Blog-heap o' links from 2004-Oct

SAT 2004-OCT-30

History - still with usreuters.com/ ... 12:44:23Bruno Fabbiani, a lecturer at Turin Polytechnic, said Gutenberg used stamps rather than the individual, moveable letters he is said to have invented that accelerated printing and book production... has devised 30 experiments that show Gutenberg did not use moveable type to print the bible,"

Preternatural Patternsreuters.com/ ... 12:43:37A New York psychiatrist cautioned Boston Red Sox fans that the team's first World Series title in 86 years could have a deleterious effect on them.

Whoopsreuters.com/ ... 12:42:27 A British train conductor stamped and carefully returned the ticket of a slumbering passenger without realizing the man was dead.

US Election 2004news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 12:37:33President Bush said Americans would not be intimidated and that the US was chasing terrorists across the globe so it did not have to face them at home.
Senator John Kerry said that if he was elected president next week, the US would destroy Osama bin Laden.foxnews.com/ ... 03:28:57A U.S. Army officer came forward Friday to say a team from the 3rd Infantry Division took about 250 tons of munitions and other material from the Al-Qaqaa arms-storage facility soon after Saddam Hussein's regime fell in April 2003.nytimes.com/ ... 03:26:54videotape made by a television crew with American troops when they opened bunkers at a sprawling Iraqi munitions complex south of Baghdad shows a huge supply of explosives still there nine days after the fall of Saddam Hussein drudgereport.com/ ... 03:26:32Brokaw: "If you had been President, Saddam Hussein would be in power."
Kerry: "Not necessarily."
Brokaw: "You said you wouldn't go to war against him."
Kerry: "That's not true. Because under the inspection process, Saddam Hussein was required to destroy those kinds of materials and weapons."
Brokaw: "But he wasn't destroying them."
Kerry: "That's what you have inspectors for....

US Military Casualtiesdefenselink.mil/ ... 12:42:11

Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Battles Sr. 38, of San Antonio, Texas, died Oct. 28 in Baghdad, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his checkpoint.defenselink.mil/ ... 12:41:55

Army Cpl. Billy Gomez, 25, of Perris, Calif., died Oct.27 at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, from injuries sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device on Oct. 20 in Naka, Afghanistan.defenselink.mil/ ... 12:41:36

Army Staff Sgt. Jerome Lemon, 42, of North Charleston, S.C., died Oct. 27 in Balad, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:41:20

Marine Cpl. Brian Oliveira, 22, of Raynham, Mass., died Oct. 25 from injuries received from enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.defenselink.mil/ ... 12:41:04

Army Sgt. Dennis J. Boles, 46, of Homosassa, Fla., died Oct. 24 in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, when he was participating in a 10-mile road march and collapsed.defenselink.mil/ ... 12:40:43

Marine Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum, 19, of Saugus, Calif., died Oct 24 due a non-combat related vehicle accident near Abu Gharib, Iraq. news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 12:37:00

Eight US marines have been killed and nine wounded in action around the militant stronghold of Falluja ... killed while carrying out what US military officials called "increased security operations..."

Yawnboston.com/ ... 03:31:38Osama bin Laden appealed directly to the American people in a new videotaped message aired yesterday, asserting that the "best way to avoid another" Sept. 11 is not to follow either President Bush or his challenger John F. Kerry but to change US foreign policy and stop threatening the world's Muslims.

US Election 2004cedarvalleydailytimes.com/ ... 03:30:03 Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin says John Kerry has been gaining in the polls every day since Oct. 21, and George Bush has been going down every day. "That's how God wants it to be,"wnbc.com/ ... 03:29:38Two men were taken into custody on Friday after illegally landing a hot-air in Central Park... balloon was emblazoned with a "Go Kerry" sign....

Reasons for Repealreuters.com/ ... 12:43:12 An Australian drug dealer who dug up hundreds of thousands of dollars from his backyard to buy heroin but had the money stolen in the deal can claim a tax deduction for his losses wftv.com/ ... 03:28:23A Montana woman is accused of letting her 18-month-old daughter smoke marijuana... friend of the defendant took photos of the toddler smoking a bong pipe... friend testified ...she let her daughter smoke marijuana because the girl wasn't eating or sleeping enough....

Violencenews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 12:38:16A car bomb explosion in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, has killed at least seven people and injured 16... outside the offices of the al-Arabiya television station in the western Mansour district..... A little-known group is reported to have said it carried out the attack on the station.. described al-Arabiya as a "treacherous network"...

US Election 2004reuters.com/ ... 12:42:42 Indian astrologers say the planets have clearly made up their mind: John Kerry will win.reuters.myway.com/ ... 03:28:39 Osama bin Laden burst into the U.S. election campaign on Saturday, issuing his first video tape in more than a year to deride President Bush and warn of possible new Sept. 11-style attacks.washtimes.com/ ... 03:27:24U.S. intelligence agencies have obtained satellite photographs of truck convoys that were at several weapons sites in Iraq in the weeks before U.S. military operations were launched, defense officials said yesterday. The photographs indicate that Iraq was moving arms and equipment from its known weapons sites

THU 2004-OCT-28

Preternatural Patternsreuters.com/ ... 11:45:50More and more Chinese people are living life in the fast lane and challenging the traditional concept of a leisurely existence....

Currentreuters.com/ ... 11:44:11 Hungary plunged into a national culinary crisis on Thursday as its beloved paprika powder -- and any products containing the hot red spice -- vanished from shop shelves because of a contamination scare.

History - still with usnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:39:461962: World relief as Cuban missile crisis ends

Mechanical Disasternews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:39:31Thirteen miners have been killed in an explosion in a coal mine in Siberia... 90 miners working in the Listvyazhnaya mine in the Kuzbass coalfield had now been rescued, including 23 injured....

Whoopsreuters.com/ ... 11:45:32A conman persuaded an Ethiopian town's inhabitants to give him hundreds of dollars by promising to multiply the cash and make it "fall like rain" from the sky thisislondon.co.uk/ ... 11:34:36The pair were supposed to tell viewers what was coming up in the programme.
Instead Morgan was seen declaring that al Qaida planned a terrorist attack to disrupt the US presidential election. "I tell you what, I would brace yourselves for something in the next few days," he warned. Britton asked: "Why?" and Morgan replied: "I just think that al Qaida, with an election, I think they have been waiting for the election." At that point a producer informed them, via their earpieces, that they were live on air.

Extraterrestrialmsnbc.msn.com/ ... 01:42:16Puzzling star clump spotted near our galaxy -- Globular cluster? Dwarf galaxy? Experts don't know, but it could shed light on Milky Way mysteries

Digital Consequencesap.tbo.com/ ... 11:43:30 New federal regulations designed to speed up the processing of checks went into effect on Thursday, and consumer advocates advised Americans to be more vigilant about monitoring their accounts.cbsnews.com/ ... 01:41:49 Internet users at home are not nearly as safe online as they believe, according to a nationwide inspection by researchers. They found most consumers have no firewall protection, outdated antivirus software and dozens of spyware programs secretly running on their computers.cbsnews.com/ ... 01:41:32'Smart' Buildings Save Energy

US Election 2004georgewbush.com/ ... 11:38:12georgewbush.com news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:37:55The official re-election site of President George W Bush is blocking visits from overseas users for "security reasons". .. thought to have been adopted in response to an attack on the georgewbush.com website... began early on Monday... keen net users ..have found that the site can still be viewed by overseas browsers via several alternative net addresses.....news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:35:56Some 60,000 absentee ballots were despatched by authorities in Broward County, north of Miami, this month. However, only 2,000 of them have been delivered.sun-sentinel.com/ ... 11:35:33WEST PALM BEACH - An 18-year-old Marine recruit remained in jail on Wednesday, charged with threatening to stab his girlfriend .. said she was leaving him -- and voting for John Kerry for president.washingtontimes.com/ ... 01:45:10Russian special forces troops moved many of Saddam Hussein's weapons and related goods out of Iraq and into Syria in the weeks before the March 2003 U.S. military operation, The Washington Times has learned.voanews.com/ ... 01:44:25The president broke his silence about the lost explosives on Wednesday, telling audiences in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan that Senator Kerry is denigrating American troops in Iraq. He said the disappearance may have occurred before the war began. "See, our military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios, including this one -- that explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived, even arrived at the site. The investigation is important and ongoing. And a political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not the person you want as the Commander-in-Chief," he said.abcnews.go.com/ ... 01:42:34 Iraqi officials may be overstating the amount of explosives reported to have disappeared from a weapons depot, documents obtained by ABC News show.foxnews.com/ ... 01:37:40GREEN BAY, Wis. — John Kerry accused President Bush (search) on Tuesday of trying to cover up bad decisions and alluded to the possibility that there's still bad news yet to be uncovered. "Mr. President, what else are you being silent about? What else are you keeping from the American people?"nypost.com/ ... 01:33:50I WANT MY GI SON TO SERVE UNDER BUSH drudgereport.com/ ... 01:31:06News of missing explosives in Iraq -- first reported in April 2003 -- was being resurrected for a 60 MINUTES election eve broadcast designed to knock the Bush administration into a crisis mode.

Human Rightreuters.com/ ... 11:40:18 Iran has banned soccer players from sporting ponytails and sculpted beards as part of a campaign to prevent the spread of Western culture in the Islamic state

Only Naturalreuters.com/ ... 11:45:06Star dust found deep beneath the Pacific Ocean has led German scientists to speculate that a supernova explosion 3 million years ago might possibly have helped bring about human evolution.cbsnews.com/ ... 01:40:56'Smart' Buildings Save Energy news.yahoo.com/ ... 01:34:27Scientists in Australia have found a new species of hobbit-sized humans who lived about 18,000 years ago on an Indonesian island in a discovery that adds another piece to the complex puzzle of human evolution.

Violencemypetjawa.mu.nu/ ... 11:46:09Al-Jazeera, the virulently anti-American Arabic satelite network, has broadcast a video of a previously unknown terrorist group holding a Polish woman hostage in Iraq.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:38:53The bodies of 14 fishermen have been found locked inside a hold on their trawler off the coast of Bangladesh. ...appears they were killed by pirates.....

Threatsdrudgereport.com/ ... 11:33:11The CIA and FBI late Wednesday authenticated a disturbing new al Qaeda videotape which warns the next terror attack will dwarf 9/11.cbsnews.com/ ... 01:37:53The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has shut down its online document library, pending a review to determine what potentially sensitive documents should be removed because they might be useful to terrorists, the agency said Tuesday.apnews.myway.com/ ... 01:37:02An ailing Yasser Arafat collapsed Wednesday night, was unconscious for about 10 minutes and remained in a serious condition. A team of Jordanian doctors was urgently summoned to treat the ailing Palestinian leader, whose wife headed to her husband's side from Paris.reuters.co.uk/ ... 01:36:41The official said the tape was "classic al Qaeda propaganda," but seems to have been "sliced and diced." The speaker refers to al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri as "our leaders" and praises the September 11 attacks. Sharing information like this with the government carries risks for a news organization, said media analyst Andrew Tyndall. "If...as a result of sending this tape to the government, the CIA tipped off the Pakistani internal intelligence service, and they rounded this guy up, (ABC's) news-gathering ability would be compromised because you'd be perceived by the people on the streets of Karachi as being a front organization for the CIA."washingtonpost.com/ ... 01:35:31A network producer obtained the tape over the weekend from an intermediary in Pakistan -- who charged a $500 transportation fee -- and ABC's New York headquarters got a feed of the video Monday, network executives said. They said they sent copies to the FBI and CIA, which have been unable to identify the speaker -- who says he is an American and is brandishing automatic weapons -- after comparing his voice to those of known terrorists.drudgereport.com/ ... 01:35:01In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11....

TUE 2004-OCT-26

Preternatural Patternsnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:50:00Cuba says it is to ban commercial transactions in dollars from 8 November in response to tighter US sanctions. Dollars were made legal tender in 1993 following an economic crisis sparked by the collapse of the Soviet Union. But dollars will no longer be accepted in shops and other businesses, and tourists and Cubans exchanging dollars will have to pay a 10% commission.

Mechanical Disasternews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:46:34A fire at an Iraq chemical plant has caused the largest recorded man-made release of sulphur dioxide... The fire, which broke out on 24 June 2003, produced more of the polluting gas than most volcanic eruptions....

US Election 2004drudgereport.com/ ... 10:45:39**ABCNEWS Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 4 Times
**CBSNEWS Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 7 Times
**MSNBC Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 37 Times
**CNN Mentioned The Iraq Explosives Depot At Least 50 Times
But tonight, NBCNEWS reported: The 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives were already missing back in April 10, 2003 -- when U.S. troops arrived at the installation south of Baghdad!... A senior Bush official e-mailed DRUDGE late Monday: "Let me get this straight, are Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards now saying we did not go into Iraq soon enough? We should have invaded and liberated Iraq sooner?"... Why is the U.N. nuclear agency suddenly warning now that insurgents in Iraq may have obtained nearly 400 tons of missing explosives -- in early 2003? NBCNEWS Jim Miklaszewski quoted one official: "Recent disagreements between the administration and the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency makes this announcement appear highly political."

Only Naturalap.tbo.com/ ... 10:53:30A U.S. airstrike in Fallujah on Tuesday killed an aide to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi...
Iraq's interim prime minister blamed U.S.-led coalition forces for "great negligence" in the ambush that killed about 50 American-trained soldiers.reuters.com/ ... 10:52:01The cases of 19 patients sent to the emergency room by a dose of "mad" honey highlight the not-so-sweet side of the food, according to Turkish researchers. The honey, produced from the nectar of certain rhododendron species ...linked to food poisoning ..most.. cases ..in Turkey. ...Black Sea region... used as an alternative medicine for gastrointestinal problems and as a sexual stimulant. ... can contain substances called grayanotoxins, some of which may cause low blood pressure, slowed heart rate, vomiting, dizziness and other symptoms.....

Justice?news24.com/ ... 10:39:32A new legal opinion by the United States government bars some non-Iraqi prisoners captured in Iraq from the internationally accepted protections of the Geneva Conventions. The consensus reached since March 2004 by lawyers from the departments of state, justice and defence, the National Security Council and other US government agencies lets the Central Intelligence Agency treat some prisoners the same way as members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban captured in Afghanistan.

Violencenews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:47:11A Swiss man has died after a grenade was thrown at his home in the Batticaloa district of Sri Lanka. Police suspect Tamil Tigers carried out the attack, but truce monitors have found no evidence of their involvement. No group has claimed responsibility washingtonpost.com/ ... 10:39:48Iraq's interim prime minister blamed U.S.-led coalition forces for "great negligence" in the ambush that killed 49 American-trained soldiers.voanews.com/ ... 10:38:36Thai security forces have begun large-scale detentions in the predominately-Muslim south of the country following a clash with demonstrators Monday that left more than 80 protesters dead. Authorities said six protesters were shot to death, and the rest suffocated after being rounded up by police.

MON 2004-OCT-25

Preternatural Patternsnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:46:47Children's TV favourite Scooby-Doo has been awarded a Guinness World Record for notching up the most episodes of a cartoon comedy series. ...350th episode, Scooby-Doo Halloween, is being screened on the Boomerang channel on Friday, beating a previous record held by The Simpsons....

Digital Consequencesreuters.com/ ... 10:46:08 A British wedding guest who sparked a bidding frenzy when he offered for sale a pair of invitations to a wedding he did not want to attend admitted that the bride was a former girl friend.reuters.com/ ... 10:38:38Sony Corp launched its first MP3-compatible flash memory digital music players under the Walkman name on Monday... Promoting the players as sleek alternatives with superior battery life to the Apple iPod Mini...reuters.com/ ... 10:37:44Mobile phone users around the world will spend $1 billion a year on pornography sent to their handsets by 2008, which may boost the wireless services sector much as it fueled growth in the fixed-line Internet

US Election 2004apnews.myway.com/ ... 10:23:42President Bush, presenting himself as the best candidate to keep America safe, was accused by John Kerry on Monday of "unbelievable incompetence" in the disappearance of hundreds of tons of powerful explosives in Iraq.drudgereport.com/ ... 10:06:28The wife of Dem vice presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday there will be no riots around the election -- if Kerry/Edwards wins!

Only Naturalnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:37:34Strong aftershocks have continued to hit Japan two days after 24 people died in the country's deadliest earthquake in almost a decade.

Justice?washingtontimes.com/ ... 10:13:38Six of seven Pitcairn men being tried on sexual assault charges on the south Pacific island were convicted by three judges... tried for a string of 55 sex attacks dating back as long as 40 years on women and girls on the island, which has a permanent population of 47... None of the victims still live on the island and all testified via a video link.... the men could remain free until an appeal is heard in London questioning England's jurisdiction over the island.

Threatsreuters.com/ ... 10:44:07A Buddhist monk's war on insects shut down Canada's mission in Sri Lanka on Monday, when powder he used to preserve his passport from moths triggered an anthrax scare,

Aftermathnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 10:24:31Five Egyptians have been arrested on charges of plotting a series of simultaneous bomb blasts in Red Sea resorts earlier this month. The Interior Ministry also identified the mastermind of the attacks as a Palestinian man, Ayad Said Salah. It says he died in the Taba blast along with a fellow plotter....

Violenceap.tbo.com/ ... 10:43:05 Israeli troops raided a Gaza Strip refugee camp to halt Palestinian mortar fire, killing 13 Palestinians and wounding 66 Monday, as Israel's parliament set up for a historic debate on a withdrawal from the coastal strip.ap.tbo.com/ ... 10:41:40Iraqi officials suspect that about 50 U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers slain by insurgents - many of them execution-style - may have been set up by rebel infiltrators in their ranks.nytimes.com/ ... 10:15:21The Iraqi interim government has warned the United States and international nuclear inspectors that nearly 380 tons of powerful conventional explosives - used to demolish buildings, make missile warheads and detonate nuclear weapons - are missing from one of Iraq's most sensitive former military installations.cnn.com/ ... 10:12:35...Baghdad... a trio of nearly simultaneous explosions killed three Iraqi civilians and wounded nine others, including six civilians and three Australian soldiers... Mosul, two suicide car bombs detonated almost simultaneously, killing at least three Iraqis and wounding a number of government employees...

SUN 2004-OCT-24

Preternatural Patternsnydailynews.com/ ... 23:08:09Teen songbird Ashlee Simpson had a microphone malfunction on "Saturday Night Live" last night, scurrying off stage when a production glitch caught her lip-synching the wrong tune.news.xinhuanet.com/ ... 23:05:56HEADLINE OF THE WEEK:
Spitzer's iron wrist shits to music industry
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office now shits their attention to the music industry....
chinaview.cn story.news.yahoo.com/ ... 23:04:11A teacher-parent brawl in front of 19 primary school pupils sent a mother to the emergency room and the teacher to jail.

US Election 2004apnews.myway.com/ ... 23:07:54Former Vice President Al Gore on Sunday told blacks embittered by his narrow loss in the 2000 presidential election that "it doesn't have to be this way" and urged them to turn anger into energy at the polls. "Don't turn it into angry acts or angry words," Gore said at one stop during a tour of mostly black churches. He also urged worshippers to take advantage of a state law that permits voting before Election Day, Nov. 2. "Early voting is a good idea," he said. "You want to give them plenty of time to count all the votes."...washingtonpost.com/ ... 23:07:13Decision Iraq Would Kerry Have Done Things Differently? by Bob Woodward denverpost.com/ ... 23:06:27Election tactics push envelope fortwayne.com/ ... 23:06:15A case of stage fright sent Democrat Maria Parra off a TV stage Thursday, abruptly ending what would have been her only debate with Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd. “I’m not used to being in front of the camera. … I couldn’t get my words out. I was just overwhelmed,”azdailysun.com/ ... 23:04:48Political motivations turned criminal Thursday night or early Friday when vandals smashed a large glass door with a section of cinder block at the Republican Party headquarters in downtown Flagstaff.A pile of shattered glass joined egg shells filling the entryway to the GOP offices apnews.myway.com/ ... 23:03:54 President Bush said Saturday that Sen. John Kerry must be suffering from "election amnesia" because he has forgotten that he once viewed Saddam Hussein as a threat to America.

Only Naturalapnews.myway.com/ ... 23:05:03A series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks rattled northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 700 as buildings crumbled, a bullet train derailed and roadways were torn apart.

Violenceapnews.myway.com/ ... 23:06:52The bodies of about 50 unarmed Iraqi soldiers - many killed execution style with gunshots to the back of the head - were found on a remote road in eastern Iraq, victims of an ambush as they were heading home on leave after basic training

SAT 2004-OCT-23

Transportreuters.com/ ... 11:20:09 In a study that gives new meaning to the concept of a "killer commute," researchers have concluded that people caught in traffic are three times more likely to suffer a heart attack within the hour than those who aren't tied up on the road.

Preternatural Patternsreuters.com/ ... 11:22:30 A Sicilian entrepreneur has offered to donate parts of his body for organ transplants in an effort to keep his business alive.reuters.com/ ... 11:20:41Fashion-conscious north German police are to ditch the mustard-colored shirts, green ties and tight beige flannel trousers they have been wearing since 1973 -- dubbed the ugliest uniforms in Europe.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:16:50Scientists in Peru hope a new breed of guinea pig will convert the world to one of their favourite delicacies.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:16:37Helmut Simon, the German who discovered an intact Bronze Age mummy in an Alps glacier, has been found dead in the Austrian Alps.tuscaloosanews.com/ ... 11:15:01A group of parents has accused a teacher at Fairdale Elementary School of forcing their sons to go into the classroom bathroom and take deep breaths because there was urine on and around the toilet. "She wanted them to see how bad it smelled,"

US Election 2004defenselink.mil/ ... 11:27:39The Federal Voting Assistance Program has made available an official On-line Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (OFWAB) ... to serve as an emergency ballot for those overseas citizens covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) who do not receive their requested state absentee ballot.washingtonpost.com/ ... 11:15:33As of Friday afternoon, more than 1.3 million people had voted in eight of the swing states, records indicate.news.yahoo.com/ ... 11:14:19 Democratic Sen. John Kerry said Friday that Osama bin Laden would be in captivity or dead if Kerry had been president during the war against Afghanistan sun-sentinel.com/ ... 11:13:58with early voting taking place in busy public places like City Halls and libraries, voters are voicing complaints of being blocked by political mobs, or being singled out for their political views. ...Republican Rep. Tom Feeney of Oviedo said the antagonizers are "Kerry thugs" out to harass Bush voters. ..Democratic Party officials in Tallahassee said they've had some complaints, too....enquirer.com/ ... 11:12:36Cincinnati's headquarters for the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign was broken into overnight... The office was also ransacked... Money and a sign were taken...apnews.myway.com/ ... 11:11:58In heavily symbolic television spots, President Bush's campaign uses prowling wolves to suggest that the country under Sen. John Kerry would be vulnerable to terrorists. The Democratic Party claims the Republican incumbent is a head-in-the-sand ostrich while his opponent is as strong as an eagle.

US Military Casualtiesdefenselink.mil/ ... 11:28:15

Air Force Airman 1st Class Jesse M. Samek, 21, of Rogers, Ark., died Oct. 21 from injuries he received when an Air Force HH-60 helicopter aircraft crashed during a medical evacuation mission in Afghanistan. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:25:57

Army Sgt. Douglas E. Bascom, 25, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died Oct. 20 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:25:42

Army Cpl. William M. Amundson Jr., 21, of The Woodlands, Texas, died Oct. 19 in Afghanistan when the vehicle in which he was riding rolled over. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:25:22

Army Spc. Andrew C. Ehrlich, 21, of Mesa, Ariz., died Oct. 18 in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, of non-combat related injuries.

Human Rightnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:18:10For years she longed to become the only female to power the elegant, slipper-shaped boats along the canals of the northern Italian city. But, once again, despite having successfully passed her theory test, she was failed on her practical test. After years of trying for a licence to guide a gondolier along the city's waterways and don the familiar striped shirt and straw cap of the city's 425 male gondoliers, she has admitted defeat. "It's useless," she told Italian news agency, Ansa, "The first female gondolier in Venice will be someone else."

Only Naturalreuters.com/ ... 11:10:50An earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 and several powerful aftershocks rocked northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least four people and injuring more than 400 while knocking out power and phone services

Threatsnews.com.au/ ... 11:22:09RUSSIAN security forces have seized two containers full of highly radioactive uranium-238 after a group of homeless people tried to sell them to a scrap dealer. The containers were found at a waste dump in the central Russian town of Saratov, which lies on the River Volga. Radiation levels at the dump were 358 times higher than normal,

Aftermathdefenselink.mil/ ... 11:24:39A Statement from The Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard B. Myers
I am very disappointed in the mischaracterizations that appeared in The Washington Post today regarding our Afghanistan war planning efforts, “Second-guessing actions in Afghanistan.” The assertion that I “raised doubts about the war plan,” is incorrect and unfounded. Numerous military leaders came together immediately following the events of September 11th and formulated plans we began executing a month later. We discussed every available course of action, which we take very seriously, and do every time we engage our military men and women in armed conflict. It is wrong to characterize these discussions and planning sessions as ‘second guessing’ or ‘doubting’ anyone.newsday.com/ ... 11:21:32Russia gave the Bush administration intelligence that suggested Saddam Hussein's regime was preparing attacks against the United States and its interests abroad before the Iraq war, President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

Rebuildingreuters.com/ ... 11:18:41Three U.S. Air Force cargo planes and 120 U.S. troops landed in Rwanda on Saturday to transport Rwandan soldiers and equipment to Darfur as part of an expanded African Union peacekeeping mission in the violent region.

Violencedefenselink.mil/ ... 11:24:58This week, the Army announced an increase in the number of reservists on active duty in support of the partial mobilization, while the Navy, Air Force, and Marines had a decrease.worldnetdaily.com/ ... 11:21:05Former Navy Secretary and 9-11 commissioner John Lehman says the U.S. knows where al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is hiding but can't reach him because he is in a region of Pakistan controlled by Islamic extremists opposed to President Pervez Musharraf.reuters.com/ ... 11:18:54An Iraqi militant group said it beheaded an Iraqi man it accused of collaborating with U.S. forces and posted pictures of the killing on the Internet.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:16:21...Ten died and up to 50 others were wounded in a blast at a police training base 230km (140 miles) west of Baghdad. Soon after, a suicide bomber killed four Iraqi national guards and injured six in a blast at a checkpoint near Samarra, north of Baghdad.cnn.com/ ... 11:11:07 A suicide attack in the center of the Afghan capital of Kabul Saturday injured six people, including two international peacekeepers

THU 2004-OCT-21

Extraterrestrialreuters.com/ ... 12:58:29Days away from ending a six-month mission in space, U.S. astronaut Michael Fincke said on Wednesday he is looking forward to meeting his 4-month-old daughter.

Mechanical Disastervoanews.com/ ... 12:39:30Rescue crews in China are attempting to reach at least 92 workers trapped in a coal mine following an explosion Wednesday that killed at least 60 people.

Whoopswashingtontimes.com/ ... 12:42:16...The 78-year-old dictator had just made a speech in the central Cuban town of Santa Clara when he stumbled, creating an uproar in the crowd. As aides tended to him, Castro asked for the microphone to allay fears or rumors. ..."Just so that there won't be any speculation, it seems that I broke my knee," he said, adding an apology for creating concern. ...He then joked how he expected his accident would make international headlines....abcnews.go.com/ ... 00:29:19A pastor says he was "just kidding" when he told airport security he had a bomb, reached into his luggage and pulled out a Bible, declaring, "This is my bomb." Jose L. Gonzalez, a citizen of Spain living in Deltona, Fla., was arrested and charged Sunday with making a false statement.

US Election 2004washingtonpost.com/ ... 12:36:51For one thing, no one says "real job" anymore. The correct term these days, and for the past 20 years, is "a job outside the home." ... For another, everyone knows that Laura Bush was a librarian and a teacher. ... everyone loves Laura Bush: women, men, Democrats, children. Her approval rating is just about her husband's plus Dick Cheney's, the highest of anyone in the administration. ... Heinz-Kerry: "I had not remembered her important work in the past."...Republicans have gotten sophisticated about feminism. Laura Bush does not stand up at "W Stands for Women" rallies and hand out her cookie recipes.... She's not Jackie O, and she's not Hillary. She's just a reflection of you....jewishworldreview.com/ ... 00:17:13Edwards' loathsome display of demagoguery: I never expected a candidate for vice president to give paralysis sufferers false hope ... by Charles Krauthammer

Preternatural Patternsreuters.com/ ... 12:56:25 Dutch police fined the driver of small hatchback car after spotting a Shetland pony crammed in the back... "... had no room to move and his head was pressed against the window..."wboc.com/ ... 12:43:37The annual Living Planet Report by the World Wide Fund for Nature says people currently consume 20 percent more natural resources than the earth can produce.abcnews.go.com/ ... 00:29:34A federal appeals court decided Wednesday that marine mammals have no standing to sue to stop the U.S. Navy from using sonar.abcnews.go.com/ ... 00:28:22A man missed a mouse he was trying to shoot with a small-caliber handgun and wounded his girlfriend instead thedenverchannel.com/ ... 00:09:28DENVER -- A routine kidney transplant that was supposed to take place Monday was cancelled after the doctor who was going to perform the operation said he had "ethical concerns" about the procedure because the donor and recipient met on the Internet.

Digital Consequencesabcnews.go.com/ ... 00:27:39 A new keychain gadget that lets people turn off most TVs anywhere from airports to restaurants news.yahoo.com/ ... 00:11:42A German has smashed the national record for the rarely contested sport of cellphone throwing by hurling his phone 67.50 metres (nearly 223 feet), the organisers of the event announced.worldnetdaily.com/ ... 00:08:19downsides of having a transponder lodged under the skin.... adverse tissue reaction, migration of implanted transponder, … failure of implanted transponder, … electromagnetic interference, electrical hazards, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) incompatibility and needle stick,...

Human Rightusatoday.com/ ... 12:40:44The openly gay Episcopal bishop whose ordination threatens to fracture the worldwide Anglican Communion said Wednesday he "genuinely and deeply regrets" the pain this caused some believers, but he sees no need to repent because "the Holy Spirit led us."

Only Naturalreuters.com/ ... 12:53:54...Huayna Picchu, the imposing mountain that rises behind Peru's famous Inca citadel Machu Picchu... It takes about an hour to climb the steep stone steps the Incas carved on Huayna Picchu, but the trek affords magnificent views of Machu Picchu's imposing gray stone ruins and the surrounding mountains, cloud forest and Inca stone terraces... Russian tourist.. Ahato Denis Pankiin, 35... on the summit... probably taking a photo... killed... [when] simultaneous bolts of lightning hit Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu....reuters.com/ ... 12:46:45...commonly used supplements including chamomile, ginkgo biloba, licorice, vitamin A and echinacea can cause a myriad of eye problems. ... supplements become dangerous to the eyes when people take them in large doses... 30 instances in which canthaxanthine, a carotenoid that produces an artificial suntan when taken orally, caused changes to users' retinas... seven cases in which people rinsed their eyes with chamomile tea to treat styes and irritation, and instead developed severe conjunctivitis.... [etc]news.com.au/ ... 12:44:00Taking the hormonal contraceptive causes a loss in sexual desire in one in six women abcnews.go.com/ ... 00:28:56He wanted a bit of company, so he bought a pair of bunnies. He ended up with more company than he could handle.... In less than a year, the man... had 73 rabbits....nature.com/ ... 00:17:46The Solar System could be teeming with almost invisible comets, according to some astronomers' calculations. If they are right, such extra comets would significantly increase the risk of a catastrophic impact with Earth.news.telegraph.co.uk/ ... 00:09:03waterbeds can make you infertile

Threatsmemri.org/ ... 00:10:34Iran Rejects the European Offer to Supply it With Nuclear Fuel wluctv6.com/ ... 00:08:41 The F-B-I is investigating some mysterious small holes that appeared in the bellies of two U-S Airways airliners.

Violencereuters.com/ ... 12:54:16An incensed Iranian motorist doused his car in petrol and set it ablaze with a match after picking up a parking ticket voanews.com/ ... 12:40:14The husband of abducted international aid worker Margaret Hassan... says he has not heard from the kidnappers who commandeered his wife's car two-days ago in Baghdad. ... Tahseen Ali Hassan made a pubic appeal for his wife's return. "Release my wife... She is Iraqi. She is working for a humanitarian organization. And, I ask you to release her."...heraldonline.com/ ... 12:38:46...Tasers override the central nervous system and cause involuntary muscle contractions that leave the person they're used on temporarily paralyzed. The five-second burst of nonlethal electricity acts as an alternative to lethal force during confrontations.... A York County Sheriff's deputy said Tasers are painful -- but that's what makes them effective.... defenselink.mil/ ... 00:06:52Army Sgt. Michael G. Owen, 31, of Phoenix, Ariz
Army Spc. Jonathan J. Santos, 22, of Whatcom, Wash
died October 15 in Karabilah, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle.

WED 2004-OCT-20

Mechanical Disasterreuters.com/ ... 23:03:55An Australian man building a shed accidentally fired a nail into a major artery near his heart on Wednesday but survived after emergency surgery ap.tbo.com/ ... 23:01:57He remembers Hogg, 23, of Billings, Mont., who suffered a sprained foot and back, helped him get out of the plane - and helped him keep going. "I don't know if I could have done it by myself," he said. The pair hiked perhaps three to five miles; it took them 29 hours signonsandiego.com/ ... 22:48:22A gas explosion in a coal mine killed at least 56 miners and left 92 missing in China's deadliest mining accident this year usatoday.com/ ... 22:47:03KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — Investigators late Wednesday poured over the black box recorders from a small commuter plane, searching for clues about why it slammed into a wooded area and burst into flames while preparing to land here. The crash killed 11 passengers and the two pilots. ...wo passengers, a 44-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man, escaped the crash Tuesday night with relatively minor injuries. "It was remarkable," National Transportation Safety Board member Carol Carmody said of the survivors....

Preternatural Patternsdelawareonline.com/ ... 22:56:16"He is brain dead," Biden said of the president.apnews.myway.com/ ... 22:56:05ABC has dropped Miss America, leaving the famous beauty pageant without a network TV outlet for the first time in 50 years news.independent.co.uk/ ... 02:04:29A 15-year-old girl called Savitri been admitted to hospital suffering from tiny stones that emerge from the corners of her eyes. Doctors say they have never seen anything like it, and they cannot explain it.

Digital Consequencesreuters.com/ ... 23:05:14Worldwide camera phone sales are rising fast and expected to total 150 million this year.ap.tbo.com/ ... 23:02:12BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Authorities are trying to determine how a hacker gained access to a University of California computer that contained personal information for up to 600,000 state residents.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 22:59:18Phishing attacks that try to steal personal information could soon be a lot nastier warns a security expert. ... Sophisticated tricks that make fake messages look more plausible could mean many more people fall victim thescotsman.scotsman.com/ ... 22:47:39Household chores set to end at last with rise of the robot kirotv.com/ ... 02:04:07 A 13-year-old Lacey Oh. boy who posted pictures of himself on the Internet was charged with possessing and dealing in child pornography.news.yahoo.com/ ... 02:03:02 Chairman Michael Powell said Tuesday that he would seek broad regulatory authority for the federal government over Internet-based telephone services to avoid stifling the emerging market.

US Election 2004local6.com/ ... 22:57:13ODESSA, Mo. -- A 24-year-old man is facing accusations that he tried to sell his vote to the highest bidder on eBay.enquirer.com/ ... 22:56:40COLUMBUS - Thousands of cards mailed by county election boards to newly registered voters in Hamilton County and throughout the state are being returned because the people can't be found.news.yahoo.com/ ... 22:54:34Teresa Heinz Kerry says she doesn't know if first lady Laura Bush has ever had "a real job" and suggests their different experiences help make them different people.news.yahoo.com/ ... 22:54:01Teresa Heinz Kerry released the following statement today:
"I had forgotten that Mrs. Bush had worked as a school teacher and librarian, and there couldn't be a more important job than teaching our children. As someone who has been both a full time mom and full time in workforce, I know we all have valuable experiences that shape who we are. I appreciate and honor Mrs. Bush's service to the country as First Lady, and am sincerely sorry I had not remembered her important work in the past."apnews.myway.com/ ... 02:02:09Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday raised the possibility of terrorists bombing U.S. cities with nuclear weapons and questioned whether Sen. John Kerry could combat such an "ultimate threat ... you've got to get your mind around."

Human Rightreuters.com/ ... 23:05:47 A senior Spanish government official on Tuesday asked the organizers of the Madrid Masters tennis tournament to stop using models as ball-girls, saying it was sexist.cbc.ca/ ... 22:48:02At least 18 people were killed and 13 others were missing as a powerful storm blasted across Japan on Wednesday, causing deadly mudslides, flash floods and prompting thousands to flee their homes theglobeandmail.com/ ... 22:47:28The Anglican bishop of Vancouver and the head of the U.S. Anglican church made clear yesterday they will not undo steps they've taken to end discrimination against homosexuals in the church -- but nonetheless they expressed regret for their actions as requested by a world Anglican commission on church unity.

Only Naturalap.tbo.com/ ... 23:00:40LOS ANGELES (AP) - A fierce storm that swept through the state, killing at least three people, pounded Southern California on Wednesday, sending mud and floodwaters gushing near fire-scarred mountain hamlets, downing trees, caving in roofs and drenching streets and highways.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 22:58:49They found the most up-to-date human genome contains only 20,000 to 25,000 genes - which is about 10,000 less than indicated in the ..draft human genome ... "gold standard" version, published last year news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 22:57:35Indian authorities have launched an urgent investigation after historians reported that the Taj Mahal was leaning and in danger of sinking.reuters.com/ ... 02:05:07An earthquake has rocked a densely populated city in southwestern China, destroying more than 20,000 houses but killing no one news.independent.co.uk/ ... 02:03:43An American woman who received ovarian tissue from her sister has become pregnant in what is believed to be the first case of its kind

Violenceap.tbo.com/ ... 23:00:56 Israel's president apologized Wednesday for what he called the "accidental" killings of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers, but said the deaths occurred because Palestinian militants hid among civilians and launched rockets from residential areas.ap.tbo.com/ ... 23:00:29BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's interim government complained Wednesday that the United Nations isn't doing enough to help prepare for January elections, saying the organization has sent fewer electoral workers than it did when tiny East Timor voted to secede from Indonesia.ap.tbo.com/ ... 23:00:18The decision by commanders to add armor to more military vehicles gives a "partial victory" to the soldiers in Iraq who refused to go on a fuel convoy because of safety concerns - and helped save other troops who might be put in harm's way, wives of two of the soldiers said Wednesday.reuters.com/ ... 22:59:33U.S. warplanes killed a family of six in raids against rebels led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, while a top international aid agency suspended Iraq operations on Wednesday after its manager was kidnapped.reuters.com/ ... 02:04:55Iraq's bloody chaos has traumatized many Iraqis, but what troubles one of its top psychiatrists most is the angry young men eager to join the anti-U.S. insurgency. "More of my patients ask my opinion about the guerrillas. They are confused and anxious. Some lean toward the insurgents,"news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 02:02:21A video of a senior charity worker who has been kidnapped in Baghdad has been broadcast on al-Jazeera TV station.katc.com/ ... 02:01:54A ball of fire erupts from a train car, smothering commuters with smoke and littering the platform with bodies and staining it with blood in a chilling security-camera videotape of the March 11 train bombings broadcast Tuesday by a Spanish station.

TUE 2004-OCT-19

Digital Consequencesreuters.com/ ... 11:35:41An Oregon man discovered earlier this month that his year-old Toshiba Corp. flat-screen TV was emitting an international distress signal picked up by a satellite, leading a search and rescue operation to his apartment in Corvallis, Oregon, 70 miles south of Portland.reuters.com/ ... 11:31:13Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday agreed to require only a single license for server software that runs on computers powered by a new generation of chips that squeeze multiple processors into a single package. Chipmakers Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. both hailed the move, which they said could speed the adoption of multiple-core processors that they plan to introduce next year.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:27:42An Australian journalist kidnapped in Iraq was freed after his captors checked the popular internet search engine Google to confirm his identity.

Preternatural Patternsreuters.com/ ... 11:36:27"The tattoos, the blood, cutting myself -- it's all very much who I am." -- actress ANGELINA JOLIE, in an interview with Esquire magazine.reuters.com/ ... 11:35:22"Chavs" -- the name given to British teenage delinquents who have a penchant for flashy gold jewelry, white trainers, clothes with prominent logos and Burberry baseball caps -- is set to be the next buzzword, according to a new book. ..."Chav" is thought to be derived from the Romany word for a child. ...Other contenders for this year's buzzword include "retrosexuals" -- men who spend as little time and money as possible on their appearance. reuters.com/ ... 11:32:33Two brothers from Australia and Argentina who lost contact for 53 years were reunited by chance after recognizing each other on a trip to their native Portugal.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:28:40The Sioux tribe of North America is demanding that the famous Parisian nightclub The Crazy Horse change its name out of respect for a former chief.thestar.com/ ... 11:19:54He was India's most wanted bandit, a brutal smuggler who murdered police officers, slaughtered elephants and kidnapped a movie star. In the end, it took millions of dollars, thousands of security forces and more than three decades to bring him down.

Extraterrestrialspace.com/ ... 11:11:59New observations of dust around young stars suggests collisions of large asteroid-like objects and fledgling planets are frequent. But that doesn't likely stop the formation of rocky planets like Earth, a process that may well be common, the results suggest.

US Election 2004reuters.com/ ... 11:34:13California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday that his speech backing President Bush at the Republican Convention in August resulted in a dramatic cold shoulder from his wife Maria Shriver, a member of the very Democratic Kennedy family. "Well, there was no sex for 14 days," Schwarzenegger told former White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta in an on-stage conversation in front of 1,000 people. "Everything comes with side effects."washingtonpost.com/ ... 11:26:59Arlington police arrested 21 protesters yesterday after they chained themselves to the front door and one another at Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters during a demonstration against administration policies.washingtontimes.com/ ... 11:25:27President Bush's re-election campaign is getting a boost from powerful Christian groups, which are enlisting entertainers such as actor Jim Caviezel of "The Passion of the Christ" to cajole millions of evangelicals into voting.sptimes.com/ ... 11:22:57Bush on Kerry: "He believes America should pass a global test before we defend ourselves." In contrast, Bush said, "I will never turn over America's national security system to leaders of other countries."toledoblade.com/ ... 11:11:11Ohio - A Defiance County man has been arrested for allegedly filing more than 100 false voter registration forms in exchange for crack cocaine from a Toledo woman working on behalf of the NAACP’s voter registration drive.apnews.myway.com/ ... 11:10:52President Bush on Monday accused Democratic rival Sen. John Kerry of "shameless scare tactics" by suggesting that the president would jeopardize Social Security for older Americans and bring back the military draft for young people.apnews.myway.com/ ... 11:10:17On a day of strikingly personal campaign rhetoric, Bush said his Democratic challenger stands for "protest and defeatism" in Iraq. He added that Kerry would lead the nation toward "a major defeat in the war on terror." The four-term Massachusetts senator accused the president of "arrogant boasting" to hide bitter truths about a war waged on his command. He cited a published report saying the top general in Iraq had warned Pentagon officials last winter about a shortage of supplies.

Only Naturalnews.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:30:21The authorities in Brasov, central Romania, have declared a rabies alert after an infected brown bear killed two men and injured six others.

Violencereuters.com/ ... 11:23:27Four Iraqi National Guards were killed and up to 80 others wounded in a mortar attack on their headquarters north of Baghdad Tuesday wistv.com/ ... 11:23:13Spanish officials say they've broken up a terrorist cell that was plotting to bomb the country's National Court. That's the court leading Spain's investigations of radical Muslim terrorists.nytimes.com/ ... 11:11:41Members of the Army Reserve platoon in Iraq that disobeyed orders to deliver fuel to another base last week had tried to persuade their superiors for hours to cancel the mission, relatives of the soldiers said Monday.

MON 2004-OCT-18

Preternatural Patternsreuters.com/ ... 11:31:38Thousands of barefoot penitents walked, rolled and even shuffled on all fours to a desert shrine in northern Mexico on Friday to pay homage to a long-dead healer hailed as an idiot savant saint.

US Election 2004reuters.com/ ... 11:27:34"There is no shadow of a doubt that something has happened, something has gone wrong," Professor Simon Wessely, of King's College London, told a news briefing. But the head of the Gulf War research unit at the college said the increase in ill health is unlikely to be a new disease or have a single cause. "There are huge areas that remain unclear and I am afraid I suspect they will always remain unclear," he added.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:23:48The weekend elections and referendum in Belarus.. approved the lifting of a constitutional ban on a third term for President Alexander Lukashenko.... "fell significantly short" of international standards, western observers say.straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/ ... 11:21:38Malaysia's former prime minister has urged Muslims in America to vote for US Senator John Kerry in the Nov 2 presidential election, saying President George W. Bush has been 'the cause of the tragedies' across the Muslim world.time.com/ ... 11:19:23When Senator Mark Dayton shut down his Washington office last week, ostensibly out of concern for his staff's safety, many on Capitol Hill wondered if the Minnesota Democrat knew something everyone else didn't. The answer, it turns out, is far from it. Dayton last month received the same briefing as his fellow Senators about a CIA worst-case scenario involving simultaneous terrorist attacks across the country. Yet he apparently took the hypothetical threat as an imminent one. "Most people who heard the briefing," sniffs an intelligence official, "understood the context. It was theoretical."drudgereport.com/ ... 11:18:22The Kerry campaign finally released.. two pages of.. Teresa Heinz Kerry's 2003 tax return... earned $5.07 million... $2.78 million of that income came in the form of tax- exempt interest... On her "remaining 'taxable' income ...paid $627,150.. overall average federal tax rate of only 12.4% on her $5.07 million in total income." ...a lower average rate than nearly all middle- class taxpayers paid in 2001....abcnews.go.com/ ... 11:15:41a new.. sex poll...
Of those involved in a committed relationship, who is very satisfied with their relationship?
Republicans — 87 percent; Democrats — 76 percent
Who is very satisfied with their sex life?
Republicans — 56 percent; Democrats — 47 percent
The poll analysis also reveals who has worn something sexy to enhance their sex life:
Republicans — 72 percent; Democrats — 62 percent
When asked whether they had ever faked an orgasm, more Democrats (33 percent) than Republicans (26 percent) said they had.sun-sentinel.com/ ... 11:14:22Florida - Problems were being reported at nine of 14 early voting sites in Broward County on Monday morning. Gisela Salas, of the Broward Elections Office, said workers were having problems with a live database connection that is used to verify that a voter is properly registered....news.xinhuanet.com/ ... 11:13:54Russian President Vladimir Putin... said Monday that the terrorist attacks in Iraq were aimed at preventing US President George W. Bush from being reelected.... He warned that if the terrorists achieve the goal, then that will provide a new impulse to international terrorism, leading to more attacks throughout the world.,,,drudgereport.com/ ... 01:05:07The election manual titled -- "FLORIDA VICTORY 2004" -obtained by the DRUDGE REPORT, advocates an apparent unlawful "BALLOT PICKUP" drive by campaign volunteers.

Extraterrestrialreuters.com/ ... 11:30:32"The capsule returned back to Earth safely Friday, but unfortunately it hit a four-story civilian house,"news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 01:02:55A Chinese satellite has smashed into a villager's house on its return to earth... no-one was hurt.

History - still with usap.tbo.com/ ... 01:02:25 Pierre Salinger, who served as President John F. Kennedy's press secretary and later had a long career with ABC News, has died at a hospital in southern France. He was 79. ... died Saturday from heart failure following surgery last week at a hospital in Cavaillon to implant a pacemaker....

Only Naturalreuters.com/ ... 11:32:18 A brown bear in Romania killed one person and severely wounded nine others picnicking on a mountain pasture in Transylvania... "It even attacked the paramedics who arrived at the scene to help the wounded..."

Human Rightreuters.com/ ... 11:30:55 A soccer team made up of Guatemalan prostitutes, formed to call attention to their poor working conditions, lost 3-1 to policewomen on Saturday.washingtonpost.com/ ... 11:11:19A senior Anglican Church commission Monday urged U.S. church leaders to apologize for consecrating a gay priest as bishop and called for a moratorium on the blessing of same-sex marriages.

US Military Casualtiesdefenselink.mil/ ... 13:57:28

Army Capt. Christopher B. Johnson, 29, of Excelsior Springs, Mo.

Army Chief Warrant Officer William I. Brennan, 36, of Bethlehem, Conn.
died on Oct. 16 in Baghdad, Iraq, when their OH-58D helicopter apparently collided with another OH-58D helicopter and crashed. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:12:13

Army Staff Sgt. Omer T. Hawkins, II, 31, of Cherry Fork, Ohio

Army Spc. Bradley S. Beard, 22, of Chapel Hill, N.C

Army Pfc. Mark A. Barbret, 22, of Shelby Township, Mich
died on Oct. 14, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their convoy. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:11:11

Marine Cpl. William I. Salazar, 26, of Las Vegas, Nev., died Oct. 15 from wounds received as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:10:53

Army Capt. Dennis L. Pintor, 30, of Lima, Ohio, died on Oct. 12.

Army Spc. Michael S. Weger, 30, of Rochester, N.Y., died on Oct. 12.

Army Spc. Jaime Moreno, 28, of Round Lake Beach, Ill., died on Oct. 13 of injuries sustained on Oct. 12
died in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their patrol vehicle on Oct. 12. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:09:50

Army Pvt. 2 David L. Waters, 19, of Auburn, Calif., died Oct. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:09:32

Army Lt. Col. Mark P. Phelan, 44, of Green Lane, Pa. Phelan was assigned to the Army Reserve's 416th Civil Affairs Battalion, Morristown, Pa.

Army Maj. Charles R. Soltes, Jr., 36, of Irvine, Calif. Soltes was assigned to the Army Reserve's 426th Civil Affairs Battalion, Upland, Calif.
died on Oct. 13, in Mosul, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their convoy vehicle. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:08:46

Army Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip, 21, of Irving, Texas, died Oct. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, when his dismounted patrol came under enemy fire. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:08:25

Army Spc. Alan J. Burgess, 24, of Landaff, N.H., died Oct. 15 in Mosul, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle.defenselink.mil/ ... 01:08:03

Marine Lance Cpl. Brian K. Schramm, 22, of Rochester, N.Y., died Oct. 15 as result of enemy action in Babil Province, Iraq.

Aftermathmosnews.com/ ... 11:13:08Blood tests showed high levels of heroin and morphine in most of the militants, who were killed when federal forces and angry parents stormed the school at the end of a three-day hostage drama... “Some ...had levels exceeding a deadly dose, which indicates they had gotten used to the substance, and were using it regularly while preparing for the attack...." ...insensitive to pain and fought on even after being shot several times. He said their use of drugs had made them immune to pain....ap.tbo.com/ ... 01:07:36Forensic tests have shown that some of the militants who seized more than 1,000 hostages in a school in the southern Russian town of Beslan last month were drug addicts reuters.com/ ... 01:06:09AMMAN, Jordan - A group of militants was summoned Sunday and formally charged for their alleged role in a thwarted chemical attack using suicide bombers, judicial sources said ahead of a trial which should begin in November.

Threatsreuters.com/ ... 11:32:35Saudi Arabia banned tinted car windows Sunday ap.tbo.com/ ... 11:28:09FARGO, N.D. - A Northwest Airlink commuter plane was evacuated before takeoff Monday morning after two passengers claimed to have overheard someone mention a bomb while talking on a cell phone news.com.au/ ... 01:05:26AUSTRALIA has quietly rejected diplomatic overtures from the United Nations and the US to contribute to a military force to protect UN officials in Iraq.

Violencesuntimes.com/ ... 01:05:41Sun-Times photographer Jon Sall and reporter Annie Sweeney spent three weeks in Kuwait and Iraq interviewing Chicagoans in Operation Iraqi Freedom.cfra.com/ ... 01:04:38The movement of alleged Iraqi terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has declared its allegiance to Osama bin Laden.reuters.com/ ... 01:04:24U.S. warplanes pounded Falluja Sunday and American troops reinforced positions around the city in a battle targeting foreign militants led by America's top enemy in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.cnn.com/ ... 01:03:44An explosion rocked central Baghdad on Sunday night, killing three Iraqi police officers... another eight people were wounded....

SUN 2004-OCT-17

US Election 2004news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 03:58:40The commander of the UN peacekeepers in Haiti has linked a recent upsurge in violence there to comments made by the US presidential candidate, John Kerry.

Extraterrestrialthestar.com/ ... 03:55:18A Russian spacecraft ferrying a fresh crew to the international space station had to be docked manually today after an unexplained glitch sent it toward the outpost too quickly.

Violencereuters.com/ ... 03:59:51A suicide car bomber killed three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi civilian in Qaim near the Syrian border on Friday. The fourth died after a car bomb blast in Mosul on the same day.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 03:58:02Overnight strikes by American bombers on the western Iraqi city of Falluja have killed three people, local hospital sources said. Warplanes swooped in on a mission to destroy a "key terrorist checkpoint" in the city's Jolan district, the US military reported.

SAT 2004-OCT-16

Extraterrestrialwashingtonpost.com/ ... 00:32:04 Genesis space capsule... four pencil stub-size gravity switches designed to trigger the release of the spacecraft's parachutes were installed backward reuters.co.uk/ ... 00:31:39A Russian spacecraft has delivered three astronauts to the International Space Station

Violencewashingtontimes.com/ ... 00:31:02U.S. jets struck targets in the insurgent bastion Fallujah again yesterday, and U.S. officials said 10 persons — including a family of four — were killed when a car bomb exploded near a Baghdad police station in a bloody start to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

FRI 2004-OCT-15

Whoopsreuters.com/ ... 20:42:18A Croatian armed robber abandoned a bank hold up after the cashier ... "Knowing she was behind a bulletproof glass, ...laughed heartily, rang her boss to say she was being robbed and asked him to call the police...."seattlepi.nwsource.com/ ... 20:30:16The NASA spacecraft that smashed into the Utah desert last month while bringing home fragile samples of the sun may have been doomed by engineering drawings that had been done backwards

Preternatural Patternsusatoday.com/ ... 22:46:18product placement in TV shows has moved brands from appearing as mere props to becoming stars of the story lines.reuters.com/ ... 20:41:06More men are willing to have sex with their bosses to get a promotion or a salary increase than women, a Belgian human resources weekly said on Friday.news.yahoo.com/ ... 01:15:34A University of Louisiana at Lafayette physics professor ... lost control right after class began Wednesday morning and was yelling obscenities. ... "Then he told us if we got out of our seats he's gonna kill us. He went on the black board and wrote '911 now', so we were really in fear for our lives... He's always acted a little strange, he's yelled and cursed before, and this time we waited for it to stop, but it never did...."

Spears said Houston slapped a student and then told his class he was God.

US Election 2004rockymountainnews.com/ ... 20:33:02Democrats ... leaked page ...urging operatives to lodge a "pre-emptive strike" of claiming voter intimidation, whether it's true or not. ... Ted Halaby, chairman of the Colorado GOP... said it was "a criminal act to falsely allege something that does not exist." ...called on the state Democrats to "denounce and renounce" the manual's teachings... But Democrats... said they must be pro-active to assure that minorities and all others are not scared away from the polls...washingtonpost.com/ ... 20:29:07An overwhelming majority... Nearly two in three likely voters... believe it was wrong for Democratic nominee John F. Kerry to have mentioned in Wednesday's presidential debate that Vice President Cheney's daughter was a lesbian, according to the latest Washington Post tracking survey....newsnet5.com/ ... 20:22:05ELYRIA, Ohio -- A hot-button film is getting multiple viewings at a local polling place the week before the election, NewsChannel5 reported. Some say the West River branch library should not be playing politics.news.yahoo.com/ ... 20:21:20 Kentucky's largest newspaper on Thursday urged Republican Sen. Jim Bunning (news, bio, voting record) to answer questions about his mental health because his behavior as he seeks a second term is troubling voters.story.news.yahoo.com/ ... 01:14:10 Federal Communications Commission topper Michael Powell ... said Thursday the FCC will not step in to prevent Sinclair Broadcast Group from airing an anti-Kerry docu called "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" in the final days before the election because the agency does not and should not have the power to do so.....cbc.ca/ ... 01:12:49the fifth estate: The Unauthorized Biography of Dick Cheney -- American Vice-President Dick Cheney has walked the corridors of world power for three decades. Cheney's remarkable life story involves the relentless accumulation of power in every form and regardless of the outcome of this fall's election, he will continue to be one of the most powerful and well-connected men in the world. The fifth estate will show how he accomplished this, what it involved in terms of costs for others and what history's judgement could be....

US Military Casualtiesdefenselink.mil/ ... 22:44:17

Army Spc. Jeremy F. Regnier, 22, of Littleton, N.H., died October 13 in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:44:00

Army Staff Sgt. Brian S. Hobbs, 28, of Mesa, Ariz.

Army Spc. Kyle Ka Eo Fernandez, 26, of Waipahu, Hawaii
died on October 14th, in Miam Do, Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device detonated near their dismounted patrol.defenselink.mil/ ... 22:43:12

Army Spc. Ronald W. Baker, 34, of Cabot, Ark., died October 13th in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained on October 7th in Taji, Iraq, when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle. defenselink.mil/ ... 22:42:48

Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel R. Wyatt, 22, of Calendonia, Wis., died on Oct. 12 due to enemy action in Babil Province, Iraq.

Marine 2nd Lt. Paul M. Felsberg, 27, of West Palm Beach, Fla.

Marine Lance Cpl. Victor A. Gonzalez, 19, of Watsonville, Calif.
died on Oct. 13 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.defenselink.mil/ ... 22:41:42

Army Spc. Christopher A. Merville, 26, of Albuquerque, N.M., died October 12th in Baghdad, Iraq, when his unit came under enemy fire during combat operations.defenselink.mil/ ... 22:41:25

Marine Pfc. Oscar A. Martinez, 19, of North Lauderdale, Fla.

Marine Cpl. Ian T. Zook, 24, of Port St. Lucie, Fla.
died Oct. 12 as result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Only Naturalreuters.com/ ... 20:43:43Human Lie Detectors Almost Never Miss, Study Finds scidev.net/ ... 20:30:42Researchers have developed a protein able to block the transmission of HIV in monkeys.

Aftermathap.tbo.com/ ... 20:36:26One of Three Americans Killed in Iraq Blasts Remembered as Man Who Loved Family, Adventure ap.tbo.com/ ... 20:35:50 One of the alleged ringleaders of the March 11 train bombings in Madrid was identified Friday as one of seven suspects who blew themselves up during a police raid on their apartment. Allekema Lamari, an Algerian ..."the emir of the train bombings...."news.independent.co.uk/ ... 20:29:35Kabul -- A US military criminal investigation has found 28 American soldiers culpable in the deaths of two Taliban suspects at an interrogation centre in Afghanistan.

Threatsreuters.com/ ... 20:44:16Singapore has enlisted its 40,000 taxi drivers to foil terrorists, telling them to be on alert for nervous or restless passengers and distributing pamphlets describing what militants might do or ask.worldtribune.com/ ... 20:21:47 Iran and Russia said they have completed construction of the nuclear power reactor at Bushehr. The announcement came less than two months after Iran said Bushehr would not begin operations until late 2006, three years behind schedule.

Violenceabclocal.go.com/ ... 22:37:04Pakistani special forces attacked kidnappers holding two Chinese engineers near the Afghan border on Thursday, killing all five of the al-Qaida-linked militants, who were followers of a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner. One of the hostages was killed in the raid, while the other survived.ap.tbo.com/ ... 20:38:53VALLEJO, Calif. - The husband's story was extraordinary: He and his wife ...cruising the bay ...bogged down in thick offshore mud. ...caught fire and sank ...stranded for hours... was dead the next morning. ...autopsy soon revealed that [wife] had been assaulted. ...husband ...now sits in jail, accused of murdering his wife of seven months....reuters.com/ ... 20:34:01U.S. forces arrested Falluja's chief negotiator on Friday after air strikes on the rebel-held city that the U.S. military said were part of a drive to thwart attacks in Iraq during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 20:33:47About 70,000 displaced people are thought to have died in Sudan's Darfur region since March, mainly from disease and malnutrition, a UN official says.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 20:33:31Israeli troops appear to have withdrawn completely from northern Gaza after a 16-day operation which saw the heaviest fighting there in four years... sent into Gaza to track down rocket teams targeting Israel, and more than 100 Palestinians died...apnews.myway.com/ ... 20:22:22The Army is investigating reports that several members of a reservist supply unit in Iraq refused to go on a convoy mission, the military said Friday. Relatives of the soldiers said the troops considered the mission too dangerous.apnews.myway.com/ ... 01:13:12 U.S. Marines launched air and ground attacks Thursday on the insurgent bastion Fallujah after city representatives suspended peace talks with the government over Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's demand to hand over terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

THU 2004-OCT-14

Preternatural Patternssbcbaptistpress.org/ ... 17:12:36The Federal Communications Commission has proposed a record total of $1.2 million in fines against 169 Fox Television Network affiliates for airing indecent material during an episode of the reality program "Married by America."ap.tbo.com/ ... 17:09:30Starbucks plans to more than triple the number of its worldwide outlets to 30,000, with half of those in the United States.news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 17:06:24Yusuf Islam, the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens, is favourite to have the British Christmas number one single with a duet with Ronan Keating.

Supernaturallocal6.com/ ... 17:04:41In the latest issue of "Green Arrow," published Wednesday, a teenage runaway named Mia -- who has been in the care of the title hero for two years -- discovers that her time spent as a street-dweller and prostitute has resulted in her picking up the virus.

Extraterrestrialreuters.com/ ... 00:38:13A Russian rocket carrying a U.S.-Russian space crew to the International Space Station (ISS) blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Thursday. ...rocket carrying a Soyuz TMA-5 capsule blasted off at 7:06 a.m. Moscow time (0306 GMT).... Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov and NASA's Leroy Chiao will replace Russian Gennady Padalka and American Michael Fincke who have manned the ISS since April.....

US Election 2004seattletimes.nwsource.com/ ... 17:03:51Men save signs for Bush in stakeout apnews.myway.com/ ... 17:02:22Vice President Dick Cheney called himself "a pretty angry father" on Thursday after Sen. John Kerry mentioned their gay daughter during the final presidential debate - comments Kerry said were meant to be positive about families with gay children.... Lynne Cheney.. called Kerry "not a good man" and his remarks about daughter Mary Cheney "a cheap and tawdry political trick." ...Elizabeth Edwards.. wife of vice presidential candidate John Edwards.. suggested in a radio interview that Mrs. Cheney might feel "a certain degree of shame" because her daughter is a lesbian. Mary Cheney, one of two Cheney daughters, is openly gay and an official in the Bush-Cheney campaign. The vice president has spoken at length about his daughter's sexuality and his view of gay relationships, even disagreeing with the president about the need for a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages.reuters.com/ ... 00:37:15EVEN WHEN THEY'RE RIGHT, THEY'RE WRONG! HELP!
President Bush and Democratic candidate John Kerry, who both oppose gay marriage, disagreed Wednesday on whether the issue should be left up to states and offered differing answers on whether a person could choose to be homosexual.

Digital Consequencesseattlepi.nwsource.com/ ... 17:00:22Google's Desktop Search a