....

Africanized honeybees found in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- Nearly 30 years after a TV movie showed the Superdome saving New Orleans from "killer bees," Louisiana has joined other southern-tier states with confirmed sightings of the aggressive insects.
Bees trapped in June near the northwest Louisiana town of Rodessa, about 35 miles northwest of Shreveport, were confirmed as the Africanized variety Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's bee research center, state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom said.They reached Texas in 1990 and have spread west to California, and swarms have been reported around ports in Florida.

China Bans Media From Covering Outbreak

Chinese Authorities Ban Media From Sites of Pig-Borne Disease Outbreak, Newspaper Reports

HONG KONG Jul 31, 2005 — Chinese authorities have banned local reporters from visiting areas where an outbreak of a pig-borne disease has killed 34 farmers, ordering newspapers to use dispatches from the state news agency, a Hong Kong newspaper reported Sunday.
A total of 174 confirmed or suspected cases have been linked to the bacteria streptococcus suis in China's southwestern Sichuan province, where farmers who handled or butchered infected pigs have been sickened in dozens of villages and towns. Symptoms include nausea, fever, vomiting, and bleeding under the skin.
Sichuan authorities have ordered local journalists to stay away from locations where the disease surfaced, and told newspapers to instead carry stories as issued by the official Xinhua News Agency, including the headline, Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily News reported.

L.A. police commander defends SWAT team

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A police commander on Saturday defended the actions of SWAT members who killed a young girl in a shootout with her father, one of three standoffs in the past nine months in which officers killed suspects holding hostages.
"Those people did the absolute best job that they could," said Capt. Scott Kroeber, who had been invited by community activists to a South Los Angeles coffee house. "When you're being shot at, it's very difficult to get off a precision shot."...Click title for article

...Which one is the pig?

Se Habla Espanol......

...The truth

U.K. police urge caution after arrest of bombing suspects

"LONDON (AP) — Terrorists still pose a serious threat to London despite the capture of the four men suspected of trying to bomb the city's mass transit system, police said. After a charged standoff between suspects and police in the British capital and a raid in Rome on Friday, an official at London's Metropolitan Police said they believed they had in custody all of those suspected of trying to carry out the botched attacks. At least three are of British citizens or legal residents of east African origin.
Another suspect also was arrested in west London but the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his role was unclear. Investigators did not yet know whether he was a fifth would-be attacker whom they said earlier might have left an unexploded bomb in a west London park, the official said. (Related video: Police make new arrests...)" Click title for full story...

U.S. Army will pull out of 13 German bases

BERLIN - The U.S. Army will pull out of 13 bases in southern Germany as part of its repositioning of American forces around the world, its European headquarters said Friday.Eleven bases in and around the city of Würzburg in Bavaria state will be handed over to the German government by September 2007, the Army's European headquarters in Heidelberg said. Two more bases near Würzburg will close and be handed over in subsequent years.Washington is bringing many units home and opening smaller, more flexible bases abroad to respond to new threats such as international terrorism.The new bases will host U.S.-based troops rotating through for shorter periods of time, without the schools and family housing that went with Cold War-era bases.

Central Texas receives $12M in transportation funds

Austin will be receiving more than $12 million for various transportation projects around Central Texas and along the I-35 corridor.
The funds, which were obtained by Congressman Lamar Smith, R-Tx., are part of the Transportation Equity Act. The act received final approval by the House of Representatives Friday."These funds will address traffic congestion, improve our highways and create new jobs," Smith says. "In addition, this legislation will reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities by funding highway safety improvement and driver safety awareness programs."

US Astronomers Say They Have Found a 10th Planet Beyond Pluto

Seventy-five years after the discovery of the planet Pluto, U.S. astronomers say they have discovered a tenth planet far beyond Pluto in the outlying region of the solar system. The object is so distant that the scientists have not yet been able to determine its precise size and mass.
California Institute of Technology astronomer Michael Brown and colleagues first saw this planet in January with a telescope at the Palomar Observatory near San Diego. They had planned to withhold an announcement until they could figure out its exact diameter and mass. But they rushed the news out prematurely Friday when they discovered that someone had broken into their internet website and learned of the finding, possibly with the intent of breaking the information.
Mr. Brown estimates the new planet to be about 1 1/2 times Pluto's size, but nearly twice as far from the Sun at the most distant point in its oval orbit. That makes it 97 times further from the Sun than Earth is. It is so far away that it takes 280 years to go around the Sun and is the farthest solar system object ever found.

cyouincourt007: If you listen to AM radio....more specifically CoasttoCoastAM with George Noory and Art Bell,than this is not news to you....just confirmation of something we heard a long time ago.

Authorities Arrest Men With NYC Maps, Video

Five Men Detained in New Jersey, Set to Be Deported

Five Egyptian men with maps of the New York City subway system and video of New York landmarks have been arrested by the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Newark, N.J., ABC News has learned.
FBI and law enforcement officials told ABC News the five men — four illegal immigrants and one law enforcement fugitive — were arrested Sunday night following a tip to the Newark Police Department. In addition to the subway maps and video, the men had train schedules and $8,000 in $20 and $50 bills.The men were identified as: Karim Ahmed Abdel Latif Ahmed, 21; his brother Mahoud Ahmed Abdel Latif Ahmed, 19; Ahmed Mohamed Atta, 30; Mohamed Ibrahim Gaber, 34, and Mohamed Palat Anwar Jozain. When Newark authorities converged at the group's location at 246 Ferry St., Karim Ahmed answered the door and agreed to allow police to enter. Officers said they noticed the maps, and video cameras and Karim and his brother agreed to a search....

Natalie Holloway Update

"New Developments in the Natalee Holloway case in Aruba:A witness has come forward saying that he saw the Kalpoe brothers and Joran in a car in the early morning hours around 2 or 3am. When he drove by their car all three of them tried to hide their faces..."
Click on title...info & video available
Courtesy of Michelle @ Right In Texas

Remains of 2 U.S. pilots returning from Vietnam War

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The remains of two U.S. Air Force officers from Texas, missing for 40 years since their bomber crashed in Laos during the Vietnam War, have been found and are being returned to their families for burial, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.Col. James Lewis of Marshall, Texas, and Maj. Arthur Baker of San Antonio were aboard one of four B-57B Canberra bombers on April 7, 1965, when the plane went down in cloudy weather during a mission over Xiangkhoang Province, Laos.

7.2 quake shakes Indian islands

Tsunami warning canceled

BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN) -- A 7.2 earthquake centered in the Nicobar Islands shook the Indian Ocean but did not pose a widespread threat of a tsunami, an official said.
"There is no danger for the basin," said Barry Hirshorn of the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii."There may be a tsunami generated very local to the event, but there is no danger to the people far away."Officials in Delhi, India, said there was no damage on the Nicobar Islands from the quake, which struck at 12:02 p.m. ET.

Rafting trip probed

EVIDENCE emerged last night the bombers responsible for the attempted terror attacks in London and the July 7 bombings are linked by whitewater rafting trips in north Wales.Photos of the terrorist together .
It is understood police are investigating the potential link after they discovered literature from Bala's National Whitewater Centre in one of the rucksacks which was to explode.The discovery of the papers in a rucksack is the first evidencial link between the July 7 attacks and the four attempted bombings which has been found.
The connection between that trip and those responsible for last Thursday's attempted replica attack is a breakthrough for police.

2nd arrest made in failed London transit bombings

LONDON -- A second man was arrested in London on Saturday in connection with this week's attempted transit bombings.Scotland Yard said the man was arrested in Stockwell, the south London neighborhood where another suspect was detained Friday and another man was fatally shot by police in a subway station.The first suspect, who has not been named, was being questioned at a high-security London police station...

London Police Hunt for Terror Suspects

Reuters:Combination picture taken from Closed Circuit Television and released by London's Metropolitan Police on July 22, 2005, shows the four suspects sought by police in connection with the attempted bomb attacks carried out on July 21, 2005 in London. Police shot dead a man at a south London Underground station on Friday as they hunted for bombers who struck London's transport network a day earlier. They did not say if the man was among those pictured. REUTERS/Metropolitan Police/Handout

Police shoot and kill man on London Tube:Possible Suicide/Homicide Bomber

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police in London say they have shot a man at a subway station, the day after four apparently failed attempts to repeat the carnage of the July 7 blasts.
There were unconfirmed media reports that the person shot at Stockwell station -- close to the Oval, one of four sites targeted by suspected bombers on Thursday -- was a suspected suicide bomber.Police told CNN Friday that "armed officers shot a male at Stockwell Underground station." They would not say if the man was dead.One passenger, Briony Coetsee told the Press Association: "We were on the Tube and then we suddenly heard someone say 'get out, get out' and then we heard gunshots."...

Passengers said a man, described as South Asian, ran onto a train at Stockwell station in south London. Witnesses said police chased him...and police then shot him.... the man didn't appear to have been carrying anything but said he was wearing a thick coat that looked padded.

Update: The individual shot was a Brazilian who ran because his visa was expired.

Hundreds at Mass for shot Brazilian

Hundreds of people have gathered for a Mass for the Brazilian man wrongly shot dead by police as a suspected suicide bomber.
Friends and family of Jean Charles de Menezes met at Westminster Cathedral in central London to remember his life. Bianca Jagger, Goodwill Ambassador from the Council of Europe, was among those who gave readings at the start of the service. Mr de Menezes was shot eight times - including seven times in the head - on Friday last week as he fled from police at Stockwell Tube Station in south London. Link

Police surround London's largest mosque after bomb threat

Armed police surrounded a mosque in east London on Friday after a bomb threat but a search found no trace of any device and the alert was called off, police said. Mohammed Abdul Bari, chairman of the East London Mosque, said the mosque had received a bomb threat over the telephone Friday morning. "There was a bomb threat at the East London mosque and there was a cordon," a police officer told Reuters at the scene in the White chapel area. "It's all cleared, that's it."The Metropolitan Police lifted the cordon about an hour later.More than 6,000 people were expected for Friday afternoon prayers but there were only about a dozen people inside at the time of the threat.

NYers to NYPD: 'I Do Not Consent to Being Searched'

Reacting to the NYPD's announcement Thursday afternoon that police would randomly—but routinely—search the bags of commuters, one concerned New Yorker quickly created a way for civil libertarians to make their views black-and-white.
In a few outraged moments, local immigrant rights activist Tony Lu designed t-shirts bearing the text, "i do not consent to being searched." The minimalist protest-wear can be purchased here, in various styles and sizes. (Lu will not get a cut. The shirts' manufacture, sale, and shipment, will be handled by the online retailer. Lu encourages budget-conscious New Yorkers to make their own and wear them everywhere....Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had announced the legally obvious—that New Yorkers are free to decline a search and "turn around and leave." But Lu, who is a lawyer at Urban Justice Center, warned that even well-intentioned cops could interpret people's natural nervousness or anger as "reasonable suspicion." The possibility of unjustified interrogation and even arrest is real, Lu said.

House votes to extend Patriot Act

WASHINGTON -- The House voted Thursday to extend the USA Patriot Act, the nation's main anti-terrorism tool, just hours after televisions in the Capitol beamed images of a new attack in London.
As similar legislation worked its way through the Senate, House Republicans generally cast the law as a valuable asset in the war on terror. Most Democrats echoed that support but said they were concerned the law could allow citizens' civil liberties to be infringed.
After more than nine hours of debate, the House approved the measure 257-171. Forty-three Democrats joined 214 Republicans in voting to renew key provisions of the Patriot Act that were set to expire at the end of the year.

Natalee Holloway Update

The family of Natalee Holloway increased the reward Thursday for help finding the Alabama teenager who has been missing for more than six weeks. There is now a $200,000 reward for her safe return and $100,000 for information that helps authorities solve the mystery surrounding her disappearance, the teen's mother, Beth Holloway Twitty, said at a news conference. Holloway, 18, disappeared May 30, hours before she was to catch a return flight to Mountain Brook, Ala., at the end of high school graduation trip to the Dutch Caribbean island. Extensive searches by Dutch marines, Aruban police, and some 2,000 volunteers have found no trace of her. "By offering the substantial cash rewards, a plea is made to everyone with any useful information to please call the tip line," Twitty said.....

Two Arrested in London Subway, Bus Blasts

LONDON (AP) -- Police in London have arrested two men in connection with four attacks on three subway trains and a double-decker bus on Thursday, a scene hauntingly similar to deadly explosions set off by four suicide bombers exactly two weeks before. It was an inescapable message that life in London now means living with the threat of terror.The explosive devices were either faulty or too small to cause bloodshed, and the only reported injury turned out to be an asthma attack. But the lunch-hour blasts rattled a capital already on edge after the July 7 explosions, which killed 52 people and four suicide bombers.Police said one man was detained near Downing Street, site of the prime minister's residence; the other was picked up near Tottenham Court Road, close to the Warren Street subway station where one attack took place.

Last of WWII Comanche Code Talkers Dies

Last of World War II Comanche Code Talkers Dies at 83; Provided Communications on D-Day
OKLAHOMA CITY Jul 21, 2005 — Charles Chibitty, the last survivor of the Comanche code talkers who used their native language to transmit messages for the Allies in Europe during World War II, has died. He was 83.
Chibitty, who had been residing at a Tulsa nursing home, died Wednesday, said Cathy Flynn, administrative assistant in the Comanche Nation tribal chairman's office.
The group of Comanche Indians from the Lawton area were selected for special duty in the U.S. Army to provide the Allies with a language that the Germans could not decipher. Like the larger group of Navajo Indians who performed a similar service in the Pacific theater, the Comanches were dubbed "code talkers."...

Bombs Provide a "significant breakthrough" for London Terror Investigations

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Evidence left behind in Thursday's attempted bombings of three London Tube stations and a bus has given police what they consider to be a "significant breakthough" in their investigation.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair told reporters the intention of the terrorists "must have been to kill" and that some of the devices failed to explode. Police said no one needed hospital treatment after the attacks.
Blair said while the near-simultaneous attacks had echoes of ones two weeks ago that killed 52 people and the four bombers -- also on three Tube trains and a bus -- it was too early to say whether they bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda.

Report: 3,400 Air Violations Since 2001

Congressional Report Says Pilots Flew Into U.S. Restricted Airspace 3,400 Times Since Sept. 11
WASHINGTON: Pilots flew into restricted airspace 3,400 times across the country in the three years following the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a congressional report that says the government needs to better coordinate its response to such violations.
One agency should be in charge of steering planes away from restricted zones, according to the Government Accountability Office report, obtained by The Associated Press ahead of Thursday's hearing on the subject by the House Government Reform Committee.
Committee Chairman Tom Davis, a Virginia Republican, said it's essential for agencies that oversee the skies to work together."A quick, coordinated response is absolutely vital if we are faced with a pilot or a plane with hostile intent,"
Jets have been scrambled more than 2,000 times since 911...Click title for article.

Cyouincourt007: While were on the subject...folks should stop making calls and writing letters complaining when our military jets do low level flybys...
A) you don't know if their responding to something
B) you may end up looking like a total heartless fool
Click on fool and follow the sound of the jets from Luke Air Force Base.

NASA Aims for Tuesday Shuttle Launch

NASA Aims for Tuesday Launch, Believes Fuel Gauge Failure Related to Grounding Problem
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Jul 20, 2005 — NASA will try to launch Discovery on the first shuttle mission in more than two years next Tuesday, after tracing last week's fuel gauge failure to, most likely, an electrical grounding problem lurking inside the spacecraft.Shuttle program manager Bill Parsons said Wednesday the only way to thoroughly check the system is to fuel Discovery and have all its equipment running."We believe the best way to go through this is to do a countdown," he said. "If the sensors (gauges) work exactly like we think they will, then we'll launch on that day. If anything goes not per the plan that we've laid out in front of us, then we'll have a scrub and we'll have to talk about it."

U.S. authorities unearth smuggling tunnel under B.C. border

SEATTLE (AP) - U.S. government agents have shut down a drug-smuggling tunnel built under the Canadian border between Langley, B.C., and Lynden, Wash., a government source said Wednesday.
Authorities had been monitoring construction of the tunnel for eight months and sealed it Wednesday, shortly after it opened, making three to five arrests in the process, said the source, a government employee who had been briefed by local law-enforcement officials.
The exact length of the tunnel was not known. It ran from a building on the Canadian side to a house on the U.S. side, 90 metres from the border, the source said.

Suspect Detained in Bush Grenade Throwing

TBILISI, Georgia -- Georgian police on Wednesday detained a man suspected of throwing a live grenade during a rally at which President Bush spoke in May, the Interior Ministry said. The capture came after a shootout in which one officer was killed and another wounded. The shootout and detention occurred Wednesday evening in the village of Vashlisdzhvari, outside the capital, Tbilisi, ministry spokesman Guram Donadze told The Associated Press. The suspect fled into the woods but was later detained, Donadze said....

"Star Trek's" Scotty (James Doohan) dies at age 85 - A sad day for Star Trek Fans

Actor James Doohan, best known as the feisty, Scottish-accented chief engineer on television's original Star Trek series - a role immortalized by the catch phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" - has died at age 85.
Doohan died at his home in the Seattle suburb of Redmond, Washington.

The actor's wife of 28 years, Wende, was at his side. Doohan's last public appearance was in October, when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.During World War II, he participated in the invasion of Juno Beach on D-Day as a captain with the Royal Canadian Artillery. At 11:30 that night, he was machine-gunned, taking six hits: one that took off his middle right finger ( he managed to hide the missing finger on screen ), four in his leg and one in the chest. The chest bullet was stopped by his silver cigarette case.

Man fined for calling suspect 'scumbag'

NEW YORK -- A man being questioned for jury duty found himself in trouble with the law when he referred to a kidnapping suspect as a "scumbag."
Stephen Caruso, a 27-year-old financial planner, was fined $1,000 on Monday. The judge said the court could not allow such ''insulting, demeaning invective spewed at a defendant.'' ...

U.S.: China looking beyond Taiwan

WASHINGTON (AP) -- China cannot be certain that its military, while steadily strengthening, is capable of conquering Taiwan, the Pentagon said Tuesday in a new report on Chinese military power and strategy.
Over the longer term, however, an increasingly modernizing Chinese military could pose a threat to U.S. and other forces in the Asia-Pacific region, it said.
"Some of China's military planners are surveying the strategic landscape beyond Taiwan," the report said.
Among a number of such developments, it noted improvements in Chinese intercontinental-range missiles "capable of striking targets across the globe, including the United States."

It "clearly points up the reason that the president and the United States government have been urging the EU to not lift the arms embargo on the People's Republic of China," Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at the Pentagon.

Atta's father praises London bombs

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- The father of one of the hijackers who commandeered the first plane that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, praised the recent terror attacks in London and said many more would follow.
Speaking to CNN producer Ayman Mohyeldin Tuesday in his apartment in the upper-middle-class Cairo suburb of Giza, Mohamed el-Amir said he would like to see more attacks like the July 7 bombings of three London subway trains and a bus that killed 52 people....

He passionately vowed that he would do anything within his power to encourage more attacks...When asked if he would allow a CNN crew to videotape another interview with him, el-Amir said he would give his permission -- for a price of $5,000....That money, he said, would not be kept for himself, but would be donated to someone to carry out another terror attack...

The security guard for the apartment building said el-Amir had been under surveillance by Egyptian agents for several months after the September 11 attacks, but no one had been watching him recently......

CNN says it's policy is not to pay people for interviews.

Tougher border measure pushed

WASHINGTON -- Two Republican senators from states with large numbers of illegal immigrants introduced legislation yesterday that would funnel at least $5 billion into border enforcement and create a temporary-worker visa requiring foreigners to return to their home countries when their jobs ended.
The bill, sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Jon Kyl of Arizona, would toughen penalties for employers who hire undocumented workers, reimburse states for the costs of holding illegal immigrants who commit crimes and require the issuance of machine-readable, tamper-proof Social Security cards within a year.

In what is perhaps an attempt to stake out the middle ground, the Kyl-Cornyn bill would:
* Require that all immigrants be registered, fingerprinted and checked against criminal and terrorist watch lists.
* Allow immigrants to come for two years under the new temporary-worker visas, after which they must return home for a year. They may apply for such a visa three times, for a maximum stay of six years....Click title for the rest....

I am Yoda....who are You?

A venerated sage with vast power and knowledge, you gently guide forces around you while serving as a champion of the light.
Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not - for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life greets it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us, and binds us. Luminescent beings are we, not this crude matter! You must feel the Force around you, everywhere...

Muahahahaha... click on Yoda to take the test...

Godspeed: Vietnam era commander Westmoreland

CHARLESTON, South Carolina : Retired Gen. William Westmoreland, who commanded American troops in Vietnam died Monday night. He was 91.
Westmoreland died of natural causes at Bishop Gadsden retirement home, where he had lived with his wife for several years, said his son, James Ripley Westmoreland.

He was an Eagle Scout and attended The Citadel for a year before transferring to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1936 and, during his senior year, held the highest command position in the cadet corps.
Westmoreland saw action in North Africa, Sicily and Europe during World War II. He attained the rank of colonel by the time he was 30.
As commander of the 34th Field Artillery Battalion fighting German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, he earned the loyalty and respect of his troops for joining in the thick of battle rather than remaining behind the lines at a command post.
He was promoted to brigadier general during the Korean War and later served in the Pentagon under Army Chief of Staff Maxwell Taylor.
Westmoreland became the superintendent of West Point in 1960 and, by 1964, was a three-star general commanding American troops in Vietnam.After his four-year tour in Vietnam, Westmoreland was promoted to Army chief of staff. He retired from active duty in 1972 but he continued to lecture and participate in veterans' activities. Westmoreland led thousands of his comrades in the November 1982 veterans march in Washington to dedicate the Vietnam War Memorial.He called it "one of the most emotional and proudest experiences of my life."

Bush nominates Roberts for Supreme Court

Appeals court judge would replace retiring O'Connor

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Tuesday selected U.S. Circuit Judge John Roberts Jr. as his nominee to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court.
Bush called the selection of a nominee to the high court "one of the most consequential decisions a president makes."
The announcement ended nearly three weeks of fervent speculation about who will take O'Connor's pivotal seat on the nation's highest court.Roberts, 50, who serves on U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, considered the most influential federal panel outside of the Supreme Court...

Click Here, browse through the gallery and select images to post in support of London : Send out a message loud and clear

...














United,Determined,Informed,Vigilant,Steadfast and Strong...

N.J. boys were alive for 13 hours in car trunk

Kids may have lived for up to 33 hours while police searched for them

CAMDEN, N.J. - Three boys who suffocated in a car trunk last month were trapped alive for at least 13 hours, slowly succumbing while police searched their neighborhood, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The boys, ages 5, 6 and 11, died between 13 and 33 hours after they climbed into the trunk on June 22, the Camden County prosecutor's office, citing part of an autopsy report. The deaths were ruled accidental.
Relatives searched for the boys for three hours and then called authorities. A two-day search that included dogs, helicopters and boats on the nearby Delaware River ended the night of June 24 when the father of one of the boys found them dead in the car trunk, just a few feet from where they had been playing.

Hurricane Emily Roars Across Yucatan

A Mexican woman looks at a light aircraft which was flipped onto a tree by Hurricane Emily's 135mph+ (215kph) winds (and tornados) in Playa del Carmen, Mexico: REUTERS/Victor Ruiz .
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico - Hurricane Emily ripped roofs off luxury hotels along Mexico's Mayan Riviera, stranded thousands of tourists and left hundreds of local residents homeless Monday, forcing many to remain in crowded, leaky shelters.Click title for link to article.

Nuestros pensamientos y oraciones para ésos que sufren en esta tragedia.

Rapper who applauded 9/11 ... YOUR FIRED

HOUSTON, Texas : Rapper Bassam Khalaf ...the Arabic Assassin. His unreleased CD, "Terror Alert," includes rhymes about flying a plane into a building and descriptions of himself as a "crazy, suicidal Arabic ... equipped with bombs."
Until last week, Khalaf also worked as a baggage screener at George Bush Intercontinental Airport."I've been screening your bags for the past six months, and you don't even know it," said Khalaf, who also said Thursday that he is not really a terrorist and that his rhymes are exaggerations meant to gain publicity.
Andrea McCauley, a spokeswoman for the regional Transportation Security Administration office in Dallas, said the agency checks criminal records before hiring screeners, but it does not investigate what people do in their spare time.
"We have eyes and ears in the workplace," McCauley said. "Once we discovered these Web sites, we fired him."Khalaf's web site(s) feature his obscene, violent and misogynistic raps that threaten to fly a plane into a building on September 11, 2005.

Cyouincourt007: This (expletive) says he's not really a terrorist but "controversy sells".... In other words he wants to make money off of 911..........What a low down dirty rat bastard....... He's either a terrorist simpathizer &/or trying to make money off 911...............................................how despicable.A boycott of the CD and anyone associated with it's production,recording,distributing and so on is in order...Information will be posted as it develops...

Police: Girlfriend of missing DA Ray Gricar, passes lie detector

BELLEFONTE -- The girlfriend of missing District Attorney Ray Gricar took and passed a lie detector test Friday, Bellefonte police said.
The test, given by the Secret Service at the Ferguson Township building, included questions about whether Patty Fornicola had any involvement with Gricar's disappearance April 15 and whether she knew if he was dead or alive, according to Bellefonte police Officer Darrel Zaccagni, who was present for the test.

Teacher Claims Insanity In Student Sex Case

TAMPA, FL (AP) -- A middle-school reading teacher whose sexual liaisons with a 14-year-old student made tabloid headlines broke off plea negotiations with prosecutors and will claim insanity at a December trial, her attorney said Monday.
Debra Lafave, 24, was under such emotional stress that she didn't know right from wrong when she had sex with a 14-year-old student numerous times in June 2004, attorney John Fitzgibbons said after a brief court hearing. A Dec. 5 trial date was set.Fitzgibbons said plea bargaining broke down because prosecutors wanted too much prison time for Lafave, who appeared in court Monday but did not speak."What teacher in her right mind would do something like this?" Fitzgibbons said.

Super-duper stroller did the trick when building collapsed

NEW YORK (AP) -- A 7-month-old girl who survived a building collapse when her deluxe stroller folded around her like a cocoon has been released from the hospital after two days.
Abby Lurensky blinked and wiggled inside her purple jumpsuit Saturday, showing no signs of her ordeal, as her parents made a brief appearance outside their Manhattan apartment. They declined to take questions from reporters.Paramedics said Abby initially was unresponsive and turning blue when bystanders dug through a tangle of concrete and steel Thursday to free her crumpled carriage from the wreckage of a supermarket being demolished.
But she was largely unhurt, thanks to the cover from the shower of debris provided by her Mountain Buggy Urban Double Stroller and to her attentive nanny, Brunilda Tirado.Paramedics said Abby might have died if not for the protection of her stroller.The Mountain Buggy, which sells for more than $600, is made of padded fabric stretched over aluminum frames and has 12-inch, air-filled tires.

Village People's Cop Behind Bars

The Village People's lead singer -- the dude in the policeman outfit -- spent some time behind bars this weekend.
In addition to causing most of the hipster world's ironic-comedy types heads to cave in in an avalance of horrible puns and one-liners, it earned Victor Edward Willis six felony counts and some time in jail.
The former Village People star was pulled over in Daly City, Calif. Monday (July 11). After he was pulled over, police discovered that the former macho, macho man was already wanted on felondy narcotics charges. A search of his car netted crack cocaine and an unregistered weapon. To rub salt in the wound, Willis was driving without a license.
The Village People was formed in 1977 and included the Cop, the Native American (Felipe Rose), the Soldier (Alex Briley), the Construction Worker (David Hodo), the Cowboy (Jeff Briley) and the Biker (Eric Anzalone). Victor Edward Willis, co-writer for "Y.M.C.A," "Macho Man" and "In the Navy", left the band in 1979, and was replaced in the Cop role by Ray Simpson.

New Evidence in Aruba?

A piece of duct tape with a few blonde hairs stuck to it has been found on a beach on the southeast side of Aruba

The hairs are undergoing tests in the Netherlands.
Police in Aruba escorted a jailed Dutch teen to the area, where Natalie Holloway disappeared, in their continued search for her whereabouts.
The Alabama teen has been missing since May 30th.
During the weekend, police brought Joran van der Sloot to the site near the Marriott Hotel where he has admitted to being alone with the 18-year-old girl.
The detained teenager does not face any charges at this point.
Aruban authorities can hold him until September 4th. Then, he must be charged or released.

Three Killed in Shootings in Racine, Wis.

Shots Fired in Parking Lot in Racine, Wis., Leave Three People Dead, Four Wounded

RACINE, Wisconsin — Shots fired in a parking lot near several bars killed three men and wounded four other people, and officers were looking for suspects, police said Monday.
The deaths brought the number of people killed in Racine so far this year to 10, double last year's total. Racine, a city of about 82,000, has not had a double-digit homicide total in at least 10 years.A patrolling officer heard several gunshots early Sunday and traced them to a municipal parking lot where he found a large group of people, including gang members, police said.

Jailed Iran Journalist Said Hospitalized

Report Says Jailed Iran Journalist in Hospital After Hunger Strike That Lasted More Than a Month

TEHRAN, Iran Jul 18, 2005 — A jailed Iranian journalist was hospitalized Monday after he went on a hunger strike for more than a month, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Akbar Ganji was sentenced to six years in jail in 2000 after he reported on the 1998 murders of five dissidents by Intelligence Ministry agents. The Intelligence Ministry blamed the murders on "rogue agents," but Ganji's articles said the killings were ordered by senior hard-liners in the ruling Islamic establishment.
"My father was taken to hospital today. After hours of waiting, my mother and I were not allowed to visit him," the agency quoted the journalist's daughter, Rezvaneh Ganji, as saying. "We heard about hospitalization of my father from relatives, not through the judiciary," she said.Doctors confirmed Ganji was admitted to a hospital but gave no details on his condition...

Gotti Son Writes of Regrets in NYC Paper

Son of Late Mob Boss John Gotti Writes of Regrets in Interview With New York Newspaper

The son of late Mob boss John Gotti says he regrets "involvement in this life" and doesn't want his children to follow his path.
John "Junior" Gotti, set to go to trial next week on charges he tried to kill the founder of the Guardian Angels crime-fighting group, never defines "this life" in an interview published Monday in the New York Post.
"My father was such a dynamic figure that you felt the need to be around him," Gotti wrote from the Metropolitan Correctional Center. "Whatever the sacrifice, he would never betray what he believed to be right for better or for worse."Gotti said he felt his father's absence when he was a child.
"Most of my childhood, my father was incarcerated, so there was not much of a relationship," he wrote. "I didn't have uncles who took me to a ball game. I was taken to social clubs instead."
Gotti, who prosecutors believe led the Gambino organized crime family after his father was put behind bars, said he regrets some of his choices. "I do regret my involvement in this life and what it has done to my children and wife," he wrote.The younger Gotti has been in prison for more than five years after pleading guilty to racketeering. He now faces charges murder conspiracy, fraud and extortion as well as attempted murder

Federal law will raise license costs, governors warn

DES MOINES (AP) — In the name of homeland security, motorists are going to see costs skyrocket for driver's licenses and motor vehicle offices forced to operate like local branches of the FBI, the nation's governors warn.
The new federal law squeezed this spring into an $82 billion spending bill had Republican and Democrat governors fuming at their summer meeting here, and vowing to bring their complaints to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at a Monday meeting."It's outrageous to pass this off on the states," said Republican Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, incoming chairman of the National Governors Association. "You're essentially asking the front-line clerks at the DMV to become an INS agent and a law enforcement agent."
The law that passed in June goes beyond an earlier law that sought to standardize state driver's licenses, requiring that states verify license applicants are American citizens or legal residents.

Gardeners drop their clothes to raise funds

Some in Michigan town feel school superintendent went too far

LELAND, Mich. - The caretakers of the school gardens in this northwest Michigan town wanted an attention-getting way to raise money. They got it. A calendar featuring photos of 12 well-known area men posing naked with carefully placed props is being noticed — and criticized.
The 2006 "Naked Gardener" calendar isn't affiliated with the Leland Public Schools. But much of the concern stems from schools Superintendent Michael Hartigan's inclusion in it.
"Is this an appropriate role model for our children?" said Janice Blackburn of Leland, whose children attend Glen Lake schools. "I think he crossed the line. The public perception is that it's associated with the school."

Bikers Attend Benefit for Abducted Girl

Nearly 1,000 Motorcyclists Attend Idaho Benefit for Girl Who Survived Abduction by Sex Offender

STATELINE, Idaho: Well-wishers arrived on more than 500 Harley-Davidsons and other motorcycles to empty their pockets on behalf of the biker's daughter who survived a horrific abduction.
About 1,000 people attended the six-hour benefit Sunday to aid Shasta Kay Groene, 8. Cash poured into a box at the front door of Cruiser's bar and grill, a biker hangout in this town just east of the Washington state line. Total receipts were not announced."I watched one guy walk up, open his wallet and dump everything but $5 into the box," said Prospect Bryce, who guarded the donation box for the Northwest Idaho chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Motorcycle Club. "I've been watching people drop, not small bills but large bills, $100s, $20s."

Georgia hunts Bush grenade suspect

TBILISI, Georgia : Authorities in Georgia have released a photograph of a man suspected of throwing a grenade at a podium where U.S. President George W. Bush was speaking this May. The grenade failed to explode and no one was hurt.
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili also on Monday announced a reward of 150,000 lari ($80,000; €66,300) for information leading to the identification of the dark-haired man in dark glasses pictured in the photo.
Georgian and U.S. authorities believe he is the man who threw a grenade in the crowd of tens of thousands who watched Bush speak on May 10 in the former Soviet republic's capital, Tbilisi, Merabishvili told reporters.
The live grenade landed less than 100 feet (31 meters) from the podium but did not explode. A preliminary investigation indicated the activation device deployed too slowly to hit the blasting cap hard enough, the FBI said.

Fire Breaks Out at TV Tower in Moscow

Fire Breaks Out at Landmark Ostankino Tower in Moscow

MOSCOW Jul 18, 2005 — Fire broke out at Moscow's landmark Ostankino tower Monday, the latest blaze to hit the massive television broadcasting tower. Russian agencies said the fire erupted around 3:50 p.m. on the third level of the 1,771-foot tower, located in northern Moscow. A duty officer with the federal Emergency Situations Ministry confirmed firefighters were on the scene, but had no more information.
In 2000, a short circuit sparked a devastating fire that gutted the tower, killing three people and knocking out almost all TV service to 15 million people in Moscow and the surrounding area for three days...

Victim aims to confront Rudolph at sentencing

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) -- Confessed bomber Eric Rudolph, who remained defiant when he admitted setting deadly explosions in Birmingham and Atlanta, has only discussed his reasons in written statements.
Yet one of his victims hopes to get some glimmer of response from Rudolph when she comes face to face with the anti-abortion extremist in court Monday for a sentencing hearing."You did not shut the clinic down. You did not shut me down," said Emily Lyons, who was critically injured in the 1998 blast outside a Birmingham abortion clinic where she worked as a nurse.
Her message for Rudolph: His crimes only made her stronger. "I want to see if it registers with him, or to see if it's just more of that blank look," Lyons said in an interview last week....

One Drink,One Cig is just one too many

Police release image of bombers

The picture shows, from left to right, Hussain, Lindsay, Khan and Tanweer.

Police have released the first picture of all four London bombers together, captured on CCTV as they set out on their mission, in a bid to find out more about their final movements. Link

U.S. Soldier Survives Sniper Attack; Captures, medically treats sniper

During a routine patrol in Baghdad June 2, Army Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer, a medic, was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper, hiding in a van just 75 yards away. The incident was filmed by the insurgents.
Tschiderer, with E Troop, 101st “Saber” Cavalry Division, attached to 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was knocked to the ground from the impact, but he popped right back up, took cover and located the enemy’s position.
After tracking down the now-wounded sniper with a team from B Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, Tschiderer secured the terrorist with a pair of handcuffs and gave medical aid to the terrorist who’d tried to kill him just minutes before.

Click title for article and video of incident

U.S. Court: Guantano Bay Detainees Can Be Tried By Military Panel

A federal appeals court put the Bush administration's military commissions for terrorist suspects back on track Friday, saying a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison who once was Osama bin Laden's driver can stand trial.
A three-judge panel ruled 3-0 against Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose case was halted by a federal judge on grounds that commission procedures were unlawful.
"Congress authorized the military commission that will try Hamdan," said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit."We believe the military commission is such a tribunal," said the appeals court.

Police: 2 Mexican Children Killed by SUV

Authorities Say Speeding SUV Runs Over Mexican Family Near Border, Killing Two Children

sisters were hospitalized Friday after a sport utility vehicle ran over a family while speeding toward a border crossing, authorities said.
The SUV had a bloodied windshield and was dragging a baby stroller underneath when it stopped at a border checkpoint in the border town of El Paso, said Roger Maier, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
Soon after the SUV stopped, Mexican officials reported to U.S. agents that a vehicle had crashed into the family of street vendors on the Mexican side of the border, killing the girls, ages 4 and 5, Maier said...

Nuclear threat to US over Taiwan conflict

CHINA is willing to use nuclear weapons against the United States if it is attacked in a conflict over Taiwan, a senior Chinese military official said last night.
“If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition on to the target zone on China’s territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons,” Zhu Chenghu, a major general in the People’s Liberation Army, said at an official press briefing for foreign journalists.
NI_MPU('middle');General Zhu, a well-known hawk who has said before that China could strike the US with long-ranged missiles, said his comments were “my assessment”, and not the “policy of the Government”.
Nevertheless, his threat, in which he emphasised that China’s definition of its territories included warships and aircraft, is the first time for a decade that a senior official in Beijing has used such provocative rhetoric........

Iraqi, U.S. forces round up al-Qaeda suspects

BAGHDAD — Iraqi and U.S. forces have captured or arrested about 30 suspected al-Qaeda members in the past week, including a suspect in this month's killing of an Egyptian envoy and attacks on senior diplomats from Bahrain and Pakistan.
Khamis Abdul-Fahdawi, also known as Abu Seba, was captured Saturday after operations in the Ramadi area west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement. Abdul-Fahdawi is a suspect in the "attacks against diplomats of Bahrain, Pakistan and the recent murder of Egyptian envoy" Ihab al-Sherif, the U.S. statement said.
Another top suspect, Abdullah Ibrahim al-Shadad, or Abu Abdul Aziz, was arrested during a raid Sunday in Baghdad, the statement said. It identified him as the operations officer for al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Al-Shadad was cooperating with coalition forces, according to U.S. Central Command.

Updated "Hurricane EMILY Forecast/Advisory"

Hurricane Emily......MAJOR HURRICANE EMILY MOVING TOWARD THE CENTRAL CARIBBEAN... A HURRICANE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA. A HURRICANE WATCH MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH AREA... GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHERN COAST OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC FROM PUNTA SALINAS WESTWARD TO THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/HAITI BORDER... AND FOR THE ENTIRE SOUTHWESTERN PENINSULA OF HAITI FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/HAITI BORDER TO PORT-AU-PRINCE.Click HERE for the latest update.
Courtesy of NOAA

Faced with debt, Ga. man shoots postal worker

SNELLVILLE, Ga. - Earl Lazenby had delivered mail for years to the aging brown home with overgrown plants in the yard and a National Rifle Association sticker on the front door. The home’s owner was always friendly, sometimes chatting with Lazenby at the grocery store in this Atlanta suburb.
But what Lazenby didn’t know was that William Crutchfield was deep in debt and looking for a way out. Authorities say Crutchfield apparently watched with envy as Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph was headed to prison for life and aspired to the same fate — allowing him to live off the government while behind bars.
So he allegedly hatched a twisted plan: Kill a federal employee...

Roman Catholic Bishop Killed in Kenya

Roman Catholic Bishop Shot to Death in Northern Kenya, Vatican Embassy in Nairobi Says

ROME Jul 14, 2005 — A Roman Catholic bishop was shot to death near his church in northern Kenya Thursday night, the Vatican Embassy in Nairobi said.Bishop Luigi Locati, 76, was fatally wounded as he was walking to a pastoral center in Isiolo, in the country's north, where he was based, said the Rev. Julien Kabore, speaking by telephone from the Vatican Embassy in Nairobi. Locati was taken to a hospital in Isiolo, where he died shortly after 8 p.m., about 90 minutes after the shooting, Kabore said...

London Bombers Tied to Al Qaeda Plot in Pakistan

Two Key Figures Still at Large, Officials Say
At least two men who have connections to last week's London bombings are alive and still at large.
The first is a man, who was seen on surveillance tapes at Luton station, located outside of London, as he bid farewell to the four bombers the morning of the attacks. The other is Magdy El Nashar, an Egyptian chemist, who attended and received training at North Carolina State University. British police think El Nashar may have helped the London group build their bombs before leaving England two weeks before the attacks. They have since issued a worldwide alert for him....

Rehnquist insists he won’t resign

WASHINGTON - Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. “I’m not about to announce my retirement,” he said.
“I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement,” Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer, said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits.”Rehnquist released the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever.

U.S. turns away British Muslim leader

LONDON (AP) — One of Britain's most senior Muslim leaders said Thursday that he was denied entry to the United States without explanation, nearly a week after the deadly subway and bus attacks in London.
Dr. Zaki Badawi, head of the Muslim College, told The Associated Press he was denied entry when he arrived in New York on Wednesday. No explanation was given, he said.
He had been invited to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, where he planned to give a talk under the title "The Law and Religion in Society."A spokeswoman for the Customs and Border Protection office in New York said when Badawi's flight from London to John F. Kennedy International Airport landed Wednesday, customs agents had information that showed he was "inadmissible." Badawi then voluntarily withdrew his application for entry into the country, said Janet Rapaport...

U.S. lifts Canada mad cow ban

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- A federal appeals court has overturned the ban on imports of Canadian cattle, throwing out a lower court's ruling that renewing the imports could spread mad cow disease in the United States.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was not immediately available to comment Thursday on when it would allow imports of Canadian cattle to resume.
The imports were banned in May 2003 after a cow in Alberta, Canada was found to have mad cow disease.
The unanimous decision Thursday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturns a Montana judge who blocked the USDA from reopening the border in March, saying it "subjects the entire U.S. beef industry to potentially catastrophic damages" and "presents a genuine risk of death for U.S. consumers."The justices said they would issue another ruling soon explaining their rationale.

No Gitmo torture, Senate panel told

A military investigation of interrogations at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, found no torture occurred, but one high-value al Qaeda operative was subjected to "abusive and degrading treatment" when he was forced to wear a brassiere, do dog tricks and stay awake for 20 hours a day. "We looked at this very, very carefully -- no torture occurred," Air Force Lt. Gen. Randall M. Schmidt testified yesterday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Detention and interrogation operations across the board ... looking through all the evidence that we could, were safe, secure and humane."...

Leave A Brilliant Light Behind

In The Loop is glad to welcome another member into the bloggy blog world...
My sis Lori has joined our layer and started a blog....To scope it out click on title....

Autopsy finds LAPD killed child during shootout with father

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A toddler whose father held her as a shield during a gun battle with police died of a single gunshot fired from a police officer's rifle, authorities said Wednesday.Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey released the autopsy reports of 19-month-old Suzie Pena and her father Jose Pena, 34, who were both killed Sunday in the hours-long shootout at Pena's auto repair business.
The girl died from a single gunshot wound to the head, and her father died of multiple gunshot wounds, the reports said.A toxicological examination to determine whether Pena had drugs or alcohol in his system will take several weeks, Harvey said.
"Our hearts, prayers, thoughts go out to the family, particularly the mother," Police Chief William Bratton said at a news conference Wednesday...

Shark attacks teen off Texas coast

A shark attacked a 14-year-old North Carolina girl in waters off the Texas coast near Galveston on Wednesday, ripping tendons in her left foot and leaving several teeth imbedded in her tissue.
The teen, Lydia Paulk, was taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where she was in fair condition after surgery, said hospital spokeswoman Jeanette Pretorius. Paulk was attacked in waist-deep water while swimming with family and friends, said her aunt, Kit Marshall.
"She was awake when she came into the emergency room," said Dr. Kelly Carmichael, an orthopedic surgeon. "Prior to her surgery and afterward, she was awake and talking."A second, follow-up surgery is scheduled for Friday.
The shark, which escaped, was about 5 feet long, Marshall said...

Tropical Storm Emily

Worried Mom's Call Spurred Bombing Probe

Worried Mother's Phone Call Led Investigators to Identify Man Killed As Possible Suicide Bomber

LONDON Jul 13, 2005 — A worried mother's telephone call about her missing son led investigators to identify a young man killed on the No. 30 bus as a possible suicide bomber and hone in on the four suspects in last week's terror attacks in London.
Police made a major break in the case in just five days with the help of footage from surveillance cameras and the discovery of IDs at the bomb sites. But it was a family's heartache that apparently helped point them in the right direction.
The mother of one of four suspects identified in press reports as 19-year-old Hasib Hussain called a police hotline to report him missing about 12 hours after the Thursday bombings. He'd told his parents he was planning a day out in London with his friends.Hussain is believed to have died on board the No. 30 bus, which exploded nearly an hour after three bombs devastated London's Underground during the morning rush hour on Thursday. A witness who got off the crowded bus just before it exploded told The Associated Press that he saw an agitated man in his 20s fiddling anxiously with something in his bag. ....

Homeland Security chief plots overhaul

Higher priority on bioterrorism, new monitor systems for mass transit

WASHINGTON - Proclaiming the Homeland Security Department “open to change,” Secretary Michael Chertoff on Wednesday announced plans to centralize his agency’s terror analysis, put a higher priority on bioterrorism and step up detection systems in mass transit.In welcome news to Washington-area commuters, the department also will lift a rule that forbade passengers from leaving their seats for 30 minutes before flying into or out of Reagan National Airport, Chertoff said in revealing the details of a sweeping overhaul of the 2-year-old agency founded in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.Chertoff ordered the review in March shortly after he took office. The overhaul aims to spur the sluggish bureaucracy beset by turf wars and growing pains, and to ensure department resources are put into the nation’s most vulnerable areas.

Boy dies playing 'passing out game,' officials believe

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A 10-year-old boy was found dead, hanging from a tree, apparently killed while trying to get high by playing the "pass-out game," authorities said.
Dalton Eby may be the second Idaho child killed in recent months while playing a choking game, trying to cut off the oxygen supply to the brain to achieve a type of "high."Dalton's mother reported him missing last Thursday when he failed to return home after visiting a friend. Search and rescue crews found his body Friday in a tree near his Island Park home, the Fremont County sheriff's office said in a statement.There was nothing at the scene suggesting that anyone else was involved, the sheriff's office said.

Colorado fire held, but new one in Arizona

Containment expected soon in blaze that forced 5,000 to flee

BEULAH, Colo. - Improving weather helped crews make progress against a wildfire that had forced nearly 5,000 people to flee their homes, officials said Wednesday.
The blaze in the Wet Mountains had grown to 12,200 acres, but firefighters had extended their containment lines around 40 percent of the fire.
“Monday we got a toehold and yesterday we put a foot in,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Dave Steinke said.Elsewhere, however, a 6,000-acre blaze had jumped containment lines in southern Arizona and owners of about 30 cabins were urged to evacuate a valley that is a world-renowned bird-watching area.

'Public Enemy No. 1' extradited to Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Top crime boss Alfredo Rios Galeana, who blasted his way out of a Mexican courtroom almost two decades ago and spent nearly 19 years as a fugitive, was returned to Mexico Tuesday to face charges of robbery, homicide and assault.Considered one of Mexico's most dangerous criminals, Rios Galeana was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at the home he shared with his wife and children in the city of South Gate, just south of Los Angeles, on Monday and handed over to Mexican authorities...

U.S. Chief Justice Rehnquist hospitalized

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who has thyroid cancer, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday night due to a fever and was still in the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, a Supreme Court spokeswoman said...

N.A.S.A Shuttle launch called off

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida (CNN) -- A faulty fuel sensor aboard the space shuttle Discovery forced NASA on Wednesday to scrub its first attempt to launch a shuttle after the Columbia disaster 2 1/2 years ago.

NASA said the device was showing low fuel levels despite the exterior tank having been filled just hours before.
"It will take some time really to understand what to do to remedy the situation," NASA said. "We haven't ruled out tomorrow, but that's speculative."
The current launch window expires July 31, and the next begins in September. A Thursday launch would be at 3:28 p.m. ET.Crew members were all aboard the orbiter when the announcement to cancel was made.
A series of mishaps marked the last 24 hours before Discovery's scheduled launch.Earlier Wednesday, it appeared foul weather might postpone the high-profile mission to the international space station. Filling the massive external fuel tank was delayed early in the morning while a ground heater was repaired.
On Tuesday, a cockpit window cover fell and damaged two protective tiles near the orbiter's tail section.
But it was the fuel sensor that stopped the launch, a little more than three hours before the scheduled 3:51 p.m. launch.The sensor monitors the amount of super-cold hydrogen fuel in the tank and tells the orbiter's engines to shut down if there's not enough fuel.A launch controller described it as "a low-level fuel sensor in the external fuel tank, one of a set of four -- two of which are needed to work."...

Ex-Plant Worker Pleads Guilty to Theft

Former Employee of Texas Money Plant Pleads Guilty to Taking Stolen Cash Across State Lines

Fort Worth, Texas :A former employee of a plant that makes more than half of America's paper money pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking stolen cash across state lines.
Donald Edward Stokes Jr., 39, also had been charged with stealing $30,000 from the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing Western Currency Facility in Fort Worth. But as part of a plea deal, federal prosecutors dropped the theft of government property charge, which carried a maximum 10-year sentence.
Stokes faces up to 10 years in federal prison without parole when he is sentenced in October for interstate transportation of stolen property. His trial on both charges had been set for next week

Police: Did 4 London bombers die?

Suicide/Homicide Bomber's in London?

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Police say they are trying to establish if four men died in last week's deadly London bombings, in what could be the first suicide attacks in Britain.Peter Clark, head of the Anti-Terrorist Branch, also said Tuesday one man had been arrested in northern England after a series of raids in connection with the bombings that killed at least 52 people."The investigation quite early led us to have concerns about the movements and activities of four men, three of whom came from the West Yorkshire area," Clarke said."We are trying to establish their movements in the run up to last week's attacks and specifically to establish whether they all died in the explosions."

Knife Found at Peterson Home Analyzed

Calif. Authorities Conduct Forensic Tests on Knife Reportedly Found at Home of Scott Peterson

MODESTO, Calif. Jul 12, 2005 — Authorities are conducting forensic tests on a 10-inch knife reportedly found at the home where convicted murderer Scott Peterson lived with his now-dead wife, but questions remain about whether it had been planted there recently.
"You could tell there had been liquid on the blade" and a "red stain on the handle," said Gerry Roberts, the man who recently bought the home.
Roberts said two of his friends found the knife last week inside a cabinet near the swimming pool in the backyard. But investigators said the discovery came just days after a tabloid ran an article containing rumors that Laci Peterson's throat had been slit.Modesto police spokesman Rick Applegate said investigators saw "no obvious signs of blood or tissue on the knife."
"It is somewhat believed that this knife was put, planted or placed there recently by a person or persons unknown," Applegate said. "There is nothing to make us believe the knife was used in the crime."

Tropical Storm Emily and a possible T.S. #6 right behind her...

Four Terrorist's Escape U.S. Bagram Base

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — Four suspected Arab terrorists broke out of a U.S. military detention facility in Afghanistan on Monday, fleeing through barbed wire stockades in the first escape from the compound since the American military took over the former Soviet airbase.

Three climbers die in Washington's Cascades

MARBLEMOUNT, Wash. - Three people were killed in a weekend climbing accident on a popular peak in the North Cascades National Park, officials said Monday.
The victims were among a group of six people climbing Sunday afternoon on Sharkfin Tower, about 20 miles east of Marblemount, park spokesman Tim Manns said.A fourth member of the group was seriously injured but the other two were not hurt. All six are from Washington state, Manns said.

Jury selection starts in Vioxx case in Texas

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Jury selection in first of thousands of lawsuits against Merck & Co.'s
Vioxx began on Monday as the drug giant sought to defend itself against claims that it hid the risks of the popular painkiller. The case in a Texas state court in Angleton, near Houston, pits the family of deceased Texan Robert Ernst against the big drugmaker, which pulled Vioxx off the market in September after studies showed prolonged use could increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.
The lawsuit could help determine the direction litigation will take in the other state courts in New Jersey, California and Texas, and in the U.S. federal court in New Orleans, a legal expert said."The first case has a lot of impact on what comes afterward," said Chip Babcock, a partner at law firm Jackson Walker LLP in Houston.

Four runners gored at Spain bull run

Charging bulls tossed, gored and terrified human daredevils Monday as this year's San Fermin festival served up its longest and most dangerous run yet, with four people gored.Seven other people were hospitalized for treatment of bumps, bruises and head injuries, officials said.
The pack of six 1,300-pound bulls and six steers — meant to keep the bulls running in a safe pack — disintegrated shortly after the animals set off on the mad dash through the cobblestone streets of Pamplona in the fifth of eight planned runs.One stray bull turned around and ran the wrong way. Cowherds with long sticks smacked it in the rump to save runners scurrying for safety and get the animal pointed in the right direction.

Admitted BTK Killer Planned to Kill Again

Dennis Rader Says He Had His Next Victim Picked Out

In two exclusive interviews with an ABC affiliate, BTK killer Dennis Rader said he was not done killing when he was arrested in February.
On June 27, Rader pleaded guilty to torturing, strangling, stabbing and shooting 10 victims from 1974 to 1991.Rader nicknamed himself BTK for "bind, torture, kill," and taunted investigators and journalists.
Larry Hatteberg, a Wichita, Kan., anchor who has covered the BTK killings since 1974, asked Rader in a phone interview if he had plans to kill again.
"There was probably one more," Rader said. "I was really thinking about it, but I was beginning to slow down age-wise my 'thinking' process, so it probably would have never went. It was probably more of an ego thing."Hatterberg also spoke to Rader face to face, and asked the killer if there were more victims than the 10 police knew about.Rader said there were only 10, but added "there were other things that happened." He indicated they had to do with the people he stalked, but would not elaborate.

Amber Alert issued for 2 children in Arizona

Siblings' grandparents, uncle found slain

QUEEN CREEK, Arizona (AP) -- An Amber Alert was issued for two young children missing from their home where the bodies of their grandparents and an uncle were found slain, police said Monday.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said 18-month-old Brian Cervantes and his 3-year-old sister, Jennifer Cervantes, were believed to be with their father, Rodrigo Cervantes Zavala.The grandparents and uncle found dead late Sunday were relatives of the children's mother, who was not at home at the time of the slayings, investigators said.

Ruthless new terror cell reported in Somalia

Mogadishu-based group has links to al-Qaida, according to report

NAIROBI, Kenya - A new and ruthless cell with links to al-Qaida has grabbed a foothold in Somalia’s capital, according to a report released Monday that dovetails with other analyses showing the lawless country could become a haven for international terrorists.In its report, the International Crisis Group said the Mogadishu cell was led by a young Somali militant trained in Afghanistan, where al-Qaida was once based. The report said the group “announced its existence by murdering four foreign aid workers in the relatively secure territory of Somaliland between October 2003 and April 2004.”

WE WILL NOT BOW,WE WILL NOT BREAK,WE WILL NOT STOP AND WE WILL NOT FORGET

...THESE DEAD SHALL NOT HAVE DIED IN VAIN...

Body of U.S. Commando Found in Afghanistan

Body of Missing U.S. Commando Found in Afghanistan; Military Says He Died Fighting

The body of a missing U.S. commando has been located in eastern Afghanistan, the military said Monday, bringing an end to the desperate search for the last member of an ill-fated, four-man special forces unit that disappeared last month. One of the four men was rescued on July 3, and the other two were found dead the next day. The body of the fourth U.S. Navy SEAL was found Sunday in Kunar province by a search and rescue team, the military said in a statement. It said all indications are that he died in fighting; a purported Taliban spokesman had claimed that he was captured alive and beheaded."The location and disposition of the service member's remains indicate he died while fighting off enemy terrorists on or about June 28," the statement said.

LAPD Officers Kill Man Holding Baby

LAPD Officers Kill Man Holding Baby When He Opens Fire; Baby Dies

Police officers shot and killed a man Sunday night when he emerged from his home carrying a young girl following an hours-long standoff and opened fire, wounding one officer, authorities said. The girl was also killed in the gunfire.
The man killed was identified as Jose Raul Lemos, and the girl, about 17 months old, was related to him, police said. The officer, who was not immediately identified, was shot in the shoulder and was expected to survive.
There were three exchanges of gunfire between police and Lemos, who was either age 34 or 35, Assistant Police Chief Jim McDonnell told reporters. In the final exchange, at around 6:20 p.m., Lemos held the girl as he shot."We did everything we could to hold our fire," McDonnell said. "We showed a tremendous amount of restraint, but unfortunately the suspect's actions dictated this. … It's a true tragedy."

Tropical Depression Five
Courtesy of NOAA

4 killed when two trains collide

BENTONIA, Mississippi (AP) -- Two freight trains collided and partially derailed early Sunday, killing four people, and residents of nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution, authorities said.
The fatalities were all believed to be crew members from the trains that collided head-on Sunday morning. Rescue teams continued to search the wreckage, but no other injuries were reported, officials said.
One of the cars leaked vegetable oil and caught fire, but the flames were extinguished, said Amy Carruth, a spokeswoman with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency. The cause of the wreck was not immediate determined, Carruth said.

NAACP Chair Renews Attack on Conservatives

NAACP Chairman Julian Bond Accuses National Leaders of Rolling Back Past Civil Rights Gains

Renewing his attack on conservatives and the Bush administration Sunday, NAACP chairman Julian Bond accused national leaders of rolling back past civil rights gains, crippling efforts to battle racism and undermining democracy."The President likes to talk to the talk, but he doesn't walk the walk," Bond told members at the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.President Bush has turned down five invitations to attend NAACP gatherings, including this year's, and Bond on Sunday invited Bush to the next one, in Washington.

2 London Bombing Victims Treated in N.C.

2 Tenn. Sisters Injured in London Bombings Return to U.S. for Further Treatment at N.C. Hospital

Two Tennessee sisters injured in last week's London bombings returned to the United States Sunday for further treatment at Duke University Medical Center, the medical center said.Kathleen "Katie" Benton, 21, and Emily Benton, 20, of Knoxville, Tenn., had been aboard one of the three subway cars hit by almost simultaneous explosions Thursday.The blast left Emily Benton with some broken bones and skin missing on her feet, which required two surgeries in London, her family said on a Web site maintained by their church. Katie Benton suffered shrapnel wounds in her back, neck and legs, the family said.

Strippers arrested in alleged spanking

JACKSONVILLE, Ark. --Three strippers and two nightclub managers have been arrested for allegedly spanking a trucker at his 31st birthday bash and severely bruising his backside.After his friends paid $25, Keith Lowery was handcuffed and spanked with a 3-foot-long paddle and a belt while one of the strippers restrained his head with her legs, investigators with the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office said.Kelly Eslick, 21, a stripper at Sensations nightclub in Jacksonville, northeast of Little Rock, admitted to police that she used a paddle drilled with holes for less air resistance while the two other dancers, Lisa Nolen, 23, and Charlene Smith, 23, used the belt.

Hurricane Dennis

Divers come up empty in Aruba search

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — Forensic divers probed an underwater cavern Saturday on the northern tip of Aruba for a missing Alabama teenager, but turned up no sign of the young woman.
Later, the team from Florida State University planned to search a lagoon using remote controlled sensors. They planned to check other sites suggested by local authorities over the next two days, said Dale Nute, a forensic scientist who was helping to coordinate the effort."If we find something we will call the police and bring it out to them," Nute said.The search of the cavern and lagoon comes as a Texas-based group that has also searched for Natalee Holloway prepared to abandon its effort within days unless they found some sign of the teenager.

Dad sues in death of boy, 9, on carnival ride

One week after 9-year-old Dakota Stevenson died on a carnival ride in northwest Indiana, his father Friday filed a wrongful death suit against the ride's owners and operators, hoping to, as his lawyer put it, "discover the truth" about what happened.
The suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court accuses south suburban Midwest Midways of negligence at all levels, including staff "not reasonably qualified" to inspect, maintain and operate the ride safely. James Curtis Stevenson, Dakota's father, also accuses Midwest Midways' staff of not making sure all riders were "properly and adequately restrained" before starting the ride.

Navy: Guantanamo officer relieved of duty

MIAMI (AP) — The commanding officer of the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was relieved of his duties Saturday after he was accused of inappropriate management practices, a Navy spokesman said.
Capt. Leslie J. McCoy, who had commanded Guantanamo since March 2003, was the subject of an investigation into inappropriate personnel and administrative practices unrelated to the base's detention camp for suspected terrorists."His release and reassignment are in no way related to the detainee operations taking place in Guantanamo," said C. Patrick Dooling, spokesman for Navy Southeast Region based in Jacksonville.

Consulate Blast Still Shrouded in Mystery

Explosion Outside British Consulate in New York City Still Shrouded in Mystery After Two Months

NEW YORK Jul 9, 2005 — Two months after an explosion blew out a window near the British consulate in midtown Manhattan, authorities have no clear motive or suspects.
The early morning blast May 5 caused no injuries, but there was speculation that it was meant to coincide with the election that returned British Prime Minister Tony Blair to power. It drew an enormous emergency response by New York officials.Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't mention the explosion or the investigation Friday when he visited the consulate to offer condolences after the deadly London subway and bus bombings, and it was business as usual at the 21-story building that houses it on a busy stretch of Third Avenue.

Latest image of Hurricane Dennis
As for those on the Gulf Coast in the Path of Dennis ...hope for the best but prepare for the worst....

...The Track of Hurricane Dennis

People walk through flooded streets with lines down near the Southernmost Point as winds and rain from Hurricane Dennis roar through town in Key West Florida

A house is completely destroyed from the strong winds caused by Hurricane Dennis, in Catalina de Guines Town, Havana, Cuba

High waves crash to the shoreline of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, July 7. Strong winds from Hurricane Dennis blew across the U.S. prison camp for terror suspects causing minor damage and a spectacular view of the heaving surf, but only slightly disrupting operations at the high-security base.
(AP/Andres Leighton)

Skies over Key West as Hurricane Dennis Approached...

In this photo released by the United Nations Development Program, the collapsed bridge above the Grand Goave river is pictured about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, July 8, 2005. A Haitian official says five people died on the collapsed bridge that cut off Haiti's southwestern peninsula. At least ten people died in Haiti as a result of Hurricane Dennis.
(AP Photo/UNDP, Michel Matera)

Dan Cleary and Katy Young battle the strong wind gusts of Hurricane Dennis behind the Crowne Plaza hotel on Riviera Beach's Singer Island, Fla., on Saturday, July 9, 2005. The couple was scheduled to get married in Key West but Hurricane Dennis forced them to evacuate. The couple married inside but stepped outside for wedding photos.
(AP Photo/South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Scott Fisher)

An SUV makes its way through flooded roads near the Southernmost House as winds and rain from Hurricane Dennis roar through town Saturday July 9, 2005 in Key West, Fla.
(AP PHOTO/WILFREDO LEE)

Italian police arrest 142 terrorism suspects

ROME (AP) — Police said Saturday they had arrested 142 people in a two-day anti-terrorism security sweep around Milan prompted by the bombings two days earlier in London.About 2,000 carabinieri fanned out across the Lombardy region, stepping up patrols around train stations, subways, commercial centers and other sensitive sites, the regional commander of the paramilitary police, Gen. Antonio Girone, said in a phone interview.
Girone said the operation was focusing on Milan because it had been the major focus of Italian investigations into Islamic terrorism and because it "could be a major risk of possible attacks." He said the measures were designed to make people "feel calmer after the London attacks."

N. Korea to rejoin nuclear talks

Pyongyang agrees to return to negotiations

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea says it will rejoin international nuclear arms talks, ending a more than year-long boycott, after North Korean and U.S. envoys held a previously unannounced meeting in Beijing.
The six-nation talks will resume July 25, the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday.The top envoys to the negotiations from the United States and North Korea -- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill and North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan -- met Saturday in the Chinese capital, KCNA said."The U.S. side clarified its official stand to recognize (North Korea) as a sovereign state, not to invade it and hold bilateral talks within the framework of the six-party talks," KCNA reported.

Marines launch new raid against Iraq insurgent

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Marines said on Saturday they had launched a new counter-insurgency operation, the latest in a series of sweeps designed to root out militant bases in Iraq's Euphrates valley.Operation Scimitar involved about 500 U.S. troops and 100 Iraqis, making it about half the scale of Operation Sword and Operation Spear in the past three weeks.The military said the Marines had detained 22 suspected militants since the raid was launched in secret in the village of Zaidon 30 km (20 miles) southeast of Falluja on Thursday....

Taliban Claims Navy SEAL Killed

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A purported Taliban (search) spokesman said Saturday that the group has killed a missing American commando, but he offered no proof and the U.S. military said it was still searching for the Navy SEAL.The commando is the last of a four-member elite commando team missing since June 28 in Kunar (search), near the Pakistani border. One of the men was rescued and the other two were found dead.
"This morning in Shagal district in Kunar province, the Taliban killed the American soldier and cut his head off,"

Hurricane Dennis Slams Florida Keys With Wind, Rain

Hurricane Dennis battered the Florida Keys today with 100 mph wind gusts and rain as it moved into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico, forcing evacuations along the coast. The storm killed at least 20 people in Cuba and Haiti.
Dennis's center was about 125 miles (201 kilometers) west of Key West and 355 miles south-southeast of Apalachicola as of 11 a.m. Miami time, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm is moving northwest at 14 mph (23 kph) and likely will hit the Gulf Coast somewhere between Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle tomorrow, forecasters said.

Heavy damage in Cuba from Dennis

... HAVANA - Hurricane Dennis bore down on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Saturday after slamming Cuba, sweeping away coastal homes and sending waves crashing over Havana's seawall. At least 10 people were killed in Cuba, pushing the Caribbean death toll to 30 with reports of many people still missing.Photograph: Alejandro Ernesto/EPA...

...

We lost power last night around 9:45 pm EST....but were back on as of a bit ago...BBL

Unconfirmed Report:One UK Bomber Was Recent GITMO Release

Preliminary reports from a source inside the Pentagon indicate that one of the operatives involved in the bombings in London was recently released from the prison at Guantanamo.
UPDATED 10:35 PM ET: A clarification was made by the source providing this information, noting that "one of the bombers who is believed to be involved in this attack was recently released from the prison at Guantanamo, Cuba." The source did not elaborate about how the suspect was reportedly identified so early, although suggested he was onboard bus 30 that exploded outside of the British Medical Association at 9:47 local time. We are continuing our investigation....

United We Stand

Papers tell of London's dark day
British headlines talk of sorrow and defiance
British newspapers marked on Friday London's bloodiest peacetime attack with somber front pages that struck a defiant tone.
"Our spirit will never be broken," said Britain's top-selling Sun tabloid, calling Thursday morning's rush-hour bombings "56 minutes of hell".
"In the name of New York, Washington, Bali, Nairobi, Madrid and now London, we shall have vengeance and justice,"... The Daily Express launched a telephone poll, bluntly asking readers "Should terrorists be executed?"...Link

D.C. monument elevator stuck with 35 aboard

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some 35 people trapped when the Washington Monument's elevator stalled about 120 feet into the ride on Thursday were freed by rescuers and walked down to the ground.About 25 people at the top of the monument had to take the stairs down 500 feet, a spokesman for the National Park Service said.Bill Line said a park ranger riding with the passengers radioed colleagues on the round who got help. The elevator has doors on two sides. Authorities opened one door, allowing passengers to step out onto the stairs.

Toll From London Bombing Raised Above 50

Death Toll From London Bombs Raised to More Than 50; Reluctant Commuters Return to Underground

Commuters in London reluctantly descended into the Underground Friday morning, but buses and subways carried fewer riders than normal in the aftermath of four rush-hour blasts. Police raised the death toll to more than 50 and said each of the bombs contained less than 10 pounds of explosives.
Investigators said they would look for evidence in the debris from Thursday's attacks and in the video footage from some 1,800 cameras in London's train stations.

Officials: Timing Devices Discovered in London

Sources Tell ABC News Evidence of Timing Devices, Possibly Unexploded Bombs Found

In what appears to be the first major break in the London terrorist attacks, U.S. authorities tell ABC News that police in London have recovered key parts of the timing devices that set off the bombs, suggesting they were planted in packages or bags and left behind.
There also are reports that police may have discovered two unexploded bombs as they sifted through the wreckage of the four bombs that did go off. At least several dozen people were killed in the attacks, and hundreds of others were injured while traveling on subways and a double-decker bus. Scotland Yard has denied finding undetonated explosive devices in the wreckage.

New Fetal Gender Test Raises Ethical Questions

Will Test Lead to Abortions When Parents Don't Like Results?

A controversial new blood test, which is being marketed to pregnant women, indicates the sex of a fetus five weeks into a pregnancy.
While the test allows parents to pick the colors for the nursery and baby clothes well in advance, it also has a darker potential: allowing women to get an early abortion if they don't want a baby of a particular sex...

China Sending Special Envoy to N. Korea

China Sending Special Envoy to North Korea Following Visit From U.S. Secretary of State

China will send a special envoy to North Korea next week after weekend talks with visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on efforts to restart nuclear disarmament negotiations, the government said Friday.
State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan will visit the North from Tuesday to Thursday as an envoy of President Hu Jintao, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
The one-sentence statement didn't say whom Tang would meet or what message he would carry to the North.Rice is expected to visit Beijing on Sunday to discuss efforts to end a 13-month-old impasse in talks aimed at persuading the North to relinquish its nuclear program.
U.S. officials complain that China isn't trying hard enough to prod its ally Pyongyang back into talks. Beijing is the impoverished North's main supplier of food and fuel aid.China has hosted three rounds of six-nation talks on U.S. demands that the North give up its nuclear program. The talks also include Japan, South Korea and Russia.

Choppers Rescue Four Hurt on Mt. Rainier

Choppers Rescue Four Men Injured in Crevasse Fall on Mount Rainier

Four climbers slipped down an icy Mount Rainier slope Thursday morning, catapulting two men across a crevasse and dropping two others inside it. Helicopters rescued the injured men.
Rescuers reported that one man slipped, dragging two other climbers and a mountain guide about 40 yards to the 20-foot-deep crevasse, Mount Rainier National Park spokeswoman Lee Taylor said.The most seriously injured were the climbers who plunged into the crevasse.Patrick Clemens of Bethlehem, Pa., suffered serious head trauma, along with a broken leg and possibly broken ribs, officials said. Matthew Fisher, 42, of Vernon, N.J., suffered broken ribs and a liver injury.Both were flown from the peak by Oregon National Guard helicopters.A hospital official declined to release the condition of Clemens, whose age was not available. Officials said Fisher was in serious condition.Also injured were Peter Bridgewater, 54, of Singapore, with a dislocated shoulder, and John Lucia, 31, a mountain guide who suffered a head injury, Taylor said. Both were hospitalized in satisfactory condition...

Nashville couple gets probation for hiring stripper for son

NASHVILLE, Tenn. A Nashville couple pleaded guilty today to hiring a stripper for their son's 16th birthday party.Landon and Anette Pharris were sentenced to two years probation and ordered to take parenting classes. They had been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
The parents hired the stripper to perform at a September party attended by about a dozen young people.She danced for a few hours, then those at the party took up a collection and paid her 150-dollars more to fully disrobe.The stripper, and the man she was with, were also granted probation.

Brazil to decide on Aids patent

Brazil is to announce whether it will carry out a threat to break the patents on a leading HIV drug.
Brazil's ministry of health had given the drug's American manufacturer, Abbott Laboratories, until midnight on Thursday to reduce its prices.In the absence of a pricing agreement, the government said it will produce a cheaper version of the drug Kaletra.The case is being followed closely in the developing world, where about 36 million people have the HIV virus.
Kaletra is one of the most widely-used anti-retroviral drugs, which are essential to the treatment of HIV.

We were trapped ... and waiting to die

After the bloodshed and chaos of attacks, London falls strangely silent

LONDON -Wounded Londoners painted a nightmarish picture of chaos and bloodshed as four explosions ripped through the heart of their city on Thursday, leaving Britain in shock.
Injured and traumatized victims stumbled from Underground rail stations and from the mangled hulk of a bus, all targets of what the government called terrorist attacks.
Scores of people were wounded. Police said there had been three blasts on different parts of the Underground and one on a red double-decker bus near Russell Square, an area popular with tourists and close to the British Museum.
“I came out of the bank and walked 20 meters and I saw the bus, then it just blew up. The ground vibrated with the explosion and the bus flew into the air. It was shattered. Everyone was running for their lives crying out,” said Ayobami Bello, a 42-year-old security guard.

Captors kill Egypt envoy to Iraq

Egypt has confirmed its ambassador to Iraq has been killed, five days after he was kidnapped in Baghdad.
An internet message purportedly from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's militant group was released on Thursday, claiming Ihab al-Sherif had been killed.
A video on the website showed a blindfolded man who identified himself as Mr Sherif saying he had worked at Egyptian embassies in Iraq and Israel.
Cairo is an ally of the US and Iraqi governments.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak offered his condolences to Mr Sherif's family and said his government would not be deterred from supporting Iraq.Mr Sherif was abducted in Baghdad on Saturday. ID cards bearing his name appeared on a website on Wednesday. A statement also released on Wednesday in the name of al-Qaeda in Iraq said Mr Sherif would be killed because he was an "apostate", who had betrayed his faith.

U.S. Raises Alert to Orange for Transit

U.S. Raises Terror Alert to Orange for Transit; 'No Credible Evidence' of Attack in U.S.

The Bush administration raised the terror alert a notch to code orange for the nation's mass transit systems on Thursday, responding to a spate of deadly rush-hour bus and subway bombings in London."Obviously we're concerned about the possibility of a copycat attack," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.The heightened alert will apply to "regional and inter-city passenger rail, subways and metropolitan bus systems," Chertoff said at a news conference.Chertoff said that U.S. authorities have "no specific credible evidence" pointing toward an attack in the United States. At the same time, he said, "we are also asking for increased vigilance" particularly in the U.S. transportation system

Four London Blasts Kill 37, Injured 700

Four London Transit Explosions Kill 37, Injure 700 in City's Worst Attack Since World War II

Four blasts rocked the London subway and tore open a packed double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied victims fleeing in the worst attack on London since World War II. Thirty-seven people were killed, officials said, and 700 wounded in the terror attacks.
A clearly shaken Prime Minister Tony Blair called the coordinated attacks "barbaric" and said they were designed to coincide with the G-8 summit opening in Gleneagles, Scotland. They also came a day after London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics. A group calling itself "The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe" claimed responsibility.The four blasts went off within an hour, beginning at 8:51 a.m. (3:51 a.m. EDT), and hit three subway stations and the double-decker bus. Authorities immediately shut down the subway and bus lines that log 8.4 million passenger trips every weekday.

Fla. Keys evacuate tourists due to hurricane

Season's first hurricane now packing winds of 105 mph

MIAMI - The Florida Keys ordered an evacuation of tourists and other nonresidents Thursday as Hurricane Dennis stormed through the Caribbean on a course that forecasters said might bring it to the state by the weekend.
Monroe County officials ordered that visitors begin leaving the low-lying Keys at noon ET and ordered the evacuation of mobile home residents beginning at 6 p.m. The Keys were under a hurricane watch, which means winds of at least 74 mph and storm surges are possible by late Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. A tropical storm watch was in affect for the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, including Miami...

Biggest U.S. Power Generator Goes on Trial

Nation's Biggest Power Generator Goes on Trial, Accused of Breaking Pollution Laws

COLUMBUS, Ohio Jul 6, 2005 — The nation's biggest power generator broke clean air rules by failing to cut emissions at plants in four states that foul the air in the Northeast and harm health, a federal lawyer argued Wednesday.
The case against Columbus-based American Electric Power is the biggest among several filed in the waning days of the Clinton administration against utilities in the Midwest and South.The government and eight states say AEP broke the law when it made major modifications to nine coal-burning plants without installing equipment that would have cut pollution drastically.

Friends, fans mourn soul balladeer Vandross

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fans and friends came by the hundreds on Wednesday to bid farewell to Grammy-winning soul singer and songwriter Luther Vandross, who died on Friday at age 54 after suffering a debilitating stroke two years ago

The crowds outside the Manhattan funeral chapel stretched a block long for the first of two days of public visitation.
Celebrities including actress Cicely Tyson and singers Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass and Roberta Flack also paid their respects alongside Vandross' family....

Tom Cruise is Nuts.com

After watching Tom Cruise go off on Matt Lauer, get squirted with a fake microphone and crazily jumping on Oprah's couch, a couple of guys decided to put up TomCruiseIsNuts.com....Click title for link to site.....
To see Tom Cruise use his scientology powers to taser Oprah click Here

Sleepwalking teen rescued from crane

Sleepwalking teen rescued from crane
A teenage sleepwalker was rescued after being found fast asleep 40 metres up on the arm of a crane in London.
Emergency services were called to a building site in London after a passer-by spotted the 15-year-old girl curled up on top of a concrete counterweight high above the ground.The teenager, who has not been named, had climbed up the crane and walked across a narrow metal beam while fast asleep.It is believed the teenager had walked out unnoticed from her home near the site in Dulwich in south-east London.She was brought down in a hydraulic lift after a two-hour rescue operation...

Five Americans held as Iraq insurgents

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military is holding five U.S. citizens suspected of insurgent activities in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Wednesday.
They were captured separately and don’t appear to have ties to one another, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. He declined to identify them, citing a Pentagon policy that prohibits identification of detainees.
Three of those being detained are Iraqi-Americans; another is an Iranian-American; the fifth is a Jordanian-American, Whitman said. The three Iraqi-Americans were captured in April, May and June, officials said. The Iranian-American was captured May 17, one official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the cases...

McDermott makes list of author's 100 worst Americans

Paris Hilton's parents; the Rev. Al Sharpton; the guy who gave us "Fear Factor;" and Rep. Jim McDermott....
At first glance, they don't have a lot in common. But they are linked for eternity in a new book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken Is # 37)."McDermott, as it happens, is No. 38. The Democratic congressman from Seattle apparently doesn't pose as big a threat to democracy as comedian-and-leftist radio talkster Franken. But McDermott presents more of a problem than, say, feminist Gloria Steinem, at No. 42, or Enron's disgraced chief executive, Kenneth Lay, who lumbered in at No. 45.....Click title for link and feel free to leave your suggestions for worst Americans...Names like the John Walker Taliban,& Timothy Mcveigh come to mind......

Astrologer sues NASA over comet probe

Moscow -- The NASA mission that sent a space probe smashing into a comet raised more than cosmic dust: It has also brought a lawsuit from a Russian astrologer.
Marina Bai has sued the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, saying the Deep Impact probe that punched a crater into the comet Tempel 1 late Sunday "ruins the natural balance of forces in the universe," the newspaper Izvestia reported yesterday.She said the experiment will "deform her horoscope." A Moscow court has postponed hearings on the case until late July.click title for link.

See the comet impact here (Quicktime) or to see NASA flash animation Link

NOAA:Tropical Storm DENNIS Public Advisory

Dennis ...A LITTLE STRONGER AND NEARING HURRICANE INTENSITY......HURRICANE WATCH EXTENDED WESTWARD TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF CENTRAL CUBA...A HURRICANE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR JAMAICA AND FOR THESOUTHWESTERN PENINSULA OF HAITI FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC BORDER. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN COAST OF THEDOMINICAN REPUBLIC FROM BARAHONA WESTWARD TO THE HAITI-DOMINICANREPUBLIC BORDER...click title for link(pic courtesy of NOAA)

UPDATE-6:20PM DENNIS HAS NOW REACHED HURRICANE STATUS...

Britney's Belly

Britney Spears Pregnant....belly pic

Fake Karl Rove photoshop job being sent around via email...

He grabbed girl's arm -- now he's a sex offender

He grabbed girl's arm -- now he's a sex offender

Fitzroy Barnaby said he had to swerve to avoid hitting the 14-year-old Des Plaines girl who walked in front of his car.
She said he yelled, "Come here, little girl," before getting out of his car and grabbing her by the arm.He said he simply lectured her.She said she broke free and ran, fearful of what he'd do next.In a Thursday ruling, the Appellate Court of Illinois said the 28-year-old Evanston man must register as a sex offender.While acknowledging it might be "unfair for [Barnaby] to suffer the stigmatization of being labeled a sex offender when his crime was not sexually motivated," the court said his actions are the type that are "often a precursor" to a child being abducted or molested.Though Barnaby was acquitted of attempted kidnapping and child abduction charges stemming from the November 2002 incident, he was convicted of unlawful restraint of a minor -- which is a sex offense.....

Brunas Swordfish by Captain MarkTheShark ,Check out the video montage on the homepage including saiLfish,dolphin(mahi mahi)...action...windows media player rq,vid starts automatically.Crank up your comps audio system,full screen the vid & sit back and enjoy : ) .....

Scientists Reanimate Dogs, Dislike Zombie Comparisons

Ever see the movie, Pet Semetery? Scientists have found a way to bring Bowser back to life without the Indian burial ground and creepy old man neighbors. And they say that dogs aren't as cranky as you might expect after coming back from the dead.Three hours after clinical death, researchers at Pitt's Safar Center for Resuscitation Research were able bring dogs back to life using a new technique they hope to extend humans within a year...

Teacher Attire Becoming a Touchy Topic

Teacher Attire Becoming a Touchy Topic, With Some School Boards Pursuing Dress Codes

Teachers are expected to bear long days, challenging students and demanding parents. Now, apparently, some teachers are baring too much of themselves.
School boards and superintendents increasingly are pursuing dress codes for teachers. At issue is the same kind of questionable attire most often associated with students.
In some districts, teachers can get dressed down for wearing skimpy tops, short skirts, flip flops, jeans, T-shirts, spandex or baseball caps. Spaghetti is fine in the cafeteria, but shirts supported by spaghetti straps are not welcome in the classroom.

Source: Special ops member rescued in Afghanistan

Reconnaissance team missing since Tuesday

One member of a U.S. special operations reconnaissance team missing in Afghanistan since Tuesday has been rescued, a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN.
The team member "evaded the enemy and was successfully rescued by U.S. forces," the official said.
No other details are being released because the search for other missing members of the team continues, the official said.
A military helicopter crashed Tuesday while bringing reinforcements to the team, killing all 16 service members aboard...

18 nabbed in human-smuggling scheme

Federal and state authorities in California arrested 18 persons during a series of overnight raids last week that targeted a sophisticated human-smuggling operation authorities said brought hundreds of South Korean women into the United States to work as prostitutes. A criminal complaint filed in Los Angeles late Friday charged 23 persons with conspiracy. Five were listed as fugitives. Those arrested, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesman Dean Boyd, were charged with harboring illegal aliens for an immoral purpose, harboring and transporting illegal aliens and violating the Travel Act, a federal statute that prohibits moving people across state lines for illegal sexual purposes, such as prostitution...

I'll take Countries for 200 Alex.....
Ok...this country while founded on a Christian theology allows anyone from any religion to freely practice their own religion in their country.....
What is United States of America ....
That's Correct....
Ok, Ill Take Countries for 500....
Ok..ohhh a Daily Double.... This countries high court while not ruling animal sacrifices as protected under the first amendment did rule that laws targetting specific religious practices only, were unconstitutional....tell me the country and case....
What is United States of America and CHURCH OF LUKUMI BABALU AYE v. CITY OF HIALEAH is the case..
That's correct....

"Defensive Firearms for Beginners"

Courtesy of LestDarknessFall
"In over 20 years of self-defense firearms training, I have come to believe that proper mindset is the single most important component of the equation, and also the most difficult to teach. It seems that most people who have it have always had it, perhaps since birth. It requires an instinctive assumption that one’s own life and health, and that of his/her family, are of overwhelming importance....A depressing number of people, including whole police departments, think they can accessorize themselves to competence. It doesn’t work that way. Buying the gun is like identifying that your company or household has a cash flow problem: It’s 1% of the solution. Practice, like increasing earnings and/or reducing expenses, is the other 99%..."Click title for the rest of the story...

cyouincourt007:Fortunately in Florida we do not have to be a pawn broker or ...to aquire a concealed weapons permit......as per your local laws and regs I recomend those able to get this permit do so...The stories of armed citizens defending themselves against criminals may not make the MSM primetime but this scenario plays itself out more often than you may think.
Click title for link... and visit Shooting Range National Registry to locate a local gun range,,,

Take Back The Memorial

Jcrue of doubleplusgood infotainment posted about the Take Back The Memorial Petition and requested readers to look into it for themselves prior to signing it...
Since then I have looked into it(mas o menos) and if half of what is supposed to be done @ Ground Zero happens it will be our fault for not doing something about it.....Click title for link
I'd rather raise hell and sign a petition some may dismiss as mere conspiracy theories vs. going to Ground Zero one day and finding all this junk and knowing I didn't do a dam thing about it....This is a memorial for over 3,000 Americans who were killed by an act of war...not the latest opening of a strip mall,flea market .........

Update:The process took all of about 2 minutes,...

I visited the World Trade Center once while in New York with my family as a youngin...I recall the thick glass on the windows which my childhood "fear of heights"prevented me from getting within a foot of.The view was magnificent and the twin towers equally so...they were a site to see in and of themselves...I didn't even want to get close to the windows, imagine facing the choice of burning alive or jumping

Papers show inmates defy Gitmo troops

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Military authorities have previously disclosed some incidents of guard retaliation at Guantanamo Bay, which resulted in mostly minor disciplinary proceedings. What emerges from 278 pages of documents obtained by The Associated Press is the degree of defiance by the terrorism suspects at Guantanamo.
The prisoners banged on their cells to protest the heat. They doused guards with whatever liquid was handy — from spit to urine. Sometimes they struck their jailers, one swinging a steel chair at a military police officer.And the American MPs at times retaliated with force ...punches, pepper spray and a splash of cleaning fluid in the face, according to the newly released documents that detail military investigations and eyewitness accounts of alleged abuse...

Da Vinci drawing discovered under his painting 'Virgin of the Rocks'

National Gallery experts using infrared techniques have discovered a Leonardo da Vinci sketch hidden underneath a painting by the Italian master, conservationists said Friday.
The sketch — the first unknown Leonardo image to be found in decades — is beneath the delicate brushstrokes of the artist's "Virgin on the Rocks," a powerful scene of Christ's mother in a dusky cavern, which hangs in the London museum...Click title for the story

RightInTexas

"Questions for the Nominee"

Crime & Federalism offers some questions for a potential US Supreme Court Nominee

"Herewith questions I would ask were I a Senator...

1. Do you think it really matters that the word "privacy" does not appear in the Constitution? How could a government of limited powers ever be presumed to impinge on the right to privacy?
2. On the question of constitutional interpretation, the term "sovereign immunity" is nowhere present in the text of the Constitution and runs counter to the Preamble. Would you agree that declaring government sovereign inverts the constitutional order?
3. Do you believe in the Seventh Amendment right to a jury in civil trials? If so, would you agree that such judicial remedies as remittitur and limitations on punitive damages deprive the people of their voice?..."


There are a total of eight questions...To read them all click on title...As for #8 on the list....hmmmmm...

Live 8 rocks the globe

Concerts from Tokyo to Johannesburg highlight African poverty

LONDON, England (AP) -- Bono effortlessly worked the crowd. Half a globe away, Bjork strutted the stage. Bill Gates was cheered like a rock star. And on the continent that inspired Saturday's unprecedented Live 8 extravaganza, Nelson Mandela outshone them all.From Johannesburg to Philadelphia, Berlin to Tokyo, Rome to Moscow, hundreds of the world's top musicians and more than 1 million of their fans gathered for a music marathon designed to pressure the world's most powerful leaders into fighting African poverty...

Boy, 9, falls to death from ride

HIGHLAND, Ind. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy died after falling more than 25 feet from the gondola of a rotating carnival ride during a Fourth of July festival at a town park.
"Rider error, operator error, equipment failure — we don't know at this point," Highland Police Chief Peter Hojnicki said. "His death was caused by unknown reasons."Dakota Stevenson of Gary was pronounced dead at a Munster hospital shortly after falling Friday night from the Wind Shear, a ride in which passengers are strapped into a rotating gondola with over-the-shoulder restraints.All of the carnival rides remained shut down Saturday while the festival continued.

UPDATE:07-09-2005

Dad sues in death of boy, 9, on carnival ride....One week after 9-year-old Dakota Stevenson died on a carnival ride in northwest Indiana, his father Friday filed a wrongful death suit against the ride's owners and operators, hoping to, as his lawyer put it, "discover the truth" about what happened. Link

Idaho girl found; brother believed dead

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — More than six weeks after she disappeared from a home where family members were bludgeoned to death, an 8-year-old girl has been found safe Saturday, sharing a meal with a registered sex offender at a Denny's restaurant in her hometown.Shasta Groene is being reunited with her father, but her 9-year-old brother, Dylan, remains missing and is feared dead, Kootenai County Sheriff's Capt. Ben Wolfinger said.
"Our initial information is that he may be deceased," Wolfinger said, adding that officials are continuing the search for him. Investigators believe Dylan was alive when the children vanished in mid-May...

Report: Iran leader linked to '89 Vienna killings

Austria probes president's alleged role in deaths of Kurd leader, associates

VIENNA, Austria - Austrian authorities have classified documents suggesting that Iran’s president-elect may have played a key role in the 1989 execution-style slayings of an Iranian Kurdish leader and two associates in Vienna, a newspaper reported Saturday.
Austria’s Interior Ministry and the public prosecutor’s office are investigating alleged evidence pointing to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s possible involvement in the attack, the daily Der Standard reported...

Strong quake shakes Nicaragua

No injuries or damage reported after 6.7-magnitude temblor

MANAGUA, Nicaragua - A strong earthquake shook much of Nicaragua late Friday, sending frightened residents spilling into the streets, but no injuries or damage has been reported, officials said.
The 6.7-magnitude temblor occurred at 9:16 p.m. local time and was centered in the Pacific Ocean, about 40 miles west-southwest of the community of Rivas, about 65 miles south of Managua, the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Colorado.