Desertion!
The French magazine Le Canard Enchaine is reporting that 1700 U.S. soldiers have refused to return to Iraq: ["1,700 U.S. soldiers quit Iraq"]. Umm, gee. Can you blame them? Die in the desert for oil or jump the border to Canada? If it was good enough for the boomers ...

Moon base!
Bush is rumored to be making plans to announce a plan to have America build a moon base: ["Bush mulls major new space effort"]. It is so strange that he would bring this up because at my 20th high school reunion last week I had an interesting conversation with one of my fellow classmates about a possible moon base. I was telling him that I thought this was a good idea for two reasons: 1] the potential for a massive telescope and 2] the potential for a launching pad for interstellar travel. My friend said the dust was so bad on the moon that it would be doubtful they would build a telescope there. However, the ability to get a manned mission to Mars would be enhanced with a Moon base since any spaceship would not have to worry about energy expended breaking through earth's gravitational pull.

Polls, polls everywhere ...
The Howard Dean juggernaut continues: Two new polls from New Hampshire show Dean with a massive lead. American Research Group shows Dean with 45 percent, John Kerry has 13 percent, Wesley Clark at 11 percent, with Dick Gephardt and Joe Lieberman with 5 percent. Zogby is showing similar leads: Dean at 42 percent, Kerry with 12 percent, Clark with 9 percent, and Lieberman at 7 percent.
Zogby is also showing Dean with a slight lead in Iowa too: Dean 26 percent, Gephardt at 22 percent, and Kerry far behind with 9 percent.
In Oklahoma today, Wilson Research released a poll showing a four in the front: Lieberman at 10 percent, Clark with 9 percent, and Dean and Gephardt tied with 8 percent.
Back on Nov. 30, Middle Tennessee Survey Group released these figures for the state: Lieberman and Clark at 10.6 percent, Dean with 6.4 percent, Edwards at 5.9 percent, and Gephardt with 5.7 percent.

Greens, greens everywhere ...
Just when you thought the Green Party was going into hiding after the pummeling it regularly receives from Democrats. Well, you thought wrong. First, Ralph Nader is forming an exploratory committee and is raising money to test another White House run: ["Nader Raising Money for Possible Campaign"].
Then, there is Matt Gonzalez, an attorney from San Francisco who is on the verge of winning the city's Mayoral seat: ["Green win could have impact beyond city race"].
"Matt's an attractive candidate, and voters like him. He's fresh, he has values he's committed to and people respect that." - Democratic pollster David Binder. A victory for Gonzalez would be a huge thing for third party politics.
Of course, Nader isn't the only one thinking about a Green presidential candidate: ["Tattered Green Party banner raised by ex-Houston attorney"].
"I actually really care about supporting candidates who are courageous and support progressive issues and, unlike Democrats, are not whipped when it comes to fighting for what they care about," - Marnie Glickman, national co-chair of the Green Party.