Quote of the Day
"The best tank terrain is that without anti-tank weapons."

-- alleged Russian military doctrine.

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
New Iraq Hostage Video
American peace activist missing
Parliament Won't Convene Yet
Hostages in Iraq seen in video - Video
American Not Seen in Footage From Iraq
Most Americans see Iraq civil war as likely: poll - Video
U.S. envoy says "We opened Pandora's box" in Iraq
Iraq roiling with ethnic animosity

Operation Enduring Freedom
Afghan-Pakistani Relations Deteriorating

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Iranian wanted to "punish" U.S.
Former Guantanamo Prisoner Publishes Book
Moussaoui Jury Gets Crash Course on Al Qaeda
US asks court to drop ex-detainees' torture suit
Gonzales Defends Treatment of Suspects
Court Says IRA Figure Should Stand Trial
Policy departure on airline assets
Clashes may have killed 100 militants

Other Military News
Pentagon to Probe Possible Pat Tillman Cover-Up

Dubai Port Proposal
Ports deal: Full scope of firm's U.S. role tallied
U.S. ports affected by Dubai deal
Patriot Act takes aim at meth production

Hamas Rising
Fatah to Boycott Parliamentary Session
Hamas PM Could Be Target
Israel's Olmert says will reduce settlement funding
Hamas Leader Says Group's Isolation Ending

Worldwide Wackos
Russian offer to Iran ruffles West - Video
China urges Iran to co-operate - Video
IAEA Hopes for Deal on Iran Nuke Program
Morales Accuses U.S. of Intimidation
U.S. predicts United Nations will crack down on Iran

Homegrown Moonbats
Sheehan Arrested at Protest

Politics
South Dakota bans most abortions
Law unlikely to ever take effect, experts say
Lavrov in US for talks on Iran, Hamas

Oddities
Farmer feeds family friend's corpse to pigs
Putting the "con" in condiments
Doctor: Man was faking his blindness
Statue stolen from grave surfaces decade later
Oxygen shortage, not peanut allergy, may have killed

Other News of Note
Kirby Puckett Dead at 45
Career Stats - Remembering Kirby - Photos

Fox News
Lesbian Crowned Homecoming King
Marijuana Activist Freed
Mother Gets Five Years for Leaving Baby in Car
Stocks to Watch: Pixar
Grammy-Winning Musician Ali Farka Toure Dies
Yanni Faces Battery Charge
Star Witness (Enron trial)
NYC Bouncer Questioned in Brutally Slain Coed's Death - Video: Interview With Aunt
FULL SPORTS COVERAGE

Reuters: Top News
India says to complete nuclear separation by 2014
Students create plant that glows when thirsty
Wind power could top hydro in China, expert says
Intel aims to get back on track with new chips
Complexity causes 50% of product returns: scientist
Lone US tea farm infused with big dreams
Depression may spur weight gain in young women
Gold weighs on miners
Sprint backs '06 outlook
Volkswagen says cost cuts are do or die
KT&G has 40 pct shareholder backing: CEO
Albertsons posts lower quarterly profit
Samsung Elec, Hynix shares tumble on NAND outlook
UK media buyer Aegis profits climb, 2006 in line
Cisco to buy video surveillance firm
Macquarie Korea fund raises $964 mln in IPO
United Rentals shares up
Arcelor, Mittal shares weaken as defense continues
Elan stock jumps ahead of FDA meeting on MS drug
Stock futures down on Texas Instruments outlook - Video
Actelion dips as Glaxo bolsters rival drug
Momentary Relief
Gerstein: Trading places with Buffett
Reuters Summit: Food industry outlook
Video: Fortune sees shares undervalued

AP World News
Pope Appeals for Release of Kidnapped Baby
Ugandan Politician Cleared of Rape Charge
Wallace and Gromit Fans Want Statue
Anti-Discrimination Law Sought in Japan
Suspected Israeli Mobster Sent to To U.S.
Stricken Sharon Remains Political Star
Russia OKs Controversial Siberian Pipeline

The Seattle Times
Experts warn fixes to broken levees are falling short
U.S. officials plan second bird-flu vaccine
Ways and Means' Chairman Thomas to retire
Another disappearing act
Greeting cards have (prison) sentences for every occasion
At least 45 die after boats capsize

Chicago Sun-Times
Freight derailment delays Metra
Feds: Ex-gov took cash for contracts
Did life imitate movie at O'Hare terminal?
Radar outage delays flights to O'Hare
Lawyers hope trials devastate Aryan gang
Recovery of miners' bodies could take months: Mexican government

Boston Globe: World
Hamas tries to outmaneuver Abbas
UN nuclear chief says Iran deal could be days away
Militant leader sought in bombings is caught
US jostles Israel's underworld
Foul play ruled out in death of Diana
Thai leader won't resign; foes step up pressure
Germany faces probe over spies' role in Iraq
US envoy warns of escalating Iraq violence
Virulent bird flu virus strikes in Poland, infects cat in Austria
UN, militia clash in Congo
Pakistani town has curfew imposed
10 jailed in China in baby trafficking
Korean musical casts light on prison camps

Military.com
Army Cover-Up Also Investigated
National Guard Role to be Reviewed
Fewer Troops Desert Since 9/11
Former Gitmo Prisoner Describes Beatings
Arab Firm Has Lesser Role at Other Ports
Services Appeal for $22 Billion More
Seabee Unit Prepares to Deploy
Bill Would Give Reservists Full Eight Hours Off
India Nuclear Deal Pushed
Seminaries may Stop Sending Chaplains to Military
Hunter, Skelton: Budget Inadequate
Official Indicted for Fraud, Bribery
African-American Enlistments Decline

Department of Defense
Jones Sees Demise of Afghan Terrorists - Story
Iraqi Commander Killed in Terrorist Attack - Story
Car Bomb Attacks Kill, Wound Iraqis - Story
Pace: Iraq Pulled Back From Civil War - Story
Casey: Crisis Caused by Bombing Has Passed

ON THE GROUND
Lifesaver Course Designed for Combat in Iraq - Story
Iraqi Police Graduates Demonstrate Abilities - Story
Iraqi Police Escort Propane Delivery to Village - Story

IN IRAQ
Iraqi Air Force Spreads Wings, Secures Future
Arizona Guard MPs Reflect on Iraq Deployment
U.S. Army’s Cav Troops Help Train Iraqi Soldiers
U.S. Soldier Starts Tikrit Chapter of Hobby Club

IN AFGHANISTAN
New Zealanders Deliver Roof Beams to Camp
Bagram Airfield Celebrates Black History Month

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Program Recharges Wounded Vets - Story
Rumsfeld Visits Wounded Troops
Vail Hosts Wounded Troops

TOP NEWS
IRAQ
U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq
U.S. Soldiers Nab Terrorists
DoD Releases Some Gitmo Records
Ops Net 62 Terrorism Suspects
Forces Limit Damage
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq (pdf)
Multinational Force Iraq
Eye on Iraq Update (pdf)
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (pdf)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Bush Pleased with Afghan Progress
Troop Killed in Afghanistan
Coalition Troops Injured in Attack
Crews Keep KC-135 Aloft
Bush Salutes Troops - Photos
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
U.S., Pakistan Pledge Unity in War
Rumsfeld Cites Truman Leadership
U.S. Diplomat Killed in Bombing
U.S., Italy Partners, Bush Says
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
New Probe Into Tillman Death
U.S., India Make World Safer
Rumsfeld Praises Future Military
Budget Proposal Matches 1995
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties - Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
1138 - Conrad II von Hohenstaufen re-elected German king
1530 - King Henry VIII's divorce request is denied by the Pope - Henry then declares that he, not the Pope, is supreme head of England's church
1560 - Christian fleet under Gian Andrea lands at Djerba, N. Africa
1573 - Turkey & Venice sign peace treaty
1621 - John Pieterszoon Coen's troops land on Lontor, East Indies
1633 - Prince Frederik Henry appoints himself viceroy of Limburg
1644 - Massachusetts establishes 1st 2-chamber legislature in colonies
1696 - English King Willem III departs Netherlands
1774 - British close port of Boston to all commerce
1778 - Captain James Cook 1st sights Oregon coast, at Yaquina Bay
1801 - Massachusetts enacts 1st state voter registration law
1835 - HMS Beagle returns from Concepción to Valparaiso
1843 - 1st Catholic Governor in US, Edward Kavanagh of Maine, takes office
1847 - US General Scott occupies Vera Cruz Mexico
1850 - Daniel Webster endorses Compromise of 1850
1851 - Poll tax levied on Russo-Polish Jews entering Austrian Galicia ends
1854 - Charles Miller patents 1st US sewing machine to stitch buttonholes
1857 - Baseball decides 9 innings constitutes an official game, not 9 runs
1862 - Battle of Elkhorn Tavern, Day 2, Generals McCulloch & McIntosh killed
1865 - Battles near Kinston, NC
1876 - Alexander Graham Bell patents telephone; Battle at Gura: Ethiopian emperor Yohannes beats Egyptians
1900 - Battle at Poplar Grove South Africa - President Kruger flees
1902 - Boers beat British troop in Tweebosch, Transvaal
1906 - Finnish Senate accepts universal suffrage, except for poor
1908 - Cincinnati Mayor Mark Breith stood before city council & announced that, "women are not physically fit to operate automobiles"
1911 - US sent 20,000 troops to Mexican border; Willis Farnsworth, Petaluma CA, patents coin-operated locker
1912 - Roald Amundsen announces discovery of the South Pole
1914 - Prince Wilhelm von Wied becomes King of Albania
1917 - 1st jazz record "Dixie Jazz Band One Step", recorded by Nick LaRocca Original Dixieland Jazz Band, released by RCA Victor in Camden NJ
1918 - President Wilson authorizes US Army's Distinguished Service Medal
1921 - Red Army under Trotsky attack sailors of Kronstadt
1925 - American Negro Congress organizes
1926 - 1st transatlantic telephone call (London-New York)
1927 - Earthquake measuring 8 on Richter scale strikes Tango, Japan
1932 - Riots at Ford-factory Dearborn, MI, kills 4
1933 - Game of "Monopoly" invented
1935 - Saar incorporated into Germany
1936 - Hitler breaks Treaty of Versailles, sends troops to Rhineland
1937 - Bucharin, Jagoda & Rykov pushed out of CPSU in USSR
1941 - 50,000 British soldiers lands in Greece; British troops invade Abyssinia (Ethiopia)
1942 - 15 Mk-VB Spitfires reach Malta; 1st cadets graduated from flying school at Tuskegee
1943 - General Patton arrives in Djebel Kouif Tunisia
1944 - Japan begins offensive in Burma
1945 - Cologne taken by Allied armies; US 9th Armoured Division attacks Remagen, Germany, crosses Rhine; Yugoslavia government of Tito forms
1954 - Russia wins title in their 1st international ice hockey competition
1955 - Mary Martin as "Peter Pan" televised
1959 - 1st aviator to fly a million miles (1.61 Mkm) in a jet (MC Garlow)
1962 - Launch of OSO 1, 1st astronomy satellite (solar flare data)
1965 - Alabama state troopers & 600 black protestors clash in Selma
1965 - Christian-democrats win parliament in Chile
1967 - Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa begins 8-year jail sentence at Lewisburg Federal Prison for defrauding the union & jury tampering (commuted Dec 23, 1971)
1971 - Egypt refuses to renew the Suez ceasefire
1973 - Comet (Lubos) Kohoutek discovered at Hamburg Observatory; Sheik Mujib ur-Rahman's Awami League wins election in Bangladesh
1974 - Monitor (US Civil War Ship) restored at Cape Hatteras, NC
1975 - Senate revises filibuster rule, allows 60 senators to limit debate
1976 - Morocco & Mauretania break diplomatic relations with Algeria
1977 - Ali Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party wins elections; Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin meets President Carter
1978 - Belgian baron Charles Bracht kidnapped
1978 - Dutch 2nd Chamber votes against neutron bomb
1981 - 1st homicide at Disneyland, 18 year old is stabbed to death
1982 - NCAA Tournament Selection televised live for 1st time
1983 - TNN (The Nashville Network) begins on Cable TV
1985 - IBM-PC DOS Version 3.1 (update) released
1986 - South-Africa emergency crisis in Brabant & Limburg ends
1989 - Iran drops diplomatic relations with Britain over Salman Rushdie's book "The Satanic Verses"; Partial eclipse of the Sun (Hawaii, NW North America, Greenland)
1990 - 3 passengers killed & 162 injured as subway train derails (Philadelphia)
1991 - Iraq continues to explode oil fields in Kuwait
1994 - ANC chief Nelson Mandela rejects demand by white right-wingers for separate homeland in South Africa; Charles Taylor resigns as President of Liberia
1994 - US Navy issues 1st permanent order assigning women on combat ship
1995 - New York becomes 38th state to have the death penalty
1996 - 1st surface photos of Pluto (photographed by Hubble Space Telescope)
1997 - 5 sue Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, because his smoking has violated the country's constitution guaranteeing a wholesome life

Birthdays
1543 - Johan Casimir, count of Rhine (occupied Gent)
1682 - Johan W. van Ripperda, Dutch diplomat/baron/duke
1693 - Clement XIII [Carlo Rezzonico], Pope (1758-69)
1707 - Stephen Hopkins (Governor-RI) signed Declaration of Independence
1827 - Henry DeLamar Clayton, Confederate Major General
1831 - John Bratton [Old Reliable], US physician/Confederate Brigadier General
1832 - Orlando Metcalfe Poe, Union Brigadier General
1837 - Henry Draper Virginia, astro-spectro-photographer (Moon, Jupiter)
1850 - Tomás G. Masaryk, President of Czechoslovakia (1918-35)
1875 - Maurice Joseph Ravel, composer (Boléro)
1888 - Alidius van Starkenborch Stachouwer, Governor of Netherland Indies (1936-45)
1904 - Reinhard Heydrich, German Governor (Bohemen/Moravia (Lidice))
1908 - Joop [Joseph] van Santen, Dutch 1st chamber member (CPN)
1915 - Jacques Chaban-Delmas, French politician
1934 - Willard Scott, weather forecaster (Today Show)
1937 - Don Bonker (Representative-WA)
1938 - Janet Guthrie, race car driver, 1st woman to race in Indy 500
1940 - Viktor Petrovich Savinykh, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-4, T-13, TM-5)
1942 - Tommy F. Robinson (Representative-AR)
1944 - Elton Gallegly (Representative-CA)
1947 - Robert O'Neill Crossman, politician
1953 - Kathleen Sullivan, newscaster (E!)

Passings
322 BC - Aristotle
0161 - Antoninus Pius [Titus Aurelius], emperor of Rome (138-61), dies at 74
1040 - Harold I, King of England (1035-40)
1111 - Bohemund I of Tarente, French ruler of Antioch
1305 - Gwijde van Dampierre, Count of Flanders/count of Namur, dies at 78
1724 - Innocent XIII [Michelangiolo dei Conti], Pope (1721-24), dies at 68
1737 - Guido Starhemberg, Austrian earl/fieldmarshal, dies at 79
1810 - Albertus H. Wiese, Governor-General of Netherland Indies, dies at about 48
1862 - Ben McCulloch US Confederate Brigadier-General (KIA), dies at 50; John Baillie McIntosh, Union General-Major, dies at 32; William Slack, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle
1932 - Aristide Briand, 11x premier of France (Nobel 1926), dies at 69
1941 - Günther Prien, German commandant (U-47), dies in battle
1951 - Ali Razmara, Shah of Iran (1950-51), assassinated
1959 - Hinsdale Smith, developer of roll-down auto windows, dies at 88
1961 - Max Hymans, WWII resistance fighter/Head of Air France, dies at 60
1968 - Yuri Aleksayevich Gagarin, cosmonaut (Vostok I), dies at 31
1973 - André de Meulemeester, Belgian WWI pilot [Eagle of Flanders], dies at 78
1985 - Robert W. Woodruff, CEO (Coca-Cola), dies at 95; Victor W. Farris, inventor of paper milk carton
1986 - Jacob K Javits (Senator-NY), dies in Palm Beach FL at 81
1988 - Robert Livingston, actor (Lone Ranger), dies at 83 of emphysema
1995 - Don Cook, British foreign correspondent, dies at 74; Jacques Lefebvre Belgian air force general, commits suicide at 64; Paul-Emile Victor, French pole explorer, dies at 87; Thijmen Kuijt resistance fighter/co-found paper (Typhoon), dies at 82
1996 - Aled Eames, maritime historian, dies at 74

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Page, Gordon L., USAF (CA); RF101C shot down (w/Wright) - remains returned 1989 - ID'd April, 1998

Smith, Harold Victor, USAF (IL); F105D shot down - remains ID'd May, 2000

Wright, Jerdy A., Jr., USAF (TX); RF 101C shot down (w/Page) - remains returned June, 1988 - ID'd September, 1989

1967
Miller, Robert L., USN (CA); F8E shot down - Killed, body not recovered

1970
Gates, Albert H., Jr., USMC (NY); CH46D shot down - KIA, body not recovered

1971
Ard, Randolph J., US Army (FL); OH58A shot down (w/Burnett)

Burnett, Sheldon J., US Army (NH); OH58A shot down (w/Ard)

1972
Howell, Carter A., USAF (NC); F4E shot down (w/Rusch)

Rusch, Stephen A., USAF (NJ); F4E shot down (w/Howell)

1973
Ackley, James W., Civilian - Air America; C123K shot down (w/Driver)

Driver, Clarence N., Civilian - Air America (CA); C123K shot down (w/Ackley)