California guy builds a web site archiving North Korea's propaganda:

But there was no way for them to search the archives of KCNA until Geoff Davis, fighting boredom during a rainy San Francisco spring, decided to hone his Web design skills on a topic he had followed in news reports on the North Korean nuclear crisis. "Their propaganda is often unintentionally hilarious and I couldn't find an existing searchable database of the KCNA on the Web. Thus, NK News was born," Davis told Reuters.

The site is www.nk-news.net and features an Insult Generator using the wacky North Korean's news articles as source material. A sample:

You loudmouthed lackey, your accusation against the DPRK is no more than barking at the moon!

You arrogant militarist, we will mercilessly crush you with the weapon of singlehearted unity!

You bellicose flunkey!

You politically illiterate beast, such a provocation will be regarded as a declaration of war!

Hm, I think the last one may have come from Glenn Reynolds (note: evil lie).

via Fark.

An Army officer involved with the Able Danger military intelligence group offers his opinion on the 9/11 Commission's due diligence in pursuing the story:

WASHINGTON - An Army intelligence officer said Wednesday he does not believe the 9/11 commission pressed hard enough for documentation of claims that military intelligence found a U.S.-based terrorist cell that included Mohamed Atta, who turned out to be the leader of the Sept. 11 attacks, prior to the terrorist strikes.

"I don't believe they ever got all the documents, but then again I don't think that they pressed properly to get all of the documents," Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer said on CBS' "The Early Show."

Arizona and New Mexico governors declare states of emergency along their Mexican borders:

New Mexico:

“I’m taking these serious steps because of the urgency of the situation and, unfortunately, because of the total inaction and lack of resources from the federal government and Congress,” added the Governor. “We will continue to work with the federal government in an attempt to get their assistance, but something had to be done immediately. I want the people of Doña Ana, Luna, Hidalgo, and Grant counties to know my administration is doing everything it can to protect them.”

Arizona:

"The federal government has failed to secure our border, and the health and safety of all Arizonans is threatened daily by violent gangs, coyotes, and other dangerous criminals, said Governor Napolitano. "These funds provide our law enforcement community with another valuable tool to fight crime related to illegal immigration."

Target Centermass comments:

Of far greater concern is the fact that our nation is overly concerned about political touchy-feely issues, knowing full well that neither Canada nor Mexico is willing and able to control who is using their country as a means to enter the U.S. And trust me, the radical Islamists know that too.

A fine brief review of how we got here, by space.com.

The melding of civil and military requirements—coupled with the budgetary and political pressures that affect all large aerospace programs—produced the engineering compromises that haunt the space shuttle program to this day. These include the use of an external fuel tank whose foam-shedding problems doomed Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003 and cast a cloud over Discovery’s mission.

The future of near-space transportation is private.

Struggling air line sells Atlanta-based regional carrier.

The acquisition of ASA nearly doubles the size of Utah-based SkyWest, which already flies for Delta as a feeder airline under contract at its Salt Lake City hub. Delta and SkyWest said Monday the deal will mean no significant changes in the flight schedules or cities served by Atlanta-based ASA.

A new study shows that acetaminophen (i.e. Tylenol) raises blood pressure in women:

The study, which looked at the medical records of 5,123 women -- ages 34 to 77 -- for up to eight years, found that those who took 500 milligrams or more of acetaminophen daily were twice as likely to develop high blood pressure as women who did not take the drug.

From the same article, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) also raises blood pressure:

Older women, ages 51 to 77, who took an average daily dose of more than 400 milligrams of ibuprofen a day were 78% more likely to develop high blood pressure than older women who did not take the drug. And younger women, ages 34 to 53, who took those daily doses were 60% more likely to develop high blood pressure, according to the study published in today's issue of Hypertension.

I don't know if the study controlled for recent marriage of the women, which incontrovertably raises blood pressure in The Better Half. (grin, duck, run)

Private space flight takes a big step forward.

“It allows us to activate all the parts of the project,” Whitehorn told SPACE.com in an exclusive phone interview, such as use of technology—SpaceShipOne’s reentry concept and hybrid rocket motor design, for example—that can be licensed through Paul Allen’s Mojave Aerospace Ventures.

I think Richard Branson is a flake, but I must admit, he's a flake with style. Not to mention a boatload of cash.

OpinionJournal with yet another good editorial on the conflict of radical Islam with fundamental Western values:

The first is the draft constitution of Iraq, now due next week. Iraqi women like Naghem Khadim, demonstrating on the streets of Najaf, are fighting to prevent an article from being put in the constitution that would establish that the legislature may make no laws that contradict Shariah edicts. The second case is the province of Ontario, in Canada. There, Muslim women led by Homa Arjomand, an activist of Iranian origin, are fighting--using the Canadian Charter of Rights--to keep Shariah from being applied as family law through a so-called Arbitration Act passed as law in Ontario in 1992.

You see, there is a fundamental contradiction between Western liberty and Islam as interpreted by its more radical followers. One must prevail, and the other must yield. There can be no compromise where liberty is concerned--once it's gone, it's gone, and only massive amounts of blood and treasure can restore it.

Iran blocks blogrolling.com:

Many bloggers perceive this as an 'attack' to the Persian blogosphere. "I don't know what would happen next, but this is just the beginning," the writer of 'Persian Buddy' wrote in his blog.

World Politics For Dummies, Lesson One: enemy states (i.e. Iran, China, North Korea) implement broad restrictions on the information their populace receives. Free states don't. Definition of "broad restrictions" is left as an exercise for the reader.

Via Michelle Malkin.

This attack on the press is much more real and dangerous than holding a reporter in contempt of court for refusing to reveal sources in a national security-related case:

"It's the new trend of drug gangs: Journalists are warned, paid off or killed," said Daniel Rosas, the managing editor of the daily El Mañana, the oldest newspaper in this border city south of Laredo, Texas. "Drug battles have become bloodier, and gangs have no code of ethics. They don't respect human life; why should they respect reporters?" El Mañana, founded in 1932 after the Mexican revolution with a motto to promote freedom of expression, has been self-censoring itself since its editor, Roberto Javier Mora García, was stabbed to death on March 19, 2004.

Standing up to lawless thugs with guns is pretty much the definition of bravery. But there's bravery, and then there's trying to stay alive. The Mexican government needs to quash this drug lord problem, and quickly. I won't go into a War on Drugs rant, but I could.

Via Fark.