News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi casualties at highest level since August Video
Britain delays cutting troops in Iraq
Iraqi Commander Leads Convoy Into Basra Stronghold
Iraqi Army Leads Push to Restore Security in Mahmudiyah
Iraqi Army Soldiers, U.S. Special Forces conduct combined operation in Makhiat
Iraqi Special Operations Forces kill 14 criminals in Basra
Iraqi Security Forces, detain two suspects in separate operations (Balad)
8 Sons of Iraq killed, 3 wounded in Ninewah Province
SOI prevent suicide attack

Operation Enduring Freedom
Senior Taliban Commander Captured in Southern Afghanistan
NATO Afghan force to get only some extra troops: U.S.

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Memo Backed Harsh Terror Tactics -PART 1 - 2
Orlando Airport Detains Man With Bomb Parts in Luggage
Colombia: France offers hostage medical mission
Spain Arrests Two Wanted Islamic Terror Suspects

Fallen Heroes
DoD Identifies Army Casualties (Baghdad)

Other Military News
Pentagon expected to close intelligence unit: NYT

Religion of Peace??
Imam: Non-Muslims Deserve to Be Raped, Killed (How peaceful...)
Dutch Consulate Vandalized in Protest of Anti-Islam Film

Worldwide Wackos
Castro reforms: DVDs, farms for Cubans

Politics / Government
Birth of a 'New Zimbabwe' - PHOTOS
Letterman, McCain Trade Jabs - 'You think that stuff's pretty funny?'
Pennsylvania 'Do-or-Die' for Clinton
Pol: White Voters Attracted to Obama's 'Articulate' Side (Actually, I'm rather turned off by his 'racist' side)
Reid Favors Superdelegate Deadline for Decideds
Clinton and Obama assail Republican McCain on economy - Video
Clinton compares herself to 'Rocky' (This is really funny)
McCain takes on Letterman in "Late Show" monologue
Gore and Schwarzenegger Launch Bipartisan Bid for the US Presidency (hopefully, this story is an April fools' joke...or a way to garner traffic for the group that put it out)
Oil Executives to Congress: High Prices Not Our Fault
Senate sets urgent push for housing compromise
Pentagon: Gay Pol's Partner Allowed on Military Flight
Pol: No More Pizza Hut if Delivery Man Gets Fired (Good for him!)
Belichick: No more Spygate
Democrats undecided how to end war
Ukraine and Georgia face uphill battle on NATO bid - qVideo

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Government waives obstacles to border fence

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Suspect Caught in Murder of Pregnant Woman Killed in Colorado, Baby Delivered
Police: Teacher Told Class to Hit Tardy Student
Utah Cops 'Gravely Concerned' for Missing Girl, 7
Cops: NYC Man Threw Molotov Cocktails at Cars
FBI: Parachute Not From Skyjacker D.B. Cooper
Schoolgirls Find Woman's Severed Head on Beach
Pro Wrestler Gets Life in Jail in Sex Slave Case
Prison for SoCal tortoise smuggler
Ohio man pleads guilty in child-sex case
Cops: 3rd-graders aimed to hurt teacher

Adventures in Political Correctness
Teen Sues School After Zero for Religous Drawing
Texas Student Sues School for Booting Him for Wearing John Edwards T-Shirt (OK, so you can hand out condoms and advocate sexual experimentation in school, but political shirts are pushing it??)

U.N. News
EXCLUSIVE: Did U.N. Agency Pull a Fast One? (Actually, the real shocker would be if they'd done something ethical...)

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
April Fool's Day Means Good Times on the Internet
The 'Recession' Is a Media Myth
Creator of Phony Internet Profile That Led to Teen's Suicide Speaks Out
CBS News operations to cut jobs (Wow, imagine that - a complete lack of integrity or credibility actually HURTING business in the MSM)
Winfrey dedicates show to her late dog
Google: YouTube Gang Rape Video Was 'Mistake'

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Archaeologists Begin Dig at Stonehenge
Skip the Mouth-to-Mouth, Hands-Only CPR OK, Experts Say
Researchers: Asteroid Destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah
After 2 Weeks, Fate of Two-Faced Girl Uncertain
Teen's Donated Organs Spread Cancer to Four Recipients, Killing Two
Relaxation skills help some skip hypertension meds
Home defibrillators do not increase survival
Mini-black hole is smallest ever but still strong
What's keeping us from Mars? Space rays, say experts
Microsoft wins document format standards battle
Intel rolls out Atom chips at Shanghai tech forum
Older corneas may be good for transplant
Researchers Create Human-Animal Hybrid Embryos (Egads)

Mother Nature
Octopi get leg up on sexual competition

Oddities
Bearing child a "human," not female, desire, says pregnant man(I bet my husband disagrees...)
Live, on Good Mourning TV!
Abberration splits dog's left leg in two

Other News of Note
Olympics aren't improving rights in China: Amnesty (Well, DUH...)
China: Dalai Lama Supporters 'Scum of Buddhism'
China lays out conspiracy claims against Dalai Lama - Video
U.S. image improves after years of decline: poll (Uh oh...if the rest of the world likes us, something is seriously wrong)

Fox News
Los Angeles Leaders Open Concrete River to Graffiti Artists But Now Having Second Thoughts - PHOTOS
FOX Business: Dow Kicks off 2nd Quarter With Surge
Truckers to Strike Over Record Diesel Prices, Some Paying Up to $1,200 to Fill-Up
High School Graduation Rates Plummet Below 50 Percent in Some U.S. Cities

Reuters
Zimbabwe opposition says on verge of power - Video
Taiwan's Ma aims to be peacemaker, not troublemaker
Popular Lehman stock deal sparks Wall Street rally - Video
U.S. Commerce chief optimistic on Colombia deal
"Sex and the City" tour goes for $24,000 in NY
Velvet Revolver splits with rocker Scott Weiland
Madonna expected in Malawi over adoption next week
Lehman raises $4 billion of capital to hush critics - Video
Fed approves JP Morgan purchase of Bear Stearns bank
Huawei not interested in Motorola phone unit
March auto sales drop, GM off 13 percent
Why China's "start-up" bourse won't produce a Microsoft
$19 bln write-down? No problem, stock investors say
Northrop lobbying Congress hard over tanker win
Dollar holds gains as credit worries ease
Oil steadies above $101
Asian stocks surge as bank moves bring relief
Thornburg Mortgage rises after averting bankruptcy
Nikkei jumps more than 3 pct as credit fears ease
Media General dismisses shareholder strategy
Gold bounces above 2-week low, physical supply tight
Airline shares rally alongside Dow, Nasdaq
Branson backs Virgin Mobile

AP World News
Marlins top Mets 5-4; Pedro injures leg
Yankees win final opener at Stadium
A-Rod makes more than Marlins roster
Ebert to resume writing movie reviews
Bank news, economic data boosts stocks
Sandler breaks ankle playing basketball
Harvard Lampoon sends up Geographic

News Blaze
Ironhorse Tracker Radio Newscast Available
Iraq support strengthens Ministry of Interior through the Iraqi Security Forces
Soldiers' Angels and Patriot Guard
Iraq News
Operations in Iraq
FOB Warhorse Memorial Photos
Videos

CENTCOM
MND-B Soldiers kill 25 criminals
Iraqi troops contain violence in Hillah
Water facility reopens, clean water flows
Medical programs top priority for Zabul women’s affairs director
Troops save Iraqi teen injured by bomb
USCENTCOM Bids Farewell to Commander

USJFCOM
Joint fires team assists Army training center
More about JFIIT
Industry symposium to raise awareness of 21st century capabilities
Workshop looks at strengthening capabilities in the urban environment - podcast
Command releases report
More about JCOA

Multi-National Force - Iraq
6-8 Cav. Regt. Holds First Combined Medical Engagement in Busayefi
Coalition Forces Provide Assistance to Iraqi Security Forces in Kut
Iraqi Army Soldiers, U.S. Special Forces conduct combined operation in Makhiat
Iraqi Special Operations Forces kill 14 criminals in Basra
Iraqi Security Forces, detain two suspects in separate operations (Balad)

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
High Deployment Tempo Risks Forces, Mullen Says
Basra Violence Proves Tough Days Ahead, Chairman Says
Continuous Assessments Needed on Iraq Conditions
Bush Endorses Ukraine, Georgia to Join NATO
NATO Looks to Expand Membership at Bucharest Summit
Gates Thanks Danes for Commitment, Sacrifices
Gates Visits Denmark to Thank ‘Steadfast Ally’

MILITARY NEWS
Missile Defense Provides Balance
DoD Celebrates the Military Child

IRAQ NEWS
Iraqi, U.S. Army Doctors Bring Medical Care to Town
Troops Kill Suspected Terrorists, Capture Others

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Army Cooks Provide Taste of Home

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Volunteers, Sponsors Drive Disabled Vets Clinic
'Big Momma' Serves as Troops' Substitute Momma

FACE OF DEFENSE
Soldier Adds Chapter to Family's Military History

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
0999 - Gerbert of Aurillac elected as 1st French Pope
1416 - Alfonso V succeeds his father as king of Aragón
1513 - Explorer Juan Ponce de León claims Florida for Spain
1550 - Jews are expelled from Genoa, Italy
1559 - England/France sign 1st Treaty of Le Cateau-Cambrésis
1590 - States-General appoints earl Mauritius, viceroy of Utrecht
1595 - Cornelis de Houtman's ships depart to Asia through Cape of Good Hope
1645 - Robert Devereux resigns as parliament supreme commander
1745 - Austria & Bavaria sign peace
1792 - Congress establishes Philadelphia mint; US authorizes $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & $2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins & silver dollar, ½ dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime
1827 - Joseph Dixon begins manufacturing lead pencils
1845 - H. L. Fizeau & J. Leon Foucault take 1st photo of Sun
1860 - 1st Italian Parliament met at Turin
1863 - Bread revolt in Richmond, VA
1864 - Skirmish at Crump's Hill (Piney Woods), Louisiana; Skirmish at Spoonville/Antoine, AR
1865 - CSA President Jefferson Davis flees Confederate capital of Richmond, VA; General A P Hill is killed by a Federal picket; Lee's line is broken at Petersberg; Battle of Fort Blakely AL & Selma, AL; Battle of Petersburg, VA (Fort Gregg, Sutherland's Station)
1866 - President Andrew Johnson ends war in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee & Virginia
1870 - Victoria Woodhull is 1st woman to be nominated for US President
1872 - George B. Brayton patents gasoline powered engine
1877 - 1st Easter egg roll held on White House lawn
1883 - Battle at Bamako - French assault on Fabous
1884 - London prison for debtors closed
1902 - 1st motion picture theater opens (Los Angeles CA)
1905 - Cairo-Capetown railway opens
1908 - Mills Committee declares baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday
1912 - Titanic undergoes sea trials under its own power; Sun Yet Sen forms Guomindang-Party in China
1916 - German troops overtake Bois de Caillette
1917 - President Woodrow Wilson asks Congress to declare war against Germany; Jeannette Rankin becomes 1st woman member of US House of Representatives
1921 - Professor Albert Einstein lectures in NYC on his new theory of relativity
1926 - Riots between Muslims & Hindus in Calcutta
1930 - 1st New York-Bermuda airplane flight lands in Bermuda
1931 - Teenage girl strikes out Babe Ruth & Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game in Chattanooga, TN
1932 - Charles Lindbergh turns over $50,000 as ransom for kidnapped son
1935 - Sir Watson-Watt patents RADAR
1941 - German occupier disallows Dutch scouting association; USS Hornet with Jimmy Doolittle's B-25 departs from San Francisco
1944 - CPI-leader Palmiro Togliatti returns to Italy; Soviet Army marches into pro-German Romania
1945 - 1st US units reach east coast of Okinawa
1953 - Raab forms his 1st government in Austria
1954 - Plans to build Disneyland 1st announced
1958 - National Advisory Council on Aeronautics renamed NASA; Wind speed reaches 450 kph in tornado in Wichita Falls, TX (record); Antillean Brewery (Amstel beer) opens
1960 - Cuba buys oil from USSR
1963 - Explorer 17 attains Earth orbit (254/914 km); USSR launches Luna 4; missed Moon by 8,500 km
1964 - USSR launches Zond 1 to Venus; no data returned; Military coup in Brazil by General Castello Branco, President Goulart ousted
1966 Soviet Union's Luna 10 becomes 1st spacecraft to orbit Moon
1968 - Chad creates Union of Central African States
1970 - Meghalaya becomes autonomous state within India's Assam state; Qatar gains independence from Britain
1972 - Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin visits Cairo, Egypt
1973 - CBS radio begins on hour news 24 hours a day; ITT pleads guilty to asking CIA to affect Chilean presidential election
1974 - Arganat Committee publishes report concerning Yom Kippur War
1976 - Cambodia's Khieu Sampan succeeds prince Sihanouk as premier; Portuguese constitution assumed
1978 - TV show "Dallas" premieres on CBS (as a 5 week mini-series); Velcro was 1st put on the market
1979 - Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin visits Cairo Egypt/meets President Sadat
1981 - Belgium's 4th government of Martens resigns; Heavy battle between Christian militia & Syrian army in East Lebanon
1982 - Several thousand Argentine troops seize disputed Falkland (Malvinas) Islands
1986 - 4 US passengers killed by bomb at TWA counter Athens Airport Greece
1987 - IBM introduces PS/2 & OS/2
1992 - John Gotti found guilty in death of Paul Castallanos; Space Shuttle STS-45 (Atlantis 11) lands; Edith Cresson, France's 1st female premier, resigns
1993 - 1st test flight of Fokker 70 (Amsterdam); Venezuelan DC-10 crashes at Margarita, killing 10

Birthdays
0742 - Charlemagne, 1st Holy Roman emperor (800-14)
1618 - Francesco M. Grimaldi, mathematician/physicist (light defraction)
1805 - Hans Christian Andersen, author of 150 fairy tales
1806 - Giacomo Antonelli, Italian cardinal/Assistant Secretary of State for Pius IX
1814 - Henry Lewis "Old Rock" Benning,Confederate Brigadier General
1826 - Philip Dale Roddey, Confederate Brigadier General
1833 - Thomas Howard Ruger, Union Brevet Major General
1862 - Nicholas Murray Butler, Columbia University president/pacifist (Nobel 1931)
1894 - Rudolph P. Cleveringa, Dutch anti-nazi lawyer; Walter Mittelholzer, Swiss aviation pioneer (Swiss Air)
1922 - Nikolaj G. Bassov, Russian atomic physicist (laser, Nobel 1964)
1929 - Frans H.J.J. Andriessen, Dutch MP (KVP/CDA)
1934 - Christopher France, British permanent secretary (Department of Health); Sir Peter Middleton British permanent secretary (Treasury)
1937 - Paul E. Kanjorski (Representative-PA)
1939 - Marvin P. Gaye, Jr., singer (Sexual Healing)
1942 - Graham Bright, private secretary to British PM
1948 - Joan [Carol] D[ennison] Vinge, sci-fi author (2 Hugos, Dune)

Passings
1118 - Boudouin I of Bologne/Edessa, 1st crusader/king of Jerusalem
1416 - Ferdinand I the Justified, king of Aragon/Sicily, dies at 52
1502 - Arthur English, crown prince/husband of Catharina of Aragón
1657 - Ferdinand III, King of Hungarian/Bohemia/German Emperor, dies at 48
1831 - Charles Felix, blind King of Sardina (1821-31), dies at 74
1865 - Ambrose Powell (A.P.) Hill, Confederate General, killed in action at 39
1872 - Samuel F. B. Morse, developer of electric telegraph, dies at 80
1910 - Boyd Alexander, English explorer (Niger to the Nile), murdered at 37
1928 - Theodore Richards, US chemist (atomic weight, Nobel 1914)
1941 - Paul Teleki premier of Hungary
1956 - Albert de Bassompierre, Belgiuman ambassador to Tokyo, dies at 82
1974 - Georges Pompidou, French President, dies in Paris at 62
1995 - Hannes Alfven, physicist (Nobel prize), dies at 86
1997 - Tomoyuki Tanaka, producer (Godzilla), dies of a stroke at 86

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Evans, James J., USN (KS); A1H shot down - remains recovered October, 1971 - ID'd April, 1977

1966
Doughty, Daniel J., USAF (WI); RF101 shot down - released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Dramesi, John A., USAF (NJ); released by DRV March, 1973 - After release, became chief war planner for US Air Forces in Europe, later commanded a Strategic Air Command F-111 wing - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1999

1969
Powers, Lowell S., US Army (AZ); CH47 forced to land due to mechanical problems, subsequently exploded, presumed Killed, body not recovered

1972
The following personnel reported MIA after the shoot-down of an EB66 and the subsequent shoot-down of SAR craft:

From the EB66 (USAF):
Bolte, Wayne L., (OK); pilot

Gatwood, Robin F., Jr., (NC); crew

Giannangeli, Anthony R., (PA); crew

Levis, Charles A., (TX); crew

Serex, Henry M., (LA); crew

From a UH1H (US Army):
Astorga, Jose M., (CAZ); gunner - left crash site, was captured - subsequently observed the helicopter explode with the others inside - released by PRG (injured) March, 1973 - alive as of 1996

Frink, John W. (NM); co-pilot - remains returned April, 1994

Kulland, Byron K. (ND); pilot - remains ID'd April, 1994

Labels: Headlines, History