June
1-15 Stories
Transvestite
Ancient Roman Unearthed in Britain
(Reuters) London
– The remains of a young Roman man who dressed as a woman and
probably castrated himself show a previously unknown side of Britain’s
ancient history, archaeologists said.
Excavations at Catterick, northern
England, unearthed the skeleton of a fourth century man buried
wearing a jet necklace and bracelet, a shale armlet and a bronze
anklet…
"In life he would have been
regarded as a transvestite and was probably a gallus — one of
the followers of the goddess Cybele who castrated themselves in
her honor," said Dr. Pete Wilson, senior archaeologist at
English Heritage. (Full
Story)
Neighbors
of Nuclear Plant North of New York Line Up for Precautionary Radiation-Fighting
Pills
(AP)
New York – Neighbors of a nuclear power plant 30 miles (48 kilometers)
north of New York City stood in line Saturday for free radiation-fighting
pills to keep in their homes in case of an emergency.
Since
the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the government has increased security
at all nuclear power plants, including taking into account for
the first time a possible suicide attack by a large aircraft.
(Full
Story)
A
Wartime Romance
Family separations are routine in the military. Men and women
in America’s armed forces often have to bid a temporary farewell
to spouses, fiancé(e)s, parents and children.
Once
in a while, though, people get lucky. That’s what happened to
a 1999 West Point graduate from Santa Fe, N.M., and her Green
Beret fiancé from Puerto Rico. (Full
Story)
"The
Fierce Battle is Still Continuing in the Jungles" Against
the Terrorists
Although
not a complete success, the attempt by Philippine commandos to
rescue the Burnhams (an American missionary couple) and a Philippine
woman, long held captive by terrorists, has bolstered U.S.-Philippine
determination to defeat the terrorists, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary
Paul Wolfowitz said Friday. Giving response from Brussels, Joint
Chiefs Chairman Air Force Gen. Richard Myers said, there was no
U.S. involvement in the hostage rescue in the Philippines. (Full
Story)
Parents
Enraged At Nick Kids Network Plan To Air Homosexuality
Program
(CNSNews.com)
– Plans by the Nickelodeon cable television network to air a special
on homosexuality and same-sex parenting have outraged thousands
of parents, many of whom are threatening to tune out the show
– or cancel it altogether.
David
Bittler, senior communications director for Nickelodeon, said
it was important for Nick News to air the program on homosexuality
and homosexual parenting.
"The
fact of the matter is that kids are not finding out about these
things through Nick News. Nick News realizes through its contacts
and through the headlines that these are issues that are around
and need to be explained to kids so that kids can have some information
and make up their own minds. Again, that is all that we are doing
here," he said. (Full
Story)
First
Step in India-Pakistan Peace ‘Stepping Away From the Brink’
Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his British counterpart, Minister
of Defence Geoffrey Hoon, compared notes in London earlier today
and agreed on the first step in resolving tensions between India
and Pakistan.
"The
first step is to back away from the brink. I don’t think we can
possibly plan what happens thereafter with both sides," Hoon
said in a press conference after private meetings with Rumsfeld
and U.S. Joint Chief Chairman, Air Force Gen. Richard Myers. Rumsfeld
and Myers are in Europe to attend an annual meeting of NATO defense
ministers in Brussels, Belgium. Rising tensions over the disputed
Kashmir region between India and Pakistan are sure to be high
on the list of discussion topics. After the London press conference,
Rumsfeld and Hoon left together on the short flight to Belgium.
(Full
Story)
Spitball
Could Land San Francisco Boy in Prison
(Reuters) –
An errant spitball that put a fellow student in the hospital with
an eye injury could land a 13-year-old California boy in juvenile
prison for up to eight years on two felony convictions.
"I feel bad about it, and I’m
sorry," Jeffrey Figueroa told the San Francisco Chronicle,
which on Wednesday reported his run-in with the law.
Figueroa has admitted that he shot
the spitball — a gum wrapper moistened with saliva — on the
first day of school last September at a middle school in the San
Francisco suburb of Walnut Creek, California. (Full
Story)
Joint
Agency Efforts Bring Down U.S. Born Al Qaeda Operative
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Monday while working
in Moscow that law enforcement officials had arrested a Hispanic-American
for his connection with Al Qaeda in a plot to detonate a "dirty
bomb" in the U.S. The 31-year-old former Chicago gang member,
Jose Padilla, was born in Brooklyn and raised Catholic, but after
spending time in a Florida jail for aggravated assault and discharging
a firearm he converted to Islam. Family friend Nelly Ojeda, 64,
said Padilla married a Middle Eastern woman and moved to Florida
with her several years ago.
Though it has not been confirmed,
and law enforcement officials are saying the attack was still
in its planning stages, it is believed that Washington D.C. may
have been a target. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has
told reporters Padilla "had indicated some knowledge of the
Washington, D.C., area" but has offered no more information…
(Full
Story)
June
16-30 Stories
Researchers
Unravel Anthrax Genomes
Researchers
report that the genetic comparison of two important isolates of
the anthrax bacterium: the well-known Ames strain and an isolate
from the recent Florida anthrax attacks. Although the study does
not pinpoint the exact origin of the Florida isolate, it confirms
previous scientific reports that the bacterium is derived from
the Ames strain. In addition, the study shows how whole-genome
sequencing technology and computational methods can be a powerful
approach for analyzing anthrax and other bacterial outbreaks.
Those techniques will enable researchers to more accurately trace
the origin of individual bacterial strains, determine if those
strains have been genetically modified, and assess differences
in their ability to cause disease or resist antibiotics. (Full
Report)
Philippine
Military Kills Abu Sayyaf Leader
The
Philippine military is reporting today it killed a major leader
of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group and two henchmen today in a
pre-dawn attack at sea.
Philippine
officials said the dead include Abu Sabaya, spokesman and most
publicly prominent leader of the Muslim- separatist group. They
said Sabaya was trying to jumpship when he was shot and fell overboard.
His body has not been recovered. (Full
Story)
NY
Rabbi Revives Armed Patrol Plan for Brooklyn
(Reuters)
– A Jewish group has revived plans to mount armed patrols of Jewish
areas in Brooklyn following an FBI warning that terrorists could
be planning to use fuel tanker trucks in new attacks, the leader
of the group said on Saturday.
Rabbi
Yakove Lloyd, who founded the Jewish Defense Group in 1985, told
Reuters the first patrol of about 50 people, a dozen of them armed,
would begin at 9 p.m. Sunday. (Full
Story)
"We
Must Take Action to Protect America Against the Terrorists"
Reports
emerged early this week that 50 to 200 Al Qaeda terrorist operatives
illegally entered the US mainland, through oceans in shipping
containers. An investigation is underway to determine the full
validity of these reports in order to quickly locate the Al Qaeda
operatives and stop them before they can attack U.S. citizens
again. Tom Ridge with Homeland Security has asked people to be
alert and observant. And, as before, it is being urged that If
one notices any suspicious activities the FBI
should be contacted.
Tuesday,
President Bush proposed legislation to Congress to encourage the
the best possible protection strategy and security for the US:
"Our Nation faces a new and
changing threat unlike any we have faced before — the global
threat of terrorism. No nation is immune, and all nations must
act decisively to protect against this constantly evolving threat.
We must recognize that the threat
of terrorism is a permanent condition, and we must take action
to protect America against the terrorists that seek to kill the
innocent…" (Full
Comments)
Leaders
Address Terror Prevention at G8
Group
of Eight leaders from Russia, Italy, Japan, Germany, France, Britain,
Canada and the United States gathered at a Resort in the Canadian
Rockies to take aim at pressing issues the world is now facing.
Such topics addressed were global terrorism, the determination
of debt relief for Africa and transport security, while supporting
economic growth.
During the summit, U.S. President
Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair took a few minutes
with reporters to talk about the need for new Palestinian leadership
that will actually prevent terrorism and coexist peacefully with
Israel. PM Blair said that over the "past few years"
he has had "30 different meetings with Chairman Arafat",
yet the terror persists. Now Blair concludes "we’ve got to
have leadership we can negotiate with that is serious about peace
and resists and totally rejects terrorism… We’ve got to have
a security infrastructure in Palestine that has integrity."
(Full
Remarks)
Coalition
Aircraft Fired Upon by Iraqis
In
a briefing Wednesday, Secretary Rumsfeld and Gen. Myers discussed
the current conditions in fight against terror in the Phillipines
and Afghanistan. During the briefing Myers also revealed that
"In Iraq… coalition aircraft flying in Operation Northern
Watch dropped precision-guided munitions this morning on elements
of an Iraqi integrated air defense system in the vicinity of Talafar,
40 miles west of Mosul. There have been nearly 10 separate instances
over the last three days of Iraqi firing on coalition aircraft
in the north, in Northern Watch, and that’s a significant number.
In the south, over the last seven days, coalition naval forces,
including the 5th Fleet, had diverted 21 vessels trying to smuggle
oil out of Iraq." (Full
Story)
Feds
Fear Possible Al Qaeda Cyber-Attacks
(Reuters)
– U.S. government experts, wary of al Qaeda’s skills on the Internet
are concerned that Osama bin Laden’s guerrilla network may be
planning cyber-attacks targeting nuclear power plants, dams or
other critical structures, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.
An
FBI investigation of suspicious surveillance of key computers
discovered "multiple casings of sites" nationwide, the
report said, citing a Defense Department summary of the probe.
(Full
Story)
Lieberman
Defends Pledge of Allegiance
After hearing of the brutal ruling out of a California
court against reciting the popular Pledge of Allegiance, several
U.S. legislators went outside on the steps of the Capitol, faced
an American flag and boldly recited the Pledge of Allegiance.
Senators
stopped working on a defense bill to unanimously pass a resolution
denouncing the decision of a the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Senator Joe Lieberman spoke out saying, "I rise to join my
friend and colleague from Florida, Senator Nelson, in expressing
dismay, outrage, and amazement at the news of the decision by
the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals declaring the recitation of the
Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional." (Full
Story)