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blog-heap o' links
A naked man was
saved from the jaws of a 12-foot (3.6-metre) alligator by Florida deputies
after reports of a man screaming in a lake in the early hours... later
described as critically ill in hospital... unclear why he was in the water in
the early hours, but he had admitted taking crack cocaine... 
Army 2nd Lt. Scott B.
Lundell, 35, of Hurricane, Utah, died Nov. 25 in Oruzgan Province,
Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his unit came in contact with enemy
forces using small arms fire and rocket propelled grenades while on patrol
during combat operations. He was assigned to I Corps Artillery, Utah National
Guard, Camp Williams, Utah. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:06:58Marine Lance Cpl.
Michael A. Schwarz, 20, of Carlstadt, N.J., died Nov. 27 from wounds
suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was
assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:06:45Army Staff Sgt.
Daniel M. Morris, 28, of Clinton, Tenn., died Nov. 25 in Al Judiah,
Iraq, of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near
his vehicle. He was assigned to 1st Squadron, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd
Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:06:30Army Cpl. Nathan J.
Goodiron, 25, of Mandaree, N.D., died Nov. 23 in Qarabagh, Afghanistan, of
injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small
arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. He was assigned to National Guard's
1st Battalion, 188th Air Defense Artillery, Grand Forks, N.D. defenselink.mil/ ... 21:06:13Army Capt. Jason R.
Hamill, 31, of New Haven, Conn.Army 1st Lt. David M. Fraser, 25, of
Texas.Army Pvt.
Joshua C. Burrows, 20, of Bossier City, La.Army
Master Sgt. Robert V. Layton, U.S. Army, of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is to
be buried today at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington D.C. Layton was
assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry
Division (making up the 31st Regimental Combat Team). The RCT was engaged
against the Chinese People's Volunteer Forces along the Chosin Reservoir, North
Korea. After intense fighting from Nov. 27-Dec. 1, 1950, the battalion was
forced to abandon its position, leaving its dead behind. Layton was listed as
missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, and was later presumed killed in action.
Between 2002 and 2004, joint U.S. and Democratic People's Republic of North
Korea teams, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, seven times excavated
a mass burial site associated with the 31st RCT along the eastern shore of the
Chosin Reservoir. The team found human remains and other material evidence,
including Layton's identification tag and part of his billfold containing a
newspaper clipping reporting on a Bronze Star being awarded to "Sgt. Robert
Layton" circa 1944.... Marine Cpl. Nicholas
P. Rapavi, 22, of Springfield, Va., died Nov. 24 from wounds sustained
while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned
to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.Marine Cpl. Michael C. Ledsome, 24, of Austin,
Texas, died Nov. 25 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province,
Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine
Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.Marine Lance Cpl.
Jeromy D. West, 20, of Aguanga, Calif., died Nov. 25 while conducting
combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary
Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. defenselink.mil/ ... 20:53:39Marine Lance Cpl.
James R. Davenport, 20, of Danville, Ind., died Nov. 22 while conducting
combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.Marine Pvt. Heath D. Warner, 19, of
Canton, Ohio, died Nov. 22 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar
province, Iraq.Army Sgt. 1st Class
James D. Priestap, 39, of Harwood, Mich., died Nov. 23 in Baghdad, Iraq,
of injuries suffered when he came in contact with enemy forces using small arms
fire during checkpoint operations. He was assigned to the 46th Military Police
Company, Kingsford, Mich. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:50:46Army Pvt. Reece D.
Moreno, 19, of Prescott, Ariz., died of injuries suffered in a non-combat
related incident in Balad, Iraq, on Nov. 24. Moreno was assigned to the 92
Engineer Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort
Stewart, Ga. The incident is under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:50:33Army Command Sgt. Maj.
Donovan E. Watts, 46, of Atlanta, Ga., died Nov. 21 in Bayji, Iraq, of
injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV
during combat operations in Siniyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd
Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. 
Ziggy the cat used up at least one of his nine lives after
surviving for 17 days without food on a 2,300 mile voyage that took him from
northern Israel to England... as a stowaway in a 40-foot container... wandered
into a consignment of plastic goods which were then sealed in Afula in
Israel... he emerged, exhausted, starving and dehydrated, at a warehouse in
Whitworth in Lancashire on Friday... not only survived but was able to resist
capture for five hours... background or owners remain a mystery... Army Sgt. James P.
Musack, 23, of Riverside, Iowa, died of injuries suffered in a non-combat
related incident in Samarra, Iraq, on Nov. 21. The incident is under
investigation. Musack was assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. defenselink.mil/ ... 19:24:46Marine Lance Cpl.
Joshua C. Alonzo, 21, of Dumas, Texas, died November 22 while conducting
combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd
Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary
Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. 
In Japanese villages
each year, local fishermen hunt for large numbers of dolphins by herding them
into shallow coves and then, scientists say, attacking them with knives and
even eviscerating them alive. Now, a broad-based coalition including marine
scientists and aquarium workers is demanding that the Japanese end these
government-sanctioned dolphin drives, which opponents criticize as an inhumane
annual practice that targets an intelligent and self-aware species... hosted.ap.org/ ... 20:15:19Chinese
animal rights activists welcomed a proposed European Union ban on imports of
dog and cat fur, saying Tuesday it would pressure the Beijing government to
enact better legal protections for animals, while the government denied torture
and cruelty are widespread... Army Spc. Eric
Vizcaino, 21, of New Mexico, died Nov. 21 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries
suffered Nov. 20 in Samarra, Iraq, in a non-combat related incident. Vizcaino
was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd
Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. The incident is
under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:03:40The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have
been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military
honors.Army
Pfc. Charles H. Long, U.S. Army, of Durand, Ill. will be
buried Nov. 25 in Durand.... On March 24, 1953, Long was one of four men from L
Company,3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, who was
declared missing in action after engaging enemy forces north of the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) on what came to be known as Pork Chop Hill. The bodies
of two of the MIAs were recovered and a third MIA was returned alive during
Operation Big Switch after having been captured by Chinese Communist Forces.
Long remained unaccounted-for, and was eventually declared dead on March 24,
1954. In 1993, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) gave United
Nations officials 33 boxes with human remains of alleged U.S. servicemen who
were unaccounted-for. The DPRK recovered the remains near Komsa-ri in Kangwon
Province, which was near Long's last known location. Also included in one of
the boxes were Long's social security and identification cards along with
identification tags.... defenselink.mil/ ... 00:21:31Army Spc. Bradley N.
Shilling, 22, of Stanwood, Mich., died Nov. 18 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his
vehicle during combat operations. Shilling was assigned to the 1st Battalion,
125th Infantry Regiment (Mechanized), Big Rapids, Mich. 
AMSTERDAM... A plan to roll and smoke the world's largest joint was
cancelled at short notice in Amsterdam when the organizers realized they could
be breaking the law... The group had wanted to roll a five-foot-long pure-weed
joint, stuffed with more than a pound of marijuana and containing no tobacco,
and smoke it in a bar. It had initially thought the attempt would be legal if
100 people each brought along the five grams of the drug tolerated by Dutch
authorities for personal use... A police spokesman said: "We would definitely
have investigated this. If you make a single joint with half a kilo of cannabis
in it, it would cross the line." Verheij said the group had hoped to beat a
record set with a joint containing 100 grams of marijuana... breitbart.com/ ... 00:39:28A
92-year-old woman was shot to death Tuesday after she fired at three narcotics
officers trying to serve a warrant at her house... Neighbors and relatives said
it must have been a case of mistaken identity. Police said they had the right
address... Army Cpt. John R.
Dennison, 24, of Ijamsville, MD, died on Nov. 15 in Balad, Iraq, as a
result of small arms fire. Dennison was assigned to 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry
Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
defenselink.mil/ ... 12:46:57Army Capt. Rhett W.
Schiller, 26, of Wisconsin, died Nov. 16 in Balad Ruz, Iraq, of injuries
suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire
during combat operations. He was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry
Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
defenselink.mil/ ... 12:46:39Army Sgt. 1st Class
Schuyler B. Haynes, 40, of New YorkArmy Spc. Mitchel T. Mutz, 23, of
Falls City, TexasArmy Spc. Eric G.
Palacios Rivera, 21, of Atlantic City, N.J., died Nov. 14 in Ar Ramadi,
Iraq, of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces
using small arms fire during combat operations. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry
Division, Schweinfurt, Germany. defenselink.mil/ ... 12:45:45Army Col. Thomas H.
Felts Sr., 45, of Sandston, Va., assigned to the Command and General Staff
College, School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth, Kan.Army Spc. Justin R.
Garcia, 26, of Elmhurst, N.Y., assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry
Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis,
Wash. Army Col. Thomas H.
Felts Sr., 45, of Sandston, Va. He was assigned to the Command and General
Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth,
Kan.Army Spc.
Justin R. Garcia, 26, of Elmhurst, N.Y. He was assigned to the 1st
Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd
Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. Army Sgt. 1st Class
Tung M. Nguyen, 38, of Tracy, Calif., died Nov. 14 in Baghdad, Iraq, of
injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small
arms fire during combat operations. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd
Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C. Army Pfc. Daniel J.
Allman II, 20, of Canon, Ga.Army Pfc. Jang H. Kim, 20, of Placentia, Calif.
Marine Lance Cpl.
Mario D. Gonzalez, 21, of La Puente, Calif., died Nov. 14 while
conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd
Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary
Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:38:11Marine Lance Cpl.
Michael D. Scholl, 21, of Lincoln, Neb., died Nov. 14 from wounds
sustained while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was
assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine
Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. 
An
Australian driver threatened police with a live snake after he was pulled over
for a breath test for driving under the influence of alcohol... today.reuters.com/ ... 23:28:59A
drunken elk is terrorizing children at a school in southern Sweden... was
probably eating fermented apples in a garden... "The children are really
scared..." Marine Lance Cpl.
Timothy W. Brown, 21, of Sacramento, Calif., died Nov. 14 while
conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd
Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary
Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. defenselink.mil/ ... 23:10:18Marine Lance Cpl.
Kristopher C. Warren, 19, of Resaca, Ga., died Nov. 9 from a non-hostile
incident in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 4th Battalion, 14th
Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Chattanooga, Tenn. The incident is
currently under investigation. defenselink.mil/ ... 02:20:16Army 1st Lt. Michael
A. Cerrone, 24, of Clarksville, Tenn.Army Pfc. Harry A. Winkler III, 32,
of Clarksville, Tenn. Army Staff Sgt.
William S. Jackson II, 29, of Saginaw, Mich.Army Staff Sgt. Misael Martinez,
24, of Chapel Hill, N.C.Army Sgt. Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez, 22, of Pacoima,
Calif. Marine Sgt. Bryan K.
Burgess, 35, of Garden City, Mich., died Nov. 9 while conducting combat
operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Forces
Reserve's 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Perrysburg,
Ohio. Army Sgt. Courtland
A. Kennard, 22, of Starkville, Miss.Army Staff Sgt. Gregory W. G.
McCoy, 26, of Webberville, Mich. Army Staff Sgt.
Richwell A. Doria, 25, of San Diego, Calif., died on Nov. 7 in Kirkuk,
Iraq, after being struck by small arms fire during an air assault mission.
Doria was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade,
25th Infantry Regiment, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. defenselink.mil/ ... 15:00:25Army Sgt. 1st Class
Rudy A. Salcido, 31, of Ontario, Calif., died on Nov. 9 in Baghdad,
Iraq, after an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle.
Salcido was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1114th Transportation
Company, Bakersfield, Calif. Army Sgt. Lucas T.
White, 28, of Moses Lake, Wash., died Nov. 6 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries
suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces while on patrol. He
was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat
Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. defenselink.mil/ ... 18:42:51The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of a U.S. Air Force officer missing in action from the Vietnam War
have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full
military honors.Air Force Col. Charles J. Scharf of San
Diego. His funeral is scheduled for Nov. 30 at Arlington National Cemetery near
Washington D.C. Col Scharf and a fellow crew member took off in their F-4C
Phantom IIs from Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand on October 1, 1965.
Their mission was to attack an enemy concentration and a major highway in North
Vietnam. After the lead aircraft developed problems en route, Scharf assumed
the lead of the two other F-4s in the flight. After he completed two bombing
runs, Scharf's aircraft was hit by enemy fire. His radio transmission of
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday" was heard by the other two aircraft. One radioed
"Gator 3 [Scharf's call sign], you're on fire, you'd better get out! Bail out,
Gator 3!" Scharf's plane began to disintegrate and a parachute was seen leaving
the aircraft. The other two aircraft lost sight of the parachute, and circled
the area for about 10 minutes where Scharf's aircraft had crashed and burned
but no radio or visual contact was made then nor in subsequent aerial search
and rescue operations. In January 1990, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
(S.R.V.) provided information to U.S. officials indicating two men were buried
near their crash site, but that one had been washed away during flooding....
defenselink.mil/ ... 11:08:04The
Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that
the remains of four U.S. servicemen, missing in action from World War II, have
been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military
honors.Army Air
Force 1st Lt. Robert H. Miller, of Providence, R.I.Army Air Force 2nd Lt.
Robert L. Hale, of Newtonville, Mass.Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Joseph A.
Berube, of Fall River, Mass.Army Air Force Staff Sgt. Glendon E. Harris, of
North Monmouth, MaineMarine Lance Cpl.
Ryan T. McCaughn, 19, of Manchester, N.H., died Nov. 7 while conducting
combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion,
6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp
Lejeune, N.C. defenselink.mil/ ... 11:05:10Army Chief Warrant
Officer John R. Priestner, 42, of PennsylvaniaArmy Chief Warrant Officer Miles P.
Henderson, 24, of Amarillo, TexasAn untold number of otherwise
law-abiding professionals in New York are having their pot delivered to their
homes instead of visiting drug dens or hanging out on street corners...
Obesity has become such an issue of political
incorrectness that two brothers appeared in court yesterday charged with
allowing a dog to get too fat... ballooned to more than 11½ stone
(161lb, 73kg), the ideal weight for a large-boned 6ft (1.82m) woman, but not a
retriever... had trouble standing up, and after no more than five paces he had
to sit down again, breathless. He looked, magistrates at Ely, Cambridgeshire,
were told yesterday, more like a seal than a dog... 
A
prehistoric Jaws that terrorised the oceans 400 million years ago had the most
powerful bite of any creature yet known... 
Scientists
at a U.S. weapons laboratory say they have trained bees to sniff out explosives
in a project they say could have far-reaching applications for U.S. homeland
security and the Iraq war... Researchers at the Los Alamos National
Laboratory... trained honeybees to stick out their proboscis... when they smell
explosives... By exposing the insects to the odor of explosives followed by a
sugar water reward... the bees could be carried in hand-held detectors the size
of a shoe box... or even placed in robot bomb disposal equipment... the next
step would be to manufacture the bee boxes and train security guards in their
use... 
Humpback
whales have a type of brain cell seen only in humans, the great apes, and other
cetaceans such as dolphins... might mean such whales are more intelligent than
they have been given credit for, and suggests the basis for complex brains
either evolved more than once, or has gone unused by most species of animals...
a type of cell called a spindle neuron in the cortex, in areas comparable to
where they are seen in humans and great apes... Although the function of
spindle neurons is not well understood, they may be involved in cognition --
learning, remembering and recognizing the world around oneself. Spindle cells
may be affected by Alzheimer's disease and other debilitating brain disorders
such as autism and schizophrenia... 
Yoko Ono has
placed a full-page ad in the New York Times calling upon the world to mark the
anniversary of her husband John Lennon’s death as a day of healing for
those who have suffered violence or war... "I don't know if I am ready yet to
forgive the one who pulled the trigger," notes Ono. "But healing is what is
urgently needed now in the world..." 
A company in
northeast China raised $379 million from gullible members of the public by
promising big profits from a project to breed ants... The report did not
explain why the public would want to invest in ants but, in the southern region
of Guangxi, black ants are sold by the bagful to be steeped in tea or soaked in
liquor as a natural remedy for ailments such as arthritis... 
Authorities in Nepal tranquilized an elephant and trimmed its tusks
after it was blamed for a dozen deaths in the country's east over the past six
weeks... Nepal's elephant population has dwindled to about 100...