File this under funny.

Man to try to seize home of Supreme Court justice

"A California man, angry over a U.S. Supreme Court decision expanding government power to take private property, says he will try to use the ruling to seize the New Hampshire home of Justice David Souter and convert it into a hotel to be named the Lost Liberty Hotel.

Souter voted with the 5-4 majority last week when the Supreme Court ruled a Connecticut city could use its powers of eminent domain to take private homes to make way for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices.
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'It's solely for the purpose of showing (Souter) that his decision was unjust,' he said. 'We hope to make a profit as well but I don't agree with eminent domain so the irony is that we are going to use eminent domain against him.'

...the hotel would be called the Lost Liberty Hotel and would include a restaurant called the Just Desserts Cafe..."

I haven't mentioned this Supreme Court ruling which can give private developers the ability to take your home away if they can convince the local municipality that this private business would produce more tax revenue or boost a local economy then they can take your home away.

Anyways I think this is funny. I like the inherent irony, and the catchy names; Just Desserts Cafe. Good stuff.

Senate Votes to Boost Veterans' Health Aid

"The Senate voted Wednesday spend an extra $1.5 billion on veterans' health care this year as the Bush administration agreed to ask Congress for more money to cover a politically embarrassing shortfall.

The 96-0 vote was a response to the Veterans Affairs Department's announcement last week that its health care costs had risen faster than expected, forcing the agency to shift money among accounts to cover the shortage."

Bravo! This should be defense funding priority #1. No ifs, ands, or buts. Good for the Senate for helping prod the powers that be to get on the horse and make this additional funding happen.

17 Aboard Downed U.S. Copter Feared Dead

"U.S. military officials said Wednesday they feared all 17 troops aboard a special operations helicopter were dead after hostile fire downed the craft and it slid or rolled into a rugged mountain ravine in eastern Afghanistan.

If those aboard were confirmed killed, the crash would be the deadliest blow yet to American forces in Afghanistan, already grappling with an insurgency that is widening rather than winding down.
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Only eight months ago, Afghan and U.S. officials were hailing a relatively peaceful presidential election here as a sign that the Taliban rebellion was finished. That bravado has been yet another casualty in a war some feel could escalate into a conflict on the scale of Iraq's.
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The Taliban have stepped up attacks, and there are disturbing signs that foreign fighters - including al-Qaida - might be making a new push to sow mayhem..."

Upsetting, and disturbing. I really hope that Afghanistan does NOT turn into a situation like we have in Iraq. I'm trying not to be too partisan tonight, but let me just say this. I believe THIS is where our forces should have been this entire time. The fact that we may now be having an insurgency like what we have in Iraq makes me think that if we kept our full forces in Afghanistan instead of shifting most to Iraq, that we may not only have caught Bin Laden and many other top deputies, we may be looking at a much better situation there then there is now.

You know everyone says that by going to Iraq we brought the fight on terrorism there, and the terrorists have come there to fight. So we keep them away from the homeland. BUT could we not have done the same thing in Afghanistan? I submit that the answer is yes.

Ok partisan off.

Lastly:

Freedom Tower Features Attack Precautions

"The newest plan for the Freedom Tower at the former World Trade Center site features a more bomb-resistant design pushed well away from the street and incorporating heavily protected elevators and utilities.

The details are part of a redesign detailed Wednesday for the soaring skyscraper in lower Manhattan, a project that has been delayed by bureaucratic squabbling.

The new design for the 1,776-foot tower is meant to make it more resistant to truck bombs. The building will now be 90 feet - instead of 25 feet -— from West Street..."

I think I like the new design. I didn't like the original design, I liked some of the other designs that were up for consideration. I know this new redesign is less interesting architecturally, but it reminds me of the old towers, and I think that is very apt. A light reminder of what was with a nod to the future of what will be.

Fitting I believe.