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links will expire. People don't keep stuff on their websites forever. |
For a day's ORIGINAL HOME PAGE and graphics see calendar HERE |
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| December 2004 | |||
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Monday,
December 13
Scrounging
puts GIs in jail Six reservists serving in Iraq were court-martialed
for what soldiers have been doing as long as there have been wars: scrounging
to get what their outfit needed to do its job. Darrell
Birt is my guest at 12:35pm today "...when Birt's unit was ordered
to head into Iraq in the heat of battle in April 2003 from its base in Kuwait,
Birt said the company didn't have enough vehicles to haul the equipment it would
need to do the job. So, Birt explained, he and other reservists grabbed two
tractors and two trailers left in Kuwait by other U.S. units that had already
moved into Iraq..."
Armor shop improvised upgrades Faced
with driving unarmored vehicles across the dangerous Iraq roads, members of
the battalion began improvising their own armor. “We took the initiative
on this,” said Maj. Mark Paget, the battalion executive officer. “Nobody
ever told us no.”
Norman Moody, Gannet News
Service (last week)
US
scrapes barrel further as it sends 70 year old retired colonel to Afghanistan
White
Christmas for Central Texas?
Andy
Borowitz KERIK:
BIN LADEN WAS MY GARDENER Former New York City Police Commissioner
Bernard Kerik withdrew his name from consideration for the post of Homeland
Security Secretary after admitting that he employed al-Qaeda terror kingpin
Osama bin Laden as a gardener during the late 1980's.
NYPD
Commissioner had two extra-marital affairs at the same time
"Woman's lap" pillow in demand
Tuesday, December 14
Don't mess with our slogan, TXDot says
Houston
considering red-light cameras Under
a proposed ordinance that the City Council would consider Wednesday, offenders
would simply be ordered to pay a civil fine and not be assigned points on their
driving records ó no matter how many times they run red lights
Suspicious
airline incidents will head straight to TSA Workers
were frustrated there was no industrywide standard for reporting suspicious
activity - until now.
Alarm
sounded over rate of bird extinctions
Hoax
unleashes flood of sign-ups on national do-not-call list
Family
tearfully fulfills Army soldier's last wishes Army Spec. David Mahlenbrock
had a special request should he die in the line of duty. In a letter to his
fellow soldiers in July, the young combat engineer asked that Toby Keith's song
"American Soldier" be played at his funeral.
For
one man, winning lottery hasn't meant a life of good fortune
Blockbuster
to "end late fees" January 1
Google
to add research library texts Google plans to begin converting the holdings
of leading research libraries into digital files that would be searchable online.
NYC
flap continues over Central Park hawks' nest
Army
Guard, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force ignorant about how many of their troops
have served in Iraq since the war began
Borowitz BUSH
TO GOOGLE FUTURE NOMINEES Kerik + Nanny Yields 20,000 Web
Pages
Weary
Taliban coming in from the cold Some Afghan fighters talk of being duped
by bin Laden and pledge to work for his capture.
Tom
Wolfe wins bad sex writing prize the
American author and journalist won one of the world's most dreaded literary
accolades
Teen
gets big reward for turning in $21.5K found in shopping cart
Photo
shows kids saluting Old Glory with left hand
Cheap
perfume is worst Christmas gift
Britney's dog's $180 steak
Wednesday, December 15
State
seeks partner for Corridor
By Thursday, a piece of one of the biggest public works
projects in Texas history could be in the hands of a single
private entity. The selection of a developer for the
Trans Texas Corridor section that would parallel Interstate
35 amounts to picking a long-term partner that will help
build the 800-mile-long, 1,200-foot-wide route.
A state plan to put trains, trucks and cars along a single
1,200-foot-wide swath of land from the Rio Grande to the
Red River will be awarded to a private developer Thursday,
intensifying a simmering debate about
which cities will win and lose because of the multibillion-dollar
project paralleling Interstate 35.
Good
info website Corridor
Watch.org
Time magazine Dec 6: The
Next Wave in Superhighways, or A Big, Fat Texas Boondoggle?
From the I Can't Hardly Believe It file: President Bush awarded Medals of Freedom to the CIA Director who had everything wrong about Iraq including the infamous "slam dunk" on WMDs, and to the general who invaded Iraq with too few troops to maintain order or even guard weapons stockpiles, and to the Iraq occupation boss who warned Iraqis that resistance would be futile, disbanded the Iraqi army, and didn't bother to point out that "we didn't have enough troops" until after returning to the USA.
USA TODAY
Medals of freedom awarded to three key to Bush Iraq policy President Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to three prime architects of U.S. policy in Iraq
Corpus
Christi bans restaurant smoking beginning
Feb. 1
Lawmaker
Seeks Inquiry Into Ohio Vote ..plans to ask the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and a county prosecutor
in Ohio today to explore "inappropriate and likely
illegal election tampering" in at least one and perhaps
several Ohio counties.
Pathologist
under fire for incompetence quits Baptist Health System
AmeriPath and Baptist said they would continue a precautionary,
rigorous review of all cases the 55-year-old pathologist
has been involved in since coming to San Antonio.
Taxi
driver shoots man in bin Laden mask
Next
ground units set for Iraq, Afghanistan
including Division headquarters and the four new Brigade
Combat Team Units of Action of the 4th Infantry Division
at Fort Hood, Texas.
Toyota
drives more jobs to S.A. Gov. Rick Perry will announce
Thursday that as many as 18 suppliers of automotive parts
and services will move onto the Toyota plant site here,
creating at least 1,500 new jobs.
Telemarketers
can't get cell numbers There's a good chance you've
received an e-mail lately warning that your cell phone number
will be turned over to telemarketers at the beginning of
the new year. Not to worry.
Internet
and cell phones may finally be on horizon for fliers
Regulators plan to vote today whether to allow travelers
wireless high-speed Internet access. And they plan to talk
about, without a vote, whether to end the cell phone ban.
Houston
expected to delay vote on red-light cameras
Details
of Mistreatment of Prisoners in Iraq Revealed Marines
conducted mock executions of juveniles, burned and tortured
other detainees with electrical shocks, according to documents.
New
Guard number shows lower death rate A total of 142 part-timers
have died in the war, compared to 659 active-duty soldiers.
More
GIs surviving battlefield injuries Quick treatment,
armor credited
War
funding request may hit $100 billion
The Bush administration plans to ask for between $80 billion
and $100 billion to fund military operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan next year, rather than the $70 billion to $75
billion the White House privately told members of Congress
before the election, according to Pentagon and White House
officials.
Followup on Darrell Birt story Senator
Seeks Clemency for Ohio Soldiers U.S. Sen. Mike
DeWine asked the Army to grant clemency to two Ohio soldiers
imprisoned for taking Army vehicles abandoned in Kuwait
by other units so they could carry out their own unit's
mission to Iraq.
Drive
to Baghdad filled with tension Some people call
this road, the only way from the airport to Baghdad's Green
Zone, the most dangerous highway in Iraq. Lately, it has
become a magnet for enormous, fiery explosions. People boast
that they've traveled it and are relieved when they make
it from one end to the other.
As
temperature falls in Iraq, malaria seaon ends
Thursday, December 16
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|
posted 12am Mon 12/13 - 10p Wed 12/15/2004 |
Is there any evidence at all that the See Clearly Method of "vision improvement" actually works? Here's an independent article I found on the internet: The See Clearly Method: Do Eye Exercises Improve Vision?
1:53pm -- Ben Wear, Austin American-Statesman transportation reporter, tells me that Cintra is a consortium which includes H.B. Zachry and many other companies.
12:26pm -- Harvey Kronberg's QUORUM REPORT in Austin reports the $6B contract will go to Spanish toll road operator Cintra. I'll do a segment on this TTC development tomorrow.
Trans-Texas
Toll Corridor vote today
The Texas Transportation Commission 
is
poised to strike a deal today with a consortium that will
build and operate the toll corridor's first segment, an
800-mile stretch paralleling Interstate 35 from Mexico to
Oklahoma.
The proposed route would take traffic away from San Antonio:
that could be good for traffic but bad for the local economy
Excellent info website Corridor Watch.org
Time magazine Dec 6: The Next Wave in Superhighways, or A Big, Fat Texas Boondoggle?
Austin's "tea party" toll road knockoff Austin Toll Party.com
Texas Dep't Transportation Trans Texas Corridor maps, etc.
Americans
disappearing in Nuevo Laredo While noting most visitors
here never get hurt, the U.S. Consulate is warning of an
unusual spike in kidnappings or disappearances of Americans
since mid-August. Of the 21 known victims, an official said
two are dead, 10 missing and nine have been released.
San
Antonio seeks rebate on Alcoa tax-abatement deal because
plant closing. City Council will decide the issue today
The
New York Times' 6th-most Emailed article today: Finding
Homosexual Threads in Lincoln's Legend
A new book ... concludes that America's greatest president
was a gay man.
war...
Military
telling Gitmo detainees about court access The Pentagon
begins to formally notify some held at the U.S. prison at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, that they have the right to challenge
their imprisonment in an American court.
Iraq
terrorists changing tactics Iraqi insurgents and
foreign terrorists have become "more effective"
at locating and attacking pivotal supply routes for U.S.
combat forces in Iraq
Iraqi
official shot dead 4 others killed in insurgent
attacks.
Pattern
of discontent in US ranks While some don't see much
defiance, others see an unusual amount of tension surfacing
for an all-volunteer military force.
Bush
Prepares for Possible GPS Shutdown WASHINGTON (AP)
- President Bush has ordered plans for temporarily disabling
the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during
a national crisis to prevent terrorists from using the navigational
technology, the White House said Wednesday.
Why the bad grammar? Have you ever wondered why
so many reporters don't know that "criterion"
is singular and "criteria" is plural?
and
why so many in the media don't know that "media"
is plural, as in "the various news media"?
Casino
fined for hidden cameras' wandering eyes ATLANTIC
CITY (AP) — Women, beware: Those "eye in
the sky" surveillance cameras used by casinos don't
just look for card cheats and crooked dealers. Sometimes,
they look for low-cut blouses.
Newark
airport staff loses bag of fake explosives used to test
airport security. Barney Fife, where are you when we
need you?
Downstream
dangers of your perfume Musks used in everything
from detergents to air fresheners build up in human tissue
as well as in fish and invertebrates.
Judge
surprised by buzz over his Ten Commandments robe
Two days after an Alabama judge donned a robe in court displaying
the Ten Commandments on his chest, his staff was busy fielding
calls from media outlets and supporters across the nation.
"We have not had a single complaint called in,"
says a secretary.
Did
you hear the one about the gay Mexican cannibal? (No,
really.. this one IS sickening)
Woman
who rolled murder victim's head down a hill gets life
Marcia Ann Johnson, 44, and her partner drained the
bank accounts and sold the home of the victim, Mt. Baldy
resident Jack Irwin, after the grisly 1999 murder.
Tourists
thought getting lost was part of mountain guided tour
Return
of the hanging chad: Recount continues in Ohio
|
email
home computer
Subject: 1954 Popular Mechanics Magazine What do you suppose that steering wheel looking thing is?? Hmmmm, this is the year 2004 and my computer doesn't look anything like this. Bob B.
|
|
2:02pm
add Richard is correct. Here's the LINK. Thanks! |
Friday, December 17
Noon
today... Bill Kurtis (Cold
Case Files, American Justice, 30 years with CBS) joins
me to talk about two death penalty cases which helped
convince him to question and then reject his lifelong
support of capital punishment.
1pm
today... An
hour in studio with mayoral candidate Phil
Hardberger, a personal-injury trial
lawyer, ex-Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals, long-distance
sailor, solo transAtlantic pilot, and enough other admirable,
macho and intellectual qualifications to make you hate
him almost instantly.
Texas
moves toward huge toll road to supplement Interstate 35
from near San Antonio to near Dallas
Ben
Wear - AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Deal
makes TTC-35 toll road plan a reality
I-35 alternative estimated to cost $6
billion. Long-term
partnership with consortium led by Spanish toll road operator
Cintra and San Antonio-based Zachry Construction Corp.
 Click for route map (Flash) |
|
San
Antonio Express-News
State
on road to new highway era The Texas Transportation
Commission selected a construction consortium that includes
a San Antonio firm Thursday to build the first leg of
the Trans Texas Corridor ó launching what officials
called the nation's most important highway project since
the 1950s.
The Trans Texas Corridor is huge and costly. The $184 billion endeavor is eventually supposed to crisscross the state with 4,000 miles of 10-lane highways and rail lines in swaths up to a quarter-mile wide.
Officials will have to charge tolls to finance bonds and pay for operations and maintenance. They'll also have to confiscate farmlands and wildlife areas.
Express-News Public
gets shot at PGA Tour project A controversial
proposal to build a PGA Tour golf course over the Edwards
Aquifer recharge zone got its first public airing Thursday,
after weeks of what some opponents call "closed-door
negotiations."
San Antonio strippers must wear ID badges
Council
set to okay twin-tower downtown hotel next Tuesday
Kerik
never filled out New York background form
Soldier
had himself shot to avoid return to Iraq, police say
Police
recover JFK artifacts in Dallas drug raid A police
card bearing Jack Ruby's nine fingerprints is among the
items unexpectedly turned up in a drug raid on a Dallas
apartment. Bonnie and Clyde autopsy photos, too.
Puget
Sound whales may get endangered status Bush administration,
which ruled two years ago that endangered species protections
were unwarranted, reversed itself after a federal judge
ordered it to reconsider its legal justifications.
KB
Home earnings soar 35% in quarter Builder lifts its
2005 outlook even as U.S. housing starts post their biggest
drop in 11 years.
DOD seeks emergency OK to resume anthrax shots
Anthrax vaccinations by the military have been suspended
since late October, when a federal judge ordered the military
to stop requiring personnel to take the vaccine.
May
I remind you of the controversy over these shots as detailed
by Gary Matsumoto in his book
Vaccine
A: The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our
Soldiers--And Why GI's Are Only The First Victims
National
Guard enlistments off sharply Army National
Guard fell 30 percent below recruiting goals in the
last two months and will offer new incentives, including
enlistment bonuses of up to $15,000.
OPINION
- BOB HERBERT Fiddling
as Iraq burns
British
court says terror suspects denied rights
At
Guantanamo, a prison within a prison Inside heavily
guarded Guantanamo Bay, the CIA has maintained a detention
facility for valuable al Qaeda captives that has never
been mentioned in public.
Monday, December 20
| Ten-Foot Poll on Rummy --- Result | |||||||||
| posted
915a-520p Mon 12/20/2004 Rumsfeld letting a machine sign his letters of regret to families of soldiers killed in Iraq was
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The
new miltary life: Heading back to the war "..with
the military stretched thin in Iraq and in Afghanistan,
some soldiers and marines are being sent to war zones
repeatedly, for longer stretches in some cases, and with
far less time at home between deployments than they say
they have ever experienced before."
Last
U.S. unit quietly pulls out of France
Saying
he coaxed confession, fallen agent turns informant
By the time he left Massachusetts in shackles 27 months
ago, John J. Connolly Jr. was a pariah — a fallen
FBI agent, a consort of his underworld informants, and
a symbol of the corrupt kinship between the FBI and organized
crime. But to the felons he joined at the federal prison
in Lexington, Ky., he was something else.
Christmas
trees hit $200 in Hawaii
Robbery
note had thief's address on back
Kia
Spectra gets worst crash rating
Kids
throwing life-size dummy into traffic
Golden
retriever retrieves stolen handbag
Tuesday, December 21
San
Antonio moving toward big twin-tower downtown "convention"
hotel
Rice
grads, professor find flaw in Google Company says
security glitch in search tool is fixed
In
time for Christmas: Freedom after 16 years
Lawyers for a man wrongly sent to prison say DNA cleared
him in November 2002
At
least the D.A. apologized, which is a lot better example
than the Houston D.A. whose head remains in the sand on
such mistake cases
FOLLOWUP: Man
wrongfully imprisoned walks free
LINK: Brandon
Moon, the Innocence Project
| Ten-Foot Poll on Holiday Greetings --- RESULT | |||||||||
| posted
830a-11p 12/21/2004 Do you say "Happy Holidays!" now instead of "Merry Christmas!" to avoid excluding someone's non-Christian religion?
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Powerball
lottery winner's granddaughter found dead
Arrests
at "hog dogging" events in three states
Support
for Iraq War slips
56% say war was mistake Poll shows that while a
slight majority believe the Iraq war contributed to long-term
U.S. security, 70 percent think these gains have come
at an "unacceptable" cost in casualties.
Attack
near Mosul kills at least 22 Mosul
was initially peaceful after the U.S.-led invasion but
become a worrisome trouble spot since U.S. and Iraqi troops
invaded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah
F/A-22
Raptor crashes at Nellis; pilot ejects safely
Flights at Nellis Air Force Base were grounded Tuesday
while investigators picked through the wreckage of a next-generation
stealth fighter that crashed during combat readiness testing.
Woman
is selling a single cornflake on eBay
British
Navy paid for a boob job for a man
Male
fish bear eggs in Potomac
The so-called intersex abnormality may be caused by pollutants
from sewage plants, feedlots and factories that can interfere
with animals' hormone systems
Wednesday, December 22
Friday:
"30% chance of Snow"
New evidence of widepread abuse in Iraq
multiple cases of threatened executions of detainees, thefts
of private property, assaults and deadly shootings at Iraqi
detention camps.
U.S.
contractor pulls out of reconstruction effort in Iraq
For the first time, a major U.S. contractor has dropped
out of the multibillion-dollar effort to rebuild Iraq, raising
new worries about the country's growing violence and its
effect on reconstruction.
Rocket
struck mess tent as hundreds were eating lunch U.S.
death toll in dining hall attack reaches 19
Marine's
family gets e-mail dispute help
Houston
okays red-light camera ordinance
Plastic
surgery is trendy holiday gift
RICK
CASEY - HOUSTON CHRONICLE
A
Sweet strategy for the GOP After
referring to Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison possibly running
for Texas governor against incumbent Rick Perry, Casey notes,
"It's hard to feel sorry for a guy who never has a
bad hair day. He is, it's fair to say, the prettier of the
two candidates.."
AUSTIN
AMERICAN-STATESMAN Five
Texans' stories bring Iraq war home
Drug
firms getting a sick feeling as Michael Moore plans
a film on the drug industry
U.S.
to pay $16M in water rights case to a group of California
Central Valley farmers and irrigation districts whose water
deliveries were cut to protect endangered fish.
Congratulations:
It's a Galaxy Astronomers have discovered three
dozen baby galaxies, including Messier 81, that resemble
the infant Milky Way 10 billion years ago.
Carolers
protest religious-music ban
North
Carolina goes hog wild over livermush The award-winning
festival packs the streets once a year in celebration of
this strangest of meats.
Woman
attempts suicide by setting her Christmas tree ablaze
apparently distraught over relationship troubles with her
live-in boyfriend.
Student
admits tossing guinea pig out of 8th-floor dorm window
The animal was tied to a makeshift parachute
(12/18)
Thursday, December 23
New
fighting in Fallujah delays return of residents.
Officials said US Marines were killed but would not specify
the number.
Team
monitoring Iraq election won't go to Iraq I am not making
this up
Comal
program notifies crime victims allows victims to
keep tabs on jail inmates and know when they are released
Victoria's
new town plaza bandstand dedicated Hurricane Claudette
blew it down in July 2003
Mexican
town bans nudity indoors
Firemen
accidentally burn up their own sauna
Another
guard unit decries training, equipment Members of
a second National Guard unit that prepared for duty in Iraq
at the Army's Fort Bliss, Texas compound have come forward
with allegations that they were not adequately trained.
Cokehead
assaulted with part of a food tong
Airport
patdown procedure changes ordered for women
"You'll
put your eye out!" BB gun maker Red Ryder avoids
spotlight
1 Texas
woman first to buy cloned-to-order cat The company that
created Little Nicky, Genetic Savings and Clone, said it
hopes by May to have produced the world's first cloned dog
- a much more lucrative market than cats.
2 Cat
created in Austin is world's first cloned-to-order pet
Woman bought Austin-made clone of her beloved Nicky for
$50,000
New
rules for US forests will make it easier for forest
managers to decide whether to allow logging, drilling or
off-road vehicles
New
car buying drops sharply
Volcanic
activity seen on Mars Red Planet shows signs of recent
eruptions
Earbags
a popular fashion accessory Earbags.com
Planned
'Who's Your Daddy?' TV show sparks reaction
Pre-school
holiday pageant soured by parents fighting over seats
Upset
Tammie Josette stabs two in porkchop dispute
Crows
invade Idaho town "like the Hitchcock movie"
Franklin
Sweger, Marine from San Antonio, killed in Iraq
Aransas
Pass Marine Hilario Lopez remembered
Monday, December 27
Tidal
wave death toll reaches 21,000
A
sudden change in geography The earthquake moved
the entire Indonesian island of Sumatra 100 feet.
Next
Texas legislature to consider various bans on cell phone
use in vehicles
As winter settles in, so do homeless ladybugs
Bracelets
with names of fallen troops sell quickly Critics
say using names of those killed raises privacy issues.
HeroBracelets.org
Patriotic
magnetic ribbons being stolen in Chicago area
Gulfstream
jet an open secret in terror war CIA is flying
captured terrorist suspects from one country to another
for detention and interrogation
CIA
resists request for abuse data The CIA is refusing
to disclose any information about abuse of detainees
in Afghanistan and at the US naval base at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, invoking a legal precedent that involved
a secret project by billionaire Howard Hughes to recover
a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine in the 1970s.
Even
the cowboy boot now reads 'Made in China' Production
of even top-of-the-line brands like Tony Lama is shifting
to China and Mexico.
Tents
and a laptop: Texas parks go online
first state to offer free Web in the woods, pleasing
some but angering nature purists. Jan. 1, Texas will
become the first to provide wireless Internet service
at state parks, with five of them hooked up in a new
pilot program.
Is
your car spying on you? Infomation from event
data recorders has been used to convict drivers after
accidents.
Man
in miniskirt freed from clothes bin
Tuesday, December 28
Tsunami death toll 44,000+
An entire generation of children swept away UNICEF estimates at least one-third of the tens of thousands who died were children, and the proportion could be up to half
NY supermodel held on for dear life for 8 hours in raging surf Other valuable news-related photos of her HERE I know. I am SO shallow...
US sending only $15 million Powell: U.S. is not 'stingy' when it comes to aid
| Ten-Foot Poll on Aid to Tsunami areas ---RESULT | ||||||||||||
| posted 10am-830pm Tue 12/28/2004 The US is sending $15 million in aid to tsunami victims. We are
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NEW: U.S. relief package to more than double
Rebels kill 19 Iraqi policemen
Problems mount for Iraqi vote A UN memo details added concerns about registration and security before election Jan. 30.
Ex-official tells of Homeland Security failures The government agency responsible for protecting the nation against terrorist attack is a dysfunctional, poorly managed bureaucracy that has failed to plug serious holes in the nation's safety net
Reserve commander released A former Ohio Army Reserve commander who was court-martialed for taking abandoned Army vehicles in Kuwait so her unit could carry out its mission in Iraq returned home Monday after serving a six-month sentence
Home Depot to sell appliances online
Carlin into rehab, knocked Las Vegas before he left
Victoria Advocate Cameras, film at a premium as the snow fell in Victoria
Wednesday, December 29
Red
Cross: Tsunami death toll may be 100,000+
US
defends aid record The Bush administration
more than doubled its financial commitment Tuesday to
provide relief to nations suffering from the Indian
Ocean tsunami, amid complaints that the vacationing
President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian
catastrophe of epic proportions.
Aid grows amid remarks about Bush's absence The Bush administration more than doubled its financial commitment to provide relief to nations suffering from the Indian Ocean tsunami, amid complaints that the vacationing President Bush has been insensitive to a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. Among the world's two dozen wealthiest countries, the United States often is among the lowest in donors per capita for official development assistance worldwide, even though the totals are larger. According to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development of 30 wealthy nations, the United States gives the least -- at 0.14 percent of its gross national product, compared with Norway, which gives the most at 0.92 percent.
| Ten-Foot Poll on Pot---RESULT | ||||||||||||
| posted
10am-11pm Wed 12/29/2004 What should the Texas penalty be for possession of 2 ounces or less of marijuana?
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Drug
would treat early ejaculation
Johnson & Johnson seeks FDA approval for sexual
dysfunction medication that could reap billions in sales Background:
presentations at annual meeting of the American Urological
Association
Lake
LBJ hit-and-run boat driver fired
Andy
Borowitz
PARIS
HILTON VOWS TO BE MORE ANNOYING IN 2005 Takes Aim
at Britney's 'Most Annoying' Crown
Man
burns down home over no gifts
war...
29
die in insurgent trap
Insurgents lured police to a house in west Baghdad with
an anonymous tip about a rebel hideout, then set off
explosives, killing at least 29 people
Navy
SEALs sue AP over Iraq prison photos
Veterans
needing quick cash sign over pensions, pay horrific
interest Schemes are probably illegal Mr.
Jones signed over his $1,000-a-month military pension
for the next five years, a total of $60,000. That is
the equivalent of paying interest at a rate of 56 percent
a year.
For
US, new hurdles on way to Iraqi vote A key factor
in determining the legitimacy of elections is the participation
of the minority Sunni population.
Lobbying
tab $1.1 billion for half a year As President
Bush campaigned for reelection pledging to protect doctors
and insurance companies from patient lawsuits while
easing the tax burden on businesses, industry groups
spent record amounts of money lobbying to influence
the White House, Congress and their constituents.
Court
rules Harrah's Reno casino bartender was justly fired
for refusing to wear makeup
Canada
may halt internet U.S. drug sales
Missouri
will allow fishing with your bare hands
Southwest
and Jet Blue slash fares
Man
arrested after peeing into stranger's gas tank
Road
rage attack on roller skiiers by 77-year-old
Man
kisses car for 54 hours
Dogs
to get facelifts on new reality show
Friday, December 31
 Survivors fight over packs of noodles |
As tsunami death toll passed 100,000, one of the biggest relief efforts came to life as ships, helicopters and planes were sent from around the globe. |
Tsunami
area local newspaper (English) Jakarta
Post
Large
python saved lives As she struggled for her
own life and that of the twins, she said a large snake
as long as a telephone pole approached her. She and
the nine-year-olds rested on the reptile, which was drifting
along with the current.
Internet
providing instant donations Americans are finding
an instantaneous way to reach out to tsunami victims via
their home computers.
WHO
says bodies not health threat "Dead
bodies do not pose any health threat, but they feed fears
and can divert precious attention and resources from effective
relief efforts."
Comal
sweetens Home Depot bait County commissioners
join New Braunfels city officials in offering Home Depot
50 percent rebate on sales taxes for 10 years.
Carlin
still scheduled for Corpus Christi Although he
is entering drug rehab, the show March 10 at American
Bank Center Selena Auditorium will go on.
Laser
beams hit planes over Cleveland and Colorado Springs
Thieves
steal $10,000 in toys from Alvin storage unit
Company
makes apparel out of fur from living pets
Faulty
signals common at US rail crossings Peggy Wilhide,
a spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads
[said] "I would put our safety record up against
any industry"
Republicans
to make ethics inquiries harder to start
Christmas Snow photo archives from Victoria Advocate
readers
WARNING:
SATIRE
Top
Scientists Warn: Sea Gods Angry Washington, DC
- Pointing to the devastating weekend Indian Ocean tsunami
that left over 24,000 dead, an international blue ribbon
committee of climatologists and ecoscientists today issued
a stark warning that man-made pollutants have increasingly
"make water spirits angry."
war...
Falloujans
jolted by city's condition Refugees eager
to return change their minds after seeing the ruin. Will
balloting be feasible?
25
insurgents killed attacking US Mosul outpost
Memorial
for soldiers at Fort Lewis The Christmas presents
he had promised to send her, the ones she had promised
not to open until he came back from the war, made it all
the way to Tumwater from Iraq.
The box arrived at the house near this military base
a few days before Dec. 25. It was a delivery that might
have offered Stephaine VanKomen some proof, if only imagined,
that her husband would be coming back to watch her open
them. But he was not coming back: on that same day, 30
minutes before the postman came with presents, the Army
came to tell her he was dead.
Baghdad
house blown up after police enter Insurgents lured
police to a house in western Baghdad and then set off
a powerful explosion that killed at least 28 people late
Tuesday night, including three families whose homes were
completely flattened in the blast, officials said Wednesday.
Honk!
The quiet progress of Iraq. Many Iraqi families have
been able to afford cars as the government has doubled
the salary of its million or so workers.
Eva Longoria turned on by vibrators, gives them as gifts
500
soldiers from Fort Sam Houston headed to Iraq
Volunteers
needed to help service members prepare their tax returns
32%
8%
34%
79%