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Barack Obama Knocks Out Clinton In Iowa Caucus

2008-01-04T10:39:00.000-08:00

Freshman Illinois Senator Barack Obama thumped former First Lady Hillary Clinton in Thursday night's caucus, posing a dramatic challenge to a campaign that has cloaked itself in an air of inevitability.

Obama would be the first African American president and, at 47, one of the youngest, if he were to go on to capture the Democratic party nomination and then the White House. Themes of change and hope dominated his campaign, and they were the concepts he focused on in celebrating his win before elated supporters following the caucus.

Iowans of all ages and colors turned out for Obama's victory speech, but the crowd was dominated by enthusiastic young supporters. Obama's ability to tap into new voters, both those who only recently became old enough to vote and those who have never come out on caucus night, was widely viewed as a key reason for his resounding win. He beat Clinton with 38 percent of the vote to her 29%, as well as former North Carolina Senator John Edwards's 30%. In doing so, he captured 57% of the under-30 vote, according to a CNN analysis.

Patriot Act Ruled Unconstitutional By U.S. Judge

2007-09-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

A law allowing federal anti-terrorism agents to access information on the U.S. public without a warrant has been ruled as unconstitutional by a US judge in Washington D.C.

Victor Marrero said Congress exceeded its authority by allowing the FBI to keep requests secret under the Patriot Act, passed after the 9/11 attacks.

He said the act offended constitutional principles of checks and balances, and violated the guarantee of free speech.

The requests were mainly for financial, telephone and internet records on suspected terrorist in the U.S.

Judge Marrero said his ruling would not take effect immediately, thus giving the government time to appeal.

The Patriot Act allows for the use of national security letters, or administrative subpoenas, in cases relating to spying or terrorism.

Under such a subpoena, personal records of clients and customers must be handed over to the FBI from such sources as banks, telephone firms and internet service providers.

Judge Marrero ruled in favour of the American Civil Liberties Union, which had complained against the use of such letters.

He said his ruling did not mean the FBI must get court approval before ordering records, but that it must be able to justify why the request should be kept secret.

In the year before the 11 September 2001 attacks, the FBI issued about 8,500 national security letter requests.

A government report earlier this year said requests had risen from 39,000 in 2003 to about 56,000 in 2004 before falling back to about 47,000 in 2005.
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Judge Throws Out Parts of the Revised Patriot Act

WXXA FOX 23 Albany - (WXXA)

Sep. 07, 2007. 09:35 AM EST

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Report: FBI Abused the Patriot Act

Associated Press - (APTN)

Mar. 09, 2007. 06:21 PM EST

A newly released audit has found that the FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally obtained personal information about people in the country. (March 9)

Just For Men Osama bin Laden Tape

2007-09-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden said he vows to step up the battle in Iraq and mocks the United States in a new video released, his first such appearance in three years.

The video, which U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed as genuine, has sparked an immediate reaction from President George W Bush, who said it showed how dangerous the world remains and how the U.S. must show resolve in Iraq.

Timed to mark the upcoming sixth anniversary of the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, Mr bin Laden attacks Mr Bush, US neoconservative thinkers and global corporations for fomenting the Iraq war.

He also attacks the U.S. Democratic Party, which he claims has done little to halt the war.

There are two ways to end the Iraq war, he says, according to a transcript released by the U.S. based SITE Intelligence Group which monitors Islamic militant websites.

"The first is from our side, and it is to continue to escalate the killing and fighting against you," he says.

The second, he says, is to do away with the US democratic system of government, which he says merely serves the interests of major corporations.

U.S. intelligence agencies confirmed the voice on the tape likely belonged to Mr bin Laden.

The tape was believed to have been produced as recently as early August because of a reference to the 62nd anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, the official said.

It was the Al-Qaeda leader's first such appearance since October 2004, when he threatened new attacks against the United States in a video just days before U.S. elections.

U.S. authorities were closely examining the video for clues. They said there were no overt threats in his rambling message.

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Bin Laden to U.S.: Convert to Islam

Associated Press - (APTN)

Sep. 07, 2007. 06:05 PM EST

Osama bin Laden appeared for the first time in three years in a videotape released ahead of the 6th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The tape is still being authenticated.

Craig's Political Carrier Down The Toilet?

2007-09-06T09:33:00.000-07:00

Republican Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is reconsidering his decision to step down after his arrest in a Minneapolis airport sex sting, according to the Associated Press.

Sidney Smith, Craig’s spokesman, said, “It's not such a foregone conclusion anymore, that the only thing he could do was resign.” Craig, who has represented Idaho in Congress for 27 years, announced Sept. 1 that he plans to resign from the Senate Sept. 30.

However, since that announcement, he has hired prominent attorney Billy Martin who has represented former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and ex-NFL quarterback Michael Vick to explore the possibility of reversing his plea.

Last week, Craig received a call from Republican Sen. Arlen Specter urging the embattled official to fight for his seat. Smith said that the call was a factor in Craig’s rethinking.

Should Craig stay with his initial decision to resign, Republican Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter will choose the senator’s successor.
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Q&A: Sen. Craig's Legal Battle

Associated Press - (APTN)

Sep. 05, 2007. 08:22 PM EST

A legal expert responds to reports Senator Larry Craig is trying to withdraw his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting and would resign only if that fails. (Sept. 5)

Watch TV and Movies Online Now Free

2007-08-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

We Have Been Working On Our New Video Broadcast and Online TV Guide website iTrashTV.com this summer. You can watch and link to Online TV, News, Entertainment News, Music TV, Full Length Movies, Trailers. Link to video websites, share sites web cams and more. This site is open for preview, but is still a work in progress. Watch new and classic movies now, click photo above to enter. Soon we will ad a new navigation button to this page, and will begin posting new stories to Pressroom5 in September.

Bush Doing Business As Usual, Along With Protest In Rome On Visit

2007-06-09T08:50:00.001-07:00

US President George W Bush drew gasps at the Vatican on Saturday by referring to Pope Benedict XVI as "Sir" instead of the expected "His Holiness".

Meanwhile anti-war protesters gathered in Rome on Saturday as US President George W Bush was to meet Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Pope Benedict XVI, a day after the release of an explosive report detailing secret CIA prisons in Europe.

Bush, who arrived here late on Friday following the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, and a brief stop in Poland, began the day with a courtesy visit to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

Heavy security measures were in force, with some 10 000 police including hundreds in riot gear and scores of armored vehicles deployed in central Rome as helicopters hovered overhead.

Two separate protests, one by the left flank of Prodi's fractious ruling coalition and the other by more hard-line anti-US campaigners, were planned for Saturday afternoon.

Prodi has asked government members of the Refoundation Communist, Italian Communist and Green parties not to join the protest, while party leaders and lawmakers plan to attend.

Italian Welfare Minister Paolo Ferrero of the Refoundation Communist party said on Friday that he would not join the protest out of a "sense of responsibility," while noting: "Bush is a warmonger, I understand those who oppose him."

Military issues are particularly thorny in Italy, such as Rome's tenuous commitment to its mission in Afghanistan and widespread domestic opposition to a plan to enlarge a US military base in northeastern Italy.

Prodi was briefly forced to step down three months ago after losing a foreign policy vote in the Senate, principally over the deployment of 2000 Italian troops in Afghanistan, for lack of support from the far left of his ruling coalition.

Bush said in an interview with the daily La Stampa that he wanted to speak to Prodi about his "difficult choices" in Afghanistan.

"I want to let him know how important the Italian commitment is in Afghanistan, now and in the future," he said.

G8 Agrees To Fight Aids In Africa With $60 Billion In Funding

2007-06-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

The agreement within the G8 will follow the US proposal to increase the aid for fighting these diseases to $60 billion in the forthcoming years with $30 billion coming from the US.

Merkel will make the deal public on the summit's final day after a meeting with the heads of six African nations. Detail on the plans were not available, making it hard to tell how much new money the deal involves.

The G8 countries had wrangled late into Thursday night about specifics on aid for Africa. They were expected to broadly recommit themselves to pledges made at a 2005 summit in Scotland when they said they would double development funding by 2010.

The $60 billion will be used to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, global diseases that have been especially devastating for African peoples and their economies.

Campaigners for Africa say the $60 billion pledge falls short of UN targets for extending treatment to tackle disease.

Two leading campaigners, rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof, put pressure on G8 summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and her fellow leaders from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Russia.

"The chancellor has asked us to trust her and we are tempted, but we cannot risk being let down by the G8 again," said Bono.

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Bush: Back at Meetings After Sickness.

Carter Says "Bush The Worst In History"

2007-05-21T09:23:00.001-07:00

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter blasted George W. Bush's presidency as "the worst in history" in international relations and denounced British PM Tony Blair's relationship with Bush as "Abominable, Loyal, blind, apparently subservient," in interviews over the weekend.

Carter told NBC's "Today Show" that he had confined his remarks to the war in Iraq and what he called the lack of 'peace efforts' between Israel and the Palestinians.

Carter was quoted in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Saturday's editions as saying "I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history."

The Democrat said Bush had overseen an "overt reversal of America's basic values" as expressed by previous administrations, including that of his own father, former President George H.W. Bush.

The White House dismissed Carter yesterday as "increasingly irrelevant" after his harsh criticism of President George W. Bush.

But Carter said today he was responding to a question comparing this administration's foreign policy with that of Richard Nixon. He says Nixon had what Carter calls a "good and productive foreign policy."

Asked about the White House's comments about relevancy, Carter said "I don't claim to have any relevancy. I have a completely unofficial capacity. The only thing I lead is the Carter Center."

But Carter went on to say that he always writes a report when he visits other countries, including monitoring Palestinian elections, and always shares it with whichever president is in office. As he puts it "I have not been timid about sharing my opinion with those leaders, but obviously I don't have any authority."

The former president was speaking from Louisiana, where Habitat for Humanity is beginning construction of its one-thousandth house along the Gulf Coast since Hurricane Katrina.

Thousands Of U.S. Troops Search For 3 Missing Soldiers

2007-05-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

Thousands of U.S. troops are continuing to search for three soldiers believed to have been captured by al Qaeda in Iraq, they have made several arrests and questioned hundreds of people.

A group claiming allegiance to al Qaeda said at the weekend it had the men.

The self-styled Islamic State in Iraq, posted a message on a website saying it was holding "crusader" soldiers.

It warned the U.S. military to stop searching for the trio and said the men were taken in revenge for the alleged rape and murder of a teenage girl by American troops a year ago.

"Your soldiers are in our hands. If you want their safety, do not look for them," the 'Islamic State of Iraq' said on a militant website.

You should remember what you have done to our sister Abeer in the same area."

Troops backed by helicopters and jets are combing orchards and farms and have erected roadblocks in a massive hunt for the missing soldiers.

The soldiers went missing after an ambush killed five soldiers Saturday on their military convoy in a region south of Baghdad that has been called the Triangle of Death.

Commander are under fire for lack of military support for the small venerable convoy and taking one hour to respond to the fallen soldiers.

It was the same area where two U.S. soldiers were abducted by al Qaeda insurgents last June.

Their mutilated and booby-trapped bodies were found days later after a search by thousands of troops.

Other developments Reported By CNN

• Insurgents in Baghdad killed 10 people in two attacks on Tuesday, a bombing strike at an outdoor market and mortar fire near Sadr City, authorities in Iraq said.

• Insurgents kidnapped nine workers from Iraq's largest oil refinery on Monday amid concerns among the U.S. military about security at the facility, police in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit said Tuesday.

• Three U.S. soldiers, one Marine and one U.S. airman were killed Monday in Iraq in three incidents, the U.S. military said. The soldiers' deaths bring to 49 the number of U.S. troops killed this month in Iraq, 3,400 U.S. military personnel have been killed since the war began more than four years ago. Seven civilian contractors also have died.

• Baghdad police found 18 unidentified bodies dumped across the capital Monday, an Interior Ministry official said, adding that 293 corpses have been found across the capital so far this month.

• Coalition forces detained 11 "suspected terrorists" on Monday, including "one individual suspected of conspiring directly with al Qaeda in Iraq senior leaders." He was picked up in Baghdad, the military said. Other raids took place in Ramadi, Hit and Karmah, all west of the Iraqi capital.

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Pentagon: Missing Troops in Terrorist Hands

Mullah Dadullah Gets Caught In The War On Terror

2007-05-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

The Taliban's most prominent military commander, a one-legged fighter who orchestrated an ethnic massacre and a rash of beheadings, was killed in a US-led military operation in southern Afghanistan.

Mullah Dadullah, a top lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was killed yesterday in the southern province of Helmand, according to reports by Afghanistan's intelligence service.

A Nato statement confirmed his death, saying it had dealt the insurgency ``a serious blow''.

Dadullah is one of the highest-ranking Taliban leaders killed since the fall of the hard-line regime following the US-led invasion in 2001.

His death represents a major victory for the Afghan government and the international coalition that has struggled to contain a Taliban-led insurgency wracking the south and east of the country.

Dadullah's body was shown to reporters at a news conference in the governor's compound.

But Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a purported Taliban spokesman, denied that the Taliban commander had been killed. ``Mullah Dadullah is alive,'' Ahmadi insisted.

In December, a US airstrike near the Pakistan border killed another top Taliban commander in southern Afghanistan, Mullah Akhtar Mohammad Osmani. Dadullah, Osmani and policy-maker Mullah Obaidullah had been considered to be Omar's top three leaders.

Dadullah, who comes from the southern province of Uruzgan, lost a leg fighting against the Soviet army that occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s. He emerged as a Taliban commander during its fight against the Northern Alliance in northern Afghanistan during the 1990s, helping the hard-line militia to capture the city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

An ethnic Pashtun, the group that makes up the core of the Taliban and is prominent in eastern and southern Afghanistan, Dadullah led a Taliban massacre of ethnic Hazaras in 1999 in the province of Bamiyan, where the Taliban in 2000 destroyed two large, ancient Buddha statues carved into a hillside cliff.

Since the Taliban's ouster in late 2001, Dadullah emerged as the group's most prominent and feared commander. He often appeared in videos and media interviews, and earlier this year predicted a massive militant spring offensive that has failed to materialise.

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Confirmed Death of Taliban Leader

FBI Arrest 6 Men In Plot To Attack U.S. Army Base Fort Dix

2007-05-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

The FBI has arrested six foreign born Muslim men in connection with an alleged plot to attack an army base in the United States.

Prosecutors claim the men, who are from the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East, planned to use automatic weapons to kill as many soldiers as possible at the Fort Dix base in New Jersey.

The men are being described as "Islamic militants", but officials say there is no evidence of any links to international terrorism.

The video shop clerk called the Mount Laurel Police Department, after he had been asked to copy footage of the men firing guns and chanting onto a DVD, who in turn contacted the FBI.

The FBI says it infiltrated their group after a video shop clerk told local police.

And thus began the downfall of one of the most thoroughly infiltrated and documented group of terrorism suspects in recent history.

Six men from Yugoslavia and the Middle East who were charged Tuesday with plotting to slaughter scores of American soldiers at Fort Dix and perhaps other military installations in the Northeast.

The suspects' images and words were captured on more than 50 audio and video recordings. Their comings and goings were recorded by law enforcement agents who monitored the alleged plot for 15 months, hoping more terror ties would become apparent.

The defendants, all men in their 20s, include a pizza deliveryman suspected of using his job to scout out Fort Dix. Their goal was "to kill as many American soldiers as possible" in attacks with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and guns, prosecutors said.

The arrests brought renewed worry among New Jersey's Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim men from New Jersey were rounded up and detained in the months after the Sept. 11 attacks, but none were connected to that plot.

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Attorney: Suspects Are "New Kind" of Terrorists

NASA Contractor Takes Hostage Two Dead

2007-04-21T07:33:00.000-07:00

A NASA contractor took two co-workers hostage at Johnson Space Centre, killing one of them before turning the revolver on himself, just days after the bloodiest school shooting in US history.

Bill Phillips, an engineer with Jacobs Engineering who has worked for NASA for about 12 years, barricaded himself inside the building late yesterday, after managing to sneak a revolver past security at the sprawling space centre campus.

Phillips shot David Beverly in the chest, killing the NASA employee, and later shot himself in the head inside Building 44, a communications and engineering facility, officials said.

The second hostage, Fran Crenshaw, another NASA contract worker, was found duct-taped to a chair a few hours after the standoff began. She was treated at a hospital and released.

Police had tried to negotiate with the man but all they heard from the room was another gunshot. When they rushed in the room they found the two men dead and the woman bound at her hands and ankles.

On a chalkboard in the room where his body was found, Phillips left a list of names and phone numbers and a scribbled note, which was not immediately understandable, The Houston Chronicle reported Saturday.

Friday's shooting happened while the nation was mourning the 32 people shot dead by a South Korean student who killed himself after his rampage at Virginia Tech University on Monday.

All three were electrical engineers in their early 50s who knew each other, and they may even had had lunch together earlier in the day, Johnson Space Centre director Michael Coates told a news conference.

Officials did not know the motive behind the killing.

"Apparently there was some type of dispute between" Phillips and Beverly, Houston Police Chief Howard Hurtt told reporters.

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NASA Shooting; Two Engineers Dead in Houston

Gunman Goes Postal Before His Final Rampage

2007-04-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

After killing two in the residence hall, but before his murderous rampage at Virginia Tech Norris Hall, the gunman went to the post office and mailed NBC a package containing photos and videos of him brandishing guns and delivering a snarling, profanity-laced rant about rich “brats” and their “hedonistic needs.”

“You had a hundred billion chances and ways to have avoided today,” 23-year-old Cho Seung-Hui says in a harsh monotone, in an excerpt shown on “NBC Nightly News.” “But you decided to spill my blood. You forced me into a corner and gave me only one option. The decision was yours. Now you have blood on your hands that will never wash off.”

NBC said the package contained a rambling and often-incoherent, 1,800-word video manifesto, plus 43 photos, 11 of them showing Cho aiming handguns at the camera.

He repeatedly suggests he was picked on or otherwise hurt.

“You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience,” he said. “You thought it was one pathetic boy’s life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenseless people.”

In another portion of the tape, Cho said, "You love crucifying me, I didn’t have to do it. I could have left. I could have fled. But now I am no longer running. If not for me, for my children and my brothers and sisters that you (expletive). I did it for them.”

He also refers to “martyrs like Eric and Dylan” a reference to the teenage killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who killed 13 people at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999.

Word of hate towards wealthy kids. “Your Mercedes wasn’t enough, you brats,” he says, apparently reading from a manifesto. “Your golden necklaces weren’t enough, you snobs. Your trust funds wasn’t enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn’t enough. All your debaucheries weren’t enough. Those weren’t enough to fulfill your hedonistic needs. You had everything.”

NBC News said Cho sent the "long and rambling communication" to the network, and it was delivered Wednesday morning to NBC News chief Steve Capus. A time stamp on the mailed package indicates it was sent at 9:01 a.m. Monday, about an hour and 45 minutes after Cho killed two people in a campus dormitory.

A short while later, he opened fire in a university engineering building, killing 30 people. Then he killed himself as police closed in.

Network officials said the material was hand-delivered to Capus on Wednesday by a New York City postal employee who saw the return address and realized it was important. NBC turned the package over to the FBI and said they would not immediately disclose all its contents pending the agency’s review.

If the package was indeed mailed between the first attack and the second, as the time stamp indicates, that would help explain where Cho was and what he did during that two-hour window.

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Raw Video: NBC Releases Gunman Video Manifesto

Va Tech Cho Seung-Hui A Troubled Young Man

2007-04-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Cho Seung-Hui the student who had killed 32 people in two university buildings on Monday had also killed himself, but he left behind a bomb threat, and the school was investigating whether he had any links to previous bomb threats on campus.

Flinchum said Wednesday that the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, had been accused of stalking two female student in 2005 and had been taken to a mental health facility that year.

Cho's roommates and professors on Wednesday described a troubled, very quiet young man who rarely spoke to his roommates or made eye contact with them. His bizarre behavior became even less predictable in recent weeks, roommates Joseph Aust and Karan Grewal said.

Several students and professors described Cho as a sullen loner, he was quiet, shy and withdrawn. Authorities said he left a rambling note raging against women and rich kids. News reports said that Cho, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English, may have been taking medication for depression and that he was becoming increasingly erratic.

In screenplays Cho wrote for a class last fall, characters throw hammers and attack with chainsaws, said a student who attended Virginia Tech last fall. In another, Cho concocted a tale of students who fantasize about stalking and killing a teacher who sexually molested them.

Despite the many warning signs that came to light in the bloody aftermath, police and university officials offered no clues as to exactly what set Cho off.

Cho who arrived in the United States as boy from South Korea in 1992, graduated from Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va., in 2003. Cho was raised in suburban Washington, D.C., where his parents worked at a dry cleaners left a note that was found after the bloodbath.

A law enforcement official described it Tuesday as a typed, eight-page rant against rich kids and religion. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

"You caused me to do this," the official quoted the note as saying.

Cho indicated in his letter that the end was near and that there was a deed to be done, the official said. He also expressed disappointment in his own religion, and made several references to Christianity, the official said.

Officials at a press conference yesterday said they could not comment on allegations that Cho had a previous run-in with law enforcement officers in Blacksburg in 2005.

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Va Tech Shooter's Family Struggled in S. Korea

Virginia Tech Massacre Investigation

2007-04-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Virginia Tech President Charles Steger told "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer this morning that there was still the possibility that there were two shooters in the separate campus attacks on Monday morning.

Steger said that the shooter who took his own life in the Norris Hall classroom building, where 30 other people were also killed, was a student of Asian descent who lived in a dormitory at Virginia Tech.

The name of gunman has been released by the police as, "Seung Hui Cho." 23 year old from South Korea, permanent resident of U.S. since 1992 and a student at Virginia Tech.

Steger referred to this person as the "second shooter."

"It appears that the second shooter was a resident in a dormitory," Steger said. "We don't have all of that confirmed but it appears he was an on-campus resident."

Sawyer asked whether there was more than one shooter involved.

"We don't know for sure. That's what we're trying to confirm," Steger said.

Steger said police had questioned a person of interest in the case.

"They have questioned them once and they'll probably continue to question the individual," he said.

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Va. Tech Massacre Adds to Infamous Week

Virginia Tech Gun Rampage Kills 32 Plus Gunman

2007-04-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

A gunman opened fire in a dorm and a classroom today at Virginia Tech, killing 32 people in the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, government officials said. The gunman then killed himself, bringing the death toll to 33.

At least 26 people were being treated at area hospitals for injuries, police said. The injuries included gun wounds, but also broken bones and sprains sustained by students who jumped from windows to escape the attacker.

The university reported shootings at opposite sides of the 2,600-acre campus, beginning about 7:15 a.m. at West Ambler Johnston, a coed residence hall that houses 895 people, and continuing about two hours later at Norris Hall, an engineering building.

Two people were killed in the dorm room, and 30 others and the gunman died in Norris Hall, police said.

Students told MSNBC that they were in a Norris Hall classroom when the gunman, dressed in a black leather jacket, walked in and began shooting without saying a word.

The Associated Press quoted an anonymouos law-enforcement officer as saying the gunman had two pistols and multiple clips of ammunition. The Washington Post, also quoting anonymous police officials, said the man was carrying two 9mm pistols and said his self-inflicted gunshot wound caused such extensive damage that police had not yet been able to identify him.

Students and one employee criticized the university's response to the shooting, there were no public-address announcements or other warnings on campus after the first burst of gunfire. They said the first word they received from the university was an e-mail more than two hours into the rampage around the time the gunman struck again.

Until today, the deadliest campus shooting in U.S. history took place in 1966 at the University of Texas, where Charles Whitman climbed to the 28th-floor observation deck of a clock tower and opened fire. He killed 16 people before he was gunned down by police. In the bloodbath at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado, in 1999, two teenagers killed 12 fellow students and a teacher before taking their own lives

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First Person: Student Describes Campus Shooting

N Korea Forgets Nuclear Deadline For Cash

2007-04-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

North Korea has refused to begin dismantling its Yongbyon atomic reactor as the deadline for its closure is reached.

Saturday's missed deadline marks the latest setback for an agreement reached in February that to disarm the world's newest declared nuclear power.

North Korea has said it would only begin the process of denuclearisation once about $25m in North Korean accounts, frozen for 18 months in Macau's Banco Delta Asia after the US accused the bank of being involved in money laundering, had been released.

The US initially missed the deadline to unblock the funds.

Missed deadline

But Washington says authorities in Macau have now released them and has urged North Korea to abide by the denuclearisation agreement reached by the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States in Beijing.

North Korea, which conducted its first nuclear test last October, said it would check whether it could access the funds and promised to start scrapping its nuclear programme once it confirmed that it could access the money.

In Washington, US officials said Friday that North Korea was virtually certain to miss the weekend deadline, although they added this would not necessarily lead to a collapse of the deal.

Song Min-Soon, the South Korean foreign minister, said that as long as all sides remain committed, "it's important not to be bound to the date but to carry out the agreed steps in a stable way".

US officials and experts say the process of shutting down a reactor and having UN nuclear inspectors verify it would probably take several days.

Christopher Hill, the US negotiator in the nuclear talks, said the US "not indifferent to missing a deadline".

He told reporters: "I don't want to put a date or an hour, but another month is not in my constitution."

Play Video
North Korea Disarmament Deadline Slips

India Fires Nuke-Capable Missile

2007-04-12T07:15:00.000-07:00

India Thursday tested its home made nuclear capable Agni-III ballistic missile, from a defense base in Orissa,according to Indo-Asian News Service.

The news quoted defense sources as saying that a four-hour "range countdown" for test-firing began at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning.

The Defense sources said the missile, with a range of over 1864 miles, was test-fired from Inner Wheeler Island of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur defense base, about 143 miles from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

This missile was first launched last year but failed.

We Want Some Of Our Cash & Oil Too

2007-04-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

Seoul, North Korea has told a visiting US delegation it will take initial steps to shut down its main nuclear reactor within a day of receiving funds frozen in a Macau bank.

New Mexico state governor Bill Richardson said he was given the assurance during his trip to Pyongyang this week at the head of a US delegation.

"The North Korean Government told us that with the (bank) issue resolved, it would move promptly, within a day after receiving the funds," Mr Richardson said yesterday.

"And therefore, within that day it would invite the IAEA inspectorate to Pyongyang to draft the terms for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor."

North Korea expelled International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in late 2002 after the latest crisis over its nuclear program began.

Mr Richardson said he believed the communist state was committed to the six-nation February 13 agreement to disable its nuclear programs in exchange for one million tonnes of fuel oil or its equivalent and diplomatic benefits, as well as its bank funds.

Pyongyang's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye-Gwan, reportedly made the promise to the US team after accepting assurances the North would soon receive the funds that had been frozen in a Macau bank on US instructions.

The US team's official mission was to secure the remains of US troops killed in the Korean War, but it also discussed the nuclear dispute.

Mr Richardson and his party crossed the Korean border yesterday with remains believed to be of six US soldiers, the US military said.

Play Video
Hill: Breakthrough in N. Korea Nuke Stalemate

Peter Pan And The Salmonella Outbreak

2007-02-21T14:13:00.000-08:00

Days after its Peter Pan peanut butter and its generic counterpart, Great Value, distributed at Wal-Mart stores, was linked to a widespread salmonella outbreak, food giant ConAgra has initiated a voluntary recall.

The company says it is recalling recalled Peter Pan peanut butter jars and Great Value jars with the number 2111 printed on the lid in response to the epidemic.

Previously, the Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to discard the jars of the two brands of peanut butter purchased since March 2006. Hundreds of people have reportedly been sickened by the tainted product.

The FDA says the recalled peanut butter is responsible for salmonella cases starting in August 2006 in at least 39 states. The peanut butter recall notice advises customers who have the peanut butter to discard the product, because it may lead to food poisoning type symptoms due to salmonella.

ConAgra Foods Inc., the Omaha, Nebraska based company behind last week's nationwide recall of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, said the episode will cost it up to $60 million.

As word of the recall spreads throughout the country, and reports arise of people who think they have may contracted salmonella bacteria through certain containers of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, sympathy for ConAgra's financial problems are coming in the form of law suites from plaintiffs.

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02/20/07 - 5:30 p.m. Layton mother fears her child may have eaten contaminated peanut butter

Play Video
Massive Peanut Butter Recall
The Centers for Disease Control is investigating the detection of salmonella in two brands of peanut butter, sold in 39 states. Hundreds have become sick and health officials are worried there might be more bad peanut butter on store shelves. (Feb. 15)

Bomb Exploded In A McDonald's Restaurant

2007-02-19T10:26:00.000-08:00

A shrapnel-filled bomb exploded in a McDonald's restaurant in St Petersburg on Sunday night, injuring six people and wrecking the busy downtown eatery.

Police say the bomb, which was carried in a woman's handbag, went off with the force of 75 grams of TNT, shattering windows and bringing part of the ceiling crashing down.

"A preliminary expert examination revealed that the homemade explosive device was stuffed with preformed fragments," a police source told the official RIA-Novosti agency.

Six people were hospitalised, including a German tourist, with injuries ranging from lacerations to concussion.

McDonald's restaurants have been frequent targets for both terrorist bombers and criminal vendettas in Russia.

A car bombing at a Moscow McDonald's in 2002, attributed to Chechen terrorists, killed one and injured eight. Another St Petersburg McDonald's was hit by a powerful blast while it was under construction in 1998, but no one was in the building at the time.

Eight Die In Shooting Rampage In Two States

2007-02-13T08:30:00.000-08:00

Two gunmen went on separate rampages on opposite sides of the US yesterday, shooting and killing eight people and injuring several.

A man dressed in a trench coat randomly murdered five shoppers at a Salt Lake City shopping mall before an off-duty policeman shot him dead.

In Philadelphia, a man opened fire at an office building, killing three people and critically injuring a fourth.

He then turned the gun on himself. Police say the shooting took place after a dispute during a company board meeting.

The two shootings happened within hours of each other.

Police in Salt Lake City said the gunman mowed down five shoppers and injured several more before he was killed in Trolley Square Mall.

Hours later, police were still searching stores for shocked shoppers and staff in hiding.

At least four people were rushed to hospital, three in critical condition.

An off-duty officer ended the drama when he shot the gunman.

The Philadelphia gunman is believed to have got upset at a board meeting for what might have been an investment firm, police said.

Police said the man, who had a semi-automatic handgun, got into an argument about "some issue about money" at a board meeting at the Philadelphia Naval Business Centre.

After shooting the men in the conference room he also shot at police, who returned fire, and then shot himself.

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Six Dead in Mall Shooting Rampage

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Man Kills 3 at Philly Business Meeting

Barack Obama Enters Bid For The White House

2007-02-11T13:38:00.000-08:00

A frigid morning in Springfield, Illinois, Barack Obama formally began his bid for the White House by challenging a new generation to mobilize and change the pettiness of American politics.

The first-term U.S. senator stood on a podium in front of Springfield's Old State Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln delivered his landmark anti-slavery speech. Obama faced a throng of admirers with a four-storey American flag to his left and red, white and blue bunting framing his speech from behind.

His formal entry into the Democratic race is a major step in a political history that has unfolded at a rapid pace, catapulting a man who was an obscure Illinois legislator only three years ago onto a track that could make him this nation's first African American president.

"I recognize there is a certain presumptuousness – a certain audacity – to this announcement," he said.

"I know I haven't spent a lot of time learning the ways of Washington. But I've been there long enough to know that the ways of Washington must change."

Obama made it clear his campaign will emphasize his status as a relative outsider in the political process, his youth, his determination to end the Iraq war he opposed from the beginning and his promise to provide universal health care and better educations for America's youth.

A champion of bipartisanship, he never mentioned the name of his party and used the word "Republican" but once in a 20-minute speech.

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Obama Makes 2008 Run Official

Iran Vows To Stand Tall If Attacked

2007-02-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

U.S. vs Iran - If the United States were to attack Iran, the country would respond by striking US interests all over the world, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday.

Speaking to a gathering of Iranian air force commanders, Khamenei said: "The enemy knows well that any invasion would be followed by a comprehensive reaction to the invaders and their interests all over the world."

Iranian leaders are very vocal when it comes to a response to any attack from the U.S. Forces. While the remarks are seen as propaganda to drum up national support, Iran's position on Iraq and its nuclear program have provoked more than usual international pressure in recent months.

President Bush has ordered American troops to act against Iranians suspected of being involved in the Iraqi insurgency and has deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf area as a warning to Iran. The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions because of Iran's refusal to cease uranium enrichment.

"Some people say that the U.S. president is not prone to calculating the consequences of his actions," Khamenei said in remarks broadcast on state television, "but it is possible to bring this kind of person to wisdom.

"U.S. policymakers and analysts know that the Iranian nation would not let an invasion go without a response," Khamenei added.

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Iran-Washington Tensions Escalate Over Iraq

Astronaut Lisa Nowak Arrested On Several Counts

2007-02-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

Astronaut Lisa Nowak drove 950 miles and donned a diaper and disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said.

She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and murder along with other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. Bail was set at $25,000.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

"What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.

Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts. "Houston we have a problem."

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

No big deal, astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry, they're use to it.

Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.

Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Oefelein and didn't want to harm her physically.

"If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. "It's just really a very sad case. Now she ends up finding herself on the other side of the law with some very serious charges."

If convicted of attempted kidnapping, Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.

According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is married with three children. During her 13-day mission in July she operated the robotic arm during three spacewalks.

Oefelein is unmarried. He piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He has two children, according to a NASA biography.

Nowak and Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together.

Play Video
Astronaut Now Faces Attempted Murder Charge

UN Will Not Affect Iran's Nuclear Policies

2007-01-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today that UN Security Council resolutions against Tehran would not affect Iran's nuclear policies even if 10 more of them were passed.

The UN Security Council passed a sanctions resolution on December 23rd against Iran, calling for the suspension of Iran's nuclear program, which the U.S. fears is aimed at making nuclear weapons. Iran has always denied the charge.

"The (UN) resolution was born dead and even if they issue 10 more of such resolutions it will not affect Iran's economy and policies," Mr Ahmadinejad said in a speech to parliament broadcast live on state television.

Anti-Western speeches have added to tensions with the West.

"They want to say, through a psychological war, that the resolution has been very effective ... Falsely, they want to say that Iran has paid a price," the president said.

"We have become a nuclear country today without promising anything to the major powers and this is a great victory that belongs to the people and the parliament," he added. Although the resolution targeted sensitive aspects of Iran's nuclear programme, businesses say investors are being scared off because of the fear of escalation and already meagre investment flows are drying up.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a German magazine that companies should beware of doing business with Iran and think about the possibility of more sanctions.

Doomsday Clock Moves Closer To Armageddon

2007-01-17T11:16:00.000-08:00

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is expected to move the hands forward on its Doomsday clock at the University of Chicago, a symbolic act reflecting nuclear risk in the world.

Atomic experts say they feel the world is nearer to a nuclear disaster than it has ever been.

The symbolic timepiece counts down the minutes to a possible nuclear Armageddon and at 14:30 GMT simultaneous events in London and Washington on Wednesday will see the clock moved forwards from its current time of seven minutes to midnight.

The scientists have not said how much it will be moved.

The clock was created by the board of directors of the Chicago-based magazine in 1947 and set to seven minutes to midnight. The hands were last moved forward two minutes in 2002 with the heightened security after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The board of directors of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, has not specified which way the hands will move, but in a news release about Wednesday's event they cited "worsening nuclear and climate threats" to the world for changing the clock.

When it was created by the magazine's staff in 1947, it was initially set at seven minutes to midnight and has moved 17 times since then.

It was as close as two minutes to midnight in 1953 following US and Soviet hydrogen bomb tests, and as far away as 17 minutes to midnight in 1991 after the superpowers reached agreement on nuclear arms reductions.

Decapitation In The Latest Execution In Iraq

2007-01-16T05:46:00.000-08:00

Saddam Hussein's half-brother was decapitated in a horrific execution blunder yesterday.

News that the tyrant's feared intelligence chief's head was ripped clean off by the noose as he plunged from the gallows caused anger among Sunni Arabs, still outraged by the taunting of Saddam at his hanging.

Terror chief Barzan Ibrahim al- Tikriti was hanged alongside former Iraqi judge Awad Hamed al-Bandar.

Government officials showed journalists film of the men side by side in red jumpsuits on the scaffold, looking fearful before they were hooded and nooses were placed around their necks.

There was no disturbance in the execution chamber at the same former secret police base where Saddam died on December 30. Bandar muttered the prayer: "There is no god but God."

Barzan, 55, vocal during the year-long trial for crimes against humanity, appeared to tremble quietly. At 3am Iraqi time (midnight GMT), as the bodies fell, Barzan's head flew off and came to rest by his body. The empty noose hung above him. Bandar swung dead on his rope. Officials said they would not release the film publicly.

Barzan ran the Mukhabarat intelligence service from 1979 to 1983 and personally oversaw torture. During his trial over the 1982 killings of 148 Shias from Dujail, north of Baghdad, a witness said his agents put people in a meat grinder.

Hangmen gauge the length of rope needed to snap the neck without creating enough force to sever the head.

Saleem al-Jibouri, a senior Sunni Arab lawmaker, said Barzan's body may have been weakened by cancer.

New Jersey Army National Guard Left In The Dark

2007-01-14T15:08:00.000-08:00

Relatives of New Jersey Army National Guard soldiers who will be staying in Iraq four months longer than expected are voicing their anger and disappointment to state officials.

One of their biggest complaints is that soldiers in Iraq learned of the extension either through the media or through family members, who were alerted Thursday.

But Governor Jon Corzine told relatives it was "unacceptable" that the soldiers had not yet received the news and said he would discuss the matter with Pentagon officials.

The extension is part of President Bush's plans to increase troops strength in Iraq. The 159 Guardsmen affected are from New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania.

20000+ More U.S. Troops Get Free Plane Ride To Iraq

2007-01-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Moving along not pressured by public doubts, President George W. Bush plans to announce that he will send about 20000+ more US troops to Iraq as part of a long-delayed new plan for the unpopular war.

There are around 132,000 troops now in Iraq. Bush plans to send more to Baghdad in an effort to stem growing sectarian violence, as well as the western Anbar province, a base of the Sunni insurgency and foreign al-Qaida fighters.

The Air-Strikes Continue "One Al-Qa'ida Leader Down?"

2007-01-10T08:16:00.000-08:00

U.S. air-strike on al-Qa'ida targets in southern Somalia continued last night as a Somali government official confirmed that a senior al-Qa'ida suspect wanted for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania was killed in Monday's attack.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists who has evaded capture for eight years, was killed in the U.S. air-strike early on Monday morning local time, according to a U.S. intelligence report passed on to the Somali authorities. He was allegedly harboured by the Council of Islamic Courts movement that had challenged Somalia's Ethiopian-backed government for power.

Note:Those Claims of a Al-Qa'ida leader killed have since been dismissed as being false, by the U.S. intelligence, they really don't kow who they have killed.

On Tuesday, U.S. helicopter gunships attacked suspected al-Qa'ida fighters in the south, a day after U.S. forces staged airstrikes in the first offensive in the African country since 18 U.S. soldiers were killed there in 1993.

In Washington, an intelligence official said the U.S. forces killed five to 10 people in the attack on a target in southern Somalia believed to be associated with al-Qa'ida. However, a Somali MP said at least 31 civilians, including a newlywed couple, had been killed in the strikes.

U.S. Launched Air-strikes On Terrorist In Somalia

2007-01-09T06:07:00.000-08:00

The U.S. launched at least two air-strikes on different locations against terror targets in Somalia, hunting down suspected terrorists from Canada, Britain, Pakistan and elsewhere have been among those taken prisoner or injured in military operations in Somalia.

Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia last month to prevent an Islamic movement from ousting the weak, internationally recognised government from its lone stronghold in the west of the country.

The US and Ethiopia both accuse the Islamic group of harbouring extremists, among them al-Qaida suspects.

Along with air-strikes a US AC-130 gunship attacked suspected al-Qaida terrorists near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia.

Somalia’s president said the US was right to launch air-strikes against al-Qaida suspects in his country.

“The US has a right to bombard terrorist suspects who attacked its embassies Kenya and Tanzania,” President Abdullahi Yusuf told the world press in the capital, Mogadishu.

It is the first overt military action by the US in Somalia since the 1990s and the legacy of a botched intervention, known as Black Hawk Down, that left 18 US servicemen dead.

Meanwhile, the US military today said it had sent an aircraft carrier to join three other US warships conducting anti-terror operations off the coast.

US warships have been seeking to capture al-Qaida members thought to be fleeing Somalia in the wake of Ethiopia’s December 24 invasion.

The US attacks took place yesterday afternoon in Badmadow island.

The area is known as Ras Kamboni and is believed to be a suspected terror training base.

The United States' decision to bomb Islamists holed up in a corner of Somalia near the border with Kenya is a high-risk tactic which could ignite an Iraqi-style insurgency across a swathe of East Africa, analysts and regional experts say.

Saddams' Co-Defendants Await Their Execution

2007-01-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

Two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants were taken from their cells and told they were going to be hanged on the same day the former dictator was executed, their lawyer said Sunday.

But the two condemned men still await death as Iraqi officials decide how to avoid the kind of outcry that followed Saddam's hanging on Dec. 30, over the mobile phone footage being released all over the internet.

Also on Sunday, the US military announced the deaths of five more American troops and at least 14 Iraqis died in bombings and shootings.

Saddam's half brother and former intelligence chief Barzan Ibrahim and the former head of Iraq's Revolutionary Court, Awad Hamed al-Bandar, were sentenced to hang. They were convicted along with Saddam of involvement in the killings of nearly 150 Shiites in the town of Dujail after a 1982 assassination attempt there against Saddam.

Their executions were postponed, however, until after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha which ended five days ago.

Authorities also decided to give Saddam his own "special day," National Security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie said at the time of his execution.

Now Iraqi officials must decide how to carry out a second round of executions in the face of worldwide criticism over their handling of Saddam's death. In the final moments of his life, Saddam was taunted by some of those present in the execution chamber as he stood with a noose around his neck.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair criticized the way in which Saddam was executed, his office said Sunday.

"He believes that the manner of the execution was completely wrong, but that should not lead us to forget the crimes that Saddam Hussein committed, including the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis," a spokeswoman for Blair's office said on condition of anonymity in line with policy.

United Nations Alleged Sexual Exploitation

2007-01-06T09:28:00.001-08:00

The United Nations has investigated more than 300 members of UN peacekeeping missions for alleged sexual exploitation and abuse during the past three years and more than half were fired or sent home, according to a senior UN official.

The Daily Telegraph report alleged UN personnel in southern Sudan were involved in sexual exploitation and abuse of more than 20 children.

With close to 200,000 people representing more than 100 countries rotating through the peacekeeping missions every year, some people "are going to behave badly," Jane Holl Lute told a news conference. "What's different now is our determination to stay with this problem and constantly improve our ability to deal with it."

Between January 2004 and the end of November 2006, Lute said, the UN investigated allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse involving 319 peacekeeping personnel "in all missions," from East Timor, the Middle East and Africa to Kosovo and Haiti.

This resulted in the summary dismissal of 18 civilians and the repatriation of 17 international police and 144 military personnel, she said.

According to the Department of Peacekeeping, during the first 10 months of 2006, 63 percent of all misconduct allegations involving peacekeeping personnel were related to sexual exploitation and abuse, a third of them to prostitution.

While allegations of abuse have dogged peacekeeping missions since their inception more than 50 years ago, the issue was thrust into the spotlight after the United Nations found in early 2005 that peacekeepers in Congo had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money.

Jordan's UN Ambassador Prince Zeid al Hussein wrote a report several months later that described the UN military arm as deeply flawed and recommended withholding the salaries of the guilty and requiring nations to pursue legal action against perpetrators. It said abuses had been reported in missions ranging from Bosnia and Kosovo to Cambodia, East Timor, West Africa and Congo.

Anger Over Mobile Phone Footage Saddam Execution

2007-01-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

Anger swept Sunni Muslim strongholds in the Middle East over mobile phone footage that shows Saddam Hussein being taunted by officials moments before he is seen dangling, neck broken and eyes open, from the gallows.
The images show moments edited out of official images, adding to anger among Sunnis who claim the former leader faced not justice but a vendetta by the Shiite-dominated Government.

Saddam was buried in the dead of night in a domed, marble-floored hall in the village of Awja, after it was handed over to Sunni tribal leaders from his nearby home town of Tikrit on Saturday. His extended family plans to found a presidential library and religious school at the site.

Iraqi government officials, facing a surge of violence because of the way the execution was handled, insist it was not an act of revenge. "This whole execution is about justice," said Hiwa Osman, an adviser to the Iraqi President.

The hanging showed the 69-year-old Saddam in a favourable light, dressed in a tailored white shirt and black coat and surrounded by burly executioners wearing masks. But there was criticism of the process that allowed observers to shoot scenes of the killing on their mobile phones and hurl insults at the former Iraqi leader.

Syria's Information Minister, Mohsen Bilal, said: "The terrifying images of the execution of Saddam Hussein are a violation of the most basic principles."

Exiled members of Saddam's Baath party appeared on Arab satellite television to denounce the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, as a puppet and ally of the militant Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr.

Mr Maliki added insult to injury by attending a family wedding the same day. After witnessing the dawn hanging, a few hours later Mr Maliki presided as father of the groom at a ceremony in Baghdad.

The coincidence heightened anger that Saddam had been killed during preparations for Eid, a time when pleas for clemency are heard by even the grimmest Muslim dictators. Mr Maliki is accused of ramming through the year-end execution order in an attempt to improve his grip on power. He moved after an appeals court upheld a November sentence on Saddam over the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims from the town of Dujail in 1982.

PressRoom5 didn't and will not link to mobile video of execution, because it is wrong to show a person being killed by execution. That right to view is only given to victims not the general public, we are way past the Roman Gladiator Days of public deaths, no matter how evil a person may have been. We will link to what was released by the Iraq government and World News Organizations.

U.S. Troop Death Toll Reaches 3,000

2007-01-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

The number of American deaths in the Iraq war has reached the milestone of 3,000 as the Bush administration seeks to overhaul its strategy for an unpopular war that shows little sign of ending.

The latest death came during one of the most violent periods during which the Pentagon says hate and revenge killings between Iraq's sects are now a bigger security problem than ever.

The death of a Texas soldier, announced yesterday by the Pentagon, raised the number of US military deaths in Iraq to at least 3,000, according to an Associated Press count, since the war began in March 2003.

President George Bush is struggling to salvage a military campaign that, more than three-and-a-half years after US forces overran the country, has lost support from the American public. Largely because of that discontent, voters gave Democrats control of the new Congress that convenes this week. Democrats have pledged to focus on the war and Bush's conduct of it.

Three thousand deaths are tiny compared with casualties in other protracted wars America has fought in the last century. There were 58,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War, 36,000 in the Korean conflict, 405,000 in the Second World War and 116,000 in the First World War, according to US Defence Department figures.

Even so, the steadily mounting toll underscores the relentless violence that the massive US investment in lives and money surpassing $380billion U.S. Dollars has not stabilized the country, and may still be getting worse.

Butcher Of Baghdad Saddam Executed By Hanging

2006-12-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

Saddam Hussein, who ruled by putting fear in the people of Iraq and led his them into three devastating wars while pursuing his goal of dominating the Arab world, was executed by hanging at 10pm U.S. eastern time.

Earlier Khalil al- Dulaimi, Saddam's defence lawyer, told Reuters: "The Americans have notified us that they have handed over the president to the Iraqi authorities.

"They told us the president is no longer under the authority of the American forces and they requested us not to go to Baghdad," he said.

Najib al-Nuaimi, another defence lawyer, had earlier told Al Jazeera that he believed that the toppled president would be executed on Saturday.

Reuters quoting a key court official in Baghdad said Iraq's government had told him to be ready to attend the hanging of Saddam Hussein between 5.30am and 6am on Saturday.

Saddam Hussein's Death Sentence In 30 Days

2006-12-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

An Iraqi appeals court on Tuesday upheld Saddam Hussein's death sentence for crimes against humanity and said he should hang within 30 days.

Human rights groups condemned his trial as seriously flawed and called on the government not to carry out the sentence, which comes amid raging violence between Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs and majority Shi'ites.

The White House called the court's decision a "milestone" in replacing tyranny with rule of law.

Sunni Arab leaders said the ruling was politically motivated by former enemies of Saddam now in power in the US-backed Shi'ite-led national unity government.

"The appeal court has approved the death sentence. The government has the right to choose the date starting from tomorrow up to 30 days. After 30 days it will be an obligation to implement the sentence," the head of the Iraqi High Tribunal, Aref Abdul-Razzaq al-Shahin said in a news conference.

Saddam, 69, and two others were sentenced to death on November 5 for crimes against humanity over the killings of 148 Shi'ites from the town of Dujail after he escaped assassination in 1982.

38th U.S. President Ford Has Died At Age 93

2006-12-26T23:41:00.000-08:00

Gerald R. Ford, who became the 38th U.S. president in 1974 when the Watergate scandal forced Richard Nixon from office, has died at age 93.

Ford's pardon of Nixon a month after becoming president hurt his popularity and contributed to his defeat in the 1976 election.

Former first lady Betty Ford made the announcement of her husband's death late Tuesday at their home in Rancho Mirage, California, where the former president died. No cause of death was given.

Ford, in declining health, was hospitalized several times in the past year and most recently in October for tests at the Eisenhower Medical Center in California. He was the longest-lived former U.S. president, overtaking Ronald Reagan on Nov. 12.

I Want More U.S. Forces For 2007 "Destination IRAQ"

2006-12-21T08:40:00.000-08:00

Year end assessment of an unpopular war, President Bush said yesterday that the year in Iraq opened with hope and optimism and closed with disappointment and caution.

A year ago the administration was talking about possible withdrawals of American troops. Now, Bush is talking about sending in more U.S. forces

Summing up Iraq at a year end news conference, Bush said 2006 "was a difficult year for our troops and the Iraqi people." "As for America’s enemies, they had success in fomenting sectarian violence that has slowed reconstruction, reconciliation and security."

"I’m not going to make predictions about what 2007 will look like in Iraq, except that it’s going to require difficult choices and additional sacrifices because the enemy is merciless and violent," the president said

Bush isn't standing down about U.S. goals for Iraq as he continued to say:

"Victory in Iraq is achievable," he said. "It hadn’t happened nearly as quickly as I hoped it would have. ...

"But I also don’t believe most Americans want us just to get out now. A lot of Americans understand the consequences of defeat. Retreat would embolden radicals. It would hurt the credibility of the United States."

Bush stepped back from his confident assertion two months ago that "absolutely, we’re winning" in Iraq. Yesterday, he said, "We’re not winning. We’re not losing."

The president said he changed his formulation because "we’re not succeeding nearly as fast as I wanted ... and that the conditions are tough in Iraq, particularly in Baghdad."

He said his original remark, on Oct. 25, was made in the spirit that "I believe that we’re going to win. I believe that and by the way, if I didn’t think that, I wouldn’t have our troops there."

I wonder if they will change the name of "Camp Victory" in Iraq to "Camp WTF."

Hugo Takes A Licking And Castro Keeps On Ticking

2006-12-16T16:53:00.000-08:00

President Hugo Chavez said Friday that Fidel Castro is not dying of cancer, saying he had spoken with Castro by phone and he is eating cautiously and well enough to joke

"Fidel doesn't have cancer. I'm very well-informed ... he's instructed (Cuban officials) to inform me of all the details of what is happening," Chavez said during a speech in Caracas.

He said the two leaders had spoken twice on Thursday and discussed a series of new projects between Venezuela and Cuba, including plans for joint oil expeditions. He reiterated previous comments that Fidel's recuperation is going "slowly" and that Castro is fighting "a great battle" for his health after suffering what he described as a "serious illness."

80-year-old Fidel, has not been seen in public since he underwent intestinal surgery in July. He temporarily ceded his powers to his 75-year-old brother Raul.

His medical condition has been kept a state secret, and Cuban officials have insisted he is recovering. But US officials have said they believe he suffers from some kind of inoperable cancer and won't live through the end of 2007.

"Nobody knows when Fidel is going to die," Chavez said.

And between the two sides they sound like medical geniuses in their diagnosis of the Cuban leader.

"We are very optimist. Yesterday, I found him to be in a very good mood, well enough to compare my parrots to (President) Bush," Chavez continued, describing how Castro had told him his pet birds were more talkative than their "northern neighbor."

Chavez said Castro "is eating little by little" and that he planned to send him one of his favorite treats, Venezuelan chocolate imported from 7-11 Food Stores.

Bush Condemned Iran For Holding Holocaust Conference

2006-12-12T12:10:00.000-08:00

The Bush administration condemned Iran on Tuesday for convening a conference of people who deny the Holocaust happened, calling the move "an affront to the entire civilized world."

The two-day event in Tehran was initiated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The hard-line president has described the Holocaust as a "myth" and called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Ahmadinejad initiated the Holocaust conference, which began on Monday, in an attempt to bolster his image as a leader standing up to Israel, Europe and the United States an image he has used to gain support at home and abroad.

Holiday Trees Are Coming Back To Seattle Airport

2006-12-12T11:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas trees that were removed from Seattle international airport to satisfy a rabbi who wanted an electric menorah next to the trees are being reinstalled.

Airport officials said the holiday trees are coming back, following the national controversy that sparked this weekend in Seattle after a rabbi complained about airport Christmas trees.

After the trees have been removed in response to his request to include a giant Menorah in the airport's holiday decorations, Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky has received hate mail and angry phone calls, his lawyer said as quoted by Reuters.

Seattle airport officials said the trees were removed to avoid litigation with a religious group.

United States Is Not Winning The War In Iraq

2006-12-08T10:05:00.000-08:00

Robert Gates, President George W. Bush's nominee to replace Donald Rumsfeld as US defence secretary, acknowledged that the United States is not winning the war in Iraq.

He said: "Our course over the next year or two will determine whether the American and Iraqi people and the next president of the United States will face a slowly but steadily improving situation in Iraq and in the region or will face the very real risk, and possible reality, of a regional conflagration."

While Mr Gates said that he did not think America was winning the war in Iraq, he later added that he did not believe the United States was losing the war, either.

Mr Bush nominated the ex-CIA chief to replace Mr Rumsfeld the day after the November 7 mid-term elections, in which Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress to the Democrats.

Mr Gates was head of the CIA from 1991-1993 and his father, Thomas, served as defence secretary under President Dwight Eisenhower from 1959-1961.

Death Toll Grows For Bush

2006-11-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

A motorcycle officer injured last week while escorting President Bush in the islands of Honolulu died Sunday, police said.

Steve Favela, 30, and two other officers crashed their cycles as the presidential motorcade was traveling across Hickam Air Force Base to meet troops for breakfast early Tuesday. The other officers were treated at The Queen's Medical Center and released.

Favela, an eight-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department and father of four, had suffered internal injuries and had been listed in critical condition at the medical center.

Light rain had been falling on the partly cloudy morning, and some roads on the base were slick.

Military Victory Not An Option

2006-11-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

Military victory is no longer possible in Iraq, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said in a television interview broadcast Sunday.

Kissinger presented a bleak future for Iraq, saying the US government must enter into dialogue with Iraq's regional neighbors, including Iran, if progress is to be made in the region.

"If you mean by 'military victory' an Iraqi government that can be established and whose writ runs across the whole country, that gets the civil war under control and sectarian violence under control in a time period that the political processes of the democracies will support, I don't believe that is possible," he told the British Broadcasting Corp.

But Kissinger, an architect of the Vietnam war who has advised President Bush about Iraq, warned against a rapid withdrawal of coalition troops, saying it could destabilize Iraq's neighbors and cause a long-lasting conflict.

"A dramatic collapse of Iraq - whatever we think about how the situation was created - would have disastrous consequences for which we would pay for many years and which would bring us back, one way or another, into the region," he said.

"I think we have to redefine the course, but I don't think that the alternative is between military victory, as defined previously, or total withdrawal," he said.

3 years, 8 months, 9 days since the war began thousands have died, and victory of what is the question. Sure we have done good for many people, yet it is out of control at this point and it all started at the beginning with the looting in the streets, after the fall of the dictator. Where was the armor for Troops, who was suppose to police the streets.

No Weapons of Mass Destruction found in Iraq, yet North Korea and Iran push ahead with their goals to have the weapon. Who's the threat is the question.

Bush Twins Fight For Purse and Cell Phone

2006-11-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

U.S. and Argentine media reported that one of U.S. President George W. Bush's 24-year-old twin daughters had her purse stolen while being guarded by the Secret Service during a visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

ABC News, citing unidentified law enforcement reports, reported on its website Tuesday that Barbara Bush's purse and cell phone were taken while she was dining in a Buenos Aires restaurant.

La Nacion newspaper, citing anonymous government sources, said in its online edition early Wednesday that one of Bush's daughters had her purse taken Sunday afternoon in the popular tourist district of San Telmo.

A pair of thieves removed the purse from under a table while Secret Service agents stood guard at a distance, La Nacion reported. La Nacion said its sources did not reveal which of the Bush daughters had her purse stolen.

It was hard to tell from the picture which one had the fight with the would be attackers aka; purse snatchers.

Victory For Democrats - The End For Rumsfeld

2006-11-09T06:32:00.000-08:00

The Democratic Party is declaring victory in its bid to take control of the Senate and with it, both chambers of Congress.

Sen. George Allen, the Virginia Republican who had his eyes on the presidency before his own campaign for reelection started unraveling with his greeting of a young man of Indian descent at a rally as "macaca,'' has not conceded defeat yet, calling for and awaiting the outcome of a canvassing of votes in the close Virginia election that apparently has handed the Senate seat to Democrat Jim Webb, with a 7000 plus lead in votes.

"It is now apparent that Democrats have captured a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate,'' N.Y. Democrat Schumer said in a statement released last night by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee. "We look forward to setting a new direction for America, in Iraq and here at home."

President Bush, acknowleding a "disappointing" defeat on Tuesday, already is starting to meet with the Democrats who will take control of the House in January. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat slated to become speaker, and a fierce campaign combatant who had described Bush as "in deinal'' and "dangerous" the day before the election, will lead the party's luncheon delegation at the White House. Bush, who explains that this campaign wasn't his first "rodeo," says he's ready for peace.

If Webb's Virginia victory holds, Bush will be having lunch with a lot more Democrats in coming days.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld resigned Wednesday, a day after an American electorate, frustrated with the progress of the war in Iraq, have elected a Democratic leadership in Washington (D.C.).

President George W. Bush announced Rumsfeld's resignation at a press conference Wednesday, and said he had asked Robert Gates, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to replace him.

"Now, after a series of thoughtful conversations, Secretary Rumsfeld and I agreed that the timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said. "Our military has experienced an enormous amount of change and reform during the last five years while fighting the war on terror, one of the most consequential wars in our nation's history." Asked whether his announcement signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 US troops, Bush said, "Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon."

Evangelical Leader Haggard Involved In Gay Sex & Drugs

2006-11-04T09:51:00.001-08:00

Ted Haggard evangelical Christian leader in the US has admitted to buying drugs from a male prostitute and seeking a massage, but denied ever having sex with the man or using the drugs.

Haggard, a vocal opponent of gay marriage, resigned as president of the National Association of Evangelicals on Thursday, after being accused by a male escort of having had a sexual relationship with him and using the drug methamphetamine over the past three years.

The 50-year-old father of five told a local television channel in his home state of Colorado that he called the man to buy drugs but that he later threw them away.

His accuser, Mike Jones, has denied that the allegations, coming days before crucial mid-term elections, were politically motivated.

Jones said he had felt compelled to come forward because he believed Mr Haggard's stance against same-sex unions was hypocritical.

Haggard has close links to the White House and was described in 2005 as being one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the US by Time Magazine.

The 30-million member NAE represents 45,000 churches across the United States.

He is seen as an influential supporter of President George W Bush, and up to this day has been talking with Bush weekly on the upcoming elections, and is often credited with rallying evangelical voters behind the Republicans during the 2004 election.

Bill Clinton said he tried smoking marijuana but didn't inhale, what can Haggard say about meth, "I snorted it, but I didn't catch a buzz." No he said, "I bought it but I threw it away."

Ok I buy crack all the time from drug dealers, hoping someday I will get the courage to smoke it, until then I just continue to buy it and toss it in the garbage, then I pray for courage and then proceed to call up gay guys to give me a massage.

Total Bull Shit, this is why I don't go to church, "What does the messenger do in his spare time, molest little boys and girls, then they tell me I'm a sinner for drinking beer."

$800 million Stolen by Iraqi Officials

2006-10-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

Iraq's former finance minister Ali Allawi claimed in a CBS 60 minutes report which aired Sunday that up to $800 million meant to buy weapons for the Iraqi army had been stolen from the government by former officials through fraudulent arms deals.

The former minister said that $1.2 billion had been allocated from the Iraqi treasury to the defense ministry to buy new weapons. About $400 million was spent on outdated soviet era equipment, were in such poor shape they could not be used, while the rest of the money was simply stolen, he said.

Allawi said the arms fraud is "one of the biggest thefts in history" and that corrupt former Iraqi officials are now "running around the world hiding and scurrying around."

Iraqi investigators are probing several weapons and equipment deals engineered by former procurement officer Ziad Cattan and other officials including former Defense Minister Hazim Shaalan.

Cattan, wanted by Iraqi authorities and now living in Paris, was interviewed in the same "60 Minutes" broadcast and said he can account for the hundreds of millions he used to purchase weapons.

Most of the fraudulent arms purchases were allegedly made during the term of former interim Prime Minster Ayad Allawi who took office after occupation authorities turned over sovereignty to Iraqis on June 28, 2004, Ayad Allawi and Ali Allawi are cousins.

When new Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi took office in May 2005, an investigation was opened into several alleged cases of corruption.

Documents show the theft of $2.2 billion dollars from the time of Saddam Hussein's fall from power in 2003 until now. This clearly shows the lack of planing by the Bush administration. You would think the first thing to do when giving millions of dollars to a new government that you would send in accountants, but then again our government will spend four hundred dollars for a ten dollar hammer.

Faith Based Party in D.C. Hosted by David Kuo

2006-10-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

Just before up coming elections David Kuo, former deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, which channels federal dollars to religious charities has written a book which comes out today "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction."

As reported by ABC News: Kuo says the office was misused to rally evangelical Christians, the Republican base voters, to get GOP politicians elected. Not only that, Kuo claims Bush officials mocked evangelical leaders behind their backs, alleging that in the office of political guru Karl Rove they were called "the nuts."

"National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as 'ridiculous', 'out of control,' and just plain 'goofy,' " Kuo writes.

"You name the important Christian leader, and I have heard them mocked by serious people in serious places," Kuo told "60 Minutes" Sunday night.

That mockery, he added, included the Rev. Pat Robertson being called "insane," the Rev. Jerry Falwell being called "ridiculous" and comments that Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family "had to be controlled."

James Towey, Kuo's former boss in the faith-based initiative office, suggested Kuo is bearing false witness. -abc news

I'm sure he's not far off the mark in this new book, the smartest thing the republican party did in past elections was to bring religion into their message, as a promise to bring morals back to the people.

This book does bring to light the fact that christians do fight for social issues such as poverty, which the republicans have turned their backs on since taking office.

War Games, Who's Playing

2006-10-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

North Korea has kept promise to the international community and carried out its first underground nuclear test.

This comes after South Korean troops fired warning shots at soldiers from the North when soldiers crossed into the demilitarised zone amid rising tension.

Last Friday, the UN Security Council urged the N Korea not to undertake such an exercise and warned of unspecified consequences if it did.

According to North Korea's Korean Central News Agency, the test was "conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 per cent."

The agency added: "It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA (Korean People's Army) and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defence capability."

A US official said North Korea gave China a 20-minute warning of its test and China immediately told the United States, Japan and South Korea.

North Korea is believed to have enough fissile material to make six to eight nuclear bombs but, according to experts, probably does not have the technology to devise one small enough to mount on a missile.

South Korea said a tremor of magnitude 3.58 to 3.7 was detected in North Korea in the early hours. The US Geological Survey said however that it was not aware of the kind of seismic activity expected from such a test.

Berlin Wall Comes to the Southern Border

2006-10-05T11:30:00.000-07:00

Mexican Foreign Secretary, Luis Ernesto Derbez says it may go to the United Nations to challenge US plans to build hundreds of miles of fences on its southern border.

The Foreign Secretary, Luis Ernesto Derbez, said the plan was offensive.

The US President, George Bush, yesterday signed a homeland security funding bill that includes $1.2 billion - $1.6 billion for fencing along the US-Mexico border to stop illegal immigrants and criminals sneaking over.

The outgoing Mexican President, Vicente Fox, has called the plan "shameful" and compared it to the Berlin Wall. Mr Fox has spent his six-year term lobbying for a new guest worker program and an amnesty for Mexicans working illegally in the US.

On Thursday, all eight parties in Mexico's Congress joined forces to exhort Mr Fox to use all diplomatic means to try to stop the construction of the fence.

Mr Fox's spokesman, Ruben Aguilar, was quoted as saying "There is no money to build it, so it won't be built," he said.

The president-elect, Felipe Calderon, who takes office on December 1, has also attacked the plans.

"One could stop more migrants with a kilometre of new roads and development than with a wall," he said.

There are an estimated 11 million Mexicans in the US.

We could save money building the fence if we hire more illegal immigrants to build it.

Deadly Shootings At Amish School

2006-10-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

A gunman killed "a number" of people at a one-room Amish schoolhouse Today in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County. The shooter was among the many dead, and a number of people were injured.

Police surrounded the one-room school late Monday morning, and the Lancaster County 911 Web site reported that dozens of emergency units were dispatched to a "medical emergency" at 10:45 a.m.

It was reported that a man entered the schoolhouse this morning and began to make threats. The man apparently took hostages and began negotiations with the police. At some point, at least 10 shots were fired within the school, then the hostage taker shot himself.

This makes the third shooting within thirty days, and shows that the population of crazy cowards is on the rise.

Foley Folly E-mail Scandal

2006-10-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

The FBI is assessing whether former Rep. Mark Foley broke any laws when he sent sexually explicit e-mails to a male teen-age congressional page and leaders of both parties demanded full-scale investigations into another scandal for the Republicans.

Foley, 52, a six-term Florida Republican, resigned on Friday after ABC News reported he sent messages containing references to sexual organs and acts to current and former congressional pages.

The scandal, breaking just weeks before the November 7 election to determine control of Congress, has shaken Republicans who often accuse the Democrats of being weak on moral issues.

Foley was chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children, and the author of the key sexual predator provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which President George W. Bush signed in July.

Top House Republicans acknowledged on Saturday that they had been aware of e-mail traffic between Foley and a former teen-age page, but that they were not aware of the sexually explicit messages to other pages revealed last week.

"Family Values," being the words republicans have used to win elections for 6 years now, I just wonder when are they going to start living by the words they preach.

Hostage Dies After SWAT Storms Building

2006-09-28T07:34:00.000-07:00

A girl has been shot dead by a gunman after a siege at a school in the tiny mountain town of Bailey, Colorado.

The man, who also shot himself, opened fire when police stormed the building in a bid to free the girl and a classmate.

Six girls were taken hostage by the armed man at the high school and were used as human shields for several hours and sexual assaulted before the siege came to its violent end.

The gunman, believed to be between 30 and 50-years-old, was cornered with the girls in a second-floor classroom of Platte Canyon High School and he released four of them, one by one.

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said authorities decided to enter the school after the man cut off negotiations and set a deadline.

"Within seconds the suspect shot at entering SWAT officers then shot one of the two female hostages and then shot himself.

Earlier this month a shooting occurred on 13 September, 2006 at Dawson College, near downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The perpetrator, Kimveer Gill, began shooting outside the entrance to the school, and then moved towards the atrium.

One victim died at the scene, while another 19 were injured, eight of whom were listed in critical condition with six requiring surgery. The gunman later committed suicide by shooting himself in the head, after being shot in the arm by police.

"Cocaine" Raising Eyebrows

2006-09-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

The latest beverage to break from the pack is the Cocaine Energy Drink, created by Redux Beverages of Las Vegas. So far sold mostly in New York and California clubs, it will become available online, according to its Web site (drinkcocaine.com).

The drink has the caffeine of about 3 1/2 cups of coffee but no narcotics, and boasts on its Web site, "Instant Rush. No Crash!" Drug experts and nutritionists are appalled.

Jamey Kirby, the drink's inventor, said the 8-ounce energy drink does not promote or glamorize drugs. "Kids already know what's out there," he said.

"Cocaine" energy drink contains vitamins C, B-6 and B-12, according to the Web site. The same vitamins used to cut Cocaine by street dealers in order to profit, "Ironic." YouTube members view story non members click photo.

Holiday Celebrates The Revealing

2006-09-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Ramadan began Saturday. It is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Ramadan is special to Muslims because it is the month that the Islamic holy scripture, the Quran was revealed. Ramadan typically lasts 30 days and concludes in communal prayers and Eid Al-Fitr, which can become a three-day celebration. The end of Ramadan depends on the sighting of the new moon.

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from food, drink and other sensual pleasures from the break of dawn to sunset. So sex is allowed when the sunsets, but no afternoon delight.

It is easy to greet a Muslim observing Ramadan. Say: "Ramadan mubarak," or "happy Ramadan." At Eid Al-Fitr, it is nice to say, "Eid mubarak" or "happy Eid." If those words are to difficult for you to speak, say it with your wallet and enjoy a Mecca Cola from Citgo after you fill your SUV with petro.

"I'd like to teach to world to see."

Illinois Mother's Three Children Found Dead

2006-09-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

Three young children were found dead Saturday, hours after a woman was charged with killing their pregnant mother and her fetus in a grisly attack in which authorities believe her womb was cut open after she was knocked unconscious.

Bodies of the two boys, ages 7 and 2, and their 1-year-old sister were found together in an apartment in the public-housing complex where their mother lived.

The kids were last seen Monday with family friend Tiffany Hall, 24, now charged with first-degree murder in the death of their mother, who is believed to have been slain days before her children disappeared. Hall is also charged with intentional homicide of an unborn child.

Stories like this where the suspect is presumed guilty by admission or overwhelming evidence require the death penalty. Why kill defenseless little kids let alone an adult.

Osama bin Laden Dead from Typhoid

2006-09-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

A newspaper in France says Al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden died of typhoid in Pakistan, but there is no confirmation of the report.

Offices of the French President Jacques Chirac and French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin have made no comment.

And, Pakistan, where bin Laden is believed to be hiding, said it has no information about his death.

The regional newspaper quoted French secret service reports saying that Saudi Arabia is convinced that bin Laden died a month ago. It said he died of a very serious case of typhoid causing partial paralysis of his internal organs.

Seeing is believing, "Show me the Body."

Who the Devil is Hugo Chavez?

2006-09-22T10:42:00.000-07:00

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" in a speech to the United Nations on Wednesday of this week, making the sign of the cross in a dramatic gesture and accusing him of "talking as if he owned the world."

"Yesterday, the devil came here," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday. "Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of."

Chavez's words drew tentative giggles at times from the audience, but also applause at the end of the speech and when he called Bush the devil -- a word he used no fewer than eight times.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Chavez's remarks were "not becoming for a head of state." "I am not going to dignify a comment by the Venezuelan president to the president of the United States," Rice told reporters in New York.

More Oil Please........