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    "Most newspaper article events happen anywhere from days, to months, to years before they reach publication. Consequently, most newspaper articles on this timeline are preceeded by the date of the newspaper in which they appear." [E.M.]      *Color Code

March 2005

2005 - Astronomic Configuration - March 1st, 2005: "Sun [10 Pisces], Moon [6 Scorpio], Mercury [22 Pisces], Venus [2 Pisces], Mars [15 Capricorn], Jupiter [17 Libra R], Saturn [20 Cancer R], Uranus [6 Pisces], Neptune [16 Aquarius], Pluto [24 Sagittarius], Chiron [0 Aquarius]."  

2005 - Status / Jose Padilla - March 1st, 2005: "WASHINGTON - A federal judge ordered the Bush administration Monday [02/28/05] to either charge terrorism suspect Jose Padilla with a crime or release him after more than 2 1/2 years in custody. U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd in Spartanburg, S.C., said the government cannot hold Padilla indefinately as an 'enemy combatant,' a designation President George W. Bush gave him in 2002. The government contends Padilla was planning an attack with a 'dirty bomb' radiological device. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

*Trivia: "Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended on Tuesday [03/01/05] the government's detention of Jose Padilla in response to a judge's ruling that the 'dirty bomb' suspect must be charged with a crime or freed. While lawmakers urged compliance with the ruling Monday [02/28/05] by U.S. District Judge Henry Floyd in Spartanburg, S.C., Gonzales said the Supreme Court had upheld the proposition that the government can hold someone it declares an enemy combatant 'for the duration of the hostilities.' Padilla has been held for 21 months without being charged." [Based on: News Services, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A5, 03/02/05]

*Trivia: "The Justice Department is appealing last week's decision by a federal judge that the administration's detention of Padilla without charges or ongoing access to a lawyer violated the law. Padilla has been in a military brig almost continuously since his arrest in May 2002 in connection with a suspected plot to launch a radioactive 'dirty bomb' attack on the United States." [Based on: News Services, 03/08/05]

2005 - Settlement / DuPont Co's - March 1st, 2005: "CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A judge on Monday [02/28/05] approved the settlement [in which DuPont agreed to pay at least $107.6 million] of a class-action lawsuit alleging that a chemical used in making the nonstick substance Teflon contaminated water supplies near DuPont Co's Washington Works plant. [....] The lawsuit was filed in 2001 on behalf of people living near the plant, located on the Ohio River about 7 miles southwest of Parkersburg, who said their water supply was contaminated by PFOA [also known as perfluorooctanoic acid or C8]. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Denial? / Bernard J. Ebbers - March 1st, 2005: "NEW YORK - Former WorldCom Inc. chief Bernard J. Ebbers took the witness stand Monday [02/28/05] and denied he knew that accountants were cooking the company's books. [....] The matter-of-fact denial was perhaps the most dramatic moment in the trial of Ebbers, now in its fifth week. Prosecutors have alleged that he orchestrated a fraud of $11 billion that sank WorldCom in 2002. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Israeli Warning / Gaza Pullout - March 1st, 2005: "JERUSALEM - Israel's defense minister warned Monday [02/28/05] that he will send large forces into Palestinian neighborhoods if Israeli troops and settlers come under fire during the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip this siummer. The military faces twin threats during the pullout, from extremist settlers and Palestinian militants. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Lawsuit / Merrill Lynch & Co. - March 1st, 2005: "A couple won a $1 million award against Merrill Lynch & Co. after claiming the investment firm hid conflicts of interest and issued fraudulent analyst reports. [....] The $1 million award includes $300,000 in punitive damages for Gary and Lisa Friedman of Boca Raton, Fla. The couple had requested $4 million, plus interest and punitive damages, for their claims of breach of fiduciary duty, common law fraud, negligence and breach of contract. [....]" [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. C2, 01/01/05]

2005 - Lighters Banned / U.S. Airplanes - March 1st, 2005: "Airline passengers will no longer be allowed to bring cigarette lighters onto planes or into any secure areas, the Homeland Security Department announced Monday [02/28/05]. [....] The rule will be enforced beginning April 14th." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Suicide Bomber / Hillah, Iraq - March 1st, 2005: "[....] In the deadliest single attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein, a suicide car bomber killed 115 people and wounded 132 on Monday [02/28/05], mostly police and army recruits lined up for physicals at a medical clinic. The explosion in the largely Shiite town of Hillah about 60 miles south of Baghdad presented the boldest challenge yet to Iraq's efforts to build a security force that can take over from the Americans. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Tax Evasion? / Walter Anderson - March 1st, 2005: "WASHINGTON - He made so much money in the telecommunications industry that he talked about launching a vacation paradise for his friends - in space. But now reclusive tycoon Walter Anderson is grounded, locked up after federal authorities accused him of evading more than $200 million in federal and local income taxes. Federal agents arrested the lean, white-haired, 51-year-old entrepreneur Saturday at Dulles International Airport after he stepped off a flight from London. He was in court Monday [02/28/05] as the target of what authorities descriped as the largest case of personal tax evasion in U.S. history. [....]" [Based on: Washington Post]

2005 - Contact? / Bin Laden & Al-Zarqawi? - March 1st, 2005: "WASHINGTON - New intelligence indicates that Osama bin Laden is enlisting Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, his top operative in Iraq, to plan potential attacks on the United States, federal officials said Monday [02/28/05]. [....] Bin Laden was in contact with al-Zarqawi within the past two months in an effort to enlist him in attacks, said an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. U.S. analysts believe this shows the al-Qaida leadership needs to reach out to al-Zarqawi to get him involved in considering such activities outside Iraq, the official said. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Resigned? / Lebanese Government - March 1st, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Under intense public pressure over its allegiance to Syria, the Lebanese government abruptly resigned Monday [02/28/05], even though it appeared likely to have survived a no-confidence vote in parliament. [....]" [Based on: Newsday]

*Trivia: "An end to Syria's domination of Lebanon, as demanded by thousands of Lebanese protestors Monday [02/28/05] would have a major impact in the Middle East. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday that the resignation of Lebanon's prime minister and his government allows for the prospect of Lebanese elections that are 'free of all foreign interference.' [....]" [Based on: Post Dispatch Washington Bureau, 03/01/05]

2005 - Sulfur Dioxide Emission / Ambrym Volvano, Vanuatu Islands - March 2005: "Since at least October 2004, the Ambrym Volcano has been sending sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. By March 2005, it was the largest point source of sulfur dioxide on the planet. [....]" [Link: 1]

2005 - Hutu Majority? / Burundi - March 2nd, 2005: "Burundians voted overwhelmingly to adopt a new power-sharing constitution, guaranteeing majority rule and minority rights in the Central Africa country torn by 11 years of ethnic violence. Paul Ngarambe, head of the electoral commission, said Tuesday [03/01/05] that 90 percent of registered voters turned out Monday and more than 91 percent of those voting approved the new constitution. The constitution reserves 60 percent of the seats in government and parliament for Hutus and 40 percent for Tutsis. Burundi's Tutsi minority had dominated politics and the economy since independence from Belgium in 1962." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Sales Declines / GM & Ford - March 2nd, 2005: "DETROIT - General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. posted sales declines last month, contributing to costly production cuts at the nation's two largest automakers, while Japanese rivals and the smallest of Detroit's Big Three made impressive gains. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Results / Child Poverty Study - March 2nd, 2005: "GENEVA - Nordic countries have the lowest levels of child poverty in the developed world, due in large part to their generous public spending on social benefits for families, according to a report released Tuesday [03/01/05] by the U.N. Children's Fund. On the other end of the spectrum, the United States and Mexico had the worst rates of child poverty in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development - a Paris-based group of the world's wealthiest countries. At least one-fifth of U.S. and Mexican children live under the national poverty line, according to the study undertaken by UNICEF's Innocenti Research Center in Florence, Italy. About 40 million to 50 million children in rich countries live in relative poverty, UNICEF estimates. Statistics were available for only 24 of 30 states in the organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and represented figures through 2001. [....] Rated the best were Denmark, at 2.4 percent; Finland, at 2.8 percent; Norway, at 3.4 percent; and Sweden, at 4.2 percent. UNICEF praised the Nordics for their commitment to social spending on families - including family allowances, disability and sickness benefits, day care, unemployment insurance and other social assistance. At the bottom end of the table were Mexico, at 27.7 percent, and the United States, at 21.9 percent. Both countries spend less than 5 percent of their gross domestic product on government support for families." [Based on A.P. article, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A12, 03/02/05]

2005 - Assassination / Iraqi Judge - March 2nd, 2005: "[....] In another act of terrorism Tuesday [03/01/05], gunmen in Baghdad shot and killed a judge and a lawyer with the special tribunal that will try Saddam Hussein and former regime members, Iraqi officials said. [....] The judge, Parwiz Muhammed Mahmoud al-Merani, 59, was killeed outside his home a day after the Iraqi tribunal announced the first charges in the approaching trials of former senior officials in Saddam's government. The judge's son, Aryan Mahmoud al-Merani, 26, who also worked at the tribunal as a lawyer, was killed with him, according to officials at Iraq's Interior Ministry. [....]" [Based on, A.P.]

2005 - Iraq Withdrawal / Ukraine? - March 2nd, 2005: "[....] In Kiev, Ukraine's top security body decided Tuesaday [03/01/05] to withdraw the nation's troops from Iraq. Officials said the pullout would start this month and be completed by October. The National Security and Defense Council, headed by President Viktor Yushchenko, made the widely expected decision to withdraw  Ukraine's 1,650-strong contingent. Ukraine, which has lost 17 soldiers in Iraq, strongly opposed the U.S.-led war but later agreed to send a contingent to serve under Polish command." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Suspicious Murders / Chicago - March 2nd, 2005: "Authorities in Chicago were investigating Tuesday [03/01/05] whether the execution-style killings of a federal judge's husband and mother were tied to supporters of Matt Hale, the white supremacist leader and former Southern Illinois University law student who once tried to have the judge killed. [....] Lefkow [U.S. District Judge Joan H. Lefkow] found her husband, Michael F. Lefkow, 64, and her mother, Donna Grace Humphrey, 89, dead with gunshot wounds to the head in the basement of their Chicago home on Monday evening [02/28/05]. [....]" [Based on: Post-Dispatch Springfield Bureau]

2005 - Strong Earthquake / Banda Sea - March 2nd, 2005: "Magnitude 7.1 BANDA SEA Wednesday, March 02, 2005 at 10:42:12 UTC "

[Based on: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/eq_depot/2005/eq_050302/]

2005 - Foreign Interference? / Lebanon - March 2nd, 2005: "LONDON - In a tough warning to Syria, the United States and France called Tuesday [03/01/05] for an immediate and total withdrawal of all Syrian troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon. They also urged other nations to help chart a more stable future for Lebanon, including sending international monitors to observe its crucial spring elections. [....]" [Based on: Washington Post]

2005 - President Tabare Vazquez / Uruguay - March 2nd, 2005: "Tabare Vazquez, a physician took office as Uruguay's first leftist president Tuesday [03/01/05], aligning the small South American country with a regional political shift in that direction. [....]" [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Drug Production? / Afghanistan & Iraq - March 2nd, 2005: "[....] The International Narcotics Control Board said drug production in Afghanistan was so widespread it 'has become a severe threat to this new democracy, as well as the stability and economic recovery of the country as a whole.' Drug production in Afghanistan reached a record level last year [2004], defying efforts to curb production. [....] The board, an independent body that monitors the implementation of U.N. drug conventions and monitors the global supply of legal drugs, also is concerned about Iraq, where traffickers could flourish in the power vacuum that exists in thae chaotic government, Ghodse [Hamid Ghodse, president of the Vienna-based board] said. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Discovery / Opal Deposit, Wyoming - March 2nd, 2005: "The discovery of a 34-pound opal in central Wyoming could trigger an old-fashioned mineral rush this week. On Friday [03/04/05], the Wyoming State Geological Survey will publicly release the location of an enormous opal deposit found near Riverton in central Wyoming. Its discovery raises the possibility that the deposit hosts substantial amounts of fiery orange opal and the precious iridescent variety." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Video Release / French Hostage, Iraq - March 2nd, 2005: "[....] ... insurgents, fighting both American forces and the Iraqi government, released a video Tuesday [03/01/05] of French journalist Florence Aubenas, 43, kidnapped nearly two months ago. [....] The video of Aubenas, the French journalist, who disappeared Jan. 5, was dropped off at the Baghdad offices of an international news agency. There was no indication of when the tape was made. 'Please help me, my health is very bad,' she said in English. 'Please, it's urgent now. I ask especially Mr. Didier Julia, the French deputy, to help me.' [....]" [Based on, A.P.]

2005 - Settlement / Northrop Grumman Corp. - March 2nd, 2005: "LOS ANGELES - Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. agreed to pay $62 million to settle fraud allegations brought by two whistle-blowers over work it did on the B-2 stealth bomber and other contracts, federal prosecutors in Chicago said Tuesday [03/01/05]. The settlement ends a 15-year-old civil suit begun by four former Northrop Grumman workers in Illinois. Two of the four dropped out. The case had been scheduled for trial in June. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Greenspan Speaks - March 3rd, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve, warned Wednesday [03/02/05] that the federal budget deficits are unsustainable and urged Congress to act, preferably by cutting spending. He also warned that the deficits could be driven even higher by costs connected to the aging of the baby boom generation, singling out entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]

2005 - Trivia / "The Exorcist" - March 3rd, 2005: "[....] You've probably heard of 'The Exorcist.' Father Halloran, who died Tuesday (March 1, 2005) at 83, was the last living Jesuit to be involved in an exorcism that took place in 1949 at a psychiatric unit in St. Louis. [....] Father Halloran died at a Jesuit retirement home in Wauwatosa, Wis., a Milwaukee suburb. But he spent many years in St. Louis from the 1940s and on into the 1970s. He was just 27 and a history student at St. Louis University when he was summoned to the psychiatric wing at Alexian Brothers Hospital, 3933 South Broadway. The Rev. William S. Bowdern was dealing with a 14-year-old lad who he believed was possessed by a diabolical spirit or spirits. The boy, Douglas Deen, was a Lutheran from Mount Rainier, Md., a Washington suburb. An eight-page report concerning the incident that was filed in the Georgetown University archives said the boy's parents were concerned by his aberrant behavior. Later accounts said that an aunt and uncle living in St. Louis had suggested to the parents that they try an exorcism as a way of bringing the child under control. That's how he ended up at Alexian Brothers. [....] Father Halloran said he observed streaks  and arrows and words like 'hell' that would rise on the child's skin. [....] In 1988, the Post-Dispatch did a two-part series on the actual exorcism, with Father Halloran providing a lot of fascinating information. [....] Father Halloran became the last remaining priest from the exorcism after the death of Van Roo, 89, who died in March 2004 at a health care center in Wauwatosa, Wis. Bowdern died in 1983 at age 85. [....] A visitation and Mass will taske place Friday evening [03/04/05] in Wauwatosa, Wis." [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A1 & A8, 03/03/05]

2005 - Rare Side Effect? / Crestor - March 3rd, 2005: "[....] The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday [03/02/05] that Crestor, like other drugs in the category known as statins, can have a rare side effect of serious muscle damage. [....]" [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D.]

2005 - Four-Month High / Crude Oil - March 3rd, 2005: "Crude-oil futures climbed to a four-month high above $53 a barrel Wednesday [03/02/05] as traders bet that the world's oil supply would remain tight because of rising demand. They played down a U.S. government report that showed supplies of oil and gasoline rising, pushing gasoline futures higher, too. [....]" [Based on: A.P]

2005 1st Female Governor / Afghanistan - March 3rd, 2005: "President Hamid Karzai appointed the country's first female provincial governor [Habiba Sarobi] - a step toward reviving women's rights trampled by the former hard-line Taliban government. [....]" [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Trivia / Church vs. State, U.S.A. - March 3rd, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court struggled Wednesday [03/02/05] with the politically charged issue of whether prominent display of the ten Commandments at government buildings violates separation of church and state. [....]" [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. A1, 03/03/05]

2005 - Criticism / U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd - March 3rd, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Two Jewish groups accused Sen. Robert Byrd on Wednesday [03/02/05] of making an outrageous and reprehensible comparison between Adolf Hitler's Nazis and a Senate GOP plan to block Democrats from filibustering. A GOP senator called for Byrd to retract his remarks. [....] In his comments Tuesday, Byrd defended filibusters - procedural delays that can kill an item unless 60 of the 100 senators vote to move ahead. 'We, unlike Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy, have never stopped being a nation of laws, not of men,' Byrd said. 'But witness how men with motives and a majority can manipulate law to cruel and unjust ends.' Matt Brooks, executive director of the Republican Jewish Coalition, issued a written statement Wednesday. 'With his knowledge of history and his own personal background as a KKK member, he should be ashamed for implying that his political opponents are using Nazi tactics,' Brooks said. Byrd joined the Ku Klux Klan as a young man and has repeatedly apologized for it." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Anti-Terrorism Bulletin? / U.S.A. - March 3rd, 2005: "FORT WORTH, Texas - Police are being warned that a Texas-based white supremicist gang may be planning to kill law enforcement officers after the arrests of several of its high-ranking members. A federal anti-terrorism bulletin issued Friday [02/25/05] said information had been obtained indicating that 'members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) are threatening to kill or injure law-enforcement officers ... in Texas and in areas where the ABT are known to reside. [....]" [Based on: Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

2005 - Status / Canadian Beef Ban, U.S.A. - March 3rd, 2005: "A federal judge issued a court order blocking the U.S. government's plan to reopen the border to Canadian cattle March 7. [....] The government had planned to allow imports of cattle from Canada less than 30 months old, easing a ban imposed in May 2003 after an animal in Alberta was found with mad cow disease." [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. B2, 03/03/05]

2005 - Revelation / Prisoner Abuse, Afghanistan - March 3rd, 2005: "WASHINGTON - In November 2002, a newly minted CIA case officer in charge of a secret prison [code named, the Salt Pit] just north of Kabul allegedly ordered guards to strip naked  an uncooperative young Afghan detainee, chain him to the concrete floor and leave him there overnight without blankets, according to four U.S. government officials aware of the case. [....] By morning, the Afghan man had frozen to death. After a quick autopsy by a CIA medic - 'hypothermia' was listed as the cause of death - the guards buried the Afghan, who was in his 20s, in an unmarked, unacknowledged cemetery used by Afghan forces, officials said. The captive's family has never been notified; his remains have never been returned for burial. He is on no one's registry of captives, not even as a 'ghost detainee,' the term for CIA captives held in military prisons but not registered on the books, they said. [....] Thirty-three military workers have been court-martialed and an additional 55 received reprimands for their mishandling of detainees, according to the Defense Department. [....]" [Based on: Washington Post article, S.L.P.D., p. A4, 03/03/05]

2005 - Revision? / Workforce Investment Act, U.S.A. - March 3rd, 2005: "Religious groups participating in federal job-training programs could hire employees based on their religious beliefs under a jobs bill that narrowly passed the House Wednesday [03/02/05]. The largely partisan 224-200 vote to extend and rewrite the 1998 Workforce Investment Act took place a day after President George W. Bush spoke to religious leaders. In his remarks, he chided Congress for not acting on his faith-based initiatives and criticized a government culture he said was 'unfriendly' to religious groups. [....] Under current law, religious organizations that take part in federal job-training programs cannot discriminate in hiring or firing for taxpayer-funded jobs. The House bill would remove that prohibition, meaning that a church or synagogue could use a person's religious beliefs in determining employment  for a federally funded job." [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D.]

2005 - Around the World in 67 Hours / Steve Fossett - March 3rd, 2005: "Aviator Steve Fossett became the first pilot to complete a solo nonstop flight around the globe." [E.M.]

2005 - Russian Supply Ship / International Space Station - March 3rd, 2005: "A Russian cargo ship [Progress M-52] carrying supplies docked successfully with the international space station Wednesday [03/02/05]. [....]" [Based on: News Services]

2005 - AIDS Toll? / Africa - March 4th, 2005: "More than 80 million Africans might die from AIDS by 2025, the United Nations said in a report released Thursday [03/03/05]. And infections could soar to 90 million - or more than 10 percent of the continent's population - if more isn't done soon to fight the disease, the report said. More than 25 million Africans have been infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. UNAIDS estimated that nearly $200 billion is needed to save 16 million people from death and 43 million people from becoming infected, but donors have pledged nowhere near that amount. [....]" [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. A4, 03/04/05]

2005 - Trivia / "Bucky" Bush - March 4th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to provide details on a series of contracts awarded to Engineered Support Systems Inc. of St. Louis. William H.T. 'Bucky' Bush, an uncle of President George W. Bush, is on its board of directors. [....] In his letter, Waxman cited a Los Angeles Times article on Feb. 23 that reported some contracts to the company were awarded without bids and disclosed that the president's uncle recently cashed in $450,000 worth of stock options in the defense firm. [....] William Bush is the youngest brother of the president's father, former President George Bush." [Based on: Los Angeles Times]

2005 - Search for Bin Laden? - March 4th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - More than three years after President George W. Bush declared his intention to capture Osama bin Laden 'dead or alive,' the terrorist chieftan remains free to taunt his pursuers and plan more attacks. [....] 'We're on a constant hunt for bin Laden,' Bush said Thursday [03/03/05] at a swearing-in ceremony for Michael Chertoff, the new head of the Homeland Security Department. 'We're keeping the pressure on him, keeping him in hiding.' As for al-Qaida, Bush said: 'Stopping them is the greatest challenge of our day.' [....] A number of al-Qaida leaders possibly including bin Laden and his top associate, Ayman al-Zawahri, slipped through two American dragnets in eastern Afghanistan in 2001 and 2002. [....] Bush and his aides say the focus on bin Laden obscures other progress in the war on terrorism. By the administration's count, more than 75 percent of the al-Qaida leadership at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks has been killed or captured." [Based on: Knight Ridder Newspapers article, S.L.P.D., p. A2, 03/04/05]

2005 - Settlements / Talx Corp. - March 4th, 2005: "The Securities and Exchange Commission has accepted Talx Corp.'s offer to rersolve the agency's investigation of Talx's accounting by paying a $2.5 million fine and promising to abide by certain federal securities laws, the company said Thursday [03/03/05]. William W. Canfield, Talx's president and chief executive, also agreed to pay $859,999 in disgorgement and a $100,000 fine to resolve charges stemming from the same issues. Canfield also agreed to abide by federal securities laws. Neither Talx nor Canfield admitted any liability. The settlements are subject to final approval by a U.S. District Court judge in St. Louis. [....] Talx's announcement made no mention of a settlement of related charges against its former chief financial officer, Craig Cohen." [Based on: staff reports, S.L.P.D., p C2, 03/04/05]

2005 - World's Oldest Women? / Brazil - March 4th, 2005: "The Guinness World Records organization in London says it's checking records to determine if this woman, Maria Olivia da Silva of Brazil, is 125 years old. Da Silva's birth certificate shows that she was born Feb. 28, 1880. According to the Guiness World Records Web site, the world's oldest woman is 113-year-old Hendrikje Van AndelSchipper, who was born June 29, 1890. Da Silva lives in a small, wooden shack in the small town of Astorga, some 370 miles west of Sao Paulo in rural southern Brazil. [Based on: A.P. photo article, p. A11, S.L.P.D., 03/04/05]

2005 - Human Rights Violations? / U.S.A. - March 4th, 2005: "BEIJING - China issued a tit-for-tat report card Thursday [03/03/05] on human rights in the United States that lambastes the Pentagon for 'wanton slaughters' abroad, belittles American elections as awash in special-interest cash and accuses U.S. courts of deep-seated racial bias. The Chinese government report came three days after the U.S. State Department released its annual report on human rights abuses in countries around the world, including China. China has countered the American report for six years. This year's was particularly noteworthy because it condemned the United States for abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.  [....] ]The United States claims to be 'a paragon of democracy,' but American democracy is manipulated by the rich, and malpractices are common,' the report states. 'Elections in the United States are in fact a contest of money.' It described the 2004 presidential election as riddled with ballot-counting errors and confusion. 'In Florida, the cases of black people being removed from voter registration or their votes being denied were 10 times higher than people of other races,' it says. 'Most prisons in the United States are overcrowed,' even though construction of jails is a growth industry, the report adds. 'California has seen only one college but 21 new prisons built since 1984.' Poverty, hunger and homelessness have haunted the world's richest country,' and racial discrimination permeates society, especially in the court system, the report charges. Nearly 3 out of every 10 African-Americans have been in prison at least once, it states. Children are not safe at U.S. schools, the report charges. It says that 4.5 million students were molested each year at school." [Based on article by Tim Johnson, Knight Ridder Newspapers]

2005 - Settlement / Bank of America Corp. - March 4th, 2005: "CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Following the lead of Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. on Thursday [03/03/05] became the second large U.S. bank to settle claims stemming from a class-action lawsuit by former shareholders of WorldCom Inc. The decision by Bank of America to pay $460.5 million to settle the case came as closing arguments were being heard in the criminal trial of former WorldCom chief executive, Bernard Ebbers. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Internet Magazine / Zurwat Al-Sanam - March 4th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - A new online magazine purportedly posted by al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq has launched an effort to recruit Muslims to rid Iraq of infidels and apostates - its names for Americans and their Iraqi partners. The magazine in named Zurwat al-Sanam, Arabic for 'The Tip of the Camel's Hump' - reference among militants to 'the epitome of belief and virtouos activity.' [....] Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the designated 'media coordinator' for al-Zarqawi's group, posted the magazine on the Internet late Wednesday [03/02/05]. Saved as an attachment, it has appeared on at least two extremist Islamic Web sites that have previously posted al-Qaida statements. [....]" [Based on: Rawya Rageh, A.P.]

2005 - Foreign Relations / Saudia Arabia & Syria - March 4th, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Saudi Arabia told Syria on Thursday [03/03/05] to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, adding substantially to Syria's international isolation a day after Russia joined Western nations in making a similar call. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]

2005 - Additional Settlement? / Putnam Investments - March 4th, 2005: "Putnam Investments will pay an additional $83.5 million to current and former shareholders to settle federal and state investigations into mutual fund trading abuses in the first big market-timing case. [....] Putnam previously had agreed to pay $110 million last April as part of a deal to compensate shareholders. Of the total $193.5 million, $153.5 million of it will be returned to investors through federal and massachusetts authorities. The additional $40 million will be used to pay penalties to regulators. At issue is market timing - the use of quick, in-and-out trades that skim profits from long-term shareholders and benefit favored short-term investors." [Based on: wire services, S.L.P.D., p C2, 03/04/05]

2005 - Executive Indictments / Charter Communications Inc. - March 4th, 2005: "Charter Communications Inc. is seeking more than $4.3 million from four former executives, who pleaded guilty to fraud after a grand jury investigation of the company and its accounting practices. In lawsuits filed last month, Charter seeks to recover legal fees and expenses advanced to the executives during the investigation, their indictments as well as related investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and class-action lawsuits by shareholders. Charter advanced the money on the condition that the executives believed their conduct wasn't illegal and that it was in the best interests of the company. The executives agreed to repay the money if their conduct was found to be illegal, Charter said. [....] None of the men has been sentenced for the crimes, which carry penalties of up to five years in prison and potential fines of $250,000 in some cases. Sentencing is scheduled for April 22 before U.S. District Judge Carol E. Jackson." [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. C2, 03/04/05]

2005 - Italian Hostage Release / Iraq - March 5th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. troops opened fire Friday evening [03/04/05] on a car rushing an Italian journalist [Giuliana Sgrena] just freed by kidnappers to the Baghdad airport, wounding her and killing an Italian security agent [Nicola Calipari] who had helped negotiate her release, officials said. [....]" [Based on: Los Angeles Times]

*Trivia: "[....] The U.S. military called the shooting an accident. It said the vehicle was speeding toward an American checkpoint outside the airport and failed to heed warnings to stop. But Sgrena told Italian state television Saturday [03/05/05] that her car 'was not going especially fast for a situation of that type.' She also said her group was fired on by an American patrol and not at a checkpoint. [....]" [Based on: Los Angeles Times, 03/06/05]

*Trivia: "[....] Calipari [Nicola Calipari] was killed - instantly, with a shot to the head, according to an autopsy report - as he shielded Sgrena from the bullets. [....] On Sunday [03/06/05] Sgrena went so far as to say she believed U.S. soldiers may have targeted the car out of anger that Italy reportedly paid a ransom to secure her release. One Italian minister said it was 'very likely' a ransom had been paid, and Italian newspapers reported sums up to $10 million. [....]" [Based on: A.P., 03/07/05]

*Trivia: "The U.S. military decided Tuesday [03/08/05] to conduct an accelerated inquiry to learn why American troops opened fire on a car, killing an Italian intelligence agent and wounding an Italian journalist he had helped free from insurgents in Iraq. The decision to fast-track the investigation came as the military also opened an inquiry into the shooting death of a Bulgarian soldier. That death appeared to be another friendly-fire incident on the same day. [....] The investigation into the shooting of the Bulgarian soldier, who was killed near the central city of Diwaniya, will focus on reports that he also was shot by U.S. troops. [....]" [Based on A.P. article by Patrick Quinn]

2005 - Prison Release / Martha Stewart - March 5th, 2005: "KATONAH, N.Y. - Enjoying her first day out of prison, Martha Stewart fed treats to her horses, harvested lemons in her greenhouse and sent out hot chocolate to chilled reporters as she settled in at her $16 million country estate for five months of house arrest. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Apparent Suicide / Yuriy Kravchenko - March 5th, 2005: "KIEV, Ukraine - The former interior minister [Yuriy Kravchenko - Ukraine] was found dead in his home Friday [03/04/05] just before he was to be questioned about the slaying of an investigative journalist [Heoriy Gongadze] in 2000. Authorities called his death an apparent suicide. [....]" [Based on: A.P]

2005 - Beaching-Sonar? / Florida Keys - March 6th, 2005: "The Navy and marine wildlife experts are investigating whether the beaching of dozens of dolphins in the Florida Keys followed the use of sonar by a submarine on a training exercise off the coast. [....] Some scientists surmise that loud bursts of sonar, which can be heard for miles in the water, may disorient or scare marine mammals, causing them to surface too quickly and suffer the equivalent of what divers know as the bends - when sudden decompression forms nitrogen bubbles in tissue." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Moderate Earthquake / Quebec, Canada - March 6th, 2005: "A moderate earthquake occurred at 06:17:49 (UTC) on Sunday, March 6, 2005. The magnitude 5.4 event has been located in ST. LAWRENCE VALLEY REG., QUEBEC, CANADA. (This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.)"

[Based on: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2005/usvhan/]

2005 - Religious Abuse? / Guantanamo Bay Cuba - March 6th, 2005: "MIAMI - Captives at the Guantanamo Bay prison are alleging that guards kicked and stomped on Qurans and cursed Allah and that interrogators punished them by taking away their pants, knowing that would prevent them from praying. [....]" [Based on: Knight Ridder Newspapers]

2005 - Discovered / First Walking Human Ancestor? - March 6th, 2005: "ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopa - A team of U.S. and Ethiopian scientists have discovered the fossilized remains of what they believe is humankind's first walking ancestor, a hominid that lived in the wooded grasslands of the Horn of Africa nearly 4 million years ago. The bones were discovered in February at a new site called Mille, in the northeastern Afar region of Ethiopa, said Bruce Latimer, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in Ohio. They are estimated to be from 3.8 to 4 million years old. [....] The findings have not been reviewed by outside scientists or published in a scientific journal. [....] The specimen is the fourth partial skeleton ever discovered that is older than 3 million years." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Transferred Abroad? / U.S. Terrorism Suspects - March 6th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The Bush administration's secret program to transfer scores of suspected terrorists to foreign countries to be imprisoned and interrogated has been carried out by the CIA under broad authority that has allowed the agency to act without case-by-case approval from the White House or the State or Justice Departments, according to current and former government officials. The unusally expansive authority for the CIA to operate independantly since the September 2001 attacks was provided by the White House under a still-classified directive signed by President George W. Bush within days of the attacks, the officials said. [....] The transfers were portrayed as an alternative to what American officials have said is the costly, manpower-intense process of housing them in the United States or in American-run facilities in other countries. [....] In public, the Bush administration has refused to confirm that the rendition program exists, saying only in response to questions about it that the United States did not hand over people to face torture. The official refused to say how many prisoners  had been transferred. But former government officials say that since the Sept. 11 attacks the CIA has flown 100 to 150 suspected terrorists to other countries, including Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Pakistan. Each of those countries has been identified by the State Department as habitually using torture in its prisons. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]

2005 - Election Trivia / Moldova - March 7th, 2005: "An exit poll showed the ruling Communist Party in the former Soviet republic of Moldova held an 11-point lead in parliamentary elections Sunday [03/06/05]. [....] In the exit poll based on 90 percent of the voters, the Communists won 40 percent of the vote, the centrist Democratic Moldova Bloc 29 percent and the center-right Popular Christian Democratic Party 14 percent. [....] President Vladimir Voronin's Communists would be able to form a government if final results confirm the party's lead, though they may not have enough seats for a clear majority to keep the presidency. Parliament chooses the President." [Baseed on: News Services]

2005 - Toxic Rail Car Leak / Utah - March 7th, 2005: "A rail car leaking toxic chemicals sent plumes of gas into the air Sunday [03/06/05] and forced the evacuation of more than 6,000 people. [....] The chemicals involved - hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid and nitric acid - can cause severe burns if they come into direct contact with skin or eyes. Cleanup crews were working to transfer the chemicals to tankers." [Baseed on: News Services]

*Trivia: "A railroad tank car that leaked toxic fumes, forcing thousands from their homes, was not designed to hold the corrosive acids it was carrying, the car's owner said Monday [03/07/05]. [....] Tests showed the tank car had been filled with acetic, hydrofluoric, phosphoric and sulfuric acids, which easily corroded the car's lining, said Louie Cononelos, a spokesman for Kennecott Utah Copper of Magna, Utah. The copper mining company owned the car, but Philip Services, a hazardous waste handler, had leased it." [Based on: News Services, 03/08/05]

2005 - Hezbollah Supporters? / Lebanon - March 7th, 2005: "BEIRUT - The powerful Syria-backed group Hezbollah urged its followers Sunday [03/06/05] to take to the streets in a massive protest against 'foreign interference,' abandoning its conciliatory tone during recent weeks of political unrest. [....] On Sunday, Nasrallah [Hezbollah official, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah] accused anti-Syria demonstrators of working as tools for the United States and Israel, and warned that a Syrian retreat was the first step in Lebanese attempts to make peace with the 'Zionist enemy.' Hezbollah 'rejects this international law because of its interference  in our internal affairs and because all of its conditions are free, free, free services for the Israeli enemy,' said Nasrallah, the Iranian-born cleric who is the group's top official in Lebanon. [....] 'What does it mean to disarm Hezbollah?' asked Hezbollah spokesman Mohamed Afif. 'It means disarming the only group that can defend the Lebanese people. It means opening Lebanon to Israel.' Hezbollah fears that a new Lebanese government might try to dissolve the powerful party altogether or make peace with its archenemy, Israel. Parliamentary elections are scheduled for the spring and could dramatically harden Lebanon's stance toward both Syria and Hezbollah. [....] The United States and France sponsored the U.N. resolution calling for a Syrian retreat and the disarmament of Lebanese militias. [....] A Hezbollah attack killed more than 200 U.S. Marines in Lebanon in 1983, and the United States considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization." [Based on: Los Angeles Times]

2005 - Ban Junk Food in Schools? / California - March 7th, 2005: "At the bodybuilding event named for him, Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggar said Sunday [03/06/05] that he wanted to ban all sales of junk food in California schools and fill vending machines with fresh fruits, vegetables and milk. [....]" [Baseed on: News Services]

2005 - Archaeology Trivia / Copan, Honduras - March 7th, 2005: "Scientists working at the Copan archaeological site in western Honduras said Sunday [03/06/05] they have found the 1,450-year-old remains of 69 people, as well as 30 previously undiscovered ancient Mayan buildings. [....]" [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Resignation? / President Carlos Mesa, Bolivia - March 7th, 2005: "Bolivian President Carlos Mesa annouhced Sunday [03/06/05] night he would offer his resignation, saying in a televised address that recent protests were 'blocking the country.' Mesa took office in October 2003, succeeding President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, who resigned in the wake of bloody street protests that took the lives of at least 56 people. Mesa's government has struggled with a growing push for greater political autonomy in Bolivia's most prosperous region. [....]" [Baseed on: News Services]

*Trivia: "[....] 'I cannot continue to govern with threats that strangle the country,' Mesa wrote in his letter, referring to plans announced by opposition leader Evo Morales to stage a nationwide blocade of the South American country's roads." [Based on: News Services, 03/08/05]

*Trivia: "Bolivian lawmakers rejected on Tuesday [03/08/05] a resignation offer by president Carlos Mesa, granting critical support to his embattled government after days of escalating protests prompted him to submit an offer to step down. In a unanimous vote, congressman threw their support behind the president, a day after he tendered his resignation. [....]" [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Insurgent Attacks / Iraq - March 8th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi insurgents set off bombs and fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at military convoys, checkpoints and police patrols in a spate of violence Monday [03/07/05] that killed 33 people and wounded dozens. The terrorist group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for much of the bloodshed. [....]" [Based on A.P. article by Patrick Quinn, S.L.P.D., p. A2, 03/08/05]

2005 - Fired / Harry Stonecipher - March 8th, 2005: "Boeing Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher, lured out of retirement in late 2003 to clean up company scandals, is fired [03/06/05] after an investigation uncovers an affair with another executive." [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A1, 03/08/05]

*Trivia: [....] Boeing's board fired Stonecipher on Sunday [03/06/05] and revealed Stonecipher's affair Monday [03/07/05] in a press release. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A1, 03/08/05]

2005 - Trivia / Consumer Credit, U.S.A. - March 8th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Buyers increased their borrowing on credit cards, auto loans and other types of consumer debt at an annual rate of 6.6 percent in January, the fastest pace in three months, the federal Reserve reported Monday [03/07/05]. [....] The rate of increase in January compared with a 5 percent rise in December. It was the fastest advance since consumer debt rose 8.2 percent in October. [....] Total consumer debt stands at a record level of $2.12 trillion. [....] The report doesn't include mortgage loans or home-equity loans." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Explosive Event / Mt. St. Helens Volcano - March 8th, 2005: "A small, short-lived explosive event at Mount St. Helens volcano began at approximately 5:25 p.m. PST, March 8, 2005. Airplane pilot reports indicate that the resulting steam-and-ash plume reached an altitude of about 36,000 feet above sea level within a few minutes and drifted downwind to the northeast. The volcano's rim stands at 8,325 feet."

[Based on: http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/current_volcs/current.html] [Other Links: 1] 

2005 - Rejected / Minimum Wage Increase, U.S.A. - March 8th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The Senate defeated on Monday [03/07/05] dueling proposals to raise the $5.15-an-hour minimum wage. One was backed by organized labor, the other was salted with pro-business provisions. Both plans fell well short of the 60 votes needed to advance and signaled that prospects for raising the federal wage floor, unchanged since 1996, are remote during the current two-year Congress. 'I believe that anyone who works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year should not live in poverty in the richest country in the world,' said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., arguing for the Democratic proposal to increase the minimum wage by $2.10 over the next 26 months. [....] Kennedy accused Republicans of advancing a 'deeper poverty agenda' for the poor by including several provisions to cut longstanding wage and overtime provisions for millions of Americans. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

*Trivia: "The last time Congress raised the minimum wage was in 1996. Since that time, the Senate has voted to raise each senator's pay by $28,000. [....] Compassion is at a bare minimum in the new American Congress. So is fair and honest representation.   - Steven Oertli, Affton  [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. B6, 03/09/05]

2005 - Clean-Air Settlement / Dynegy Midwest Generation - March 8th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - A major clean-air settlement reached Monday [03/07/05] would rein in a notoriously dirty power plant and remove 54,000 tons of pollution yearly from Illinois' air. Houston-based Dynegy Midwest Generation agreed to install $500 million worth of pollution control equipment and make other improvements at the former Illinois Power Baldwin generating station and four other plants, along with paying a $9 million fine. The settlement requires Dynegy to spend an additional $15 million on environmental projects that include purchasing or preserving  fragile lands in the Metro East area and central Illinois [....] The settlement was filed on Monday [03/07/05] in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis; it is subject to public comment and court approval. [....]" [Based on: Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau]

2005 - Stricter Requirements? / Drinking Water Regulation, U.S.A. - March 8th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Stricter monotoring and reporting of problems with lead in drinking water will be required of utilities, states, schools and child-care facilities, the Environmental Protection Agency said Monday [03/07/05]. EPA officials said they found few such problems nationally but were moving to impose stricter requirements in 1991 lead and copper regulations, starting early next year, because of lead in drinking water found in 2002 in the Washington area. [....] Locally, tests have not detected major problems with lead in drinking water in the St. Louis region. Lead levels are low in the drinking water that flows to 1.1 million customers in St. Louis and St. Charles counties from the Missouri American Water Co., water quality manager Tom Simmons said. The company currently must test for lead and copper every three years. Of 50 samples tested last year, all were below the EPA action level of 15 parts per billion of lead, he said. The highest level was 6 parts per billion, and 90 percent of samples registered at 2 parts per billion or less, Simmons said. Simmons said local water was noncorrosive, meaning it was unlikely to leach lead from pipes." [Based on article by John Heilprin: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A5, 03/08/05. Sara Shipley of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.]

2005 - Steroid Use? / U.S. Baseball - March 9th, 2005: "JUPITER, Fla. - Former Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire has declined an invitation to speak in front of a congressional hearing called to explore steroid use in baseball, even as the House Committee on Government Reform moved to subpoena records from baseball about its testing policies and results. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

2005 - "Signed Off " / Dan Rather - March 9th, 2005: "Dan Rather signed off Wednesday [03/09/05] after 24 years as anchorman for 'The CBS Evening News.' " [E.M.]

2005 - Retreat? / S&P 500 Index - March 9th, 2005: "NEW YORK - Stocks declined Tuesday [03/08/05], yanking the Standard & Poor's 500 index down from a 3 1/2-year high, after a surge in oil prices and a disappointing forecast from Texas Instruments Inc. [....] A drop of 5.88, or 0.5 percent, put the S&P 500 at 1,219.43 in a retreat from its highest level since July 2001. [....]" [Based on: Bloomberg News]

2005 - Fatality / Aslan Maskhadov - March 9th, 2005: "MOSCOW - Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov, a fugitive with a $10 million price on his head, was killed Tuesday [03/08/05] during a special forces operation. The Kremlin had linked Maskhadov to a deadly school hostage siege and other terrorist attacks. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Hezbollah Rally / Lebanon - March 9th, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands jammed a central Beirut square Tuesday [03/08/05], chanting support for Syria and anti-U.S. slogans in a thundering show of strength by the militant group Hezbollah - a rally that greatly outnumbered recent demonstrations against Syria's presence in Lebanon. [....] Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, addressed the crowd from a balcony on a building facing the square. [....] Nasrallah directly addressed Israel, telling it to let go of 'dreams for Lebanon.' 'To this enemy we say again: There is no place for you here and there is no life for you among us. Death to Israel!' he said. 'Lebanon is not Ukraine,' Nasrallah said, referring to that country's 'orange revolution' last year. 'If anyone thinks you can bring down a state with a few demonstrations, a few scarves, a few shouts, a few media, he is suspect, he is wrong.' Nasrallah also warned Washington against any military action to achieve its goals. 'The fleets came in the past and were defeated. They will be defeated again,' he said to the cheers of supporters wildly waving Lebanon's flag. The weeks of anti-Syrian demonstrations in Beirut followed the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Many Lebanese accuse Syria and Lebanon's government of responsibility for Hariri's death; both deny any involvement." [Based on A.P. article by Tanalee Smith, S.L.P.D., p. A1, 03/09/05]

2005 - Workday Trivia / U.S. Truckers - March 9th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are lobbying Congress to extend the workday for truckers to 16 hours. Labor unions and safety advocates say the change would make roadways more dangerous. [....] Under current law, drivers can work 14 hours, with only 11 consecutive hours of driving. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Destined for Termination / Voyager & Other Missions? - Los Angeles (SPX) Mar 09, 2005: "A little over 13 hours out from Sol, a veteran of the first space age - Voyager 1 - is working quietly in the depths of space as it travels away from our Sun at 17.163 kilometers per second. But now, NASA has told scientists working on these and other older missions that their missions may be terminated in October to save money, reports Nature. [....]" [Based on: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/voyager1-05a.html]

2005 - Fined / Merrill Lynch & Co. - March 9th, 2005: "New York - Merrill Lynch & Co. was fined $13.5 million by the New York Stock Exchange after a group of the company's brokers engaged in improper market timing of mutual funds, the NYSE said Tuesday [03/08/05]. In a hearing decision Monday [03/07/05], the NYSE determined that a group of brokers in Fort Lee, N.J., made more than 3,700 short-term fund transactions from January through April 2002. The brokers used multiple accounts, all of which were held for a single hedge-fund client, the NYSE said, and the accounts were transferred outside the firm and back in later that year. The exchange didn't reveal the hedge fund's name. The transfers and other violations continued through October 2003, with the traders involved hiding their transactions from Merrill Lynch. Merrill Lynch told the brokers to stop the trades in November 2002, but the brokers did not, and Merrill Lynch failed to follow up, the exchange said. [....] Merrill Lynch accepted the fine and censure without admitting or denying guilt. In a statement, the company said three brokers had been fired for misleading the firm and concealing their activities after they were told to stop. Also, it sanctioned three supervisors." [Based on A.P. article by Michael J. Martinez, S.L.P.D. p. C2, 03/09/05]

2005 - Foreign Relations / China & Taiwan - March 9th, 2005: "China unveiled on Tuesday [03/08/05] a proposed law authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence. The action increases pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere. The United States said Beijing should reconsider. Taiwan deno-unced the legislation as a 'blank check to invade.' The proposed anti-secession law, read out for the first time before the ceremonial National People's Congress, does not specify what actions might invite a Chinese attack." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Workers Strike / Lockheed Martin Corp. - March 9th, 2005: "Lockheed Martin Corp., the largest U.S. defense contractor, was hit by a strike of about 3,000 employees at a fighter-jet plant in Georgia over a proposed plan to reduce health benefits for retirees. Workers at the Marietta plant that builds the F/A-22 fighter jet and the C-130J transport struck Tuesday, said Steve Brown of the International Association of Machinists Lodge 709. It's the second walkout there in three years. The union turned down Lockheed's last contract offer by a 2-to-1 margin Feb. 27 because it would terminate retirement health insurance for new empoloyees. The previous contract expired March 1. Also, about 200 union members at plants in Mississippi and West Virginia have joined the strike." [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. C2, 03/09/05]

*Trivia: "Workers voted Tuesday [03/15/05] to accept a new contract and end their weekold strike against Lockheed Martin Corp. plant in Marietta, Ga., that builds the F/A-22 Raptor fighter plane and the C-130J Hercules cargo plane for the U.S. military. [....]" [Based on: S.L.P.D., p.C2, 03/16/05]

2005 - Storm Water Problem / St. Louis County, Mo. - March 9th, 2005: "In the past 50 years, massive growth has combined with tax regulations to create a $1 billion storm water problem that touches nearly every portion of St. Louis County. The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has listed 1,085 storm water problems across the county, ranging from erosion to severe flooding." [Based on: Metropolitan Sewer District / St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

2005 - Trivia / Crude Oil Prices - March 10th, 2005: "Crude-oil futures rose briefly above $55 a barrel Wednesday [03/09/05] as traders shrugged off evidence of rising oil supplies in the United States and focused instead on strong demand, cold weather and weak currency. [....] A weak dollar is driving prices higher, too. The euro, which rose above $1.33 this week, stands at its highest level since early January. [....]" [Based on A.P. article by Brad Foss, S.L.P.D., p. D3, 03/10/05]

2005 - Settlement Trivia / Solutia Inc. - March 10th, 2005: "Shares of Solutia Inc. spiked 16 percent Wednesday [03/09/05], a day after the chemical company revealed its settlement with several other companies in its 15-month-old bid to emerge from bankruptcy. [....] Solutia said the court approved the settlement March 2, resolving millions of dollars in issues tied to contracts by Solutia and its affiliates in connection with the company's December 2002 sale of its resins, additives and adhesives businesses to UCB. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Blocked / "Clear Skies" Proposal - March 10th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - A Senate committee dealt a severe blow Wednesday [03/09/05] to one of President George W. Bush's top environmental priorities, as his 'Clear Skies' proposal failed to sway key senators, including Barack Obama, D-Ill. [....] The measure would set new air pollution caps and allow power plants to buy and sell rights to pollute. [....]" [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. A2, 03/10/05]

2005 - Boeing Investigation / Debra Peabody - March 10th, 2005: "The female Boeing Co. executive who had an extramarital affair with recently ousted Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher is under investigation by the company as many employees complain that she still has her job, the company said Wednesday [03/09/05]. [....] Though the company has not named the woman, several other publications have ... which identified her as Debra Peabody, who works in Washington. She has been with the company for two decades." [Based on article by Tim McLaughlin, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. D3, 03/10.05]

2005 - New Subpoena / Marsh & McLennan Cos. - March 10th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Marsh & McLennan Cos. has received a subpoena from the labor Department to provide documrents associated with services the company's units provided to employee-benefit plans. the insurance, investment and consulting company said Wednesday [03/09/05] in a regulatrory filing that it received the subpoena last month. [....]" [Based on: Dow Jones / A.P.]

2005 - Suicide Bomber / Sadeer Hotel, Iraq - March 10th, 2005: "[....] In Baghdad, a suicide bomber driving a garbage truck loaded with explosives and at least one other gunman shot their way into a parking lot [03/09/05] to try to blow up a hotel used by Western contractors. At least four people, including the attackers and a guard, were killed. In an Internet statement, al-Qaida in Iraq purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack on the Sadeer hotel, calling it the 'hotel of the Jews.' [....]" [Based on A.P. article by Patrick Quinn, S.L.P.D., p. A1, 03/10/05]

2005 - Prime Minister Omar Karami? / Lebanon - March 10th, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Bolstered by a massive pro-Syrian demonstration, Lebanese allies of Syria moved Wednesday [03/09/05] to reinstate the prime minister, who recently was forced out by anti-Damascus protests. Their action ensures Syria's continued dominance of Lebanese politics. Outgoing Prime Minister Omar Karami was virtually assured nomination after 71 legislators put forward his name during consultations with pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, members of parliament said. Under the constitution, the president is obliged to comply with the choice of a majority of the 128-member parliament. [....] Lebanese parliamentary elections are scheduled for April and May. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Concluded Review / U.S. Prisoner Abuse - March 10th, 2004: "WASHINGTON - A comprehensive U.S. military review of prisoner interrogation policies and techniques concluded that no civilian or uniformed leaders directed or encouraged the prisoner abuse documented in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 'We found no link between approved interrogation techniques and detainee abuse,' the review concluded. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

*Trivia: "[....] Vice Adm. Albert Church, who wrote the most recent review of U.S. detention policies, did not place specific blame for the confusing interrogation policies that migrated from Washington to the battlefield. He told the Senate Armed Services Committee at a hearing that no high-level policy decisions directly led to abuse. But Church said he did not interview top officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, nor did he make conclusions about individual responsibility, saying it was not part of his mission. [....] Church's report called the development of interrogation policies for use in the fight against terrorism a series of 'missed opportunities' to eliminate confusion and spell out doctrine clearly. But his report concludes that even clear policies might not have stopped dozens of cases of abuse. [....]" [Based on Washington Post article, S.L.P.D., p. A3, 03/11/05]

2005 - Discovered / Decomposed Bodies, Iraq - March 10th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi authorities have found 41 decomposed bodies - some bullet-riddled, others beheaded - at sites near the Syrian border and south of the capital. They said Wednesday [03/09/05] that women and children were among the dead and may have been killed because insurgents thought their families were collaborating with U.S. forces.  [....]" [Based on A.P. article by Patrick Quinn, S.L.P.D., p. A1, 03/10/05]

2005 - Insider Trading / Zvi Fuks & Sabina Ben-Yehuda - March 10th, 2005: "Two friends of Samuel Waksal, the imprisoned former chief executive of ImClone Systems Inc., were charged with insider trading after he testified against them before a grand jury. Zvi Fuks, 68, chairman of the radiation oncology department at memorial Sloan-Kettering hospital in New York, and Sabina Ben-Yehuda, 51, who worked at an investment fund founded by Waksal, were charged in a federal criminal complaint Wednesday [03/09/05] in New York. Fuks was on the scientific advisory board of ImClone when he received the inside information, prosecutors said. Waksal and Martha Stewart were convicted of crimes stemming from their sales of ImClone stock in 2001." [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. D2, 03/10/05]

2005 - Settlement Trivia / Charter Communications Inc. - March 10th, 2005: "Shareholders of Charter Communications Inc. could split $66.25 million in cash along with stock and stock warrants worth $80 million as a settlement of class-action lawsuits filed after the Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the company's accounting in 2002. Charter will pay $144 million of the settlement, with $2.25 million paid by its former accounting firm, Arthur Andersen LLP. [....] Final approval of the settlement is expected May 23." [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

2005 - Volcanic Activity / Shiveluch & Klyuchevskaya Volcanoes, Russia  - March 10th, 2005: "Ongoing eruptions of Russia’s Shiveluch and Klyuchevskaya Volcanoes continue to change the look of the landscape in images captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. This image from March 10, 2005, shows the two volcanoes rising up from the snowy terrain of the Kamchatka Peninsula in far northeastern Russia. Shiveluch has been producing many ash plumes throughout the first few months of 2005, and evidence of a recent eruption is scattered down the western flanks of the volcano and beyond. Meanwhile, a dark ring is encircling the slopes of the Klyuchevskaya Volcano, probably a mixture of mudflows and melting snow and ice. [....]" [Link: 1]

2005 - Bankruptcy Bill / U.S.A. - March 11th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The Senate passed on Thursday [03/10/05] a bankruptcy bill that would require thousands more debtors to repay some of their debts to their creditors. The legislation is backed by the credit card industry, banks and other credit institutions. It would prevent many families earning more than their state's median income from erasing their debts through bankruptcy and order them instead to follow a strict five-year repayment plan. After two weeks of partisan debate, the Senate approved the bill 74-25. [....]" [Based on: Cox News Service]

2005 - Trivia / Abdul Qadeer Khan, Iran - March 11th, 2005: "Pakistan admitted Thursday [03/10/05] that its top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, sold crucial equipment to Iran. [....] The admission was the first public acknowledgement that Khan provided Iran's secret nuclear program with centrifuges, crucial parts needed to enrich uranium and produce nuclear material for power reactors or warheads." [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. A12, 03/11/05]

2005 - Dismissed / Agent Orange Suit - March 11th, 2005: "NEW YORK - A federal judge on Thursday [03/10/05] dismissed a lawsuit alleging that U.S. chemical companies, including Monsanto Co. of Creve Coeur, Mo., committed war crimes against 4 million Vietnamese citizens by making Agent Orange, the defoliant that allegedly caused birth defects, miscarriages and cancer. 'There is no basis for any of the claims of plantiffs under the domestic law of any nation or state or under any form of international law,' U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein wrote in a 233-page ruling. 'The case is dismissed.' Lawyers who filed the suit on behalf of the Vietnamese citizens said an appeal was planned. They had argued that Agent Orange, which is laden with the toxic chemical dioxin, was a poison barred by international rules of war. Lawyers for Monsanto, Dow Chemical Co. and more than a dozen other companies said they should not be punished for following what they believed to be the legal orders of the nation's commander in chief. [....] A lawyer for the Vietnamese plantiffs called the decision that Agent Orange was not a poison 'a clear error.' U.S. aircraft sprayed more than 21 million gallons of the chemical between 1962 to 1971 in attempts to destroy crops and remove foliage used as cover by communist forces. Some 10,000 U.S. war veterans receive medical-disability benefits related to Agent Orange." [Based on A.P. article, S.L.P.D., p. C2, 03/11/05]

2005 - World Treaty on Terrorism? / Kofi Annan - March 11th, 2005: "MADRID, Spain - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Thursday [03/10/05] for a world treaty on terrorism that would outlaw attacks targeting civilians and establish a framework for a collective response to the threat. [....] 'The right to resist occupation ... cannot include the right to deliberately kill or maim civilians,' Annan told the conference on democracy, terrorism and security. The United Nations, he said, must proclaim 'loud and clear that terrorism can never be accepted or justified in any cause whatsoever.' [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Courthouse Killings / Atlanta Georgia - March 11th, 2005: "A man on trial for rape shot and killed the judge in his case, a court stenographer and a sheriff's deputy in a courthouse rampage in Atlanta on Friday morning [03/11/05], law enforcement officials said. The suspect fled, hijacking several cars and setting off a search in several states across the South. [....] The suspect, identified as Brian Nichols, 33, used a gun that he wrested from  a sheriff's deputy, who was left in critical condition with injuries to her head and face, police said. [....] Fulton County Sheriff Myron Freeman identified the shooting victims as Judge Rowland W. Barnes of Superior Court; Julie Ann Brandau, the court stenographer; and Deputy Hoyt Teasley, a 19-year veteran. Deputy Cynthia Hall, a 16-year veteran, was expected to survive her injuries. [....]" [Based on: New York Times, 03/12/05]

2005 - Suicide Bomber / Shiite Mosque, Iraq - March 11th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber walked into a Shiite mosque in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday [03/10/05] and detonated explosives strapped to his body, killing at least 40 people and injuring at least 60, officials and witnesses said. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]

2005 - "Ghost Detainees" / Violation of International Law? - March 11th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Top military intelligence officials at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq came to an agreement with the CIA to hide certain detainees at the facility without officially registering them, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Keeping such 'ghost' detainees is a violation of international law. Army Lt. Col. Steven L. Jordan who was second in command of the intelligence gathering effort at Abu Ghraib while abuse was occuring at the prison, told military investigators that 'other government agencies' and a secretive elite task force 'routinely brought in detainees for a short period of time' and that the detainees were held without an internment number and their names were kept off the books. Guards who worked at the prison have said that ghost detainees were regularly locked in isolation cells on Tier 1A and that they were kept from international human rights organizations. [....]" [Based on: Washington Post]

2005 - Church Shootings / Wisconsin - March 12th, 2005: "Two weeks ago, Terry Ratzmann stalked out of a meeting of his church, upset about something in the sermon. On Saturday [03/12/05], he stormed in late to the weekly service at the Sheraton Hotel here and, without a word, began spraying the congregation with bullets. The authorities remain unsure whether Ratzmann's rampage, which killed seven Living Church of Goid members, including the pastor, and ended in Ratzmann's suicide, resulted from religious frustration. Church members said he had been suffering from depression and had just lost his job. [....]" [Based on: New York Times, 03/14/05]

2005 - Status / Mustard Agent Stockpile, U.S.A. - March 12th, 2005: "More than 1,600 tons of the country's stockpiled mustard agent has been destroyed to meet the terms of a chemical weapons treaty, an Army spokesman said Friday [03/11/05] The mustard agent was the last batch stored at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, 35 miles northeast of Baltimore, and represented about 5 percent of the nation's total stockpile, said the spokesman. The banned liquid blisters the eyes, skin and lungs. It had been stockpiled at Aberdeen since World War II. The mustard agent was destroyed to help meet the 2012 Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty deadline for destroying chemical weapons." [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. 28, 03/12/05]

2005 - Speaking Trip / Captain Yonatan Shapira, U.S.A. - March 12th, 2005: "[....] ... a year and a half ago, Shapira [Israeli Air Force Reserve Captain, Yonatan Shapira] lost his wings as a helicopter pilot. The reason: Shapira joined a few dozen other pilots in refusing to fly missions that they view as immoral and illegal. [....] 'Almost all of those missions do not serve Israel and are neither legal nor moral,' Shapira said at a session with Post-Dispatch editorial writers. [....] A year and a half ago, 27 pilots and 800 reservists signed a letter refusing to carry out missions they deemed illegal and immoral. Most such missions take place in the occupied territories. [....] Shapira insisted that his group was following the first law of the Israeli Defense Forces: 'A soldier must not follow illegal or immoral commands.' He said, 'We told them we're unwilling to participate in missions where we'd harm innocents. It's not only immoral. It also harms Israel by spreading hatred.' [....] Meanwhile, Shapira is on a month-and-a-half speaking trip across the United States. He recently met with congressional staff aides and think-tank analysts in Washington. His take: 'They think the Jewish lobby in Washington represents the Jewish voice - and it's not true.' Shapira singled out the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. But AIPAC's Josh Block called his group the mainstream voice of U.S. public opinion on relations with Israel - 'the only democracy, and our only ally, in the Middle East. And because Israel is a free country, the gentlemen in question is free to make such statements.' [....]" [Based on article by Harry Levins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. 26, 03/12/05]

2005 - Trivia / Ukrainian Withdrawal, Iraq - March 13th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ukraine withdrew 150 servicemen from Iraq on Saturday [03/12/05], beginning a gradual pullout. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / Global Warming - Maech 14th, 2005: "LONDON (Reuters) - A photo of Mount Kilimanjaro stripped of its snowcap for the first time in 11,000 years will be used as dramatic testimony for action against global warming as ministers from the world's biggest polluters meet Tuesday. [....]" [Based on: Jeremy Lovell]

2005 - Trivia / "Pancake Week" - March 14th, 2005: "Belarussians dance Sunday [03/13/05] in downtown Minsk near a burning figure symbolizing winter during a carnival marking Maslyanista, which translates to Pancake Week, an ancient celebration to say goodbye to winter." [Based on: A.P. picture-article, S.L.P.D., p. A10, 03/14/05]

2005 - Law Against Taiwan / China - March 14th, 2005: "BEIJING - China's national legislature enected a law today authorizing the use of force against Taiwan if it moves toward formal independence, codifying its long-standing threat to attack the island. [....] The vote came a day after President Hu Jintao was named chairman of a state military commission, completing the retirement of his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, from all posts. 'We shall step up preparations for possible military struggle and enhance our capabilities to cope with crises, safeguard peace, prevent wars and win the wars, if any,' Hu said Sunday [03/13/05] at a meeting of the Chinese military's delegation at the parliament. He said the army should 'always place the task of defending national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity ... above anything else.' [....] The Chinese government asserts that Taiwan is part of its territory and has as many as 700 missles aimed at the island 100 miles off China's southeast coast." [Based on: Washington Post]

2005 - President Karolos Papoulias / Greece - March 14th, 2005: "Karolos Papoulias, a former foreign minister, was sworn in Saturday [03/12/-5] as Greece's sixth president, saying he has inherited a 'great legacy.' [....] A leading member of the opposition Socialist party, Papoulias was elected with an unprecendented 279 votes in the 300-seat unicameral parliament. Papoulias was a longtime friend and confident of the late Socialist Premier Andreas Papandreou, father of the current opposition leader George Papandreou." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Streak of Light? / Pacific Northwest - March 14th, 2005: "Dozens of residents in the Pacific Northwest reported seeing a bright streak of light as it flashed across the sky, startling witnesses from southern Oregon to the Seattle area, according to officials. Scientists said that the flaming object was probably a meteor and likely disintegrated before fragments fell into the Pacific Ocean. [....] Dick Pugh of the Cascadia Meteorite Laboratory of Portland said the object appeared to have come down over the ocean. He said the object flew over the Pacific Coast, streaking along from south to north." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Water Shortage? / Pacific Northwest - March 14th, 2005: "[....] While Southern California has struggled with a deadly deluge of rain and mud this winter, much of the Pacific Northwest is experiencing almost exactly the opposite, a stunning lack of precipitation that prompted Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire to declare a statewide drought emergency Thursday [03/10/05]. [....] 'We're going to face a tough summer,' Gregoire said, 'and there is not going to be enough water to go around.' [....] The drought is plaguing Washington, Oregon, Idaho and parts of Montana. Officials say that if there is no major break in the form of heavy spring rainfall, it could be the worst drought since 1977, when major conservation measures were enforced. [....]" [Based on: Los Angeles Times]

2005 - Poor Water Management? / Missouri - "Missourians and fellow citizens of the Missouri River Basin, I'm afraid I bring bad news. The upper-basin reservoirs - in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota - have been drawn down to record lows, and currently there is no snow to replenish them. [....] Here is where we are today: The Missouri River reservoirs currently hold slightly less than half of their total capaciity. In my state of Montana, Fort Peck Reservoir is 10 feet lower than it was in the last record-breaking, basin-wide drought. The adverse economic effects in Montana are traumatic, but I'm not trying to advance the notion that we have suffered more than you. That line of argument has been used by every state in the basin, and has gotten all of us nowhere. I simply hope to sound the alarm that your uses of the river - the ones you care most about - are seriously threatened. [....] How did all of this happen? Obviously, we find ourselves in the midst of a multi-year drought, and there has simply been less water entering the system. But much of the water available over this period could have been saved to offset the effects of drought. Instead, the water was used to support Missouri River barge navigation, an industry so small it has failed to sustain the few operators willing to float barges on the river. Missouri officials have been adamant in their support of navigation from the beginning, but betting on navigation as a means of keeping water flowing downstream to your state is risky. So instead of having built up a 'savings account' of water in upstream reservoirs to support drinking water and power production through the dry years, Missouri officials effectively have spent your savings account by draining the reservoirs  for largely nonexistent barge traffic. In short, these officials have lost a risky bet. Had your state officials since 1999 been willing to agreee with the seven other basin states that conserving water in a drought is good for the entire basin, today, we would have five additional years of conserved water in the basin reservoirs. Missouri officials stood alone in those negotiations, and sadly the citizens of your state will be paying the price. We hope your state officials now will respond appropriately in support of emergency measures to conserve every drop of water possible, for the good of the people of Missouri and of the entire basin." [Based on: article by Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer, p. B9, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 03/14/05]

2005 - Trivia / Environmental Toxins, U.S.A. - March 14th, 2004: "[....] Mothers and infants aren't the only ones exposed to these toxins; they pervade modern society, accumulating in all of our bodies. DDT, a pesticide banned in the United States, travels the globe in dust storms. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, persist in soil and water from industrial operations decades ago. Dioxin forged in incinerators spreads throughout the air. Flame retardants used to keep computers, phones and carpets from catching on fire are common in most American households. Beauty products, building materials and household cleaners contain toxic solvents and metals. All of us drink, eat and breathe contaminants every day. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keep tabs on the presence of some of these chemicals in humans through a process called biomonitoring. The CDC takes samples of blood and urine from thousands of Americans every few years. The latest report reviewing about 150 chemicals is due out this spring. [....] The recent breast milk study has attracted the attention of federal officials, who are now developing cleanup levels and safe drinking water standards for perchlorate. Once mainly associated with spills from defense industry sites, particularly in California and Nevada, perchlorate turned up in almost all 200 samples of milk and lettuce nationwide in test results released in November [2004] by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Tainted irrigation water in central California, the nation's salad bowl, appears to be spreading perchlorate far and wide. Certain foods, such as lettuce, tend to concentrate the chemical in their leaves. Even organic food tested positive in the FDA study. [....] The Texas Tech study, published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology last month, provided the first evidence of perchlorate in human breast milk. Researchers found the chemical in each of 36 human milk samples from 18 states. The average level in breast milk was 10.5 parts per billion, five times higher than the average level in dairy milk sampled in the same study. The Missouri mother's milk came in at 31.6 parts per billion, among the highest in the survey. Her identity and hometown was not disclosed for confidentiality reasons. [....] The study also suggested that most exposure came from food rather than water or beverages, because levels measured in milk and water were generally much lower than in the mothers' breast milk. [....]" [Based on article by Sara Shipley, pp. A1 & A7, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 03/14/05]

*Trivia:

Q: Why are there chemicals in breast milk?

A: All of us are exposed through food, water and air to environmental toxins that accumulate in our bodies. Some of these chemicals concentrate in fat, and therefore appear in higher levels in breast milk. Chemicals detected in human breast milk include pesticides, such as DDT and chlordane, dioxins and furans, PCBs, flame retardants, mercury, lead and perchlorate."

[Based on Sara Shipley, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A7, 03/14/05]

2005 - Trivia / Syrian Troop Withdrawal, Lebanon - March 14th, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syria has withdrawn nearly a third of its 14,000 troops from Lebanon, and the rest were expected to be gone - as demanded by the Bush administration - before Lebanese parliamentary elections slated to begin next month, senior Syrian officials said Sunday [03/13/05]. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / FCS U.S.A. - March 15th, 2005: "The Army's new system of digitally connected manned vehicles, robots and drones is now projected to cost as much as $133 billion - up 45 percent from its earlier estimate of $92 billion. [....] Boeing Co., the world's largest aircraft maker, manages the system for the Army. [....] The FCS is the Pentagon's second-most-expensive weapons system. Lockheed Martin Corp's Joint Strike Fighter, at $244 billion, is the costliest." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Gay Marriage? / California - March 15th, 2005: "SAN FRANCISCO - A judge ruled Monday [03/14/05] that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutioinal - a legal milestone that, if upheld on appeal, would open the way for the most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed. Judge Richard Kramer of San Francisco County's trial-level Superior Court likened the ban to laws requiring racial segregation in schools, and said there appears to be 'no rational purpose' for denying marriage to gay couples." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / Mercury Emissions - March 15th, 2005: "[....] U.S. coal-fired power plants emit about 48 tons of mercury a year, about 40 percent of the U.S. total but less than 1 percent of global mercury emissions from all natural and man-made sources, according to EPA estimates. More than half of the man-made emissions in the world come from Asia. [....]" [Based on: article by Sara Shipley, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. A3, 03/15/05]

*Trivia: "A new rule cutting power plant mercury emissions in half in the next 15 years will likely face legal challenges, because environmental groups say the plan isn't strict enough. [....] Under the new regulations, utilities would be required to reduce mercury emissions frim the current 48 tons a year to 38 tons by 2010. This would be accomplished through air pollution controls required under the Clean Air Interstate Rule, a separate rule issued last week aimed at cutting fine particles from sulfur dioxide and smog-forming nitrogen oxides. In the second phase, starting in 2018, utilities would have to cut emissions down to 15 tons a year. The EPA designed a 'cap-and-trade' approach that sets a maximum on how much pollution should be allowed, then lets companies trade credits within those limits. Critics say that could lead to local 'hot spots' of mercury, and they want each plant to be required to install the 'maximum achievable' pollution controls. EPA said the rule would reduce emissions by 70 percent from current levels, but agency officials said Tuesday [03/15/05] it would be sometime after 2020 when that actually happened." [Based on: article by Sara Shipley, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 03/16/05]

2005 - Retired? / Hank Greenberg - March 15th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - American International Group Inc.'s Hank Greenberg, who has run the world's largest insurer for nearly four decades, retired as chief executive amid investigations of potential earnings manipulation and bid rigging, The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday [03/14/05], without identifying its source. [....] Greenburg's retirement marks the biggest executive fallout since new York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer began an industrywide investigation of fraud last October [2004]. [....] Spitzer obtained information in the last 10 days to two weeks that Greenberg himself was involved, said one of the people, who declined to be identified." [Based on: Bloomberg News]

2005 - Strong Earthquake / Turkey - March 15th, 2005: "A strong earthquake shook eastern Turkey on Monday [03/14/05], damaging buildings and injuring at least 18 people, authorities said. The earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 and was centered in the rural province of Bingol, 430 miles east of Ankara. It toppled several buildings that had been badly damaged in a magnitude-5.7 temblor Saturday [03/12/05]. Authorities reported no deaths Monday but said at least 18 people were injured, including two women who were pulled from the rubble." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Anti-Syrian Rally / Lebanon - March 15th, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands of anti-Syrian demonstrators flooded the capital Monday [03/14/05] in the biggest protest ever in Lebanon, surpassing the turnout for an earlier pro-Damascus rally organized by the Islamic militant Hezbollah. In a show of national unity, Sunnis, Druse and Christians packed Martyrs' Square as brass bands played and balloons soared skyward. [....] In recent days, opposition ads for Monday's rally have been running on television, and activists in towns and villages arranged buses to the capital. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Assassination Plot? / George W. Bush - March 15th, 2005: "An American student charged in an alleged conspiracy to kill President George W. Bush pleaded not guilty Monday [03/14/05], and a judge set his trial for August. The government says Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, of Falls Church, Va., confessed to the assassination plot and admitted that he had discussed with al-Qaida plans to stage a terror attack in the United States. Abu Ali's family and lawyers deny the charges. They say he was tortured while being held captive in Saudi Arabia for 20 months. The charges against Abu Ali followed an effort by his family to force the government to return him to the United States from the Saudi prison. His parents sued the U.S. government, charging it had condoned the torture of their son." [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. A5, 03/15/05]

2005 - Signs of Anthrax? / Washington D.C. - March 15th, 2005: "Sensors at two military mail facilities in the Washington area detected signs of anthrax on two pieces of mail Monday [03/14/05]. Pentagon officials said the mail had already been irradiated, rendering any anthrax inert. [....] In October 2001, someone sent anthrax in letters through the mail to media and government offices in Washington, Florida and elsewhere. Five people died, and 17 fell ill." [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. A5, 03/15/05]

*Trivia: "Anthrax tests from two Pentagon mailrooms came back negative Tuesday [03/15/05], a day after initial tests indicated that the deadly spores might be present. The early finding prompted nearly 900 workers to take antibiotics as a precaution. Responding to what now appear to have been false alarms, officials handed out antibiotics and closed three mail centers - two that serve the Pentagon and one in Washington that handles mail on its way to the military. Officials believe that the confusion stemmed from a mistake at a Defense Department laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md. Officials there apparently mixed up a sample of actual anthrax that is kept on hand for comparison purposes with the sample taken from the Pentagon mailroom, a senior administration official said Tuesday. Later tests proved negative and officials realized their error, the official said. [....] In more than three years since the 2001 anthrax-by-mail attacks, there have been scores of initial tests that falsely reported anthrax in government mailrooms. In this case, however, two alert systems independently suggested  the presence of the bacteria, raising concerns and invoking memories of the attacks that killed five. Officials became concerned after warning signs of anthrax appeared at two Pentagon mail facilities Monday [03/14/05], in what appears to have been a coincidence. After receiving results that appeared to confirm the initial readings, officials set out to retest the initial filter and gathered additional samples from the facilities for testing. Every one of those samples came back negative, Winkenwerder [Dr. William Winkenwerder] said." [Based on: A.P., 03/16/05] 

2005 - Trivia / Company Stock, Engineered Support Systems Inc. - March 15th, 2005: "The president of business development at Engineered Support Systems Inc. received $4.52 million from the recent exercise of stock options, as heavy selling continued among the defense contractor's directors and top executives. In the last 12 months, executives and directors at Cool Valley [Mo.]-based Engineered Support have sold 1.1 million shares of company stock, Securities and Exchange Commission records show. In that time, the insiders have bought less than 2,000 shares of company stock, according to SEC data. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, p. C3, 03/15/05]

2005 - "EU Expansion" - March 16th, 2005: "[....] In Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Greece, Malta and Slovakia, a higher percentage of men are obese or overweight than the estimated 67 percent of men in the United States, according to a report from the International Obesity Task Force, a coalition of researchers and institutions. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / Vitamin E - March 16th, 2005: "Large doses of vitamin E - widely touted as an elixir of youth - do not protect against heart attacks and cancer and might actually raise the risk of heart failure in people with diabetes or clogged arteries, a study found. The study, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, is just the latest to cast doubt on the safety and effictiveness of vitamin E supplements and other antioxidants. [....]" [Based on: News Services, S.L.P.D., p. A5, 03/16/05]

2005 - Snow / New Mexico - March 16th, 2005: "A slow-moving storm dumped nearly 3 feet of snow on parts of northern and eastern New Mexico, closing major highways and schools Tuesday [03/15/05]. [....] The National Weather Service reported that Cowles, northwest of Santa Fe, got the most snow from the storm - 38 inches. Gascon, a village in northern New Mexico, and Mineral Hill, near Las Vegas, each had received 34 inches as of Tuesday. Gov. Bill Richardson declared a state of emergency in seven countries Tuesday." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Status / Foreign Soldiers, Iraq - March 16th, 2005: "ROME - Italy's prime minister announced Tuesday [03/15/05] that the country will start drawing down its 3,000-member contingent in Iraq in September, putting a new crack in President George W. Bush's crumbling coalition. Bulgaria also called for a partial withdrawal, and Ukraine welcomed home its first wave of returning troops. The moves come on top of the withdrawal of more than a dozen countries over the last year and could complicate efforts to keep the peace while Iraq's new government builds up police and military units capable of taking over from foreign forces. [....] Thirty-eight countries have provided troops in Iraq at one point or another. But 12 nations have permanently withdrawn since the March 2003 invasion. Today, 26 nations, including the United States, have troops in the country. Excluding U.S. forces, 22,750 foreign soldiers are still in Iraq. [....] The scramble to get out has taken the multinational force from a high of about 300,000 soldiers in the region early in 2003 to 172,750 and falling. About 150,000 U.S. troops shoulder the bulk of the responsibility and suffer the most casualties. [....] The United States also is drawing down its troop levels. After bolstering the U.S. force to about 155,000 during Iraq's recent elections, the Pentagon is bringing some units home and expects to be down to 138,000 soldiers soon. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / U.S. Detainee Deaths - March 16th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - At least 26 prisoners have died in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 in what Army and Navy investigators have concluded or suspected were acts of criminal homicide, according to officials. The number of confirmed or suspected cases is much higher than any accounting the military has previously reported. A Pentagon report sent to Congress last week cited only six prisoner deaths caused by abuse, but that partial tally was limited to what the author - Vice Adm. Albert T. Church III, called 'closed - substantiated abuses cases' as of last September [2004]. [....] Only one of these deaths took place at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, officials said, showing the most violent abuses extended beyond those prison walls. The findings also contradict the Bush administrations repeated assertions that the wrongdoing was confined to a handful of rogue military police on the night shift. Army officials said the killings took place both inside and outside of detention areas, including at the point of capture in often violent battlefield conditions. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]

2005 - Democratic Parliament? / Iraq - March 16th, 2005: "BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq puts its fragile democracy to the test today, convening its first freely elected National Assembly in recent history after last-minute bargaining over Sunni Arab candidates to head the parliament. [....] The Shiite alliance won 140 seats in the National Assembly but needs the Kurd's 75 seats to assemble the two-thirds majority required to elect a president, who will then nominate the prime minister. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / Americans Overworked? - March 16th, 2005: "NEW YORK - One in three American workers is chronically overworked, with job-related stress varying significantly by age, employment situation and demands at home, a new survey shows. The survey by the Families and Work Institute largely echoes one done by the group in 2001. It also found that a third of employees are highly overworked. [....] The survey, done by telephone in October and November, has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Holocaust Museum / Jerusalem - March 16th, 2005: "Israeli President Moshe Katsav warned of renewed anti-Semitism and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged an unyielding fight against racism during a ceremony Tuesday [03/15/05] opening a $56 million Holocaust museum that focuses on the personal tragedies of the Nazi genocide. Leaders from some 40 nations attended the ceremony at the new Holocaust History Museum at Jerusalem's Yad Vashem memorial. The museum took ten years to complete. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg represented the United States." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Trivia / Judicial Appointees, U.S.A.- March 16th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Democrats threatened Tuesday [03/15/05] to slow or stop most Senate business if Republicans unilaterally change the rules to assure confirmation of President George W. Bush's controversial court appointments. Any such change would mark 'an unprecedented abuse of power,' Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., wrote Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn. 'The power to confirm judges includes the right to use well-established Senate rules to reject nominees.' [....] Thus far, Republicans have not sought a Senate vote this year on any of the judicial appointees whose confirmations Democrats blocked in 2003 and last year. But under pressure from conservatives, Republicans have floated the possibility that they will change the rules that allow a filibuster - meaning supporters of a nominee must gain 60 votes to force a final vote. A change in Senate rules requires 67 votes, but the GOP has mapped a strategy requiring a simple majority to make the change. The Senate has 55 Republicans." [Based on: A.P]

2005 - Settlement / Merrill Lynch & Co. - March 16th, 2005: "Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest securities firm, has agreed to pay the New York Stock Exchange $10 million to settle claims that include failing to ensure brokers were properly registered and not retaining e-mails. [....] Without admitting or denying the claims, Merrill said the payment also includes failing to deliver prospectuses for open-end mutual funds and product descriptions of certain exchange traded funds, and late reporting of events such as customer complaints and arbitrations." [Based on: S.L.P.D., p. C2, 03/16/05]

2005 - Found Guilty / Bernard J. Ebbers - March 16th, 2005: "[....] ... Bernard J. Ebbers, the former chief executive of WorldCom Inc., is the federal government's biggest catch since it began pursuing alleged corporate wrongdoers three years ago. He could spend the rest of his life in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for June 13th. Ebbers, 63, was found guilty on Tuesday [03/15/05] of orchestrating the $11 billion fraud that sank WorldCom in 2002, the biggest corporate fraud and bankruptcy in U.S. history. As a jury forewoman read the verdict - guilty on all nine counts, including fraud and conspiracy - Ebbers' face reddened noticeably. His wife, Kristie, seated in the front row, broke into tears. [....] Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales called the conviction a 'triumph of our legal system.' He said the jury had recognized the fraud 'extended from the middle-management levels of this company all the way to its top executive.' [....] WorldCom, which had been based in Clinton, Miss., emerged from bankruptcy last year as MCI Inc. of Ashburn, Va." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Oil Drilling OK? / Alaskan Wildlife Refuge - March 17th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - With a hard-fought Senate vote Wednesday [03/16/05] clearing the way, supporters of drilling in an Alaskan wildlife refuge said survey teams could arrive within a year and leases for tapping its oil and natural gas deposits could be sold as soon as 2007. [....] Based on: Seattle Post-Intelligencer]

2005 - Recommended Approval / Boostrix & Adacel - March 16th, 2005: "Hoping to halt the rising number of whooping cough cases in the United States, a federal advisory panel on Tuesday [03/15/05] recommended approval of two new booster vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration comittee unanimously recommended approval of Boostrix, a single-dose vaccine against whooping cough, tetanus and diptheria designed for children ages 10 to 16. It is made by GlaxoSmithKLine Biologicals. The committee also unanimously recommended approval of Adacel, from Sanofi Pasteur, intended to protect both adolescents and adults - people ages 11 to 64 - from the same three diseases. The FDA is not required to follow the recommendations of its advisory committees but generally does so. Youngsters have been vaccinated against whooping cough sinc ethe 1940s, but doctors have begun to realize that the protection fades over time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention received 18,957 reports of whooping cough last year, up from 11,647 in 2003 and just 1,707 in 1980." [Based on: News Services]

2005 - Financial Fraud? / Quest Communications International Inc. - March 16th, 2005: "DENVER - The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Tuesday [03/15/05] that Joseph P. Nacchio, Quest Communications International Inc.'s former chief executive, and six others orchestrated a 'massive financial fraud' at the telecommunications company. The fraud sought to conceal the source of billions of dollars in reported revenue, the SEC alleged. [....] The charges say the fraud occurred between April 1999 and March 2002, allowing Quest to fraudulently report approximately $3 billion of revenue that was later restated and helped Quest's merger with U.S. West in 2000. [....] The charges had been expected for months, and Nacchio repeatedly has denied wrongdoing regarding Quest's accounting practices. [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - St. Patrick's Day - March 17th, 2005: "St. Patrick's Day observed."

2005 - "Celtic Women" - March 17th, 2005: "A PBS Channel 9 musical event entitled 'Celtic Women' aired this date in history." [E.M.]

2005 - Suspect Cash / Illinois - March 17th, 2005: "A Pontoon Beach police officer acting on a hunch searched a tractor-trailer at a truck stop and discovered almost $3.3 million in suspected drug money, one of the largest cash seizures in the area's history. [....] The seizure dwarf's two other recent cases. Last month, Illinois State Police seized $611,597 from a tractor-trailer in Collinsville. And in February last year, troopers confiscated $835,500 from a horse trailer on Interstate 55 north of Litchfield. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

2005 - Acquitted / Robert Blake - March 17th, 2005: "LOS ANGELES - A jury acquitted tough-guy actor Robert Blake of murder Wednesday [03/16/05] in the shooting death of his wife four years ago, bringing a dramatic end to a case that played out like pulp fiction. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Approved / U.S. Highway Bill - March 17th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - A Senate subcommittee approved a $284 billion transportation bill Wednesday [03/16/05] that includes millions of dollars toward a new Mississippi River bridge. [....]" [Based on: Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau]

2005 - Trivia / General Motors Corp. - March 17th, 2005: "General Motors Corp. on Wednesday [03/16/05] abandoned projections of a break-even or slightly profitable first quarter and slashed its fiscal-year earnings outlook by more than half, citing poor North American buisness and rising health care costs. Its share price tumbled to the lowest level in two years. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Record Close / Crude Oil Prices - March 17th, 2005: "Crude-oil prices jumped to a record close above $56 a barrel Wednesday [03/16/05] as traders brushed off a largely symbolic effort by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cool the market. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / Prison Mothers, U.S.A. - March 17th, 2005: "NEW YORK - America's war on drugs is inflicting deep and disproportionate harm on women - most of them mothers - who are filling prisons in ever-rising numbers despite their typically minor roles in drug rings, the American Civil Liberties Union and two other groups contend. [....] The number of imprisoned women is increasing at a much faster rate than the number of men, mostly because of tougher drug laws. There were 101 thousand women in state and federal prisons in 2003, an eight-fold increase since 1980; roughly one-third were drug offenders, compared with about one-fifth of male inmates. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Paul Wolfowitz / World Bank??? - March 17th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush on Wednesday [03/16/05] chose Paul D. Wolfowitz to head the World Bank, selecting an architect of the Iraq war whose foreign policy stance as deputy defense secretary made him a target of critics at home and abroad. Bush called Wolfowitz 'a compassionate, decent man who will do a fine job at the World Bank.' [....] Wolfowitz was among the most forceful Bush administration figures in arguing that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. If approved by the World Bank's board, Wolfowitz will replace James D. Wolfenson, who will step down June 1, the end of his second five-year term. The United States is the World Bank's largest shareholder. The bank traditionally has had an American president. The board typically defers to the U.S. selection." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Sentenced to Death / Scott Peterson - March 17th, 2005: "REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - Scott Peterson was formally sentenced Wednesday [03/16/05] to death in the killing of his pregnant wife, Laci, but the sentencing seemed almost a footnote to the emotional exchanges in the courtroom. [....]" [Based on: New York Times]

2005 - Settlement / JPMorgan Chase & Co. - March 17th, 2005: "NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation's second-largest financial institution, said Wednesday [03/16/05] that it will pay $2 billion to settle claims in a class-action lawsuit filed after the collapse of WorldCom Inc. JPMorgan Chase is the last major bank to settle the WorldCom-related claims. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Palestinian Security Control? / Jericho - March 17th, 2005: "JERICHO, West bank - In a crucial confidence-building measure, Israeli forces Wednesday [03/16/05] removed concrete barricades, took down the blue-and-white Israeli flag and handed over the oasis town of Jericho to Palestinian security control. [....] In line with agreements reached feb. 8 at a summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, Israel is to ultimately withdraw to what the two sides consider informal armistice lines, the position of Israeli forces when the intifada erupted in late September 2000. Since then, nearly all the West Bank has been under military occupation at some point. [....]" [Based on: Los Angeles Times]

2005 - Syrian Agents Withdraw / Beirut, Lebanon - March 17th, 2005: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Syrian intelligence agents ended their 18-year presence in Beirut on Wednesday [03/16/05], and emboldened residents of the capital came forward to celebrate. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Indebted to the Rest of the World? / U.S.A. - March 17th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The nation's deficit in the broadest measure of international trade soared to a record $665.9 billion in 2004, showing in stark terms the speed with which the country is becoming indebted to the rest of the world. The current-account shortfall was 25.5 percent higher than the previous record, a deficit of $530.7 billion in 2003, the Commerce Department said Wednesday [03/16/05]. [....] The deficit for 2004 was not only a record in dollar terms but also as a percentage of the total U.S. economy, climbing to 5.7 percent of gross domestic product, up from 4.8 percent in 2003." [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Resignation / Thomas Cullen, Charter Communications Inc. - March 17th, 2005: "Charter Communications Inc. of Town and Country [Mo.] lost another senior executive with the resignation Wednesday [03/16/05] of Thomas Cullen, the executive vice president of advanced services and buisness development. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

2005 - Fabricated Documentation? / Yucca Mountain Project - March 17th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Government employees may have falsified documents related to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project in Nevada, the Energy Department said Wednesday [03/16/05]. The disclosure could jeopardize the project's ability to get a federal permit to operate the dump. During preparation for a license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the department said it found a number of e-mails from 1998 through 2000 in which an employee of the U.S. Geological survey 'indicated that he had fabricated documentation of his work.' [....] The department said the questionable data involved computer modeling for water infiltration and climate at the Yucca site, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. [....] Hobson [Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that controls the dollars for Yucca Mountain] said the problem did not appear to be too serious and that he did not think it would throw Yucca Mountain off track." [Based on A.P. article, S.L.P.D., p. A4, 03/17/05]

2005 - Palestinian-Israeli Truce? - March 18th, 2005: "SIXTH OF OCTOBER CITY, Egypt - Palestinian militants declared a halt to attacks on Israel for the rest of the year, their longest cease-fire promise ever and a victory for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. But they warned Thursday [03/17/05] that the truce would collapse if Israel did not hold its own fire and release Palestinian prisoners. [....] The declaration says the halt in violence is conditional on Israel's halting all military operations against Palestinians and releasing all 8,000 Palestinian prisoners, a step Israel has shown no sign of taking. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Trivia / U.S. Interrogation Practices - March 18th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - CIA Director Porter Goss defended U.S. interrogation practices and rejected any notion that intelligence officers engage in torture. [....] U.S. authorities have flown at least 100 foreigners to countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. While the Bush administration has said it seeks assurances that the subject will not be tortured, critics say the practice allows the United States to outsource the dirty work. [....] But at the hearing, Goss was careful in answering questions of U.S. interrogation practices, saying there is clarity now on policies for military and civilian personnel. 'At this time,' he said, 'there are no techniques ... that are being employed that are in any way against the law or would be considered torture or anything like that.' " [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Postponed / Parliamentary Elections, Afghanistan - March 18th, 2005: "KABUL, Afghanistan - Parliamentary elections scheduled for spring will not take place until at least September, President Hamid Karzai said Thursday [03/17/05]. [....] Under an international agreement reached in Bonn in December 2002, Afghanistan's interim government agreed to prepare 'for free and fair elections by June 2004.' But the presidential elections were pushed back until October. [....] Rice [Condoleezza Rice] also received a briefing  from U.S. officials on the growing drug-production problem in Afghanistan, which the State Department said in a recent report was on the verge of becoming a narcotics state." [Based on: Washington Post]

2005 - Comprehensive Decoding / X Chromosome - March 18th, 2005: "LOS ANGELES - Scientists have found genetic evidence for what some men have long suspected: It is dangerous to make assumptions about women. [....] In a study published Thursday [03/17/05] in the journal Nature, scientists have found an unexpectedly large genetic variation on the X chromosome among women. The findings were published in conjunction with the first comprehensive decoding of the chromosome, which appeared in the same journal. [....] The scientists who looked at the X chromosome's genetic variations say females can differ from eachother almost as much as they do from males in the behavior of many genes at the heart of sexual identity. [....] All told, men and women may differ by as much as 2 percent of their entire genetic inheritance. That degree of difference is greater than the hereditary gap between humankind and its closest relative - the chimpanzee. 'In essence,' Willard [Duke University genetics expert Huntington Willard] said, there is not one human genome, but two - male and female.' [....] To avoid any toxic effect from double sets of X genes, female cells randomly choose one copy of the X chromosome and silence it - or so scientists had believed. The new analysis found that the second X chromosome is not a silent partner. As many as 25 percent of its genes are active, serving as blueprints to make necessary proteins. The newly discovered genetic variation among women might help account for differing gender reactions to perscription drugs and the heightened vulnerability of women to some diseases, several experts said." [Based on: Los Angeles Times article, S.L.P.D., p. A13, 03/18/05]

2005 - Congressional Hearing / Steroid Use, U.S. Baseball - March 18th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - The biggest stir at Thursday's [03/17/05] congressional hearing on steroids in baseball was caused by Mark McGwire, St. Louis' prodigal home run hitter - for what he didn't say. [....] He wouldn't say whether he had ever observed illegal drug use by teammates or whether records set by players on performance-enhancing drugs should be discontinued. [....] The committee plans to hold other hearings on the topic." [Based on: Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau]

2005 - Assassination Attempt / Anatoly Chubais, Russia - March 18th, 2005: "MOSCOW - Russia's top utilities official, hated by many Russians for engineering the country's murky post-Soviet state sell-offs, survived an assassination attempt Thursday [03/17/05] when assailants attacked his armored car with a roadside bomb and a hail of gunfire. [....] Chubais, 49, is one of Russia's wealthiest, most influential businessmen - and one of the country's most controversial political figures. As the architect of President  Boris Yeltsin's privatization program during the 1990s, Chubais became synonymous with one of post-Soiviet Russia's darkest chapters, when a handful of well-connected businessmen used rigged sell-offs to wrest comntrol of billions of dollars in state assets. [....] Nine members of Russia's parliament have been killed since 1994. Last July, American journalist Paul Klebnikov, editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was gunned down as he left his Moscow office. [....]" [Based on: Chicago Tribune]

2005 - Trivia / Holocaust History? - March 19th, 2005: "WASHINGTON - Historians angered by C-Span's plans to air a speech by a British historian who has challenged the extent of the Holocaust have petitioned the network to cancel the project. [....] Irving [David Irving], the author of nearly 30 books, including 'Hitler's War,' took Lipstadt [Deborah Lipstadt] to court in Britain. Alleging libel, he sued her for calling him a Holocaust denier. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2000 by the British court, which said Irving was anti-Semitic and racist and he misrepresented historical information. [....] Lipstadt said that when she realized Irving was to get air time, too, she contacted C-Span and someone there explained his side would add 'balance.' She has declined to go on C-Span if Irving is also on. [....]" [Based on: A.P.]

2005 - Sentenced / John G. Rowland - March 19th, 2005: "Former Gov. John G. Rowland was sentenced to a year in prison and four months, house arrest Friday [03/18/05] in a corruption scandal that destroyed his career as one of the Republican Party's brightest and fastest-rising stars. [....] Rowland, 47, pleaded guilty in December to a corruption charge, admitting he sold his influence for more than $100,000 in trips to Las Vegas, vacations in Vermont and Florida, and improvements at his lakeside cottage. He resigned last summer amid a gathering drive to impeach him. [....]" [Based on: News Services]

2005 - MetroLink Status / St. Louis, Mo. - March 19th, 2005: "The regional transit agency's much anticipated light-rail extension from Forest Park to Shrewsbury should wrap up by next year, but at a cost of between $96 million and $126 million more than originally budgeted. [....] The cross-county extension, which broke ground in April 2003, was supposed to open this spring. The project is financed entirely by a quarter-cent sales tax levied in 1994. Metro is receiving no federal money for the project. [....]" [Based on: St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

2005 - Weapons Smuggling? / Iran & China - March 19th, 2005: "KIEV, Ukraine - Ukran