplish his current mission without having to lie like a pleasured president.

hope no one tells Blix.. it's really "Freedom Champagne"...flowing out of the cave his buddies are hiding in...

This might not be the place for this post, but I am so upset by what I just read that I am venting on the first outlet available. Thirty-three senators have voted against a ban on partial birth abortions! This barbarous practice is, by even the most abortion-loving liberal standards,outright infanticide. It cannot even be dressed up as anything else no matter what casuistry or perversion of logic is employed. I speak as the father of a 26 week gestation baby who has gone on in life to be a college graduate, wife and mother, and psychological social worker. When I think of the evil that these people who approve this ghastly practice espouse, I shudder for our society. Christian, Moslem, Jew, it makes no difference. How can those senators fail to see the anti-human aspects of this truly gruesome procedure? It beggars both the imagination and the sense of logic that they do not see it for what it is. How powerful must their committment to an idealogy be for them to not only tolerate, but actually approbate this wretchedness. I guess I wax biblical in this post, and I am not a biblical person; nor am I a sparkling light of Christianity. I guess I am parading my naivete in ranting about something which was bound to come about as the logical end of the belief that individual rights trump every other possible hand

Joseph, the reason for that is spelled D-E-M-O-C-R-A-T-S!

Joseph,
Might not have been the place for the post, but it may be right for Scott's next article. One never knows. Thanks for the info anyway.

John Lemon,

If you liked Safire's piece, you'll probably appreciate this one also ...

OUR WORLD-HISTORICAL GAMBLE:

http://www.techcentralstation.com/1051/defensewrapper.jsp?PID=1051-350&CID;=1051-031103A

Here's a tantalizing snippet ...

"This collapse of the well-ordered liberal system has come about exclusively from the side of the Islamic world. No other party has contributed to it. And the cause of this disruption is the lack of a sense of the realistic on the part of certain elements in the Islamic world. This is not a cultural judgment, but a fact - at least as much a fact as any such judgment can ever be. And this is the common thread that unites Iraq, Al Qaeda, and Palestinian terrorism."

...

Obviously, the Bushies came to many of the same conclusions in the article a long time ago (like, say, 9-12-01) and it's pretty easy to see why they're forced to dumb-down the way foreign policy is presented in the arena of public debate ... (I imagine they'd be more willing to announce an incoming moon-sized asteroid than spark a debate on the big picture present in the article) ...

The article also makes clear why lefties the world over are rabidly attacking the Bushies tooth, claw, and tentacle ... (Somebody better capture a few liberals so we can put 'em in museums to show our kids what they looked like) ...

FRENCH OIL COMPANY:

TOTAL-FINA-ELF

Used part of the
$60 billion dollar deal to develope
Southern Iraqs Oil Feilds
To send Hans blix to Mars,

Confussed on lookers stated
"Blix could not find a light bulb in a General Electric warehouse"

Freedom Shampagne, that's a jewel...

Blix says he will need a team of Water Inspectors to go with him, and promised nothing (look at that for the face value, please). He says that, though the water is in plain sight, he won't find anything, cause he's a moron. He relates this to the Iraqi findings (or lack thereof)

Joseph, I strongly agree with you! These 33 Senators should be thrown out on their ear. But, the most important thing is, GWB WILL, sign the bill into law! Thank God, Clinton can no longer be the EVIL vetoer on this bill! Anyone with ANY morals whatsoever agrees that there is NO justification for partial birth abortion!

Washington----France is now pushing for a 'Rolling Deadline' for Iraq. French President Chirac said, "We now are requesting a deadline that can be easily moved, as with those coaster things that you put under heavy furniture they sell on your cable T.V. late at night! That way we can move the deadline whenever, and wherever we want!"

Rolling Deadline, eh? Sounds like Keith Richards and Bob Weir will be the new inspectors. Actually, Keith Richards may actually be more perceptually aware of the real world than Hans Blix.

What makes the difference? France will just veto any mission to Mars if he finds water.

too cute Susan, ... rolling deadline.. thats a good one...

only, thats what weve had for 12 years. France would still dissent.

I'll give you to the count of three.. 1... 2 ... Dont make me say Three...

you do NOT want me to say three... If I say three.. you are gonna be soooorrreeee....

2 and a half... *aside, hey Frenchie, what is 3 in French*

All Wal-Mart and K-Mart stores in Iraq will be closing on or before March 15th.
After that, they will all become Targets.
>
Thank you; that is all...............

you are right Joseph. Of course, they argue that it takes away a woman's right to choose. Can anyone show me in the Constitution where that right exists, and since the Constitution speaks to ALL people, where is the father's right to choose? Didn't they have the right to choose when they chose to have sex without birth control in the first place? I know, this doesn't apply to rape or incest, but in those cases, wouldn't the woman know before the end of the first trimester that she didn't want to carry the baby of the rapist or relative that committed incest??

As for Blix, who the hell thought th Swiss could find anything anyway-they can't even find the billions of dollars they helped Hitler steal from the Jews, or did we all forget that little tidbit.

Keith - I love your comments!

Betty

Darth
It says so in the constitution right after the line about the "seperation of Church and State", and just before "thou shalt not use the death penalty", and the part about Congress having the power to appoint judges who can change the constitution on a whim, and that long part about the UN having the right to raise and equip an army for the common defense...Don't bother reading any of this source document, people, it's all just legal mumbo jumbo written by dead white men who owned slaves and would't let women share their Golf course. Just ask any Hollywood star or NOW member, they'l tell you what to think!

Darth,
It is what has been referred to as part of the "penumbral rights." Not explicitly spelled out, but inferred by prior Supreme Court decisions. It started with Justice Brandeis who said that the most important right guaranteed by the Constitution was the "right to be let alone."

Oops!
Forgot to cite the case. It's Brandeis' dissent in Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438, 478.

Not a landmark case, and not even in the majority opinion, but a darned good quote.

Something to consider: There is no such thing as international law. All of these rules for governing human action that has been created by various societies and called "laws" have one thing in common: There is some form of court in which they can be enforced. There is no international court with jurisdiction over every country.
The so-called "International Criminal Court" enforces the laws of the country in which the alleged incident took place. For example: if you committed atrocities in Ruwnada, then you could be prosecuted in the ICC using Ruwandan laws. But only if you are in the custody of the UN. If the country in which you are currently residing does not wish you to be prosecuted, then they can tell the UN to go jump in a lake.
The U.S. has not ratified the ICC treaty. We are not under the jurisdiction of this "court."
All of these yammer-heads bleat to the news cameras that this war is "illegal," but not by any law that the U.S. recognizes.

Wait a minute! Wasn't this supposed to be about sending Blix to Mars? Why would we want to sully another planet with the presence of the UN? It has screwed this one up enough. Let's give him a lantern, change name to Diogenes Blix and send him to Germany and France to seek an uncorrupted politician (isn't that an oxymoron?).

To Gorn!

I have a better idea:

Let's give him a lantern, change his name to Diogenes and send him to seek an uncorrupted politician in the White House.

Gorn! a majority opinion is not law. I take it that you may have some legal training, so I am sure you understand that. "Jeez your honor, but the minoriryt held ....." And while inferences may be really cool, because you can infer anything, when we (us attorneys and lawmakers) argue the law, we actually have to rely on those things called "holdings".

I meant minority opinion. And the language you want us to use is nothing more than dicta, which has no standing in a legal argument.

Fella's, what about this whole limit to pain and suffering thing. Are you fer it or again' it?

Hey Frenchie, Let's send Blix to France, with an oxygen mask to find a Frenchman, who doesn't smell like a two week old cat box! That will keep him busy for a looooooong time!

Oh PhrogPoet; I love it..1...2...21/8...etc.
come on Bush "please" as a mom and grandmom. the old 1.2.3 is still a farce.
Frankly...MARS...yah...Blix on Mars..ooooo sweet

From the ScrappleFace archives, September 8, 2002.

U.N. Threatens Saddam by Counting to Three

In Blix's first report from Mars he stated that he had found no actual water or ice yet, but the Martians have been more cooperative lately.

He briefly mentioned on the last page of his written report, and did not mention in his oral report, that the Martians did have ice picks, ice buckets,ice dispensers, and empty swimming pools, but that this meant nothing compared to his not finding actual ice or water and the Martian's recent cooperation.

Blix's report was two weeks late because his arrival on the planet Mars was later than planned. They discovered he had been wandering around the Mars Candy Bar Factory on Earth for the first two weeks of his mission. Up to that point, he had found no water or ice in that location either.

Yesterday on The Fox Report with Brit Hume, a viewer wrote in and said they thought Hans Blix, was actually Homer Simpson! They showed the two side by side, and there IS a resemblance, BUT I think Hans is actually Mr. Magoo! After all he not only looks like him, but they both have trouble seeing things that are right in front of them!

Darth,
No duh.
That's why I said it was nothing more than a good quote.

Greyhawk,
Please give me a formula by which you can calculate the exact dollar amount pain and suffering equate to. How many days of pain (at what severity) equals "x" amount of dollars.
Yes, I do think that some jury awards are incredibly high. However, there are lots of folks who will tell you that caps on awards have no effect on the cost of med-mal insurance.
The primary reason that they jacked the premiums through the roof is that the insurance companies invested just a bit too much of their capital in the stock market. When it tanked they had to come up with some way of keeping profit margins up.
Ansthesiologists and obstetricians got hit big-time, along with ER docs. All three are fields in which the "shit-happens" factor is large.

Am I going to blame the plaintiffs' bar? Hell no!
Am I going to blame the juries? Hell no!
Am I going to blame the insurance companies? Maybe a little (the have a duty to their stockholders to keep the company solvent and hopefully profitable).

So who am I going to point my grubby finger at and say, "It's YOUR fault?"

Nobody.

[Stuff] happens.

Could you ask Hans when he gets back from Mars, if he could help me find my missing socks. After I finish my laundry I always have socks missing!!! I need his expert ability.

Sorry, Gorn, you misunderstood me. I meant limits on pain and suffering we can inflict on Shaikh Mohammed.

Hans Blix stated that he has already been to Mars and found that the areas that were previously thought to have residues from salt water were actually urine from the famed Belgian hero "pis boy" who is credited for saving Brussels from fire by releaving himself on the flames.

If Blix lost his patience, would he be angry for the rest of his life?

Yeah, but he if he found water and the little green men on Mars didn't want him to share this information with earth persons, what would he bribe them for..... does he like green cheese? Maybe!