La Voz de Aztlan reports that: “Emergency crews from the Palestine Fire Department set up a decontamination station behind Palestine Regional Medical Center (PRMC) in Palestine and the military has now moved in to quarantine the area. PRMC Director Lynn Scribner said the hospital's EMTs were directing all people into the hospital through the main entrance. ‘We are trying to get all the people coming into the hospital in one place so we'll know where to direct them,’ Scribner said Saturday afternoon. ‘Those who have come within 200 feet of any material are asked to come to the hospital where they can be treated by emergency personnel.’ Palestine Fire Department Emergency Management Coordinator Randall Shoulders said firefighters are scrubbing people down in a makeshift station and then bagging their clothes. ‘We have the personnel and the equipment out here in case someone has been contaminated,’ Shoulders said. ‘We even have a Geiger counter ready.’”

More esoteric commentary on the Columbia disaster centres around the fact that one of the unfortunate astronauts was an Israeli military Colonel and that debris fell on the town of Palestine, Texas. These same individuals see the “Hand of God” warning us against human arrogance and calling for a return to a more ethical way of life.

For additional information, please visit the NASA website at: http://www.nasa.gov/columbia

and

Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space at: http://www.space4peace.org