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/ blog-heap o' links
Air Force Airman 1st Class Elizabeth N. Jacobson, 21, of Riviera Beach, Fla., died Sept. 28 near Camp Bucca, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near her convoy vehicle. defenselink.mil/ ... 19:47:20Army Sgt. Steve Morin, Jr., 34, of Arlington, Texas, died west of Umm Qasr, Iraq, on Sept. 28, when an improvised explosive device detonated, overturning the HMMWV in which he was riding. Morin was assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 19:46:53Army Staff Sgt. Jason A. Benford, 30, of Toledo, Ohio, died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 27, when his patrol was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. Navy Seaman Apprentice Robert D. Macrum, 22, of Sugarland, Texas, was lost at sea. He was last seen the evening of Sept. 12 while the ship was underway. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:42:21Army Staff Sgt. Robert F. White, 34, of Cross Lanes, W.Va, died west of Kandahar, Afghanistan on Sept. 26 when his mounted patrol was engaged by enemy forces using small arms fire. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:41:33Army Master Sgt. Tulsa T. Tuliau, 33, of Watertown, N.Y. Army Sgt. 1st Class Casey E. Howe, 32, of Philadelphia, N.Y. died in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained near Ar Rustimayah, Iraq, on Sept. 26 when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during combat operations. Marine Lance Cpl. Steven A. Valdez, 20, of McRea, Ark., died Sept. 26 from enemy mortar fire at Camp Blessing, Afghanistan. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:10:26Army Sgt. Andrew P. Wallace, 25, of Oshkosh, Wis.Army Spc. Michael J. Wendling, 20, of Mayville, Wis. died in Shaibah, Iraq, on Sept. 26, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during convoy operations. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:09:03Army Sgt. Andrew J. Derrick, 25, of Columbia, S.C., died on Sept. 23 near Baghdad, Iraq when his dismounted team came under attack by enemy forces using small arms fire. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:08:30Army Spc. Mike T. Sonoda, Jr., 34, of Fallbrook, Calif., died in Baghdad, Iraq on Sept. 22 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M113 Armored Personnel Carrier on Sept. 21. Sonoda was assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:07:55Army Sgt. Howard P. Allen, 31, of Mesa, Ariz., died in Baghdad, Iraq on Sept. 26 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV. Allen was assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:50:37Army Sgt. Shawn A. Graham, 34, of Red Oak, Texas, died on Sept. 25 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained earlier that day in Baghdad, Iraq. The vehicle in which he was riding accidentally rolled over. Graham was assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:49:42Marine Pvt. Elijah M. Ortega, 19, of Oxnard, Calif., died Sept. 26 as result of a non-hostile gunshot wound at Camp Baharia, Iraq. defenselink.mil/ ... 00:59:11Army Chief Warrant Officer John M. Flynn, 36, of Sparks, Nev., assigned to the Army National Guard,Army Warrant Officer Adrian B. Stump, 22, of Pendleton, Ore., assigned to the Army National Guard,Army Sgt. Tane T. Baum, 30, of Pendleton, Ore., assigned to the Army National Guard,Army Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross, 24, of Peoria, Ariz., assigned to the Army's 7th Battalion
[Briton] ...had been snorkelling with a friend near Picnic Beach on the island of Groote Eylandt, off Australia's northern coast, on Saturday... was being watched by his wife on the beach when he disappeared... feared to have been killed by a saltwater crocodile... measuring 13 feet... corpse.. found.. injuries were consistent with an attack by such a creature... news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 11:54:41Typhoon Damrey.. powerful.. has made landfall in northern Vietnam, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate inland... left 16 people dead on China's island province of Hainan... torrential rain... 100km/h (60mph) winds... destroyed some protective dykes in Vietnam's Thanh Hoa and neighbouring Nam Dinh provinces... Army Staff Sgt. Daniel R. Scheile, 37, of Antioch, Calif., died on Sept. 24 Army Sgt. Paul C. Neubauer, 40, of Oceanside, Calif., died on Sept. 23 of injuries sustained in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 23, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their M113 armored personnel carrier. They also were attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:25:25Marine Sgt. Brian E. Dunlap, 34, of Vista, Calif., died Sept. 24 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Taqaddum, Iraq. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:24:46Army Spc. Kevin M. Jones, 21, of Washington, N.C., died near Al Taqaddum, Iraq, on Sept. 22, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. 
Don Adams, the comic-actor who played bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart on the hit 1960s spy-spoof series "Get Smart," has died. He was 82... 
An Australian man has managed to fight off a five-metre-long (16ft) shark, thought to be a great white, with his bare hands... "He was just sitting on the board waiting for the next wave... and it just hit him from underneath and knocked him off, then actually just took his board and was dragging him and he had to pull his leg rope off to actually get away from it... It came back again so he pushed it away with his hand... second in two days in Australia. On Friday a 44-year-old man in Western Australia survived repeated attacks by a small shark off a Perth beach... earthquake.usgs.gov/ ... 22:29:12A major earthquake occurred at 01:55:34 (UTC) on Monday, September 26, 2005. The magnitude 7.5 event has been located in NORTHERN PERU. The hypocentral depth was estimated to be 85 km (53 miles). (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)... ap.tbo.com/ ... 18:15:16Flooding in dozens of small communities forced hundreds of evacuations.. A number of people were also reported missing... news.independent.co.uk/ ... 16:00:09...experts say New York could be the next city to be devastated. The area around the Big Apple is listed by the Center as the fifth most vulnerable in the country, after New Orleans, the Florida Keys, Tampa in Florida and Galveston in Texas... Local experts say that such a catastrophe is "inevitable", and the New York City authorities warn that it could bring a 30ft-high storm surge crashing into Manhattan... 
The owner of a missing dog in Evans, Colo., said he has received a ransom note that threatens to kill his pet if he doesn't pay $100. The note came in a bag of dog excrement... "It looked like my dog's poop... but I'm not a dog poop analyst..." ap.tbo.com/ ... 10:01:47
The veterinarian thought the X-ray was a joke... a 13-inch serrated knife in a 6-month-old puppy? ap.tbo.com/ ... 09:40:24
FLAT ROCK, Ind. - A man agreed Friday to transfer several bears and tigers to rescue groups after his squalid exotic animal farm was raided by state wildlife officials... "I'm going to shuffle cats to some good homes," said Hill, whose property is located about 30 miles south of Indianapolis. His decision came despite a judge's ruling earlier in the day temporarily blocking the state from removing the animals... got his first tiger 22 years ago, said he had kept the animals because he had not found anyone he trusted to care for them. "It's like trying to find a baby sitter for your kids..." animals appeared generally healthy, if underweight. But "the living conditions of the animals are horrific..." tigers were found living in a 6-inch-deep mixture of mud, feces and urine... Two tigers weighing between 200 and 300 pounds were in dog kennels in a barn loft, while another tiger was found dead on the property and crews were searching for a missing tiger cub... Conservation officers wanted to remove 11 adult and eight juvenile Bengal tigers, five white tigers, three spotted leopards, three black leopards, four black bears, a mountain lion and a ring-tail lemur... 
A MOUSE with the equivalent of Down’s syndrome has been created to pave the way for new treatments for the health problems that affect people with the genetic disorder... Army Sgt. Pierre A. Raymond, 28, of Lawrence, Mass., died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, on Sept. 20, of injuries sustained in Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 15, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using indirect fire. Raymond was assigned to the Army Reserve. defenselink.mil/ ... 20:09:53Army Sgt. Travis M. Arndt, 23, of Bozeman, Mont., died in Kirkuk, Iraq, on Sept. 21 as a result of a vehicle accident during convoy operations. Arndt was assigned to the Army National Guard. defenselink.mil/ ... 20:08:55Army Spc. Scott P. McLaughlin, 29, of Hardwick, Vt., died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Sept. 22 as a result of enemy small arms fire. McLaughlin was assigned to the Army National Guard.defenselink.mil/ ... 00:31:53Army Sgt. 1st Class Lawrence E. Morrison, 45, of Yakima, Wash., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 19, of injuries sustained earlier that day in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Morrison was a reservist assigned to the U.S. Army Civil and Psychological Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 00:19:16Army Staff Sgt. William A. Allers III, 28, of Leitchfield, Ky., died in the vicinity of Khalis, north of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 20 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle. Allers was assigned to the Army National Guard.
Marine biologists have rescued the last four of eight trained dolphins that were swept to sea by Hurricane Katrina... Biologists located the dolphins on Sept. 10 by performing aerial surveys... four were rescued within days, but the other four had left the area. They were plucked from the Mississippi Sound on Tuesday... Despite.. injuries, the animals are recovering well and will be quarantined until experts are sure they do not have any communicable diseases. "They are doing great... It's been a confusing day for them for sure, but after a day they could settle down and feel at home"... ap.tbo.com/ ... 02:11:31JACKSON, Miss. - Hurricane Katrina ripped open mausoleums at Southern Memorial Park, sucked caskets out of their tombs, flattened offices and left the entire place looking "like a war zone..." It could be weeks before officials know exactly how many caskets are missing... adding that one casket was found as recently as Sunday buried in sand and debris on the beach... ap.tbo.com/ ... 02:09:51NEW ORLEANS - John and Leola Lyons stayed together, locked in their neat little blue house, riding out the killer storm and the flood that followed. A pair of agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms found the elderly couple inside their house on Tuesday, more than three weeks after Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans. John was keeping watch over his wife's body... a patrol had already been through... "He said he didn't hear the rescuers," Smith said. "They had just stayed inside, waiting for help..." "He was probably in a state of grieving, and maybe confused..." estimated that Leola Lyons had been dead for five days... Army Spc. William L. Evans, 22, of Hallstead, Pa., assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 19 of injuries sustained earlier that day in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle during combat operations. defenselink.mil/ ... 14:31:07Army 1st Lt. Mark H. Dooley, 27, of Wallkill, N.Y, assigned to the Army National GuardArmy Sgt. Michael Egan, 36, of Philadelphia, Pa., assigned to the Army National GuardArmy Spc. William V. Fernandez, 37, of Reading, Pa., assigned to the Army National GuardArmy 1st Sgt. Alan N. Gifford, 39, of Tallahassee, Fla. Army Spc. David H. Ford IV, 20, of Ironton, Ohio. died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 16, when an improvised explosive device detonated near their M1A1 Abrams tank during patrol operations. defenselink.mil/ ... 01:58:03Army Staff Sgt. Regilio E. Nelom, 45, of Queens, N.Y., died near Al Asad, Iraq, on Sept. 17, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during an escort mission. 
Bill Clinton sharply criticised George W. Bush for the Iraq War and the handling of Hurricane Katrina, and voiced alarm at the swelling US budget deficit... [okay, we know Bill's not running for anything... oh, wait! could he be starting to lay the foundation for Hillarity to come?]Army Sgt. Alfredo B. Silva, 35, of Calexico, Calif., died in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sept. 15, 2005, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during patrol operations. Silva was assigned to the Army National Guard.defenselink.mil/ ... 01:22:42Marine Lance Cpl. Shane C. Swanberg, 24, of Kirkland, Wash., died Sept. 15 from an explosion resulting from indirect fire at Forward Operating Base, Camp Ramadi, Iraq.
[further details...] 40,000-volt charge... wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket... "There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building..." after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters... "We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited..." ap.tbo.com/ ... 10:46:29UNION SPRINGS, N.Y. ..A 17-year-old student was arrested Monday after streaking through his high school wearing only a gorilla mask and outrunning the school principal... student said he had been dared by friends...Two dolphins that were swept from their aquarium tanks into the Gulf of Mexico by Hurricane Katrina were rescued Thursday, but six others remained at sea.... captured after scientists in a boat coaxed the trained animals into sliding onto mats... had cuts and appeared to be the worst injured of the eight,.. moved to a hotel swimming pool...ap.tbo.com/ ... 21:05:54Hurricane Katrina deaths as of Thursday: 
Thunderstorms packing powerful winds swept through parts of Wisconsin Tuesday, knocking out power to tens of thousands of homes, damaging buildings, and downing trees and power lines. A downed wire killed a 57-year-old man in the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa... Winds gusted to 75 mph in Pewaukee... In Sheboygan... about 40 large trees were blocking roadways and some roads were flooded...Eight bottlenose dolphins that were washed out of their Mississippi aquarium pool during Hurricane Katrina have been found alive, huddled together in the fetid waters off Gulfport, Miss, the BOSTON GLOBE will report on Wednesday... today.reuters.com/ ... 17:51:26The owners of a nursing home where 34 people were found dead after Hurricane Katrina have been arrested and charged with 34 counts of negligent homicide for not evacuating those patients... nola.com/ ... 17:50:41local lore is that the Superdome was cursed . . . a punishment for desecrating this City of the Dead. Exorcists and voodoo priestesses have been here to dispel the curse. That lore will no doubt expand into an even more gruesome story for buggy drivers in the Quarter to enchant their passengers... ap.tbo.com/ ... 11:38:18President Bush.. Tuesday.. "Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government.. To the extent the federal government didn't fully do it's job right, I take responsibility..."today.reuters.com/ ... 11:16:38"You can wear someone else's blue jeans or shirt, but you need your own underwear," said Kay Barbour who, along with Robin Nichols has organized a drive to collect the items for thousands of people who fled Louisiana or were evacuated to Houston. The women set up collection boxes at a chain of fast food outlets, rallied their friends to the cause and dropped off 1,944 pairs of new underwear at the Salvation Army distribution center in Pasadena, a suburb of Houston. They were all gone within two or three hours... today.reuters.com/ ... 11:14:19...The Greyhound bus station in New Orleans was converted into a makeshift jail by police... "Greyhound called us on Friday and asked us not to refer to it as Camp Greyhound anymore..."ap.tbo.com/ ... 10:17:28BRETTON WOODS, N.H. ...To raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, the Mount Washington Hotel is auctioning itself off online. The winner gets the complete use of the hotel - all 200 rooms, which accommodate 500 people... golf, tennis, horseback riding, carriage and sleigh rides, swimming, hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing, ice skating, snow tubing, and alpine and cross-country skiing... winner gets use of the hotel the night of Nov. 9... hotel puts the value of the auction at $50,000... ap.tbo.com/ ... 10:08:37NEW ORLEANS... more than 40 bodies inside an evacuated hospital... not immediately clear how the patients died. One hospital official said at least a few of the patients were dead before the storm, while another said the rising temperature in the hospital afterward likely contributed to some of the deaths... a spokesman for hospital owner Tenet Healthcare Corp., said some of the patients died before Katrina arrived, and none of the deaths resulted from lack of food, water or electricity to power medical equipment. ...an assistant administrator at Memorial Medical Center, said patients died while waiting to be evacuated after Katrina struck, as temperatures inside the hospital reached 106 degrees. Army Spc. Jeremy M. Campbell, 21, of Middlebury, Pa., died on Sept. 11, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during patrol operations.defenselink.mil/ ... 16:36:43Army Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Everett, 23, of Huntsville, Texas, died on Sept. 7, 2005, in Al Taqqadum, Iraq, where an accident occurred in the motor pool. Everett was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion.Authorities on Tuesday dismissed a claim that a wrangler had nabbed a 7-foot-long alligator named "Reggie" from a city lake... "To the best of my knowledge and all the reports I have received this morning, it was a hoax," said Ron Berkowitz, the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks superintendent... "I called the zoo to verify and the gator is not there. I called the rangers, the city council office and my staff at the lake. There was no capture." Reached by phone at his Colorado gator farm later Tuesday, Young said he has not been in Los Angeles recently and that he hadn't called the media earlier in the day. He said the caller apparently was someone impersonating him...ap.tbo.com/ ... 11:25:09The reported capture of the alligator cannot be confirmed.ap.tbo.com/ ... 10:14:44Los Angeles.. Wranglers early Tuesday nabbed a 7-foot-long alligator named "Reggie" from a city lake where he had been dumped several months ago by a former police officer and repeatedly avoided capture. "He put up a good fight," said Jay Young, who helped catch the alligator along with a crew of handlers from Colorado... his crew spotted the 180-pound reptile resting on land near the shore... His brother, Noah Young, then walked up and slipped a rope around the gator's neck... gator began thrashing about... he held its mouth shut while the crew taped it shut and wrapped the gator in a blanket. ..planned to transport it to the Los Angeles Zoo...A former Los Angeles police officer was arrested for allegedly dumping Reggie several months ago when it got too big to keep as a pet. Another man who allegedly gave the gator to the former officer was also arrested...
HAMMONDVILLE, Ala. (AP) - A truck carrying tons of quarters caught fire Tuesday and spilled most of them on a highway... 39,000 pounds of new Kansas quarters... were worth some $800,000... The road was partly closed for 12 hours...ap.tbo.com/ ... 16:48:15Current gasoline-electric hybrid models, and those in the works: 
ROYAL, Neb. ..Three chimpanzees from a small-town zoo were shot and killed after they escaped from their enclosure and could not be captured... padlock ..not completely closed after cleaning... zoo director Ken Schlueter Jr. ..killed the animals with a deputy's service revolver after a tranquilizer gun didn't show any effect...A fourth chimpanzee also escaped, but quickly returned to its cage... The seven-acre zoo opened 18 years ago ..with one animal - a chimpanzee named Reuben, one of those killed Saturday... chimps weighed up to 300 pounds or more... The danger chimps pose to humans was highlighted when a man and his wife were attacked by chimpanzees March 3 at the Animal Haven Ranch near Bakersfield, Calif. The man was severely mauled and the woman lost part of her thumb before the animals where shot to death...
Comets... "The material is unbelievably fragile... You could pick up a chunk of it like you were picking up good powdered snow for skiing, except it would mostly be dust. "The various pieces are held together so weakly that you could break them up on any spatial scale, big or small... It means it's really hard to understand how you're going to attach the Rosetta lander to the surface... How it's going to work with this incredibly weak stuff, I'm doubtful. I don't think the gravity's strong enough for it to sink in, but if there is any outgassing that will whip it back up..." news.bbc.co.uk/ ... 09:59:05Earth and Saturn's moon Titan show striking similarities because both occupy "sweet spots" in our Solar System... Wind, rain and volcanism and tectonic activity all seem to play a role in shaping Titan's surface. One scientist even sees a way that life could survive on the freezing world... Army Spc. Jeffrey A. Williams, 20, of Warrenville, Ill., died on Sept. 5, 2005, in Tal Afar, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his combat patrol.defenselink.mil/ ... 23:25:37Army Staff Sgt. Jude R. Jonaus, 27, of Miami, Fla.Army Sgt. Franklin R. Vilorio, 26, of Miami, Fla.Navy Hospitalman Robert N. Martens, 20, of Queen Creek, Ariz., died Sept. 6, from injuries sustained as a passenger when his HMMWV rolled over in Al Qaim, Iraq.defenselink.mil/ ... 12:09:23Army Sgt. Matthew C. Bohling, 22, of Eagle River, Alaska, died on Sept. 5, 2005, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations.defenselink.mil/ ... 00:34:39Army Spc. Luke C. Williams, 35, of Knoxville, Tenn., died on Sept. 5, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq, when the HMMWV he was riding in accidentally rolled over into a ditch.Army Sgt. 1st Class Lonnie J. Parson, 39, of Norcross, Ga., died on Sept. 2, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, when his M3A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle was struck by an enemy explosive device.defenselink.mil/ ... 12:27:36Army Sgt. George R. Draughn Jr., 29, of Decatur, Ga.Army Staff Sgt. Robert L. Hollar Jr., 35, of Griffin, Ga... Army Capt. Lowell T. Miller, II, 35, of Flint, Mich., died on Aug. 31, 2005, in Iskandariyah, Iraq, when his military training team was conducting operations with the Iraqi Army and they came under attack by enemy forces using small arms fire. Miller was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion.defenselink.mil/ ... 23:31:17Army Spc. Jason E. Ames, 21, of Cerulean, Ky., died on Aug. 31, 2005, in Mosul, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries.defenselink.mil/ ... 23:24:36Army Sgt. Monta S. Ruth, 26, of Winston-Salem, N.C., died on Aug. 31, 2005, in Samarra, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle during security patrol operations.
DAR ES SALAAM - A [50yo] Tanzanian man survived a mauling by a lion which sprang at him from the bushes on his way to his farm... was with two relatives when the beast hauled him to the ground, clawing and biting him repeatedly... "I somehow managed to muster the strength to battle with it... I was in a state of shock, but kept fighting it with all my strength. I refused to lie down and be killed by the animal..." As his two companions screamed for help, the huge cat left its struggling prey on the ground and sank its teeth into the thigh of one of the other men before charging back into the forest... ap.tbo.com/ ... 09:21:25
NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario ... "One day I noticed one of the young whales appeared to have come up with a procedure for luring gulls down to the pool... I found it interesting so I noted it in my log." First, the young whale spit regurgitated fish onto the surface of the water, then sank below the water and waited. If a hungry gull landed on the water, the whale would surge up to the surface, sometimes catching a free meal of his own... same whale set the same trap again and again. Within a few months, the whale's younger half brother adopted the practice. Eventually the behavior spread and now five Marineland whales supplement their diet with fresh fowl... "This is an example in which a new behavior spread through a population...We had the opportunity to see a tradition form and spread in exactly the way that cultures do in humans..." Army Maj. Gregory J. Fester, 41, of Grand Rapids, Mich., died on Aug. 30, 2005, in Iskandariyah, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol. Fester was a reservist assigned to the U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C.defenselink.mil/ ... 00:19:44Army 2nd Lt. Charles R. Rubado, 23, of Clearwater, Fla., died on Aug. 29, 2005, in Tal Afar, Iraq, when his M1A2 Abrams tank came under attack by enemy forces using small arms fire.defenselink.mil/ ... 00:18:50Army Chief Warrant Officer Dennis P. Hay, 32, of Valdosta, Ga., died on Aug. 29, 2005, in Tal Afar, Iraq, where his OH-58D Kiowa helicopter came under attack by enemy forces using small arms fire. 
The $10 bill is set to become the latest currency denomination to be jazzed up with a splash of colors to complement the greenback's traditional green... bills will not actually go into circulation until early next year, probably February or March... At present, there are no plans to add color to the $1, the $2 or the $5 bills... 
Japanese scientists have taken the first photographs of one of the most mysterious creatures in the deep ocean -- the giant squid... 
A fish farmer in Australia's tropical Northern Territory lost an estimated 100 tonnes of prized barramundi this week when steel chains holding a sea cage off Bathurst Island snapped in an unusually strong tide, spilling the fish into the open sea. ..estimated.. value.. of 35,000 fish.. A$500,000... Local fishermen quickly pounced on the company's misfortune. 
Thomas Ross Bond, who played Butch the bully in the "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals" serials of the 1930s, has died. He was 79... played a member of the Gang named Tommy. After his first year he was dropped from the cast but returned later in the role of Butch, the archenemy of Alfalfa... appeared in dozens of "Our Gang" and "Little Rascals" features before outgrowing the role... at.. 5.. leaving a movie theater with his mother.. talent scout for Hal Roach studios.. "asked him if he'd be interested in acting, (said) he had a great face and he could set up an appointment with Hal Roach in L.A..." grandmother drove him.. "It was all dirt roads from Dallas to L.A..." played Jimmy Olsen in two Superman movies... 
John Lennon was dismissed as a Communist threat to the US only because he was always stoned, secret FBI papers revealed yesterday... was 
Simon Wiesenthal, the death camp survivor who dedicated the rest of his life to tracking down fugitive Nazi war criminals, died today at his home in Vienna. He was 96... After hairbreadth escapes from death, two suicide attempts and his liberation by American forces in Austria in 1945, Mr. Wiesenthal abandoned his profession as an architectural engineer and took on a new calling: memorializing the six million of his fellow Jews and perhaps five million other noncombatants who were systematically murdered by the Nazis, and bringing their killers to justice... claims that he flushed out nearly 1,100 war criminals were sometimes wrong or disputed. But his role as a stubborn sleuth on the trail of history's archfiends helped keep the spotlight on a hideous past that he said too much of the world was disposed to forget. "To young people here, I am the last," he told an interviewer in Vienna in 1993. "I'm the one who can still speak.
A German inventor said he has developed a method to