Imagine there is an attack on some of our soldiers in Iraq. They return fire, killing some of the attackers and wounding others. Some of the wounded manage to escape, and in getting treatment for their wounds, they find the bullets they have been shot with are stamped: "Made in Israel".

Boy are they ticked now. They are now so mad at the United States for shooting them with Israeli ammunition that they are going to do … what? Maybe organize an attack on the United States military?

In an effort to avoid this escalation of violence, the U.S. Congress has stepped in.

Headline Reuters: U.S. Army Told Not to Use Israeli Bullets in Iraq

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Israeli-made bullets bought by the U.S. Army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. lawmakers told Army generals on Thursday.

Since the Army has other stockpiled ammunition, "by no means, under any circumstances should a round (from Israel) be utilized," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, the top Democrat on a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land forces….

Although the Army should not have to worry about "political correctness," Abercrombie was making a valid point about the propaganda pitfalls of using Israeli rounds in the U.S.-declared war on terror, said Rep. Curt Weldon, the Pennsylvania Republican who chairs the subcommittee on tactical air and land forces.

"There’s a sensitivity that I think all of us recognize," Weldon told the Army witnesses, including Maj. Gen. Buford Blount, who led the U.S. Third Infantry Division that captured Baghdad in April 2003.

Perhaps upon hearing this, those currently attacking our forces in Iraq will realize the error of their ways, lay down their weapons, and send flowers to our soldiers. But on the other hand, perhaps they will just continue to plan their next attack with their hostility not at all abated by our attempt to avoid offending their sensitivities.

When you are shot, what difference does it make where the ammunition came from? Even if the people attacking our troops in Iraq might possibly be offended, why do we care? If our soldiers are being shot at, they are going to shoot back with the intent of killing or disabling the attackers. Our lawmakers have put these soldiers in the strange position of trying to kill those who are attacking them, but kill them in a way that doesn’t hurt their feelings. Perhaps we should engrave an apology on the bullets as well.

Instead of riding a rocket into space, how about riding an elevator?

Headline AP: Scientist Sees Space Elevator in 15 Years

How do you build a space elevator?

[Scientist Bradley C. Edwards] envisions launching sections of cable into space on rockets. A “climber” — his version of an elevator car — would then be attached to the cable and used to add more lengths of cable until eventually it stretches down to the Earth. A counterweight would be attached to the end in space.

Edwards likens the design to “spinning a ball on a string around your head.” The string is the cable and the ball on the end is a counterweight. The Earth’s rotation would keep the cable taut.

The cable would be attached to a platform on the equator, off the Pacific coast of South America where winds are calm, weather is good and commercial airplane flights are few. The platform would be mobile so the cable could be moved to get out of the path of orbiting satellites.

But can traditional steel handle that kind of stress?

Edwards’ elevator would climb on a cable made of nanotubes — tiny bundles of carbon atoms many times stronger than steel. The cable would be about three feet wide and thinner than a piece of paper, but capable of supporting a payload up to 13 tons….

The space elevator is not a new idea. A Russian scientist, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, envisioned it a century ago. And Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “The Fountains of Paradise,” published in 1979, talks of a space elevator 24,000 miles high, and permanent colonies on the moon, Mercury and Mars.

The difference now, Edwards said, is “we have a material that we can use to actually build it.”

This is an excellent use of nano-technology. A three foot wide, paper thin nano-tube cable for a space elevator. Now that is clever.

Edwards has some serious backing and funding for this idea, so this is no joke. It is really being considered.

NASA already has given it more than $500,000 to study the idea, and Congress has earmarked $2.5 million more.

“A lot of people at NASA are excited about the idea,” said Robert Casanova, director of the NASA Institute of Advanced Concepts in Atlanta.

Edwards believes a space elevator offers a cheaper, safer form of space travel that eventually could be used to carry explorers to the planets.

Now, that I find intriguing. How can these elevators “be used to carry explorers to the planets”? Is he really proposing we build cables between the planets? Or is he just proposing we get to earth-orbiting space stations via the elevators, and from there fly space ships to other planets? I don’t see how a space elevator can carry you to another planet, or even for that matter to the moon. It seems to me it can only be used to take you to geo-stationary orbit around earth, at least if the elevator is tethered to a spot on the earth.

But imagine riding an elevator into space. I generally prefer climb the stairs to riding in an elevator, but in this case, I think I’d make an exception.

I heard the following story from a coworker today.

His in-laws are staying with him. Last evening, his father-in-law choked, and his mother-in-law was very frightened. She panicked and called out, “Give him the Heineken! Give him the Heineken!”

Fortunately, he recovered on his own without the Heineken, because all they had in the house were domestic brews. I don’t think a Yuengling or even a Killian’s would suffice in a crisis like that, so it was a pretty desperate situation. It just shows that you can’t be too prepared for an emergency, and you really need to keep your refrigerator well stocked. It could have been even worse, and he then might have needed a Guinness instead of just a Heineken. Where would they be then with only those domestic beers?

Reuters Photo:

Caption: “Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin fights the wind as he departs his plane upon arriving in Winnipeg, June 23, 2004. The election campaign is in its last week and Canadians will head to the polls on June 28. REUTERS/Jim Young”

John Kerry’s “rare appearance in the Senate” that we noted yesterday was spoiled by (brace yourself for this folks) partisan politics. After Senator Kerry cancelled campaign appearances to be present for a particular vote on veteran’s health care, the Republicans cancelled the vote.

Sen. John Kerry canceled a planned campaign trip to New Mexico yesterday to vote on an amendment boosting support for veterans, but never got the chance as Republicans refused to call for a vote.

“I canceled my events, and I returned here hoping to be able to vote on this important issue,” said Mr. Kerry of Massachusetts. He added that in the past the Senate would have extended him the courtesy of voting.

Also in the past, the Senate voted on the president’s nominees for judicial positions rather than filibuster them. But I digress.

Mr. Kerry did get to be part of the Senate photo taken in the afternoon, and was able to vote on several other amendments, including one cutting missile-defense programs, which failed, and one increasing penalties for broadcast indecency, which passed.

They were the first roll call votes he has cast since March 25, when he voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act.

That’s not to say that Mr. Kerry has been away the whole time. One day last week, he was at the Capitol, and spent time talking with Mr. Daschle and other senators outside the Senate chamber, though he missed all six roll call votes that day.

I don’t know all the behind the scenes things that go on in the process of working a bill through the Senate. Perhaps there are legitimate reasons for the vote on this amendment to have been postponed. But if Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist did in fact postpone the vote to deny John Kerry the opportunity to vote on it, that seems a little childish to me. To arrange this to embarrass Kerry who made such a public spectacle of rearranging his schedule to be there for the vote is a trick worthy of an adolescent.

I tend to be of the opinion that the less laws Congress passes, the better off we are, and so postponing votes is usually a good thing. I also feel that Senator Kerry should make up his mind to either do his job as a Senator, or to run for President full time. One or the other. But not both. It just isn’t right to take a paycheck for being a Senator and then travel around the nation while the Senate is in session.

But to play with the voting schedule to harass the other party’s presidential candidate is just petty.

Not the most flattering article for Senator John Kerry.

Headline AP: Kerry Cancels Trip to New Mexico.

WASHINGTON – Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry canceled a trip to the swing state of New Mexico Tuesday to make a rare appearance in the Senate.

It isn’t a good sign that he’s doing his job when it is news that a Senator is going to actually be in the Senate. Kerry must realize he is giving the wrong appearance when he talks about how he will fight for something, but he is never in Washington when it actually comes up for a vote. It somehow makes it seem that he says one thing and does the other.

The Massachusetts senator wants to vote for a measure that would require mandatory funding of health care for veterans, a key constituency that he’s trying to win in his race against President Bush. Kerry is a Vietnam War veteran who rarely gives a speech without calling for better benefits for those who have served in the military.

How often has Kerry showed up for work this year? Our mj mathematics consultant tells us Kerry has missed almost 90% of the Senate votes this year. But not to worry, Kerry’s doing what is best for his constituents.

Kerry has missed the vast majority of votes this year, including other votes to increase veterans benefits.

Of 132 votes in the Senate this year, Kerry has voted just 14 times, according to an Associated Press tally. Massachusetts Republican Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey last week called on Kerry to resign from the Senate because he’s missed so many votes, but Kerry said he’s serving his constituents well by running for president.

The sad thing is, I agree that by not voting, Kerry is doing what is best for his constituents. Were he to vote, they would most certainly be worse off.

Headline Reuters: Scientists Develop Antidote for Burping Sheep

Headline AP: Thai Prisoners Play Elephants in Soccer

Thai officials organized a soccer game between elephants and prisoners Sunday in hopes of discouraging gambling on the European Championships.

Key sentence from the article: “‘We train the elephants every day to play soccer, kick the ball, and to keep from stepping on the other people,’ said Pattarapon Meepan, 19, whose father owns the Elephant Palace.”

I wonder if that is the order of precedence: First learn to play soccer. Second, learn how to kick the ball. After you’ve mastered those two, now learn how not to trample people.

Since this works to keep people from gambling, think what heart-ache we all would have been spared if only the Major League Baseball commissioner had arranged a baseball game between elephants and Pete Rose.

Q.95. Who should be baptized?

A. Those who are not members of churches should not be baptized until they have publicly stated that they believe in Christ and will obey Him, but the infant children of church members should be baptized.

AP Photo:

Caption: “Rachel Tschanz, 15, lingers in Logan Square’s fountain as she and fellow students from Hallahan Catholic High School for Girls celebrate the last day of school in Philadelphia Thursday June 17, 2004. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma)”