From CNN: Al Stiller, a chemical engineering professor at West Virginia University is using liquefied chicken shit mixed in with diesel fuel “to power an engine with no significant difference in performance.” If it were to catch on, a blend that’s 65 percent diesel and 35 percent liquid waste would reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and solve a nagging environmental problem for the poultry industry. link via yaysoft

The answer is yes, according to an unnamed senior military official interviewed for an article in The Washington Times. This official estimated that scores of al Qaeda tracked by U.S. troops have made it safely to Pakistan the past week because approval to fire was not given promptly or not given at all. The al Qaeda ragtag troops are waiting for the cover of darkness, then leaving their caves to

From The Sun (UK): The Prime Minister published a dossier to mark 100 days passing since September 11. It listed the Allies

Progressive Secretary is a site that does your protesting for you. Want the military budget cut? The sanctions against Iraq lifted? WTO protests heard? Just check “yes” on the form you’re emailed (to approve the pre-written copy), and Progressive Secretary will format a “progressive” letter with your very own name on it! All you need do is print it out, sign it, and send it off! Hell, sure beats thinkin’,

Progressive Secretary is a site that does your protesting for you. Want the military budget cut? The sanctions against Iraq lifted? WTO protests heard? Just check “yes” on the form you’re emailed (to approve the pre-written copy), and Progressive Secretary will format a “progressive” letter with your very own name on it! All you need do is print it out, sign it, and send it off! Hell, sure beats thinkin’,

The Weekly Standard’s Beth Henary reports on a potentially controversial admissions policy under consideration by the Board of Regents at Texas A&M. The new policy would grant “automatic admission for the top 20 percent of graduating seniors from about 250 high schools classified by the state as ‘underperforming.’ These schools are minority-heavy.” Critics of the proposed change argue that the University is trying to skirt the 1996 Hopewood v. Texas

insist careless camping “is no laughing matter”… From Chris Pellerito’s Liberty Blog: Sure, American scientists are mapping the human genome, inventing cool battery-powered scooters, leading the world in biotechnology, etc. But the British Institute for the Advancement of Science announced that it has isolated the world’s funniest joke. Not surprisingly, the joke’s protagonists are British… [Update: Okay, so I made up the part about the protesting Greens. But it could

insist careless camping “is no laughing matter”… From Chris Pellerito’s Liberty Blog: Sure, American scientists are mapping the human genome, inventing cool battery-powered scooters, leading the world in biotechnology, etc. But the British Institute for the Advancement of Science announced that it has isolated the world’s funniest joke. Not surprisingly, the joke’s protagonists are British… [Update: Okay, so I made up the part about the protesting Greens. But it could

In her latest Nation column, Katha Pollitt implores her readers to get together this holiday season and help excise religion from…well, from Christ-mas, for starters. Some compelling reasons: Just think of the damage religious mania (combined, as it tends to be, with nationalism and patriarchy) has wrought around the globe this year, the first of the new millennium–the World Trade Center attack, the Taliban, suicide bombers in Israel versus yet

Ken Layne, drawing on this ABC News report detailing “missing sections” from the UBL tape, says it’s time to take the battle to The House of Saud. So, let’s get this straight: A Saudi millionaire from one of Saudi Arabia’s richest families plotted a massive attack on the United States using 15 Saudi citizens as hijackers, and this attack was praised by members of the Saudi Arabian government’s religious council