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Friday, June 13, 2003
Children Hurt in Attack as Israeli's forge into Gaza City
Israeli helicopter gunships have fired missiles at a car in Gaza City, killing at least one person and wounding 22, according to medical sources.
Eight children under the age of ten were among those hurt.
Israel has attacked Hamas leaders and members of the military wing in five missile attacks this week.
Israel TV's Channel Two said the missiles were fired at a car carrying Palestinian militants who earlier in the day had fired homemade rockets toward Israel.
posted by Frodgie at 2:35 PM
War cost less than expected!
That means President Bush won't have to go back to Congress for additional funding this year, a step that could have revived the debate over the war.
A detailed account of expenses won't be complete for months, but senior administration officials say the cost of deployment and combat will be just less than the $62.6 billion Congress approved in March as emergency funding for Operation Iraqi Freedom. It is the first time officials have offered a tally.
posted by Frodgie at 6:44 AM
Thursday, June 12, 2003
Gregory Peck Dies at 87
LOS ANGELES - Gregory Peck (news), who embodied saintly fatherhood in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and played a range of real-life figures from Abraham Lincoln to Josef Mengele, died Thursday at 87.
posted by Frodgie at 6:31 PM
Israel strikes Gaza again
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- An Israeli helicopter gunship fired at a car in Gaza City on Thursday, killing five people and wounding at least 25, Palestinian medical officials said. It was the third Israeli helicopter attack in Gaza in 24 hours.
Among the dead were Jihad Sourour, his wife, and small son, Palestinian security sources said. Sourour was a member of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which has rejected calls for a cease-fire.
The three died when an Israeli missile went through the top of their car and exploded, witnesses said. Other missiles landed nearby, said the witnesses.
Earlier in the day, Israeli sources said, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his Cabinet that Israel would continue to strike Hamas and other militant groups, according to Israeli Army Radio and Israeli sources.
posted by Frodgie at 9:50 AM
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Army chief pick shows Rumsfeld's new focus
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has picked a retired Special Forces general as his choice for the next Army chief of staff, defense officials said yesterday.
Mr. Rumsfeld is recommending that President Bush nominate retired Army Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker to replace the outgoing Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki.
The selection was sent to Mr. Bush yesterday, and the president is expected to approve it and forward it to Congress for confirmation, said defense officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The choice of Gen. Schoomaker is seen as part of Mr. Rumsfeld's effort to reshape the service from a structure of large, heavily armored divisions into a more agile force modeled on Special Forces commandos, who played key roles in recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
posted by Frodgie at 1:15 PM
Mainstreaming Deviancy
Right or wrong?
The right to marry should be extended to same-sex couples Ontario's Appeal Court has ruled in a decision June 10, 2003. The ruling said the existing common-law definition of marriage violates the couple's equality rights on the basis of sexual orientation under the charter. The court also declared the current definition invalid and demanded the law be changed. File photo shows Kevin Bourassa(L) kissing his partner Joe Varnell following their wedding ceremony in a Toronto church January 14, 2001. (Andy Clark/Reuters) This hurts my eyes.
posted by Frodgie at 10:01 AM
Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Mainstreaming deviancy
2.jpg) Having seen the ratings bonanza of the reality dating shows "The Bachelor," "Joe Millionaire" and "The Bachelorette," the NBC-owned cable channel Bravo is getting in on the action. And to lure a perhaps jaded audience, it has come up with a new twist.
In July, Bravo begins airing "Boy Meets Boy," a six-episode series starring a bachelor who chooses, from 15 male contestants, a lover with whom he wishes to share a vacation, paid for by Bravo.
To spice up the series, several contestants are straight males, who hide their orientation. The prizes?
According to Lisa de Moraes of the New York Post, "If the leading man picks a gay man to be his mate, he wins a cash prize and a vacation with his guy of choice. Should he pick a straight guy, the straight guy wins a cash prize because, executive producer Doug Ross (says), 'to get them to do this you have to dangle more than a sociological experiment and exploring ... gay issues.'" I'll bet.
posted by Frodgie at 8:59 AM
U.S. says Iran harbors al Qaeda 'associate'
A top al Qaeda associate in Iraq has fled to neighboring Iran, where he and several senior al Qaeda leaders apparently remain under the protection of the Iranian government, U.S. intelligence officials say.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi fled Iraq within the past several weeks and is in Iran, the officials told The Washington Times.
Al-Zarqawi was identified in a U.N. briefing given in February by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell as an "associate and collaborator of Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda lieutenants."
That link was a key element in the U.S. case that Saddam Hussein's Iraq was tied to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, a stance repeated yesterday by President Bush in response to a New York Times report that said two al Qaeda captives had said the group did not cooperate with Saddam.
posted by Frodgie at 8:55 AM
Israeli gunships target Hamas spokesman
Abbas calls attack 'criminal and terrorist'
GAZA CITY (CNN) -- A Hamas official who had declared the militant group would continue its attacks against Israel was wounded on Tuesday when Israeli helicopter gunships launched missiles at a vehicle in Gaza City.
Two people were killed in the strike that injured Abdel Aziz Rantissi, Palestinian sources said. Rantissi is a key public figure who often defends Hamas or explains the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group's motivations to the world.
The strike came after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had vowed to press on with the "road map" to peace despite the Hamas threat and a Sunday gunfight that left four Israeli soldiers and three Palestinian militants dead.
posted by Frodgie at 8:47 AM
Monday, June 09, 2003
More Than 13,000 Muslims May Face Deportation....Good
WASHINGTON, June 6 — More than 13,000 of the Arab and Muslim men who came forward earlier this year to register with immigration authorities — roughly 16 percent of the total — may now face deportation, government officials say.
Only a handful have been linked to terrorism. But of the 82,000 men older than 16 who registered, more than 13,000 have been found to be living in this country illegally, officials say.
Many had hoped to win leniency by demonstrating their willingness to cooperate with the campaign against terror. The men were not promised special treatment, however, and officials believe that most will be expelled in what is likely to be the largest wave of deportations after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The government has initiated deportation proceedings, and in immigrant communities across the country, an exodus has already begun.
posted by Frodgie at 10:13 AM
New CLK 500 is a 'wow' car
Young Honda-driving boy racers gave me the "thumbs-up." So did the Buick and Ford Crown Victoria set.
The 5.0-liter, 302-horsepower, 24-valve aluminum V-8 delivers 339 foot-pounds of torque. Power is channeled to the road though a five-speed electronic automatic transmission with "Touch Shift" manual shifting.
Road manners are tamed by 225 and 245 section tires mounted to the aforementioned Monoblocks, a three-link front suspension with twin-tube gas shocks, and a rear multilink suspension also with gas shocks. It's a fun car to drive and brings out the enthusiast in you.
posted by Frodgie at 10:06 AM
Tiny IDs can track almost anything
Computer chips the size of grains of sand have become the latest trend among manufacturers seeking to track everything from automobiles to underwear to razor blades.
The new technology can fix the exact location of virtually any consumer product and the humans who wear and carry the items.
The radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips now in mass production are affixed to postage-stamp-size labels. Merchandisers, led by Wal-Mart, will soon use them to track goods inside the store. Shelf antennae will alert staff to restock products, or turn on surveillance cameras if shoplifting is suspected.
posted by Frodgie at 10:02 AM
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