True Stories

Very Large Sunspot

John Garza — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:06:00 GMT

Well here's some very outstanding images of an extremely large sunspot!!!

Here is a false color close up with the Earth inserted to give you a perspective of size
Enjoy !!

For more info go to this link

http://spaceweather.com/

Independent Analysis of the President’s Budget

John Garza — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 19:24:00 GMT

This Web site provides an independent analysis of the budget from a variety of organizations that have expertise in specific areas. We will continue to update the site as new analysis is released

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=26265

From the New York Times

Bush Budget Calls for Cuts in Health Services

By ROBERT PEAR

Published: February 5, 2005

ASHINGTON, Feb. 4 - President Bush's budget for 2006 cuts spending for a wide range of public health programs, including several to protect the nation against bioterrorist attacks and to respond to medical emergencies, budget documents show.

Faced with constraints on spending caused by record budget deficits and the demands of the war in Iraq, administration officials said on Friday that they had increased the budget for some health programs but cut many others, including some that address urgent health care needs.

The documents show, for example, that Mr. Bush would cut spending for several programs that deal with epidemics, chronic diseases and obesity. His plan would also cut the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by 9 percent, to $6.9 billion, the documents show.

The cuts are part of an attempt to control the federal deficit, while increasing spending on certain priority programs. Administration officials have said that in the budget, to be unveiled on Monday, Mr. Bush will propose that overall domestic spending, aside from entitlements, grows less than the rate of inflation next year.

But the administration is proposing to increase the Pentagon budget by 4.8 percent, to $419.3 billion in the 2006 fiscal year, according to Defense Department budget documents obtained by The New York Times. That sum does not include the costs of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, now running about $5 billion a month. Within a few weeks, the administration is expected to request about $80 billion to cover those costs.

The president's approach to domestic programs is illustrated in the way he balances competing claims at the Centers for Disease Control.

Mr. Bush requests money to expand a national stockpile of vaccines and antibiotics. But the public health emergency fund of the centers, which helps state and local agencies prepare for bioterror attacks, would be cut 12.6 percent, to $1 billion.

In the event of an attack, states could use that money to distribute drugs and vaccines from the stockpile - for example, by conducting a mass immunization campaign against smallpox, anthrax or other infectious agents.

Kim A. Elliott, deputy director of the Trust for America's Health, a nonprofit advocacy group, said, "It's robbing Peter to pay Paul when you build up the national stockpile at the expense of bioterrorism preparedness activities at the state and local level."

Administration officials acknowledged that some of the proposed cuts would affect high-priority programs. But they said that the budget this year was exceptionally tight and that, in some cases, several programs served the same basic purpose.

Over all, the president's budget would reduce the Department of Health and Human Services' discretionary spending - the amounts subject to annual appropriations - by 2.4 percent, to $68 billion. According to documents, obtained from budget analysts who opposed the cuts, those figures do not include Medicare costs, which will increase sharply with the addition of a prescription drug benefit in 2006.

A Public Health Service program for "chronic disease prevention and health promotion" would be cut by 6.5 percent, to $841 million in 2006. The program finances efforts to prevent and control obesity, which federal health officials say has reached epidemic proportions.

The president's budget would also eliminate a block grant that provides $131 million for preventive health services. Under federal law, the money is used to "address urgent health problems," which vary from state to state.

Under the president's request, the budget of the National Institutes of Health, which doubled from 1998 to 2003, would rise by 0.7 percent, to $28.7 billion next year. That is much less than what would be needed to keep pace with the costs of biomedical research, which are rising more than 3.5 percent a year.

For the National Science Foundation, Mr. Bush will request $5.6 billion in 2006, an increase of 2.4 percent, budget documents show. Mr. Bush requested an increase last year as well, but Congress ended up making a small cut in the agency's budget for this year.

At the Food and Drug Administration, buffeted in recent months by concerns about drug safety, the budget would increase by 4.5 percent, to $1.9 billion. Most of the $81 million increase would go toward the evaluation of prescription drugs and the inspection of food shipments.

Mr. Bush says he wants a community health center in every poor county. The budget would increase spending for such clinics by 17.5 percent, to $2 billion. Budget officials said these clinics would care for 16.4 million people next year, up from 14 million this year.

The president is also seeking $718 million for a new effort to enroll more children in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program. Millions of uninsured children are eligible but not enrolled.

Budget documents also include these domestic proposals:

¶The budget for training nurses, dentists and other health professionals would be cut 64 percent, to $160.5 million in 2006. The president would cut $100 million, or 33 percent, from a $301 million program that trains doctors at children's hospitals.

¶Mr. Bush seeks a $38 million increase in programs promoting sexual abstinence, which would bring the total to $192.5 million in 2006, an increase of more than 50 percent since 2004.

¶The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program, which helps people pay their heating bills, would be cut 8.4 percent, to $2 billion. High prices for home heating oil make this a particularly contentious proposal.

¶The Centers for Disease Control would receive $306 million, a 4.2 percent increase, for global health activities, including work on AIDS.

¶Mr. Bush requests $120 million to deal with the threat of a global flu epidemic. That represents an increase of 21 percent.

The budget would also eliminate a $9 million program for the treatment of people with traumatic brain injury and a $9.9 million program to collect stem cells from blood found in the umbilical cord after childbirth. Scientists say such cells may prove useful in the treatment of many diseases, and do not raise the ethical issues involved in taking stem cells from human embryos.

Mr. Bush said Friday that he would curb spending for political as well as fiscal reasons. "People in Congress on both sides of the aisle have said, 'Let's worry about the deficit,' " he said in Omaha as he campaigned for his Social Security plan. "I said, 'O.K. we'll worry about it again.' My last budget worried about it. This budget will really worry about it."

Echoing a vow made in his State of the Union address, Mr. Bush said: "We're going to eliminate or vastly reduce 150 programs that aren't meeting needs, aren't meeting priorities and are not getting the job done. It's time to be wise with the people's money."

At the Treasury Department, Mr. Bush is seeking an increase of $500 million, or 7.8 percent, to police compliance with the tax laws. That would increase the enforcement budget of the Internal Revenue Service to $6.9 billion. The Treasury said the additional money would be used to examine more tax returns, collect past due taxes and investigate cases of tax avoidance.

The Defense Department is proposing to cut $55 billion from various programs over the next six years, with most of the reductions in the later years. Even so, the Pentagon budget is projected to exceed $500 billion by 2011.

The Pentagon intends to buy fewer FA-22 fighter jets, DD(X) destroyers, Virginia-class attack submarines and LPD-17 amphibious ships, used by the Navy to transport marines. It also plans to retire one of the Navy's 12 aircraft carriers, which Navy officials have said will be the carrier John F. Kennedy, based in Mayport, Fla.

The cuts are partly offset by $25 billion in increased spending for the Army, as it restructures its forces to rely on more readily deployable brigades instead of much larger divisions.

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting for this article.

Mt St Helens goes Red

John Garza — Wed, 06 Oct 2004 18:07:00 GMT

Here is an infrared image of Mt St Helens taken on October 1st,

In this image blue indicates the snow cover, orange and yellow colors are characterizing the rock type and lava age, and the red color is indicating heat. (Image courtesy of NASA/Ames Research Center)

For more images and updated information go here

http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2004/helen/helen.html

Donkey Does Security Detail on Farm

John Garza — Tue, 20 Apr 2004 19:28:00 GMT

I thought this was interesting.

Donkey Does Security Detail on Farm

Apr 20, 8:57 PM (ET)

By LISA GENTES

SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (AP) - No one messes with Bonnie. The newest employee at the University of Rhode Island's Peckham Farm is a four-foot-tall fuzzy brown donkey, and she appears to be taking her livestock-guarding responsibilities seriously.

"She's the boss," said URI senior Josean Velez, 22, a biology and animal science major. "She's really protective. If you're going after the sheep, she's going after you."

Six-year-old Bonnie, who's pregnant and due in July, was brought in to keep watch over the animals, especially the sheep, at the university-owned and operated farm, after a gruesome incident with some domestic dogs. A student came in one morning to find blood around the barn and all the sheep injured with puncture wounds. One died and a second had to be euthanized.

Coyotes have also been known to frequent the farm, where the university's animal science students work as part of their hands-on training.

After the attack, farm manager Dave Marshall, and URI lecturer Katherine Petersson, who teaches animal and veterinary science courses, brainstormed ideas to beef up security at Peckham's. Although an electric fence provides some protection, the two decided to invest in a guardian animal and found Bonnie at a farm in Pittsburgh.

Bonnie was trained to work with sheep and the farm specialists decided she would be a perfect match for their Rhode Island farm.

Marshall said that although not every donkey can work as a guardian, Bonnie was compatible with the farm and has done a "great job" in providing a second line of defense for the 22 adult sheep and 27 lambs, along with the rest of the livestock.

"We haven't had any problems since Bonnie's been here," Marshall said. And if a dog or coyote did approach the flock, Marshall said the donkey would bray loudly, stomp her feet and ultimately "eliminate him" if need be.

"She can kick with all four feet," he said.

According to Marshall, Bonnie has adapted well to her new surroundings. "I think she's the coolest thing in the place," he said.

The friendly donkey has a taste for treats. "If you have a carrot for her, she's your best buddy," the manager said.

And Velez, who works on the farm six days a week as part of his course studies, said Bonnie also has a sweet tooth and enjoys munching on the Dunkin' Donuts muffins and Girl Scout cookies he sneaks her. But typically, the donkey's diet consists of hay and feed.

Despite her sweet side, and growing fondness of people, Bonnie has a strong distaste for dogs.

"Donkeys really don't like dogs," Petersson said. "We're taking advantage of the natural dislike and using it to our benefit."

Another benefit will be the soon-to-be-born guardian donkey that's expected to join the farm family. Bonnie's offspring will most likely be trained by its mother, reacting to whatever she reacts to, according to Petersson. That means, when Bonnie's baby is big enough, there will be even more protection for the farm animals.

The farm staff are also considering purchasing another adult donkey to help with farm security. This would allow them to separate the flocks without making Bonnie work double-time.

"We want all the animals protected," Petersson said.

Hopi Elder

John Garza — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 03:34:00 GMT

I love Brendas story about the Navajo and NASA. It reminded me of a joke a Hopi priest told me while sitting around a campfire eating corn at his field.

One day a tourist couple (Pahanna's.. White people) were walking in one of the Hopi villages while visiting there. They came upon an old Hopi man working on his car. All they could see were his feet sticking out and as they walked by they heard..

"God damnit, son of a bitch..."

The couple stopped and were stricken, the man looked at his wife in amazement. As they stood there once again they heard...

"Shit.... Godamn Son of a Bitch...."

Well the man looked at his wife and proceeded to kick the old mans feet and said

"Hey.... watch your language!!"

The old Hopi man looked out from under his car and gazed at the two Pahanna's.. and finally said..

"It's not my language.. It's yours" and went back to work..