Q. Why does the government spend so much money?

A. Because it must pay for important federal programs such as Social Security, the War on Terrorism, and the artificial rainforest in Iowa.

Q. The WHAT?

A. True fact: Just recently, Iowa Sen. Charles ''Chuck'' Grassley got the government to toss in $50 million for a project to build a tropical rainforest under a giant dome in Coralville, Iowa.

Q. How will they heat it in the winter?

A. We are guessing pig flatulence.

Q. What is the compelling national purpose for building an artificial rainforest in Iowa?

A. It will provide the nation with something that, in these difficult times, is desperately needed.

Q. Votes for Sen. Chuck?

A. Exactly.

"I don't know what foreign leaders Senator Kerry is talking about," Powell said on "Fox News Sunday." "It's an easy charge, an easy assertion to make. But if he feels it is that important an assertion to make, he ought to list some names. If he can't list names, then perhaps he should find something else to talk about."

Intelligence: I assure you Dr. Brody, Dr. Jones; we have top men working on it right now.

Indy: Who?

Intelligence: Top... men.

"Revising our positions on Iraq after terrorists attacks would be to admit that terrorists are stronger and that they are right (to pursue attacks)," Prime Minister Leszek Miller told a news conference in the Polish town of Tarnow.

..."If it is necessary, we will continue leading the multinational division," Polish Ambassador to NATO Jerzy M. Nowak told Reuters in Brussels. "We are prepared for that even if Spain is not able to fulfil its promise."

* Many viruses use exploits in Microsoft Outlook Express, a.k.a., Microsoft Security Hole with e-mail functionality.

Today, though, sexual intercourse is delinked from procreation.

Pope Paul VI warned of all this in 1968, in the encyclical Humanae Vitae. At the time (still by many today) he was scornfully dismissed as hopelessly, even criminally, behind the times. Yet he was right.

Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings--and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation--need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Spain's ruling Popular Party has admitted an unexpected defeat in the country's general election with almost all the votes counted.

The Socialists won 43% of the vote while the centre-right Popular Party has garnered 38%, reports say.

The poll has been clouded by claims that al-Qaeda carried out the Madrid bomb attacks that killed 200 people.

The Socialist's party Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is set to become Spain's new prime minister.

Officials say 63% of the electorate turned out to vote in the poll which ends eight years of conservative rule.

Vote against the party that maddened the terrorists, so the terrorists will leave you alone for a while -- brilliant. It's like sitting on a cooler of raw meat with tigers prowling around, and deciding to put down your rifle so you can throw some steaks at the tigers. If you throw hard enough, they won't come back.

The president believes there's a war on. The Dems think 9/11 is like the 1998 ice storm or a Florida hurricane -- just one of those things. And they think Bush is ''lying'' by insisting on playing it as a war.

Spain doesn’t have the luxury of 200 years of Constitutional rule. Young adults sitting around the dinner table look at parents who grew up under Franco; they might value freedom more than we do. We cannot possibly imagine losing it. They have heard stories of how quickly it can be lost.

I spent time that summer exploring the neoconservative worldview and trying to grasp what was happening inside the Pentagon. I wondered what could explain this rush to war and disregard for real intelligence. Neoconservatives are fairly easy to study, mainly because they are few in number, and they show up at all the same parties. Examining them as individuals, it became clear that almost all have worked together, in and out of government, on national security issues for several decades.

July 15, 1977 - Randall the assistant fry cook is a case study in how not to run a large organization. I have a clear sense that he ranks high here, although ostensibly he’s under our manager, Carlos. Randall thinks his culinary arts degree entitles him to treat the rest of us, even upper management, with disrespect, contempt and derision; and he doesn’t take kindly to any employee who has an opinion or viewpoint that’s off the Le Cordon Bleu reservation. When I pressed him for information about the contents of the Secret Sauce, he would only say, "Karen, we have recipes that you don't have access to." But with Derek, a cashier who doesn't speak much, Randall’s always respectful and deferential. And speaking of Derek--I’ve noticed him taking as many as 15 or 16 cigarette breaks per shift. And I have it from a very high authority that he doesn’t even smoke. Something is going on at this Burger King, and I’m going to get to the bottom of it.

Businesses are opening, shops are full of merchandise and there’s a lot of hiring and investing going on. The transition to a free-market capitalist system is underway.

Not long ago, the picture was very different, with unemployment rates at 60 to 70 percent. U.S. coalition officials brought in American contractors and began privatization across Iraq. One water treatment plant employs 350 new workers.

Wages have soared, sparking a boom in trade which has seen street stalls groaning with Western goods banned under Saddam.

Locals in Basra have dubbed one street Electric Avenue because of the stores selling new fridges, freezers, washing machines, TVs and satellite dishes.

Around a million new and used cars have poured in to Iraq since the war -- with 300 A DAY arriving in Basra alone.

"Iraq will be a great country once more. Saddam has gone and sales are up. Wages have increased. People are happy again. We feel like we have been freed.

"We thank the British and American forces for what they did."