News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Former Saddam VP Hanged - Ex-deputy executed for killings of 148 Shiites
Bush issues dire Iraq warning - Video

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Aid embargo remains against Palestinians

Troops on Trial
Soldier draws 10-year sentence in Iraq slayings

Worldwide Wackos
N.Korea talks to look beyond reactor closure
South Africa guts big power deal on Iran sanctions

Homegrown Moonbats
Iraq War Protests Continue Nationwide

Politics / Government
Rice may "shuttle" on upcoming trip to Middle East
Gonzales' hold on job grows uncertain

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Guilty Conscience?
Body Found in Purdue University Utility Room
Vegas Cops Ticket Kids for Jaywalking
Virginia Gun Dealers Protest NYC Lawsuits

U.N. News
Sudan's Bashir denies government role in Darfur

Science / Medicine / Technology
How to Lose $38B in a Few Clicks

Mother Nature
Global Warming Cures Galore
Two Dead Hikers Found in Washington Park
Missing Scout Search Hinges on Weather
Texas dolphin die-off puzzles scientists

Oddities
Blind auto mechanic hires deaf assistant

Fox News
N.J. Couple Claims Half of $390M Jackpot

Reuters: Top News
Russian fire death toll rises to 50
Google signs software deals in two African nations
Digital TV converters to sell for about $60: LG
Secret to slim kids? Just a little running around
Heather Mills wins praise in TV dancing debut
Asia shares up as risk appetite returns, yen soft
Gold extends gains, focus on Fed
Taiwan's Acer shares rise on Gateway merger talk
Oil extends gains as gasoline stocks seen down
Indexes jump as M&A takes subprime's spotlight
Growth in Brazil stock offerings
Argentina entices investors with growth
ABN, Barclays in exclusive $160 billion merger talks - Video
Triad agrees to $5.1 billion Community Health offer
Homebuilder confidence sinks though woes won't spread
EGL agrees to $1.7 billion buyout by CEO-led group
Bank of America CEO gets $92 mln from stock,options
Honda to recall 166,000 Accord, other cars in U.S

AP World News
Rangers clip Penguins late on own goal
Miss USA pageant gears up for new queen
Burke goes for 3rd 'Dancing' victory
Campbell begins community service in NYC
AOL introduces location plug-in for IM
Padres' David Wells has diabetes

Military.com
GI Gets 10 Years in Deaths of 3 Iraqis
Iraq War Protests Continue Nationwide
Poll: Is Iraq Better Off?
Opinion: Congress Lacks Courage
Defense Tech: Updating the Humvee
Perspective on Military Medicine
Play Trivia and Win an iPod
Blog: Photos From Afghanistan
Women at War

USJFCOM
USJFCOM commander speaks before House Armed Services Committee

DefenseLink
Bush: Officials ‘Seeing Hopeful Signs’ in Iraq - Story
Transcript: Bush on Fourth Anniversary of Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi Navy on Way to Independence, Official Says - Story
Education Officials to Work with Local Businesses - Story
Admiral Recounts First Month of Security Plan - Story
Detainee Admits Role in Embassy, Cole Attacks - Story
Pentagon Channel Highlights Guard, Reserve - Story

More Headline News
Gates: U.S. Troop Surge in Iraq Paving The Way
Gates Committed to Fixing Walter Reed Problems
Bush Urges Congress to Pass War Spending Bill

Military News
Army Launches Wounded Warrior Hotline
Sailors, Marines Honor Iwo Jima Veterans
Military Leaders Discuss Readiness on Capitol Hill

War on Terror
18 Detained, Weapons Cache Discovered; Bomber Killed - Story
Suspected Terrorists Captured
Eight Soldiers, Marine Killed
Troop Surge Will Total 28,000

America Supports You
VFW Auxiliary Support Military - Story
Company Gives Break on Rent
Utah Thanks Troops
Group Faithful to Injured Troops

Transformation
Soldiers Armor Up Vehicles - Story
Command Welcomes C-130J
Idea Encourages Recycling
Air Force Notes 50th Launch

Face of Defense
Bulldozer Operator Provides Security in Iraq - Story
Civilian Answers Nation’s Call
Father, Son Reunite in Iraq
Couple Serves Together in Iraq

DefendAmerica
Improvements Underlie Gains - Story
Video: Bloggers' Roundtable
Bloggers' Roundtable Web Site

Iraqi Navy on Way to Independence, Official Says - Story
Education Officials to Work with Local Businesses - Story
Admiral Recounts First Month of Security Plan - Story
Detainee Admits Role in Embassy, Cole Attacks - Story
Pentagon Channel Highlights Guard, Reserve - Story

More Headline News
Gates: U.S. Troop Surge in Iraq Paving The Way
Gates Committed to Fixing Walter Reed Problems
Bush Urges Congress to Pass War Spending Bill

Military News
Army Launches Wounded Warrior Hotline
Sailors, Marines Honor Iwo Jima Veterans
Military Leaders Discuss Readiness on Capitol Hill

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen
Hanau Am Main Heidelberg Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

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

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Today in History
0141 - 6th predicted perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1345 - Saturn/Jupiter/Mars-conjunction; thought "cause of plague epidemic"
1525 - Paris' parliament begins pursuit of Protestants
1598 - French king Henri IV & duke van Mercour sign treaty
1602 - United Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) forms
1616 - Walter Raleigh released from Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana
1627 - France & Spain signs accord for fighting protestantism
1697 - Willem de Vlamingh returns to Batavia after exploring "South Land"
1760 - Great Fire of Boston destroys 349 buildings
1800 - French army defeats Turks at Helipolis Turkey, & advance to Cairo
1814 - Prince Willem Frederik becomes monarch of Netherlands
1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
1816 - US Supreme Court affirms its right to review state court decisions
1833 - US & Siam conclude commercial treaty
1848 - King Louis I of Bayern abdicates to marry dancer Lola Montez
1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" published (Boston)
1863 - Battle of Pensacola FL: evacuated by Federals
1865 - 2nd day of Battle of Bentonville NC
1868 - Jesse James Gang robs bank in Russelville KY of $14,000
1883 - Unity treaty of Paris signed; protects industrial property
1885 - John Matzeliger of Suriname patents shoe lacing machine
1886 - 1st AC power plant in US begins commercial operation, Massachusetts
1890 - German emperor Wilhelm II fires republic chancellor Otto Von Bismarck
1896 - Marines land in Nicaragua to protect US citizens; Uprising in Matabeleland
1897 - France signs treaty with emperor Menelik II of Abyssinia
1916 - Allies attack Zeebrugge Belgium
1920 - 1st flight from London to South Africa lands (1½ months)
1922 - USS Langley is commissioned, Navy's 1st aircraft Carrier
1923 - Bavarian minister of Interior refuses to forbid Nazi SA
1931 - Bishop Schreiber warns against national-socialism in Berlin
1932 - Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region in RSFSR becomes Kara-Kalpak ASSR
1933 - Dachau, 1st concentration camp, completed
1934 - Test of practical radar apparatus made by Rudolf Kuhnold in Kiel Germany
1937 - Franco-offensive at Guadalajara Spain
1939 - 7,000 Jews flee German occupied Memel, Lithuania
1940 - Paul Reynoud becomes French premier
1941 - Nazi-German/Yugoslav pact drawn
1942 - Convoy PQ13 departs Reykjavik Iceland to Russia; General MacArthur vows, "I shall return"; Major German assault on Malta
1943 - British offensive against Mareth-line; German U-384 bombed & sinks
1944 - Bus falls off bridge into Passaic River NJ, killing 16; Mount Vesuvius, Italy, explodes
1945 - US 70th Infantry division / 7th Armour division attack Saar
1946 - Belgian government of Spaak resigns
1951 - Indonesian army offensive against Darul Islam on Java
1952 - US Senate's final ratification of peace treaty restoring sovereignty to Japan
1953 - Senator Edwin C Johnson offers a bill to give clubs the sole right to ban radio-TV broadcasts of major league games in their own territory
1954 - 1st newspaper vending machine used (Columbia Pennsylvania)
1956 - E. Ochab succeeds Beirut as 1st Secretary of Polish CP; Mount Bezymianny on Kamchatka Peninsula (USSR) explodes; Tunisia gains independence from France
1957 - Britain accepts NATO offer to mediate in Cyprus, but Greece rejects it
1964 - ESRO established, European Space Research Organization
1968 - Military intervene in South-Yemen (leftist ministers resign); President Lyndon Johnson signs a bill removing gold backing from US paper money
1969 - US President Nixon proclaims he will end Vietnam war in 1970
1976 - Patricia Hearst convicted of armed robbery
1977 - Parisians elect former Prime Minister Jacques Chirac as 1st mayor in a century; Premier Indira Gandhi loses election in India
1980 - US appeals to International Court on hostages in Iran
1981 - Argentine ex-President Isabel Perón sentenced to 8 years; Jean Harris sentenced 15-to-life for slaying of Scarsdale Diet Doctor
1982 - Reverend A. Treurnicht forms Conservative Party of South Africa
1984 - Senate rejects amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools
1985 - Libby Riddles is 1st woman to win Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race
1986 - Jacques Chirac become Prime Minister of French government
1987 - FDA approves sale of AZT (AIDS treatment)
1989 - Richard J. Kerr replaces Robert M. Gates as deputy director of CIA
1991 - Supreme Court rules unanimously employers can't exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could potentially damage fetus; US forgives $2 billion in loans to Poland
1992 - Noriega's wife Felicidad arrested for stealing buttons from dresses
1993 - IRA-bomb kills child in Warrington, England
1994 - El Salvador's 1st Presidential election following 12-year-old civil war
1994 - Zulu-king Goodwill Zwelithini founds realm in South Africa
1996 - Erik & Lyle Menendez found guilty of killing their parents; UK admits humans can catch CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease aka Mad Cow Disease)
1997 - Liggett admits cigarettes are addictive

Birthdays
1725 - Abdül-Hamid I 27th sultan of Turkey (1774-89)
1804 - Neal Dow, Union Brigadier General
1811 - Napoleon Bonaparte II, Napoleon's son/King of Rome
1812 - George Bibb Crittenden, Confederate Major General
1820 - Alexander J. Cuza, monarch of Moldavia/Wallachia/Romania
1823 - John Echols, Confederate Brigadier General
1825 - William Nelson Rector Beall, Confederate Brigadier General
1830 - Eugene Asa Carr, Union Brevet Major General
1834 - Charles William Elliot, President of Harvard (1869-1909)
1856 - Frederick Winslow Taylor father of scientific management
1870 - Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck Prussian General/politician (East Africa)
1882 - René Coty Le Havre France, President of France (1953-58)
1885 - Eugen Herrigel Germany, philosopher/early pioneer of Zen in Europe
19?? - Big Bird, muppet (Sesame Street)
1904 - B(urrhus) F(rederic) Skinner, Behaviorism pioneer (Skinner box)
1906 - Abraham Beame (Mayor-NYC), NYC's 1st Jewish mayor
1906 - Pavel P. Parenago, Russian astronomer
1908 - Frank Stanton, broadcasting executive (CBS)
1915 - Dr. Rudolf Kirchschläger, President of Austria (1974-86)
1916 - Pierre Messmer, Prime Minister (France)
1921 - Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, director general of UNESCO
1922 - Doug Barnard. Jr. (Representative-GA)
1925 - James Pickles, judge; John D. Erlichman, Politician (Nixon aide, Watergate conspirator)
1928 - Mr. [Fred McFeely] Rogers, children's television host (Mr Roger's Neighborhood)
1936 - Lord Mark Saville of Newdigate, British high court judge
1937 - Mark Saville QC, British high court judge
1938 - Frans J. van der Heijden, Dutch journal/Dutch MP (CDA)
1939 - Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada (1984-93)
1945 - Larry Combest (Representative-TX)
1945 - Tim Yeo, British MP/Under-Secretary (State of Environment)
1956 - Phillip Oppenhein, British MP
1969 - Thang Thanh Nguyen, murderer (FBI Most Wanted)

Passings
0842 - Alfonso II the Chaste king of Asturia (791-842)
1191 - Clement III [Paolo Scolari], Pope (1187-91, 3rd crusades)
1351 - Mohammed ibn-Tughluq, sultan of Delhi. India
1393 - Johannes Nepomucenus [Jan Nepomucky], Czechoslovakian saint, killed
1415 - Henry IV Bolingbroke, King of England (1399-1413), dies at 45
1549 = Thomas Seymour of Sudely, English Lord Admiral, beheaded
1568 - Albrecht von Hohenzollern, 1st duke of Prussia, dies at 77
1619 - Matthias II, Holy Roman Catholic emperor (1611-19), dies
1703 - Johann Kunckel/Kunkel, German alchemist/ambassador to Sweden
1727 - Sir Issac Newton, English physicist/astronomer, dies in London at 84
1751 - Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales/son of George I
1894 - Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian freedom fighter/president (1849), dies at 91
1899 - Martha M. Place of Brooklyn NY, becomes 1st woman to die by electrocution
1913 - Song Jiao-ren, leader Chinese Guomindang-Party
1920 - Venustiano Carranza, President of Mexico (1915-20), murdered at 60
1925 - George N. Curzon, British Foreign minister (1919-22), dies at 66
1929 - Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France (WWI), dies at 77
1933 - Giuseppe [Joe] Zangara, electrocuted for assassination attempt on FDR
1934 - A. Emma W. T. von Waldeck-Pyrmont Dutch queen (& regent), dies at 76
1941 - D. A. van den Bosch, anti-Nazi clergyman (Amersfoort Camp)
1967 - A. J. F. Moody, 1st US Army General to die in Vietnam
1974 - Chet Huntley, newscaster (NBC Huntley-Brinkley Report), dies at 62
1982 - Hendrik L. van Beek, Dutch Vice-Admiral, dies at 52
1991 - Conor Clapton, Eric Clapton's son, falls out of 53rd floor window at 4
1993 - Jonathan Ball English youngster, killed by IRA at 3
1995 - Rachida Hammadi, Algerian TV journalist, murdered at 32
1996 - Claude Bourdet, human rights activist/journalist, dies at 86; Victor Zorza, journalist/Russian specialist, dies at 71

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Beach, Arthur J., USMC (CA); UH34D crashed at sea

Mulligan, James A., Jr., USN (MA); A4C shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

Ratzlaff, Richard R., USN (SD); F4B shot down, released by DRV - deceased as of 1981

1968
Fellows, Allen E., USAF (MN); O2A disappeared while on reconnaissance mission

Sayre, Leslie B., US Army (OH); O1D shot down (w/Taylor), believed KIA

Taylor, William B., US Army (NC); O1D shot down (w/Sayre), escaped May, 1968 - alive as of 1996

Thompson, Fred, USAF (NC); F100 shot down - released in Hanoi, August, 1968

1969
Davis, Ricardo G., US Army SF (NM); wounded and believed KIA

1970
Butler, James E., US Army (NC); O1G shot down (w/Cozart), KIA - reamins ID'd September, 1970

Cozart, Robert G., Jr., US Army (LA); O1G shot down (w/Butler), KIA - remains returned July, 1989

1971
The following US Army personnel reported MIA when their UH1H was shot down:
Barker, Jack L. (GA)

Chubb, John J. (CA)

Dillender, William E. (FL)

Dugan, John F. (NJ)

Labels: Headlines, History