The World Around The World

TEst

2006-12-18T07:42:00.000-07:00

this is dick head rj again test test 12 test 123

2006-12-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

there once was a redneck texan
he had a very boring life
he once shot this mexican
for fucking his wife.

Trophy Active Defence System

2006-04-18T11:19:00.000-06:00

2006-04-14T11:58:00.000-06:00

Santas giving away marijuana

2004-12-20T13:39:00.000-07:00

Police in Rio de Janeiro have arrested two drug dealers dressed as Santa.

According to UOL Tabloide, the two men were dressed up as Santa near a shanty town and were apparently giving away Christmas gifts.

But the police found that the presents had small marijuana bags inside them and the two men were actually selling drugs. The two were arrested.

A police spokesperson said: "It was a smart idea we had seen them three times before we decided to investigate them, it was hard to believe that even Santa was a drug dealer!"

Kerry faces questions over Purple Heart

2004-08-11T13:56:00.000-06:00

John F. Kerry's tour of duty in Vietnam, distinguished by Silver and Bronze stars and the close-range killing of an enemy fighter, is highlighted in his campaign ads and cheered on the trail. Even the campaign of President Bush, who did not see combat, hasn't tried to make an issue of his opponent's service record.

But as the presidential campaign heats up, some Vietnam veterans are using the Internet and talk radio to question the Democratic candidate's military record. They complain that Kerry's three Purple Hearts were for minor wounds and that he left Vietnam more than six months ahead of schedule under regulations permitting thrice-wounded soldiers to depart early.

A review by the Globe of Kerry's war record in preparation for a forthcoming book, "John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography," found that the young Navy officer acted heroically under fire, in one case saving the life of an Army lieutenant. But the examination also found that Kerry's commanding officer at the time questioned Kerry's first Purple Heart, which he earned for a wound received just two weeks after arriving in Vietnam.

"He had a little scratch on his forearm, and he was holding a piece of shrapnel," recalled Kerry's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Grant Hibbard. "People in the office were saying, `I don't think we got any fire,' and there is a guy holding a little piece of shrapnel in his palm." Hibbard said he couldn't be certain whether Kerry actually came under fire on Dec. 2, 1968, the date in questionand that is why he said he asked Kerry questions about the matter.

But Kerry persisted and, to his own "chagrin," Hibbard said, he dropped the matter. "I do remember some questions, some correspondence about it," Hibbard said. "I finally said, `OK, if that's what happened . . . do whatever you want.' After that, I don't know what happened. Obviously, he got it, I don't know how."

Kerry declined to talk to the Globe about the issue during the preparation of the Kerry biography. But his press secretary, Michael Meehan, noted that the Navy concluded that Kerry deserved the Purple Heart.

During the Vietnam War, Purple Hearts were often granted for minor wounds. "There were an awful lot of Purple Hearts--from shrapnel, some of those might have been M-40 grenades," said George Elliott, who served as a commanding officer to Kerry during another point in his five-month combat tour in Vietnam. (Kerry earlier served a noncombat tour.) "The Purple Hearts were coming down in boxes." Under Navy regulations, an enlistee or officer wounded three times was permitted to leave Vietnam early, as Kerry did. He received all three purple hearts for relatively minor injuries -- two did not cost him a day of service and one took him out for a day or two.

The incident that led to Kerry's first Purple Heart was risky, and covert. He and his crew left the safe confines of the huge US base at Cam Ranh Bay, climbing aboard a "skimmer" boat -- a craft similar to a Boston Whaler -- to travel upriver in search of Viet Cong guerrillas. At a beach that was known as a crossing area for enemy contraband traffic, Kerry's crew spotted some people running from a sampan, a flat-bottomed boat, to a nearby shoreline, according to two men serving alongside Kerry that night, William Zaladonis and Patrick Runyon. When the Vietnamese refused to obey a call to stop, Kerry authorized firing to begin.

"I assume they fired back," Zaladonis recalled in an interview. But neither he nor Runyon saw the source of the shrapnel that lodged in Kerry's arm. '`We came across the bay onto the beach and I got [hit] in the arm, got shrapnel in the arm," Kerry told the Globe in a 2003 interview. Kerry has also said he didn't know where the shrapnel came from.

Back at the base, Kerry told Hibbard he qualified for a Purple Heart, according to Hibbard. Thirty-six years later, Hibbard, reached at his retirement home in Florida, said he can still recall Kerry's wound, and that it resembled a scrape from a fingernail. "I've had thorns from a rose that were worse," said Hibbard, a registered Republican who said he was undecided on the 2004 presidential race.

The Globe asked Kerry's campaign whether the Massachusetts senator is certain he was under enemy fire and whether he recalled that a superior officer raised questions about the matter. The campaign did not respond directly to those questions. Instead, Meehan said in a prepared statement that Kerry "received the shrapnel wound early in the course of that combat engagement. " Meehan also provided a copy of a medical report showing treatment for a wound on Dec. 3, 1968. The Purple Heart regulation in effect at that time said that a wound must "require treatment by a medical officer."

Nearly three months later, a document was sent to Kerry informing him that he would receive a Purple Heart "for injuries received on 2 December 1968." The Naval Historical Center, which could not locate a copy of the original card for the incident, nonetheless confirmed that Kerry did receive the Purple Heart.

Kerry went on to earn another two Purple Hearts and he led more than two dozen missions in which he often faced enemy fire. He won the Silver Star for an action in which he killed an enemy soldier who carried a loaded rocket launcher that could have destroyed Kerry's six-man patrol boat, and he won a Bronze Star for rescuing an Army lieutenant who was thrown overboard and under fire.

One reason that Kerry has long divided Vietnam veterans is because of the way he led a group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War after he returned to the United States. While in Vietnam, Kerry began to question the policy of "free-fire zones," which permitted sailors to open fire on rivers where Vietnamese were violating nighttime curfews. He said in a 1971 appearance on "Meet the Press": "There are all kinds of atrocities, and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed, in that I took part in shootings in free-fire zones."

Thirty-three years later, that statement still rankles some veterans, apparently including those who have formed a group called Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, which has a website devoted to what it calls Kerry's association with the "radical pro-communist" antiwar movement.

The statements of that group have been circulated widely over the Internet and picked up on conservative radio talk shows.

But some historians said Kerry is being unfairly criticized over his antiwar effort, which is best remembered for his Senate testimony in which he asked why soldiers should be asked to die for a mistake. "Thirty-three years later, his testimony has really proved to be prescient," said historian Stanley Karnow, author of "Vietnam: A History." "The war was a mistake. Nobody knew better that the war was a mistake than the poor grunts out there fighting it."

Indeed, some of Kerry's crewmates who were aghast that Kerry had led them into battle and then came home to protest the war now say Kerry was ahead of his time in seeing the mistaken policy. Crewmate James Wasser, who originally felt "betrayed" by Kerry's antiwar leadership, said, "Knowing what I know now, I would have totally agreed with him."

Kerry says no nuke waste for Yucca Mountain

2004-08-11T13:47:00.000-06:00

"[T]his isn't just a Las Vegas issue or a Nevada issue. It's an American issue," Kerry said in remarks prepared for delivery in Las Vegas. "Under the Yucca Mountain plan, more than 50,000 shipments of waste would travel just yards away from homes, hospitals, parks and playgrounds in states across this country."

Republicans said Kerry was fudging his previous record on the waste site. The Bush campaign said the senator voted six times in favor of measures that helped pave the way for Yucca Mountain's designation as the country's nuclear waste repository, including a 1987 vote in favor of legislation that narrowed the study of potential waste sites exclusively to Yucca Mountain -- a measure that critics dubbed the "Screw Nevada" bill.

"John Kerry's vote to make Nevada the sole repository site for waste and his later flip-flop on Yucca Mountain is just another example of a candidate who tells voters what they want to hear," said Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman.

Democrats note that Kerry voted to uphold former President Bill Clinton's 2000 veto of a bill that would have allowed interim waste storage at Yucca, and voted against the site's final designation as the nation's waste repository.

President Bush narrowly edged Democrat Al Gore in Nevada in 2000, winning the state, and its 5 electoral votes, by 3.5 percentage points. Bush, in 2000, told Nevada voters he would let science, not politics, determine his course regarding Yucca Mountain. See full story.

In 2002, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recommended Yucca as the ideal locale for the waste. That led to a vote in Congress, and ultimately a presidential signature, on legislation that finally brought the dump closer to reality.

Yucca is a highly charged issue in Nevada, which voted Democratic in the presidential elections of 1992 and 1996. State leaders of both parties as well as business interests have opposed the waste site.

Google News

2004-08-11T10:19:00.000-06:00

In Najaf, the U.S. military said it is preparing with Iraqi forces for a major assault against armed supporters of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Speaking on Arab television, Iraq's interim vice president Ibrahim al-Jaafari called on the U.S.-led multinational forces to leave Najaf and for only Iraqi troops to defend the Shi'ite holy city.

Further east, in Amara, British forces clashed overnight with militiamen. At least 10 rebels were reported killed.

Meanwhile, northeast of Baghdad in Mahmodiya, at least six Iraqis were killed and 10 wounded in a bomb blast near a busy market.

And a leader of Iraq's largest Shi'ite movement, the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, was shot dead.

At Least 75 Children Die in Fire at School in India

2004-07-16T09:35:00.000-06:00

More than 75 young school children were killed when a rampaging fire engulfed a private school in southern India this morning, Indian media reported. The children attending the school in the state of Tamil Nadu were reported to be from 6 to 13 years old.

More than 30 of the children were burned to death and the rest died in a stampede, M.B. Venkatesh, a witness who lived near the Lord Krishna Middle School in the town of Kumbakonam told The Associated Press. There were also unconfirmed reports that no teachers or fire extinguishers were present in the building and one of its main exits was locked.

"Parents were crying, beating their chests and calling out for their children," S. Kalidas, one witness, told Reuters. "People looked scared. They were running around for help and there was complete panic. It was a huge fire."

More than 800 students were believed to be in the school when the fire began in a kitchen, according to Indian media reports. A short-circuit is believed to have ignited the kitchens thatched roof. Flames then spread to a portion of the main three-story school building that also had a thatched roof.

Images of firefighters trying to put out the fire as hundreds of panicked parents surrounding the building were broadcast on Indian television news channels. Some of the children's bodies were so badly burned that they could not be identified.

"They have been charred beyond recognition so we cannot say how many girls and how many boys," J. Radhakrishnan, chief administrator of the district, told The A.P.

Government officials called for an immediate investigation into the fire. The blaze was the worst school fire in India since 1995, when 400 people, half of them children, died at a school ceremony in the northern part of the country.

Today's tragedy could spark a crackdown on the thousands of private schools that have opened across India as government spending on education has declined. The schools, which offer poor families the promise of an education that will lift their children out of destitution, are poorly regulated.

Hospital officials said they expect the death toll to rise. As many as 30 school children arrived at a local hospital with severe burns. Over the next several days, they are expected to slowly perish from their injuries.

Music festival pulls plug on live sex film

2004-07-15T08:11:00.000-06:00

Organisers of an international music festival in Oslo have forced a Korean artist who planned to film couples having sex inside a tent on the festival grounds to cancel the shoot at the last minute.

The artist, Shu Lea Cheang, installed the tent at the Quart music festival and had intended to start filming couples who volunteered to have sex inside it in a fictive search for people to star in an imaginary pornographic movie called Fluid, Staale Stenslie, the head of Norway's National Touring Exhibitions told AFP.

Cheang's film of the search was to be shown at the Soerlandet Kunstmuseum, an art museum in the southern Norwegian town of Kristiansand.

The National Touring Exhibitions forced Cheang to cancel it at the last minute amid concerns that the shoot could violate Norwegian decency laws.

Stenslie had earlier said the project was "far from pornography".

"It's about humanity, nakedness and intimacy. Shu Lea is a very serious and respected artist," he insisted.

"This is a society-critical exhibit. It's commentary on how we have handled the AIDS epidemic, and it's a bridge between popular culture and art," Stenslie said.

The music festival did however feature sex on stage.

A young couple attending a Cumshots concert was called up by the lead singer in the middle of the concert, where they had sex on stage to the crowd's applause, as the band played on

Judge 'caught using penis pump'

2004-07-14T14:40:00.000-06:00

A judge in America is reportedly facing the sack after using a penis pump while trying cases in court.

Donald Thompson, 57, was seen fumbling beneath his robes under his bench.

Witnesses claim they heard 'whooshing' noises, and a police officer said he saw the judge pumping a tube between his legs.

Court clerk Lisa Foster says Thompson's manouevrings meant she saw his penis at least 20 times.

The judge, who presides at Creek County Court in Oklahoma, said the gadget, used to extend the penis, was a 'gag gift' from a friend.

But the district attorney wants him sacked for his 'moral turpitude'.

Top bin Laden confidant accepts Saudi amnesty

2004-07-14T10:30:00.000-06:00

A confidant of Osama bin Laden, seen on a videotape with the Qaeda chief as he talked about the Sept. 11 terror attacks, has surrendered to Saudi diplomats in Iran and been flown to Saudi Arabia.

Khaled al-Harbi, a potentially valuable asset in the war on terror because of his close relationship to bin Laden, was shown on Saudi television Tuesday being pushed in a wheelchair through the Riyadh airport.
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Harbi is the most important figure to surface under a Saudi amnesty promising to spare the lives of militants who turn themselves in. He told the television, "I called the embassy and we were very well received."
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Harbi, also known as Abu Suleiman al-Makki, is considered a sounding board for bin Laden rather than an operational planner for his terror network, a U.S. counterterrorism official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
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The Interior Ministry did not specify what Harbi is wanted for.
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Mansour al-Nogaidan, a Riyadh journalist and former militant, said Harbi appeared on a videotape released in November 2001 in which bin Laden described the planning of the Sept. 11 attacks.
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Nogaidan said Harbi was disabled in both legs while fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. He used to preach in a mosque in Mecca, but left Saudi Arabia for Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.
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On the videotape, bin Laden praised the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and credited them with inspiring conversions to Islam.
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Harbi is the third man to take advantage of the monthlong amnesty that King Fahd offered militants June 23.
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The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, has acknowledged for the first time that Saudis had joined the insurgency against U.S.-led forces in neighboring Iraq. The government had previously denied reports of their involvement.
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"Surely, there are Saudis," Nayef told reporters but he said their number was not known.
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Nayef warned that there would be no extension to the amnesty, which expires July 23, and declared that the kingdom's fight against terror is not over. RIYADH A confidant of Osama bin Laden, seen on a videotape with the Qaeda chief as he talked about the Sept. 11 terror attacks, has surrendered to Saudi diplomats in Iran and been flown to Saudi Arabia.
.
Khaled al-Harbi, a potentially valuable asset in the war on terror because of his close relationship to bin Laden, was shown on Saudi television Tuesday being pushed in a wheelchair through the Riyadh airport.
.
Harbi is the most important figure to surface under a Saudi amnesty promising to spare the lives of militants who turn themselves in. He told the television, "I called the embassy and we were very well received."
.
Harbi, also known as Abu Suleiman al-Makki, is considered a sounding board for bin Laden rather than an operational planner for his terror network, a U.S. counterterrorism official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
.
The Interior Ministry did not specify what Harbi is wanted for.
.
Mansour al-Nogaidan, a Riyadh journalist and former militant, said Harbi appeared on a videotape released in November 2001 in which bin Laden described the planning of the Sept. 11 attacks.
.
Nogaidan said Harbi was disabled in both legs while fighting Soviet forces in Afghanistan. He used to preach in a mosque in Mecca, but left Saudi Arabia for Afghanistan shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.
.
On the videotape, bin Laden praised the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and credited them with inspiring conversions to Islam.
.
Harbi is the third man to take advantage of the monthlong amnesty that King Fahd offered militants June 23.
.
The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef, has acknowledged for the first time that Saudis had joined the insurgency against U.S.-led forces in neighboring Iraq. The government had previously denied reports of their involvement.
.
"Surely, there are Saudis," Nayef told reporters but he said their number was not known.
.
Nayef warned that there would be no extension to the amnesty, which expires July 23, and declared that the kingdom's fight against terror is not over. RIYADH A confidant of Osama bin Laden, seen on a videotape with the Qaeda chief as he talked about the Sept. 11 terror attacks, has surrendered to Saudi diplomats in Iran and been flown to Saudi Arabia.
.
Khaled al-Harbi, a potentially valuable asset in the war on terror because of his close relationship to bin Laden, was shown on Saudi television Tuesday being pushed in a wheelchair through the Riyadh airport.
.
Harbi is the most important figure to surface under a Saudi amnesty promising to spare the lives of militants who turn themselves in. He told the television, "I called the embassy and we were very well received."
.
Harbi, also known as Abu Suleiman al-Makki, is considered a sounding board for bin Laden rather than an operational planner for his terror network, a U.S. counterterrorism official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
.
The Interior Ministry did not specify what Harbi is wanted for

2004-07-12T14:55:00.000-06:00

A woman in Iran claims to have given birth to a frog.

BBC Online says Iranian daily Etemaad claims the creature grew from larva inside the woman's body.

While the 'frog' has yet to undergo genetic tests, the paper quotes medical experts who say it has human characteristics.

Clinical biology expert Dr Aminifard said: "The similarities are in appearance, the shape of the fingers and the size and shape of the tongue."

The paper claims the mother-of-two, from the south-eastern city of Iranshahr, unwittingly picked up the larva when she swam in a dirty pool.

But it is unclear how this could have happened

2004-07-12T14:54:00.000-06:00

A Romanian man faces charges after he tried to blow up his kitchen because his wife was such a lousy cook.

Viorel Leahu, 41, from Todiresti, said he decided to punish his wife for her terrible food.

He told police he had been inspired by watching Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, reports Natuional newspaper.

He opened the gas tap and threw a lighter on the cooker. The explosion damaged the room and left him with an injured hand.

Mr Leahu now faces up to three years in jail for destruction of property and putting his wife's life in danger.

2004-07-08T08:02:00.000-06:00

PT-141 Sex Drug

A drug that seems to drive female rats mad for sex may offer the first real scientific aphrodisiac for women, US and Canadian researchers say.

James Pfaus of Concordia University in Montreal and colleagues there and at Palatin, tested the drug on female rats and found it affected their mating behaviour.

The drug, Palatin Technologies Inc's PT-141, is being developed for use to fight impotence in men, but the researchers said tests showed it also aroused female rats.

"Accordingly, PT-141 may be the first identified pharmacological agent with the capability to treat female sexual desire disorders," they wrote in their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The female rats flirted more when injected with the drug and Dr Pfaus and his colleagues said: "Females treated with the highest dose of PT-141 also attempted to mount the males."

In rats, this is considered a sign of sexual impatience.

"Although the sexual behaviour of rats is different from that of humans, the effects of pharmacological manipulations of appetitive and consummatory sexual behaviours are similar in male rates and men," the researchers wrote.

The same is probably true of women, they added.

Although the drug was injected into the rats, in human tests for impotence it takes the form of a nasal spray.

PT-141 is the first of a new class of drugs called melanocortin agonists being developed to treat sexual dysfunction.

It may be safer than current impotence drugs because it does not affect the blood vessels.

Current drugs increase blood flow and could be dangerous to people on some heart medications.

2004-07-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Company That Lies For You

A German company that offers alibis for men and women who want a fling on the side has proved so successful that it is now expanding abroad.

The Perfect Alibi agency has been such a success in providing straying Germans with plausible excuses for a weekend away that it is to open an office in Austria next month.

Perfect Alibi head Jens Schlingensief says he gets around 350 customers a month coming to him for the perfect excuse to give their wives, husbands or partners.

The lies can cost as little as £5 for a reassuring SMS to be sent to a distrustful spouse, or as much as £40 for an invitation to a weekend seminar.

Schlingensief says: "The favourite of our services is the written invitation. First we send an invitation for a business meeting and include with it a description of the seminar and the costs.

"While the partner believes their loved one has gone to Hamburg for the weekend for example, our customer is free to take their lover wherever they like."

Perfect Alibi employers then sit by a fake telephone all weekend fielding calls from partners by pretending to be the hotel receptionist and then secretly transferring the calls to the customer's mobile.

Schlingensief says he does not know his clients personally and the majority use his services over the internet. But he says he does ask for enough information to make sure his alibis are "watertight".

"I have to know enough about the client to make sure his or her alibi fits. There's no point sending a fork-lift truck driver to a doctor's conference," he said.

And Schlingensief says he doesn't suffer any sleepless nights over the fact that he provides people with bare-faced lies.

"Lies, necessary lies, is something you can discuss for a long time. That is a moral aspect. But I don't have any such thoughts. We are providing a service in modern-day Germany."

2004-07-07T07:38:00.000-06:00

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi

Iraq's interim government intends to enact a national security law as early as today that would give Prime Minister Iyad Allawi broad powers of martial rule in troubled areas, including direct command of army, police and intelligence units, a senior Iraqi government official said Tuesday.

The Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has agreed on a law for the country that should increase security there.

Although the law will give Allawi new latitude to combat insurgents, the prime minister had sought even tougher measures, some of which were stripped out of early drafts because of objections from other members of the interim government and from foreign governments, said the senior official. The new law will restrict the prime minister's power by requiring any declaration of emergency rule to have the consent of the country's president and its two vice presidents, as well as a majority of the 32-member cabinet. Iraq's highest court also will be able to overturn Allawi's martial-law declarations.

Even so, the new law will allow Allawi to deploy Iraq's army to fight insurgents. When the country's old army was disbanded and a new army created, the former U.S. administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer, issued a decree preventing the army from being used for domestic security purposes. But Bremer lifted that restriction in a final order issued before he departed Iraq on June 28.

The interim government also is preparing an amnesty offer to insurgents that it hopes to announce today, but terms of the deal have not been finalized, the senior official said. Preliminary drafts of the offer, which would have allowed Iraqis who attacked U.S. troops to avail of the amnesty, have been revised to exclude anybody who was directly involved in serious acts of violence, the senior official said.

"Anyone accused of killings will not be eligible," the senior official said.
The amnesty, which would provide fighters with a full pardon in exchange for laying down their arms, appears to be aimed more at low-level insurgents than at senior leaders. Among those the government is hoping to woo with the offer are poor Iraqis who have been bankrolled by Baath Party financiers to mount attacks and members of an illegal militia loyal to firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Allawi and top members of his security team hope the offer will bifurcate the insurgency by winning over nationalist Iraqis who have been fighting to evict foreign troops, while isolating foreign Islamic militants who conducted suicide-bomb attacks and assassinations in an attempt to turn Iraq into a battleground.

2004-07-01T07:41:00.000-06:00

Multivitamin Pills & HIV

US doctors have discovered that a simple multivitamin pill can stymie the advance of HIV, a discovery that can greatly benefit patients in developing countries who could thereby get relief from popping expensive pills.

According to Nature , after a clinical survey involving nearly 1,080 pregnant women with HIV in Tanzania, the doctors found that those who swallowed a daily dose of vitamins B, C and E for up to five years were around 50 per cent less likely to progress to full-blown AIDS.

HIV Illustrations, pictures of the AIDS virus structure and lifecycle by Russell Kightley Media

Lead author Wafaie Fawzi of Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, believes that multivitamins should be given to developing-world HIV patients in the early stages of the disease.

This would cost around $15 per person, each year and would be a relatively cheaper option to improve their quality of life,he said.

These supplements can also postpone the point at which the disease worsens and patients need to be placed on antiretroviral therapy, which is more effective but costs around $300 to $400 annually for each patient.

Though these supplements are not a substitute for antiretroviral therapy, yet they are likely to have the biggest impact on HIV in the developing world, where poor nutrition is widespread, he concluded.

2004-07-01T07:32:00.000-06:00

American-European Spacecraft Oribiting Saturn

VOANews.com

An American-European spacecraft has entered orbit around the ringed planet Saturn - the first to do so. The maneuver ended a seven-year journey and began a four-year inspection of the giant gas planet and eight of its 31 moons.

The mood was jubilant in Mission Control at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as joyful as it was in January when twin U.S. rovers landed on Mars. The director of the laboratory is Charles Elachi.

"I can tell you, it feels awfully good to be in orbit around the Lord of the Rings," he said.

On schedule and as programmed, the U.S. Cassini spacecraft passed swiftly between Saturn's rings from below, avoiding potentially fatal collisions with ring rocks. Then it turned and fired braking rockets to slow its speed of more than 100,000 kilometers an hour, so Saturn's gravity could capture the probe and pull it into orbit.

Cassini's camera was pointing toward EPIMETHEUS at approximately 16,729,327 kilometers away
The chief of space science at the U.S. National Aeronautics & Space Administration, Ed Weiler, notes the continuing success the United States has had in its solar system exploration, this year.

"Gee, here we are sitting on this little pale blue dot, third rock from the sun," he said. "We just landed on Mars twice. We flew by a comet and picked up some comet dust, and all within six months we're about to go into orbit around a planet that is a billion miles [about 1.5 billion kilometers] away. How do we get away with having so much fun?"

Soon after entering orbit around Saturn, Cassini began its scientific work. It photographed the dusty rings from above and below and began studying Saturn's magnetic field. The planet is mostly gas, but Cassini team member Michelle Dougherty, of London's Imperial College, says magnetic flux information can provide a better understanding of the what is going on inside the planet's solid core, where the field is generated.

"What that is going to allow us to do is to measure some of the fine detailed structure of the internal field, and that will be able to give us a better understanding of not only how the field is formed, but also hopefully give us a better understanding of about something of the internal structure of Saturn, too," she said.

Scientists are interested in Saturn because they consider it and its 31 moons a miniature planetary system that can provide clues to the origin and processes of the larger solar system.

The mission is a joint project of the American, European and Italian space agencies. Researchers from 17 nations are involved, prompting this comment from NASA's Ed Weiler.

"This wasn't NASA going into orbit around Saturn," he said. "It's the Earth going into orbit around Saturn."

In late December, the European Huygens probe will detach from the Cassini mothership to study the atmosphere of the big moon Titan, which researchers think is similar to that of Earth, before life appeared.

2004-07-01T07:18:00.000-06:00

Abu Musal al-Zarqawi Bounty Raised To $25 Million

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell had authorized the increase, from the previous reward of $10 million for Zarqawi's capture or conviction, a State Department spokesman said on Wednesday.

Among other charges, Zarqawi is believed to be behind the beheading of two hostages in Iraq.
The bounty on the head of Abu Musal al-Zarqawi, the accused terrorist mastermind in Iraq, has been raised to $25 million.

"Zarqawi has had a long-standing connection to the senior leadership of al Qaeda. His organization has committed numerous atrocities in Iraq in recent months, including the barbaric murder of American citizen Nick Berg," spokesman Adam Ereli said in a statement.

Zarqawi is also blamed for dozens of attacks on coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.

His terror network has claimed responsibility for strikes on police and security forces in Iraq last week that left around 100 dead.

He is also believed to be behind the beheading of two hostages in Iraq, an American and a South Korean.

"The United States is determined to bring him to justice for his crimes. We encourage anyone with information on Zarqawi's location to contact U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, any U.S. military commander or other U.S. official in Iraq, any U.S. embassy, mission, or consulate, or the Rewards for Justice staff via e-mail at mail@rewardsforjustice.net," the statement read.

The reward for the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was also $25 million.

That's also the amount offered for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

2004-07-01T07:16:00.000-06:00

Saddam Hussein Charged With Crime Against Humanity

When Saddam Hussein is charged today with crimes against humanity in an Iraqi court, much more will be at stake than his own fate.

For ordinary citizens, the Iraqi Special Tribunal could open the door for a thorough accounting of the crimes committed by his repressive regime.

For the fledgling Iraqi government, it could offer an opportunity to shore up confidence among a weary citizenry.

For the Bush administration, known for its dislike of international criminal tribunals, it could mean a chance to establish a war crimes court it can hold up as a model.

In an Iraqi courtroom Wednesday, the new government took legal custody of Hussein and 11 of his aides. The former Iraqi leader offered no protest or defiance as he was read the papers transferring legal -- but not physical --

custody, a senior military official said.

"Are you Saddam Hussein?" an Iraqi judge asked, according to the military official. Hussein, 66, apparently in good health and shorn of the long hair and gray beard he had when he was arrested in December in a bunker near his hometown in Tikrit, acknowledged that he was.

The arraignment today, like the hearing on Wednesday transferring custody, will take place at an undisclosed location before a senior Iraqi judge, who for security reasons has not been identified.

Among Hussein's co-defendants is Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali" for his role in directing a poison gas attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in March 1988.

Others are Taha Yassin Ramadan, one of Hussein's two vice presidents, long cited by international human rights groups for his role in the torture and killing of tens of thousands of Iraqis; and Tariq Aziz, a deputy prime minister who conducted many of Iraq's international negotiations, especially in the prelude to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Hussein will be given a chance to speak to the court at today's televised proceeding. The charges against him are likely to include a range of crimes against humanity, including genocide, in connection with roughly a dozen specific incidents, from the quelling of the 1991 Shiite uprising to the 1988 poison gas attacks that killed 5,000 people in Halabja. With so much at stake, the proceedings carry as much promise as peril. Already, questions have come up about whether the Iraqi Special Tribunal, relying on Iraqi law and American legal expertise, can produce credible, transparent proceedings or whether the end product will amount to little more than victor's justice -- or victim's vengeance.

Critics say they wonder whether an Iraqi judiciary, crippled from years of isolation and repression, is up to the task of carrying out such a complex war crimes case. They also question the degree of U.S. influence over the entire enterprise.

Americans guiding the process say they are taking pains to preserve independence and credibility. American expertise is needed now to rebuild a judiciary eroded by the Hussein regime, they say. But with time and training, they say, Iraqis will be in full control.

The Iraqi Special Tribunal will rely on a mixture of international and domestic laws. "We try to meet as many international standards as we can, while keeping it a domestic tribunal," said Salem Chalabi, the administrator of the court and a nephew of the once-vital U.S. ally, Ahmed Chalabi.

Early today, the U.S. military launched another air strike against a suspected hideout of terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Fallujah. It was the fourth attack in a month against insurgency targets in the city.

The raid came hours after rebels fired mortar rounds at a U.S. base on the outskirts of Baghdad's airport, wounding 11 soldiers and starting a fire that burned for more than an hour.

That attack, along with a car bomb that exploded outside a police headquarters in Samawa, 150 miles south of the capital, added to the evidence that insurgents have no plans of letting up attacks now that U.S. occupation authorities have handed over sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government.

Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is suspected of masterminding a series of coordinated attacks on police and security forces last week that killed 105 people. He is also believed to be behind the beheading of two hostages, an American and a South Korean.

2004-06-29T15:30:00.000-06:00

Marine Captured And Held Hostage

"He's just a soldier doing his job like any other person," Sami Hassoun said in a telephone interview from his home in Beirut, Lebanon.

The brother of a U.S. Marine missing in Iraq said Tuesday that a blindfolded man shown in a video with a curved sword above his head is his brother and pleaded for captors to "just release him."

"Please leave him, for the sake of God, for the sake of his mom and dad."

The U.S. military said that Cpl. Wassef Hassoun, a Marine translator, was last seen June 19 and reported missing the following day when he did not report for duty.

Hassoun has been classified as captured, a senior U.S. Defense Department official said Tuesday, but there has been no official announcement.

In the videotape, broadcast Sunday on the Arab-language network Al-Jazeera, a man identified as Hassoun appeared as the captive of armed men who displayed his Marine identification papers. One of the captors brandished a sword above the man's head.

On the tape, a speaker said the man was lured from his base and captured, and his captors threatened to kill him unless U.S. military authorities release Iraqi prisoners.

"It is him, 100 percent," Sami Hassoun said of the hostage on the video. "I wish it was not him.

"We're Muslims like they are. It is not possible that Islam says to kill these people. And there's no religion in the whole world that supports a kidnapper and a killer. No morals, no ethics."

The military believes it is unlikely that Hassoun was captured from the base, the Defense Department official said.

Hassoun is a member of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. He speaks Arabic and may have a wife in Lebanon.

The Pentagon thinks he initially left the base on unauthorized leave, perhaps hoping to reach his family in Lebanon, the Defense Department official said.

The official said the corporal was believed to be having possible "family problems."

The official said the military is investigating whether Hassoun had money when he disappeared. He was last seen with his M9 service pistol.

Other hostages
Insurgents in Iraq also are holding another U.S. serviceman, Army Spc. Matt Maupin, who was captured April 9 when his convoy was ambushed outside Baghdad. On Monday, militants claimed in another videotape to have killed Maupin.

Insurgents battling U.S.-led coalition forces have killed at least four hostages in a string of kidnappings that began in April. Two of them -- American businessman Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il -- have been beheaded in killings blamed on a group called Unification and Jihad that is led by fugitive Islamic militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

In another videotape delivered over the weekend, insurgents also claimed to be holding a Pakistani man working for a subcontractor of the U.S. construction contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root. The man's captors threatened to behead the hostage, identified as Amjad Yousef Hafeez, unless the United States releases Iraqi prisoners.

Al-Jazeera also aired footage over the weekend of three Turks apparently held captive by Zarqawi's Unification and Jihad group. Their captors threatened to behead the men unless Turkish companies left Iraq. But Tuesday, the Turks reportedly telephoned the Turkish Embassy to say they had been released.

2004-06-29T15:27:00.000-06:00

Hangovers & Cactus

Overindulging in wine or spirits often makes the following morning much less enjoyable. Now there's some good news for people looking to avoid a dreaded hangover. Scientists have found that ingesting a particular plant extract prior to drinking may cut the risk of a severe hangover in half.

Just don't eat the spines!

Jeff Wiese of the Tulane Health Sciences Center and his colleagues recruited 55 healthy adult volunteers willing to raise a glass in the name of science. The subjects received either an extract of the fruit of the prickly pear Opuntia ficus indica (OFI) or a placebo five hours before they consumed alcohol. After eating a standard meal, the participants spent four hours drinking their choice of vodka, gin, rum, bourbon, scotch or tequila. The next morning the team took blood and urine samples, measured the drinkers' vital signs and assessed their overall well-being and the severity of their hangovers. Two weeks later, the study was repeated, with the OFI and placebo groups reversed.

2004-06-29T09:34:00.000-06:00

Britney Spears Pregnant?

Britney Spears may be in a rush for the altar again, but she'll have plenty of time to pick out a wedding gown for this marriage.

Britney Spears, 22, and dancer Kevin Federline, 26, stroll in Amsterdam in May. The couple met in April in L.A.
By Bruno Press, Getty Images
Six months after her jeans-and-T-shirt Vegas wedding to childhood chum Jason Alexander, the 22-year-old singer has become engaged to dancer Kevin Federline, 26.

Sonia Muckle of Jive Records, Spears' label, confirmed the engagement but gave no further details.

QUICK QUESTION

Will Britney Spears make it to the altar with Kevin Federline?
No way. Her family and battalion of lawyers will set her straight
Yes, I think she finally found the right guy
The engagement will be quietly called off by the end of the summer

Sure, they'll get married. Britney knows that's what annulments are for

She just wants to use up the "buy one, get one free" card they gave in Vegas the last time she got married

But the hot couple will have an exclusive interview with People magazine in the next couple of days, and a new photo of them together will appear on the cover of the issue that arrives on newsstands Friday.

Unofficially, Star magazine's Web site reports that the couple already have met with a wedding planner. Star says the Spears-Federline wedding will take place Nov. 20, with 200 guests, five bridesmaids and five groomsmen. Still undecided: whether the couple will be married in Los Angeles or in Spears' home state, Louisiana.

The news was first reported Friday on People's Web site and on Entertainment Tonight, sending celebrity watchers into a spin. Federline and Spears have been dating for only a few months. They met in April in L.A. and just days later frolicked on a beach in front of a pack of photographers.

In May, Spears' Onyx Hotel tour began a European leg, and Federline flew there to be with her. The tour was canceled June 8 after Spears injured her knee.

Who is Kevin Federline?

Age: 26

Marital status: Single.

Children: A daughter, 2, with Moesha actress Shar Jackson (she played Niecy), who is expecting their second child in July.

Professional résumé: Dancer in 2004 film You Got Served; backup dancer for Justin Timberlake. Star
reports Federline auditioned June 18 in L.A. for a Showtime cop series, Hate.

Federline's former girlfriend, Moesha's Shar Jackson, is eight months pregnant with Federline's child. Jackson and Federline also have a 2-year-old daughter.

Jackson has been outspoken about Federline's relationship with Spears. "You both smoke, you both drink and you both cheated on significant others after three years," Jackson told Us Weekly in April. "There are two little kids — she (Spears) better be prepared to baby-sit."

When it comes to marriage, Spears certainly has had a busy year. She was hitched for 55 hours after kicking off the new year by marrying Alexander, then 22, at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on Jan. 3. The marriage was annulled on Jan. 5.

Before Alexander and Federline, the pop princess dated fellow pop star Justin Timberlake, 23, for three years. Timberlake's current girlfriend is Cameron Diaz, 31.

2004-06-29T09:26:00.000-06:00

We Want Them Dead Or Alive

WEEK.com: Dead Or Alive?

The Arab-language TV network Al-Jazeera is reporting Iraqi militants have killed an Ohio reservist who was assigned to a Bartonville-based unit.

20-year-old Matt Maupin, of Batavia, Ohio had been reassigned to the 724th Transportation Company. Maupin was captured in an April 9th ambush on a convoy west of Baghdad.

A videotape of the Army Specialist was broadcast at that time. Since then, there had been no word of his whereabouts or condition.

Al-Jazeera showed a statement from those who said they kidnapped Maupin, and a grainy videotape of what may have been an execution.

In Maupin's hometown of Batavia, Ohio, an Army spokesman used caution.

Major Willie Harris said, ''It has been substantiated that a videotape does exist and the Department of Defense is currently at this time looking at the videotape, trying to examine it. There is no indication that the tape contains footage of Matt Maupin.''

On Monday night, a prayer vigil was held in downtown Batavia, Ohio for Army Specialist Maupin.

2004-06-26T02:37:00.000-06:00

Yeah We Better Not Let Them Test WMD's

The Globe and Mail

Despite another threat by North Korea to test a nuclear bomb, the latest negotiations in the Korean crisis have made progress in easing tensions over the expanding nuclear arsenal of the Orwellian police state.

U.S. officials confirmed yesterday that North Korea has again raised the spectre of a nuclear-weapons test on the Korean peninsula. But after three days of diplomatic talks in Beijing, the Americans were pleased by Pyongyang's talk of a possible freeze in its nuclear program if the right rewards were offered.

North Korea also appeared to be open-minded about a U.S. proposal to resolve the nuclear crisis. The proposal, which offers a step-by-step exchange of energy aid and security assurances if North Korea halts and eventually dismantles its nuclear program, was a significant softening of Washington's previous hard-line stand against Pyongyang.

The U.S. offer was not immediately rejected by North Korea, although nobody saw any signs of an imminent breakthrough in the nuclear crisis.

"Looking at the last two days, I would say there's some good, some bad, some a little ugly but not as ugly as in the past," a senior U.S. negotiator told reporters in Beijing late yesterday.

If we let them test their nuclear weapons. They would probally aim that bad bitch right at us and this what one of our major cities would look like. Bush knows not to let them even have a chance to fire one of those damn things this way.
"The results would have to be described as mixed so far," he added. "There are no breakthroughs."

The Americans, along with the Chinese officials who were the hosts of the negotiations, agreed that the talks had made progress on the crucial question of the timing of a nuclear accord.

If an agreement were reached, the economic and security rewards would be given to North Korea on a step-by-step basis, so that Pyongyang would not be required to dismantle its entire nuclear program immediately.

"This round of talks already has reached some results -- a fundamental political consensus exists that a nuclear freeze is the first step toward denuclearization and corresponding measures should be adopted," said Zhang Qiyue, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

"There has become a consensus that the first step should be an early launching of a nuclear freeze," Ms. Zhang told a news conference.

The U.S. official said the North Koreans seemed "pleased" that Washington is suggesting a series of exchanges of economic and security concessions -- "word for word, action for action" -- to resolve the crisis.

North Korea's own proposal, confirmed by its diplomats yesterday, would freeze its nuclear program in exchange for several concessions, including a massive U.S. donation of heavy fuel oil that would be equal to one-quarter of the annual needs of North Korea's thermal power plants.

The United States promised to study carefully the North Korean proposal.

"They at least made clear that this is a step toward disarmament," the senior U.S. official said. "It's been acknowledged more forthrightly than ever before."

At the same time, he said, it was unclear whether the offer of a freeze would cover Pyongyang's suspected uranium-enrichment program, which it recently denied possessing.

The possibility of a nuclear test, the U.S. official said, was mentioned by the North Koreans as something favoured by some members of the regime -- presumably military hard-liners -- but not as an official plan of the regime.

"It was not phrased as a threat," he said.

Chinese officials said there were still "differences" on the key question of how to implement a nuclear freeze. However, the willingness of all sides to study the various proposals for a nuclear freeze is "a positive sign," Ms. Zhang said.

The latest round of the Beijing talks -- the third in the 20 months since North Korea acknowledged that it was developing nuclear weapons in violation of a previous agreement -- is expected to wrap up today. Despite signs of progress, the six countries involved (North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States) are not expected to release a joint statement.

Analysts say the latest progress is largely a result of Washington's realization that its East Asian allies were unwilling to support a policy of isolating North Korea.

U.S. allies such as South Korea and Japan are willing to offer aid packages to North Korea, frustrating the intentions of Pentagon hard-liners who wanted to use heavy-duty pressure tactics against North Korea to force it to dismantle its nuclear program.

2004-06-25T18:47:00.000-06:00

Illergic To Nickle?

Pole-dancer Donna Cleeve has been forced to quit her £1,000-a-week job because she's allergic to the metal pole.

The 20-year-old from Portsmouth, who used the stage name Honey, developed a red rash after each performance.

She worked at two clubs in Bournemouth, Dorset, and Portsmouth, Hampshire, reports The Sun.

After three months she realised nickel used in the poles was to blame. She knew she had an allergy to the element, but wasn't aware it was used in the poles.

She said: "I came back in such pain one night my housemate forced me to sit for ages in a bath. That was the only thing that ever seemed to help.

"Because I kept on dancing around the pole it just got worse and worse. It's hard to look sexy when your legs and body are inflamed. I tried to ignore it but in the end it wasn't worth the pain."

She's now given up her dancing and taken an £18,000-a-year job in sales.

She said: "I hated giving up because there's great camaraderie. If I could find a way of dancing without the allergy I'd go back."

2004-06-25T09:55:00.000-06:00

Only 5 Days To Go.

Channelnewsasia.com

With only five days to go before the formal handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government, US-led coalition and Iraqi forces braced for more violence after attacks in which at least 92 people were killed in a murderous bombing wave.

A poll published in the United States indicated for the first time since last year's war that a majority of Americans believe it was a mistake to send US troops to Iraq.

Former vice president Al Gore, denying government claims of a link between former Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, said: "The president took us to war when he didn't have to."

But President George W. Bush shrugged off the doubters, saying in an interview with Irish television that history would judge him to have been right.

"I do believe the world is a safer place and becoming a safer place," he said. "I will not allow terrorists to determine the fate of people who want to be free."

Across Iraq, coalition and Iraqi forces braced for a resumption of Thursday's violence, which it was feared would build up in the period leading up to the handover to sovereignty.

"We have information of possible terrorist attacks against police stations or local officials," police chief General Turhan Yussef said in the northern city of Kirkuk.

In the fighting Thursday, coordinated violence swept through Mosul in the north and the Sunni Muslim cities of Baquba, Fallujah and Ramadi in central Iraq, in the most serious challenge to the US-led coalition's efforts to restore stability since April, when Shiite Muslim radicals launched an uprising in the center and south.

"Those who are opposed to progress, those who are opposed to freedom and democracy will probably try to make a dramatic statement in this next week or perhaps the week following the transfer of sovereignty in order to try to disrupt that," US Brigadier General Carter Ham said in Mosul.

Officials said US warplanes dropped 14 bombs in strikes against targets in Fallujah and Baquba.

In the fighting, guerrillas pledged allegiance to a group called Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War), a militant faction linked to Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, whom Washington accuses of being linked with Al-Qaeda.

Tawhid al-Jihad claimed the beheadings of 26-year-old American Nicolas Berg in early May and South Korean Kim Sun-Il on Tuesday. It has threatened to kill Iyad Allawi, the country's interim prime minister, considered a security hawk who enjoys close ties to the Americans.

It was the first time the group had engaged directly in fighting with the coalition, as opposed to planting bombs.

In Washington, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said al-Zarqawi is going to be "a little short handed" after air strikes on safe houses in Fallujah.

The violence cast a cloud over Iraq's future following the transfer of sovereignty. UN officials in New York said the worsening security situation made it difficult for the world body to move back to Baghdad, where a bomb explosion last year killed 22 people, including the top UN official.

"From our point of view, the first of July is not going to change the situation," said Veronique Taveau, spokeswoman for the UN's Iraq mission in Jordan. "Everything is linked to security."

Washington has turned to the UN to provide the legal umbrella for a broader international participation in Iraq.

It is also asking the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which is holding a summit meeting in Istanbul next week, to take over the training of Iraqi security forces. Urging NATO intervention, Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said insurgents were "trying to derail the process of building a stable Iraq."

But a spokeswoman for French President Jacques Chirac, the leading international critic of the US-led invasion of Iraq, said he was "more than reserved" on the idea of NATO's providing anything more than technical assistance.

Iraq struggled to resume oil exports following the sabotage of southern pipelines last week. Engineers repaired one of the pipelines, enabling output of up to 900,000 barrels a day from the southern port of Basra, half as much as before the sabotage attacks.

2004-06-25T07:34:00.000-06:00

Super Strong 5 Year Old

The boy has muscles twice the size of other children his age and half their body fat.
He was born to a muscular mother, a former sprinter. Her brother and three other relatives were also very strong — one a construction worker with a talent for hefting curbstones.

Studies have suggested that a gene called myostatin controls the growth of muscles in humans. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, could one day help people with muscle wasting diseases.

The discovery followed DNA tests on the German boy, born with unusually well developed muscles. The scientists found that the boy had a mutation in the myostatin gene. This mutation meant he was unable to produce myostatin protein.

Scientists have no way right now to tell how common the boy's ability is, or if a legion of super-strong tykes will be discovered now that researchers have learned what to look for.

A fluke or the Future?

Genetic mutations have been accredited to a natural process of evolution by some. There are few components of modern evolutionary theory, however, which seem so prone to misinterpretation as the theory of punctuated equilibrium (PE for short).

PE states, essentially, that evolution occurs in jumps as opposed to a gradual change; though this definition is an oversimplification of a very complex idea.

Karakorum 2025 Featuring the Super Climbers

The discovery of the Myostatin mutation may eventually enable doctors to use myostatin hormone therapy to treat people with muscular dystrophy, a degenerative condition for which there is no cure.

It could also develop into another form of doping (take for example world 100-meter record-holder Tim Montgomery who admitted today to taking human growth hormones). Just remember though, having muscles twice the size of other mountaineers does not necessarily make a person a better climber. Just take a look at some of the climbers out there today; their strength lies in their minds, spirits and endurance.

2004-06-25T07:27:00.000-06:00

Is Sending Troops To Iraq A Mistake?

A poll shows a big swing in U.S. public opinion against the war in Iraq this month, with a majority of Americans now saying they believe the United States made a mistake in sending troops to Iraq.

Fifty-four percent of those who took part in a survey conducted by the Gallup polling organization for CNN television and the newspaper USA Today say U.S. military involvement in Iraq was a mistake -- the first time that opinion has been expressed by a majority of Americans.

The Gallup poll asked the same question on six earlier occasions since March 2003. During the first days of the war, 75 percent of Americans said they felt U.S. military action was the right course; since October, between 40 and 44 percent of those polled have said the U.S. military involvement was a mistake.

2004-06-25T00:53:00.000-06:00

Teen Gets Picked #1 In The NBA Draft

New York Post Online Edition: sports
The Orlando Magic, riding the trend of younger players in the NBA, chose prep star Dwight Howard over UConn center Emeka Okafor with the first pick in the NBA Draft last night. He was the first of a record eight prep players to be picked in the first round.

But the Charlotte Bobcats, picking second, didn't keep Okafor waiting. They were ecstatic to grab the MVP of the Final Four, who is more NBA-ready than Howard.

The pick settled the two intriguing questions heading into the draft. Orlando didn't trade the pick and, unlike last year, when everyone knew the Cleveland Cavaliers were taking LeBron James, the Howard-Okafor debate raged.

"It's really hard to explain," said Howard. "To be the first player selected, it feels so good. Now I'm ready to go to work."

Okafor was flattered the Bobcats traded up earlier this week to get the No. 2 pick. He said there is more pressure having been selected by Charlotte, because he understands his role as the cornerstone of the expansion franchise.

"It makes me feel all warm inside," said the Final Four MVP. "It just shows they be lieve in my ability. I know that their staff and everybody is fully behind me and has my best intentions at heart."

With the top big man gone, the next question concerned which point guard would go first. Once again, it would force a GM to choose between a high school player or college player. The Bulls went with Ben Gordon, the former Mount Vernon star.

With the selections of Okafor and Gordon, both juniors, UConn took another step towards stamping itself as one of college basketball's best-ever programs. Not only did the duo lead UConn to its second NCAA title, it made draft history.

In 1969 UCLA's Lew Alcindor — who would change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — and Lucious Allen were the first and third players chosen. Duke's Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy went two and three in 2002. UConn joins the ranks.

"It's like a fairy tale," said Gordon. "Two guys coming in in the same year, winning a championship together and then going 2-3 in the draft, it's the greatest feeling in the world."

The Clippers wasted no time in making a pick that should sit well with Elton Brand and Corey Maggette. They selected Shaun Livingston, giving the Clippers some of the best young talent in the NBA.

Colleges took the edge in the draft as Harris went fifth to Washington, which then included him in a trade package with Jerry Stackhouse to Dallas for forward Antawn Jamison.

The Hawks had a chance to select local favorite, Josh Smith, but instead opted for Stanford's Josh Childress. Atlanta took Smith with the 17th pick. The Suns took Duke's Luol Deng and traded him to the Bulls for a future No. 1 pick.

Then the draft took a strange turn. Toronto selected BYU center Rafael Araujo, the first college senior taken. After the 76ers sought to take the scoring load off Allen Iverson by taking Arizona's Andre Iguodala, Cleveland tabbed swingman Luke Jackson. Araujo and Jackson in the Top 10 were a surprise.

But nothing was more shocking than the Portland Trail Blazers using the 13th pick on Lincoln star Sebastian Telfair. There was some question whether Telfair would go in the first round.

The Nets used the 22nd pick on Victor Khryapa and immediately traded him to Portland for backup point guard Eddie Gill and cash. New Jersey prep star J.R. Smith went to New Orleans with the 18th pick.

2004-06-24T13:40:00.000-06:00

How SpaceShipOne Works

MSNBC - Where does �outer space� begin?
Hey I found this while I was surfing it pretty neat.Click on the link above if you would like to see how SpaceShipOne operates.After you click the link scrooll down a bit and be looking on the left hand side its the 3 box down. You will see a box with a picture of SpaceShipOne and it says interactive on the top click on the box and enjoy.

The view from a camera mounted on the SpaceShipOne rocket plane shows Earth's curvature, the blackness of space and a broad expanse of the California desert. Should this altitude be considered outer space, or perhaps "midspace" instead?

2004-06-24T08:42:00.000-06:00

$447.2 Billion Defence Bill

The Senate last night approved President Bush's military spending blueprint for next year after a five-week struggle during which Republicans turned back Democrats' attempts to reshape it.

The 97 to 0 vote to approve the measure followed a 50 to 48 vote to defeat a proposal by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) directing the administration to report to Congress on progress in Iraq, including estimates of the number of U.S. troops who will be there at the end of next year. The Senate approved a Republican alternative requiring a report on other aspects of attempts to stabilize Iraq, but not troop estimates.

The Senate also rejected a proposal by Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.) to guarantee annual increases in veterans' health benefits. The vote was 49 to 48 in favor of Daschle's proposal, but it needed 60 votes to pass because it violated budget limits.

The $447.2 billion defense authorization bill includes $25 billion for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which may have to be augmented next year, and an increase of more than $20 billion over current levels for other expenditures. Included are record expenditures of about $70 billion for development of an array of planes, ships and weapons, surpassing even the buildup of the 1980s.

It includes a 3.5 percent military pay raise along with increases in other benefits, $10.2 billion for Bush's planned missile defense program and a go-ahead for further research on two new nuclear weapons: a low-yield "mini-nuke" and a high-yield "bunker buster" to destroy deep underground facilities.

In several votes over the past two weeks, Democrats attempted to slow what they regard as unduly hasty deployment of initial missile defenses -- the scaled-back version of President Ronald Reagan's "Star Wars" plan for a nuclear shield that Bush has made a centerpiece of his national security policy.

Although Republicans agreed to require operational tests next year, they balked at forcing them to be conducted by an independent testing office. They also refused to condition spending for new weaponry on any test results and rejected proposals to shift some of the funds to homeland security programs.

Democrats also failed to derail the new nuclear weapons, make war profiteering a crime and bar private contractors from interrogating war prisoners. But they succeeded in adding to the defense bill one of their major domestic priorities: legislation to toughen hate-crime laws by including gays for the first time.

The Senate-passed bill must be reconciled with a House version approved last month, a process that could prove difficult on several points. Both bills include the same framework reflecting Bush's priorities but include some politically charged differences over key details.

For instance, the House bill would delay the next round of military base closings from 2005 to 2007. The Senate's legislation would let the closures proceed as scheduled next year.

The House would permanently expand troop ranks by 39,000 -- 30,000 for the Army and 9,000 for the Marine Corps -- over the next three years. The Senate would mandate a 20,000 increase for the Army only next year. The administration opposes any mandatory increases, preferring authority to increase force levels at its discretion.

The House also included far more stringent "Buy American" rules for procurement of military materials than the Senate did. A fight over these rules delayed agreement on last year's defense bill for months, and the issue is bigger this year because of military needs and elections.

2004-06-24T08:40:00.000-06:00

Caffeine Free Coffee

If you are one of those health conscious people who like coffee but are wary of the caffeine in it, there is god news for you.

According to Nature, Brazilian researchers have discovered naturally caffeine-free coffee by breeding 3,000 Ethiopian coffee plants as part of a programme to produce low-caffeine strains.

A natural decaffeinated version of Coffea arabica has been found growing in the wild.
They found three bushes, all derived from the same plant, that were virtually caffeine free, containing 15 times less stimulant than commercial strains. The shrubs belong to the species Coffea arabica, the most cultivated and consumed coffee in the world.

According to Paulo Mazzafera from the State University of Campinas, who co-discovered the plants, "This is the first time anyone has found a decaffeinated version of Coffea arabica."

The researchers have not been able to taste any coffee made from the plants as these will take several years to mature. The bushes also grow around 30 percent more slowly than standard arabica plants, so the team hopes to crossbreed them with their caffeine-rich relatives to produce a fast-growing, caffeine-free variety. But selective breeding like this can take ten years or more.

2004-06-23T11:18:00.000-06:00

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Top News Article | Reuters.com

Islamist militants vowed on Wednesday to assassinate Iraq's interim prime minister, hours after saying they had beheaded a South Korean hostage in the violent run-up to a U.S. handover to Iraqi rule.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian accused by U.S. officials of organizing many deadly attacks in Iraq and having links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, made the threat against Prime Minister Iyad Allawi on an Islamist Web site.

"As for you, Allawi -- sorry, the democratically elected prime minister -- we have found for you a useful poison and a sure sword," said a taped voice, purported to be Zarqawi's own.

Allawi, a tough former Baathist who plotted against Saddam Hussein from exile, responded defiantly.

"We do not care about these threats, we will continue to rebuild Iraq and work for freedom, democracy, justice and peace. Iraqis have faced these threats before," said a spokesman for Allawi.

The interim government, selected by a U.N. envoy in consultation with U.S. and Iraqi officials, will be sworn in when the U.S.-led occupation formally ends in a week's time.

Zarqawi's group, Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, said on Tuesday it had decapitated South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il after Seoul refused to withdraw forces from Iraq.

U.S. AIR STRIKE

Hours after finding Kim's body, U.S. forces launched an air strike on a suspected safe house of Zarqawi's group in Falluja, west of Baghdad, the second such raid in four days.

A senior U.S. military official said around 20 foreign fighters were killed in the strike, while Falluja residents said the attack destroyed a garage and killed four people.

Washington says Saddam supporters and foreign Islamist militants are intensifying a campaign of bombings, assassinations and attacks on oil industry targets in an attempt to disrupt the June 30 handover to Allawi's government

Arabic Al Jazeera television showed footage Tuesday of hooded gunmen standing over a kneeling Kim, who was blindfolded and wearing an orange tunic similar to those worn by prisoners in U.S. detention centers such as Guantanamo Bay.
"We warned you and you ignored it," one of the gunmen said. "Enough lies. Your army is not here for the sake of Iraqis but for the sake of cursed America."

Al Jazeera said the tape then showed a man cutting off Kim's head with a knife. It did not broadcast that part.

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun denounced Kim's killing and said his country would still send 3,000 more troops to Iraq to join its 670 engineers and medics already in the country.

The Arabic-speaking South Korean translator, who shouted "I don't want to die" in an earlier video tape, was kidnapped in Falluja. His firm initially said he had been taken on June 17, but the Foreign Ministry in Seoul said it may have been earlier.

BOUNTY ON ZARQAWI'S HEAD

Washington, which views Zarqawi as a chief architect of violence in Iraq, has put a $10 million bounty on his head.

"The free world cannot be intimidated by the brutal action of these barbaric people," President Bush said.

A roadside bomb blast killed a woman and a small boy and wounded the woman's husband in Baghdad Wednesday. The husband kept asking hospital staff to call his wife, unaware she was dead. The couple had been married 15 days.

Kim's parents had urged their government to do everything to save their son, a devout Christian who had worked in Iraq for a year for a South Korean firm supplying the U.S. army.

After news of his death, they sat cross-legged and stunned in their modest backstreet house in the South Korean city of Pusan, as his sister wailed and thrashed around in grief.

Kim's killing echoed the beheadings of a U.S. hostage in Iraq last month and a U.S. hostage in Saudi Arabia last week. All three were dressed in orange before being killed by militants said to have links to al Qaeda
Since early April, dozens of foreigners have been seized in Iraq. Many have been freed, but at least four have been killed.
Signaling readiness to defuse tension with Britain, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said eight British servicemen held in Iran after their boats strayed into the Islamic Republic's waters would be freed Wednesday.

But an Iranian television station said later the release was likely to be delayed until Thursday. The report also said the three British boats would stay in Iranian naval custody.

Iranian forces captured the Britons Monday in the wreck-infested Shatt al-Arab waterway along the Iraqi border.

In Brussels, a NATO official said Allawi had asked the alliance to help train Iraq's fledgling security forces and provide other "technical assistance" to his interim government.

The United States and Britain have been keen for NATO to play a role in Iraq, but some other member countries are against the idea

2004-06-23T07:44:00.000-06:00

College Student Auctioning His Virginity

A Bournemouth University student is auctioning his virginity on his personal website and has put a reserve of £6,000 on it.

David Vardy, 19, got the idea from Rosie Reid's sex auction in March and has received scores of emails from women around the world.

David first advertised on eBay, but they pulled the ad after 7,000 hits because of its sexual content. Now he's posted the ad on his own site.

He has already received eight firm offers, with the top bid at £6,114. If his sale is successful he plans to give £1,000 to charity, says The Sun.

David, who lists his interests as entertainment, the media, computers and money, says he is just hoping the winner is attractive.

He said: "I've never had a serious girlfriend and have never had sex. I have been wrapped up in multi-media projects since I was a teenager so I haven't had time. But saying that, I don't want to sound a geek.

"The ideal situation would be if it was a really nice woman. I hope it will be enjoyable."

2004-06-23T07:42:00.000-06:00

Scientists Found A Way To Make Males Not Stray

Scientists say they have found how to change promiscuous wayward males into attentive home-loving husbands.

Nature magazine reports that the breakthrough has been achieved with voles but has implications for humans.

By altering one gen in the brain hormone chemistry, scientists made a promiscuous meadow vole faithful - just like its prairie vole cousin.

After mating, male prairie voles "fall in love", choosing to stick close to their chosen one, guard her jealously and help her raise their young.

Closely related meadow voles, on the other hand, mate with several females and pay little attention to their babies.

A hormone called vasopressin encourages pair-bonding in prairie voles. Scientists noticed that meadow voles have fewer vasopressin receptors and decided to try giving them more.

The results were remarkable. The meadow voles changed their ways and suddenly fixed on one female, choosing to mate with only her - even when other females tried to tempt them.

"We think what happens is when the voles mate, vasopressin activates the reward centre, and it really makes the animals pay attention to who they are mating with," co-author Larry Young, from Emory University, Georgia, told BBC News Online.

"It makes the voles think: "when I'm with this partner I feel good". And from then on, they want to spend their time with that particular partner."

The strings of human behaviour might be pulled by similar hormones and similar pathways.

"We know that vasopressin is released when humans have sex," said Professor Young. "Sex is probably involved in maintaining the bond between humans and vasopressin may play a role in that."

2004-06-23T07:38:00.000-06:00

Ansari X Prize Worth $10M

It was yet another small step for mankind on Monday in Mojave, Calif., when SpaceShipOne left the atmosphere and returned to the earth under its own power.

The privately owned spacecraft only got about 400 feet into space, according to radar measurements, but it was enough to confirm that it no longer takes a well-heeled government project to organize space travel.

The real achievement, however, will be for SpaceShipOne to do it all over again within 14 days of the first flight. If that happens, the team behind the flight will win the Ansari X prize, worth $10 million. If they don't, there are two dozen other teams preparing for their shot at immortality.

The prize, of course, is hardly the motivating force in this privatized space initiative. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is expected to spend $20 million backing SpaceShipOne, and the two dozen teams competing for the prize are well aware there are going to be nearly two dozen losers.

But the prize does serve as a benchmark to focus all the teams' attention on the goal. Without it, it's likely not all of the teams involved would be attempting to reach outer space.

This competition is lending a sense of urgency to the goal of popularizing space travel, though it's unlikely private enterprise could compete with NASA anytime soon.

The most likely practical use for the immediate successors of SpaceShipOne is "space tourism" - the ability to send a few well-heeled people on a rocket ride into space once the technology is perfected.

Indeed, one team told the Associated Press it's already crunching the numbers for such an enterprise - that's why they built a seven-seat shuttle, four more than SpaceShipOne has.

Is all this absolutely necessary? Probably not. We feel confident that the folks who could afford to do this would be just as happy to go on an African safari or a cross-country motorcycle ride when they're feeling bored.

Still, all mankind benefits when a few people with vision reach beyond what's immediately possible to achieve something that's never been done before. Good luck to SpaceShipOne on its next flight, which we hope is soon.It was yet another small step for mankind on Monday in Mojave, Calif., when SpaceShipOne left the atmosphere and returned to the earth under its own power.

The privately owned spacecraft only got about 400 feet into space, according to radar measurements, but it was enough to confirm that it no longer takes a well-heeled government project to organize space travel.

The real achievement, however, will be for SpaceShipOne to do it all over again within 14 days of the first flight. If that happens, the team behind the flight will win the Ansari X prize, worth $10 million. If they don't, there are two dozen other teams preparing for their shot at immortality.

The prize, of course, is hardly the motivating force in this privatized space initiative. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is expected to spend $20 million backing SpaceShipOne, and the two dozen teams competing for the prize are well aware there are going to be nearly two dozen losers.

But the prize does serve as a benchmark to focus all the teams' attention on the goal. Without it, it's likely not all of the teams involved would be attempting to reach outer space.

This competition is lending a sense of urgency to the goal of popularizing space travel, though it's unlikely private enterprise could compete with NASA anytime soon.

The most likely practical use for the immediate successors of SpaceShipOne is "space tourism" - the ability to send a few well-heeled people on a rocket ride into space once the technology is perfected.

Indeed, one team told the Associated Press it's already crunching the numbers for such an enterprise - that's why they built a seven-seat shuttle, four more than SpaceShipOne has.

Is all this absolutely necessary? Probably not. We feel confident that the folks who could afford to do this would be just as happy to go on an African safari or a cross-country motorcycle ride when they're feeling bored.

Still, all mankind benefits when a few people with vision reach beyond what's immediately possible to achieve something that's never been done before. Good luck to SpaceShipOne on its next flight, which we hope is soon.

2004-06-22T22:32:00.000-06:00

Kim Sun-il Decapitated

South Korea's president expressed sorrow over the beheading of one of his country's citizens in Iraq but said he will still send more troops there.

South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il just before being decapitated by his captors

Roh Moo-hyun also told his countrymen in a brief televised address that South Korea would deal resolutely with terrorism.

The kidnappers followed through Tuesday on their threat to 33-year-old Kim Sun-il.

He was found by the U.S. military between Baghdad and Fallujah Tuesday, said South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil. It's not clear when he was killed.

South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il pleading for his life. We have to put a stop to this. Before long one of these guys are going to slip up and we will get there ass.It has to be the same people doing this.

"It breaks our heart that we have to announce this unfortunate news," he said.

The South Korean embassy in Baghdad confirmed that the body was Kim's by studying a picture of the remains it received by e-mail, Shin said.

Al Jazeera television aired a brief extract of film Tuesday that showed a group of armed gunmen, standing over a kneeling, blindfolded figure, saying they were about to carry out their threat.

"We warned you and you ignored (the warning) ... Enough lies," one of the men said. Your army is not here for the sake of Iraqis but for the sake of cursed America."

Militants, reportedly from the al Qaeda-linked group Monotheism and Jihad, kidnapped Kim Sun-il on June 17.

On Monday, they threatened to kill him if South Korea did not withdraw from the country its 670 military medics and engineers and cancel plans to send another 3,000 troops in August. They gave Seoul 24 hours to halt the deployment plans or they would "send you the head of this Korean."

The deadline passed with South Korea government officials saying they would not change their decision.

Kim had been in Iraq for about eight months working as a Korean-English translator for the Gana General Trading, Co., a supplier for the U.S. military.

On Sunday, the Al-Jazeera TV network aired a videotape purportedly of Kim Sun-il begging for his life and pleading with his government to withdraw troops from Iraq.

"Korean soldiers, please get out of here," he screamed in English, flailing his arms.
"I don't want to die. I don't want to die."

Monotheism and Jihad is said to be led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. His group claimed responsibility for the videotaped beheading last month of American businessman Nicholas Berg.

Just last week, an American engineer working in Saudi Arabia , Paul M. Johnson Jr., was beheaded by al Qaeda militants. His captors had called for the kingdom to release its al Qaeda prisoners. The demands were ignored.

Seoul, which is eager to strengthen its alliance with the United States, says its troop deployment will make it the largest U.S. partner in Iraq after Britain.

On Saturday, Seoul warned civilians not to travel to Iraq, saying its deployment decision might prompt terror attacks on South Koreans.

A Seoul Commerce Ministry spokeswoman says all South Koreans working for firms in Iraq were likely to leave the country by early next month.

2004-06-22T09:17:00.000-06:00

Abu Ghraib Prison Trails

A military judge ruled Monday that defense lawyers in the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse trials will be allowed to question the highest-ranking U.S. military officials in Iraq and the Middle East in an effort to prove that U.S. policy-makers set the stage for the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

"All seven MPs are being used as scapegoats," said Guy Womack, the Houston attorney representing Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr. "No one can suggest with a straight face that these MPs were acting alone."

Top U.S. officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, have argued that the indicted soldiers were rogue military police who broke the rules, but defense lawyers said they will prove that the accused reservists were following orders to break detainees down for interrogation in an atmosphere created by public statements by President Bush and rulings by top military officials.

In Monday's pretrial hearings for two of the defendants -- Graner, 35, and Sgt. Javal S. Davis, 26 -- military judge Col. James Pohl granted permission for civilian attorneys to question Gen. John Abizaid, commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East; Brig. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq; and Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who was in charge of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and now runs U.S. detention facilities in Iraq.

Pohl turned down a request to compel testimony from Rumsfeld but said he might reconsider if attorneys can show it is relevant to their case.

In interviews after the hearing, the civilian attorneys suggested they will press for testimony from Bush.

"We will ask to have the president of the United States as a witness," said Paul Bergrin, who is representing Davis. "I don't really care how much political pressure they put on me." However, neither of the lawyers petitioned for Bush's testimony at the pretrial hearing.

The question of whether the accused reservists from the 372nd Military Police Company in Cresaptown, Md., were swept up in a drive to extract information from prisoners or were simply aberrant abusers cuts to the heart of the political battle that has raged in Washington since photographs of U.S. soldiers manipulating naked, hooded Iraqi prisoners first aired on CBS's "60 Minutes II" in late April.

As the abuse scandal spread, the seven soldiers in the photos gained notoriety. One of the most infamous was Graner, 35, whose bespectacled face is seen in the amateur photos, grinning in apparent delight over a pyramid of naked Iraqi men in hoods. He is accused of stomping on prisoners' hands and punching one so hard that he lost consciousness.

But Womack said Graner had complained repeatedly to military intelligence officials running Abu Ghraib that he was being urged to abuse prisoners and carry out acts that "might put him in jail." He was told it had been ordered by military intelligence, Womack said.

Davis is charged with placing naked prisoners in a pile on the floor of Abu Ghraib's Tier 1A interrogation block and then jumping on them. Bergrin said Davis and other troops sent to Iraq last year believed there were no limits in their fight against terrorism.

"One of the last words that my client heard before being deployed was the president of the United States stating to the American public that this is a war on terrorism and that the Geneva Conventions did not and will not apply," Bergrin said.

Bush has insisted that he ordered the military to comply with international law, including the Geneva Conventions on treatment of prisoners of war, but administration lawyers had argued that the conventions do not apply to some detainees, including those at Guantanamo Air Base in Cuba, who have been labeled "enemy combatants.''

Graner, who had already drawn fire for possible abuse of prisoners in his civilian job as a prison guard in western Pennsylvania, drew the same conclusions as Davis about his Iraq mission, his attorney argued.

"He had heard that the old rules don't apply here, because we are fighting irregular forces," said Womack. "They were ordered to do certain things. They were congratulated. They believed they were doing something lawful as part of the war on terrorism."

In another ruling, Pohl declared Abu Ghraib prison a crime scene and barred anyone from demolishing it before a verdict. In a speech last month, Bush had suggested that the prison be leveled to blot out the legacy of abuse and torture there under former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Arguing that abysmal prison conditions had driven soldiers to extreme behavior, Bergrin said he wants to take the court's "panel," or jury, to the facility to "smell the fecal matter and the urine" in which the accused soldiers had been forced to work and live.

After weeks of dry military justice, the civilian attorneys' hard- charging courtroom strategy signaled that the courts-martial are likely to focus on U.S. policy in Iraq as much as on the specific charges. Bergrin, a criminal attorney from Malborough, N.J., who sported slicked-back black hair, a black shirt and a gold chain around his neck, told reporters he was preparing to defend his 28th client charged with murder and brushed off the seriousness of trying to prove the Bush administration's culpability in the prisoner-abuse scandal.

Little of the hearing's potential importance was apparent Monday in the small makeshift courtroom in the Baghdad Convention Center. With temperatures reaching about 120 degrees outside, the judge and attorneys took frequent swigs from bottles of water as they spoke above the whir of fans.

For a few minutes, the courtroom was plunged into total darkness as the electricity system gave out. When the lights flickered back on, Pohl -- whose dry wit marked several discussions -- looked around the room and said, with deadpan delivery: "All the parties are still here."

The pretrial hearing for Staff Sgt. Ivan L. Frederick II, who is accused of putting a hooded detainee on a box with wires attached to his hands and threatening electric shock if he fell, was also scheduled to begin Monday. But that case was postponed until July 23 after his civilian lawyer, Gary Myers, failed to appear. Myers argued in a letter that the enormous risks in traveling to Baghdad effectively denied Frederick his right to a civilian attorney.

Pohl ruled out a defense request to move the trial to the United States or Germany but said he might reconsider if conditions in Iraq warrant it by the time the trial begins. No date for the proceeding has been set, but Womack said he does not expect it to begin before October.

One of the seven accused MPs, Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, pleaded guilty last month and was sentenced to a year in prison, reduction in rank and a bad- conduct discharge. A hearing for another soldier, Pfc. Lynndie England, 21, was postponed until July 12 at Fort Bragg, N.C., where she is now stationed. The military has not decided whether to refer the cases against two others -- Spc. Sabrina Harman and Pfc. Megan Ambuhl -- to courts-martial.

2004-06-22T09:15:00.000-06:00

South Korean Held Hostage

SOUTH Korea was trying last night to negotiate with Islamic militants holding one of its nationals hostage in Iraq after a deadline for his execution by beheading passed with the man apparently still alive.

A six-member government delegation arrived in Jordan as part of frantic efforts to secure the release of 33-year-old translator Kim Sun-il.

Video images of Mr Kim begging for his life shocked South Korea, where public opposition to the war in Iraq is strong.

Several hundred South Koreans staged a candlelight vigil in central Seoul yesterday and demanded that President Roh Moo-hyun scrap the troop deployment and secure Mr Kim's release.

Officials in Seoul said the 24-hour deadline for Mr Kim's execution expired about 2am AEST yesterday. Choi Sung-gab, head of a South Korean security firm working in Iraq, said his Iraqi business partner had contacted the kidnappers and confirmed that Mr Kim was still alive and safe.

Seoul mounted a publicity campaign to convince Iraqis that thousands of South Korean troops destined for Iraq were seeking only to carry out relief and rehabilitaion work. The Government insisted it would not abandon plans to send more than 3000 troops to Iraq – the price Mr Kim's abductors put on his life.

The threat to behead Mr Kim was delivered in a videotape screened on Al-Jazeera television on Sunday and repeated several times on South Korean television networks on Monday.

The militants identified themselves as belonging to the Tawhid wa al-Jihad (Unification and Holy War), a group led by al-Qa'ida-affiliated terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

The footage was released two days after the beheading of American hostage Paul Johnson by al-Qa'ida extremists in Saudi Arabia.

South Korea is standing firm on its pledge to deploy troops to the north of Iraq from August on a relief and rehabilitation mission, making it the third-largest US coalition partner in Iraq after Britain.

As part of an outreach campaign to Iraqis, South Korea used one of the few channels immediately available, Al-Jazeera. South Korea's ambassador to Qatar, Chung Moon-soo, appeared in a live interview with the pan-Arab news channel, assuring Iraqis the troop dispatch was to help with rehabilitation work.

South Korea's Defence Ministry said its military doctors in southern Iraq had suspended free treatment to Iraqi patients because of safety concerns. About 600 South Korean troops, mostly medics and engineers, have been stationed in Nasiriyah since last year.

The dean of Mosul University law school, Leila Abdullah Saad, and her husband, Falah Hassan, were shot dead in their home and had their throats slit yesterday, apparently the latest in a series of targetted killings of Iraq's technocrat class by insurgents.

2004-06-21T14:37:00.000-06:00

Space Ship One

The privately funded rocket plane SpaceShipOne flew to outer space and into history books on Monday as the world's first commercial manned space flight.

SpaceShipOne descends to earth during the historic flight beyond Earth's atmosphere, over the Mojave Airport in California, June 21, 2004. SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded rocket plane, flew to outer space and into history books on Monday after blasting 62 miles above the earth, marking the world's first manned commercial space flight. The flight marked the first time that a non-government spacecraft reached the altitude considered the boundary between earth's atmosphere and outer space.

The white rocket plane was released from a larger plane called the White Knight and ignited its rocket engine to enter space and reach an altitude of 328,491 feet, or 62.2 miles above the earth.

Against the backdrop of a clear blue sky, it landed safely back at a runway in the Mojave Desert in California, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Thousands had gathered for the hourlong journey.

"The sky was jet black above, and it got very blue above the horizon," said pilot Michael Melvill, 63, who earned his wings as an astronaut and was greeted by Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men to walk on the moon.

"The earth is so beautiful," added Melvill in describing the planet's vast curvature and the Southern California coast he saw during a brief three and half minutes just beyond the atmosphere.

"The flight today opens a new chapter in history, making space within the reach of ordinary citizens," declared Patti Grace Smith, FAA associate administrator for commercial space transportation.

The plane with its striking nose -- a pointed cone covered with small portholes -- was designed by legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan and built with more than $20 million in funding by billionaire Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft Corp .

Rutan and Allen said the success of the project proved commercial space flight and space tourism would soon become a reality.

"We've clearly shown it can be done," said Allen, who attended the launch of the first U.S. space shuttle in 1981.

Future flights in spacecraft based on SpaceShipOne's design will be able to take at least six passengers to 93 miles above the earth, said Rutan, who designed the Voyager airplane that was flown nonstop around the world in 1986 by his brother Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager.

2004-06-20T12:51:00.000-06:00

Johnson's Killer

Police cars and armored vehicles and a large contingent of emergency forces filled the area, and blockades were set up at all the entrances to the al-Malaz district.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that they saw shooting between suspects and police before some men fled on foot, seeking refuge in a house.

Al-Muqrin above claimed responsibility for Johnson's killing.

It was the same area where Abid al-Aziz al-Muqran (search), believed to be the leader of Al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, and three other militants were killed in a shootout with Saudi security forces on Friday, hours after photos of American Paul M. Johnson's (search) body and severed head were posted on a Web site.

Police are continuing their search for Johnson's body and the militants involved in his death. Early Sunday, armored vehicles and a helicopter sealed off three neighborhoods of the Saudi capital, searching any cars that tried to leave the areas.

Earlier Sunday, an account of the kidnapping was posted on an Islamic extremist Web site that said Al Qaeda militants disguised in police uniforms and cars provided by sympathizers in the Saudi security forces set up a fake checkpoint to snare the American engineer they later beheaded.

The account of Johnson's abduction highlighted fears that some diplomats and Westerners in the kingom have expressed, that militants have infiltrated Saudi security forces, a possibility Saudi officials have denied.

In a separate article on the Web site, the leader of the Al Qaeda cell behind the abduction justified the targeting of Johnson, pointing to his work on Apache attack helicopters for Lockheed Martin (search).

Johnson "works for military aviation and he belongs to the American army, which kills, tortures and harms Muslims everywhere, which supports enemies (of Islam) in Palestine, Philippines, Kashmir," wrote al-Muqrin, who was killed by Saudi security forces in a gunbattle Friday night, hours after Johnson's slaying.

The articles in Sawt al-Jihad, or Voice of the Holy War, a semimonthly Internet periodical posted by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, came as police continued their search for Johnson's body and the militants involved in his death.

The article said militants wearing police uniforms and using police cars set up a fake checkpoint June 12 on al-Khadma Road, leading to the airport, near Imam Mohammed bin Saud University.

"A number of the cooperators who are sincere to their religion in the security apparatus donated those clothes and the police cars. We ask God to reward them and that they use their energy to serve Islam and the mujahedeen," the article read.

When Johnson's car approached the checkpoint, the militants stopped his car, detained him, anesthetized him and carried him to another car, the article said. Earlier Saudi newspaper reports had also said Johnson was drugged during the kidnapping.

The article said they then blew up Johnson's car.

Security officials said last week that Johnson's car was found near Imam University. Saudi press reports said the car was booby-trapped and later caught fire.

On the same day as Johnson's abduction, militants shot and killed another American, Kenneth Scroggs (search) of Laconia, N.H., in his garage in Riyadh.

Earlier that week, militants in the capital also shot and killed Irish cameraman Simon Cumbers (search), who was filming for the British Broadcasting Corp. when he was shot, and another American, Robert Jacobs of Murphysboro, Ill.

After the kidnapping, his captors said they would kill Johnson on Friday unless Saudi Arabia released jailed Al Qaeda militants — a demand the Saudi government refused.

Sunday's Al Qaeda article said the militants decided to behead Johnson when Adel al-Jubeir, foreign affairs adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah in Washington, declared that Saudi Arabia would not negotiate with the kidnappers.

"The stupid Saudi government took the initiative and announced by the Americanized tongue Adel Al-Jubeir that it will not submit to the conditions of the mujahedeen," the statement read.

The group said it beheaded Johnson, 49, when its deadline expired Friday.

Al-Muqran's final article, written after Johnson's kidnapping, described the American as "an infidel, a warrior of the military."

Al-Muqran replied to critics urging the release of Johnson, saying: "Do those people want to see this infidel carry on the killing of the children and the raping of the women in Baghdad and Kabul?"

"We can't preserve the dignity of Muslims but through these means," he wrote.

Al-Muqran, believed to be the top Al Qaeda figure in Saudi Arabia, was killed along with three other militants in a Riyadh gunbattle Friday night, hours after photos of Johnson's body and severed head were posted on a Web site.

The others killed were identified as Faisal Abdul-Rahman al-Dikheel, Turki bin Fuheid al-Muteiry and Ibrahim bin Abdullah al-Dreiham. Al-Dikheel was believed to be the No. 2 Al Qaeda militant in Saudi Arabia.

One security officer was killed and two were wounded in the gunbattle, the official Saudi news agency reported.

The Interior Ministry said 12 suspected militants also were arrested in a sweep of the capital.

The ministry said authorities also confiscated forged identity papers, $38,000 in Saudi and American currency, three rocket-propelled grenade launchers, hand grenades, automatic rifles and other weapons.

2004-06-20T06:51:00.000-06:00

Sex Better Than Money

How to be happy" is an unusual subject for investment advice, but an analyst's note on the topic caught the City's attention on Friday - and not just because it mentioned sex.

The suggestions for improving happiness by James Montier, global equity strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, included devoting time and effort to close relationships, meditating on the good things on life, getting enough sleep and, yes, "have sex (preferably with someone you love)".

Perhaps the most iconoclastic suggestion for a City audience was "don't equate happiness with money".

Mr Montier said he had written the note to balance his usual bearish outlook, which sometimes depressed even himself.

It was inspired by a continuing dialogue with Albert Edwards, his global equity allocation colleague, about the nature of happiness. Mr Edwards had also published a note about his pursuit of happiness through speed dating.

The biggest hurdle was getting the note approved by the bank's research department, which took five hours to clear it.

Mr Montier said: "It did get a round of applause from the trading floor, which was a first. Normally I get booed off."

He has lectured on behavioural finance, the application of psychology to markets, and published a book on the subject.

Because the note is technically investment advice, DrKW can only send it to clients and cannot post it on its website. But, in the interest of spreading happiness, an unregulated friend might just be persuaded to pass it on.

2004-06-20T06:43:00.000-06:00

3 Bodies Found In A Lake

Three bodies tied together with nylon rope were found Saturday after they washed ashore along the Lake Michigan shoreline in southern Wisconsin.

The bodies of a man and two young children were found by an area resident at 11 a.m. in the village of Pleasant Prairie, police chief Brian Wagner said in a written statement. The town is near Kenosha, about 58 miles north of Chicago.

Police said they were submerged for a considerable period. Authorities were waiting for results of an autopsy to determine the sex of the children.

Tim Weller, a search and rescue controller for the U.S. Coast Guard based in Milwaukee, said Pleasant Prairie police contacted his office to see whether there were reports of missing persons.

The office, which patrols the shoreline from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the waters near Gary, Ind., had no such reports, he said.

Weller also contacted the U.S. Coast Guard in Grand Haven, Mich., across the lake.

"We have not been able to attribute this to anything the Coast Guard has been notified about,'' Weller said.

"We are waiting word to find out where they came from and what happened,'' he said.

2004-06-20T06:41:00.000-06:00

O'neal & McGrady

Shock waves were still being felt throughout the NBA on Saturday after two of the game's biggest stars demanded to be traded.

The Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal and Orlando's Tracy McGrady are on the trade market, while Kobe Bryant is a free agent after opting out -- as expected -- from his contract with the Lakers.

Coach Phil Jackson also is a free agent after parting ties with the Lakers.

The news, which all came down Friday, turned the NBA into a sort of fantasy league.

''If any GM out there wants a hard-working big man who wants to win championships, call [Lakers general manager] Mitch Kupchak because he will entertain offers,'' O'Neal said.

The Los Angeles Daily News, quoting sources, said Kupchak plans to work immediately on granting O'Neal's request.

The New York Daily News reported O'Neal is open to the possibility of being traded only to a few teams, including Orlando, Atlanta and Dallas.

The Forth Worth Star-Telegram speculated coach Don Nelson might be willing to step aside for Jackson.

Mavs owner Mark Cuban is a lock to be interested in O'Neal, but Kupchak likely will make sure any trade will be to an Eastern Conference team.

Indiana believes it's one piece away from an NBA title, but the Pacers may be more inclined to pursue McGrady. Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh admitted having talked to the Magic about McGrady.

The Pacers likely would have to include Jermaine O'Neal in a trade for Shaquille O'Neal, and Jermaine O'Neal is considered the one untouchable on the Pacers.

Houston and Phoenix also are considered suitors for McGrady.

Some are wondering if Jackson would like to return to New York to coach the Knicks, although Isiah Thomas is believed to have dibs on that job.

Speculation also has Jackson being interested in Denver.

Possible replacements for Jackson in L.A. include Rudy Tomjanovich, who has been contacted by the Lakers, Jim Cleamons, Henry Bibby, George Karl and Kurt Rambis.

What appears most certain is the Lakers are now Bryant's team.

''The direction [the Lakers are] going in, if they're going to continue to go in the same direction, I don't want to be a part of this,'' O'Neal told the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News. ''This team, it ain't about me. It ain't about Phil. It's supposed to be about team.''

O'Neal is under contract for $27.6 million next year and $30.6 million the following season and can opt out after next year.

''When I was brought here by Jerry West [in 1996], there was a team concept. ... It was something I wanted to be a part of,'' O'Neal said. ''Now no one cares. I told you I'm all about winning championships. Now the organization is different. It seems right now they're trying to pit one person against another.''

Asked Saturday about whether Jackson desired to continue coaching the Lakers, his agent, Todd Musburger, said, ''It's pretty irrelevant. Phil was not asked to return. ... He never said he didn't want to come back.''

Meanwhile, in Orlando, GM John Weisbrod said Saturday the Magic is still in contract discussions with McGrady.

''I certainly will not confirm that T-Mac is going to be traded,'' Weisbrod said. ''I'm going to continue to say on T-Mac what I have said for the last month, which is that Arn [Tellem, McGrady's agent] and I are in discussions.''

O'Neal still lives in the Orlando area in the offseason, fueling speculation the Lakers may try to trade him to the Magic.

''I would expect that I'm going to hear from [Kupchak] on that, since I think when people talk about Shaq moving, I think they know in his mind and his heart that this would be the obvious place he'd want to go,'' Weisbrod said.

''But, when you look at the financial piece of that, it's almost an impossibility.''

2004-06-18T15:20:00.000-06:00

Johnson Beheaded

Islamist websites showed gruesome pictures of US national Paul Johnson, who was taken hostage by Al-Qaeda gunmen in Saudi Arabia, beheaded and his head placed on his back as he lay in a pool of blood.

I feel for his family. We are at war. They cant do this to any of our soliders so they have to get civilians. I hope the animals that did this are caught, killed, and burn in hell.

"Delivering on our promise, the mujahedeen from the Fallujah Squad slaughtered the American prisoner Paul Marshall Johnson after the ultimatum set by the mujahedeen to the tyrants of the Saudi government expired," said a statement signed by "Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninula."

The sites carried three pictures of the beheaded captive, one of which showed him in a pool of blood with his head placed on his back.

Another showed the head on the back with a knife resting against the forehead, point first.

Johnson "met a just punishment ... by getting a taste of what he inflicted on Muslims (bombed) by US aircraft and missiles," the statement said.

Image of Johnson Beheaded. American man Beheaded

The aeronautics engineer with top US defense contractor Martin Lockheed was "one of four Americans overseeing the electronic programs of those same aircraft in the land of the Two Holy Mosques (Saudi Arabia)," it said.

The statement and photos were posted on http://www.qal3ah.org and other Islamist websites.

A US embassy spokesman in Riyadh said only: "we're aware of the report."

There was no immediate official comment from the Saudi government, but CNN television quoted Saudi authorities as saying that "from our end we cannot confirm this. We have not found a body yet."

"Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula" had posted a video on a website Tuesday night threatening to kill the 49-year-old Johnson unless the Saudi government freed detained militants, estimated at more than 700, within 72 hours.

Telephone numbers listed in that video showed Johnson worked, possibly on a contract basis, with a Saudi electronics firm.

Riyadh said it would not negotiate with terrorists and security forces scoured the Saudi capital in an unsuccessful bid to locate him. Washington also ruled out talks with the hostage-takers.

Johnson was abducted in Riyadh last Saturday, the same day another US national was killed in the Saudi capital as Al-Qaeda extremists escalated their attacks on Westerners in a campaign aimed at driving "infidels" from Saudi Arabia

2004-06-18T10:16:00.000-06:00

$75M Coke Bust

Cops swooped down on a Queens warehouse yesterday and grabbed more than 1,000 pounds of cocaine worth nearly $75 million as the drugs were about to be loaded into a van and sold on the streets.

The lightning-swift action occurred early yesterday when a team of NYPD's narcotics cops picked up confidential information that one of the city's largest stashes of cocaine was being loaded into a small truck in Maspeth, authorities said.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the probe began in January when Queens narcotics investigators identified a Colombian drug ring that was importing cocaine and heroin for sale in the borough.

The detectives decided to move in on the warehouse at 56-32 59th St. in an industrial enclave after they received word Tuesday night that the ring was about to move the cache.

Cops charged Ivan Milano, 32, of Elmhurst, with criminal possession of narcotics, money laundering and weapons possession.

In addition to finding cocaine, officers recovered two fully loaded weapons, a 9 mm Glock handgun and EA-15 rifle, and $190,000 in cash.

"The drugs were on their way out the doors when we acted," said Kelly as he stood with Mayor Bloomberg and Queens DA Richard Brown behind tables covered with the seized drugs at police headquarters.

"This seizure represents a huge hit to the underground narcotics economy," the commissioner added, saying the investigation was continuing.

Brown said the raid "should serve as a warning" to drug traffickers that cops and prosecutors remain vigilant against them despite earmarking resources to the war on terrorism and "protecting the city."

"We will continue to aggressively track them down and seek to put them in jail for long periods of time," Brown declared.

The seizure was announced at a press conference held moments after the NYPD honored hero cops outside Police Headquarters.

"It's fitting that on a day we honor hero police officers, we announce that outstanding police work has resulted in the biggest drug bust in two years," Bloomberg said.

2004-06-18T10:11:00.000-06:00

Buy Narcotics on the Net

Narcotics are easily purchased over the Internet from U.S. pharmacies with no prescription, congressional investigators maintained Thursday at a Senate hearing on the dangers of buying medications online.

Investigators said they purchased the painkiller hydrocodone from eight Web sites. "It seems that the key thing here is having your credit card," Robert Cramer, a senior investigator with the General Accounting Office , said.

In no instances were GAO employees who posed as patients asked to see a doctor or provide a prescription, Cramer said.

Despite safety concerns voiced by opponents of prescription drug imports, investigators said, however, they encountered few problems with medicines purchased from Canadian Web sites.

In some instances, Canadian online pharmacies had stricter standards than those in the United States, the GAO said in new report.

Canadian pharmacies appeared to be more reputable than Internet pharmacies in other countries, it said.

Investigators who filled prescriptions on the Web in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Thailand and seven other countries were testifying Thursday to a Senate Governmental Affairs subcommittee. Prominent opponents of imported drugs also were to testify.

In contrast to orders filled in Canada, some of the drugs received from other foreign pharmacies were counterfeit and many came with no instructions or warnings, said the report by the GAO, the investigative arm of Congress. Others arrived in damaged or unconventional packaging.

A shipment of the narcotic OxyContin arrived in a plastic compact disc case, investigators said. A bottle of pills of the AIDS drug Crixivan came inside a sealed aluminum can that was itself enclosed in a box labeled "Gold Dye and Stain Remover Wax."

All 18 Canadian sites required consumers to supply a physician-written prescription before filling orders. That was the case for five of 29 U.S. pharmacies; no other foreign pharmacies did.

Prescriptions filled in Canada and the United States came with labels from the dispensing pharmacy and generally included patient instructions and warnings, the report said.

The biggest problem investigators noted was that drugs shipped from Canada did not have FDA approval for use in the United States for reasons such as production in unapproved plants or carrying different labels.

But the medicines had a comparable chemical composition to approved pharmaceuticals, the report said.

"The samples from U.S. and Canadian pharmacies exhibited few problems otherwise," the report said.

Food and Drug Administration officials long have complained that it is misleading to say drug products are equivalent without subjecting them to extensive tests.

"Whether a foreign product contains the same active ingredient is no guarantee that it is identical to the FDA-approved product," the agency's acting commissioner, Lester Crawford, wrote in comments included with the report.

Tom Steward, a spokesman for Sen. Norm Coleman, the subcommittee chairman, said Canadian pharmacies came off well in the report.

"It gets down to strengthening Customs and FDA agents' ability to license and hold accountable these Internet Web sites wherever they are," Steward said.

Coleman, R-Minn., is among the lawmakers who recently abandoned opposition to importing drugs.

Lawmakers who advocate drug imports from Canada and elsewhere are trying to force a Senate vote to legalize the practice. The FDA has said it cannot guarantee the safety of the foreign products.

Older Americans have flocked to Canada for prescription medications as drug prices in the United States have soared and fixed incomes have not kept up, advocates say.

Several bills would strengthen federal regulation of Internet pharmacies and inspections of pharmaceutical manufacturing plants abroad.

2004-06-18T10:06:00.000-06:00

A Town Called Fucking

Ananova - F*cking villagers vote against name change
Residents of an Austrian village called F*cking, have voted against changing the name.

The 150 or so people who live in the village debated the issue after roadsigns kept being stolen - many by British tourists.

Spokesman Siegfried Hoeppl, said: "Everyone here knows what it means in English, but for us F*cking is F*cking - and it's going to stay F*cking - even though the signs keep getting stolen."

He said the name came from Mr F*ck and his family who settled in the area 100 years ago, and added "ing", meaning village or settlement.

The villagers didn't find out about the English meaning of the word until Allied soldiers stationed in the region in 1945 pointed out the alternative meaning.

Local newspaper editor Menhardt Buzasa said there had been an increase in the number of signs being stolen, and said British tourists were usually blamed.

"I do not agree it is just the British. F*cking is universal. Germans use it as much now as the British, and it also means the same to the Americans, Australians and anyone in the English speaking world," he said.

Similar votes on a name change have taken place recently in neighbouring Austrian towns Wank am see and Petting, as well as in Vomitville and Windpassing.

2004-06-17T14:00:00.000-06:00

220 Puound Shipment Of Cocaine

A Colombian immigrant disappeared from a Mobile hotel without waiting for the jury's guilty verdict in her cocaine conspiracy trial.

The federal jury Wednesday convicted Maria Garcia-Flores, 48, of conspiring to bring a 220-pound shipment of cocaine into Alabama on its way to New York.

She disappeared late Monday or early Tuesday from the hotel room she was sharing with Claudina Benitez, her sister. Benitez testified that when she awoke Tuesday, Garcia was gone.

Garcia had been released pending trial and ordered to stay at her Houston, Texas home under electronic monitoring.

At sentencing, she faces between 10 years and life in prison, a sentence that could be harsher should a judge decide she deliberately fled in the middle of her trial.

She was convicted of conspiring with her husband, Jose Echeverri-Arango, and another man to possess about 100 kilo grams of cocaine and actually possessing the drugs.

Defense lawyer Dom Soto stood alone as the verdicts were read Wednesday. His client had sat impassively throughout testimony Monday, listening through interpreters.

Echeverri pleaded guilty in the case and has been sentenced to slightly under the 10-year statutory minimum, attorneys said.

Echeverri testified Tuesday that his wife knew nothing of his drug trafficking. He said he lied to her about why he needed her to drive him to Mobile last October to pick up a rental car, a trip that led to their arrest.

2004-06-17T13:51:00.000-06:00

Dutroux Convicted

The jury convicted Dutroux, his former wife and another co-defendant of kidnapping and repeatedly raping six girls during the mid-1990s.

Jurors also found Dutroux guilty of murdering two of four girls who died after being sexually assaulted and tortured as captives in his house.

The jury said he drugged the two teenagers and then buried them alive.

Dutroux also was found guilty of murdering an alleged accomplice in the case.

Dutroux's ex-wife, Michele Martin, was found guilty in the murders of two 8-year-old girls who starved to death in her custody.

According to evidence in the case, Dutroux kidnapped the two girls, but they died under Martin's care in Dutroux's house while he was in prison on a lesser charge.

Co-defendant Michel Lelievere was convicted on the main charges of kidnapping, rape and murder.

But judges acquitted co-defendant Michel Nihoul of kidnapping after the jury disagreed on the role he played in the plot. He was convicted of smuggling drugs and people into Belgium.

The defendants, who were not in court for the initial reading of the verdicts, filed into the courtroom to hear the final verdicts -- guilty on nearly 243 main charges and not guilty on several lesser charges.

The eight-woman, four-man jury deliberated three days before the chief juror announced the verdicts in a crowded courtroom on Thursday.

Sentencing is expected to begin next week.

Dutroux, a 47-year-old former electrician, had pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping but denied murder. He insisted that he was part of a wider pedophilia ring that also involved police officers.

In announcing the verdicts, the jury rejected that argument.

In a final courtroom appeal last week, Dutroux expressed "sincere regret" for what he did. But he told the court: "I am not a murderer."

Nevertheless, Dutroux said he bore responsibility for the four girls who died because he "did not protect them enough."

Dutroux faces life in prison, Martin and Lelievere up to 30 years, and Nihoul up to 10 years, The Associated Press reported. The country does not have capital punishment.

Relatives leaving the courtroom said they were satisfied with the verdicts.

"They are guilty of everything, even the killings, even the torture," Paul Marchal, father of one victim, told RTBF television.

"This has confirmed what I thought: They worked together," said Louisa Lejeune, mother of one of the victims. "The recognition of this is a relief."

All the bodies were discovered on Dutroux's properties after his arrest in August 1996.

The two surviving victims, Laetitia Delhez, then 14, and Sabine Dardenne, then 12, were rescued from a basement prison in his house and testified against Dutroux at the trial.

The case has led to reforms of the judiciary and police.

A parliamentary inquiry conducted in the late 1990s found that Belgian police ineptly investigated the small gang of offenders and that the deaths might have been prevented had the police done a better job.

Police searched Dutroux's home at one point but failed to find the basement prison.

In another instance, upon investigating sounds from the house, police failed to search it because Dutroux -- already a convicted child offender -- told them the sounds were children on the street.

Dutroux was out on parole at the time of the crimes after serving a prison sentence for raping young girls in the 1980s.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent Walter Rodgers said Belgians were appalled by the "heinous nature of the crimes" and the "ham-handedness of the investigation."

The authorities "at one point allowed Marc Dutroux to escape; additionally rival police investigations concealed evidence," Rodgers said.

"Lastly, and most troubling, is evidence from Dutroux and his accomplices that they are part of a larger network of European pedophiles which they allege goes into the higher echelons of the Belgian police and government."

2004-06-17T13:48:00.000-06:00

American Held Hostage

Friends of an American held hostage in Saudi Arabia by a group linked to al-Qaida awaited word of his fate as a deadline imposed by his captors was ticking down.

A candlelight vigil for Paul M. Johnson Jr. was planned for Thursday night behind a firehouse in this rural community about 20 miles north of Atlantic City.

"We all hope Paul comes back," Dan Pomponio, a neighbor of Johnson's sister in Little Egg Harbor, said Wednesday. "You can only cross your fingers and hope."

The gathering in Johnson's hometown was to take place within a day of a deadline set by his captors, who threatened Tuesday to kill him in three days unless Saudi authorities release al-Qaida prisoners. They did not give a specific time.

The threats were made on a video shown on an Islamic Web site following Johnson's abduction over the weekend.

Johnson, 49, moved to Florida in the early 1980s to work for Lockheed Martin, and had worked in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade. At the time of his abduction, he had been working on targeting and night vision systems for Apache helicopters.

As friends here Wednesday remembered the clean-cut young man who liked fast cars and motorcycles, officials in Washington said U.S. and Saudi authorities had teamed to find Johnson.

"We have people and resources on the ground in Saudi Arabia," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "They've been in close touch with their Saudi counterparts on this matter."

He said Saudis "have the lead on this and we work with them."

Johnson's son appeared Wednesday on CNN to implore the Saudi government to find his father.

"I plead with the Saudi government and the group of men that are holding my father to please let him return home safely," Paul Johnson III said. "He will leave your country. You will never see him again. I just plead with them to get him home safely."

But U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg said he was discouraged after an hour-long meeting at the Capitol with the Saudi government's top foreign policy advisor, Adel al-Jubeir.

"They're at a loss. He says they're using every resource that they have to try to free him," said Lautenberg, D-N.J. "Right now the prospects are gloomy."

A U.S. official said the threat on the tape should be taken "very seriously" because the posting appeared to be credible and militants have used the site before.

Late Wednesday, Saudi security forces and police surrounded a house in Riyadh, but withdrew hours later, witnesses said. It was unclear whether anyone was detained.

Security officials would not comment on the operation.

Family members described Paul Johnson Jr. as "an honorable man" who respected Saudi Arabia's culture and traditions. He "always felt safe in Saudi Arabia" and never feared living there, said his sister, Donna Mayeux.

2004-06-16T13:23:00.000-06:00

Where To Next

CNN.com - White House receives space vision report - Jun 16, 2004

Edward Aldridge, chairman of the commission, said Vice President Dick Cheney accepted the report "positively."
Aldridge praised America's space program as a symbol of U.S. leadership vital to economic growth, national security and the future of space exploration.

Not to long ago everyone thought that no one would walk on the moon and look what happend. Anything is possible with the technology that we have today.

"While discovery is the goal of space exploration, the journey is at least as important as the destination," he said.

He added that NASA was already on its way to realizing changes outlined in the report.

The commission's report recommends that NASA transform its basic structure to achieve manned exploration of the moon and Mars in coming decades.

It calls for a slimmed-down space agency that contracts many of the space roles it once pioneered to private enterprise and streamline its own operations.

"NASA's relationship to the private sector, its organizational structure, business culture, and management process -- all largely inherited from the Apollo era -- must be decisively transformed to implement the new ... space exploration vision," the commission stated.

The 60-page report, "A Journey to Inspire, Innovate, and Discover," made its sweeping recommendations following five months of hearings from thousands of people including space luminaries, science fiction writers and citizens.

The nine-member commission said commercialization of space should become "the primary focus" of the country's new space exploration vision. Given the proper encouragement, "an entirely new set of businesses can emerge that will seek profit in space," the report stated.

I would love to see somebody walking on Mars. I think we are going to see this pretty soon.
I give NASA 10yrs and they will be there.

It said that NASA should enter only areas where there is "irrefutable" evidence the government is solely qualified to perform space activities. The rest should become the business of a private space industry that is in its infancy despite billions in government expenditure over the last half century.

For now, that means human space flight -- at least in Earth orbit and beyond -- will remain NASA's domain.

The space agency's progress toward the stars faltered after the Apollo missions, which landed Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon, ended in 1972.

The lunar program, with its unprecedented assembly of talent and innovation, later disbanded. The intervening years have not seen the same level of effort for human exploration of our solar system.

The report, if adopted, will likely change the perception of thinking about space as a government endeavor. In fact, the report suggests that opening up the cosmos to humanity will only be accomplished by making much of it a for-profit business.

"Sustaining the long-term exploration of the solar system requires a robust space industry that will contribute to national economic growth, produce new products through the creation of new knowledge and lead the world in invention and innovation," the report stated. "This space industry will become a national treasure."

To do that, NASA was advised to turn over most launch responsibilities to private firms, offer financial incentives and prizes for innovation, and foster small, entrepreneurial aerospace firms. Although the space agency now contracts many functions to private contractors, the panel said that arrangement had only produced a constellation of vendors rather than an independent industry.

Certain functions would remain the responsibility of civil servants. Human space travel, "at least in the near-term," will be a key function of the government space program.

It also suggested NASA's research and development hubs -- known as field centers -- become federally funded institutions managed by universities, non-profits and private businesses.

The panel outlined the creation of permanent Space Exploration Steering Council to advice the president. The last such body formed under the first President Bush, but disbanded after he left office.

In addition, the panel recommended three new NASA organizations be formed to address the long-standing problems within the agency.

A technical advisory board would give independent advice to NASA leadership about technology and risk mitigation plans. It would address the kinds of failures that doomed the space shuttle Columbia after damage to the shuttle's wing led to its destruction on reentry.

An accounting group would be set up to help ensure accurate estimates for NASA's infamously understated cost predictions.

Finally a "high risk/high payoff" research division capable of tolerating periodic failures would help recapture the innovative spirit that characterized previous NASA manned initiatives.

The commission called its space exploration goals "ambitious yet thoroughly achievable" and reaffirmed the agency's role as the drive behind humanity's goal to reach the stars.

"The space exploration vision offers an extraordinary opportunity to ... engage the public in a journey that will shape the course of human destiny," it said.

2004-06-15T09:10:00.000-06:00

Map Too Marijuana

Investigators had no trouble finding 150 marijuana plants along the state border.

The suspected growers left maps in their car that led authorities to the illegal plants.

Two Kentucky men were arrested Monday after $50,000 to $60,000 worth of marijuana was found growing along the Tennessee-Kentucky state line.

"We have found 150 plants so far, and we expect more," said Weakley County sheriff's investigator Marty Plunk.

A map marked with large X's led investigators to parts of Weakley County and through Palmersville, Henry County and Graves County, Ky. As many as 120 plants were found in one site in a Weakley County cornfield, Plunk said.

Robert Pounds, 49, and Joseph Beard Jr., 45, were charged with manufacturing and possessing marijuana with intent to resell and tampering with evidence. The last charge was filed because the two threw marijuana plants out of their car when they were being followed by investigators, authorities said.

Kentucky police searched Beard's residence in New Concord, Ky., and arrested his wife, Joan Beard, on charges of growing the plants inside their home, officials said.

2004-06-15T08:58:00.000-06:00

We Were Told To Treat Them Like Dogs

The US army general who ran the notorious Abu Ghraib jail in Baghdad complained Tuesday that she was being made a "convenient scapegoat" for the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners.

In an interview with BBC radio, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski also said she had been told by the then-head of the Guantanamo Bay prison to treat all detainees like "a dog".

Karpinski was suspended from her post in January this year, three months before photographs showing US guards abusing and sexually humiliating Iraq prisoners at Abu Ghraib were published in US newspapers.

She insisted she had never been aware of a Red Cross inspection of the prison's cell blocks 1A and 1B, which revealed abuses, as these were interrogation facilities run by US Military Intelligence.

"The interrogation operation was directed, it was under a separate command and there was no reason for me to go out to look at Abu Ghraib cell block 1A or 1B or visit the interrogation facilities because it was not in my lane," she said.

Karpinski had been completely trusted with running the prison, only to find her leadership suddenly questioned "very late in the game", she said, adding: "I believe I was a convenient scapegoat."

Karpinski also recounted receiving a visit from Major General Geoffrey Miller, who at the time ran the US detention facility for Al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

He was later placed in overall charge of all US prisons across Iraq.

Miller told Karpinski: "At Guantanamo Bay we learned that the prisoners have to earn every single thing that they have," she recounted.

"He said they are like dogs, and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog then you've lost control of them."

The US military has begun a series of legal hearings against lower-ranked soldiers accused of carrying out mistreatment at Abu Ghraib.

One has been brought to trial so far - Jeremy Sivits, who was sentenced on May 19 to a maximum one-year jail term for his role in the abuse and humiliation of detainees.

2004-06-15T08:55:00.000-06:00

Handing Over Saddam Hussein

The US is to hand over former dictator Saddam Hussein to the new interim Iraq government, the country's incoming prime minister said.

Iyad Allawi told Arabic television Al Jazeera that Saddam will stand trial before a special Iraqi tribunal "as soon as possible".

The former president is to be among hundreds of detainees to be transferred before the handover of power on June 30.

But confusion surrounds the transfer and the numbers of detainees to be handed over.

Mr Allawi said: "Saddam and the others will be handed over to the Iraqi government."

But a senior State Department official said he was "not aware of any plan that's been worked out on this".

US-led Coalition forces want to hold on to 5,000 detainees they consider a threat to security, handing over only 1,400.

Saddam was captured by American soldiers near his home town of Tikrit last December. He has since been held as a prisoner of war at an undisclosed location in Iraq.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Saddam must be charged or released before the hand-over of sovereignty.

He is likely to be tried for the persecution of the Shiite Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as for alleged war crimes against Kuwait.

Iran is also believed to be preparing a formal complaint against him for the torture of Iranian prisoners captured during the 1980 -1988 war.

A 20-member defence team appointed by Saddam's family has complained about not being able to meet its client and accused the US authorities of holding him in breach of the Geneva Conventions

2004-06-14T12:58:00.000-06:00

Lynndie England Trail

A military court hearing for an Army reservist charged with abusing prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq will begin June 22, the military confirmed Monday.

Army reservist Pfc. Lynndie England, who is now stationed at Fort Bragg, appeared in notorious photographs in which she pointed at Iraqi prisoners' genitals and held a leash attached to a prisoner.

Six other soldiers also face military charges in the case.

England, 21, is charged with assaulting Iraqi detainees, conspiring with Spec. Charles Graner Jr. to mistreat the prisoners and committing an indecent act by forcing prisoners to masturbate. Graner is charged with adultery for having sex with England last October.

The Article 32 hearing, which will be held at Fort Bragg, is called by the commanding officer of a soldier's unit to determine whether to recommend a court-martial or other punishment continuing under military law. It is similar to a civilian grand jury.

England has said in her only public interview, broadcast by a Denver television station, that her superiors gave her specific instructions on how to pose for the photos. Asked who gave the orders, she would say only, "Persons in my chain of command."

2004-06-14T12:45:00.000-06:00

Prisoners Released From Abu Ghraib Prision

Several buses carrying more than 400 prisoners left Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison on Monday but many relatives were left waiting in the searing heat for news of detained loved ones.

On the same day, the US-led coalition announced upcoming pre-trial hearings for three US soldiers charged with abusing prisoners at the jail.

So we are going to let the people out of prision that we are trying to fight. I Wonder who came up with this idea i dont think its a very good one. They are in prison for a reason. They should stay there. Watch what i say one of these guys are going to blow something up. If someone fucked you in the ass and you dont swing that way. If you aint plotting to kill them you must have liked it. I know I wouldn't

Abu Ghraib, a dreaded detention centre under the former regime of Saddam Hussein, shot to notoriety again last month when graphic images were broadcast around the world of US soldiers abusing Iraqi inmates.

The buses carrying 405 prisoners began leaving the facility west of Baghdad under armed escort shortly after 8:00 am (0400 GMT), apparently headed for outlying cities.

A military official said another 112 would be set free on Tuesday.

But the number fell short of a plan announced earlier to release 650 prisoners on Monday and hundreds of family members continued their vigil on the highway.

Many complained bitterly that their relatives, many of whom were rounded up by coalition forces after the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, were being kept without charge or access to lawyers.

Jawad Kadom, 44, a merchant from the Aadumya area of Baghdad, said his 15-year-old son was arrested a month ago while playing with friends.

"The Americans are arresting kids from our streets - is that American power?" he said, adding that he had only seen his son once since his detention.

"Is this freedom? Is this democracy, to arrest kids from the streets under the excuse that they are part of the resistance?"

Farmer Khalid Abbas said his 16-year-old son had been detained for nine months after a coalition raid on his home in Khalidiyah, west of Baghdad.

"They took my money, destroyed my car and took my son. I have nothing - they even hit my wife and broke her leg," he said, adding that he had been part of the resistance to Saddam's toppled regime.

All the relatives interviewed said they had had little access to the detainees and no word on when they would be released. Most said they had visited the prison several times to wait for their relatives to be set free.

Hassam Rahim, 53, claimed he had waited outside the prison for his brother every day for the past 11 months.

"We come in the morning and we leave in the evening," he said.

Others were waiting despite not knowing whether their relatives were inside Abu Ghraib or elsewhere.

"We don't even know if he's here," said Zuher Abdullah, a 55-year-old businessman, referring to his brother who was detained last July.

He said he had visited prisons all over Iraq searching for his brother Mohammed, who was arrested at checkpoint for carrying a weapon.

"Even if he's dead we want his body," he said.

Some also alleged that the detainees, many of whom live in tents inside the sprawling prison, had been badly treated by their captors.

"They take two people from the tent from midnight until about 2:00 am for investigations and when they give them back they have marks on their bodies," said, Jasim Wali, 36, an employee at the trade ministry.

2004-06-14T12:15:00.000-06:00

Al Qaeda Plotting To Blow up Shopping Mall

Top News Article | Reuters.com
A Somali man living in Ohio was charged with plotting with al Qaeda supporters to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio, Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Monday.
According to an indictment unsealed in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday, Nuradin Abdi, 32, attended a camp in Ethiopia for military-style training in "preparation for violent jihad."

This guy really fucked up this time, remember last time we had some terrorist in prison what we did to them. Hopefully this time no pictures will come out. We as Americans should be alot smarter than to leave evidence.

Ashcroft said after receiving his training in Africa, Abdi returned to the United States and he and others "initiated a plot" to blow up a Columbus area shopping mall.

"The American heartland was targeted for death and destruction by an al Qaeda cell which allegedly included a Somali immigrant who will now face justice," Ashcroft told reporters.

In the indictment handed up by a grand jury in Columbus, Abdi was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda and with obtaining and using fraudulent travel documents.

Ashcroft would give no details on how far along the planning was for the planned attack on the mall.

But he said Abdi had connections to Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver sentenced last year to 20 years in prison for supporting al Qaeda.

Faris picked Abdi up from the airport when he returned from Africa, Ashcroft said.

The indictment also charges Abdi with supplying false statements in order to win political asylum from the United States in 1999.

It also says Abdi lied about where he was traveling when he went to the camp in Ethiopia. As a result, he was charged with obtaining and using fraudulent travel documents.

Abdi was arrested on immigration charges on Nov. 28, 2003. His asylum status was later revoked and he was ordered deported. But authorities continued to hold him for national security reasons.

Abdi has been transferred to jail to face the new criminal charges, Ashcroft said.

If convicted, Abdi faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the charges of providing material support to al Qaeda and 25 years for the immigration fraud charges.

2004-06-14T08:52:00.000-06:00

Have Sex Get Better Grades

A German sociologist Werner Habermehl says regular sex can help university students pass exams and get better grades.

Habermehl from the University of Hamburg said he and his team had tested students before and after sex.

They found that regular sexual activity significantly increased mental capability, but they found celibate students found it harder to make the grade.

As well as decreasing the length of time needed to complete a course, students with a healthy sex life also received better marks, said Habermehl.

The research was carried out together with German research institute GEWIS.

2004-06-14T08:49:00.000-06:00

Get High Stay Out Of Trouble

Portuguese police are letting England soccer fans smoke dope in the hope it will keep them out of trouble.

The authorities don't want supporters to get fighting drunk on booze and are turning a blind-eye to joint-puffing, hoping it will prevent brawling, reports the Daily Star.

Lisbon is said to be flooded with dealers selling "soft drugs" to supporters but police are deliberately keeping a low profile, saying their priority is to make sure fans don't get too drunk.

Lisbon police spokesman Isabel Canelas said: "We have to use common sense. If people cause a problem through the use of drugs, of course police will be expected to take action. But when this doesn't happen, why should police make a fuss?"

2004-06-14T08:45:00.000-06:00

1 Game Away

Now it seems to be a matter of when, not if, the Detroit Pistons will clinch a championship that no one saw coming, and for the sun to set on the tottering dynasty of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals last night brought a monster game from Shaquille O'Neal, but no relief to the beleaguered Lakers.

Just another night when Detroit had too much defense, too many free throws and too many fearless scorers with rings in their eyes.

All parts of an 88-80 victory that leaves the Pistons ahead 3-1 and on the brink of the first Eastern Conference NBA title since Michael Jordan wore a Chicago Bulls' uniform.

"We just need to find a way to win one more game," said Ben Wallace. "And we can all realize our childhood dreams."

Said the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, "I think everybody is a little down right now. But the important thing is, we have to win the next game ... by any means necessary. And then just go from there."

Sensing they are close to the kill, the Pistons survived a tense trial by fire, a game that included 18 ties, 18 lead changes and 36 points and 20 rebounds from O'Neal.

But from a 56-56 tie after three periods, the Pistons crushed the Lakers with a 32-point fourth quarter, mercilessly finishing off a team they have grown completely confident they can outwill and outscrap.

"We let one slip away," said O'Neal.

"The most difficult thing to swallow," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson, "is our inability to get some loose balls."

Of Chauncey Billups' 23 points, six came on two 3-pointers that built the Detroit lead in the fourth quarter, ignited the crowd and seemed to finish off Los Angeles.

Of Rasheed Wallace's 26 points - to go with 13 rebounds - 10 came in the last period. Able to play 41 minutes without his usual foul trouble, free to do damage with Karl Malone on the bench the second half with a bad knee, Wallace was on a rampage.

"It was just my night," he said.

"Tonight," Pistons coach Larry Brown said, "he really showed his value."

2004-06-14T08:31:00.000-06:00

NBA Needs More White Players

Larry Bird says he wants to see more white superstars in the NBA, but the legendary former Celtic has also revealed that nothing in basketball bothered him more than being guarded by another white player.

Bird made the comments during an ESPN special that will air
Thursday at 7 p.m. ET featuring Bird's longtime rival, Magic Johnson, and rookies LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony. The one-hour discussion is called "Two on Two."

ESPN host Jim Gray asked Bird whether the NBA lacks enough white superstars.

"Well, I think so," said Bird, the Indiana Pacers' president of basketball operations. "You know, when I played, you had me and Kevin [McHale] and some others throughout the league. I think it's good for a fan base because, as we all know, the majority of the fans are white America. And if you just had a couple of white guys in there, you might get them a little excited. But it is a black man's game, and it will be forever. I mean, the greatest athletes in the world are African-American."

Johnson, a Lakers part owner, quickly added: "We need some more LBs -- Larry Birds. ... Larry Bird, you see, can go into any neighborhood. When you say 'Larry Bird,' black people know who he is, Hispanics, whites, and they give him the respect."

Cleveland's James and Denver's Anthony, both 19, were also asked about race during the sitdown, which took place in the tiny gym used as Hickory High's homecourt in the movie "Hoosiers."

Asked by Gray if race is an issue in the NBA, James said: "I don't think so. I think the fans look at the game, [they're] not looking at the race. [They're] looking who can play basketball. Or who's athletic. ... When you [were] a kid and you used to go outside, it didn't matter who was the best player in the league. If Bird was my favorite player, I'm out shooting threes. ... If Magic was my [favorite] player, I'm out there throwing my best passes. It's not the race issue. If you can play the game of basketball, you know fans are gonna love you."

I wonder if the Lakers can pull it off. With stars like Shaq,Kobe & Malone they better win the chapionship. I bet alot of people are going to lose some money if they dont win. Or mabey they bet against their selves.

Said Anthony: "Race is not an issue. Where I'm from, people love the Yao Mings, the Dirks, the Pejas. They love them guys. I don't think race is an issue right now."

Yet later in the discussion, Bird described being guarded by another white in his prime as "disrespect."

"The one thing that always bothered me when I played in the NBA was I really got irritated when they put a white guy on me," Bird said. "I still don't understand why. A white guy would come out (and) I would always ask him: 'What, do you have a problem with your coach? Did your coach do this to you?' And he'd go, 'No,' and I'd say, 'Come on, you got a white guy coming out here to guard me; you got no chance.' ... For some reason, that always bothered me when I was playing against a white guy.

"As far as playing, I didn't care who guarded me -- red, yellow, black," Bird added. "I just didn't want a white guy guarding me. Because it's disrespect to my game."

Said Magic: "His game, you see, Larry Bird was the only [white] guy that was mentioned in the barbershop. ...'Cause that's where all the talking in our community is, the barbershop or on the playground."

Bird has declined to comment further, according to a Pacers spokesman, and NBA commissioner David Stern said he would reserve comment until seeing the entire interview.

2004-06-11T12:59:00.000-06:00

Skunk Weed

The skunk phenomenon The number of skunk smokers in the UK is growing even faster than their artificially-enhanced plants, and British home-grown skunk has begun to match the quality of European strains. But where does skunk originate? Why is it more harmful than 'traditional' grass? And why does it make you hallucinate? Here are the answers to the mysteries of skunk

Skunk used to be just a small, furry animal with a smelly arse. Not any more. A red-eyed, green-fingered generation of Brits are raising acres of grass that will never see a Flymo. Thousands of skunk plants are budding across the land, from underground bunkers in the Home Counties to disused warehouses in central Manchester, from lofts in Hampstead to disused war shelters in north Wales. In 1996 alone, 116,119 cannabis plants were seized, many with levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinols, the things that make you go boom) that would literally fry your brain. On average, police seize around ten per cent of all illegal drugs, so there are possibly a million skunk plants in Britain right now, thousands of them cultivated at home by some of Britain's estimated two million tokers. The days when British home-grown weed was the weak, sickly kid of Europe - seizure levels in the mid-80s were below 10,000 plants a year - are long gone. It's a jungle out there.

Connoisseurs are even beginning to talk about British-grown versions of legendary smokes, like Northern Lights, Durban Poison and Purple Haze, as serious rivals to the Dutch originals. Though such is the accelerating desire for ever-higher THC levels that some older smokers are taking sanctuary in the relative sanity of hash. "We're getting stuff which is just totally knocking people out," says Free Rob Cannabis of the Cannabis Hemp Information Club. Bizarrely, we owe it all to the good ol' US of A. Skunk has become a generic term for any bud-like grass with THC levels of ten to14 per cent as opposed to the two to four per cent in traditional grass. Skunk Number 1, believed to have been originated by a Californian, Skunk Sam, about 20 years ago, was the first wobbly step. This blend of the most powerful sativa, Haze, Afghani Indica and Thai/Mexican weed was perfectly suited to the rigours of home growing and was unusually potent. It laid the foundations for the hectic cross fertilisation, home growing and cow-punching strengths common today.

All skunks are essentially sinsemillia (meaning 'no seeds') - the unfertilised seed pods of the female plant. Which will be news to trustafarians who have spent the last decade smoking 'sensi' that looks like budgie feed. Meanwhile, the early 90s hash drought - the result of American aid packages to Morocco being tied in with massive anti-drug clampdowns there - provided skunk with a window of opportunity. Tired of the rigmarole of trying to score poor quality hash, cut with everything from barbiturates to shoe polish, people got out their trowels and dug in.

The fact that hemp is cultivated in other EEC countries means it is legal for someone to sell hemp seed in Britain, as long they are not "knowingly" selling seeds that are going to be used to grow cannabis. In the last few years, grow shops supplying horticultural equipment have sprung up selling hemp fish bait (hemp is a traditional angler's tool) as well as growing equipment. Ten seeds can be bought for between £40 and £70.

Most home-grown weed is grown hydroponically - in nutrient rich liquid, rather than soil. The plants start to bud when daylight is reduced to about 13 hours a day, which happens, naturally, in September. By manipulating the amount of light the plants receive, a grower can be smoking high-quality skunk after 12 weeks. You don't need to study Gardener's World to nurture a crop - the key is to simply remove all the male plants before their pollen fertilises the females and downgrades their THC-rich glands. On average, each plant yields a half to two ounces of smokeable material in every 14-week cycle. A few plants, then, can keep all but the most couch-ridden smoker in dope. In lofts, cellars and innocent looking lock-ups, on windowsills and between the marrows (purists swear by organic dope over hydroponic), they are doing just that, serving a disorganised army of stoners. Larger scale dope growing, meanwhile, in the railway arches, abandoned barns and isolated farms of Britain, has become an increasingly creative and audacious activity. In the Home Counties, smallholdings complete with animals have been found to disguise underground containers-cum-'greenhouses', powered by generators. The upturned hull of a barge, buried under a metre of soil, has been used to form an indetectable haven. The scale is often impressive too, with 8,000 skunk plants recovered from second world war army shelters in north Wales.

Rural police forces have become so alert to skunk production that many gangs are moving back into the towns and cities. In a house in Hampshire that was raided recently, every room was found to be stuffed with Northern Lights. Three years ago, right in the heart of Manchester, police broke through a wall and a steel door to uncover a complex set-up involving 1,000 plants. With skunk retailing at £20-25 an eighth, the potential profits are clear, and the increase in home-grown weed has caused the price of a kilo of hashish to fall from around £2,500 to £1,500 in the last couple of years.

But the police have a formidable armoury. Their helicopters have infra-red cameras which can pick out the heat of the lamps - notice that snow never settles on a dope grower's roof - while nosy neighbours will report funny smells. Grow shops are at risk of surveillance and having their records seized. And Boots' photo labs, for example, will report photos depicting any suspected illegal activity.

Even vigilant utility workers can be a problem if an electricity bill suddenly goes sky-high. East Midlands Electricity states: "If, during the course of carrying out their day-to-day operations, any of our employees were to find evidence of criminal activity, we would inform the local police. If, as part of an investigation into a criminal offence, the police should contact East Midland Electricity we would cooperate fully with them." There are plenty of stories of sympathetic coppers turning a blind eye to a few discreet plants, but nothing is certain.

The police have also been known to wildly inflate the street value and size of hauls by weighing whole plants, rather than just the smokeable parts. And many police officers succumbed to the hysteria around a hallucinogenic drug, allegedly 30 times more powerful than normal dope, which would make a plant a logic-defying 60 per cent-plus THC. Cultivation on any scale is much more serious than simple possession. Being charged with intent to supply, especially if the attempted defence is that you simply give some to your mates, is a real possibility. Ciaran O'Hagan, spokesman for drugs advice agency Release, advises that if someone is determined to grow their own, they should: "Keep quiet about it, grow as few plants as possible and be polite but tight-lipped with an arresting officer until they've seen a lawyer."

Sunlight Systems, a supplier of horticultural equipment to clients including London Zoo and Kew Gardens, insists its range of hemp seed fish baits have not been the mainstay of the business' growth. Yet owner Chris Meliniotis, a vocal advocate of cannabis legalisation, has trademarked the names Northern Lights and Purple Haze, despite the fact the strains were developed by a Dutch seed company. Sunlight Systems has been widely criticised within the hemp community because of this, though Meliniotis says this was purely to stop someone less scrupulous from doing the same thing and enforcing the trademark. Meliniotis is precise and careful when talking about the subject. But that's the way it must be. Callers to Sunlight Systems who enquire about cannabis are politely informed that Sunlight can't help them. In March this year, a concerned Association of Chief Police Officers was reported as having called for a complete ban on the sale of seeds.

It was also reported as having called for people caught in possession of cannabis to be merely cautioned rather than prosecuted - as long as they agreed to undergo "counselling"! Release confirms there was also talk of altering which class skunk is categorised in, around a year ago, to put increased punishments at the police's disposal. As yet, this has come to nothing. "It's all very fickle," says Release - the only certainty is that skunk is a growing concern.

Blunt facts

• The neurotransmitter which THC reacts with is called Anandamide. 'Ananda' is Sanskrit for bliss.

• Many Thai weed varieties are stronger than skunk but they are often not 'sensi' (as they are grown in fields) and may be sun-cured, which downgrades the THC to CBD (giving a drowsier high).

• The 1995 winner of the High Times Cannabis Cup - the cannabis Crufts - was White Widow, a breed bursting with THC to the point where, supposedly, it glistened.

• "A drop of my urine in the water solution adds some helpful micro-nutrients," noted one home-grower in a recent Observer article.

• A survey published last year by the Independent Drug Monitoring Unit recorded that 60 per cent of users have grown their own cannabis at some time, and one in three use pedigree seeds such as Northern Lights. It estimated 2.75 million Britons spend £3.5 billion a year on 800 tonnes of dope.

• Many years ago in Asia, 'ganja doctors' would patrol the fields of cannabis, rooting out the male plants before they could spoil the crop.

What's the damage? Is skunk twisting your brain?

Cannabis is classified as a hallucinogenuc drug, which puts it in the same category as mushrooms, ketamine and LSD. It is generally only a mild hallucinogenic, as it has a comparatively low THC content. Since skunk contains more THC than, say, African grass, the brain becomes over-stimulated and some people have difficulty controlling their perception, which means they struggle to control their mood or sleep patterns. Conversely, it is exactly this intense and demanding trippy edge that some seasoned smokers look for. As Release says, "If skunk is used in the right way it can be very enlightening, but because there is so much of it about, no one prepares themselves for its impact. Skunk definitely has it's place, but you have to respect it."

2004-06-11T08:32:00.000-06:00

14 Dangerous Snakes Seized

HoustonChronicle.com - 14 dangerous snakes seized in Dallas condo raid
Fourteen dangerous snakes have been seized in a raid on a Dallas condominium where the recent escape of two cobras drew national attention.

The snakes were found in glass cases in the living room of a unit at the Greenbriar Place Condos in the upscale Oak Lawn neighborhood, The Dallas Morning News reported in its editions today.

Thirteen of the snakes included a variety of venomous serpents, while the 14th was a 16-foot, 140-pound Burmese python, city officials said.

City officials haven't released the identity of the resident of the condo. They say the owner could face a citation for violating city codes. Each violations would be punishable by fines of up to $2,000.

The condo complex had been the site of a search for an escaped Suphan cobra. Two of the reptiles were spotted in the area recently. One was captured, but the other was never found.

Daryl Sprout, an independent herpetologist hired by managers of the complex to remove the snakes, told The Morning News that the missing snake could not have lived long on its own.

City officials say the condo owner denies any association with the escaped cobras.

The venomous snakes were taken to the Dallas Zoo, where they will be kept in quarantine at an animal hospital there.

2004-06-11T08:28:00.000-06:00

She Picked The Wrong Time To Be A Bitch

CBS 11: Two dead on Bush Turnpike
Two people died today after they argued at a Dallas-area highway overpass, he pulled her from the vehicle, threw her over the edge -- then he jumped to his death.

Police aren't sure what sparked the argument atop the busy eastbound President George Bush Turnpike during rush hour.

Richardson police say the man was driving, he stopped the car and yanked the woman out of the passenger's side.

She fell several stories, onto southbound Highway 75.

Police say she landed on the hood of a vehicle, fell off and then was struck by another vehicle.

The woman was dead at the scene.

The man was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No names were immediately released. Police are trying to
determine the relationship between the pair.

The incident backed up rush-hour traffic for miles in the Richardson and Plano areas.

2004-06-10T14:51:00.000-06:00

ICE

Feature: Meth -- America's Home Grown Drug Epidemic

In many ways meth is the crack cocaine of the new millennium. Just as crack swept the nation in the 1980s and 90s, Meth use has hit epidemic proportions in the last several years. Why is the drug so popular?

Meth is easy and inexpensive to produce.

Meth provides the user with raw, unbridled energy that comes from charging the brain with a dopamine high, the same kind of energy that appeals to cocaine users. But unlike cocaine, meth users stay high for up to 12 hours or more, depending on how the drug is ingested.

Meth is very affordable because the lasting high of the drug is achieved by using very little.

Although meth has been around for a long time, the latest crisis has spread among white, often poor rural Americans. Meth traffickers move in small circles. Those who make meth sometimes exchange it for other drugs. Often, families share the knowledge needed to make it.

Communities across the country are struggling to find ways to combat this latest epidemic. Meth can affect every part of a community. For example,

meth addicts face criminal, health, and financial problems

children can grow up with drug-addicted parents and family

meth cooks dump toxic chemicals in ditches or down kitchen sinks, which is dangerous and costly to clean up

law enforcement officers, paramedics, social workers, even people coming to do work around the house can be overcome by the toxic fumes

meth cooks work with volatile chemicals, which can lead to fires and explosions

people moving into a new home or apartment may encounter chemicals from a meth lab that were never cleaned up

landlords renting to meth cooks can be held responsible for cleanup, which is expensive.

In July 1998, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) announced a pilot program to combat Methamphetamine use. The program provided grants to six carefully selected cities- Phoenix, AZ; Minneapolis, MN; Oklahoma City, OK; Dallas, TX; Little Rock, AR; and Salt Lake City, UT. The sites used the money to fund programs they designed to address the specific challenges confronting their jurisdictions. Through partnerships between law enforcement, local government services, and the community, the jurisdictions aimed to contain and reduce the problem of Meth production and use.

"The use and production of Methamphetamine is posing a significant problem for law enforcement and communities across the country," said Ralph Justus, acting director of the COPS Office. "Community policing is working to reduce crime. The COPS Methamphetamine Initiative gives these six cities the opportunity to apply this successful law enforcement strategy to eliminating the scourge of Methamphetamine and restoring hope to local citizens. Moreover, the strategies these communities develop will serve as models for others who are seeking solutions to combat the spread of Methamphetamine" Justus continued.

What is Dallas Doing About This Problem

In Dallas, the initiative is under the direction of the Dallas Police Department (DPD). The DPD partners with the Greater Dallas Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the areas of research, education, and treatment. The DPD also partners with the Dallas County DIVERT Court, a pre-trial diversion court that includes a team consisting of a judge, an assistant district attorney, a public defender, three case managers, and treatment providers. For more information, please contact Becky Balsamo at 214-670-5182.

2004-06-10T13:30:00.000-06:00

Detroit Vs. Lakers

SI.com - Writers - Burns: Lakers' last samurai faces opponent he may not vanquish - Thursday June 10, 2004 1:51PM

Lakers forward Karl Malone has been watching more than game film of the Pistons lately. "I've been watching a lot of The Last Samurai, he said Wednesday, referring to his desire to continue to play in the NBA Finals despite a sprained right knee. Unlike that Tom Cruise flick, however, life doesn't always deal out Hollywood endings. Despite escaping Game 2 with an overtime victory, Malone and the Lakers appear headed toward something more resembling a Greek tragedy. Widely expected to beat the Pistons easily, L.A. was outplayed in both of the first two games at home. If Kobe Bryant's miracle three-pointer doesn't go down in Game 2, they're facing a 2-0 deficit with the next three games at Detroit.

Make no mistake,even with the series tied, Detroit has the Lakers on their heels. Ben Wallace and the Pistons' long-armed defense have neutralized L.A.'s role players. Chauncey Billups has blitzed them with the screen-and-roll. And Detroit has consistently been able to run its offense and get good shots inside, resulting in a staggering 61 free throw attempts over the first two games. Consider that if Detroit had merely shot the 74 percent from the foul line that it had in the regular season, Game 2 would never have come down to Kobe's 3-pointer. But they didn't, so now everybody is wondering if the Pistons can bounce back emotionally from such a heartbreaking defeat. We're guessing they can. After all, they rebounded pretty well from that triple-OT defeat to the Nets in the conference semifinals and took two straight to close out the series.

Helping Detroit's cause is the fact that L.A. has a major injury concern. The right knee Malone hurt early in Tuesday's Game 2 is the same one that kept him out of almost three months of the regular season. His status for Thursday's Game 3 is expected to be a gametime decision. Even if the 40-year-old warrior decides to suit-up, there are serious doubts as to how effective he will be. Malone is vital to the Lakers in these Finals. Not only is he a rugged defender and rebounder, but he's also one of the team's best passers. Plus, his savvy and determination can't be measured. After his injury Tuesday, he still managed to pull down a team-high nine rebounds, two more than Shaquille O'Neal. No offense to Slava Medvedenko, Brian Cook or Luke Walton, but none of those L.A. reserves has Malone's total package of size, ability and experience. The Lakers have talked to the Mailman about wearing a knee brace, but so far he has been cool to the idea. "I've never seen a samurai with a brace," he said, adding that he'd just try to play through the pain.

The problem for the Lakers is that Malone, of late, has been more pop gun than shogun. Showing signs of wear from a knee that needs to be drained, Malone's jumper has been increasingly off the longer the playoffs have gone. When he tripped over Derek Fisher's ankle in the second quarter of Game 2, aggravating the knee, his play deteriorated even further. The Mailman looked like a shell of his old self. Unable to get any lift on his shot, he missed a slew of bunnies. On defense, he got worked over by Rasheed Wallace in the post.

The Lakers aren't finished if Malone can't play full throttle, but their chances take a serious hit. Medvedenko and/or Cook can get the job done in spurts, but over the course of the series L.A. will miss the Mailman's presence. With Shaq and Kobe always on their own, and Gary Payton unhappy about his role, Malone has, in some ways, become the glue holding the Lakers together. And while Phil Jackson's teams have a history of subs coming off the bench and getting the job done at clutch moments, the Lakers' bench is already thin, and it's extremely unlikely they'll get another impact performance like the Game 2-lift Walton provided with his hustle and energy.

Malone, who took less money to sign with the Lakers as a free agent for the chance to win a ring, will surely try to gut it out. "What the hell am I saving myself for?" he said Wednesday. Malone may be the closest thing the NBA has to a samurai warrior, but it might not be enough to fight his greatest enemy -- his body.

2004-06-10T13:27:00.000-06:00

The Ice Age

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Warm spell to last ... about 15,000 years

The Hollywood scenario played out in the disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, where global warming could paradoxically "flip" the global climate into a new ice age, may never happen according to new research.
The next ice age could be 15,000 years away, say European scientists who today announce a continuous record of 740,000 years of climate data from a single core of Antarctic ice.

Scientists from 10 nations have now almost completely drilled through a 3,000 metre depth of ice high in the Antarctic mainland. They calculate that Dome C, on a smooth plateau where summer temperatures can fall to -40C, has at least 900,000 years of snowfalls, preserved as neatly as the annual growth rings of a tree. And the ice and tiny bubbles of trapped air in each layer have now begun to answer huge questions about bygone climates.

The results confirm that there have been eight ice ages in the past 740,000 years and eight warmer periods, or interglacials. And by comparing the pattern of global conditions today with those of the past, the researchers report in Nature that the present warm period could last another 15,000 years.

The first analyses confirm the very close link between greenhouse gas levels and global average temperatures. They also confirm that carbon dioxide levels are the highest for at least 440,000 years.

"If people say to you: the greenhouse effect is a good thing because we would go into an ice age otherwise, our data say no, we weren't about to go into an ice age. We have another 15,000 years before that was coming," said Eric Wolff, of the British Antarctic Survey and a member of the European project.

"Now we have eight examples of how the climate goes in and out of ice ages _ and you can learn what the rules are. Those are the rules that go into the climate models that predict the future."

Parts of the cores lifted by the researchers are preserved in Antarctica, but examples were also shipped to France and Germany. There, climate scientists can match evidence from the ice with data from deep sea drillings and reconstruct the past.

They found that carbon dioxide levels in the trapped air bubbles matched neatly with the evidence of temperature based on isotopes in the ice. Whenever temperatures rose in the frozen record, so did carbon dioxide and methane levels.

"In 440,000 years we have never seen greenhouse gas concentrations, either methane or carbon dioxide, anything like as high as they are today," said Dr Wolff.

2004-06-10T13:22:00.000-06:00

Britney Spears Knee Surgery

Britney Spears Undergoes Knee Surgery After Video Mishap Feature Story

Singer Britney Spears underwent knee surgery in New York Wednesday, after sustaining an injury while filming a video for her upcoming single, “Outrageous.”

According to a statement released by Spear’s label, Jive Records, the pop princess injured her left knee during a dance sequence around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, and was taken to a local hospital, where an MRI scan revealed the 22 year old had cartilage floating in her knee. Spears also injured a knee earlier this year during a performance in Illinois, which resulted in the cancellation of several tour dates. It is unclear whether the latest injury will further affect Spear’s Onyx Hotel tour.

There has been no word yet on how or when the “Outrageous” video will be completed, although it is reportedly set to be the theme song for Halle Berry’s upcoming film “Catwoman,” which is set for release July 23.

2004-06-08T07:34:00.000-06:00

MTV Music Awards

ThisisLondon

Kisses, hugs, tears and Eminem's bare bottom - this year's MTV Movie Awards had all the usual pizzazz and irreverence we've come to expect from Hollywood.

Heiress Paris Hilton locked lips with Carmen Electra as she presented the 32-yearold with the Best Kiss award for her performance in Starsky & Hutch.

'It was very sweet and innocent. There was no tongue,' she joked backstage at the Los Angeles ceremony.

Former EastEnder Martine McCutcheon, 28, scooped Best Transatlantic Breakthrough for her role in Love Actually. Close to tears, she told the crowd: 'I can't believe I won this. You guys are so much fun.'

Uma Thurman come away with Best Female Performance and Best Fight for her action girl role in the Kill Bill films.

'This is the year of my life,' the 34-yearold said after collecting the award from Tom Cruise. Lucy Liu won the award for Best Villain in Kill Bill, while Johnny Depp won Best Male Performance for his part in Pirates Of The Caribbean.

The top award went to Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King for Best Movie. It also won Best Action Sequence for the dramatic Battle of Gondor scene.

Star presenters included actress Kate Beckinsale, and Sharon Stone and Christina Aguilera. The most rousing performance of the night was by Eminem, who donned a blond wig to rap his new song My Band.

Halfway through, he pulled down his trousers and mooned to the audience.

An MTV source said the display would probably be aired, despite continued US sensitivity since Janet Jackson's famous 'wardrobe malfunction' at the Super Bowl show. 'It's only a butt and not a nipple,' he said. The show will be aired on MTV on Saturday at 9.30pm

2004-06-07T15:16:00.000-06:00

Men and Sex Addiction

How can I tell if I'm getting addicted to sex or pornography? - ChristianAnswers.Net

How to Know If You're Hooked
It's important to understand that sexual addictions don't happen overnight. They take time to develop. But when they're full-blown, a man won't be able to resist the repeated urge to enter into a love relationship with a sexual object or experience that gives him pleasure and the illusion of intimacy.

That last sentence defines an addict:
He's hooked and can't say no.
The object of his addiction gives him two things: pleasure and an illusion of intimacy.
Not everyone who struggles with sexual compulsions is an addict. Some men abuse their sexuality for a period of time and then grow out of it. Many men with a regrettable sexual experience in the past put it behind them and move on.
But not everyone is so fortunate. Some men block emotional pain with sexual pleasure. Over time they have to try increasingly risky forms of sexual behavior in order to deaden the pain. Eventually their world revolves around sex. Their obsession has taken over their life.

The Sexual Addiction Test
Patrick Carnes suggests a series of four questions aimed at helping us discover if we have a sexual addiction and if so, how far it's progressed.[1] While asking yourself these questions, it's crucial that you are brutally honest. The first step in dealing with a problem is admitting we have one.

ONE - Is Your Behavior Secret?
Are you doing things you refuse to tell others about? Do you feel that if those closest to you knew what you were doing, they would reject you or strongly disapprove of your actions? Are you telling lies to cover your behavior? If so, you're isolating yourself from those you love and entering into a potentially addictive relationship with an object or event.

TWO - Is Your Behavior Abusive?
Does your sexual behavior create pain (emotional or physical) for you or others? Is it degrading or exploitative of others? Do you find yourself performing increasingly abusive acts? Do you derive pleasure from watching others being abused in some way?

THREE - Is Your Behavior Used to Deaden Painful Feelings?
Are your sexual actions an effort to change your mood rather than express affections? Do you masturbate or search for some other sexual outlet when you're depressed, bored, or angry? If your sexual behavior is used to erase pain, it's part of an addictive process.

FOUR - Is Your Behavior Empty of Genuine Commitment and Caring?
Are you substituting the illusion of intimacy provided by an object or event for the genuine intimacy found in a healthy relationship?
If you answered yes to even one of the four questions, your sexual behavior is either compulsive or addictive.

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Addictive Stages
While the four questions help determine if we have a problem, they don't tell us the extent of the problem. In order to determine that, we need to familiarize ourselves with the levels of addictions.[2]

Pre-addiction
Pre-addiction describes people who begin to find themselves sexually stimulated through impersonal objects, like pornography, or events, like strip clubs.
If you're at this level, your life is probably under control. You're holding down a job, and your relationship with your wife or girlfriend is intact. However, you realize that while your fascination with pornography, strip shows, or erotic talk lines isn't compulsive, it is dangerous. You may be troubled by the feeling that your slumbering lust could awaken and take over at any moment.

Level 1
At level 1 a man's lust has begun to exert its control. He's compulsively involved in such things as masturbation, pornography, homosexuality, or demeaning heterosexual relationships.
When a man reaches level 1, something significant has happened. While before he always struggled to keep his lust under control, now it's running wild. In his book The Addictive Personality, Craig Nakken notes that the single most important aspect of level 1 addictions is the emergence of the addictive personality.[3] A man's lust, like a great dragon, has awakened from its slumber and threatens to take over his life.

I experienced this the night I looked through my neighbor's window. It reminded me of the first time I got high on marijuana. I entered a new world and wanted to return to that world. There's something about that first high that people want to recreate. Similarly, a man who enters level 1 awakens his lust in a powerful way. And that initial experience is one he wants to recreate. When we enter level 1, the addictive part of our personality has been stirred. And make no mistake about it, the beast has an insatiable appetite that can slowly take over our life.

Level 2
When a man reaches level 2, he's taken a bigger and more dangerous step. Now his behavior involves victims and violations of the law. His activities include prostitution, exhibitionism, voyeurism, obscene phone calls, and touching a person intimately without consent. Most of the time he's considered more of a nuisance than a criminal, but unfortunately his behavior can inflict deep emotional pain on his victims.
Men who are exhibitionists or voyeurs will carry out their secret behavior for years. Living double lives, they're in constant fear of being caught.

All kinds of "good" people reach level 2. Hardly a week passes without a news story about a politician, teacher, or Hollywood star picking up a prostitute or making an unwanted sexual advance.

Level 3
By the time a man reaches level 3, his behavior involves serious crimes in which severe damage is done to the victim. Rape, incest, and child molestation occur at this level.

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2004-06-07T15:11:00.000-06:00

Women and Sex Addiction

Sexual Recovery Institute :: Women Sex Addicts

A fine line exists between what may be considered by most people acceptable sexual behavior and what is sexually addictive or compulsive. This is especially true for women in a society such as ours where sex is often treated as a commodity. Our culture discourages women from being assertive and direct in the expression of their sexual needs, thereby encouraging a less direct and potentially seductive or manipulative style. Some women go beyond these culturally-sanctioned behaviors and use sex compulsively as a means of gaining power and love.

How Do I Know If I Am A Sexual Addict?

Frequently Asked Questions about Sexual Addiction

Consequences of Sex Addiction and Compulsivity

Homosexuality and Sexual Addiction

Women Sex Addicts

How Does a Sexual Addict Define Sobriety?

The idea of being "love addicted" may be preferred by sexually addicted women because it fits the romantic, nurturer model of woman, whereas the term "sex addict" connotes an image of a "nymphomaniac", "slut", or "whore". The "love" that these women describe is often an addiction to the yearning or euphoria of romance, but has little to do with love.

The elements of sex addiction in women are the same as in any addiction: compulsion, continuation despite adverse consequences, and preoccupation or obsession.

The following behaviors when taken to excess are suggestive of sex addiction in women:

1. Compulsion, or unsuccessful attempts to control a sexual behavior:
changing relationships to control sexual fantasy and/or activities
swearing off relationships, only to give in to the next "right" lover
breaking promises to self or others to stop abusive fantasy or sexual behaviors
switching to caretaking others, workaholism, overeating, or romance novels to take the place of a sexual relationship

2. Continued behavior despite negative consequences:
unplanned pregnancies, abortions, sexually transmitted diseases, or violence
terror or shame resulting from sexual activities
decreased productivity at work due to sexual behavior with self or others
relationship problems resulting from extramarital affairs or excessive time spent on sex-related activities
depression related to inability to change sexual patterns or their consequences
substance abuse or eating disorders to numb shame and other negative feelings related to sexual activities

3. Obsessive thoughts in planning or obtaining sex:
neglecting family, relationship, or career because of time spent preoccupied with sex or sexual partners
Some sexually addictive behavior patterns in women may include: excessive flirting, dancing, or personal grooming to be seductive; wearing provocative clothing whenever possible [a form of exhibitionism]; changing one's appearance via excessive dieting, excessive exercise, and/or reconstructive surgery to be seductive; exposing oneself in a window or car; making sexual advances to younger siblings, clients, or others in subordinate power positions; seeking sexual partners in high-risk locations; multiple extramarital affairs; disregard of appropriate sexual boundaries, e.g. considering a married man, one's boss, or one's personal physician as appropriate objects of romantic involvement; trading sex for drugs, help, affection, money, social access, or power; having sex with someone they just met at a party, bar or on the internet [forms of anonymous sex]; compulsive masturbation; and exchanging sex for pain or pain for sex. For most people, sexual relationships, fantasies, and activities are normal behavior, but for the sex addict, they cause problems.

Most sexually addicted women have not had parental role modeling for how to have emotional intimacy in nonsexual ways. Research has shown that there often is a combination of rigidity and lack of emotional support in the sex addict's family of origin. The majority of women sex addicts were sexually abused in childhood -- 78% in one study.

Women sex addicts may have long periods of inactivity in their sexual addiction. At such times, they may become sexually anorexic, the opposite end of the sexual dysfunction spectrum. During periods of sexual anorexia, they may become excessive in other areas, for example eating.

Many sexually addicted women have sought professional help for psychological problems, but their sexual compulsivity was never addressed. Therapists who understand sex addiction, believe the client's sexual history, and can help the client stop the behaviors and deal with the underlying feelings, are the most helpful. In addition, 12 step programs such as SLAA, Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), Sexual Recovery Anonymous (SRA) and Sexual Compulsives Anonymous (SCA) can help women manage periods of abstinence and can teach them how to integrate healthy sexual behavior into their lives.

2004-06-07T15:01:00.000-06:00

The Stanley Cup

CNEWS - Canada: Police, fans gear up for Stanley Cup game between Calgary and Tampa

Hockey fans across the country were gearing up for Game 7 in the Stanley Cup final Monday between the Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning, but none may have been as diehard as Gladys Richards.

Richards, who was first in line at 8:30 a.m. in front of the Melrose Bar on Calgary's popular 17th Avenue, now dubbed the Red Mile, worked all night at a women's shelter and said she hadn't slept in nearly two days . "I want to get the best seat because this game is going to go down in history," Richards said. "I sense Calgary will win."

The best-of-seven series stands at 3-3 after the Lightning forced a deciding game back in Florida by winning Game 6 Saturday in Calgary.

Even in Edmonton, home of Calgary's bitter rivals the Oilers, two movie theatres were opening their doors for people to watch the game on the big screen.

Fans in Central Canada were equally excited about the game, although not everyone was cheering for Calgary.

"Here, it's almost half-and-half for Tampa Bay," said Francois Desjarlais, manager of a sports bar in Montreal. "They have a lot of Quebec players."

Police, too, were shoring up their numbers in anticipation of the game.

Calgary brought in extra officers from outside forces to join the watch on the Red Mile, but even in Regina, officers were told to be ready in case of post-game shenanigans.

No one has been allowed to take time off during the game, said Regina police Sgt. Greg Fleet.

He said big sporting events, such as when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series, usually mean police get calls for loud parties, traffic jams and fights - regardless of the team involved.

"Regardless of which way it goes, we do have a plan in place," Fleet said.

Wayne Leong, who owns the Melrose, opened his doors at 11 a.m. to find fans already lined up for a seat in his bar.

Leong hired a professional photographer to take staff pictures for a commemorative Calgary Flames photo album.

"When they win tonight, we expect 100,000 people will be out there on the street," Leong said with optimism.

Last-minute purchases were still being made as well. Articles of Flames clothing were running low in stores, but Harvey Malo, a construction worker from Kelowna, B.C., managed to find a special T-shirt printed just for Game 7 at the Flames Fan-Attic store at the Calgary airport.

He planned to wear his new shirt while watching the game in Kelowna with his friends.

"I'll be the only one in the sports bar tonight with a T-shirt like this one," Malo boasted.

Almost 50,000 fans jammed 17th Avenue despite Calgary's loss on Saturday and police were predicting at least that many people Monday

2004-06-07T12:39:00.000-06:00

Courtney Love

COURTTV.COM - TRIALS - Summer of Love: Rocker expected at courthouses across the country

Singer Courtney Love, who is facing criminal charges in three cities, kicks off her 2004 courtroom tour in Los Angeles Superior Court this week.

Love will stand trial Tuesday for misdemeanor drug charges stemming from an October 2003 incident in which she allegedly attempted to break into an ex-boyfriend's home at night.

Love, 39, is charged with being under the influence of a controlled substance. If convicted, she faces a maximum one-year prison sentence. She also has a June 4 hearing in a Beverly Hills courthouse for felony drug charges related to an alleged overdose that occurred later that evening.

On Oct. 2, 2003, at about 2:40 a.m., police responded to a possible burglary call outside the Los Angeles home of former Geffen Records executive Jim Barber. When officers arrived at the scene, Love was walking down the driveway and waving to a police helicopter above, according to the LAPD.

Love allegedly told police that Barber, her former manager and boyfriend, was out of town and that she had broken a window in his home in an effort to retrieve a CD.

When police found Barber inside his home, he indicated he did not want to press charges.

An officer testified at a preliminary hearing that Love's speech was slurred and her pupils were dilated. She allegedly admitted to having taken "hillbilly heroin," the slang term for OxyContin. She was arrested and, according to court documents, she tested positive for cocaine and opiates.

Love's attorney, Michael Rosenstein, unsuccessfully argued to suppress evidence from the drug test, claiming police should have released Love once they discovered a burglary had not taken place.

Jury selection for her misdemeanor trial is slated for Tuesday. However, she may dodge a trial if she agrees to complete a licensed drug-rehab program.

Love also is expected to appear next week at Beverly Hills Superior Court, where she faces felony drug charges.

According to reports, paramedics were sent to the rocker's Beverly Hills home some time after she was released from the Barber incident. She was taken to the hospital and treated for what appeared to be an overdose of painkillers.

Love was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance - oxycodone and hydrocodone, also known as OxyContin and Vicodin, respectively. Authorities said she did not have prescriptions for the pills.

The singer is then due at a Manhattan criminal court next month, where she faces two counts of third-degree-assault and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment.

On March 18, Love gave a concert in an East Village club to promote her new album, "America's Sweetheart." The rocker allegedly threw a mic stand into the audience and struck a fan in the head, causing "lacerations, bleeding and substantial pain" according to court documents.

Love allegedly told an officer on the scene that she did not even have a microphone in her hand. Another officer claimed in court papers that the talkative defendant told him, "The police have a conspiracy against rocker chicks."

She pleaded not guilty on May 13 and was released on her own recognizance. The next hearing in that case is set for June 28.

Court TV will broadcast Love's trial in Los Angeles.

2004-06-04T10:15:00.000-06:00

Gambling And Assault

WPVI.com: Man Admits Assault, Illegal Poker

A Hanover Township man pleaded guilty to charges that he provided illegal poker machines for two bars and assaulted a man who owed him money.

Dale S. Houser, 39, pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor counts of gambling, simple assault and conspiracy. Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg scheduled sentencing for Aug. 3.

Prosecutors alleged that Houser provided poker machines for a bar owned by Edward Schaneberger in March 2002 and gave Schaneberger a $1,000 advance to be used for payouts, agreeing to split the profits once Schaneberger paid back the advance.

But the next month, Houser allegedly demanded that Schaneberger pay him $15,000 for the machines and the cash advance, and punched Schaneberger in the face while a co-defendant, Stephen Bodnar, hit him on the legs with a piece of wood. Bodnar has pleaded guilty to simple assault and conspiracy and is scheduled for sentencing June 24.

Houser pleaded guilty to the charges, but said he didn't assault Schaneberger to shake him down for money, and that Schaneberger started a fight with him.

2004-06-04T10:12:00.000-06:00

Janet Jackson Likes Sex? Who Dosen't?

First Coast News | Entertainment Article

Long before she exposed her right breast to the world during the Super Bowl halftime show, Janet Jackson says she had thoughts about sex.

"As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that I had a very active sexual mind at a very young age. I hope that doesn't sound bad," Jackson tells Blender magazine for its June/July issue.

What's wrong with wanting to have sex.It's just pussy

"My first crush was on Barry Manilow. He performed on television, and I remember taping it. When no one was around, I used to kiss the screen."

Jackson also recalls having a "major crush" on Teddy Pendergrass when she was 12.

"I thought he was singing to me," says the singer, now 38. "When you're a kid, you have little fantasies, but I saw myself being with him as an adult, not as a kid."

Now, Jackson says she expresses more grown-up urges through one of her alter egos, named Strawberry: "She's the most sexual of them all, the wildest."

The other character living inside her is Damita Jo, which is her middle name and the title of her latest album. Damita Jo, she says, is "a lot harsher, and quick to put you in your place."

2004-06-04T10:02:00.000-06:00

The Triple Crown

VOANews.com

Racehorse Smarty Jones is the odds-on favorite to win Saturday's Belmont Stakes and become horse racing's first Triple-Crown winner in 26 years.

After victories by Smarty Jones in both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, expectations are high for the undefeated three-year-old colt to do the same in the Belmont Stakes' grueling 2.4 kilometer course.

But the race in the U.S. state of New York has a history of thwarting Triple Crown hopes.

Over the years, 28 horses have been eligible to win the Triple Crown when they entered the Belmont Stakes. Only 11 succeeded. The most recent was Affirmed in 1978.

The winner of the Belmont Stakes is awarded a purse of $1 million. If Smarty Jones succeeds in winning the Triple Crown, he will be awarded an additional bonus of $5 million.

2004-06-04T08:11:00.000-06:00

Bomb Explosion Kills Nine People

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage

A bomb explosion has killed nine people and wounded 30 at a market in southern Russia, news agencies have quoted local officials as saying.

Itar-Tass news agency quoted prosecutors as saying they had opened a criminal investigation on terrorism charges for the blast in the southern Volga River city of Samara. Initial reports had said oxygen canisters had exploded in the market.

The bomb was attached to a market stall by the side of a rail line and detonated by a fuse, Interfax quoted the police as saying.

The blast will have rattled nerves in Russia, where Chechen rebels have conducted a bombing campaign across the country.

But explosions are fairly common occurrences in markets and generally linked to commercial disputes.

Health workers and police were still at the scene of the explosion, the agencies said.

2004-06-03T08:10:00.000-06:00

102 Year Old Man Caught Driving

Police in Hamburg, Germany, have caught what they say is a record traffic offender.

Officers stopped a car they spotted driving slowly in a 30 mph zone and found the driver to be a 102-year-old man.

The driver of the Audi freely admitted to having no licence, saying it was taken away from him several months earlier.

The man told officers he needed to drive because he couldn't walk very much. He said he was only using the car to get to a nearby bus stop, adding he didn't want to stop driving after doing it for 81 years.

Police however told the man, who is facing charges of driving without a licence, he would no longer be allowed to continue driving.

2004-06-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

Afghanistan Opium Trade

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A booming opium trade, intensifying violence and a weak central government threaten the long-term stability of Afghanistan (news - web sites) despite U.S. military and aid efforts, a congressional watchdog said on Wednesday.

And while Bush administration officials who spoke to Congress after the General Accounting Office report was issued emphasized progress rebuilding after the toppling of Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, they echoed concerns that the drugs trade was bolstering warlords and undermining President Hamid Karzai's power.

The GAO, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog agency, also criticized the Bush administration for weak oversight of U.S. aid and delays in disbursing billions of dollars for the impoverished Central Asian nation.

"Conditions in Afghanistan, such as the deteriorating security situation, the relative weakness of the central government, and the increase in opium production, complicate the long-term reconstruction process and threaten its ultimate success," the GAO said in a report to Congress monitoring U.S. aid.

The criticism highlights concern that Washington, distracted by Iraq, has paid too little attention to Afghanistan since ousting the Taliban and routing al Qaeda fighters in retaliation for the Sept. 11 attacks.

U.S. commanders in Afghanistan fear that remaining militants will continue to intensify attacks as the nation heads for its first direct elections in September.

With international security forces largely confined to the Kabul area, militia leaders have tightened their grip on power in the provinces and prompted Karzai to strike a power-sharing deal with them ahead of the election, which he hopes to win.

"Expanded trafficking in narcotics helps local commanders who want to resist our efforts to expand the authority of the Afghan government throughout the country," Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Counternarcotics Mary Beth Long told a congressional hearing after the release of the GAO report.

"The drugs trade ... provides cover for unaccountable groups, including al Qaeda and its allies, to wield power," she said.

Opium growing is coming to dominate Afghanistan's economy, providing roughly half the war-shattered country's wealth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.
"A dangerous potential exists for Afghanistan to progressively slide into a 'narco-state' where all legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power and wealth of (drug) traffickers," the IMF said.

Afghanistan is the world's leading producer of opium, and the United States estimates that its farmers are expected to harvest 50 percent more poppy plants this year. Output has soared since the ouster of the Taliban, which had almost eradicated opium poppy production.

The U.S. plan for long-term Afghan stability is to support the government in disarming militias, discouraging poppy growing and preparing for the September elections, William Taylor, the State Department coordinator for Afghanistan, said.

2004-06-03T07:45:00.000-06:00

Marijuana Law Passed In Vermont

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont will become the ninth state to let very sick patients use marijuana to alleviate pain, nausea and other symptoms without fear of state prosecution.

Gov. James Douglas will let the bill become law without his signature. "I will not oppose this decision by the elected representatives of the people, nor will I support it by signing it into law," Douglas said Wednesday.

Douglas said the bill covers "symptom relief for a small percentage of individuals with only the most debilitating conditions," like cancer and AIDS.

Patients may keep up to three marijuana plants in a locked room accessible only by the sick person and caregiver, who both must register with state police.

Opponents complained that the law would put Vermont at odds with federal law, which forbids marijuana use, and that it would send a mixed message about drug use to Vermont's young people.

Douglas, a first-term Republican, repeatedly had voiced both arguments while the bill was pending, and he said he hoped advocates for legalization of marijuana for recreational use would not take cheer from the new Vermont law.

"To ease suffering is commendable, but to crusade for legalization of an addictive, destructive and dangerous drug is contemptible," he said.

Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington state already have laws allowing marijuana for medical needs. Arizona passed an initiative to allow marijuana by prescription, a largely symbolic law because federal law prohibits doctors from writing such prescriptions.

2004-05-27T12:23:00.000-06:00

Detective Acussed Of Stealing Drugs

A suspended detective accused of stealing drugs worth $1.3 million also faces weapons charges after police discovered an arsenal of prohibited items at his home, a court heard yesterday.

Detective Senior Constable David Miechel, 33, formerly of the major drug investigation division, did not appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court to face charges of possessing prohibited weapons.

The court heard a police search of Miechel's home on September 30 last year found weapons including five butterfly knives, a switchblade, a bayonet, nunchukkas and knuckle knives.

He was charged in January with 12 counts of possessing a prohibited weapon without exemption or approval and four counts of possessing a controlled weapon without excuse.

Miechel's solicitor, Steve Schembri, told the court the weapons charges were unrelated to a separate investigation of his client. Miechel is on $100,000 bail on 16 charges including possessing commercial quantities of ecstasy and trafficking LSD.

Police told previous court hearings that Miechel and his colleague, Detective Sergeant Paul Dale, 34, had planned to burgle a suburban drug laboratory they were investigating. Miechel was mauled by a police dog as he allegedly tried to run from the scene after throwing a bag of drugs worth $1.3 million over a fence last September.

Major drug investigation division detectives raided the house the day after the burglary and seized ecstasy and other drugs worth $8.5 million.

Also charged over the alleged burglary was police witness Terrence Hodson, who along with his wife Christine, was murdered earlier this month in his East Kew home.

Mr Schembri asked Magistrate Angela Bolger to postpone the hearing for the weapons charges until after committal hearings for the drug allegations.

"It would be unfair in the extreme that Mr Miechel has to concentrate on those matters when he faces other matters in coming months," he said.

Ms Bolger ordered Miechel to reappear in court in July.

2004-05-27T09:03:00.000-06:00

Students Go For World Record Naked

Around 100 students from 15 universities have stripped off to create a new world record for the most naked people on a rollercoaster.

They rode the terrifying 360-degree Nemesis Inferno rollercoaster at Thorpe Park, in Surrey, earlier today.

The record attempt has helped raise cash for good causes as the park is promising to pay £1,000 to a university Rag committee for the best group photograph on board the ride.

Staff at Thorpe hit on the idea for a birthday-suit record bid to mark the park's own 25th birthday, says Sky News Online.

Wearing only safety harnesses, the intrepid participants experienced gravity at up 4.5 times its normal strength as they flew around the 750-metre course.

2004-05-27T08:29:00.000-06:00

Richard Dean Campbell Drugs For Sex

McKINNEY – Police say Richard Dean Campbell's home was known as the party house. There, many McKinney teenagers knew they could trade sexual favors for a snort of cocaine or a margarita.

And he promised to reward them with money and drugs if they brought their friends, according to court records.

Several teenagers told police that Mr. Campbell, 41, had sex with a number of the girls and coerced them into performing sexual acts on each other while he took pictures, according to police and court documents.

Most of the girls interviewed said they met the computer specialist through his teenage son, a former McKinney high school student. The son now lives in another state.

The parties began about 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays at the house on Sidney Lane and lasted until the early hours of the morning from at least September 2002 to early 2003, according to the girls' statements.

Mr. Campbell faces charges including sexually assaulting a child, possession of child pornography and furnishing alcohol to minors. On Wednesday, he turned himself in on a charge of child pornography.

Mr. Campbell could not be reached for comment at his home Wednesday before his latest arrest.

Police are sifting through his computer, photographs and videos for evidence as part of their nine-month investigation. They said more arrests could follow.

A 17-year-old McKinney girl said in an interview Wednesday that she frequented the house in September 2002. She said she first went to the house with a girl Mr. Campbell is accused of sexually assaulting. She said that she went to the house because drugs and alcohol were available but that she did not participate in any of the sex. She called Mr. Campbell "disgusting" and said he hit on all the teenage girls and patted their rear ends.

"It was a drug house," said the 17-year-old, who also gave a statement to police as part of their investigation. "I don't remember much."

The girl said she never saw pornography. But other girls told her about the pictures and sex with Mr. Campbell, she said.

She and other girls described an array of drugs offered at the home: beer, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, Jell-O shots with vodka, acid, Vicodin and Hydrocodone, according to the court documents.

Several of the girls said in the court records that they saw pornographic videos and photos – some with girls they knew – while at the two-story house. They also described five computers throughout the home, where pictures of the girls were downloaded. They said Mr. Campbell's son had pictures of the girls on his bedroom wall, the documents say.

McKinney police arrested Mr. Campbell in April on a charge of sexually assaulting a child and again last week on seven charges of furnishing alcohol to minors. He posted bond on both charges but was back in jail Wednesday.

If convicted of sexual assault of a child, Mr. Campbell faces up to 20 years in prison. A possession of child pornography charges carries a possible 10-year sentence.

Neighbors said they would have never guessed that girls were allegedly prostituting themselves for drugs and alcohol.

"I had no idea. It was a single dad and a teen," said next-door neighbor Michelle Shah. "There was loud music and lots of teenagers coming and going. But there's a teenage boy living there. I didn't think anything of it."

McKinney police first learned of the parties in September 2003 when a girl, now 17, was arrested on suspicion of stealing her grandparents' vehicle. A therapist at the Collin County Detention Center called police after the girl told her about sex and drugs at the house.

The documents say the girl said she first went to the home with Mr. Campbell's son when she was 15.

"You got a good one there. How old is she?" the girl quoted Mr. Campbell as saying to his son.

During several trips to the home, the girl said, she was asked to take off her clothes and have sex with Mr. Campbell and other girls. She told officials she had sex twice with Mr. Campbell.

The records also mention other men at the home, engaging in sexual activity and photographing the girls. However, no other arrests have yet been made in the case.

Police interviewed 15 teenagers from both McKinney high schools who said they saw illegal activity at the house. Court documents report that one of the teenagers was a boy who went with his girlfriend to the house, where they had sex. The other 14 were girls, but not all of them engaged in sexual activity, the documents state.

One of the girls, who is now 17, told police this month that she went to the house as a sophomore after meeting Mr. Campbell's son. She said Mr. Campbell took pictures of her sitting in a bathtub wearing sweatpants and a bra, according to the affidavit. He asked her to take her pants off. The girl told police that Mr. Campbell's son showed her pictures saved on his computers of other girls.

Among the items police confiscated from Mr. Campbell's home: a video camera, a bag of marijuana, three videotapes, nearly $25,000 in cash, disks, two 8-mm tapes and computers.

Mr. Campbell may also have another son and young daughter, court records indicate. Court records show he is divorced. His ex-wife, who lives in Plano, could not be reached Wednesday.

2004-05-27T08:12:00.000-06:00

Al Quaeda Plans Attack

According to the U.S. agency charged with protecting America, Al Quaeda terrorists may be planning an attack from under water.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued a bulletin warning that terrorists may attack American ships or ports using scuba divers.

The "Swimmer Attack Indicators and Protective Measures" bulletin was issued on August 22, 2003. The bulletin advised "the maritime industry and owners and operators of maritime facilities of a number of incidents of suspicious activity and possible surveillance of maritime facilities around the U.S. over the past few months."

The bulletin, issued to ship owners, port managers and maritime police organizations, reads like a chapter out of Ian Fleming's "Thunderball" where a terrorist group uses sophisticated underwater technology to attack the United States.

"Although there is no evidence of international terrorist groups planning to utilize scuba divers to carry out attacks within the United States, there is a body of information showing the desire to obtain such capability," states the bulletin.

"During the past two years there have been numerous incidents that have occurred involving suspicious individuals possibly conducting surveillance of port facilities, cruise ship docks, naval bases, dams, bridges and power facilities in the United States. Also, there has been law enforcement reporting of suspicious individuals having queried marine shops and schools concerning equipment and training."

According to the agency, "there is no specific information indicating that a swimmer attack of any kind is currently being planned in the United States, such targeting would be consistent with Al-Qaeda's stated objective to disrupt and undermine vital economic interests in this country and to cause mass casualties and panic."

DIVERS AND ONE MAN SUBS

The U.S. security agency also warned scuba gear operators, owners and training companies to be on the look out for individuals or groups that have money but no visible means of support.

In addition, the Dept. of Homeland Security warned boat and submersible equipment dealers to report "volume purchasing inquiries related to Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDVs) and Diver Propulsion Vehicles (DPVs)."

Other indicators of unusual activity included, "exclusive purchases of darkened gear or after market painting" and "attempts to purchase large magnets, large diameter PVC pipe or empty compressed gas cylinders or theft of same."

The U.S. security agency also warned major ship owners to take various anti-swimmer and anti-terrorist measures.

"Because swimmers traditionally target a ship's screws and rudders in order to incapacitate a ship, periodically cycle rudders and rotate propellers at high RPMs," states the alert.

Ship owners were also warned to take steps against both small submarines that carry divers and small, unidentified boats.

"Periodically activate vessel's SONAR. This technique may assist with repelling swimmer attacks as well as detecting submersibles. Consider using radar at blind spots to detect small boat approaches," concluded the bulletin.

Al Quaeda has previously used waterborne attacks with great success. The U.S. warship U.S.S. Cole was attacked in Oct. 2000 in Yemen by a small suicide boat loaded with explosives. The attack killed 17 U.S. sailors.

Al Quaeda also attacked and damaged a large oil tanker off the coast of Yemen using either a radio controlled boat or a suicide boat.

2004-05-24T08:23:00.000-06:00

Women Tries to Buy Drugs From The Police

A woman has been arrested in the US state of Ohio after calling police several times trying to buy drugs.

According to Ontario police, 27-year-old Amy Logue called the police station three times trying to arrange the drug deal.

A police spokesman said: "It's the worst case of a mis-dialled phone number I've ever seen."

Initially, the drug buy was supposed to take place at an empty petrol station, says newsnet5.

But she called the police and asked them to meet her at the McDonald's nearby because she didn't want to seem too obvious or suspicious.

"We could eliminate a lot of other vehicles we would suspect if she pulled into a closed facility, but her knowing that as well, she tried to avoid the police," added the spokesman.

2004-05-20T07:32:00.000-06:00

Childless Coulpe Are Told to Try Sex

A German couple who went to a fertility clinic after eight years of marriage have found out why they are still childless - they weren't having sex.

The University Clinic of Lubek said they had never heard of a case like it after examining the couple who went to see them last month for fertility tests.

Doctors subjected them to a series of examinations and found they were both apparently fertile, and should have had no trouble conceiving.

His women's ass must not have looked like this. If it did they would have been having sex from day 1. I was wondering how did the first people have sex they didn't have anybody to teach them.

A clinic spokesman said: "When we asked them how often they had had sex, they looked blank, and said: "What do you mean?".

"We are not talking retarded people here, but a couple who were brought up in a religious environment who were simply unaware, after eight years of marriage, of the physical requirements necessary to procreate."

The 30-year-old wife and her 36-year-old husband are now being given sex therapy lessons while the university clinic undertakes a study to try to find out if there are more couples with a similar lack of sex education.

2004-05-19T13:24:00.000-06:00

U.S. Helicopter Fired on a Wedding Party

A U.S. helicopter fired on a wedding party early Wednesday in western Iraq, killing more than 40 people, Iraqi officials said. The U.S. military said it could not confirm the report and was investigating.

Lt. Col Ziyad al-Jbouri, deputy police chief of the city of Ramadi, said between 42 and 45 people died in the attack, which took place about 2:45 a.m. in a remote desert area near the border with Syria and Jordan. He said those killed included 15 children and 10 women.

Dr. Salah al-Ani, who works at a hospital in Ramadi, put the death toll at 45.

Associated Press Television News obtained videotape showing a truck containing bodies of those allegedly killed.

About a dozen bodies, one without a head, could be clearly seen. but it appeared that bodies were piled on top of each other and a clear count was not possible.

The Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television reported that more than 20 people were killed and 10 injured in the attack.

Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said partygoers had fired into the air in a traditional wedding celebration. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire.

``I cannot comment on this because we have not received any reports from our units that this has happened nor that any were involved in such a tragedy,'' Lt. Col. Dan Williams, a U.S. military spokesman, wrote in an e-mail in response to a question from The Associated Press.

``We take all these requests seriously and we have forwarded this inquiry to the Joint Operations Center for further review and any other information that may be available,'' Williams said.

The video footage showed mourners with shovels digging graves. A group of men crouched and wept around one coffin.

Al-Ani said people at the wedding fired weapons in the air, and that American troops came to investigate and left. However, al-Ani said, helicopters attacked the area at about 3 a.m. Two houses were destroyed, he said.

``This was a wedding and the (U.S.) planes came and attacked the people at a house. Is this the democracy and freedom that (President) Bush has brought us?'' said a man on the videotape, Dahham Harraj. ``There was no reason.''

Another man shown on the tape, who refused to give his name, said the victims were at a wedding party ``and the U.S. military planes came... and started killing everyone in the house.''

In July 2002, Afghan officials said 48 civilians at a wedding party were killed and 117 wounded by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province. An investigative report released by the U.S. Central Command said the airstrike was justified because American planes had come under fire.

2004-05-17T08:38:00.000-06:00

Heathrow Airport Gold Heist

Armed police arrested seven men on Monday after foiling an attempted gold heist at Heathrow Airport that would have been one of Britain's biggest ever robberies.

The men smashed a van through steel shutters into a warehouse and threatened staff with guns and knives in a bid to steal 40 million pounds in gold bullion and cash.

But more than 100 police officers were lying in wait after a tip-off.

Detective Superintendent Barry Phillips, from Scotland Yard's Flying Squad that headed the operation, said: "In preventing this attack, we have foiled what would have been one of the biggest robberies ever committed in the UK."

Police fired special rounds, used to deflate tyres, to disable the gang's van.

One officer suffered minor injuries.

"It is clear that a lot of planning and preparation went into the attack but the Flying Squad was one step ahead of the team for some time," Mr Phillips added.

Six men were arrested at the warehouse but two escaped by forcing a worker to drive them away in a hijacked van.

One of the men has since been arrested and the other is still on the run.

Heathrow Airport was the scene of what remains Britain's biggest gold robbery - the 1983 raid on a Brinks Mat warehouse.

In that raid, a six strong masked gang overpowered security guards and escaped with 26 million pounds in gold and diamonds.

They were all eventually caught.

2004-05-14T14:50:00.000-06:00

Legallize Marijuana

House Majority Leader James Amann (D-118) then sent the bill to the Finance Committee, which passed it. The bill died when the 2004 session ended.

The House of Representatives passed, 79 to 72, a medical marijuana bill that would have allowed residents to grow marijuana in their homes for personal use, provided they receive a doctor's prescription for the drug.

People suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other terminal illnesses then could have legally used marijuana. The drug reportedly eases pain, controls nausea and increases appetite in patients.

The medical marijuana bill would have made it legal for such patients to possess and cultivate up to five plants in their home. Purchasing or selling the drug would have remained illegal, even for the patients.

All three Stratford representatives opposed the bill.

"It would have been so difficult to control its distribution that I just couldn't support it," said State Rep. Terry Backer (D-121). "If we could have set it up for distribution in pharmacies, then that might have been a different story."

Lawrence Miller (R-122), said he sympathizes with people who need relief from pain, but that there were better alternatives.

"I know what I've gone through," he said. "With good doctors in good hospitals, there is no need to smoke a weed to relieve pain."

John Harkins (R-120) said the Connecticut Medical Society swayed his decision to oppose the bill.

"I received a letter from the society, and they said marijuana is not a good medical alternative," he said.

In addition, the American Medical Association, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Cancer Society and other medical groups have also stated there is no medical benefit to smoking marijuana.

Harkins agreed with Miller that those who voted in favor of the bill probably based their vote on compassion.

"It was a very emotional debate, and I do understand why people voted in favor of it," he said. "But in the end, the medical community and the law enforcement community were against it, and that's good enough for me."

State Rep. James Abrams (D-Meriden) co-sponsored the bill and has fought to legalize medical marijuana for the last five years. Last year, his bill failed on the House floor by 12 votes.

The bill also won approval from the Judiciary, Appropriations and Public Health committees.

Opponents of the bill feared it would be a first step in legalizing marijuana altogether. Abrams said that was not his intention.

"I'm not in favor of legalizing marijuana," he said, which is why his bill did not legalize purchasing the drug. "We'd be legalizing behavior we don't want to legalize."

Robert Rooks is executive director of the non-profit organization A Better Way, a group dedicated to reviewing drug policies in Connecticut. Rooks joined Abrams' effort two years ago.

"There are a large contingent of folks in Connecticut that are using marijuana for medical purposes," Rooks said. "They should no longer have to worry about potential repercussions from state government."

Abrams said the existing use of marijuana by terminally ill patients allowed him to avoid the "first seed" issue in his bill - the question of where patients would obtain marijuana. He and Rooks said those who need it already have it.

"We'll really be legalizing what is ongoing behavior," he said.

A gateway drug

Opponents to legalizing medical marijuana said marijuana is a "gateway" drug that often leads to the use of cocaine and heroin.

The federal government categorizes marijuana as a schedule 1 drug, meaning it cannot be sold by prescription. Cocaine, by comparison, is a schedule 2 drug that doctors can prescribe.

Ginger Katz, a Norwalk woman whose son Ian died of a drug overdose, formed the Courage to Speak Foundation and travels the country warning children of the dangers of drug use.

She said she opposes medical marijuana legislation because it will suggest to children that smoking marijuana is okay.

"Marijuana isn't medicine - it's that simple," Katz said. "Medical marijuana is the beginning of legalizing it. The message to children is really loud and clear...It definitely sends a message to kids that it's okay to use."

Katz said there are several existing drugs already available by prescription that serve the same purpose as marijuana in relieving symptoms.

Backer said that was another reason why he opposed the bill.

"Take a drug like Oxycontin, which is a wonderful pain reliever," he said. "The difference is you have to buy that at a pharmacy and doctors can control the dosage. We don't let people make Oxycontin themselves."

Marijuana derivatives are available in pill and liquid form to help patients combat nausea and increase their appetite.

According to Abrams and Rooks, however, patients who smoke marijuana told them that the derivative medicines do not work as well.

Abrams said the lack of scientific evidence supporting those claims is not enough to ignore them.

"One reason there's no scientific evidence is that the government won't fund any studies," he said. "There is tons of anecdotal evidence."

Rooks said he was troubled by efforts to remove any potential medicine from terminally ill patients.

"There are other drugs that do work," he said. "But we would like marijuana to be one of the options."

2004-05-14T14:08:00.000-06:00

The NJ Weedman

Ed Forchion, also known as the NJ Weedman (http://www.njweedman.com), just got off parole, and he's ready to roll. Forchion endured 20 months in prison for marijuana trafficking and another six as a parole violator when New Jersey parole authorities jailed him for trying to run TV ads advocating marijuana legalization. He was only freed when a federal judge forced the state to recognize his First Amendment rights.

A little more than two weeks after his parole ended -- bad weather forced a delay from the original December 6 date -- Forchion declared his candidacy for the US House at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia in front of about 50 supporters and a couple of dozen cops. Running as the candidate of the US Marijuana Party (http://www.usmjparty.org), Forchion offered up a prayer for the nearly 700,000 marijuana offenders arrested each year and the thousands of more jailed for other drug crimes, then fired up a joint with comrade in arms Patrick Duff. They didn't get to finish -- 17 US Park Service rangers promptly swept in and detained them -- but they got what they wanted: An arrest that will serve as the basis for a Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) claim that their Liberty Bell pot-puffing is protected as religious expression under federal law.

There is legal precedent for such a claim. In May 2002, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that the RFRA precluded the US government from prosecuting people who possess marijuana on federal lands for religious reasons. Unfortunately for the plaintiff in that case, Bennie Toves Guerrero, who was caught carrying five ounces into Guam, the court also found that the RFRA didn't block him from being prosecuted for importing marijuana.

"I've gone through a lot at the hands of the drug warriors," said Forchion, "and I'm making a statement to let them know I'm back in a big way." In addition to running for the House and plotting the RFRA case, Forchion has also filed a suit in New Jersey challenging the state's new prisoner and parolee DNA testing law and his suit against cable TV giant Comcast for refusing to air his marijuana ads is pending. (See: the Comcast newsbrief this issue for a similar episode.)

And it all ties together, Forchion toldDRCNet. "I'm running for the House to expose the issue," he said, "but by doing so, I will be able to make Comcast run my ads. They will be political campaign ads now. In fact, I'm going to being submitting the same ads, except at the end they will say 'paid for by the US Marijuana Party.' What Comcast is doing is outrageous. The largest cable provider in the country has decided what political viewpoints are acceptable."

Forchion, who for years has headed his own Legalize Marijuana Party, is ready to be part of something bigger, he said. "I've been a one-man gang for the last few year," said the Weedman, "and I have no problem becoming part of something. My ego is not that big, and I've found that people find it difficult to latch onto the Weedman. Maybe I'll be more effective as part of a group." With chapters in 25 states, the US Marijuana Party is a group that fit the bill.

As for the RFRA challenge, said Forchion, "You can't challenge a law unless you have standing. By going to the Liberty Bell, which is federal property, and holding a prayer service, a non-denominational religious service and smoking marijuana as part of it and being ticketed, I now have standing. I will challenge the constitutionality of my arrest on the basis that I was exercising my religious freedom as guaranteed by the RFRA," he said. "They'll find me guilty, but it should be thrown out. I'm not trying to make the Liberty Bell a smoke-in place," he laughed, "but you can be sure if we get a favorable ruling, there will be people there doing just that. They're already talking about it."

He will be represented by prominent Philadelphia civil liberties attorney Michael Coard, he said. He and Coard will also be in contact with the ACLU's Drug Policy Litigation Project, which was involved in the ground-breaking Guam case. "I hope we can at least get them to submit an amicus brief," he said.

He and Duff were not mistreated by the Park rangers, Forchion said, although he noted that he was strip-searched while Duff, who is white, was not. The Weedman was threatened with another arrest when, as part of the strip-search, he removed his jacket and shirt to reveal a t-shirt picturing a large, extended middle finger. "They threatened to arrest me for obscenity," he snorted, "but I said no, it's political expression and it represents my displeasure at government actions, specifically the war on drugs." Forchion emphasized his feelings by giving the officers a live two-handed demonstration of the one-finger salute to the cheers and laughter of videotaping onlookers.

Forchion, a resident of Browns Mills, NJ, is running in that state's Third Congressional District against incumbent Republican Jim Saxton. The district includes Burlington and Ocean counties and some CamdenCounty neighborhoods. Pat Duff, 27, a former radio personality and self-described "renegade car salesman" arrested along with Forchion, will run as the US Marijuana Party candidate for Philadelphia City Council.

"I just can't go back to being incog-negro," said the Rastafarian former truck driver. "This prohibition is wrong!"

Welcome back, Weedman.

2004-05-14T10:01:00.000-06:00

Multi Million Dollar Drug Ring

A Chicago gang is accused of turning a public housing building into the headquarters of a multi (m) million dollar drug ring.

Federal authorities have arrested 32 alleged members of the Black Disciples organization and are looking for 15 others.

They allegedly used rooftop snipers in their battles with rival gangs, used children and addicts as lookouts and equipped members with night-vision scopes. Authorities say everyone who entered the building was frisked.

Officials say the gang's drug sales ranged from 20-to-150- thousand dollars a day.

Charges include conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, heroin and marijuana as far back as 1989.

2004-05-13T12:16:00.000-06:00

John Kerry

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=18653

Well, if the fine people at Alternet thinks it's okay, I guess I can try it just this once... Alternet reports: "With bong-hitting Boomers like High Times' Stratton now in positions of influence, the message has morphed from yesteryear's "just say no" to onethat's easier to swallow, if not inhale :

"it's OK to toke." Presidential-hopeful John Kerry has copped to smoking cannabis, saying he "didn't mind getting high" (a step-up from Clinton's admission that a joint hovered near his lips.) If anything, those who have smoked silently for decades have begun breaking the hush-hush about the herb. "

2004-05-13T08:02:00.000-06:00

The Government Warned Nicholas Berg

The U.S. government warned a young American to leave Iraq, and offered him a flight out of the country, a month before his grisly beheading was broadcast on an al-Qaida-linked Web site, officials said.

But authorities in Baghdad denied that Nicholas Berg, 26, was held in U.S. custody before he disappeared in early April, despite claims to the contrary by his family. The authorities said he had been held by Iraqi police for about two weeks and questioned by FBI agents three times.

The final movements of the telecommunications businessman from suburban Philadelphia remain unclear as officials in Washington and Baghdad try to piece together how Berg crossed paths with a group of Islamic militants who savagely decapitated him in a video released Tuesday bearing the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American." It referred to an associate of Osama bin Laden believed to be behind a wave of suicide bombings in Iraq.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, told reporters Thursday in Baghdad that it appears al-Zarqawi was responsible.

Asked whether he meant al-Zarqawi personally carried out the execution, Sanchez said, "All indications are he did it." Asked about al-Zarqawi's whereabouts, he said, "We believe he's moving around the country."

Later, however, Sanchez said it wasn't clear that Zarqawi was present at the killing. "I don't know whether he was personally holding the knife or in the room," Sanchez said. "I do not know that."

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said earlier it was likely that al-Zarqawi himself was "the lead perpetrator."

Berg's body was found Saturday in Baghdad. Two e-mails he sent to his family and friends show he traveled widely and unguarded throughout Iraq, an unsafe practice rarely done by Westerners.

Shortly before Berg's disappearance, he was warned by the FBI that Iraq was too volatile a place for unprotected American civilians and that he could be harmed, a senior FBI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Wednesday.

On April 10, four days after Berg was released from an Iraqi prison, an American diplomat offered to put him on a flight to Jordan, State Department spokeswoman Kelly Shannon said.

But Berg told the diplomat he "planned to travel overland to Kuwait and would call (his) family from there," Shannon said.

Several days later, around April 12, the diplomat received an e-mail from Berg's family in West Chester, Pa., that "noted he had not been in contact," Shannon said. Staff members at the $30-a-night Al-Fanar Hotel in Baghdad told The Associated Press that Berg stayed there for several days until April 10.

Berg's father, Michael Berg, said that although his son wanted to leave Iraq, he refused the flight offer because he thought the travel to the airport would be too dangerous. Attacks had taken place in the areas his son would need to drive through, Michael Berg said.

On April 14, the U.S. consulate sent a private contractor to the Al-Fanar Hotel in Baghdad, where Berg was believed to be staying, to see whether he was still there.

"The people we talked to at the hotel didn't remember him being there," Shannon said.

Diplomats then alerted the U.S. military to be on the lookout for him.

In Baghdad, U.S. spokesmen Dan Senor said that "to my knowledge" Berg was not affiliated with any U.S. or coalition organization, nor was he ever in U.S. custody.

Iraqi police arrested Berg in Mosul on March 24 because local authorities believed he may have been involved in "suspicious activities," Senor said. He refused to elaborate, except to confirm that the Americans were aware Berg was in custody.

Berg was released April 6 and "was advised to leave the country," Senor added. Instead, Berg checked into the Baghdad hotel.

Mosul police chief Maj. Gen. Mohammed Khair al-Barhawi told reporters Thursday that his department had never arrested Berg.

Since Iraq remains under U.S. military occupation, it seems unlikely that the Iraqi police would have held Berg, or any other American, for such a length of time without at least the tacit approval of U.S. authorities.

"The Iraqi police do not tell the FBI what to do, the FBI tells the Iraqi police what to do," Michael Berg told the AP. "Who do they think they're kidding?"

The younger Berg told his family that U.S. officials took custody of him soon after his arrest and he was not allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer, his father said.

Kimmitt said U.S. forces kept tabs on Berg during his confinement to make sure he was being fed and properly treated because "he was an American citizen."

But the three FBI visits suggest American authorities were concerned about more than Berg's well-being. They may have had their own suspicions about what the young American was doing in Iraq.

During a briefing Wednesday, Senor confirmed that Berg had registered with the U.S. Consulate in Baghdad but insisted he "was not a U.S. government employee, he has no affiliation with the coalition and to our knowledge he has no affiliation with any Coalition Provisional Authority contractor."

He also said Berg "was at no time under the jurisdiction or detention of coalition forces."

2004-05-12T10:36:00.000-06:00

American Man Beheaded In Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An American civilian who was beheaded in a grisly video posted on an al-Qaida-linked Web site had been warned to leave Iraq but refused, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The masked men who butchered him claimed they were angered by coalition abuses of Iraqi prisoners.

The American captive identified himself as Nick Berg, 26, of West Chester, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. His body was found near a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday, the same day he was beheaded, a U.S. official said.

This is an image made from a video posted Tuesday on an Islamic militant Web site showing a group of five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit, who identified himself as Nick Berg.

After pushing Berg to the floor, the men severed his head and held it up for the camera on the video posted Tuesday. It bore the title "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering an American," referring to an associate of Osama bin Laden believed behind a wave of suicide bombings in Iraq.

It was unclear whether al-Zarqawi was shown in the video or simply ordered the execution. Al-Zarqawi also is sought in the assassination of a U.S. diplomat in Jordan in 2002. The United States has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture or killing.

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Berg was in Iraq "of his own accord" and had been advised to leave Iraq but refused. The official refused to elaborate but promised more information later Wednesday.

According to his family, Berg, a small telecommunications business owner, spoke to his parents on March 24 and told them he would return home on March 30. But he was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24.

Berg was turned over to U.S. officials and detained for 13 days. His father, Michael, said his son wasn't allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer. On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the U.S. military. The next day Berg was released. He told his parents he hadn't been mistreated. His family last heard from him April 9 but it was unclear when and where he was abducted.

The Bush administration said those who beheaded Berg would be hunted down and brought to justice.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said. "It shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children."

Although Berg was working on his own, U.S. officials fear the savage killing might prompt more foreigners working on international reconstruction projects to flee the country.

Since the security situation deteriorated last month, about three out of 10 Americans and other non-Iraqis involved in reconstruction projects financed by the U.S. Agency for International Development have fled Iraq, the USAID director Andrew Natsios told The Associated Press.

A coalition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called Berg's death a "real anomaly" because the overwhelming majority of Westerners here are working for international companies.

Friends and family of Berg said he was a "free spirit" who wanted to help others - working in Ghana, in one example - and that his going to Iraq fit with that ideology. They said he supported the Iraqi war and the Bush administration.

Berg's killing happened amid a climate of intense anti-Western sentiment, which flared in Iraq after last month's crackdown on Shiite extremists and the three-week Marine siege of Fallujah west of Baghdad. Anger at the United States swelled with the publication of photographs showing Iraqis abused and humiliated at Abu Ghraib prison, which continue to stir rage throughout the Arab world.

U.S. officials had feared the shocking photographs would endanger the lives of American troops and civilians.

In the video, five men wearing headscarves and black ski masks stand over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit similar to prison uniforms.

"My name is Nick Berg. My father's name is Michael. My mother's name is Suzanne," the man, seated in a chair, says. "I have a brother and sister, David and Sara. I live in ... Philadelphia."

The video then cuts to Berg sitting on the floor, his hands tied behind his back, flanked by the masked men, as a statement is read in Arabic. Berg sits still during the statement, facing the camera, occasionally raising his shoulders.

After the statement, the assailant directly behind Berg takes a large knife from under his clothing while another pulls Berg onto his side. The tape shows assailants thrusting the knife through his neck. A scream sounds before the men cut Berg's head off, repeatedly shouting "Allahu Akbar!" - or "God is great."

They then hold the head out before the camera.

The video is of poor quality, and its time stamp seems to show an 11-hour lapse between when the assailants finish their statement and push Berg down, to when they behead him. That suggests a delay between those two portions of tape posted on the Web site.

Berg attended Cornell University, Drexel University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Oklahoma, where he got involved in rigging electronics equipment while working for the maintenance department, his father said. He helped set up equipment at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000.

While at Cornell, he traveled to Ghana to teach villagers how to make bricks out of minimal material. His father said Berg returned from Ghana with only the clothes on his back and emaciated because he gave away most of his food.

Michael Berg said his son saw his trip to Iraq as an adventure in line with his desire to help others.

Berg's family said they were informed by the State Department on Monday that he was found dead.

When told by a reporter about the Web site, Berg's father, brother and sister grasped one another and slowly dropped to the ground in their front yard, where they wept quietly while holding each other.

"I knew he was decapitated before," Michael Berg said. "That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

The decapitation recalled the kidnapping and videotaped beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002 in Pakistan. Four Islamic militants have been convicted of kidnapping Pearl, but seven suspects - including those who allegedly slit his throat - remain at large.

Last month, Iraqi militants videotaped the killing of Italian hostage Fabrizio Quattrocchi, but the Arab TV network Al-Jazeera refused to air it because it was too graphic.

In the video of Berg, the executioners said they had tried to trade him for prisoners at Abu Ghraib.

"For the mothers and wives of American soldiers, we tell you that we offered the U.S. administration to exchange this hostage for some of the detainees in Abu Ghraib and they refused," one of the men read from a statement.

"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins ... slaughtered in this way."

Seven soldiers from the 372nd Military Police Company face charges in the mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in a scandal that has sparked worldwide outrage. One of those soldiers faces a court-martial in Baghdad next week, the first to go to trial.

2004-05-07T12:19:00.000-06:00

2004-05-06T10:19:00.000-06:00

To Lick or Not To Lick? That is The Question

What is cunnilingus?
Cunnilingus is the fine art of making love to a vagina with your mouth and tongue. It is a delicate skill, requiring patience, practice, and dedication to get it right, but any woman you learn to do it right for will appreciate you all the more for it.
What applies to the penis applies to the vulva-- every one is different, requiring a different touch to make its owner happy. But few tools can equal the tongue for the amount of pleasure it can deliver to a happy vagina.
This article assumes that you know what a vulva looks like and can identify with some precision the mons veneris, labia majora, clitoral hood, clitoris, labia minora, urethra, vagina, and perineum, to name them (approximately) from top to bottom.

How fast should I go?
This isn't an attack. Don't go after the clitoris like a fireman attacking a fire. Quite often at first, the clitoris is far too sensitive for direct stimulation. Lick around it, stimulating the hood, teasing her inner labia, tasting her. Take your time and listen to her. Some women make noise, and some do not. It will be a while before you learn exactly what your lover prefers as far as oral sex is concerned.
Some women may like additional stimulation-- a finger or two into the vagina, or perhaps even the anus. She may want your hands to reach up and play with her breasts, or she may want your fingers to hold her labia apart so that your tongue can get at her vulva more directly.

I've heard cunnilingus doesn't taste good.
If the taste or smell bothers you or is a concern, ask her to wash first. Most people who enjoy cunnilingus agree that a clean vagina is a good, if acquired, taste.
As a woman nears her climax, she may want more direct stimulation. In general, fast, rhythmic stimulation is most effective at causing climax-- but there shouldn't be a rush to get there. Take your time and learn to appreciate what you can do for her.

What about cunnilingus during menstruation?
Some people are particularly turned off at the suggestion of cunnilingus during menstruation. If it is a concern to you, then wait. A tampon may well hold the blood back, as will a diaphragm, but some men can't stand the taste anyway. If your partner is healthy, however, there is no particular danger in menstrual blood, and some women find that orgasms during their periods allievate cramps.

2004-05-06T08:33:00.000-06:00

Looks Like Somebody Snitched

These are the people who were arrested. I bet it was the pretty girl that snithed everyone out.

A North Georgia methamphetamine supply chain was disrupted last month with the arrest of eight suspects in Hall County and the seizure of almost $250,000 in illegal drugs, the leader of the county's narcotics squad says.

Lt. Ken Neece, commander of the Hall County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad, said the arrests occurred in late March and included the confiscation of drugs with a value of $244,560.

The drugs were found in arrests along Friendship and Holiday roads in South Hall.

The arrests occurred near Interstate 985, which along with Ga. 365, U.S. 441 and Interstate 85, creates a high-speed drug corridor between Atlanta and North Carolina, said Maj. Wayne Mock of the Hall County Sheriff's Office. "Hall County is a midlevel stop," Mock said.

The arrests may change the routine for some.

Gracie Green, 23, of Sylva, N.C., and Jeffery Collins, 45, of Sugar Hill were charged March 27 with trafficking methamphetamine, trafficking cocaine, felony possession of marijuana and possession of a gun during a felony. Collins also faces possession of a gun by a felon and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

The arrests took place on Holiday Road. Agents recovered drugs valued at $67,040, according to reports from the drug squad.

Two days later, agents recovered another $177,520 in drugs, squad reports show.

Sarah Denson, 17, of Buford, Esquivel Rodolfo Jr., 20, Christopher Slette, 23, Jerry Etheridge Jr., 20, all of Sugar Hill, David Rocha, 59, of Lawrenceville and Leonor Hernandez, 44, of Norcross were charged with trafficking methamphetamine.

Slette is also charged with trafficking cocaine, possession of marijuana and wearing a bulletproof vest during the commission of a crime. Etheridge is also charged with trafficking of cocaine and possession of marijuana.

Rocha is also charged with cocaine possession. Denson is charged with attempting to falsify her age, court records show.

Slette and Denson were released April 16 on bond from the Hall County Detention Center. Slette was released on a $100,000 bond, and Denson was released on a $9,000 bond.

The others remain in jail. Etheridge is under a $100,000 bond, Green, Rodolfo and Collins have no bond. Rocha and Hernandez each have a $75,000 bond.

Rocha and Hernandez were "direct importers from Mexico," Neece said.

Methamphetamine accounted for most of the drug seizures. Prior to the March seizures, deputies had seized $46,770 in methamphetamine during the first quarter of 2004, Neece said.

Then $244,560 worth of drugs was recovered in the vicinity of Friendship and Holiday roads in South Hall. Deputies also confiscated several guns, $39,696 in cash and six vehicles.

Neece said international drug dealers are beginning to look at Hall as more than a destination. It's been a gradual shift over 15 years.

"Now we're a distribution hub," for surrounding counties and North Georgia, he said.

Neece said an easy supply of methamphetamine has been stopped to many dealers. He said investigators had noticed a significant increase in the availability of methamphetamine in the last six months.

"There was not a good solid lead to follow up on until the first arrest," he said.

Investigators, delaying the release of information about the ring for a month, were waiting to see if others would step in.

Lt. Mark McGinnis, assistant commander of criminal investigations in the sheriff's office, said it might not be too long. He said investigators identified a phone number and called it two years ago.

"We called Mexico at noon," he said of that day. "By 4 p.m., two pounds of methamphetamine was delivered to us from Atlanta."