Osama Bin Laden (1957-) 9/11 George W. Bush (1946-) and Colin Powell (1937-) of the U.S. Barack Obama of the U.S. (1961-) Vladimir Putin of Russia (1952-) Nicolas Sarkozy of France (1955-) Angel Merkel of Germany (1954-) Saddam Hussein of Iraq (1937-2006) Kim Jong-il of North Korea (1942-2011)

John McCain of the U.S. (1936-) Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel (1949-) Mahmoud Abbas (1935-) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran (1956-) Larry Page (1973-) and Sergey Brin (1973-) Google Logo Jay-Z (1969-) Eminem (1972-) The Black-Eyed Peas

T.L. Winslow's Twenty-Zeds Historyscope 2000-2009 C.E.

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 TLW's 2000 C.E., by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2000 C.E. Historyscope

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.

The Twenty-First (21st) Century C.E. (2000-2099)



The Last Millennium? The New First Millennium? The Races Become Extinct Millennium? The Big Brother Millennium? The Muslim Millennium? The Chinese Millennium? The Christ Begins His Thousand-Year Reign Millennium? The Last Human Millennium on Earth, with humans either becoming extinct or leaving for greener fields in space?

The Armageddon Century? The Fiction Century? The Crazy Century? The Forbidden Fruit Sin Is In Evil is Good and Good Evil Century? The Don't Worry Be Happy Century? The I'm Sorry I'm White Century? The There Is No God But Allah Islamic Awakening Century? The Last Century? The New First Century? The Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow Century? The Don't Worry About Tomorrow It May Never Come Century? The Repent This Could Be the Last Day of Your Life Century? The Islam Returns All Muslim Terrorists Are Seeking Immortality Century? The New Rainbow American Century? The Continental Union Century? The Chinese or Asian Century? The Rejoice Today Is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life Century? The Meet the New Boss Same as the Old Boss Century? The If I Could Make It In My Computer I Could Believe In It Century? The Time Horizon Bunny, the Cosmic Program Counter is making history in this, the real century, the only century, the one and only Now Century where the Time Horizon is ever moving yet standing still? The future is only for the living, Eragon?


Big Boom Chi Rho Symbol of Christ Second Coming of Christ Second Coming of Christ Archangel Michael Slays Satan

The Gospel of Matthew Century?

"As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "Take heed that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ', and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the sufferings. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death; and you will be hated by all nations for my name's skae. And then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead you astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow cold. But he who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all all nations; and then the end will come." - Matthew 24:3-14

"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Then if any one says to you, 'Lo, here is the Christ' or "There the Christ is', do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect." - Matthew 24:21-4

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the Sun will be darkened, and the Moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the Earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." - Matthew 24:32

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man." - Matthew 24:36-9

"Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein. But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short." - Revelation 12:12

Dead people don't read history, they are history, and living people don't read history, they make history? There are more people alive than ever before, history speeds up, and there is a history explosion? One day history will happen far faster than anybody can study it?

Having a little trouble falling asleep these days? Are your debts becoming nightmares? With your degree you can go places, but there's nowhere to go but here? Is life all just a test? Is fact fiction and fiction fact? Do you get the personal attention you deserve? Do your crime scenes get investigated in time? What are the closing costs and fees? Way, or no way? Don't get it? You just did? Call what toll-free number? You can build a deck, go to Bora Bora, and the rate is? Is there only One Mortgage? Will civilization flower, wax, wane, flounder, flip-flop, belly flop, or end just like that, poof? Is the West getting overrun with gays, lesbians, race-mixers, neo-pagans, barbarians, and going the way of Roam Rome Rome? Is the last cent. where humans are their own boss? Is this cent. the End of Time, or just the beginning? The end of time for the world, or just the old world of churches, priesthoods, Bible believers and/or Millennium Fever (MF) itself, after a 2K-year mind-lock? How can we all go on like this for another millennium?

The seven-layer-crunch-wrap knowledge economy is born, but does it remain a lawless frontier, get tamed, become the tool of Big Brother, or think outside the bun? World government is inevitable, as is a single world language? But just when when when and how how how?

Genetic engineering comes to a gut-check time? Humans will not be able to move off the Earth for tens, hundreds or thousand of years? Do we learn to get along or die, mutate, get saved, or stay unrepentant sinners and turn into bird food in Jehovah's long-promised black is black I want my baby back Armageddon while only a tiny remnant survive to go back to Eden and be with Christ? Will man make himself obsolete with his creations or become the master of creation? Will artificial intelligence find its limit, break out of its box, or kills its father and marry its mudder? Will computer virtual reality technology permit the line between fact and fiction to be blurred so completely that news and even history can be manufactured by the govt.? Or what what what? Will equality finally arrive, racial, sexual, social, or anything else, or egalitarianism be considered tried and failed, and discarded in favor of alpha, beta, gamma and delta classes of people in a Brave New World with No Whining signs posted? Will robots that relieve us of the need for manual work ever arrive, and what will their arrival do for or to us? Will the future pop. be monoracial, multiracial, or amalgamated into an earthrace that gets along with everybody and views the former "races" on Internet history sites? Will political power continue to remain concentrated in a few hands? Will electronic democracy arrive, and, if so, will republics be replaced by mobocracies, and politicians become day traders priding themselves on great speed and quality service? If there is global cannibalism, who will get eaten first, and who will have real shoes and who have trick shoes and who will call goodbye shoes? I'm scared of the whole thing? You know how hard the whole airport thing is for me? Stay tuned by staying alive?

The First Decade of the 21st Century (20-Zeds) (2000-2009 C.E.)

The People-Named-Barack-or-Barak Noughties Decade? The Osama bin Laden Decade? The Google Decade? The 1960s Redone Right Decade, complete with an unpopular U.S. foreign war, a clueless war on Islamic terrorists who have no country but can't be caught, combined with an economic crisis and civil rights struggle, only this time it seemingly all comes out roses when an African American (with or without the hyphen) President Handsome, and not just handsome but Blessed moves into the White House to save everybody, then turns out to be a brass idol with feet of clay? It starts out as the Walkin' in Memphis, Do You Feel the Way I Feel Downward Spiral Suicide Bomber Global Warming 9/11 James Blond Decade as the big 2-0-0-0 has rolled over on the computer counters and there was no Y2K Computer Bug Armageddon, but all the other more disturbing kinds of Harmageddon still hang over the world, and until further notice the people of Earth live in an ooze of Millennium Fever, with Bible-thumpers of all persuasions (Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim) turning up the heat to the brink of world war and annihilation of life life life life as we know it, until life becomes like a dream to billions, with the End of the World seen in every event of human or natural origin? New York City 9-11-2001, Istanbul 11-15-2003, Madrid 3-11-2004, London 7-7-2005, where's the worst place to raise your family? The Internet Decade, when it becomes a way of life worldwide? The Decade of the Face Transplant in Medicine? The U.S. almost loses its leadership position in Science, while China shows signs of joining it as a superpower?

Country Leader From To
United States of America William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (1946-) Jan. 20, 1993 Jan. 20, 2001 William Jefferson Clinton of the U.S. (1946-)
United Kingdom Tony Blair (1953-) May 2, 1997 June 27, 2007 Tony Blair of the United Kingdom (1953-)
United Kingdom Queen Elizabeth II (1926-) Feb. 6, 1952 Elizabeth II of Britain (1926-)
Russia Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (1952-) Dec. 31, 1999 May 7, 2008 Vladimir Putin of Russia (1952-)
People's Republic of China Jiang Zemin (1926-) 1989 2002 Jiang Zemin of China (1926-)
Canada Jean Chrétien (1934-) Nov. 4, 1993 Dec. 12, 2003 Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien of Canada (1934-)
France Jacques Chirac (1932-) May 17, 1995 May 16, 2007 Jacques Chirac of France (1932-)
Germany Gerhard Schroeder (Schröder) (1944-) Oct. 27, 1998 Nov. 22, 2005 Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schroeder (Schröder) of Germany (1944-)
Spain King Juan Carlos I (1938-) Nov. 22, 1975 June 19, 2014 Juan Carlos I of Spain (1938-)
Mexico Ernesto Zedillo (1951-) Dec. 1, 1994 Nov. 30, 2000 Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico (1951-)
Israel Ehud Barak (1942-) July 6, 1999 Mar. 7, 2001 Ehud Barak of Israel (1942-)
Egypt Hosni Mubarak (1928-) Oct. 14, 1981 Hosni Mubarak (1928-)
Iraq Saddam Hussein (1937-2006) July 16, 1979 Apr. 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein (1937-2006)
Papacy John Paul II (1920-2005) Oct. 16, 1978 Apr. 2, 2005 John Paul II (1920-2005)
U.N. Kofi Atta Annan of Ghana (1938-) Jan. 1, 1997 Dec. 31, 2006 Kofi Atta Annan of Ghana (1938-)

2000 - The Quiet Year? The Fingers-Crossed Year? A strange attitude of nothing's the matter, let's set new speed records, but let's post one or two ill-equipped watchmen pervades the West? As 9/11 approaches, the major powers are run by Baby Boomers with one foot in the old Millennium, who go on an eerie deja vu of the first and last voyage of the unsinkable Titanic in 1912?

William Jefferson 'Bill' Clinton of the U.S. (1946-) Vladimir Putin of Russia (1952-) Vladimir Putin puttin' on the judo moves Saddam Hussein (1937-2006), Dec. 31, 2000 Muhammad al-Durrah (1988-) USS Cole, Oct. 12, 2000 Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (1965-) Walid bin Attash (1979-) Ronald Lauder of the U.S. (1944-) Robert R. Fowler of Canada (1944-) Bashar al-Assad of Syria (1965-) Aref Dalila of Syria (1943-) U.S. Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson (1937-) Jörg Haider of Austria (1950-2008) Giuliano Amato of Italy (1938-) Francesco Rutelli of Italy (1954-) Vicente Fox Quesada of Mexico (1942-) Francisco Labastida Ochoa of Mexico (1943-) Ariel Sharon of Israel (1928-) Robert Malley of the U.S. (1968-) Vojislav Kostunica of Yugoslavia (1944-) Arkan (Zeljko Raznatovic) of Serbia (1952-2000) Joseph Isadore Lieberman of the U.S. (1942-) Rick Perry of the U.S. (1950-) Ferenc Madl of Hungary (1931-2011) Stockwell Day of Canada (1950-) Michael John Martin of Britain (1945-) Hipolito Mejia of Dominican Republic (1941-) Valentin Paniagua of Peru (1936-2006) Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal (1926-) Latifur Rahman of Bangladesh (1936-) Daniel Akaka of the U.S. (1924-) U.S. Gen. Tommy Ray Franks (1945-) Rick Lazio of the U.S. (1958-) Paul Franklin Paul (1948-) Dr. Harold Shipman (1946-2004) Chen Shui-Bian of Taiwan (1951-) Yoshiro Mori of Japan (1937-) Ricardo Lagos Escobar of Chile (1938-) Joaquin Lavin of Chile (1953-) Paul Kagame of Rwanda (1957-) Foday Sankoh of Sierra Leone (1937-2003) Robert Gabriel Mugabe of Zimbabwe (1924-) Morgan Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe (1952-) Park Tae-joon of South Korea (1927-) Ivica Racan of Croatia (1944-2007) Stipe Mesic of Croatia (1934-) Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (1955-) Andrej Bajuk of Slovenia (1943-) Ahmet Necet Sezer of Turkey (1941-) Rafik Hariri of Lebanon (1944-2005) Joseph Kibwetere (-2000) Abdulkassim Salat Hassan of Somalia (1941-) Tarja Halonen of Finland (1943-) Conan O'Brien (1963-) George Speight of Fiji (1957-) Alberto Fujimori of Peru (1938-) Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti (1953-) Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast (1945-) Alassane Ouattara of Ivory Coast (1942-) Gale Norton of the U.S. (1954-) John McCain of the U.S. (1936-) Peter F. Paul (1948-) Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg (1955-) Oleksander Moroz of Ukraine (1944-) Amani Abeid Karume of Zanzibar (1948-) George Homer Ryan of the U.S. (1934-) William Clay Ford Jr. (1958-) Katherine Harris of the U.S. (1957-) Theodore Bevry Olson of the U.S. (1940-) Charles T. Wells of the U.S. (1939-) Hany Mawla of the U.S. (1973-) Motiur Rahman Nizami of Bangladesh (1943-) Israel Harold 'Izzy' Asper (1932-2003) Conrad Black (1945-) Pavle Bulatovic of Yugoslavia (1948-2000) Bishop Edward Michael Egan (1932-) Jean Dominique of Haiti (1930-2000) Hans Martin Blix of Sweden (1928-) Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria (1934-) Ely Sakhai (1952-) Georgiy R. Gongadze (1969-2000) Muhammad Badie of Egypt (1943-) Rustan Minnikhanov of Tatarstan (1957-) Jamal Abu Samhadana of Palestine (1936-2006) Zakara Zubeidi (1976-) Tali Fahima (1976-) Johnny and Luther Htoo (1988-) Katherine Knight (1955-) The Texas Seven Steven Hayes (1963-) and Joshua Komisarjevsky (1980-) Cardinal Archbishop Christoph Schoenborn (1945-) Patriarch Gregory III Laham (1933-) Sarah Payne (1992-2000) Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin of Perlis (1943-) Conrad Moffat Black (1944-) Juan Pablo Montoya (1975-) Cathy Freeman of Australia (1973-) Marion Jones of the U.S. (1975-) Rulon Gardner of the U.S. (1971-) Alexander Karelin of Russia (1967-) Ian Thorpe of Australia (1982-) Anthony Lee Ervin of the U.S. (1981-) Scott Stevens (1964-) Phil Mickelson (1970-) Steve McNair (1973-2009) Kurt Warner (1971-) Kevin Tyree Dyson (1975-) and Mike Jones (1969-) Joe Paterno (1928-) Edwin Washington Edwards of the U.S. (1927-) Eddie Jack Jordan Jr. of the U.S. (1952-) Gary Berntsen of the U.S. Weber Cup Logo Rick Wagoner (1953-) Mark Cuban (1958-) David G. Neeleman (1959-) Molly Ivins (1944-2007) Priyanka Chopra (1982-) David Brooks (1961-) Brad Pitt (1963-) and Jennifer Aniston (1969-) Ellen Barkin (1954-) and Ron Perelman (1943-) Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) Stephen Dunn (1939-) Joseph Ellis (1943-) Ismail Kadare (1936-) Stephen King (1947-) Elmore Leonard (1925-2013) Matthew Kneale (1960-) Joshua Micah Marshall (1969-) Andrew Roberts (1963-) Tyra Banks (1973-) Alexander 'A-Rod' Rodriguez (1975-) Lindsay Davenport (1976-) Venus Williams (1980-) Serena Williams (1981-) Marat Safin (1980-) Randy Velarde (1962-) Rich Froning Jr. (1987-) Michael McDermott (1958-) Robbie Coltrane (1950-) as Rubeus Hagrid Kim Dae Jung (1925-) Gao Xingjian (1940-) Zhores Ivanovich Alferov (1930-) da Vinci Surgical System Franck Goddio (1947-) Herbert Kroemer (1928-) Jack St. Clair Kilby (1923-2005) Alan Jay Heeger (1936-) Alan Graham MacDiarmid (1927-2007) Hideki Shirakawa (1936-) Arvid Carlsson (1923-) Paul Greengard (1925-) Eric Richard Kandel (1929-) James Joseph Heckman (1944-) Daniel Little McFadden (1937-) Veerappan (1952-2004) Rajkumar (1929-2006) William Leonard Pickard (1945-) Clyde Apperson (1955-) Ian McEwan (1948-) Michael Chabon (1963-) Mary Higgins Clark (1927-) Carol Higgins Clark (1956-) Malcolm Gladwell (1963-) Mark Nepo (1951-) Diane Blair (1938-2000) Zadie Smith (1975-) Rod Gram of the U.S. (1948-) Sacagawea Dollar Coin, 2000 Glenna Goodacre (1939-) Randy'L He-Dow Teton (1976-) Vladimir Kramnik (1975-) James Joseph Heckman (1944-) Daniel Little McFadden (1937-) John R. 'Jack' Horner (1946-) Francis S. Collins (1950-) John Craig Venter (1946-) Gao Xingjian (1940-) Shinichi Fujimura (1950-) Jonathan Ames (1964-) Muriel Barbery (1969-) Brandon Bays Susan Estrich (1952-) Susan C. Faludi (1959-) Niall Ferguson (1964-) Norman Gary Finkelstein (1953-) Alan Furst (1941-) Adam Gopnik (1956-) Scott Griffin (1938-) David Hare (1947-) David Irving (1938-) Deborah Lipstadt (1947-) George Monbiot (1963-) Mary Oliver (1935-) Kenneth Pomeranz (1958-) Francine Prose (1947-) Apollo Carreon Quiboloy (1950-) Gérard Roland Boualem Sansal (1949-) Robert James Shiller (1946-) Victor J. Stenger (1935-) Max Velmans Doreen Virtue (1958-) Rebecca Walker (1969-) 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation', 2000-15 'Gilmore Girls', 2000-7 'The Weakest Link', 2000-12 Survivor 2000 Richard Hatch (1961-) 'Aida', 2000 'Almost Famous', 2000 'Battlefield Earth', 2000 'Battle Royale', 2000 'Coyote Ugly', 2000 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', 2000 'Erin Brockovich', 2000 'Final Destination', 2000 'Gladiator', 2000 'The Golden Bowl', 2000 'Hamlet', 2000 'Hollow Man', 2000 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas', 2000 'Mission to Mars', 2000 'O Brother, Where Art Thou?', 2000 'The Patriot', 2000 'Red Planet', 2000 'The Replacements', 2000 'Sexy Beast', 2000 'Snatch', 2000 'Songcatcher', 2000 'Space Cowboys', 2000 Guy Ritchie (1968-) and Madonna (1958-) Anthony Bourdain (1956-) Joe Bonamassa (1977-) Meg Cabot (1967-) Billy Collins (1941-) Larry Ross (1953-) Nigella Lawson (1960-) Death Cab for Cutie Eminem (1972-) Nelly Furtado (1978-) Godsmack 'N Sync Matchbox Twenty Nickelback R. Kelly (1967-) Bruno Mars (1985-) Ricky Martin (1971-) Joseph Arthur (1971-) Katy Perry (1984-) and Russell Brand (1975-) William Hung (1983-) Christina Aguilera (1980-) Black Label Society Coldplay Disturbed Enya (1961-) Green Day Fuel Linkin Park Oasis, with Noel Gallagher (1967-) and Liam Gallagher (1972-) Pink (1979-) Radiohead The White Stripes, Jack White (1975-) and Meg White (1974-) Within Temptation Jay-Z (1969-) Ludacris (1977-) Nelly (1974-) Shaggy (1968-) Baha Men Juanes (1972-) Alison Krauss (1971-) The New Pornographers *NSYNC Blue October The Offspring Phoenix Fatboy Slim (1963-) Finger Eleven Queens of the Stone Age Sugarbabes U2 P.J. Harvey (1969-) Van Morrison (1945-) Jamelia (1981-) Lil' Zane (1982-) Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey (-2000) Steven Hillenburg (1961-) and SpongeBob SquarePants Malcolm in the Middle, 2000-6 '2001: A Space Travesty', 2000 'Twelve Dildos on Hooks' by Tsehai Johnson, 2000 Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010) 'I Do, I Undo, and I Redo' by Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), 2000 Experience Music Project, 2000 David G. Neeleman (1959-) JetBlue Airways Logo Mark Martin #6 'Viagra' Charybdis Vortex Fountain, 2000 S.C. State Capitol Millennium Seed Bank, 2000 Sir Anthony Caro (1924-2013) Millennium Bridge, 2000 Helmut Jahn (1940-) Sony Center, 2000 Tate Modern, 2000 Original Gourmet Lollipops, 2000

2000 Doomsday Clock: 9 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Golden Dragon (Feb. 5) (lunar year 4698) (Jewish year 5760) - the Century of the Dragon? Time Man of the Year: George W. Bush (1946-); next time 2004. This is the U.N. Internat. Year for the Culture of Peace, also the World Mathematical Year. Generation Alpha consists of people born in 2000-2025. Up to 262M were killed by govts. in the 20th cent., usually after gun confiscation. World pop.: 6.2B (vs. 1.65B in 1900), with 800M in the Americas (13%) (South Am. 520M, North Am. 316M), 700M in Europe (12%), 800M in Africa (13%), 31M in Oceania, and 3.67B in Asia (60%) (twice as much as the others put together); that's approx. 100M * (8 + 7 + 8 + 37) = 100M * 60; approx. 150K people die each day; approx. 100B people have been born since Creation - people are so fickle? Rural pop. in the U.S. is 16% of total pop. (vs. 72% in 1910); the percentage of the U.S. labor force engaged in agriculture (farms) drops to a new low of 2.1% this year. The Earth enters the Anthropocene epoch of geological history, the first period of geological time shaped by a single species, characterized by the 6th largest mass extinction in Earth's history?; a moose hockey concept? The Earth's spin abruptly turns E and speeds up 2x to 17cm (17 in.) a year, moving toward the British Isles instead of Hudson Bay; in 2016 it is traced to lost water in Eurasia from climate change. U.S. utilities begin a new push to build coal-fired electric power plants, with 150 projects under planning or construction by spring 2007; meanwhile the U.N. IPCC-led global warming lobby plots the total shutdown of all plants around the world. In 2000-3 the Federal Reserve lowers the federal fund rate from 6.5% to 1%, causing an easy credit financial boom. In this decade U.S. pop. grows 9.7%; the Twenty-Second (22nd) (2000) U.S. Census reports the U.S. pop. as 281,421,906 (13.2% increase) (79.6 per sq. mi.) (13.2% increase since 1990); white pop. is 75.1%, the lowest in history since the first Census in 1790 (80.7%); birth/death rate per thousand 14.4/8.5; Detroit and Philadelphia are the only top-10 U.S. cities in pop. to lose pop. since 1990. Avg. life expectancy in developed countries has increased from 47 years in 1900 to 76 years (U.S.: 74.3 males, 79.7 females); in undeveloped countries almost 6M children die every year from starvation (James T. Morris, exec dir. World Food Programme). Pop. of China: 1.285B (official); 1.3B-1.5B (actual)? Pop. of India: 1B, incl. 220M vegetarians, most of any country. Pop.: Indonesia: 214M; Brazil: 182M; Russia: 145M; Bangladesh: 140M; Japan: 127M; Nigeria: 117M; Germany: 82M; Vietnam: 81M; Egypt: 74M; Iran: 68M; Turkey: 67M; Britain: 60M; France: 59M; Italy: 57M: South Korea: 47M; Spain: 40M; Poland: 38M; Canada: 31.5M; Iraq: 24M; Saudi Arabia: 24M; North Korea: 22M; Taiwan: 22M; Singapore: 4.5M. Pop. of Africa: 800M, but avg. per-capita income exceeds $1.5K in only six of the 48 sub-Saharan countries - don't say it? Pop. of Mexico: 97.5M; since 1991 11.3M immigrants entered the U.S. legally, but they are accompanied by 8.4M illegal immigrants, after which the number of new illegal immigrants average 800K a year in 2000-2004 and 500K a year in 2005-2008; after 9/11 (2001) the destination changes away from Calif., N.Y. and N.Y. to Ga., Ore., Colo., N.C. and Iowa.; many inner city libraries switch to books in Spanish; the U.S. spends $90B by 2010 for border security. Pop. of Israel: 6.5M, incl. 5.4M Jews - and the whole world's fate depends on this tiny elite's Bermuda shorts? Over 80% of world long distance voice and data traffic is carried by 25M km (15M mi.) of fiber optics cable. The first decade in which the U.S. employs more govt. workers than manufacturing workers; industrial production declines during this decade for the first time since the 1930s, along with GDP and number of jobs, while a $6.2T deficit in traded goods is compiled ($3.8T in manufactured goods). This is the warmest decade on record (until ?), according to NASA; 2009 is the 2nd warmest year since 1880, when modern temp measurements began to be taken, and 2005 is the warmest year, with the other hottest recorded years occurring since 1998. This is the safest decade so far in U.S. aviation (until ?), with 153 fatalities, 1 death per 50M commercial flight passengers. Between this Dec. and Dec. 2010 Mich. loses 48% of its manufacturing jobs. Late in the year the U.K. begins a stealth mass immigration policy to promote multi-culturalism; too bad, the Labour govt. foists it on the pop. to "rub the Right's nose in diversity", which is not revealed until Oct. 2009 after a points-based system is introduced in Feb. 2008. Since its advent, the wonderful doctrine of Marxism (powered by the pseudo-science of Darwinian evolution) has spawned states (Soviet Union, Red China, etc.) that have killed over 130M of its own people in peacetime? This year global overnutrition exceeds undernutrition for the first time in history (by 200M people), according to the U.N. Global sea levels have risen 8 in. in the past cent.; Mexico City is sinking 6-8 in. a year; Iceland grows wider by 1.5 acres a year. The U.S. illegal drug market is estimated at $150B a year, with 40M Americans believed to use drugs, and 6M addicts. The U.S. produces 6M barrels of petroleum a day, with proven reserves of 21B barrels, down from 39B in 1970, while Saudi Arabia has 262B and Venezuela has 73B. By this year automation has caused the number of coal miners to plummet in the U.K. to about 13K from 1.2M in 1978, and in the U.S. from 700K in 1924 to 82K; coal accounts for 43% of annual global carbon emissions (2.7B tons), and supplies 26% of the world's energy needs (40% oil, 24% natural gas); China gets 75% of its electricity from coal-fired plants, India 60%, U.S. and Germany 50%; Australia is the world's largest coal exporter, supplying almost one-third. The U.S. consumes 93 kilowatt-hours of power per capita per year, equal to 2K gal. of oil; declining energy quality leads to a U.S. recession by the end of the decade? By this year about 125K tons of gold have been mined worldwide, 90% during the last 150 years; South Africa produces 50% (2K tons a year); the U.S. is #2, and Australia is #3 (300 tons); 80% of it is used for jewelry, and 200 tons goes into electronics manufacture; 25% of all gold ever mined is held in ingot forms; the U.S. has the most gold in its banks, but India has the most total gold (counting jewelry); a solid cube 15 in. on a side weighs one ton. By this year the Ganges (Ganga) River in N India, fed by the Himalaya Mts. flows through 29 cities with a pop. over 100K, 23 with a pop. of 50K-100K, and 48 more towns. The Shadow Banking System, incl. hedge funds, money market funds, and structured investment vehicles begins growing dramatically until the 2008 recession. A poll of seniors at 56 top U.S. colleges by the Am. Council of Trustees and Alumni reveals a woeful ignorance of U.S. history, with only 25% being familiar with Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, 29% knowing what Reconstruction was, 52% familiar with Washington's 1796 Farewell Address, and only 22% knowing where the phrase "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" comes from (Lincoln's 1863 Gettsbyurg Address); meanwhile 99% can identify Beavis and Butthead, and 98% recognize Snoop Doggy Dog; this causes U.S. Sen. (D-W. Va.) Robert Byrd to slip an amendment into Title X providing $50M for the Teaching Am. History Program of the U.S. Dept. of Education; too bad, it turns into an $800M a year boondoggle by 2009 for supporting high school and college level history teachers, and college students till don't know U.S. history, not to mention world history - enter TLW to the rescue, I wish? This year once-starving India goes from an example for U.S. kids made to finish their plates in the 1960s to a net exporter of grain, and soon Americans become worried as their jobs are outsourced to their highly educated English-speaking dirt-cheap workforce. The Earth has warmed about 1.4 deg. F in the last cent., accelerating during the last four decades. Global CO2 levels measured at Niwot Ridge, Colo. reach 375 ppm, up over 30% from pre-industrial levels of 275; the levels continue to rise by 1 ppm per year. Despite vaunted advances in medicine, there are 2M yearly deaths from diarrhea (4B cases), 1M deaths from malaria (300M cases), 500K deaths from measles (30M cases), 2M deaths of children under age 5 from pneumonia, 1.5M deaths from TB, not to mention, ahem, HIV/AIDS. By this year 1.1K famous or semi-famous people have claimed to be Christ since 1900. The century starts out with the major issue of Ecapitalism vs. Ecommunism up for grabs, as massive capital is infused into Web dot com companies, while the unpoliceable structure of the Internet makes it hard for owners of any type of intellectual property to protect their rights and earn money for their work; meanwhile others initiate massive eprojects where anonymous or nearly anonymous people literally give their work away for free, incl. OpenSource and Wikipedia, threatening the traditional publishing market, incl. books, newspapers, music, TV, movies and software; will the result be a reinvention of capitalism in the E-world, or will Ecommunism win, and if so, will the result be good, bad, or indifferent? - stay tuned? On Jan. 1 Wisconsin defeats Stanford by 17-9 to win the 2000 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 (Sat.) (4:00 a.m.) the Millennium is first celebrated by the Chatham Islands 800 km E of New Zealand with a major internat. ceremony linking all nations on Earth. On Jan. 1 global fears of the Y2K Computer Bug, date-wraparound glitches that could immobilize or destroy the world prove groundless after many software firms rake in big bucks supposedly programming preventatives; as much as $100B was spent in the U.S. to fix it; meanwhile the millennium celebrations go on as scheduled worldwide. On Jan. 3-10 Israel and Syria hold inconclusive peace talks. On Jan. 3 elections in Croatia unseat the ruling HDZ party with an alliance of Social Dems. and the Social Liberal Party, and Social Dem. Party leader Ivica Racan (1944-2007) becomes PM #7 on Jan. 31 (until Dec. 23, 2003), going on to soften nationalism and ease human rights restrictions; on Feb. 7 moderate Stjepan "Stipe" Mesic (1934-) defeats Vlatko Pavletic in a runoff election for pres., and Mesic succeeds the late Franko Tudman, immediately inviting the 300K exiled Serbs to return to Croatia. On Jan. 5-8 the Kuala Lumpur Al-Qaida Summit is held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, attended by several high-level al-Qaida members (Soviet Afghan war veterans) incl. Walid (Waleed) Muhammad Salih bin Roshayed bin Attash (1979-) (Osama bin Laden's errand boy), Khalid Muhammad Abdallah al-Mihdhar (1975-2001), Nawaf Muhammed Salim al-Hazmi (1976-2001), and Ramzi bin al-Shibh (al-Shaibah) (1972-), hosted in his hotel room by U.S.-educated Malaysian microbiologist (anthrax researcher) Yazid Sufaat (1964-) (member of Jemaah Islamiyah), where they plan the Oct. 12 attack on the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen along with the 9/11 attacks; al-Mihdhar and al-Hazmi go on to hijack Am. Airlines Flight 77 and crash it into the Pentagon; Kuala Lumpur is home to the twin Petronas towers; Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso (1974-2012) misses the meeting and meets with some of them later in Bangkok, Thailand; meanwhile U.S. intel informs Pres. Clinton of an airplane hijack plot scheduled for Mar.-Aug., but it "was disregarded because nobody believed that Osama bin Laden or the Taliban could carry out such an operation." On Jan. 9 Malcolm in the Middle debuts on Fox Network for 151 episodes (until May 14, 2006), showing that white is still pretty much right in the U.S., starring Francisco Frankie Muniz (Muńiz) IV (1985-) as genius boy Malcolm, who hates taking classes for Krelboynes (gifted children), and Jane Frances Kaczmarek (1955-) and Bryan Lee Cranston (1956-) as his parents Lois and Hal, who are always catching him with his hand in the cookie jar, with the catchy theme song Boss of Me by They Might Be Giants. On Jan. 10 America Online (AOL) announces an agreement to buy Time Warner for (say again?) $162B, becoming the largest corporate merger so far (until ?). On Jan. 11 the armed wing of Islamic Salvation Front concludes its negotiations with the Algerian govt. for an amnesty and disbands. On Jan. 11 the trawler Solway Harvester sinks off the Isle of Man. On Jan. 12 after New York City-born Israeli rep Ronald Steven Lauder (1944-) (son of cosmetics magnate Estee Lauder) (appointed by outgoing PM Benjamin Netanyahu) and Syrian pres. (since Mar. 12, 1971) Hafez al-Assad (1930-2000) produce the draft "Treaty of Peace Between Israel and Syria" based on land (the Golan Heights) for peace, peace negotiations between Israeli PM Ehud Barak and Syrian foreign minister Farouk al-Shara are held in Shepherdstown, W. Va.; too bad, they fall through when al-Assad dies on June 10. On Jan. 12 Britain announces that its military will conform with the practice of other Euro countries and end the ban on openly gay men and women serving in the armed forces - blew it and licked it jokes here, now let's talk bathrooms? Police power vs. fleeing people, the New Millennium Look for the U.S.? On Jan. 12 the increasingly something U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 in Illinois v. Wardlow that police are justified in conducting a stop-and-frisk search on anyone who arouses their suspicion merely by fleeing from them, reversing the Ill. Supreme Court - would make sense if they are black not white like me, moo, moo? Make that police power federal while we're at it? On Jan. 12 after a Fla. judge rules that 6-y.-o. Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez (1994-) may stay, U.S. atty.-gen. Janet Reno announces that the case is a federal not state matter and intervenes, saying that the INS may return him to his father Juan Miguel Gonzales in Cuba, causing the latter to come to Washington, D.C., while a U.S. district court orders the kid to remain pending a hearing; on Apr. 22 after his great uncle in Miami promises to turn Elian over to his father but reneges, the saga culminates in his forcible armed seizure from a home in Miami's Little Havana on TV by assault rifle-toting feds, who take 3 min. in a predawn raid, but split the nation, at least diverting minds from Millennium Fever for awhile; future atty.-gen. Eric Holder is involved with the seizure; on June 28 Elian returns to Cuba with his father after the lame comparisons with Waco and Ruby Ridge, plus a demonstration in Miami on May 6 in favor of Reno's actions cause opinion to swing against the Castro-hating Little Havana refugees, weakening their clout and causing talk of normalizing U.S.-Cuban relations; Elian's daddy goes on to get a seat in the Cuban nat. assembly, and Fidel Castro gives the family a spacious house - leave the U.S. to go to a Latin country, whom are they kidding? On Jan. 13 Serbian paramilitary leader Zeljko Raznatovic (AKA Arkan) (b. 1952) (wanted on war crimes charges) is shot in the left eye by masked gunman Dobrosav Gavric (b. 1976) in the lobby of Belgrade's Intercontinental Hotel and killed along with his business mgr. Milenko Mandic and police inspector Dragan Garic; his wife and children are unharmed; Gavric is wounded by bodyguard Zvonko Mateovic. On Jan. 14 a U.N. tribunal sentences five Bosnian Croats to up to 25 years for the 1993 killing of 100+ Bosnian Muslims in a Bosnian village. On Jan. 16 in Sacramento, Calif., a commercial truck carrying evaporated milk is driven into the State Capitol bldg., killing the driver - is his name Harvey Milk? On Jan. 16 a runoff in Chile results in Socialist Party candidate Ricardo Froilan (Froilán) Lagos Escobar (1938-) defeatig right-wing candidate Joaquin Jose Lavin (José Lavín) Santiago (1953-), becoming Chile's first Socialist pres. since Allende in 1973; he is sworn-in on Mar. 11 (until Mar. 11, 2006); meanwhile on May 24 Chile ends Augusto Pinochet's immunity, clearing the way for trial on murder and torture charges. On Jan. 16 Muhammad (Mohammed) Badie (1943-) becomes supreme leader (gen. guide) (chmn.) #8 of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (until ?); on Apr. 28, 2014 he is sentenced along with 682 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death, which is reduced on Sept. 15, 2014 to life, then changed to death on Apr. 11, 2015 along with 13 other senior members; on Aug. 22, 2015 he receives a 6th life sentence, followed by a 7th on May 8, 2017. On Jan. 18 former German chancellor Helmut Kohl resigns as honorary chmn. of the opposition Christian Dem. Party after being accused by the party leadership of "violating his duties" in refusing to reveal who gave him $1M+ while in office. On Jan. 18 Russian forces enter the Chechnyan capital of Grozny, kicking out rebel forces, who continue guerrilla raids; on Feb. 14 the Russian authorities order Grozny residents to leave and seal off the city; too bad, both sides have nuclear weapons and threaten to use them, creating worlwide anxiety. On Jan. 18 (9:48 a.m.) the strange 15-ft. Tagish Lake Meteorite impacts the Earth in Canada between Yukon Territory and British Columbia; in Aug. 2001 the first opal-like crystals from space are found in it. On Jan. 18 TLW celebrates his 47th birthday with the usual T-bone steak, cabernet wine, and chocolate cake. On Jan. 20 the Dot-Com Bubble causes the Dow to reach an all-time high of 11,722.98 before losing nearly 1K points in two weeks. On Jan. 20 Turkish foreign minister Isma'il Cem and Greek foreign minister George Papandreou meet in Ankara, becoming the first visit by a Greek foreign minister to Turkey in 38 years; the talks end with an accord for economic cooperation and promises of peace in Cyprus; on Feb. 8 pres. (since Mar. 10, 1995) Constantinos "Kostis" Stephanopoulos (1926-2016) is reelected for a 2nd 5-year term as pres. of Greece (until Mar. 12, 2005). On Jan. 22 George W. Bush and Al Gore (whom Bush calls "Ozone Man") win the Iowa caucuses to take the lead in the U.S. pres. race. On Jan. 24 fundamentalist Christian Burmese Karen guerrillas of "God's Army", led by cigar-smoking 12-y.-o. twins Johnny and Luther Htoo (1988-) seize a Thai hospital in Ratchaburi 75 mi. W of Bangkok near the Burmese border, taking about 700-800 patients and staff hostage; Thai security forces rescue the hostages after a 22-hour standoff, but dozens of insurgent groups in Burma fight on. On Jan. 25-30 the First World Social Forum is held in Porto Alegre, Brazil to promote the alternative globalization movement AKA global justice movement, AKA anti-Capitalist Communism-Socialism. On Jan. 26 Japan's Education Ministry announces the formation of a panel of experts to devise measures for improving English teaching methods after PM Keizo Obuchi proposes making English Japan's official second language to keep up with the Internet age. On Jan. 27 Pres. Clinton gives his last 2000 State of the Union Address - his private or his public one? On Jan. 27 Hany Mawla (1973-) becomes the first Muslim on the superior court in N.J., also the youngest. On Jan. 29 delegates from more than 130 countries in Montreal sign an Internat. Biosafety Treaty, regulating internat. trade in genetically modified "Frankenfood" products, incl. grains; meanwhile on Apr. 5 the U.S. Nat. Academy of Sciences issues a report urging caution concerning growing and using genetically engineered food, but concluding that nothing being sold currently poses any actual threat - jack up my corn? On Jan. 30 Super Bowl XXXIV (34) is held in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga.; the St. Louis Rams (formerly L.A. Rams) (NFC) (coach Dick Vermeil) defeat the Tennessee Titans (formerly Houston Oilers) (AFC) 23-16 after "The Tackle", where Titans QB (#9) Steve LaTreal "Air" McNair (1973-2009) throws a complete pass to wide receiver Kevin Tyree Dyson (1975-) (#87), and Rams linebacker (#52) Michael Anthony "Mike" Jones (1969-) tackles him 1 yard short of the goal line (despite Dyson stretching out his right arm in vain), stopping a game-tying score as time expires, causing Vermeil to weep; former grocery bagger Rams QB (#13) Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner (1971-) (who led the NFL in passing in the regular season) is the MVP. On Jan. 30 a Kenya Airways Flight 431 (Airbus A310) crashes en route from Abidjan, Ivory Coast into the Atlantic, killing 169 of 179. On Jan. 31 Alaska Airlines Flight 261 carrying 88 passengers and crew crashes mysteriously into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Point Mugu, Calif. NW of Los Angeles, killing all aboard - at least they got to watch the Super Bowl first? On Jan. 31 Ill. Repub. gov. (1999-2003) George Homer Ryan (1934-) announces a moratorium on executions in his state after 13 wrongfully condemned inmates have been exonerated since 1977 after 12 were executed, and half of the 260 capital cases in the state had been reversed on appeal; in Feb. a Gallup poll finds that 66% of Americans support capital punishment, down from 80% in 1994; too bad, on Apr. 17, 2006 a federal jury in Chicago finds him guilty of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, and tax charges, making him the 3rd Ill. gov. in three decades to be convicted of federal felony charges in Al Capone Town. On Jan. 31 British physician (gen. practitioner) Dr. Harold Frederick Shipman (1946-2004) AKA "Doctor Death", "the Angel of Death" is convicted of 15 counts of murder and given a "whole life tariff", becoming the first British physician convicted of murdering his patents; he is suspected of killing as many as 297 people, all patients, in 1995-8; on Jan. 13, 2004 he hang himself in his cell in HM Prison Wakefield in West Yorkshire; on Jan. 27, 2005 the Ł21M Shipman Inquiry Report is pub., concluding that he probably murdered 250+, 80% of them women, usually by injecting diamorphine into them then falsifying their medical records. In Jan. a Tokyo conference downplays the atrocities committed by Japanese troops during their occupation of China, and declares that the Nanjing Massacre of 1937 is a "myth", causing an internat. outcry joined by Japanese historians and the Chinese govt. - coverups only work for the winners' side? In Jan. a new subway opens in Athens after seven years of construction under the scrutiny of 50 Greek govt. archeologists, who have bee sifting debris for artifacts - pass them stone penii? On Feb. 1 rebels flee the Chechen capital of Grozny after weeks of intense bombardment, later regrouping in the mountains for a multi-year guerrilla campaign against the Russians. On Feb. 1 Al Gore wins the N.H. Dem. primary, and Vietnam war hero John Sidney McCain III (1936-) of Ariz. wins the Repub. primary, causing Gary Bauer to withdraw from the race on Feb. 4, followed by Steve Forbes on Feb. 10. On Feb. 2-13 violence breaks out between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in "model Yugoslavian city" Mitrovica, Kosovo, only this time it's the minority Christian Serb pop. that flees from Muslim Albanian attacks in the midst of U.N. peacekeeping forces. On Feb. 3 in Austria the center-right People's Party forms a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, led by xenophobe Joerg (Jörg) Haider (1950-2008) (known for pro-Nazi statements since 1990), sparking internat. protest, beginning right, er, in Vienna, and causing talk of ousting Austria from the EU; in late Feb. after hundreds of thousands of Austrians march in protest against him, Haider resigns as head of the Freedom Party, but retains his post as gov. of the S province of Carinthia (until Oct. 11, 2008), causing most member nations of the EU to lift sanctions on Sept. 12, and the 14 nations (incl. Israel and the U.S.) that had cut off bilateral diplomatic relations to restore contact; the problem of Croatians, Bosnians, and other E Europeans immigrating since the early 1990s and taking jobs away from Austrians keeps his party afloat. On Feb. 6 after purchasing a $1.7M 5-bedroom colonial home in Chappaqua, N.Y. in Sept. 1999 to qualify, ballsy U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton officially enters the N.Y. Senate race as a Dem. On Feb. 6 hijackers seize an Afghan plane, releasing the hostages in Stansted, England on Feb. 12. On Feb. 6 Tarja Halonen (1943-) is elected as the first female pres. of Finland, taking office on Mar. 1 (until Mar. 1, 2012); U.S. TV host Conan O'Brien (1963-) later makes hay of his resemblance to her. On Feb. 7 Yugoslav defense minister (since 1993) Pavle Bulatovic (1948-) is shot dead by unidentified gunmen while dining at a Zagreb soccer club. On Feb. 11 the IRA misses a disarmament deadline, causing the British on Feb. 15 to suspend the new North Ireland Assembly, created in 1999 as part of the U.K.'s historic devolution program; it is reinstated on June 4 after Sinn Fein agrees to disarm. On Feb. 11 Russia's commercial creditors agree in Frankfurt to restructure $31.8B of its external debt after effectively writing off about half of it, exchanging $22.2B in Soviet-era debt and $6.8B in Russian state debt for new 30-year Russian Federation Eurobonds, clearing the way for Moscow to reenter internat. money markets for the first time since Aug. 1998. On Feb. 11 a bomb explodes in front of a Barclay's Bank across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street, injuring dozens. On Feb. 11 JetBlue Airways Corp. of Queens, Long Island, N.Y., founded by Sao Paulo, Brazil-born Salt Lake City Southwest Airlines exec (Mormon) David G. Neeleman (1959-), who obtains slots at Kennedy Airport for his 162-seat A320 planes begins operation, operating 12 hours per day on routes averaging 1K mi. (San Juan, Puerto Rico, Long Beach, Calif., etc.), and showing a profit almost immediately. On Feb. 13 the comic strip "Peanuts" makes its final appearance after 50 years (begun 1950) after cartoonist Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (b. 1922) dies of colon cancer in his Santa Rosa, Calif. home on Feb. 12, having decided it should die with him. On Feb. 14 the worst tornadoes to hit SW Ga. since 1936 hit early in the morning, killing 22, injuring hundreds, destroying several poultry farms. Let's start the Black Century with the Ultimate White Handouts? On Feb. 15 crocodile-like Zimbabwe dictator-pres. (since Dec. 22, 1987) Robert Gabriel Mugape, er, Mugabe (1924-), who claims he was told as a child that God picked him to be a great leader holds a referendum on a draft constitution to increase his power and give his govt. a mandate to seize white-owned land without compensation; since whites number only about 70K out of a total pop. of 12.5M, yet dominate the nation's agriculture, this vote is a no-brainer, but Mugabe's opponents win nearly 55% of the vote; on June 25 Mugabe wins a narrow V in the pres. election, and the opposition Movement for Dem. Change (MDC) wins 25 seats in parliament to Mugabe's 62, despite his strong-arm tactics; mandate or not, Mugabe begins seizing white-owned farms and giving them to black political allies with no background in farming, causing the entire country's farming economy to collapse and the country, once Africa's breadbasket, to begin starving and need handouts, which is compounded by the U.S. Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 (Dec. 21, 2001), which enacts a credit freeze, reducing the country's trade surplus from $322M in 2001 to -$18M in 2002, with inflation reaching 12,875% in 2007; meanwhile anybody who tries to protest is savagely beaten, incl. chief opposition leader Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (1952-), who ends up with a fractured skull; the other African leaders keep a code of silence about the Mugging Ape's regime, and by 2013 all white-owned farms in Zimbabwe are kaput, but the country's large reserves of platinum and uranium along with the Marange Diamond Field (largest in the world) help stay Mugabe in power. On Feb. 17 meat cutters at Wal-Mart's in Jacksonville, Tex. vote to join an independent labor union, causing Wal-mart to fire them all and switch to a supplier of pre-packaged meat, resulting in awful meat? On Feb. 17 the U.N. Security Council votes 14-0-1 (China) for Resolution 1290 to admit Tuvalu; on Oct. 31 it adopts Resolution 1326 without vote to admit the Federal Repub. of Yugoslavia, which in 2003 becomes Serbia and Montenegro, which become separate in 2006. On Feb. 24 after Iraq refuses him entry, Pope John Paul II makes a "virtual pilgrimage" of Old Testament prophet Abraham's city of Ur, using props and videotape, then travels for real to Egypt, where he visits the place believed by many to be the Biblical Mount Sinai, then goes to Bethlehem and Jerusalem in an effort to reconcile all three Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam); too bad, when he visits a Palestinian refugee camp on the West Bank to deplore the plight of the residents, and expresses empathy in English for the hardships of refugee life, his remarks are not translated into Arabic. On Feb. 25 investors wise up about the software-only trick mirror Internet dot.com cos., causing a stock plunge, and signalling the end of the Internet stock boom; in Apr. the U.S. stock market experiences a minor (25-30%) crash. On Feb. 26 reformists win control of the Iranian parliament for the first time since the 1979 Islamic Rev., and Iranian pro-reform pres. Mohammad Khatami wins overwhelming support for his programs, even though supreme asahollah leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has kept many moderate and reform candidates from running on grounds that they are not Islamic enough; meanwhile Iranian youth rebel against the theocratic regime by going American, surfing the Net and learning how to do Western infidel sex, drugs, and rock & roll. On Feb. 26 Pope John Paul II vists Mount Sinai in Egypt - to look for the rest of the 70 Commandments? On Feb. 29 a 6-y.-o. boy shoots and kills his 6-y.-o. classmate Kayla Renee Rolland at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Mich. using a Smith and Wesson .32-cal. handgun; he is too young to be charged, but gun control advocates take up the case, and on Mar. 17 Smith and Wesson (now owned by an English co.) agrees to limit the manufacture and distribution of handguns for fear of more lawsuits, and promises to install smart gun technology within three years to allow only authorized users to fire them. On Feb. 29 (night) Tenterfield, N.S.W., Australia-born woman Katherine Mary Knight (1955-) stabs to death her partner John Charles Thomas Price in Aberdeen, N.S.W. then hangs his skin on a meat hook and cooks his head and other body parts with the intention of feeding them to his children; on Nov. 8, 2001 she receives the first life sentence for a woman in Australian history. In Feb. cybervandals stage a massive denial of service campaign on the Internet, blocking access to Amazon.com, eBay, Yahoo! et al. In Feb. world oil prices reach $30 a barrel as OPEC countries restrict output, rising to $34 in early Mar., up from $11 at the end of 1998; on Mar. 27 OPEC ministers (except Iran) agree to increase production by 1.2M barrels a day, then Iran caves in too, and by May the price has fallen back to $30, double the 1999 price; too bad, on Aug. 25 it's back up to $35 per barrel, causing commercial users to force the French govt. to reduce taxes on gasoline, while PM Tony Blair refuses to lower British taxes, causing protesters to blockade refineries, bringing Britain to a near standstill by Sept.; Spanish truckdrivers join the protest in mid-Sept. In Feb. U.S. FDA guidelines take effect permitting dietary supplements to make gen. "structure/function" claims (e.g., "supports the immune system"), but barring claims or implications that a product will cure a specific malady. On Mar. 1 Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak repeals an Ottoman-era law making it a crime for a woman to run away from an abusive husband, and gives women equal rights to divorce, becoming the only country except Tunisia where they can divorce without the husband's consent, while the hubbys get auto-divorces at will under the Muslim Sharia. On Mar. 1 Finland proclaims a new constitution. On Mar. 2 former Swedish foreign affairs minister (1978-9) Hans Martin Blix (1928-) becomes exec chmn. of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) (until June 2003), going on in 2002 to search Iraq unsuccessfully for WMDs. On Mar. 7 the Panel on U.N. Peace Operations is convened under chmn. Lakhdar Brahimi (1934-) of Algeria, going on to pub. the Brahimi Report on Aug. 21, noting that there is still no standing U.N. army or police force, calling on the U.N. to focus more on intel, with the soundbytes: "Tell the Security Council what it needs to know, not what it wants to hear", and not to send peacekeepers where there is no peace to keep; on Nov. 13 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1327, recalling Resolution 1318 and attempting to implement the Brahimi Report. On Mar. 8 Danish politician Geert Wilders gives a Speech to the British House of Lords warning in vain that the entire continent of Europe is about to be swallowed by Islam, and quoting Turkish PM Erbakan and Libyan dictator Daffy Gaddafi in support. On Mar. 8 two Tokyo Metro trains have a sideswipe collision, killing five. On Mar. 9 the FBI arrests Iranian-born U.S. art dealer and art forgery suspect Ely Sakhai (1952-) in New York City; in 2005 he gets 41 mo. in priz and a $12.5M fine. On Mar. 9 the Center-Liberal coalition govt. in Norway loses a confidence vote called by the Labor Party over its opposition to gas-powered electrical plants; on Sept. 4-14 motorists blockade oil terminals in an effort to cut gasoline taxes, which at 70% cause Norwegian gasoline to be among the highest priced in the world. On Mar. 10 Pres. Clinton writes a message to Bassam Estwani, chmn. of Dar al-Hijrah Mosque, toying with the idea of a visit, but later declining; it soon becomes home to Anwar al-Awlaki. On Mar. 10 the NASDAQ Composite Index reaches an all-time high of 5,133 after having doubled in a year, becoming the peak of the Dot.Com Mania as it falls by 9% within a week and dips below 2K within a year. On Mar. 12 Pope John Paul II apologizes for the Church's past sins, incl. mistreatment of Jews, heretics, women, and aborigines - are they entitled to reparations? On Mar. 14 the Fowler Report is presented to to the U.N. by a team of investigators led by Canadian U.N. ambassador (since Jan. 1995) Robert R. Fowler (1944-), detailing the financing of UNITA blood or conflict diamonds via sale on the internat. market, causing the U.N. Gen. Assembly in Dec. to adopt U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 55/56, AKA the Kimblerley Process Certification Scheme to certify rough diamonds as not financing a rebel or other violent group, requiring a special certificate. On Mar. 14 Stephen King becomes the first best-selling author to offer a novel, Riding the Bullet in ebook form on the Web; it is downloaded 400K in the first 24 hours, free on some Web sites, $2.50 on others, and he pulls the plug at 500K; in July he offers the thriller The Plant on the Web, but one chapter at a time at $1 per on his Web site StephenKing.com. On Mar. 17 over 500 members of the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments, a local religious cult founded by Joseph Kibwetere (Kibweteere) (b. 1932) are burnt to death in a church in Kanungu, Uganda (200 mi. SW of Kampala); hundreds more corpses are discovered later, and by late Mar. the body count reaches 914, becoming the largest religious mass suicide-murder since the 1978 Jonestown Massacre in Guyana. On Mar. 18 Chen Shui-bian (1951-) is elected pres. of the Repub. of China (ROC) (Taiwan) with 39% of the vote in a 3-way race, ousting the Nationalist govt. in power since 1949; he is sworn in on May 20, saying he won't "let Taiwan become another Hong Kong or Macao", but stopping short of declaring independence, making the U.S. itchy. On Mar. 19 U.S. pres. Clinton arrives in New Delhi for a state visit. On Mar. 20 former Black Panther H. Rap Brown, now known as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (1943-) is captured after a gun battle in Atlanta, Ga. which kills a sheriff's deputy. On Mar. 20-July 16 the Philippines govt. battles the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front; on Sept. 16 the govt. begins an assault on the Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrilla group after it takes 21 internat. tourists hostage on Jolo Island and demands recognition as fighting for an independent Islamic state, plus fishing rights and money; too bad, Pres. Joseph Estrada fails to rescue the hostages, causing his public support to tank. On Mar. 21 Pope John Paul II begins the first official visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to Israel. On Mar. 21 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 in FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. that the FDA has never received authority from Congress to regulate tobacco products, and rejects 1995 FDA rules to restrict marketing of cigarettes to children and teenagers along with the Clinton admin. anti-smoking initiative. On Mar. 23 Pasteur Bizimungu resigns, and on Mar. 24 vice-pres. Paul Kagame (1957) becomes pres. #6 of Rwanda (until ?), the first Tutsi pres. On Mar. 25 Muslim economist Rustam Nurgaliyevich Minnikhanov (1957-) becomes pres. #2 of Tatarstan (until ?). On Mar. 26 former KGB lt. col. (judo expert) (raised in a crowded apt.) Vladimir Putin (1952-) is elected pres. of Russia (until ?) with 53% of the vote vs. 30% for Communist Party leader Gennadi A. Zyuganov; he increases oil and gas prices to boost the Russian economy, enabling the govt. to resume payment of salaries and pensions, making him look good to the people. On Mar. 26 the Kingdome in Seattle is demolished to make way for Qwest Field. On Mar. 26 the 72nd Academy Awards in Los Angeles awards the best picture Oscar for 1999 to American Beauty, along with best dir. to Sam Mendes, and best actor to Kevin Spacey; best actress goes to Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry, best supporting actor to Michael Caine for The Cider House Rules, and best supporting actress to Angelina Jolie for Girl Interrupted. On Mar. 27 nat. assembly elections are held in Iraq, and surprise, the Ba'th (Nat. Progressive Front) candidates all win, since only they are allowed to run; Saddam Hussein decides to switch from the U.S. dollar to the Euro, pissing-off U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney and leading to the opinion that it's time for a regime change in Iraq? On Mar. 27 French PM Lionel Jospin replaces four of his Socialist cabinet ministers to quiet criticism; on Sept. 4 protests begin over rising fuel prices, with truckers and motorists blockading refineries and service stations; the protests spread throughout Europe; on Sept. 24 a nat. referendum in which only 30% of the electorate particiates reduces the term of the pres. from 7 to 5 years. On Mar. 28 a school bus in Murray County, Ga. on the Tenn.-Ga. state line gets hit by a CSX freight train, killing three children. In Mar. South Korea holds peace talks in Geneva along with secret meetings with several Western powers. In Mar. CIA agent (1982-2005) Gary Berntsen is sent to Afghanistan to capture a senior al-Qaida leader; too bad, the mission is called off, pissing-off Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, who says that the U.S. is "not serious"; after 9/11 he returns with a new mission to eliminate al-Qaida completely, only to be backstabbed by the Pakistan ISI. In Mar. the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. reaches a record 10,923.55, then plummets 617.78 points (5.7%) to 10,305.77 on Apr. 14, its largest point drop so far, after news of a 0.7% increase in the U.S. Consumer Price Index for Mar.; meanwhile the NASDAQ tops 5K on Mar. 10 then plunges 355.49 points (9.7%) to 3,321.29 on Apr. 14, another record drop; the Dow closes on Dec. 31 at 10,786.84, down 6.2% from its Dec. 31, 1999 value of 11,497.12; the NASDAQ closes on Dec. 31 at 2,470.52, down 54% from its peak and 39.3% for the year - what's good for Microsoft is good for the country, I hope not? In Mar. Ford Motor Co. agrees to buy Land Rover from BMW for $2.7B, and Jaguar for another $2.5B, and on Apr. 14 announces that it will pay its shareholders a record $10B special dividend; on May 11 Ford chmn. William Clay Ford Jr. (1958-) admits that the SUVs on which his co. has made so much money cause serious safety and environmental problems, but vows to reduce tailpipe emissions, boost fuel economy, and make them less dangerous in crashes with ordinary cars; Ford sells both divs. off in Mar. 2008 to Tata for $2B. On Apr. 1 Japanese PM Keizo Obuchi (b. 1937) suffers a stroke and falls into a coma, and on Apr. 5 gaffe-prone Liberal Dem. Party secy.-gen. Yoshiro Mori (1937-) becomes PM #85 of Japan (until Apr. 26, 2001); Obuchi dies on May 14, and Mori goes on to put his foot in his mouth by calling Japan "a divine country with an emperor at its center", recalling the racist official state Shintoism of the past, and causing his cabinet's approval rating to fall to 19%. On Apr. 1 (U.S. Census Day) most census questions are delivered to U.S. citizens in official envelopes. On Apr. 1 Abdoulaye Wade (1926-) of the Dem. Party of Senegal becomes pres. #3 of Senegal (until ?). Could this be the end of some kind of era? On Apr. 3 U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson (1937-) finds that Microsoft Corp. violated the U.S. Sherman Antitrust Act by its predatory behavior aimed at maintaining a monopoly for its "let's crash again" beautiful-disaster Windoze (Windows) operating system by keeping an "oppressive thumb" on competitors and seeking to tie its almost-as-cruddy Internet Explorer Web browser to it as "part of a larger campaign to quash innovation", urging litigants to appeal directly to the Supreme Court in order to expedite his punishment; on Apr. 28 the U.S. Dept. of Justice and 17 state attys. gen. ask Jackson to break Microsoft into two parts with serious curbs on their activities, although the computer users don't seem to care much either way; Bill Gates calls the proposal "radical" and totally denies wrongdoing, but finally yields a bit on May 10, proposing some minor limitations on its dealings with computer makers, which the Justice Dept. complains on May 16 are not enough, causing Jackson to order the breakup on June 8, and the Supreme Court to refuse to hear the case in Sept.; meanwhile once solid gold Microsoft stocks go on a downhill slide from just over $90 a share to $70 on June 7, adding to the dot com stock bust - time to roll out the baksheesh and buy the govt., start 'er up? On Apr. 3 Haitian broadcast journalist Jean Dominique (b. 1930) is gunned down in Port-au-Prince as he arrives at radio station Haiti-Inter to deliver the 7 a.m. morning news; he recently accused the nat. election board of planning to sabotage upcoming polls, and attacked a local pharmaceutical co. whose cough syrup was blamed for the deaths of 60 kids - hmm, I'll take what's behind curtain #1? On Apr. 4 local elections in Bosnia-Herzegovina give Vs to nationalist parties, causing NATO to continue postponing troop reductions. On Apr. 4 Russia launches Soyuz TM-30, the last human spaceflight to the Mir space station, carrying cosmonauts Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin (1962-) and Aleksandr (Alexander) Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri (1956-); it returns on June 16; on Oct. 31 Soyuz TM-31 blasts off to the Internat. Space Station, carrying cosmonauts Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko (1962-), Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (Krikalyov) (1958-), and William McMichael Shepherd (1949-) of the U.S.; Soyuz TM-31 returns next May 6 with Talgat Musabayev, Yuri Baturin, and Dennis Tito. On Apr. 6 Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, chief minister of Assam, India releases a statement claiming Pakistan Interservices Intel (ISI) of fostering an Islamist militancy; it proves to be unfounded until ?. On Apr. 8 a controversial U.S. Osprey plane crashes, killing 19 U.S. Marines. On Apr. 9 nat. elections in Greece give the PASOK Party 158 of 300 seats in Parliament, becoming the first Greek party to win a majority in three consecutive elections; its main rival the New Democracy Party wins 125 seats; Costas Simitas remains PM of Greece. On Apr. 9 a new B&W version of Fail Safe debuts on CBS-TV, with intro. by Walter Cronkite, starring Richard Dreyfuss as the U.S. pres., Noah Wyle as his translator, George Clooney as Col. Jack Grady, and Harvey Keitel as Brig. Gen. Warren A. "Blackie" Black. Der Freiheit Der Sprache Still Sucks Egg Yolk in Europe? On Apr. 11 British historian David Irving (1938-) (known for the soundbyte "More women died on the back seat of Edward Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick than ever died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz") loses his libel suit against Penguin Books and U.S. author Deborah Lipstadt (1947-) over her 1994 work Denying the Holocaust, and his reputation as a Holocaust-denying historian is supposedly trashed, and hers ascendant; on Feb. 20, 2006 he is sentenced to three years in priz in Vienna under a 1992 law for two speeches in 1989 denying the Holy Holocaust, despite a last minute contrite flip-flop "confession" to avoid the full 10-year sentence; in 1992 he had been fined $6K by a judge in Germany; he is released on probation on Dec. 20 after serving 13 mo. and flies back to London to his wife Bente Hogh - shut up, and that settles it? In mid-Apr. world finance ministers gather in Washington, D.C. for meetings of the IMF and World Bank, and demonstrators block traffic to protest their selling out to the multinational cos. On Apr. 16 sultan Hisamuddin Alam Shah of Selangor dies after a 55-year reign, longest since prince Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein, leaving Thai king Rama IX as the longest reigning monarch on Earth (since 1950). On Apr. 17 Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin (1943-), a direct descendant of Muhammad the Prophet becomes raja of Perlis. On Apr. 19 an Air Philippines Boeing 737-200 en route from Manila to Davao City crashes into a coconut grove, killing all 131 aboard. On Apr. 19 Italian PM Massimo D'Alema resigns, and is replaced by former Socialist Party member Giuliano Amato (1938-), who forms a center-left coalition, but it falters, and on Sept. 26 he resigns, and is replaced by Francesco Rutelli (1954-), mayor of Rome, becoming the 58th Italian govt. since WWII. On Apr. 25 Vt. approves civil same-sex unions. On Apr. 25 Pres. Clinton signs Public Law 10-185, which permits police to use a "complaint" to seize private property on a "theory" that it is involved in a criminal offense, with the private owner having the burden of proof of innocence in court to retrieve it; in 2011 the statute is used to seize $1.8B in property, paying police depts. a bounty of $445M; actually this law makes it more difficult to seize private property before criminal trial, but easier after a conviction? On Apr. 26 a strike by the Workers Confederation in Bolivia combined with a plan for water rate increases spark riots in Bolivia, which are quickly suppressed by pres. Hugo Banzaer Suarez. On Apr. 28-30 the Millennium March on Washington in suport of LGBT rights in Washington, D.C. is attended by 200K-1M, and incl. the Equality Rocks Concert, featuring Melissa Etheridge, k.d. lang, George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, and Garth Brooks. In Apr. Jordan becomes a member of the World Trade Org. (WTO), and on Oct. 24 signs a free trade agreement with the U.S., becoming the first ever signed by the U.S. with an Arab nation. In Apr. rebel RUF forces in Sierra Leone under Foday Saybana Sankoh (1937-2003) refuse to demobilize, and kill seven Zambian and Kenyan U.N. peacekeepers on May 3, then take 500 more hostage on May 6; on May 8 demonstrators attack Sankoh's compound in Freetown, losing 19 but causing him to flee, and on May 17 he is ratted out while hiding in his abandoned house, shot in the leg and handed over to the govt. In Apr. British authorities accuse former Sotheby's chmn. Adolph Alfred Taubman (1924-) and former Christie's chmn. Sir Anthony Tennant of conspiring in the early 1990s to limit competition by fixing commissions charged to buyers and sellers; Taubman pleads guilty in Oct. - who do you think you are, Microsoft? In Apr. after U.S. Sen. (R-Minn.) (1995-2001) Rodney Dwight "Rod" Grams (1948-2013) introduces a bill on Oct. 21, 1997, the U.S. Treasury issues its first $100M worth of gold-tinted copper-brass-manganese Sacagawea Dollar Coins, circulating them through Wal-Mart stores and in 5K lucky boxes of Cheerios brand breakfast cereal; Lubbock, Tex.-born sculptor Glenna Maxey Goodacre (1939-) uses Shoshone student Randy'L He-Dow (Bannock "close to ground") Teton (1976-) (pr. "HEE-tho") as a model for the Shoshone guide's face; they tarnish easily, and soon turn into collector's items as nobody wants to circulate the suckers that are too small to seem like dollars? On May 3 New York archbishop John Cardinal O'Connor (b. 1920) dies of brain cancer at his Manhattan residence after a 16-year term in which he defended the poor and working class among the 2.37M Catholics in his archdiocese, while fighting to keep them breeding like rabbits free of abortion and homosexuality; he is succeeded by Bridgeport, Conn., bishop Edward Michael Egan (1932-), who carries on his views. On May 3 a rare 7-way celestial conjunction of the Sun, Moon, and all the planets from Mercury to Jupiter occurs on the New Moon. I'm bringing sexy back, go heavy go with it? On May 4 the U.S. Nat. Park Service begins a "prescribed burn" at the Bandolier Nat. Monument, which is caught by high winds and sweeps past firebreaks on May 11, destroying tens of thousands of acres of woodland and hundreds of homes and threatening Los Alamos Nuclear Labs, freaking environmentalists. On May 5 a rare grand conjunction of the five naked eye planets plus the Sun and Moon occurs. On May 6 the IRA offers to open its secret weapons arsenal to internat. inspection, raising hopes for peace in Ulster; too bad, paramilitary orgs. on both sides continue the violence, drug dealing and protection rackets. On May 8 Mich. swimming-pool installation co. owner Larry Ross (1953-) wins half of a record $363M lottery jackpot, netting $61M after taxes; he bought the ticket with change left after buying a hot dog with a $100 bill in a Detroit suburb at the suggestion of wife Nancy. On May 9 a jury in Baton Rouge, La. 4-term Dem. gov. (1972-80, 1984-8, 1992-6) Edwin Washington Edwards (1927-) guilty on 17 of 26 counts of fraud and conspiracy after a 4-mo. trial, with a possible life sentence; he was tried in 1985 and 1986 but not convicted, but this time U.S. atty. (also a Dem.) Eddie Jack Jordan Jr. (1952-) wins, claiming to end the cynicism in La. politics; in 2002 he is sentenced to 10 years, and begins his sentence in Oct. 2002. On May 16 judge Ahmet Necdet Sezer (1941-) becomes pres. #10 of the Repub. of Turkey (until Aug. 28, 2007), going on to back secularism and ban women wearing veils from official receptions, while pardoning 202 leftist militants. On May 31 Survivor debuts on CBS-TV (until ?), with 16 strangers marooned on a Malaysian island vying to win $1M by being the one to "outwit, outplay, outlast" the other dopes, while suffering horrible primitive living conditions and humiliation under the eye of a camera (good editing though?); after it becomes the top-rated U.S. TV series for the season, it spawns a boom in Reality Shows (until ?); they steal their motto from the 1952 film "Blackbeard the Pirate", which contains the line "When he closes on her, he'll find himself outgunned, outfought, outwitted"?; on Aug. 23 gay white nudist Richard Hatch (1961-) wins in front of 50M viewers despite being the most manipulative and unlikeable, making the show more popular? On May 10 the U.S. FDA approves saline breast implants as long as their high risk of complications are warned of by physicians. On May 11 Russian troops wearing ski masks and carrying machine guns raid the Moscow offices of Media-Most, Russia's biggest media co. and the most outspoken critic of Pres. Putin and his Kremlin cronies; former PM Sergei Kiriyenko calls the raid "a public act of intimidation", and even Communist Party leader Gennadi A. Zyuganov says "it looks disgusting" - Putin on the blitz? On May 16 leftist Dominican Rev. Party opposition leader Hipolito Mejia (1941-), an agronomist and businessman is elected pres. of the Dominican Repub., ousting the ruling pro-privatization Dominican Liberation Party; he is sworn-in on Aug. 16 (until Aug. 16, 2004). On May 16 UPI is acquired by News World Communications Inc., controlled by Unification Church leader Rev. Sun Myung Moon, causing correspondent (since 1943) Helen Thomas to resign on May 17, calling it "a bridge too far"; in July she joins Hearst Newspapers as a columnist, and loses her front row seat at pres. news conferences (since 1961), along with the first question and the ending "Thank you, Mr. President", saying "They don't like me... I ask too many questions". On May 17 the Serbian govt. seizes control of the main opposition TV station in Belgrade, accusing it of advocating an uprising against Slobodan Milosevic, causing 20K demonstrators to take to the streets, chanting "Slobodan, save Serbia, kill yourself" and "To The Hague, Slobodan, to The Hague!" On May 17 the U.S. African Growth and Opportunity Act is signed by Pres. Clinton, becoming the biggest U.S. trade measure since the 1994 World Trade Org.; the U.S. unilaterally lowers tariffs for a number of African goods and eliminates import quotas for African textiles made with native or U.S. material (sweaters woven in Africa from Asian or European yarn are still covered by U.S. quotas) - another white handout to the blacks, hoping they won't want to move in? Your choices just got a whole lot younger? On May 18 after a controversy during the 2000 pres. preimary, the S.C. Legislature passes the South Carolina Heritage Act of 2000, ordering the Confederate Stars and Bars battle flag removed from its Sandlapper capitol dome after 138 years (1862), and after the Johnny Rebs get over their shock it is removed on July 1, becoming the last Confed. state to do it; never fear, a smaller square version is put next to the Confederate Soldiers' Memorial on the N side of the Capitol in front of the main entry, but after yet more NAACP protests it is removed also, er, it is left flying while an African-American History Monument is unveiled on Mar. 26, 2001; meanwhile on Aug. 8 fortune intervenes, as the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, which in 1864 became the first sub to sink an enemy vessel is raised from the ocean off sandlapping Charleston, S.C. after 136 years - 9 years till Pres. Barack Obama? On May 18 Boo.com collapses in London after 6 mo. from lack of funds. On May 18-19 a coup is attempted in Paraguay against the govt. of Gonzalez Macchi. On May 19 permanent occupation of the Internat. Space Station (ISS) begins. On May 19 businessman George Speight (AKA Ilikimi Naitini) (1957-) stages a coup in Fiji. On May 19 South Korean PM Park Tae-joon (1927-) resigns soon after taking office after a financial scandal is revealed. On May 23 Israeli troops unilaterally withdraw from S Lebanon to the border after 22 years of occupation, and PM Ehud Barak announces "The 18-year tragedy is over", referring to the 1982 Israeli invasion that took over the "buffer zone" to protect N Israel from attacks by Hezbollah guerrillas, who now ride through the zone in triumph, claiming that they chased the Israelis out and that their withdrawal was "slinking and servile"; call him smart or dumb, but in 2001 after leaving office Netanyahu visits a home in Ofra in the West Bank to pay condolences to the family of an Israeli man killed by Palestinians, and admits that he was fooling Pres. Clinton by making token withdrawals from the West Bank per the Oslo Accords while actually entrenching the occupation, which doesn't come out until 2010, after he becomes PM again on Mar. 31, 2009. On May 25 the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict is adopted by the U.N. Gen. Assembly by a 263-54 vote, requiring parties to ensure that children under age 18 are not forcefully recruited into their armed forces and do not take part in hostilities; it comes into force on Feb. 12, 2002; by Feb. 2018 180 states sign it, with 13 states signing but not ratifying it; the Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography is adopted by the U.N. Gen. Assembly, coming into force on Jan. 18, 2002; by Feb. 2018 183 states sign it, with nine states signing but not ratifying it. On May 26 13-y.-o. honor student Nathaniel Brazill (1987-) kills his English teacher Barry Grunow on the last day of classes in Lake Worth, Fla. for preventing him from talking with two girls in his classroom; he receives a 28-year sentence - preventing him from talking to girls until he's too old to enjoy it, and likes men better anyway? On May 28 volcanic Mt. Cameroon erupts. Fu on you, Fujimori? On May 29 Alberto Fujimori (1938-) wins election to a 3rd pres. term in Peru despite a constitutional prohibition against it after opposition leader Alejandro Toledo (1946-) raises a stink about a rigged election and starts an election boycott; in Sept. opposition leader Luis Fernando Olivera "Popy" Vega (1958-) shows evidence on TV that Fujimori's security chief Vladimiro Montesinos (1945-) bribed a congressman, and on Sept. 16 Fujimori announces that he is firing Montesinos and calling for immediate new elections, then on Sept. 19 stalls and postpones them until summer 2001; Montesinos flees to Panama on Sept. 24, then Fujimori moves the elections up to Mar., while Montesinos sneaks back in; on Nov. 17 Fujimori flees to Japan and sends a letter announcing his resignation, after which congress rules on Nov. 21 that he is "morally unfit" to continue after 10 years of corrupt dictatorship, and selects centrist party leader Valentin Paniagua Corazao (1936-2006) as interim pres.; on Aug. 28, 2003 a govt. report reveals that his govt. troops, peasant milita, and Shining Path Maoist rebels combined have killed more than 69K, 75% of them Quechua-speaking Indians (54% Shining Path, 46% govt.); on Nov. 7, 2005 Fujimori is arrested in Santiago, Chile as he tries to return to Peru to run for re-election after five years of exile in Japan despite an internat. arrest warrant and a congressional ruling barring him from public office until 2011, and is extradited to Peru on 21 charges of abuse of power, corruption and massacres, all because he had 30% support in a 2004 voter poll. On May 29 former Indonesian pres. Suharto is placed under house arrest and charged with corruption and abuse of power. In May New York City mayor Rudolf Giuliani announces that he has prostate cancer and will not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, causing Repubs. to nominate Long Island rep. Enrico Anthony "Rick" Lazio (1958-); meanwhile Dems. nominate First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, another women's first; too bad he snubs Gianelli's Sausage Stand at the State Fair in Syracuse, N.Y., saying he is "so-so on the sausage sandwiches", will Bill and Hillary enthusiastically chow down, hurting his campaign, even coming up in his failed 2010 run for N.Y. gov. In May the RateBeer Web site is founded by Bill Buchanan to rate beers, reaching 4.5M ratings of 200K beers from 16K breweries; the #1 beer in the world is Westvleteren 12 from Westvleteren Brewery in Belgium. On June 1 Tex. Gov. George W. Bush finally pardons a 78-y.-o. death row inmate after letting 130 executions go undisturbed. On June 1 Mt. Etna on Sicily erupts. On June 1-Oct. 31 Expo 2000 is held in Hanover, Germany; the official song is Schon (Schön) ist die Welt by Nina Hagen. On June 4 (Sun.) after seeing "Star Wars", a fan mistakenly sits on a 16th. cent. Ming Dynasty chair (1368-1644) purchased in 1996 for $453K, causing it to break in three places; he isn't hurt and they decide not to hold him liable. On June 6 Ferenc Madl (1931-2011) is elected pres. #2 of the Repub. of Hungary by the parliament, and is sworn-in on Aug. 4 (until Aug. 5, 2005). On June 6 the Nat. D-Day Museum in New Orleans, La. opens, expanding into the Nat. WWII Museum in 2008. If you're looking for a noble profession try law? On June 7 U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson in Washington, D.C. orders the breakup of Microsoft Corp., saying that it "has proved untrustworthy in the past" and doesn't appear to accept his ruling that it has broadly violated U.S. antitrust laws, saying "There is credible evidence in the record to suggest that Microsoft, convinced of its innocence, continues to do business as it has in the past and may yet do to other markets what it has already done" to dominate operating systems and Internet software; he breaks Microsoft into two separate competing cos. (for at least 10 years), one for its Windows op. system and the other for its computer application software (Microsoft Office, Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc.) and Internet businesses (Internet Explorer browser, etc.); Microsoft appeals, calling the ruling "an unwarranted and unjustified intrusion into the software marketplace", while the govt. seeks an immediate review by the U.S. Supreme Court - heavily armed and heading north on Main Street? On June 7 Israeli PM Ehud Barak's govt. is thrown into tumult when the Knesset approves a bill to break up the govt. and stage new elections just as Barak is preparing for final peace talks with the Palestinians for the summer. On June 7 a suicide bomber in Colombo, Sri Lanka ruins the first-ever War Heroes Day, killing cabinet minister C.V. Gooneratne and 20 others. On June 9 the U.S. House of Reps. votes 279-136 (incl. 65 Dems.) to phase out the federal estate (inheritance) tax, even though only 2% of Americans die with estates large enough ($675K for an individual, $1.3M for a family-owned farm); a Dem. proposal to keep it for estates of $4M or more is defeated 222-196; too bad, Pres. Clinton vetoes it on Aug. 31. On June 10 Hafez al-Assad (b. 1930) dies of a heart attack in Damascus after 31 years in power (since 1969), and on July 10 his British-trained opthalmologist son Bashar al-Assad (1965-) succeeds him as pres. (dictator but nice?) of Syria (until ?), being promptly promoted from col. to lt. gen.; the Damascus Spring of intense political-social debate begins until the govt. suppresses it in fall 2001, arresting dissident economist Aref Dalila (1943-) and sentencing him to 10 years for calling for freedom of expression and an end to govt. monopolies; he is released on Aug. 10, 2008. On June 10 eight guards at Corcoran State Prison in Calif. are acquitted of civil rights violations for allegedly staging gladiator-style fights among inmates. On June 11 local elections in Montenegro give a majority of posts to pro-independence candidates. On June 11 New York City's annual Puerto Rican Day parade ends with an ugly incident in Central Park, where 10 amateur videotapes show as many as 50 drunken black, white, and Hispanic youths spraying women with water, ripping off their clothes, and groping and fondling them while police stand by ogling them and shrug off demands to intervene; after a stink is raised, police identify many of the perps from the tapes and make arrests, and try to coverup their inaction by blaming a shortage of radios - they weren't afraid, right? On June 13 attempted papal assassin Mehmet Ali Agca is pardoned. On June 13-15 South Korean pres. Kim Dae-jung meets with North Korean pres. Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, becoming their first meeting; they hold a banquet, singing "Our Wish Is Unification"; on June 19 the U.S. eases trade sanctions against North Korea; on Oct. 13 Dae-jung is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, although Japan and China don't relish the prospect of a reunited Korea; Jong-il was just having fun? On June 14 after the spot market for energy begins operating in Apr. and prices rise significantly in May, the Calif. Electricity Crisis begins when 97K cusotmers in the San Francisco Bay area suffer a blackout duromg a heat wave, after which San Diego Gas & Electric alleges manipulation of the markets in Aug., followed by several hundred thousand customers blacked-out next Jan. 17-18, 1.5M next Mar. 19-20, and 167K next May 7-8 after Calif. Gov. Gray Davis declares a state of emergency next Jan. 17, and Pacific Gas & Energy Co. files for bankruptcy in Apr.; next Sept. energy prices normalize, after which Enron files for bankruptcy in Dec., and is blamed for manipulating energy prices; Calif. Gov. Gray Davis ends the state of emergency on Nov. 13, 2003. On June 14 the Jehovah's Witnesses relax their automatic disfellowshipping policy on members who receive a blood transfusion - a billion-dollar real estate empire is theirs to lose when the wrongful death lawsuits start rolling in? On June 15 the presidents of North and South Korea sign a historic Korean Peace Accord after 50 years of anything but. On June 15 King Abdullah II of Jordan accuses Israel of trying to block Jordan from developing a peaceful nuclear energy program; Israel denies it. On June 15 the MIR space station is switched off. On June 17 a 6.5 earthquake rocks S Iceland on its nat. day after 88 years of quiescence; another occurs on June 21. On June 19 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe to declare the practice of student-initiated and student-led prayer at public high school football games unconstitutional because it could be really initiated by the govt. officials behind the scenes; John Paul Stevens for the majority writes "Regardless of whether one considers a sporting event an appropriate occasion for solemnity, the use of an invocation to foster such solemnity is impermissible when, in actuality, it constitutes prayer sponsored by the school"; Rehnquist dissents, stating that the court's opinion "bristles with hostility to all things religious in public life"; Scalia and Thomas also dissent. On June 20 the British find 58 bodies of illegal Asian immigrants suffocated in a Dutch truck. On June 21 the Scottish parliament votes 99-17 to scrap Section 28, a law preventing the promotion of homosexuality - men wearing skirts jokes here? On June 22 17-y.-o. Eric Michael Clark (1983-) shoots Flagstaff, Ariz. police officer Jeff Moritz after being pulled over for playing loud rap music, later claiming he thought he was killing a "space alien"; he is found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life, then appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 22 a Wuhan Airlines Y7-100 en route from Enshi to Wuhan that is forced to circle for 30 mi. due to thunderstorms crashes near Sitai, China, killing all 40 passengers and four crew plus seven on the ground. On June 24 the Canadian Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act is passed, making Canada the first country to incorporate the Rome Statue of the Internat. Criminal Court into its nat. laws. On June 25 the U.S. Navy resumes shelling exercises at Vieques Island in Puerto Rico. On June 26 Hillary Clinton's "closest friend", political science prof. Diane Divers Blair (b. 1938), wife of futures trader Jim Blair, chief counsel at Tyson Foods Inc. during Cattlegate dies, leaving the Hillary Papers, incl. correspondence, diaries, interviews, strategy memos, and accounts of conversations with the Clintons from the mid-1970s, which are donated to the U. of Ark.; they are closed to the public until Mar. 9, 2010. On June 26 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Apprendi v. N.J. that the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial as forced on, er, incorporated against the states via the 14th Amendment prohibits judges from enhancing criminal sentences beyond statutory maximums based on facts other than those decided by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. On June 28 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that a private org. is allowed under certain criteria to exclude people from membership based on sexual orientation through their First Amendment right to freedom of association in spite of state anti-discrimination laws. On June 28 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Stenberg v. Carhart ito invalidate a Neb. law outlawing partial-birth abortions as violating the Due Process Clause because it didn't allow exception for the health of the woman; Justice Antonin Scalia dissents, with the soundbyte: "I am optimistic enough to believe that, one day, Stenberg v. Carhart will be assigned its rightful place in the history of this Court's jurisprudence beside Korematsu and Dred Scott. The method of killing a human child... proscribed by this statute is so horrible that the most clinical description of it evokes a shudder of revulsion." On June 28 U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Mitchell v. Helms that loans can be made to religious schools for computers and other secular instructional equipment - if Al-Qaida can have it? On June 30 the U.S. claims that Iraq resumed its missile program. On June 30 the Roskilde Tragedy at the Roskilde Festival near Copenhagen, Denmark sees fans riot during a performance by the group Pearl Jam, killing nine and injuring 26. In June Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador sign a free trade agreement with Mexico. In June the World Bank agrees to loan Chad $200M to build a $3.7B oil pipeline to Cameroon, to be paid by estimated oil revenues of $80M a year over the next 30 years; to quiet fears of you know what, the World Bank forces Chad to agree to spend 80% of the revenues on social services, becoming a world first; too bad, by 2005 Transparency Internat. lists Hanging Chad as the world's most corrupt country, and in 2006 dictator Idriss Deby proves it by reneging on his deal and using the money to finance his military to keep his grip, causing the loan to be suspended and Chad's bank accounts to be frozen. In June the Cotonou Agreement is signed in Cotonou, Benin, replacing the Lome IV Convention of 1989-99, and set to run for 20 years as the cornerstone of European trade with the 71 developing ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) nations. In June George Richard "Rick" Wagoner Jr. (1953-) becomes CEO of GM (until Mar. 29, 2009). In June Toronto, Canada-based Naked News debuts on the Internet, featuring naked female reporters. In the summer intense wildfires roast the U.S. West. In the summer the U.S. military intelligence unit Able Danger identifies Mohammed Atta and three other 9/11 hijackers as likely members of an Al-Qaida cell operating in the U.S., and recommends that the info. be shared with the FBI, but the recommendation is rejected; he was an imposter, as proved by his father claiming that he is still alive a year after 9/11? On July 2 6'7" cowboy-boot-loving former Coca-Cola exec Vicente Fox Quesada (1942-) of the Nat. Action Party (PAN) is elected pres. of Mexico, defeating PRI candidate Francisco Labastida Ochoa Magana (AKA Memo) (1942-) by a landslide, becoming the first defeat for the ruling PRI Party since 1929, although PAN fails to win a majority in the chamber of deputies or senate; on Dec. 1 he is sworn-in (until Nov. 30, 2006), becoming the first peaceful transfer of power in Mexico's history, and the largest internal transformation since the 1910 Mexican Rev.; he did it even though PAN's link to the Roman Catholic Church and his 1996 proposal to privatize state oil co. Pemex made him a lot of enemies. On July 6 U.S. gen. Tommy Ray Franks (1945-) succeeds Gen. Anthony Zinny as cmdr. of the U.S. Central Command (until July 7, 2003), overseeing a 25-country region incl. the Middle East, and going on to lead the attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. On July 10 a leaking petroleum pipeline explodes in S Nigeria, killing 250 villagers who were scavenging gasoline. On July 11-25 the 2000 Camp David Summit between Pres. Clinton, Yasir Arafat, and Ehud Barak sees Barak propose turning 92% of the West Bank into a Palestinian state, with Palestinian sovereignty over the Christian and Muslim quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem, but no agreement is reached after Arafat utters the soundbyte that the PLO's demands for sovereignty in East Jerusalem "not only refer to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Temple Mount mosques, and the Armenian quarter, but it is Jerusalem in its entirety, entirety, entirety", incl. the Western Wall, which he calls the Al-Buraq Wall, insisting that there never had been any Jewish temples on the Temple Mount; after the talks fail, Arafat responds by pumping up local violence, since all along all he wanted was the destruction of Israel, not the creation of a Palestinian state?; on Aug. 9, 2001 Robert Malley (1963-), special asst. to Pres. Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs, and Hussein Agha pub. Camp David: The Tragedy of Errors, which blames Barak not Arafat for the failure of the summit; Malley later becomes a favorite adviser of Pres. Obama - home depot, you can do it, we can help? On July 14 Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi gives an interview to NPR's "Morning Edition", uttering the soundbyte: "The more you maintain settlements in the West Bank, the more areas of friction you have... You are creating not only a situation of volatility, you are creating an apartheid system: two sets of people on the same land subject to two sets of law, with Israeli extraterritoriality in the West Bank." On July 14 a Fla. jury rules that big tobacco cos. are guilty of racketeering and fraud for deliberately deceiving the public about the effects of smoking, and must pay a shocking $145B to settle hundreds of thousands of health claims; their appeal is denied on May 22, 2009, and they must quit using labels such as "light", "mild", or "low tar" on their packaging; the cos. incl. Philip Morris, Altria, R.J. Reynolds, Brown and Williamson, British Am. Tobacco., and Lorillard Tobacco (acquired in 1971 by Loews Corp. of theater fame); Liggett Group was excluded from the ruling because it came clean and fessed up in the 1990s. On July 15 PM Sheikh Hasina completes her 5-year term as PM of Bangladesh, becoming the first leader to do so since independence in 1974, and former chief justice (2000-1) Latifur Rahman (1936-) becomes interim chief adviser of Bangladesh (until Oct. 10, 2001). In mid-July Canadian press lord Kenneth R. Thomson (1923-2006) sells his 49 U.S. newspapers for $2.44B to invest in electronic info. services, acquiring rights to database content so he can charge Internet users - if only surfers paid for info? On July 17 a consortium of corps. in Germany awards 10B DM to victims of the Nazi slave labor program. On July 18 Alex Salmond resigns as leader of the Scottish Nat. Party. On July 18 in England police launch a murder investigation after the body of a girl found near Pulborough, Sussex is confirmed to be that of Sarah Evelyn Isobel Payne (1992-2000), who was reported missing on July 1; on July 22 News of the World urges its readers to sign a petition for Sarah's Law, giving parents the right to know whether a convicted pedophile is living in their area; on Aug. 3 rioting erupts on the Paulsgrove estate in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England in a block of flats allegedly housing a convicted you know what. On July 19 a fire in a nursing home in Costa Rica kills 17 of 14 patients. On July 20 the British Terrorism Act of 2000 is passed, superseding the 1989 Prevention of Terrorism and 1996 North Ireland Emergency Provisions Act with more permanent powers, resulting in 750 arrests and 22 convictions by Oct. 2005. On July 21 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin meets with North Korean pres. Kim Jong-il, and the latter pledges to discontinue his long-range missile program in exchange for help in sending satellites into space - thank you for being stupid? On July 21 former U.S. Sen. (R-Mo.) John C. Danforth, special council for a team of 38 investigators and 16 attys. releases the Danforth Report on Waco, clearing U.S. atty.-gen. Janet Reno and the FBI of any wrongdoing in connection with the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians at Waco, Tex. in Apr. 1993 after a 10-mo. investigation, and claims there was no conspiracy or coverup, concluding "The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of David Koresh" - or, dead men tell no tales? On July 21-23 the 26th Annual G-8 Summit is held, discussing AIDS, the "digital divide", and how to halve world poverty by 2015. On July 25 Air France Flight 4590, a supersonic Concorde crashes into a hotel in Gonesse outside Paris just after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport, killing all 109 aboard and four in the hotel after a titanium strip that fell from a Continental jet that took off earlier slashes a tire and does other damage during takeoff, causing all Concorde flights to be suspended and Air France to sue Continental Airlines; in 2005 France begins prosecuting Henri Perrier, father of the Concorde program for manslaughter and involuntary injury. On July 26 U.S. District judge Marilyn Hall Petel (1938-) rules in A&M Records Inc. v. Napster Inc. that Web-based Napster Inc. (founded 1999) has been violating copyrights of record cos., publishers and artists by distributing their songs free over the Internet; since the order doesn't take effect until July 29, guess what millions of Internet users rush to do, while lucky Napster gets another judge to issue a stay long enough for it to sign a deal on Oct. 31 with German media giant Bertelsmann that will let it charge a fee for its service and distribute part of it as royalties to record cos., inaugurating a new age for music. On July 27 Resolution 1310 is approved by the U.N., confirming that Israel has "withdrawn its forces from Lebanon in accordance with Resolution 425". On July 27 the U.S. Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, protecting prisoners who wish to worship, and giving churches a way to avoid burdensome zoning law restrictions; too bad, when Obama becomes U.S. pres. the Dept. of Justice begins using it to force mosque construction against community wishes. On July 29 Hollywood star Brad Pitt marries Hollywood star Jennifer Joanna Aniston (1969-), becoming known as Branifer; Jeff Buckley's music is used at their wedding; the public thinks they're the ideal married couple and should live happily together forever, but it only lasts until 2005. On July 30 Hugo Chavez is reelected as pres. of Venezuela with 59% of the vote (until ?). On July 31 CanWest Global Communications, founded by Liberal Social Dem. Israel Harold "Izzy" Asper (1932-2003) announces in Montreal that it is buying Hollinger Internat. from Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (1944-) for $2.36B, giving it control of around 100 newspapers plus the Web site Canada.com; Black retains ownership of the Chicago Sun-Times, London Daily Telegraph and Jerusalem Post plus 50% of the Toronto-based National Post; Asper and his sons Leonard and David are known for making editors of their papers support Israel and PM Chretien, and for running U.S. sitcoms on their TV stations; too bad, Black is convicted in 2007 on U.S. charges of mail and wire fraud and gets 78 mo. - Jewish media conspiracy jokes here? On July 31-Aug. 3 the 2000 Repub. Nat. Convention in Philadelphia, Penn. selects Tex. gov. George Walker Bush for pres. and Dick Cheney for vice-pres.; Bush calls himself a "compassionate conservative", who will be "united, not a divider", and proposes privatizing Social Security; Cheney started out supervising Bush's search for VP, then decided he was the best man for the job; on Aug. 14-17 the 2000 Dem. Nat. Convention in Los Angeles, Calif. selects vice-pres. Al Gore for pres. and Conn. Sen. (since 1989) Joseph Isadore Lieberman (1942-) (who calls himself "Joementum") for vice-pres., becoming the first Jewish candidate for the job; Lieberman was the first U.S. Sen. to speak out against Clinton's immorality in 1998; in debates with Gore, Bush issues the soundbyte "I just don't think it's the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, 'We do it this way, so should you'... If we're an arrogant nation they'll resent us. I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building." - change your mind later? In July Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (1950-) of the new (Jan.) right-wing Canadian Alliance Party becomes leader of the Canadian opposition, becoming known for his evangelical Bible-thumping Creationist views and opposition to rights for you guessed it and gun registration, and promises to reduce taxes, but is defeated on Nov. 27 after a 36-day "snap election" by Liberal Party PM Jean Chretien in a landslide V for a 3rd 5-year term after he preempts Day by announcing the largest tax cut in Canadian history. In July Yusuf Islam (1948-), the singer formerly known as Cat Stevens is deported back to Britain hours after arriving from Jerusalem, the Israeli govt. claiming that he had donated tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas during a 1988 visit; he denies it, but apparently ends up on the U.S. no-fly list. In July voters in Ivory Coast overwhelmingly approve a draft constitution, which permits only those of "pure Ivoirian" stock (99-44/100 pure?) to run for pres., excluding 40% of the pop., who are illegal immigrants, mainly Muslims from Burkina Faso; in Oct. dictator Gen. Robert Guei is defeated by civilian opposition leader (non-Muslim) Laurent Gbagbo (1945-), but both claim a V, causing a popular rising which causes Guei to flee the country, and on Oct. 26 Gbagbo becomes pres. (until Apr. 11, 2011), although supporters of another opposition leader Alassane Dramane Ouattara (1942-) (a Muslim whose parents illegally immigrated from Burkina Faso) are angry because he was exluded from the election for not having pure Ivory blood, and after bloody protests he is finally granted full citizenship in June, 2002. In July the Four Dan Actresses are coined by the Guangzhou Daily, the four most bankable mainland Chinese actresses, incl. Xu Jinglei (1974-), Zhou Xun (1974-), Zhao Wei (1976-), and Zhang Ziyi (1979). On Aug. 3 notorious 50-something Indian Robin Hood bandit Koose Muniswamy Veerappan (1952-2004), known for slaughtering elephants for their ivory and killing dozens of police kidnaps 72-y.-o. film star Rajkumar (1929-2006) at his country house near the village of Gajanur in Tamil Nadu along with two of his associates, and demands the release of 50 comrades from prison; he releases Rajkumar on Nov. 14 and is finally killed by police in 2004. On Aug. 5 Pres. Clinton vetoes legislation that would have eliminated the "marriage penalty", which in some cases requires married couples to pay higher federal income taxes than single persons earning the same amount, causing Repubs. to vow to use his veto against the candidacy of vice-pres. Al Gore; Clinton explains that the measure favors the rich, who are the bad guys, so that's why he vetoed it, but then explains that they will actually benefit more from lowering the nat. debt, and hence now they're the good guys and that's why he vetoed it. On Aug. 9 the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. begins a year-long recall of 6.5M radial 15 in. ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires which were original equipment on Ford Explorers and were linked to sudden tread explosions; all were made at their Decatur, Ill. plant; Ford had previously recalled the tires in Saudi Arabia and Venezuela; on Sept. 28 Ford announces that it will equip its Explorer SUVs with Michelin tires and negotiate with other makers to provide tires for various Ford models. On Aug. 12 the 5-y.-o. Russian sub Kursk (K-141) sinks in the 300-ft.-deep Barents Sea, killing all 118 aboard after the Russians stall in accepting British and Norwegian rescue offers, and blame it on the lack of pressurized escape chambers, hurting the prestige of new Russian pres. Vladimir Putin. On Aug. 12 Hillary holds the Hollywood Farewell Gala Salute to Pres. William Jefferson Clinton in Los Angeles, Calif., featuring performers incl. Cher, raising her over $1M; too bad, she is accused of understating the fundraiser's costs, and accepting donations from convicted felon Peter Franklin Paul (1948-), former partner of "Spider-Man" creator Stan Lee, raising allegations that he is trying to get her hubby Bill Clinton to pardon him; after several years of legal wrangling she slithers out of it snakey clean. On Aug. 14 Tsar Nicholas II and several members of his family are canonized by the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. On Aug. 14 the animated TV series Dora the Explorer debuts on Nickelodeon cable TV network (until ?), about a bilingual Latina, who helps viewers learn both English and Spanish, featuring the voice of Caitlin Sanchez (1996-), who in 2010 sues them, claiming they cheated her out of royalties. On Aug. 14 the quiz show The Weakest Link debuts on BBC-TV for 1,693 episodes (until Mar. 31, 2012), hosted by Anne Josephine Robinson (1944-). On Aug. 15-18 dozens of North and South Korean families are reunited in Seoul. On Aug. 27 1,772-ft. Ostankino Tower in Moscow catches fire, killing three. On Aug. 28 the U.S. Nat. Institutes of Health (NIH) rules issues rules permitting federally financed researchers to work on human embryonic stem cells under strict regulations, pissing-off right-to-lifers, although privately funded stem-cell research has been going on for years. In Aug. U.S. Pres. Clinton delivers $1.3B in aid to help Colombia fight drug traffickers, incl. combat helis and military training - he read "Clear and Present Danger"? In Aug. an investigative commission in Uruguay begins looking into the disappearances of 160 people during the military dictatorship of 1973-84 - get your shovels? In Aug. exiled minister Abdulkassim Salat Hassan (1941-) is elected pres. of Somalia in a peace conference in Djibouti; he returns to Mogadishu in Oct., but Mohammad Farah Aidid's son Hussein doesn't recognize his election, and his power is limited to the city. On Sept. 2 Pres. Clinton gives orders to release 1M barrels a day for 30 days from the U.S. Strategic Oil Reserve to help needy Americans in cold weather; meanwhile OPEC celebrates its 40th anniv. in a meeting in Caracas at the end of Sept., and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela calls for higher oil prices to force developed countries to aid less developed ones like his, but Saudi Arabia counters by offering to increase production to keep prices affordable. On Sept. 3 Pope John Paul II beatifies pope (1958-63) John XXIII (1881-1963); too bad, he also sneaks in pope (1846-78) Pius IX (1792-1878) (the one who started the dogma of Papal Infallibility and worked against democracy), to the outrage of many, incl. the Jewish Anti-Defense League (ADL), who won't let anybody forget that he was responsible for the abduction and forced Catholicization of a 6-y.-o. Jewish child in 1858. On Sept. 4 Iraq violates Saudi airspace with its planes for the first time in 10 years in an obvious attempt to provoke a U.S. response. On Sept. 5 Mark Bailey is sentenced to 10 years of probation and ordered to attend twice-weekly counseling for sending threatening letters to actress Brooke Shields. On Sept. 6 the Taliban captures the Northern Alliance HQ of Taloqan, Afghanistan, and on Sept. 7 requests the U.N. to recognize it as the official Afghan govt.; the U.N. Security Council responds on Dec. 19 by voting 13-0-2 (China, Malaysia) for Resolution 1333 to recall all resolutions on Afghanistan, tighten diplomatic sanctions, and impose an arms embargo, repeating its demands for extradition of Osama bin Laden - french me a fry, bring me a nut, kashmir me, I won't comply? On Sept. 6 Bofors, the last wholly Swedish-owned arms manufacturer is sold to United Defense of the U.S. On Sept. 6-8 the Millennium Summit is held at the U.N. in New York City by 150 world leaders from 188 member states in the largest-ever gathering of heads of states of govt. (until ?); on Sept. 7 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1318, endorsing the U.N. Millennium Declaration, which is endorsed by the U.N. Gen. Assembly on Sept. 8, stressing the observance of internat. human rights and humanitarian laws under the U.N. Charter and other treaties, citing the ancient Olympic Truce; - spare seat for JC, or Socrates? On Sept. 7-14 in Britain protests over the cost of gasoline blockade refineries. On Sept. 8 Albania officially joins the World Trade Org. (WTO). On Sept. 10 Cats folds after 7.4K performances. On Sept. 13 Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee, AKA the "Atom Spy" is freed after 9 mo. in priz after he pleads guilty to one of 59 felony charges. On Sept. 15-Oct. 1 the XXVII (27th) Summer Olympic Games ("the Complete Olympics" - NBC-TV) are held in Sydney, Australia on the 200th anniv. of the city's namesake Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney (1733-1800), with 10K athletes from 199 countries, plus 21K journalists; Aussie singer Olivia Newton-John sings in the opening ceremonies; the Peacock Network (NBC) airs 441.5 hours of coverage, incl. 162.5 hours of medal air time; the U.S. wins 97 medals (39 gold), the Russians 88 (32 gold), the Chinese 59 (28 gold); Australian aborigine runner Cathy Freeman (1973-) wins the 400m sprint, pleasing the crowd; Marion Jones (1975-) of the U.S. wins three golds and two bronzes; too bad, on Oct. 8, 2007 she returns them after admitting to steroid use; U.S. wrestler Rulon Gardner (1971-) upsets "Russian Bear" Alexander Karelin (1967-), who had gone undefeated in internat. competition since 1987; Australian swimmer Ian James "Thorpedo" "Thorpey" Thorpe (1982-) wins three gold and two silver medals, becoming the most successful athlete of the games; Anthony Lee "Tony" Ervin (1981-), the first African-Am. to make the U.S. swimming team wins gold in the 50m freestyle, and silver in the 4x100 freestyle relay. On Sept. 16 Ukrainian journalist Georgiy Ruslanovich Gongadze (b. 1969) is last seen alive; on Nov. 28 Ukrainian politician Oleksander Oleksandrovich Moroz (1944-) touches off the Cassette Scandal, publicly accusing pres. Leonid Kuchma of involvement in his murder. On Sept. 19 a Cuban Antonov An-2 is hijacked after takeoff from Pinar del Rio, and crashes into the sea W of Cuba - don't ask don't tell? On Sept. 20 the 6-year Whitewater investigation of the Cleaner than Clorox Clintons ends with no indictments - and a loud flush? On Sept. 22 gay Rutgers U. student Tyler Clementi (b. 1992) jumps to his death from the George Washington Bridge after a sexual encounter with a man in his dorm room is streamed on the Internet by his roommate Dharun Ravi and hallmate Molly Wei. On Sept. 23 Burmese democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is again placed under house arrest by the Burmese govt.; on Dec. 7 U.S. Pres. Clinton awards her the Pres. Medal of Freedom. On Sept. 23 the long-lost villa and love nest of the first cent. Roman poet Ovid (-43 to 17) is discovered on the banks of the Tiber river not far from the Milvian Bridge in Rome. On Sept. 24 Swiss voters reject a plan to limit the number of foreigners in Switzerland to 18% of the pop., becoming the 4th referendum of its kind since 1970 to fail. On Sept. 24 Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein receives a special copy of the Quran written in his own blood, commissioned in 1997 to thank Allah for having escaped unharmed from "a life full of dangers, during which I lost a lot of blood". On Sept. 24-28 after 12 years of rule by Slobodan Milosevic, during which the per capita income has slid by 90% and inflation has gone out of control, elections in Yugoslavia give a V to opposition leader (law prof.) Vojislav Kostunica (1944-), (pr. coast-oo-NEET-suh) but Milosevic denies the results, claiming only a 48% mandate for his opponent, and scheduling an Oct. 8 runoff election, causing a nationwide uprising, with workers going on strike and 1M protesters storming Belgrade, which his pigs fight with tear gas, while stupidly letting them take over the state broadcasting offices and set fire to the parliament bldg.; on Oct. 5 the supreme court declares Kostunica the winner, and after his pigs tell him to stuff it, on Oct. 7 Slobby Dan resigns, and Kostunica is sworn-in as pres., causing the U.S. and EU to begin lifting economic sanctions; on Oct. 28 elections in Kosovo give a V to moderates in municipal posts and to the reformist Dem. League of Kosovo (LDK) in parliament. On Sept. 26 Danish voters reject the Euro by 53.1% as it falls to new lows, despite a vigorous campaign by PM Nyrup Rasmussen, who claims that clinging to the kroner will isolate it from the European Community. On Sept. 26 the "grime bucket" Greek Express Samina Ferry sinks off the coast of the island of Paros, killing 80 of 500 passengers. On Sept. 26 15K protest globalization in Prague, Czech. during the IMF and World Bank summits. On Sept. 28 the U.S. FDA approves the French abortion pill Mifepristone (Mifeprex), AKA RU-486 for use as an abortifacient (goo for up to 49 days after beginning of last menstrual cycle) after giving conditional approval in 1996; in Nov. physicians begin prescribing the pills under strict regs; on Aug. 24, 2006 approval is given to Barr Pharmaceuticals to sell the morning-after-pill (Plan B) (quadruple dose of the birth control pill) to women over 18 without a prescription. On Sept. 28 Israeli hardliner leader Ariel Sharon visits Al-Aqsa Mosque (Sharam al Sharif) (Harem esh-Sharif) (Jewish Temple Mount) with 1K security police in an unannounced political stunt, pissing-off Palestinians, who stone him, then start the Al-Aqsa Intifada (Oslo War), resulting in 5K killed, incl. Israeli soldiers Yossi Avrahami and Vadim Nurzhitz lynched in Ramallah on Oct. 12, after which their bodies are tossed to the crowds, who tear them apart and eat their organs, causing Israeli retaliatory strikes; on Oct. 16-17 Pres. Clinton, Ehud Barak, and Yassir Arafat meet in Sharm El-Sheik seaside resort in Egypt and agree to stop the violence, but Arafat can't deliver, and violence continues; the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades are founded, which is funded by Fatah as they commit dozens of suicide bombings, led by Zakara Muhammad Abdelrahman Zubeidi (Zubaidi) (1976-), who had an affair with Jewish Israeli Tali Fahima (1976-), who was imprisoned in 2005 for her contacts with him, and released in Jan. 2007, after which in mid-2007 he renounced militancy and went into theater, causing her to call him a "whore of the Shin Bet security service", after which she converted to Islam in June 2010. On Sept. 28 Tanya Rider (1933-) is found in her Honda Element near Renton, Wash. after she slid off the road and sat there injured and immobilized for eight days while zillions of cars drive by. On Sept. 28 the video New Trends in Arab Anti-Semitism was presented to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, cataloging the horrible anti-Semitism in the Muslim world. On Sept. 29 the Long Kesh (Maze) Prison in Northern Ireland is closed. On Sept. 30 (3:00 p.m.) (Rosh Hashanah) the Muhammad al-Durrah Incident (Hoax) allegedly happens, after which French TV network France 2 runs a tape dubbed by French Jewish activist Charles Enderlin (1945-) accusing Israeli forces of killing 12-y.-o. Palestinian boy Mohammed al-Dura (1988-) while cowering in his father's arms at the Netzarim Junction S of Gaza City, becoming a cause celebre for Palestinians and helping fuel the Second Intifada; it is later revealed as a staged hoax by French Jewish media analyst Philippe Karsenty (1966-), causing him to be successfully sued for defamation by the network even though the Israeli govt., which initially accepts responsibility reverses its stand in Sept. 2007; the boy was never killed, or was killed by Palestinians by accident or for propaganda purposes? In Sept. Chase Manhattan pays $36B for the 139-y.-o. J.P. Morgan investment banking house, and changes its name to J. P. Morgan Chase. On Oct. 2 demonstrators take over the state-controlled TV station in Belgrade, Serbia. On Oct. 2 Britain finally begins enforcing their 1998 Human Rights Act after Scotland beats them to it earlier in the year. On Oct. 5 beleaguered Serbian pres. Slobodan Milosevic leaves office after the withdrawal of Russian support. On Oct. 5 Amy Sherman-Palladino's comedy-drama series Gilmore Girls debuts on the WB for 153 episodes (until May 15, 2007 after switching to the CW in 2006), set in everybody-loves-it Stars Hollow, Conn. (based on Washington, Conn.) 30 min. from Hartford, Conn., starring Lauren Helen Graham (1967-) as single mother Lorelai Gilmore, and Kimberly Alexis Bledel (1981-) as her daughter Lorelai (Rory); Melissa Ann McCarthy (1970-) plays Sookie St. James. On Oct. 6 the last Mini Cooper is produced in Longbridge, England. On Oct. 6 the procedural forensics crime TV drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation debuts on CBS-TV for 337 episodes (until Sept. 27, 2015), starring William Louis Petersen (1953-) as Gil Grissom, head of a Las Vegas, Nev. police unit that incl. Mary Marg Helgenberger (1958-) (as Catherine Willows), George Coleman Eads III (1967-) (Nick Stokes), Gary Dourdan (Gary Robert Durdin) (1966-) (as Warrick Brown), Jorja-An "Jorja" Fox (1968-) (as Sara Sidle), and Paul Guilfoyle (1949-) (as Capt. James "Jim" Brass), solving crimes from grisly evidence; the series finale is titled "Immortality"; too bad, its violence and sexual content pisses-off the Parents Television Council, and its inaccurate portrayal of CSI work pisses-off real investigators, which doesn't keep the show from building an audience of 73.8M viewers in 2009. On Oct. 7 grand duke (since 1964) Jean retires, and his eldest son Henri (1955-) becomes grand duke of Luxembourg (until ?). On Oct. 7 The District debuts on CBS-TV for 89 episodes (until May 1, 2004), starring Craig T. Nelson as former New York City deputy police commissioner Jack Maple, Lynn Thigpen as Ella Mae Farmer, David O'Hara as detective Danny McGregor, and Roger Aaron Brown as deputy chief Joe Noland. On Oct. 8 That's Life debuts on CBS-TV (until Jan. 26, 2003), starring "Who wants to be a millionaire the old fashioned way?" Ellen Burstyn, Heather Paige Kent, and Paul Sorvino. On Oct. 9 the cable TV Food Network, owned by Shaw Media and Scripps Networks Interactive, based in Toronto, Canada debuts (until ?), replacing Fine Living Network (founded 2002). On Oct. 10 the U.S. Permanent Normalized Trade with China Act is signed by Pres. Clinton, endorsing permanent normalized trade status for the People's Repub. of China (PRC), paving the way for its entry into the World Trade Org. (WTO), pissing-off U.S. labor unions but tickling multinational cos. pink; the Senate approved it on Sept. 9 by 83-15 after adding provisions to safeguard sacred cow Taiwan and protect the low-paid Chinese workers. On Oct. 11 a 250M gal. coal sludge spill by Martin County Coal Co. in W. Va. buries lawns more than 6 ft. deep in black slurry, kills fish, and contaminates drinking water, becoming a greater environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. On Oct. 12 (11:18 a.m.) (Thur.) suicide bombers in an explosives-laden boat ram the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole while refueling in Aden, Yemen, blowing a 40'x60' hole in the port side and killing 17 U.S. sailors and injuring 39; it is later pinned on Al-Qaida; in 2002 UAE arrests suspected Saudi-born mastermind Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri (1965-) and turns him over to the U.S.; in Mar. 2007 Walid bin Attash (1979-) confesses to planning the attack along with the two 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, and claims torture by U.S. interrogators; in 2003 Pat Roberts, chmn. of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee tells the CIA they have no objections to detroying videotapes of brutal interrogations, which only comes out on Feb. 22, 2010; too bad, by late 2009 every man arrested or convicted in connection with the attack is either pardoned or escapes from prison; between now and 2010 the U.S. State Dept. awards 1,011 special "diversity visas" allowing Yemenis to immigrate to the U.S. - did it just get hot in here? On Oct. 21 15 Arab leaders convene in Cairo, Egypt for their first summit in four years; after talk of not breaking ties with Israel, the Libyan delegation walks out. On Oct. 22 The Mainichi Shinbun newspaper exposes Japanese archeologist Shinichi Fujimura (1950-) as a fraud after a smoking gun photo is taken showing him burying artifacts, embarrassing Japanese archeologists who had based their treatises on his findings. On Oct. 23 Madeleine Albright holds talks with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. On Oct. 23 Sunni Muslim former PM (1992-8) Rafik Baha El Deen Hariri (1944-2005) becomes PM #43 of Lebanon (until Oct. 20, 2004). On Oct. 23 Glasgow-born Michael John Martin (1945-) of the Labour Party becomes speaker of the British House of Commons (until June 21, 2009). On Oct. 26 the New York Yankees (AL) (mgr. Joe Torre) defeat the New York Mets (NL) (mgr. Bobby Valentine) 4-1 to win the Ninety-Sixth (96th) "Subway" World Series, making three straight for the Yankees, four in five years, and their 26th WS title. On Oct. 26 Pakistani authorities announce the finding of an ancient mummy of a Persian princess in the province of Balochistan; Iran, Pakistan, and the Taliban all claim the mummy until Pakistan announces it is a forgery on Apr. 17, 2001. On Oct. 27 the U.S. Drug Addiction Treatment Act, sponsored by Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) is signed by Pres. Clinton, treating heroin addiction as a disease, and backing use of methadone alternatives buprenorphine (a partial opiate producing minimum mood alteration) and buprenorphine-naloxone (ditto with an opiate blocker), which go on to win FDA approval in Sept. 2002; now the longtime horrible sin is in the same category as diabetes and hypertension? On Oct. 30 Kyrgyzstan pres. Askar Akayev wins reelection with 75% of the vote in an election marred by allegations of fraud and corruption, and the country's claim to be the "centerpiece of central Asian democracy" is kaput? On Oct. 31 Singapore Airlines Flight 006 collides with construction equipment in the Chiang Kai-Shek Interat. Airport, killing 83. On Oct. 31 the U.N. Security Council unanimously approves Resolution 1325, calling for the adoption of a gender perspective incl. the special needs of women and girls during repatriation, resettlement, rehabilitation, reintegration, and post-conflict reconstruction, becoming their first resolution requiring parties in a conflict to respect women's rights. On Nov. 1 the U.N. Gen. Assembly unanimously approves Yugoslavia's application for U.N. membership. On Nov. 1 New York City MCC prison guard Louis Pepe (1947-) is ambushed in the cell of al-Qaida top aide Mamdouh Mahmud Salim and his cellmate, who stick a sharpened comb in his eye, blinding him and causing brain damage, dig a cross on his chest, then try to rape him before he is rescued. On Nov. 2 Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (1975-) of Russia defeats world champ (since 1985) Garry Kasparov 8.5-6.5 (2-0 wins, 13 draws) to become world chess champ #14 (until 2007) at the Brain Games in London; meanwhile the discredited FIDE org. holds a rival championship. On Nov. 2 a Soyuz spacecraft carrying one U.S. and two Russian astronauts docks at the 80-ton $60 Internat. Space Station (ISS) 240 mi. above Earth to begin a 4-mo. mission to expand the leaky rat trap outpost. On Nov. 2 the pilot of a Singapore Airlines Boeing 747 uses the wrong runway for his takeoff from Taiwan in heavy rain and wind, hits construction materials and crashes, killing 82, although he survives; the runway lights are later blamed. On Nov. 3 widespread flooding occurs throughout England and Wales after days of heavy rain. On Nov. 4 Pres. Clinton vetoes an intelligence authorization bill containing a British Official Secrets Act-like provision making it a felony to leak govt. secrets, with prison terms of up to 3 years and fines of up to $1K, calling the wording "overbroad and may unnecessarily chill legitimate activities that are at the heart of a democracy". On Nov. 6 the U.S. Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act is signed by Pres. Clinton after clearing Congress in record time, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimating in Mar. that more than 380K subcutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps occur each year among U.S. health profs., and up to 800K worldwide, subjecting them to the risk of contracting HIV and hepatitis-C; the real reason is lobbying by Becton Dickinson & Co. of N.J., which has spent $500M developing "safety-engineered needles" that cost over twice as much as ordinary hypos? Can't prove it, but Bush stole the election? "George Bush" is an anagram for "He bugs Gore"? On Nov. 7 after $3B spent over four years on campaigning, the 2000 U.S. Pres. Election is the closest in decades, with the electoral vote so close (Gore 267, Bush 246, with 270 needed to win) on election night that Florida's 25 are fated to decide the winner; Tim Russert of NBC-TV introduces red-blue color-coding to electoral maps, with Repubs. colored red and Dems. blue, reversing the longstanding pattern of red for radicals and leftists and blue for conservative bluebloods; too bad, the use of a "butterfly ballot" confuses many voters, putting the nation on hold as Bush's slim lead in Fla. leads to an automatic recount, while a con game begins with the "hanging chad" problem (see the year 667 C.E.) with its butterfly ballots, and on Nov. 11 the Repubs. file a federal suit to block manual recount which might change Bush's lead to a Gore lead, forcing the election to be decided by the Repub.-controlled courts; Dems. force a manual recount in four counties, but it goes too slow, allowing millionaire Repub. Fla. secy. of state Katherine Harris (1957-) (whose beauty queen makeup becomes the butt of jokes on late-night TV) to set a Nov. 14 deadline for the recount, but she is overruled on Nov. 21 by the Fla. Supreme Court, which extends it to Nov. 26, on which day Harris (in her 15 min. of fame) certifies her boss, er, Bush as the winner by a 537-vote margin out of 6M votes cast, giving Fla.'s 25 electoral votes to Bush, along with the most interesting job in the world; on Nov. 22 Bush appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court to have the Fla. counting stopped in Bush v. Gore, argued by future U.S. solicitor gen. (2001-4) Theodore Bevry "Ted" Olson (1940-), which on Dec. 4 remands the case to the Fla. Supreme Court, headed by chief justice (since 1994) Charles T. Wells (1939-), which on Dec. 8 orders the recount to resume and to be completed by Dec. 10, since an 1887 federal law permits electors to be certified on Dec. 12 in time for the convening of the electoral college on Dec. 18; too bad, on Dec. 9 the U.S. Supreme Court votes 5-4 on partisan lines to order the recount stopped for lack of an objective standard after allowing audio recording of arguments before the justices for the first time ever (still forbidding cameras to see the fat wallets they're sitting on?); on Dec. 12 they rule 5-4 that the recount is unconstitutional, with chief justice Rehnquist sending an unsigned ruling at 10 p.m. to stop, giving Fla.'s electoral votes to Bush; dissenter John Paul Stevens issues the soundbyte: "Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the winner of this year's presidential election, the identity of the loser is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an impartial guardian of the rule of law"; on Dec. 13 Bore, er, Gore, trying to think of the nation and not foul it up with indecision any longer issues the soundbyte: "While I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it"; thanks to the Court, er, People, Texas Gov. George Walker Bush (1946-) and Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (1941-) win over Dem. candidates Albert Arnold "Al" Gore Jr. (1948-) and Conn. Sen. Joseph Isadore "Joe" Lieberman (1942-); Gore carries the West Coast (Calif., Wash.), the Upper Midwest (Iowa, Ill., Mich., Minn.), the Northeast (N.J., N.Y., Penn., Washington D.C.), and all of New England except N.H.; Bush carries the small-state "heartland"; 19K "unmarked" ballots are discarded in heavily Dem. Palm Beach County, throwing the election to Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush's bro'?; Ralph Nader of the Green Party (who claims that the two main parties are the same, so don't vote for either one, vote for him) gets 97K votes (3%), incl. enough votes to have given Gore N.H. and Fla., making him the winner, and pissing him off, along with many of Nader's own Nader's Raiders, esp. in retrospect; to add insult to injury, Bush officially receives 50,456,062 popular votes (47.9%) and 271 electoral votes to Gore's 50,996,582 popular (48.4%) and 266 electoral votes, becoming the 4th time (1824, 1876, 1888) that the winner of the popular vote loses the election; the voter participation rate is a bored 50.7%; Mo. has now picked the winner in 11 straight pres. elections, Ohio, Tenn. and Ky. in 10, La. and Ark. in 8; like with John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), a competent but uninspiring vice-pres. succeeds a charismatic pres., is defeated after one term by a liberal Southerner, then lives to see his near namesake son become pres. despite losing the popular vote to a populist from Tenn.; shell-shocked loser Abraham, er, AAG (Al A. Gore) begins growing a beard in Valencia, Spain; Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947-) becomes the first First Lady to run for and be elected to office (U.S. Dem. Sen. from N.Y.) (until ?), winning 55% of the vote; the Repubs. gain control of the White House, enjoying their first long run of govt. since the 1920s, and retain their narrow majority in the House of Reps., while Dems. secure 50 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats; meanwhile the slow decline in executive power is reversed bigtime since the Repubs. had the money and the packed judiciary ready to throw behind a Repub. pres. all the time? On Nov. 7 a criminal gang raids the Millennium Dome in London to steal the Millennium Star Diamond, but police surveillance catches them in the act. On Nov. 8 Amani Abeid Karume (1948-), son of former pres. (1964-72) Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume becomes pres. of Zanzibar (until ?). On Nov. 11 a cable car fire in an alpine tunnel in Kaprun, Austria kills 155 skiers and snowboarders. On Nov. 12-14 the 9th Islamic Summit Conference is held in Doha, Qatar, with over 4K participants from 55 member states, with the theme "Al-Aqsa Intifada". On Nov. 13 Philippine pres. (since 1998) Joseph Estrada is impeached for receiving gambling payoffs - a cupcake is a cupcake, right? On Nov. 15 the new state of Jharkhand in India is proclaimed, carving out the S Chhota Nagpur area from Bihar. On Nov. 16 Pres. Clinton becomes the first sitting U.S. pres. to visit Vietnam - where's the pretty boy sushi? On Nov. 17 a catastrophic landslide in Log pod Mangartom in NW Slovenia kills seven, and causes millions in damage, becoming one of Slovenia's worst disasters in a cent. On Nov. 25 the global warming talks at The Hague Conference meltdown over whether there is global warming, and whether it's anthropogenic (human-caused). On Nov. 25 Vienna unveils the Austrian Holocaust Memorial in the Judenplatz, designed by English sculptor Rachel Whiteread (1963-) to look like an inside-out library; Austrian Roman Catholic cardinal-archbishop (of Vienna) Christoph Schoenborn (1945-) acknowledges the Church's "culpability in the persecution of Jews" before and during the Nazi era. On Nov. 26 former Haitian pres. (1991, 1994-6) Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1953-) is relected after his Lavalas Party wins 17 of 18 senate seats at stake and 80% of the house seats in an election boycotted by all major parties and many of the 4M registered voters, with the U.S., EU and Canada refusing to monitor the elections; he takes office next Feb. 7 (until Feb. 29, 2004). On Nov. 27 Jean Chretien is re-elected as PM Canada, and his Liberal Party increases its majority in the House of Commons. On Nov. 28 the Netherlands becomes the first nation to legalize assisted suicide - just nuke the whole country and create some prime beachfront property for Germany? On Nov. 29 Gregory III Laham (1933-) becomes the Melkite Greek patriarch of Antioch (until ?), going on to stink himself up with statements that attacks on Christians in the Levant are part of a Zionist plot to discredit Islam. On Nov. 30 mad cow disease causes a big scare in Europe. In Nov. Neb. passes a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage; a federal judge strikes it down on 5-13-2005. In Nov. Janez Drnovsek is voted out of office after 8 years, and replaced by more conservative Andrej Bajuk (1943-) as PM of Slovenia (until 2004). In Nov. France talks Saddam Hussein of Iraq into defying the U.S. petrodollar hegemony and sell oil for food in euros instead of dollars - the real reason for the Mar. 2003 invasion? In Nov. after 10 years the U.S. govt. finishes chemical weapons disposal on 3.2K-acre Johnston (Kalama) Island (Atoll) 860 mi. SW of Honolulu, Hawaii (claimed by the U.S. since Mar. 19, 1858), turning it into a wildlife preserve. In Nov. the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Admin. (OSHA) issues a rule intended to protect employees from repetitive stress injuries (RSI), and estimates that compliance will cost industry only $4.5B the first year, although industry estimates place the cost as high as $125.8B the first year and $886.6B over 10 years. On Dec. 1 Priyanka Chopra (1982-) of India wins the Miss World Pageant in the Millennium Dome in London, going on to become one of India's top actresses. On Dec. 3 (Sun.) the Church of England adopts Common Worship, replacing the 1980 Alternative Service Book. On Dec. 4 Pres. Clinton issues Executive Order 13178 creating the 99.5K-sq.-mi. Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Coral Reef Reserve, protecting the coral reefs, atolls, submerged lagoons and marine life in an area as large as Fla.; the new reserve contains 70% of U.S. coral reefs; a public comment period begins in 2002, and Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle declares parts of it a state marine refuge in 2005, after which on June 15, 2006 Pres. George W. Bush signs Proclamation 8031, designating it a nat. monument. On Dec. 8 activists defend Operation Payback, which launched "hacktivist" attacks on MasterCArd to defend WikiLeaks. On Dec. 12 the U.N. (Palermo) Convention against Transnational Organized Crime is passed, with three supplementary Palermo Protocols covering trafficking in persons, smuggling of migrants, and trafficking in firearms, effective Sept. 29, 2003; by June 2016 it is adopted by 187 parties incl. 182 U.N. member states, the EU, the Vatican, the State of Palestine, and Cook Islands; members that have not ratified it incl. Iran, Japan, Repub. of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Palau, and Tuvalu. On Dec. 12 after dating bi porn star Tony Ward in 1990-1, followed by Vanilla Ice, Dennis Rodman, fitness trainer Carlos Leon, and Andy Bird (who tells all to the newspapers in 2000), Kabbalah-practicing Am. #1 female pop star Madonna Louise Ciccone (1958-) marries English "Sherlock Holmes", "Snatch", "Revolver" actor-writer-producer-dir. Guy Stuart Ritchie (1968-) (whose son Rocco she bore in Aug. 2000, then had baptized in a Presbyterian Church) in Skibo Castle in Dornoch, Scotland (until Dec. 2008); her daughter Lourdes Maria Ciccone Leon (b. 1996) leads the procession. On Dec. 12 Amtrak's first Acela Express train leaves Union Station in Washington, D.C., arriving in Boston, Mass. in 6 hours 43 min., 12 min. behind schedule; billed as able to go 150 mph and shorten the ride between Washington and New York City by 15 min., it is held to 70-90 mph by the law of N.Y. and Conn., and can only achieve full speed on the 18-mi. stretch in R.I., and is still slower than France's Grande Vitesse, although it weighs half as much. On Dec. 12 GM announces that it will phase-out its Oldsmobile make within five years - not your father's Oldsmobile? On Dec. 13 the Texas Seven (Joseph Christopher Garcia, Randy Ethan Halprin, Larry James Harper, Patrick Henry Murphy Jr., Donald Keith Newbury, George Angel Rivas Jr., and Michael Anthony Rodriguez) escape from prison in Kenedy, Tex., and begin a crime spree, robbing a sports store in Irving, Tex. on Dec. 24 and killing rookie police officer Aubrey Hawkins (b. 1971); they are not apprehended until Jan. 21 in an RV park in Woodland, Colo. posing as Christian missionaries after a segment on the TV show "America's Most Wanted"; Larry James Harper commits suicide to avoid capture; on Apr. 23-24 the last two are apprehended at a Holiday Inn in Colorado Springs, Colo.; all are convicted of murder and sentenced to death in Tex. On Dec. 14 Dante Michael Siou is convicted of stalking actress Gwyneth Paltrow and sent to a high-security mental facility after a judge finds him insane - applesauce for brains? On Dec. 16 Bronx-born "55% Republican" Colin Powell is appointed secy. of state by pres.-elect Bush, becoming the first black to hold the position - good move to quiet all the grumbling by disenfranchised black Fla. Dem. voters? On Dec. 20 Pres. Clinton pocket-vetoes the Bankruptcy Reform Act, a cruel law written by credit card cos. and banks that would have made it far more difficult for debtors to obtain bankruptcy protection; never fear, they have big lobbying bucks available, and go on to get it passed under Pres. Bush. On Dec. 21 Pres. Clinton signs the U.S. Commodities Futures Modernization Act, backed by Alan Greenspan, which relegalizes bucket shops and stock market derivatives (side bets by people not owning stock), setting the Stock Market up for the 2008 Liquidity Crisis; "Basically, that law made pure bets, for the first time in Anglo-Saxon legal history, enforceable in court. I always joke that if Congress decided to legalize murder, they'd call the legislation the Homocide Modernization Act." (Lynn Stout) On Dec. 21 after George W. Bush resigns to become U.S. pres., Haskell, Tex.-born James Richard "Rick" Perry (1950-) becomes Repub. Tex. gov. #47 (until Jan. 20, 2015), becoming the longest-serving Tex. gov. (until ?). On Dec. 26 computer software tester Michael McDermott (1958-) (whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to "Rubeus Hagrid in Harry Potter" actor Robbie Coltrane (1950-)?) goes berserk at a Wakefield, Mass., Internet co. and kills seven co-workers with a semiautomatic rifle and shotgun. On Dec. 28 Montgomery Ward announces it's going out of business after 128 years, filing bankruptcy and closing its 250 stores and dismissing 28K employees. On Dec. 29 Israeli PM (since 1999) Ehud Barak resigns. On Dec. 29 Wichita, Kan.-born, Colo.-raised Gale Ann Norton (1954-), Colo's first female atty.-gen. (1991-9) and failed U.S. Repub. Sen. candidate (1996) is nominated by pres.-elect Bush for U.S. secy. of the interior. On Dec. 30 the Rizal Day Bombings see a series of bombs explode in several places in Manila, Philippines within a span of a few hours, killing 22 and injuring 100. On Dec. 30 the Clintons buy a $2.85M 5-bedroom colonial-style brick home on Whitehaven St. near Embassy Row in Washington, D.C., designating their Chappaqua, N.Y. home as their primary residence. On Dec. 31 the Millennium Dome in London closes its doors one year after opening - too bad, wait till next millennium On Dec. 31 Saddam Hussein presides over a military parade in Baghdad, dressed in a suit, tie and hat, and fires a rifle with one hand like "The Rifleman", which becomes his image-making move to gun-proud Americans? - like challenging cowboy Bush to a gunfight? Motiur Rahman Nazami (1943-) becomes leader of the far-right Islamist Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Party (until ?). U.S. Sen. (D-Hawaii) (1990-2013) Daniel Kahikina Akaka (1924-) (first U.S. Sen of Native Hawaiian ancestry) proposes the retro racial separatist (caca?) Akaka Bill (Native Hawaiian Govt. Reorg. Act), providing for federal recognition of Native Hawaiians similar to an Indian tribe, while prohibiting them from benefits available to federally-recognized Indian tribes incl. gaming, despite setting a precedent that could balkanize the U.S., and lack of support by Hawaiians; it doesn't pass until ?. The Durban AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa brings attention to the high costs of AIDS drugs and the need for whites, er, govts. to treat poor (black) people in Africa and elsewhere, proposing an internat. fund for the triple cocktail, but doctors counter that it would be too difficult to administer in rural Africa because of inaccessibility; meanwhile U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms of N.C. (AKA "Dr. No") battles against AIDS funding, saying, "I've never heard anybody suggest to the homosexuals: Stop what you're doing". Al-Awda (Palestinian Right to Return Coalition) is founded. Oil is discovered in Kazakhstan's portion of the Caspian Sea, where it has 1.2K mi. of coastline, becoming the largest oil find in 30 years. Netherlands legalizes prostitution, allowing hos to own windows in Amsterdam's Red Light District and pay taxes on their earnings; it also legalizes same-sex marriage. Pres. Bush signs a proclamation establishing 328K-acre Giant Sequoia Nat. Monument, home to 38 sequoia groves containing two-thirds of all sequoias, the world's largest trees, which can grow up to 270 ft. tall and 30 ft. in diam. Pierce's Disease is first discovered on grapevines in the U.S. Malaria deaths in the U.S. climb from a low of 1 in 1977 to 423 this year. Ever-increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance is causing concern in the medical community. The U.S. govt. begins providing billions of dollars to Colombia to spray its drug fields; the tactic backfires when growers begin invading nat. parks (Sierra Macarena et al.), which can't be sprayed because of protected plant species. Balding "pompad-over"-coiffed (poofy squirrel-do) Donald Trump considers a pres. bid with the Progressive Party, the switches to the Reform Party, losing to Pat Buchanan. 95-y.-o. Stanley Kunitz (1905-) becomes the 10th poet laureate of the U.S. - safe choice in case he doesn't work out? Louis Farrakhan and Imam W.D. Mohammed reconcile and call for unity among their groups. Colo. voters approve a constitutional amendment (Article XVIII) legalizing medical marijuana. A group of U.S. menswear retailers and manufactures start Dress-Up Thursdays to encourage employees to dump casual for business attire - the Clinton days are over, dudes? Starbucks opens an outlet in China's Forbidden City, causing a movement to get rid of it for messing up its image. The Nature Conservancy buys the uncolonized island of Palmyra, 960 mi. SW of Honolulu for $30M from the Fullard-Leos family. Fertility rates in European nations have been falling since 1970, and now Italy's is the lowest (1.2) in the world, so low that in 30-40 years the pop. could decrease by one-third. Vietnam opens the Vietnam Stock Exchange in Ho Chi Minh City, listing two cos. and two bonds; in 2005 it expands to Hanoi, and by 2006 trades 26 stocks and funds with a total capitalization of $3.5B. Beginning this year "ethnic plastic surgery" becomes popular in the U.S., with Asians getting their eyes fixed to look more Caucasian, blacks getting their noses fixed to look more Caucasian, etc.; a few white women get their booties implanted to look more bootylicious and black? The Millennium Seed Bank Project is begun by the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, England to provide an insurance policy against extinction of plants in the wild. The U.S. bison (buffalo) pop. reaches 300K,, up from 20-30 in 1900 as bison ranches proliferate in the Great Plains states. The U.S.-Canada Atlantic salmon pop. falls to 350K, down from 1.5M in 1970; Aqua Bounty Farms applies to the U.S. FDA for permission to market genetically modified salmon that grow to market size in 18 instead of the usual 36 mo., causing critics to call them "Frankenfish" and worry about them escaping into the wild. The homosexual issue causes mass defections in the Episcopal Church, with six parishes leaving for the new homo-free Anglican Mission in the Americas by next year - different Easters, different Easter eggs? After trying since the late 1980s to get it introduced into Congress in vain, Harvey Francis Barnard (1941-2005) releases his NESARA (Nat. Economic Security and Recovery Act) proposal on the Internet, proposing to replace the income tax with a nat. sales tax, abolish compound interest on secured loans, and return to a bimetallic currency to reduce inflation to 0% and stabilize the economy, after which "Dove of Oneness" Shaini Candace Goodwin (1947-2010), former student of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment claims that the bill was passed in a secret Congressional session in Mar. 2000 and signed by Pres. Clinton, set to be implemented at 10 a.m. on 9/11/2001, and that all the computers and data were stored on the 2nd floor of the WTC and destroyed in the 9/11 attacks ordered by Pres. George W. Bush, who starts the Iraq War as a distraction; according to her, the bill actually passed cancels all personal debts, abolishes the IRS, declares world peace, and mandates new pres. and congressional elections, and is being covered-up by the govt. Elizabeth Taylor is made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II; "I have been a broad all my life and dame just automatically came next" (to Larry King). The New York Times carries the headline "Fed Head Not Dead", referring to little-seen Federal Reserve chmn. Alan Greenspan. Penetration of PCs in the U.S. exceeds half of all households. Sun Microsystems founder Bill Joy frets about possible dangers of nanotechnology in the Apr. issue of Wired mag. William Leonard Pickard (1945-) and Clyde Apperson (1955-) are arrested for running an LSD lab in an Atlas-E missile silo near Wamego, Kans., receiving long sentences, after which worldwide availability of LSD allegedly drops 90%. In this decade the Grasseater Gen. of Japanese males, who live with their mothers, wear makeup and tight-fitting clothes, and want no part of the corporate rat race of their fathers flourishes. Los Angeles 5'10" native Tyra Banks (1973-) hits the runways of Europe, becoming the first African-Am. model on the covers of both Sports Illustrated and GQ; she is named by GQ as their woman of the year. "Big Easy", "Sea of Love" actress Ellen Barkin (1954-) marries billionaire Revlon chmn. Ron Perelman (1943-) (ends 2006) - what destoyed her teeth and ruined her style, a marriage made in plastic card heaven? The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) in Palestine are set up by former Fatah member Jamal Abu Samhadana (1963-2006) (famous for the soundbyte "Jews are our enemy - I will pull the trigger whenever required"), with funding from Hezbollah to engage in terrorist and rocket attack; on June 8, 2006 he is assassinated by the Israelis. The U.S. suffers a record 52 shark attacks this year; 30 in 2004, 38 in 2005; world total in 2005 is 58, only four being fatal. Since the British prefer ale to beer, there are only about 500 breweries in the U.K., but thanks to the microbrewing rev. that number grows to 1,285 in 2015. Apollo Carreon Quiboloy (1950-) of the Philippines claims to be Jesus Christ, and busily recruits followers. The Great Gazoo is added to the cast of characters in Flintstones vitamins. SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Steven Hillenburg (1961-) makes his debut on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel, becoming a gay vehicle as rumors fly. The Rock's Backpages online library is founded by British journalist Barney Hoskyns (1959-). The $100K Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize is founded by Scott Griffin (1938-), becoming Canada's most generous poetry award; in 2010 it is doubled to $200K Canadian. Greg Glassman and Lauren Glassman found CrossFit Inc. to promote a gen. fitness exercise program, which is adopted by 6K+ gyms by 2013; in 2007 the first CrossFit Games are held, which is won by Rich Froning Jr. (1987-), who is awarded the title "Fittest Man on Earth". Bill Clinton games the George J. Mitchell Scholarship Fund (founded by Trina Vargo, a broker of the talks leading to the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement in Ireland) to get Chelsea Clinton's beau Jeremy Kane into an elite college. The lionfish pop. off the Atlantic coast of Fla. (native to the W Pacific Ocean) (first reported in the mid-1980s) becomes numerous, going on to spread N through the E seaboard, and S through the Gulf of Mexico (until ?). Divine Interventions, a co. offering Jackhammer Jesus and other holy dildos opens on the Web. The 77K-ton 14-story cruise ship Ocean Princess goes into service in Feb. for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. subsidiary Princess Cruises; it can accommodate 1,950 passengers in style and comfort, and has sonar to detect icebergs. Fortinet Inc. is founded by brothers Ken and Michael Xie to provide security firewalls; too bad, it gets into discrimination against sites based on their political content under the guise of protecting customers from discrimination, not just white supremacist sites but popular smart anti-Islamic sites incl. Bare Naked Islam. Original Gourmet Food Co. in Salem, N.H. is founded to manufacture gourmet lollipops. Sports: On Jan. 4 self-made Jewish-Am. billionaire (founder of Broadcast.com) Mark Cuban (1958-) buys the NBA Dallas Mavericks from H. Ross Perot Jr. for $285M; turning it arund from a 40% to a 69% winning percentage by 2010. On Jan. 9 Orlando, Fla. resident Tiger Woods wins the Mercedes Championship in Kapalua, Hawaii, matching Ben Hogan's 1945 11-streak, then wins the AT&T Pebble Beach Nat. Pro-Am. on Feb. 7, matching Hogan's 1948 record of six straight tour victories; too bad, on Feb. 13 he loses to Philip Albert "Phil" Mickelson (1970-) in La Jolla, Calif., and Mickelson goes on to win the Masters on Apr. 9, with Woods coming in 5th; Woods then wins the 100th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, Calif. on June 18 by a record 15 strokes (his 12-under-par 272 total is also a record), becoming the first player to win back-to-back PGAs since the 1930s and to win all three major titles in one year since Ben Hogan in 1953. On Feb. 20 the 2000 (42nd) Daytona 500 is won by Dale Jarrett (3rd win); Dave Marcis fails to qualify for the first time since 1968. On Mar. 30 the 2000 America's Cup is retained by Team New Zealand in Black Magic near Auckland after Prada Challenge 2000 loses 0-5. On Apr. 17 Ubaldo Jimenez (1984-) pitches the first-ever no-hitter for the Colorado Rockies against the Atlanta Braves; on Apr. 20 Rockies pres. Keli McGregor (b. 1963) is found dead in a Salt Lake City, Utah hotel room. On May 28 the 2000 (84th) Indianapolis 500 is won by rival CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya Roldan (1975-) of Colombia, becoming the rookie to win since Graham Hill in 1966. On May 29 Randy Velarde (1962-) (2B) of the Oakland A's makes an unassisted triple play against the New York Yankees, becoming the 11th in ML history. On May 30-June 10 the 2000 Stanley Cup Finals see the New Jersey Devils defeat the Dallas Stars 4-2 in double OT, becoming their 2nd win; MVP is Devils defenceman Ronald Scott Stevens (1964-); after the 1999-2000 season the Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award, named for goalie (1960-77) Roger Allan Crozier (1942-96) is established by the NHL for the goaltender with the best save percentage during the regular season after playing 25+ games; the first award goes to Ed Belfour of the Dallas Stars; the last award (2006-7 season) goes to Niklas Backstrom of the Minnesota Wild. On June 7-19 the 2000 NBA Finals sees the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) defeat the Indiana Pacers (coach Larry Bird) 4-2; on June 14 the Lakers defeat the Pacers 120-118 in OT to win Game 4, with Shaquille O'Neal scoring 36 points and 21 rebounds, and teammate Kobe Bryant scoring 28 points; on June 16 (Game 5) the Pacers rout the Lakers 120-87; on June 19 the Lakers capture their first title since 1988 in Game 6; Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers is MVP; Bryant misses most of Game 2 and all of Game 3 because of an ailing left ankle. On June 8 undefeated 3-10 favorite Big Brown (2005-) becomes the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish last at the Belmont Stakes after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes handily (winner 38-to-1 Da' Tara); it is later discovered that one of his shoes became bent soon after the start. On July 2 France defeats Italy 2-1 to win Euro 2000 with a golden goal. On June 26-July 9 the 2000 (114th) Wimbledon Championship sees Pete Sampras defeat Pat Rafter to win his 4th straight (last) Wimbledon single's title and 7th men's singles title; Venus Williams defeats Lindsay Davenport to win the women's singles title, becoming the first of five Wimbledon titles. On July 14-23 the 2000 U.S. Olympics Track & Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif. are the best-attended track trials in U.S. history (until ?); drugstore athletes Marion Jones and Michael Johnson emerge as stars. On July 23 Lance Armstrong wins France's Tour de France for a 2nd straight year. On Aug. 28-Sept. 10 the 2000 U.S. Open of Tennis sees defending champ Andre Agassi upset in the 2nd round by Amaud Clement, and defending champ Serena Williams upset in the quarter-finals by Lindsay Davenport, who loses in the final round to her older sister Venus Williams (1980-) of the U.S.; Marat Safin (1980-) easily defeats Sampras to become the first Russian U.S. Open singles winner. On Oct. 5 Dante Hall of the Kansas City Chiefs scores a 93-yard punt return for a TD against the Denver Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. On Oct. 7 the Columbus Blue Jackets of Ohio play their first game as an NHL expansion team, becoming the city's first major league franchise since 1938 (the Columbus Athletic Supply of the Nat. Basketball League, later NBA). Yankees 3rd baseman Alexander Emmanuel "Alex" "A-Rod" Rodriguez (1975-) signs a 10-year, $252M deal, making him ML baseball's highest-paid player; if you add endorsements, Tiger Wood is the best paid athlete of all, making $112M this year. Penn State U. coach (English lit. major) Joe "Mount Joe Pa" Paterno (1927-), winner of two nat. championships begins a decline, ending in a 4-7 2004 season amid off-field incidents On Dec. 16 the day after Shaquille O'Neal's graduation (after he left early in 1992 after three years, then returned to fulfill a vow), LSU retires his jersey #33. The John Mackey Award for college football's most outstanding tight end is established; the first winner is Tim Stratton of Purdue U. The 3-day Weber Cup, named after Dick Weber is established as the 10-pin bowling equivalent of golf's Ryder Cup; the first tournament sees Team USA defeat Team Europe 18-11. The Prof. Bowlers Assoc. (PBA) (founded 1958) is purchased by former Microsoft execs Chris Peters, Rob Glaser, and Mike Slade, who move the co. HQ to Seattle, Wash. Pfizer's Viagra sponsors NASCAR driver Mike Bliss (#27) for Eel River Racing, switching next year to Mark Martin (#6) of Roush Racing, who finishes 2nd in points in 2002 and 4th in 2004 and 2005. Architecture: On May 12 the Tate Modern (Museum) opens in Southark, London across the Thames River from St. Paul's Cathedral in the former Bankside Power Plant after a $200M renovation by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog (1950-) and Pierre de Meuron (1950-); the old Tate Museum upriver is renamed Tate Britain and continues to display Gainsboroughs and Turners, while the 12-story-high lobby of the Tate Modern features modernist crap, er, art incl. the gigantic steel sculptures I Do, I Undo, and I Redo by spider-loving French sculptor Louise Josephine Bourgeois (1911-2010). On June 10 the 1,066-ft. (325m) Millennium Bridge in London, England (begun in 1998) between Southwark Bridge and Blackfiars Bridge near St. Paul's Cathedral and the Tate Modern Gallery opens, designed by modernist sculptor Sir Anthony Alfred Caro (1924-2013), the Arup Group, and Foster and Partners, becoming the first pedestrian crossing over the Thames River in C London for over a cent.; too bad, it soon becomes known as the Wobbly Bridge after it begins shaking under the traffic, and on June 13 it is shut down for almost two years to fix it, reopening in 2002. On July 1 25,738 ft. (7,845m) Oresund Bridge across the Oresund Strait between Sweden and Denmark opens, becoming the longest combo road-rail bridge in Europe, connecting Copenhagen and Malmo; sometimes the drivers get wet. The $4.3B 928-ft.-high 12,828-ft.-long Akashi Kaikyo Bridge opens, connecting Kobe and Awaji-shima Island in Japan, becoming the world's longest spanning suspension bridge (until ?); it is specially built to withstand earthquakes and 180 mph winds. The Charybdis Vortex Fountain by water sculptor William Pye opens in the Seaham Hotel and Spa near Sunderland, Northern England, based on the myth of the siren in Homer's "Odyssey" who was hit by a thunderbolt from Zeus that transformed her into a whirlpool as punishment for stealing oxen from Hercules; he later builds similar sculptors in Oman and Campinas, Brazil. The $800M cyberpunk Sony Center at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany opens, designed by German-Am. architect Helmut Jahn (1940-). The "blobitecture" Experience Music Project in Seattle, Wash., founded by Paul Allen of Microsoft opens, exploring pop music and sci-fi. The colorful Hundertwasser Bldg., AKA the Waldspirale (Wooden Spiral) in Darmstadt (begun 1998) is finished by Austrian architect Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (1928-2000), with 105 apts. and onion domes. Nobel Prizes: Peace: Kim Dae-jung (1925-2009) (South Korea) [Sunshine Policy]; Lit.: Gao Xingjian (1940-) (China); Physics: Zhores Ivanovich Alferov (1930-) (Russia) and Herbert Kroemer (1928-) (U.S.) [heterostructures], and Jack St. Clair Kilby (1923-2005) (U.S.) [microchip tech.]; Chem: Alan Jay Heeger (1936-) (U.S.), Alan Graham MacDiarmid (1927-2007) (U.S.), and Hideki Shirakawa (1936-) (Japan) [conductive polymers]; Arvid Carlsson (1923-) (Sweden), Paul Greengard (1925-) (U.S.), and Eric Richard Kandel (1929-) (U.S.) [signal transduction in the nervous system]; Economics: James Joseph Heckman (1944-) (U.S.) [statistical analysis of household and individual behavior] and Daniel Little McFadden (1937-) (U.S.) [theory and methods for analyzing discrete choice]. Inventions: On Jan. 1 Baidu search engine is founded in Beijing, China by Robin Li (Li Yanhong) (1968-) and Eric Xu Yong (1964-), going on to become the 2nd largest search engine on Earth, with a 76% market share in the Chinese market; in Dec. 2007 it becomes the first Chinese co. to be listed in the NASDAQ-100. On Feb. 14 the NASA Shoemaker Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft becomes the first to orbit an asteroid, 433 Eros. On May 3 San Antonio, Tex. computer pioneer Datapoint files for bankruptcy. On May 4 young Philippine hackers launch the Love Bug (I Love You) Virus, which by displaying the message "I love you" and invites the recipient to call up an attachment, which sends itself to everyone on their Web mailing list then trashes and shuts down the recipient's computer, spreading to Asia, Europe, and the Americas, paralyzing communications; 70% of Germany's computers are infected; the British House of Commons shuts down its e-mail to stop the virus, and govt. offices in Washington, D.C. are infected; total damage is as high as $10B (e-bucks?). On June 19 the Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Duron low-priced x86-compatible microprocessor is released (until 2004). On Feb. 17 Microsoft releases Windows 2000 (W2K), followed on Sept. 14 by Windows Me (Millennium Ed.) - works like a giant screw going into the ground? In Mar. IBM announces that it will make all of its software and hardware work seamlessly with the free "open source" Linux computer operating system (introduced in 1993) in hopes of undermining the monopoly of Microsoft's Windows and Sun Microsystem's Solaris operating systems. On Apr. 3 IBM announces a polymer-based low-k dielectric for reducing crosstalk in microprocessors, boosting speed and performance by as much as 30%. In early Apr. the 20-vol. Oxford English Dictionary (OED) goes online as part of a 10-year $55M overhaul to add 600K new words and revise older entries; the paper ed. costs $550 and up per year, but the online vers. continues to be free. In 2000 Intel Corp. releases the Pentium 4 chip, which has 42M transistors, compared to 24M in the Pentium III (1999), 7.5M in the Pentium II (1997), and 3.1M in the Pentium chip (1993); it is discontinued in 2008. The Bluetooth Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and Bluetooth General Packet Radio System (GPRS) are developed, launching the wireless era of PCs. The pi4-workerbot is released, featuring finger-tip sensitivity. In Oct. Toppan Printing Co. Ltd. produces a 2x1.5x1 cm 16-page ed. of the book titled The Twelve Horary Signs - Chinese Zodiac, becoming the smallest book yet printed. On Nov. 14 Netscape Navigator 6.0 is launched after two years of open source development, creating a stable Mozilla Web browser; too bad, after being Microsoft-monopolized out of biz, vers. 9 becomes kaput on Feb. 1, 2008 - can I have it like that, you got it like that? Herbert Allen of Tex. invents the Rabbit Corkscrew, with 31 separate parts. Science: On Jan. 14 studies using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory reveal that the pervasive X-ray background of the Universe is caused by black holes near the centers of most galaxies. In spring 2000 the Internat. Hydrographic Org. defines the Southern (Antarctic) (Austral) Ocean (20.327M sq km) as all water below 60 deg. S, making it the 4th biggest of the five oceans after the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian, and bigger than the Arctic. On Mar. 25 the U.S. launches IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration, becoming the first satellite dedicated to completely imaging Earth's magnetosphere. On Apr. 6 a very bright fireball with a magnitude of -17 (brighter than the full Moon) is observed, thought to have been made by a 660 lb. (300 kg) meteor; on July 14 the 3.86 lb. (1.75 kg) Neuschwantstein Meteorite fragment is recovered near and named for the famous German Neuschwanstein Castle. On May 1 the Am. Academy of Pediatrics issues its first guidelines for diagnosing ADD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) to prevent overmedication of youngsters who are merely rowdy with Ritalin. On May 9 an internat. team led by Harry Ostrer of NYU pub. an article in Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Science reporting that Jews and Arabs have been found to be genetically identical. On June 26 (Mon.) at the White House Francis Sellers Collins (1950-), dir. of the Human Genome Project, and John Craig Venter (1946-), pres. of Celera Genomics Corp announce their separate First Drafts of the Human Genome, the epoch-making first sequencing (deciphering) of 95%-97% of the human genome, expected to revolutionize medicine, just in time for the 50th anniv. of the pub. of the double helix work by James D. Watson and Francis Crick, taking only 13 of 15 expected years, declaring that the human genome has 3.1B "letters" (chemical bases); Pres. Clinton calls it "the most wondrous map ever produced", comparing the HGP to the Manhattan and Apollo projects; the program has come in underbudget, and involved 1.6K scientists, and adding the religious soundbyte: "Today, we are learning the language in which God created life. We are gaining ever more awe for the complexity, the beauty and the wonder of God's most divine and sacred gift" after being put up to it be Collins, a theist; Collins and Venter continue their war to be the first to finish the sequencing; by the end of the decade a genome can be sequenced in a week; meanwhile insurance cos. and govt. agencies line up to find ways to get and use genetic makeups, while every Tom, Dick and Harry with a computer rushes to patent genes after roping them off like in the Okla. Land Rush? In June the U.S. Nat. Research Council concludes that Earth's surface temp is rising as a part of global warming, but that the lower atmosphere is not affected at this time. On Sept. 3 the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Cerro Paranal, Chile begins operation, consisting of four 8.2m (323 in.) mirrors, each with its own name (Antu, Kueyen, Melipal, and Yepun); they initially operate independently, but are linked with interferometry in 2001. On Sept. 6 Breanna Lynn Bartlett-Stewart is stillborn to Scott Stewart and Lisa Bartlett in Paragould, Ark., becoming the first stillbirth to be resolved by the Kleihauer-Betke Blood Test; the publicity causes a movement for a Stillbirth Remembrance Day for the 26K stillborns each year in the U.S. On Sept. 12 Miss Waldron's Red Colobus Monkey of West Africa becomes the first primate species to officially become extinct in this millennium as biologists give up their search; it becomes the first large primate to go extinct since 1800; the Pyrenean ibex wild mountain goat is declared extinct; in 2009 it is resurrected via cloning; the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals and Plants lists 24% of mammals, 12% of birds, 30% of fishes, and 20% of amphibians on Earth as globally threatened with extinction. On Sept. 15 after Am. biologist Steven Austad is quoted in Scientific American as saying: "The first 150-year old person is probably alive right now", he and Am. aging expert Stuart Jay Olshansky (1954-) make their Big Lifespan Bet, putting $150 each into an investment fund, with the money and interest to go to the winner on Jan. 1, 2150 if he is of sound mind; they later stake another $150 each. On Oct. 9 the NASA High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) II is launched by the U.S. in conjunction with France, Japan, and Italy to observe, report, and help locate gamma-ray bursters while it also surveys X-ray sources across the Universe. The full genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster is completed; it contains four pairs of chromosomes, incl. a sex-determining X/Y pair, and three autosomes labeled 2, 3, and 4, and has 139.5M base pairs with 15,682 genes, with 60% being functional non-protein-coding DNA involved in gene expression and control. Low-cost (less than $100) DNA testing kits become available to the consumer from Family Tree DNA, causing a fad to discover family ancestry and distant family members; by 2019 the DNA testing cos. have 26M DNA profiles available, half from the U.S. The superheavy synthetic radioactive element Livermorium (Lv) (#116) is discovered by the Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab in Calif.; the name is adopted by IUPAC on May 30, 2012. Indian astrophysicist Abhas Mitra announces Eternally Collapsing Objects (ECOs) as an alternative to Black Holes. Scientists at the Dubna Inst. in Russia create element #116. After being hired by Bell Labs in 1997, German physicist Jan Hendrik Schoen (Schön) (1970-) begins pub. a series of papers proclaiming breakthroughs in semiconductor physics, receiving the Braunschweig Prize and other prizes before being exposed as a fraud in 2002, causing a scandal about the adequacy of peer review. The sunken ancient Egyptian port city of Thonis-Herakleion is discovered 7 km off the Egyptian shore in Aboukir Bay by an internat. mission led by Moroccan-born French archeologist Franck Goddio (1947-). Am. paleontologist John R. "Jack" Horner (1946-) of the Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, Mont. and his team discover five separate T-Rexes, increasing the world collection by 35% - which makes you wonder about what? Leonid Khriachtchev (1959-), Markku Rasanen et al. of the U. of Helsinki in Finland report the first known stable compound of the inert noble gas argon, Argon Fluorohydride (HArF) by shining UV light on frozen argon containing a small amount of hydrogen fluoride, proving that it's not really so inert. David R. Liu et al. at Harvard U. develop a method for producing specific organic compounds using single-stranded DNA as a catalyst; by 2003 they develop 65 related compounds with 65 different template DNA strands. Michael C. Malin (1950-) and Kenneth S. Edgett (1965-) of the U.S. pub. geologic evidence that liquid water has changed the surface of Mars, creating gullies on steep slopes. Michael R. Rampino et al. of New York U. find evidence that Earth's largest mass extinction, known as the Late Permian, occurred during a period of less than 8K years about 250M ago, killing 95% of all species in the oceans; Luann Becker of the U. of Washington in Seattle analyzes sediments at the Permian-Triassic Boundary and concludes that they had an extraterrestrial source, implying that the extinction was caused by a comet or asteroid impact. The first Molecular Map of the Ribosome (the cell's essential protein factory) is completed by ?. Jorg Richstein of the U. of Giessen in Germany uses a computer to verify to 1 in 400T the 1742 Christian Goldbach Conjecture that every even number greater than 2 is the sum of two primes - two more years I'll be done with school and making history because of you? An internat. team of biologists sequences the genome of a flowering plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, becoming the first flowering plant all of whose genes have been found. J. Craig Venter et al. pub. almost the entire genome of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. The potential first human ancestors to journey out of Africa are found in the Repub. of Georgia by C. Reid Ferring, Carl C. Swisher III et al. - Margaret Mitchell would call that poetic justice? Chemists at the Naval Research Lab. in Washington, D.C. produce samples of Octanitrocubane, a long-sought hydrocarbon derivative expected to be the most powerful non-nuclear explosive. A bigger fungus than the one in Crystal Falls, Mich. (2.2K acres in size) is discovered in E Ore. The first FDA-approved robot surgery, the removal of a gallbladder is performed in Richmond, Va. using the $1M da Vinci Surgical System by Intuitive Surgical; by 2012 3.1K units worldwide conduct 200K surgeries/year. Researchers from the U. of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, report that transplants of insulin-producing cells from cadavers into persons with Type I diabetes free patients from the need for insulin injections, although they must use immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their lives - hook them up to a lightning machine and they'll turn into Frankensteins? French scientists report success in relieving babies of severe immune disorder (hereditary lack of T cells) through the use of gene therapy that infuses working copies of marrow stem cells into their bones; some recipients later develop a form of leukemia. Prize dairy cow Lauduc Broker Mandy, EX-95 2E, the first clone ever sold at a public auction is purchased for $82K at the 2000 World Dairy Expo. Richard Montgomery of the U. of Calif. Santa Cruz and Alain Chenciner of France produce an exact solution to the Three-Body Problem for Equal Masses, showing that they can orbit each other in a figure-8 pattern where each body in turn passes between the other two. Results from the 1998 BOOMERANG (Balloon Observations of Millimetric Extragalactic Radiation and Geophysical) experiment study of cosmic background radiation (CBR) reveal that the Universe is flat, not curved. The 100m x 100m Green Bank Radio Telescope, built to replace one that mysteriously collapsed in 1988 begins operation, becoming the world's largest fully steerable dish radio telescope. AMANDA (Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array) begins a large-scale conceptual test at the South Pole with nine strings of 302 photomultipliers, each buried from 1.3km-2.4km (4265-7875 ft.) deep in the ice to detect Cerenkov light radiation from muons produced by collision with high-energy neutrinos. The Cluster Mission sees Russia launch Cluster II and Salsa/Samba for the European Space Agency (ESA) on July 16, followed by Rumba/Tango on Aug. 9, which on Sept. 1 begin coordinated orbits to maintain stations at the vertices of a pyramid while orbiting in order to study interactions of Earth's magnetic field with the solar wind. Physicists at the DONUT (Direct Observation of NU Tau) detector announce they have obtained the first direct evidence of the elusive Tau Nneutrino, all four of them (the other flavors are electron and muon neutrinos); meanwhile researchers in Japan announce a shortfall in the number of muon neutrinos beamed from their Japanese Accelerator Facility (KEK) at the Super-Kamiokande Neutrino Telescope; 40 muon neutrinos were detected, 13 short of the expected number, with the missing ones presumed to have changed flavor. The Italian Nat. Research Council in Florence and the NEC Research Inst. in Princeton demonstrate that interference patterns can propagate faster than the speed of light. Nonfiction: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), London: The Biography. Fred Adams and Greg Laughlin, The Five Ages of the Universe; claims that we now understand the complete life story of the Universe from beginning to end. Mortimer Adler (1902-2001), How to Think About the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization; ed. Max Weismann. Francesco Alberoni (1929-), The Sources of Dreams (My Theories and My Life) (essays). Stephen Edward Ambrose (1936-2002), Nothing Like It in the World. Jonathan Ames (1964-), What's Not to Love? The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Writer. Christopher Peter Andersen (1949-), The Day John Died; John F. Kennedy Jr.; George and Laura: Portrait of an American Marriage. Karen Armstrong (1944-), Islam: A Short History; claims it's not violent and backward; The Battle for God: Fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Lance Armstrong (1971-) (with Sally Jenkins), It's Not About the Bike (autobio.). Judyth Vary Baker, Me & Lee: How I Came to Know, Love and Lose Lee Harvey Oswald (Sept. 16); claims that he was trying to prevent JFK's assassination. Ian Graeme Barbour (1923-), When Science Meets Religion: Enemies, Strangers, or Partners?. John D. Barrow (1952-), The Book of Nothing: Vacuums, Voids, and the Latest Ideas About the Origins of the Universe. Jacques Barzun (1907-2012), From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present; NYT bestseller, covering Western cultural history since 1500; "Arguably the best thinking man's bedside book ever written" (Peter Green, Times Lit. Supplement); his magnum opus - enjoy the ride from sugarland? Brandon Bays 1953-), The Journey: A Road Map to the Soul; bestseller in the U.K. The Beatles, The Beatles Anthology (Oct.) - the closest thing you'll get to a reunion tour? Lerone Bennett Jr. (1928-2018), Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream (Feb. 1); claims that the Great Emancipator was a white racist; "[The] basic idea of the book is simple: Everything you think you know about Lincoln and race is wrong. Every schoolchild, for example, knows the story of 'the great emancipator' who freed Negroes with a stroke of the pen out of the goodness of his heart. The real Lincoln... was a conservative politician who said repeatedly that he believed in white supremacy. Not only that: He opposed the basic principle of the Emancipation Proclamation until his death and was literally forced - Count Adam Gurowski said he was literally whipped - 'into the glory of having issued the Emancipation Proclamation,' which Lincoln drafted in such a way that it did not in and of itself free a single slave"; dissed by most historians. Pierre Berton (1920-2004), Welcome to the 21st Century: More Absurdities from Our Time. Herbert P. Bix (1939-), Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan; claims he played an active role in bringing his country into WWII. Harold Bloom (1930-), How to Read and Why; in the new world where kiddies thinking reading means Harry Potter, hard works like Shakespeare are never read, and infinite info. is available free on the Internet, but no knowledge, is the traditional publishing biz doomed, and with it the author who tries to make a living by writing and influencing literate people with written words, and does that mean that we are headed towards a new Paradise or a new kind of Dark Ages? Howard Bloom (1943-), The Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century. Anthony Bourdain (1956-), Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (Aug.); a NYT bestseller, making him a celeb.. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. James Bradley (1954-) (with Ron Powers), Flags Of Our Fathers; stories of the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima. Michael Brenson, Visionaries and Outcasts: The NEA, Congress, and the Place of Visual Arts in America; the wonderful Nat. Endowment for the Arts, founded 1965. Douglas Brinkley (1960-), Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist, 1968-1976; Rosa Parks. David S. Broder (1929-), Democracy Derailed: Initiative Campaigns and the Power of Money. David Brooks (1961-), Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There; coins the term "bobo" (bourgeois bohemian), the affluent 90s info. age descendants of the yuppies. Harry Browne (1933-2006), The Great Libertarian Offer. Sylvia Browne (with Lindsay Harrison), Life On the Other Side. Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-), The Geostrategic Triad: Living with China, Europe, and Russia; how the U.S. must balance the Eurasian power triangles of U.S.-Japan-China and U.S.-Europe-Russia. Peter Burke (1937-), A Social History of Knowledge: From Gutenberg to Diderot, followed in 2012 by A Social History of Knowledge Vol. 2: From the Encyclopedie to Wikipedia (2012). Augusten Burroughs (1965-), Running With Scissors (autobio.). Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: How the Internet Is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember (Sept.). James P. Carroll (1943-), Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews - A History; how the Nazi Holocaust really began with Constantine I the Great in 312; basis of a 2007 film. Stephen L. Carter, God's Name in Vain: How Religion Should and Should Not Be Involved in Politics; disses Pres. G.W. Bush's faith-based initiative - get the biggest selection and best savings? Deepak Chopra (1946-), Life After Death: The Burden of Proof; the "artificial boundary that separates the living from the departed" - but the place smells like rat droppings? Cherie Clark (1945-), After Sorrow Comes Joy: One Woman's Struggle to Bring Hope to Thousands of Children in Vietnam and India (autobio.). Andrei Codrescu (1946-), The Devil Never Sleeps and Other Essays. Richard A. Cohen (1952-), Coming Out Straight; claims to treat the "same-sex attachment disorder" of homosexuality with "bioenergetics", incl. smashing a tennis racket into a pillow while shouting the name of the person eliciting painful childhood memories, and cuddling to establish healthy non-sexual bonding. David Cope (1941-), New Directions in Music, 7th ed.; The Algorithmic Composer. Richard Ben Cramer (1950-), Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life; his image was fiction, but his "Louisville Slugger" ranked only second to the "big schtick" of Milton Berle? John C. Culver and John Hyde, American Dreamer: A Life of Henry A. Wallace; U.S. agriculture secy. (1933-40) and vice-pres. (1941-5) Henry Agard Wallace (1888-1965), founder of Pioneer Hi-Bred Corp. Ram Dass (1931-), Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying. Samuel R. Delany (1942-), 1984: Selected Letters. Cory Doctorow (1971-) and Karl Schroder (1962-), The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Science Fiction. Earl Doherty (1941-), The Jesus Puzzle; claims that the Apostle Paul never heard of the gospels or the gospel Jesus, who was made-up after his death from his own cloth, explaining the puzzle of why they took so long to write and why nobody outside the movement ever mentions Jesus in secular writings. Dinesh D'Souza (1961-), The Virtue of Prosperity. John Edward (1969-), What If God Were the Sun? Encyclopedia of Folklore of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (12 vols.) (June) (Belgium); financed by your gas purchases, er, Prince Khaled bin Sultan. Dave Eggers (1971-), A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius; a memoir about raising his orphaned brother. Albert Ellis (1913-2007), How to Stubbornly Refuse to Make Yourself Miserable About Anything: Yes, Anything. Albert Ellis (1913-2007) and Ted Crawford, Making Intimate Connections: Seven Guidelines for Great Relationships and Better Communication. Albert Ellis (1913-2007) and Marcia Grad Powers, The Secret of Overcoming Verbal Abuse: Getting Off the Emotional Roller Coaster and Regaining Control of Your Life. Joseph John Ellis (1943-), Founding Fathers: The Revolutionary Generation (Pulitzer Prize); George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and Aaron Burr in the decade after the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Pepe Escobar, Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War; globalization is creating "stans" at war with each other, an undeclared global civil war AKA the Liquid War? Susan Estrich (1952-), Sex & Power; women's lib has levelled off without achieving true equality, but they now have enough power to finish the job but won't do it? Khaled Abou El Fadl (1963-), The Place of Tolerance in Islam; Pres. George W. Bush's commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Internat. Religious Freedom. Susan C. Faludi (1959-), Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man; most U.S. men now have little power, hence are unhappy and violence-prone, but shouldn't blame it on feminists, illegal aliens, or affirmative action? Niall Ferguson (1964), The Pity of War (Mar. 3); argues that Britain was as much to blame for the start of WWI as Germany, and that had it sacrificed Belgium and its Belgian waffles to them, the 1917 Bolshevik Rev. could have been prevented, Germany would have created a stable united European state, and Britain could have remained a superpower, ruling the seas while Germany ruled the continent; in other words, the white Euro race would have avoided suicide by working together to rule da world; moreover, there was little enthusiasm for the war in Britain in 1914, while at the end the war was prolonged not by clever manipulation of the media, but by British soldiers' pleasure in combat; he also claims that it wasn't the severity but the leniency of the conditions imposed on Germany at Versailles in 1919 that led inexorably to World War II, and that they should have collected more reparations to keep them from rearming to prevent another mass suicide; on Jan. 29, 1914 he gives an interview to BBC History Mag., in which he claims that Britain could have lived with a German V in WWI, and should have stayed out of it, calling their hasty unprepared intervention "the biggest error in modern history"; "Creating an army more or less from scratch and then sending it into combat against the Germans was a recipe for disastrous losses. And if one asks whether this was the best way for Britain to deal with the challenge posed by imperial Germany, my answer is no"; "Even if Germany had defeated France and Russia, it would have had a pretty massive challenge on its hands trying to run the new German-dominated Europe and would have remained significantly weaker than the British empire in naval and financial terms. Given the resources that Britain had available in 1914, a better strategy would have been to wait and deal with the German challenge later when Britain could respond on its own terms, taking advantage of its much greater naval and financial capability"; "The cost, let me emphasise, of the first world war to Britain was catastrophic, and it left the British empire at the end of it all in a much weakened state... It had accumulated a vast debt, the cost of which really limited Britain's military capability throughout the interwar period. Then there was the manpower loss – not just all those aristocratic officers, but the many, many, many skilled workers who died or were permanently incapacitated in the war"; "Arguments about honour of course resonate today as they resonated in 1914, but you can pay too high a price for upholding the notion of honour, and I think in the end Britain did." James Henry Fetzer (1940-), Murder in Dealey Plaza: What We Know Now That We Didn't Know Then. David Finkel, The Good Soldiers (Sept. 15); the true story of Bush's Iraq surge. Norman G. Finkelstein (1953-), The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (London); how the U.S. Jewish establishment exploits the Holocause, er, Holocaust for political-financial gain and the promotion of Israel, corrupting history and Jewish culture; too bad, in 2007 Jewish Havard U. prof. Alan Dershowitz gets his tenure at DePaul U. denied, causing him to resign on Sept. 5, 2007; in 2008 he is officially banned from entry into Israel, moving to Sakarya U. in Turkey. Frances FitzGerald (1940-), Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan, Star Wars, and the End of the Cold War; disses the idea of defending the U.S. from ICBMs - with a half-caf decaf from Sonic? Antony Flew (1923-), Merely Mortal? Stephen Fox (1938-), Uncivil Liberties: Italian Americans Under Siege During World War II; America's Invisible Gulag: A Biography of German American Internment and Exclusion in World War II: Memory and History; replaced by "Fear Itself: Inside the FBI Roundup of German Americans During World War II". Jo Freeman (1945-), A Room at a Time: How Women Entered Party Politics. Aaron L. Friedberg, In the Shadow of the Garrison State: America's Anti-Statism and Its Cold War Grand Strategy. Marilyn French (1929-2009), Introduction: Almost Touching the Skies; Women's History of the World. Oded Galor (1956-) and David N. Weil, Population, Technology, and Growth: From the Malthusian Regime to the Demographic Transition and Beyond (Sept.). Jim Garrison (1951-), Civilization and the Transformation of Power. Barbara Garson (1941-), Money Makes the World Go Around: One Investor Tracks Her Cash Through the Global Economy, From Brooklyn to Bangkok and Back. Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-), The African American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Century. Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015), Never Again: A History of the Holocaust. Mark Girouard (1931-), Life in the French Country House. Malcolm Gladwell (1963-), The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference; sells 2M copies; coins the term "tipping point" for "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point", "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable"; examples incl. the popularity of Hush Puppies in the mid-1990s and the drop in the New York City crime rate in the late 1990s; the Law of the Few attributes the success of a social epidemic to connectors (Paul Revere), mavens (info. specialists), and salesmen (Peter Jennings). Adam Gopnik (1956-), Paris to the Moon; his visit to Paris for "The New Yorker" from 1995-2000, where he finds that Frogs aren't obsessed with physical fitness like North Americans. Mary Catherine Gordon (1949-), Seeing Through Places: Reflections on Geography and Identity. Amit Goswami, Science and Spirituality: A Quantum Integration. David Gould, Q School Confidential: Inside Golf's Cruelest Tournament; the PGA Tournament Training and Qualifying Program (founded 1965). Marshall Govindan, Kriya Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Siddhas. Robert Ranke Graves (1895-1985), Some Speculations on Literature, History, and Religion (posth.); ed. Patrick Quinn. Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), The Lying Stones of Marrakech (essays). Ian Green, Print and Protestantism in Early Modern England. Raven Grimassi (1951-), The Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft. Stanislav Grof (1931-), Psychology of the Future: Lessions from Modern Consciousness Research. Hans Thomas Hakl, Unknown Sources: National Socialism and the Occult; tr. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012). Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), The Land Was Everything: Letters from an American Farmer. Andrew Harvey (1952-), The Return of the Mother; The Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi. Richie Havens (1941-) (with Steve Davidowitz), They Can't Hide Us Anymore (autobio.). Shirley Hazzard (1931-), Greene on Capri: A Memoir. David Horovitz (1962-), A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel David Joel Horowitz (1939-), The Art of Political War and Other Radical Pursuits; The Politics of Bad Faith: The Radical Assault on America's Future. Michael Ignatieff (1947-), The Rights Revolution and Virtual War: Kosovo and Beyond. Maurice Isserman and Michael Kazin, America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s. Molly Ivins (1944-2007) (with Lou Dubose), Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush. Susan Jacoby (1945-), Half-Jew: A Daughter's Search for Her Family's Buried Past. P.D. James (1920-), Time to Be in Earnest (autobio.). Randall Jarrell (1914-65), No Other Book: Selected Essays (posth). Philip Jenkins (1952-), Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History. Chalmers Ashby Johnson (1931-), Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire; the CIA's fear that its 1953 operation to overthrow Mohammed Mossadegh in Iran might cause some blowback back home has come true with 9/11?; rev. in 2004. Dwayne Johnson (1972-) and Joe Layden, The Rock Says... (autobio.); NYT bestseller. Joyce Johnson (1935-), Door Wide Open: A Beat Love Affair in letters, 1957-1958. George Frost Kennan (1904-2005), An American Family: The Kennans, the First Three Generations; his dirt-poor Scottish family that emigrated in the early 18th cent. to Conn. and Mass; "The epitome of the backcountry family of the most remote northern fringes of New England life." Daniel Keyes (1927-), Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey. Dean H. King, Patrick O'Brian: A Life Revealed (Mar. 15). Joyce King, Hate Crime: The Story of a Dragging in Jasper, Texas; the 1998 James Byrd Jr. incident. Stephen King (1947-), On Writing; how a job as a high school janitor where he saw tampon dispensers in the girls' bathroom inspired his breakthrough book "Carrie"; a collision with the windshield of a Dodge Caravan while walking down a country road in the summer of 1999 interrupted its composition? Jonathan Kozol (1936-), Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope. Karen V. Kukil (ed.), The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. Maxine Kumin (1925-), Always Beginning: Essays on a Life in Poetry. Gavin Lambert (1924-2005), Mainly About Lindsay Anderson (autobio.). Bruce B. Lawrence, Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence (Apr. 10); claims that Islam is not monolithic or violent - if you're a Muslim? Nigella Lawson (1960-), How to Be a Domestic Goddess; bestseller; in 2006 she hosts Nigella Feasts on Food Network, going on to sell 3M cookbooks. Jane Leavy, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy. Larry Levis (1946-96), The Gazer Within (posth.). David Levering Lewis (1936-), W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963 (Pulitzer Prize); first to win Pulitzer Prizes for back-to-back vols. (1994). Bernard Lewis (1916-), A Middle East Mosaic: Fragments of Life, Letters and History. Robert Jay Lifton (1926-), Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism (Sept. 1). James Lovelock (1919-), Homage to Gaia: The Life of an Independent Scientist (autobio.). Gene Lyons and Joe Conason, The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton. Manning Marable (1950-2011), Let Nobody Turn Us Around. Mark Matousek (1957-), The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search for His Lost Father. Malachy McCourt (1931-), Singing My Him Song (autobio.). William S. McFeely (1930-), Proximity to Death; his opinions about the death penalty. A.B. McKillop of Carleton U., The Spinster & the Prophet: Florence Deeks, H.G. Wells, and the Mystery of the Purloined Past; bolsters her claims that H.G. Wells plagiarized her ms. to write "The Outline of History" (1920). Ian McLagan (1945-2014), All the Rage: A Riotous Romp Through Rock & Roll History (autobio.). J.R. McNeill, Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth Century World; "Economic thought did not adjust to the changed conditions it helped to create; thereby it continued to legitimate, and indeed indirectly to cause, massive and rapid ecological change. The overarching priority of economic growth was easily the most important idea of the twentieth century." James Alan McPherson (1943-), A Region No Home (essays). George Monbiot (1963-), Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain. Tim Moore (1964-), Continental Drifter: Taking the Low Road with the First Grand Tourist; retraces the steps of Englishman Thomas Coryat's 1608 tour of Europe, where he discovered the table fork - I'd rather be 1900? Robin Morgan (1941-), Saturday's Child: A Memoir. Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), The Summer of a Dormouse: A Year of Growing Old Disgracefully (autobio.). George Lachmann Mosse (1918-98), Confronting History (autobio.) (posth.). Albert Murray (1916-), Trading Twelves; correspondence with his friend Ralph Ellison. David Nasaw (1945-), The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst. Mark Nepo (1951-), The Book of Awakening; Opra Winfrey selects it in 2010 as one of her Ultimate Favorite Things, making it a #1 NYT bestseller. Jack Newfield (1938-2004), Somebody's Gotta Tell It (autobio.); "Pick an issue. Study it. Figure out who the decision makers you want to influence are. Name the guilty men. Make alliances with experts. Combine activism with the writing. Create a constituency for reform. And don't stop till you have achieved some progress. This is what I mean by the Joe Frazier method. Keep coming forward. Be relentless. Don't stop moving your hands. Break the other guy's will." John Julius Norwich (1929-), Shakespeare's Kings: The Great Plays and the History of England in the Middle Ages, 1337-1485. Robert D. Novak (1931-2009), Completing the Revolution: A Vision for Victory in 2000 - didn't mention stealing it via the courts? Mancur Olson (1932-98), Power and Prosperity: Outgrowing Communist and Capitalist Dictatorships; the three types of govt. are tyranny, anarchy and democracy, with anarchy creating roving bandits, and tyranny creating stationary bandits who end up fostering some law and order and economic prosperity to get their cut, ending up paving the way for democracy. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), The Circus Fire. Peter S. Onuf (1945-), Jefferson's Empire: The Language of American Nationhood (Mar. 29). Bill O'Reilly (1949-), The O'Reilly Factor: The Good, the Bad, & the Completely Ridiculous in American Life; bestseller; Rush Limbaugh clone admires RFK, opposes the death penalty, and favors gun control and marijuana decriminalization. Stephen O'Shea, The Perfect Heresy: The Revolutionary Life and Death of the Medieval Cathars. Cynthia Ozick (1928-), Quarrel and Quandary (essays). Abraham Pais (1918-2000), The Genius of Science: A Portrait Gallery. Michael Parenti (1933-), To Kill a Nation: The Attack on Yugoslavia. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer, The Dynamics of Social Change in Latin America. Nathaniel Philbrick (1956-), In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (July); (Pulitzer Prize); the famous 1820 sinking. Walter Clarkson Pitman III (1931-) and William B.F. Ryan, Noah's Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event that Changed History; did the Great Flood of the shores of the Black Sea in 5600 B.C.E. inspire the Noah's Ark story? Sidney Poitier (1927-), The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography. Kenneth Pomeranz (1958-), The Great Divergence: China, Europe and the Making of the Modern World Economy; attempts to explain the Industrial Rev. in Europe as the product of coal and exports to the New World. Roy Porter (1946-2002), Enlightenment: Britain and the Creation of the Modern World (The Untold Story of the British Enlightenment). Samantha Power (1970-) (ed.), Realizing Human Rights; Moving from Inspiration to Impact. Reynolds Price (1933-), Feasting the Heart (essays); Learning a Trade: A Craftsman's Notebooks, 1955-1997. Robert David Putnam (1941-), Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community; strengthens his 1995 thesis. Diane Ravitch (1938-), City Schools: Lessons from New York; Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform. Andrew Roberts (1963-), The House of Windsor. Gerard Roland (1954-), Transition and Economics: Politics, Markets and Firms (Mar. 1); about Transition Economics, the shift from a centrally-planned to a free market economy. Murray Newton Rothbard (1926-95), Irrepressible Rothbard: The Rothbard-Rockwell Report Essays of Murray N. Rothbard (posth.). Michael Ryan (1946-), A Difficult Grace: On Poet, Poetry, and Writing. Abdul Saleeb, Answering Islam: The Crescent in Light of the Cross. Simon Schama (1945-), A History of Britain (3 vols.) (2000-2); basis of a 15-episode BBC-TV series that debuts on Sept. 30, 2000-June 18, 2002. Paul Scheffer, Multicultural Drama (Jan. 29); claims that multiculturalism has failed in the Netherlands, causing a firestorm of controversy. Orville Hickok Schell (1940-), Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (1917-2007), A Life in the Twentieth Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950 (autobio.). Chris Matthew Sciabarra, Total Freedom: Toward a Dialectical Libertarianism. Pete Seibert (1924-2002), Vail: Triumph of a Dream. Martin Seligman (1942-) and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-), Positive Psychology: An Introduction. Robert J. Shiller (1946-), Irrational Exuberance (Mar.); warns that the U.S. stock market had become a bubble, which happens in Mar., making him a hero; 2nd ed. in 2005. Steve Silberger, The Phenomenon of the Jews. Peter Singer (1946-), Writings on an Ethical Life. Huston Smith (with Jeffery Paine), Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine. Robert Sneden, Eye of the Storm: A Civil War Odyssey; the memoirs of Union Pvt. Robert Knox Sneden (d. 1918), found in 1994. Robert Sobel (1931-99), The Pursuit of Wealth: The Incredible Story of Money Throughout the Ages of Wealth; AMEX: A History of the American Stock Exchange; Thomas Watson Sr.: IBM and the Computer Revolution; The Great Boom 1950-2000: How a Generation of Americans Created the World's Most Prosperous Society (posth.). George Soros (1930-) and Mark Amadeus Notturno, Science and the Open Society: The Future of Karl Popper's Philosophy. Victor J. Stenger (1935-), Timeless Reality: Symmetry, Simplicity, and Multiple Universes. Jerry Stiller (1927-) and Anne Meara (1929), Married to Laughter: A Love Story Featuring Anne Meara (autobio.). Robert B. Stinnett, Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor. Mark Strand (1934-), The Weather of Words: Poetic Invention. Michael Sturmer (1938-), The German Empire, 1870-1918) (Nov. 14). Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Behavioral Law and Economics. Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-), Selling Out America: The American Spectator Investigations. Jeffrey Toobin, A Vast Conspiracy: The Real Story of the Sex Scandal That Nearly Brought Down a President; the Clinton sex scandals. Donald Trump (1946-), The America We Deserve (Jan.); a political manifesto in answer to critics who accuse him of running for pres. only for publicity, coming out as a moderate populist and outlining his dream of a country sans "racism, discrimination against women, or discrimination against people based on sexual orientation"; "The greatest threat to the American Dream is the idea that dreamers need close government scrutiny and control. Job one for us is to make sure the public sector does a limited job, and no more"; he predicts 9/11 and theorizes that it will be Osama bin Laden, with the soundbytes: "I am really convinced we're in danger of the sort of terrorist attacks that will make the bombing of the Trade Center look like kids playing with firecrackers. No sensible analyst rejects this possibility, and plenty of them, like me, are not wondering if but when it will happen"; “It’s time to get down to the hard business of preparing for what I believe is the real possibility that somewhere, sometime, a weapon of mass destruction will be carried into a major American city and detonated"; "One day we're told that a shadowy figure with no fixed address named Osama bin-Laden is public enemy number one, and U.S. jetfighters lay waste to this camp in Afghanistan. He escapes back under some rock, and a few news cycles later it's on to a new enemy and new crisis." Max Velmans, Understanding Consciousness; presents his theory of Reflexive Monism, that the Universe is psycho-physical. Doreen Virtue (1958-), Angel Visions; followed by "Angel Visions II" (2001). Rebecca Walker (1969-), Black, White and Jewish: Autobiography of a Shifting Self; daughter of writer Alice Walker (1944-). Michael Walzer (1935-) et al. (eds.), The Jewish Political Tradition, Vol. I: Authority. Ibn Warraq (1946-), The Quest for the Historical Muhammad. Benjamin J. Wattenberg (1933-), Theodore Caplow, and Louis Hicks, The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America 1900-2000. Jonathan Wells (1942-), Icons of Evolution: Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution Is Wrong. Cornel West (1953-) and Henry Louis Gates Jr., The African-American Century: How Black Americans Have Shaped Our Century; W.E.B. Du Bois et al. Stuart Wilde (1946-), Sixth Sense: Including the Secrets of the Etheric Subtle Body. Garry Wills (1934-), Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit; criticizes Pope Pius IX. Fred Alan Wolf (1934-), Mind into Matter: A New Alchemy of Science and Spirit. Howard Zinn (1922-2010), Howard Zinn on History; Howard Zinn on War. Art: Chuck Close (1940-), Self-Portrait (2000-1). Lucian Freud (1922-), Queen Elizabeth II (2000-2001); unflattering and gives her a 5 o'clock shadow? Sam Gilliam (1933-), Journey Home. Tsehai Johnson (1966-), Twelve Dildos on Hooks (ceramic). Brice Marden (1938-),The Propitious Garden of Plane Image Series; "The most profound abstract painter of the past four decades" (Peter Schjeldahl). Roberto Matta (1911-2002), N'ou's Autres. Larry Rivers (1923-2002), Rockwell's Artist on the Run; his interpretation of Norman Rockwell's 1930 "Girl Running with Wet Canvas". James Rosenquist (1933-), The Stowaway Peers Out at the Speed of Light. Music: 98 Degrees, Revelation (album #3) (last album) (Sept. 26) (#2 in the U.S.); incl. Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche). AC/DC, Stiff Upper Lip (album #15) (Feb. 28); incl. Stiff Upper Lip, Safe in New York City, Satellite Blues. Ryan Adams (1974-), Heartbreaker (album). Todo Buenos Aires (ballet); tango variations. Queens of the Stone Age, Rated R (album #2) (June 6) (#54 in the U.K.); Mark Lanegan on vocals; incl. The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (#31 in the U.K.), Feel Good Hit of the Summer, Monsters in the Parasol, I Think I Lost My Headache (w/Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees). Christina Aguilera (1980-), Mi Reflejo (album #2) (Sept. 12); sells 3.5M copies; incl. Pero Me Acuerdo De Ti, Falsas Esperanzas; My Kind of Christmas (album #3) (Oct. 24); sells 3M copies; incl. Christmas Time. a-ha, Minor Earth Major Sky (album #6) (July 17) (2M copies worldwide); incl. Minor Earth Major Sky. Dead or Alive, Fragile (album #7). Allman Brothers Band, Peakin' at the Beacon (album) (Nov. 14); recorded at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in Mar. America, Highway: 30 Years of America (album) (July). The Presidents of the United States of America, Lump (album) (Jan. 1); Freaked Out and Small (album #3) (Sept. 12); incl. Jupiter, Tiny Explosions, Last Girl on Earth. Apocalyptica, Cult (album #3) (Sept. 28); incl. Path, Romance, Pray! Joseph Arthur (1971-), Come to Where I'm From (album #2) (Apr. 11); incl. In the Sun, Chemical. Erykah Badu (1971-), Mama's Gun (album); incl. Bag Lady. Buju Banton (1973-), Unchained Spirit (album #6) (Aug. 22). Limp Bizkit, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (album #3) (Oct. 17); anus and semen?; sells 12M copies; incl. My Generation, Rollin' (Air Raid Vehicle), Take a Look Around (theme song of M:I2), Boiler, My Way. Bjork (1965-), Selmasongs: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack Dancer in the Dark (album) (Sept. 18). Blink-182, The Mark, Tom and Travis Show (The Enema Strikes Back!) (album) (Nov. 7); incl. Man Overboard (#2 in the U.S.). Moody Blues, Hall of Fame (album) (Aug. 8). Joe Bonamassa (1977-), A New Day Yesterday (album) (debut) (Oct. 24); named after the 1969 Jethro Tull classic; incl. Miss You, Hate You, Cradle Rock. Backstreet Boys, For the Fans (album) (Aug. 28); Black & Blue (album #4) (Nov. 21) (#1 in the U.S., #13 in the U.K.) (9M copies); incl. Shape of My Heart, The Call, More Than That. Billy Bragg (1957-), Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (album #2) (May 30); vol. I in 1998. Toni Braxton (1967-), The Heat (album) (Apr. 25); incl. He Wasn't Man Enough, Just Be a Man About It, Spanish Guitar. Neko Case (1970-) and Her Boyfriends, Furnace Room Lullaby (album #2) (Feb. 22). Alice in Chains, Live (album) (Dec. 5). Tracy Chapman (1964-), Telling Stories (album #5) (Feb. 15); incl. Telling Stories. Kenny Chesney (1968-), Greatest Hits (album). Dixie Chicks, Fly (album). Michael Colgrass (1932-), Crossworlds. Judy Collins (1939-), All on a Wintry Night (album #29); Judy Collins Live at Wolf Trap (album #30). Sean "Diddy" Combs (1969-), Last Train to Paris (album #5) (Dec. 13) (#7 in the U.S.); incl. Angels, Hello Good Morning (w/T.l., Rick Ross), Loving You No More, Coming Home. Cracker, Garage d'Or (album #5) (Apr. 4); incl. Euro-Trash Girl. King Crimson, Heavy ConstruKction (album). Black Crowes, Live at the Greek (with Jimmy Page) (album); By Your Side (album); a flop? John LaChinna and George C. Wolfe, The Wild Party (musical) (Apr. 13) (Virginia Theater, New York); stars Mandy Patinkin, Toni Collette, Eartha Kitt. Coldplay, Parachutes (album) (debut) (July 10) (9M copies); from London, England, incl. Christopher Anthony John "Chris" Martin (1977-) (vocals), Guy Berryman (1977-) (bass), Jon Buckland (1977-) (guitar), and Will Champion (1978-) (drums); incl. Don't Panic, Shiver, Trouble, Yellow. Alice Cooper (1948-), Brutal Planet (album #21). Motley Crue, New Tattoo (album #8) (July 11); first with drummer Randy Castillo; incl. Hell on High Heels (#13 in the U.S.). The Cure, Bloodflowers (album # 11) (Feb. 15); incl. Out of This World, Maybe Someday. Death Cab for Cutie, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes (album #2) (Mar. 21); incl. 405, Company Calls Epilogue; The Forbidden Love EP (Oct. 24). Dagda, Hibernia (album); incl. Criost Liom, Home Again in Eireann, Mise Liom Fein. Steely Dan, Two Against Nature (album) (Feb. 29); first since 1980; incl. Gaslighting Abbie, Cousin Dupree, Janie Runaway. D'Angelo (1974-), Voodoo (album); incl. Left & Right, Untitled (How Does It Feel). Craig Ashley David (1981-), Born To Do It (album) (debut) (Aug. 20); incl. Rewind, Fill Me In, Woman Trouble (with Robbie Craig), 7 Days, Walking Away, Rendezvous. Green Day, Warning (album #6) (Oct. 3) (#4 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.) (3M copies); incl. Minority, Warning, Waiting, Macy's Day Parade. Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Vol. 16 (album) (Mar.); recorded on Nov. 8, 1969 in San Francisco; Dick's Picks Vol. 17 (album) (Apr.); recorded on Sept. 15, 1991 in Boston; Dick's Picks Vol. 18 (album) (June); recorded on Feb. 3-5, 1978; View from the Vault, Vol. 1 (album) (June); Dick's Picks Vol. 19 (album) (Oct. 23); recorded on Oct. 19, 1973 in Oklahoma City; Ladies and Gentlemen... the Grateful Dead (4-CD set) (Oct.); recorded on Apr. 25-29, 1971 at the Fillmore East in New York City. Deftones, White Pony (album #3) (June 20) (best-selling; first with Frank Delgado; incl. Digital Bath, Elite, Change (in the House of Flies). Disturbed, The Sickness (album) (debut) (#29 in the U.S., #102 in the U.K.) (4M copies in the U.S.); features a sales-getting Parental advisory label; formerly Brawl; from Chicago, Ill., incl. David Michael Draiman (1973-) (vocals) (bald), Dan Donegan (1968-) (guitar), Steve "Fuzz" Kmak (1970-)/Marty O'Brien/John Moyer (bass), and Mike Wengren (1971-) (drums); incl. Voices, The Game, Stupify, and Down With the Sickness. Snoop Dogg (1971-), The Last Meal (album #5) (Dec. 19) (1M copies); last with No Limit Records. Dokken, Live from the Sun (album) (Apr. 18). Doobie Brothers, Sibling Rivalry (album #12) (Oct. 3). No Doubt, Return of Saturn (album #4) (Apr. 11); incl. Ex-Girlfriend, Simple Kind of Life, Bathwater, New. Duran Duran, Pop Trash (album #10) (June 19). Finger Eleven, The Greyest of Blue Skies (album #3) (July 25); brings them into the mainstream; incl. First Time, Drag You Down, Stay and Drown, Sick of It All. Alton Ellis (1938-2008), Change My Mind (album). Eminem (1972-), The Marshall Mathers LP (album); his real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III; sells 1.76M copies the first week; incl. The Way I Am, Stan, The Real Slim Shady; implies that Christian Arguilera gave head to Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit and Carson Daly, and says of his discoverer "Dr. Dre's dead, he's locked in my basement"; the success of a Gen-Zed white guy who acts black and spouts their anti-establishment homophobic misogynist pro-violence lyrics to a large white audience makes him the 21st cent. Elvis? Enya (1961-), A Day Without Rain (album #6) (Nov. 21); incl. Wild Child, Only Time; becomes the theme song for the 9/11 victims. Sunny Day Real Estate, The Rising Tide (album #4) (June 20); incl. Rain Song. Gloria Estefan (1957-), Alma Caribena (Caribeńa) (album #9) (May 11); incl. No Me Dejes de Querer. Better Than Ezra, Artifakt (album). Faithless, Back to Mine (album) (Oct. 16). Violent Femmes, Freak Magnet (album). Elysian Fields, Queen of the Meadow (album #2); Bend Your Mind (EP). Fishbone, Fishbone and the Familyhood Nextperience Present: The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerx (album #6) (Mar. 21). Carlisle Floyd (1926-), Cold Sassy Tree (opera). Fuel, Something Like Human (album #2) (Sept. 19) (#17 in the U.S.) (2M copies); incl. Hemorrhage (in My Hands) (#30 in the U.S.). Nelly Furtado (1978-), Whoa, Nelly! (album) (debut) (Oct. 24) (#24 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (6M copies); incl. I'm Like a Bird, Turn Off the Light, On the Radio (Remember the Days), Party's Just Begun (Again), Trynna Finda Way, Hey, Man! Secret Garden, Dreamcatcher (album). Billy Gilman (1988-), One Voice (album) (June 20) (debut); Classic Christmas (album); youngest singer to reach #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart (until ?). Indigo Girls, Retrospective (album). Spice Girls, Forever (album #3) (last album) (Nov. 6) (#2 in the U.K.) (5M copies); incl. Goodbye (#1 in the U.K.), Holler (#1 in the U.S.). Lamb of God, New American Gospel (album #2) (Sept. 26); incl. In the Absence of the Sacred. Godsmack, Awake (album #2) (Oct. 31) (#5 in the U.S.) (2M copies in the U.S.); incl. Vampires, Greed, Sick of Life, Awake, (the last two are used by the U.S. Navy in commercials). Guano Apes, Don't Give Me Names (album #2) (May 2) (100K copies); incl. Big in Japan (by Alphaville), No Speech, Living in a Lie, Dodel (Dödel) Up. Merle Haggard (1937-), I I Could Only Fly (album); his comeback. Nina Hagen (1955-), Return of the Mother (album #12) (Mar. 28). Roy Harper (1941-), The Green Man (album #20). Emmylou Harris (1947-), Red Dirt Girl (album). P.J. Harvey (1969-), Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea (album #6) (Oct. 23) (#42 in the U.S., #23 in the U.K.); incl. This Is Love, Good Fortune, This Mess We're In (w/Thom Yorke), A Place Called Home, One Line, Beautiful Feeling. Jeff Healey (1966-2008), Get Me Some (album). Her Space Holiday, Home Is Where You Hang Yourelf (album). Janis Ian (1951-), God and the FBI (album); how the feds bugged her Jewish leftist parents. David Ippolito, It's Just Us (album #4). Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), A is for Allah (album). LL Cool J (1968-), G.O.A.T. (album) ("greatest of all time"); incl. Back Where I Belong (featuring Ja Rule). Pearl Jam, Binaural (album #6) (May 16) (#2 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.), incl. Nothing As It Seems (#49 in the U.S., #22 in the U.K.). Jamelia (1981-), Drama (album) (debut) (June 26); incl. I Do, Money (first top-5 U.K.hit), Boy Next Door. Jay-Z (1969-), The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (album #5) (Oct. 31); sells 2M copies; incl. I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me, Change the Game (with Beanie Sigel and Memphis Bleek). We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Last Place You'll Look (EP); incl. A Far Cry, The Walls Are Wearing Thin. Elton John (1947-), The Round to El Dorado Soundtrack (album) (Mar. 14); Elton John One Night Only - The Greatest Hits (album) (Nov. 21). Bon Jovi, Crush (album #7) (June 13) (#9 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (11M copies worldwide); incl. It's My Life, Say It Isn't So, Thank You for Loving Me. Juanes (1972-), Fijate Bien (album) (debut). R. Kelly (1967-), TP-2.com (album #4) (Nov. 7) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. The Greatest Sex, Strip for You, I Wish, Fiesta (w/Jay-Z), Feelin' On Your Booty. Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele (album) (Jan.). Diana Krall (1964-), When I Look in Your Eyes (album). Chiaki Kuriyama (1984-), Meteor's Tears (Ryuusei no Namida). Barenaked Ladies, Maroon (album #5) (Sept. 12) (#5 in the U.S., #1 in Canada); incl. Pinch Me (#15 in the U.S.), Too Little Too Late (#86 in the U.S.), Falling for the First Time. k.d. lang (1961-), Invincible Summer (album #4) (June 20). Ludacris (1977-), Incognegro (album) (debut); sells 50K copies from the trunk of his car; Back for the First Time (album) (Oct. 17) (#4 in the U.S. (3.1M copies); incl. What's Your Fantasy (w/Shawnna), Southern Hospitality (w/Pharrell). Rage Against the Machine, Renegades (album #4) (last) (Dec. 5). Madonna (1958-), Music (album #8) (Sept. 19) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (15M copies); incl. Music, Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like for Girl. Iron Maiden, Brave New World (album #12) (May 30); lead singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith return; incl. The Wicker Man, Out of the Silent Planet. Miriam Makeba (1932-), Homeland (album). Marilyn Manson, Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (album #4) (Nov. 14); flops initially because it is meant as a reply to being blamed for the Apr. 20, 1999 Columbine H.S. Massacre, then goes on to sell 9M copies; incl. Disposable Teens, The Fight Song, The Nobodies. Bruno Mars (1985-), Doo-Wops & Hooligans (album) (debut) (Oct. 4); incl. Just the Way You Are (#1 in the U.S.), Grenade (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.), The Lazy Song. Ricky Martin (1971-), Sound Loaded (album #6) (Nov. 14) (8M copies); incl. Nobody Wants to Be Lonely, She Bangs; Chinese-Am. college student William Hung (1983-) performs it off-key on Am. Idol's 3rd season in early 2004, and is so bad he's good, becoming a cult hero. Paul McCartney (1942-), Liverpool Sound Collage (album) (Aug. 21); incl. Free Now (w/Super Furry Animals). Tim McGraw (1967-), Greatest Hits (album); sells 6M copies. Baha Men, Who Let the Dogs Out? (July 25) (#40 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); becomes popular for sporting events. Kylie Minogue (1968-), Light Years (album #7) (Sept. 25) (#2 in the U.K., #1 in Australia); incl. Spinning Around, On a Night Like This, Please Stay, Your Disco Needs You. Joni Mitchell (1943-), Both Sides Now (album #17) (Feb. 8). Van Morrison (1945-), The Skiffle Sessions - Live in Belfast 1998 (album) (Jan. 18); You Win Again (album #28) (Oct. 3). Motorhead, We Are Motorhead (Motörhead) (album #15) (May 16); incl. God Save the Queen (by the Sex Pistols). Modest Mouse, Building Nothing Out of Something (album) (Jan. 18); The Moon & Antarctica (album #3) (June 13) (#120 in the U.S.); title from the film "Blade Runner"; incl. Third Planet, Gravity Rides Everything, Dark Center of the Universe. Dropkick Murphy and The Business, Mob Mentality (album) (May 9). Anne Murray (1945-), What a Wonderful World. Vomito Negro, Musical Art Conjunct of Sound (album #12). Nelly (1974-), Country Grammar (album) (debut) (June 27) (#3 in the U.S.) (8.5M copies); incl. Country Grammar (Hot Shit) (#7 in the U.S.), E.I., Ride Wit Me (w/St. Lunatics) (#3 in the U.S.), Batter Up (w/St. Lunatics). The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic (album) (debut) (Nov. 21); from Vancouver, B.C., incl. Blaine Thurier, Todd Fancey, Neko Case, Carl Newman, Kurt Dahle, Kahtryn Calder, and John Collins; incl. Mass Romantic, Letter from an Occupant. Nickelback, The State (album #2) (Mar. 7) (1M copies); incl. Leader of Men, Old Enough, Breathe, Worthy to Say. Yannick Noah (1960-), Yannick Noah (album #2). Nonpoint, Statement (album) (debut) (Oct. 10) (#166 in the U.S.) (released by MCA Records); from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., incl. Elias Soriano (vocals), KB (bass), Zach Broderick (guitar), and Robb Rivera (drums); incl. Endure, What A Day. 'N Sync (*NSYNC), No Strings Attached (album #2) (Mar. 21); sells a record 1.1M copies in its first day and 2.41M copies in its 1st week, and goes on to sell over 100K copies a week for 26 straight weeks, causing Rolling Stone to call them "the biggest band in the world" next year; another V for boy band impresario Lou Pearlman of Backstreet Boys fame, and the end of the era of the "music hit"?; incl. No Strings Attached. Gary Numan (1958-), Pure (album #15) (Nov. 7). Laura Nyro (1947-97), Time and Love: The Essential Masters (album) (posth.) (Oct. 10); Live at Mountain Stage (album) (posth.) (Oct. 17). Oasis, Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (album #4) (Feb. 28) (#1 in the U.K.); incl. Go Let It Out, Who Feels Love?, Sunday Morning Call, Where Did It All Go Wrong?, Fuckin' in the Bushes. Indian Ocean, Kandisa (album #3) (Mar.); their breakthrough album; incl. Kandisa, Khajuraho, Kaun. Sinead O'Connor (1966-), Faith and Courage (album #5) (June 13). Blue October, Consent to Treatment (album #2) (Aug. 15); incl. Retarded Disfigured Clown. The Offspring, Conspiracy of One (album #6) (Nov. 14); incl. Want You Bad. Midnight Oil, The Real Thing (album) (July 8); incl. The Real Thing. OutKast, Stankonia (album). Pantera, Reinventing the Steel (album #9) (Mar. 14) (#4 ini the U.S.); incl. Revolution Is My Name (#28 in the U.S.), Goddamn Electric, I'll Cast a Shadow. Linkin Park, Hybrid Theory (album) (debut) (Oct. 24) (#2 in the U.S.) (10M copies) (best-selling album of the decade); from Agoura Hills, Calif., incl. Chester Charles Bennington (1976-2017) (vocals), Michael Kenji "Mike" Shinoda (1977-), Bradford Phillip "Brad" Delson (1977-), Joseph "Joe" "Mr." Hahn (1977-) (turntables), Rob Bourson, Dave "Phoenix" Farrell, and Mark Wakefield; incl. Crawling, One Step Closer, Paper Cut, In the End. Black Eyed Peas, Bridging the Gap (album #2) (Sept. 26); incl. Request Line (with Macy gray). Phoenix, United (album) (debut) (June 8); from Versailles, France, incl. Thomas Mars, Deck D'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai, and Laurent Brancowitz; incl. Too Young. Pink (P!ink) (Alecia Beth Moore) (1979-), Can't Take Me Home (album) (debut) (Apr. 4) (#26 in the U.S.) (5M copies); incl. There You Go, Most Girls, You Make Me Sick. Placebo, Black Market Music (album #3) (Oct. 9); incl. Taste in Men, Slave to the Wage, Special K, Black-Eyed, Blue American. The Posies, In Case You Don't Feel Like Plugging In (album); At Least, At Last (album). Insane Clown Posse, Bizzar (album) (Oct. 31); Bizaar (album) (Oct. 31). Manic Street Preachers, The Masses Against the Classes (Jan. 10) (#1 in the U.K.). Dead Prez, Hip Hop. Radiohead, Kid A (album #4) (Oct. 2) (#1 in the U.S.). (Rolling Stone Mag. #1 album of the decade); incl. The National Anthem, Optimistic, Idioteque. Gerry Rafferty (1947-2011), Another World (album #9). Raspberries, Refreshed (album #5); first album since 1974. Ratt, Infestation (Apr. 20) (#30 in the U.S.); first album since 1999; first with guitarist Carlos Cavazo (1957-); incl. Best Of Me, Eat Me Up Alive. Juno Reactor, Shango (album #5) (Oct. 9); incl. Pistolero, Masters of the Universe. Lou Reed (1942-), Ecstasy (album #18) (Apr. 4); incl. Ecstasy; Paranoia Key of E. Lionel Richie (1949-), Renaissance (album #6) (Oct. 16). Kid Rock (1971-), History of Rock (album). Kenny Rogers (1938-2020), Buy Me a Rose; #1 selling country song by a singer over age 60 since 1944. Sade (1959-), Lovers Rock (album #5) (Nov. 14) (#3 in the U.S., #28 in the U.K. (4M copies); incl. By Your Side, King of Sorrow. Pharoah Sanders (1940-), Spirits (album). Scorpions, Moment of Glory (album #12) (Aug. 29); they play with the Berlin Philharmonic; incl. Moment of Glory (official anthem of EXPO 2000). Primal Scream, XTRMNTR (album #6) (Jan. 31); incl. Kill All Hippies, Swastika Eyes. Belle and Sebastian, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (album #4) (June 6). Pete Seeger (1919-2014), American Folk, Game and Activity Songs (album). Shaggy (1968-), Hot Shot (album); incl. It Wasn't Me (with RikRok); Angel (with Rayvon). Carly Simon (1945-), The Bedroom Tapes (album) (May 16). Paul Simon (1941-), You're the One. Sissel, All Good Things (album) (Nov.). Lynyrd Skynyrd, Christmas Time Again (album #10). Sleater-Kinney, All Hands on the Bad One (album #5) (May 2); incl. All Hands on the Bad One. Fatboy Slim (1963-), Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars (album #3) (Nov. 6); title from the Oscar Wilde quote "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" by Lady Darlington in "Lady Windemere's Fan"; incl. Weapon of Choice (video stars Christopher Walken), Talking 'bout My Baby, Star 69 ("They know what is what, but they don't know what is what, they just strut, what the fuck?"), Sunset (Bird of Prey), Ya Mama. Patti Smith (1946-), Gung Ho (album #8) (Mar. 21); incl. Glitter in Their Eyes, New Party (official song for the 2000 Ralph Nader pres. campaign). Black Label Society, Stronger Than Death (album #2) (Apr. 18); incl. Counterfeit God. Collective Soul, Blender (album #5) (Oct. 10) (#22 in the U.S.); last with Atlantic Records; incl. Why, Pt. 2. Britney Spears (1981-), Oops!... I Did It Again (album). Jimmie Spheeris (1949-84), Spheeris (album) (posth.); finished hours before he was killed by a drunk driver in Santa Monica, Calif. Lewis Spratlan, Life is a Dream, Opera in Three Acts: Act II, Concert Version (Pulitzer Prize). Status Quo, Under the Influence (album #24) (Apr.). Steps, Buzz (album #3) (Oct. 25) (#4 in the U.K.); incl. Stomp (#1 in the U.K.), It's the Way You Make Me Feel (#2 in the U.K.). Ray Stevens (1939-), Osama - Yo' Mama (album); incl. Osama - Yo' Mama. Al Stewart (1945-), Down in the Cellar (album #16); about wine. Stratovarius, Infinite (album #8) (Feb. 28); incl. Hunting High and Low, A Million Light Years Away; 14 Diamonds (album) Sept. 19). The White Stripes, De Stijl (album #2) (June 20); incl. Hello Operator, Death Letter. Sugarbabes, One Touch (album) (debut) (Nov. 27) (#26 in the U.K.); from England, incl. Siobhan Emma Donaghy (1984-) (leaves in Aug. 2001), Mutya Buena (1985-) (leaves in Dec. 2005), and Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan (1984-) (leaves in Sept. 2009); eventually changes to Heidi India Range (1983-), Amelle Berrabah (1984-), and Jade Almarie Louise Ewen (1988-); incl. Overload (#6 in the U.K.), New Year, Run for Cover, Soul Sound. Within Temptation, Mother Earth (album #2) (Dec. 4); incl. Mother Earth, Our Farewell, Ice Queen, Never-Ending Story. Suicidal Tendencies, Free Your Soul and Save My Mind (album #8) (Sept. 12); incl. Pop Songs. Therion, Deggial (album #12) (Jan. 31); incl. Eternal Return; The Early Chapters of Revelation (3-CD set) (Nov. 27). Melanie Thornton (1967-2001), Love How You Love Me (Nov. 6). Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, BTNHResurrection (album #4) (Feb. 29); incl. Resurrection (Paper, Paper), Change the World. TLC, FanMail (album). Randy Travis (1959-), Inspirational Journey (album). Matchbox Twenty, Mad Season (album #2) (May 23) (#3 in the U.S., #31 in the U.K.)); incl. Mad Season, Bent (#1 in the U.S.), If You're Gone (#4 in the U.S.). U2, All That You Can't Leave Behind (album #10) (Oct. 30) (#3 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (12M copies); incl. Beautiful Day, Walk On, Elevation, Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of. Six Feet Under, Graveyard Classics (album) (Oct. 24); incl. TNT (by AC/DC). Various Artists, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack (Dec. 5) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.) (7.8M copies); produced by T-Bone Burnett; features Harry McClintock, Norman Blake, Emmylou Harris, John Hartford, the Stanley Brothers, the Fairfield Four, Alison Krauss et al., rekindling interest in bluegrass; incl. O Death by Dr. Ralph Stanley, I'll Fly Away by Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch, and Man of Constant Sorrow and Keep on the Sunny Side by The Whites, winning 2001 Grammy album of the year. Wallflowers, Breach (album) (Oct. 10); incl. Sleepwalker, Letters from the Wasteland, Hand Me Down, Babybird. Westlife, Coast to Coast (album #2) (Nov. 6) (#1 in the U.K.) (1.5M copies in the U.K.); incl. Against All Odds (by Phil Collins) (w/Mariah Carey) (#1 in the U.K.), My Love (#1 in the U.K.), What Makes A Man (#2 in the U.K.). Whigfield (1970-), Whigfield III (album #3). Wilco, Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II (album) (May 30). Wisin and Yandel, Los Reyes del Nuevo Milenio (album) (debut) (July 18); from Puerto Rico, incl. Yandel (Llandel Veguilla Malave Salazar) (1977-) and Wisin (Juan Luis Morena Luna) (1978). Wu-Tang Clan, The W (album #3) (Nov. 21) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Gravel Pit. XTC, Wasp Star (Apple Venus Volume 2) (album #13) (last album) (May 23). Trisha Yearwood (1964-), Real Live Woman (album). Lil' Zane (1982-), Young World: The Future (album) (debut) (Aug. 22); incl. Callin' Me (w/112). Movies: Allan A. Goldstein's 2001: A Space Travesty (Oct. 31) stars Leslie Nielsen as Marshal Richard "Dick" Dixon, who travels to Moon Base Vegan to investigate the cloning of the U.S. pres. Alexander Payne's About Schmidt (Dec. 13), based on the 1996 novel by Louis Begley stars Jack Nicholson as insurance actuary Warren R. Schmidt, in Omaha, Neb., who retires and decides to sponsor foster child Ndugu Umbo in Tanzania while his own life fades to black. Spike Jonze's Adaptation (Dec. 6), based on the 1998 nonfiction book "The Orchid Thief" by Susan Orlean stars Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, and Chris Cooper in a yarn about a S Fla. orchid fanatic who tries to clone the rare orchid Ghost Orchid and write a Hollywood script about it. Des McAnuff's The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (June 30) stars Jason Alexander, Rene Russo, and Robert De Niro lamely attempting to bring back the lame cartoon TV show. Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous (Sept. 13) (Columbia Pictures) stars Patrick Fugit (1982-) as 15-y.-o. William Miller, who gets to accompany rock band Stllwater and write a story for Rolling Stone mag.; also stars Billy Crudup (as Russell Hammond), Frances McDormand (as Elaine Miller), and Kate Hudson (as Penny Lane), who marries almost-famous Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes; f irst drama to have an authorized Led Zeppelin tune on its soundtrack after comedy "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982); best film of 2000 according to Roger Ebert; does $47M box office on a $60M budget. Mary Harron's American Psycho (Jan. 21) (Lionsgate Films), based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel stars Welsh-born English actor Christian Bale as New York City investment banking exec and psycho axe murderer Patrick Bateman, and Reese Witherspoon as his babe Evelyn Williams; "I am simply not there"; does $34.3M box office on a $7M budget. Noreaga Productions' The Arrivals is a multi-part flick by Muslims who try to prove that all prophets incl. Jesus (Isa) and especially Muhammad are from God and that Jesus Christ will return to help the Mahdi (Muslim Messiah) save true Muslims from the Antichrist Dajjal, along with evil Zionism and its Illuminati system, while the deceived Christians will call the Mahdi the Antichrist and fight him - can't wait until it happens for real, not? Chris D'Arienzo's Barry Munday (Mar. 13), based on the novel "Life is a Strange Place" by Frank Turner Hollon stars Patrick Wilson, who has his testicles removed after an attack and then finds himself accused of knocking up Jennifer Farley (Chloe Sevigny), whom he can't remember sleeping with; Judy Greer plays Jennifer's polar opposite sister Ginger. Roger Christian's Battlefield Earth (May 12), based on the 1982 L. Ron Hubbard novel is a Dutch angle stinker starring John Travolta as Terl the Psychlo, Barry Pepper as human Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, and Forest Whitaker as Psychlo Ker; grosses $29.7M on a $44M budget; "One of the worst films ever made." Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale (Dec. 16) (Toei Co.) debuts, based on the 1996 novel by Koushun Takami is about a future Japan called the Repub. of Greater East Asia where each h.s. class is forced to bloodily fight to the last student, popularizing the term "battle royale"; banned in several countries, making it more popular?; makes a fan of Quentin Tarantino; does $26M box office on a $4.5M budget; followed by "Battle Royale II: Requiem" (2003). Danny Boyle's The Beach (Feb. 11), based on the 1996 novel by Alex Garland stars Leonardo DiCaprio as 24-y.-o. Am. man Richard, who obtains a map of a paradise in the Gulf of Thailand, and finds it, only to discover that it has mucho problems incl. sharks and AK-47-toting native marijuana farmers; Tilda Swinton plays leader Sal; does $144.1M box office on a $50M budget. Julian Schnabel's Before Night Falls (Jan. 26) stars Javier Bardem as Cuban poet Reinaldo Renas (1943-90). Christopher Guest's Best in Show (Sept. 29). is a mockumentary about a top dog show. Ben Younger's Boiler Room stars Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck et al. in a flick about high-pressure telephone con artists. Robert Iscove's Boys and Girls (June 16) (Miramax Films) stars Claire Forlani as Jennifer Burrows, and Freddie Prince Jr. as Ryan Walker, who meet at age 12, then again later in life, falling in love; "Opposites attack"; does $25.8M box office on a $35M budget. Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away (Dec. 22) (ImageMovers) (Playtone) (20th Cent. Fox) (DreamWorks Pictures), filmed on Monuriki Island in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji stars Tom Hanks as marooned FedEx employee Chuck Noland, who plays Robinson Crusoe with a volleyball named Wilson for 1.5K days, then returns to the civilized world to find his wife Kelly Frears (Helen Hunt) married to another man; brings in $429.6M worldwide on a $90M budget; #2 movie of 2000 ($234M U.S. and $429.6M worldwide box office on a $90M budget). Lasse Hallstrom's Chocolat (Jan. 5) (Miramax Films), based on the 1999 Joanne Harris novel stars Juliette Binoche as young single mother Vianna Richer in the French village of Lansquenet-sous-Tannes, who opens La Chocolaterie Maya during Lent, pissing-off the mayor Comte de Reynaud (Alfred Molina); also stars Victoire Thivisol as Vianne's daughter Anouk, Judi Dench as Armande Voizin, Carrie-Anne Moss as Armande's daughtger Caroline Clairmont, Lena Olin as Josephine, and Johnny Depp as Traveller Roux; does $152.7M box office on a $25M budget. Rod Lurie's The Contender (Oct. 13) (DreamWorks) is a political drama starring Jeff Bridges as Dem. U.S. Pres. jackson Evans, Christian Slater as Dem. Del. Rep. Reginald Webster, Gary Oldman as Repub. Ill. Rep. Sheldon Runyon, Joan Allen as Repub.-turned-Dem. Ohio Sen. Laine Billings Hanson, who's been nominated for vice-pres. to break the glass ceiling; "Sometimes you can assassinate a leader without firing a shot." David McNally's Coyote Ugly (Aug. 4) (Touchstone Pictures), produced by Jerry Bruckheimer based on the 1997 Elizabeth M. Gilbert story stars Piper Perabo as cute innocent struggling songwriter Violet "Jersey" Sanford, who makes ends meet at the Coyote Ugly stripper saloon while trying to fool her daddy Billene (John Goodman) and courting Aussie hunk Kevin O'Donnell (Adam Garcia); Tyra Banks plays Zoe; Maria Bello plays owner Lil; Izabello Miko plays Cammie; does $114M box office on a $45M budget. Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo Hu Cang Long) (July 6) (Production Asia) (Sony Pictures) stars Yun-Fat Chow (Taiwan) and Michelle Yeoh (Malaysia), and introduces Beijing-born Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi (1979-) on wires; it goes on to become the top-grossing foreign language film to date ($213.5M on a $17M budget); Zhang later approaches Steven Spielberg about starring in his "Memoirs of a Geisha", giving him the only line in English she knew: "Hire me!" Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (May 17) (Angel Films) stars Icelandic singer Bjork as blind Czech immigrant to Wash. State Selma Jezkova, who is convicted of murder and sings in the gallows, Catherine Deneuve as her friend Kathy Cvalda (Czech. "chubby"), Peter Stormae as her beau Jeff, David Morse as town policeman Bill Houston, and Cara Seymour as his wife Linda; Joel Grey plays Oldrich Novy; Siobhan Fallon plays prison guard Brenda; does $45.6M box office on a $12.5M budget. Steven Soderbergh's Erin Brockovich (Mar. 17) (Universal Pictures) stars Julia Roberts as a govt. whistleblower who "brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees" by helping atty. Edward L. Masry (Albert Finney) sue Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) (Poison the Ground and Evade Justice?) in Hinkley, Calif. and win a record judgment; does $256M box office on a $51M budget; her first Oscar nod was for "Steel Magnolias", but who remembers?; "I just went out there and performed sexual favors. Six hundred and thirty-four blow jobs in five days. I'm really quite tired." James Wong's Final Destination (Mar. 17) (Hard Eight Pictures) (New Line Cinema) debuts, starring Devon Sawa as h.s. student Alex Browning, who boards Volee Airlines Flight 180 with his classmates for a senior trip to Paris, and is plagued by premonitions that the plane will explode in mid-air and kill everybody aboard, starting a fight that gets him and several others removed before takeoff, after which the plane explodes on takeoff, killing all remaining passengers, causing the FBI to suspect Alex; meanwhile the survivors all meet their deaths so that Death can even the score; does $112.9M box office on a $23M budget, spawning sequels incl. "Final Destination 2" (2003), "Final Destination 3" (2006), "The Final Destination" (2009), and "Final Destination 5" (2011). Gus Van Sant's Finding Forrester (Dec. 19) stars Sean Connery as William Forrester, a famous writer who takes black writing talent Rob Brown (Jamal Wallace) under his wing to assuage white guilt? Ridley Scott's Gladiator (May 5), based on the 1958 Daniel P. Mannix novel "Those About to Die" stars Russell Crowe as Roman Gen. Maximus Decimus Meridius, who is on the wrong side after Marcus Arelius dies in 180 C.E., ends up a lowly gladiator, and overcomes his chicken limbs to outfight every gladiator in Rome incl. a chained tiger, while emperor Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) quakes in his purple toga, waiting for the inevitable overthrow attempt while doing what emperors do; #2 movie of 2000 ($216M U.S. and $460.5M global box office on a $103M budget); Connie Nielsen plays Commodus' scheming sister Lucilla, whom he has the hots for; animal trainer Randy Miller (1965-) wins the first-ever World Stunt Academy Award for his work with the "ferocious tigers" as Crowe's stunt double; too bad, on Apr. 22, 2008 his cousin Stephan Miller (1969-2008) is mauled to death by 700-lb. grizzly bear Rocky. James Ivory's and Ismail Merchant's The Golden Bowl (Sept. 13) (Lionsgate), based on the 1904 Henry James novel stars Jeremy Northam as Italian Prince Amerigo, who marries Maggie (Kate Beckinsale), daughter of U.S. billionaire Adam Verver (Nick Nolte), even though he really wants poor looker Charlotte Stant (Uma Thurman), but is hooked up by Maggie with her daddy; James Fox plays English col. Bob Assingham, and Anjelica Huston plays Fanny Assingham; does $5.7M box office on a $15M budget - meet Bob and Fanny Assingham? Dominic Sena's Gone in Sixty Seconds (June 9) stars Nicolas Cage as L.A. car thief Memphis Raines, who must steal 50 exotic cars in one night to save his brother Kip (Giovanni Ribisi) from Russian mob boss Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston); also stars T.J. Cross as Mirror Man, and Angelina Jolie as Sara "Sway" Wayland; features the Moby song Flower ("Bring sally up/ And bring sally down/ Lift and squat/ Gotta tear the ground"). Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (Jan. 24), based on the Shakespeare play set in the modern surveillance society stars Ethan Hawke as film student Hamlet, Kyle MacLachlan as Denmark Corp. CEO Claudius, and Julia Stiles as Ophelia; does $2M box office. Stephen Frears' High Fidelity (Mar. 31) stars John Cusack as Rob, a record store owner who recounts his top five breakups. Paul Verhoeven's Hollow Man (Aug. 4) (Columbia Pictures), based on the 1897 H.G. Wells novel "The Invisible Man" stars Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Cane, a scientist who uses his serum to become invisible then slowly goes insane; also stars Elisabeth Shue as Dr. Linda McKay, and Josh Brolin as Dr. Matthew "Matt" Kensington; does $190.2M box office on a $95M budget. Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Nov. 8) (Imagine Entertainment) (Universal Pictures), based on the 1957 Dr. Seuss children's book and narrated by Anthony Hopkins stars Jim Carrey as the Grinch, Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who, and Jeffrey Tambor as Mayor Augustus May Who; Josh Ryan Evans plays the boy Grinch; does $345.1M box office on a $123M budget (#6 film of 2000). Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha's Ice Age (Mar. 15) is an animated flick set in 16K B.C.E., when animals could talk but humans couldn't; features the voices of John Leguizamo as Sid, Denis Leary as Diego, and Jack Black as Zeke. Hugh Hudson's I Dreamed of Africa (May 5), based on the book by Kuki Gallmann stars Kim Basinger as Kuki Gallmann, who survives a car crash, marries Paolo Gallmann (Vincent Perez), and moves to Kenya to start a cattle ranch, then leaves her alone for long periods to hunt and fish so she can face storms, lions, snakes, poachers and African tribes. Robert Redford's The Legend of Bagger Vance (Nov. 3), based on the 1995 book by Steven Pressfield stars Matt Damon as local Savannah, Ga. golf hero Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon), who got messed up by WWI and lost his babe Adele Invergorden (Charlize Theron), until the Depression causes her to arrange a 1931 money match with him, Walter Hagen (Bruce Gill), and Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch); too bad, he's lost his game, until mysterious caddy Bagger Vance (Will Smith) shows up; Jack Lemmon's final film; the whole thing is really about the Bhagavad Gita, with Vance as Bhagavan and Damon as Arunja? Volker Schlondorff's The Legend of Rita (Sept. 14) (Die Stille nach dem Schuss) stars Bibiana Beglau as a radical West German terrorist who tries to quit and settle in East Germany. Steven Brill's Little Nicky (Nov. 10) is an Adam Sandler vehicle, playing one of the three sons of Satan (Harvey Keitel) while accompanied by a talking bulldog and falling for mortal Patricia Arquette - snow's anywhere it's high? Amy Heckerling's Loser (July 21) stars Jason Biggs as a you know what, who gets the girl Dora Diamond (Mena Suvari). Gina Prince-Blythewood's Love & Basketball (Apr. 21), produced by Spike Lee is her dir. debut. Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis' Love, Honour and Obey (Apr. 7) stars Johnny Lee Miller as a courier who asks his school friend Jude Law to help get him into the North London mob run by his uncle Ray Winstone, and ends up in a war with the South London mob. Sally Potter's The Man Who Cried (Sept. 22) stars Christina Ricci, who travels from Russia to the U.S. in search of her lost father Oleg Yankovsky, and falls for a gypsy on horseback. Robert De Niro's Meet the Parents (Oct. 6) stars Ben Stiller as male nurse Gaylord "Greg" Focker, who has to get through his fiance Dina's (Blythe Danner) nutty parents to marry her, esp. Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro); they get around censors by proving that there are really people named Focker in the phone book?; #7 movie of 2000 ($166M). Christopher Nolan's Memento (Oct. 11), based on the story "Memento Mori" by his brother Jonathan Nolan begins at the end and tells the story of Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) backwards, about a hunt for the man who killed his wife Natalie (Carrie-Anne Moss) by a man who can't remember things so he writes them on his skin. The Farrelly Brothers' Me, Myself & Irene (June 23) stars Jim Carrey as nice guy cop Charlie Baileygates with a bad multiple personality disorder that turns him into Hank Evans; Renee Zellweger stars as his babe Irne P. Waters; Tony Cox stars as a hilarious black midget limo driver with a genius IQ. George Tillman Jr.'s Men of Honor (Nov. 10) tells the true story of Carl Brashear, the U.S. Navy's first black master diver in 1949, who has to get through Master Chief Sunday (Robert De Niro), who suprisingly turns into his best friend and advocate in a racist-but-forced-to-reform org. Donald Petrie's Miss Congeniality (Dec. 22) is a Sandra Bullock vehicle, as tomboy FBI agent Gracie Hart, who turns Eliza Doolittle with Michael Caine to go undercover at a beauty pageant, where dir. Candice Bergen and over-the-hill self-parodying TV host William Shatner provide a fakey conspiracy plot while she gets the guy, fellow FBI agent Benjamin Bratt; "Unpolished. Unkempt. Unleashed. Undercover." John Woo's Mission: Impossible II (M:i-2) (May 24) stars Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt again; #3 movie of 2000 ($215M). Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars (Mar. 10) stars Gary Sinise, Tom Robbins, Don Cheadle, Jerry O'Connell, and Connie Nielsen, who have a bad trip there followed by an alien-boosted one back. Joel Coen's and Ethan Coen's O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Dec. 22) (Touchstone Pictures), based on Homer's poem "The Odyssey", set in 1937 Mississippi and satirizing the 1941 Preston Sturges flick "Sullivan's Travels" stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson as escaped chained cons Everett Ulysses McGill, Pete Hogwallop, and Delmar O'Donnell, who are looking for a buried $1.2M bank heist loot before a flood washes it away, while singing with the Soggy Bottom Boys; John Goodman plays 1-eyed Bible salesman Daniel "Big Dan" Teague (Polyphemus), and Holly Hunter plays Penny (Penelope). Roland Emmerich's The Patriot (June 28) (Columbia Pictures) stars Mel Gibson as S.C. farmer Benjamin Martin, who votes against S.C. joining the Am. Rev. only to see his son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) join the Am. rebels, bringing mean British Col. William Tavington (Jason Isaacs) down on him hard enough to turn rebel himself, becoming known as the Ghost; Heath Ledger plays Martin's eldest son Gabriel; Joely Richardson plays his sister-in-law Charlotte; Tom Wilkinson plays Lord Cornwallis; Adam plays loyalist Capt. James Wilkins; Rene Auberjonois plays Rev. Oliver; does $215.3M box office on a $110M budget. Wolfgang Petersen's The Perfect Storm (June 30), based on the book by Sebastian Junger about the fall 1991 North Atlantic incident with the Andrea Gail stars George Clooney as Bill Tyne, Mark Wahlberg as Bobby Shatford, Diane Lane as Christina Cotter, and John C. Reilly as Dale "Murph" Murphy; #6 movie of 2000 ($183M). David Twohy's Pitch Black (Feb. 18) (Gramercy Pictures) stars Vin Diesel as dangerous con Richard B. Riddick, whose prison spaceship crashes on a desert planet, allowing him to escape until he sees the survivors attacked by alien creatures, causing him to turn hero; followed by "The Chronicles of Riddick" (2004); does $53.2M box office on a $23M budget. Steve Purcell's The Queens of Comedy (Jan. 27) stars Adele Givens, Laura Hayes, Mo'Nique and Sommore as black comedians playing themselves. Philip Kaufman's Quills (Dec. 15) stars Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade. Anthony Hoffman's Red Planet (Nov. 10) (Village Roadshow Pictures) (Warner Bros.) stars Carrie-Anne Moss as sex tease astronaut Cmdr. Kate Bowman going to terraforming Mars with Robby Gallagher (Val Kilmer), Lt. Ted Santen (Benjamin Bratt), Dr. Quinn Burchenal (Tom Sizemore), Dr. Bud Chantilas (Terence Stamp), and Chip Pettengil (Simon Baker), where a robot named AMEE goes badass on them and the lunatics take over the asylum; does $33.5M box office on an $80M budget. Howard Deutch's The Replacements (Aug. 11) (Warner Bros.), about replacement players during an NFL strike who only have to win 3 of 4 to go to the playoffs stars Keanu Reeves as QB Shane Falco, Gene Hackman as the coach Jimmy McGinty, and Brooke Langton (real-life cheerleader for the Washington Sentinels) as Falco's cheerleader babe Annabelle Farrell.; does $50.1M box office on a $50M budget. Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (May 14) (Thousand Words) (Protozoa Pictures) (Artisan Entertainment) , based on the 1978 novel by Hubert Selby Jr. stars Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connolly in an exploration of addiction; does $7.4M box office on a $4.5M budget; the first film by Thousands Words film co. William Friedkin's Rules of Engagement (Mar. 31) stars Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Hayes "Hodge" Hodges, who has to defend Marine Col. Terry L. Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) for ordering his troops to fire on civilians who stormed a U.S. embassy in some Muslim country, showing even Muslim girls wielding guns against infidels to make him look good. Keenen Ivory Wayans' Scary Movie (July 7) is a parady of 1990s films; #9 movie of 2000 ($157M in the U.S., grossing $278M worldwide on a $19M budget, becoming the highest-grossing film dir. by an African-Am. until ?; spawns sequels "Scary Movie 2" (2001) ("We lied"), "Scary Movie 3" (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006); "No mercy. No shame. No sequel." Jonathan Glazer's Sexy Beast (Sept. 13) (Film Four) (Fox Searchlight Pictures) star Ray Winstone as safecracker Gary "Gal" Dove, who is released from priz after nine years and moves to Spain with his new ex-ho wife DeeDee Dove (Amanda Redman) to enjoy the retired life, only to be followed by London underworld recruiter Don Logan (Ben Kingsley), who drags him back into the mess along with crime lord Teddy Bass (Ian McShane) and bisexual banker Harry (James Fox); does Ł31.76M box office on a Ł4.M budget; Glazer's dir. debut. Tom Dey's Shanhai Noon (May 26) (Touchstone Pictures) stars Jackie Chang as Chinese imperial guard Chon Wang (homophone of John Wayne), and Owen Wilson as Ray O'Bannon (Wyatt Earp) in a spoof of Am. Westerns and buddy cop films; filmed in Alberta, Canada; of does $99.3M box office on a $55M budget; Dey's dir. debut; followed by "Shanghai Knights" (2003), dir. by David Dobkin. Guy Ritchie's Snatch (Aug. 23) (SKA Films) (Columbia Pictures) (Screen Gems) is an attempt to channel Quentin Tarantino with a Cockney accent, complete with an intricate double plot featuring numerous ironic plot twists, starring Benicio del Toro as gambler-thief Franky "Four-Fingers", who steals an 86-carat diamond in Antwerp and goes to London to see fence Doug "the Head" on behalf of New York City gangster Abraham Denovitz (Dennis Farina); meanwhile boxing promoter Turkish talks gangster Brick Top into putting boxer Gorgeous George in a match with One Punch Mickey "Pikey" O'Neill (Brad Pitt), who is paid to throw the fight but KOs his opponent with one punch; also Rade Serbedzija as arms dealer Boris "the Blade" Yurinov, and Vinnie Jones as bounty hunter Bullet-Tooth Tony; "Now, dicks have drive and clarity of vision, but they are not clever. They smell pussy and they want a piece of the action. And you thought you smelled some good old pussy, and have brought your two little mincey faggot balls along for a good old time. But you've got your parties muddled up. There's no pussy here, just a dose that'll make you wish you were born a woman. Like a prick, you are having second thoughts. You are shrinking, and your two little balls are shrinking with you. And the fact that you've got 'Replica' written down the side of your guns"; does $83.6M box office on a $10M budget. Maggie Greenwald's Songcatcher (Jan. 25) (Lionsgate Pictures) stars Janet McTeer as early 1900s Am. musicologist Lily Penleric (based on folklorist Olive Dame Campbell), who visits the Appalachians to collect folk songs, hooking up with stud musician Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn); Steve Sutherland plays English folklorist Cecil Sharp; soundtrack features Fair and Tender Ladies by Rosanne Cash, Pretty Saro by Iris DeMent, Barbara Allen by Emmy Rossum, Barbara Allen by Emmylou Harris, Mary of the Wild Moor by Sara Evans, Wind and Rain by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and The Cuckoo Bird by Deana Carter, Conversation with Death by Hazel Dickens; does $3M box office on a $1.8M budget. Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys (Aug. 4) stars Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner as old fart NASA engineers called back for one last space mission to rescue an obsolete Russian satellite that only they can understand, after which it is revealed that they really don't but just want an excuse to go into space after their original astronaut hopes as part of Air Force project DAEDALUS were ruined in 1958 by the creation of NASA and its apenauts. Roger Donaldson's Thirteen Days (Dec. 25) (Beacon Pictures) (New Line Cinema), based on "The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis" by Ernest May and Philip Zelikow stars Bruce Greenwood as Pres. Kennedy, Steven Culp as his brother Bobby, Dylan Baker as U.S. defense secy. Robert McNamara, and Kevin Costner as JFK's political adviser Kenneth Patrick "Kenny" O'Donnell; does $66.6M box office on an $80M budget. Corey Yuen's The Transporter (Oct. 11) stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin, a man whose job is to deliver packages without asking questions. Andre van Heerden's Tribulation (Jan. 14) stars Gary Busey as cop Tom Canboro, Margot Kidder as his sister Eileen, Joseph Ziegler and as his brother Calvin, who experience the End of Days complete with Antichrist Franco Maclousso (Nick Mancuso); Howie Mandel plays Tom's crazy brother-in-law Jason Quincy. Anh Hung Tran's The Vertical Ray of Sun (May 24) is a plotless visual feast about the Vietnamese summer. Robert Zemeckis' What Lies Beneath (July 21) stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford as a couple with a haunted house on their hands. Nancy Meyers' What Women Want (Dec. 15) stars hunk Mel Gibson as ad agency star Nick Marshall, who has an accident that lets him magically read women's minds, and uses it to steal the ideas of his new boss Darcy McGuire (Helen Hunt) and have perfect sex with Lola (Marisa Tomei); Alan Alda plays Dan Wanamaker; Bette Midler plays Gibson's pot-smoking therapist, who utters the soundbyte "You know, Freud died at age 83 still asking one question: What do women want?"; #5 movie of 2000 ($183M on a $70M budget). Marek Kanievska's Where the Money Is (May 31) stars Paul Newman, Linda Fiorentino, and Dermot Mulroney in a plot about a mobster faking a stroke to get out of priz, being found out by the nurse and her hubby, and planning a heist with them. Kathryn Bigelow's The Weight of Water (Sept. 90 (Lions Gate Films), based on the 1997 Anita Shreve notel stars Catherine McCormack as newspaper photographer Jean Janes, Sean Penn as her poet hubby Thomas, Josh Lucas as his brother Rich, and Elizabeth Hurley as his teasing topless girlfriend Adaline, who take their yacht to Smuttynose Island in the Gulf of Maine to investigate the 1873 Smuttynose murders of two immigrant women by Louis Wagner (Ciaran Hands), and come upon the truth about lone survivor Maren Hontvedt (Sarah Polley); big bomb, doing only $322K box office on a $16M budget. Bryan Singer's X-Men (July 14), based on the Marvel Comics series about a world where there's two kinds of people, normal and mutant, stars Patrick Stewart as X-Men leader Prof. Charles Xavier, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, James Marsden as Cyclops, Halle Berry as Storm, Anna Paquin as Rogue, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Ian McKellen and Ray Park as bad guys Magneto and Toad; #8 movie of 2000 ($157M). James Gray's The Yards (Oct. 12) (Miramax Films), about the commuter rail yards in Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn where contractors sabotage each other's work for the Transit Authority stars Mark Wahlberg as new parolee Leo Handler, Ellen Burstyn as his mother Val, Charlize Theron as his cousin Erica, Joaquin Phoenix as her beau Willie Gutierrez, and James Caan as Erica' stepfather Frank Olchin does $889K box office on a $24M budget. Edward Yang's Yi Yi (A One and a Two) (Sept. 20) stars Wu Nienjen and Jonathan Chang as members of a family in Taipei who ask life's hard questions. Kenneth Lonergan's You Can Count on Me (Nov. 16) stars Laura Linney as a single mom living in the Catskills, Matthew Broderick as her beau, and Mark Ruffalo as her wayward half-brother, who helps her son Rudy (Rory Culkin) come to terms. Plays: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), The Mystery of Charles Dickens (first play). David Auburn (1970-), Proof (Walter Kerr Theatre, New York) (Oct. 24) (917 perf.) (Pulitzer Prize); stars Mary-Louise Parker, Ben Shankman, and Larry Bryggman in a play about math whizzes Robert Llewelyn, his daughter Catherine, and his ex-student Harold "Hal" Dobbs at the U. of Chicago chasing a revolutionary new proof about prime numbers; filmed in 2005. Alan Ayckbourn (1939-), Virtual Reality; Whenever. The Pet Shop Boys and Jonathon Harvey, Closer to Heaven (musical) (May 31) (Arts Theatre, London). Howard Brenton (1942-), Kit's Play (Jerwood Theatre). Howard Brenton (1942-) and Tariq Ali (1943-), Snogging Ken (Almeida Theatre). Charles Busch (1954-), The Tale of the Allergist's Wife (Ethel Barrymore Theater, New York) (Nov. 2); stars Linda Lavin, Tony Roberts, and Michele Lee. Caryl Churchill (1938-), Far Away (Nov. 30) (Donmar Theatre, London); Harper, Joan, and Todd. Timothy Findley (1930-2002), Elizabeth Rex (Stratford Festival, Canada); Queen Elizabeth I hooks up with actor Ned Lownscroft, who specializes in women's roles, with Liz uttering the gag-me-with-a-spoon soundbyte "If you will teach me how to be a woman, I'll teach you how to be a man"; stars Diane D'Aquila and Brent Carver. Maria Irene Fornes (1930-), Letters from Cuba. Michael Frayn (1933-), Plays: Three. Christopher Fry (1907-2005), A Ringing of Bells (last play) (Bedford Modern School). Pam Gems (1925-), Garibaldi, Si! Rebecca Gilman, Boy Gets Girl (Goodman Theatre, Chicago); a blind date turns into a nightmare. Simon Gray (1936-2008), Japes (Mercury Theatre, London). John Guare (1938-), Lydie Breeze (May 15) (New York); stars Elizabeth Marvel, Boris McGiver, Bill Camp, Matt Servito, and Joanna P. Adler. Stephen Adly Guirgis, Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train (New York); dir. by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Davie Hare (1947-), My Zinc Bed (Sept. 14) (Royal Court Theatre, London); stars Steven Mackintosh, Tom Wilkinson, and Julia Ormond in a play about drug addiction and the need for love. Beth Henley (1952-), Family Week. Dusty Hughes, Helpless (Donmare Warehouse, London) (Mar. 2); the landslide victory of Tony Blair in 1997. Elton John (1947-), David Henry Hwang (1957-), Tim Rice (1944-), Linda Woolverton, and Robert Falls (1954-), Aida (The Timeless Love Story) (musical) (Mar. 23) (Palace Theatre, New York) (1,852 perf.); based on the 1871 Verdi opera, and a children's storybook version by Leontyne Price, acquired by the Walt Disney Co. in 1994 and originally intended for an animated feature film; stars Heather Headley (1974-) as Aida, Adam Pascal as Radames, and Shere Rene Scott as Amneris; features the song Written in the Stars, sung by Elton John and LeAnn Rimes (#2 in the U.S.). Charlotte Jones, In Flame (Bush Theatre, London). Arthur Kopit (1937-), Y2K. James Lapine (1949-), The Moment When. Torgny Lindgren, Light (Oct. 31) (Almeida Theatre, London). David Lindsay-Abaire, Wonder of the World (Theatre Club, Manhattan); stars Sarah Jessica Parker as a wife who leaves her husband and takes a bus to Niagara Falls. Brian Lipson, A Large Attendance in the Antechamber (Melbourne); about English eugenics founder Francis Galton. David Mamet (1947-), State and Main; S&M? Donald Margulies, Dinner with Friends (Pulitzer Prize). Frank McGuinness (1953-), Greta Garbo Came to Donegal (Tricycle Thetre, London). Mark Medoff (1940-), Tommy J and Sallyh. Charles L. Mee, Big Love (Louisville, Ky.); based on Aeschylus' "The Supplicants". Jason Miller (1939-2001), Barrymore's Ghost. Gary Mitchell, Force of Change (Nov. 8) (Royal Court Theatre, London). Jimmy Murphy, The Kings of the Kilburn High Road (Garter Lane Theatre, Waterford, Ireland). Richard Nelson, Madame Melville (Vaudeville Theatre, London); student Carl (Macaulay Culkin) hooks with with teacher Claudie (Irene Jacob). Nick Nicholas and Andrew Strader, Hamlet Prince of Denmark: The Restored Klingon Version (Feb.); yes, Shakespeare reaches the Klingon Empire ;) Joe Penhall, Blue/Orange (Nat. Theatre, London) (Apr.); stars Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Austin Pendleton, Orson's Shadow (Steppenwolf Theate, Chicago) (Jan.); about Orson Welles; runs off-Broadway in 2005 for 349 perf. Harold Pinter (1930-2008), Remembrance of Things Past (Nat. Theatre, London) (Nov. 23); based on the 7-vol. Marcel Proust novel. Yasmina Reza, Conversations after a Burial (Sept. 13) (Almeida Theatre, London); stars Claire Bloom; trans. from the French by Christopher Hampton. Claudia Shear, Dirty Blonde (Helen Hayes Theater, New York) (May 1) (352 perf.); about Mae West. Donald R. Seawell brings the Royal Shakespeare Co.'s 10-hour epic Trojan War cycle Tantalus to Denver, Colo. with $8M of his own money, becoming the largest theater project in history; in 2002 Queen Elizabeth II confers the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire on him, and RSC pres. Prince Charles congratulates him. Judith Thompson, Perfect Pie (Tarragon Theatre, Toronto). Derek Walcott (1930-), Walker and the Ghost Dance. Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), Old Money (Nov. 9) (Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, New York); stars John Cullum, Mary Beth Hurt. Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948-) and Ben Elton, Beautiful Game (musical) (Cambridge Theatre, London) (Sept. 26). Guo Wejing, Diana Liao and Xu Ying, Poet Li Bai (opera) (July 6) (Central City Opera, Colo.); the Tang poet and his muse Poetry tussle with two competing muses who take on the bodily forms of Moon and Wine. Nick Whitby, To the Green Fields Beyond (Sept. 25) (Donmar Theatre, London); a WWI tank crew. Hugh Whitemore (1936-), God Only Knows (Nov.) (Vaudeville Theatre, London); stars Derek Jacobi. Timothy Williams and Andrew Sabiston (1965-), Napoleon the Musical (musical) (Shaftesbury Theatre, London) (Nov. 22). David Williamson (1942-), Up for Grabs; the sex-drenched dot com boomb internat. art market of the 1990s; the London West End version stars Madonna, guaranteeing a flop? August Wilson (1945-2005), Jitney (Sept. 19) (Union Square Theater, New York). David Henry Wilson (1937-), People in Cages. Lanford Wilson (1937-), Book of Days. Robert Wilson (1941-) and Tzimon Barto, Hot Water. Robert Wilson (1941-) and Lou Reed (1942-), POEtry. Poetry: John Ash (1948-), The Anatolikon. Andrei Codrescu (1946-), Selected Poetry. Billy Collins (1941-), Taking Off Emily Dickinson's Clothes. Stephen Dunn (1939-), Different Hours. George Fetherling (1949-), Madagasca. Jorie Graham (1950-), Swarm. Thom Gunn (1929-2004), Boss Cupid. Marilyn Hacker (1942-), Squares and Courtyards. Michael S. Harper (1938-), Songlinesin Michaeltree: New and Collected Poems. Seamus Heaney (1939-), Beowulf: A New Translation; modern retelling. Carolyn Kizer (1925-), Pro Femina. Bill Knott (1940-), Laugh at the End of the World: Collected Comic Poems 1969-1999. Ted Kooser (1939-), Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison. Stanley Jasspon Kunitz (1905-2006), Collected Poems; becomes U.S. poet laureate in Oct. Denise Levertov (1923-97), The Great Unknowing: Last Poems (posth.). Larry Levis (1946-96), The Selected Levis (posth.). Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004), To It. Mary Oliver (1935-), The Leaf and the Cloud: A Poem. Grace Paley (1922-2007), Begin Again: Collected Poems. Robert Pinsky (1940-), Jersey Rain. Stanley Plumly (1939-), Now That My Father Lies Down Beside Me: New and Selected Poems, 1970-2000. Kathleen Raine (1908-2003), Collected Poems. Sonia Sanchez (1934-), Shake Loose My Skin. Peter Dale Scott (1929-), Mending the Darkness: A Poem for the Year 2000. Dave Smith (1942-), The Wick of Memory: New and Selected Poems, 1970-2000. Gerald Stern (1925-), Last Blue. Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012), Moment. Henry S. Taylor (1942-), Brief Candles: 101 Clerihews. Donald Michael Thomas (1935-), Flight and Smoke. Judith Viorst (1931-), Suddenly Sixty; incl. "It's Harder to be Frisky Over Sixty". Derek Walcott (1930-), Tiepolo's Hound. Richard Wilbur (1921-2007), Mayflies: New Poems and Translations (Apr. 4); incl. "A Barred Owl", "At Moorditch"; "Crows' Nest", "The Pleasing, Anxious Being"; "For C." ("A passion joined to courtesy and art/ Which has the quality of something made/ Like a good fiddle, like the rose's scent,/ Like a rows window or the firmament"); Mayflies; "Watching those lifelong dancers of a day/ As night closed, I felt myself alone/ In a life too much my own./ More mortal in my separateness than they - / Unless, I thought, I had been called to be/ Not fly or star/ But one whose task is joyfully to see/ How fair the fiats of the caller are." Charles Kenneth Williams, Misgivings: My Father, My Mother, Myself. Charles Wright (1935-), Negative Blue. Jay Wright (1934-), Transfigurations: Collected Poems. Novels: Alice Adams (1926-99), After the War (posth.); 11th and last novel. Isabel Allende (1942-), Portrait in Sepia. Poul Anderson (1926-2001), Genesis. Kate Atkinson (1951-), Emotionally Weird. Margaret Atwood (1939-), The Blind Assassin (Booker Prize) (Hammett Prize); sisters Iris and Laura Chase of Southern Ont. and their sci-fi novelist friend Alex Thomas. Louis Auchincloss (1917-), Her Infinite Variety; a career woman in the early 20th cent. Trezza Azzopardi, The Hiding Place (first novel. Richard Bach (1936-), Out of My Mind. J.G. Ballard (1930-2009), Super-Cannes; sequel to "Cocaine Night" (1998). Super-Cannes. Melissa Bank, The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing; Jane Rosenthal. Russell Banks (1940-), The Angel on the Roof (short stories). Muriel Barbery (1969-), Une Gourmandise (first novel); English trans. "Gourmet Rhapsody" pub. in 2009. Julian Barnes (1946-), Love, Etc. Frederick Barthelme (1943-), The Law of Averages (short stories). Ann Beattie (1947-), Perfect Recall (short stories). Madison Smartt Bell, Master of the Crossroads; Toussaint L'Ouverture. Saul Bellow (1915-2005), Ravelstein; Abe Ravelstein AKA Allan Bloom. Wendell Berry (1934-), Jayber Crow. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Scarlet Feather. Marie-Claire Blais (1939-), The Exile and the Sacred Travellers. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), A Friend of the Earth. Barbara Taylor Bradford (1933-), Where You Belong. David Jay Brown, Virus: The Alien Strain (May 9); a kissing-transmitted hallucinogenic virus unleashed by twisted ETs. Dan Brown (1964-), Angels and Demons; about how the Illuminati are real and out ta getchya, introducing Harvard U. prof. Robert Langdon; filmed in 2009. Rita Mae Brown (1944-), Loose Lips; Outfoxed; Sister Jane Arnold and her fox hunting club in Va. James Lee Burke (1936-), Purple Cane Road. Augusten Burroughs (1965-), Sellevision (first novel). Robert Olen Butler (1945-), Mr. Spaceman. Meg Cabot (1967-), The Princess Diaries (Oct.); first in a series; Mia Thermopolis; filmed in 2001 by Garry Marshall. Paul Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang. John le Carre (1931-), The Constant Gardener. Michael Chabon (1963-), The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Pulitzer Prize). Tracy Chevalier (1962-), Girl with a Pearl Earring; the 1665 Rembrandt painting. Deepak Chopra (1946-), The Angel is Near. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Before I Say Good-Bye. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-) and Carol Higgins Clark (1956-), The Christmas Thief. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (1940-), Ghosts in the Street (Fantômes dans la Rue); about Renault. Paul Coelho (1947-), The Devil and Miss Prym. Jackie Collins (1937-), Lethal Seduction; Madison Castelli. Evan S. Connell Jr. (1924-), Deus Lo Volt. Robin Cook (1940-), Abduction. Catherine Cookson (1906-98), A House Divided; Rosie of the River (posth.). Stephen Coonts (1946-), Hong Kong; Rear Adm. Jake Grafton #8. Mitch Cullin (1968-), Branches (verse novel); Tideland. Claire Davis, Winter Range (first novel). Kate DiCamillo (1964-), Because of Winn-Dixie. E.L. Doctorow (1931-), City of God. Roddy Doyle (1958-), The Dead Republic; #3 in the Last Roundup Trilogy (begun 1999). David Ebershoff, The Danish Girl; about Lili Elbe, one of the first to undergo sex reassignment surgery, Danish girl Gerda Wegener, and her wife Greta Waud from Pasadena, Calif. filmed in 2015. Howard Fast (1914-2003), Greenwich. Penelope Fitzgerald (1916-2000), The Means of Escape (short stories). Ken Follett (1949-), Code to Zero. Nicolas Freeling (1927-2003), The Janeites. Esther Freud (1963-), The Wild. Cornelia Funke (1958-), The Thief Lord; NYT bestseller. Alan Furst (1941-), Kingdom of Shadows; Night Soldiers #6. Barry Gifford (1946-), Wyoming. Elizabeth M. Gilbert (1969-), Stern Men. Bee Season. Rebecca Goldstein (1950-), Properties of Light. Joe Gores (1931-), Stakeout on Page Street and Other DKA Files. Lauren Groff (1978-), The Monsters of Templeton (first novel). Jane Hamilton (1957-), Disobedience. Peter Handke (1942-), Crossing the Sierra de Gredos. Everette Lynn Harris (1955-2009), Abide With Me; Not a Day Goes By; Money Can't Buy Me Love. Jim Harrison (1937-), The Beast God Forgot to Invent. Ken Haruf, Where You Once Belonged. Joseph Heller (1923-99), Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man (posth.) (last novel); semi-autobio. novel about old fart writer Eugene Pota, who tries to write a final novel. George V. Higgins (1939-99), At End of Day (posth.). Alice Hoffman (1952-), The River King. Nick Hornby (ed.), Speaking with the Angel (short stories); proceeds donated to TreeHouse for autistic children in London. Michel Houellebecq (1958-), Lanzarote; Platform (Platforme). Josephine Humphreys (1945-), Nowhere Else on Earth. Raj Kamal Jha (1965-), The Blue Bedspread (first novel); brother-sister incest. Ha Jin (1956-), The Bridegroom (short stories). Molly Jong-Fast (1978-), Normal Girl (first novel); daughter of Erica Jong. Denis Johnson (1949-), The Name of the World. Kaylie Jones (1960-), Celeste Ascending (Apr.); Celeste deals with alcoholism. Ismail Kadare (1936-), Spring Flowers, Spring Frost. Thomas Keneally (1935-), Bettany's Book. Elias Khoury (1948-), Ra'ihat al-Sabun. Stephen King (1947-), Riding the Bullet (Mar. 14); The Plant (July). Matthew Kneale (1960-), English Passengers; in 1857 Rev. Geoffrey Wilson sets out for Tasmania to locate the Garden of Eden and prove Darwin's theory of evolution false - did you ever study Blackjack? Milan Kundera (1929-), Ignorance. Anne Lamott (1954-), Blue Shoe. Jeffrey Lent, In the Fall (first novel). Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), Pagan Babies. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), This Shape We're In. Yiyun Li, The Vagrants (first novel); 28-y.-o. counterrevolutionary Gu Shan is set for execution on Mar. 21, 1979. Mario Vargas Llosa (1936-), The Feast of the Goat. Steve Martin (1945-), Shopgirl (first novel) (Oct. 11); Vt.-raised Mirabelle Buttersfield sells expensive evening gloves at Nieman Marcus in Beverly Hill chases Seattle millionaire Ray Porter while being chased by slacker Jeremy; filmed in 2005. Armistead Jones Maupin Jr. (1944-), The Night Listener; roman a clef based about NYC gay radio host Gabriel Noone and an abused 14-y.-o. teenager, based on the real life story of Anthony Godby Johnson, author of the hoax book "A Rock and a Hard Place: One Boy's Triumphant Story"; filmed in 2006 starring Robin Williams. Colleen McCullough (1937-), Morgan's Run (Aug. 31); an English prisoner in an 18th cent. penal colony on Norfolk Island, Australia. Ian McEwan (1948-), Atonement; 13-y.-o. fledgling playwright Briony Tallis gets jealous of her older sister Cecilia and accuses her beau Robbie Turner of a crime he didn't commit, messing up all their lives; filmed in 2007. Larry McMurtry (1936-), Boone's Lick. Stanley Middleton (1919-2009), Small Change. Elsa Morante (1912-85), Forgotten Stories (posth.). David Morrell (1943-), Burnt Sienna. Mary McGarry Morris (1943-), Fiona Range. Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), Blonde; the inner life of Norma Jean Baker AKA Marilyn Monroe (1926-62). Edna O'Brien (1930-), In the Forest; Michen O'Kane. Michael Ondaatje (1943-), Anil's Ghost; Anil Tissera in the the 1980s-90s Sri Lankan war. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Perish Twice; Sunny Randall #2; Hugger Mugger; Spenser #27. James Patterson (1947-), Along Came a Spider. Jayne Anne Phillips (1952-), MotherKind. Jodi Picoult (1966-), Plain Truth. Mark Jude Poirier, Goats; "Girls, ganga and goat-trekking"; filmed in 2011. Stanley Pottinger, A Slow Burning. Richard Powers (1957-), Plowing the Dark. Steven Pressfield (1943-), Tides of War: A Novel of Alcibiades and the Pelopponesian War. Francine Prose (1947-), Blue Angel; satire of PC Puritanism on campus. Philip Pullman (1946-), The Amber Spyglass; #3 of the Dark Materials trilogy. James Purdy (1914-2009), Moe's Villa and Other Stories. Mario Puzo (1920-99), Omerta; #4 and last in the Godfather saga. Anne Rice (1941-), Merrick; #7 in the Vampire Chronicles; vampires Louis, Lestat, and David meet witch Merrick Mayfair. Angelo Rinaldi (1940-), Tout ce que je Sais de Marie. Harold Robbins (1916-97), The Secret (posth.). Philip Roth (1933-2018), The Human Stain (May); bestseller about 65-y.-o. Nathan Zuckerman observing retired classics prof. Coleman Silk in 1998 during the Monica Lewinsky affair and PC-think in the Academy; filmed in 2003. J.K. Rowling (1965-), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (July 8); record U.S. first printing of 3.8M copies; causes the New York Times Book Review to set up a children's book bestseller list on July 16 to shunt her off? Willy Russell (1947-), The Wrong Boy (first novel); 19-y.-o. Raymond Marks from Manchester writes to his hero Morrissey. Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), The Outlaws of Falkensteig (short stories) (posth.). Boualem Sansal (1949-), L'Enfant fou de l'Arbre Creux. Karl Schroeder (1962-), Ventus. Jeffrey Shaara (1952-), Gone for Soldiers; the U.S.-Mexican War of 1847-8. Jeffrey Shaara (1952-) and Michael Shaara (1928-88) (posth.), The Last Full Measure David Shannon, The Rain Came Down and How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball. Anne Rivers Siddons (1936-), Nora, Nora. Daniel Silva, The Kill Artist; art restoration slash secret agent Gabriel Allon. Dan Simmons (1948-), Darwin's Blade. Mona Simpson (1957-), Off Keck Road; three Midwest women. Jane Smiley (1949-), Horse Heaven. Zadie Smith (1975-), White Teeth (first novel); the racially-mixed new white-isn't-right England. Lemony Snicket (1970-), The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, and The Austere Academy; illustrations by Bret Helquist. Susan Sontag (1933-2004), In America; 19th cent. Polish actress Helena Modjeska. Gary Soto (1952-), Nickel and Dime; Baseball in April. Muriel Spark (1918-2006), Aiding and Abetting. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), The Rescue (Sept.). Danielle Steel (1947-), The Wedding; The House on Hope Street; Journey. Neal Town Stephenson (1959-), Quicksilver; #1 in the Baroque Cycle. Ronald Sukenick (1932-2004), Narralogue: Truth in Fiction. Manil Suri, The Death of Vishnu. Donald Michael Thomas (1935-), Charlotte. Omar Tyree, For the Love of Money. Gore Vidal (1925-2012), The Golden Age; 7th and last in his Empire series. Richard Vinen, A History in Fragments: Europe in the Twentieth Century. Alan Wall, The School of Night; the Shakespeare authorship controversy. James Welch (1940-2003), The Heartsong of Charging Elk. Fay Weldon (1931-), Rhode Island Blues. Paul West (1930-), Cheops: A Cupboard for the Sun. Edmund White (1940-), The Married Man; gay-themed. T.L. Winslow (TLW) (1953-), Falling Off Point Mugu (how an airplane crash convolves with the crash of the mighty U.S.); Baby Boom Morticians (the ultimate end of U.S. Baby Boomers); Salvation Day: The Immortality Device (the truth about the Shroud of Turin); Rock and Roll Corerunner (the face of war in the 22nd cent.); The Ice Cream Man (an Am. ice cream truck driver's big summer). John Updike (1932-2009), Gertrude and Claudius; a prequel to Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Stuart Woods, L.A. Woods; NYT bestseller about ex-cop atty. Stone Barrington in Sin City L.A. Births: Am. "Make Me (Cry)", "Stay Together" singer-actress Noah Lindsey Cyrus on Jan. 8 in Nashville, Tenn.; daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus (1961-); sister of Trace Cyrus (1989-) and Miley Cyrus (1992-). Am. "Russell in Up" actor Jordan Nagai on Feb. 5 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Zoey in Black-ish" actress (black) Yara Sayeh Shahidi on Feb. 10 in Minneapolis, Minn.; Iranian father, African-Am. mother; sister of Sayeed Shahidi (2003-); grows up in Calif. Indian Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu on Mar. 3 in Gurdaspur (near Batala), Punjab; Jat Sikh family. English "Bethany Britney Platt" in Coronation Street" actresses Amy and Emily Walton on Mar. 15. Canadian "Liesel Meminger in The Book Thief" actress Sophie Nelisse (Nélisse) on Mar. 27 in Windsor, Ont.; of French-Canadian descent; grows up in Montreal, Quebec. Am. soprano Jacqueline Marie "Jackie" Evancho on Apr. 9 in Pittsburgh, Penn. Am. 5'2" snowboarder Chloe Kim on Apr. 23 in Long Beach, Calif.; grows up in Torrance, Calif. South Korean immigrant parents. Am. environmental activist Xiuhtezcatl (pr. shu-TEZ-caht) Martinez (Roske-Martinez) on May 9. Canadian 5'7" tennis player (first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title, 2019) Bianca Vanessa Andreescu on June 16 in Mississauga, Ont. Am. 5'5" Olympic slopestyle snowboarder Redmond "Red Boy" Gerard on June 29 in Westlake, Ohio; first U.S. gold medalist in the 2018 Winter Olympics; first Olympic gold medalist born after 2000. Am. 6'7" basketball forward (New Orleans Pelicans #1, 2019-) Zion Lateef Williamson on July 6 in Salisbury, N.C.; educated at Duke U. Am. singer-songwriter Maya Bond on Aug. 5 in Osaka, Japan. Spanish royal brat (Roman Catholic) Victoria Federica de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y de Borbon (Borbón) on Sept. 9 in Madrid; granddaughter of Juan Carlos I of Spain; sister of Don Felipe de Marichalar y Borbon (1998-) and Pablo Urdangarin y de Borbon (2000-). Am. "Moana" actress-singer (bi) Auli'i Cravalho on Nov. 22 in Kohala, Hawaii; native Hawaiian descent mother. Spanish royal brat Pablo Nicolas Urdangarin y de Borbon on Dec. 6 in Madrid; son of Infanta Cristina (1965-); grandson of Juan Carlos I of Spain. Saudi princess Salma bint Al Abdullah II on Sept. 26 in Amman, Jordan; daughter of Abdullah (1921-) and Queen Rania of Jordan. Am. transgender LGBT rights activist (black) Jazz Jennings on Oct. 6 in ?; born male. Deaths: Austrian actress ("Austria's first movie star") Liane Haid (b. 1895) on Nov. 28 in Bern, Switzerland. Am. thoroughbred owner-breeder Fred W. Hooper (b. 1897) on Aug. 4 in Ocala, Fla. (heart attack). Am. "You Are My Sunshine" singer-songwriter Jimmie Davis (b. 1899) on Nov. 5 - sunshine really worked? Am. Disney cartoonist Carl Barks (b. 1901) on Aug. 25 in Grants Pass, Ore. Ukrainian-born Am. constitutional scholar Raoul Berger (b. 1901). English romance novelist Dame Barbara Cartland (b. 1901) on May 21 in Hertfordshire; sold 750M-2B copies of 723 books in 36 languages, and leaves 160 unedited mss. at her 400-acre estate Camfield Place. Australian physicist Sir Mark Oliphant (b. 1901) on July 14 in Canberra. French film dir. Claude Autant-Lara (b. 1901) on Feb. 5 in Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes: "If a film does not have venom, it is worthless." French environmentalist Theodore Andre Monod (b. 1902) on Nov. 22 in Versailles. Tunisian pres. #1 (1957-87) Habib Bourguiba (b. 1903) on Apr. 6 in Monastir. Japanese empress Kojun (b. 1903) on June 16 in Fukiage Omiya Palace, Chiyoda, Tokyo. English medieval historian Sir Steven Runciman (b. 1903) on Nov. 1 in Radway, Warwickshire. Am. Washington Post ed. James Russell Wiggins (b. 1903) on Nov. 19 in Brooklin, Maine. English actor-singer Sir John Gielgud (b. 1904) on on May 21-22 in Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire. French physicist Louis Neel (b. 1904) on Nov. 17; 1970 Nobel Physics Prize. Italian composer-alpinist Toni Ortelli (b. 1904) on Mar. 3 in Schio. Am. film dir. Edward Bernds (b. 1905) on May 20 in Van Nuys, Calif. English novelist Anthony Powell (b. 1905) on Mar. 28 in Somerset. Am. dancer Elvera Sanchez Davis (b. 1905) on Sept. 2 in New York City. Lebanese PM (1952, 1953, 1960-1, 1970-3) Saeb Salam (b. 1905) on Jan. 21 in Geneva, Switzerland (exile) (heart attack). Am. celeb John Coolidge (b. 1906) on May 31 in Lebanon, N.H.; son of U.S. pres. Calvin Coolidge. Vietnamese PM (1955-87) Pham Van Dong (b. 1906) on Apr. 29 in Hanoi. Canadian-born Am. nuclear physicist Walter H. Zinn (b. 1906) on Feb. 14 in Clearwater, Fla. Am. writer L. Sprague de Camp (b. 1907) on Nov. 6 in Plano, Tex. English physician-entomologist Sir Cyril Astley Clarke (b. 1907) on Nov. 22. Am. Masters golf course architect Robert Trent Jones (b. 1907) on June 14 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; designed 350 courses in 45 states and 36 countries. East German Stasi spymaster Erich Mielke (b. 1907) on May 21 in Berlin. French novelist-diplomat Roger Peyrefitte (b. 1907) on Nov. 5; dies after copping out and receiving last rites. Austrian actress Paula Wessely (b. 1907) on May 11. U.S. Rep. (D-Okla.) (1947-77) Carl Albert (b. 1908) on Feb. 4 in McAlester, Okla. Romanian-born British WWII spymaster Vera Atkins (b. 1908) on June 24 in Hastings, Sussex. Am. sportswear designer Bonnie Cashin (b. 1908) on Feb. 3 in New York City. German-born French photographer Gisele Freund (b. 1908) on Mar. 31 in Paris. Am. novelist-ed. William Keepers Maxwell Jr. (b. 1908) on July 31 in New York City. Russian-born Am. singer Irra Petina (b. 1908) on Jan. 19 in Austin, Tex. Am. philosopher Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908) on Dec. 25 in Boston, Mass. Danish pianist-comedian Victor Borge (b. 1909) on Dec. 23 in Greenwich, Conn. Dutch Casimir Effect physicist Hendrik Casimir (b. 1909) on May 4 in Heeze. English archbishop of Canterbury (1974-) Donald Coggan (b. 1909) on May 17. Am. actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (b. 1909) on May 7 in New York City. Japanese WWII sub cmdr. Mochitsura Hashimoto (b. 1909) on Oct. 25 in Kyoto. Greek PM #70 (1973) Spyros Markezinis (b. 1909) on Jan. 4 in Athens. South African De Beers gold-diamond magnate Harry F. Oppenheimer (b. 1909) on Aug. 19 in Johannesburg. Am. "Love Story" songwriter Carl Sigman (b. 1909) on Sept. 26 in Manhasset, N.Y. Am. actress Claire Trevor (b. 1909) on Apr. 8 in Newport Beach, Calif. Am. journalism pioneer Robert Trout (b. 1909) on Nov. 14 in New York City. Am. Communist Party leader Gus Hall (b. 1910) on Oct. 13 in New York City; ran for U.S. pres. 4x, and served 8 years in priz - no deathbed repentance for moi? Am. entomologist Edward F. Knipling (b. 1910) on Mar. 17 in Arlington, Va. Danish queen consort (1947-72) Ingrid of Sweden (b. 1910) on Nov. 7 in Copenhagen. British children's writer Diana Ross (b. 1910) on May 4. Indian politician Chidambaram Subramaniam (b. 1910) on Nov. 7. Am. Columbia U. "NYT vs. Sullivan" law prof. Herbert Wechsler (b. 1910) on Apr. 26 in New York City. German Auschwitz Camp adjutant Karl-Friedrich Hocker (b. 1911) on Jan. 30 in Lubbecke. Am. composer Alan Hovhaness (b. 1911) on June 21; composed 70+ symphonies and 500+ total works. Am. "hillbilly songwriter" Zeke Manners (b. 1911) on Oct. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. stage producer David Merrick (b. 1911) on Apr. 25/26 in London. Polish "The Pianist" pianist-composer Wladyslaw Szpilman (b. 1911) on July 6 in Warsaw. Am. anthropologist Sherwood Washburn (b. 1911) on Apr. 16 in Berkeley, Calif. German-born Am. biochemist Konrad Emil Bloch (b. 1912) on Oct. 15 in Lexington, Mass.; 1964 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. environmentalist David Brower (b. 1912) on Nov. 5 in Berkeley, Calif. Am. "Gary Moore Show" TV personality Durward Kirby (b. 1912) on Mar. 15 in Ft. Myers, Fla. German gymnast Albert Schwarzmann (b. 1912) on Mar. 11 in Goslar. Am. playwright Samuel A. Taylor (b. 1912) on May 26 in Blue Hills, Maine (heart failure). Am. mobster Anthony "Tony Ducks" Corallo (b. 1913) on Aug. 23 in Springfield, Mo.; dies in prison. Am. composer Vivian Fine (b. 1913) on Mar. 20 in Bennington, Vt. Austrian-born Am. "Samson and Delilah" actress-inventor Hedy Lamarr (b. 1913) on Jan. 18-19 in Altamonte Springs (near Orlando), Fla.: "Any girl can be glamorous; all you have to do is stand still and look stupid"; "Films have a certain place in a certain time period; technology is forever"; "It is easier for women to succeed in business, the arts and politics in America than in Europe." Am. "The Rainmaker" playwright N. Richard Nash (b. 1913) on Dec. 11 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. actress Eugenia Rawls (b. 1913) on Nov. 8 in Denver, Colo. Am. poet Karl Shapiro (b. 1913) on May 14 in New York City. Welsh poet Ronald Stuart Thomas (b. 1913) on Sept. 25. German U-boat capt. Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen (b. 1913) on Aug. 17 in Vancouver, Canada. Am. actress Loretta Young (b. 1913) on Aug. 12 in Los Angeles, Calif. English "Obi-Wan Kenobe" actor Sir Alec Guinness (b. 1914) on Aug. 3 in Midhurst, West Sussex (liver cancer). Am. bandleader Tex Beneke (b. 1914) on May 30 in Costa Mesa, Calif. Am. NBA exec Haskell Cohen (b. 1914) on June 28 in Fort Lee, N.J. Am. psychologist Bertram Forer (b. 1914) on Apr. 6. Polish-Am. WWII hero Jan Karski (b. 1914) on July 13 in Washington, D.C. Am. "The Tennessee Waltz" singer'songwriter Pee Wee King (b. 1914) on Mar. 7 in Louisville, Ky. Am. singer Bob Lido (b. 1914) on Aug. 9 (stroke). English "Master and Commander" novelist Patrick O'Brian (b. 1914) on Jan. 2 in Dublin. Am. auto racer Lee Petty (b. 1914) on Apr. 5. Am. children's writer Beatrice Schenk de Regniers (b. 1914) on Mar. 1 in Washington, D.C. Am. Olympic track and field athlete Mack Robinson (b. 1914) on Mar. 12 in Pasadena, Calif. Am. country musician Cliff Bruner (b. 1915) on Aug. 25 in Texas City, Tex. Am. tennis player Don Budge (b. 1915) on Jan. 26 in Scranton, Penn. (auto accident on Dec. 14). Egyptian Gen. Mohamed Fawzi (b. 1915) on Feb. ? in Heliopolis, Cairo. French archeologist Antoine Guillaumont (b. 1915) on Aug. 25. Am. football end Larry Kelley (b. 1915) on June 27 in Highstown, N.J. (suicide); sold his 1936 Heisman Trophy at auction 6 mo. earlier for $328,100. Am. screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr. (b. 1915) on Nov. 1 in New York City; last surviving member of the 1947 Hollywood Ten. English soccer player Sir Stanley Matthews (b. 1915) on Feb. 23 in Stoke-on-Trent. English actor Hugh Paddick (b. 1915) on Nov. 11 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Am. Native Am. activist Helen Peterson (b. 1915) on July 10 in Vancouver, Wash. Am. statistician John Tukey (b. 1915) on July 26 in New Brunswick, N.J. (heart attack). English Mensa co-founder Lancelot Ware (b. 1915) on Aug. 15 in Surrey. Italian writer Giorgio Bassani (b. 1916) on Apr. 13 in Ferrara. English writer Penelope Fitzgerald (b. 1916) on Apr. 28. Am. actor-artist George Montgomery (b. 1916) on Dec. 12 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Am. CIA spy Kermit Roosevelt Jr. (b. 1916) on June 8. Am. actress Fran Ryan (b. 1916) on Jan. 15 in Burbank, Calif. English meteorologist John Sawyer (b. 1916) on Sept. 19. Spanish playwright Antonio Buero Vallejo (b. 1916) on Apr. 20 in Madrid. Am. children's book illustrator Leonard Weisgard (b. 1916) on Jan. 14 in Glumso, Denmark. Am. poet Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917) on Dec. 3 in Chicago, Ill. Am. foreign affairs adviser (JFK, LBJ) Bill Bundy (b. 1917). U.S. ambassador Arthur Henry Davis Jr. (b. 1917) on Nov. 24 in Vienna, Va. Am. writer Sebastian de Grazia (b. 1917) on Dec. 31 in Princeton, N.J. Canadian Silicon Valley pioneer Richard Hodgson (b. 1917) on Mar. 4 in Barbados (auto accident). Am. gay novelist-activist William Dale Jennings (b. 1917) on May 11. English artist Anthony Robert Klitz (b. 1917) on Sept. 19 in Dublin. Mexican ballet choreographer Amalia Hernandez (b. 1917) on Nov. 5 in Mexico City. Am. painter Jacob Lawrence (b. 1917) on June 9. Am. TV producer John Newland (b. 1917) on Jan. 10 in Los Angeles, Calif. (stroke). English "George Banks in Mary Poppins" actor David Tomlinson (b. 1917) on June 24 in Westminster, London. Am. bandleader Si Zentner (b. 1917) on Jan. 31 in Las Vegas, Nev. Canadian hockey hall-of-fame player Sid Abel (b. 1918) on Feb. 8 in Farmington Hills, Mich. Dutch crystallographer Herman Bijvoet (b. 1918) on Mar. 29 in Niewengen. Italian-born Am. flamenco dancer Jose Greco (b. 1918) on Dec. 31 in Lancaster, Penn. (heart failure). Dutch-born Am. physicist Abraham Pais (b. 1918) on July 28 in Copenhagen. Am. "Peter Gunn" actor Craig Stevens (b. 1918) on May 10 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). English Lava Lamp inventor Edward Craven Walker (b. 1918) on Aug. 15 in London. Am. jazz dancer-choreographer Peter Gennaro (b. 1919) on Sept. 28 in New York City. French writer Jacques Laurent (b. 1919) on Dec. 28 in Paris. Am. folk singer Ed McCurdy (b. 1919) on Mar. 23 Am. physicist William Aaron Nierenberg (b. 1919) on Sept. 10. Am. economist William N. Parker (b. 1919) on Apr. 29. Am. "Joey in Stalag 17" actor Robinson Stone (b. 1919) on May 11 in New York City. Canadian PM (1968-79, 1980-4) Pierre Elliott Trudeau (b. 1919) on Sept. 28. Am. physicist Joseph Weber (b. 1919) on Sept. 30 in Pittsburgh, Penn. (cancer). Am. food critic Craig Claiborne (b. 1920) on Jan. 22 in New York City. English "The Joy of Sex" physician Alex Comfort (b. 1920) on Mar. 26 near London - present company excepted? Hungarian-born Australian-Am. economist John Harsanyi (b. 1920) on Aug. 9 in Berkeley, Calif.; 1994 Nobel Economics Prize. German-born Am. "Col. Klink in Hogan's Heroes" actor Werner Klemperer (b. 1920) on Dec. 6 in New York City (cancer). Am. hall-of-fame baseball player-mgr. Bob Lemon (b. 1920) on Jan. 11 in Long Beach, Calif. Am. actor Walter Matthau (b. 1920) on July 1 in Santa Monica, Calif. (heart attack). Am. New York archbishop-cardinal (1984-2000) John O'Connor (b. 1920) on May 3 in Manhattan, N.Y. (brain cancer). Zimbabwe politician Ndabaningi Sithold (b. 1920) on Dec. 12 in Philadelphia, Penn. Am. adm. Elmo Zumwalt (b. 1920) on Jan. 2 in Durham, N.C. (lung cancer). Am. "Sgt. Whipple in Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." actor Buck Young (b. 1920) on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. comedian Steve Allen (b. 1921) on Oct. 30 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart attack). Am. Broadway producer Alexander H. Cohen (b. 1920) on Apr. 22 in New York City; produced 101 Broadway shows. French "San-Antonio" crime novelist Frederic Dard (b. 1921) on June 6 in Bonnefontaine; pub. almost 300 books. Am. boxer Beau Jack (b. 1921) on Feb. 9. Am. liberal Repub. New York City mayor #103 (1966-73) John Lindsay (b. 1921) on Dec. 19 in Hilton Head Island, S.C. (pneumonia). Am. Nicholas Brothers tap dancer Harold Nicholas (b. 1921) on July 3 in New York (heart). Am. newpaper pub. James Cline Quayle (b. 1921) on July 7 in Sun City West, Ariz.; father of vice-pres. Dan Quayle. Canadian hockey player Maurice Richard (b. 1921) on May 27 in Montreal, Quebec; first non-politician honored with a state funeral in Quebec. English archbishop (of Canterbury) Robert Runcie (b. 1921) on July 11; officiated at the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana. Trinidadian calypsonian Lord Kitchener (b. 1922) on Feb. 11 in Champs Fleur; buried in Arima. French flautist Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal (b. 1922) on May 20 in Paris. Am. actor Jason Robards Jr. (b. 1922) on Dec. 27 in Bridgeport, Conn. (cancer). Am. "Peanuts" cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (b. 1922) on Feb. 12 in Santa Rosa, Calif. (colon cancer): "There is a difference between a philosophy and a bumper sticker." Czech Olympic runner Emil Zatopek (b. 1922) on Nov. 22 in Prague; dies from cancer contracted from working in a uranium mine as punishment for joining the 1968 Prague Spring. Am. sculptor and graphic artist Leonard Baskin (b. 1922) on June 3 in Northampton, Mass. (kidney disease). French screenwriter Leonardo Benvenuti (b. 1923) on Nov. 2 in Rome (heart attack). English Mini Cooper motorcar designer John Cooper (b. 1923) on Dec. 24 in Worthing, West Sussex (cancer). British political broadcaster Sir Robin Day (b. 1923) on Aug. 6. Argentine coronary bypass surgery pioneer Rene Favaloro (b. 1923) on July 29 in Buenos Aires (suicide). Am. "2nd Lt. Gil Hanley in Combat!" actor Rick Jason (b. 1923) on Oct. 16 in Moorpark, Calif. Trinidadian calypso songwriter Lord Kitchener (b. 1923) on Feb. 11 in Port of Spain. U.S. atty.-gen. #68 (1972-3) Richard Gordon Kleindienst (b. 1923) on Feb. 3 in Prescott, Ariz. (lung cancer). Irish-born British mystery writer Patricia Moyes (d. 1923) on Aug. 2 in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands. Am. "The Mambo Kings" drummer-bandleader Tito Puente (b. 1923) on May 31 in New York City (heart failure); recorded almost 120 albums; the govt. of Puerto Rico declares three days of mourning. Am. physicist John Hamilton Reynolds (b. 1923) on Nov. 4 in Berkeley, Calif. Ukrainian-born Am. historian Adam Bruno Ulam (b. 1923) on Mar. 28 in Cambridge, Mass. (lung cancer). Am. "High Aldwin in Willow", "Gwildor in Masters of the Universe" 3'9" actor Billy Barty (b. 1924) on Dec. 23 in Glendale, Calif. (heart failure); no, he wasn't in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939). Am. poet Edgar Bowers (b. 1924) on Feb. 4 in San Francisco, Calif. Welsh computer scientist (co-inventor of packet switching) Donald Watts Davies (b. 1924) on May 28. Am. football player Lou Groza (b. 1924). Am. Dallas Cowboys football coach Tom Landry (b. 1924) on Feb. 12 in Dallas, Tex. (leukemia). Am. filmmaker Lionel Rogosin (b. 1924) on Dec. 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. French film dir. Claude Sautet (b. 1924) on July 22 in Paris (cancer). Dutch holistic writer Jack Schwarz (b. 1924) on Nov. 26. Am. painter George Segal (b. 1924) on June 9 in South Brunswick, N.J. (cancer). Japanese PM #74 (1987-9) Noboru Takeshita (b. 1924) on June 19 in Tokyo - he tooka his last shita? Am. poet Edgar Bowers (b. 1925) on Feb. 3 in San Francisco, Calif. (non-Hodgkins lymphoma). Am. "The Chocolate War" novelist Robert Cormier (b. 1925) on Nov. 2 in Boston, Mass. Am. E.F. Hutton CEO (1970-87) Robert M. Fomon (b. 1925) on May 31 in Palm Beach, Fla. (heart attack). Am. nuclear physicist Watler Goad (b. 1925). Am. illustrator Edward St. John Gorey (b. 1925) on Apr. 15 in Yarmouth Port, Mass. Am. journalist Carl Thomas Rowan (b. 1925) on Sept. 23 in Washington, D.C. Am. actress-dancer Gwen Verdon (b. 1925) on Oct. 18 in Woodstock, Vt. Pakistani actress-singer Noor Jehan (b. 1926) on Dec. 23 in Karachi. Am. "Dr. Zhivago" singer-actress Julie London (b. 1926) on Oct. 18 in Encino, Calif. (stroke in 1995). Am. actress Jean Peters (b. 1926) on Oct. 13 in Carlsbad, Calif.: "My life with Howard Hughes was and shall remain a matter on which I will have no comment." Am. "Hercules" actor Steve Reeves (b. 1926) on May 1 in Escondido, Calif. (lymphoma). Russian opthalmologist Syavoslav Fyodorov (b. 1927) on June 2 in Moscow. English physics teacher Geoffrey E. Perry (b. 1927) on Jan. 18 in Bude. Canadian "Count Baltar in Battlestar Galactica" actor John Colicos (b. 1928) on Mar. 6 in Toronto, Ont. (heart attack). Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (b. 1928) on Feb. 19; dies aboard the QEII. Am. "The Coasters" singer Will "Dub" Jones (b. 1928) on Jan. 16 in Long Beach, Calif. (diabetes). Am. "Livia in The Sopranos" actress Nancy Marchand (b. 1928) on June 18 in Stratford, Conn. (lung cancer). Korean-born Japanese-Am. geneticist Susumo Ohno (b. 1928) on Jan. 13. Am. football QB Tobin Rote (b. 1928) on June 27 in Saginaw, Mich. (heart attack). French film dir. Roger Vadim (b. 1928) on Feb. 11 in Paris (cancer). Austrian bass-baritone Walter Berry (b. 1929) on Oct. 27. French food critic Henri Gault (b. 1929) on July 9. Am. singer Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (b. 1929) on Feb. 12. Am. actor John Milford (b. 1929) on Aug. 14 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. wrestling commentator Gordon Solie (b. 1929) on July 27. Am. radar scientist Peter Swerling (b. 1929) on Aug. 25 in Southern Calif. (cancer). Syrian pres. (1969-2000) Hafez al-Assad (b. 1930) on June 10 in Damascus (heart attack). Belgian-born Am. futurist FM-2030 (b. 1930) on July 8 in Scottsdale, Ariz. (pancreatic cancer); placed in cryonic suspension. Zambian PM (1978-81) Daniel Lisulo (b. 1930) on Aug. 21 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Bahamian PM (1967-92) Lynden O. Pindling (b. 1930) on Aug. 26 in Nassau (prostate cancer). English cricketer Brian Statham (b. 1930) on June 10 in Stockport, Cheshire. Am. jazz musician Nat Adderley (b. 1931) on Jan. 2 in Lakeland, Fla. (diabetes). Am. actor Richard Mulligan (b. 1932) on Sept. 26 in Los Angeles, Calif. (colon cancer). English-born Canadian biochemist Michael Smith (b. 1932) on Oct. 4 in Vancouver, B.C. (cancer); 1993 Nobel Chem. Prize. Soviet cosmonaut Yevgeny Khrunov (b. 1933) on May 19 in Moscow (heart attack). English crime boss Reginald Kray (b. 1933) on Oct. 1 in Norwich. Italian PM (1983-7) Bettino Craxi (b. 1934) on Jan. 19 in Hammamet, Tunisia (exile) (heart attack). Am. "Peggy Fair in Mannix" actress Gail Fisher (b. 1935) on Dec. 2 in Culver City, Calif.; first black actress to have a speaking part on a nat. U.S. TV ad (for All brand detergent). Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov (b. 1935) on Sept. 20 in Moscow. English evolutionary biologist William Donald Hamilton (b. 1936) on Mar. 7 in Oxford (malaria); fatally bitten by a mosquito in the DRC while seeking evidence to support his theory that the AIDS epidemic can be traced to contaminated polio vaccines; leaves money in his will to have his body taken to Brazil to be eaten by Coprophanaeus beetles, after which "I will buzz in the dusk like a huge bumble bee" (not carried out) - survival of the fittest joke here? Scottish politician Donald Dewar (b. 1937) on Oct. 11. Am. songwriter Jack Nitzsche (b. 1937) on Aug. 25 in Hollywood, Calif. (heart attack). Japanese PM (1998-2000) Keizo Obuchi (b. 1937) on May 14 (stroke). Am. sci-fi novelist John Thomas Sladek (b. 1937) on Mar. 10 in Minn. (pulmonary fibrosis). Am. "Disco Lady" singer Johnnie Taylor (b. 1937) on May 31 in Dallas, Tex. Am. "Maj. Frank Burns in M*A*S*H" actor Larry Linville (b. 1939) on Apr. 10 in New York City (cancer). Am. actor Lawrence Linville (b. 1940) on Apr. 10 in New York City. Am. R&B singer Bobby Sheen (b. 1941) on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). German-born English singer Heinz Burt (b. 1942) on Apr. 7 in Weston, Hampshire. English punk rock vocalist Ian Drury (b. 1942) on Mar. 27 in Hampstead, London (colorectal cancer). Am. rocker David "Lonesome Dave" Peverett (b. 1943) on Feb. 7 (cancer). Am. "Billie Jo in Petticoat Junction" actress Meredith MacRae (b. 1944) on July 14 in Manhattan Beach, Calif. (brain cancer). Am. "Jean", "Good Morning Starshine" singer Oliver (b. 1945) on Feb. 13 (cancer). Am. pychonaut-writer Terence McKenna (b. 1946) on Apr. 3 in San Rafael, Calif. (brain cancer). Japanese smart gell biophysicist Toyoichi Tanaka (b. 1946) on May 20 in Wellesley, Mass. (heart attack while playing tennis). Canadian illusionist Doug Henning (b. 1947) on Feb. 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. (liver cancer). Am. rocker Benjamin Orr (b. 1947) (The Cars) on Oct. 3 Atlanta, Ga. (pancreatic cancer). Am. environmentalist Marc Reisner (b. 1949) on July 21 in San Anselmo, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Ernest P. Worrell" actor Jim Varney (b. 1949) on Feb. 10 in White House, Tenn. (lung cancer). Irish motorcyclist Joey Dunlop (b. 1952) on July 2 in Tallinn, Estonia (motorcycle crash). Serbian crime boss Arkan (Zelijko Raznatovic) (b. 1952) on Jan. 15 in Belgrade (assassinated by Dobrosav Gavric). Am. "Turn the Beat Around" singer-actress Vicki Sue Robinson (b. 1954) on Apr. 27 in Wilton, Conn. (cancer). Am. Herbalife founder Mark R. Hughes (b. 1956) on May 21 in Malibu, Calif. (OD of alcohol and Doxepin). Israeli singer Ofra Haza (b. 1957) on Feb. 23 in Ramat Gan(AIDS) (from her husband?). English singer-songwriter Kirsty MacColl (b. 1959) on Dec. 18 off Cozumel, Mexico; killed by a speedboat racing through water reserved for swimmers. Am. musician Dennis Danell (Social Distortion) (b. 1961) on Feb. 29. Am. NASCAR auto racer Tony Roper (b. 1964) on Oct. 13 (racing crash). Israeli rabbi Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane (b. 1966) on Dec. 31 near Ofra (assassinated). Am. wrestler Yokozuna (Rodney Anoa'i) (b. 1966) on Oct. 22. Am. football player Derrick Thomas, American football player (b. 1967) on Feb. 8. Ukrainian journalist Georgiy R. Gongadze (b. 1969) on Sept. 16 (murdered?). Am. NASCAR auto racer Kenny Irwin (b. 1969) on July 7. Am. 700 lb. rapper Big Pun (b. 1971) on Feb. 7 in White Plains, N.Y. (heart attack). Am. cyclist Nicole Reinhart (b. 1976) on Sept. 17 in Arlington, Mass. (bicycle accident). Am. auto racer Adam Petty (b. 1980) on May 12 in N.H. (auto crash).



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TLW's 2001 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2001 C.E. Historyscope

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.



2001 - The Year of G. Dubya and 9/11? The End of the End of History Year, in which America saw its own death, or just a wakeup call to greatness? The Appeasement or War Muslims Beat 'Em or Join 'Em Year?

George Walker Bush of the U.S. (1946-) Pick the Chimp Laura Bush of the U.S. (1946-) Richard 'Dick' Cheney of the U.S. (1941-) John Ashcroft of the U.S. (1942-) Stephen John Hadley of the U.S. (1947-) Donald Henry Rumsfeld of the U.S. (1932-2021) Edward Spencer Abraham of the U.S. (1952-) Linda Chavez of the U.S. (1947-) Elaine Chao of the U.S. (1953-) Lawrence Ari Fleischer of the U.S. (1960-) Norman Yoshio Mineta of the U.S. (1931-) Robert Bruce Zoellick of the U.S. (1953-) Douglas J. Band of the U.S. (1972-) George John Mitchell Jr. of the U.S. (1933-) Rudolph Giuliani of the U.S. (1944-) Adam Schiff of the U.S. (1960-) Ariel Sharon of Israel (1928-2014) Simeon II of Bulgaria (1937-) Ahmad Shah Massoud of Afghanistan (1953-2011) Moez Garsalloui (1967-) and Malika El Aroud (1959-) Ryaas Rasyid of Indonesia Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of Philippines (1947-) Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia (1947-) Taro Aso of Japan (1940-) Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand (1949-) Jiri Hodac of the Czech Republic Bounnhang Vorachith of Laos (1937-) Ferhat Mehenni of Algeria (1951-) Joseph Kabila Kabange of DRC (1971-) Mathiew Kerekou (1933-) and Nicephore Soglo (1934-) of Benin Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark (1953-) Dipendra of Nepal (1971-2001) Gyanendra of Nepal (1947-) Edward L. Peck of the U.S. Father Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009) Robert Philip Hanssen (1944-) Thomas J. Pickard of the U.S. (1950-) Robert Swan Mueller III of the U.S. (1944-) Peter Gordon Mackay of Canada (1965-) Junichiro Koizumi of Japan (1942-) Alejandro Toledo of Peru (1946-) Alexander Dugin (1962-) Li Shaomin (1957-) Gultekin Koc (-2001) El Chapo (Joaquin Guzman Loera) (1954-) George Trofimoff (1927-) Hamza Yusuf Hanson (1960-) Charles 'Andy' Williams (1986-) Arwin Meiwes (1961-) Jim Voss (1949-) and Susan Jane Helms (1958-) of the U.S. Carlos Pasqual of the U.S. Dennis Tito (1940-) Rick Perry of the U.S. (1950-) Chandra Levy (1977-2001) Calif. Rep. Gary Condit (1948-) Jim Jeffords of the U.S. (1934-) Zacarias Moussaoui (1968-) Prince Turki al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia (1946-) Khalid Rashid Ali al-Mari (1975-) Andrea Yates (1964-) George Arthur Akerlof (1940-) Andrew Michael Spence (1943-) Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (1943-) Madalyn Murray O'Hair (1924-95) Buddha of Bamyan Hashemi Rafsanjani of Iran (1934-) Dhiren Barot (1971-) Ofir Rahum (1984-2001) Amna Muna (1976-) Siraj Wahhaj (1950-) Ihsan Bagby Ahlam Tamimi (1981-) Djamel Beghal (1965-) Lackawanna Six Marc Rich (1934-) Hugh Edwin Rodham (1950-) Carlos Anibal Vignali Ray Lewis (1975-) Andrew G. Atkeson Daniel J. Benor (1941-) Ann Brashares (1967-) Almon Glenn Braswell Theodore Dalrymple (1949-) Mark Doty (1944-) Stephen Dunn (1939-) Franz Bludorf Grazyna Fosar Paula Fox (1923-) Ben Bernanke (1953-) Don Edward Fehrenbacher (1920-97) Mark Gertler (1951-) Alan Glynn (1960-) Jorie Graham (1950-) Laura Hillenbrand (1967-) Charles Ingram (1965-) David McCullough (1933-) Bob Reiss (1951-) CC Sabathia (1980-) Korey Stringer (1974-2001) Neil Turok (1958-) Paul Steinhardt (1952-) Margaret MacMillan (1943-) Eric S. Margolis (1947-) Joe Nacchio (1949-) Andrew Solomon (1963-) Nathaniel Philbrick (1956-) Simon Stephens (1971-) Alex Jones (1974-) Bratz Dolls, 2001 FDR Wheelchair Statue, 2001 Gehry Tower, 2001

2001 Doomsday Clock: 9 min. to midnight. Time Man of the Year: Rudolph Giuliani (1944-). This is the U.N. Internat. Year of Volunteers. Chinese Year: White (Golden) Snake (Year 4699) (Jan. 24) - Clinton is back? World pop.: China 1.27B, India 1.03B, U.S. 285M, Indonesia 206M, Brazil 172M, Pakistan 145M, Russia 144M, Bangladesh 134M, Japan 127M, Nigeria 127M, Mexico 100M. India belatedly decides to renounce its British colonial past by renaming its West Bengal city of Calcutta to Kolkata. 390K (0.9%) in England list their religion as Jedi. At the Labour Party Conference on Oct. 2, British PM Tony Blair utters the soundbyte: "The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world"; meanwhile the African Economic Miracle begins, with GDP growing at 4.9%/year, reaching $1.6T in 2008. A billion isn't what it used to be, or, It's good to be a rich Republican in America? By the end of this year there are 497 world billionaires, down from 551 in 2000; 7K U.S. households have an income of $10M or higher, and pay less income tax than people making $400K; people earning $60K pay a larger share of their income in taxes than families making $25M; corporations pay only 16% of all U.S. federal taxes, compared to 60% in the 1950s. The prcentage of leftist faculty members at U.S. campuses begins to skyrocket, growing to 60^ by 2016. By the end of the year there are 445M people online worldwide, of which 119M (27%) are in the U.S. The U.N. World Pop. Report warns of disaster ahead if pop. growth cannot be controlled. In the last 35 cents. there have been only 227 years without some kind of war going on somewhere on Earth; 160M died in wars in the 20th cent. U.S. trade deficit: $389B. On Jan. 1 Washington defeats Purdue by 34-24 to win the 2001 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 Canada's new shotgun and rifle licensing law goes into effect, along with new warning labels on cigarettes - what, warning labels on shotguns didn't work? On Jan. 1 a car bomb wounds at least 40 people in Netanya, Israel. On Jan. 1 a fire in a cafe in Volendam, Netherlands kills 12 and injures 200. On Jan. 1 the Georgian-registered cargo ship Pati, carrying illegal immigrants wrecks off the coast of Turkey, killing 6. By Jan. 1, 2001 approx. 5% of the world's adult pop. are active Internet users; the total business-consumer commerce done on the Internet reaches $26B, up from $8B in 1998. On Jan. 2 Pres. Clinton meets with Yasser Arafat, and on Jan. 3 Arafat accepts "with reservations" a proposed peace settlement. On Jan. 2 pres.-elect George W. Bush chooses Mich. Sen. (since 1995) Edward Spencer Abraham (1952-) as energy secy. (until 2005), Linda Chavez (1947-) as labor secy. (first Hispanic female member of the U.S. cabinet) (until Jan. 9), and Dem. Norman Yoshio Mineta (1931-) (Clinton's commerce secy. since last July, the first Asian-Am. to serve in a pres. cabinet) (who lived in a Japanese internment camp in Wyo. in WWII, and became the first Asian-Am. mayor of San Jose, Calif. in 1971-5) as transportation secy. (until 2006), the only Dem. in Bush's cabinet. On Jan. 2 Ryaas Rasyid, admin. reform minister of Indonesia resigns in frustration over govt. inertia. On Jan. 3 in Prague 100K people gather in Wenceslas Square to support striking TV journalists. On Jan. 3 four Indian soldiers and two civilians are killed at the Pakistan-India border post of Arhayee Mandi. On Jan. 3 in Spain a commuter train hits a van near Lorca, killing 12 Ecuadoran farm workers. On Jan. 3 in Tanzania six armed men attack a ferry with 50 passengers in Lake Tanganyika, shooting three then making the male passengers jump into the lake, where dozens drown. On Jan. 3 in Turkey suicide bomber Gulteki Koc kills himself and two others in a police station in Istanbul. On Jan. 3 Framingham, Mass.-born Calif. state senator (1997-2000) Adam Bennett Schiff (1960-) becomes a Dem. U.S. rep. for Calif. (until ?), based in the Los Angeles area, going on to introduce House Resolution 106 on Oct. 11, 2007 recognizing the Armenian genocide, followed by a campaign finance reform amendment, and legislation to force the FAA to curb heli noise in Los Angeles County; in 2007 he joins the House Foreign Affairs Committee, working up to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; in 2014 Nancy Pelosi appoints him to the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which he turns into an investigation blocking committee?; in 2018 he goes on to become a thorn in Donald Trump's side with the fake news Russia-Trump investigation, causing Pres. Trump to call him "Sleazy Adam Schiff". On Jan. 3 the weekly Top 20 Countdown debuts on CMT (until Nov. 30, 2012); on May 28 the daily CMT Most Wanted Live debuts on CMT (until Apr. 3, 2004), broadcasting live from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tenn. On Jan. 4 in Indonesia rival villages clash on Lombok, killing nine; seven more are killed in North Sulawesi in fighting between rival villages. On Jan. 4 it is reported that Russia had moved nuclear warheads into storage areas at its Kaliningrad naval base over the past year; Russian authorities call the report a dangerous joke. On Jan. 4 in Sri Lanka the defense ministry announces that the 2000 civil war left 3,753 people dead, incl. 87 civilians. On Jan. 5 Pres. Clinton bans roads and most logging in 58.5M acres of federal forests in 38 states - what do we do with all these wanigans? On Jan. 5 U.S. Repub. agrees to share power in the Senate with Dems. on committees. On Jan. 5 India test-flies its first locally-developed jet fighter. On Jan. 6 the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church of Am. inaugurate an alliance to share clergy, churches and missionary work. On Jan. 6 in Somalia Rahanwein Resistance Army gunmen attack govt. forces escorting officials, killing nine near the village of Teiglow. On Jan. 6 in South Africa it is reported that cholera had recently sickened some 13K people in KwaZulu-Natal, killing at least 53. On Jan. 6 in Thailand telecom magnate Thaksin Shinawatra (1949-) and his Thais Love Thais (Thai Rak Thai) party wins 248 of 500 lower parliament seats in the election, and he becomes PM (until 2006). On Jan. 7 Pres. Clinton tells the people of Israel, "There is no choice for you but to divide this land into two states for two people". On Jan. 7 500 Turkish troops push 100 mi. into N Iraq in response to a call for help from the PUK, which is fighting the PKK; 10K Turkish troops have entered N Iraq since Dec. 20. On Jan. 7 in the Ivory Coast mutinous soldiers attack the broadcasting facilities and offices of the state TV and radio in Abidjan in a failed coup attempt. On Jan. 7 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin on the Ritz pledges to pay all of its Soviet-era internat. debts. On Jan. 8 Donna Bailey, paralyzed from a Ford Explorer rollover crash settles her lawsuit with Ford and Firestone for $20M along with the disclosure of internal memos and reports on tire safety and rollover issues. On Jan. 8 the Taliban orders the death penalty for anyone who converts from Islam to a different religion in Afghanistan; the same day they massacre 300 unarmed Shiite Hazaras in Yakaolang - pissing the Shiite out of Iran? On Jan. 8 it is reported that Britain is culling 20K-30K older cows per week in the mad cow crisis and that it will take two years to catch up with the backlog for rendering their remains to powder. On Jan. 8 Ken Burns' documentary miniseries Jazz debuts on PBS-TV for 10 episodes (until Jan. 31, 2001), chronicling the history of Am. jazz. On Jan. 9 Bush labor secy. nominee Linda Chavez (1947-) withdraws following reports that she housed an illegal immigrant and possibly paid her for house chores; on Jan. 11 Bush chooses Elaine Chao (1953-) (former head of the Peace Corps and United Way) as U.S. labor secy.; he also chooses Robert Bruce Zoellick (1953-) to be the U.S. trade rep. On Jan. 9 the U.S. Supreme Court limits the reach of federal law to protect wetlands. On Jan. 10 America Online (AOL) buys Time Warner for $106B, creating the world's largest media co.; the FCC approves the sale on Jan. 11; too bad, the rise of Google and loss of customers shrinks its stock worth from $20B in 2005 to $2B-$3B by 2009, incl. $1B invested in it by Google in 2005. On Jan. 10 China sends rats into orbit aboard its "sacred ship" Shenzhou II, powered by a Long March rocket; it returns on Jan. 16. On Jan. 10 Colombian soldiers rescue 56 hostages held by ELN guerrillas outside Barbosa. On Jan. 10 German chancellor Helmut Schroeder creates a new super-ministry for food, agriculture and consumer protection to combat mad cow disease. On Jan. 11 Unisys, Dell and Microsoft announce an agreement to jointly create an electronic voting system. On Jan. 11 the Chinese media report at least 27 people dead from a New Year's Day blizzard in inner Mongolia. On Jan. 11 Jiri Hodac resigns as the chief of public TV in the Czech Repub. as over 50K protesters demonstrate in Wenceslas Square for guarantees of politically independent TV. On Jan. 11 Israeli and Palestinian high-level peace talks resume as Israel lifts the blockade of the West Bank towns of Qalqilyah and Jenin and reopens the Palestinian airport in Gaza, along with travel from the West Bank to Jordan and from Gaza to Egypt; too bad, on June 24 Palestinian militants fire three homemade rockets into S Israel, causing Israel to reclose the border crossings into Gaza. On Jan. 13 a 7.6 earthquake near San Salvador, El Salvador kills 700 and causes $1B damage. On Jan. 13 the Palestine Authority executes two Palestinians convicted of collaborating with Israel, the first ever - it started with that Mogen David wine? On Jan. 14 Pres. Sampaio wins reelection in Portugal. On Jan. 14 news reports surface that power generators in Calif. are suspected of shutting down power plants to sell higher-priced natural gas, causing power shortages and high prices; on Jan. 17 Calif. Gov. Davis declares a state of emergency and orders the Dept. of Water Resources to buy and sell electricity. On Jan. 16 Dem. Repub. of Congo (DRC) pres. (since May 17, 1997) Laurent-Desire Kabila (b. 1939) is assassinated by one of his bodyguards, who is suspected of working for Rwanda, and is succeeded on Jan. 17 by his son Joseph Kabila Kabange (1971-) (until Jan. 24, 2019), becoming the first dem.-elected pres. of Congo; in 2011 he is elected for a 2nd term. On Jan. 16 Ecuadoran tanker Jessica runs aground on San Cristobal Island in the Galapagos Islands and begins leaking diesel - Charles Darwin rolls over in his grave? On Jan. 16 25-.y.-o. Palestinian terrorist (secular Muslim) Amna Jawad Ali Muna (1976-) lures horny 16-y.-o. Israeli Jew Ofir Rahum (b. 1984) to his death near Ramallah via an Internet cafe; she is released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit POW swap. On Jan. 17 the British House of Commons votes 387-174 to ban fox hunting; after loud protests they reverse themselves on Dec. 3, 2002, while tightening controls - men? Speaking of fox hunting? On Jan. 18 Rev. Jesse Jackson acknowledges that he fathered a daughter in 1999 after an extramarital affair with Karin Stanford, former head of the Rainbow/PUSH Washington office. On Jan. 18 Barack Obama gives an interview to Chicago Public Radio, where he openly discusses his desire to redistribute wealth, i.e., take it from those who earned or inherited it and hand it to those who didn't, praising the Supreme Court for being activist toward civil rights for blacks, then complaining "The Supreme Court never ventured into the issues of redistribution of wealth and sort of more basic issues of political and economic justice in this society. And to that extent, as radical as I think people tried to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn't that radical. It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, as least as it's been interpreted, and Warren Court interpreted in the same way that, generally, the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties, says what the states can't do to you, says what the federal government can't do to you, but it doesn't say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf. And that hasn't shifted."; he adds "Maybe I'm showing my bias here as a legislator as well as a law professor. I'm not optimistic about bringing about major redistributive change through the courts. The institution just isn't structured that way."; his solution is ground-up community organizing? Speaking of fox hunting? On Jan. 19 Pres. Clinton admits that he misled prosecutors about his relationship with aide Monica Lewinsky, and strikes a deal with independent counsel Robert Ray to accept a 5-year suspension of his Ark. law license and pay a $25K fine. On Jan. 19. Pres. Clinton lifts U.S. economic sanctions against Yugoslavia. On Jan. 19 the U.S. and Israel sign an agreement to phase out economic aid by 2008; half the aid will be replaced by military aid, and $80M is pledged separately to a U.N. relief agency for Palestinian refugees. On Jan. 19 U.N. sanctions against Afghanistan begin following a 30-day deadline for the handover of Osama bin Laden by the Taliban; meanwhile Afghanistan has its worst drought in 30 years. On Jan. 19 Belgium agrees to decriminalize marijuana use. On Jan. 19 Indonesia extends a truce in Banda Aceh Province after talks with separatists in Switzerland; the province launches a new Sharia police that becomes very unpopular. On Jan. 19 in Mexico Joaquin Guzman Loera, AKA El Chapo (Sp. "shorty") (1954-) escapes from the maximum-security prison in Jalisco state; 78 people are implicated in helping him, incl. prison dir. Leonardo Beltran. On Jan. 19 Pres. Clinton agrees to a 5-year suspension of his Ark. law license, and resigns from the U.S. Supreme Court bar. I'm calling from the White House - can you get me free tickets to the Super Bowl? On Jan. 20 in his final hours in office Pres. Clinton issues 36 commutations and 140 pardons for billionaire fugitive Jewish financier Marc (Marcell David) Rich (Reich) (1934-2013), Susan McDougal, Patricia Hearst, Henry Cisneros, John Deutch, his brother Roger Clinton et al., causing the Pardongate mini-scandal; it is later revealed that Hillary Clinton's younger brother (failed Georgian hazelnut importer) Hugh Edwin "Hughie" Rodham (1950-) received $400K to help two felons, cocaine dealer Carlos Anibal Vignali and tax dodger (Gero Vita Internat. founder) Almon Glenn Braswell (1943-2006) win clemency; after leaving office, Bill Clinton becomes one of the most successful world leaders to transition to private life, with his counselor (since 1995) Douglas J. "Doug" Band (1972-) helping him in 2005 to found the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) as a project of the William J. Clinton Foundation, which goes on to raise $46B for 1.2K philanthropic projects impacting 200M in 150 countries by the end of the decade, by which time thanks to books, speaking fees, etc. the Clantoon Gang is Oprah rich, raking in $108M before taxes by 2008, even after taking $190K worth of china, flatware, rugs, TVs, sofas et al. with them when they leave the White House, after which they announce that they will return $28K in gifts and pay $86K. An actor yes, but a chimp in the White House? On Jan. 20 New Haven, Conn.-born pickup truck-riding Tex. ranch owner, oilman, Yale and Harvard grad., F-102 pilot, and former Texas gov. George Walker "Dubya" Bush (1946-) (Secret Service codename: Tumbler/Trailblazer) becomes the 43rd U.S. pres. (until Jan. 20, 2009) in the 63rd U.S. Pres. Inauguration in Washington, D.C. (2nd pres. son after J.Q. Adams to win the White House, and first pres. with an MBA degree), only this one goes two terms and becomes one of the most unpopular presidents in U.S. history; the first monkey pres.?; has and his daddy George H.W. Bush have a striking resemblance to British Queen Elizabeth II and/or Prince Charles?; Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (1941-) (Secret Service codename: Angler) (whom Bush calls "Big Time") becomes the 46th U.S. vice-pres. (until 2009), the 2nd born in Neb. (first Gerald Ford); the inaug. theme is "Celebrating America's Spirit Together"; the 3rd time that the U.S. has six living presidents (Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr.); Bush is sworn-in on the same Bible used by the last "George" to be president, George Washington; First Lady is Laura Lane Welch Bush (1946-) (Secret Service codename: Tempo) (a smoker until her hubby was elected gov. of Texas?); First Dog is Scottish terrier Miss Beazley (2004-14) (father named Clinton); Lawrence Ari Fleischer (1960-) becomes White House press secy. #24 (until July 15, 2003); John David Ashcroft (1942-) (former member of the "Singing Senators" with Larry Craig et al.) becomes U.S. atty.-gen. #79 (until Feb. 3, 2005); on Jan. 20 Gen. Colin Luther Powell (1937-2021) becomes U.S. secy. of state #65 (first black) (Until Jan. 26, 2005); on Jan. 22 Stephen John Hadley (1947-) becomes deputy U.S. nat. security adviser (until Jan. 26, 2005); Donald Henry Rumsfeld (1932-2021) becomes U.S. defense secy. #21 (until Dec. 18, 2006), the oldest (69), and earlier the youngest (43) (#13 under Pres. Ford in 1975-7). The second time since 1986 that people power has pushed a man out of the presidency in Manila and put a woman in On Jan. 20 as tens of thousands united by cell phone messages march on his residence, Philippine Pres. Joseph Estrada steps down, and vice-pres. (of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Dem. Party) Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (1947-), daughter of former pres. (1961-5) Diosdado Macapagal succeeds him as Philippines pres. #14 (until June 30, 2010). On Jan. 20 nine miners are killed and 15 injured in a gas explosion in the Donetsk coal region of Ukraine. On Jan. 22 Pres. Bush bans U.S. funding for overseas abortion counseling. On Jan. 22 police in Colorado Springs, Colo. catch four escaped Tex. convicts, while a 5th commits suicide; two more are caught two days later. On Jan. 22 in Britain the House of Lords pass legislation that effectively legalizes the creation of cloned human embryos. On Jan. 22 Japanese economics minister Fukushiro Nukaga resigns after a bribery scandal, and is succeeded by Taro Aso (1940-) (tear a hole in your what?), who becomes known for colorful comments, such as that he'd like to make Japan a place where rich Jews would like to live, that one day info. technology will replace paper with "floppies", and that Japan is the only country in the world with "one nation, one civilization, one language, one culture, and one race". On Jan. 22 Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin puts his domestic security agency in charge of the war effort in Chechnya - friendships never go out of style? On Jan. 22-27 Israel and Palestine officials meet in Taba, Egypt, but fail to reach a peace accord after Palestine Nat. Council chmn. Salim Za'anun says in Feb. that the PLO Covenant calling for Israel's destruction has never been changed, and in Mar. Faysal al-Husseini utters the soundbyte: "We may lose or win, but our eyes will continue to aspire to the strategic goal, namely, to Palestine from the river to the sea." On Jan. 23 U.S. energy secy. Spencer Abraham extends two federal emergency orders forcing suppliers to continue selling electricity and natural gas to Calif., which holds an auction on Jan. 24 for long-term electricity contracts. On Jan. 23 in China five people believed to be members of Falun Gong set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square; one dies. On Jan. 23 in Egypt Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are suspended after Palestinian gunmen execute two Israelis (alleged Shin Bet security agents) in Tulkarem. On Jan. 25 RUTACA Airlines Flight 225 (DC-3) crashes, killing all 24 aboard. On Jan. 26 a 7.9 earthquake hits the vegetarian-dominated Indian state of Gujarat, killing 30K. On Jan. 26 the 198-ft. vessel Pamyat Merkuriya sinks in the Black Sea, killing 14. On Jan. 26 a U.N. panel criticizes Saudi Arabia for discriminating against women, harassing minors, and inflicting medieval punishments such as flogging and stoning. On Jan. 26 black teenager Benjamin Hermansen is stabbed to death in Holmlia, Norway; five Neo-Nazi Bootboys are arrested for it. On Jan. 27 Bill Gates pledges $100M for an AIDS vaccine - he must not have AIDS himself or it would have been $100 billion? On Jan. 27 (19:37 EST) the Okla. State U. Cowboys Basketball Team Plane Crash sees their Beechcraft Super King Air 200 crash in a field in a snowstorm en route home from Jefferson County Airport near Stasburg, Colo. 40 mi. E of Denver carrying two players and six broadcasters and coaching staff, killing 10 incl. the pilot and co-pilot, causing a memorial titled "Remember the Ten" to be erected in the Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Okla. On Jan. 27 riot police prevent 1K protesters from reaching the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. On Jan. 27 the Iran news agency reports that three intel agents were sentenced to death and 12 others to life in prison for their roles in murdering dissident writers and intellectuals. On Jan. 27 federal agents unearth the bones of Austin, Tex.-based Am. Atheists leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair (b. 1924), her son Jon Garth Murray, and granddaughter Robin Murray O'Hair (all missing since 1995) at a 5K-acre S Tex. ranch in Camp Wood, Tex.; O'Hair's office mgr. David Roland Waters (1947-2003) receives 60 years for embezzlement, then makes an agreement with prosecutors to lead investigators to the bones, which are charred and buried about 2.5 ft. down near a grove of live oaks. On Jan. 28 Super Bowl XXXV (35) is held in Raymond Jones Stadium in Tampa, Fla.; NFL turf consultant George Toma (1929-) deploys inflatable snakes on the field when it is seeded 2 weeks earlier; the Baltimore Ravens (AFC) defeat the N.Y. Giants (NFC) 34-7 as three TDs are scored in a 36-sec. span in the 3rd quarter, starting with Ravens DB Duane Starks intercepting a Kerry Collins pass and returning it 49 yards for a TD, then Ron Dixon of the Giants running back the ensuing kickoff 97 yards, then Baltimore's Jermaine Lewis countering with an 84-yard kickoff return; Ravens LB (#52) Raymond Anthony "Ray" Lewis (1975-) is MVP. On Jan. 28 Pope John Paul II names five new cardinals and reveals the identities of two others from the former Soviet Union. On Jan. 28 weekend clashes in Zanzibar (Tanzania) kill at least 37 people as protesters demand new elections. On Jan. 29 born-again Baptist Pres. Bush signs an executive order creating a new White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. On Jan. 29 110 Afghan refugees freeze to death in camps near the W city of Herat. On Jan. 29 Judge Juan Guzman of Chile issues the first indictment of Chilean dictator Gen. August Pinochet on human rights charges; too bad, his claim of poor health keeps him from being tried - that's some bad cough, nucklehead? On Jan. 29 in Indonesia 10K protesters march in Jakarta over corruption scandals involving Pres. Wahid. On Jan. 29 demonstrators in Turin, Italy (the city where dogs must be walked three times a day?) clash with police following an agreement between France and Italy to establish a $10B high-speed rail line between Turin and Lyon. On Jan. 30 17K teachers, hospital workers and police march in Paris to demand pay increases. On Jan. 30 Turkish MP Mehmet Fevzi Sihanlioglu is beaten by fellow lawmakers in the Grand Nat. Assembly and dies of a heart attack. On Jan. 30-31 in the Netherlands a Scottish court convicts Libyan intel officer Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi of murder in the 1998 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and sentences him to life; a 2nd Libyan, Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima is acquitted, and Muammar Gaddafi claims that al-Megrahi is innocent. On Jan. 31 the U.S. Senate 75-24 confirms Gale Norton as the first female interior secy. (until 2006). In Jan. Canadian foreign affairs minister John Manley offers to second an Apr. 2000 offer from Canadian PM Jean Chrétien to resettle supposedly oppressed Palestinians in Canada, but PLO spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman rejects them, with the soundbyte: "We reject any kind of settlement of refugees in Arab countries, or in Canada", after which Manley is burned in effigy near the West Bank city of Nablus, and Hussum Khader, head of the largest Palestinian Fatah militia in Nablus utters the soundbyte: "If Canada is serious about resettlement you could expect military attacks in Ottawa or Montreal." In Jan.-Feb. more earthquakes ravage El Salvador, and over 1K die, and 1M are left homeless. In Jan. the Honduran Committee for the Defence of Human Rights charges that over 1K street children were murdered the previous year by death squads backed by police in Honduras, despite civilian rule. In Jan. an estimated 32M pilgrims attend the Hindu Kumbh festival in India. In early Feb. foot and mouth disease breaks out at Burnside farm, Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, England; by Feb. 25 most of Britain has been declared contaminated and millions of head of cattle and sheep are destroyed in an effort to control it; crisis levels are reached by Mar. 23. On Feb. 6 right-winger (alleged war criminal) Ariel Sharon (1928-) of the Likud Party wins the election, and on Mar. 7 becomes PM of Israel (until Jan. 4, 2006). On Feb. 6 Philippine Labor Party leader (former Communist) Filemon "Ka Popoy" Lagman (b. 1953) is assassinated in Quezon City. On Feb. 6 Miami, Fla. businessman Konstaninos "Gus" Boulis (b. 1949), founder of the Miami Subs sandwich chain is shot to death in his car a few mo. after selling a fleet of casino boats (SunCruz Casinos) in Sept. 2000 to prominent Washington lobbyist Jack Off, er, Jack Abramoff (1959-) and his partner Adam Kidan, who are indicted in Aug. 2005 on federal fraud charges in the purchase; in Sept. 2005 Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello (1938-), Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari (1947-), and James "Pudgy" Fiorillo (1977-) are arrested for the murder; on Mar. 29, 2006 Abramoff is sentenced to 5 years 10 mo.; on Sept. 4, 2008 he gets four more years for his corruption scheme on Capitol Hill, calling himself "a broken man". On Feb. 7 to prevent the city of Greenwood Village from annexing it, the city of Centennial, Colo. is formed from portions of unincorporated Arapahoe County, with its 100K pop. making it the largest incorporation in U.S. history (until ?); incorporated on a promise to keep city taxes at 1%, it grows to 2.5% by 2017. On Feb. 9 the submarine USS Greenville collides with and sinks the Ehime Maru, a Japanese high school fishing training boat in Oahu, Hawaii, killing nine and causing an internat. incident. On Feb. 16 a bus convoy carrying 250 Orthodox Christian Serbs to a religious ceremony in Kosovo is bombed in Podujevo as it crosses the Serbian border by Muslim Albanian extremists, killing seven and injuring 40+, causing cries of more ethnic cleansing, this time by the Muslims. Who can you trust? On Feb. 18 veteran white straight-laced FBI agent (Roman Catholic Opus Dei member who attends Mass daily and likes Internet porn) Robert Philip Hanssen (1944-) is arrested at Foxstone Park near his home in Vienna, Va. for spying for the Russians (for 22 years) after a massive spy hunt, and on Feb. 20 he is charged with spying; FBI dir. (since Sept. 1, 1993) Louis Freeh resigns on May 1 (effective June 25), and is replaced by Thomas J. Pickard (1950-) (both born on Jan. 6, 1950?) as acting dir. for 71 days on June 25-Sept. 4; on July 6 Hanssen pleads guilty to 15 counts of espionage in exchange for 15 life sentences without parole, and ends up in the Federal Supermax Prison in Florence, Colo., becoming the worst U.S. intel disaster in history (until ?). On Feb. 25 Am. business prof. Li Shaomin (1957-) is detained in Beijing and acused of spying for Taiwan along with five other Chinese scholars; on July 14 he is convicted and expelled one day after Beijing is awarded the 2008 Olympic Games. On Feb. 26 a U.N. tribunal convicts Bosnians Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez of war crimes against Muslim civilians during the Bosnian War. On Feb. 27 Pres. George W. Bush delivers his (first) 2001 State of the Union Address, issuing a Spanish soundbyte "Juntos podemos" (together we can). In Feb. the Muslim Alliance of North Am. (MANA) is founded by African-Am. Muslim converts Siraj Wahhaj (Arab. "bright light") (Jeffrey Kearse) (1950-) and Ihsan Bagby, with the help of Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown) (1943-); its goal is establishing Sharia in the U.S. On Mar. 4 "The X-Files" spinoff The Lone Gunmen debuts on Fox Network for 13 episodes (until June 1); episode #1 is about Scenario 12D, a U.S. govt. conspiracy to hijack a 727 airliner and fly it into the WTC then blame it on terrorists to gain support for a profitable war. On Mar. 5 15-y.-o. Charles Andrew "Andy" Williams (1986-) kills two students and wounds 13 others at Santana High School in Santee, Calif. near San Diego; he is sentenced to 50 years to life. On Mar. 7 Gen. Ariel Sharon (1928-2014) of the Likud Party becomes PM #11 of Israel (until Apr. 14, 2006). On Mar. 9 after placing ads looking for "a well-built 18 to 30-year-old to be slaughtered and then consumed", German cannibal Arwin Meiwes (1961-), AKA the Rotenburg Cannibal and the Butcher Master kills and eats Bernd Jurgen Brande, starting with his penis, recording it on videotape, and ends up convicted of manslaughter on Jan. 30, 2004 and sentenced to 8.5 years in priz, with cannibalism having no criminal statute against it, then retried and convicted on May 10, 2006 of murder and given a life sentence; he becomes a vegetarian in priz - to paraphrase Justice Stewart, I can't define cannibalism but I know it when I see it? On Mar. 11 U.S. astronauts Jim Voss (1949-) and Susan Jane Helms (1958-) spend 8 hr. 56 min. in a spacewalk, attempting to make room on the Internat. Space Station (ISS) for the 5-ton Italian Leonardo cargo module, becoming the longest spacewalk to date. On Mar. 13 a judge dismisses a lawsuit against dir. Oliver Stone claiming that his movie Natural Born Killers caused a young couple's violent crime spree (the first product liability lawsuit against a Hollywood movie); the appeal is dismissed on June 6, 2002. On Mar. 15 ethnic Albanians riot in Macedonia. On Mar. 21 the Taliban blows up the two 1,500-y.-o. Buddhas of Bamyan, one 125 ft. (world's tallest) and the other 115 ft. in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, 143 mi. NW of Kabul (on the ancient Silk Road); the region was once a center of Buddhism but now has 400K Persian-speaking education-loving mostly Shiite Hazaras, which the Taliban has been persecuting since 1996. On Mar. 23 after Russia takes out a $200M insurance policy against possible damages, Russia's 100-ton Mir space station ends its 15-year orbit around the Earth with a fiery plunge into the South Pacific. On Mar. 25 the 73rd Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, and 242 films are eligible for consideration; the best picture Oscar for 2000 goes to DreamWorks and Universal for the much-computer-pumped Gladiator, along with the best actor award to Russell Crowe (as well-known Roman historical figure Maximus Decius Meridius, chicken legs and all?); best actress goes to Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich, best dir. to Steven Soderbergh, and best supporting actor to Benicio Del Toro for Traffic, and best supporting actress to Marcia Gay Harden for Pollock. On Mar. 30 Pres. Bush, who pooh-poohs global warming abandons the Kyoto Protocol, pissing-off European leaders; not that China and India want to comply with it either, giving him a good excuse? In Mar. dictator-pres. Mathieu Kerekou (b. 1933) defeats former pres. Nicephore Soglo (b. 1934) again in elections. In Mar. Lao People's Rev. Party leader Bounnhang Vorachith (1937-) becomes PM dictator of Louse, er, Laos (until June 8, 2006) - who gives a chith? In Mar. an oil pipeline to transport oil from the Tengiz fields of Kazakhstan to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk opens. In Mar. the Black Spring (Kabylie) in Algeria sees violent demonstrations by Kabyle Berber activists against the govt., followed by the creation of the Mouvement pour l'Autonomie de la Kabylie (MAK), with aim of ending the Islamist regime and replacing it with a U.S.-style dem. repub.; co-founder Ferhat Mehenni (1951-) is a Kabyle Algerian Berber musician-politician who is becoming the Joan Baez of Algeria - in a country saturated with Islam, he's probably just whistling Dixie? On Apr. 2 a Chinese F-8 fighter jet collides with a U.S. EP-3 recon aircraft over internat. waters off China, causing an incident when the damaged U.S. plane is forced to land on the Chinese island of Hainan; the 24 crew members are detained for 11 days until the U.S. issues a formal statement of regret. On Apr. 2 at 9:51 p.m. GMT the largest solar flare recorded to date occurs. On Apr. 4 Palestinian activist Juliano Mer-Khamis (b. 1958), founder of the Freedom Theatre is assassinated in the Jenin refugee camp by another Palestinian. On Apr. 7 a white police officer shoots unarmed but fleeing black man Timothy Thomas in Cincinnati, Ohio, setting off race riots for several days. On Apr. 11 Ellis Park Stadium Disaster in Johannesburg, South Africa sees fans of the Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates stampede, killing 43. On Apr. 26 Junichiro Koizumi (1942-) becomes PM #86 of Japan (until Sept. 26, 2006); an "Elvis maniac", his brother Masaya once ran the Elvis fan club in Yokohoma and helped erect an Elvis statue in Tokyo in 1987. On Apr. 28 the Russians launch Soyuz TM-32, carrying cosmonauts Talgat Amangeldyuly Musabayev (1951-), Yuri Mikhailovich Baturin (1949-), and U.S. millionaire Dennis Anthony Tito (1940-), who pays $20M to become the first space tourist, visiting the ISS; on Oct. 21 Soyuz TM-33 blasts off, carrying cosmonauts Viktor Mikhailovich Afansyev (1948-), Claude Haignere (Haigneré) (1957-) of France, and Konstantin Mirovich Kozeyev (1967-); Soyuz TM-32 returns on Oct. 31 carrying Viktor Afanasyev, Claudie Haignere, and Konstantin Kozeyev; Soyuz TM-33 returns next May 5 with Yuri Gidzenko, Roberto Vittori, and Mark Shuttleworth. On Apr. 30 the Mitchell Report by U.S. Sen. (D-Maine) (Senate majority leader in 1989-95) George John Mitchell Jr. (1933-), who was sent to study Arab violence in Palestine to get the peace process back on track after the 2000 Camp David Summit recommends a cessation of all violence a full-scale effort by the Palestinian Authority to prevent terrorism, a freeze on Israeli settlement activity, and resumption of negotiations; neither the Israelis nor Palestinians implement his recommendations, and on Jan. 22, 2009 Mitchell is named special envoy for the Middle East. On Apr. 30 bodacious chic Chandra Ann Levy (b. 1977) mysteriously disappears in Washington, D.C. after leaving a health club near her apt.; on July 5 her aunt tattles on her romantic affair with Calif. Dem. Rep. Gary Adrian Condit (1948-), and his nervous actions end up ruining his career; meanwhile on May 22, 2002 her skeletal remains are found in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., and on Apr. 22, 2009 El Salvadoran illegal immigrant Ingmar A. Guandique (1982-), who had been convicted of assaulting two other women in the park is charged with her murder, and convicted on Nov. 22, 2010 and sentenced to 60 years in prison; in June 2015 he is granted a new trial, and on July 28, 2016 prosecutors drop the case in exchange for deportation. In Apr. Al-Qaida operative (British convert to Islam) Dhiren Barot (1971-) shoots grainy camcorder pics of the World Trade Center, Wall St. and Broad St., with the sound of a mimicked explosion in the background, then splices it into a copy of the movie "Die Hard With a Vengeance"; on Nov. 7, 2006 he is sentenced to life priz in a British court. In Apr. the Lackawanna (Buffalo) Six, a group of Yemeni-Ams. from Lackawanna, N.Y. go to train in terrorist methods in Afghanistan, and briefly meet with Osama bin Laden; after they return they are arrested in Sept. 2002 and forced to plead guilty to providing material support to al-Qaida under the threat of being declared enemy combatants, and convicted in Dec. 2003; in J uly 2009 it is revealed that vice.-pres. Dick Cheney et al. argued to Pres. Bush that they should be arrested by the military not civilian law enforcement. In Apr. the Internat. Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson, Miss. is founded, becoming the first Islamic history museum in the U.S. On May 1 former KKK man Thomas E. Blanton Jr. is convicted of the 1963 murder of four black girls in Birmingham, Ala. On May 6 Pope John Paul II becomes the first Roman pope to enter a mosque, in Damascus, Syria, where he says that religious conviction is never a justification for violence - what planet is he from? On May 8 Jewish teenies Yaakov "Koby" Mandell and Yosef Ishrahan are brutally murdered outside the Tekoa settlement in the West Bank, with their blood smeared on the walls of a cave; since Mandell was a U.S. citizen, causing the Koby Mandell Act to be passed in 2004, establishing the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism to pursue terrorists who attack U.S. citizens in foreign countries; it should be applied to halt aid to the Palestinian Authority because Mahmoud Abbas allegedly paid for the murder of Am.-Israeli athlete David Berger at the 1972 Munich Olympics? On May 9 a stampede at a soccer match in Accra, Ghana kills 126, becoming Africa's worst soccer disaster. On May 12 the Hamas and Fatah factions in Gaza begin a week of infighting, killing 50, while Hamas launches 4K+ rockets into Israel, causing Israeli airstrikes in retaliation; on May 18 a Palestinian suicide bomber kills five and wounds more than 100 in a Netanya shopping mall, causing Israeli warplanes to retaliate by bombing the West Bank as well as Gaza Strip; and on May 19 the Gaza factions reach a truce to take on the common foe as Israel launches its fifth day of airstrikes, showing their style by mutually releasing captives after shooting them in the legs. On May 15 the CSX 888 (Crazy Eights) Incident in Ohio sees runaway locomotive #888 run 66 mi. for two hours up to 51 S from Walbridge (near Toledo) to Kenton until a crew in another locomotive catches up to it and couples to it; filmed in 2010 as "Unstoppable" starring Denzel Washington. On May 21 the Earth Liberation Front burns the Center for Urban Horticulture at the U. of Wash., causing $1.5M-$4.1M in damages; five are arrested, of which four plead guilty and the 5th commits suicide in prison while awaiting trial. On May 21 the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess (debuted Sept. 4, 1995) comes to a end after six seasons of Xena being riddled with arrows, decapitated, hanged, and cremated; producer-husband Rob Tapert hints that resurrection is possible for reunion specials. On May 21 $9.99-$22.99 Bratz fashion dolls are introduced by ex-Mattel employee Carter Bryant, starting with four 10-in. models, Yasmin, Cloe, Jade, and Sasha, followed in 2015 by Raya, featuring almond-shaped eyes, eyeshadow, and lush glossy lips; starting out slow, they sell $2B in 2005, capturing 40% of the fashion doll market vs. 60% for Barbie; the ad slogan is: "The girls with a passion for fashion!"; too bad, in Dec. 2006 the Nat. Labor Committee announces that factory workers in China churn them out for only 17 cents a doll while working 94.5 hours/week at 50 cents/hour. On May 23 after losing five fingers a year earlier, 16-y.-o. Sherpa Temba Tsheri (1985-) becomes the youngest person to climb Mount Everest (until ?). On May 25 U.S. Vt. Rep. James Merrill "Jim" Jeffords (1934-) switches political parties from Repub. to Dem., throwing control of the U.S. Senate to the Dems. on June 6 by a super-slim 50-49-1 majority; "I have changed my party label but I have not changed my beliefs" - like two big snakes wrestling? On May 26 the Africa Union (AU) is founded in Addis Ababa to replace the Org. of African Unity (OAU) (founded on May 25, 1963), growing to 54 members, every African country except Morocco. On May 29 four followers of Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) are found guilty of charges stemming from the 1988 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. On May 31 the Eurasia Party is founded by Russian Communist activist Alexander (Aleksandr) Dugin (1962-) to head an "anti-American revolution" by hooking up with China, Islam, and anti-Am. forces in W Europe, Africa, and Latin Am.; it is registered next June 21; Vladimir Putin becomes a supporter? In May Texas Gov. (2000-) Rick Perry (1950-) signs the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, which former gov. George W. Bush had refused to sign; on Apr. 3 it is introduced into the U.S. House of Reps. by Rep. John Conyers. In May Adnan Gulshair Muhammad el-Shukrijumah (El'Shukri-jumah)(d. 2014) disappears from his home in Miramar, Fla. after receiving flight training with the 9/11 hijackers, going on to groom himself to become the next Mohamed Atta; in July he is charged by the U.S. govt. with masterminding a bomb plot to attack three New York City subways along with a shopping center in Manchester, England; his sister is Aidah el-Shukri AKA Umm Taibah (Mother of Taibah). On June 1 the Dolphinarium Discotheque Massacre in Tel Aviv, Israel sees a Hamas terrorist suicide bomber detonate outside the nightclub, killing 21 incl. 16 teenagers, most girls, whose families had recently immigrated from the former Soviet Union. On June 1 (9:00 p.m. local time) the Nepalese Royal Family Massacre in the royal palace in Kathmandu, Nepal sees Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (b. 1971) named king after he shoots most (10) of his family to death at a royal dinner in Bhaktapur Palace in Kathmandu, incl. his father King Birendra and mother Queen Aishwarya, then then tries to commit suicide but botches it and only ends up in a coma; too bad, he dies anyway on June 4, and his uncle Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (1947-) becomes the last king of Nepal (until May 28, 2008). On June 3 a bomb set by Harkat-ul-Jihad Al-Islami Islamists at a Christian church during Mass in Baniarchar Village in Gopalgani District, Bangladesh (62 mi. S of Dhaka) kills 10 and maims dozens; until 2010 a dispute with another Christian group is suspected. On June 3 the drama series Six Feet Under debuts on HBO for 63 episodes (until Aug. 21, 2005), about the Fisher family of LA, who run a funeral home, with an ensemble cast incl. Peter William Krause as dir. Nathaniel Samuel "Nate" Fisher Jr., and Michael Carlyle Hall (1971-) as his brother David Fisher. On June 4 anti-Fujimori leader Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (1946-) wins the pres. election in Peru over moderate former pres. Alan Garcia, and is sworn-in on July 28 as pres. #46 of Peru (until July 28, 2006). On June 6 the Summer of the Shark begins with a shark attack on 8-y.-o. Jessie Arbogast in Santa Rose Island, followed by 76 more attacks and five deaths, turning into sensationalist publicity after a July 4 weekend attack on 8-y.-o. Jessie Arbogast, ending with the 9/11 attacks; in 2000 there were 85 attacks and 12 deaths, but no big publicity. On June 6 former pres. Bill Clinton (1946-), with no worries any more except between his legs starts spending the summer hanging out at sporting events, starting with the French Open on June 6, where he watches Andre Agassi in a semifinal, then the Belmont Stakes on June 9 with Hillary, calling it "the fairest test in the Triple Crown", then the NBA playoffs on June 10, then the Wimbledon on July 7, sitting next to Margaret Thatcher; a trip to Argentina causes him to miss the July 10 All-Star baseball game; he usually picks up his binoculars only when the cheerleaders come out? On June 7 Pres. Bush signs the 2001 U.S. Tax Cut Bill, cutting taxes by $1.35T over 11 years, the largest tax cut in 20 years, exacerbating the systematic return of income inequality; it also phases out the estate tax, but expires at the end of 2010 - after 9/11 and the U.S.-Iraq War, you can kiss that money goodbye twice over? A poodle wins the Westminster Kennel Show again? On June 8 "the art of leadership is saying no not yes" PM (since May 2, 1997) Tony Blair (1953-) becomes the first Labour Party PM of Great Britain to be reelected to a full term of office; too bad, he later can't say no to backing Bush's history-challenged decision to blitzkrieg Iraq, becoming known as "Bush's poodle", dragging him down with an Albatross around his neck and aging him at jet speed as Iraq goes bad, worse, and worser? On June 8 Iranian pres. (since 1997) Mohammad Khatani is reelected in a landslide (until Aug. 2, 2005). On June 11 Timothy McVeigh (b. 1968) is executed at the federal penitentiary in Terra Haute, Ind. On June 111 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Kyllo v. U.S. to prohibit the use of a FLIR (forward looking infrared) thermal imaging device by police on a home without a warrant. On June 12 Pres. Bush announces in Madrid his intention of building a U.S. Ballistic Missile Shield; on June 18 Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin warns that any such attempt would cause Russia to upgrade its strategic arsenal with multiple warheads - this ain't like a pillow fight, Pootie-Poot? On June 12 Bozo the Clown tapes his last show in Chicago, Ill., ending his career which began in 1946. On June 16 a U.S.-Russian summit is held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, becoming the first meeting between U.S. pres. George W. Bush and Russian pres. Vladimir Putin, after which Bush utters the soundbyte: "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul. He's a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country and I appreciate very much the frank dialogue and that's the beginning of a very constructive relationship"; Putin warns Pres. Bush and Condi Rice of a coming attack on their homeland, which they pooh-pooh; in her 2011 memoir "No Higher Honour", Rice writes the soundbyte about the meeting: "Putin suddenly raised the problem of Pakistan. He excoriated the Pervez Musharraf regime for its support of extremists and for the connections of the Pakistani army and intelligence services to the Taliban and al Qaeda. Those extremists were all being funded by Saudi Arabia, he said, and it was only a matter of time until it resulted in a major catastrophe... Putin, though, was right. The Taliban and al-Qaida were time bombs that would explode on September 11, 2001... I was taken aback by Putin's alarm and vehemence." On June 19 Syria evacuates Beirut after decades of occupation. On June 19 thousands receive payment from the $4.5B German fund for Nazi-era slavery after years of legal squabbling. The Devil Made Me Do It Defense is alive and well in Bush's Bible-thumping Texas? On June 20 Andrea Yates (nee Andrea Pia Kennedy) (1964-) of Houston, Tex. drowns her five children (6-mo.-o. Mary, 2-y.-o. Luke, 3-y.-o. Paul, 5-y.-o. John and 7-y.-o. Noah) in the bathtub; in 2002 she is found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life, but an appeal court throws out the conviction because of erroneous testimony from a prosecution pshrink, and a new trial results in her acquittal on July 26, 2006 on grounds of insanity, and she is committed to Vernon State Mental Hospital, moving to a low security mental hospital in Kerrville, Tex. in Jan. 2007; she had told psychiatrists that she was ordered by Satan to kill them. On June 24 Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at the Jewish Agency Assembly Plenary Meeting in Israel, saying that the Palestinians are to blame for the conflict in the Middle East, not Israel, which only acts in self-defense, and calling for a war on terrorism. On June 28 the U.S. Appeals Court overrules the breakup of the Microsoft monopoly and rebukes District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson; concessions are announced by Microsoft on July 12; on Sept. 6 the Bush admin. announces that it will no longer seek the breakup of the Microsoft monopoly - who got paid-off? On June 29 "Butcher of the Balkans", former Yugoslav pres. Slobodan Milosevic is imprisoned at The Hague to await a war crimes trial for presiding over four wars costing 250K lives. On June 30 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney receives a pacemaker and defibrillator to remedy his abormal heart rate; all plans for succeeding Bush in 2008 are kaput. In June the Anglican Mission in Am. holds a nat. ordinary of clergy, led by conservative primates from Singapore and Rwanda, causing the archbishop of Canterbury to warn that they are causing disunity in the church. In June Taliban leader Mullah Omar gives an interview to journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave in which he says that Osama bin Laden had given a written pledge to him not to use his base in Afghanistan to launch any attacks against the U.S.; the 9/11 attack starts a split? On July 1 the Internat. Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague is established; it prosecutes only Africans until ? On July 3 a Russian airliner crashes in Siberia, killing 143. On July 5 Pres. Bush selects Robert Swan Mueller III (1944-) to head the troubled FBI; the next day former FBI agent Robert P. Hanssen pleads guilty to passing secrets to the Russians, avoiding the death penalty; on July 17 a check reveals the loss or theft of hundreds of firearms and laptop computers at the FBI; on Sept. 4 Mueller is sworn-in as FBI dir. #12 (until ?); Thomas J. Pickard retires from the FBI in Nov. - do I get a week to get settled in? On July 10 four firefighters fighting the Thirtymile Fire are trapped in the Chewuch River Canyon near Winthrop, Wash., and die when the blaze sweeps over them as they set up fire shelters on a rocky slope; in Dec. 2006 their boss Ellreese N. Daniels is charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter by federal prosecutors for failing to order them out of harm's way, but ends up pleading guilty to two misdemeanors on Apr. 29, 2008 after firefighters get pissed-off at the implications. On July 13 Beijing, China (pop. 17M) is awarded the 2008 XXIX Summer Olympic Games - a new event is announced, tank spanking? On July 13 11K-ft. Mt. Etna in NE Sicily erupts, and again on July 26, the worst since 1992. On July 13 the computer worm Code Red hits the Internet, exploiting one of the zillion flaws in Microsoft software to spread, becoming the first network worm; actually, the flaw had a software patch available, but many sysops hadn't installed it yet, so give these good Samaritans a hand? On July 16 Russia and China sign a 21-year friendship treaty uniting them in their opposition to the proposed U.S. missile shield. On July 23 178 nations (sans the U.S.) reach an agreement on climate, rescuing but diluting the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. On July 23 Megawati (Sans. "she who had a rain cloud [when she was born]") Sukarnoputri (1947-), daughter of former pres. Sukarno becomes the first female pres. of Indonesia (until Oct. 20, 2004), also the first pres. born after independence. On July 24 Simeon Borisov Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1937-) becomes PM #48 of Bulgaria (until Aug. 17, 2005), the only living person to have held the title of tsar (Simeon II in 1943-6). On July 25 Alexander Emerich "Alex" Jones (1974-) predicts 9/11 on his TV show? On July 26 China releases U.S.-based female scholar Gao Zhan (1960-), who had been sentenced to ten years on trumped-up espionage charges. On July 31 John Milo Reese hijacks a plan at Fla. Keys Marathon Airport, claiming to have a plan to kidnap Fidel Castro by delivering a pizza to him; after crashing on a Cuban beach, he is returned to the U.S. and sentenced to 6 mo. In July retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. George Trofimoff (1927-), the highest ranking U.S. military officer ever accused of spying is convicted in Tampa, Fla. of spying for the Soviets between 1969-94 from an Army interrogation center in Nuremberg, Germany, receiving a life sentence. In July the 2001 Paris Embassy Attack Plot sees 36-y.-o. French Algerian Djamel Beghal (1965-) arrested at Dubai Internat. Airport en route to Europe, then confess to the details, causing a French govt. inquiry to begin on Sept. 10; on Sept. 13 four more men are arrested in Rotterdam, along with two more in Brussels, and several more on Sept. 21, incl. Algerians Mohammed Berkous and Kamel Daoudi (1974-); on Mar. 16, 2005 six French Algerian men are convicted. In July several al-Qaida members are arrested by Yemeni police near the U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen while planning the murder of the ambassador. In July the New York Port Authority, which decided to privatize it in 1998, leases the World Trade Center (WTC) to Silverstein Properties. On Aug. 1 the DREAM (Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) Act is first introduced in the U.S. Senate; it passes in ?. On Aug. 1 the U.S. House of Reps. votes to ban all human cloning; on Aug. 9 Pres. Bush says he will allow federal funding of stem cell research on existing stem cell lines, but not permit any new ones to be created; he also announces creation of the President's Council on Bioethics; one of his unofficial advisers is Canadian-born Lutheran-turned-Roman Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), whom he calls "Father Richard". On Aug. 1 335-lb. black Minn. Vikings offensive lineman Korey Damont Stringer (b. 1974) collapses at training camp in Mankato, Minn., then dies in the hospital of heart failure caused by heatstroke - three miles of toilet paper saved? On Aug. 6 Pres. Bush receives a pres. brief titled Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S. - receives but not reads? On Aug. 9 (2 p.m.) a Hamas suicide bombing at the busy Sbarro Restaurant in Jerusalem,, killing 15 and injuring 130; the bomber is Ezziddin Al-Masri; Jordanian driver Ahlam Tamimi (1981-) gets 16 life sentences, and is released in the Oct. 2011 Gilad Shalit POW exchange; co-conspirator Mohammad Daghlas is also released. On Aug. 13 a peace agreement is signed between the Macedonian govt. and rebels, ending 6 mo. of fighting. On Aug. 14 elderly couple hijacks a plane to Cuba, but it crashes in the sea off the coast of Fla. and they drown. On Aug. 16 Zacarias Moussaoui (1968-) is arrested on an immigration violations (overstaying a 90-day U.S. visa) outside a hotel in Eagen, Minn.; FBI special agent Harry Samit breaks the news to his superiors that the Muslim jihad raghead had purchased flight simulator lessons, but they ignore him, and on Sept. 10 barely grant his request to deport him to France so that his belongings can be searched by French authorities. On Aug. 22 the U.S. budget surplus dwindles, causing Bush's tax cut to be singled out as retro. On Aug. 31-Sept. 8 the World Conference Against Racism (Durban I) in Durban, South Africa issues a Report on the Slave Trade, calling slavery a "crime against humanity" and demanding apologies and reparations; it recognizes Islamophobia (not Islamophilia?) as a form of prejudice; too bad, under chmn. Mary Robinson of Ireland it goes on to condemn Israel for racism and apartheid, causing the U.S. to walk out, with U.S. state secy. Colin Powell uttering the soundbyte: "I know that you do not combat racism by conferences that produce declarations containing hateful language, some of which is a throwback to the days of Zionism equals racism, or supports the idea that we have made too much of the Holocaust, or suggests that apartheid exists in Israel, or that singles out only one country in the world, Israel, for censure and abuse"; too bad, in Nov. 2010 Pres. Obama awards Robinson the Medal of Freedom. In Aug. dem. elections are held in East Timor; the U.N. promises to hand over the reins of power to the new dem. govt. on Feb. 20, 2002. In Aug. France's highest court issues a ruling that a boy born after his mother contracted German measles had a right not to be born - put me back in? In late Aug. the family of Abdulaziz al-Hijji flees their 3.3K sq. ft. home in Sarasota, Fla. sans furniture, later being found to have "many connections to individuals associated with the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001". On Sept. 1 Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud (Turki al-Faisal) (1945-), son of the late King Faisal suddenly resigns as the Saudis' spymaster after 24 years; this action later makes him suspect of knowing of the 9/11 plot, but he pays off, er, is cleared and goes on to become Saudi ambassador to the U.S. On Sept. 1 the U.S. Postal Service issues its first Muslim Eid Stamp. On Sept. 2 Am. journalist Eric S. Margolis (1947-) utters the soundbyte: "America's strategic and economic interests in the Mideast and Muslim world are being threatened by the agony in Palestine, which inevitably invites terrorist attacks against US citizens and property." On Sept. 7 559,493 people in 2,171 schools all over the U.K. begin jumping up and down at precisely 11:00 a.m. for 1 min. to celebrate the launch of U.K. Science Year; the number of participants is raised to 569,069 when disabled pupils drop objects on the ground or hit it with their fists. On Sept. 9 Afghan anti-Taliban Northern Alliance Group leader ("the Lion of Panjshir") Ahmad Shah Massoud (b. 1953) is assassinated in Takhar Province by two Tunisian-born Belgian al-Qaida members incl. Abdessatar Dahmane (Dahmane Abd al-Sattar) (-2011), who pose as journalists, and are promptly killed; Dahmane's Moroccan-born Belgian wife Malika El Aroud (1959-) marries Tunisian-born al-Qaida member Moez Garsalloui (1967-); in June 2007 they are convicted in Switzerland of running a number of al-Qaida propaganda Web sites. On Sept. 9 Walla Walla, Wash.-born Muslim convert Hamza Yusuf Hanson (1960-) (formerly Mark Hanson), 1996 founder of Zaytuna Inst. in Berkeley, Calif. utters the soundbyte: "This country (America) unfortunately has a great, a great tribulation coming to it, and much of it is already here, yet people are too illiterate to read the writing on the wall", which gets him investigated by the FBI after 9/11. On Sept. 9-10 British maj. Charles Ingram (1965-) wins the million-pound question on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", after which he is accused of cheating by having his wife Diana cough at the correct answer (about the word "googol"), and later convicted, ruining his life. On Sept. 10 Qatar native Khalid Rashid Ali al-Mari (al-Muri) (al-Murri) (1975-), along with his wife and five children move to Peoria, Ill.; in Dec. he is arrested by the feds as a suspected enemy combatant on U.S. soil, and they claim to find credit card numbers on his laptop computer along with evidence linking him to Al-Qaida, moving him out of the criminal justice system into indefinite military detention, causing a federal court action alleging violation of his civil rights. A freebie for Al-Qaida? On Sept. 10 Joseph P. "Joe" Nacchio (1949-), CEO of Colo.-based communication co. Qwest (1997-2002) announces plans to cut 4K jobs after admitting that earnings for the year are expected to be $500M less than he had previously claimed; after the overstated revenue proves to be $2.5B and Nacchio makes $101M from massive stock sales, he is fired next June, and after the stock dips to a low of $.99 a share he ends up getting criminally charged by the U.S. govt.; if he had only waited one day to make his announcement, he could have slithered free by blaming it all on Al-Qaida? On Sept. 10 U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfield mentions in a press conference that $2.3T in transactions cannot be tracked through the antiquated equipment in the Pentagon; this is later twisted as a revelation that $2.5T in cash is mysteriously missing, and that the 9/11 attacks were done to divert an investigation. On Sept. 10 (the eve of 9/11) according to FBI translator Sibel Edmonds, the CIA maintains "intimate relations" with Osama bin Laden for operations in C Asia, incl. Xingjiang, China; he visited the U.S. under the alias Tim Osman?; it's just a folk myth?



9/11: 2001/2 - Ti-i-ime is on my side, yes it is? The day Chicken Little was right? A Big Day for Allah? Here comes the Sunni? It's a bird, it's a plane - Shiite it's Osama? 9/11, the Day the Twin Towers Fell, changing the direction of U.S. history?

World Trade Center - before Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center Sept. 11, 2001 The Pentagon, Sept. 11, 2001 Mohamed Atta (1968-2001) Waleed Mohammed al-Shehri (1978-2001) Wail al-Shehri (1973-2001) Abdulaziz al-Omari (1979-2001) Satam al-Suqami (1976-2001) Marwan al-Shehhi (1978-2001) Fayez Banihammad (1977-2001) Mohand al-Shehri (1979-2001) Hamza al-Ghamdi (1980-2001) Ahmed al-Ghamdi (1979-2001) Hani Hanjour (1972-2001) Khalid al-Mihdhar (1975-2001) Majed Moqed (1977-20010 Nawaf al-Hazmi (1976-2001) Salem al-Hazmi (1981-2001) Ziad Jarrah (1975-2001) Ahmed Ibraham al-Haznawi (1980-2001) Ahmed al-Nami (1977-2001) Saeed al-Ghamdi (1979-2001) George W. Bush (1946-) and Colin Powell (1937-2021) of the U.S. Osama bin Laden (1957-2011) 9/11 Terrorists Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (1964-) Pres. Bush reading from 'The Pet Goat' on 9/11 Andy Card of the U.S. (1947) Todd Morgan Beamer (1968-2001) Rick Rescoria (1939-2001) Sergio G. Villanueva (-2001) Richard N. Perle of the U.S. (1941-) Thomas Joseph 'Tom' Ridge of the U.S. (1945-) Father Mychal F. Judge (1933-2001) James Anthony Traficant Jr. of the U.S. (1943-) Jonathan Franzen (1959-) Eric Henry Monkkonen (1942-2005) Peter Orner T.L. Winslow (TLW) (1953-)

2001-Pt. 2 On Sept. 11, 2001 (Tues.) Pres. George W. Bush is targeted in an assassination plot by al-Qaida On Sept. 11 (Tues.) the New York Times pub. a story about ex-Weatherman radical William Charles "Bill" Ayers (1944-), quoting him as saying "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough." On Sept. 11 (Tues.) the 9/11 Attacks see the New York City skyline changed after 19 lowdown cowardly stinking crazed Satan-controlled Muslim raghead jihad terrorist scumbags (incl. 15 Saudis) hijack four U.S. commercial airliners and take over the unprotected cabins, using flying lessons given them in the U.S. to steer and crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City (dedicated in Apr. 1973), and also the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; Am. Airlines Flight 11 (Boeing 767) from Boston to Los Angeles hits the North Tower at 8:46:26 a.m. with a direct hit that disables all the elevators; actor Tony Perkins' wife Berinthia "Berry" Berenson-Perkins (b. 1948) is on Flight 11; United Airlines Flight 175 (Boeing 767) from Boston to Los Angeles hits the South Tower at 9:02:54 a.m. at an angle, permitting people to escape; Flight 175 has a mysterious pod attached to the undercarriage, indicating that the whole show is really being run by the govt. and the plane was unmanned and remotely-controlled?; Am. Airlines Flight 77 from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles hits the SW face of the Pentagon at 9:43 a.m. on the 60th anniv. of its groundbreaking; it was really a U.S.-launched missile, and was covered-up?; Pres. Bush had a meeting scheduled with affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood after he arrived back at the White House; Pres. Bush first informs the nation of "an apparent terrorist attack on our country" at 9:30 from the school; at 9:45 a.m. the FAA grounds all civilian domestic and internat. flights to-from the U.S., although an El Al (Boeing 747) flight is allowed to take from JFK Airport to Tel Aviv at 4:11 p.m.; commercial flights resume on Sept. 13, followed by private flights on Sept. 14; on Sept. 20 a flight containing Bin Laden family members is allowed to leave the U.S., carrying four Americans; on Sept. 11 NBC-TV commentator Tom Brokaw answers a speculation by Matt Laurer with "This is war. This is a declaration and execution of an attack on the United States", later chanting "War! War!"; "When I saw the second airplane hit, I knew jihad has come to America" (Nonie Darwish); the South Tower implodes at 9:59:04 a.m., followed by the North Tower at 10:28:31 a.m., after the jet fuel ignites tons of paper, which causes internal temps as high as 2K F; Pres. Bush is informed of the South Tower crash at 9:07 a.m. by White House chief of staff (2001-6) Andrew Hill "Andy" Card Jr. (1947-) while visiting with 2nd grade (mainly black) students at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla., and turns red, but stays with the kids, reading aloud from the children's story The Pet Goat (by Siegfried Engelmann and Elaine C. Bruner) with them; British-born former U.S. Army officer Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescoria (b. 1939), vice-pres. of security at Morgan Stanley (scheduled for retirement at year's end) dies after helping 2.7K coworkers to safety; after rushing in to help not knowing about the impending collapse; 343 firefighters die in the Twin Towers, and firefighter (Argentine native) Sergio Gabrial Villanueva (b. 1968) becomes a hero; Hollywood actor Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi (1957-) (a former NYC firefighter) quietly returns to Engine Co. 55 and works 12-hour shifts, trying to avoid publicity; two Port Authority of N.Y. and N.J. police officers survive the towers' collapse and are rescued from the rubble after 22 hours; 300K are evacuated by boat in lower Manhattan after hundreds of craft answer a Coast Guard call for help "From All Available Boats" and converge on the West Side; meanwhile United Air Lines Flight 93 from Newark, N.J. to San Francisco, Calif. carrying 37 passengers and seven crew is hijacked by Beirut, Lebanon-born pilot (al-Qaida member) Ziad Samir Jarrah (1975-2001) and three Saudi Arabia-born muscle men Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Nami (1977-2001), Ahmed Ibrahim al-Haznawi (1980-2001), and Saeed Abdallah Ali Sulayman al-Ghamdi (1979-2001), crashing at 10:03 a.m. near Shanksville in Somerset County, Penn. (60 mi. SE of Pittsburgh and 150 mi. NW of Washington, D.C.) after the 33 all-American passengers are first cowed by a fake body bomb then fight back against the four ragheads instead of cowering like sheep, and kick the surprised terrorists butts, although too late to prevent the crash; Flight 93 passenger Todd Morgan Beamer (b. 1968) becomes a U.S. hero when he quarterbacks the makeshift anti-raghead team with the all-American words "Let's roll!", which are heard on his cellphone; his sad-proud wife Lisa later founds the charity Heroic Choices; the Flight 93 Nat. Memorial is established on Sept. 24, 2002, and dedicated on Sept. 10, 2011; 2,976 are killed in the 9/11 attacks, incl. 2,605 in New York City (215 blacks incl. 136 men and 79 women), 125 at the Pentagon (incl. 55 military personnel), and 246 on the four planes, with 24 listed as missing, becoming the most Americans lost on U.S. soil since the Sept. 17, 1862 Battle of Antietam, and the greatest single-day civilian loss of life in the U.S. since the May 31, 1889 Johnstown Penn. Flood; Time mag. pub. a 9/11 tragedy issue with a cover photo by Lyle Owerko; many Palestinians openly celebrate the attackon the Great Satan U.S.; Iraqi pres. Saddam Hussein utters the soundbyte: "The American cowboys are reaping the fruit of their crimes against humanity"; the govts. of Cuba, Iran, Libya, and North Korea join a worldwide chorus denouncing the attacks; Arab leaders denouncing the attacks incl. King Hussein of Jordan, Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak, and Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri; some Muslims around the world express sympathy for the 9/11 victims, incl. a moment of silence at a World Cup match between Bahrain and Iran on Sept. 14, and a candlelight vigil by Palestinians in Jerusalem on Sept. 15 along with another in Tehran; on Sept. 14 Ireland holds a nat. day of mourning, becoming the only country other than the U.S. and Israel to do so; the Taliban in Afghanistan condemns the attacks but denies that Osama bin Laden is behind them; bin Laden also denies involvement, claiming that there is a govt. within the govt. of the U.S. that wants to turn the 21st cent. into a cent. of conflict between Islam and Christianity, suggesting U.S. Jews and intel agencies, but later admits responsibility in an Oct. 29, 2004 video; the mastermind was mechanical engineering-trained Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (1964-); the economic repercussions cost the U.S. economy $1T (same as Bush's June 7 tax cut); 40K workers work at "The Pile" at Ground Zero for the next 8 mo., removing 1M tons of rubble, and 69% of them later develop permanent lung problems known as "WTC Cough"; NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson films the smoking WTC from space; New York Fire Dept. chaplain (Roman Catholic Franciscan friar) Father Mychal (Michael) Fallon Judge (b. 1933) dies at the WTC, becoming the "Saint of 9/11" ("God is going to make the headlines some day rather than the Devil, so don't give up"); St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at 130 Liberty St. is destroyed, and the govt. stalls in rebuilding it until ?; St. Paul's Chapel at 209 Broadway facing Church St. opposite the E side of the WTC, where new U.S. pres. #1 George Washington prayed after his first inauguration on Apr. 30, 1789 is not harmed, and the syacmore tree in its courtyard becomes known as the 9/11 Sycamore, with a memorial later built for it (Isaiah 9:10); at 8:30 p.m. Pres. Bush gives a great Red-Blooded Am. Cowboy Speech from the White House, with the soundbyte "Make no mistake about it, the U.S. will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts"; the U.S. launches into a new kind of war, the Global War on Terror (Terrorism) (ends ?); Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaida org. are immediately suspected and become the world's most-wanted criminals, despite of a lack of hard evidence; Egyptian-born 9/11 ringleader ("Emir of the WTC Attack") Mohamed Mohamed Atta (b. 1968) (Mohamed Attacker?) (who created the jihad cell in Hamburg, Germany in the late 1990s, incl. three of the four pilots) is found to have met in Prague with an Iraqi spy, throwing suspicions on Saddam Hussein, and New York City-born U.S. nat. security adviser Richard N. Perle (1941-) allegedly either blames the 9/11 attack on Iraq or wants retaliation to incl. them; Pres. Bush activates the "shadow govt." of 75-150 top officials working 90-day shifts in underground bunkers on the East Coast; the Five Dancing Israelis incident starts with a woman named Maria claiming to see a white van with five men in it filming the burning Twin Towers, allegedly with shouts of joy, who are alleged to be Israeli Mossad agents, although they are interviewed and deny dancing etc., causing conspiracy theorists to claim 9/11 was a Mossad operation; New York City Mayor Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani (1944-) leads the city in a heroic manner after the attacks, earning the title "America's Mayor", and calling the deaths "worse than anyone could bear"; "Vanity Fair" ed. Graydon Carter comments "I think it's the end of the age of irony"; British Queen Elizabeth II comments "Grief is the price we pay for love"; Russian pres. Vladimir Putin orders a massive expansion of intel-gathering efforts in North Am. and W Europe; a folded $20 U.S. bill shows the Twin Towers burning?; Algerian-born British airline pilot Lotfi Raissi becomes the first person accused of participating in the 9/11 attack, and is held for five mo. in Belmarsh hi-security prison in London, then put through nine years of hell until being cleared on Apr. 23, 2010; the 20-ft. Ground Zero Cross, a fortuitous configuration of fallen I-beams draws memorial messages and becomes a religious monument; Alicia Esteve Head, who is in Spain on 9/11 arrives in the U.S. in 2003 and pretends to be 9/11 Twin Towers survivor Tania Head, becoming er, head of the survivors' network until she is exposed in 2007, becoming the subject of the 2012 book The Woman Who Wasn't There: The True Story of an Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher; ; meanwhile by 2003 a joke translation of Quran 9:11 begins circulating: "For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced, for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah; and there was peace"; later conspiracy theorists begin exposing the 9/11 attacks as really perpetrated by the U.S. govt. to give them a pretext to destroy the last bastions of the Bill of Rights in the name of homeland security and give them a coverstory to invade the Middle East at will to secure oil, and point to a giant 9/11 conspiracy and coverup, incl. the framing of Muslim terrorists, who allegedly could never have accurately flown the airliners into the WTC, the fact that no fighters were scrambled to accept any of them, the fact that Osama bin Laden et al. were originally trained by the U.S., the problem that eight of those named on the FBI's list of 19 names later turn up alive and well living in different countries, and the evidences of the deliberate demolition of WTC Bldg. 7, which hadn't been struck by an airplane; later civil engineers prove WTC Bldg. 7 was in free-fall for 2.5 sec., pointing to planted explosives; others claim to rebut conspiracy allegations; did the U.S. govt murder its own people to make a power grab, then stage a coverup, stay tuned?; in Aug. 2009 a group of law enforcement officers and others who participated in the 9/11 rescue and cleanup develop immune system cancer and other health problems; by 2010 3K WTC survivors are still experienced long-term PTSD; on Mar. 11, 2010 they reach a $657.5M settlement; Saudi princess Haifa bint Faisal, wife of U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia Prince Bandar bin Sultan is later discovered to have donated money via a conduit to two of the 9/11 hijackers; in May 2020 the FBI accidentally leaks the identity of a Saudi embassy official in Washington, D.C. who is suspected of directing crucial support to the hijackers; the CIA is plagued by guilt and panic amid rumors of a coming 2nd wave of attacks, with some analysts working around the clock with their children sleeping on the floor, causing them to get the White House to authorize enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) incl. waterboarding, sensory deprivation, and prolonged stress positions. The massive attack on the U.S. Bill of Rights doesn't take long to begin, starting with patsy Arab-Americans? On Sept. 11 Pakistani-born Muslim Am. New York City police cadet Mohammad Salman Hamdani (b. 1978) sees the smoke coming from the WTC and rushes to aid the victims, and is reported missing, causing him to be suspected of being involved in the attack, after which Congress declares him a hero, although he is omitted from the 9/11 memorial list of first responders because he was only a cadet. On Sept. 11 Egyptian-born Am. radiologist Basem M.F. Hussein (1965-) is arrested and his apt. searched by police after the property mgr. calls claiming to see Arabic lit., an airplane flight manual, a CD jacket showing an exploding airplane and chemical residue; after he proves that the CD was a flight simulator game, that it did not depict an exploding airplane, that the Arabic lit. was the Quran, and the chemical residue household dust, a federal jury in Pittsburgh awards him $850K in compensatory and $1.6M in punitive damages on Sept. 23, 2005; on Nov. 3 the U.S. govt. agrees to pay $1.26M to five Muslim men detained for months without charges - send the check to Osama? On Sept. 11 Detroit, Mich. restaurant owner Noureddine "Dean" Hachem is accused of his waiters cheering 9/11, which he denies; while he is suing for defamation, he is indicted for running an internat. auto theft ring, with the money being funneled to Hezbollah; he is convicted and imprisoned. Us Americans, we're living longer than ever? He wants to start World War III? On Sept. 11, 2001 (9/11) after watching the 9/11 news on TV and getting freaked, T.L. Winslow (TLW) (1953-) of Denver, Colo. shelves his numerous other careers as computer programmer, engineer, fiction writer et al., and begins full-time work on T.L. Winslow's Great Track of Time, placing it on the World Wide Web on his Web site www.tlwinslow.com, where it first becomes accessible on Google on Oct. 29, until it receives over 100K hits and takes too much time and expense, pulling the plug in May 2003 and continuing to work on it for pub. by traditional channels, then putting it back up in Aug. 2013 after searching in vain for an agent, publisher, or investor to help it reach the millions, only to get far fewer hits because of the gaming of the search engines by millions of spam sites, which put his site at the bottom of the list; done totally outside academia, the smug closed establishment gives him no credit, reputation, or even notice until ?, allowing him to totally take over the field of history and launch the Historyscoping Rev. on his little ole desktop PC connected to the Internet with an iffy personal income and iffy living conditions, with increasing medical problems rendering him unable to even work at part-time jobs, ending up on govt. assistance; by the time his students storm the Bastille and become the establishment, he's ??? years old?; if you build it they will come? On Sept. 11 despite the 9/11 attacks, the Doomsday Clock is kept at 9 min. before midnight. On Sept. 11 Saudi Arabian-born ex-Muslim Brigitte Gabriel founds the Am. Congress for Truth to inform Americans about the threat of radical Islam, becoming the largest such org. in the U.S.



2001/3 - The 9/11 year provides its own sequel, The Empire Strikes Back?

Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan (1957-) Ricardo Maduro of Honduras (1946-) Hafiz Mohammed Saeed of Pakistan Boungnang Vorachitch of Laos (1937-) John Negroponte of the U.S. (1939-) U.S. Rep. Barbara Jean Lee (1946-) John Choon Yoo of the U.S. (1967-) Steven Jay Hatfill (1953-) Susan Sontag (1933-2004) Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) Pierre-Henri Bunel (1952-) The Interfaith Amigos Grover Glenn Norquist (1956-) Samah Norquist Michael Waltrip (1963-) Helio Castroneves (1975-) Barry Bonds (1964-) Oct. 7, 2001 Kwame Brown (1982-) Steve Smith (1969-) George Harrison (1943-2001) John Philip Walker Lindh (1981-) Felix Sharshenbayevich Kulov of Kyrgyzstan (1948-) Khaleda Zia of Bangladesh (1945-) Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf of Nigeria (1970-2009) William R. Hewlett (1913-2005) Claude Shannon (1916-2001) Bill Clay Ford Jr. (1957-) Carly Fiorina (1954-) Nizar Trabelsi (1970-) Azzam Tamimi (1955-) Tarek Fatah (1949-) Kenneth L. Lay (1942-2006) Jeffrey Skilling (1953-) 'Shoe Bomber' Richard Colvin Reid (1973-) Prince Ernst August of Hanover (1954-) Michael Dwayne Vick (1980-) Ray Bourque (1960-) Kofi Annan (1938-) V.S. Naipaul (1932-) Wolfgang Ketterle (1957-) William Easterly (1957-) Paul Robin Krugman (1953-) Anthony J. Venables (1953-) Masahisa Fujita (1943-) Eric A. Cornell (1961-) Carl E. Wieman (1951-) William S. Knowles (1917-2012) Ryoji Noyori (1938-) K. Barry Sharpless (1941-) Gary Ridgway (1949-) Leland H. Hartwell (1939-) Sir Tim Hunt (1943-) Sir Paul Nurse (1949-) Andrew Michael Spence (1943-) Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (1943-) Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-) Victor Davis Hanson (1953-) Michel Houellebecq (1956-) David Limbaugh (1952-) Sir Robert Tony Watson (1948-) Sir John T. Houghton (1931-) Sir John F.B. Mitchell (1948-) Richard Lindzen (1940-) Freeman Dyson (1923-) Jacques Marescaux (1948-) Suzan-Lori Parks (1963-) Richard Russo (1949-) Anita Shreve (1946-) Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960-) Jimmy Wales (1966-) Larry Sanger (1968-) Sir Ken Robinson (1950-) Lawrence Lessig (1961-) Khaled Abou El Fadl (1963-) Ahmad Sa'adat (1953-) Susan Athey (1970-) Kyle Bagwell Gilad Atzmon (1963-) Gary Stanley Becker (1930-) Kevin M. Murphy (1958-) James Carroll (1943-) Norman Dubie (1945-) Oriana Fallaci (1929-2006) Antwone Fisher (1959-) Bernard Goldberg (1945-) Philippa Gregory (1954-) Jonathan Israel (1946-) Ruben Santiago-Hudson (1956-) Petr Zelenka (1967-) 'The 51st State', 2001 'Alias', starring Jennifer Garner (1972-), 2001-6) 'A.I.', 2001 'Blow', 2001 'Bridget Joness Diary, 2001 'The Cats Meow', 2001 'The Curse of the Jade Scorpion', 2001 'From Hell', 2001 'Gosford Park', 2001 'Hannibal', 2001 'Impostor', 2001 'Jeepers Creepers', 2001 'K-PAX', 2001 'O', 2001 'The Others', 2011 'Pearl Harbor', 2001 'Planet of the Apes', 2001 'Scotland, PA', 2001 'Shaolin Soccer', 2001 'Shrek', 2001 'The Tailor of Panama', 2001 '24', 2001-14 'According to Jim', 2001-9 'Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone', 2001 'Ice Planet', 2001 'The Man Who Wasnt There', 2001 'Monsters Ball', 2001 'Reba', 2001-6 'Scrubs', 2001-10 'Six Feet Under', 2001-5 'Star Trek: Enterprise', 2001-5 'The Producers', 2001 Dean L. Kamen (1951-) As I Lay Dying Beatallica Michelle Branch (1983-) Weezer Puddle of Mudd The National Chicks on Speed Staind Tool Aaliyah (1979-2001) Afroman (1974-) Ryan Adams (1974-) Tori Amos (1963-) India.Arie (1975-) Mary J. Blige (1971-) Cake Hoobastank Jack Hody Johnson (1975-) Alicia Keys (1981-) John Mayer (1977-) Shakira (1977-) Smash Mouth The Strokes Train Segway, 2001 'Fashion Model Seated' by Larry Rivers (1923-2002), 2001

2001-Pt. 3 On Sept. 12 the Dow Jones Index drops by 7.12%. On Sept. 12 Pres. Bush stages a photo opp with members of the Nat. Security Team, issuing the soundbyte: "The deliberate and deadly attacks which were carried out yesterday against our country were more than acts of terror. They were acts of war." On Sept. 12 the NATO allies vote in favor of the Washington Treaty's first-ever invocation of the Article 5 collecive defense guarantee. On Sept. 12 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1368, condemning the 9/11 attacks and expressing readiness to take the necessary steps to respond to terrorism, recognizing the right of individual and collective self-defense. On Sept. 13 Pres. Bush meets with Saudi Prince Bandar on the Truman Balcony at the White House. On Sept. 13 Buckingham Palace plays The Star-Spangled Banner for the first time ever during the Changing of the Guard (until ?) to please 5K Am. bystanders. On Sept. 13 Tunisian-born German soccer player Nizar Trabelsi (1970-) is arrested for working with Osama bin Laden to stage a suicide attack at a U.S. military installation in Europe. On Sept. 13 the Parisian daily Le Monde pub. an editorial with the title: "We Are All Americans" (Nous sommes tous Americains), with the soundbyte: "How can we not feel, as we have in the gravest moments of our history, but profoundly in solidarity with this people and this country, the United States, with whom we are so close and to whom we owe our liberty, and therefore our solidarity." On Sept. 14 the U.S. House of Reps. votes to authorize a military response to the 9/11 attack; the only dissenting vote is Barbara Jean Lee (1946-) (D-Wyo.); Kyrgyzstan permits multi-nat. troops from the U.S. and seven other nations to be stationed to fight against the Taliban. On Sept. 14 Pres. Bush gives a Bullhorn Speech at Ground Zero on the ruins of the World Trade Center, which many see as characterizing his first term with his lackadaisical response to the nat. emergency; his take on Shakespeare's Henry IV's St. Crispin's Day Speech (Henry IV, Act IV, Scene iii.18-67)? On Sept. 15 white supremacist self-declared "Arab slayer" Mark Stroman (1970-) gets revenge for 9/11 by gunning down Muslim Pakistani immigrant Waqar Hasan (b. 1945) in a Dallas convenience store, and shooting Muslim Bangladeshi immigrant Rais Bhuiyan in the face, blinding one eye, which doesn't stop him from IDing him in court; later Bhuiyan starts a campaign to save him from execution. On Sept. 15 Am. Sikh Balbir Singh Sodhi is shot 5x in the back and murdered at the corner of the Mesa Star Chevron gas station in Ariz. by Frank Roque, who shoots at and misses a Lebanese-Am. clerk at another gas station, then drives to his old home (occupied by an Arab family) and fires several more shots; he receives a death sentence, which is reduced to life. On Sept. 15 in The New Yorker, New York activist Susan Sontag (1933-2004) puts in her two cents worth on the 9/11 attack: "Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a 'cowardly' attack on 'civilization' or 'liberty' or 'humanity' or 'the free world' but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions?" On Sept. 15 four loaded barges and a tugboat strike the Queen Isabella Causeway, the only bridge to South Padre Island, Tex., killing eight. On Sept. 16 Osama bin Laden denies involvement in the 9/11 attacks, saying: "I would like to assure the world that I did not plan the recent attacks, which seems to have been planned by people for personal reasons"; on Sept. 28 he adds "I have already said that I am not involved in the September 11 attacks in the United States. As a Muslim, I try my best to avoid telling a lie. I had no knowledge of these attacks, nor do I consider the killing of innocent women, children and other human beings as an appreciable act. Islam strictly forbids causing harm to innocent women, children and other people. Such a practice is forbidden even in the course of battle... The United States should try to trace the perpetrators of these attacks within itself, the people who are a part of the U.S. system but are dissenting against it, or those who are working for some other system, persons who want to make the present century a century of conflict between Islam and Christianity so that their own civilization, nation, country, or ideology can survive. They may be anyone, from Russia to Israel and from India to Serbia. In the U.S. itself, there are dozens of well-organized and well-equipped groups capable of causing large-scale destruction. Then you cannot forget the American Jews, who have been annoyed with President Bush ever since the Florida elections and who want to avenge him... Then there are intelligence agencies in the U.S., which require billions of dollars worth of funds from Congress and the government every year... They needed an enemy... Is it not that there exists a government within the government in the United Sates? That secret government must be asked who carried out the attacks"; on Dec. 26 he adds that the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan is "a vicious campaign based on mere suspicion". On Sept. 16 Philly-born ex-Muslim black minister Rev. Jeremiah Alvesta "Jerry" Wright Jr. (1941-) of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill. gives his Chickens Come Home to Roost speech, quoting U.S. ambassador to Iraq (1977-80) Edward L. Peck, who told Fox News "We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards: America's chickens are coming home to roost", then pointing out that Malcolm X originally said the chickens statement; too bad, when Barack Obama runs for U.S. pres. in 2008, Wright's speech is dug up and quoted out of context to make him into the originator. On Sept. 17 Pres. George W. Bush gives a Speech on Islam at a mosque in Washington, D.C., telling Am. Muslims that they should feel safe, with the soundbyte "Islam is peace." On Sept. 18 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists Act (Public Law 107-40), giving the U.S. pres. broad open-ended authority to use military force on the streets of the U.S. under the excuse of protecting citizens from terrorists - such a law might be great to use to round-up Muslims, but it could also be used by a Muslim-controlled pres. to round up non-Muslims, I've already got my bags packed? On Sept. 18 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists Act (AUMF) (Public Law 107-40), invoking the U.S. War Powers Resolution to authorize U.S. armed forces to be used against those who "planned, authorized, committed or aided" the 9/11 attacks with all "necessary and appropriate force"; in 2013 after it is revealed that the act might stay in effect for decades, and could be used by a Muslim-controlled U.S. pres. against non-Muslim citizens, Sen. Angus King utters the soundbyte: "You guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution today." On Sept. 18 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Nat. Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), requiring special registration for thousands of Arab and Muslim men in an attempt to uncover immigration violations and terror links; it is discontinued in Apr. 2011 after 84K voluntarily register and 14K are deported; meanwhile the Belgium-based SWIFT European Bank Transfer Consortium gives U.S. authorities access to Euro financial data to track terrorists, which is kept secret until 2006, angering Euro legislators, who seek to restrict the data sharing for privacy reasons. On Sept. 18 a letter containing anthrax spores is mailed to NBC-TV in New York City, starting a nationwide anthrax scare, esp. after more are sent to various govt. officials; on Oct. 5 several die after handling letters; U.S. bioweapons expert Dr. Steven Jay Hatfill (1953-) is identified by the U.S. govt. as a "person of interest", and suffers FBI raids and persecution until he is belatedly cleared in 2008 in favor of fellow scientist Bruce Ivins (1946-2008) - hat fill equals envelope fill until heads you lose brucellosis I vins? On Sept. 19 after being appointed by Pres. George W. Bush in Feb. and being ratified by the Senate on Sept. 15, London, England-born diplomat John Dimitri Negroponte (1939-) (U.S. ambassador to Mexico, 1989-93) becomes U.S. U.N. ambassador #23 (until June 23, 2004), after which on June 29 he succeeds L. Paul Bremer as U.S. ambassador to Iraq (until Mar. 17, 2005) before becoming dir. #1 of nat. intelligence on Apr. 21, 2005 (until Feb. 13, 2007), controlling a $40B budget. On Sept. 20 U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark meets with U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld in the Pentagon, and is told that the decision has been made to go to war with Iraq. On Sept. 22 the U.S. lifts its sanctions on India and Pakistan (in place since May, 1998); Japan follows suit on Oct. 26. On Sept. 23 Pres. Bush signs Executive Order 13224, freezing assets of 27 U.S. entities alleged connected to terrorism, incl. the Global Relief Foundation, Benevolence Internat. Foundation, and Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development; on Dec. 8, 2011 the convictions of the five jihadists behind the foundation are upheld the U.S. Court of Appeals. On Sept. 24 Calif. artists R.J. Waldron, Eric Noda, and Thomas Hanley paint a 35-ft. U.S.flag on a concrete wall near I-680 in Sunol, Calif. about 40 mi. SE of San Francisco; in 2010 Caltrans removes it after declaring it graffiti. Yoo-hoo, peek-a-boo, I see you? On Sept. 25 the Yoo Memorandum by Korean-Am. U.S. asst. atty.-gen. John Choon Yoo (1967-) contends that "the Constitution vests the President with the plenary authority, as Commander-in-Chief and the sole organ of the Nation in its foreign relations, to use military force abroad", and that Congress cannot "place any limits on the President's determinations as to any terrorist threat, the amount of military force to be used in response, or the method, timing, and nature of the response", incl. torture, bitch-slapping and drugging al-Qaida POWs; by 2005 autopsies of POWs dying in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan list strangulation, asphyxiation, and blunt force injuries as causes of death; the memo is not released to the public until Apr. 1, 2008. On Sept. 26 after efforts by conservative backer Grover Glenn Norquist (1956-), Pres. Bush meets with 15 Muslim leaders at the White House who allegedly reject terrorism, although many are suspect of supporting it against Israel; after telling the press that real Islam doesn't support al-Qaida's doctrines, Bush utters the soundbyte "The teachings of Islam are teachings of peace and good"; on Apr. 2, 2005 Norquist marries Kuwaiti-born Palestinian Muslim Samah Alrayyes, who works for the U.S. Agency for Internat. Development (USAID) as an Arab and Muslim outreach specialist; after some Muslims who befriended Norquist end up indicted for terrorist activities, incl. Abdurahman Alamoudi, Norquist still doesn't drop his support for the Islam as religion of peace cause (until ?). On Sept. 26 (9/11 + 5 = bad omen?) Star Trek: Enterprise debuts on UPN-TV for 98 episodes (until May 13, 2005), starring Scott Stewart Bakula (1954-) as Capt. Jonathan Archer of Earth's first Warp 5 starship Enterprise in the year 2151, his father having designed the engine, Jolene Blalock (1975-) as Vulcan T'Pol, Connor Trinneer (1969-) as aquaphobic chief engineer Charles "Trip" Tucker III, Dominic Keating (1962-) as armory officer Malcolm Reed, Linda Park (1978-) as communications officer Hosi Sato, John Billingsley (1960-) as chief medical officer Dr. Phlox, and Anthony T. Montgomery (197-1) as helmsman Ensign Travis Mayweather. On Sept. 28 after a 5-min. meeting, the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1373, responding to 9/11 by calling on all member states to ratify all existing internat. conventions on terrorism, share intel, and restrict immigration, establishing a terrorism committee to monitor compliance; too bad, the term "terrorism" isn't defined, and only al-Qaida and the Taliban are put on the sanctions list. On Sept. 28 Pres. George W. Bush utters the soundbyte: "There are thousands of Muslims who proudly call themselves Americans, and they know what I know, that the Muslim faith is based upon peace and love and compassion" - but only for other Muslims? On Sept. 29 Am. actress Sharon Stone (1958-) has a brain aneurysm at age 43, later making a full recovery - if Ahnuld couldn't take her? On Sept. 30 the J.J. Abrams action-spy series Alias debuts on ABC-TV for 105 episodes (until May 22, 2006), starring Jennifer Anne Garner (1972-) as CIA agent Sydney Bristow, who poses as an operative for the SD-6 global criminal org., and struggles to hide her career from her family and friends while tracking down artifacts created by Renaissance-era genius Milo Rambaldi (1444-96). In Sept. the Tipton Three, three 20-something British Muslims who went to Afghanistan on a lark and attended a wedding cross into Pakistan, eventually getting arrested in the company of Taliban fighters, and end up in the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, where they are interrogated and mistreated, finally being released in 2004 with no apologies. On Oct. 1 Mademoiselle mag. announces that it will cease pub. after 66 years, citing a weak advertising climate caused by 9/11. On Oct. 1, 2001 the sitcom According to Jim debuts on ABC-TV for 182 episodes (until June 2, 2009), starring James Adam "Jim" Belushi (1954-) (brother of the late John Belush) as James "Jim" Orenthal, a lovable surburban father of three who likes blues music, the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bulls, and Chicago Blackhawks, and gets into trouble continually because of his laziness. On Oct. 2 the medical comedy series Scrubs debuts on NBC-TV for 182 episodes (until Mar. 17, 2010), set at Sacred Heart Teaching Hospital and based on the daydreams of Dr. John "J.D." Dorian, played by Zachary Israel "Zach" Braff (1975-). On Oct. 2 (Tue.) (3 weeks after the 9/11 attacks) Dem. Del. Sen. Joe Biden proposes that the U.S. send "no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran"; no surprise, Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in IRan Kaveh Mohseni calls Biden "a great friend of the mullahs", claiming that Biden's election campaigns "have been financed by Islamic charities of the Iranian regime based in California and by the Silican Iran network" of wealthy Iranian-Am. businesspersons seeking an end to the U.S. trade embargo on Iran. On Oct. 3 According to Jim debuts on ABC-TV for 182 episodes (until June 2, 2009), starring James Adam "Jim" Belushi (1954-) as surbuban blues fan father of five James "Jim" Orenthal (no last name), whose laziness causes the humor. On Oct. 6 the Society of Prof. Journalists in Seattle, Wash. pub. the PC "Diversity Guidelines", incl. portraying "Muslims, Arabs, Middle Eastern and South Asian Americans in the richness of their diverse experiences", and not using "inflammatory" language. The Bush Empire Strikes Back? On Oct. 7 (anniv. of the 1777 2nd Battle of Saratoga, the 1780 Battle of King's Mountain, and the 1918 Relief of the Lost Battalion) after the Taliban refuses to hand over Osama bin Laden, citing lack of evidence despite admitting to harboring a fugitive from justice, the first U.S. military counterattack against Osama bin Laden begins, with a massive daily bombing campaign against Taliban and al-Qaida terrorist camps in Afghanistan, aided by the CIA's elite Special Activities Div. and British forces, overthrowing Taliban control of Afghanistan with minimal U.S. force loss and no conventional military forces; the U.S. communicates with anti-Taliban Iran before and after the invasion for the 1st time since the 1985-6 Iran-Contra Affair; on Oct. 14 the Taliban offers to discuss handling bin Laden over to a neutral country, but maintains the evidence requirement, and is rejected; on Nov. 12 (night) the Taliban retreats S from Kabul, and by Nov. 13 they withdraw Jalalabad, followed by their last city stronghold of Kandahar in early Dec; on Nov. 15 they release eight Western aid workers after 3 mo. in captivity; the horrible Sharia imposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan relaxes, only to begin to rebound in 2003, with police looking the other way; meanwhile Am. philosopher Noam Chomsky later calls the Afghan invasion "one of the most immoral acts in modern history". On Oct. 8 Pres. Bush creates the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security, with former (1995-2001) Penn. gov. Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (1945-) as acting dir. (until Jan. 24, 2003), becoming the biggest federal govt. reorg. since the 1940s, subsuming every govt. agency from the Secret Service to the Coast Guard in an effort to protect the "critical infrastructure"; they set up the Web site Ready.gov for the public, with the motto "Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed"; too bad, by 2010 the intel apparatus balloons to 1,271 govt. orgs. and 1,931 private cos. working in 10K locations around the U.S., with 854K granted top secret security clearances, becoming a secret govt. that could threaten the freedom of its own people; by 2010 its surface yearly budget is $75B, which doesn't incl. domestic counter-terrorism and military programs. On Oct. 9 Pres. Bush's approval rating reaches a high of 92%. On Oct. 9 New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani announces that the city is rejecting a $10M donation for disaster relief from Saudi prince Al-Walid bin Talal after he suggests that U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the 9/11 attacks with a note telling the city to "reexamine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance to the Palestinian cause", and "must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack", causing Giuliani to reply "I entirely reject that statement. There is no moral equivalent for this act. There is no justification for it. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people"; Talal goes on to donate money for Islamic centers at U.S. univs., which are gratefully accepted by liberal academia, and embarrass other Saudi royals with claims that his Lebanese heritage puts him in a position for negotiations, along with his obscene flaunting of his wealth incl. a private Boeing 747. On Oct. 10 former PM (1991-6) Khaleda Zia (1945-), wife of assassinated pres. Zia ur-Rahman becomes PM #12 of Bangladesh (until Oct. 29, 2006). On Oct. 16 Smallville debuts on The WB for 218 episodes (until May 13, 2011), based on the DC Comics Superman char., starring Thomas John Patrick "Tom" Welling (1977-) as teenie Clark Kent growing up in Smallville, Kan. - just what America needs right after 9/11? On Oct. 19/20 violence in the West Bank sees eight Palestinians killed and 12 wounded; on Oct. 20 (night) an Israeli heli fire two missiles at a bldg. in Bathlehem after spotting armed Palestinians on the roof, wounding eight, five criticaly. On Oct. 23 the IRA announces that it has begun to dismantle its weapons arsenal. On Oct. 24 the U.S. House by 357-66 passes the U.S. Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act) "to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world"; it passes the U.S. Senate on Oct. 25 by 98-1; it incl. a sunset provision under which 15 of the law's provisions expire at the end of 2005; Pres. George W. Bush signs it on Oct. 26; a controversial provision allows govt. access to library and bookstore records, causing fears that it could let them target innocent patriots as terrorists based on what books they check out or buy; in 2010 the FBI is revealed to improperly open investigations into Greenpeace and other anti-war and animal rights groups after 9/11. On Oct. 28 Muslim gunmen with AK-47s attack a Protestant church in Bahawalpur, Punjab, killing 16 and injuring six. In Oct. the Palestinians begin firing Qassam steel artillery rockets (range 3 mi.) into Israeli settlements, followed on Feb. 10, 2002 by Israel itself, incl. the S Israeli city of Sderot on Mar. 5, with some reaching the far edge of Ashkelon; 1K rockets are launched in 2006, 1.75K in 2008, killing 22 Israelis by 2010. As the U.S. zeroes in on Osama bin Laden, he turns into the new Elvis, sans sightings in Vegas? In Oct. Tayseer Alouni of Al Jazeera interviews Osama bin Laden, becoming the last reputable person who claims to see him until ?; after this only audio and video tapes emanating by somebody claiming to be him come from somewhere, some showing him with a short broad nose, others with a Semitic aquiline nose; a Dec. 2001 video shows him wearing golden rings, which goes against Wahhabi customs. In Oct. Yemeni-born Muslim imam Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-) of the Dar al-Hijrah (Land of Migration) Mosque in Great Falls, Fairfax County, Va., where two 9/11 terrorists worshipped (who atended a luncheon at the Pentagon months after 9/11) is interviewed by Nat. Geographic, claiming that Muslims aren't radical or violent, with the soundbytes "We came here to build, not to destroy" and "We are the bridge between Americans and one billion Muslims worldwide." In Oct. Ahmad Sa'adat (Saadat) (Sadat) (1953-) becomes secy.-gen. of the Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) (until ?); on Oct. 17 right-wing Israeli tourism minister Gen. Rehavam "Gandhi" Ze'evi (b. 1926) is assassinated in the Jerusalem Hyatt Hotel by the PFLP, and Sa'adat is blamed, causing him to take refuge in Yassir Arafat's PLO HQ in Muqata, causing Israel to siege it until an agreement between the U.S. and U.K. causes him to be handed over, after which he is tried then sentenced to 30 years in prison on Dec. 25, 2008, and imprisoned despite internat. pressure; in Dec. 2007 PFLP member Hamdi Quran confesses in court to the assassination, and is sentenced to life in prison; PFLP members Basel al-Asmar, Majdi Rahima Rimawi, and Ahad Olma are sentenced to 30-80 years. On Nov. 1 Pres. Bush signs Executive Order 13233, limiting access to the records of former U.S. presidents; it is partially struck down by the court in Oct. 2007, and pres. Barack Obama revokes it on Jan. 21, 2009. On Nov. 4 the Arizona Diamondbacks (NL) (mgr. Bob Brenly) defeat the New York Yankees (AL) (mgr. Joe Torre) 4-3 to win the Ninety-Seventh (97th) World Series when Luis Gonzalez' broken-bat single caps a 2-run 9th inning in Game 7; Pres. Bush throws the first pitch in Game 3, becoming the first U.S. pres. to visit Yankee Stadium during a WS; in Game 4 Lee Greenwood sings "God Bless the USA". On Nov. 6 taking advantage of the 9/11 buzz, 24 debuts on Fox Network for 204 episodes (until July 14, 2014), a 24-episode series in which each episode represents one hour in the day of the life of definitely-no-007 U.S. Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland (1966-), who fights terrorism and govt. bureaucracy; Dennis Dexter Haysbert (1954-) plays black U.S. pres. David Palmer, who gets assassinated and replaced by his equally black brother Wayne Palmer, played by D.B. (David Bryan) Woodside (1969-). On Nov. 8 King Abdullah II of Jordan gives a Speech on 9/11 to the British Parliament, promising support in the war against terrorism, and saying that Jordan recognizes Israel's right to exist but wants a 2-state solution with the right of return of displaced Palestinians. On Nov. 10 Colo.-born writer and LSD pioneer Ken Kesey (b. 1935), the link man between the 1950s Beat Generation and the 1960s Hippies Generation dies; "I was too young to be a beatnik and too old to be a hippie" - high to the end? On Nov. 10 Osama bin Laden poses for a photo with his adviser-successor Ayman al-Zawahri, which becomes famous. On Nov. 12 Am. Airlines Flight 587 plunges into a residential neighborhood in Queens, N.Y., killing 260 plus five on the ground - American Airlines, first into the Towers and first into the hood? On Nov. 13 Pres. Bush issues a Pres. Military Order on Detention, Treatment and Trial of Certain Non-Citizens in the War Against Terrorism, ordering captured al-Qaida terrorists to be tried by special military commissions, free of the restrictions imposed by the civilian courts; the Taliban is lumped in with al-Qaida; the military prison facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is established; initially a bunch of cages called Camp X-Ray, Halliburton gets a $155M contract to construct new facilities called Camp Delta, opened on Apr. 28, 2002. On Nov. 14 Pres. Bush issues the first ever U.S. Pres. Ramadan Greeting, going with his Islam history ignoramus attempts to define Islam as a religion of peace, along with prohibiting a person's religion from being used in airport security and encouraging more Saudi students to study in the U.S.; he even adds a Quran to the White House library. On Nov. 22 Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to send an e-mail apology over the Internet for injustices committed by Roman Catholic clergy in Pacific nations against aborigines. On Nov. 26 opposition candidate Ricardo Rodolfo Maduro Joest (1946-) (a Roman Catholic of Jewish descent) beats Liberal party candidate Rafael Pineda Ponce to become pres. of scandal-rocked Honduras next Jan. 27 (until Jan. 27, 2006), which has a 1-term law for presidents. On Nov. 27 Afghan factions create a post-Taliban govt. On Nov. 27 Liberal Party leader Anders Fogh Rasmussen (1953-) becomes PM #24 of Denmark (until Apr. 5, 2009), leading a center-right coalition with the Conservative People's Party, going on to limit immigration, freeze tax rates, and other "biggest reforms in 30 years". On Nov. 29 George Harrison (b. 1943) becomes the second Beatle to bite the dust and not make it to 64 when he dies of cancer in Los Angeles, Calif.; in July he had released a statement asking fans not to worry about reports that he was still battling it. On Nov. 30 Salt Lake City, Utah-born "Green River Killer" Gary Leon Ridgway (1949-) is arrested while leaving the Kenton truck factory in Renton, Wash. for murdering four women; he is convicted of 49 murders of women and girls in Wash. State in the 1980s-1990s, mainly hos and runaways, strangling them and dumping their bodies in wilderness areas in King County, often returning to have sex with them. In Nov. John Howard wins a 3rd term as PM of Australia (since 1996) as a result of his tough policy against illegal immigration, imprisoning refugees from Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq in camps, and rerouting boat people to camps in Papua New Guinea and Naura ("the Pacific solution"). In Nov. the Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) is established by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to screen passengers at airports; by the end of 2009 it spends $40B on aviation security, and still can't stop the 2009 Xmas Underwear Bomber? In Nov. an Italian woman has the first delivery of two simultaneous pregnancies, followed by #2 3 mo. later, becoming the first case of superfecundation in human medical history? In Nov. Pres. Bush signs an executive order making non-citizens serving in the U.S. military on active duty eligible for citizenship; on Nov. 13 he signs another executive order giving the U.S. intel community extensive orders to go after terrorists - jump the border, go to Iraq, lose a leg, get your papers? In Nov. the World Trade Org. (WTO) (founded 1994) holds its Doha Round in Doha, Qatar, with 141 nations meeting to discuss reduction of tarrifs and other world trade issues (ends ?). In Nov. the city council of Esperantina, Brazil passes a law making May 9 official Orgasm Day, to fight premature ejaculation - shouldn't it have been June 9? On Dec. 1 converted Muslim U.S. citizen John Philip Walker Lindh (1981-) ("the American Taliban") is captured in Aghanistan among Taliban forces and charged with conspiracy to kill Americans outside the U.S., and gets a 20-year sentence after agreeing to a plea bargain; he later goes by name Abu Sulayman Al-Irlandi ("the Irishman"); on Dec. 9 Kandahar, the last Taliban-controlled city falls, causing a Quetta Shura (leadership council) to be formed by the top Taliban leadership in the Balochistan province of Pakistan; Osama bin Laden remains at large as the Raghead Robin Hood of Fractured Medieval Space Age Islam; the U.S. blows its chance to capture or kill Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Tora Bora ("Black Cave") (50 mi. SE of Kabul at the W edge of the tribal areas) in Dec., after which he ends up in Abbattobad, Pakistan. Enron execs are caught laying, cheating and skilling? On Dec. 2 Houston, Tex.-based energy-trading co. Enron Corp. (originally called Enteron until they discovered it means "intestine"), known for making large contributions to both nat. political parties and being real close to the oil-co.-loving Bush admin. announces that it is filing for bankruptcy; with assets of $63B and 11K employees, it is the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, and leaves the employees in the lurch even though the execs cash out $500M in stock while lying to Wall St. about the corpse, er, corp.'s health; the corp. HQ in Houston, Tex. is sold for $55.5M; the accounting firm of Arthur Anderson is later convicted of obstructing justice in an SEC investigation; the Creative Accounting Scandal is left to be mopped-up by Congress with the 2002 U.S. McCain-Feingold Act (campaign financing bill) and the 2002 U.S. Corporate Responsibility Act; 16 Enron execs plead guilty to criminal charges, and on July 7, 2004 Ph.D. (Economics) founder (CEO in 1982-2002) Kenneth Lee "Ken" Lay (1942-2006) and CEO (Feb. 12-Aug. 14, 2001) Jeffrey Keith "Jeff" Skilling (1953-) are charged with conspiracy and fraud (7 counts for Lay, 31 for Skilling, incl. insider trading); after spending $30M on their defense, their 2006 trial results on May 25 in 6 guilty counts for Lay (165 years possible) and 19 for Skilling (185 years possible); in a separate trial, Lay is found guilty on four counts of personal banking fraud; 3 mo. before his sentencing date he has a heart attack (coronary artery disease) and dies in his Pabst Ranch 20 mi. from Aspen, Colo. on July 5, 2006; too bad, on June 25, 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court guts the Honest Services Law (making it a crime "to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services"), one of the favorite tools of federal prosecutors for pursuing corrupt politicians corp. execs, casting doubt on the convictions. On Dec. 3 Israel confines Yasser Arafat to the West Bank town of Ramallah, condemns the Palestinian Authority as a "terror-supporting entity", then shows its logic by bombing Palestinian areas. On Dec. 4 the Richardson, Tex.-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (originally Occupied Land Fund) (founded 1989), largest Muslim charity in the U.S. is shut down by the Bush admin. as an enemy of the state and terrorist group, accusing it of funneling money to Hamas, with the Treasury Dept. freezing its assets; on Nov. 24, 2008 five HLF leaders are convicted on 108 counts, and given 15-65 year sentences. On Dec. 6 Newfoundland and Labrador becomes Canada's 10th province - perfect for a year that goes to the dogs? On Dec. 9 the Taliban govt. in Afghanistan collapses after 2 mo. of bomging by the U.S. combined with ground fighting by Northern Alliance troops; on Dec. 22 Hamid Karzai (1957-) is sworn-in as interim Afghan pres. On Dec. 12 Pres. Bush informs Congress of his decision to withdraw from the 1972 ABM Treaty; Congress allows it to lapse 6 mo. later on 6-13-2002. On Dec. 12 female genital mutiliation of minors is outlawed in Kenya. On Dec. 13 five gunmen attack the Indian Parliament, leaving 14 dead; the Pakistanis are blamed, and war looms; on Dec. 30 Pakistani authorities arrest militant Islamic Army of the Pure leader Hafiz Mohammed Saeed in an effort to avert war. On Dec. 13 Osama bin Laden (b. 1957) is killed, and his death is revealed in newspapers in Pakistan on Dec. 15, but the U.S. govt. covers it up to keep the war on Iraq and Afghanistan going?; the Bush family and the bin Laden family have been business partners since the 1990s? On Dec. 15 French intel officer Pierre-Henri Bunel (1952-) is convicted by a military tribunal for passing documents to Serbian col. Jovan Milanovic on future air strike sites, receiving a 5-year sentence; he is freed in the spring of 2002, claiming in 2004 that al-Qaida is a fictional org. created by Western intel, with the soundbyte: "The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al-Qaida, and any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the Devil only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US and the lobbyists for the U.S. war on terrorism are only interested in making money." On Dec. 15 the Leaning Tower of Pisa is reopened after the leaning problem is partially rectified. On Dec. 19 millions try to find a message for their own troubles in the theater release of The Lord of the Rings, Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring; lucky producer Saul Zaentz (1921-), who acquired the screen rights to LOTR in 1976 to produce an animated version, ends up collecting at least $168M after the trilogy grosses $2.9B; the book itself is repub. by Houghton Mifflin (hardback) and Del Rey/Ballantine (paperback), making the New York Times bestseller list. On Dec. 20 Pres. Fernando De La Rua of Argentina resigns after a week of riots over the poor economy. On Dec. 22 Bromley, London-born "Shoe Bomber" Richard Colvin Reid (1973-) (Muslim convert) is subdued by passengers aboard American Airlines Flight 63 en route from Paris to Miami when he attempts to detonate a shoe bomb containing blasting cap explosive PETN with matches; it lands safely in Boston; claiming he could have done the job right with a lighter, all lighters are banned on flights (until Aug. 4, 2007), causing 22K a day to be confiscated, costing $4M a year to dispose of. On Dec. 24 after a record snowless Nov., Buffalo, N.Y. is pounded by a record-breaking snowstorm. In Dec. the NYSE reaches a record high just 90 days after 9/11. In Dec. Iran begins supporting the insurgency of the Taliban in Afghanistan. In Dec. the Bush admin. orders the assets of the Holy Land Foundation (largest Muslim charity in the U.S.) seized for allegedly funding Hamas. In Dec. the Internat. Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), established by the govt. of Canada pub. the report The Responsibility to Protect (R2P), defining a new concept justifying "humanitarian intervention" in states that are unwilling or unable to stop genocide, massive killings or other massive human rights violations. In Dec. Shiite Muslim Iranian pres. #4 (1989-97) Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1934-) (richest person in Iran) gives a speech containing the doomsday soundbyte: "If one day the Islamic world [acquires nuclear weapons], then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality. Jews shall expect to be once again scattered and wandering around the globe the day when this appendix is extracted from the region and the Muslim world." In Dec. the Muslim Canadian Congress is founded in Toronto by liberal Pakistani-born Muslim Tarek Fatah (1949-) to lobby Muslims for "separation of religion and state in all matters of public policy", going on to oppose imposition of Sharia and support same-sex marriage laws; on Aug. 20, 2006 several members split to form the Canadian Muslim Union. In Dec. Gov. Ahnuld is hospitalized with several broken ribs after a motorcycle accident. Kyrgyzstan Pres. Askar Akayev jails vice-pres. Felix Sharshenbayevich Kulov (1948-) for challenging him for the presidency. U.S. Rep. (D-Ohio) (since 1985) James Anthony Traficant Jr. (1941-) is indicted on racketeering charges, convicted and sentenced to eight years - with a name that sounds like Santo Trafficante, he was an easy V? Young Frenchman Herve (Hervé) Djamel Loiseau (b. 1973), member of the Tablighi Jamaat (Islamic Preaching Party) is killed fleeing the U.S. bombardment of Tora Bora in Afghanistan 50 mi. SE of Kabul. Canadian PM Jean Chretian announces that he will not seek a 4th term after his conflict with finance minister Paul Martin weakens the Liberal Party. In Burundi a peace plan incl. power sharing between Hutus and Tutsis begins, with a transitional govt. led by Tuttsi pres. Pierre Buyoya (until 2003). In Nigeria, more than a dozen northern states have by now introduced Islamic law, much to the chagrin of the Nigerian govt. and its large Christian pop.; bloody riots against U.S. involvement in Afghanistan compound the problem and by fall the country of 121M is on the verge of civil war. Dictator Idriss Deby is reelected in Chad - home of Little Deby Snack Cakes? Who Fidels while Rome burns? Cuban #2 Raul Castro, younger brother of Fidel and head of the armed forces grants a rare interview early in the year, and encourages the U.S. to make peace with Cuba while Fidel is still alive, saying that later, when he takes power, "it will be more difficult". China joins the World Trade Org. (WTO); the U.S. begins losing an avg. of 50K manufacturing jobs to it per month (until ?). U.S. ambassador Carlos Pasqual is declared persona non grata in Ukraine. The Defense of Freedom Medal is instituted by the U.S. after 9/11 as a civilian version of the Purple Heart. Search for Internat. Terrorist Entities Intelligence Group is founded by Iraqi-born Jew Rita Katz to monitor Muslim intel to prevent another 9/11. The Internat. Solidarity Movement (ISM) is founded by Palestinian activist Ghassan Andoni (1956-) et al. to encourage nonviolent protests against the Israeli military presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Swedish-born Muslim-turned-Christian Ergun Michael/Mehmet "Butch" Caner (1966-) (Turkish father, Swedish mother) uses 9/11 to raise his stock with Am. Baptists, becoming pres. of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell) in 2005, tripling student enrollment; he's really a stealth Muslim jihadist? Rand Corp. convenes Transition 2001, a panel of 54 bipartisan U.S. leaders in foreign and defense policy to forge an agreement on the central tenets of U.S. nat. security policy and offer recommendations to new U.S. pres. George W. Bush. Pres. Bush requires all West Wing staffers to wear suits and ties, dumping the jeans and T-shirts worn during the Clinton admin. Canada legalizes medical marijuana for the terminally and chronically ill. The salary of the U.S. pres. is raised from $200K to $400K plus a $50K non-taxable expense allowance. The Red Cross raises a record $1.1B to aid victims of the 9/11 attacks, but stinks itself up when it reserves $200M to "prepare for future crises", causing pres. Bernadine Healy to resign, and the money to be returned to the Sept. 11 Liberty Fund. Chevron and Texaco merge to form the 2nd largest oil co. in the U.S. Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquires Compaq in an effort to compete against Dell Computer; HP CEO Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (1954-) is ousted on Feb. 9, 2005 after nearly six years, and the merger is declared a disaster. William Clay "Bill" Ford Jr. (1957-), great-grandson of founder Henry Ford becomes CEO of Ford Motor Co., turning it from losing $5.45B this year to a profit of $3.5B in 2004. Rev. Billy Graham receives an honorary British knighthood. Intel Corp. coins the term "patent trolls" after being sued for defamation for calling some of them "patent extortionists"; meanwhile patent infrigement suits double from 1988 to 2.4K, many by companies consisting of little more than a few trolls, er, lawyers who purchased patents out of bankruptcies. Over 4M U.S. 25-to-34-year-olds live still with parents. A survey finds that 30% of gay black men in the U.S. from ages 23-29 are infected with HIV; nearly 50% of all gay men in their 20s engage in unprotected anal "bareback" sex - there's nothing wrong with it? This year the European Union graduates more scientists and engineers than the U.S., and Asia about as many as the U.S.; only 61% of the U.S. degrees are awarded to U.S.-born students, down from 77% in 1966. The Earth will be visited this year by the Muons of Planet Myton from the Pleiades, according to the Unarius Academy of Science in El Cajon, Calif. - maybe their spaceship broke down? The nonpartisan William J. Clinton Foundation is founded by ex-U.S. pres. Bill Clinton "to alleviate poverty, improve global health, strengthen economies, and protect the environment"; it turns into a criminal racket to enrich Bill and Hillary in return for handing out govt. favors? Iraqi nutcase Saddam Hussein's directorate of gen. security reports to him that the TV series "Pokemon" is an Israeli plot to contaminate the minds of Iraqi youths, and that the title is Hebrew for "I'm Jewish"; meanwhile a committee of Saudi clerics issue a fatwa against the Pokeman card game for gambling and polytheism; in 2016 they reissue it for the viral mobile game Pokemon Go. The Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism (FAIR) is founded in London, England. After 9/11, the Interfaith Amigos, incl. Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon, and Sheikh Jamal Rahman are formed for interfaith understanding. Monaco Princess Caroline's hubby Prince Ernst August of Hanover (1954-) is fined by a German court for kicking a paparazzi in the butt and beating the owner of a hotel in Kenya. French novelist Michel Houellebecq (1956-) gives an interview in which he calls Islam "the stupidest religion", and is hauled into court for inciting racial hatred, but charges are dismissed. Post-Adjudication Risk Management (PARM) program to give heightened security scrutiny to employees who were born oversees or have relatives or friends there. The mainly Muslim Students for Justice in Palestine is founded at UCB in Calif., spawning chapters across the U.S. Am. journalist Alison Weir founds If Americans Knew to tell the story of the alleged coverup of Israeli atrocities. After 9/11 a large segment of the reading public seemingly gives up on fiction, flocking to nonfiction works, esp. about Islam, the Middle East, Iraq, and U.S. politics. Verasun Energy is founded, becoming a leading supplier of ethanol - a poor long-range idea of using food for fuel, which can force agonizing choices? Information gets cheaper and cheaper, but knowledge still is worth what you pay for it? The Dot-Com Boom (Bubble) (begun 1997) falls on its face, with thousands of cos. (little more than air and a Web site) going under; meanwhile on Jan. 15 winner site Wikipedia is founded by Ala.-born Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales (1966-) and Wash.-born Lawrence Mark "Larry" Sanger (1968-) as a user-generated encyclopedia with articles of varying quality contributed by anon. volunteers, reaching 1M articles in English by Mar. 2006; too bad, there is little control of the contributors or content, those who are talked about in the articles have a habit of sneaking in and fluffing the wording, and since contributors aren't paid, it threatens to kill the literary market, all causing a nightmare in QA; in Nov. 2005 a wave of controversy is caused by the discovery that someone had rewritten their article on Tenn. pub. John Siegenthaler Sr., allleging that he had been implicated in the Kennedy assassinations; in Dec. 2005 Nature pub. an article comparing it to Encyclopaedia Britannica, finding it to be nearly as accurate, causing the latter to shoot back in Mar. 2006 that their article is wrong and full of inaccuracies; in 2007 Sanger says "It has bothered me that I helped to get a project started that people are misusing", announcing plans for a new online encyclopedia called Citizendium (launched on Mar. 25, 2007), adding "gentle expert oversight" and requiring contributors to ID themselves, which slowly grinds to a crawl; meanwhile the poorly-designed source code is propagated throughout the Internet, causing alternative user-content products to spring up; too bad, Wiki cedes too much power to editors, who accumulate special privileges then hijack Wiki pages and actively keep them from improvement, incl. the Laura Branigan bio. page, which for years was taken over by a clique of editors who knowingly promulgated a false birthdate of 1957 for her instead of the real one of 1952 to please their fan club, cutting off access to any editors who tried to correct it, while the top mgt. did nothing - no more encyclopedia salesmen at our doors? The German Bernacer (Germán Bernácer) Prize is established to recognize economic research by European economists under age 40. John Hopkins U. begins pub. the World Shakespeare Bibliography Online, covering the years 1961-2009, containing 120K+ annotated entries. The Web site You're the Man Now Dog is founded by Max Goldberg, named after a line by Sean Connery from the 2000 film "Finding Forrester". Conservative Peter Gordon MacKay (1965-) of Nova Scotia is voted Canada's sexiest MP by the Ottawa Hill Times for the first of seven times in a row; in 2006 rumors fly that he has a crush on Condoleezza Rice. The Apollo Alliance is founded by the far-left Tides Center under Dan Carol to work for green jobs and a green economy, which goes on to help create the U.S. Am. Recovery and Revinestment Act of 2009 (Obama Stimulus). The militant Islamist group Boko Haram ("West Education is Forbidden or a Sin") is founded in Kanamma, N Nigeria by Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf (1970-2009), who is known for believing that the Earth is flat. Palestinian-born British Muslim Azzam (Azam) Tamimi (1955-) calls the U.S. War on Terror in response to 9/11 a war on Islam that will backfire; he also says that Palestinians will never accept a permanent state of Israel and that the U.S. or Germany should let the Jews set up one on their territory instead. The start of the big breeders vs. retirees war of the 21st cent.? The Zickert Case begins in the cul-de-sac development of Highlands Ranch, Colo. (S of Denver), where two retirees go nuts with all the kids playing roller hockey in their cul-de-sac, and install surveillance cameras in an effort to get the sheriff's dept. to prosecute them, causing pro-hockey residents to successfully counter by lobbying county commissioners to designate their block a "play street" in 2003. Actress Anne Heche breaks up with lezzie lover Ellen DeGeneres and goes on to marry male cameraman Coleman "Coley" Laffoon (1973-), bearing two children before leaving him in 2006 for James Tupper (1965-), her co-star on ABC-TV's Men in Trees. Vonage (Voice-Over-Net-Age) is founded in Jan. in Edison, N.J. to provide telephone service via a broadband connection, with the trademark "The Broadband Phone Company", later changed to "Sounds Good" and "Crazy Generous". Creative Commons in San Francisco, Calif. is founded by Lawrence Lessig (1961-), releasing its first Creative Commons Licenses in Dec. 2002 in an attempt to allow a lessing, er, lower the leasing, er, permit authors of creative works to provide them to the public on the Internet without losing all their rights - your what, tin roof busted? Avante-garde German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen utters the soundbyte that the events of 9/11 are "the greatest work of art imaginable for the whole cosmos". French Parisian philosopher Jean Baudrillard pub. the essay "The Spirit of Terrorism" in the Nov. issue of Le Monde, about 9/11, with the soundbyte that the U.S. is an "unbearable power" that elicits violent reactions around the world, and that the "terrorist imagination... inhabits us all... It was almost they who did it, but we who wanted it." The 18th cent. Ground Zero Mystery Ship is unearthed in the remains of the WTC. Canadian Web site Ashley Madison starts up to provide an online dating service for adulterers, with the motto "Life is short. Have an affair", reaching 39M customers by 2015. Australian Web site Abby Winters starts up, showing a future where every young woman is a happy guilt-free uninhibited naked active lesbian; are thousands of years of male supremacist religious control really about over?; when will Australian schools for girls start teaching them girl-girl sex as part of the curriculum?; men are how far from becoming obsolete, stay tuned while putting your quarters in the slot? - a new meaning to Down Under? Architecture: The World Trade Center is extensively remodeled by a Saudi co. :) On Jan. 10 after a fight by the Nat. Org. on Disability a bronze lifesize Statue of Franklin Delano Roosevelt In A Wheelchair, by Robert Graham (first statue showing a world leader in a wheelchair) is dedicated in Washington, D.C. by Pres. Clinton; an example of a govt. coverup, only two photos of him in a wheelchair exist? On June 28 the 9-story 8.5M DM Gehry Tower in Hanover, Germany opens, featuring a prominent twist in its outer facade and a ferroconcrete core. Sports: On Feb. 18 the 2001 (43rd) Daytona 500 is won by Michael Curtis Waltrip (1963-), brother of Darrell Waltrip; Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes in 2nd, and Rusty Wallace comes in 3rd; on lap 173 Robby Gordon hits Ward Burton, causing an 18-car wreck that flips Tony Stewart's car down the backstretch; on lap 200 1998 winner Dale Earnhardt Sr. loses control of his car and collides head-on with the wall, killing him, becoming the 4th NASCAR driver to be killed in 9 mo. since Adam Petty in May 2000, causing a fan outcry resulting in safety improvements. On Mar. 6 Shaquille O'Neal scores 61 points at the Staples Center in Los Angeles against the Clippers. On Apr. 2 Tiger Woods wins his 4th consecutive pro golf major, becoming the first to win the grand slam of golf. On Apr. 8 African-Am. pitcher Carsten Charles "CC" Sabathia (1980-) becomes the first baseball player born in the 1980s to make a ML debut, for the Cleveland Indians. In Apr. the NFL bans players from wearing Do-rags and bandanas underneath their helmets except for medical reasons. In Apr. after league bowling (which peaked in the 1980s at 80% of their business) drops, AMF Bowling Inc. of Richmond, Va., owner of 500 bowling centers with 18K employees files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, causing it to turn to Customer Relationship Mgt. (CRM) software from Applix Inc. of Westboro, Mass. to cut costs, helping them survive long enough for Code Hennessey and Simmons Capital of Chicago, Ill. to buy them in 2004 for $670M; in 2005 they merge with Italian-based Qubica Worldwide to form QubicaAMF Worldwide, selling the rights to their bowling balls in 2007 to 900 Global; too bad, in Nov. 2012 after league bowling tanks at 20%, they file for bankruptcy again, merging in 2013 with New York City-based upscale (no league bowling) co. Bowlmor (Strike Holdings LLC) (founded 1997), giving a combined 7.5K employees, 276 bowling centers, and $450M in annual revenue, attempting to revive league bowling, growing to 315 centers by 2015, with an avg. of 40 lanes per center compared to the U.S. avg. of 21 lanes. On May 26-June 9 the 2001 Stanley Cup Finals sees the Colorado Avalanche defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-3, becoming their 2nd win; the first Finals since 1989 where #1 seeds meet; former Boston Bruins star (#77) (1979-2000) Raymond Jean "Ray" Bourque (1960-) of the Avalanche wins his only Stanley Cup in his final NHL game; MVP is Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy. On May 27 the 2001 (85th) Indianapolis 500 is won by rookie Helio Castroneves (1975-) of Brazil. On June 18 6'11" Kwame James Brown (1982-) of Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Ga. is drafted by the Washington Wizards (#5), becoming the first high schooler to be drafted #1 overall in the NBA draft. On June 6-15 the 2001 NBA Finals sees the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) defeat the Philadelphia 76ers (coach Larry Brown) by 4-1; the 76ers take game 1 107-101 in OT; Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers is MVP. On Aug. 7 the Chicago Cubs defeat the Colo. Rockies 5-4; in the bottom of the 6th inning, plate umpire Angel Hernandez calls 3rd baseman Ron Coomer out in a play at home plate, after which Chicago Bears defensive lineman Steve Mongo McMichael takes the microphone in the 7th inning stretch, uttering the soundbyte: "Don't worry, I'll have some speaks with that home plate umpire after the game", causing him to become the first "entertainer" ejected from an MLB game (until ?), and the first ejected for his words rather than actions (until ?) On Sept. 17 ML play resumes; Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully gives a pre-game speech at Dodger Stadium; Jack Buck gives a moving speech and poem; the Colorado Choir sings the Nat. Anthem in Coors Field; the Nat. Anthem and "God Bless America" are added to the 7th inning stretch at Comiskey Park; the Nat. Anthem is sung by the Lindsey Wilson College Singers in Cinergy Field; on Sept. 21 Shea Stadium holds a 9/11 Remembrance Spectacular, featuring Diana Ross singing "God Bless America", Marc Anthony signing the Nat. Anthem, and the NYPD Pipers and USMC Battalion playing Irish bagpipes; in the 8th inning a homer by Mike Piazza gives the Yankees a 3-2 lead; on Sept. 25 Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan sings God Bless America in a patriotic tribute to the heroes of 9/11. On Oct. 7 drug-assisted left fielder Barry Bonds (1964-) of the San Francisco Giants hits his 73rd homer, setting the single-season record and breaking Mark McGwire's 3-y.-o. drug-assisted record - yawn? On Oct. 21 Denver Broncos (NFL) offensive tackle Matt Lepsis puts a cut (below the knee) block on San Diego Chargers defensive end (and former Bronco) Maa Tunavasa, ending his playing career; NFL Players Assoc. pres. Gene Upshaw calls on the league to ban cut blocks, but he is ignored, and Broncos and other teams' offensive linemen continue to break defensive linemens' legs so their teams can score more points. On Nov. 3 after being traded from the Portland Trail Blazers, 6'8" shooting guard Steven Delano "Steve" Smith (1969-) (#8) of the San Antonio Spurs ties the NBA record for most 3-pointers in a game without a miss, going 8 for 8 and finishing with 36 points in a 106-90 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. On Nov. 16 the 8-team NBA Development League (NBA D-League) (NBDL) plays its first game at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, S.C., with the Greenville Groove hosting the North Charleston Lowgators; in 2005 it expands to 15 teams, becoming a true minor league farm system for the NBA; in 2014 it expands to 18 teams; by then 33% of NBA players Cal Ripken Jr. retires from ML baseball after 21 seasons. The first World Rafting Championships held in North Am. are held in W. Va., which attracts more than 250K whitewater tourists each year. Va.-born Michael Dwayne Vick (1980-) leaves Virginia Tech after his sophomore year, and is drafted #1 overall by the Atlanta Falcons, who sign him to a $135M multi-year contract, biggest in NFL history (ends 2008); he makes his NFL debut on Sept. 9 in San Francisco, Calif., leading the Falcons to a 24-16 win. Slamball, invented by Mason Gordon and played on four trampolines plays its first exhibition series in Los Angeles, Calif., featuring the Los Angeles Rumble vs. the Chicago Mob, debuting in 2002 on the Nat. Network (Spike TV) with a 6-team league incl. draft pick #1 Robert Wilson, with former NBA All-Star player Reggie Theus as commentator; the league dissolves in 2003, then reopens for one more season in 2008. Nobel Prizes: Peace: United Nations (U.N.) and Kofi Atta Annan (1938-) (Ghana) ["for their work for a better organized and more peaceful world"]; Lit.: Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (1932-) (U.K.); Physics: Wolfgang Ketterle (1957-) (Germany), Eric Allin Cornell (1961-) and Carl Edwin Wieman (1951-) (U.S.) [Bose-Einstein condensate]; Chem.: William Standish Knowles (1917-2012) (U.S.) and Ryoji Noyori (1938-) (Japan) [chirally catalyzed hydrogenation reactions], and Karl Barry Sharpless (1941-) (U.S.) [chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions]; Medicine: Leland Harrison "Lee" Hartwell (1939-) (U.S.), Sir Richard Timothy "Tim" Hunt (1943-) (U.K.), and Sir Paul Maxime Nurse (1949-) (U.K.) [cell cycle]; Economics: George Arthur Akerlof (1940-) (U.S.), Andrew Michael Spence (1943-) (U.S.), and Joseph Eugene Stiglitz (1943-) (U.S.) [assymetric info.]; in 2009 Stiglitz calls for a new global currency. Inventions: By this year the avg. desktop PC has 29GB of storage, and the laptop has 17.5 GB. In Jan. the Apple Titanium PowerBook laptop is released, with a 15.2-in.-wide screen display, 400 MHz PowerPC processor, 128MB of RAM, and 10GB hard drive, all for $2,599, launching a rev. for widescreen laptops for the masses. On June 11 Google Earth is released by Keyhole Inc. in Mountain View, Calif., partially funded by the CIA; in 2004 it is acquired by Google, giving Internet users a way to view the Earth in enormous detail for free, revolutionizing the Internet; in 2006 they add historical maps, and in 2008 they add an ancient Roman layer. In June Intel Corp. releases the 64-bit Itanium chip, which has a staggering 220M transistors. On Aug. 24 Microsoft releases the Microsoft XP (Whistler) Operating System. On Nov. 10 Apple releases the iPod personal MP3 player, with 5GB Ram, "1,000 songs in your pocket", backed by digital music downloading service iTunes (announced on Jan. 9), changing the lifestyles of millions, and selling 67M units in 5 years, with 1.5B songs downloaded from their Web site; the 10 billionth song is downloaded on Feb. 24, 2010. On Dec. 2 the 12.5 mph 24 mi. range Segway Human/Personal Transporter (HT/PT) (original names Ginger and IT) a revolutionary new personal gyroscooter is unveiled by Am. inventor Dean L. Kamen (1951-), son of a comic book illustrator; in 2009 Jimi Heselden (1938-2010) of Britain buys him out, then is killed when his out-of-control Segway drives over a cliff - add a seat and a parachute? On Dec. 19 the VeriChip, a rice grain-sized chip that can be injected under a human's skin is announced; the FDA later announces that it won't regulate it. On Dec. 31 the world's first practical Magnetic Refrigerator is announced by scientists at Ames Lab. Science: By this year astronomers have discovered 30 suspected black holes in space, but the evidence remains circumstantial. On Jan. 10 astronomers report the discovery of a giant planetlike object more than 17x the size of Jupiter orbiting a Sun-like star in the constellation Serpens, 123 l.y. away - the Serpens people are coming? On Jan. 11 researchers in Ore. announce the first genetically altered primate, a rhesus monkey named ANDi, having a jellyfish gene for fluorescence spliced into its DNA - it glows in the dark? On Jan. 26 scientists announce that they have decoded the Rice Genome, which becomes the first major crop plant to have its genome decoded. In Apr. Cosmos 1, a solar-sail vehicle with eight sails, funded by Carl Sagan's widow Ann Druyan et al. is launched from a sub in the Barents Sea atop a Russian ICBM, where it deploys its wings at 260 mi. alt. then returns to Earth. On July 3 AbioCor, the first self-contained artificial heart is implanted in 59-y.-o. Robert L. Tools (1942-2001) in Louisville, Ky.; he dies on Nov. 30 after 151 days. On Aug. 10 Space Shuttle Discovery is launched on its record 30th mission (since 1984), delivering the NASA Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and a new crew to the Internat. Space Station (ISS). On Sept. 7 the first remote surgery (telesurgery) is completed by French surgeon Jacques Marescaux (1948-) in New York City, who performs a cholecystectomy on a 68-y.-o. female patient in Strasbourg, France over redundant fiberoptic lines provided by France Telecom, using a $975K ZEUS Robotic Surgical System by Computer Motion. On Sept. 22 the Deep Space 1 unmanned spacecraft (launched Oct. 24, 1998) images 5-mi.-long Comet Borrelly, which reflects only 3% of the sunlight received by its surface (10% as much as Earth reflects). In Oct. fertility researchers Jerry Hall and Yang-Ling Feng announce a method for parthogenesis, a way for women to have female babies without the need for sperm, making an all-female society possible in principle - isn't Jack in jail? In Nov. scientists announce the first cloned primate, a rhesus monkey - does this one glow too? On Nov. 25 Advanced Cell Technology of Mass. announces that it has cloned the first human, even though the experiment was stopped in the embryo stage (it also involved parthenogenesis?); on Nov. 26 the Raelian org. Clonaid (run by followers of Raelian Movement founder Claude Vorilhon) announces that it had cloned embryos before them. On Nov. 27 scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope announce the detection of the first star other than the Sun with an orbiting planet with a gas atmosphere, in the constellation Pegasus 150 l.y. away from Earth. On Nov. 28 the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory discovers a black hole 14x the mass of the Sun about 40K l.y. from Earth, becoming the heaviest discovered to date - does that make it our brother? Guillermo Gonzales of the U.S. pub. a theory that the Solar System is in the Galactic Habitable Zone, a narrow ring on the midplane of the Milky Way that is the only region where the conditions for life can exist; further, that the Earth is in an ideal place for the discovery of natural laws and the structure of the Milky Way Galaxy and the Universe. South African physicist Neil Geoffrey Turok (1958-) of Cambridge U. and Paul Joseph Steinhardt (1952-) of Princeton U. propose the Cyclic Model of the Universe, AKA the Ekpyrotic Universe (Gk. "conflagration"), in which it was created by the cyclical trillion-year collision of two Universes that were attracted toward each other by the leaking of gravity out of one of them; the past is filled with endlessly repeating cycles of evolution of new Universes, and we're just lucky to be in this one?; instead of a Big Bang, there is a Big Bounce. In 2001 the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is pub., summarizing the predominant scientific opinion on climate change, concluding that the global avg. surface temp has risen 0.6C +/-0.2 C since the late 19th cent., and 0.17C/decade in 1971-2001, with the soundbyte: "There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities" esp. greenhouse gases methane and CO2, predicting a temp increase of 1.4C-5.8C between 1990 an 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions continue, accompanied by sea level rise and an increase in some types of extreme weather, becoming more negative as warming increases; it also incl. the soundbyte: "The climate system is a coupled non-linear chaotic system, and therefore the long-term prediction of future climate states is not possible"; leaders of the IPCC Working Group incl. chmn. Sir Robert Tony Watson (1948-), co-chmn. Welsh evangelical Christian scientist Sir John Theodore Houghton (1931-) and Sir John Francis Brake Mitchell (1948-) of Hadley Centre (lead author of the Second Assessment Report); in May a joint statement of support is issued by the science academies of Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, the Caribbean, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sweden, and U.K.: "We recognise the IPCC as the world's most reliable source of information on climate change and its causes, and we endorse its method of achieving consensus"; critics incl. Am. atmospheric physicist Richard Siegmund Lindzen (1940-), lead author of Ch. 7 "Physical Climate Processes and Feedbacks", who calls it "climate alarmism", uttering the soundbyte: "Why do we need to deconstruct global warming? Simply because it has been an issue that has been routinely treated with misinformation and sophistry abetted by constant repetition, institutional endorsements, and widespread ignorance even (perhaps especially) among the educated.... To a great extent, global warming has been merely a device for implementing broader agendas"; another critic is English-born Am. physicist Freeman John Dyson (1923-), who acknowledges that CO2 drives global warming but doubts that existing climate simulation models are accurate enough "to describe the real world we live in", pointing in 2009 out that "What has happened in the past 10 years is that the discrepancies between what's observed and what's predicted have become much stronger. It's clear now the models are wrong, but it wasn't so clear 10 years ago", suggesting that China and India should choose to burn coal and get rich instead of staying poor, noting that "the main effect of carbon dioxide... is to make the planet greender, feeding the growth of green plans of al kinds, increasing the fertility of farms and fields and fields", suggesting that planting 1T trees could remove all excess CO2 in the atmosphere. The Human Genome Project and Celera Genomics simultaneously release the first draft sequences of the human genome. British scientists discover that sheep have the ability to remember and recognize up to 50 faces, incl. their shepherd's; could this prove they have consciousness? - ask a Scot? The rare marine bacterium Lomaiviticin Aglycon is discovered to have anti-cancer properties. Nonfiction: Francesco Alberoni (1929-), Hope. Stephen E. Ambrose, The Wild Blue. Susan Athey (1970-) and Kyle Bagwell (1961-), Optimal Collusion with Private Information; exposes how open auctions with a lenient dispute mechanism can result in legal disputes followed by settlements that are rife with collusion, e.g., when winners share a portion of their spoils with losers who cooperate with them in the bidding, recommending the use of sealed bids, which is widely adopted; in 2007 Athey becomes the first female winner of the John Bates Clark Medal, going on to become the chief economist for Microsoft Corp. Andrew G. Atkeson, Rethinking Multiple Equilibria in Macroeconomic Modeling: Comment; proves that when a theory of prices is introduced, a multiplicity of equilibria may return. William "Bill" Ayers (1944-), Fugitive Days: A Memoir (Sept. 10); Weatherman org. co-founder and hubby of Bernardine Dohrn reminisces about the good old days before going straight and working with Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley to reform the city's schools, not apologizing for the bombs and violence; an interview with the New York Times is printed right after 9/11, making for a great historic coincidence, with Ayers being showed a photo of him stepping on a U.S. flag, and replying "What a country - it makes me want to puke", adding "I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough." Ihsan Bagby, The Mosque in America: A National Portrait. James Bamford (1946-), Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency. Amiri Baraka (1934-2014), Somebody Blew Up America; "Who knew the World Trade Center was gonna get bombed/ Who told 4000 Israeli workers at the Twin Towers/ To stay home that day/ Why did [Ariel] Sharon stay away?/... Who know why Five Israelis was filming the explosion/ And cracking they sides at the notion"; blames the Israelis for 9/11, getting the ADL on his case, after which N.J. gov. Jim McGreevey tries to remove him from his post as poet laureate of N.J., finally abolishing the title, which his hometown of Newark counters by naming him poet laureate of their public schools. Gary S. Becker (1930-) and Kevin M. Murphy (1958-), Social Economics: Market Behavior in a Social Environment; incl. the social environment and standard goods and services in extended utility functions, allowing analysis of how the social environment is determined by the interactions of individuals. Daniel J. Benor (1941-), Spiritual Healing: Scientific Validation of a Healing Revolution (2 vols.) (2001, 2004). Ben Bernanke (1953-) and Mark Gertler (1951-), Should Central Banks Respond to Movements in Asset Prices?; argues that the Federal Reserve should limit its policies to targeting inflation and price stability while avoiding the more aggressive approach of managing asset price bubbles such as the Dot-Com Bubble of 1997-2000. Michael R. Beschloss (1955-), Reaching for Glory: Lyndon Johnson's Secret White House Tapes, 1964-1965; he wanted them to be sealed until 2023; sequel to "Taking Charge" (1997). Christiane Bird, Neither East Nor West: One Woman's Journey through the Islamic Republic of Iran. Franz Bludorf and Graznya Fosar, Vernetzte Intelligenz; summarizes the results of Russian biophysicist Pyotr Garjajev, who claims that the 90% called "junk DNA" might explain clairvoyance, intuition, auras et al., claiming that DNA is a "biological Internet". David Bodanis, E=MC2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation. Anthony Bourdain (1956-), A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal (Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines); NYT bestseller; on ? A Cook's Tour debuts on Food Network for 35 episodes (until ?, 2002). Tom Brown Jr. (1950-), Grandfather: A Native American's Lifelong Search for Truth and Harmony with Nature. Tom Brown Jr. (1950-), and William Owen, The Search. James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014) and Susan Dunn, The Three Roosevelts: Patrician Leaders Who Transformed America; Theodore, Franklin, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Thomas Cahill (1940-), Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before and After Jesus. Vincent J. Cannato, The Ungovernable City; New York City mayor (1966-73) John Lindsay. Dolores Cannon (1931-), The Convoluted Universe (4 vols.) (2001, 2005, 2008, 2012). Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004), In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made; NYT bestseller. George Carlin (1937-2008), Napalm and Silly Putty. James Carroll (1943-), Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews - A History; disses the claim that Christian anti-Semitism caused the Holocaust. Jimmy Carter (1924-), An Hour Before Daylight: Memoirs of a Rural Boyhood. Warren Christopher, Chances of a Lifetime. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Kitchen Privileges, A Memoir. David Cope (1941-), Virtual Music: Computer Synthesis of Musical Style. Andrei Codrescu (1946-), An Involuntary Genius in America's Shoes (And What Happened Afterwards). Evan S. Connell Jr. (1924-), The Aztec Treasure House: New and Selected Essays. Theodore Dalrymple (1949-), Life at the Bottom: The Worldview that Makes the Underclass. David Brion Davis (1927-), Challenging the Boundaries of Slavery. Ahmet Davutoglu (1959-), Strategic Depth; calls for an expanded role for Turkey in world affairs incl. membership in the EU, and predicts a belt of Sunni Muslim Brotherhood-ruled regimes in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Libya that will be subservient to the emerging Turkish Empire; too bad, Syrian pres. Bashar al-Assad doesn't roll over, and Egypt ousts the Muslim Brotherhood. Eliot Deutsch, Persons and Valuable Worlds. William G. Dever, What Did the Biblical Writers Know and When Did they Know It? Joan Didion (1934-2021), Political Fictions (essays); George H.W. Bush to George W. Bush and Al Gore. Carl Djerassi (1923-), This Man's Pill: Reflections on the 50th Birthday of the Pill; developer of Enovid (approved 1960) tells all. Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005) and Peter Senge, Leading in a Time of Change: What It Will Take to Lead Tomorrow. Betty Jean Eadie (1942-), Embraced by the Light: Prayers and Devotions for Daily Living (Oct. 25). William Easterly (1957-), The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics (July 1); disses foreign aid to Third World countries esp. debt relief for failing to produce sustainable growth. John Edward (1969-), Crossing Over: The Stories Behind the Stories; a shameless psychic fraud is glad to sell it to you? Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-), Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America; bestseller on the low-wage working poor segment of the U.S. after she took a series of service jobs incognito; those who wear WWJD (What would Jesus do) bracelets are lousy tippers? Albert Ellis (1913-2007), Feeling Better, Getting Better, Staying Better: Profound Self-Help Therapy for Your Emotions; Overcoming Destructive Beliefs, Feelings, and Behaviors: New Directions for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Albert Ellis (1913-2007) et al., Counseling and Psychotherapy with Religious Persons: A Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy Approach. Jason Epstein (1928-), Book Business: Publishing Past, Present and Future. Khaled Abou El Fadl (1963-), Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law. Oriana Fallaci (1929-2006), The Rage and the Pride (La Rabbia e l'Orgoglio) (Dec.); sells 1.5M copies; expose of Islam as out to destroy the West while Westerners wallow in apathy. Don Edward Fehrenbacher (1920-97) (ed. Ward M. Mcafee), The Slaveholding Republic: An Account of the United States Government's Relations to Slavery (posth.) (last book); argues against the view that the U.S. Constitution was a pro-slavery document, and shows how Pres. Lincoln's approach to emancipation quickly evolved into a "Republican revolution" that ended the anomaly of the U.S. as a "slaveholding republic". Charles H. Ferguson, High Stakes, No Prisoners: A Winner's Tale of Greed and Glory in the Internet Wars (Jan.). Niall Ferguson (1964-), The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000; argues that the saying "money makes the world go 'round" is wrong because it's all about non-economic motivations in the end, incl. sex, violence, and power. George Fetherling (1949-), The Book of Assassins. Robert Finch (1943-), Death of a Hornet and Other Cape Cod Essays. Antwone Fisher (1959-), Finding Fish (autobio.); after he becomes a security guard at Sony Pictures Studios, his story turns on producer Todd Black. Frances FitzGerald (1940-) and Mary Cross, Vietnam: Spirits of the Earth (Nov. 9); lush picture book of modern Vietnam. Thomas Fleming, The New Dealers' War: FDR and the War Within World War II. George P. Fletcher, Our Secret Constitution: How Lincoln Redefined American Democracy; how the 1787 U.S. Constitution was subverted by the U.S. Civil War into a "second constitution". Antony Flew (1923-), Equality in Liberty and Justice. Mick Foley (1965-), Foley Is Good: And the Real World is Faker than Wrestling; sequel to "Have a Nice Day!". Charles Henri Ford (1913-2002), Water From a Bucket: A Diary, 1948-1957. Paula Fox (1923-), Borrowed Finery (autobio.); the writer grandmother of Courtney Love (1964-). Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015), From the Ends of the Earth: The Jews in the Twentieth Century. Francoise Giroud (1916-2003), Profession Journaliste (autobio.); One Can't Be Happy all the Time. Bernard Goldberg (1945-), Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News; CBS News reporter who was fired for mentioning the existence of liberal bias in the media in 1996; duh, U.S. Jews are not a monolithic bloc? Albert Goldman (1927-94), Freakshow: Misadventures in the Counterculture, 1959-1971 (essays) (posth.). Annette Gordon-Reed (1958-), Vernon Can Read!; a memoir of civil rights activist Vernon Jordan, which he co-wrote. Amit Goswami, Physics of the Soul: The Quantum Book of Living, Dying, Reincarnation and Immortality. Simon Gray (1936-2008), Enter a Fox (autobio.). Pyotr Garjajev does research into DNA, discovering that the 90% called "junk DNA" might explain clairvoyance, intuition, auras et al., claiming that DNA is a Biological Internet, Robert Greene (1959-) and Joost Elffers, The Art of Seduction. Steven Macon Greer (1955-), Disclosure: Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History. David Halberstam (1934-2007), War in a Time of Peace: Bush, Clinton, and the Generals; how Clinton liked domestic issues and the economy and didn't like to commit the U.S. abroad. Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), Bonfire of the Humanities: Rescuing the Classics in an Impoverished Age. Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western People (Why the West Has Won: Carnage and Culture from Salamis to Vietnam); traces the military dominance of Western civilization to the ancient Greeks and their consensual govt. and individualism after they kicked the weak effeminate Asiatic Persians' butts, although he never 'gets' why the Romans kicked their butts? Stephen Hawking (1942-), The Universe in a Nutshell - proof that modern cosmology has gone nuts? Julie Hecht, Was This Man a Genius? Talks With Andy Kaufman. Arthur Herman, How the Scots Invented the World. Don Hewitt (1922-2009), Tell Me a Story: 50 Years and 60 Minutes in Television (autobio.). Laura Hillenbrand (1967-), Seabiscuit: An American Legend. Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), The Trial of Henry Kissinger; accuses him of being a war criminal. Philip Hoare (1958-), Spike Island: The Memory of a Military Hospital. Noel Ignatiev, The Making and Unmaking of Whiteness (essays). Jonathan Israel (1946-), Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity, 1650-1750; claims that Baruch Spinoza is the backbone of the Radical Euro Enlightenment, which led to the modern liberal-dem. state. Philip Jenkins (1952-), Beyond Tolerance: Child Pornography on the Internet. Haynes Johnson (1931-), The Best of Times: America in the Clinton Years. J.D.F. Jones, Teller of Many Tales: The Lives of Laurens van der Post; disses Prince Charles' mentor for knocking up a 14-y.-o. girl in 1952. Sebastian Junger (1962-), Fire; his Nov. 2000 visit to Afghanistan. Ward Just (1935-), Lowell Limpett and Two Stories. Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932-2007), The Shadow of the Sun; his experiences in Africa since 1957. Bill Kaysing (1922-2005), Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? (Feb. 15). Morton Keller (1929-) and P. Keller, Making Harvard Modern. David I. Kertzer (1948-), The Popes Against the Jews: The Vatican's Role in the Rise of Modern Anti-Semitism; claims that several popes actively contributed to the rise of Euro anti-Semitism leading to the Holocaust, generating a firestorm of controversy. Jamaica Kincaid (1949-), My Garden (May 15). Dean H. King, In Search of Patrick O'Brian; "Master and Commander" author Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000). Nancy Koehn (1959-), Brand New: How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers' Trust from Wedgwood to Dell. Deborah Copaken Kogan, Shutterbabe: Adventures in Love and War. Wendy Kopp (1967-), One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way. Paul Krugman (1953-), Anthony J. Venables (1953-), and Fujita Masahisa (1943-), The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade; which becomes a std. work on the New Economic Geography. Joseph Levine, Purple Haze: The Puzzle of Consciousness. Bernard Lewis (1916-), The Muslim Discovery of Europe; Music of a Distant Drum: Classical Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew Poems. Michael Lewis (1960-), Next: The Future Just Happened. Life Magazine, One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001. David Limbaugh (1952-), Absolute Power: The Legacy of Corruption in the Clinton-Reno Justice Department (Mar.). Seymour Martin Lipset (1922-2006), It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States - wait till Obama has his shot? Penelope Lively (1933-), A House Unlocked. Dave Longaberger (1934-99), Longaberger; made a fortune in handcrafted maple wood baskets and turned philanthropist. Graham Lord (1943-), Arthur Lowe. Margaret MacMillan (1943-), Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War (Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World); asks the question: Was the Great War "an unmitigated catastrophe in a sea of mud", or "about something", concluding: "It is condescending and wrong to think they were hoodwinked"; in Jan. 2014 she warns that WWI can happen again, with the soundbyte: "While history does not repeat itself precisely, the Middle East today bears a worrying resemblance to the Balkans then." William Manchester (1922-2004), No End Save Victory: Perspectives on World War II. Harvey Mansfield Jr. (1932-), A Student's Guide to Political Philosophy. Peter Mayle (1939-), French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew. David McCullough (1933-), John Adams (May 22) (Pulitzer Prize); "The problem with Adams is that most Americans know nothing about him." Larry McMurtry (1936-), Sacagawea's Nickname (essays). Louis Menand (1952-), The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America (Pulitzer Prize) (Parkman Prize); the main figures in the philosophy of Pragmatism incl. William James, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Peirce, and Olive Wendell Holmes J. Gavin Menzies (1937-), 1421: The Year China Discovered The World (America); retired British sub cmdr. claims that Chinese Adm. Zheng He discovered America but that evil Mandarins covered it up. Jack Miles (1942-), Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God; God becomes human not to establish justice in this world but to defer it to the world to come? Nancy Milford (1938-), Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay [1892-1950]. Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William J. Broad, Germs: Biological Weapons and America's Secret War. Ray Monk, Bertrand Russell: 1921-1970, The Ghost of Madness. Eric Henry Monkkonen (1942-2005), Murder in New York City; documents New York City's eternally higher violence than Euro cities using a database of 1.7K cases over 200 years, concluding that most murderers are men, and that murders are most often committed in the heat of passion after an argument; "Usually, the motives are the need to assert manliness, power or territory." Raymond Moody (1944-) and Dianne Arcangel, Life After Loss: Conquering Grief and Finding Hope. Sheridan Morley (1941-2007), John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography; British actor Sir John Gielgud (1904-2000). Edmund Morris (1940-), Theodore Rex; sequel to "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" (1979). Joseph Murray (1919-2012), Surgery of the Soul: Reflections on a Curious Career (autobio.). Paul J. Nahin, Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics and Science - now you can feel dry and confident even when nobody else does? Thomas H. Naylor, John de Graaf, and David Wann, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. "A painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more." John Nichols (1940-), An American Child Supreme: The Education of a Liberation Ecologist (June 9). Jerri Nielsen (with Maryanne Vollers), Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival. Christiane Northrup, The Wisdom of Menopause. Robert Nozick (1938-2002), Invariances. Robert G. Ogg, Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor; "Seaman Z", first mentioned in John Toland's 1982 book "Day of Infamy" tells all about helping the U.S. Navy track the Japanese fleet all the way to Pearl Harbor, thus FDR knew about the attack in advance and let it happen to bulldog the U.S. into WWII. Bill O'Reilly (1949-), The No-Spin Zone: Confrontations with the Powerful and Famous in America. Peter S. Onuf (1945-) and Leonard Sadosky, Jeffersonian America (Oct. 18); tries to explain the persistent orientation of the early U.S. towards the Atlantic coast and W frontier. Suze Orman (1951-), The Road to Wealth. P.J. O'Rourke (1947-), The CEO of the Sofa. Malika Oufkir, Stolen Lives; daughter of Moroccan Gen. Mohammed Oufkir, adopted by King Mohammed V at age 5, lives a fairy tale life until her daddy attempts to assassinate the king in Aug. 1972. Robert Pastor (1947-), Towards a North American Community: Lessons from the Old World for the New; blueprint for a North Am. Union, with new Amero currency. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer, Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century. Katha Pollitt (1949-), Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics and Culture. Roy Porter (1946-2002), Bodies Politic: Disease, Death, and Doctors in Britain, 1650-1900. Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia (Mar. 1). John Rawls (1921-2002), Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Bob Reiss (1951-), The Coming Storm: Extreme Weather and Our Terrifying Future (Sept. 5); attempts to freak-out readers with climate alarmism; "Bob Reiss shows how a series of freakish and colossally destructive weather events awakened... people to... a changing climate" (Eugene Linden); "The layman's guide to global warming... fair, urgent and deeply unsettling" (Ted Conover) - good timing on the publication date? Andrew Roberts (1963-), Napoleon and Wellington: The Battle of Waterloo - And the Great Comanders Who Fought It. Sir Ken Robinson (1950-), Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative. Barry Rubin, The Transformation of Palestinian Politics: From Revolution to State-Building (Nov. 30). Oliver Wolf Sacks (1933-), Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood (autobio.). William A. Schabas (1950-), Cambodia: Was It Really Genocide? Susan Schulten, The Geographical Imagination in America, 1880-1950. Maria Shriver (1955-), What's Wrong With Timmy?. Neil Asher Silberman, The Bible Unearthed: Archeology's New vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts; claims that there's no archeological evidence to substantiate the stories in the Hebrew Bible, and that the stories themselves were created in the 7th cent. B.C.E.; David and Solomon were "tribal chieftains ruling from a small hill town, with a modest palace and royal shrine". Peter Singer (1946-) and Helga Kuhse, Unsactivying Human Life: Essays on Ethics. Mark Skousen (1947-), The Making of Modern Economics: The Lives and Ideas of the Great Thinkers; 2nd ed. 2009. Andrew Solomon (1963-), The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression (Pulitzer Prize); his daddy Howard Solomon runs Forest Labs, known for selling anti-depressants, and guess what, he advocates their use. George Soros (1930-), Open Society: Reforming Global Capitalism. Gary Soto (1952-), The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy (autobio.). Craig Stanford, The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior. George Steiner (1929-), Grammars of Creation (autobio.). Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Designing Democracy: What Constitutions Do; The Vote: Bush, Gore & the Supreme Court. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960-), Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets; why people mistake blind luck for skill and tend to explain random outcomes as if they were non-random; pt. 1 of "Incerto", incl. "The Black Swan" (2007), "The Bed of Procrustes" (2010), "Antifragile" (2012), "Skin in the Game" (2018). Emmanuel Todd (1951-), After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order; known for predicting the fall of the Soviet Union in 1976, he predicts the fall of the U.S. as the sole superpower, and the emergence of a multipolar world incl. Europe, Japan, and Russia. Jeffrey Toobin, Too Close to Call: The Thirty-Six-Day Battle to Decide the 2000 Election. Ike Turner (1931-2007), Takin' Back My Name (autobio.); "Sure, I've slapped Tina... There have been times when I punched her to the ground without thinking. But I have never beat her." Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-), Holy Wars: An Astrophysicist Ponders the God Question (Skeptical Inquirer, Sept. 2001). Michael Walzer (1935-), Exilic Politics in the Hebrew Bible; War, Politics, and Morality. Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), Shiksa Goddess (essays). Brian Weiss (1944-), Messages from the Masters: Tapping into the Power of Love (Apr. 1). Jack Welch (with John A. Byrne), Jack: Straight from the Gut. John Edgar Wideman (1941-), Hoop Roots: Basketball, Race and Love (autobio.). Ken Wilber (1949-), A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics, Science, and Spirituality. Brian Glyn Williams, The Crimean Tatars: The Diaspora Experience and the Forging of a Nation (first book). Alan Wolfe, Moral Freedom: The Search for Virtue in a World of Choice; "The day of shared moral standards is gone. Never in history has there been more a sense that people can't rely on traditions and institutions to guide them, morally." Robert Wright (1957-), Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny; biological and cultural evolution are shaped and directed by God, er, "non-zero-sumness". Bat Ye'or, Islam and Dhimmitude: Where Civilizations Collide; the mass migration of intolerant Muslims to Europe and the big problems it's causing. Philip D. Zelikow (1954-), American Military Strategy: Memos to a President. Tukufu Zuberi (1959-), Thicker Than Blood: An Essay on How Racial Statistics Lie. Art: Eve Marie Drewelowe, Swinging Saplings. Pamela Joseph, Decades of Influence (2001-6); used cutting boards adorned with wood-burned facsimiles of vintage images of magic acts? Steve Martin (1945-), Kindly Lent Their Owner: The Private Collection of Steve Martin. Philip Pearlstein (1924-), Two Nude Females with Luna Park Lion. Larry Rivers (1923-2002), Fashion Model Seated. Music: 311, From Chaos (album #6) (June 19) (#10 in the U.S.); incl. You Wouldn't Believe, I'll Be Here Awhile, Amber. Aaliyah (1979-2001), Aaliyah (album #3) (last album) (July 17) (#1 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); she dies on Aug. 25, boosting sales to 13M copies; incl. We Need a Resolution (w/Timbaland), Rock the Boat, More Than a Woman, I Refuse, I Care 4 U. Ryan Adams (1974-), Gold (album); incl. New York, New York; the video is shot on Sept. 7, 2001 with the WTC Twin Towers in the background, and is played on MTV following the attacks. Aerosmith, Just Push Play (album #13) (Mar. 9) (#2 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.); incl. Just Push Play, Jaded, Fly Away from Here. Afroman (1974-), Because I Got High; "I was gonna pay my child suport, but then I got high... I was gonna eat your pussy too, but then I got high, now I'm jackin' off and I know why, because I got high, because I got high, because I got high"; big hit, featured on the Howard Stern Show - welcome to the NWO? Christina Aguilera (1980-), Just Be Free (album) (Aug. 21); incl. Just Be Free. Amon Amarth, The Crusher (album #3) (May 8); incl. A Fury Divine, The Sound of Eight Hooves. America, The Complete Greatest Hits (album) (Aug.); its 17 top 100 singles since 1971. Dead or Alive, Unbreakable (album). Tori Amos (1963-), Strange Little Girls (album #6) (Sept. 18) (#4 in the U.S., #16 in the U.K.); incl. Strange Little Girl, 97 Bonnie and Clyde (by Eminem), Happiness is a Warm Gun (by the Beatles) (#4 in the U.S.). India.Arie (1975-), Acoustic Soul (album) (debut) (Mar. 27) (#10 in the U.S.) (5M copies); incl. Video, Brown Skin, Strength, Courage and Wisdom, Ready for Love. Marcia Ball (1949-), Presumed Innocent (album). Beatallica, A Garage Dayz Nite (EP) (debut); from the U.S., incl. Jaymz Lennfield, Grg Hammetson, Krk Hammetson, Kliff McBurtney, and Ringo Larz; incl. A Garage Dayz Nite, Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band, The Thing That Should Not Let It Be. Beck (1970-), Midnite Vultures. Bjork (1965-), Vespertine (album #5) (Aug. 27); wears the swan dress designed by Marjan Pejoski that she wore at the 2001 Academy Awards on the cover; incl. Hidden Place, Cocoon, Pagan Poetry. Mary J. Blige (1971-), No More Drama (album #5) (Aug. 28) (#2 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); sells 6.5M copies (incl. 3.2M in the U.S.); incl. No More Drama (#15 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.), Family Affair (#1 in the U.S., #8 in the U.K.), Rainy Dayz (w/Ja Rule) (#12 in the U.S., #17 in the U.K.). Blink-182, Take Off Your Pants and Jacket (album #4) (June 12) (#1 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.) (4.5M copies); incl. The Rock Show (#71 in the U.S.), Stay Together for the Kids, First Date, Anthem Part Two. Backstreet Boys, The Hits - Chapter One (album) (Oct. 30) (3.5M copies); incl. Drowning (#4 in the U.K.). Michelle Branch (1983-), The Spirit Room (album) (debut) (Aug. 14) (#28 in the U.S.) (4M copies); incl. Everywhere (#12 in the U.S.) (used in Chase Bank commercials), All You Wanted (#6 in the U.S.), Goodbye to You (#21 in the U.S.), You Get Me (theme song for MTV reality series "Sorority Life"). Garth Brooks (1962-), Scarecrow (album #10) (Nov. 13); calls it his final album. Buckcherry, Time Bomb (album #2) (Mar. 27); incl. Ridin'. Echo and the Bunnymen, Flowers (album #9) (Feb. 16) (#56 in the U.S.); incl. It's Alright, Make Me Shine. Bush, Golden State (album #4) (Oct. 23); last with Nigel Pulsford and Dave Parsons; last album until 2011; incl. The People That We Love, Headful of Ghosts, Inflatable. Cake, Comfort Eagle (album #4) (July 21) (#13 in the U.S.) (500K copies); incl. Short Skirt/Long Jacket ("I want a girl with a mind like a diamond./ I want a girl who knows what's best./ I want a girl with shoes that cut and eyes that burn like cigarettes./ I want a girl with the right allocation, who's fast, and thorough, and sharp as a tack"). Mariah Carey (1970-), Glitter Soundtrack (album) (Sept. 11) (#7 in the U.S., #10 in the U.K.) (3M copies); her only release on Virgin; Greatest Hits (double album) (Dec. 4). Fallin'. Patrick Cassidy, Vide Cor Meum (See My Heart); based on Dante's "La Vita Nuova" ch. 3, sonnet "A ciascun'alma presa"; used in the film "Hannibal" (2001) and the film "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005). Peter Cetera (1944-), Another Perfect World (album #7) (Mar. 27); incl. Perfect World, It's Only Love (by John Lennon and Paul McCartney). Alice in Chains, Greatest Hits (album). Tracy Chapman (1964-), Collection (album). Cher (1946-), Living Proof (album) (Nov. 19); sells 8M; incl. Living Proof, The Music's No Good Without You. Leonard Cohen (1934-), Ten New Songs (album) (Oct. 9); incl. Boogie Street, In My Secret Life. Shawn Colvin (1956-), Whole New You (album #5) (Mar. 27). Sean Combs (Diddy and the Bad Boy Family) (1969-), The Saga Continues... (album #3) (July 10) (#2 in the U.S.); incl. The Saga Continues. Harry Connick Jr. (1967-), Songs I Heard (album). Coolio (1963-), Coolio.com (album) (Apr. 18); Fantastic Voyage (album) (July 17). Alice Cooper (1948-), Dragontown (album #22). John Corigliano (1938-), Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra (Pulitzer Prize). Elvis Costello (1954-), The Very Best of Elvis Costello (album) (Sept. 21). Elvis Costello (1954-) and Anne Sofie von Otter (1955-), For the Stars (album) (Apr. 10); incl. For No One, Like an Angel Passing Through My Room. The Cranberries, Wake Up and Smell the Coffee (album #5) (Oct. 22) (1.3M copies); incl. Analyse. Creed, Weathered (album #3) (Nov. 20) ((#22 in the U.S.) (6M copies); first with bassist Mark Tremonti; incl. Weathered, + My Sacrifice, Bullets, One Last Breath, Hide, Don't Stop Dancing; they disband in 2004-2009. King Crimson, Vrooom Vrooom (album) (Nov. 13). Black Crowes, Lions (album); incl. Lickin, Soul Singing. Death Cab for Cutie, The Photo Album (album #3) (Oct. 9); incl. A Movie Script Ending, We Laugh Indoors, I Was a Kaleidoscope. Dagda, Barbarian (album). The Damned, Grave Disorder (album #9) (Aug. 21); incl. W (about the 2002 U.S. election), Absinthe. Goo Goo Dolls, What I Learned About Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce (album) (July 17). System of a Down, Toxicity (album #2) (Sept. 4); released a week before 9/11, it sells 6M copies; incl. Chop Suey!, Toxicity, Aerials. D12, Devil's Night (album); the Dirty Dozen, led by Eminem; incl. Purple Pills, Shit On You, Fight Music. Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Vol. 20 (album) (Jan. 23); recorded in Sept., 1971; Dick's Picks Vol. 21 (album) (Mar. 20); recorded on Nov. 1, 1985 in Richmond, Va.; Dick's Picks Vol. 22 (album) (June); recorded on Feb. 23-24, 1968 in Kings Beach, Calif.; View from the Vault, Vol. 2 (3-CD set) (June); Nightfall of Diamonds (double album) (Sept. 25); recorded on Oct. 16, 1989 at Meadowlands Arena in N.J.; Dick's Picks Vol. 23 (album) (Oct.); recorded on Sept. 17, 1972 in Baltimore, Md. No Doubt, Rock Steady (album #5) (Dec. 11); incl. Hey Baby, Hella Good, Underneath It All, Running. Dr. Dre (1965-), Bitch Please II (album). As I Lay Dying, Beneath the Encasing of Ashes (album) (debut) (June 12); from San Diego, Calif., incl. 6'3 Christian Tim Lambesis (1980-) (vocals), Nick Hipa (guitar), Phil Sgrosso (guitar), Josh Gilbert (bass), and Jordan Mancino (drums); incl. Beneath the Encasing of Ashes. Bob Dylan (1941-), Love and Theft (album #31) (Sept. 11); incl. Mississippi, Bye and Bye, High Water (for Charley Patton). Alton Ellis (1938-2008), More Alton Ellis (album); Live with Aspo: Workin' on a Groovy Thing (album). Melissa Etheridge (1961-), Skin (album) (July 10); incl. I Want to Be in Love. Eve (1978-), Scorpion (album #2) (Mar. 6); incl. Who's That Girl?, Let Me Blow Your Mind (with Gwen Stefani). Better Than Ezra, Closer (album #5) (Aug. 7) (#110 in the U.S.); incl. Extra Ordinary (with DJ Swamp), A Lifetime. Fear Factory, Digimortal (album #5) (last album) (Apr. 24); incl. Linchpin. Faithless, Outrospective (album) (June 18); incl. We Come 1, One Step Too Far, Muhammad Ali, Tarantula; The Bedroom Sessions (album) (Aug.). Kool and the Gang, Gangland (album #23) (Aug. 28). Garbage, Beautiful Garbage (beautifulgarbage) (album #3) (Sept. 27); bad timing kills it?; incl. Androgyny. Jerry Garcia Band, Don't Let Go (album #4) (Jan. 23); Shining Star (album #5) (Mar. 21); incl. Shining Star. Bee Gees, This Is Where I Came In (album #20) (Apr. 24); final album with Maurice Gibb; incl. This Is Where I Came In, Wedding Day; Their Greatest Hits: The Record (album #21) (Nov. 12). Debbie Gibson (1970-), M.Y.O.B. (album #7) (Mar.). The Go-Go's God Bless the Go-Go's (album #4) (May 15) (#57 in the U.S.); first album since 1984; incl. Unforgiven, Automatic Rainy Day. Macy Gray (1967-), The Id (album) (Sept. 17); released a week after 9/11, it flops in the U.S. but does good in the U.K.; incl. Sweet Baby, Sexual Revolution. 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, Bastard Life or Clarity (album #2) (Sept. 18); incl. Sail Those Same Oceans, Things Have Got to Change. Nina Hagen (1955-), The Return of the Mother (album) (Feb.); Total Eclipse/Die Schwarze Witwe (with Marc Almond). Herbie Hancock (1940-), Future2Future (album #42). Her Space Holiday, Manic Expressive (album). Hoobastank, Hoobastank (album) (Nov. 20) (debut); from Agoura Hills, Calif., incl. Douglas Robb (vocals), Dan Estrin (guitar), Chriss Hesse (drums), and Markku Lappalainen (bass); incl. Crawling in the Dark, Running Away, Remember Me. Incubus, Morning View (albm #4) (Oct. 23) (#2 in the U.S.) (3.6M copies); incl. Wish You Were Here (#2 in the U.S.), Warning (#3 in the U.S.), Nice to Know You (#9 in the U.S.), Circles (#31 in the U.S.). Isley Brothers, Eternal (album); incl. Contagious (w/R. Kelly). Janet Jackson (1966-), All for You (album #7) (Apr. 24) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (9M copies, incl. 3M in the U.S.); incl. Doesn't Really Matter, All for You, Someone to Call My Lover, Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You) (w/Missy Elliott), Come On Get Up, Would You Mind (eliminated from a clean version of the album). Michael Jackson (1958-2009), Invincible (album #10) (last album) (Oct. 30) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (13M copies) (first original release since 1991); incl. You Rock My World, Cry, Butterflies. Millie Jackson (1944-), Not for Church Folk! (album #25). Mick Jagger (1943-), Goddess in the Doorway (album #4) (Nov. 19); Jamiroquai, A Funk Odyssey (album #5) (Sept. 3); incl. Little L, Corner of the Earth, Love Foolosophy, Main Vein. Jay-Z (1969-), The Blueprint (album #6) (Sept. 11); sells 2M copies; incl. Takeover, Girls, Girls, Girls, Jigga That Nigga. Flotsam and Jetsam, My God (album #8) (May 22). Jimmy Eat World, Bleed American (album #4) (July 18); their breakthrough album; bad timing causes them to change the title to Jimmy Eat World, and the title track to "Salt Sweat Sugar" after 9/11); incl. Bleed American, The Middle, Sweetness, A Praise Chorus. Elton John (1947-), Songs from the West Coast (album #27) (Oct. 1); incl. American Triangle, Birds, This Train Doesn't Stop There Anymore. Jack Hody Johnson (1975-), Brushfire Fairytales (album) (debut) (Feb. 1) (1M copies); incl. Flake, Drink the Water. Richard Joo, Fantasies and Delusions (album); classical piano music written by Billy Joel. Journey, Arrival (album) (Apr. 3); first with Steve Augeri replacing Steve Perry, and Deen Castronovo replacing Steve Smith. Alicia Keys (1981-), Songs in A Minor (album) (debut) (June 5) (#1 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.) (12M copies); incl. Fallin', A Woman's Worth, How Come You Don't Call Me, Girlfriend. Rilo Kiley, Take-Offs and Landings (album #2) (July 3); incl. Science vs. Romance. Korn, All Mixed Up (album). Diana Krall (1964-), The Look of Love; Diana Krall - Live in Paris (album); incl. Just the Way You Are, A Case of You. Alison Krauss and the Union Station, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (album). k.d. lang (1961-), Live by Request (album) (Aug. 14). Cyndi Lauper (1953-), Shine; not released until May 3, 2004; incl. Shine. Human League, Secrets (album) (Aug. 6); incl. All I Ever Wanted, Love Me Madly? Julian Lennon (1963-), Everything Changes (album #6). Huey Lewis (1950-) and the News, Plan B (album #8) (May 1). Murphy's Law, The Party's Over (album #8) (May 22). Jennifer Lopez (1969-), J.Lo (album #2) (Jan. 23) (#1 in the U.S.) (8M copies); incl. Love Don't Cost a Thing (#3 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.), Play, Ain't It Funny (w/Ja Rule), I'm Real (w/Ja Rule). Ludacris (1977-), Word of Mouf (album #2) (Nov. 27) (#3 in the U.S.) (3.6M copies); incl. Rollout (My Business), Area Codes, Move Bitch, Saturday (Ooh Ooh!) (w/Sleepy Brown). Yo-Yo Ma, Vivaldi's Cello (album). Madonna (1958-), GHV2 (album) (Nov. 12) (#7 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (7M copies). Bob Marley (1945-81) and the Wailers, One Love: The Very Best of Bob Marley & the Wailers (album). Dave Matthews Band, Everyday (album). Maxwell (1973-), Now (album #3) (Aug. 14). John Mayer (1977-), Room for Squares (album) (debut) (June 5/Sept. 18) (#9 in the U.S.) (4.3M copies); incl. Your Body is a Wonderland, No Such Thing, Why Georgia. Paul McCartney (1942-), Wingspan: Hits and History (album) (May 7); Driving Rain (album #12) (Nov. 12) (#26 in the U.S., #46 in the U.K.); first after hooking up with Heather Mills; incl. From a Lover to a Friend. Reba McEntire (1955-), Greatest Hits Vol. 3: I'm a Survivor (album #27) (Oct. 23); incl. I'm a Survivor (theme from her sitcom "Reba"). Tim McGraw (1967-), Set This Circus Down (album) (Apr.); incl. Grown Men Don't Cry, Angry All the Time, The Cowboy in Me, Unbroken. Megadeth, The World Needs a Hero (album #9) (May 15) (#16 in the U.S.); last with Jimmy DeGrasso; incl. Moto Psycho, Return to Hangar. John Mellencamp (1951-), Cuttin' Heads (album). Natalie Merchant (1963-), Motherland (album #3) (Nov. 13); incl. This House is On Fire, Just Can't Last. Kylie Minogue (1968-), Fever (album #8) (Oct. 1) (#3 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K., #1 in Australia); incl. Can't Get You Out of My Head (#7 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.), In Your Eyes (#3 in the U.K.), Love At First Sight (#23 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.), Come Into My World (#91 in the U.S., #8 in the U.K.). Depeche Mode, Exciter (album #10) (May 14); incl. Dream On, I Feel Loved, Freelove, Goodnight Lovers. Moonspell, Darkness and Hope (album #5); incl. Nocturna. Modest Mouse, Sad Sappy Sucker (Chokin on a Mouthful of Lost Thoughts) (album) (Apr. 24); incl. Birds vs. Worms; Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks (EP) (Sept. 25). Smash Mouth, Smash Mouth (album #3) (Nov. 27); new drummer Michael Urbano (1960-); incl. Holiday In My Head, Pacific Coast Party. Puddle of Mudd, Come Clean (Aug. 28) (5M copies); produced by Fred Durst; from Kansas City, Mo.; incl. Wesley Reid Scantlin (vocals), Paul James Phillips (guitar), Douglas John Ardito (bass), and Greg David Upchurch (drums); incl. Control, Blurry, Drift and Die, She Hates Me. Dropkick Murphys, Sing Loud, Sing Proud! (album #3) (Feb. 6); last with Rick Barton and first with James Lynch of The Ducky Boys; incl. Rocky Road to Dublin. The National, The National (album) (debut) (Oct. 30); from Brooklyn, N.Y.; incl. Matt Berninger (1971-) (vocals), Aaron Dessner (piano), Bryce Dessner (guitar), Scott Devendorf (bass), Bryan Devendorf (drums), and Padma Newsome (keyboard). Nickelback, Silver Side Up (album #3) (Sept. 11) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (10M copies); incl. How You Remind Me (#1 in the U.S.), Too Bad, Never Again, Woke Up This Morning. 'N Sync (*NSYNC), Celebrity (album #3) (last album) (July 24) (#1 in the U.S.); #2 in 1st week sales (1,879,955 copies) after their first album; sells 10M copies worldwide; incl. Pop, Girlfriend, Gone. Laura Nyro (1947-97), Angel in the Dark (album #10) (last album) (posth.). New Order, Get Ready (album #7) (Aug. 27) (#41 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.); first album since 1993; cover features German actress Nicolette Krebitz; incl. Crystal, 60 Miles an Hour, Someone Like You. Ozzy Osbourne (1948-), Down to Earth (album) (Oct. 21). Brad Paisley (1972-), Part II (album) (May 29); incl. Two People Fell in Love, Wrapped Around, I'm Gonna Miss Her (The Fishin' Song), I Wish You'd Stay. Katy Perry (1984-), Katy Hudson (album) (debut) (Oct. 23); Christian music. Stone Temple Pilots, Shangri-La Dee Da (album #5) (June 19); incl. Days of the Week, Hollywood Bitch; next album in 2010. Pink (1979-), M!ssundaztood (album #2) (Oct. 9) (#6 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (13M copies); incl. Get the Party Started (#10 in the U.S.), Don't Let Me Get Me (#8 in the U.S.), Just Like a Pill (#10 in the U.S.), Family Portrait (#20 in the U.S.). Jean-Luc Ponty (1942-), Life Enigma (album). Iggy Pop (1947-), Beat 'Em Up (album) (June 18). Manic Street Preachers, Know Your Enemy (album #6) (Mar. 19) (#2 in the U.K.); incl. Found That Soul, So Why So Sad, Ocean Spray, Let Robeson Sing. Prince (1958-), The Rainbow Children (album) (Nov. 20); first album after his conversion to the Jehovah's Witnesses; incl. "Rainbow Children", "The Work, Pt. 1"; One Nite Alone (album); incl. A Case of U. Deep Purple, Time Time Around: Live in Tokyo (album). Faster Pussycat, Between the Valley of the Ultra Pussy (album) (May 15). Queensryche, Live Evolution (album) (Sept. 25). Radiohead, Amnesiac (album #5) (June 4); incl. I Might Be Wrong, Pyramid Song, Knives Out. Rammstein, Mutter (album #3) (Apr. 2); incl. Mutter (Mother), Mein Herz Brennt (My Heart Burns), Links 2-3-4, Sonne; Ich Will (I Want) (Sept. 10); released the day before 9/11, the music video ends up getting banned in the U.S. by many stations, making it more popular? Eddi Reader (1959-), Simple Soul (album #5); Driftwood (album #6). R.E.M., Reveal (album #12) (May 14); incl. Imitation of Life, I'll Take the Rain, All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Be a Star). Busta Rhymes (1972-), Genesis (album #5) (Nov. 27) (#11 in the U.S.); incl. Break Ya Neck. Kid Rock (1971-), Cocky (album). Roxette, Room Service (album) (Apr. 3); incl. The Centre of the Heart. Run-D.M.C., Crown Royal (album #7) (last album) (Apr. 3). Scorpions, Acoustica (album #13) (May 14). Shakira (1977-), Laundry Service (album #3) (Nov. 13) (#3 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); sells 13M copies, making her the #1 Colombian artist of all time; incl. Underneath Your Clothes (#9 in the U.S.), Objection (Tango), The One. Duncan Sheik, Phantom Moon (album). Jessica Simpson (1980-), Irresistible (album #2) (May 25) (#6 in the U.S., #103 in the U.K.) ("Mariah Carey meets Britney Spears" - Simpson); incl. Irresistible, A Little Bit. Slayer, God Hates Us All (album #9) (Sept. 11) (#28 in the U.S.); last with Ralph Bostaph; incl. Disciple. Black Label Society, Alcohol Fueled Brewtality Live!! +5 (album) (Jan. 16). Britney Spears (1981-), Britney (album) (Nov.). Chicks on Speed, Chick On Speed Will Save Us All (album) (debut); founded in 1997 in Munich, Germany; incl. Melissa Logan, Kisi Moorse, and Alex Murray-Leslie; incl. Warm Leatherette, Glamour Girl, The Floating Pyramid Over Frankfurt That The Taxi Driver Saw When He Was Landing, Kaltes Klares Wasser, Euro Trash Girl; preceded by the unofficial album "The Unreleases" (2000), and followed by the unofficial album "The rereleases of The Un-Releases" (2000). Regina Spektor (1980-), 11:11: (album) (debut) (July 9). Spiderbait, The Flight of Wally Funk (album #5) (Oct. 1); incl. Four on the Floor, Outta My Head. Staind, Break the Cycle (album #3) (May 22) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (7M copies); incl. Fade, Outside, It's Been Awhile, For You. Steps, Gold: Greatest Hits (album #4) (Oct. 15) (#1 in the U.K.); incl. Chain Reaction (by Diana Ross) (#2 in the U.K.), Words Are Not Enough (#5 in the U.K.). Rod Stewart (1945-), Human (album #19) (Mar. 12); incl. Run Back Into Your Arms, I Can't Deny It, Don't Come Around Here; The Story So Far: The Very Best of Rod Stewart (double album) (Nov. 13). Stratovarius, Intermission (album) (June 26). White Stripes, White Blood Cells (album #3) (July 3); their breakthrough; sells 500K copies; incl. Fell in Love with a Girl, Hotel Yorba, Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, We're Going to Be Friends. The Strokes, Is This It (album) (debut) (July 30) (#33 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); from New York City, incl. Julian Fernando Casablancas (1978-) (vocals), Nicholas "Nick" Valensi (1981-) (guitar), Albert Hammond Jr. (1980-) (guitar), Nikolai Fraiture (1978-) (bass), and Fabrizio Moretti (1980-) (drums); Rolling Stone mag.'s #2 album of the decade; incl. Hard to Explain (#27 in the U.S., #16 in the U.K.), Last Nite (#5 in the U.S., #14 in the U.K.), Someday (#17 in the U.S., #27 in the U.K.). Supertramp, Is Everybody Listening? (album) (Nov. 6); recorded at Hammersmith Odeon, London on Mar. 9, 1975. Plain White T's, Come on Over (album) (debut); Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, Mike Retondo, De'Mar Hamilton, Tim Lopez. Testament, First Strike Still Deadly (album #9) (Oct. 23). Therion, Secret of the Runes (album #13) (Oct. 8); Bells of Doom (album). Melanie Thornton (1967-2001), Ready to Fly (album) (solo debut) (May 7); incl. Heartbeat (Apr. 9); Makin' Oooh Oooh (Talking About Love) (Sept. 3); Wonderful Dream (Holidays are Coming) (Nov. 26); too bad, she dies in a plane crash in Switzerland. Seven Mary Three, The Economy of Sound (album #5) (June 5) (#178 in the U.S.); incl. Wait, Sleepwalking. Tool, Lateralus (album #3) (May 15) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Lateralus, Schism, Parabola. Train, Drops of Jupiter (album #2) (Mar. 27) (#6 in the U.S.); incl. Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me), She's on Fire, Something More. Cheap Trick, Silver (album). Shania Twain (1965-), The Complete Limelight Sessions (album) (Oct. 23). Six Feet Under, True Carnage (album #4) (Aug. 7); incl. The Day the Dead Walked, One Bullet Left, Sick and Twisted. Usher (1978-), 8701 (album #3) (Aug. 7) (#4 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (8M copies); incl. Pop Ya Collar, U Remind Me, U Got It Bad, U Don't Have to Call, U-Turn. Vangelis (1943-), Mythodea: Music for the NASA Mission: 2001 Mars Odyssey (album). Suzanne Vega (1959-), Songs in Red and Gray (album #6) (Sept. 25); last with A&M Records. En Vogue, Masterpiece Theatre (album) (May 23); incl. Riddle. Jennifer Warnes (1947-), The Well (album #8). Warrant, Under the Influence (album #6); incl. Face, Subhuman. Weezer, Weezer (Green Album) (album #3) (May 15) (#4 in the U.S., #31 in the U.K.); incl. Hash Pipe (#21 in the U.K.), Island in the Sun (#31 in the U.K.), Photograph. Westlife, World of Our Own (album #3) (Nov. 12); incl. Queen of My Heart (#1 in the U.K.), World of Our Own (#1 in the U.K.), Bop Bop Baby (#5 in the U.K., Uptown Girl (by Billy Joel) (#1 in the U.K.). Wisin and Yandel, De Nuevos a Viejos (album #2) (Jan. 1). Chely Wright (1970-), Never Love You Enough (album #5) (Sept. 25); incl. Never Love You Enough, Jezebel. Wu-Tang Clan, Iron Flag (album #4) (Dec. 18) (#32 in the U.S.). Trisha Yearwood (1964-), Inside Out (album). Yes, Magnification (album #17) (Sept. 11); incl. Magnification. Rob Zombie (1965-), The Sinister Urge (album); incl. Never Gonna Stop (The Red Red Kroovy). Movies: Steve Beck's Thirteen (THIR13EN) Ghosts (Oct. 26) (Dark Castle Entertainment) (Warner Bros. Pictures), a remake of the 1960 William Castle film stars F. Murray Abraham as ghost hunter Cyrus Kriticos, Matthew Lillard as his asst. Dennis Rafkin, and Tony Shalhoub as Cyrus' nephew Arthur Kriticos, who inherits his father's haunted mansion, where he gets trapped with 13 you know whats along with his daughter Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth); does $68.4M box office on a $42M budget. Ronny Yu's The 51st State (Formula 51) (Dec. 7) (Momentum Pictures) (Alliance Atlantis) stars Samuel L. Jackson as Am. chemist Elmo McElroy, who invents the hot new drug POS 51 and tries to score a once-in-a-lifetime drug deal in Liverpool until things go wrong; Meat Loaf plays drug lord The Lizard; does $14.4M box office on a $27M budget. Charles Shyer's The Affair of the Necklace (Nov. 30) stars Hilary Swank as Jeanne St. Remy de Valois, Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Louis de Rohan, Adrien Brody as Count Nicolas de la Motte, and Joely Richardson as Marie Antoinette in a dramatization of the 1785 Diamond Necklace Affair. Steven Spielberg's A.I. Artificial Intelligence (June 29) (Amblin Entertainment) (Warner Bros.), based on the story "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss stars Haley Joel Osment as David, a boy android uniquely programmed with the ability to love; also stars Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, Brendan Gleeson, and William Hurt; dedicated to Stanley Kubrick; does $235.9M box office on a $100M budget. David Frankel's and Tom Hanks' Band of Brothers (Sept. 9-Nov. 4), a TV miniseries about Easy Co. of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Div. based on the 1992 book by Stephen Ambrose debuts in Normandy on guess what, June 6, followed by Sept. 9 in the U.S. - bad timing? Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind (Dec. 21) (Imagine Entertainment) (Universal Pictures), based on the 1998 book by Sylvia Nasar stars Russell Crowe as schizophrenic Princeton U. mathematician John Nash, who marries student Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and fakes it for years until he is found out, which doesn't stop him from winning the 1994 Nobel Econ. Prize for helping invent game theory; features Ed Harris as imaginary secret agent William Parcher, Paul Bettany as imaginary friend Charles Herman; does $313M box office on a $58M budget; "Perhaps it is good to have a beautiful mind, but a greater gift is to discover a beautiful heart." John Moore's Behind Enemy Lines (Nov. 31) stars Owen Wilson as Navy aviator Lt. Chris Burnett, who is shot down behind you know what, and is rescued by Adm. Leslie McMahon Reigart (Gene Hackman). Ted Demme's Blow (Apr. 6), based on a true story stars Johnny Depp as George Jung, a Calif. surfer boy who founded the U.S. cocaine market in the 1970s without seemingly realizing how dangerous it was. Jonas McCord's The Body (Jan. 5) stars Antonio Banderas as a Roman Catholic priest sent by the Vatican to investigate a tomb discovered in Jerusalem by pretty starlet, er, archeologist (Olivia Williams) that contains the bones of a crucified man behind a clay wall in a rich man's tomb; told to prove it isn't Jesus Christ, he ends up proving it is, while the Vatican plots (with Israeli govt. help) to blow it all up; after Palestinian terrorists steal the bones, there is a hilarious scene where the leader runs around with Jesus-in-a-bag as Israeli commandos close in. Sharon Maguire's Bridget Jones's Diary (Apr. 13) (Universal Pictures), based on the 1996 Helen Fielding novel stars Renee Zellweger as 32-y.-o. single Jones (who gains 20 lbs. for the role), Colin Firth as her boss Daniel Cleaver, and Hugh Grant as Mark Darcy, whom Bridget overhears telling his mother that she is "a verbally incontinent spinster who smokes like a chimney, drinks like a fish, and dresses like her mother", causing her to try to turn her life around, starting a you know what and discovering that he's her "true love"; does $282M box office on a $25M budget. Blair Hayes' Bubble Boy (Aug. 24) stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Jimmy Livingston, a boy born without an immune system who lives in a plastic bubble. Lawrence Guterman's Cats and Dogs (July 4) from Warner Brothers is flick about the secret cat-dog war, using real cats and dogs. Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow (Aug. 3) (Lionsgate), based on the book by Steven Peros about the mysterious death of film dir. Thomas H. Ince (Cary Elwes) in Nov. 1924 aboard the yacht of William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann) features Kirsten Dunst as Hearst's babe Marion Davies, Eddie Izzard as Charlie Chaplin, and Jennifer Tilly as Louella Parsons, who witnesses Hearst do it and blackmails him into a lifetime syndication contract for her gossip column; does $3.6M box office on a $7M budget. Woody Allen's The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (Aug. 24) (DreamWorks Pictures) is a screwball comedy set in Oct. 1940 starring Allen (after Tom Hanks and Jack Nicholson turn it down) as aging nerdy New York City insurance investigator C.W. Biggs of North Coast Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Co., who is hypnotized at the Rainbow Room along with efficiency expert Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt) by Voltan (David Ogden Stiers), who implants codewords in their minds that allow him to use them to stage jewel robberies and not remember it; Charlize Theron plays Laura Kensington; Dan Aykroyd plays Briggs' boss and Betty's lover Chris Magruder; Wallace Shawn plays George Bond; Elizabeth Berkley plays Jill; a 1940s film noir in color instead of B&W?; the set bldg. was too expensive, making retakes too expensive?; Allen's worst movie?; features the song "In a Persian Market" by Wilbur de Paris; does $18.9M box office on a $33M budget. Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone (Apr. 20) (El Espinazo del Diablo) (Canal+ Espana) (Sony Pictures Classics), produced by Pedro Almodovar is a Gothic horror film set in 1939 Spain, starring Federico Luppi and Marisa Paredes as orphanage operators Casares and Carmen, which is a front to hide gold for the Repub. loyalists, which is haunted by the ghost of the child Santi; does $6.5M box office on a $4.5M budget; followed by "Pan's Labyrinth" (2006). Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko (Jan. 19) stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a suburban Va. teenie who is visited by giant rabbit Frank and told that the world will end in 28 days 6 hours 42 min. 12 sec., and finds that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom; Maggie Gyllenhaal plays his sister Elizabeth. Jean-Jacques Annaud's Enemy at the Gates (Mar. 16) stars Jude Law as Soviet top sniper Vassily Zaitsev at Stalingrad in WWII, who is targeted by Nazi sniper Maj. Konig (Ed Harris), while Tania Chernova (Rachel Weisz) keeps Vassily warm; Bob Hoskins plays Nikita Khrushchev, and Joseph Fiennes plays Vassily's political commissar comrade, who publicizes him for the war effort. Eric Hannah's Extreme Days (Mar. 5) stars Dante Basco, Ryan Browning, A.J. Buckley, and Derek Hamilton as lifelong buddies who take a road trip. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's The Fabulous Life of Amelie Poulain (Apr. 25) stars Audrey Tautou in a flick about how cool Parisian life is, like cracking creme brulee with a teaspoon and trying to guess that 15 couples in Paris are having an orgasm at a given moment? Rob Cohen's The Fast and the Furious (June 22) (Universal Pictures) is a brainless but fascinating street hot rod flick starring Vin Diesel as truck hijacker and street racer Dominic Toretto, and Paul Walker as undercover LAPD cop Brian O'Conner; Michelle Rodriguez plays Diesel's babe Leticia "Letty" Ortiza; "I owe you a 10-sec. car"; does $207.3M box office on a $38M budget; spawns sequels incl. "2 Fast 2 Furious" (2003), "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" (2006), "Fast & Furious" (2009), "Fast Five" (2011), "Fast & Furious 6" (2013), "Furious 7" (2015), "The Fate of the Furious" (2017). The Hughes Brothers' From Hell (Oct. 19) (20th Cent. Fox), based on the Alan Moore graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell about the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888 London stars Johnny Depp as Inspector Frederick Abberline, and Heather Graham as young ho Mary Kelly; does $75M box office on a $35M budget. Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World (Oct. 18) stars Thora Birch as Enid and Scarlett Johansson as Rebecca, two high school grads who play a mean prank on middle-aged geek Seymour (Steve Buscemi). Vondie Curtis-Hall's Glitter (Sept. 11) stars Mariah Carey as mixed race nightclub singer Billie Frank, really herself. Chris Columbus' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Nov. 4) (Warner Bros.), based on the 1997 J.K. Rowling novel is a box office smash with the kiddie set; stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, John Cleese as Nearly Headless Nick, Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore, Ian Hart as Quirinus Quirrell, John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander, Alan Rickman (after Tim Roth turns it down for "Planet of the Apes") as Severus Snape, Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, and Julie Walters as Molly Weasley; the #1 movie of 2001 ($318M U.S. and $974.8M worldwide box office on a $125M budget; followed by "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002), "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005), "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007), "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" (2009), and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" (2010/2011). Robert Altman's Gosford Park (Nov. 7) (Shepperton Studios) (Capitol Films) (USA Films), is an Agathie Christie-style whodunit set in 1932 in a wealthy English estate, written by Julian Fellowes, starring Maggie Smith, Kelly Macdonald, Jeremy Northam, Bob Balaban, Ryan Philippe, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Michael Gambon; music by Patrick Doyle; does $87.8M box office on a $19.8M budget. Ridley Scott's Hannibal (Feb. 9) (Dino De Laurentiis Co.) (Scott Free Productions) (MGM) (Universal Pictures), based on the 1999 Thomas Harris novel (sequel to the 1991 film "The Silence of the Lambs"), written by David Mamet and Steven Zaillian stars Anthony Hopkins as big brain serial killer Hannibal Lecter, Jullian Moore as FBI agent Clarice Starling, unrecognizable Gary Oldman as self-disfigured millionaire Mason Verger, Ray Liotta as Justice Dept. official Paul Krendler, and Giancarlo Giannini as Italian cop Rinaldo Pazzi; features the song Vide Cor Meum (See My Heart) by Irish composer Patrick Cassidy; does $351.6M box office on a $87M budget; bon appetit? John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch (July 27), "an anatomically incorrect rock odyssey" stars the dir. as Hedwig slash Hansel Robinson, a transsexual punk rocker from East Berlin who tours the U.S. as she tells her life story about her botched operation "with a scar running down it like a sideways grimace on an eyeless face" - no, I don't want to look? Winrich Kolbe's Ice Planet stars Wes Studi as Cmdr. Noah Trager of the Earth military base on Io, which is under attack by the ET Zedoni, causing him and his space cadets to escape on the Magellan research vessel to a you know what in an unknown part of the Universe; in 2005 a pilot is released for a TV series starring Michael Ironside. Gary Fleder's Impostor (Dec. 4), based on a 1953 short story by Philip K. Dick debuts stars Gary Sinise, Madeleine Stowe, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Tony Shalhoub, about an attack on Earth in 2079 by aliens from Alpha Centauri, who send replicants to infiltrate the Earth govt.; does $8M box office on a $40M budget. Todd Field's In the Bedroom (Jan. 11) stars Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek as Maine couple Matt and Ruth Fowler, whose son Frank (Nick Stahl) dates older single mother Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei), whose ex-hubby Richard (William Mapother) doesn't like it. Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love (Feb. 26) stars Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung as apt. house neighbors in Hong Kong who hook up. Werner Herzog's Invincible, based on the life of Polish Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbart in Nazi Germany stars real-life strongman Jouko Ahola, and Tim Roth as clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen. Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (Aug. 24) stars Jason Mewes as Jay, and Kevin Smith as Bob, who decide to wreck the movie adaptation of their comic "Bluntman and Chronic". Victor Salva's Jeepers Creepers (Aug. 31) (Am. Zoetrope) (United Artists) stars Jonathan Breck as the mysterious winged black Creeper, who sleeps for 23 years then feeds for 23 days on people; does $59.2M box office, spawning sequels incl. "Jeepers Creepers 2" (2003), "Jeepers Creepers 3" (2017). John A. Davis' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (Dec. 21) is an animated flick starring the voice of Debi Derryberry as Jimmy Isaac Neutron, who builds an interstellar space fleet to rescue abducted adults from aliens. Joe Johnston's Jurassic Park III (July 18) stars Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant, who is hornswaggled by Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) into going to dinosaur-plagued Isla Sorna to find their lost son; #9 movie of 2001 ($180M). Iain Softley's K-PAX (Oct. 26), based on the novel by Gene Brewer stars Kevin Spacey as Robert Porter, a man claiming to be Prot, an ET from Lyra, causing him to be committed to the Psychiatric Inst. of Manhattan, where Dr. Mark Powell (Jeff Bridges) attempts to cure him, while he wins over the other inmates with a promise to take one of them with him on July 27; "Be prepared for anything." James Mangold's Kate and Leopold (Dec. 25) stars Huge Actman, er, Hugh Jackman as Prince Leopold, 3rd Duke of Albany, who accidentally follows time traveler Stuart Besser (Liev Schreiber) to 2001 from 1876, and falls in love with New York City career girl Kate McKay (Meg Ryan); does $76M box office on a $48M budget. Ray Lawrence's Lantana (July 8) stars Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, and Barbara Hershey in a tale of adultery and an unsolved murder in Sydney. Robert Luketic's Legally Blonde (July 13), based on the Amanda Brown novel is a vehicle for Reese Witherspoon, who cheerleads her way into Harvard Law School to become a Supreme Court justice, er, to get back her boyfriend. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Dec. 19), based on the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy does a good job of bring it alive after decades of failed attempts, starring Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins, Sean Astin as Sam Gangee, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Christopher Lee as Saruman, and Sean Bean as Boromir; #2 movie of 2001 ($315M). Lea Pool's Lost and Delirious (July 20), based on the Susan Swan novel stars Piper Perabo as Pauline "Paulie" Oster, and Jessica Pare as Victoria "Tori" Moller, who get into lezzy sex at a posh boarding school. George Hickenlooper's The Man From Elysian Fields (Sept. 13) stars Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, James Colburn, Julianna Margulies, and Olivia Williams in a flick about a writer who proves his own statement that great novels are really suicide notes by joining a male escort service to pay the bills and meeting a dying Ernest Hemingway clone, who asks him to co-write his last big novel. Joel Coen's B&W The Man Who Wasn't There (May 13) (Working Title Films) (Gramercy Pictures) is a crime noir set in 1949 starring Billy Bob Thornton as barber Ed Crane, who gets sold on a screen to invest in the newfangled dry-cleaning biz and ends up losing his wife Doris (Frances McDormand) and going to death row after his expensive shyster lawyer Freddy Riedenschneider (Tony Shalhoub) leaves him defenseless; last film distributed by Gramercy Pictures until 2015; does $18.9M box office on a $20M budget. Brian Trenchard-Smith's Megiddo: The Omega Code 2 (Sept. 21) stars Michael York and Michael Biehn in a flick about the Apocalypse - good timing? Marc Forster's Monster's Ball (Nov. 11) (Lions Gate Films) stars Billy Bob Thornton as prison guard Hank Grotowski, son of racist Buck (Peter Boyle), who falls in love with brown sugar Leticia Musgrove (Halle Berry), wife of death row inmate Lawrence (Sean "P. Diddy" Combs), and questions his upbringing; does $44.9M box office on a $4M budget. Pete Docter's and David Silverman's computer-animated film Monsters, Inc. (Nov. 2) from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios is the first animated feature film to reach the $100M gross mark at the U.S. box office, just nine days after its release; #4 movie of 2001 ($256M). David Lynch's Mulholland Dr. (Oct. 12) stars Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, and Den Hedaya in a surrealistic flick about a female amnesiac searching for her identity in LA and getting into a lesbian affair. Stephen Sommers' The Mummy Returns (May 4) stars Brendan Fraser as Richard "Rick" O'Connell, who takes on the mummy of high priest Imhotel (Arnold Vosloo); #6 movie of 2001 ($202M). David Atkins' Novocaine (Nov. 23) stars Steve Martin as dentist Frank Sangster, who becomes a murder suspect after patient Laura Dern seduces him into prescribing drugs for her. Tim Blake Nelson's O (Aug. 31) debuts after being held for two years because of the Apr. 1999 Columbine H.S. Massacre; based on Shakespeare's "Othello"; stars Mekhi Phifer as black h.s. basketball star Odin James (OJ), Julia Stiles as white dean's daughter Desi, and Josh Hartnett as the coach's steroid-addicted son Hugo; does $19.2M box office. Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (Dec. 7), a remake of the 1960 film stars George Clooney as Danny Ocean, whose team incl. Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), and Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck); #8 movie of 2001 ($180M). Alejandro Amenabar's The Others (Aug. 10) (Warner Sogefilms), partly based on Henry James' 1898 haunted house horror novella "The Turn of the Screw" stars Nicole Kidman as Grace Stewart who looks after her two photosensitive children Anne and Nicholas in 1945 Channel Islands, and Fionnula Flanagan as old servant Bertha Mills; does $209.9M box office on a $17M budget. Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor (May 21) (Touchstone Pictures), produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Randall Wallace intertwines a silly unbelievable love story a la Titanic between Ben Affleck (Capt. Rafe McCawley) and Kate Beckinsale (Nurse Lt. Evelyn Johnson McCawley) with the big sneak attack; Alec Baldwin almost saves it with critics as Lt. Col. James Doolittle, which doesn't stop it from being a box office smash; #7 movie of 2001 ($199M box office U.S. and $449.2M worldwide on a $140M budget). Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes (July 27) (The Zanuck Co.) (20th Cent. Fox), a remake of the 1968 movie stars Mark Wahlberg as human Capt. Leo Davidson, Tim Roth as chimp Gen. Thade, Michael Clarke Duncan as gorilla Col. Attar, and Helena Bonham Carter as chimp Ari; does $362M box office on a $100M budget; #10 movie of 2001 ($180M); the ending actually precludes a sequel? Sean Penn's The Pledge (Jan. 19), based on a 1958 novel by Friedrich Durrenmatt and the 1958 film "It Happened in Broad Daylight" stars Jack Nicholson as retired police det. Jerry Black, who tries to find a serial pedophile child murderer using his babe Lori's (Robin Wright Penn) daughter Chrissy; the killer has a porcupine hanger in his car, the only clue. Ed Harris' Pollock (May 18) stars Ed Harris as splash-artist Jackson Pollock. Louis C.K.'s blaxploitation comedy flick Pootie Tang (June 29) stars Chris Rock as a ghetto folk hero and ladies' man with a 95-cent Piggly Wiggly magic belt; a dud at the box office, it later becomes a comedy cult classic. Anne Hathaway's The Princess Diaries (Aug. 3) stars Julie Andrews as the queen of Genovia, and Mandy Moore as a U.S. cheerleader who becomes her princess after much tutoring. Erik Skjoldbjaerg's Prozac Nation (Sept. 8), based on the Elizabeth Wurtzel novel stars Christina Ricci as a woman struggling with depressing during her freshman year at Harvard; after its world debut in Toronto, it is released in Norway in 2003, and ends up on Starz! channel in Mar. 2005. Penny Marshall's Riding in Cars with Boys (Oct. 19) stars Drew Barrymore as a single mother who aspires to be a writer, drops a son at age 15, then goes through a failed marriage with the druggie dad. Stephen Herek's Rock Star (Sept. 7) stars Mark Wahlberg as Chris "Izzy" Cole, who becomes a you know what. Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (Dec. 14) about an estranged family of child prodigies who reunite over a terminal illness stars Gene Hackman as Royal (daddy), Anjelica Huston as Etheline (mommy), Ben Stiller as Chas (math genius), Gwyneth Paltrow as Margot (adopted) (budding Shakespeare), and Luke Wilson as Richie (tennis prodigy); does $71.4M box office on a $21M budget. Brett Ratner's Rush Hour 2 (Aug. 3) stars Jackie Chan as Chief Inspector Lee, and Chris Tucker as Det. James Carter; #5 movie of 2001 ($226M). Dennis Dugan's Saving Silverman (Feb. 9) stars Steven Zahn and Jack Black as a pair of buddies conspiring to save their best friend Darren Silverman (Jason Biggs) from marrying the wrong woman... was that Amanda Peet or Amanda Detmer? Frank Oz's The Score (July 13) stars Robert De Niro as an aging thief who is talked into one last heist by young Edward Norton, and ends it with a double twist. Billy Morrissette's Scotland, PA (Jan. 22) based on Shakespeare's "Macbeth" set in 1975 Duncan's Cafe in Penn. stars James LeGros as Joe "Mac" McBeth, Maura Tierney as Path McBeth, Christopher Walken as Lt. Ernie McDuff, James Rebhorn as cafe owner Norm Duncan, and Kevin Corrigan as fry cook Anthony "Banko" Banconi; features songs by Bad Company. Andrew Adamson's and Vicky Jenson's s computer-animated comedy Shrek (Apr. 22) (DreamWorks Pictures), based on the 1990 fairy tale picture book by William Steig is a giant er, hit, starring the voice of Mike Myers as big green ogre Shrek, Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Cameron Diaz as Princes Fiona, and John Lithgow as evil Lord Farquaad; #3 movie of 2001 ($268M domestic and $487.9M worldwide box office on a $60M budget); sequels incl. Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), Shrek Forever After (2010). Dominic Sena'a Swordfish (June 8) stars John Travolta as renegade counter-terrorist Gabriel Shear, and Hugh Jackman as the world's greatest hacker Stanley Jobson; Halley Berry plays Ginger Knowles; Sam Shepard plays Sen. James Reisman; claims that Thomas Jefferson personally shot somebody on the White House lawn for treason. Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums (Dec. 14) stars Gene Hackman as Royal Tenenbaum, patriarch of an eccentric dysfunctional family of failed child prodigies, incl. Chas (Ben Stiller), Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Richie (Luke Wilson), who fakes cancer to effect a family reunion; Anjelica Houston plays Royal's ex-wife Etheline; written by Owen Wilson, who plays Eli Cash; Bill Murray plays writer Raleigh St. Clair. John Boorman's The Tailor of Panama (Feb. 11) (Columbia Pictures), based on the 1996 John Le Carre spy novel stars Pierce Brosnan as MI6 spy Andrew "Andy" Osnard, Geoffrey Rush as tailor Harold "Harry" Pendel, and Jamie Lee Curtis as his wife Louisa in an absurd plot about the days when the Panama Canal changed hands, but not really, Pendel made it all up; does $28M box office on a $21M budget. Maria Ripoll's Tortilla Soup (June 9) stars Hector Elizondo et al. in a yarn that tries to stimulate your appetite. Steven Soderbergh's Traffic (Jan. 5), an ensemble cast flick about the DEA vs. the drug lords of Tijuana stars Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones, who get engaged during filming; he plays a conservative federal judge who becomes the drug czar while his lily-white wayward daughter Erika ("What is this like, free base?") Christensen becomes a coke-shooting ho pumped by black pushers; co-stars Benicio Del Toro as Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez, an honest Mexican cop caught in the corruption, and Don Cheadle as honest federal agent Montel Gordon, who loses his partner Luis Guzman to U.S. drug lord Steven Bauer. Antoine Fuqua's Training Day (Oct. 5) stars Denzel Washington as corrupt cop Alonzo, who breaks in rookie cop Jake (Ethan Hawke), introducing him to theft, murder, and coverup, which he decides he didn't sign up for. Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky (Dec. 14) stars Tom Cruise as David Aames, who finds life turning into an 1872 Monet painting with Penelope Cruz and Cameron Diaz, only to discover it's all a software-driven "lucid dream". Sara Sugarman's Very Annie Mary (May 25) stars Rachel Griffith as a Welsh opera singer whose tyrannical father Jonathan Pryce keeps her down until he suffers a stroke. DJ Pooh's The Wash (Nov. 14) stars Dr. Dre, Anthony Albano, Tic et al. in a black car wash flick. Adam Shanksman's The Wedding Planner (Jan. 26) stars Jennifer Lopez as Mary Fiore the you know what. David Wain's Wet Hot American Summer (July 27), about Aug. 18, 1981, the last day of Camp Firewood summer camp in Waterville, Maine stars Janeane Garofalo, David Hyde Pierce, and Michael Showalter, and is the film debut of Bradley Cooper; does only $295K box office on a $1.8M budget, but becomes a cult hit. Leszek Burzynski's Wooly Boys stars Peter Fonda as N.D. sheep rancher A.J. "Stoney" Stoneman, who visits the big city and gets in an adventure with his teenage computer whiz grandson Charles (Joseph Mazzello). Ben Stiller's Zoolander (Sept. 28) stars Stiller as Derek Zoolander, a clueless fashion model brainwashed to kill the PM of Malaysia. Plays: Trey Anthony, Da Kink in My Hair (Toronto); Novelette, owner of Letty's Hair Salon. David Auburn, Proof (Pulitzer Prize). Alan Ayckbourn (1939-), Damsels in Distress; a trilogy, incl. GamePlan; FlatSpin; RulePlay. Glen Berger, Underneath the Lintel; the Libraran tries to trace who returned a book that is 113 years overdue. Wendell Berry (1934-), Sonata at Payne Hollow. Mel Brooks (1926-) and Thomas Meehan (1929-), The Producers (musical) (St. James Theatre, New York) (Apr. 19) (2,502 perf.); based on the 1968 film, starrings Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick; on May 7 it is nominated for a record 15 Tony Awards, and later wins 12, beating the previous record of 10 for Hello, Dolly! in 1964. Per Olov Enquist (1934-), Lewi's Journey (Lewis Resa). Amy Freed, The Beard of Avon (Costa Mesa, Calif.); William Shakespeare hikes out on his wife Anne Hathaway, goes to London, meets Edward de Vere, and agrees to be his front. Jeremy Gable, A Mile a Minute. John Guare (1938-), Chaucer in Rome. Christopher Hampton (1946-) and Don Black, Dracula, The Musical. David Henry Hwang (1957-), Jade Flowerpots and Bound Feet (Joseph Papp Theater, New York) (Nov. 5); a white woman passes herself off as black to sell a book. Ha Jin (1956-), Wreckage. Charlotte Jones, Humble Boy (Nat. Theatre, London) (Aug. 9). Ward Just (1935-), Lowell Limpett. Matani Koki, Vamp Show (Parco Theatre, Tokyo); based on the 1997 German musical "Tanz der Vampire". Tony Kushner (1956-), Homebody/Kabul (Dec. 19) (New York). Suzan-Lori Parks (1963-), Topdog/Underdog (Pulitzer Prize) (New York); black bro's Lincoln and Booth, played by Don Cheadle and Jeffrey Wright. Hamish McColl, Sean Foley, and Eddie Braben, The Play What I Wrote. Anne Nelson, The Guys (Flea Theater, New York) (Dec. 4); reporter Joan (played by Sigourney Weaver) helps FDNY capt. Nick (Bill Murray) write obits for fallen firefighters from 9/11. Peter Parnell (1963-), QED (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles); about physicist Richard Feynman, played by Alan Alda. Sarah Phelps, Modern Dance for Beginners (June 5). David Rabe (1940-), The Dog Problem (Atlantic Theater, New York) (May 6). Charles Ross, One Man Star Wars Trilogy (Toronto) (Jan.) Ruben Santiago-Hudson (1956-), Lackawanna Blues (Joseph Papp Theater, New York) (Apr. 14); autobio. play starring the author as 20 different chars. from his past; features Miss Rachel AKA Nanny. John Patrick Shanley (1950-), Cellini; how Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini made "Perseus with the Head of Medusa". Neil Simon (1927-), 45 Seconds from Broadway (Richard Rodgers Theater, New York) (Nov. 11) (73 perf.); Manhattan's Edison Hotel, home to struggling theater people. Simon Stephens (1971-), Herons; 14-y.-o. aimless teenie Billy. Tom Stoppard (1937-), The Coast of Utopia; trilogy about a group of friends during the reign of Nicholas I of Russia, incl. Mikhail Bakunin, Ivan Turgenev, Vissarion Belinsky, and Alexander Herzen. Elaine Stritch (1926-), Elaine Stritch at Liberty (Public Theater, New York) (Feb. 21). Melanie Tait (1980-), The Vegemite Tales (Curtain's Up, London). Michael Weller (1942-), What the Night is For (Comedy Theatre, London); stars Gillian Anderson and Roger Allam. Robert Wilson (1941-), Persephone. Petr Zelenka (1967-), Tales of Common Insanity (Prague). Poetry: Elizabeth Alexander (1962-), Antebellum Dream Book. Nanni Balestrini (1935-), Elettra, Operapoesia. Robert Bly (1926-), The Night Abraham Called to the Stars. Billy Collins (1941-), Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems. Robert Creeley (1926-2005), Just in Time: Poems 1984-1994. Michael Crummey (1965-), Emergency Roadside Assistance. Edward Dorn (1929-99), Chemo Sabe (posth.). Mark Doty (1944-), Source. Norman Dubie (1945-), The Mercy Seat: Collected and New Poems, 1967-2001. Alan Dugan (1923-2003), Poems Seven: New and Complete Poetry. Stephen Dunn (1939-), Different Hours (Pulitzer Prize). Thomas Sayers Ellis, The Genuine Negro Hero. Seamus Heaney (1939-), Electric Light. Anthony Hecht (1923-2004), The Darkness and the Light: Poems; "Like the elderly and frail/ Who've lasted through the night,/ Cold brows and silent lips,/ For whom the rising light Entails their own eclipse,/ Brightening as they fail." Carolyn Kizer (1925-), Cool, Calm & Collected: Poems 1960-2000). Maxine Kumin (1925-), The Long Marriage. W.S. Merwin (1927-), The Pupil. Robert Pinsky (1940-), Samurai Song. Sonia Sanchez (1934-), Ash; Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam. Charles Simic (1938-), Night Picnic. Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012), Rhymes for Big Kids. C.K. Williams (1936-), Love about Love. Novels: Catherine Aird (1930-), Little Knell. Isabel Allende (1942-), Portrait in Sepia. Poul Anderson (1926-2001), Mother of Kings. Michael Andrew, A Trial of Innocents. Gilad Atzmon (1963-), A Guide to the Perplexed (first novel); Israel is replaced by a Palestinian state in 2012 after "the unthinking Chosen" who "cling to clods of earth that don't belong to them" are defeated, and their propaganda that "argues that the Holocaust is invoked as a kind of reflexive propaganda designed to shield the Zionist state from responsibility for any transgression against Palestinians" exploded. Beryl Bainbridge (1934-), According to Queeney; Samuel Johnson as told by Queeney Thrale. Clive Barker (1952-), Coldheart Canyon: A Hollywood Ghost Story; Tortured Souls. Pat Barker (1943-), Border Crossing. Marie-Claire Blais (1939-), Dans la Foudre et la Lumiere (Thunder and Light). Christian Book (Bök) (1966-), Eunoia; univocalic novel where each chapter uses only a single vowel. Pierre Bourgeade (1927-2009), L'Eternel Mirage; En Avant Les Singes!; Gab Save the Di. Kay Boyle (1902-92), Process (posth.); written in 1925. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), After the Plague (short stories). Barbara Taylor Bradford (1933-), The Triumph of Katie Byrne. Ann Brashares (1967-), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants; best friends Lena Kaligaris, Tibby Rollins, Bridget Vreeland, and Carmen Lowell spend their first summer apart when a pair of magical jeans comes into their lives; first in a series. Anita Brookner (1928-), The Bay of Angels. Geraldine Brooks (1955-), Year of Wonders. James Lee Burke (1936-), Bitterroot; Billy Bob Holland #3. Pat Cadigan (1953-), Dervish is Digital; sequel to "Tea from an Empty Cup" (1998). John le Carre (1931-), The Constant Gardener; British diplomat Justin Quayle of Nairobi, Kenya discovers that his activist wife Tessa was killed, and searches for the reason, uncoveing an internat. conspiracy; filmed in 2005. Raymond Carver (1938-58), Call If You Need Me (posth.) (short stories). Tom Clancy (1947-), The Bear and the Dragon. Alison Clement, Pretty Is as Pretty Does (first novel). Harlan Coben, Tell No One. Paul Coelho (1947-), Fathers, Sons and Grandsons. Jackie Collins (1937-), Hollywood Wives: The New Generation. Michael Connelly, Void Moon. Robin Cook (1940-), Shock. Stephen Coonts (1946-), America; Rear Adm. Jake Grafton #9. Robert Cormier (1925-2000), The Rag and Bone Shop (posth.); 7-y.-o. Alicia Bartlett is murdered with a rock, and 12-y.-o. Jason Dorrant is the suspect. Jim Crace (1946-), The Devil's Larder. Justin Cronin, Mary and O'Neil. Michael Crummey (1965-), River Thieves (first novel). Mitch Cullin, The Cosmology of Bing. Clive Cussler (1931-), Valhalla Rising; Dirk Pitt #16. Marie Darrieussecq (1969-), A Brief Stay with the Living; gets into the heads of a family of four. Don DeLillo (1936-), The Body Artist; a woman uses Zen to heal from the death of her husband. Helen DeWitt (1958-), The Last Samurai. Kate DiCamillo, The Tiger Rising. Jude Devereaux (1947-), The Summerhouse. Margaret Drabble (1939-), The Peppered Moth; Bessle's pigmentation changes according to the environment. Mark Dunn (1956-), Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable. Tony Earley, Jim the Boy (June); Jim Glass grows up in the 1930s in the shade of three kindly uncles, his widowed mother, and Aliceville, in the hills of N.C. Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickled and Dimed. James Ellroy (1948-), The Cold Six Thousand; American Underworld Trilogy #2. Leif Enger, Peace Like a River. Louise Erdrich (1954-), The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse; "Is there a good piano in hell?" Nicholas Evans, The Smoke Jumper; Julia Bishop, Ed Tully, and the tragedy on the Snake River in Mont. Sebastian Faulks (1953-), On Green Dolphin Street; title comes from the 1947 movie and theme song. Ken Follett (1949-), Jackdaws. Richard Ford (1944-), A Multitude of Sins. Frederick Forsyth (1938-), The Veteran (short stories). Jonathan Franzen (1959-), The Corrections; bestseller; Prof. Chip Lambert gets caught sleeping with a student and is fired, then tries to cover it up to his parents Alfred and Enid at a Christmas party. Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012), The Years with Laura Diaz. Alan Glynn (1960-), The Dark Fields (Limitless) (first novel); smart drug MDT-48 turns NYC writer Eddie Spinola into a flawed genius; filmed in 2011 starring Bradley Cooper. Herbert Gold (1924-), Haiti - Best Nightmare on Earth. Paul A. Gompers and Josh Lerner, The Money of Invention: How Venture Capital Creates New Wealth. Allegra Goodman (1967-), Paradise Park. Philippa Gregory (1954-), The Other Boleyn Girl; bestseller about Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn; filmed in 2008; #1 in the Tudor Court Series. Barry Hannah (1942-), Yonder Stands Your Orphan; title taken from Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". Russell Hoban (1925-), Amaryllis Night and Day. Alice Hoffman (1952-), Aquamarine; Blue Diary. Nick Hornby (1957-), How to Be Good. Michel Houellebecq (1956-), Platform; 40-y.-o. male arts administrator Michel Renault tells about his romance, along with sex tourism, and disses Islam. Susan Isaacs (1943-), Long Time No See. P.D. James (1920-), Death in Holy Orders; Adam Dalgliesh #11. Ha Jin (1956-), The Crazed. Quincy Jones (1933-) and Peggy Lipton Jones (1946-), Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones. Stephen King (1947-), Dreamcatcher; written in longhand? Sophie Kinsella, Confessions of a Shopaholic; Becky Bloomwood; instant chick lit hit? Dean Koontz (1945-), From the Corner of His Eye. William Kowalski (1970-), Somewhere South of Here. Pascal Laine (1942-), Demiers Jours Avant Fermeture. Dominique Lapierre (1931-) and Javier Moro, Five Past Midnight in Bhopal (Il Etait Minuit Cinq a Bhopal). Brad Leithauser (1953-), A Few Corrections. Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), Fire in the Hole. Elinor Lipman (1950-), The Dearly Departed. Gregory Maguire (1954-), Lost (Oct. 2); Am. writer Winifred Rudge travels to London to visit distant cousin John Comestor, who is a relative of the man who inspired Charles Dicken's char. Ebenezer Scrooge, and discovers that he has vanished and his apt. is haunted. Paule Marshall (1929-), The Fisher King. Yann Martel (1963-), Life of Pi (Sept.); based on "Max and the Cats" by Moacyr Scliar; Indian Pondicherry boy Piscine "Pi" Molitor Patel, son of a zookeeper survives 227 days in the Pacific Ocean in a 26-ft. lifeboat with a zebra, orangutan, hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, who eats the other animals, then flees to the jungle when they reach the coast of Mexico; the story will make you believe in God?; filmed in 2012 by Ang Lee. Francine Matthews (Stephanie Barron, author of the Jane Austen mysteries), Cutout. Terry McMillan (1951-), A Day Late and a Dollar Short; or, how bad it is to be an African-Am. family? Sue Miller (1943-), The World Below. Anchee Min (1957-), Becoming Madame Mao. Willie Morris (1934-99), Taps (posth.) (last novel); 16-y.-o. narrator Swayze Barksdale of Fisk's Landing, Miss. at the start of the Korean War. Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), Rumpole Rests His Case. Nicholas Mosley (1923-), The Hesperides Tree. Alice Munro (1931-), Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage (short stories) V.S. Naipaul (1932-), Half a Life: Searching for Identity in Limbo; William Somerset Chandran Naipaul asks "Why is my middle name Somerset?" John Nichols (1940-), The Voice of the Butterfly. Francois Nourissier (1927-), A Defaut de Genie Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), Middle Age: A Romance. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), Everyday People. Peter Orner, Esther Stories (short stories). Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Choke; Victor makes a living by pretending to choke in expensive restaurants, attends sex addict support groups hoping to get laid, and visits his Alzheimer's-stricken mother pretending to be different people to find out how she really feels about him, but makes up for it by also pretending to be the person that did people wrong and promising to make up for it. Orhan Pamuk (1952-), My Name is Red. Christopher Paolini (1983-), Eragon (first novel); first in Inheritance trilogy ("Eldest", "Brisingr"); filmed in 2006. Sara Paretsky (1947-), Total Recall; V.I. Warshawski #10. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Gunman's Rhapsody; Potshot; Spenser #28; Death in Paradise; Jesse Stone #3. James Patterson (1947-), Violets Are Blue. Jodi Picoult (1966-), Salem Falls; Jack St. Bride; a ripoff of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"? Anne Rice (1941-), Blood and Gold; #8 in the Vampire Chronicles; Marius de Romanus and Thorne. Thomas E. Ricks (1955-), A Soldier's Duty (first novel). Rick Riordan, The Devil Went Down to Austin. Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922-2008), La Reprise. Philip Roth (1933-), The Dying Animal (May). Richard Russo (1949-), Empire Falls (Pulitzer Prize). Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), The Camisade and Other Stories of the French Revolution (posth.). Jose Saramago (1922-2010), The Cave (A Caverna). David Schickler (1969-), Kissing in Manhattan (first novel); interlocking stories about residents of the Preemption apt. bldg. in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Jeffrey Shaara (1952-), Rise to Rebellion; 1770-6 Am. Robert Shapiro, Misconception; O.J.'s atty. turns novelist? Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007), The Sky is Falling (July 1); anchorwoman Dana Evans. Anita Shreve (1946-), The Last Time They Met. Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010), Birthday. Claude Simon (1913-2005), Le Tramway (The Trolley). Gary Soto (1952-), Poetry Lover. Elizabeth Spencer (1921-), The Southern Woman (short stories). Nicholas Sparks (1965-), A Bend in the Road (Sept.). Dana Spiotta, Lightning Field (first novel). Danielle Steel (1947-), Lone Eagle; Leap of Faith; The Kiss. Whitley Strieber (1945-), The Last Vampire. Amy Tan (1952-), The Bonesetter's Daughter (Feb.); Ruth Young loses her voice for the 9th time in nine years. Whitney Terrell, The Huntsman (first novel). Anne Tyler (1941-), Back When We Were Grownups; a middle-aged woman widowed at 26; "Once upon a time there was a woman who discovered that she had turned into the wrong person." Jeff VanderMeer (1968-), City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Amergris. Salley Vickers, Miss Garnet's Angel. Fay Weldon (1931-), The Bulgari Connection. Irvine Welsh (1958-), Glue. Thomas Wharton, Salamander (May). Stephen White (1951-), The Program; Kirsten's hubby is hit by drug lord Ernesto Castro and enters the federal Witness Security (Protection) Program, which is the deadliest place of all? Colson Whitehead, John Henry Days. Jack Williamson, Terraforming Earth; by the writer who coined the word "terraforming" in his Seetee stories in the 1940s. T.L. Winslow (TLW) (1953-), Salvation Day II: The Fire of Michael. Births: Am. "Bruce Wayne in Gotham" actor (Jewish) David Mazouz on Feb. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif. Israeli 5'9" model (Jewish) Yael Shelbia Cohen on Aug. 31 in Nahariya. Am. "Bad Guy", "Wish You Were Gay", "Bury a Friend", "When the Party's Over" singer-songwriter (female) (vegan) Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell on Dec. 18 in Los Angeles, Calif.; of Scottish and Irish descent; grows up in Highland Park, L.A. Deaths: Italian mountain climber Count Ardito Desio (b. 1897) on Dec. 12 in Rome. Irish-born British Royal Ballet founder (1931) Dame Ninette de Valois (b. 1898) on Mar. 8 in Barnes, London. Am. Great Books program founder Mortimer Adler (b. 1902) on June 28 in Palo Calto, Calif. Am. Dem. politician Mike Mansfield (b. 1903) on Oct. 5. Hungarian violinist Zoltan Szekely (b. 1903) on Oct. 5 in Canada. Am. psychologist Ernest Hilgard (b. 1904) on Oct. 22 in Palo Alto, Calif. Am. voice teacher Beverley Peck Johnson (b. 1904) on Jan. 20 in New York City. Am. actress Peggy Converse (b. 1905) on Mar. 2 in Los Angeles, Calif. English-born Am. New York City mayor #104 (1974-7) Abraham Beame (b. 1906) on Feb. 10 in New York City (open heart surgery). English composer David Heneker (b. 1906) on Jan. 30 in Wales. Am. author-aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh (b. 1906). Indian novelist R.K. Narayan (b. 1906) on May 13 in Madras (Chennai). Senegalese pres. #1 (1960-80) Leopold Sedar Senghor (b. 1906) on Dec. 20 in Verson, France. Am. "What's My Line?" TV panelist Arlene Francis (b. 1907) on May 31 in San Francisco, Calif. Am. writer-artist Tom Lea (b. 1907) on Jan. 29 in El Paso, Tex. Am. bowler Joe Norris (b. 1907) on Feb. 19 in San Diego, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. Harvard U. pres. #24 (1953-71) Nathan Marsh Pusey (b. 1907) on Nov. 14. Australian #1 cricketer Sir Donald George Bradman (b. 1908) on Feb. 25 in Adelaide. Am. "Sangaree" novelist Frank Slaughter (b. 1908) on May 17; sold 60M copies. French-Polish "Foundling of the Louvre" painter Balthus (b. 1909) on Feb. 18 in Rossiniere, Switzerland; dies where had taken to calling himself "Comte de Rola". Polish "House of Dolls" writer Yehiel De-Nur (b. 1909) on July 17 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Am. engraver Frank Gasparro (b. 1909) on Sept. 29. Austrian-born British art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich (b. 1909) on Nov. 3 in London. English actor Jack Gwillim (b. 1909) on July 2 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. actress Ann Sothern (b. 1909) on Mar. 15 in Ketchum, Idaho. Am. writer Eudora Welty (b. 1909) on July 23: "Out of love you can speak with straight fury." Am. "Peg Riley in The Life of Riley" actress Rosemary DeCamp (b. 1910) on Feb. 20 in Newport Beach, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. cartoonist Bill Hanna (b. 1910) on Mar. 22 in North Hollywood, Calif. Austrian Christian Conservative politician Josef Klaus (b. 1910) on July 26 in Vienna. Chinese economist ("Father of Taiwan's Economic Miracle") Li Kwoh-Ting (b. 1910) on May 31. Am. St. Louis U. pres. (1949-74) Rev. Paul Clark Reinert (b. 1910) on July 22 in St. Louis, Mo. Am. animated film producer John Sutherland (b. 1910) on Feb. 17 in Van Nuys, Calif. English conservative Christian leader Mary Whitehouse (b. 1910) on Nov. 23 in Colchester, Essex. Am. Creationist physicist Thomas G. Barnes (b. 1911) on Oct. 21 in El Paso, Tex. German Gen. Wilhelm Mohnke (b. 1911) on Aug. 6 in Hamburg. English historian and oenophile Sir John Plumb (b. 1911) on Oct. 21; spent his entire academic career at Christ's College, Cambridge U. Am. labor leader Leonard Woodcock (b. 1911) on Jan. 16 in Ann Arbor, Mich. English surgeon Sir Michael Woodruff (b. 1911) on Mar. 10 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado (b. 1912) on Aug. 6 in Salvador. English newspaper publisher David Astor (b. 1912) on Dec. 7 in London. Am. actor-comedian Foster Brooks (b. 1912) on Dec. 20 in Encino, Calif. (heart failure). Am. "Sentimental Journey" bandleader Les Brown Sr. (b. 1912) on Jan. 4. Am. singer Perry Como (b. 1912) on May 12 in Jupiter Inlet Colony, Fla. Am. Roy Roger's wife (1947-98) Dale Evans (b. 1912) on Feb. 7 in Apple Valley, Calif. (heart failure). Swedish-born German actress Kristina Soderbaum (b. 1912) on Feb. 12 in Hitzacker, Germany. French "Lili" actor Jean-Pierre Aumont (b. 1911) on Jan. 30 in Gassin (heart attack). Am. psychic Ruth Montgomery (b. 1912) on June 10. English historian Sir Richard William Southern (b. 1912) on Feb. 6 in Oxford. English "The Seekers" producer George H. Brown (b. 1913) on Jan. 3 in New York City; father of Tina Brown (1953-) after he divorced wife (1941-53) Maureen O'Hara (1920-). Am. radio-TV producer John Guedel (b. 1913) on Dec. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Hewlett-Packard co-founder William Redington Hewlett (b. 1913) on Jan. 12 in Palo Alto, Calif. Am. producer-dir. Stanley Kramer (b. 1913) on Feb. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Slim Jim meat snack inventor Adolph Levis (b. 1913) on Mar. 20. Am. harmonica player Larry Adler (b. 1914) on Aug. 7. Portuguese pres. #15 (1974-6) Gen. Francisco da Costa Gomes (b. 1914) on July 31 in Lisbon. Polish lit. critic Jan Kott (b. 1914) on Dec. 23 in Santa Monica, Calif. German Luftwaffe Gen. Dietrich Peltz (b. 1914) on Aug. 10 in Munich. French "La Mer" (Beyond the Sea) "chanson francais" singer Charles Trenet (b. 1914) in Creteil. Am. "Uncle Martin in My Favorite Martian" actor Ray Walston (b. 1914) on Jan. 1 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (lupus); first celeb to die in the 21st cent. Am. chef Justin Wilson (b. 1914) on Sept. 5 in Baton Rouge, La. Russian-born Jewish Zionist activist Peter Bergson (Hillel Kook) (b. 1915) on Aug. 18 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Finnish "Moomins" artist-novelist Tove Jansson (b. 1915) on June 27 in Helsinki. South Korean Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung (b. 1915) on Mar. 21 in Seoul. Am. neuroscientist John Cunningham Lilly (b. 1915) on Sept. 30 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Que Sera, Sera" songwriter Jay Livingston (b. 1915) on Oct. 17 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Masters and Johnson" sex researcher William H. Masters (b. 1915) on Feb. 16 in Tucson, Ariz. Am. jazz musician Flip Phillips (b. 1915) on Aug. 17 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Am. physicist Clifford Shull (b. 1915) on Mar. 31; 1994 Nobel Physics Prize. English "Doctor" dir. Ralph Philip Thomas (b. 1915) on Mar. 17 in London. Am. pole vaulter Dutch Warmerdam (b. 1915) on Nov. 13 in Fresno, Calif. (Alzheimer's). Am. "Buchanan Rides Alone" dir. Budd Boetticher (b. 1916) on Nov. 29 in Ramona, Calif. English spiritualist Rosemary Brown (b. 1916) on Nov. 16. Am. psychologist Lee Cronbach (b. 1916) on Oct. 1. Canadian hockey hall-of-fame player Woody Dumart (b. 1916) on Oct. 19 in Boston, Mass. Kiwi anthropologist Derek Freeman (b. 1916) on July 6 in Canberra, Australia (heart failure). Mexican "Zorba the Greek" actor Anthony Quinn (b. 1916) on June 3. Am. Calvinist theologian Rousas John Rushdoony (b. 1916) on Feb. 8 in Vallecito, Calif. Am. father of information theory Claude Shannon (b. 1916) on Feb. 24. Am. economist-psychologist (pioneer in AI) Herbert Alexander Simon (b. 1916) on Feb. 9 in Pittsburgh, Penn.; 1978 Nobel Econ. Prize. Danish philosopher Johannes Sloek (b. 1916) on June 30. Am. mob boss Tony Giacalone (b. 1919) on Feb. 23 in Detroit, Mich. (heart failure). Am. athlete-announcer Marty Glickman (b. 1917) on Jan. 3. Am. Washington Post pub. Katharine Graham (b. 1917) on July 17. Am. blues musician John Lee Hooker (b. 1917) on June 21. Am. "The Harrad Experiment" novelist Robert Henry Rimmer (b. 1917) on Aug. 1 in Quincy, Mass. Am. movie producer Samuel Z. Arkoff (b. 1918) on Sept. 16 in Burbank, Calif. Canadian physicist Bertram Brockhouse (b. 1918) on Oct. 13 in Hamilton, Ont.; 1994 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. "The Law and Mrs. Jones" screenwriter Sy Gomberg (b. 1918) on Feb. 11 in Brentwood, Calif. (heart attack). Am. jazz impresario Norman Granz (b. 1918) on Nov. 22 in Geneva, Switzerland. Am. comedian Imogene Coca (b. 1918) on June 2 in Westport, Conn. (Alzheimer's). Am. baseball player-mgr. William Rigney (b. 1918) on Feb. 20 in Walnut Creek, Calif. Am. chemist Donald J. Cram (b. 1919) on June 17 in Palm Desert, Calif.; 1987 Nobel Chem. Prize. Am. actress Kathleen Freeman (b. 1919) on Aug. 23 in New York City (lung cancer). Am. actress Eileen Heckart (b. 1919) on Dec. 31 in Norwalk, Conn. (lung cancer). Am. "Cliff's Notes" publisher Cliff Hillegass (b. 1919). Am. movie critic Pauline Kael (b. 1919) on Sept. 3 in Great Barrington, Mass.: "What this generation was bred to at television's knees was not wisdom, but cynicism." Dutch physicist Dirk Polder (b. 1919) on Mar. 18 in Iran. Dutch PM #36 (1971-3) Barend Willem Biesheuvel (b. 1920) on Apr. 29 in Haarlem. Am. country musician Billy Byrd (b. 1920) on Aug. 7 in Nashville, Tenn. Am. "Dennis the Menace" cartoonist Hank Ketcham (b. 1920) on June 1 in Carmel, Calif. Austrian ecologist Otto Buchsbaum (b. 1920) on Aug. 5. Russian climatologist Mikhail Budyko (b. 1920) on Dec. 10 in St. Petersburg. German-born Am. composer-songwriter Albert Hague (b. 1920) on Nov. 12 in Marina del Rey, Calif. (cancer). Am. jazzman John Aaron Lewis (b. 1920) on Mar. 29 in New York City (prostate cancer). Am. spymaster-columnist Cord Meyer (b. 1920) on Mar. 13 (cancer). Ukrainian-born Am. violinist Isaac Stern (b. 1920) on Sept. 22 in New York City. French Club Med founder Gilbert Trigano (b. 1920) on Feb. 4 in Paris. Am. journalist Rowland Evans Jr. (b. 1921) on Mar. 23 (cancer). English Manchester Baby mathematician Tom Kilburn (b. 1921) on Jan. 17 in Manchester (abdominal surgery). Am. composer-arranger Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill (b. 1921) on June 27 in New York City. Welsh singer Harry Secombe (b. 1921) on Apr. 11 in Surrey, England (prostate cancer). Am. oceanographer Robert E. Stevenson (b. 1921) on Aug. 12 in Kauai, Hawaii (cancer). Soviet physicist Nikolai G. Basov (b. 1922) on July 1; 1964 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. journalist Edith Efron (b. 1922) on Apr. 20. English "Mr. Belvedere" actor Christopher Hewitt (b. 1922) on Aug. 3 in Los Angeles, Calif. (diabetes). Am. civil rights leader Rev. Leon Sullivan (b. 1922) on Apr. 24 in Scottsdale, Ariz. (leukemia). Am. sci-fi writer Gordon R. Dickson (b. 1923) on Jan. 31. Am. New Thought writer Stuart Grayson (b. 1923) on July 12 in New York City. South Vietnamese pres. (1965-75) Nguyen Van Thieu (b. 1923) on Sept. 29 in Foxborough, Mass.: "You ran away and left us to do the job that you could not do"; "To live without freedom is to have already died." Irish-Am. actor-producer Charles B. FitzSimons (b. 1924) on Feb. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. (liver failure); brother of Maureen O'Hara (1920-). Am. "Archie Bunker" actor Carroll O'Connor (b. 1924) on July 21. English art critic Anthony David Bernard Sylvester (b. 1924) on June 19 in London. Am. "Mister Roberts", "Save the Tiger" actor ("the white-collar Job") Jack Lemmon (b. 1925) on June 28 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. journalist Carl Rowan (b. 1925). Am. "narrator in To Kill a Mockingbird" actress Kim Stanley (b. 1925) on Aug. 20 in Santa Fe, N.M. (uterine cancer). Am. poet Archie Randolph Ammons (b. 1926) on Feb. 25. Am. sci-fi writer Poul Anderson (b. 1926) on July 31 in Orinda, Calif. (cancer). Canadian playwright John Herbert Brundage (b. 1926) on June 22 in Toronto, Ont. Am. sociologist Richard A. Cloward (b. 1926) on Aug. 20. English singer Ronnie Hilton (b. 1926) on Feb. 21 in Hailsham, East Sussex. English poet Elizabeth Jennings (b. 1926) on Oct. 26 in Oxford. Am. "A Separate Peace" novelist John Knowles (b. 1926) on Nov. 30. English actor Reginald Marsh (b. 1926) on Feb. 9 in Ryde, Isle of Wight. English "Sleuth", "The Wicker Man" playwright-novelist Anthony Shaffer (b. 1926) on Nov. 6. Israeli right-wing politician Gen. Rehavam Ze'evi (b. 1926) on Oct. 17 in Hadassah Medical Center (assassinated by the PFLP and Hamdi Quran). Am. mob boss Constenze Valenti (b. 1926) on Feb. 23 in Victor, N.Y. Am. "On the Wings of a Dove" country songwriter Bob Ferguson (b. 1927) on July 22 in Jackson, Miss. (cancer). Am. "Whiplash" jazz composer Hank Levy (b. 1927) on Sept. 18 in Parkville, Md. Am. "The Bourne Identity" thriller novelist Robert Ludlum (b. 1927) on Mar. 12 in Naples, Fla. (subdural hematoma); sold 290M+ copies of 25 thriller novels. Am. Hindu guru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (b. 1927) on Nov. 12 in Kapaa, Hawaii. Am. basketball coach Al McGuire (B. 1928) on Jan. 26 in Milwaukee, Wisc. English-born Irish Provisional IRA leader Sean Mac Stiofain (b. 1928) on Mya 18 in Navan, County Meath. Am. "Agatha Chumley in Magnum, P.I." actress Gillian Dobb (b. 1929) on Mar. 31 in Lancaster, Penn. Am. "Serpico" writer Peter Maas (b. 1929) on Aug. 23 in New York City. Am. country musician Grady Martin (b. 1929) on Dec. 3 in Lewisburg, Tenn. Am. beatnik poet Gregory Corso (b. 1930) on Jan. 17. Am. basketball player Walter Dukes (b. 1930) on Feb. ? in Detroit, Mich.; found dead in his apt. on Mar. 14. Am. "Grady Wilson in Sanford and Son" actor Whitman Mayo (b. 1930) on May 22 in Atlanta, Ga. Am. basketball player-coach Larry Costello (b. 1931) on Dec. 13 in Fort Myers, Fla. Am. pool player "Fast" Eddie Parker (b. 1931) on Feb. 2 in Brownsville Tex. (heart attack); dies at the U.S. Classic Billiard Eight-Ball Showdown. Canadian writer Mordecai Richler (b. 1931) on July 3 in Montreal. Am. sportswriter Dick Schaap (b. 1931) on Dec. 21 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. novelist Don Berry (b. 1932). Am. "Pete McCoy in Adventures in Paradise" actor-writer Gardner McKay (b. 1932) on Nov. 21 in Honolulu, Hawaii (prostate cancer). Am. trash talk TV host Morton Downey Jr. (b. 1933) on Mar. 12 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "The Oracle in The Matrix" actress Gloria Foster (b. 1933) on Sept. 29 in New York City (diabetes). Polish-born Israeli chemist-writer Israel Shahak (b. 1933) on July 2 in Jerusalem (diabetes). Dutch "cosmic bushwhacker" writer Johan Henri Quanjer (b. 1934) on Feb. 13. Am. sports journalist Dick Schaap (b. 1934) on Dec. 21 in New York City. Am. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" writer Ken Kesey (b. 1935) on Nov. 10 in Eugene, Ore. Am. Bob Dylan's tour mgr. Victor Maymudes (b. 1935) on Jan. 27 in Santa Monica, Calif. (cerebral aneurysm). Am. "Mama and Papas" singer John Phillips (b. 1935) on Mar. 18 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. basketball player Guy Rodgers (b. 1935) on Feb. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. serial murderer Henry Lee Lucas (b. 1936) on Mar. 12 in Huntsville, Tex. (heart failure). Am. folk singer-songwriter Fred Neil (b. 1936) on July 7 in Summerland Key, Fla. Am. "voice of Garfield" actor Lorenzo Music (b. 1937) on Aug. 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Col. Samuel Flagg in M*A*S*H" actor Edward Dean Winter (b. 1937) on Mar. 8 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. (Parkinson's). Am. bowling star Earl Anthony (b. 1938) on Aug. 14 in New Berlin, Wisc. Am. "The Bad News Bears", "Fletch", "The Candidate" dir. Michael Ritchie (b. 1938) on Apr. 16 in New York City; purchased Marilyn Monroe's Brentwood suicide cottage in 1994 for $995K. Am. "The Shoop Shoop Song" singer Betty Everett (b. 1939) on Aug. 9 in Beloit, Wisc. Am. guitarist John Fahey (b. 1939) on Feb. 22 in Salem, Ore. Dem. Repub. of Congo (DRC) pres. (1997-2001) Laurent-Desire Kabila (b. 1939) on Jan. 16 in Kinshasha; assassinated by bodyguard Rashidi Muzele, who is killed while attempting to flee; he works for Rwanda? Am. "Father Karras in The Exorcist" actor-playwright Jason Miller (b. 1939) on May 13 in Scranton, Penn. (heart attack). Am. economist Sherwin Rosen (b. 1938) on Mar. 17 in South Side, Chicago, Ill. Am. baseball hall-of-fame player Willie Stargell (b. 1940) on Apr. 9 in Wilmington, N.C.; 475 homers and 1,540 RBI. Am. folk musician Sandy Bull (b. 1941) on Apr. 11 in Nashville, Tenn. (lung cancer). Am. environmental scientist Donella Meadows (b. 1941) on Feb. 20 in Hanover, N.H. Bavarian-born Am. car sunroof creator Heinz Prechter (b. 1942) on July 6 in Grosse Ile, Mich. (suicide by hanging). Am. conspiracy theorist Bill Cooper (b. 1943) on Nov. 5 in Eagar, Ariz. (KIA). English ex-Beatle George Harrison (b. 1943) on Nov. 29 (cancer). Am. actress Deborah Walley (b. 1943) on May 10 in Sedona, Ariz. (esophageal cancer). Am. singer Mimi Baez Farina (b. 1945) on July 18 in Mill Valley, Calif. (cancer). Afghan anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Shah Massoud (b. 1953) on Sept. 9 in Takhar Province (assassinated). Am. photographer Berry Berenson (b. 1948) on Sept. 11 (killed in AA Flight 11). Am. "Modern Art of Chinese Cooking" chef Barbara Tropp (b. 1948) on Oct. 26 (ovarian cancer). Am. "gay biker in Village People" singer Glenn M. Hughes (b. 1950) on Mar. 4 in New York City (pneumonia from AIDS). Am. football player Harvey Banks Martin (b. 1950) on Dec. 24 (pancreatic cancer). Am. race car driver Dale Earnhardt Sr. (b. 1951) on Feb. 18 (killed in race). Czech rocker Milan Hlavsa (b. 1951) on Jan. 5 (lung cancer). Am. "An American Family" singer-writer Lance Loud (b. 1951) on Dec. 21 in Los Angeles, Calif. (AIDS). British "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" author Douglas Adams (b. 1952) on May 12. Philippine rev. socialist leader Filemon Lagman (b. 1953) on Feb. 6 in Quezon City (assassinated). Am. "Mary Bradford in Eight is Enough" actress Lani O'Grady (b. 1954) on Sept. 25 in Valencia, Calif. (OD). Am. Robert Blake's wife (since 2001) Bonnie Lee Bakley (b. 1956) on May 4 in Studio City, Calif. (murdered). Am. "Run-D.M.C." hip hop artist Jam-Master Jay (b. 1965) on Oct. 30 in Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. Am. "Sweet Dreams", "Be My Lover" singer Melanie Thornton (b. 1967) on Nov. 24 in Zurich, Switzerland (plane crash). Am. terrorist Timothy McVeigh (b. 1968) on June 11 in Terra Haute, Ind. (executed); his last meal is 2 pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Am. intern Chandra Ann Levy (b. 1977) on May ? in Rock Creek Park, Washington, D.C. (murdered). Am. singer Aaliyah (b. 1979) on Aug. 25 in Marsh Harbour, Abaco Island, Bahamas (plane crash) - the musician's curse?



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TLW's 2002 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2002 C.E. Historyscope

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.



2002 - The Dawn of the Digital Age? The Axis of Evil Year? The 9/11 mentality settles into Western minds this year, while the new George W. Bush administration is given enough rope to hang itself?

Thomas Joseph 'Tom' Ridge of the U.S. (1945-) Hu Jintao of China (1942-) Bill Frist of the U.S. (1952-) Eduardo Duhalde of Argentina (1941-) Joe Pesci (1943-) Natasa Micic of Serbia (1965-) Alvaro Uribe of Colombia (1952-) Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil (1945-) Pedro Carmona Estanga of Venezuela (1941-) Driss Jettou of Morocco (1945-) Jonas Savimbi of Angola (1934-2002) Mwai Kibaki of Kenya (1931-) Amadou Toumani Touré of Mali (1948-) Levy Mwanawasa of Zambia (1948-2008) Ashraf Choudhary of New Zealand (1949-) King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain (1950-) Condoleezza Rice of the U.S. (1954-) Trent Lott of the U.S. (1941-) Michael Bloomberg of the U.S. (1942-) Philip D. Zelikow of the U.S. (1954-) The Beltway Snipers John Allen Muhammad (1960-2009) and Lee Boyd Malvo (1985-) Lawrence B. Lindsey of the U.S. Stephen Friedman of the U.S. (1937-) Nancy Pelosi of the U.S. (1940-) Tom Tancredo of the U.S. (1945-) Pim Fortuyn of the Netherlands (1948-2002) Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands (1956-) Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma (1945-) Janez Drnovsek of Slovenia (1950-2008) Marc Ravalomana of Madagascar (1949-) Geoff Hoon of Britain (1953-) Halle Berry (1966-) and Denzel Washington (1954-) Queen Mum Elizabeth (1900-2002) U.S. Col. Martha McSally (1966-) Lincoln Davenport Chafee of the U.S. (1953-) Canterbury Archbishop Rowan Douglas Williams (1950-) Coleen Rowley Leo Dennis Kozlowski (1946-) Mark H. Swartz Samuel D. 'Sam' Waksal (1947-) Denis Martin Donaldson (1950-2006) Paul Wellstone of the U.S. (1944-2002) John J. Geoghan (1935-2003) Lucas John Helder (1981-) Daniel Pearl (1963-2002) The Beltway Snipers, 2002 Hesham Mohamed Hadayet (1961-2002) Mohamed Magid Jose Padilla (1970-) Earnest James Ujaama (1966-) Robert Steinhäuser (1982-2002) Terry Lynn Barton (1964-) Billy Beane (1962-) Mark Shuttleworth (1973-) Bernard Ebbers (1941-) Georgie Anne Geyer (1935-) Kurt Sonnenfeld (1963-) Dick Notebaert (1948-) Amina Lawal (1973-) Diane Alexis Whipple (1968-2001) Tom Brady (1977-) Adam Vinatieri (1972-) Michael Strahan (1971-) Jarome Iginla of Canada (1977-) Vonetta Flowers of the U.S. (1973-) Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S. (1982-) Michelle Kwan of the U.S. (1980-) Sarah Hughes of the U.S. (1985-) Theo Epstein (1973-) Niklas Lidström (1970-) Helio Castroneves (1975-) Se Ri Pak (1977-) Ted Williams (1918-2002) Ward Burton (1961-) Yao Ming (1980-) Mike Scioscia (1958-) Johnnie B. 'Dusty' Baker Jr. (1949-) Mike Webster (1952-2002) Bennet Omalu (1968-) Omar Khadr (1986-) Aileen Wuornos (1956-2002) St. Juan Diego (1474-1548) Cardinal Bernard Francis Law (1931-) Catherine E. Mulkerrin (1936-2008) Ted Maher (1958-) Jimmy Carter of the U.S. (1924-) Imre Kertesz (1929-) Riccardo Giacconi (1931-) Raymond Davis Jr. (1914-2006) Ha-Joon Chang (1963-) Masatoshi Koshiba (1926-) Osama Al-Baz of Egypt (1930-2013) Amir-Abbas Fakhravar (1975-) John Bennett Fenn (1917-2010) Yuri Oganessian (1933-) Svante Pääbo (1955-) Koichi Tanaka (1959-) Kurt Wüthrich (1938-) Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) Reid Hoffman (1967-) Sir John Edward Sulston (1942-) Howard Robert Horvitz (1947-) Daniel Kahneman (1934-) Sue Monk Kidd (1948-) Vernon Lomax Smith (1927-) Hira Ratan Manek (Hirachand) (1937-) Jacob Mincer (1922-2006) Francine Dee Blau (1946-) Jose Arguelles (1939-2011) Rick Atkinson (1952-) Michael R. Beschloss (1955-) William S. Breitbart (1951-) Frank Bidart (1939-) Augusten Burroughs (1965-) Ahmed Chalabi (1944-) Phyllis Chesler (1940-) Tony Cornell (1924-2010) Jeffrey Eugenides (1960-) Jodie Evans (1954-) Jean-Jacques Laffont (1947-2004) David Martimort Nick Woodman (1975-) William Gibson (1914-2008) Julia Glass (1956-) Adam Haslett (1970-) Riaz Hassan David R. Hawkins (1927-2012) Chris Hedges (1956-) Malcolm Hoenlein (1942-) Bernard Lewis (1916-) Richard K. Morgan (1965-) Heidi Neumark (1954-) Trita Parsi (1974-) Carlota Perez (1939-) Daniel Pinchbeck (1966-) Steven Pinker (1954-) Daniel Pipes (1949-) Janice G. Raymond (1943-) Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-) Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-) Jeffrey Sachs (1954-) Ilyasah Shabazz (1962-) Nicholas Sparks (1965-) Robert Spencer (1962-) Simon Tolkien (1959-) Tevi Troy (1967-) Toby Young (1963-) Andrew Norman Wilson (1950-) Cecily von Ziegesar (1970-) 'Restaurant' mag., 2002- René Redzepi (1977-) Claus Meyer (1963-) John Coolidge Adams (1947-) Paul McCartney (1942-) and Heather Mills (1968-), 2002 Billy Bragg (1957-) 'American Idol', 2002- Simon Cowell (1959-) Kelly Clarkson (1982-) Norah Jones (1979-) Nick Lachey (1973-) and Jessica Simpson (1980-) Avril Lavigne (1984-) Ashanti (1980-) Audioslave Biffy Clyro The Black Keys Maroon 5 Phantom Planet Red Hot Chili Peppers My Chemical Romance 3 Doors Down The Caesars Hilary Duff (1987-) Seether Nada Surf Justin Timberlake (1981-) Trombone Shorty (1986-) Wilco Robert Allan Caro (1935-) Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002) Arthur Phillips (1969-) Michael Savage (1942-) Carl Dennis (1939-) Steven Emerson (1953-) Tim O'Malley (1957-) Amos Oz (1939-) Michael Punke (1964-) Pratyush Buddiga Charlie Sheen (1965-) and Denise Richards (1971-) 'Monk', 2002-9 'The Shield', 2002-8 'The Wire', 2002-8 'Without a Trace', 2002-9 'Codename: Kids Next Door', 2002-8 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', 2002 'Hairspray', 2002 'We Will Rock You', 2002 '28 Days Later', 2002 'Blue Crush', 2002 'Crossroads', 2002 Shonda Rhimes (1970) 'Die Another Day', 2002 'Eight Legged Freaks', 2002 'Firefly', 2002 'Gangs of New York', 2002 Martin Scorsese (1942-) 'Ice Age', 2002 ''Lilo & Stitch', 2002 'Men in Black II', 2002 'Minority Report', 2002 'The Mothman Prophecies', 2002 'Phone Booth', 2002 'The Ring', 2002 'Solaris', 2002 'Star Trek: Nemesis', 2002 'Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones', 2002 'Treasure Planet', 2002 'We Were Soldiers', 2002 Kate Moss (1974-) 'Naked Portrait of Pregnant Supermodel Kate Moss' by Lucian Freud (1922-), 2002 'Dog Planet' by Daniel Richter (1962-), 2002 Roberto Matta (1911-2002) Roomba, 2002 Green Flash Brewing Co. Alqueva Dam, 1995-2002 Rainman Fountain, Florence, 2009

2002 Doomsday Clock: 7 min. to midnight - back to the 1947 start level? Chinese Year: Black Horse (Feb. 12) (lunar year 4699). Time Persons of the Year: The Whistleblowers (Cynthia Cooper, Coleen Rowley, Sherron Watkins). This is the U.N. Internat. Year for Cultural Heritage, Ecotourism, and Mountains - cultural sabotage, terrorism, and mountainous catastrophes? The Dawn of the Digital Age sees digital storage capacity overtake analog. Between 1998 and this year the U.S. Nat. Climate Data Center lists 17 weather-related events doing over $1B in damage each. The U.S. admits 1M legal immigrants this year; 422 of them settle in Mont. There are no commercial airline fatalities in the U.S. this year. By this year there are 7 scientific researchers or engineers per 1K pop. in the U.S.; in China there are only 0.6. On Jan. 1 11-0 Miami defeats 11-1 Nebraska by 37-14 to win the 2002 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 the eurodollar (euro) replaces nat. currencies in a dozen countries of Europe (Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain) as 15B euro banknotes and 50B euro coins (with a value of over 664B euros) are put into circulation, becoming the largest currency introduction in history. On Jan. 1 Boston, Mass.-born billionaire Jewish Dem.-turned-Repub. financier Michael Rubens "Mike" Bloomberg (1942-) becomes mayor #108 of New York City (until Dec. 31, 2013), succeeding 9/11 hero mayor Rudy Giuliani. On Jan. 1 the U.N. strengthens its 1996 Habitat Agenda by creating a full-fledged U.N. program. On Jan. 1 Nancy Sonnenfeld, wife of Kurt Sonnenfeld (1963-), a videographer for the U.S. Federal Emergency Mgt. Agency (FEMA), who took footage of the ruins of the WTC in 2001 is shot to death in Congress Park, Colo.; he is charged with her murder, then the charges are dismissed in June after a suicide note is found; too bad, after he moves to Argentina and releases a demo tape of Ground Zero to the press, he is arrested again on the allegation that jail inmates came forward claiming he confessed in jail, causing him to seek asylum in Argentina, bcoming a poster boy for conspiracy theorists after he claims the U.S. govt. is framing him because he has video evidence that they knew in advance about 9/11 and took precautions to preserve "certain things that the authorities there considered irreplaceable or invaluable... For example, certain things were missing that could only have been removed with a truck. Yet after the first plane hit... everything in Manhattan collapsed and no one could have gotten near the towers to do that." On Jan. 2 Eduardo Alberto Duhalde (1941-) (whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to actor Joe Pesci (1943-)?) becomes pres. #53 of Argentina (until May 25, 2003). On Jan. 2 Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (1948-2008), hand-picked successor of Frederick Chiluba is sworn-in as pres. #3 of Zambia (until Aug. 19, 2008) among allegations of fraud, but in June he accuses his former boss of stealing millions while in office, and gets him arrested and charged next Feb.; meanwhile, despite looming famine he refuses to accept food donations, calling them "poison" - me wanna watch ya white honkeys? On Jan. 3 the Israelis capture Karine-A, a Palestine Authority-owned freighter loaded with 50 tons of weapons incl. rockets in the Red Sea; after Yasser Arafat lies to Pres. Bush that he had nothing to do with it, and is found out, Bush refuses to have anything to do with him again? On Jan. 11 the U.S. begins putting Taliban and Al-Qaida prisoners in a special maximum security prison in Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo), Cuba (until ?). On Jan. 15 Britain is declared free of hoof and mouth disease after 10M head of livestock have been destroyed. On Jan. 15 11-term U.S. Rep. (D-Calif.) (since June 2, 1987) Nancy Patricia Pelosi (nee D'Alesandro) (1940-) from San Francisco, Calif. becomes the first woman to lead a major party in Congress after being elected as the House minority whip (until Jan. 3, 2003); her father Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. (1903-87) was a Md. rep. for 10 years (1939-47), and 3-term mayor #39 of Baltimore (1947-59). On Jan. 16 a graduate student kills a dean, a prof. and a student at the Appalachian School of Law in Va. On Jan. 17 Warwick, R.I.-born U.S. fighter pilot (guaranteed future gen.) col. Martha Elizabeth McSally (196-), the first U.S. woman to fly in combat since the 1991 lifting of prohibitions sues the U.S. Defense Dept. for making her dress in degrading Muslim garb when off-duty in Saudi Arabia; too bad, after failing to make gen., she retires on May 6, 2010, and becomes a U.S. Repub. rep. from Ariz. on Jan. 3, 2015 (until ?). On Jan. 18 Israel confines Yasser Arafat to a Ramallah office complex, like a rat in a cage. On Jan. 18 defrocked priest John J. Geoghan (1935-2003), after being accused of sex abuse by 130+ people in his 30-year career is convicted of child molestation for grabbing a 10-y.-o. boy's butt in a swimming pool, and the Church's role in the coverup causes nat. outrage in the U.S., and leads to the fall of Boston archbishop Bernard Cardinal Law; on Aug. 23, 2003 Geoghan is stomped and strangled to death in his cell by white supremacist Joseph Druce and another inmate; Druce was given life without parole earlier for killing a man for making a sexual pass at him - good choice of cellmates? On Jan. 23 U.S. Wall Street Journal reporter (a Jew) Daniel Pearl (b. 1963) is kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan, then confirmed dead in Pakistan on Feb. 21 (killed on Feb. 1, and found in a shallow grave cut into 10 pieces) after a massive manhunt by Pakistan authorities is sparked by the personal intervention of U.S. secy. of state Colin Powell; four Islamic militants are later convicted; suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (1964-) is not charged, but on Mar. 10, 2007 he boasts of beheading the Zionist Mossad-CIA spy at a military hearing in Guantanamo Bay, uttering the soundbyte: "I decapitated with my blessed right hand the head of the American Jew Daniel Pearl in the city of Karachi, Pakistan... There are pictures of me on the Internet holding his head"; he then spoils the juicy confession by claiming credit for 30 other attacks and plots, some of which never occurred; a grisly video showing Khalid saving himself by using a knife on an infidel is uploaded to the Internet to show the wonderful work Islam is doing for the butcher profession?; the FBI tries unsuccessfully to get the video banned from the Internet, just making it more popular? On Jan. 24 Kenneth L. Lay, chmn of the bankrupt Enron Corp. resigns after the the co. comes under federal investigation for financial hanky-panky. On Jan. 25 White House counsel Alberto Gonzales signs a memorandum which states that the "new paradigm" of the new war on terror "renders obsolete" the Geneva Conventions' "strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners and renders quaint some of its provisions". On Jan. 27 the first known female suicide bomber in the Middle East kills one and wounds 150 in Jerusalem in a long string of Palestinian suicide bombings going on this year. On Jan. 29 (9:15 p.m.) Pres Bush delivers his first 2002 State of the Union Address, addressing the effects of the 9/11 attacks and his plans to prevent future attacks, calling Iran, Iraq, and North Korea the "Axis of Evil", using the term "weapons of mass destruction" (WMD), and saying that the war on terrorism is "just beginning". On Jan. 30 Japan closes its last coal mine, and begins importing coal (until ?). On Jan. 31 the Larsen B Ice Shelf in the Antarctic begins disintegrating, eventually collapsing into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest series of Larsen Ice Shelf losses in decades. In Jan. a high-level intel assessment by the Bush admin. concludes that the sale of uranium from Niger to Iraq was "unlikely" because of a host of obstacles; this report doesn't stop Pres. Bush from claiming that it happened in his 2003 State of the Union Address. In Jan. Philip Morris changes its stinking name to the less recognizable Altira after the investment co. Altira Group unsuccessfully sues them - alternate irritant? In Jan. Operation Gibraltar to uncover an al-Qaida plot in Morocco to attack NATO warships in Gibraltar results in several arrests. On Feb. 3 (after NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue cancels a week's slate of games after 9/11, pushing the season back) Super Bowl XXXVI (36) is held in New Orleans, La.; the halftime show features U2; the underdog New England Patriots (AFC) (coach Bill Belichick) defeat the St. Louis Rams (NFC) (coach Mike Martz) (QB Kurt Warner) by 20-17 for their first SB title, capped by a 48-yard field goal by 6'0" Adam Matthew "Mr. Clutch" Vinatieri (1972-) (#4) as time expires; 2nd-year Patriots QB (#12) (6th round draft pick, who replaced Drew Bledsoe after an injury) Thomas Edward "Tom Terrific" Brady Jr. (1977-) is MVP. On Feb. 3 a video tape is released showing popular 35-y.-o. black R&B singer R. (Robert Sylvester) Kelly (1967-) having sex with a 14-y.-o. daughter of an associate and urinating on her, causing him to be indicted on 21 counts of child porno; his atty. files 20 motions to delay the trial, which begins on May 9, 2007, and results in acquittal on June 13, 2008. On Feb. 4 Father Jose Mantero becomes the first gay priest to come out in Spain - don't hand me the host until you wash your fingers? On Feb. 6 Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 50th anniv. as monarch of Great Britain - and she'll never let funny-ears get it? On Feb. 12 the trial of Slobodan Milosevic on charges of crimes against humanity opens at The Hague. On Feb. 12 an Iran Airtour Tu-154 crashes in the mountains of W Iran near Khorramabad, killing all 119 aboard; on Sept. 1, 2006 another of their planes crashes in Mashhad in NE Iran, killing 29 of 148 aboard. On Feb. 13 mixed-up Am. Muslim John Walker Lindh is charged with supporting terrorism. On Feb. 14 the emirate of Bahrain becomes a kingdom, with emir (since Mar. 6, 1999) Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (1950-) as king #1 (until ?). On Feb. 20 a gas cooking cylinder explodes on a crowded passenger train near Ayyat, Egypt, killing 361, becoming Egypt's worst train disaster (until ?). On Feb. 22 Angolan Christian rebel leader and founder of UNITA, Dr. Jonas Mahleiro Savimbi (1934-) is assassinated by govt. forces. On Feb. 22 the Sri Lankan govt. and the Tamil Tigers sign a ceasefire agreement. On Feb. 26 Saudi crown prince Abdullah (1924-) offers full normalization with all Arab nations if Israel will withdraw completely from the West Bank and Gaza; Pres. Bush welcomes the offer; the Arab League approves the plan on Mar. 28. On Feb. 26 masked Muslim gunmen attack the Shiite Shah-i-Najaf Mosque in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killing 11. On Feb. 27 the U.K. approves human cloning - after all, they already cloned Paul McCartney? On Feb. 28 Indian Muslim extremists set fire to a train of Hindus near Godhra returning from the Ayodhya holy site, where a Muslim mosque had been destroyed by Hindu extremists in 1992 in order to build a Hindu temple, killing 58; by Mar. 3 three days of Hindu-Muslim violence leave 400 dead in W India's Gujarat state, the home state of nonviolence advocate Mahatma Gandhi. In Feb. the investment banking co. of Lehman Brothers in New York City reinstates "business-appropriate" clothing; casual wear continues to be prevalent in the U.S. workplace, but men start to abandon the "dot-bomb" image of relaxed dress. In Feb. the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (originally the U.S. Global Change Research Program) is established under the U.S. Global Change Research Act of 1990 to coordinate and integrate research on global warming, issuing 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAPs), along with three Nat. Climate Assessment Reports starting in 2000, followed by 2009 and 2014. On Mar. 2 Operation Anaconda, designed to mop-up remaining Taliban forces in E Afghanistan is launched, killing 500 of 1K Taliban fighters, and later declared a success by U.S. officials. On Mar. 3 Switzerland finally votes to join the U.N., becoming member #191: in June it follows with an overwhelming vote to end their 66-y.-o. Roman Catholic-inspired anti-abortion law. On Mar. 6 the Monica Lewinsky case against ex-pres. Clinton is dropped by independent counsel Robert William Ray (1960-) - who blew it? On Mar. 10 relatives of strongman Gen. Ne Win are accused of plotting to overthrow the govt. of Burma and sacked; "illegal use of a modem" is punishable by 15 years in prison in this after-shave country. On Mar. 12 the crime drama series The Shield debuts on FX Network for 88 episodes (until Nov. 25, 2008), based on the 1990s LAPD Rampart CRASH Scandal, set in the Farmington district of LA ("The Farm), where a converted church called "the Barn" is used as the HQ of the corrupt 4-man anti-gang Strike Team, led by Vic Mackey, played by bald actor Michael Charles Chiklis (1963-); its success attracts film stars Glenn Close (season 4) and Forest Whitaker (seasons 5-6). On Mar. 13 Pres. Robert Mugabwe wins reelection in Zimbabwe over challenger Morgan Richard Tsvangirai in a rigged election. On Mar. 13 Pres. Bush utters the soundbyte "I don't know where Osama is, I really don't care, it's not that important, it's not our priority." On Mar. 13 (Wed.) Court TV airs its first original movie Guilt by Association, starring Mercedes Ruehl, about the injustice of the U.S. mandatory minimum sentencing laws. On Mar. 14 the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen is indicted on a single count of obstruction of justice in the destruction of documents related to the Enron case; it is convicted on June 15. On Mar. 17 two Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members bomb the Internat. Protestant Church in Islamabad, Pakistan during a church service, killing five and injuring 40. On Mar. 21 Pope John Paul II sends a letter to priests lamenting the pedophile sex scandals stinking up the Church's name around the world; on Apr. 15 he summons U.S. Catholic bishops to Rome to discuss the problem of priestly pedophilia - pass the latest issue of Playchoirboy? On Mar. 21 Calif. atty. Marjorie Knoller is found guilty of implied-malice second-degree murder in the Jan. 26, 2001 mauling death of college lacrosse coach Diane Alexis Whipple (1968-2001) in San Francisco, Calif. by her two big Presa Canario dogs, becoming an unprecedented verdict; she was present during the attack, while her atty. hubby Robert Noel wasn't; the dogs were owned by imprisoned Aryan Brotherhood leader Paul Schneider, adding implied malice to the prosecution?; on June 17 an appeals judge reduces the conviction to manslaughter. On Mar. 24 the 74th Academy Awards in Los Angeles are hosted by Whoopi Goldberg (2nd time), who opens dressed in feathers and dangling from the roof of the Kodiak Theatre on a gold swing; 248 films are eligible for consideration; the best picture Oscar for 2001 goes to A Beautiful Mind (starring the previous year's best actor winner Russell Crowe), along with best dir. to Ron Howard, and best supporting actress to Jennifer Connelly; Denzel Washington (1954-) and Halle Berry (1966-) make Oscar history by becoming the first African-Ams. to win simultaneous best actor and actress awards for Training Day and Monster's Ball, respectively; Berry becomes the first African-Am. best actress winner (until ?), and knows it, breaking the 45-sec. speech limit, going for over 4 min.; best supporting actor goes to Jim Broadbent for Iris; a new category, best animated feature is added, won by Shrek; efforts to lobby-in a best stunt coordinator award are still ineffective. On Mar. 25 a 6.1 earthquake in the Hindu Kush in Afghanistan kills 1K and leaves several thousand homeless; it was secretly caused by the U.S. using earthquake weapon technology? On Mar. 27 the U.S. McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 prohibits nat. political parties in the U.S. from accepting "soft money" (large, unlimited contributions), and raises the amount of "hard money" that individuals can contribute directly to federal candidates from $1K to $2K; the bill had been blocked in Congress in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001; on June 26, 2008 the U.S. Supreme Court by 5-4 strikes down the Millionaire Amendment. On Mar. 27 the Passover Massacre suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel by Hamas kills 30 and injures 140 Israeli civilians; on Mar. 28 after New York Times journalist (Jewish) Thomas Friedman (1953-) meets with Saudi crown pince Abdullah in Feb. and urges him to make peace, the 2002 Arab League Summit is held in Beirut, Lebanon; it is not attended by PLO leader Yasser Arafat because the Israelis keep him under house arrest in Ramallah; the Arab (Saudi) Peace Initiative is proposed, calling for normalizing relations between the Arab world and Israel after a complete withdrawal from the occupied territories incl. East Jerusalem, and a "just settlement" of the Palestinian refugee problem based on U.N. Resolution 194; too bad, Israeli PM Ariel Sharon calls it a "non-starter" because it would replace U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338, which call for bilateral negotiations, and the Palestinian Authority is split, and it hangs in the air until ?; on Mar. 29 never-forgiving Israel mounts Operation Defensive Wall (Shield) in the West Bank (ends May 3), arresting Palestinian leaders and imprisoning Yasser Arafat (whom they declare an enemy) in his Mukata Compound in Ramallah; an atrocity is alleged at the Jenin refugee camp; militants take over the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem; Arafat is released; meanwhile between Mar. 29 and Apr. 21 14 Muslim suicide bombers kill dozens of Israeli civilians and wound hundreds more; on Apr. 14 Marwan Barghouti is arrested for terrorism and murder, protesting his innocence and claiming that Israeli courts have no jurisdiction, and is convicted on May 20, 2004 of three terrorist attacks that killed five, receiving five life sentences plus 40 years, after which there are internat. calls for his release. In Mar. the All Dulles Area Muslim Society in Herndon, Va. is raided by federal agents, who find the "Grove Street Addresses" of 100 interlocking Muslim orgs. that they accuse of providing material support for terrorism; after the raid, the mosque's imam Mohammed Magid hosts a community meeting attended by extremists, which doesn't get him banned but actually invited to speak at Ronald Reagan's 2004 funeral; he later is pushed as an example of moderate Islam by the Obama admin. In Mar. the Davis-Besse Nuclear Reactor in Ohio comes close to a catastrophic meltdown due to corrosion problems; 430 nuclear reactors around the world supply about 16% of world electricity. In Mar. Pres. Bush asks Oprah Winfrey to head a delegation of feminists to Afghanistan to help women reenter society; she declines, citing her show schedule, causing the delegation to be cancelled. On Apr. 1 after becoming the first country to legalize same-sex marriage (2000), the Netherlands becomes the world's first country to legalize euthanasia; on May 16 Belgium becomes #2. On Apr. 2 Israel PM Arien Sharon calls for the exile of Yaser Arafat. On Apr. 2-May 10 the Siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem sees Israeli defense forces siege dozens of Palestinian militants after occupying Bethlehem as part of Operation Defensive Shield who hold the 200 monks hostage, finally giving up and being deported to the Gaza Strip and Europe. On Apr. 4 the Angolan govt. and UNITA rebels sign a ceasefire, ending 30 years of civil war. On Apr. 4 the FBI gives a judge a document which reveals "many connections" between a Saudi family and "individuals associated with the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001", who own a house in Sarasota, Fla. visited by the hijackers, then gets it classified for nat. security reasons until 2013. On Apr. 11 the Internat. Criminal Court (ICC), created by the Rome Treaty of 1998 wins U.N. ratification, with the U.S. refusing to go along; on July 1 it opens its doors in The Hague to hear cases of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; it only prosecutes Africans until ? On Apr. 11 a suicide bomber blallahs (detonates) a truck at a crowded synagogue on the island of Djerba, Tunisia, killing 18; the first terrorist attack since 9/11? On Apr. 12 Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez resigns after violent protests, and is succeeded by Pedro Carmona Estanga (1941-), but returns to power on Apr. 14. On Apr. 14 the world was supposed to end one-half second before midnight (Israel time), according to prophet Mike Keller. On Apr. 15 (Mon.) a Nat. Solidarity Rally for Israel is held in Washington, D.C., organized by Jewish leader Malcolm Hoenlein (1942-), and attended by thousands; Elie Wiesel utters the soundbyte: "There is no sacred cause that justifies suicide bombings." On Apr. 15 an Air China 767 crashes in a residential area near the airport in Pusan, South Korea in dense fog, killing 128 of 155 passengers and 11 crew. On Apr. 16 the U.S. Supreme Court by 6-3 rules that the 1996 U.S. Child Pornography Prevention Act is too broad, striking down two provisions and permitting computer-generated simulation of child sex by real adults or fictional children, with Anthony M. Kennedy writing the soundbyte: "Congress may pass valid laws to protect children from abuse, and it has. The prospect of crime, however, by itself does not justify laws suppressing protected speech"; the stark differences in philosophies between liberals and conservatives over victimless crime laws are laid bare with this as well as their revulsion at burning replicas of govt. flags owned by private citizens? On Apr. 17 two U.S. pilot drop a 500 lb. bomb near Kandahar, Afghanistan where Canadians are conducting a live fire exercise, killing four, becoming the first friendly fire deaths of Canadians in Afghanistan. On Apr. 18 the British High Court allows pharmacies to dispense the morning-after pill without a doctor's prescription. On Apr. 23 the "last year of the dark cycle, a time of returning negative karma" ends according to Elizabeth Clare Prophet. On Apr. 25 Russia launches Soyuz TM-34, carrying cosmonauts Yuri Pavlovich Gidzenko (1962-), Roberto Vittori (1964-) of Italy, and white South African software millionaire Mark Richard Shuttleworth (1973-), who becomes the 2nd space tourist and 1st (white) African in space after he pays $20M for the privilege; on Oct. 30 Soyuz TMA-1 blasts off, carrying cosmonauts Sergei Viktorovich Zalyotin (1962-), Frank, Viscount De Winne (1961-) of Belgium (2nd Belgian in space), and Yuri Valentinovich Lonchakov (1965-); Soyuz TM-34 returns on Nov. 10 with Sergei Zalyotin, Frank De Winne, and Yuri Lonchakov; Soyuz TMA-1 returns next May 4 with Mikolai Budarin, Kenneth Bowersox, and Donald Pettit. On Apr. 26 Mexican-born Boston archbishop (since 1984) Cardinal Bernard Francis Law (1931-), under pressure to resign over the sexual abuse scandal rocking the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, reports that he is taking a position at the Vatican in June so he can avoid giving a deposition in a lawsuit against his archdiocese; on Dec. 13 he resigns; Law's aide Sister Catherine E. Mulkerrin (1936-2008) is instrumental in exposing the abuse- the more the Church changes, the more it says the same? It's April again, and the school rage shooters are back? On Apr. 26 19-y.-o. Robert Steinhauser (Steinhäuser) (b. 1982) shoots and kills 13 teachers, two students and a policeman before killing himself at the Gutenberg Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany. On Apr. 29 U.S. Pres. Bush and Vice-pres. Cheney meet with the Sept. 11 Commission behind closed doors - ? In Apr. Dutch PM Wim Kok resigns after a report is released concluding that Dutch U.N. troops failed to prevent a massacre of Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs in a U.N. safe haven near Srebrenica in 1995, saying "The internat. community is big and anonymous. We are taking the consequences of the internat. community's failure in Srebrenica". In Apr. U.S. gen. Tommy Franks flies into Britain for top secret talks about an invasion of Iraq with defense secy. (1999-2005) Geoffrey William "Geoff" Hoon (1953-) 11 mo. before the real invasion, which doesn't become public until Oct. 2010. On May 5 tainted right-wing French pres. (since May 17, 1995) Jacques Rene Chirac (1932-) wins reelection in a landslide victory over far-right candidate Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (1968-) in France; the winning election slogan: "Vote for the Crook, not the Fascist"; Chirac survives an assassination attempt by far-right wannabe-Jackal student Maxime Brunerie on July 14 at the Paris Bastille Day Parade, who shoots at him; meanwhile his wife (since 1956) Bernadette Therese Marie Chirac (1933-) keeps asking her playboy hubby's chaffeur, "Where is he tonight?" On May 6 gay anti-Islamic anti-immigration right-wing populist Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn (b. 1948) is assassinated by animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf nine days before nat. elections in which he was expected to lead one of the country's largest parties, becoming the first assassination in the Netherlands since 1672; Volkert is sentenced to 18 years in prison; on May 16 the Christian Dems. return to power in the Netherlands, with Jan Pieter (Peter) Balkenende Jr. (1956-) becoming PM on July 22 (until Oct. 14, 2010) and forming a coalition with Fortuyn's party and going on to form four cabinets. On May 6 Burmese dem. leader Aunt, er, Aung San Suu Kyi (1945-) is released from house arrest after 19 mo. by the repressive military-run govt. On May 6 fervent Christian Marc Ravalomanana (1949-) becomes pres. #4 of Madagascar (until ?). On May 7 a China Northern MD82 en route from Beijing crashes 20km (12.5 mi.) off the coast of Dalian, China, killing all 103 passengers and nine crew. On May 7 Muslim religious scholar Ghulam Murtaza Malik is killed along with his driver and a policeman in Iqbal, Lahore by two gunmen. On May 8 Brooklyn, N.Y.-born Puerto Rican descent Muslim convert Jose Padilla (Abdullah al-Muhajir) (1970-) is arrested in Chicago, Ill. and tdeclared an illegal enemy combatant on June 9 by Pres. Bush for allegedly aiding a radioactive dirty bomb attack on the U.S.; after pressure from civil liberties groups, that charge is dropped and he is transferred to a Miami, Fla. jail on criminal conspiracy charges; he is found guilty on Aug. 16, 2007 by a federal jury, then sentenced on Jan. 22, 2008 to 208 mo. (17 years 4 mo.) in priz, which is increased to 21 years. On May 9 the U.S. Dept. of Education reveals that more than half of U.S. high school seniors do not even have a basic grasp of their own country's history - somebody ought to write a better textbook? On May 10 UPS columnist Georgie Anne Geyer (1935-) pub. a column in the Chicago Tribune titled "Now Isn't the Time for Bush League Movies", claiming that Israeli PM Ariel Sharon told his cabinet "I control America", which is later proved to come from Palestinian press but otherwise unconfirmed, causing a CT retraction. On May 13 the U.S. and Russia sign a landmark START III Agreement to cut their nuclear arsenals by up to two-thirds over the next 10 years. On May 13 the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan sign an agreement dividing three major Caspian Sea oil and natural gas fields. In May Mohammad Zahir Shah (1914-), former Pashtun king of Afghanistan who abdicated in 1973 returns from exile; meanwhile U.S.-backed interim leader Hamid Karzai (also a Pashtun) gains popular support, plus grudging acceptance from former Northern Alliance leaders, who are Tajik. On May 19 Ahmad Tejan Kabbah wins reelection as pres. of Sierra Leone in a landslide over Ernest Karoma. On May 20 East Timor (modern-day pop. 1.1M) gains independence from Indonesia, becoming a brand new nation; on May 23 the U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 1414 without vote to admit East Timor. On May 20-30 U.S. treasury secy. Paul O'Neill and U2 singer Bono visit Africa together to tsk tsk about all the problems. On May 21 Australian scientists announce the first biologically-engineered instant wheat that doesn't have to be milled before being eaten. On May 21 Kashmiri leader Abdul Ghani Lone is assassinated. On May 21 FBI atty. Coleen Rowley writes a letter to the FBI dir. criticizing the FBI for thwarting anti-terrorist efforts. On May 25 a China Airlines Boeing 747 crashes into the Taiwan Strait, killing 225. On May 25 a train accident in Muama, Mozambique kills 192 and injures dozens. On May 26 Harvard-educated law-and-order candidate Alvaro Uribe Velez (1952-) is elected, and on Aug. 7 he is sworn-in as pres. #39 of Colombia (until Aug. 7, 2010); on leaving office he becomes vice-chmn. fo the U.N. panel investigating the Gaza Freedom Flotilla raid. On May 28 Russia does the formerly unthinkable and officially becomes NATO's ally as a "junior partner". In May U. of Wisc. student Lucas John "Luke" Helder (1981-) decides to plant pipe bombs in mailboxes across the U.S. in a smiley face shape, planting 18 bombs over 3.2K mi. in his black Honda Accord while wearing a Kurt Cobain t-shirt until he is caught; six are injured in in Neb., Colo., Tex., Ill., and Iowa; in Apr. 2004 he is found incompetent to stand trial and incarcerated in the Federal Medical Center in Rochester, Minn. In May Rosie O'Donnell gives up her daytime TV show (begun 1996), announcing that she's a lesbian and wants time to raise four children with her lez partner Kelli Carpenter - if you can imagine it, they'll create a TV show for it? On June 2 The Wire debuts on HBO for 60 episodes (until Mar. 9, 2008), created by police reporter David Simon and set in Baltimore, Md., portraying the drug scene through the eyes of the drug dealers and law enforcement, using unknown mainly black actors and real-life Baltimore figures for realism. On June 8 after winning elections handily, Amadou Toumani Toure (Touré) (1948-) becomes pres. of Mali (until Mar. 22, 2012). On June 8-July 2 the Hayman Fire devastates parts of the Colo. Front Range, destroying 138K acres, incl. 133 homes and 466 bldgs., and causing 8K to be evacuated; it misses Denver but fills the sky with smoke; U.S. Forest Service worker Terry Lynn Barton (1964-) is later convicted and spends six years in federal prison in Ft. Worth, Tex., claiming she was burning papers outlining a separation agreement with her ex in a campground fire ring and it sparked out of control. On June 11 ex-Beatle Paul McCartney (b. 1942) marries Heather Anne Mills (1968-) (an anti-mine vegetarian activist who lost part of her left leg in 1993 after being hit by a police motorbike) at Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Ireland; they separate on May 17, 2006, then divorce on Feb. 18, 2008. On June 11 (Tue.) American Idol, based on the British show "Pop Idol" debuts on Fox-TV for 555 episodes (until Apr. 7, 2016), going on to save sagging pop music sales and generate megabucks for its founders Simon Fuller (1960-) and Simon Philip Cowell (1959-); judges incl. Paula Julie Abdul (1962-) and Randy Darius Jackson (1956-); Ryan John Seacrest (1974-) becomes host in 2002; all the marketable stars are women until ?. On June 13 interim leader Hamid Karzai is elected pres. of Afghanistan (until ?). On June 13 the U.S. abandons its 31-y.-o. ABM treaty. On June 14 a Nat. Conference of U.S. Bishops recommends zero tolerance for priests who abuse children; on Oct. 18 the Vatican calls for them to soften their hard, sticky stand. On June 15 the Social Dems. retain power in the Czech Repub., and on July 15 Vladimir Spidla becomes PM of Czech. Repub. (untl Aug. 4, 2004). On June 15 Hollywood actors Charlie Sheen (1965-) and Denise Richards (1971-) marry; in Mar. 2005 after having son Sam J Sheen (2004-) she files for divorce while pregnant with his child Lola Rose Sheen (2005-), claiming he's still hot for hookers, then lures Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi away from Heather Locklear. One June 16 Israel is begun of the Fence, a 217-mile-long barrier between Israel and the West Bank. On June 20 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Atkins v. Va. that the U.S. Constitution bars the execution of mentally retarded (intellectually disabled) offenders, but permits states to define who is and is not intellectually disabled; Justice Antonin Scalia dissents, writing that it would not have been considered cruel and unusual punishment to execute a midly mentally retarded convict in 1791, and that the Court had failed to find any nat. consensus against the practice. On June 21-23 the first Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival is held in Manchester, Tenn. On June 24 the first sperm bank for lesbians is launched in the U.K. - baggies, not bags? On June 24 Pres. Bush delivers his Speech on the Israeli-Palestinian Settlement, calling for a democratic Palestinian state run by new leadership, anybody but Yasser Arafat, but only after they abandon terror and implement democratic reforms, causing First Lady Barbara Bush to refer to her hubby as the "first Jewish president"; it incl. the soundbyte: "It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation. And the current situation offers no prospect that life will improve. Israeli citizens will continue to be victimized by terrorists, and so Israel will continue to defend herself. In the situation the Palestinian people will grow more and more miserable. My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror. Yet, at this critical moment, if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope. Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born." On June 24 a train accident near Msagali, Tanzania kills 200. On June 26 a U.S. appeals court shocks the nation with a ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance cannot be recited in public schools because it contains the phrase "one nation under God". On June 27 former Pres. Clinton receives a multicolored bracelet as a gift from Colombian children, and vows to never take it off, to remind him "that the oldest democracy in Latin America now has 35% of its land under the control of narco-traffickers and terrorists"; during his Sept. 2004 heart surgery, doctors tape over it. On June 27 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Board of Education v. Earls that public schools may engage in random mandatory drug testing for students participating in extracurricular activities, extending the ruling in Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton (1995). On June 27 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris that school tuition vouchers do not violate the Establishment Clause. In June Qwest CEO Joe Nacchio is fired, and Dick Notebaert (1948-) replaces him (until June, 2007), changing the slogan from "Ride the Light" to "Spirit of Service", and releasing it from bankruptcy, cutting its $26B debt in half. This summer is marked by extreme weather worldwide, incl. floods in Europe and Asia, and a widespread drought in the U.S., sparking massive wildfires in the Am. West; a week-long flood in Tex. causes Canyon Lake to spill over into the Guadalupe Valley, carving a new canyon in three days - giving Creationists a magic moment? On July 1 a Russian passenger airliner collides over S Germany with a Boeing 757 cargo plane, killing all 71 aboard both planes. On July 4 Egyptian-Am. Muslim limo driver Hesham Mohamed Hadayet (b. 1961) opens fire on two Israelis at an El Al ticket counter at LAX, killing them and wounding four others before a security guard kills him; the U.S. concludes that he did it to influence U.S. govt. policy in favor of the Palestinians, making him a terrorist. On July 5 Beantown's "Splendid Splinter" Ted Williams (b. 1918) dies; later it is revealed that his body was sent by his relatives to Alcor for cryonics storage. On July 9 the African Union (AU) (UA) is established as a successor to the Org. of African Unity (OAU), with 53 African member states incl. Libya; the HQ is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In July an Iranian court gives Mohammed Khordadian a 10-year suspended prison sentence for dancing in public in Calif., and giving Iranian traditional dance lessons; the charge is "enticing and inciting the nation's youth to corruption"; TV footage had been sent to Iran, and his videos had been sold there. On July 10 the U.S. Congress votes to arm airline pilots. On July 20 Alex Sanchez becomes the first Mexican illegal immigrant granted political asylum in the U.S., after which he founds Homies Unidos to work to prevent violence in Latin Am. gangs; too bad, in June 2009 Sanchez is indicted on federal RICO charges after they accuse him of using the group as a cover, causing Latino groups to call it a frameup and govt. repression of pro-immigrant activists. On July 12 Pres. Bush announces the first U.S. budget deficit in four years. On July 12 Andy Breckman's comedy-drama mystery series Monk debuts on USA Network for 125 episodes (until Dec. 4, 2009), starring Anthony Marcus "Tony" Shaloub (1953-) as OCD-suffering ex-cop detective Adrian Monk in San Francisco, Calif., and ("Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs") Frank Theodore "Ted" Levine (1957-) as Capt. Leland Stottlemeyer; in seasons 1-3 Elizabeth Natalie "Bitty" Schram (1968-) plays Monk's asst. Sharona Fleming, followed by Traylor Elizabeth Howard (1966-) as Sharon Carter. On July 15 John Walker Lindh pleads guilty to avoid a death sentence. On July 16 the IRA issues an apology to the families of civilians killed during 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland. On July 21 WorldCom files the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, declaring assets of $107B; on July 31 WorldCom execs Scott D. Sullivan (1962-) and David Myers (1958-) are charged with fraud for overstating revenue by $3.8B; on Mar. 15, 2005 CEO Bernard John "Bernie" Ebbers (1941-) is found guilty of orchestrating a record $11B fraud; Sullivan gets 5 years, and Myers gets a year and a day. On July 22 Denver, Colo.-born Muslim convert Earnest James Ujaama (James Thompson) (1966-) of Seattle, Wash. is arrested at his grandmother's home in Denver, Colo.; in Apr. 2003 he pleads guilty to conspiring to deliver computer software and cash to Taliban officials in Afghanistan, and receives two years in prison; he allegedly wanted to establish a terrorist training camp on a ranch near Bly, Oregon. On July 24 the U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 1426 without vote to admit Switzerland. On July 25 after a July 10 speech by Pres. Bush on corporate malfeasance, Congress passes the U.S. Corporate Responsibility Act, defining stiff penalties for corporate execs who commit fraud; on July 30 Pres. Bush sign the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring CEOs to personally certify their books, with a possible criminal penalty of 20 years in prison - that'll stop the problem, right Bernie Madoff? On July 27 Canadian-born Pakistani descent Muslim Omar Ahmed Khadr (1986-) is captured after a 4-hour firefight in Ayub Kheyl, Afghanistan after killing U.S. soldiers, becoming the youngest inmate at Gitmo, and getting latched onto by the U.N. and Western liberals as a child soldier, resulting in the Obama admin. accepting a plea bargain in Oct. 2010 that lets him walk in as little as a year. On July 28 nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset, Penn. are rescued after 77 hours underground. On July 30 Rwanda and Congo end their 4-y.-o. African World War (begun 1998) that involved the armies of six nations, after 2.5M are killed; Rwanda promises to withdraw its 35K troops from the Congolese border, and Congo agrees to disarm thousands of Hutu militiamen. On July 31 in Mexico City Pope John Paul II canonizes St. Juan Diego (1474-1548), the Church's first Indian saint. In July Luis Grass Rodriguez attempts to reach Fla. in a seagoing 1951 Chevy pickup, but is sent back to Cuba; he tries again next Feb. On Aug. 2 Taiwan Pres. Chen Shui-bian says that his country is separate from China, despite the latter's insistence that it will never be independent from the mainland. On Aug. 4 millionaire former pres. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (1930-) again becomes pres. of poor landlocked Bolivia (until 2003). On Aug. 6 U.S. security experts speak at a panel hosted by the Nixon Center and the Center for Immigration studies, and claim that the millions of illegal Mexican aliens in the U.S. endanger nat. security by creating a demand for false ID documents and smuggling networks that could potentially assist terrorists. On Aug. 8 white farmers in Zimbabwe are ordered to leave their property so that dictator-pres. Robert Mugabwe can hand them to his black friends, who don't know how to run them, resulting in mass famine. On Aug. 9 Muslims throw a grenade into a chapel owned by a Christian hospital in Taxila in N Punjab (15 mi. W of Islamabad), Pakistan, killing four women, incl. two nurses and a paramedic, and wounding 25 men and women. On Aug. 9 Am. actor Charleston Heston announces that he is suffering from Alzheimer's and is retiring from public life; he dies in 2008 - Ben-Who? On Aug. 15 13 days after the Hollywood film Signs debuts in theaters the most elaborate crop circle yet is reported by Crabwood Farm House near Winchester, Hampshire, U.K., consisting of a picture of an extraterrestrial and what appears to be a CD-ROM with raised dots indicating "let's talk" type info.? On Aug. 15 thieves rob the Charles Dickens Museum in Bloomsbury in broad daylight, stealing first eds. of his work A Christmas Carol. On Aug. 17 a U.S. District Court rules that tobacco cos. can no longer use terms such as "low tar", "light", "ultra light", "mild" or "natural" beginning on Jan. 1, 2007. On Aug. 16 Palestinian terrorist (Fatah or Abu Nadal Org. founder) Abu Nidal (Sabri Khalil al-Banna) dies of 1-4 gunshot wounds, allegedly by suicide, but maybe by orders of Saddam Hussein. On Aug. 19 an Islamic appeal court in Nigeria approves a stoning sentence for Amina Lawal (1973-) for having extramarital sex, while the father of her child is not prosecuted, causing an internat. outcry, and several contestants to pull out of the Miss World beauty contest in Nigeria; on Sept. 23, 2003 her conviction is overturned after her lawyers argue that a 5-year interval between conception and pregnancy is possible. On Aug. 21 the cable TV Fine Living Network, owned by Scripps Network Interactive debuts (until May 31 2010), based in Los Angeles, Calif., moving in 2005 to Knoxville, Tenn. In Aug. an Iranian opposition group reveals the existence of an Iranian gas centrifuge uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, Iran; the Iranian govt. claims that they only want to build nuclear power plants over the next 20 years to give them 6GW of electric power. In Aug. a Muslim group in Denmark puts out a $30K bounty for the murder of several prominent Danish Jews; Denmark has 200K Muslim immigrants and only 6K Jews. On Sept. 5 a car bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan kills 30 and wounds 167. On Sept. 8 U.S. nat. security adviser Condoleezza Rice (1954-) tells Wolf Blitzer: "There will always be some uncertainty about how quickly he [Saddam Hussein] can acquire nuclear weapons, but we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud"; on Sept. 10 she tells reporters that "We do know that [Saddam Hussein] is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon." On Sept. 9 scientifically-trained Driss Jettou (1945-) becomes PM of Morocco (until Sept. 19, 2007). On Sept. 11 the U.S. Congress meets in the restored Federal Hall in New York City to commemorate 9/11. On Sept. 12 Pres. Bush gives an Address to the U.N., hinting loudly that it's time for a regime change in Iraq. On Sept. 12 Tyco Internat. Corp. execs Leo Dennis Kozlowski (1946-) (CEO) and Mark H. Swartz (CFO) are indicted for a "cookie-jar reserve" stock fraud scheme. On Sept. 17 U.S. interior secy. Gale Norton is found guilty of four counts of civil contempt by a federal judge who held she committed "a fraud on the court" by withholding evidence in a dispute over trust accounts for Amerindians; she gets the ruling overturned on appeal. On Sept. 17 after an earlier version by Colin Powell's senior aide Richard Haass is rejected by Condoleezza Rice as not "bold" enough, U. of Va. prof. Philip D. Zelikow (1954-) releases Overview of U.S. Nat. Security Strategy Following 9/11; on Nov. 27 the Nat. Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) is set up "to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks", incl. responses and preparedness, comprised of five Dems. and five Repubs., chaired by N.J. gov. Thomas Kean (ends Aug. 21, 2004); Zelikow is appointed exec dir., uttering the soundbyte "Why should Iraq attack America or use nuclear weapons against us? I'll tell you what I think the real threat (is) and actually has been since 1990 - it's the threat against Israel." On Sept. 19 a military coup in Ivory Coast by former pres. Gen. Robert Guei fails, and Guei is killed, but fighting continues until next July. On Sept. 20 Joss Whedon's space Western Firefly debuts on Fox-TV for 14 episodes (until Dec. 20), set in the year 2517 after the renegade crew of Firefly-class spaceship Serenity arrive in a new star system; "Nine people looking into the blackness of space and seeing nine different things"; filmed in 2005 as "Serenity". On Sept. 22 Gov. Gray Davis of Calif. signs the first state law in the U.S. backing stem cell research, which the Bush admin. placed federal funding restrictions on in 2001 after caving-in to the Roman Catholic Church and evangelicals. On Sept. 24-25 the Akshardham Temple Attack in Gandhinagar in Gujarat state in W India sees the temple stormed by heavily armed Islamic terrorists, killing 29 and wounding 79 of 600 devotees, incl. 1 policeman and 1 commando. On Sept. 25 Muslim gunmen attack the Christian Inst. for Peace and Justice welfare org. in Karachi, Pakistan, killing six and injuring four. On Sept. 26 the police procedural drama series Without a Trace debuts on CBS-TV for 160 episodes (until May 19, 2009), about the Missing Persons Unit (MPU) of the FBI in New York City, starring Australian actor Anthony M. LaPaglia (1959-) as Jack Malone, and Australian actress Poppy Montgomery (Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue) (1972-) as Samantha Spade. On Sept. 30 a dockworker strike on the W coast of the U.S. over possible replacement by robots begins, bringing back shades of the Luddities. In Sept. Pres. Bush announces the Bush Doctrine of pre-emption in support of democracy - his ancestor George Washington rolls over in his grave? In Sept. the 1.1K-mi. Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline through oil-rich trillionaire Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey begins. In Sept. Pres. Bush's top economic adviser Lawrence B. Lindsey shocks the press with the revelation that the cost of the Iraq War might reach $200B, causing other aides to rebuke him and Bush to fire him 3 mo. later and replace him on Dec. 12 with Stephen Friedman (1937-); by 2006 the war actually costs over $300B? On Oct. 1 the U.S. Northern Command is established at Peterson Air Force Base in Colo. Springs, Colo. to set a min. std. for U.S. military bases, with security levels ranging from normal to alpha to delta, being initially set at alpha. On Oct. 2 French oil tanker Limburg is attacked by al-Qaida with an explosives-laden boat in the Gulf of Aden, killing one sailor and causing the ship to spill 100K barrels of oil, causing the main Yemen port of Aden to be avoided by internat. shipping for several mo. On Oct. 2 after preliminary shootings on Feb. 16-Sept. 26, the Beltway (D.C.) Snipers, Baltimore, Md.-born U.S. Army vet (Nation of Islam convert) John Allen Muhammad (1960-2009) and his Muslim-convert "son", Kingston-Jamaica-born Am. teenager Lee Boyd (John Lee) Malvo (1985-) begin terrorizing the U.S. East Coast from their blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan, finally being arrested on Oct. 24 at a W Md. rest stop after killing 17 and injuring 10 in gas stations and parking lots with sniper rifles as part of a jihad; on May 23, 2006 Malvo testifies in a 2nd trial in Rockville, Md. that Muhammad had plans to used the $10M federal govt. ransom to set up a Canadian terrorist training camp for 140 homeless black kids, and planned to kill six random people a day for 30 days and then kill kids and pigs, er, police with explosives in Baltimore, then blow up the funeral of the police officer(s); after the Oct. 9 shooting of Dean Myers in Manassas, Va., Muhammad gets upset that the quota is not being met?; Malvo is sentenced to six consecutive life sentences without parole, and Muhammad to death; on Nov. 10, 2009 Muhammad is executed by lethal injection at Greensville Correctional Center in Va. On Oct. 2 the anti-war group Code Pink: Women for Peace is founded by Jodie Evans (1954-), who goes on to introduce Barack Obama to the liberal Hollyweird community that provides seed money for his pres. run. On Oct. 3 the case of John M.J. Madey v. Duke U. is decided by the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, ending the 170-y.-o. practice of allowing scientists to freely borrow patented technologies for limited use in basic research not aimed at commercial use. On Oct. 6 British Conservative Party chair Theresa May gives a speech to a party conference in Bournemouth about rebuilding it. On Oct. 7 Pres. Bush requests the U.S. Senate to give him sweeping military authority to go after Sodamn Insane, saying "We know that Iraq and the al-Qaida terrorist network share a common enemy: the United States of America. We know that Iraq and al-Qaida have had high-level contacts that go back a decade"; he adds "We've learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaida members in bomb-making and poisons and deadly gasses.... Alliance with terrorists could allow the Iraqi regime to attack America without leaving any fingerprints." On Oct. 9 Vt. Sen. Bernie Sanders gives a Speech on Iraq on a nearly empty U.S. Senate floor, accurately predicting that a U.S. invasion "could be extremely expensive" and could result in "uninended consequences" incl. a civil war, takeover by Islamist extremists, and increased danger to Israel. On Oct. 9 after 12 years on death row, Rochester, Mich.-born Aileen Carol Wuornos (nee Pittman) (b. 1956), a prostitute who killed seven johns in 1989-90 and claimed self-defense becomes the 3rd woman to be executed in Fla., predicting that she will somehow come back?; filmed in 2003 as "Monster" starring Charlize Theron - the wuornos turns? On Oct. 9 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. reaches its lowest point since 9/11, closing at 7,286.27, and trading as low as 7,181.47 the next day before beginning a slow climb back. On Oct. 10 U.S. Sen. (D-N.Y.) Hillary Clinton gives a speech on the Senate floor, with the soundbyte: "In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists incl. Al Qaeda members, though there is apparently no evidence of his involvement in the terrible events of September 11, 2001. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons. Should he succeed in that endeavor, he could alter the political and security landscape of the Middle East, which as we know all too well affects American security." On Oct. 10 Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) arrives in the U.S. on Saudi Arabian Airlines Flight 35 from Riyadh, and is detained by U.S. authorities on a 2002 arrest warrant for passport fraud, but after the Saudis pull strings, Denver U.S. atty. David M. Gaouette gets the arrest warrant canceled, outraging the Joint Terrorism Task Force in San Diego, Calif., and he soon leaves the U.S. for Yemen, after which the U.S. loses track of him, and he goes radical, preaching the destruction of the infidel U.S.; in 2008 he issues a fatwa calling on Muslims to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq, followed in Jan. 2009 by the manifesto "44 Ways to Support Jihad". On Oct. 11 the U.S. Senate votes 77-23 to pass the U.S. Iraq War Resolution, giving Pres. Bush sweeping authority to use military force in Iraq; he signs it on Oct. 16; her vote later comes back to haunt Hillary Clinton in the 2008 pres. campaign; Del. Dem. Sen. Joe Biden votes for the war and is present at the White House signing, later calling it a "mistake" - and this bird you cannot change, Lord knows, I cant change, bye, bye, baby it's been a sweet love? On Oct. 12 a bomb rocks two nightclubs in Kuta, Bali, killing 202, many of them foreign tourists, and injuring 209, becoming the 2nd terrorist attack since 9/11; it is later pinned on Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah, and on Nov. 8, 2008 Indonesia executes three for it. On Oct. 12 the first Freethought Day is celebrated in Sacramento in commemoration of the end of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. On Oct. 14 the Northern Ireland govt. is suspended in protest of a suspected IRA spy ring. On Oct. 15 Paris-born former Am. ImClone exec Samuel D. "Sam" Waksal (1947-) (son of Holocaust survivor parents) pleads guilty to charges of fraud and perjury. On Oct. 15 a Soyuz-U carrying the E.S.A. Foton-M1 satellite explodes on launch in Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk Oblast 500 mi. N of Moscow (120 mi. S of Arkhangelsk), killing one. On Oct. 16 North Korea admits to developing nukes, pissing-off da world. In Oct. 19-27 the Anaheim Angels ("Halos") (AL), mgr. Michael Lorri "Mike" Scioscia (1958-) (former catcher for the Dodgers) defeat the San Francisco Giants (NL), mgr. Johnnie B. "Dusty" Baker Jr. (1949-) by 4-3 in the 2002 (98th) World Series; first appearance for the Angels in 42 years; Baker becomes the 2nd black WS team mgr. (first 1992). On Oct. 21 the U.S. Sudan Peace Act, sponsored by Colo. rep. (R-Colo.) (1999-2009) Tom Tancredo (1945-) is passed 359-8 by the House of Reps. and unanimously by the Senate, saying "A viable, comprehensive, and internationally sponsored peace process, protected from manipulation, presents the best chance for a permanent resolution of the war, protection of human rights, and a self-sustaining Sudan"; in 2009 the U.S. aids South Sudanese independence with $1B in annual aid. On Oct. 23 dozens of Chechen rebels storm a theater in Moscow and take 800 hostages, holding them for days until an early morning raid by Russian special forces troops on Oct. 26 kills most of the rebels (41) plus 129 hostages. On Oct. 25 liberal U.S. Sen. (D-Minn.) (since Jan. 3, 1991) Paul David Wellstone (b. 1944) is killed in a plane crash in N Minn. 11 days before the election. On Oct. 27 despite worrying U.S. politicos, Henry Hyde (chmn. of the House Internat. Relations Committee) saying that "Castro, Chavez and Lula da Silva could constitute an axis of evil in the Americas", Luiz Inacio (Inácio) Lula da Silva (1945-) (AKA Lula) is elected to a 4-year term, and is sworn in next Jan. 1 (until Jan. 1, 2011), going on to become one of Time mag.s 100 most influential people in the world in 2010, leaving a legacy of Lulism On Oct. 28 (8:30 a.m.) a U. of Ariz. College of Nursing student kills three profs. and himself. On Oct. 29 in response to the 2000 U.S. pres. election hanging chad scandal, Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Help America Vote Act, which offers states money to get new voting machines in the hope of making counting votes easier. On Oct. 30 Mt. Etna erupts again. On Oct. 30 midlevel Am. pop stars Jessica Simpson (1980-) (a self-proclaimed virgin) and Nick Lachey (1973-) (98 Degrees) are married, and become Hollywood superstars on MTV's Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica for the next three seasons (Aug. 19, 2003 - Mar. 30, 2005) (41 episodes), chronicling their lives in a new Calif. home, and showing dippy-blonde Simpson confusing Chicken of the Sea brand tuna with, er, chicken, and refusing Buffalo wings because "I don't eat buffalo"; they announce their separation on Nov. 23, 2005 right after the Dec.-Jan. issue of Teen People, in which they deny breakup rumors, and the Oct. 17 issue of US Weekly, which carries the headline "Split!", with the soundbyte "This is the mutual decision of two people with an enormous amount of respect and admiration for each other." In Oct. a Roman Catholic-Protestant admin. for Northern Ireland falls apart after exposure of longtime Sinn Fein official Denis Martin Donaldson (1950-2006) as a spy on the payroll of the British secret service. In Oct. liberal R.I. Sen. (1999-2007) Lincoln Davenport Chafee (1953-) (pr. CHAY-fee) becomes the only Repub. senator to vote against the Bush admin.; he later endorses Barack Obama's use of force in Iraq. In Oct. the Portland Seven terrorist ring of Muslims is arrested by the FBI before they can join al-Qaida in Afghanistan. In Oct. a Nat. Intelligence Estimate provided to Pres. Bush by the State Dept. says that "Baghdad has chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of U.N. restrictions", and that "Most agencies assess that Baghdad started reconstituting its nuclear program about the time inspectors departed - Dec. 1998"; "If left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade"; also, Iraq has "expanded its chemical and biological infrastructure under the cover of civilian production", and renewed production of mustard and sarin gas, and that Iraqi missiles might threaten the "U.S. homeland". On Nov. 1 federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly hands the monopolistic Microsoft Corp. an enormous victory, endorsing nearly all of its antitrust settlement with the Justice Dept. and rejecting harsher penalties sought by nine states, leaving the monopoly free to fester - creating a Dark Ages for the software industry, which is why TLW quit? On Nov. 4 the CIA kills six Al-Qaida members in Yemen. On Nov. 5 the 2002 U.S. Midterm Election gives the Repubs. control of both houses of Congress, reversing a trend going back to 1952 for the party of 1st-term presidents to lose seats in Congress in the midterm election. On Nov. 6 the clergy-controlled Iranian govt. arrests Hashem Aghajari and sentences him to death for preaching a Muslim form of Protestantism and Humanism - too late for a Luther in that hole? On Nov. 8 the U.N. Security Council unanimously approves Resolution 1441, ordering Saddam Hussein to surrender all WMD and permit U.N. weapons inspectors or face "serious consequences" incl. war; on Nov. 9 the Pentagon announces that it is planning to send a force of up to 250K troops to Iraq; the Iraqi Parliament unanimously rejects the resolution on Nov. 12, but reverses itself and accepts the U.N. resolution on Nov. 13, permitting weapons inspectors into the country on Nov. 18. On Nov. 10 the the Fox Network TV series Futurama debuts the episode Crimes of the Hot, spoofing the topic of global warming, featuring guest star Al Gore as his own preserved head in a jar; despite how ridiculous it makes the subject, the environmentalists take it seriously, nominating it for an Environmental Media Award, and losing to the "I Never Promised You an Organic Garden" episode of King of the Hill; Gore's daughter Kristin is one of the writers. On Nov. 11 a Cuban An-2 aircraft is hijacked to Key West, Fla. On Nov. 12 a sudden rash of tornadoes kills dozens in at least six U.S. states. On Nov. 13 U.N. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan gives a speech at the U. of Md., denouncing Israel for expropriating Arab land, denouncing Israel for expropriating Arab land and calling for it to give up nearly all of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 and live side-by-side with a fairy tale peaceful Palestinian state; on the same day prominent Israeli rabbi Rav Leor says that Jewish law supports the annihilation of all non-Jews in Israel; on the same day Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak calls for the U.N. to require Israel as well as Iraq to surrender all WMDs and submit to U.N. weapons inspection. On Nov. 14 Jiang Zemin retires as Chinese gen. secy., and on Nov. 15 Hu Jintao (1942-) is appointed gen. secy. of the Communist Party of China (until ?); some believe he will be the one to bring political liberty to darkest China, but instead he turns out to be more authoritarian than Jiang Zemin? On Nov. 19 the Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) takes over airport screening in the U.S.; by the end of 2005 it confiscates more than 30M prohibited items from carry-on bags, almost all of them irrelevant? On Nov. 20 pop superstar Michael Jackson (1958-2009) briefly dangles his newborn son Prince Michael II (AKA Blanket) over a 4th-story balcony railing in his hotel room in the Hotel Adlon Berlin with one arm, playing into the hands of the media, causing him to apologize, calling it "a terrible mistake". On Nov. 20-23 Muslim-Christian riots rock Nigeria after the Miss World beauty pageant moves from Abuja, Nigeria to London, and Lagos newspaper This Day suggests that the prophet Muhammad would have approved of it, causing it to deny responsibility. On Nov. 22 the U.S. EPA relaxes the U.S. Clean Air Act. On Nov. 23 the blog Metaphysical Elders is founded, launching the Mormon Blogosphere, incl. Inquiry (Aug. 19, 2003), Mormon Momma (Jan. 1, 2003), and Times & Seasons: An Onymous Mormon Blog, founded in 2003 by Nathan Bryan "Nate" Oman (1975-), who becomes known as "the Godfather of the Mormon Bloggernacle" after Kaimi Wenger pub. "The Nameless Mormon Blogosphere" on Mar. 23, 2004, causing Christopher Bradford to suggest the name "Bloggernacle". On Nov. 25 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Homeland Security Act, establishing the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) with 170K employees consolidated from 22 federal agencies, and a $40B budget, headed by dir. #1 Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (1945-) (Jan. 24, 2003 to Feb. 1, 2005), a monumental reorg. of the U.S. govt. that has Christian Millennium Feverists tsk-tsking; the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is changed to the more PC U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). On Nov. 27 Saddam Hussein relents under a U.N. threat of "serious consequences" and allows U.N. weapons experts back into Iraq. On Nov. 28 a suicide bomber destroys an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, killing 13, becoming the 3rd terrorist attack since 9/11. On Nov. 30 Toronto-born child Jeffrey Baldwin (b. 1997) dies of septic shock after years of mistreatment by his grandparents Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, who had been given custody after his parents were accused of abuse, causing a change in Canadian child custody laws. In Nov. two SA-7 shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles narrowly miss an Israeli passenger jet after takeoff from Mombasa, Kenya, stirring fears that pump up the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security's Counter-Man Portable Air Defense Systems program, based on a laser mounted on planes that can disrupt the seeker sensor. In Nov. Pope John Paul II declares 16th cent. martyr Thomas More (1478-1535) of England the patron saint of politicians for sticking to Catholicism and not bowing to attempts to make him kiss heretical king Henry VIII's fat butt. In Nov. the first cases of the killer pneumonia virus SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) surface in Guangdong Province, China, but officials cover it up for months before it infects 8,098 in 26 countries, killing 774, then mysteriously dies out by the end of 2003; in 2005 the Chinese horseshoe bat is identified as the carrier of the coronavirus family; bats also carry the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which cause encephalitis and respiratory disease; the Chinese mag. Caijing (founded 1998) pushes the govt. into action by aggressive reporting; too bad, founder Hu Shuli departs in Nov. 2009. In Nov. the 12K-delegate World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia adjourns after failing to wrest control of the Internet from U.S.-based private ICANN (Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers) (established 1988); they agree to meet next year. In Nov. Iranian student activist Amir-Abbas Fakhravar (1975-) is sentenced to eight years in notorious Evin Prison for pub. the article "This Place Is Not A Ditch", which criticizes Ayatollah Khameini; after years of white torture he is freed and arrives in the U.S. from Dubai in Apr. 2006, meeting with Pres. Bush et al.; his friends inside and outside Iran go on to lead the 2009 Iranian demonstrations. On Dec. 1 Worlds AIDS Day raises awareness that 40M people around the world are infected with AIDS (HIV), of which 5M new cases were reported in the past year; 3.1M died in the past year. On Dec. 2 noted Welsh-born gay-friendly bearded poet Rowan Douglas Williams (1950-) becomes archbishop #104 of Canterbury, England (until Dec. 31, 2012), his intellectual credentials contrasting with the working-class background of his predecessor George Carey in an obvious attempt to keep some intellectuals in the Anglican Church; he is pro-life but against teaching creationism in schools. On Dec. 5 incoming Senate majority leader Chester Trent Lott Sr. (1941-) spoils the party for the Repubs. by putting his foot in his mouth with racist comments at the 100th birthday celebration of J. Strom Thurmond that the U.S. "wouldn't have had all these problems over the years" if he had won the 1948 pres. election (he was a segregationist at the time); on Dec. 20 after the PC police come out in force, he resigns as majority leader; the remarks are first reported by a blogger on the Internet, scooping the major media; Thurmond's retirement speech incl. the immortal soundbyte: "I love all of you, and especially your wives"; on Dec. 23 Tenn. surgeon Bill Frist(1952-) is unanimously elected as the new Repub. Senate majority leader, taking office on Jan. 3 (until Jan. 3, 2007). On Dec. 6 10 Palestinians, incl. two U.N. employees are killed by Israeli forces in a Gaza Strip refugee camp as they search for a fugitive militant. On Dec. 6 the animated series Codename: Kids Next Door, created by Tom Warburton debuts on Cartoon Network for 78 episodes (until Jan. 21, 2008), about five kids (Numbuh 1, Numbuh 2, etc.) operating from a hi-tech treehouse fighting bad guys with advanced 2x4 technology. On Dec. 9 United Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, becoming the largest-ever by an airline (until ?) - it's time to fly? On Dec. 20, 2002 as a reaction to the Taliban's destruction of Buddha statues in Bamiyan, Afghanistan in 2001 the 57th Session of the U.N. Gen. Assembly adopts U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 57/249, proclaiming the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, to be held each May 21 to promote diversity and harmonious living. On Dec. 22 PM (since 1992) Janez Drnovsek (1950-2008) becomes pres. #2 of Slovenia (until Dec. 23, 2007). On Dec. 25 authorities launch a massive search for La Loma, Calif. resident Laci Denise Peterson (nee Rocha) (b. 1975), an 8-mo.-pregnant woman who disappeared while allegedly walking her dog in N Calif. on Christmas Eve. On Dec. 27 the U.S.-backed Gas Pipeline Framework Agreement to build a $7.6B natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan through S Afghanistan into Pakistan and India is signed by Turkmenistan and Afghanistan; too bad, the Taliban takes over S Afghanistan, causing the plan to be stalled. On Dec. 29 after an indecisive election, Natasa Micic (1965-) of the Dem. Party of Serbia becomes acting pres. of Serbia (until Jan. 27, 2004), going on to renege on calling another election within 60 days, then using the assassination of Zoran Dindic on Mar. 12, 2003 as an excuse to declare a state of emergency until May, then stalling until the next Feb. - you had me at indecisive? On Dec. 30 after a landslide V (62%), former vice-pres. (1978-88) Mwai Kibaki (Emilio Stanley) (1931-), 1991 founder of the Dem. Party (DP), who affiliated with several other parties to form the Nat. Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK), then allies that with the Liberal Dem. Party (DP) to form the Nat. Rainbow Coalition (NARC) becomes pres. #3 of Kenya (until Apr. 9, 2013). In Dec. Egyptian diplomat Osama Al-Baz (1930-2013) responds to the Egyptian TV series Horseman without a Horse by pub. a series of articles in Al Ahram denouncing anti-Semitism. In Dec. former Green Beret bodyguard-nurse Ted Maher (1958-) is sentenced to 10 years in Monaco for causing the fire and smoke-inhalation death on Dec. 3, 1999 in his Monaco penthouse apt. of billionaire Syrian Brazilian Jewish banker Edmond Safra (1932-99), who had Parkinson's disease, claiming he only set a small fire in a wastebasket so it would trigger the alarm and he could rescue to score browning points with him; he is convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison; Safra's widow Lily inherits $4B; on Jan. 22, 2003 Maher escapes and is captured in Nice in seven hours, and tried in 2005 on escape charges, receiving 9 more mo.; in Oct. 2007 he is released after serving eight years. After Pres. Bush becomes the first Repub. pres. in decades to focus on education (his librarian wife Laura pushing him on?), and promising to fight the "soft bigotry of low expectations", the U.S. Education Reform (No Child Left Behind) Act is passed by Congress, mandating annual nat. testing of students in grades 3-8 in reading and math on a single standardized test starting in the 2005-6 school year, setting a 12-year timetable for closing the chronic gaps among students of different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, and increasing funding for schools in poverty areas; in practice nobody improves scores and nothing is achieved but waste of time and money? Pres. Bush signs a 10-year $173.5B farm bill, AKA The Great Pig-Out which lavishes taxpayer subsidies on wealthy growers in S.D., Iowa, Mo. et al.; since 1995 more than two-thirds of subsidies go to 10% of farms; next year 129 farms each receive a subsidy of over $1M, while the bottom 80% of farms receive an avg. of $1,789. The center-right Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) party is founded in France by merging the Gaullist-conservative Rally for the Repub., the conservative-liberal Liberal Dem. Party, the Christian Dems. of the centrist Union for French Democracy (UDF), the liberal Radical Party, and the centrist Popular Party for French Democracy, combining the four major French political traditions. After motorized drills proliferate, causing the water table to drop too far, Yemen outlaws them, which only causes them to proliferate more. Pakistan-born scientist Ashraf Choudhary (1949-) of the Labour Party becomes the first Muslim MP in New Zealand (until ?). The term "freedom deficit" is coined by a group of Arab scholars for the 2002 UNDP Arab Human Development Report. The New York Times pub. a 2K-page U.S. Army Report on POW Torture and Abuse at Bagram Prison (AKA Bagram Collection Point) in Afghanistan, detailing the beating deaths of two civilian Afghan POWs in 2002; seven soldiers are charged. Harvard U. economist Jeffrey David Sachs (1954-) becomes dir. (until 2006) of the U.N. Millennium Project Development Goals, which consists of eight internat.-sanctioned objectives to reduce extreme poverty, hunger, and disease by 2015. The Nigerian Email Scam (419 Fraud) flourishes during this decade, bringing in $950M in 2006 alone, with the scammer "yahoozies" calling the stupid white American marks "mugus" (big fools); the Yahoozee Song becomes a Nigerian hit; it takes until Oct. 2009 for Project Eagle Claw in Nigeria to actually shut down Web sites and make arrests; after all, by then nobody is biting? The U.S. Senate approves the storage of radioactive waste inside Nevada's Yucca Mountain Site, which is slated to open in 2010. The CIA establishes a secret prison at Stare Kiejkuty 180km N of Warsaw, Poland (until 2005), allegedly torturing prisoners. The European Brain Council (EBC) is founded in Brussels, Belgium. The biennial Fischer Black Prize is established for the best contributions to the theory and practice of finance by an economist under age 40; the first award goes to Indian-born Raghuram Govinda Rajan (1963-) in 2003. The Inst. for the Study of Labor in Bonn, Germany awards the first IZA Prize in Labor Economics to Polish-born Am. economist Jacob Mincer (1922-2006) of Columbia U.; in 2010 it awards the prize to Francine Dee Blau (1946-) of Cornell U. (first woman). Thanks to the Internet, the percentage of U.S. mothers of infants who work outside the home drops to 55% from a record 59% in 1998, becoming the first decline since 1976. Billionaire Marvin Davis attempts to buy the assets of Vivendi Universal, incl. Universal Studios for $15B, but the offer is rejected. Walt Disney Co., owner of ABC courts David Letterman to move his late night show from CBS, replacing their Nightline, but he declines out of respect for the professionalism of back-stabbed Ted Koppel (1940-), known for his interviews with Miss Piggy? Lisa Marie Presley has a 108-day marriage to actor Nicolas Cage; her first hubby was bass player Danny Keough (1988), with whom she had two children; #2 was Michael Jackson (1994-6); she aborted an engagement to Hawaiian musician John Oszajca in ?. After actor Jon Voight and his estranged daughter Angelina Jolie (who blames him for cheating on her mother Marcheline Bertrand) had been reconciled for 2 years, he blows it by telling a TV interviewer that she has "serious emotional problems"; she legally drops her surname Voight. The first No Pants Day is held in New York City, where particpants take off their pants in a subway car and try to act normal. Israel was supposed to be nuked sometime this year, according to Net Prophet Sollog. Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) (originally the Indian Muslim Council - USA) is founded in the U.S. The Nat. Iranian-Am. Council is founded in Washington, D.C. by Iranian-born Zoroastrian Trita Parsi (1974-). America West pilots Thomas Cloyd and Christopher Hughes are arrested for operating a jetliner while intoxicated; on July 21, 2005 Hughes receives 2.5 years and a $5K fine, plus 1.5 years of community service. The Colombian Regulation and Risk Assessment Committee (CRER) is established to investigate threats to journalists and others from drug cartels. The 2002 Arab Human Development Report is pub., caliming that only about 300 books are trans. each year into Arab for 400M people; in 2010 it's still only 3K. An epidemic of coral bleaching caused by high sea temps hits the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The Hessell-Tiltman Prize is established by the English PEN for the best work of nonfiction history for the period up to and incl. WWII, with lit. merit more important than academic value; the first award goes to Margaret Olwen MacMillan (1943-) for Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War (Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World) (2001). The Russian Tea Room in New York City (founded 1927) closes on July 28 after declaring bankruptcy; it reopens on Nov. 1, 2006. Am. photographer Richard Avedon (1923-2004) is proclaimed "world's most famous photographer" by The New York Times. After Will Young wins the British show Pop Idol, American Idol, created by Simon Fuller debuts on Fox TV network, making "mean" British judge Simon Phillip "Utterly Horrendous" Cowell (1959-) a zillionaire, and launches the singing career of first winner Kelly Brianne Clarkson (1982-) of Tex.; Justin Guarini (Justin Eldrin Bell) (1978-) is runner-up. The Sound of Music is first shown on TV in Austria; it has never been shown in theaters there; it is performed on stage in 2005. A 1933 U.S. Double Eagle coin is auctioned off by Sotheby's for $7.59M, the highest price ever paid for a coin; believed to have once been owned by King Farouk of Egypt, the dealer is forced to split the proceeds with the U.S. Mint. The CIA sends a veteran officer to assist the NYPD in setting up spying programs on Muslims, which later pisses-off the Muslim community. As a response to g, U.S. Navy ships begin flying flags with the 17th cent. motto "Don't Tread on Me". The original 76-y.-o. Hass avocado plant (planted in 1926) dies in La Havre Heights, Calif. Restaurant mag. is founded in the U.K. by William Reed Business Media (until ?), reaching a circ. of 16.6K in 2011-12, becoming known for its annual World's 50 Best Restaurants list, based on the votes of 837 experts; the top restaurant (2002-6, 2009) is elBulli (French bulldogs) in Roses, Catalonia, Spain (founded 1961; closes on July 30, 2011), followed by in 2010-11, 2012, 2014 by Noma (Danish "nordisk" + "mad" = Nordic food) in Copenhagen, Denmark, founded in 2003 by Copenhagen-born chef Rene (René) Redzepi (1977-) and Nykobing Falster-born chef Claus Meyer (1963-), who together in 2004 found New Nordic (Danish) Cuisine. Joseph Frederick is suspended from his high school in Juneau, Alaska for 10 days for displaying a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from the school as the Winter Olympics torch relay passes, causing him to sue for violating his free speech rights; after the case makes it to the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. Dept. of Justice atty. Edwin Kneedler backs the gestapo, er, school principal Deborah More and school suptd. Peggy Cowan, the latter saying that "This is an important question about how the First Amendment applies to pro-drug messages in an educational setting" (setting?), the court rules ?-? that ?. The first annual Tribeca Film Festival, founded in response to 9/11 by actor Robert De Niro, his producer Jane Rosenthal, and her hubby Craig Hatkoff opens in the neighborhood N of the WTC, featuring heartwarming comedies incl. About a Boy; by 2006 it takes on 9/11 itself, starting with United 93, then moves to post-9/11 issues incl. Iraq and Afghanistan; in 2009 it moves to Doha, Qatar. Kyrgyzstan permits the U.S. to build a large airbase outside the capital city of Bishkek (formerly Frunze). The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society begins managing the S Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, formerly home of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and by 2007 brings back 42 threatened species in the new Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area, incl. the black-shanked douc, gaur horned cattle, muntjac deer, banteng ox, wild pig, tigers, elephants, ibises, vultures, eagles, Germain's peacock-pheasants, and hornbills. Am. "sexiest astrophysicist alive" Neil deGrasse Tyson coins the term "Manhattanhenge" to describe the two days each year (May 28, July 12/13) in which the evening sun aligns with the E-W cross streets of Manhattan. John McCain of Ariz. becomes the first U.S. Sen. to host Saturday Night Live. This is That Productions is founded in New York City by Anne Caey, Ted Hope, and Diana Victor, going on to release 16 films in its first sisx years, incl. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004). N.D. becomes the 50th U.S. state to produce its own wine. The last Camaro Z28 rolls off the assembly line, a bright rally red convertible. True Religion Brand Jeans debuts in Los Angeles, Calif. in the winter, becoming a hit with Hollyweird stars; by 2010 it has 900 boutiques and stores in 50 countries. Green Flash Brewing Co. is founded in Vista, Calif. by Mike and Lisa Hinkley to specialize in India Pale Ales, hiring brewmaster Chuck Silva in 2004 and moving in June 2011 to San Diego, Calif., expanding in Mar. 2013 to Virginia Beach, Va., producing 100K barrels/year, becoming the 41st largest craft brewery in the U.S. Two Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw brand) Calif. wines are introduced by Trader Joe's grocery stores in Calif. at $1.99/bottle, going on to sell 800M bottles. Sports: On Jan. 6 (final game of the 2001 season) Giants defensive end (#92) (1993-2007) Michael Anthony Strahan (1971-) gets a half-sack on Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre for a season record 22.5 sacks (until ?); too bad, many believe that Favre laid down for his friend with the Packers ahead by nine points, haunting him for life? On Feb. 8-24 the XIX (19th) Winter Olympic Games are held in Salt Lake City, Utah, with 2,399 athletes (1,513 men, 886 women) from 78 nations competing in 78 events in seven sports; the U.S. wins a record 34 medals, and Germany a record 35; the indoor Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, Utah is used as an ice hockey practice venue; Canada, led by half-white half-black Jarome Athur-Leigh Adekunle Tig Junior Elvis Iginla (Yoruba "big tree") (1977-) wins the men's hockey gold medal, followed by the U.S., Russia and Sweden (tie); Iginla joins the Dallas Stars in 1995, becoming capt. of the Calgary Flames, setting a team record for goals, points, and games played, scoring 50 goals in two separate seasons, and 30 goals in 11 straight seasons; on Feb. 19 Ala.-born U.S. bobsledder Vonetta Flowers (1973-) becomes the first black athlete to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympic Games; Seattle-born short-track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno (1982-) wins gold in the 1.5Km when judges disqualify South Korean Dong-Sung Kim; America's most popular figure skater Michelle Kwan (1980-) ends up with a silver behind surprise winner Sarah Elizabeth Hughes (1985-) of the U.S. - first Tara, then Sarah? On Feb. 17 the 2002 (44th) Daytona 500 is won by John Edward "Ward" Burton III (1961-), brother of Jeff Burton; rookie Jimmie Johnson wins the pole, and fellow rookie Kevin Harvick qualifies 2nd, becoming the first time the field is led by two rookies; the last race for Dave Marcis. On Feb. 25 Venus Williams (1980-) becomes the first black U.S. pro tennis player to be ranked #1 since Arthur Ashe in 1975. On Apr. 1 Maryland U. defeats Indiana U. 64-52 to win the NCAA basketball championship. On May 26 Helio Castroneves (1975-) of Brazil wins the 2002 (86th) Indianapolis 500, his 2nd straight win, first time since Al Unser in 1971. On June 2 the Sacramento Kings lose 112-106 to the Los Angeles Lakers in OT of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, becoming the best season Sacramento fans have seen to date. On June 4-13 the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals see the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1; MVP is 6'1" Swedish-born defenceman Erik Nicklas Lidström (1970-), becoming the first European player named playoffs MVP. On June 5-12 the 2002 NBA Finals sees the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) defeat the New Jersey Nets (coach Byron Scott) by 4-0; Shaquille O'Neal of the Lakers is MVP. On June 8 the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis Bout in Memphis, Tenn. sees Tyson KOd in round 8 in front of a bevy of gay-lesbian Tyson fans. On June 26 7'6" Yao Ming (1980-), who played for the Shanghai Sharks for five seasons (MVP of the Chinese Basketball Assoc. in 2000-1 and played center for the Chinese Nat. Team at the FIBA World Championships is drafted by the Houston Rockets of the NBA, coming to Houston in Oct., becoming the first #1 overall pick to never college ball in the U.S. On Aug. 9 outfielder Barry Lamar Bonds (1964-) of the San Francisco Giants hits his 600th homer, becoming the 4th player in ML history to do it (Hank Aaron was the last in 1971). On Sept. 8 the "Texas Super Bowl" (Paul Tagliabue) sees the new NFL Houston Texans defeat the Dallas Cowboys 19-10, becoming the 2nd expansion team to start 1-0 after the 1961 Vikings (against the Bears). On Sept. 11 all ML baseball ballparks observe a moment of silence to honor the victims of 9/11; starting this year the patriotic song "God Bless America" is performed at ML All-Star Games and playoff games, as well as Opening Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Sept. 11. On Nov. 25 New York City-born Yale U. grad Theo Nathaniel Epstein (1973-) becomes the youngest GM in MLB history when he is hired by the Boston Red Sox at age 28, going on to help them win their first WS championship in 86 years in 2004, and another in 2007; on Oct. 21, 2011 he becomes pres. of the Chicago Cubs, who win their first WS championship in 108 years in 2016, causing him to be picked #1 for Fortune mag.'s 2017 World's Greatest Leaders List. The 17th FIFA World Cup of Soccer. Pratyush Buddiga (1989-) wins the 74th Scripps Nat. Spelling Bee with "prospicience" (foresight), becoming the 7th winner from Colo. Se Ri Pak (1977-) of South Korea becomes the youngest woman to win four golf majors. After the New York Yankees defeat them in the 2001 postseason, and they lose star players Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Jason Isringhausen to free agency, Oakland Athletics gen. mgr. (since 1998) William Lamar "Billy" Beane III (1962-) tries the new Sabermetrics (coined by Bill James after the Society for Am. Baseball Research) approach to player scouting, which selects them based on on-base percentage (OBP) rather than scout evaluations, hiring submarine pitcher Chad Bradford, aging outfielder David Justice, and injured 1B player Scott Hatteberg, trading away Carlos Pena to make room for him; after winning 19 in a row, they lead the Kansas City Royals by 11-0 after inning 3, only to see them tie the score at 11-11 until Hatteberg homers, making it 20 in a row; too bad, after sweeping the Minnesota Twins in the playoffs, they are swept by the Detroit Tigers in the AL Championship Series, but the other ML teams see the light and scramble to adopt his system, causing the Boston Red Sox to offer him a record $12.5M salary to become their gen. mgr., which he turns down, after which the Red Sox wins the 2004 World Series; the A's reach the playoffs 5x in eight seasons, with winning records each year. Architecture: 9/11 or no 9/11, they're not taking away Yankee football? On May 11 $325M Gillette Stadium in Foxborough (near Boston), Mass. opens on May 11 as the new home of the NFL New England Patriots; on July 28 $430M Qwest Field in Seattle, Wash. opens as the new home of the NFL Seattle Seahawks; in June 2011 it becomes CenturyLink Field; on Aug. 24 $352M Reliant Stadium in Houston, Tex. opens as the new home of the NFL Houston Texans; on Mar. 19, 2014 it is renamed the NRG Stadium after Reliant Energy's parent co. NRG Energy; on Aug. 24 $500M Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. opens as the new home of the NFL Detroit Lions. On Nov. 6 the 3m-tall bronze Rainman (L'Uomo della Pioggia) Fountain debuts in Florence, Italy for the Florence Social Forum, designed by artist Jean-Michel Folon; too bad, its location on a roundabout in front of Obihall Theater makes it a target for motorists, and it is damaged in 2015 and 2017. The 1,503-ft.-long 315-ft.-high 23-ft.-wide arch Alqueva Dam in S Portugal (begun 1995) is completed, damming the Guadiana River and creating the largest reservoir in W Europe (97 sq. mi.); it reaches full level in 2010. Nobel Prizes: Peace: James Earl "Jimmy" Carter Jr. (1924-) (U.S.) [for his work "to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development"]; Lit.: Imre Kertesz (Kertész) (1929-) (Hungary); Physics: Raymond Davis Jr. (1914-2006) (U.S.) and Masatoshi Koshiba (1926-) (Japan) [detection of cosmic neutrinos], and Riccardo Giacconi (1931-) (U.S.) [X-ray astronomy]; Chem.: John Bennett Fenn (1917-2010) (U.S.) [electrospray ionization technique] and Koichi Tanaka (1959-) (Japan) [mass spectrometry of biological macromolecules], Kurt Wuthrich (Wüthrich) (1938-) (Switzerland) [3-D structure of biological macromolecules]; Med.: Sydney Brenner (1927-2019) (South Africa), and Sir John Edward Sulston (1942-) (U.K.), and Howard Robert Horvitz (1947-) (U.S.) [use of roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans for genetic analysis]; Econ.: Daniel Kahneman (1934-) (Israel) [Prospect Theory], and Vernon Lomax Smith (1927-) (U.S.) [empirical economic analysis]. Inventions: On May 4 the NASA Boeing Aqua (EOS PM-1) satellite is launched from Vanderberg AFB, settling into a Sun-synchronous orbit with several other satellites to measure water on the Earth's surface and atmosphere, becoming the 2nd major component of the Earth Observing System (EOS) after Terra (EOS AM-1) (launched in 1999) (clouds, water, ice, land surface, carbon monoxide, aerosols) and Aura (EOS CH-1) (launched July 15, 2004) (climate, air quality, ozone layer). In June Space X (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) is founded in Hawthorne, Calif. by PayPal and Tesla Motors billionaire Elon Musk to send spacecraft to Mars and colonize it, going on to develop the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 reusable launch vehicles, and the Dragon spacecraft; in 2008 the Falcon 1 becomes the first privately-funded liquid-propelled rocket to reach Earth orbit. In June NASA scientists test Indian-born Sun-Gazer (Breatharian) Hira Ratan Manek (Hirachand) (HRM) (1937-) of Winter Fark, Fla., who claims he lived only on liquids and sunlight for eight years, verifying that he survived 130 days on water plus one hour of staring at the sun at sunset, claiming to "eat through his eyes"; sun-gazers make several startling claims about the sunlight enlarging their pineal glands and curing diseases; too bad, HRM is later caught eating, lying, then admitting it. On Sept. 20 the Tor (The Onion Router) anonymity network is released, becoming a favorite avenue of the Dark Web. On Dec. 28 LinkedIn business-employment-oriented social networking Web site is founded in Mountain View, Calif. by Reid Garrett Hoffman (1967-) and partners from PayPal and Socialnet.com, launching on May 5 and reaching 106M active members by Apr. 2017 after being acquired by Microsoft on Dec. 8, 2016 for $26.6B; "When I graduated from Stanford my plan was to become a professor and public intellectual. That is not about quoting Kant. It's about holding up a lens to society and asking 'who are we?' and 'who should we be, as individuals and a society?' But I realised academics write books that 50 or 60 people read and I wanted more impact." (Hoffman) The U.S. FDA approves the atypical antipsychotic drug Aripiprazole (brand name Ability), developed by Otsuka of Japan for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; sales reach $6.9B in 2013. The Cadillac CTS mid-size luxury line is introduced, designed by Wayne K. Cherry (1937-) and Kip Wasenko. After going on a surfing trip to Australia and wanting an affordable action camera system, GoPro Inc. (originally Woodman Labs Inc.) is founded by Nicholas D. "Nick" Woodman (1974-) to manufacture action cameras. The Roomba autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner, designed by Helen Greiner et al. is introduced by iRobot, selling 10M units by Feb. 2014. The $299 TiVo Series 2 is released, with a 60GB hard drive that records 60 hours of video; prices later slide to $149. Science: In Feb. researchers in Texas announce that they are the first to successfully clone a domestic cat. The Mar. 21 issue of Nature reports the discovery in China of Lisoceratops, a dog-sized horned dinosaur that may be a cousin to the Triceratops. In Apr. the Earth Simulator supercomputer in Kanagawa, Japan achieves a computing speed of 35.61 teraflops, over 5x as fast as IBM's ASCI White at Lawrence Livermore Labs. On May 28 NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovers enormous quantities of ice on Mars. As of July 1 1B personal computers (PCs) have been sold worldwide. In July scientists at Australian Nat. U. prove that the Second Law of Thermodynamics can be violated by nanomachines? In July scientists at SUNY build a polio virus in the lab using public gene databases, becoming the first known infectious agent manufactured in a lab from scratch. In July French anthropologist Michel Brunet announces the discovery in Chad of a 6-7 M-y.-o. skull of a flat-faced hominid nicknamed Toumai ("hope of life"). In Aug. Swedish biologist Svante Paabo (Pääbo) (1955-) pub. the discovery of the FOXP2 "language gene". In Aug. researchers report new evidence confirming the existence of ancient bacteria on Mars. In Aug. the first functioning penis (of a rabbit) is grown in a lab from cells at Harvard Medical School - the first artificial playboy bunny? In the fall the world's first carbon nanotube factory opens in Tokyo. In the fall the Rosetta Project produces its first Rosetta disk containing 1.4K of the world's 7K languages on a 3-in. nickel disk for future preservation. On Oct. 9 scientists at the Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research (JINR) and Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab announce the discovery of the new element (a halogen) Ununoctium (Uuo) (#118). On Dec. 26 Clonaid announces the birth of 7 lb. Eve, the world's first cloned baby human. Michael Hall improves the Heisenberg quantum uncertainty relation to an equation rather than an inequality. Manhattan, N.Y.-born psychiatrist William S. Breitbart (1951-) develops Meaning-Centered Therapy for patients near the end of life, letting them rely on their spiritual beliefs. The Human Genome Project pub. its first major analysis of blood samples from 52 world pops. converted into 1K cell lines, showing that the subjects' genomes fall into five major clusters corresponding to their continent of origin and therefore their race, and that all coalesce to a single root ancestral pop. that began to migrate from NE Africa 50K years ago. The synthetic unstable radioactive chemical element Oganesson (Og) (#118) is discovered at the Joint Inst. for Nuclear Research (JINR) near Moscow by a joint team of Am. and Russian scientists, named after nuclear physicist Yuri Tsolakovich Oganessian (1933-). The Yukagir Mammoth is discovered in the permafrost in Siberia; its head is still covered with skin and tufts of hair. Textile expert Mechthild Flury-Lemberg claims that the Shroud of Turin has a herringbone weave common in the 1st cent. C.E. Middle East. Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Inst. discover mouthless worms who live in dead whale skeletons and feed off bacteria who eat their bones, causing biologists to create the new species Osedax, (Lat. "bone-eating") and theorize that they existed before whales and fed on dino bones; males live inside the bodies of the females, never developing past the larval stage. Mary Leitao proposes the name Morgellons Disease (Syndrome) for the infectious condition characterized by finding fibers on or under the skin along with skin lesions. Nonfiction: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), Albion: The Origins of the English Imagination. Francesco Alberoni (1929-), The Art of Commanding. Maya Angelou (1928-), A Song Flung Up to Heaven (autobio.). Jonathan Ames (1964-), My Less Than Secret Life: A Diary, Fiction, Essays. Jose Arguelles (1939-2011), Time and the Technosphere: The Law of Time in Human Affairs; proposes a 13-moon 28-day calendar to "get the human race back on course". Karen Armstrong (1944-), Faith After September 11. Isaac Asimov (1920-92), It's Been a Good Life (autobio.) (posth.); ed. by Janet Asimov. Rick Atkinson (1952-), An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 (Pulitzer Prize); Liberation Trilogy #1. Ian Graeme Barbour (1923-), Nature, Human Nature, and God. Lisa Beamer (with Ken Abraham), Let's Roll!. Francis Beckwith, Carl Mosser, and Paul Owen (eds.), The New Mormon Challenge (Feb. 26); claims that the LDS Church has turned into a slick proselytizing machine making 300K converts/year, threatening to become the first world religion since Islam (265M members by 2080), and that its scholars have achieved academic respectability, attempting to meet them head-on with new research and scholarship challenging their doctrines and making the case for historical Christianity. Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Age of Sacred Terror (Oct. 1); U.S. Nat. Security Council dirs. of counterterrorism claim that Osama bin Laden isn't at the root of Muslim terrorism but merely a branch; they sign the book contract before 9/11? Ira Berlin (1941-), Generations of Captivity: A History of Slaves in the United States. Michael R. Beschloss (1955-), The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-1945; NYT bestseller. Jeremy Black, The World in the Twentieth Century. William Bloom (1948-), Feeling Safe: How to Be Strong and Positive in a Changing World (Oct. 24). Richard Blow, American Son. Asa Briggs (1921-) and Peter Burke (1937-), A Social History of the Media: From Gutenberg to the Internet. Douglas Brinkley (1960-) and Stephen Ambrose (1936-2002), The Mississippi and the Making of a Nation. David Brock (1962-), Blinded by the Right. Peter Brown (1935-), Poverty and Leadership in the Later Roman Empire. Ergun Caner (1966-) and Emil Caner, Unveiling Islam: An Insider's Look at Muslim Life and Beliefs. Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004), Inventing Norman Cantor: Confessions of a Medievalist (autobio.); laments the transformation of U.S. academia in the 2nd half of the 20th cent. from British-style humanism to French postmodernism. Fritjof Capra (1939-), The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living. Philip Caputo (1941-), Ghosts of Tsavo: Stalking the Mythic Lions of East Africa; Means of Escape: A War Correspondent's Memoir of Life and Death in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Vietnam. Robert Allan Caro (1935-), Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Pulitzer Prize). Gerald Celente (1946-), What Zizi Gave Honeyboy: A True Story About Love, Wisdom, and the Soul of America. Ha-Joon Chang (1963-), Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (Sept. 1); claims that developed countries climb to the top then you know what to keep developing countries down. Phyllis Chesler (1940-), Woman's Inhumanity to Woman; Women of the Wall: Claiming Sacred Ground at Judaism's Holy Site; the 1989 lawsuit by Women of the Wall to allow women to pray at the Wailing Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem. Tom Clancy (1947-2013), Carl Stiner, and Tony Koltz, Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces. Kurt Cobain (1967-94), Journals (posth.). Robert Cohen and Reginald E. Zelnik, The Free Speech Movement: Reflections on Berkeley in the 1960s. Andrew Cooke, On His Majesty's Secret Service: Sidney Reilly; incl. a report by Grigory Fedulyev claiming he was one of four men who shot Reilly in the woods near Moscow on Nov. 5, 1925. Tony Cornell (1924-2010), Investigating the Paranormal (June); his magnum opus after 50 years of research, which finds that it's mostly bunk; "I take the view that the most nonsensical aspect of much of the physical phenomena in the seance room is the implicit notion that the discarnate resort to such ludicrous, absurd, and facile physical effects to prove that there is life after death. If, as claimed, life in the next world is more advanced than that on earth, one might be forgiven to expect proof of a more intelligent type than what appears acceptable to both the dead and the living, night after night, in the seance room. The shaking of tables and banging of tambourines, the creation of cold breezes and touches, trumpets cavorting and prancing about the room banging the heads of the sitters, and all the other antics that go on in the dark say little for the proficiency of the alleged discarnate visitors. If the "spirits" have been capable of such a momentous feat as surviving bodily death transcending time and manipulating matter in this world while existing in another dimension of time and space – why do they not materialize in the seance room something really worth the effort?" Patricia Cornwell (1956-), Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed; claims he's sicko violent artist Walter Sickert (1860-1942). Ann Coulter (1961-), Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right. Richard Ben Cramer (1950-), What Do You Think of Ted Williams Now? A Remembrance. Clive Cussler (1931-), The Sea Hunters II: Diving the World's Seas for Famous Shipwrecks. William Dalrymple, White Mughals. Raymond Fredric Dasmann (1919-2002), Called by the Wild. Vince Deloria Jr. (1933-2005), Evolution, Creationism, and Other Modern Myths: A Critical Inquiry. Thomas Michael Disch (1940-2008), The Castle of Perseverance: Job Opportunities in Contemporary Poetry. Arthur J. Dommen, The Indochinese Experience of the French and the Americans: Nationalism and Communism in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam (Jan. 1); history of Vietnam since 1858. Michael Drosnin, The Bible Code II; claims that ETs left the code in a steel obelisk buried near the Dead Sea. Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005), a href="http://google.com">Managing in the Next Society. Dinesh D'Souza (1961-), Letters to a Young Conservative. Daniel Ellsberg (1931-), Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. Steven Emerson (1953-), American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us. Joseph Epstein (1937-), Snobbery: The American Version. Michael J. Fox (1961-), Lucky Man: A Memoir (autobio). Jonathan Franzen (1959-), How to Be Alone (essays); incl. Perchance to Dream: In the Age of Images a Reason to Write Novels (first pub. in Harper's Mag., Apr. 1996). Marilyn French (1929-2009), From Eve to Dawn: A History of Women (3 vols.). Francis Fukuyama (1952-), Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution; calls Transhumanism the world's most dangerous idea. John Lewis Gaddis (1941-), Philip H. Gordon, Ernest R. May, and Jonathan Rosenberg (eds.), The Landscape of History: How Historians Map the Past. Peter Gay (1923-2015), Schnitlzer's Century; a definitive work on the social history of the 19th cent. from the defeat of Napoleon to 1914. Elizabeth M. Gilbert (1969-), The Last American Man; naturalist Eustace Conway (1961-). Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015), The Twentieth Century: A Short History; Letters to Auntie Fori: The 5,000-Year History of the Jewish People and Their Faith; The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust. Rudolph W. Giuliani (1944-) (with Ken Kurson), Leadership. Edward Glaeser and Andrei Schleifer, The Curley Effect; about 4x (1914-50) Boston mayor James Michael Curley, known for "increasing the relative size of one's political base through distortionary, wealth-reducing policies"; "Counterintuitively, making a city poorer leads to political success for the engineers of that impoverishment." (Forbes mag.) - Obama got the message? Daniel Goldhagen (1959-), A Moral Reckoning. Ernst Gombrich (1909-2001), The Preference for the Primitive: Episodes in the History of Western Taste and Art (May 16) (posth.). Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012), Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism, and the Politics of Identity. Jan Goodwin, Price of Honor: Muslim Women Lift the Veil of Silence on the Islamic World (Dec. 31). Annette Gordon-Reed (1958-), Race on Trial: Law and Justice in American History. Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), I Have Landed: The End of a Beginning in Natural History (10th and last vol. of 300 essays from Nat. History mag. since 1977); The Structure of Evolutionary Theory; his magnum opus, explaining his theory of punctuated evolution, which claims that there are long stretches where evolution doesn't happen, followed by short stages where it pops in and out while we're not looking, like a stage magician?; pisses-off many evolutionists, who want to believe it's a natural law that's happening all the time, and not another set of black holes on the GTT. Norman Arthur Graebner (1915-2010), A Twentieth-Century Odyssey: Memoir of a Life in Academe (autobio.). David Halberstam (1934-2007), Firehouse: New Insights into Unimaginable Loss. Graham Hancock (1950-) and Santha Faiia, Fingerprints of the Gods: The Quest Continues. Peter Handke (1942-), Spoken and Written: About Books, Images and Films 1992-2000. Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism. Jim Harrison (1937-), Off to the Side: A Memoir. Riaz Hassan, Faithlines: Muslim Conceptions of Islam and Society; concludes that Muslim states with Islamic govts. end up with little trust in religious leaders, and that it is best to keep faithlines separate from "the faultlines of the political terrain"; "You can have power or trust, but not both." Stephen Hawking (1942-) et al., The Future of Spacetime; essays on time travel. David R. Hawkins (1927-2012), Power vs. Force: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior; pushes Applied Kinesiology (AK), a pseudo-science claiming that the extended arm can be used as a lie detector with a dowsing maneuver applied by the tester, and in addition a spiritual scale of absolute truth can be based on it, with Christ maxing the scale out at 1000, which some criticize as threatening to found a new fundamentalist cult, esp. when Hawkins rates himself at 999.8; rev. ed. pub. on May 15, 2012. Patricia Heaton (1958-), Motherhood and Hollywood: How to Get a Job Like Mine (autobio.). Chris Hedges (1956-), War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning (Sept. 3); "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug, one I ingested for many years." Carolyn Heilbrun (1926-), When Men Were the Only Models We Had (autobio.). Michel Henry (1922-2002), Paroles du Christ. Arthur Herman, How the Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World & Everything in It (Sept. 24); James Watt, Adam Smith, Andrew Carnegie, Arthur Conan Doyle, William "Braveheart" Wallace, James Bond - like I've been telling you for years? Dorothy Hewett (1923-2002), The Empty Room (autobio.) (posth.). Edward Hoagland (1932-), Compass Points. Benjamin Hoff (1946-), The House on the Point. Randall G. Holcombe, From Liberty to Democracy: The Transformation of American Government. David Joel Horowitz (1939-), How to Beat the Democrats and Other Subversive Ideas; Uncivil Wars: The Controversy Over Reparations for Slavery. A.E. Hotchner (1920-), The Day I Fired Alan Ladd and Other World War II Adventures. Tristram Hunt (1974-), The English Civil War at First Hand (first book). Sherman A. Jackson, On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam: Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's Faysal al-Tafriqa. Michael F. Jacobson, Restaurant Confidential (May 6). Philip Jenkins (1952-), The Next Christendom: The Rise of Global Christianity. David Cay Johnston (1948-), Pefectly Legal - The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super-Rich - and Cheat Everyone Else. Efraim Karsh (1953-), The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988; The Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Palestine War 1948. Michael T. Kaufman, Soros: The Life and Times of a Messianic Billionaire. Sir John Keegan (1934-), Winston Churchill. Martin Kramer (1954-), Ivory Towers on Sand: The Failure of Middle Eastern Studies in America; Western Arab scholars are apologists for radical Islam not purveyors of knowledge about Islam that "came under a take-no-prisoners assault, which rejected the idea of objective standards, disguised the vice of politicization as the virtue of commitment, and replaced proficiency with ideology", pushing the Marxist narrative of Western colonial and imperial crimes. Matthias Kuentzel, Jihad and Jew Hatred: Islamism, Nazism and the Roots of 9/11; how the Nazis propagandized Arabs in the 1930s-40s to become more rabid anti-Semites with a sophisticated theory of a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world and destroy Islam, tracing from Hassan Al-Banna and Haj Amin al-Husseini to Sayyid Qutb, al-Qaida, and the Hamburg Cell. Stanley I. Kutler (ed.), Dictionary of Am. History (10 vols.). Jean-Jacques Laffont (1947-2004) and David Martimort, The Theory of Incentives: The Principal-Agent Model; discusses the Principal-Agent Problem. Wally Lamb (1950-), Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters. Frances Moore Lappe (1944-), Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. Joseph E. LeDoux (1949-), Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are. Derek Leebaert, The Fifty-Year Wound: The True Price of America's Cold War Victory. Mel Levine, A Mind at a Time. Bernard Lewis (1916-), What Went Wrong: Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response (Jan.); used as the main intellectual ammo by the Bush admin. to justify invading Iraq, AKA the Lewis Doctrine (an attempt to impose the secular Muslim Kemal Ataturk model), which doesn't help Bush's image in the Middle East because Lewis is a Zionist Jew. Hal Lindsey (1929-), The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad (July); are Islamic fundamentalists an aberrant group or the true followers of 7th cent. prophet Muhmmad? Michelle Malkin (1970-), Invasion: How America Still Welcomes Terrorists, Criminals, and Other Foreign Menaces. Thomas Mallon, Mrs. Paine's Garage and the Murder of John F. Kennedy. Peter Mandler (1958-), History and National Life (Dec.); denies that history is only about finding out who we are and where we come from, and is less directly "useful", but also richer than that. Manning Marable (1950-2011) et al., Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle. Ali al-Amin Mazrui (1933-), Africanity Redefined: Collected Essays (2 vols.); The Titan of Tanzania: Julius K. Nyere's Legacy; Black Reparations in the Era of Globalization. John McPhee (1931-), The Founding Fish. John McEnroe (with James Kaplan), You Cannot Be Serious. Gavin Menzies, 1421: The Year China Discovered Amerca; bestseller claiming that Chinese adm. Zheng He beat Columbus to it, visiting Cuba and Rhode Island. Fergus Millar (1935-), The Roman Republic in Political Thought; claims that the early rather than late Roman Repub. most influenced later political thought; Rome, the Greek World, and the East (essays) (3 vols.); ed. by Hannah M. Cotton and Guy M. Rogers; how Greco-Roman culture impacted the peoples of the E Mediterranean, influencing the development of Christianity, Rabbinical Judaism, and Islam. Eric Henry Monkkonen (1942-2005), Crime, Justice, History (essays). Michael Moore (1954-), Stupid White Men. Edmund Sears Morgan (1916-2013), Benjamin Franklin; NYT bestseller; explodes the myth of "a comfortable old gentleman staring out at the world over his half-glasses with benevolent comprehension of everything in it", revealing his true mindset; "With a wisdom about himself that comes only to the great of heart, Franklin knew how to value himself and what he did without mistaking himself for something more than one man among many. His special brand of self-respect required him to honor his fellow men and women no less than himself." Richard Ward Morris (1939-2003), The Big Questions: Probing the Promise and Limits of Science. Arnold A. Offner, Another Such Victory; the revisionist school of the historiography of Truman's foreign policy. Michael B. Oren (1955-), Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East (first book). Michael Parenti (1933-), The Terrorism Trap: September 11 and Beyond. Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926-), The Crack in the Cosmic Egg: New Constructs of Mind and Reality; The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint of the Human Spirit; "Culture is the enemy of biology." Carlota Perez (1939-), Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital: The Dynamics of Bubbles and Golden Ages; claims techno-economic paradigm shifts in five past technological revolutions; "So during this period, financial capital generates a powerful magnet to attract investment into the new areas, hence accelerating the hold of the paradigm on what becomes the 'new economy'... In a world of capital gains, real estate bubbles and foreign adventures with money, all notion of the real value of anything is lost. Uncontrollable asset inflation sets in while debt mounts at a reckless rhythm; much of it to enter the casino." Ralph Peters (1952-), Beyond Terror: Strategy in a Changing World. Kevin Phillips (1940-), Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich. Daniel Pinchbeck (1966-), Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism. Steven Pinker (1954-), The Blank State: The Modern Denial of Human Nature; bestseller arguing against tabula rasa models of the social sciences, claiming that human behavior is shaped by Darwinian evolution. Robert Pinsky (1940-), Democracy, Culture, and the Voice of Poetry. Daniel Pipes (1949-), Militant Islam Reaches America; In the Path of God: Islam and Political Power; Muslim Immigrants in the United States; Harvard-educated pro-Israel Jewish historian, who warned about al-Qaida planning attacks on the U.S. 4 mo. before 9/11 begins piping on the Muslim threat to the U.S., claiming that Saudia Arabia is a "rival" to the U.S. and should be sued by 9/11 families for compensation, advocating that Muslims in U.S. govt. positions be treated as security risks, and asserting that U.S. mosques are militant breeding grounds; he later backs the U.S. Iraq War, claiming that winning it will reduce not increase terrorism, and also claims that Barack Obama is an apostate Muslim subject to execution; meanwhile he founds the Web site Campus Watch, causing a filibuster in the U.S. Senate led by Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) against his nomination by Pres. Bush to the board of the U.S. Inst. of Peace. Roy Porter (1946-2002), Madness: A Brief History. Samantha Power (1970-), "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide (Pulitzer Prize); argues for interentionism in cases of genocide. Susan Powter (1958-), The Politics of Stupid. Reg Presley (1941-), Wild Things They Don't Tell Us (Oct.); frontman for The Troggs is into crop circle research. Dennis Michael Quinn (1944-), Elder Statesman: A Biography of J. Reuben Clark. Janice G. Raymond (1943-), Sex Trafficking in the United States: Links Between International and Domestic Sex Industries. Howard Rheingold (1947-), Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution (Oct. 15). Richard Rhodes (1937-), Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust. Richard Rodriguez (1944-), Brown: The Last Discovery of America (autobio.). David M. Rohl (1950-), The Lost Testament: From Eden to Exile - The Epic History of the People of the Bible. John Ross (1938-2011), Mexico in Focus: A Guide to the People, Politics, and Culture; The War Against Oblivion: The Zapatista Chronicles. Barry Rubin (1950-2014), Istanbul Intrigues; The Tragedy of the Middle East; Islamic Fundamentalism in Egyptian Politics. Peter Russell (1946-), From Science to God: A Physicist's Journey into the Mystery of Consciousness. Kamal Salibi (1929-2011), A Bird on an Oak Tree. Michael Savage (1942-), The Savage Nation. Peter Schweizer (1964-), Reagan's War: The Epic Story of His Forty Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism; filmed in 2004 as "In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed". Ilyasah Shabazz (1962-), Growing Up X: A Memoir by the Daughter of Malcolm X (autobio.); daughter #3 of Malcolm X (1925-65). Anthony Shaffer (1926-2001), So What Did You Expect? (autobio.) (posth.). Peter Singer (1946-), One World: The Ethics of Globalization. Zecharia Sitchin (1920-2010), The Lost Book of Eniki: Memoirs and Prophecies of an Extraterrestrial God; humans were genetically engineered by the Annunaki from Planet X? Quentin Skinner (1940-), Visions of Politics (3 vols.). Jane Idleman Smith and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection. George Soros (1930-), George Soros on Globalization. Thomas Sowell (1930-), A Personal Odyssey; Controversial Essays; The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late. Robert Spencer (1962-), The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades); "Am I calling for a war between Christianity and Islam? Certainly not. What I am calling for is a general recognition that we are already in a war. …What we are fighting today is not precisely a 'war on terror'. Terror is a tactic, not an opponent. To wage a 'war on terror' is like waging a 'war on bombs': it focuses on a tool of the enemy rather than the enemy itself. A refusal to identify the enemy is extremely dangerous"; Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest Growing Faith (Nov. 25); how the Western PC mantra about Muslim terrorists being "fundamentalists" is moose hockey because the goal of Islam has always been the absolute domination of the world, along with the belief that "anyone who renounces Islam deserves to die", plus "the fundamental cause of jihad is to terminate Paganism", therefore "this would mean that jihad must continue as long as there are unbelievers". Joseph Stiglitz (1943-), Globalization and Its Discontents; blames the IMF for funding developing economics which don't develop. Harry G. Summers Jr. (1932-99), On Strategy: The Vietnam War in Context (posth.). Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), The Cost-Benefit State; Risk and Reason; Republic.com; Free Markets and Social Justice. Terry Teachout, The Skeptic: A Life of H.L. Mencken. Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World, "Actually, President Bush was quite right to reject the Kyoto protocol... Kyoto was an anti-growth, anti-capitalist, anti-American project which no American leader alert to his country's national interests could have supported." (Ch. 11) Marlo Thomas (1937-) (ed.), The Right Words at the Right Time; 108 famous people tell about the words that changed their lives. Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-), Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson; bestseller (200K copies) accusing Rev. Jesse Jackson of criminal connections and extortion of businesses. Colm Toibin (1955-), Love in a Dark Time: Gay Lives from Wilde to Almodovar - dark as in beso negro? Tevi Troy (1967-), Intellectuals and the American Presidency: Philosophers, Jesters, or Technicians?. Charlotte A. Twight, Dependent on D.C.: The Rise of Federal Control Over the Lives of Ordinary Americans. United Nations, World Atlas of Biodiversity. Joseph Wambaugh (1937-), Fire Lover: A True Story; Los Angeles "Pillow Pyro" arsonist John Leonard Orr (1949-). Ibn Warraq (1946-) (ed.), What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text and Commentary. Rick Warren (1954-), The Purpose Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission; bestseller (30M copies); a Bible study book leading readers on a 40-day personal spiritual journey illustrating God's five purposes for human life on Earth; the five Global Goliaths: spiritual emptiness, egocentric leadership, extreme poverty, pandemic disease, illiteracy/poor education. Brian Weiss (1944-), Mirrors of Time: Using Regression for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Healing (Feb. 1). Fay Weldon (1931-), Auto de Fay (autobio.). Stuart Wilde (1946-) and Brook Claussen, Wilde Unplugged: A Dictionary of Life. Oliver Eaton Williamson (1932-), The Theory of the Firm as Governance Structure: From Choice to Contract. Garry Wills (1934-), Why I Am a Catholic; Mr. Jefferson's University; James Madison. Andrew Norman Wilson (1950-), The Victorians; sells 150K copies. Edward Osborne Wilson (1929-), The Future of Life. Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), TSOG: The Thing That Ate the Constitution; the Tsarist Occupation Govt. of the U.S., beginning with George H.W. Bush. Rosalind Wiseman, Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence; basis of the 2004 movie "Mean Girls". Fred Alan Wolf (1934-), Matter into Feeling: A New Alchemy of Science and Spirit. Stephen Wolfram (1959-), A New Kind of Science (May 14); claims that simple digital programs not equations are needed to do science because the Universe is ultimately digital - a resounding thud is heard? Bob Woodward (1943-), Bush At War: Inside the Bush White House. Toby Young (1963-), How to Lose Friends & Alienate People: A Memoir; "England's heterosexual Truman Capote" and his 5-year attempt to make a career in the U.S. at Vanity Fair and Hollyweird. Cecily von Ziegesar (1970-), Gossip Girl; first in a series about girls at a fancy Manhattan prep school. Howard Zinn (1922-2010), Terrorism and War. Zondervan Pub. House (a div. of Harper-Collins), Today's New International Version Bible; an update to the 1978 New International Version, with 50K changes made by 15 Biblical scholars; in Jan. 2005 Rolling Stone mag. rejects an ad for it, but reverses itself in the face of criticism. Art: Lucian Freud (1922-), Naked Portrait of Pregnant Supermodel Kate Moss; auctioned for $6.5M at Christie's Internat. in London in Feb. 2005. Andy Goldsworthy (1956-), Townhead Burn, Dumfriesshire, 25 November 2002 (photographs). Roberto Matta (1911-2002), Post History Chicken Flowers; La Dulce Acqua Vita; La Source du Calme (last work). Sigmar Polke (1941-), The Hunt for the Taliban and Al-Qaida. Daniel Richter (1962-), Dog Planet; 9' x 11.5'. Music: Ryan Adams (1974-), Demolition (album). Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf (album #3) (Aug. 27)(#17 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.) (986K copies); Dave Grohl plays drums; incl. Go With the Flow (#116 in the U.S., #21 in the U.K.), No One Knows (#51 in the U.S., #15 in the U.K.), First It Giveth (#33 in the U.K.). Christina Aguilera (1980-), Stripped (album #4) (Oct. 26) (#2 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (10M copies); criticized for being too dirty, making it more popular?; incl. Impossible (w/Alicia Keys), Dirrty (w/Reggie "Redman" Noble) (#1 in the U.K.), Beautiful (#2 in the U.S.) ("one of the best pop sings ever written" - Simon Cowell"). a-ha, Lifelines (album #7) (Apr. 2); sells 1.5M copies; incl. Lifelines, Forever Not Yours, Did Anyone Approach You? Gregg Allman (1947-), No Stranger to the Dark: The Best of Gregg Allman (album). Amon Amarth, Versus the World (album #4) (Nov. 18); incl. Versus the World, Across the Rainbow Bridge, Thousand Years of Oppression. America, Holiday Harmony (album #15) (Oct. 1); their first Xmas album; The Grand Cayman Concert (album) (Nov. 9); performed in the home of former bandmate Dan Peek by the duo of Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. Tori Amos (1963-), Scarlet's Walk (album #7) (Oct. 28) (#7 in the U.S., #26 in the U.K.); incl. A Sorta Fairytale (#11 in the U.S., #41 in the U.K.). India.Arie (1975-), Voyage to India (album #2) (Sept. 24) (#6 in the U.S., #82 in the U.K.); sells 2M copies; incl. Little Things, Can I Walk With You, The Truth, Get It Together. Joseph Arthur (1971-), Redemption's Son (album #3) (Nov. 26); incl. Redemption's Son, Honey and the Moon. Ashanti (1980-), Ashanti (album) (debut) (Apr. 2) (#1 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.) (6M copies, incl. 3M in the U.S., and a record 503K in its 1st week); incl. Foolish (#1 in the U.S.), Happy (w/Ja Rule) (#8 in the U.S.), Baby (#15 in the U.S.), Unfoolish (w/Biggie), Dreams; becomes the first female with three top-10 Billboard Hot 100 songs. John David Ashcroft (1942-), Let the Eagle Soar; by U.S. atty.-gen. #79 (2001-5). Audioslave, Audioslave (album) (debut) (3M copies); composed of former members of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine, incl. Chris Cornell (lead vocals, guitar), Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass), Brad Wilks (drums); incl. Like a Stone, Cochise, Show Me How to Live, I Am the Highway, What You Are. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle Be Unbroken Vol. 3 (album #3); first in 1972, 2nd in 1989. Beck (1970-), Sea Change (album). Belle and Sebastian, Storytelling (album #5) (June 3). Tony Bennett (1926-) and k.d. lang (1961-), A Wonderful World (labum, er, album) (Nov. 2); incl. La Vie en Rose, Exactly Like You, What a Wonderful World. Joe Bonamassa (1977-), So, It's Like That (album #2) (Aug. 13); incl. Pain and Sorrow. Boston, Corporate America (album #5) (Aug. 27). David Bowie (1947-), Heathen (album) (June 11); incl. Heathen, Slow Burn, Afraid, A Better Future. Pet Shop Boys, Release (album) (Apr. 1); sells 800K copies; incl. Home and Dry, I Get Along, London. Billy Bragg (1957-) and The Blokes, England, Half-English (album #6) (Mar. 5); against xenophobia in England; incl. St. Monday, Take Down the Union Jack (#22 in the U.K.). Laura Branigan (1952-2004), The Essentials: Laura Branigan (album). Henry Brant (1913-2008), Ice Field (Pulitzer Prize). Toni Braxton (1967-), More Than a Woman (album) (Nov.); incl. Hit the Freeway (w/Loon). Jackson Browne (1948-), The Naked Ride Home (album #2) (#36 in the U.S.) (Sept. 24); incl. The Night Inside Me. Jimmy Buffett (1946-), Far Side of the World (album #25) (Mar. 19). Chris de Burgh (1948-), Timing is Everything (album #13) (Oct. 8); incl. Timing is Everything. The Caesars, Jerk It Out; AKA Caesars Palace, Twelve Caesars; from Sweden, incl. Joakim Ĺhlund, César Vidal, David Lindquist, and Nino Keller. Cam'ron (1974-), Come Home with Me (album); incl. Oh Boy and Hey Ma. Mariah Carey (1970-), Charmbracelet (album #9) (Dec. 3); 1st album on the Island Records label; incl. Through the Rain, Boy (I Need You), The One. Vanessa Carlton (1980-), Be Not Nobody (album) (debut); incl. A Thousand Miles. Neko Case (1970-) and Her Boyfriends, Blacklisted (album #3) (Aug. 20). Soft Cell, Cruelty Without Beauty (album #4) (Oct. 8); last album in 1984. Tracy Chapman (1964-), Let It Rain (album #6) (Oct. 15) (#25 in th4e U.S.); incl. Let It Rain. Kenny Chesney (1968-), No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems (album) (Apr. 23); incl. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems, Young, The Good Stuff. Dixie Chicks, Home (album #3); incl. White Trash Wedding, Top of the World. Kelly Clarkson (1982-), Moment Like This (debut) (Sept. 17) (#1 in the U.S.) (#1 in Canada). Biffy Clyro, Blackened Sky (album) (debut) (Mar. 10) (#78 in the U.K.); formerly Screwfish; from Kilmarnock, Scotland, incl. Simon Alexander Neil (1979-) (vocals), James Roberto Johnston (1980-) (bass) and twin brother Ben Hamilton Johnston (1980-) (drums); incl. 27, 57, Justboy, Joy Discovery Invention. Joe Cocker (1944-2014), Respect Yourself (album #18) (July 16). Coldplay, A Rush of Blood to the Head (album #2) (Aug. 26) (#5 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); sells 13M copies; incl. Clocks, God Put a Smile Upon Your Face, In My Place, The Scientist. Phil Collins (1951-), Testify (album) (Nov. 12); incl. Can't Stop Living You. Coolio (1963-), El Cool Magnifico (album #4) (Oct. 15); a flop. Elvis Costello (1954-), When I Was Cruel (album #20) (Apr. 23). Elvis Costello (1954-) and the Imposters, Cruel Smile (Oct. 1). Cracker, Forever (album #6) (Jan. 29); incl. Shine. King Crimson, Ladies of the Road (album) (Nov. 12). Counting Crows, Hard Candy (album #4) (June 7) (#5 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. Hard Candy, American Girls (#24 in the U.S., #33 in the U.K.) Big Yellow Taxi (w/Vanessa Carlton) (hidden track) (#16 in the U.K.). Death Cab for Cutie, The Stability EP (album) (Feb. 19); last with drummer Michael Schorr. Craig Ashley David (1981-), Slicker Than Your Average (album) (Nov. 19); incl. Slicker Than Your Average, Rise & Fall (with Sting). The Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Vol. 24 (album) (Feb. 11); recorded on Mar. 23, 1974 in Daly City, Calif.; Dick's Picks Vol. 25 (album) (July 20); recorded on May 10-11, 1978; View from the Vault, Vol. 3 (album) (Aug.); Dick's Picks Vol. 26 (album) (Oct.); recorded on Apr. 26-27, 1969. Celine Dion (1968-), A New Day Has Come (album #7) (Mar. 22); first album of original material since 1999; incl. A New Day Has Come. Disturbed, Believe (album #2) (Sept. 17, 2002) (#1 in the U.S., #41 in the U.K.); incl. Prayer, Remember, Liberate. Snoop Dogg (1971-), Paid the Cost to Be da Boss (album #6) (Nov. 26) (1.3M copies); incl. From the Chuuuch to da Palace (w/Pharrell), Beautiful (w/Pharrell). Dokken, Long Way Home (album #8) (Apr. 23). Goo Goo Dolls, Gutterflower (album #7) (Apr. 9) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. Here Is Gone (#3 in the U.S.), Big Machine, Sympathy. System of a Down, Steal This Album! (album #3) (Nov. 26); incl. Innervision, F**k the System. 3 Doors Down, Away from the Sun (album #2) (Nov. 12) (4M copies); incl. Here Without You, When I'm Gone, Sarah Yellin'. Hilary Duff (1987-), Santa Claus Lane (album) (debut) (Oct. 15) (#154 in the U.S.). Eminem (1972-), The Eminem Show (album) (June); best-selling album of 2002; sells 1M copies in its first week, getting criticized for its overuse of the word "motherfucker"; incl. Without Me; 8 Mile Soundtrack (album); incl. Lose Yourself; "Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity/ To seize everything you ever wanted - One moment/ Would you capture it or just let it slip?/... You can do anything you set your mind to, man." Public Enemy, Revolverlution (album #8) (July 23) (#110 in the U.S.). Eve (1978-), Eve-Olution (album #3) (Aug. 27); incl. Gangsta Lovin' (w/Alicia Keys). Marianne Faithfull (1946-), Kissin' Time (album); incl. Sex With Strangers (video co-stars Kate Moss). Foo Fighters, One by One (album #4) (Oct.); incl. All My Life, Times Like These, Low, Have It All. Filter, The Amalgamut (album #3) (July 30); incl. Where Do We Go From Here, and The Only Way (Is the Wrong Way). Fishbone, Fishbone and the Familyhood Nextperience Present: The Friendliest Psychosis of All (EP) (Feb. 19); Live at the Temple Bar and More (first live album) (June 18). Maroon 5, Songs About Jane (album) (debut) (June 25) (#6 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (2.7M copies); formerly Kara's Flowers; title refers to Adam Levine's ex-girlfriend Jane Herman; from Los Angeles, incl. Adam Noah Levine (1979-) (vocals), James Burgon Valentine (1978-) (guitar), Jesse Royal Carmichael (1979-) (keyboards), Michael Allen Madden (1979-) (bass), Ryan Michael Dusick (1977-)/ Matt Flynn (1970-) (drums); incl. This Love, Harder to Breathe, She Will Be Loved. Kenny G (1956-), Paradise (album #10); Wishes: A Holiday Album (album #11). Indigo Girls, Become You (album #8) (Mar. 12). Herbie Hancock (1940-), Directions in Music: Live at Massey. George Harrison (1943-2001), Brainwashed (album) (last album) (posth.) (Nov. 18) (#18 in the U.S., #29 in the U.K.); incl. Brainwashed, Any Road, Stuck Inside a Cloud. Heather Headley (1974-), This Is Who I Am (album) debut); incl. He Is, I Wish I Wasn't. Faith Hill (1967-), Cry (album); all pop no country?; incl. Cry, Baby You Belong. Whitney Houston (1963-2012), Just Whitney (album); her first dud, despite a $100M contract with Arista/BMG in Aug. 2001. David Ippolito, Crazy on the Same Day (album #5). LL Cool J (1968-), 10 (10th album); incl. Paradise (featuring Amerie), Luv U Better, All I Have (w/ Jennifer Lopez). Pearl Jam, Riot Act (album #7) (Nov. 12) (#5 in the U.S., #34 in the U.S.); last on Epic Records; incl. I Am Mine (#43 in the U.S., #26 in the U.K.). Jay-Z (1969-), The Blueprint 2: The Gift and the Curse (album #7) (Nov. 12); incl. 03 Bonnie & Clyde, Hovi Baby, Excuse Me Miss. Norah Jones (1979-), Come Away with Me (album) (debut) (Feb. 26) (#1 in the U.S.); sells 20M copies (#2 behind "The Beatles"); incl. Don't Know Why, Feelin' the Same Way, Come Away with Me, and Turn Me On. Journey, Red 13 (album) (Nov. 26). Bon Jovi, Bounce (album #8) (Oct. 8) (#2 in the U.S. and U.K.); incl. Bounce, Everyday, Misunderstood, All About Lovin' You. Juanes, Un Dia Normal (album #2) (May 21); incl. A Dios le Pido. Toby Keith (1961-), Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue: the Angry American (July); reaction to 9/11. R. Kelly (1967-) and Jay-Z (1969-), The Best of Both Worlds (album) (Mar. 19); incl. The Best of Both Worlds. The Black Keys, The Big Come Up (album) (debut) (May 20); from Akron, Ohio, incl. Dan Auerbach (vocals, guitar), and Patrick Carney (drums); incl. Leavin' Trunk, She Said, She Said, I'll Be Your Man (theme song for the HBO series "Hung"). Rilo Kiley, The Execution of All Things (album #2) (Oct. 1); incl. The Execution of All Things. Korn, Untouchables (album #5) (June 11) (#2 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); incl. Here to Stay (#4 in the U.S.), Thoughtless (#6 in the U.S.), Alone I Break (#19 in the U.S.). Avril Lavigne (1984-), Let Go (album) (debut) (Apr. 13) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (17M copies); incl. Complicated, Sk8er Boi, I'm With You, Losing Grip. Human League, The Golden Hour of the Future (album) (Oct. 20). Def Leppard, X (album #8) (July 30); incl. Now. Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (album #10) (July 15); incl. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1, Flight Test, Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, Do You Realize? (in Apr. 2009 a resolution to make it the Okla. state song is narrowly defeated in the Okla. legislature). Jennifer Lopez (1969-), This Is Me... Then (album #3) (Nov. 19) (#6 in the U.S.) (6M copies); incl. Jenny from the Block (w/Styles P and Jadakiss), All I Have (w/LL Cool J) (#1 in the U.S.), I'm Glad, Baby I Love U!. Iron Maiden, Rock in Rio (album) (Mar. 25); Edward the Great (album) (Nov. 5). Dave Matthews Band, Busted Stuff (album). Paul McCartney (1942-), Back in the U.S. (double album) (Nov. 11). Tim McGraw (1967-), Tim McGraw and the Dancehall Doctors (album); incl. Real Good Man, She's My Kind of Rain. Megadeth, Rude Awakening (Mar. 19); the band breaks up, then reforms in 2004 with only Dave Mustaine remaining; Still, Alive... and Well? (album) (Sept. 10); what do you want written on your tombstone? Joni Mitchell (1943-), Travelogue (double album #18). Moby, 18 (album with 18 tracks); incl. We Are All Made of Stars. Van Morrison (1945-), Down the Road (#29) (May 14). Alanis Morissette (1974-), Under Rug Swept (album) (Feb.); incl. Hands Clean, So Unsexy, Precious Illusions. Motorhead, Hammered (album #16) (Apr. 9); incl. The Game (written by Jim Johnson as entrance theme for WWE wrestler Triple H). Mountain, Mystic Fire (album). Michael Martin Murphey (1945-), Cowboy Christmas III (album #25). Graham Nash (1942-), Songs for Survivors (album #5) (July 30); incl. Dirty Little Secret. Naughty by Nature, IIcons (album #6) (Mar. 5) (#15 in the U.S); incl. Feels Good (Don't Worry Bout a Thing). Vomito Negro, Fireball (album #13). Nelly (1974-), Nellyville (album #2) (June 25) (#1 in the U.S.) (6M copies); incl. Hot in Herre ("It's gettin' hot in here/ So take off all your clothes"), Work It (w/ Justin Timberlake), Dilemma (w/Kelly Rowland), Air Force Ones (w/ the St. Lunatics), Pimp Juice. Nena, 99 Luftballon; new version. Olivia Newton-John (1948-), Two. Nonpoint, Development (album #2) (June 25) (#52 in the U.S.); incl. Circles. Oasis, Heathen Chemistry (album #5) (July 1) (#23 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); last with Alan White; incl. The Hindu Times, Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Little By Little/ She Is Love, Songbird. Sinead O'Connor (1966-), Sean-Nos Nua (album #6) (Oct. 8); "New Old Style" in Gaelic; incl. My Singing Bird, Peggy Gordon, My Lagan Love. Midnight Oil, Capricornia (album #14) (Feb. 19) (last before disbanding). Ozzy Osbourne (1948-), Live at Budokan (album) (June 25). Red Hot Chili Peppers, By the Way (album #8) (July 9) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); sells 10M copies; incl. By the Way (#34 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.), The Zephyr Song (#49 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.), Can't Stop (#57 in the U.S., #15 in the U.S.), Dosed, Universally Speaking. Tom Petty (1950-) and the Heartbreakers, The Last DJ (album) (Oct. 8); disses the music industry for Britney, er, greed; incl. The Last DJ. Phantom Planet, The Guest (album #2) (June 5); incl. California (theme song for "The O.C."). Jean-Luc Ponty (1942-), Live at Semper Opera (album). Insane Clown Posse, The Wraith: Shangri-La (Nov. 5) (album); incl. Homies. Manic Street Preachers, Forever Delayed (album #7) (Oct. 28); incl. Motown Junk, Suicide Is Painless (theme from "M*A*S*H"), The Masses Against the Classes (#1 in the U.K.). Pretenders, Loose Screw (album #8) (Nov. 12). Bonnie Raitt (1949-), Silver Lining (album #14) (Apr. 9). Rammstein, Feuer Frei (Fire At Will) (Oct. 14); from the movie "xXx"; their live performances feature flamethrower masks. Steve Reich (1936-), Dance Patterns. Busta Rhymes (1972-), It Ain't Safe No More... (album #6) (Nov. 26). Lionel Richie (1949-), Encore (first live album) (Nov. 26). LeAnn Rimes (1982-), Twisted Angel (album); incl. Twisted Angel. My Chemical Romance, I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love (album) (debut) (July 23); from Jersey City, N.J., incl. Gerard Arthur Way (1977-) (vocals), Mikey Way (bass), Frank Anthony Thomas Iero Jr. (1981-) (guitar), and Ray Toro (guitar); incl. I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love, Skylines and Turnstiles (response to 9/11); Like Phantoms, Forever (EP) (Aug.); incl. Vampires Will Never Hurt You. Rush, Vapor Trails (album #17) (May 14); incl. One Little Victory. Black Sabbath, Past Lives (album) (Aug. 20); incl. Tomorrow's Dream, Children of the Grave. Sade (1959-), Lovers Live (album) (Feb. 5). Primal Scream, Evil Heat (album #7) (Aug. 5); incl. Rise (Bomb the Pentagon) (name changed after 9/11), A Scanner Darkly (after the Philip K. Dick novel). Mr. Scruff (1972-), Heavyweight Rib Ticklers (album #2) (Feb. 11); Trouser Jazz (Sept. 16). Pete Seeger (1919-2014), American Favorite Ballads (5 vols.) (2002-7). Seether, Disclaimer (album) (debut) (Aug.); from South Africa, incl. Shaun Morgan, Dale Stewart, and John Humphrey; incl. Fine Again, Driven Under, Gasoline. Sepultura, Under A Pale Grey Sky (album) (Sept. 24); record on Dec. 16, 1996 at Brixton, Academy, London, the night that founder Max Cavalera quit. Duncan Sheik, Daylight (album); incl. On a High. Michelle Shocked (1962-), Deep Natural (album). Trombone Shorty (1986-), Trombone Shorty's Swinging' Gate (album) (debut). Jessica Simpson (1980-), This Is the Remix (album) (July 2) (300K copies). Sleater-Kinney, One Beat (album #6) (Aug. 20) (#107 in the U.S.); incl. One Beat, Light Rail Coyote, Step Aside. Black Label Society, 1919 Eternal (album #3) (Mar. 5); incl. Life, Birth, Blood, Doom, America the Beautiful. Regina Spektor (1980-), Songs (album #2) (Feb. 25). Ringo Starr (1940-), King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Ringo & His New All-Star Band (album) (Aug. 6). Status Quo, Heavy Traffic (album #25) (Sept.). Steps, The Last Dance (album #5) (last album) (Nov. 25) (#57 in the U.K.). Rod Stewart (1945-), It Had to Be You: The Great American Songbook (album) (Oct. 22). The Rolling Stones, Forty Licks (double album) (Sept. 30). Suede, A New Morning (album #5) (Sept. 30) (last album); incl. Positivity, Obsessions (#29 in the U.K.). Sugarbabes, Angels with Dirty Faces (album #2) (Aug. 26) (#2 in the U.K.); incl. Angels with Dirty Faces, Freak Like Me, Round Round, Stronger (#10 in the U.K.), Shape. Supertramp, Slow Motion (album #13) (last album) (Apr. 23). Nada Surf, Let's Go (album #3) (Sept. 17) (#31 in the U.S.); incl. Inside of Love (#73 in the U.K.), Neither Heaven Nor Space, Blonde on Blonde. Plain White T's, Stop (album). James Taylor (1948-), October Road (album #15) (Aug. 13); incl. October Road. Therion, Live in Midgard (first live album). Melanie Thornton (1967-2001), In Your Life (Nov. 25) (posth.). Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Thug World Order (album #5) (Oct. 29); incl. Get Up & Get It, Money, Money, Home (w/Phil Collins). Justin Timberlake (1981-), Justified (album) (debut) (Nov. 1) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); sells 10M copies; incl. Like I Love You, Cry Me a River (about his breakup with Britney Spears), Rock Your Body, Senorita. Tonic, Head on Straight (album #3) (Sept. 24); incl. Take Me As I Am. Randy Travis (1959-), Rise and Shine (album) (Oct. 15); incl. Three Wooden Crosses. Jethro Tull, Living with the Past (album) (Apr. 30). Shania Twain (1965-), Up! (album #4) (Nov. 18) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.) (20M copies); incl. Up! (#12 country) (#63 in the U.S.), I'm Gonna Getcha Good! (#7 country) (#34 in the U.S.), She's Not Just a Pretty Face (#9 country) (#56 in the U.S.), Forever and for Always (#14 country) (#57 in the U.S.). Matchbox Twenty, More Than You Think You Are (album #3) (Nov. 19) (#6 in the U.S., #31 in the U.K.); incl. Unwell (#3 in the U.S.), Bright Lights (#15 in the U.S.), Disease (#21 in the U.S.). Keith Urban (1967-), Somebody Like You. Wallflowers, Red Letter Days (album #4) (Nov. 5) (#32 in the U.S.); incl. When You're On Top. Weezer, Maladroit (album #4) (May 14) (#3 in the U.S., #16 in the U.K.); first with bassist Scott Shiner replacing Mikey Welsh; incl. Dope Nose, Keep Fishin, Slob. Kevin Welch (1955-), Millionaire (album #5). Westlife, Unbreakable: The Greatest Hits Volume 1 (album #4) (Nov. 11) (#1 in the U.K.) (1.4M copies). Whigfield (1970-), Whigfield 4 (album #4). Wilco, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (album #4) (Apr. 23); sells 500K copies; Rolling Stone mag.'s #3 album of the decade; incl. Kamera, War on War, Ashes of American Flags. Charles Wuorinen (1938-), Lepton. Alexander Yelin, A Man Like Putin; manly Vladimir Putin's theme song; "I want a man like Putin, who's full of strength/ I want a man like Putin, who doesn't drink/ I want a man like Putin, who won't make me sad." Frank Zappa (1940-93), FZ:OZ (album) (posth.) (Aug. 16); a concert in Sydney on Jan. 20, 1976. Movies: 28 Days Later (Nov. 1) (DNA Films) (U.K. Film Council) (Fox Searchlight Pictures), about a post-apocalyptic world where a zombie-making virus has spread becomes a hit and reinvigorates the zombie horror film genre; "Day 1: Explosion; Day 3: Infection; Day 8: Epidemic; Day 15: Evacuation: Day 20: Devastation"; does $85M box office on an $8M budget; followed by "28 Days Later" (2007). Ronny U's The 51st State (Oct. 18) stars Samuel L. Jackson as Am. chemist Elmo McElroy, who creates a new drug "guaranteed to take you to the 51st state", and gets into a bad scene in England; Emily Mortimer plays his white English ex-girlfriend Dakota Parker. Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile (Nov. 8) stars Eminem as white trash rapper Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith, who lives on the wrong side Detroit's 8 Mile Rd. with his trailer trash mom Stephanie (Kim Basinger) (who complains to him that her beau isn't going down on her) and porks his babe Alex (Brittany Murphy) while trying to win a rapping contest and get a big contract; De'Angelo Wilson stands out as DJ Iz. Spike Lee's 25th Hour (Dec. 16), based on the novel by David Benioff stars Edward Norton as New York drug dealer Montgomery Brogan, who has 24 hours before starting a 7-year jail sentence; also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as Jacob Elinsky, Barry Pepper as Frank Slaughtery, and Rosario Dawson as Naturelle Riviera. Mark Mylod's Ali G Indahouse (Nov. 11) stars British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, becoming the first of a comedy trilogy, followed by "Borat" in 2006 and "Bruno" in 2009. Harold Ramis' Analyze That (Dec. 6) is a sequel to the Robert de Niro and Billy Crystal hit. Jay Roach's Austin Powers in Goldmember (July 26) reprises the Mike Myers roles, with Beyonce Knowles as Foxxy Cleopatra, and Myers as Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard, and Goldmember; #7 movie of 2002 ($213M). Paul Schrader's Auto Focus (Sept. 8), based on the Robert Graysmith book stars Greg Kinnear as "Hogan's Heroes" actor Bob Crane, and Willem Dafoe as his friend John Carpenter, ending with Crane's unsolved murder in a motel room in Scottsdale, Ariz. in 1978. Tim Story's Barbershop (Sept. 13), written by Mark Brown stars Ice Cube as Calvin Palmer, Anthony Anderson as J.D., Cedric the Entertainer as Eddie, Sean Patrick Thomas as Jimmy James, Eve as Terri Jones, and Troy Garrity as Isaac Rosenberg in a day in a South Side Chicago barbershop. Shawn Levy's Big Fat Liar (Feb. 8) stars Frankie Muniz as Jason Shepard, a boy whose essay gets turned into a Hollywood flick by producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti) without his knowledge, causing him to come collecting. Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (Jan. 18), filmed in the Moroccan city of Sale stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana et al., about the 1993 U.S. Mogadishu fiasco when 123 elite U.S. soldiers got trapped and ate their motto "Leave No Man Behind". John Stockwell's Blue Crush (Aug. 16) (Imagine Entertainment) (Universal Pictures) debuts, based on the article "Life's Swell" by Susan Orlean, starring Kate Bosworth as hotel maid Anne Marie, who likes to surf Oahu's North Shore, hooking up with football player Matt Tollman (Matthew Davis) and Eden (Michelle Rodriguez); features cameos from real-life surfers incl. Layne Beachley, Tom Carroll, Bruce Irons, Jamie O'Brien, and Makua Rothman; does $51.8M box office on a $25M budget. Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine (Oct. 9) examines gun control in the U.S. from a leftist anti-gun perspective; "Are we a nation of gun nuts, or just a nation of nuts?"; too bad, he descends into too many obvious falsehoods, incl. that the white English colonists of Am. invented the "genius idea" of African slavery, and that the Africanized "killer bee" is no threat to the U.S., when it reached the U.S. in 1990, spreads through the S U.S. this year, followed by SW Ark. in June 2005 and New Orleans, La. in Sept. 2007. Patrick Stettner's The Business of Strangers (May 3) stars CEO Stockard Channing and bad girl asst. Julia Stiles as two businesswomen getting revenge on rapist Fred Weller, but not really, and not really, and not really?; Psalms 58:10? Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (Dec. 25), based on the book by Frank Abagnale Jr. stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale, who cons his way into millions of dollars worth of checks by posing as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor; film debut of Amy Adams (1974-) as his babe Brenda Strong. Adam Curtis' The Century of the Self is a BBC documentary showing how pshrinks Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Edward Louis Bernays et al. were used by big govt. and corps. to control the pop. Roger Michell's Changing Lanes (Apr. 12) (Paramount Pictures) stars Ben Affleck as NYC atty. Gavin Banek, who is rushing to court to file a power of appointment signed by a dead man who signed his foundation over to his law firm, and has a car collision on FDR Drive with insurance salesman Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson), who is trying to gain custody of his children before his estranged wife takes them to Ore., getting into a one-upmanship war; does $94.9M box office on a $45M budget; "Doyle Gipson is a man of no honor at all." Rob Marshall's Chicago (Dec. 10), based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins and book by Bob Fosse stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly, and Renee Zellweger as Roxie Hart, two babes on death row in 1920s Chicago, who sing and dance their way out of murder raps with the help of suave atty. Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), while prison matron Queen Latifah watches over them; features the song Cell Block Tango ("Pop, six, squish, uh huh, Cicero, Lipschitz"); #10 movie of 2002 ($171M) - if you don't believe me rub my belly? Fernando Meirelles' City of God (Aug. 30), based on the 1997 Paulo Lins novel (based on a true story) is a super-violent movie set in the Cidade de Deus shantytown (favel) of W Rio de Janeiro, starring Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen and Douglas Silva, that becomes an art house hit; "We need to rob some rich man's house. That's the only way to get out of here". Tamra Davis' Crossroads (Feb. 15), written by Shonda Rhimes (1970-) stars pop singer Britney Spears in her film debut as Lucy Wagner, Zoe Saldana as Kit, and Taryn Manning as Mimi, three childhood friends who go on a cross-country trip with Ben Kimble (Anson Mount), a guy they just met; does $61M box office on a $10M budget; Mount is nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for the performance, but not by name. Lee Tamahori's Die Another Day (Nov. 22) (Eon Productions) (MGM) (20th Cent. Fox) (James Bond 007 film #20) (40th anniv. of "Dr. No") stars Pierce Brosnan as James Bond (4th and last time), Halle Berry as Giacinta "Jinx" Johnson, Rosamund Pike (Oxford friend of Chelsea Clinton) in her film debut as double-agent temptress Miranda Frost, and Toby Stephens as bad guy Gustav Graves/Col. Moon; does a record $431.97M box office on a $142M budget; the Die Another Day Theme is sung by Madonna. Callie Khouri's Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (June 7) stars Sandra Bullock as New York playwright Sidda Lee Walker, whose rift with her eccentric benemil (benzedrine-miltown) gulping La. mother Vivi (Ellyn Burnstyn and Ashley Judd) takes the intervention of the sisterhood of Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie, who met as little girls in 1930; guaranteed to make men gag? Stephen Fears' Dirty Pretty Things (Dec. 13) stars Okwe as Chiwetel Ejiofor, a Nigerian immigrant to London, who discovers a human heart in the toilet of a West End hotel and hooks up with Turkish maid Senay Gelik (Audrey Tautou). Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Distant (Dec. 20) portrays Turkey as intriguing in a tale of two men heading in different directions. Ellory Elkayem's Eight Legged Freaks (July 17 (Centropolis Entertainment (Village Roadshow Pictures) (Warner Bros. Pictures) is a horror comedy starring David Arquette as Chris McCormick, and Kari Wuhrer as Sheriff Samantha Parker of Prosperity, Ariz., who fight giant jumping man-eating mutant spiders created by toxic waste; does $45M box office on a $30M budget; dedicated to David Arquette's father Lewis Arquette, who died in 2001 of heart failure, and producer Dean Devlin's parents Don Devlin and Pilar Seurat, who died of lung cancer in 2001 and 2002. The Emperor's Club (Sept. 9) (Universal Pictures) stars Kevin Kline as St. Benedict's Academy Roman history teacher William Hundert, and Emile Hirsch as rebellious pampered student Sedgewick Bell; does $16.3M box office on a $12.5M bueget. David Arquette, Kari Wuhrer, and Scott Terra; does $46M box office on a $30M budget. Michael Lehmann's 40 Days and 40 Nights (Mar. 1) is about Matt Sullivan (Josh Hartnett), who does the impossible and goes without sex for you know how many 24-hour periods. Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (Dec. 20) (Miramax), based on the 1927 book by Herbert Asbury stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Amsterdam Vallon, son of Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson), Daniel Day-Lewis as William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting, Jim Broadbent as Boss Tweed, John C. Reilly as Happy Jack Mulraney, and Cameron Diaz as pickpocket Jenny Everdeane in an attempted recreation of hellhole Five Points, Manhattan, New York City in 1862-3 incl. the Dead Rabbits and their bitter nativist gang enemies (the Bowery Boys?); does $193.8M box office on a $100M budget. On Dec. 20, 2002 Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (Miramax) debuts based on the 1927 book by Herbert Asbury, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Amsterdam Vallon, son of Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson), Daniel Day-Lewis as William "Bill the Butcher" Cutting, Jim Broadbent as Boss Tweed, John C. Reilly as Happy Jack Mulraney, and Cameron Diaz as pickpocket Jenny Everdeane in an attempted recreation of hellhole Five Points, Manhattan, New York City in 1862-3 incl. the Dead Rabbits and their bitter nativist gang enemies (the Bowery Boys?); does $193.8M box office on a $100M budget. Robert Altman's Gosford Park (Jan. 4) stars Marrie Thomas, Michael Gambon, Kristin Scott Thomas et al. shows life in a 1932 English country house. Chris Columbus' Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Nov. 15) continues the kiddie pocket-picking machine; #4 movie of 2002 ($262M). Gregor Hoblit's Hart's War (Feb. 15), based on the John Katzenbach novel stars Bruce Willis as Col. William A. McNamara, Colin Farrell as Lt. Thomas W. Hart (what, Willis isn't Hart?), and Terrence Howard as black Lt. Lincoln A. Scott, who gets framed for murder so that the trial can be used as a decoy for an escape plot. Chris Wedge's and Carlos Aldanha's Ice Age (Mar. 15) (Blue Sky Studios) (20th Cent. Fox) is an animated flick about a sabertooth tiger, sloth, and woolly mammoth who try to return a lost human infant to his tribe; "The Coolest Event in 16,000 Years"; #9 movie of 2002 ($176M U.S. and $383.2M worldwide box office on a $59M budget); "Sub-Zero Heroes"; sequels incl. "Ice Age: The Meltdown" (2006), "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" (2009), "Ice Age: Continental Drift" (2012), "Ice Age: Collision Course" (2016). Betty Thomas' I Spy (Nov. 1) stars Owen Wilson as Alex Scott, and Eddie Murphy as Kelly Robinson in a lame remake of the TV series. Jeff Tremaine's Jackass: The Movie stars Johnny Knoxville and his band of maniacs performing gross-out gags and stunts on the big screen, such as medicine ball dodgeball in the dark, turning a dwarf into a fastball with a parachute and fan, riding a fire hose for a "rodeo", a Sumo wrestler jumping on the dwarf in bed, and a brave man sticking his penis into a snake terrarium for a "puppet show". Nick Cassavetes' John Q (Feb. 15) (released the day after Valentine's Day, ha ha) stars Denzel Washington as disgruntled father John Quincy Archibald, who holds the emergency room of a hospital hostage to force them to give his son a heart transplant; makes Washington the go-to man for crazed killer roles?; stars James Woods as Dr. Raymond Turner, Robert Duvall as Lt. Frank Grimes, and Kimberly Elise as Denise Archibald; does $102M box office on a $36M budget. Kathryn Bigelow's K-19: The Widowmaker (July 19), about the Soviet Union's first nuclear ballistic submarine, which suffers a reactor malfunction in the North Atlantic in 1961 stars Liam Neeson as Capt. Mikhail Polenin, and Harrison Ford as Capt. Alexei Vostrikov. Nanette Burnstein and Brett Morgen's The Kid Stays in the Picture (Jan. 18), based on the 1994 autobio. of famous Paramount producer Robert Evans ("The Godfather", "Rosemary's Babe", "Love Story", "The Odd Couple") stars Evans as himself. Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon (May 18) (Sony Pictures) stars Christian Bale as new pshrink Sam, Kate Beckinsale as his babe Alex, Frances McDormand as Sam's bi mother Jane, and Natascha McElhone as Sam's other babe Sara in a revolving middle class LA love triangle; does $4.4M box office. Chris Sanders' and Dean DeBlois' animated Lilo & Stitch (June 16) (Walter Disney Pictures) is about young Kaua'i Hawaiian girl Lilo Pelekai (voice of Davleigh Chase) and her blue koala-like ET pet "dog" Experiment 626 AKA Stitch (voiced by Sanders), who are chased by an intergalactic federation; Stitch was genetically-engineered by mad scientist Dr. Jumba Jookiba to cause chaos and destruction, but gets tamed by her using the Hawaiian concept of ohana (extended family); does $273.1M box office on an $80M budget; spawns three direct-to-video sequels, and three TV series. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Dec. 5) (New Line Cinema) continues the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy; #2 movie of 2002 ($340M U.S. and $926M worldwide box office on a $94M budget). Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black II (July 3) (Columbia Pictures) continues the 1997 saga of Agent J (James Darrell Edward III) (Will Smith), who must restore the memory of retired Agent K (Kevin Brown) (Tommy Lee Jones) to save the world again; co-stars Lara Flynn Boyle as alien queen Serleena, Rip Torn as Chief Zed, Tony Shalhoub as Jack Jeebs, Patrick Warburton as Agent T, and Paige Brooks as Princess Lauranna; features a cameo by Peter Graves; #8 movie of 2002 ($190M U.S. and $441.8M box office on a $140M budget). Brad Silberling's Moonlight Mile (Sept. 27) (Touchstone Pictures) (original titles "Baby's in Black" and "Goodbye Hello"), based on Silberstein's babe Rebecca Schaeffer, who was killed by an obsessed fan in 1989 and set in 1973 stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe Nast, whose babe Diana Floss (Careena Melia) was killed in a restaurant in Cape Ann, Mass., and Dustin Hoffman as her father Ben Floss, who go into business as Floss & Son, until Joe finally confesses that he broke up with her three days before her murder; Susan Sarandon plays Diana's mother Jojo; does $10M box office on a $21M budget. Satoshi Kon's Millennium Actress (Sept. 14) is a Japanime that debuts Kon's sensory overload capabilities. Steven Speilberg's Minority Report (June 19) (Amblin Entertainment) (20th Cent. Fox) (DreamWorks Pictures), based on a short story by Philip K. Dick about a society that arrests you before you commit the crime, set in 2054 Washington, D.C. stars Tom Cruise as PreCrime Capt. John Anderton, Colin Farrell as DOJ agent Danny Witwer, Samantha Morton as senior precog Agatha Lively, and Max von Sydow as her boss dir. Lamar Burgess; brings in $358.M worldwide box office on a $102M budget. Mark Pellington's The Mothman Prophecies (Jan. 25) (Lakeshore Entertainment), based on the 1975 book by John Keel based on real events in Point Pleasant, W.Va. in Nov. 1966 and Dec. 1967 stars Richard Gere as journalist John Klein, who investigates a dream by Officer Connie Mills (Laura Linney) about a red-eyed flying creature telling her "Wake up, Number 37"; Will Patton plays Gordon Smallwood; does $55.1M box office on a $32M budget. Joel Zwick's My Big Fat Greek Wedding (Aug. 2) written by Nia Vardalos stars her as Fotoula "Toula" Portokalos (Gr. for orange), who marries non-Greek Ian Miller (Gr. for apple) (John Corbett), and must convince her family to accept him; Michael Constantine plays Windex-toting daddy Kostas "Gus" Portokalos, Lainie Kazan plays his wife Maria, Bruce Gray and Fiona Reid play daddy Rodney and mommy Harriet Miller; #5 movie of 2002 ($241M); highest-grossing U.S. movie to never reach #1 at the box office during any weekend. Ismail Merchant's and James Ivory's The Mystic Masseur (Oct. 5), based on the V.S. Naipaul novel, filmed in Trinidad stars Aasif Mandavi as Trinidad teacher Ganesh Ramseyor, who is determined to write a book, moves to Port of Spain, becomes a "mystic masseur" (one who can cure the sick), becomes a star, and goes into politics. Godfrey Reggio's Naqoyqatsi: Life as War is the sequel to "Koyaanisqatsi" (1983) and "Powaqqatsi" (1988). Joel Schumacher's Phone Booth (Sept. 10) (20th Cent. Fox) (delayed until Apr. 4, 2003 due to the Beltway Sniper attacks) stars Colin Farrell as NYC publicist Stuart "Stu" Shepard, who cheats on his wife Kelly (Radha Mitchell) with Pamela McFadden (Katie Holmes), and gets trapped in a you know what by extortionist with a laser rifle Kiefer Sutherland, bringing the NYPD led by Capt. Ed Ramey (Forest Whitaker), and ending in an exciting conclusion with a twist; "A ringing phone has to be answered, doesn't it?"; does $97.8M box office on a $13M budget. Steve Guttenberg's P.S. Your Cat is Dead!, based on the 1972 book by "A Chorus Line" writer James Kirkwood Jr. stars Guttenberg and Lombardo Boyar as loser Jimy Zoole and gay burglar Eddie Tesoro, who become friends. Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love (Nov. 1) stars Adam Sandler as toilet plunger co. owner Barry Egan, and Emily Watson as his babe Lena Leonard, whom he courts while trying to amass frequently-flier miles by buying tons of pudding and frequenting phone-sex hotlines; a box-office flop, but a critical success for Sandler's dark side and range? Phillip Noyce's Rabbit-Proof Fence (Feb. 4), based on the book "Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence" by Doris Pilkington Garimara tells the true story of two mixed-race Aboriginal girls in 1931 Australia who run away from Moore River Native Settlement in Perth and trek for 9 weeks and 1.5K mi. to return to their Aboriginal mother in Jigalong while being tracked by whites; the claim that they were sent to the settlement to "breed out the color" is false, because they were realy removed for having sex with white men? Pamela Cordoso's Real Women Have Curves is the film debut of America Ferrera as a bright East Los Angeles garment worker whose Beverly Hills H.S. teacher Mr. Guzman (George Lopez) coaxes to go to Columbia U. Brett Ratner's Red Dragon (Oct. 4), based on the Thomas Harris novel stars Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lector, Edward Norton as psychic FBI agent Will Graham, and Ralph Fiennes as "Tooth Fairy" Francis Dolarhyde. Gore Verbinski's The Ring (DreamWorks Pictures) (Oct. 18), a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film "Ring" based on the Koji Suzuki novel stars Naomi Watts and David Dorfman as Rachel and Aidan Keller, who investigate a cursed videotape that kills anybody who views it seven days later; does $249.3M box office on a $48M budget; followed by "The Ring Two" (2005) and "Rings" (2017). Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition (July 12), based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner stars Tyler Hoechlin as Michael Sullivan Jr., who witnesses what his hit man daddy Michael (Tom Hanks) does for a living. Chuck Russell's The Scorpion King (Apr. 19) stars the Rock (Dwayne Johnson), who receives a record $5.5M for an actor in his first starring role; the Gomorrah Bazaar sequences are filmed on the 1960 Spartacus backlot set at Universal Studios. Harry Gantz and Joe Gantz's Sex with Strangers (Jan.) is a documentary. Lasse Hallstrom's The Shipping News (Jan. 11), based on the Annie Proulx novel stars Kevin Spacey as Quoyle, who had a bad childhood and hates water. M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (Aug. 2) stars Mel Gibson as Rev. Graham Hess, who deals with crop circles and ridiculous water-hating ETs; #6 movie of 2002 ($228M in the U.S., $408M worldwide on a $72M budget). Steven Soderbergh's Solaris (Nov. 29) (20th Cent. Fox), based on the 1961 sci-fi novel by Stanislaw Lem and Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film stars George Clooney as Dr. Chris Klein, who meets his dead wife Rheya (Natascha McElhone) aboard a space station where people working for the DBA Corp. have been dying; does $30M box office on a $47M budget (bad trailers?). Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (May 3), based on the Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comic book char. stars meek sensitive Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, who is turned by a radioactive spider into a superhero; Kirsten Dunst plays his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson; Willem Dafoe plays bad guy Green Goblin AKA Norman Osborn, whose son Harry Osborn (James Franco) is Parker's best friend; Jonathan K. Simmons plays "Daily Bugle" ed. J. Jonah Jameson; does $404M worldwide on a $139M budget; trailers showing the WTC are yanked from theaters. Stuart Baird's Star Trek: Nemesis (Dec. 13) brings the ST:TNG series to a screeching Romulan flopping thud; stars Tom Hardy as Reman Praetor Shinzon; brings in $43M in the U.S. and $67M worldwide on a $60M budget. George Lucas' Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (May 16) featuring Anakin Skywalker and Padme in a forbidden romance, bringing in $311M in the U.S. (#3 in 2002) and $648.3M worldwide. Philip Alden Robinson's The Sum of All Fears (May 31), based on the 1991 Tom Clancy novel stars miscast wet-behind-the-ears Ben Affleck as CIA analyst Jack Ryan, who must stop a nuke from going off during the Super Bowl in Baltimore, then stop the U.S. and Russia from annihilating each other by proving it was done by neo-Nazis; James Cromwell plays U.S. Pres. Bob Fowler, and Morgan Freeman plays DCI William Cabot; the book is way better since the bad guys are Palestinians and the Red Army Faction, and the nuke goes off in TLW's Denver not Baltimore? Andy Tennant's Sweet Home Alabama (Sept. 27) stars Reese Witherspoon as Southern white trash girl Melanie Smooter, who runs away from her redneck hubby Jake Perry (Josh Lucas) and becomes New York fashion designer socialite Melanie Carmichael, then decides that there's no place like home. Simon Wells' The Time Machine (Mar. 8) stars Guy Pearce as Alexander Hartdegen, and Mark Addy as David Filby in a lame remake of the 1960 classic. John Musker's and Ron Clements' animated Treasure Planet (Nov. 27) (Walt Disney Pictures) is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel "Treasure Island", the 1982 film, and the 19887 Italian miniseries "Treasure Island in Space", becoming the first film to be released simultaneously in regular and IMAX theaters; too bad, it bombs, doing only $38M in the U.S. and $110M worldwide on a $140M budget (most expensive traditionally animated film to date), causing Disney to not try two major animated feature films in the same year again until 2016 ("Moana", "Zootopia"). Adrian Lyne's Unfaithful (May 10), a remake of the 1969 Claude Chabrol film stars Diane Lane as Connie Sumner, who cheats on faithful hubby Ed (Richard Gere) with young stud Olivier Martinez despite a seemingly happy marriage. Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers (Mar. 1) (Paramount), based on the 1992 book by Lt. Gen. Hal Moore and Joseph L. Galloway about the Nov. 14, 1965 Battle of Ia Drang stars Mel Gibson as Moore, Madeleine Stowe as his wife Julia, Sam Elliott as Sgt. Maj. Basil L. Plumiey, and Greg Kinnear as Maj. Bruce P. Crandall; "Custer was a wussy" (Elliott); does $114.7M box office on a $75M budget. Cathy Malkasian and Jeff McGrath's The Wild Thornberrys Movie (Dec. 20) is an animated flick about Debbie and her sister Eliza, who has to give up her power to talk to the animals to save her. Peter Kosminsky's White Oleander (Oct. 11), based on the 1999 novel by Janet Fitch about a girl whose mother's life imprisonment causes her to have to endure numerous foster families stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Ingrid and Alison Lohman as Astrid Magnussen. Plays: Edward Albee (1928-), The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (John Golden Theater, New York) (Mar. 10) (309 perf.); an architect falls in love with a goat; title comes from Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"; the Broadway debut of Sally Fields. Alan Ayckbourne, Snake in the Grass (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) (June 5); two middle-aged women return to the house of their dead abusive father. John Breen, Alone It Stands; the 12-0 1978 rugby V by the Irish Munster team over the Kiwi All Blacks. Moira Buffini, Dinner (Nat. Theatre, London) (Oct. 18). Lonnie Carter, The Romance of Magno Rubio (New York) (Oct.); a lovesick Filipino farmworker. Caryl Churchill (1938-), A Number (Sept. 23); human cloning. Christopher Durang (1949-), Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge (City Theater, Pittsburgh) (Nov. 7); "What if Dickens' Mrs. Cratchit wasn't so goody-goody, but instead was an angry, stressed-out modern-day American woman who wanted out of this harsh London 1840s life?" Ben Elton (1959-), We Will Rock You (rock musical) (Dominion Theatre, West End, London) (4,659 perf.); the music of Queen, becoming the longest running musical in West End history (until ?). Nora Ephron (1941-2012), Marvin Hamlisch (1944-2012), and Craig Carnelia (1946-), Imaginary Friends (Ethel Barrymore Theater, New York) (Dec. 12) (76 perf.); Ephron's first play; stars Cherry Jones as Mary McCarthy, and Swoosie Kurtz as Lillian Hellman. David French (1939-), Soldier's Heart; Mercer play #5. Jeremy Gable, Algor Mortis. William Gibson (1914-2008), Golda's Balcony (Shakespeare & Co., Berkshires); a rewrite of his 1977 play "Gilda" to reduce it to a monologue; stars Tovah Feldshuh. Peter Gill, The York Realist (Royal Court Theatre, London) (Jan.); George and John, two English boys in love, played by Lloyd Owen and Richard Coyle. Richard Greenberg, Take Me Out (Joseph Papp Theater, New York) (Sept. 5); gay baseball player Darren Lemming comes out, freaking his fellow players. David Greig, Outlying Islands; two ornithologists in 1939. John Guare (1938-), A Few Stout Individuals. Carrie Hamilton (1963-2002) and Carol Burnett, Hollywood Arms (Goodman Theatre, Chicago) (Apr. 9); based on Burnett' s memoir "One More Time" about Hollywood in 1945-51; her daughter Carrie Hamilton dies on Jan. 20 before the debut. Christopher Hampton (1946-), The Talking Cure. Peter Handke (1942-), Underground Blues. David Hare (1947-), The Breath of Life. Rupert Holmes, Say Goodnight, Gracie (Helen Hayes Theater, New York) (Oct. 10) (364 perf.); stars Frank Gorshin as George Burns, and Didi Conn as the voice of Gracie Allen; Swango (musical); stars Mariela Franganillo and Robert Royston. Tina Howe (1937-), Rembrandt's Gift. Tony Kushner (1956-), Caroline, or Change (musical) (Joseph Papp Theater, New York); Helen (Joseph Papp Theater, New York). Kenneth Lonergan (1962-), Lobby Hero. Steve Martin (1945-), The Underpants (Classic Stage Co., New York) (Apr. 4); based on the 1910 play "Die Hose" by Carl Sternheim (1878-1942). Frank McGuinness (1953-), Gates of Gold (Gate Theatre, Dublin). Mark Medoff (1940-), The Same Life Over. Arthur Miller (1915-2005), Resurrection Blues (Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis) (Aug. 9). Tim O'Malley (1957-), Godshow; autobio. play about his career at Second City in Chicago in the 1990s. March Shaiman (1959-), Scott Wittman (1954-), Mark O'Donnell (1954-2012), and Thomas Meehan (1929-), Hairspray (musical) (Neil Simon Theatre, New York) (Aug. 15) (2,642 perf.); based on the 1988 John Waters film, set in 1962 Baltimore, Md., where obese teenie Tracy Turnblad (Marissa Jaret Winokur) achieves her dream of dancing on The Corny Collins Show (based on The Buddy Deane Show), then launches a campaign to integrate it; Harvey Fierstein plays Tracy's mother Edna, and Linda Hart plays producer Velma Von Tussle; "Broadway's big fat musical comes out". Richard M. Sherman (1928-), Richard B. Sherman (1925-2012), and Jeremy Sams (1957-), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (musical) (London Palladium, West End, London) (Apr. 16) (Lyric Theatre, New York) (Apr. 28, 2005) (285 perf.); based on the 1968 film; dir. by Adrian Noble; choreography by Gillian Lynne; the West End production features the Ł750K flying Chitty car, which becomes the world's most expensive stage prop (until ?), requiring the Palladium's revolving stage to be removed. Simon Stephens (1971-), Port. Tom Stoppard (1937-), The Coast of Utopia (Nat. Theatre, London) (June 22); incl. "Voyage", "Shipwreck", "Salvage", about Russia in 1833-66. August Wilson (1945-2005), Gem of the Ocean (Eugene O'Neill Theater, Waterford, Conn.); first in the 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle; set in 1904 at 1839 Wylie Ave. in Pittsburgh's Hill District; 285-y.-o. matriarch Aunt Ester welcomes Solly Two Kings and Citizen Barlow into her home. Poetry: John Ash (1948-), The Anatolikon. Frank Bidart (1939-), Music Like Dirt (Apr. 15); only poetry chapbook ever nominated for a Pulitzer Prize? Caroline Bird (1987-), Spilt Milk. Turner Cassity (1929-2009), No Second Eden (Oct. 31); incl. "A Member of the Mystik Krewe", "The Metrist at the Operetta", "Stylization and Its Failures", and "WTC"; "Against the best advice, We put up Babel twice." Billy Collins (1941-), Nine Horses. Michael Crummey (1965-), Salvage (Mar. 26). Carl Dennis (1939-), Practical Gods (Pulitzer Prize). Jorie Graham (1950-), Never. Donald Hall Jr. (1928-), The Painted Bed (Apr. 11). Michael S. Harper (1938-), Selected Poems. Elizabeth Jennings (1926-2001), New Collected Poems (posth.) (Apr. 2). Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004), The Second Space. Sharon Olds (1942-), The Unswept Room. Mary Oliver (1935-), What Do We Know. Linda Pastan (1932-), The Last Uncle. John Ross (1938-2011), Against Amnesia. Philip Schultz (1945-), The Holy Worm of Praise. Gerald Stern (1925-), American Sonnets. James Tate (1943-), Memoir of the Hawk. David Wagoner (1926-), The House of Song. Charles Wright (1935-), A Short History of the Shadow. Robert Wilson (1941-), Richard Strauss' Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Opera Bastille, Paris). Robert Wilson (1941-) and Tom Waits (1949-), George Buchner's Woyzeck. Novels: Brian Aldiss (1925-), Super-State. Isabel Allende (1942-), City of the Beasts. Gwenaelle Aubry (1971-), The Detached (L'Isolée); about prisoner Margot, distant sister of Florence Rey, and her love for Peter. Louis Auchincloss (1917-), Manhattan Monologues (short stories). Jean Marie Auel (1936-), The Shelters of Stone (Apr. 30); Earth's Children #5; Ayala and Jondalar in the Ninth Cave of the Zelandonii. Paul Benjamin Auster (1947-), The Book of Illusions. Richard Bach (1936-), The Ferret Chronicles (2002-3). Clive Barker (1952-), Abarat; first of the Abarat Quintet. Alonso Sanchez Baute, To Hell with the Goddamn Spring; turned into a play by Colombian dir. Jorge Ali Triana in 2004. Greg Bear (1951-), Vitals; about scientist Hal Cousins, who seeks immortality. Ann Beattie (1947-), The Doctor's House. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Quentins. Barbara Taylor Bradford (1933-), Three Weeks in Paris (Feb.). David Brin (1950-), Kiln (Kil'n) People. Anita Brookner (1928-), The Bay of Angels. Rita Mae Brown (1944-), Alma Mater. James Lee Burke (1936-), Jolie Blon's Bounce; White Doves at Morning. A.S. Byatt (1936-), A Whistling Woman. Christopher Buckley (1952-), No Way to Treat a First Lady. James Lee Burke (1936-), White Doves at Morning. Robert Olen Butler (1945-), Fair Warning. Jonathan Carroll, White Apples; Chaos personified sets out to control the world, and all that stands in his way is the unborn child Anjo. Stephen L. Carter (1955-), The Emperor of Ocean Park (first novel); black univ. pres. Lemaster Carlyle, his divinity school dean wife Julia and daughter Vanessa in Conn., and a black judge tarnished by confirmation hearings; sells it for a $1M advance; "not a roman-a-clef on Yale University". Tom Clancy (1947-2013), Red Rabbit. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Daddy's Little Girl. Andrei Codrescu (1946-), Cananova in Bohemia. J.M. Coetzee (1940-), Youth: Scenes from Provincial Life II (fictional autobio.). Jackie Collins (1937-), Deadly Embrace; sequel to "Lethal Seduction". Pat Conroy (1945-), My Losing Season; autobio. novel about his senior season as starting point guard on the Citadel basketball team in 1966-7 and its 8-17 record. Catherine Cookson (1906-98), Silent Lady (posth.). Robert Coover (1932-), The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (Director's Cut). Michael Crichton (1942-2008), Prey. Justin Cronin, Mary and O'Neil (first novel). John Crowley (1942-), The Translator. Mitch Cullin, UnderSurface. Marie Darrieussecq (1969-), The Baby (Le Bébé); autobio. novel about her new baby, complaining of the lack of babies as subjects in lit. Margaret Drabble (1939-), The Seven Sisters. Dave Eggers, You Shall Know Our Velocity (Sept.). Jeffrey Eugenides (1960-), Middlesex (Pulitzer Prize); 41-y.-o. Greek-Am. hermaphrodite Cal Stephanides AKA Calliope; "I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974." Jonathan Safran Foer (1977-), Everything Is Illuminated (first novel) (Apr.). Ken Follett (1949-), Hornet Flight. Michael Frayn (1933-), Spies. Bruce Jay Friedman (1930-), Violencia! A Musical Novel (Jan. 9); NY homicide dept. clerk Paul Gurney quits his job to write a musical play about a homicide dept. Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012), The Eagle's Throne; a future world where everybody wants to be president; U.S. Pres. Condoleezza Rice in 2020? William Gaddis (1922-98), Agape Agape (last work) (posth.); The Rush for Second Place (posth.). Julia Glass (1956-), Three Junes (first novel); bestseller about Scotman Paul McLeod and his three grown sons, incl. gay Greenwich Village bookstore owner Fenno and his buds Malachy Burns, Tony and Mal, and Fern Olitsky. Nadine Gordimer (1923-), The Pickup; white Julie Summers and Arab immigrant Abdu. Winston Graham (1908-2003), Bella Poldark; #12 (last) in the Poldark Saga (begun 1945). John Grisham (1955-), The Summons. Denis Guedj, The Parrot's Theorem (first novel); Parisian bookseller Pierre Ruch, his colleague Elgar Grosrouvre, and a math-savvy parrot. Pete Hamill (1935-), Forever. Laurell K. Hamilton, Narcissus in Chains; Anita Blake, an erotic federal marshal who specializes in hunting vampires? Everette Lynn Harris (1955-2009), Any Way the Wind Blows. Adam Haslett (1970-), You Are Not a Stranger Here (short stories) (debut). Aleksandar Hemon (1964-), Nowhere Man. Patricia Highsmith (1921-95), Nothing That Meets the Eye: The Uncollected Stories (posth.). Oscar Hijuelos (1951-), A Simple Habana Melody. Tony Hillerman (1925-), The Wailing Wind. Russell Hoban (1925-), The Bat Tattoo. Townsend Hoopes (1922-2004), A Textured Web. Denis Johnson (1949-), Train Dreams. Ward Just (1935-), The Weather in Berlin. Thomas Keneally (1935-), An Angel in Australia (Office of Innocence). John Kessel (1950-), Stories for Men. Elias Khoury (1948-), Yalo. Sue Monk Kidd (1948-), The Secret Life of Bees (first novel); set in 1964 during the passage of the U.S. Civil Rights Act; filmed in 2008. Dean Koontz (1945-), By the Light of the Moon in Dec. Judith Krantz (1928-), Scruples 2; sequel to 1978 book. Nicole Krauss (1974-), Man Walks Into a Room (first novel). Deborah Larsen, The White; about Mary Jemison, kidnapped in Penn. by Indians in 1758. Brad Leithauser (1953-), Darlington's Fall: A Novel in Verse. Jeffrey Lent, Lost Nation; mysterious rogue Blood in 19th cent. N N.H. Elmore Leonard (1925-), When the Women Come Out to Dance (short stories); Tishomingo Blues. Eric Maisel (1947-), The Van Gogh Blues. Bobbie Ann Mason (1940-), Zigzagging Down a Wild Trail (short stories). Colleen McCullough (1937-), The October Horse (Nov. 7); Masters of Rome #6; Julius Caesar's last years and the rise of Octavian. Alice McDermott (1953-), Child of My Heart. Thomas McGuane (1939-), The Cadence of Grass. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, The Nanny Diaries. Larry McMurtry (1936-), All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers; novelist Danny Deck; Paradise. Stanley Middleton (1919-2009), Love in the Provinces. Anchee Min (1957-), Wild Ginger. Susan Minot (1956-), Rapture. David Mitchell (1969-), Numer9Dream. Minae Mizumura, A Real Novel; Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights" reset in post-WWII Japan. Christopher Moore (1957-), Lamb: The Gospel Accoding to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. Richard K. Morgan (1965-), Altered Carbon; cyberpunk novel starring antihero Takeshi Kovacs, about the 26th cent., in which dead people can have their cortical stacks downloaded into new bodies (sleeves), except for Catholics, who believe their soul goes to Heaven, making them targets for murder. David Morrell (1943-), Long Lost. Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), Rumple and the Primrose Path. Walter Mosley (1952-), Bad Boy Brawly Brown; Easy Rawlins #7. Haruki Murakami (1949-), Kafka on the Shore; the Oedipal quest; English trans. 2005. Bill Neugent, No Outward Sign. Heidi Neumark (1954-), Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx; Lutheran minister welcomes LBGTs, and decides it's okay to use non-gender names for God. Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), I'll Take You There. Tim O'Brien (1946-), July, July. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), Wish You Were Here. Simon J. Ortiz (1941-), Out There Somewhere. Amos Oz (1939-), A Tale of Love and Darkness; autobio. novel; English trans. 2004. Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Lullaby. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Widow's Walk; Spenser #29; Shrink Rap; Sunny Randall #3. James Patterson (1947-), 2nd Chance. Arthur Phillips (1969-), Prague (first novel); Budapest students view going to Prague like the aging boomers of "The Big Chill" view idealism? Jodi Picoult (1966-), Perfect Match. Steven Pressfield (1943-), Last of the Amazons; King Thesus of Athens sails to their island. Reynolds Price (1933-), Noble Norfleet. Michael Punke (1964-), The Revenant: A Novel of Revenge; Am. frontiersman Hugh Glass in 1823 Missouri Territory is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his companions, causing him to go on a revenge tour; filmed in 2015 by Alejandro G. Inarritu. Anne Rice (1941-), Blackwood Farm; #9 in the Vampire Chronicles; Tarquin "Quinn" Blackwood. Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-), The Years of Rice and Salt; an alternate world where almost everybody in Europe dies in the 14th cent. Black Death, allowing the non-Euros incl. the Chinese and the Muslims to share the world. Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), The Last Jihad (first novel); allegedly written 9 mo. before 9/11, about Islamic terrorists hijacking a jet and using it to attack a U.S. city, leading to a war with Saddam Hussein. Richard Russo (1949-), The Whore's Child and Other Stories. Karl Schroeder (1962-), Pemanence. Alice Sebold (1962-), The Lovely Bones (first novel); bestseller about a raped and murdered teen girl who watches from heaven; "My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie, I was 14 when I was murdered on December 6, 1973." Hubert Selby Jr. (1928-2004), Waiting Period. Mary Lee Settle (1918-2005), I, Roger Williams. Jeffrey Shaara (1952-), The Glorious Cause; 1776-83 U.S. Akhil Sharma, An Obedient Father (first novel). Anita Shreve (1946-), Sea Glass. Dan Simmons (1948-), A Winter Haunting; Worlds Enough & Time (short stories). John Thomas Sladek (1937-2000), Maps (posth.); ed. David Langford. Lee Smith (1944-), The Last Girls. Zadie Smith (1975-), The Autograph Man; Jewish-Chinese Londoner Alex Li Tandem. Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006), Little Casino. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), Nights in Rodanthe (Sept.). Danielle Steel (1947-), The Cottage; Sunset in St. Tropez; Answered Prayers. David Storey (1933-), As It Happened. Whitley Strieber (1945-), Lilith's Dream. Donna Tartt (1963-), The Little Friend (Oct. 22); young Harriet Cleve Dufresnes in 1970s Miss., whose 9-y.-o. brother Robin is killed by hanging in 1964. Brad Thor (1969-), The Lions of Lucerne (first novel); ex-Navy SEAL Secret Service agent Scot Harvath rescues the U.S. pres. after he is kidnapped. Colm Toibin (1955-), Lady Gregory's Lightship. Simon Tolkien (1959-), The Stepmother (Final Witness); by J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson. Barry Unsworth (1930-2012), The Songs of the Kings. Vernor Vinge (1944-), Fast Times at Fairmont High. Bruce Alan Wagner (1954-), I'll Let You Go; #2 in the Cellular Trilogy. Jill Paton Walsh and Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957), A Presumption of Death; yet another Lord Peter Wimsey novel. Chris Ware, Jim Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth (graphic novel). Irvine Welsh (1958-), Porno; sequel to "Trainspotting" (1983); 10 years later they make a porno movie. Paul West (1930-), A Fifth of November. Stephen White (1951-), Warning Signs (Mar.). Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism and Political Change in Egypt. Richard Yates (1926-92), The Collected Stories of Richard Yates (posth.). Births: Am. dangling celeb kid Prince Michael Jackson II (Michael Joseph Jackson) (AKA Blanket) on Feb. 22; son of Michael Jackson and ?. Russian figure skater Alina Ilnazovna Zagitova on May 18 in Izhevsk, Udmurtia; of Tatar descent; named after Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva; grows up in Moscow. Deaths: Am. world's oldest person (since June 2001) Maud Davis Farris-Luse (b. 1887) on Mar. 18 in Coldwater, Mich. Am. film editor Margaret Booth (b. 1898) on Oct. 28 in Los Angeles, Calif. English Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mum (b. 1900) on Mar. 30 in Royal Lodge, Windsor; dies in her sleep at age 101. German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (b. 1900) on Mar. 13 in Heidelberg; French philosopher Jacques Derrida writes his obit., expressing their past failure to find common ground as one of the worst debacles of his life, but expressing respect?: "I basically only read books that are over 2,000 years old"; "In fact history does not belong to us, but we belong to it"; "The self-awareness of the individual is only a flickering in the closed circuits of historical life." English novelist Angela du Maurier (b. 1904) on Feb. 5 in Wandsworth, London. Am. "Nancy Drew" novelist Mildred Augustine Wirt Benson (b. 1905) on May 28. Sicilian-born Am. crime boss Joe Bonanno (b. 1905) on May 12 in Tucson, Ariz. (heart failure). Austrian-born Am. biochemist Erwin Chargaff (b. 1905) on June 20 in New York City. Dominican Repub. pres. (1960-2, 1966-78, 1986-96) Joaquin Balaguer (b. 1906) on July 14 in Santo Domingo. Am. fundamentalist minister Carl McIntire (b. 1906) on Mar. 19 in Collingswood, N.J. English novelist Winifred Watson (b. 1906) on Aug. 5 in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear. Austrian-born Am. "Some Like It Hot" do-it-all filmmaker Billy Wilder (b. 1906) on Mar. 27 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (pneumonia): made 60 films in 50+ years; his headstone reads "I'm a writer but then nobody's perfect"; "Hindsight is 20/20"; "Of the [Hollywood] Ten, two had talent, and the rest were just unfriendly." Swedish "Pippi Longstocking" children's writer Astrid Lindgren (b. 1907) on Jan. 28 in Stockholm; sold 140M+ books worldwide. Am. TV Guide publisher Walter Hubert Annenberg (b. 1908) on Oct. 1 in Wynnewood, Penn.: "Education holds civilization together." Am. entertainer "Mr. Television" Milton Berle (b. 1908) on Mar. 27 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer); Dudley Moore and Billy Wilder die the same day, causing Tony Randall to call it "the Day Comedy Died". Am. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" writer Dee Alexander Brown (b. 1908) on Dec. 12 in Little Rock, Ark. Am. artist Charles Henri Ford (b. 1908) on Sept. 27 in New York City. Am. jazz bandleader Lionel Hampton (b. 1908) on Aug. 31 in New York City (heart failure). Canadian-Armenian photographer Yousuf Karsh (b. 1908) on July 13 in Boston, Mass. Am. TV exec Pat Weaver (b. 1908) on Mar. 15 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Am. Baptist precher W.A. Criswell (b. 1909) on Jan. 10 in Dallas, Tex. German journalist Countess Marion Doenhoff (b. 1909) on Mar. 11. Am. astronomer Jesse Leonard Greenstein (b. 1909) on Oct. 21. Am. Mormon fundamentalist leader Rulon Jeffs (b. 1909) on Sept. 8 in St. George, Utah. Am. psychologist Neal Elgar Miller (b. 1909) on Mar. 23. English novelist William Cooper (b. 1910) on Sept. 5. Am. novelist Harriet Doerr (b. 1910) on Nov. 24 in Pasadena, Calif. Am. Christian theologian John F. Walvoord (b. 1910) on Dec. 20. Am. Lawrence Welk Show conductor George Cates (b. 1911) on May 12 in Santa Monica, Calif. Austrian-Am. cybernetics scientist Heinz von Foerster (b. 1911) on Oct. 2 in Pescadero, Calif. Am. "Inspector Frank Luger in Barney Miller" actor James Gregory (b. 1911) on Sept. 16 in Sedona, Ariz. Chilean painter Roberto Matta (b. 1911) on Nov. 23 in Civitavecchia, Italy. Am. radio astronomy pioneer Grote Reber (b. 1911) on Dec. 20 in Hobart, Tasmania. Am. physicist Lyle Benjamin Borst (b. 1912) on July 30 in Williamsville, N.Y. Am. black Air Force gen. #1 Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (b. 1912) on July 4 in Washington, D.C. Am. "Dr. Zachary Smith in Lost in Space" actor Jonathan Harris (b. 1914) on Nov. 3 in Encino, Calif. (blood clot). Am. Common Cause founder John William Gardner (b. 1912) on Feb. 16 in Palo Alto, Calif. (cancer): "Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." Am. Jolly Rancher candy manufacturer Bill Harmsen (b. 1912) on Apr. 10 in Wheat Ridge, Colo. (prostate cancer). Am. golfer Sam Snead (b. 1912) on May 23 in Hot Springs, Va.; won seven majors, incl. three Masters, three PGA championships, and one British Open, but no U.S. Open; four 2nd place finishes; won the Greater Greensboro Open 8x. Austrian-born Am. economist Wolfgang Friedrich Stolper (b. 1912) on Mar. 31 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Peruvian pres. #85 (1963-8) and #88 (1980-5) Fernando Belaunde Terry (b. 1912) on June 4 in Lima. Am. writer Norman Oliver Brown (b. 1913) in Santa Cruz, Calif. Am. convicted liar CIA dir. (1966-73) Richard M. Helms (b. 1913) on Oct. 23. Am. ecologist Eugene Odum (b. 1913) on Aug. 10 in Athens, Ga. Am. legal scholar Eugene V. Rostow (b. 1913) on Nov. 25. Am. studio exec Lew Wasserman (b. 1913) on June 3 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. "Mayer Stoner in The Andy Griffith Show" actor Parley Baer (b. 1914) on Nov. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. (stroke). Am. Heisman Trophy winner #1 (1935) Jay Berwanger (b. 1914) on June 26 in Oak Brook, Ill. Am. "Tom Chaney in True Grit" actor Jeff Corey (b. 1914) on Aug. 16 in Santa Monica, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. "Singin' in the Rain" lyricist-screenwriter Adolph Green (b. 1914) on Oct. 23. Norwegian "Kon-Tiki" explorer Thor Heyerdahl (b. 1914) on Apr. 18 in Colla Micheri, Italy (brain cancer). English theatrical dir. Joan Maud Littlewood (b. 1914) on Sept. 20 in London. Austrian-born British biochemist Max Perutz (b. 1914) on Feb. 6 in Cambridge; 1962 Nobel Chem. Prize. Indian guru Satchidananda Saraswati (b. 1914) on Aug. 19 in Tamil Nadu. Am. TV journalist Howard K. Smith (b. 1914) on Feb. 15 in Bethesda, Md. (pneumonia). British "Firewalker", "St. Ives" dir. J. Lee Thompson (b. 1914) on Aug. 30 in Sooke, B.C., Canada (heart failure). Am. JFK conspiracy theorist Harold Weisberg (b. 1914) on Feb. 21 in Frederick, Del. Am. "Roy Walley in National Lampoon's Vacation" actor Eddie Bracken (b. 1915) on Nov. 14 in Montclair, N.J. South African-born Israeli statesman Abba Eban (b. 1915) on Nov. 17 near Tel Aviv. Am. 1-armed baseball player Pete Gray (b. 1915) on June 30 in Nanticoke, Penn. British economic historian Sir John Habakkuk (b. 1915) on Nov. 3 in Chew Stoke, Somerset (renal failure and myelodysplasia). Swedish "Garbo replacement" actress Signe Hasso (b. 1915) on June 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. comic book writer Robert Kanigher (b. 1915) on May in Fishkill, N.Y. Am. sculptor Robert Lippold (b. 1915) on Aug. 22 in Roslyn, N.Y. Am. judge Mildred Lillie (b. 1915) on Oct. 27 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. folklorist Alan Lomax (b. 1915) on July 19 in Safety Harbor, Fla. English Liberal politician Michael Young (b. 1915) on Jan. 14. Am. writer Bruce Bliven Jr. (b. 1916) on Jan. 2 in Manhattan, N.Y. Spanish writer Camilo Jose Cela (b. 1916) on Jan. 17 in Madrid (heart failure). English anthropologist John Desmond Clark (b. 1916) on Feb. 14 in Oakland, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. Barbie doll inventor Ruth Handler (b. 1916) on Apr. 27 in Los Angeles, Calif. (colon cancer). Am. Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn (b. 1916) on Aug. 5 in Encino, Calif. (fall at home). English "Dial M for Murder" playwright Frederick Knott (b. 1916) on Dec. 17 in New York City. Am. gov. #36 (1963-73) John Arthur Love (b. 1916) on Jan. 21 in Aurora, Colo. Russian-born French historian-novelist Zoe B. Oldenbourg (b. 1916). German map designer Arno Peters (b. 1916) on Dec. 2 in Bremen. Australian-born Soviet physicist Alexander M. Prokhorov (b. 1916) on Jan. 8 in Moscow; 1964 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. folk singer Ola Belle Reed (b. 1916) on Aug. 16. Spanish journalist Jose Ortega Spottorno (b. 1916) on Feb. 18 in Madrid (cancer); son of Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955). Am. theologian Kenneth S. Kantzer (b. 1917) on June 20. Am. scholar Richard Warrington Baldwin Lewis (b. 1917) on June 13 in Bethany, Conn.; uses a typewriter to the end. Am. writer Walter Lord (b. 1917) on May 19 in New York City (Parkinson's). Canadian scientist Baldur Rosmund Stefansson (b. 1917) on Jan. 3. U.S. secy. of state #57 (1977-80) Cyrus Vance (b. 1917) on Jan. 12 in New York City. Am. diplomat lt. gen. Vernon A. Walters (b. 1917) on Feb. 10 in West Palm Beach, Fla. U.S. Supreme Court justice #93 (1962-93) Byron Raymond "Whizzer" White (b. 1917) on Apr. 15 in Denver, Colo. Am. "The Keeper in Star Trek: TOS" actress Meg Wyllie (b. 1917) on Jan. 1 in Glendale, Calif. (heart failure). English dir. Stuart Burge (b. 1918) on Jan. 24. Am. writer William Dufty (b. 1918) on June 28 in Birmingham, Mich. (cancer). Hungarian-born English producer-writer Martin Julius Esslin (b. 1918) on Feb. 24. Am. "Det. Chin Ho Kelly" actor Kam Fong (b. 1918) on Oct. 18 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Am. columnist Esther Pauline Lederer (AKA Ann Landers) (b. 1918) on June 22 (multiple myeloma). Swiss historian Herbert Luethy b. 1918) on Nov. 16 in Basel. Am. actress Peggy Moran (b. 1918) on Oct. 24 in Camarillo, Calif. Saudi businessman Saulaiman Saleh Olayan (b. 1918) on July 4. Am. baseball star Ted Williams (b. 1918) on July 5 in Inverness, Fla. (heart failure); last ML player to bat over .400 (.406 in 1941) until ?. Am. environmentalist Raymond Fredric Dasmann (b. 1919) on Nov. 5. Canadian climatologist Kenneth Hare (b. 1919) on Sept. 3: "The Puritan through life's sweet garden goes to pluck the thorn and cast away the rose." Am. "Star Trek: TOS" dir.-producer-writer John Meredyth Lucas (b. 1919) on Oct. 19 in Newport Beach, Calif. Am. historian Eric Louis McKitrick (b. 1919) on Apr. 24 in New York City. Am. "Cyrus Redblock in Star Trek: TNG" tough guy actor Lawrence Tierney (b. 1919) on Feb. 26 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. banker Arthur Altschul Sr. (b. 1920) on Mar. 17. German Adolf Hitler's secy. Traudl Junge (b. 1920) on Feb. 10 in Munich (cancer). Am. "Fever" singer-songwriter Peggy Lee (b. 1920) on Jan. 21 (heart attack). Puerto Rican-born Am. "Pepino Garcia in The Real McCoys" actor Tony Martinez (b. 1920) on Sept. 16 in Las Vegas, Nev. Australian "Rumpole of the Bailey" actor Leo McKern (b. 1920) on July 23 in Bath, Somerset, England. Am. "Aunt Esther in Sanford and Son" actress LaWanda Page (b. 1920) on Sept. 14 in Hollywood, Calif. (heart attack): "I'm nervous as a whore in a church." English chemist George Porter (b. 1920) on Aug. 31; 1967 Nobel Chem. Prize. German violinist Helmut Zacharias (b. 1920) on Feb. 28 in Tessin, Switzerland. Am. actor John Agar (b. 1921) on Apr. 7 in Burbank, Calif. (emphysema). Am. actor George Nader (b. 1921) on Feb. 4 in Woodland Hills, Calif. (cardio-pulmonary failure). Am. philosopher John Rawls (b. 1921) on Nov. 24. Am. R&B singer Billy Ward (b. 1921) on Feb. 16 in Inglewood, Calif. Am. fashion designer Bill Blass (b. 1922) on June 12 in New Preston, Conn. (throat cancer); leaves a $52M estate. Am. playwright Vinnette Carroll (b. 1922) on Nov. 5 in Lauderhill, Fla. (heart failure). Am. publisher Ira Eaker (b 1922) on June 26 in Tamarac, Fla. Am. "Butterflies Are Free" playwright Leonard Gershe (b. 1922) on Mar. 9 in Beverley Hills, Calif. (stroke). Am. "Zira in The Planet of the Apes" actress Kim Hunter (b. 1922) on Sept. 11 in New York City (heart attack). Am. sci-fi writer Damon Knight (b. 1922). Canadian "Dr. Dreyfuss in The Apartment" actor Jack Kruschen (b. 1922) in Chandler, Ariz. French "Do You Hear What I Hear?" songwriter Noel Regney (b. 1922) on Nov. 22 in Brewster, N.Y. (Pick's disease). Am. peace activist Philip Berrigan (b. 1923) on Dec. 6 in Baltimore, Md. (cancer). Am. Chicago mayor #39 (1976-9) Michael Anthony Bilandic (b. 1923) on Jan. 25 in Chicago, Ill. (heart failure). Am. novelist Thomas Flanagan (b. 1923) on Mar. 21 in Berkeley, Calif. German-born Israeli gun designer Uzi Gal (b. 1923) on Sept. 7 (cancer); buried on Mt. Carmel, Israel. Dutch brewery magnate Freddy Heineken (b. 1923) on Jan. 3 in Noordwijk (pneumonia); net worth: 9.5B Dutch guilders. Australian writer Dorothy Hewett (b. 1923) on Aug. 25 near Sydney (breast cancer). Austrian photographer Inge Morath (b. 1923) on Jan. 30 in New York City (cancer). Am. Pop Art pioneer Larry Rivers (b. 1923) on Aug. 14. French mathematician Rene Thom (b. 1923) on Oct. 25 in Burs-sur-Yvette. Scottish serial murderer Archibald Thomson Hall (b. 1924) on Sept. 16 in Kingston Prison, Portsmouth, England (stroke). Am. Vail Ski Resort founder Pete Seibert (b. 1924) on July 25 in Vail, Colo. (esophageal cancer). Am. RISC computer scientist John Cocke (b. 1925) on July 16 in Valhalla, N.Y. Am. singer Alan Dale (b. 1925) on Apr. 20 in New York City. German actress-singer-writer Hildegard Knef (b. 1925) on Feb. 1 in Berlin (emphysema). Am. poet-playwright Kenneth Koch (b. 1925) on July 6. Am. "The Pawnbroker", "In the Heat of the Night" actor Rod Steiger (b. 1925) on July 9. Am. "Mrs. B. in Hazel" actress Whitney Blake (b. 1926) on Sept. 28 in Edgartown, Mass. (cancer). Am. jazz musician Ray Brown (b. 1926) on July 2 in Indianapolis, Ind. British sci-fi writer Richard Cowper (b. 1926) on Apr. 29. Am. auto racer Pat Flaherty (b. 1926) on Apr. 9. Am. novelist Wallace Markfield (b. 1926) on May 24 in Roslyn, N.Y. Am. aphorist Mason Cooley (b. 1927) on July 25: "The educated do not share a common body of information but a common state of mind"; "Entrepreneurship is the last refuge of the trouble-making individual." Argentine biochemist Cesar Milstein (b. 1927) on Mar. 24 in Cambridge, England (heart failure); 1984 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. singer Rosemary Clooney (b. 1928) on June 29 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. actor James Coburn (b. 1928) on Nov. 18 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. R&B singer-songwriter Rosco Gordon (b. 1928) on July 11 in Queens, N.Y. (heart attack). Am. football hall-of-fame player Dick "Night Train" Lane (b. 1928) on Jan. 29. Am. "Sheena, Queen of the Jungle" actress Irish McCalla (b. 1928) on Feb. 1. Am. football player-announcer Kyle Rote (b. 1928) on Aug. 15 in Baltimore, Md. Am. geophysicist Gordon J.F. MacDonald (b. 1929) on May 14. Am. "The Chosen" novelist Chaim Potok (b. 1929) on July 23 in Merion, Penn. (brain cancer). Dutch computer scientist Edsger Wybe Dijkstra (b. 1930) on Aug. 6 in Nuenen. Canadian novelist Timothy Findley (b. 1930) on June 21 in Brignoles, France. Am. "The Manchurian Candidate" film dir. John Frankenheimer (b. 1930) on July 6 in Los Angeles, Calif. (stroke); no nominations for best dir. Oscar. English Princess Margaret (b. 1930) on Feb. 9 in London. Am. basketball player-coach Richie Regan (b. 1930) on Dec. 24 in Neptune, N.J. Japanese-born Am. physicist Bunji Sakata (b. 1930) on Aug. 31 in Japan (cancer). Japanese graphic designer Ikko Tanaka (b. 1930) on Jan. 10. Am. football player (first black QB in the NFL) Willie Thrower (b. 1930) on Feb. 20 in New Kensington, Penn. (heart attack). Am. TV executive/sports producer Roone Arledge (b. 1931) on Dec. 5 in Southampton, N.Y. (prostate cancer). Scottish skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan (b. 1931) on Nov. 3 in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire, England. Am. "Red Sky at Morning" novelist Richard Bradford (b. 1932) on Mar. 23 in Santa Fe, N.M. English "My Week with Marilyn" filmmaker Colin Clark (b. 1932) on Dec. 17 in London. Am. "Dragon's Egg" novelist Robert Lull Forward (b. 1932) on Sept. 21 in Seattle, Wash. (cancer). Am. novelist Lois Gould (b. 1932) on May 29 in Manhattan, N.Y. Soviet cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov (b. 1932) on Oct. 19 in Moscow. Am. Wendy's Old Fashion Hamburgers founder Dave Thomas (b. 1932) on Jan. 8 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Irish "Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter" actor Richard Harris (b. 1933) on Oct. 25 in London. Am. white supremacist leader William Luther Pierce III (b. 1933) on July 23 in Mill Point, W. Va. (cancer): "Jews control all the major news media." Am. football hall-of-fame QB Johnny Unitas (b. 1933) on Sept. 11 in Lutherville-Timonium, Md. Am. Hillside Strangler serial murderer Angelo Anthony Buono Jr. (b. 1934) on Sept. 21 in Calipatria State Prison, Calif. Am. writer Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (b. 1934) on Apr. 24 in Manhattan, N.Y. (COPD from smoking). Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi (b. 1934) on Feb. 22 in Lucusse (KIA in battle with Angolan govt. troops). Am. poet John Wieners (b. 1934) on Mar. 1 in Boston, Mass. English "10" actor Dudley Moore (b. 1935) on Mar. 27 in Plainfield, N.J. (progressive supranuclear palsy); last words: "I can hear the music all around me." Am. "Band of Brothers" historian Stephen Edward Ambrose (b. 1936) on Oct. 13 in Bay St. Louis, Miss. (lung cancer). Am. "The Coasters" singer Billy Guy (b. 1936) on Nov. 5. Am. folk singer Dave Van Ronk (b. 1936) on Feb. 10 in New York City. Am. country singer Waylon Jennings (b. 1937) on Feb. 13 in Chandler, Ariz. diabetes). Palestinian Arab terrorist Abu Nidal (b. 1937) on Aug. 16 in Baghdad, Iraq (assassinated on the orders of Saddam Hussein). Am. "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" writer Clark Gesner (b. 1938) on July 23 in New York City. Am. philosopher Robert Nozick (b. 1938) on Jan. 23. Am. psychologist Glayde D. Whitney (b. 1939) on Jan. 8 in Tallahassee, Fla. (emphysema). Am. "Teflon Don" John Gotti (b. 1940) on June 10 in Springfield, Mo. (cancer); dies in a prison hospital. Am. "Hey Joe", "Morning Dew" singer Tim Rose (b. 1940) on Sept. 24 in London, England (heart attack). Am. basketball player Jim Barnes (b. 1941) on Sept. 14 in Silver Spring, Md. Am. evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould (b. 1941) on May 20 in New York City (cancer) : "Wind back the tape of life to the early days of the Burgess Shale; let it play again from an identical starting point, and the chance becomes vanishingly small that anything like human intelligence would grace the replay" - evolution explains cancer? South African-born British explorer Charles Robert Burton (b. 1942) on July 15 in Framfield, Sussex (heart attack). Am. sprinter and football-hall-of-fame player Bob Hayes (b. 1942) on Sept. 18 in Jacksonville, Fla. (kidney failure). Am. Olympic hurdler Willie Davenport (b. 1943) on June 17 in Chicago's O'Haire Internat. Airport (heart attack). Am. film dir. Bruce Paltrow (b. 1943) on Oct. 3 in Rome, Italy (cancer); dies while celebrating his daughter Gwyneth's 30th birthday. English rock bassist (The Who) John Entwistle (b. 1944) on June 27 in Las Vegas, Nev. U.S. Sen. (D-Minn.) (1991-2002) Paul David Wellstone (b. 1944) on Oct. 2 (10:22 a.m.) in Eveleth, Minn. (airplane crash). Am. political scientist Richard McKelvey (b. 1944) on ?. Canadian-born Am. JDL chmn. (1985-2002) Irv Rubin (b. 1945) on Nov. 13 in Los Angeles (suicide); dies in jail while awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy to bomb govt. and private property. English historian Roy Porter (b. 1946) on Mar. 3. Am. "Three Dog Night" bassist Joe Schermie (b. 1946) on Mar. 25 (heart attack). Am. "Spenser: For Hire", "Bob in Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice" actor Robert Urich (b. 1946) on Apr. 16 (cancer). Am. sci-fi novelist George Alec Effinger (b. 1947) on Apr. 27 in New Orleans, La. Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn (b. 1948) on May 6 in Hilversum (murdered). A. "Get Christie Love!" actress-singer Teresa Graves (b. 1948) on Oct. 10 in Los Angeles, Calif.; dies in a house fire. Am. "Deep Throat" porn star turned anti-porn activist Linda Lovelace (b. 1949) on Apr. 22 in Denver, Colo. (automobile accident). Russian politician lt. gen. Alexander Lebed (b. 1950) on Apr. 28 in Sayan Mountains (Mi-8 heli crash). English "The Clash" punk rocker John Graham Mellor (Joe Strummer) (b. 1952) on Dec. 22 in Broomfield, Somerset (heart attack). Am. fashion photographer Herb Ritts (b. 1952) on Dec. 26 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia from AIDS). Am. basketball player Phil Smith (b. 1952) on July 29 in Escondido, Calif. (cancer). Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Vasyutin (b. 1952) on July 19 (cancer). Am. football center Mike Webster (b. 1952) on Sept. 24 in Pittsburgh, Penn.; becomes the first NFL player to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) by Nigerian-born Am. forensic pathologist Dr. Bennet Ifeakandu Omalu (1968-); the NFL tries a coverup by claiming he died of a heart attack until 4K former NFL players sue the NFL in 2011, and they reach a $765M settlement on Aug. 30, 2013, followed by a final settlement on Apr 22, 2015, requiring $75M for medical exams, $10M for R&D, and no limit for damages; in Sept. 2015 the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs and Boston U. announce that they found CTE in 96% of NFL players and 79% of all football players; in 2015 the film Concussion starring Will Smith as Omalu is released. Cuban Santerian priest Baba Raul Canizares (b. 1955) on Dec. 28. Am. serial murderer Aileen Wuornos (b. 1956) on Oct. 9 in Fla. State Prison, Bradford County, Fla. (executed by lethal injection). Am. actress-playwright Carrie Hamilton (b. 1963) on Jan. 20 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Alice in Chains" lead singer Layne Staley (b. 1967) on Apr. 5 in Seattle, Wash. (OD) (same day of the year as Kurt Cobain). South African cricketer Hansie Cronje (b. 1969).



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T.L. Winslow's 2003 C.E. Historyscope

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2003 - The Operation Iraqi Freedom Space Shuttle Columbia Disaster Governator Year? The U.S. starts a long march into the quagmire of Middle East religious hatreds, leaving a trail of Black Hawk downs?

U.S. Pres. George W. Bush, Jan. 29, 2003 U.S. House of Representatives Chamber, 2003 Beautiful Baghdad, Mar. 20, 2003 Sodamn Insane after 02/30/03 aerial attack Saddam Hussein, Dec. 13, 2003 U.S. Pres. George W. Bush, May 1, 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger of the U.S. (1947-) Darrell Edward Issa of the U.S. (1953-) Tom Ridge of the U.S. (1945-) Michael Moore (1954-) Mike Leavitt of the U.S. (1951-) Richard Lee Armitage of the U.S. (1945-) Paul Martin of Canada (1938-) Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea (1946-2009) Jonas Savimbi of Angola (1934-2003) Hu Jintao of China (1942-) Wen Jiabao of China (1942-) Robert Kocharian of Armenia (1954-) Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert of Bolivia (1953-) Lord Peter Henry Goldsmith of Britain (1950-) John William Snow of the U.S. (1943-) Rolandas Paksas of Lithuania (1956-) Václav Klaus of Czech. (1941-) Akhmad Kadyrov of Chechnya (1951-2004) Paul Wolfowitz of the U.S. (1943-) Harlan K. Ullman (1941-) Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey (1954-) Yasin al-Qadi (1956-) Malalai Joya of Afghanistan (1978-) Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia (1967-) Domitien Ndayizeye of Burundi (1953-) Shukri Mohammed Ghanem of Libya (1942-) Charles Taylor of Liberia (1948-) Marshal Sokari Harry of Nigeria (-2003) Lucio Gutierrez of Ecuador (1957-) Alvaro Noboa Ponton of Ecuador (1950-) Iraqi Gen. Babaker Zebari Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim (1939-2003) Ed Rosenthal (1944-) U.S. Gen. Eric Shinseki (1942-) U.S. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez (1951-) Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (1964-) Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi (1968-) Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush (-2003) Zoran Djindjic of Serbia (1952-2003) Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan (1961-) Artur Rasizade of Azerbaijan (1935-) Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia (1939-) Baltasar Garzón Real of Spain (1955-) J.C. Watts of the U.S. (1957-) John Owen Brennan of the U.S. (1955-) Tulsi Gabbard of the U.S. (1981-) John Hickenlooper of the U.S. (1952-) George Maxwell Richards of Trinidad and Tobago (1931-) Abu Abbas (1948-2004) Steny Hamilton Hoyer of the U.S. (1939-) Douglas J. Feith of the U.S. (1953-) Tom Tancredo of the U.S. (1945-) Bernard Lewis (1916-) Ahmed Chalabi of Iraq (1944-2015) Robert Byrd of the U.S. (1917-) James Stuart Gilmore III of the U.S. (1949-) I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby of the U.S. (1950-) Marc Grossman of the U.S. Joseph Charles Wilson IV (1949-) and Valerie Plame (1963-) of the U.S. Cathie Martin of the U.S. Bill Harlow of the U.S. Judith Miller (1948-) Karl Rove of the U.S. (1950-) Robert D. Novak (1931-2009) Matthew Cooper (1962-) John David Podesta (1949-) Patrick J. Fitzgerald of the U.S. (1960-) Tim Russert (1950-2008) Shoshana Johnson of the U.S. (1973-) Ted Strickland of the U.S. (1941-) Eliot L. Engel of the U.S. (1947-) Billy Tauzin of the U.S. (1943-) Shenzhou 5, 2003 Yang Liwei of China (1965-) Sergio Vieira de Mello of Brazil (1948-2003) Mohamed Mostafa El-Baradei (1942-) Johari Abdul Malik Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) Loai al-Saqa John Shepard Reed (1939-) Nicholas Donabet Kristof (1959-) Michel Fourniret (1942-) Paul Durousseau (1970-) Coptic Pope Shenouda III (1923-2012) V. Gene Robinson (1947-) Bob Hope (1903-2003) Vincent 'the Chin' Gigante (1928-2005) U.S. Pvt. Jessica Lynch (1984-) Jose Couso (1965-) Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi (1966-) Roy Stewart Moore of the U.S. (1947-) William Taubman (1940-) Timothy Treadwell (-2003) William Janklow (1939-) Gil de Ferran (1967-) Roy Horn (1945-) and Manticore Genarlow Wilson (1985-) Dexter Lamar Jackson (1977-) Jason Giambi (1971-) Ammar Abdulhamid (1966-) Sami Amin Al-Arian (1958-) Shirin Ebadi (1947-) John Jason McLaughlin (1988-) J.M. Coetzee (1940-) Alexei A. Abrikosov (1928-) Mohammed Ali Ayed (1981-) Sir Anthony James Leggett (1938-) Vitaly L. Ginzburg (1916-2009) Peter Agre (1949-) Tara Brach (1953-) Susan Haack (1945-) Steven Hahn (1951-) Elizabeth Anne Holmes (1984-) Rula Jebreal (1973-) Tony Kushner (1956-) Roderick MacKinnon (1956-) Paul Christian Lauterbur (1929-2007) Sir Peter Mansfield (1933-) Robert F. Engle III (1942-) Sir Clive W.J. Granger (1934-) Steve Rosenthal (1953-) Phil Spector (1939-2021) Phil Spector (1939-2021) Lana Clarkson (1962-2003) Lana Clarkson (1962-2003) Steve Berry (1955-) Dan Brown (1964-) Lauren Weisberger (1977-) Anna Wintour (1949-) Lana Clarkson (1962-2003) Amy Winehouse (1983-2011) Martin Amis (1949-) 'Living History' by Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947-), 2003 Guy Davenport (1927-2005) Rachel Ehrenfeld Stephen Kinzer C.K. Williams (1936-) Rafael Furcal Khaled Hosseini (1965-) Jean-Sébastien Gigučre (1977-) Duane 'Dog' Chapman (1953-) Andrew Stuart Luster (1963-) James Christopher Frey (1969-) Jayson Blair (1976-) Gerald M. Boyd (1950-2006) Michael Parenti (1933-) Samantha Power of the U.S. (1970-) Howell Raines (1943-) Robert James Sawyer (1960-) Gary Shteyngart (1972-) George Russell Weller (1916-) Richard Abanes (1961-) Michael E. Brown (1965-) Daniel Libeskind (1946-) Anatoly Fomenko (1945-) Cornelia Funke (1958-) Lars Christopher Gillberg (1950-) Paul Hebert (1947-) Imran Nazar Hosein (1942-) Robert Kagan (1958-) John S. Kanzius (1944-2009) Erik Larson (1954-) Charles Edmund Cullen (1960-) Laci Peterson (1975-2002) and Scott Peterson (1972-) Mark John Geragos (1957-) Amber Frey (1975-) Gangaji (1942-) Tom Holland (1968-) John Lott (1958-) James McBride (1957-) Amin Saikal (1950-) Lionel Shriver (1957-) Fred Vargas (1957-) Aaron C. Donahue Michael F. Scheuer of the U.S. (1952-) 'History Detectives, 2003-14 'Two and a Half Men', 2003-15 'Wicked', 2003 The All-American Rejects Dierks Bentley (1975-) Beyoncé Knowles (1981-) The Black Lips The Black Eyed Peas Butterfly Boucher (1979-) The Dixie Chicks Epica Fall Out Boy 50 Cent (1975-) Arcade Fire Kings of Leon Loon (1975-) Mae Katie Melua (1984-) Metric The Raveonettes David Bowie (1947-) Joss Stone (1987-) 'Arrested Development', 2003-6 'Cold Case', 2003-10 'NCIS', 2003- 'Nip/Tuck', 2003-10 'The O.C.', 2003-7 'Teen Titans', 2003-6 Steven Raichlen (1953-) 'Avenue Q', 2003 'Bad Santa', 2003 'Brother Bear', 2003 'The Core', 2003 'Elf', 2003 'Hollywood Homicide', 2003 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days', 2003 'Kill Bill, Vol. 1', 2003 'The Missing', 2003 'Open Range', 2003 'The Three Amigos', 2003 The 5, 6, 7, 8s 'Paycheck', 2003 'The School of Rock', 2003 'Swimming Pool', 2003 'T3', 2003 'Timecop2', 2003 'Underworld', 2003 'Wrong Turn', 2003 RMS Queen Mary 2, 2003 Walt Disney Concert Hall, 2003 Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) 'Bop', by Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007), 2003 Glendale Arena, 2003 Kunsthaus Graz, 2003 NASA Mars Rover, 2003 Camcopter S-100 NFL Network, 2003- Big Sandy Penitentiary, 2003

2003 Chinese Year: Black Ram (Sheep) (Goat) (Feb. 1) (lunar year 4700). Time Person of the Year: The U.S. Soldier. This is the first year of the 21st cent. that is a prime number. The U.N. declares this the Internat. Year of Freshwater. The U.S. Congress declares this the Year of the Blues. The Am. Century only has 22 years left? The Anglo pop. of Tex. drops below 50% for the first time since the 1800s. By this year 1 out of every 32 in the U.S. is either in prison, on probation or parole (6.9M). The number of children orphaned by AIDS reaches 15M. Median income for U.S. blacks reaches 81% of whites, compared to 63% in 1968 (MLK Jr.) and 43% in 1955 (Rosa Parks). The U.S. has 65 nuclear plants providing 20% of the total power - so let's build 260 more and provide 100%? On Jan. 1 Okla. defeats Wash. State by 34-14 to win the 2003 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 an IVF baby is born 1 min. after midnight to a lesbian couple, Helen Rubin and Joanna Bare in, ahem, Virginia - well kiss my grits? On Jan. 3 Ohio State U. wins its first nat. football championship in 34 years with a 31-24 double-OT upset of Miami U. in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. On Jan. 3 U.S. Md. Dem. Rep. (since 1981) Steny Hamilton Hoyer (1939-) becomes minority whip #21 of the U.S. House (until Jan. 3, 2007). On Jan. 3 J.C. Watts Jr. (1957-) retires as a Repub. member of the U.S. House from Okla. (since 1995), becoming the last African-Am. Repub. in the House until ? On Jan. 3 after becoming the youngest woman elected to a U.S. state legislature in 2002, Am. Samoa-born Tulsi (Hindi "basil") Gabbard (1981-) becomes a Dem. U.S. rep. for Hawaii (until ?) , going on to support Socialist Bernie Sanders for U.S. pres. in 2016 and snub Hillary Clinton, ending up too conservative for Dems. and too liberal for Repubs.?; on Jan. 11, 2019 she announces her candidacy for the Dem. nomination for U.S. pres. in 2020. On Jan. 7 Pope Shenouda ("slave of God") III (1923-) of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt says that while Coptic Christians and Muslims get along, pesky Jehovah's Witnesses, Jews, and Seventh-Day Adventists are disturbing the country's unity. On Jan. 8 the previous year's no-fatalities record for commercial flight in the U.S. is broken when a US Airways Express Beech 1900 crashes shortly after takeoff at Greenville, S.C., killing all 21 aboard. On Jan. 10 North Korea announces that it is pulling out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty - 5-4-3-2-1 is scheduled to premiere when? On Jan. 15 after defeating banana king (wealthiest man in Ecuador) Alvaro Ferando Noboa Ponton (1950-) with 55% of the vote, pro-left former col. Lucio Edwin Gutierrez Borbua (1957-) becomes pres. of Ecuador (until Apr. 20, 2005). On Jan. 16 Protests Against the Iraq War are held worldwide, incl. 30K in Washington, D.C.; on Jan. 18 more protests are held worldwide, incl. 50K in San Francisco, Calif., 45K in Seattle, wash., and tens of thousands in Washington, D.C., with Rev. Jesse Jackson uttering the soundbyte: "We are here because we choose coexistence over coannihilation"; meanwhile Pres. Bush tries to find an excuse to force U.S. troops into a war with Iraq (not realizing that Iraq is all that is keeping Iran from forming a Shia Sword all the way to Israel?); the admin. denies allegations that Bush is just a puppet of the multinat. oil corps. who want to use an occupied Iraq (home of the second largest oil reserves in the Middle East?) as a base to control Middle East oil (especially untapped Caspian Sea oil), or a puppet of the Zionist regime and Israel, or that the euros versus dollars issue has anything to do with it, but France, Russia, and Germany split with the U.S. and actively discourage U.S. invasion of Iraq as Bush builds up an invasion force that says screw you world. On Jan. 20 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1456, calling on all states to prevent and suppress all support for terrorism, mentioning human rights for the first time but failing to define terrorism. On Jan. 21 the U.S. Census Bureau announces that Hispanics outnumber African-Americans in the U.S. by 37 to 36.2M; is the U.S. headed towards becoming a bilingual nation? On Jan. 23 Pres. Bush strikes back on the anniv. of "Roe v. Wade" by telling abortion foes "We will prevail". On Jan. 23 the last weak signal is received from NASA's Pioneer 10, originally launched on Mar. 2, 1972. On Jan. 24 the new U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security opens, with Thomas Joseph "Tom" Ridge (1945-) as secy. #1 (until Feb. 1, 2005). On Jan. 25 a French-brokered peace in Ivory Coast is signed, calling for the govt. of pres. Laurent Gbagbo to share power with pro-Guei rebels, with Seydou Diarrhea, er, Diarra as PM; too bad, Gbagbo reneges, and riots begin in the capital Yamoussoukro, causing a ceasefire to be signed on May 3 and another peace to be declared on July 4, supported by 4K U.N. peacekeeper troops; the rebels continue to hold the N half of the country. On Jan. 26 Super Bowl XXXVII (37) (2003) is held in Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.; the top-ranked defense Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFC) defeat the top-ranked offense Oakland Raiders (AFC) 48-21 as coach Jon Gruden gets even with former boss Al Davis; the Bucs return three of five Rich Gannon interceptions for TDs, incl. a 44-yard one by linebacker Derrick Brooks, and a 50-yard one by Dwight Smith with 2 sec. left; Bucs free safety Dexter Lamar Jackson (1977-) is MVP. On Jan. 27 Pres. Bush nominates John Glover Roberts Jr. (b. 1955) to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, staging ground for elevation to the Supreme Court; he is confirmed on May 8. On Jan. 28 the Ariel Sharon's Likud Party wins the Israeli election with 38 of 120 seats. On Jan. 28 Donald Trump gives an interview to Neil Cavuto, in which he shows his undecidedness about the Iraq War, with the soundbyte: "Well, he's [Pres. George W. Bush] either got to do something or not do something perhaps. Because perhaps he shouldn't be doing it yet. Perhaps we should be waiting for the United Nations"; in his Sept. 26, 2016 debate with Hillary Clinton, moderator Lester Holt tries to frame him on being for the war back then. The Bush admin. gives us the Plamgate-Uraniumscootergate micro-mini-scandal? On Jan. 29 (Tue.) Pres. George W. Bush gives his 2003 State of the Union Address, uttering the soundbyte "We will prevail" against terrorism, and uttering the "infamous 16 words", claiming that "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa"; the White House later admits that this charge plays a part in the decision to invade Iraq, and that it relied on faulty intel and should not have been in his speech; too bad, Congress had already voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq 3 mo. earlier; behind Bush on the walls of the Congress are all kinds of disturbing Illuminati, Mason, and Satanic symbols, incl. the Pillars of Jakin and Boaz and the good ole ancient Roman fasci; on May 6 New York Times columnist Nicholas Donabet Kristof (1959-) reports that an unnamed U.S. ambassador who had been sent to Niger in 2002 told the CIA and State Dept. well before Bush's speech that the uranium story was bullwhacky; in Nov. 2005 Italian intel officials conclude that a set of documents bolstering the Iraq-Niger link had been forged by an occasional Italian spy; in Jan. 2006 a FOIA lawsuit by conservative Judicial Watch causes the Jan. 2002 Secret Memo by the U.S. State Dept.'s intel bureau (in which the sale was declared "unlikely") to finally be declassified; meanwhile vice-pres. Dick Cheney's chief of staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby (1950-) asks undersecy. of state Marc Grossman to check up on that pesky bigmouth ambassador, and learns that his name is Joseph Charles Wilson IV (1949-), husband of Alaskan-born hot blonde Valerie Elise Plame Wilson (1963-), who since 1985 has been in the CIA and has worked up to station chief and works on the team that has been trying to decide if Saddam Hussein has WMDs, and somebody in the Bush admin. decides on a plan to 'get' Wilson by getting her; on June 11-12 Grossman tells Libby that Plame works for the CIA and that she was involved in planning the Niger trip, which is confirmed by Cheney's top press aide Cathie Martin, who says she got it from CIA spokesman (former U.S. Navy capt.) Bill Harlow; on June 11-12 Cheney confirms Plame's CIA status to Libby; on June 13 Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward interviews deputy secy. of state (2001-5) Richard Lee Armitage (1945-) for a book, and Armitage tells him about Plame working for the CIA; on June 23 Libby meets with New York Times reporter Judith Miller (1948-) and spills the beans to her; on July 6 Wilson pub. an op-ed column in the New York Times criticizing the admin.; on July 7 Libby meets with White House press secy. (2001-3) Ari Fleischer, and spills the beans again, allegedly telling him the info is "hush-hush", which Libby later denies; since both Fleischer and Libby are Zionist Jews, this proves a Zionist conspiracy connected with 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq?; on July 8 columnist Robert David Sanders Novak (1931-) interviews Armitage, who spills the beans to him, causing Novak to obtain confirmation from White House top political adviser Karl Christian Rove (1950-); on July 11 Fleischer again spills the beans to two reporters on a pres. trip to Africa; meanwhile Rove spills the beans to Matthew Cooper (1962-) of Time mag.; on July 14 a syndicated column by Novak spills the beans, citing two unidentified senior admin. officials; later it comes out that Cheney learned about Plame from CIA dir. George Tenet; when it is learned that disclosing a covert agent's identity is a crime and that a criminal investigation was authorized on Sept. 26, the admin. begins stonewalling, starting with Armitage telling investigators that he is the leak, followed on Sept. 29 by the White House denying that Rover, er, Rove leaked Plame's identity to retaliate against her anti-admin. hubby Wilson, despite his admitting to FBI that he had leaked the info. to Novak; too bad, on Oct. 14 and Nov. 26 Libby is interviewed by the FBI, and on Dec. 30 Chicago U.S. atty. Patrick J. Fitzgerald (1960-) (sounds like John Fitzgerald you know who?) is named to head the leak investigation - so get the lady another job and fuggedaboutit? On Jan. 29 AOL-Time Warner reports an annual loss of $98.7B. On Jan. 30 Belgium officially recognizes gay marriages - shall we eat or drink to it? The bad side of the U.S. govt. on display? On Jan. 31 a federal jury in San Francisco, Calif. is duped by a crook in a black robe to convict noted marijuana advocate and authority Edward "Ed" Rosenthal (1944-) of federal marijuana charges even though Calif. law permits it for medical uses and the city of Oakland tried to shield him with immunity as its officer; on Feb. 4 the jury cries foul for not being told this, demanding a new trial as the puppet judge and prosecutors slap each other on the backs for squashing a hero like a bug for political reasons in the name of the law, instead of taking Calif. itself to court first so the fight is more fair; his conviction is overturned on appeal, and they try and convict him again to justify having already served his sentence - and America wants to spread its brand of democracy all over the world? In Jan. Saddam Hussein stuns his top military leaders when he tells them that he has no WMDs after all, and just wanted Iran to think he did to keep them off his back; the leaders are demoralized because they had counted on using gas or germ weapons against the Americans; after he is captured, Saddam repeats this, but adds to FBI agent George L. Piro that he faked having WMDs while in power but planned on developing them incl. nukes within a year; meanwhile Iraqi defector to Germany Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi WMD labs later admits he lied to sucker the U.S. into toppling him; CIA officer Tyler S. Drumheller (1942-2015) had warned top CIA officials in vain before Gen. Colin Powell gave his U.N. speech. In Jan. 30-year U.S. Rep. Sen. (chmn. of the Sen. Agriculture Committee and Sen. Foreign Relations Committee) Jesse Helms (b. 1921) decides against seeking a 6th term and leaves Congress; his seat is won by Sen. Bob Dole's wife Elizabeth Dole; he suffers from heart problems, a bone disorder, and prostate cancer, and goes around Capitol Hill on a motorized scooter; in Apr. 2006 he ends up in a nursing home after developing vascular dementia. In Jan. Calif. Gov. Ahnuld has surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. On Feb. 1 (8:59 EST) NASA Space Shuttle Columbia, which lifted off on Jan. 16 breaks up during reentry and disintegrates 40 mi. up over Palestine, Tex. as it approaches the landing area, killing all seven aboard incl. cmdr. Rick Husband, pilot William McCool, payload cmdr. Michael Anderson, engineer Kalpana Chala, David Brown, Laurel Clark, and Ilan Ramon, all while millions watch the eerie execution on TV; Ramon is the first Israeli in space; giving conspiracy kooks hay to blame Iran, since it's the 24th anniv. of Ayatollah Khomeini's return to Iran, plus the embedded letters "Iran" in Ramon's name, and the coincidence of Palestine, Tex.; the breakup is caused by hot gases escaping through a 3-in. hole in the left wing created at liftoff by a piece of foam insulation breaking off from the external fuel tank, causing NASA to spend $200M to fix the problem before the next flight in 2005; much of the debris lands in Nacogdoches, Tex. On Feb. 2 Vaclav Havel steps down as pres. of the Czech Repub., and goes back to writing plays, and on Mar. 7 economist-politician Vaclav (Václav) Klaus (1941-) (PM #1 in 1993-8) becomes pres. #2 of the Czech Repub. (until Mar. 7, 2013), going on to become a prominent global warming skeptic and Euroskeptic and grant a mass amnesty to prisoners on Jan. 1, 2013 that gets him charged with high treason by the Czech Senate, making him ineligible for a 3rd tersm. On Feb. 3 super-rich Bronx, N.Y.-born "Wall of Sound" pop music producer Phillip Harvey (Harvey Phillip) "Phil" Spector (1939-2021) is arrested for the shooting murder of B-movie actress Lana Jean Clarkson (b. 1962) in his hilltop castle-like mansion in Alhambra, Calif., uttering the soundbyte "I think I just shot her", claiming that it was an "accidental suicide", and she "kissed the gun", which the D.A. disagrees with, saying he has evidence he pulled guns on other women, despite other evidence that Clarkson had gunshot residue on both of her hands; on May 23 he shows up in L.A. Superior Court sporting an oversized "Dolly Parton" hairdo of frosted and teased curls; on Nov. 20 he is charged with murder; on Sept. 26, 2007 a mistrial is declared after a 10-2 hung jury; on Oct. 20, 2008 he is retried, and convicted on Apr. 13, 2009 of 2nd degree murder, receiving a 19-years-to-life prison sentence on May 29, 2009; writer Mick Brown, who interviews Spector weeks before the killing later pub. a book detailing his long history of pulling loaded guns on people incl. John Lennon and The Ramones - but never pulling the trigger? On Feb. 5 U.S. secy. of state #65 (2001-5) Gen. Colin Luther Powell (1937-) delivers a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, claiming that Iraq has WMDs, using it as the Bush admin.'s rationale for war; too bad, he mistakenly names obscure jihadist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 21x, making him a celeb that causes him to recruit followers in Iraq and lay the groundwork for ISIS; after the invasion fails to find any WMDs, he calls the speech a "blot" on his record, claiming that he warned Pres. Bush "If you break it, you own it." On Feb. 10 Kurdish political leader Shawkat Hajji Mushir is assassinated by Kurdish Islamic militants in league with Al-Qaida. On Feb. 12 Donald Rumsfeld utters the immortal soundbyte in a briefing on the Iraqi situation: "As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns." On Feb. 13 Tom Ridge's Dept. of Homeland Security causes a run on duck (duct) tape and plastic sheeting with an announcement that terrorists are suspected of being about ready to set off a dirty bomb in the U.S. On Feb. 14 the original Dolly the Sheep dies - did they mention the part about the horse? On Feb. 15 100K in Dublin, Ireland and 30K in Belfast, Northern Ireland march in protest of the imminent U.S. invasion of Iraq. On Feb. 17 a nightclub stampede in Chicago, Ill. kills 21. On Feb. 19 Mo. Rep. Dick Gephardt announces his 2nd candidacy for U.S. pres., with a pledge to repeal most of Pres. Bush's tax cuts, which he claims mainly benefit the rich. On Feb. 19 an election causes a runoff, and on Mar. 5 Robert Kocharian (1954-) is reelected pres. of Armenia (until Apr. 9, 2008). On Feb. 20 a 100-fatality nightclub fire in The Station in West Warwick, R.I. is set off by pyrotechnics igniting flammable soundproofing foam as the heavy metal band Great White begins their set and a TV cameraman is filming footage for a story on safety in public places; the nightclub had no sprinklers because state laws don't require any for Class C venues (with a capacity of less than 300 people), but lead vocalist Jack Russell refused to play unless there was a guarantee of 500?; Great White guitarist Ty Longley dies in the blaze; on Dec. 9 Jeffrey and Michael Derderian, the owners of the nightclub and Daniel Biechele (26), the tour manager of Great White are indicted; in Feb. 2006 Biechele pleads guilty to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter, and on May 10, 2006 is sentenced to a light four years, stirring outrage from victims' families; on Sept. 29, 2006 owner Michael Derderian (1961-) receives four years, and his brother Jeffrey Derderian (1967-) gets no time from Judge Frances Darigan, all without a trial, causing outrage by victims' relatives. On Feb. 20 Kuwaiti-born U. of Southern Fla. computer science prof. Sami Amin Al-Arian (1958-), a founder of the Islamic Society of North Am. (ISNA), and prominent speaker against "Islamophobia" is arrested by the U.S. govt. for being the alleged leader of the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) anti-Israel terrorist org. in the U.S.; he pleads guilty in 2006, and is sentenced to 57 mo. On Feb. 25 after promoting an end to regionalism in politics via an Internet campaign, human rights atty. Roh Moo-hyun (1946-2009) becomes pres. #16 of South Korea (until Feb. 25, 2008). On Feb. 26 the U.S. Supreme Court rules that federal racketeering (RICO) laws cannot be used to stop abortion protesters - a chain of crimes to protect a source of income, not to stop somebody else's? On Feb. 27 Rolandas Paksas (1956-) becomes pres. #3 of Lithuania since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 (until Apr. 6, 2004). On Feb. 28 economist Vaclav Klaus (1941-) is elected pres. #2 of Czech., and is sworn-in on Mar. 7 (until Mar. 7, 2013). In Feb. Gen. Omar al-Bashir and his Arab Muslim Janjaweed (Arab. "horse genies", "evil horsemen") militia begin a campaign of ethnic and religious persecution in drought-stricken Darfur in W Sudan, burning down villages, killing 180K (mostly Christians), and driving 2M from their homes within a few years; within three years they kill 300K and drive 2.5M from their homes into Chad and Central African Repub. In Feb. the Occupy London March in Hyde Park, C London becomes the largest protest in British history; too bad, it fails to stop Britain from joining the U.S. invasion of Iraq 32 days later. In Feb. railroad giant CSX Corp. CEO John William Snow (1939-) becomes U.S. treasury secy. #73 (until June 28, 2006); in Mar. Congress passes a 3% federal exise tax on long distance calls and bundled services, collecting $13B by 2006, when lawsuits causes it to it reverse course and offer the money back. In Feb. Cuban Luis Grass Rodriguez tries again, attempting to reach Fla. aboard a 1959 Buick sedan converted into a boat; by Dec. 2004 he has been granted refugee status in Costa Rica. In Feb. a controversial referendum in Kyrgyzstan expands the powers of corrupt pres. Askar Akayev; in June parliament grants him lifelong immunity from prosecution - washed away? In Feb. Egyptian cleric Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr (1963-) is kidnapped from a street in Milan, Italy by the CIA, then tortured for the next 14 mo.; 26 Americans are later put on trial in Italy for it in absentia. In Feb. after two reporters bring a lawsuit against their employer Fox News (owned by Ruper Murdoch) for ordering them to falsify their findings then firing them after they refused, a Fla. Appeals Court rules that "There is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States." On Mar. 1 Al-Qaida mastermind ($25M bounty on his head) Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (1964-) is arrested in Rawalpindi, Pakistan along with money man Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi. On Mar. 1 the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is incorporated into the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security. On Mar. 3 Al-Qaida leader Abu Mohammed Al Masri is assassinated in Lebanon by the Israelis. On Mar. 3 the parliament of Serbia and Montenegro is inaugrated, replacing the Yugoslavian parliament. On Mar. 3 British atty.-gen. (2001-7) Peter Henry Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith (1950-) writes a Letter to PM Tony Blair, telling him that deposing Saddam Hussein would be a blatant breach of internat. law; after being leaked to the press, it is officially pub. on Apr. 28, 2005. On Mar. 4 WHO issues a rare travel advisory for SARS. On Mar. 5 Nigerian opposition All Nigeria People's Party leader Marshal Sokari Harry is assassinated in Abuja. On Mar. 5 the U.S. Supreme Court by 5-4 upholds Calif.'s notorious Three Strikes and You're Out sentencing law - there's one bright side - at least America is moving closer to Islamic countries on the law & order issue? On Mar. 6 an Air Algeria Boeing 737 jet crashes, killing 102 in the S Algerian province of Tamanrasset, becoming the worst crash in Algeria since 1962 independence. On Mar. 8 Hamas vows revenge after one of its founding members and three bodyguards are killed in an Israeli heli attack in Gaza; meanwhile the Israeli army promises to strike again. On Mar. 8 Nashville Star, a clone of "American Idol" for country singers debuts on USA Network (until Aug. 4, 2008); the 2003 season sees Miranda Lambert come in #3 then sign a contract with Epic Records. On Mar. 12 Serb leader Zoran Djindjic (1952-2003) is assassinated 1 mo. after Yugoslavia is abolished in favor of the new state of Serbia and Montenegro, and Kostunica steps down in favor of him. On Mar. 14 underdog former mayor of Istanbul (1994-8) Recep Tayyip Erdogan (1954-) (whose wife Emine wears the veil) becomes PM of Turkey (until ?), succeeding Abdullah Gul (whose wife Haynrunisa wears a headscarf), who resigned over U.S. troop deployment in Turkey, which was narrowly defeated on Mar. 1; the wearing of Sharia garb was outlawed by Kemal Ataturk, revealing a resurgence of Muslim fundamentalism; Erdogan is a friend of Saudi terrorism financier Yasin al-Qadi (1956-), and protects him from sanctions. On Mar. 14 U.S. Rep. James P. Moran Jr. steps down as a regional Whip for the House Dems. for making what he called "insensitive" remarks about Jews pushing the U.S. into war with Iraq - but are they true? On Mar. 14-15 the Dixie Chicks (Natalie Maines, Martie Maguire, Emily Robison) are pulled from country music station playlists after lead singer Natalie in a London concert on Mar. 10 comments that she is "ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas", despite an apology on Mar. 14 for being "disrespectful"; the petty viciousness of the backlash from the "American patriots" makes everybody ashamed of lots more people from Texas?; on Apr. 24 Diane Sawyer attempts to rehabilitate the Chix by interviewing them on TV in an Americanized version of the Stalinist show trial, and a nude mag. cover totally patches things up? On Mar. 15 Hu Jintao (1942-) becomes pres. #6 of the People's Repub. of China (until Mar. 14, 2013), replacing pres. (since Jar. 27, 1993) Jiang Zemin; on Mar. 16 Wen Jiabao (1942-) becomes PM #6 of the People's Repub. of China (until Mar. 15, 203) - hu, wen, jin, jia, and bao? On Mar. 16 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney utters the soundbyte about Iraq to reporters: "We will in fact be greeted as liberators... I think it will go relatively quickly... weeks rather than months"; he adds, "We believe (Saddam) has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons" - is that like orange juice? On Mar. 17 chemical engineer George Maxwell Richards (1931-) becomes pres. #4 of Trinidad and Tobago (until Mar. 18, 2013), becoming the first Amerindian head of state in the Anglophone Caribbean. On Mar. 17 after claiming to have exhausted the diplomatic options, Pres. Bush gives Madass Saddam a generous 48 hours to leave Dodge, er, his own country with his sons and heirs. On Mar. 17 a law goes into effect in the Netherlands permitting pharmacies to fill prescriptions for marijuana - and lead us not into temptation? On Mar. 18 a huge wet snowstorm, the worst in 90 years hits Colo., which is in the middle of its biggest drought in recorded history; the weather stays wet for the rest of the year and next, ending the drought. On Mar. 18 British PM Tony Poodle, er, Blair wins the approval of Parliament for joining the U.S. in using force to disarm Iraq despite some defections in his own party; meanwhile, France, Germany, and Russia continue to pooh-pooh them, triggering an anti-French reaction by Americans (who figure that the Frogs owe them for liberating their country in WWII?), causing a movement to change the name "French fries" to Freedom Fries, incl. the cafeterias in the U.S. House office bldgs. The Chimp President Plunges the U.S. Into Lord Knows What? On Mar. 19 after Pres. Bush relies on conclusions by neoconservative Pentagon policy chief (undersecy. of defense for policy) Douglas J. Feith (1953-) that Saddam Hussein is linked to Al-Qaida, plus the advice of Jewish-Am. Islam expert Bernard Lewis (1916-) and Shiite Iraqi exile Ahmed (Ahmad) Abdel Hadi Chalabi (1944-20915) ("the George Wasington of Iraq", who later proves to be only it for the Shiites) Operation Iraqi Freedom to disarm Iraq, rid it of them pesky WMDs and force a regime change begins; the same day U.S. Sen. (D-W.V.) (1959-2010) Robert Carlyle Byrd (Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.) (1917-2010) gives a speech in the Senate, saying "I weep for my country" as the U.S. discards its image of a strong, benevolent peacekeeper and begins the U.S.-Iraq War (ends ?), which becomes the TBI (traumatic brain injury) war, with improved body armor causing the highest injury survival rate in the history of warfare (86%), filling VA hospitals with disfigured and brain-damaged soldiers, who get to enjoy all the new hi-tech prosthetic devices; Britain's Prince Charles secretly lobbies in vain against it; the Bush admin. begins a secret Pentagon program to use retired military analysts to generate positive war news coverage; Iraqi Gen. Babaker Baderkhan Shawkat Zebari is appointed chief of staff of the Iraqi Joint Forces (until ?); the war is a giant mistake as it plays into al-Qaida's hands, eliminating their rival Saddam Hussein, intensifying anti-Americanism, helping them recruit more suicide bombers, and giving them time to destabilize the govt. of Pakistan in order to get their hands on nukes?; after Saddam Hussein's regime falls, the downtrodden Shiites finally get to observe their annual Ashoura holiday despite the threat of Sunni attacks as a demonstration of power; meanwhile the 1M Iraqi Christians, which Saddam's regime kept from harm, find themselves in the middle of a world of hurt, and begin fleeing to Syria and Jordan amid mindless hate and murder - Bush's Planet of the Apes? On Mar. 19 a Cuban Aerotaxi plane is hijacked en route from Havana to the Isle of Youth in Cuba and flown to Fla., after which USAF jets intercept it and escort it to Key West. On Mar. 20 U.S. Navy SEALS in their largest operation to date capture the Mabot and Kaaot oil platforms along with the port of Al Faw, preparing Iraq for a U.S. invasion; on Mar. 20 the U.S. stages a surgical air strike, using over two dozen cruise missles on the suspected Baghdad bunker of Big Bad Sodamn Insane; too bad, he is nowhere near the site, triggering massive world protests of the supposed injustice of attacking the murderous sick demented turdball's regime before it can attack the U.S., even though it is the U.S. who is paying and doing all the work, while they benefit; on Mar. 21 (8:09 p.m. local time) the U.S. opens up its promised Shock and Awe (Shock Allah?) phase of the war, invented by consultant Harlan K. Ullman (1941-) with a massive hi-tech air strike on Baghdad, inviting eager comparisons with the Nazi Blitzkrieg, even though the idea behind it is to attack only the regime not the subject people; on Mar. 20 a Gallup poll shows that 76% of Americans approve of the decision to go to war; the irrational hate flaring worldwide against the U.S. is so great that the question remains open of whether the entire Islamic world will finally unite in a suicidal religious jihad against the Great Satan of the U.S. and its Western allies, and bring the 14-cent.-long Muslim-Christian-Jewish world religious lifestyle war back, while the atheists, secularists et al. wait in the wings and hope they all give up their ridiculous beliefs of a looming End of the World once and for all? - what you been missing? On Mar. 23 a referendum approves a new constitution confirming Chechnya as part of the Russian Federation; on Oct. 5 Akhmad (Akhmat) Abdulkhamidovich Kadyrov (1951-2004) is elected pres. of the Chechen Repub. (until May 9, 2004). On Mar. 23 Abdul Majid Dar, former leader of Kashmir's largest Islamic rebel group is assassinated by Kashmir gunmen in retribution for talking with the Indian govt. On Mar. 23 Al-Jazeera (named for the N portion of Mesopotamia, the S portion being called Iraq Arabi) goes live on the Internet with an English language website, but is quickly knocked offline. On Mar. 23 the 75th Academy Awards in Los Angeles are hosted by Steve Martin (2nd time), and 279 films are eligible for consideration; the best picture Oscar for 2002 goes to Chicago along with best supporting actress to Catherine Zeta-Jones, best dir. to Roman Polanski for The Pianist, along with best actor to Adrien Brody (youngest ever, displacing Richard Dreyfuss), best actress to Nicole Kidman for The Hours, and best supporting actor to Chris Cooper for Adaptation; Michael Moore wins an Oscar for his documentary film Bowling for Columbine, then gets hooted off the stage during a speech calling Bush "a fictional president who won a fictional election". On Mar. 24 the Arab League calls for the U.S. and Britain to withdraw their troops from Iraq immediately; the same day Saddam Hussein appears on Iraqi TV, saying that "victory is soon". On Mar. 25 Saudi Arabia makes a peace proposal to Iraq and the U.S. On Mar. 27 Serbian police kill two major suspects in the assassination of PM Zoran Djindjic. On Mar. 28 Japan launches its first spy satellites, causing North Korea to go nonlinear and huff and puff. On Mar. 31 ignoring his apology, NBC fires Peter Arnett for telling Iraqi TV that the U.S. war plan had failed in its initial stages; London's Daily Mirror quickly hires him. On Mar. 30 Donald Rumsfeld utters the soundbyte to reporters, "We know where [the WMDs] are." On Mar. 31 a Cuban airliner with 32 passengers is hijacked to Key West, Fla. In Mar. Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) dir. gen. (since 1997) Mohamed el-Baradei (1942-) tells the U.N. Security Council that the documents claiming to prove that Iraq tried to acquire uranium from Niger are bogus, after which the U.S. tries to get him fired, but can't get enough support from other countries, after which on June 9 Condoleezza Rice meets with him and the U.S. drops its objections, and he is reappointed on June 13; he is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. On Apr. 1 U.S. Special Forces rescue from an Iraqi hospital U.S. Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch (1984-), whose 507th Ordnance Maintenance Co. had been ambushed on Mar. 23 in Nasiriya, Iraq, becoming an overblown media event; everybody's got a theory (she is from Palestine, W. Va., get it?); Mohammed Odeh Al-Rehatef, the Iraqi atty. who helped her escape is granted asylum in the U.S.; following her release from the hospital she returns to W. Va. to fiance Sgt. Ruben Contreras, then later drops him for Wes Robinson, and has a 7 lb. 10 oz. baby girl on Jan. 9, 2007. On Apr. 1 two men carrying grenades hijack a Cuban Aerotaxi plane to the U.S. but it lands in Havana after running out of fuel; no more hijackings in Cuba until May 3, 2007. On Apr. 3 moderate Shiite cleric Abdul Majid al-Khoei returns to his home city of Najaf, Iraq from exile in the U.K; on Apr. 10 he is killed by a mob on the orders of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. On Apr. 6-7 after Saddam Hussein, fearing a Shiite uprising to which he would need to send troops, delays blowing up a key bridge on the Euphrates River S of the city to block their advance, U.S. forces easily raid C Baghdad and encircle the city, finding little resistance; at 2 p.m. on Apr. 7 an airstrike on Sodamn's residential palace in Baghdad is rumored to have killed him and his two devil spawn sons, but actually he is nowhere near the site, as he flees west toward Ramadi with them to escape U.S. forces, staying in a network of safe houses in civilian neighborhoods; on Apr. 7 he happens to be in a safe house only 1.5 mi. from the route taken by U.S. troops on their 2nd Thunder Run into Baghdad; on the night of Apr. 10 the U.S. bombs a bldg. next to a Ramadi house he is hiding in, causing him and his sons Odai and Qusai to split with him the next morning, going to Tikrit and Mosul (home of muslin), where U.S. troops kill them in July; meanwhile English journalist Boris Johnson (1964-) finds a cool leather cigar case in the bombed-out Baghdad villa of deputy PM Tariq Aziz, and decides to keep it, which later causes Iraq to demand it back after he becomes mayor of London on May 4, 2008, and he finally surrenders it on June 24, 2008. On Apr. 7 the U. of Texas at Austin announces that it is paying $5M for the Watergate Papers of Bob Woodward (1943-) and Carl Bernstein. On Apr. 7 Haitian pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide celebrates the 200th anniv. of the death of Haiti's founder Toussaint l'Ouverture by claiming that France owes it $21.7B in reparations for colonialism and slavery; on Apr. 8 France rejects the demand, pointing to the $2.4B lent to it by the internat. community, incl. $240M from France. On Apr. 8 a U.S. tank fires on Hotel Palestine in Baghdad, killing Spanish TV journalist Jose Couso Permui (b. 1965); on Oct. 19, 2005 a court in Madrid issues an internat. arrest warrant for the 3-man U.S. Third Infantry tank crew, Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford, and Lt. Col. Philip de Camp. On Apr. 9 Baghdad falls as Saddam Hussein's army proves to be what he once (1990) called the U.S. army, a paper tiger; the name of Saddam Internat. Airport is changed; too bad, Baghdad has 2M Sunnis and 4M Shiites, who hate each other's guts so bad that civil war soon brews, with the hapless U.S. troops in the middle, and Iran waiting in the wings to back the Shiites, with an obvious plan to exterminate the Sunnis and Kurds, amalgamate the two countries, get nukes, and then form the main shaft of a spear headed directly into Israel, pushing it into the sea, and leaving the U.S. in the position of picking up refugees like in the days of Dunkirk? - and the Clueless Chimp of the White House unable to face the reality that if he had just left Saddam in power it would have remained stable? On Apr. 11 Donald Rumsfeld is questioned by reporters about widespread looting in Baghdad, and utters the soundbyte: "Stuff happens, and it's untidy, and freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things." On Apr. 13 during the confusion of the U.S. invasion the Baghdad Museum is stripped by prof. thieves. On Apr. 13 the U.S. announces the capture of Watban Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, half-brother and adviser to Saddam Hussein. On Apr. 13 seven U.S. POWs incl. black Army Specialist Shoshana Nyree Johnson (1973-) (first black POW in U.S. history) are released by Iraqi troops near Trikit. On Apr. 13 U.S. Sgt. Hasan K. Akbar (Mark Fidel Kools) (1971-) of the 326th Engineer Battalion lobs four stolen hand grenades and shoots his M-4 rifle into three tents filled with sleeping officers at the U.S. 101st Airborne Div. 1st Brigade ops center in Kuwait, killing Capt. Christopher Seifert and Maj. Gregory Stone; in Apr. 2005 he is sentenced to death, and executed on ?. On Apr. 13-14 the badly decomposed bodies of 8-mo. pregnant Laci Denise Peterson (nee Rocha) (b. 1975) and her fetus Conner are found in the Isabel Regional Shoreline of Richmond Point in San Francisco Bay, causing authorities to arrest her husband, fertilizer salesman Scott Lee Peterson (1972-) on Apr. 18 and charge him with capital murder; he hires famed defense atty. Mark John Geragos (1957-), known for representing pop star Michael Jackson; Rick Warren's "A Purpose-Driven Life" is on his car seat during his arrest at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif., given him by his hot blonde girlfriend Amber Dawn Frey (1975-), who had been working with authorities to draw him out, despite wanting to hook up with her being his main motive; his hair and goatee had been bleached blonde, and he was carrying $15K in cash along with an array of camping equipment; on Mar. 16, 2005 he is sentenced to death by lethal injection, beginning a bonanza for lawyers handling his appeals. On Apr. 15 Abu (Mohammad) Abbas (1948-2004), mastermind of the 1985 PLO Achille Lauro hijacking is captured at his Badhdad home where he had lived for years basking in the glory of an Islamic freedom fighter. On Apr. 16 Am. Airlines narrowly averts bankruptcy after flight attendants agree to $340M in labor concessions; all the airlines are teetering on the brink now since 9/11 did them in. On Apr. 19 Nigerian pres. #12 (since May 29, 1999) Olusegun Obasanjo wins a new term in an election opponents denounce as fraudulent; he stays in office until May 29, 2007. On Apr. 20 the U.S. Army takes control of Baghdad from the Marines. On Apr. 24 (7:34 a.m.) a 14-y.-o. boy shoots and kills his junior high school principal Eugene Segro with a shotgun to the chest in Red Lion, Penn., then uses another gun to shoot himself in the head in a packed school cafeteria. On Apr. 26 Russia launches Soyuz TMA-2, carrying cosmonauts Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (1961-) and Edward Tsang Lu (1963-) of the U.S.; on Oct. 18 Soyuz TMA-3 blasts off, carrying cosmonauts Alexander Yuriyevich "Sasha" Kaleri (1956-), Colin Michael Foale (1957-), and Pedro Duque Duque (1963-) of Spain; Soyuz TMA-2 returns on Oct. 28 with Yuri Malenchenko, Edward Tsang Lu, and Pedro Duque; Soyuz TMA-3 returns next Apr. 30 with Alexander Kaleri, Michael Foale, and Andre Kuipers. On Apr. 30 after 30 mo. of violence the Quartet (U.S., EU, Russia, and the secy.-gen. of the U.N.) issues the Middle East Roadmap for Peace, outlining a 3-phase plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, namely, Phase 1: "Ending terror and violence, normalizing Palestinian life, and building Palestinian institutions", Phase 2: "Interim agreement with a Palestinian state having provisional borders and attributes of sovereigny... as a way station to a permanent status settlement", and Phase 3: "Permanent status agreement and the end of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict"; on May 23 it is endorsed by Ariel Sharon, and on May 25 by the Israeli cabinet, followed on June 4 by Mahmoud Abbas; on Nov. 20, 2003 Resolution 1515 based on it is adopted unanimously by the U.N. Security Council, incl. Syria, calling for a permanent 2-state solution after the cessation of violence, reform of the Palestinian Nat. Authority, and dismantling of the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure, along with the "illegal outposts" of Israel; on Mar. 19, 2010 the Quartet endorses it again. In Apr. a stash of foreign currency worth $200M ($100M U.S., 90M euros) is found in a Baghdad neighborhood; it is flown out of Iraq and set to be returned to help rebuild it. In Apr. Hutu Domitien Ndayizeye (1953-) becomes pres. of Burundi (until 2005). In Apr. Genovese crime family head (1981-2005) Vincent Louis "the Chin" Gigante (1928-2005), serving a 12-year sentence from a July 1997 racketeering conviction admits his long-time insanity ruse and pleads guilty to obstruction of justice, receiving another 3 years; for years he had wandered the streets of Greenwich village in nightclothes, muttering incoherently, while his Roman Catholic priest brother claimed he suffered from dementia. In Apr. the U.S. Naval Training Range on the E half of beautiful Vieques Island 8 mi. E of Puerto Rico's main island is closed after decades of using it as a target for bombs and rockets (since 1948), creating a cleanup nightmare. In Apr. screenwriter Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner (1956-) and Entertainment Weekly ed. Mark Harris become the first to have their same-sex committment ceremony featured in the Vows column of the New York Times. On May 1 after announcing it in his 2003 State of the Union Address in response to recommendations by the 9/11 Commission, Pres. George W. Bush issues Executive Order 13354 establishing the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC), with John Owen Brennan (1955-) as dir. #1 (until Aug. 27, 2004). Oh mister bookworm what's the matter? On May 1 (May Day) Pres. Bush emerges from a Navy jet clad in a flight suit on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln under a giant "Mission Accomplished" banner, announcing that "major combat operations in Iraq have ended... In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001, and still goes on. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide"; meanwhile shooting goes on daily, the country has no basic services, neither Saddam Hussein nor his spooky WMDs have been found, and giant ammounts of weapons and ammo are stolen by insurgents to fight with and make IUDs out of; up to this speech, 139 U.S. soldiers been killed, and three years later the figure increases by 2,258 - if the U.S. had summarily pulled out then and there, Bush would have been right? On May 5 a UFO was supposed to pick up true believers, according to Dr. Malachi Z. York, founder of the Nuwaubians in Georgia, USA. On May 7 Pres. Bush orders U.S. sanctions against Iraq lifted. On May 8 the U.S. Senate unanimously endorses adding seven former Communist nations to NATO incl. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuana, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. On May 10 Shiite leader Ayatollah Sayed Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim (b. 1939) returns triumphantly to his Iraqi homeland after two decades in Iranian exile; on Aug. 29 he is killed along with 84-125 others when a car blomb explodes as he leaves Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. On May 11 the U.S. declares the Iraqi Ba'ath Party dead. On May 11 the famous gold-ivory-enamel Saliera (salt cellar) made by Benvenuto Cellini in 1543 for French king Francois I is stolen from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna in a smash-and-grab robbery in which the guards miss the event and have no clue as to who did it; 3 years later it is found in a forest N of the city. May 13 Prophets Foul and Fair? On May 13 the world is supposed to end, according to Nancy Lieder of ZetaTalk. On May 13 suicide bombers linked to Al-Qaida strike Western housing compounds in the Saudi capital Riyadh, killing 26; the attack is later pinned on Al-Qaida, becoming their 4th terrorist attack since 9/11; a taped voice in Apr. thought to be Osama bin Laden's exhorted Muslims to rise up against Saudi Arabia and called for suicide attacks against U.S. and British interests. On May 14 S Texas "coyote" smugglers abandon more than 70 illegal immigrants in an airtight locked trailer at a Victoria, Tex. truck stop 100 mi. SW of Houston after they kick out a signal light to get attention; 19 die from heat prostration; 14 people, incl. Victor Sanchez Rodriguez and his wife Emma Sapata Rodriguez are indicted on conspiracy, smuggling, and other charges; the truck driver Tyrone Williams (1970-) is tried on charges that could bring the death penalty, and given life in priz on Jan. 18, 2007. On May 16 Moroccan suicide bombers simultaneously attack five Jewish and foreign targets in Casablanca, Morocco, killing 41 and wounding 100; the attacks are later pinned on Al-Qaida, showing that Morocco may be next on the list of semi-sane regimes to be undermined. On May 17 Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re of the Vatican acknowledges that Pope John Paul II is suffering from Parkinson's Disease. On May 18 a Hamas suicide attacker disguised as an observant Jew kills seven Israeli bus passengers. On May 19 WorldCom Inc. agrees to pay investors $500M to settle civil fraud charges. On May 22 the U.N. Security Council gives the U.S. and Britain a mandate to rule Iraq, ending 13 years of economic sanctions. On May 22 John McCain brags about his support for the Bush admin., with the soundbyte: "I voted with the president over 90% of the time, higher than a lot of my Republican colleagues", which is later used against him bigtime when he runs for pres. in 2008. On May 24 Paul McCartney plays a 3-hour show in Russia's Red Square, featuring 30 hit songs incl. "Back in the USSR"; the Beatles had been banned from playing in Russia in the 1960s. On May 25 Israel's govt. conditionally approves by a narrow margin an internationally-backed road map to peace; on May 26 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon angers hardliners with a speech to his Likud Party that he is determined to reach a peace deal with everybody's pals the Palestinians. On May 26 93% of Rwandans vote to approve a new 2003 Rwandan Constitution giving Hutus and Tutsis a balance of power, with neither allowed to hold more than half the seats in parliament, and the incitement of ethnic hatred outlawed; on Aug. 26 pres. elections give pres. Paul Kagame a landslide V. On May 28 the French Council of the Muslim Faith (Muslim Council of France) is founded to represent Muslims to the French govt. On May 29 Pres. Bush issues the soundbyte to reporters: "We found the weapons of mass destruction." On May 29 the Moulin Rouge (built 1955), Las Vegas' first desegregated casino-resort burns down (arson). On May 31 an annular solar eclipse is seen from Northern Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland, with a partial eclipse covering much of Europe and Russia. In May U.S. troops in Iraq find a Jewish archive in a flooded basement of Saddam Hussein's Mukhabarat secret police; despite there being only 10 Jews left in Iraq by 2010, the Iraq govt. demands that they be returned. In May Al-Qaida begins implementing the Mountain Manifesto, a plan to take over Saudi Arabia. In May the Guldimann Fax is allegedly received by the U.S. State Dept. by Nat. Security Council officials Flynt Leverett and his wife Hillary Mann Leverett claiming that the govt. of Iran is making a historic offer of a "grand bargain" to resolve all disputes with the U.S., which disses it as inauthentic; it later turns out to be composed by Swiss ambassador to Iran Tim Buldimann. In May the famous Old Man of the Mountain in Franconia Notch Park in the White Mts. in N New Hampshire collapses. On June 1 Shukri Mohammed Ghanem (1942-), former research dir. of OPEC becomes PM of Libya (until Mar. 1, 2006), going on to utter the soundbyte on Sept. 16, 2004 that Israel is "a mistake in the political geography", and that U.S. military intervention in Iraq has "fed extremists and fundamentalists and results in the dissemination of violence" because "it is necessary to deal with oil-producing areas and the areas of pipelines as sacred places". On June 3 document Considerations, approved on Mar. 28 by co-author Pope John Paul II is released by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, headed by co-author Cardinal Ratzinger, condemning same-sex marriage, saying that all Catholics are "obliged to oppose the legal recognition of homosexual unions", while a Catholic politician "has a moral duty to express his opposition clearly and publicly and to vote against it, with the soundbyte that "homosexuality is a troubling moral and social phenomenon", adding "Men and women are equal as persons and complementary as male and female", and "No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman." On June 4 Pres. Bush holds landmark peace plan meetings with the PMs of Israel and Palestine after winning support from top Arab leaders; they amount to diddly squat? On June 9 French helis rescue more than 500 Americans and others as rebels bear down on the capital of Liberia, cornering warlord-pres. (since Aug. 2, 1997) Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (1948-) in Monrovia as U.S. Navy warships hover off the coast and Pres. Bush urges him to step down. On June 10 Israeli helis wound senior Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi and kill two others; they finally get him next Apr.; on June 11 a suicide bomber kills 17 people in a Jerusalem bus blast; in retaliation two Israeli rocket strikes against Hamas fugitives kill 11 Palestinians in Gaza City. On June 11 a ceremony is held in New York City at the corner of West and Chambers to celebrate the first seeing-eye dog. On June 17 after being dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Army in Fort Benning, Ga. and moving to Jacksonville, Fla. in 1999 and working as a taxi driver, 6'6" Beaumont, Tex.-born Paul Durousseau (1970-) is arrested and charged with five counts of murder out of up to nine from Jan. 6, 1997-Jan. 20, 2003, all single and black; on Dec. 13, 2007 he is sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1999 rape-murder of 24-y.-o. Tyresa Mack. On June 18 the U.S. Census Bureau announces that Hispanics outnumber blacks in the U.S. for the first time, making them the largest minority group, with 38.8M, a 9.8% increase since 2000; blacks are up 3.1% to 36.6M, out of a total U.S. pop. of 288.4M, up 2.5%. On June 18 Denver, Colo. bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman (1953-) captures Max Factor heir Andrew Stuart Luster (1963-) in Puerto Villarta, Mexico, after he was convicted of raping three women and fled the U.S., catapulting the Dog to fame and resulting in the cable TV series Dog the Bounty Hunter on Aug. 31, 2004 (until June 23, 2012) (246 episodes); on Sept. 14, 2006 he and two associates are arrested in Hawaii on Mexican charges from the incident. On June 22 a record 18.75" hailstone is found in Aurora, Neb. On June 23 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court votes 6-3 in Gratz v. Bollinger to strike down the U. of Mich. undergrad affirmative action program because its point system is too quotalike; the same day they vote 5-4 in Grutter v. Bollinger to uphold affirmative action at the U. of Mich. law school as long as race is part of a nuanced review of each applicant; in the first vote John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and David Souter dissent; in the 2nd Anthony Kennedy, William Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas dissent, and the deciding vote is cast by Sandra Day O'Connor, with Scalia writing the soundbyte: "This is not, of course, an 'educational benefit' on which students will be graded on their Law School transcript (Works and Plays Well with Others: B+) or tested by the bar examiners (Q: Describe in 500 words or less your cross-racial understanding). For it is a lesson of life rather than law - essentially the same lesson taught to (or rather learned by, for it cannot be 'taught' in the usual sense) people three feet shorter and twenty years younger than the full-grown adults at the University of Michigan Law School, in institutions ranging from Boy Scout troops to public-school kindergartens"; Pres. Bush. issues a statement applauding the court for recognizing the value of diversity - how did such a tiny number of people get in this position anyway? On June 26 the U.S. (Rehnquist) Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Lawrence v. Tex. that states can't enforce sodomy (gay sex) laws because they violate the Constitutional right to privacy first invented, er, enunciated in Griswold v. Conn. (1965), overturning Bowers v. Hardwick (1986); "The State cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime" (Anthony Kennedy) - so you like English muffins? On June 28 the toll of U.S. dead since the start of the Iraqi invasion tops 200 - it'll never reach a thousand? In June the first parliamentary elections in Jordan under King Abdullah give his supporters a two-thirds majority. In June U.S. Army chief of staff Gen. Eric Ken Shinseki (1942-), the first Asian U.S. gen. retires after telling defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld that it would take several hundred thousand, not 140K soldiers to pacify Iraq; he is replaced by Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez (1951-), the highest-ranking Hispanic in the U.S. Army (until Nov. 1, 2006), who later slams Bush's handling of the Iraq war. In June ever-leading New Zealand legalizes prostitution - Xena the Warrior Princess jokes here? In June Falls Church, Va. Dar al-Hijrah Mosque member Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (1981-) is arrested in Saudi Arabia, and extradited back to the U.S., where on Nov. 22, 2005 he is convicted of providing material support to al-Qaida and conspiring to assassinate Pres. George W. Bush; the mosque's dir. of outreach (since June 2002), imam Johari Abdul Malik (born Winslow Seale in La.) tells the New York Times that Abu Ali is comparable to civil rights hero Rosa Parks; in 2001-2 the imam of Dar al-Hijrah was N.M.-born Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011), Islam's Mr. Sunshine, whose sermons were attended by three 9/11 hijackers, and hosted eager attendant Maj. Nidal Hasan; next year after years of lying to infidel Americans about his true intentions, he flees to Yemen to head up an al-Qaida org., becoming the first U.S. citizen placed on the CIA target list in Apr. 2010. In June believers in Planet X predict it will get close enough to Earth to cause major damage. In June Sedan, France-born Michel Fourniret (1942-) is arrested after he fails to kidnap a 14-y.-o. Belgian girl in 2000 and his wife Monique Olivier turns him in in an attempt to avoid prosecution; in June-July 2004 Fourniret confesses to the kidnap, rape, and murder of nine girls in 1987-2001, with 10 more suspected, and on May 28, 2008 he is convicted of 16 murders, receiving a life sentence; Olivier receives life with possible parole in 28 years. In June Am. Remote Viewing (RV) student Aaron C. Donahue announces that he's a Luciferian, because Lucifer is "the father of the human race" who genetically engineered humanity from primates, and is being framed by angels ("spiritual parasites"), who are really to blame for the world's problems, announcing his P.A.N. (Practical Application of Nonhistorical Data) that allegedly helped him win the Calif. Lottery, causing his teacher Ed Dames to break with him, causing him to utter the soundbyte: "Lucifer is the loving progenitor of what we refer to as a complete human being or mirror. It does not take your soul but rather, it provides sanctuary... Lucifer also oversees much of our future with children. This will explain why it is that Ed has never located a missing child. Ed is clearly influenced by the Angels who are at war with mankind..." On July 1 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon and Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas hold a summit, in which they rededicate themselves to peace efforts, and speak of a shared future for their incompatible peoples. On July 1 Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bean Bryant (1978-) allegedly rapes a woman in his room at the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera Hotel in Edwards, Colo. the night before surgery by Dr. Richard Steadman, causing the sheriff of Eagle, Colo. arrests him in July, causing mucho publicity; the case is dropped after he admits to an affair and she refuses to testify, then files a civil suit that is settled out of court after he apologizes but admits no guilt. On July 5 a bomb blast in Ramadi, Iraq kills seven Iraqi police recruits as they graduate from a U.S.-taught training course. On July 6 Liberian pres. and super-thief Charles Taylor (1942-), who bled his country of its treasure accepts an asylum offer from Nigeria after a U.N. tribunal indicts him for crimes against humanity; on Aug. 10 he delivers his farewell address to a nation bloodied by 14 years of war, having no running water or electricity while he looted it blind, then absconds to live a life of ease in nearby Nigeria; in Mar. 27 2006 he vanishes from Nigeria just after it agrees to transfer him to a war crimes tribunal, and is captured and put on trial in The Hague, after which he claims that he wants to convert to Judaism, pissing-off Jews, who don't want him. On July 7 U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks, head honcho of the Iraqi invasion retires. On July 7 Am. leftist activist (aide to Pres. Clinton) John David Podesta (1949-) founds the liberal Center for Am. Progress in Washington, D.C., which is later described as the "official Hillary Clinton think tank"; on July 31, 2016 the report From Russia with Money: Hillary Clinton, the Russian Reset, and Cronyism, alleging that Hillary's campaign chmn. John Podesta sat on the board the Mossack Fonseca law firm in Panama along with Russian officials that received $35M from the Russian govt. of Vladimir Putin, and failed to fully disclose it on federal forms, after which the firm was the subject of the Panama Papers massive global offshore money laundering scandal, which incl. Mass.-based Joule Unlimited, owned by Joule Global Stitching, Russian investor Viktor Vekselberg and his Renova Group, and Swiss investor Hansjoerg Wyss and his Wyss Foundation, all of which are involved with the Clinton Global Initiative; this was done at the same time that Hillary was into her reset strategy with Russia, spearheading the transfer of advanced U.S. technology. On July 8 Pres. George W. Bush begins a 5-nation tour of Africa in Senegal, where he calls U.S. slavery one of history's greatest crimes while standing on the location of an old slave auction; on July 12 he wraps-up his tour of Africa, saying that he will not allow terrorists to use the continent as a base "to threaten the world". On July 10 the New Granada Mosque in Spain is competed, heralding the "return of Islam to Spain". On July 10 the Licensing Act of 2003 is enacted in Britain, simplifying licensing for pubs and allowing extended opening hours, effective Nov. 24, 2005. On July 12 the USS Ronald Reagan, the first carrier named for a living pres. is commissioned in Norfolk, Va. On July 13 Egyptian grand imam Muhammad Sayyid Tantawi (1928-2001) speaks at an Islamic conference in Kuala Lumpur against Islamic terrorism, saying "Extremism is the enemy of Islam. Whereas jihad is allowed in Islam to defend one's land, to help the oppressed, the difference between jihad in Islam and extremism is like the Earth and the sky" - which makes it okay for Palestinians? On July 14 Iraq's new governing council meets for the first time, and votes to send a delegation to the U.N. Security Council to assert its right to represent Baghdad. On July 14 the U.S. Senate scuttles by a 50-48 vote a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage - the Senate is bifurcated on the issue? On July 15 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy debuts on Bravo-TV for 100 episodes (until Oct. 30, 2007), with a team of five gay men known as the Fab Five performing a makeover (make-better) on a straight man; in 2005 the title is shortened by Queer Eye; spawns Queer Eye for the Straight Girl (Jan. 11-May 8, 2005). On July 16 after confusing the gas pedal with the brake, 86-y.-o. retired salesman George Russell Weller (1916-) plows his 1992 Buick Le Sabre at freeway speed into a crowded farmers market in Los Angeles, Calif., killing 10 and injuring 63 over a 2.5 block area; on Oct. 20 he is convicted of 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and in Nov. is let off on probation because of illness. On July 18 (Fri.) Ryan Murphy's drama series Nip/Tuck debuts on FX for 100 episodes (until Mar. 3, 2010), starring Dylan Walsh as Sean McNamara and Julian McMahon as Christian Troy, two plastic surgeons who get all the poontang they want by promising to make them beautiful. On July 19 a chartered airplane carrying three families to a game reserve plows into Mount Kenya, killing all 12 U.S. tourists and the two South African pilots. On July 19the animated series Teen Titans debuts on the Cartoon Network for 65 episodes (until Jan. 16, 2006), based on the DC Comics chars. Robin (Scott Menville), Starfire (Hynden Walch), Cyborg (Khary Payton), Raven (Tara Strong), and Beast Boy (Greg Cipes). On July 21 Narberth, Penn.-born Quaker geologist John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. (1952-), owner of Wynkoop Brewing Co. brewpub and cousin of filmmaker George Hickenlooper becomes Dem. mayor #43 of Denver, Colo. (until Jan. 11, 2011). On July 22 Saddam Hussein's sons Qusai and Odai are killed in a gun battle with U.S. soldiers. On July 22-24 the House and Senate 9/11 Commission issues its 800-page Final Report on 9/11, citing countless screwups on the part of U.S. authorities; a chapter on Saudi financing of 9/11 is suppressed, along with info. linking 9/11 with the Saudi govt.? On July 23 an audiotape purporting to be from Saddam Hussein calls on Iraqis to resist the U.S. occupation - they listen and obey a man hiding in a hole? On July 27 Eltham, London-born America's best-loved comedian and icon Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (b. 1903) dies in Toluca Lake, Calif. at age 100, ending the 20th cent. for real? On July 28 rebels in Liberia capture Buchanan, its second-largest city. On July 31 two of Saddam Hussein's daughters and their nine children are granted refuge in Jordan. In July Australia restores order to the Solomon Islands, ending their civil war. In July Canada permits dispensing of marijuana by prescription. In July-Aug. the Summer 2003 European Heat Wave kills 70K, becoming the hottest summer in Europe since 1540; on Aug. 10 a record of 38.5C (101.3F) is set in Faversham, Kent, England; on Sept. 25 France reports a death toll of 14,802, mostly elderly people without air conditioning from the summer heat wave; the young people were vacationing at the time, and arrived back to find thousands of negelected dead old people bottled up in their hot apts.? On Aug. 1 a suicide bomber in a hotel outside Chechnya kills 50. On Aug. 5 a suicide bomber kills 12 and wounds 150 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Setiabudi (near Jakarta), Indonesia; it is later pinned on Jamaah Islamiyah. On Aug. 5 the teen drama series The O.C. debuts on Fox Network for 92 expidodes (until Feb. 22, 2007), about teenies in Newport Beach, Calif., incl. Ryan Atwood, played by Benjamin McKenzie Schenkkan (1978-), a troubled teenie from Chino who is taken in by liberal Jewish public defender Sandy Cohen, played by Peter Killian Gallagher (1955-) and his wife Kirsten, played by Kelly Rowan (1965-), and their son Seth, played by Adam Jared Brody (1979-), who becomes a star playing a Jewish nerd with a Holden Caulfield wanderlust. On Aug. 6 Austrian-born Repub. "Conan the Barbarian", "The Terminator" actor Ahnuld (Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger) (1947-) makes an appearance on NBC-TV's The Tonight Show With Jay Leno to announce his bid to replace Calif. Gov. Gray Davis, which he does quite handily, bringing a new, young electorate out with him, backed by his Kennedy Dem. wife Maria Shriver. On Aug. 6 Saudi Arabian college student Mohammed Ali Alayed (1981-) attacks and kills his Moroccan Jewish friend Michel Sellouk in Houston, Tex. with a knife, slashing his throat and attempting to sever his head; the police attempt a coverup by claiming they see no connection to race or religion, despite it coming out that Alayed had a "religious experience" two years earlier and became a devout Muslim. On Aug. 7 a car bombing outside the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad kills 17 and injures dozens. On Aug. 9 the U.S. Army fires up its first chemical weapons incinerator located near a residential area, outside Anniston, Ala., destroying two rockets loaded with enough sarin nerve agent to wipe out a city. On Aug. 11 Pres. Bush chooses Utah Repub. Gov. (since 1993) Michael Okerlund "Mike" Leavitt (1951-) to head the EPA (until Jan. 26, 2005) - he mike leavitt alone, and he mike not? On Aug. 13 Iraq begins pumping crude oil from its N oil fields for the first time since the start of Bush's war. On Aug. 14 (4:10 p.m. EDT) the Great 2003 Northeast Power Blackout, the worst power blackout in NE U.S. history affects 50M, incl. parts of Canada - penii and vagini collide with tidal wave proportions in the darky dark dark? On Aug. 14 Ala. Supreme Court chief justice Moses, er, Roy Stewart Moore (1947-) (a Repub.) defies a federal court order to remove a granite Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial bldg.; on Nov. 13 he not only loses the fight but his jobby job job when a judicial ethics panel accuses him of having "placed himself above the law" - thou shalt not have any other gods than the U.S. govt.? On Aug. 15 Episcopal leaders in Minneapolis approve the election of gay clergyman V. Gene Robinson (1947-) as bishop of the Diocese of N.H. - when he tries to put something in your mouth, close your eyes? On Aug. 19 a suicide truck bomb strikes U.N. HQ in Baghdad, killing 22, incl. the top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello (b. 1948) of Brazil; al-Qaida-connected mastermind Ali Hussein Alwan Hamid al-Azzawi is captured in Iraq in Jan. 2010. On Aug. 27 Mars comes its closest to the Earth in 60K years, only 35M mi.; on Oct. 29, 2005 it appears above the horizon. On Aug. 27 Salvador Tapia (b. 1967), who had been fired from an auto parts warehouse in Chicago, Ill. six years earlier comes back armed and kills six employees before being killed by police. On Aug. 30 Russian nuclear sub K-159, being towed to a scrapyard sinks in a gale in the Barents Sea, killing 9 of 10 crew members. In Aug. impeachment proceedings against Zambian pres. (since 2002) Levy Mwanawasa are rejected by parliament. In Aug. the Internat. Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine opens, featuring genuine Yeti hair. On Sept. 6 Palestinian PM #1 (since Mar. 19) Mahmoud Abbas resigns. On Sept. 8 the syndicated Ellen DeGeneres Show debuts (until ?), going on to win over a dozen Daytime Emmy Awards. On Sept. 9 the Boston Roman Catholic Archdiocese agrees to pay $85M to 552 people to settle clergy sex abuse cases. On Sept. 10 Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh (age 46) is stabbed in a Stockholm dept. store; she dies on Sept. 11. On Sept. 11 Israel issues an ominous threat to "remove" Yasser Arafat for failing to halt suicide bombings. On Sept. 11 Canadian comedian Tommy Chong (1938-) is sentenced to 9 mo. in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to sell bongs on the Internet; he serves 9 mo. On Sept. 14 Swedes reject the Euro, even though assassinated foreign minister Anna Lindh was ardently for it. On Sept. 14 Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, U.S. military cmdr. in Iraq authorizes the use of loud rock music to break terrorist POWs "to create fear, disorient... and prolong capture shock". On Sept. 17 Spain's leading investigating judge Baltasar Garzon (Garzón) Real (1955-) issues the first indictment against Osama bin Laden for the 9/11 attack. On Sept. 17 Pres. Bush tells reporters "There's no question that Saddam Hussein had Al-Qaida ties." On Sept. 18 Category 5 Hurricane Isabel plows into the Outer Banks of N.C. with 105 mph winds, then pushes its way up the E U.S. seaboard, killing 16 in seven states and doing $3.6B damage. On Sept. 21 after Richard Grasso resigns over an over-compensation scandal, former Citigroup CEO John Shepard Reed (1939-) (ousted on Feb. 28, 2000) is named temporary head of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) (until ?), working for $1 salary and setting up new rules as the NYSE becomes a public corp. - wake up John Doe you're the hope of the world? On Sept. 22 the comedy series Two and a Half Men debuts on CBS-TV for 262 episodes (until Feb. 19, 2015), starring Charlie Sheen Carlos Irwin Estevez (1965-) as hedonistic jingle writer Charlie Francis Harper, Jonathan Niven "Jon" Cryer (1965-) (Matthew Broderick lookalike?) as his uptight brother Alan, and Angus Turner Jones (1993-) as his son Jake, who move into his Malibu beachfront house with him; becomes the biggest hit comedy of the decade; on Mar. 7, 2011 Sheen is fired for "moral turpitude", and replaced with Christopher Ashton Kutcher (1978-) as Walden Schmidt. On Sept. 23 Donald P. Bellisario's and Don McGill's NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service), debuts on CBS-TV for ? episodes (until ?) as a spinoff of JAG, starring Mark Harmon (1951-) as Leroy Jethro Gibbs, head of the Major Case Response Team in Washington Navy Yard in Washington D.C. On Sept. 24 Pope John Paul II skips a weekly gen. audience due to an intestinal problem. On Sept. 24 after getting pissed-off at being teased over his acne, 15-y.-o. student John Jason McLaughlin (1988-) shoots and kills fellow students, 17-y.-o. Aaron Rollins and 14-y.-o. Seth Bartell at Rocori H.S. in Cold Springs, Minn.; he is sentenced to life in priz. On Sept. 28 a massive blackout strikes almost all of Italy, leaving millions without power. In Sept. the reenactment of the ceremony 400 years earlier to install Guru Granth Sahib at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India is attended by 2.5M. On Sept. 28 the police procedural series Cold Case debuts on CBS-TV for 156 episodes (until May 2, 2010), about the cold case div. of the Philly Police Dept., starring Kathryn Susan Morris (1969-) as Det. Lilly Rush. On Oct. 1 the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) is established at Hickam AFB in Oahu, Hawaii to try to account for missing U.S. war veterans; on Jan. 30, 2015 after the U.S. govt. decides to coverup its own mess it is deactivated. On Oct. 2 the Los Angeles Times pub. allegations that Calif. gov. candidate Arnold Gropenneger, er, Schwarzenegger had sexually harassed at least six women in his past by groping them on movie sets, studio offices, and gyms; Ahnuld gives a speech the same day to apologize, saying "Yes, I have behaved badly sometimes. Yes, it is true that I was on rowdy movie sets and I have done things that were not right which I thought then was playful, but now I recognize that I have offended people. And those people that I have offended, I want to say to them, 'I am deeply sorry about that and I apologize, because this is not what I'm trying to do.' When I'm governor, I want to prove to the women that I will be a champion for the women"; on Oct. 4 the Times adds three more women, one a CNN intern and two from his 1988 "Twins" movie set; on Oct. 5 four new accounts are pub. On Oct. 3 gay illusionist Roy Horny, er, Roy Horn (1945-) of Siegfried and Roy (Siegfried Fischbacher) is mauled by 380-lb. white tiger Montecore in front of a horrified audience at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nev.; it sinks his teeth into his neck and drags him offstage, crushing his windpipe, ending the long-running act and leaving Horn partially paralyzed; the 7-y.-o. tiger had performed over 2Kx; conspiracy theories abound. On Oct. 3 former Colo. Dem. gov. Richard "Dick" Lamm gives the speech How to Destroy America, decrying multiculturalism and mass immigration. On Oct. 4 a Palestinian woman blows herself up inside a restaurant in Haifa, Israel, killing 21. On Oct. 5 Israel bombs an Islamic jihad base in Syria, becoming the first Israeli attack deep inside Syrian territory in three decades. On Oct. 5 (6?) Am. bear lover Timothy Treadwell (b. 1957), who has spent 13 summers in Alaska's Katmal Nat. Park studying grizzly bears up close is killed and eaten (along with his girlfriend Amie Huguenard) by a 20-y.-o. grizzly hard up for a pre-hibernation snack? On Oct. 5 Italian nun ("the Mother Teresa of Africa") Annalena Tonnelli is murdered in Borama, Somaliland by radical Muslims, who go on to persecute and brutally murder Christians unchecked (until ?). On Oct. 7 after personal financing by wealthy Bohemian-German-Lebanese Darrell Edward Issa (1953-) (pr. EYE-suh), Calif. voters recall Gov. Gray Davis, and elect Austrian-born "Terminator" Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (1947-) (AKA Ahnuld) as their new "governator" (Repub. Calif. gov. #38), who takes office Nov. 17 (until Jan. 3, 2011), uttering the soundbyte: "Say hasta la vista to Gray Davis." On Oct. 9 a suicide car bomber at a police station in Baghdad, Iraq kills eight. On Oct. 9 Spanish military attache Sgt. Jose Antonio Bernal Gomez (b. 1969) is shot to death in Baghdad. On Oct. 12 a suicide attack outside a Baghdad hotel full of Americans kills six bystanders. On Oct. 15 a Staten Island ferry slams into a maintenance pier after the pilot blacks out at the controls, killing 11; the pilot, asst. capt. Richard Smith later pleads guilty to 11 counts of manslaughter, and on Jan. 9, 2006 is sentenced to 18 mo. in prison. On Oct. 15 after four unmanned missions since 1999, the Chinese Shenzhou 5 takes off from Jiuquan Launch Center in Gansu Province on a Long March 2F launch vehicle carrying military pilot Yang Liwei (1965-), orbiting 14x before returning after 21 h 22 m, becoming the first Chinese human space flight, making China the 3rd country with independent human spaceflight capability after the Soviet Union (Russia) and U.S. On Oct. 17 popular TV journalist Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert (1953-) becomes pres. of Bolivia (until June 6, 2005), soon getting in over his head with the Bolivian Gas War. On Oct. 18-25 the Florida Marlins (NL) (mgr. Jack McKeon) defeat the New York Yankees (AL) (mgr. Joe Torre) by 4-2 to win the Ninety-Ninth (99th) World Series; on Oct. 16 the Red Sox are five outs from defeating the Yankees, but mgr. Grad Little keeps pitcher Pedro Martinez in the 8th inning too long, allowing the Yankees to win in extra innings. On Oct. 19 a nun gets some as Pope John Paul II beatifies Mother Teresa (1910-97) in St. Peter's Square in front of 300K pilgrims. On Oct. 20 Pres. Bush pushes North Korea's nuclear threat to the forefront of the 21-nation Asia-Pacific Summit in Thailand - to cries of "chicken" from the far-right wing when he doesn't just invade them like he did Iraq? On Oct. 21 the U.S. Senate votes to ban the practice of partial-birth abortion - whatever the squishy definition of it may be? On Oct. 21 Yasser Arafat is diagnosed with gallstones. On Oct. 22 Pres. Bush is heckled during a speech to a divided Australian Parliament in which he defends the war with Iraq. On Oct. 23 Pres. Bush winds up his Pacific trip in Hawaii, where he drops flowers into the water at the sunken battleship USS Arizona. On Oct. 24 the Concorde makes its last flight. On Oct. 25 the Nat. March on Washington to Bring Troops Home in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. is attended by 100K. On Oct. 26 a barrage of rockets hits Baghdad's Al-Rasheed Hotel, killing a U.S. col. and wounding 18 others; deputy U.S. defense secy. Paul Wolfowitz (1943-) (Pres. Clinton's atty. in the Paula Jones case) is in the hotel but is unhurt. On Oct. 26-28 wildfires fed by hot Santa Ana winds flare into gigantic walls of flame, devouring entire neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley in S Calif. outside Los Angeles, killing 13. On Oct. 27 suicide bombers in Baghdad, Iraq strike a Red Cross HQ and three police stations, killing dozens. On Oct. 30 the U.S. House approves an $87.5B package for Iraq and Afghanistan, and on Nov. 3 the U.S. Senate approves it; it becomes a pres. campaign issue when Dem. candidate Sen. John Kerry of Mass. issues the soundbyte: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." On Oct. 30 four construction workers are killed when an Atlantic City, N.J. casino parking garage collapses. On Oct. 30 U.S. McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, drafted by U.S. Repub. Ariz. Sen. John McCain and Indep. Conn. Sen. Joe Lieberman is defeated in the U.S. Senate by 55-43; it would have capped 2010 CO2 emissions at the 2000 level and established a scholarship at the Nat. Academy of Sciences for students of climatology; similar acts are defeated in 2005 (38-60) and 2007 (dies in committee). On Oct. 31 Dato' (Datuk) Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi (1939-) of the UMNO becomes PM of Malaysia (until ?). On Oct. 31 14-y.-o. surfer Bethany Meilani Hamilton (1990-) loses her left arm to a shark attack in Australia, but keeps on surfin', going pro. On Nov. 1 Dem. pres. candidate (physician from Vt.) Howard Brush Dean III (1948-), known for his Internet campaign prowess on BlogforAmerica.com puts his joystick in his mouth when he tells the Des Moines Register that he wants to be "the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in their pickup trucks". On Nov. 2 Iraqi insurgents use a shoulder-fired AA missile to shoot down a Chinook heli carrying dozens of U.S. soldiers near Fallujah, Iraq, killing 16 U.S. soldiers and injuring 26. On Nov. 2 the sitcom Arrested Development debuts on Fox Network for 53 episodes (until Feb. 10, 2006), about the dysfunctional formerly wealthy Bluth family in Newport Beach, Calif., starring Jeffrey Michael Tambor (1944-) as patriarch George Bluth Sr., Jason Kent Bateman (1969-) as Michael, and Portia de Rossi (Amanda Lee Rogers) (1973-) as Lindsay Funke ("It's vodka... it goes bad once it's been opened"), with a handheld camera reality style format narrated by Ron Howard, winning six Emmys and one Golden Globe but lasting only three seasons (Feb. 10, 2006), after which it is revived by Netflix in 2013-. On Nov. 4 NFL Network is launched, reaching 71.9M subscribers by 2015. On Nov. 5 the U.S. Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2013 is signed by Pres. George W. Bush, banning the practice; in 2007 it is upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in "Gonzales v. Carhart'. On Nov. 7 a U.S. Black Hawk heli is downed hear Tikrit, Iraq by an RPG, killing four crew and two passengers from the Dept. of the Army HQ in Washington, D.C. On Nov. 7 U.S. Pres. Bush gives a speech to the Nat. Endowment for Dem., in which he claims that the West must share the blame for the "freedom deficit" in W Asia (Middle East), with the soundbytes "Are the peoples of the Middle East somehow beyond the reach of liberty? Are millions of men and women and children condemned by history or culture to live in despotism? Are they alone never to know freedom and never even to have a choice in the matter?", and "Sixty years of Western nations excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East did nothing to make us safe because in the long run stability cannot be purchased at the expense of liberty." On Nov. 8 a suicide car bomber kills 17 and wounds 122 in a housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. On Nov. 9 Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi's ruling bloc wins a majority in parliamentary elections. On Nov. 10 John Kerry replaces his campaign mgr. Jim Jordan with women's issues expert Mary Beth Cahill, reigniting his faltering U.S. pres. campaign - with Iraq turning into a potential Vietnam, how can he fail to beat George "W for Wrong" Bush? (just watch)? On Nov. 15 two Black Hawk helis crash in Mosul, Iraq after colliding while trying to avoid ground fire, killing 17 U.S. soldiers and wounding five. On Nov. 15 the 2003 Istanbul Bombings start with twin car bombs exploding outside two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, killing 23, plus the two bombers, and injuring 300+; Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul says that the two bombers had visited Afghanistan, and Al-Qaida is suspected; on Nov. 20 two more truck bombs detonate, killing 30 and injuring 400; Syrian-born Loai al-Saqa is later convicted of masterminding the bombings, and given life without parole; on May 22, 2006 he appears in court wearing an orange Guantanamo Bay-style jumpsuit, and is kicked out. On Nov. 16 Serbia fails for the 3rd time in a year to elect a pres. because of low voter turnout. On Nov. 16 French U.N. worker Bettina Goislard (b. 1974) is shot and killed in Afghanistan. On Nov. 18 the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court rules 4-3 in Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health that the state constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry, and the stampede to the courthouse steps for happy brides and brides and grooms and grooms begins starting Jan. 1, 2004, becoming the first state court decision giving same-sex couples the right to marry - there is no Big C difference between face and ass in Mass.? On Nov. 19 Trey Parker's All About Mormons debuts on Comedy Central, episode 12 of seven 7 of the animated TV series South Park, lampooning the Mormons and their founder Joseph Smith Jr. On Nov. 20 "Man in the Mirror" singer Michael Jackson is booked on suspicion of child molestation in Santa Barbara, Calif., accused of molesting a 13-y.-o. boy in 2003 - a zillion Michael Jackson gay pedophile jokes light up the Internet? On Nov. 20 truck bombs detonate at a London-based bank and the British consulate in Istanbul, killing over two dozen and wounding nearly 450; Al-Qaida is suspected. On Nov. 23 there is a total solar eclipse in Antarctica. On Nov. 23 Georgian pres. (since 1995) Eduard Shevardnadze resigns in the face of protests caused by the bloodless Rose Rev. On Nov. 23 five U.S. soldiers are killed in a heli crash in Afghanistan. On Nov. 25 after passing the House by 216-215 on June 27, the Senate unanimously on July 7, the House again by 220-215 after a dusk-to-dawn debate, and the Senate again by 54-44 on Nov. 22, the historic Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act is agreed to, and signed by Pres. Bush on Dec. 8, combining new prescription drug benefits for seniors with measures to control costs before the baby boomers bankrupt it. On Nov. 26 Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, former Iraqi air force cmdr. is killed by suffocation by U.S. troops during interrogation, his head covered with a sleeping bag with an electrical cord wrapped around his neck to create a "stress position"; after a coverup attempt, four U.S. servicemen are arrested, and chief warrant officer Lewis E. Weishofer Jr. (1964-) is convicted of negligent homicide in a 2006 court-martial. On Nov. 27 Pres. Bush sneaks into Iraq to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops and thank them for "defending the American people from danger". On Nov. 29 gunmen in Iraq ambush and kill two Japanese diplomats. On Nov. 29 seven members of Spain's military intelligence agency are killed in Mahmudiyah, Iraq. On Oct. 30-Nov. 29 the human race was supposed to be wiped out by nuclear war, according to Aum Shinrikyo - walk like an Egyptian? On Nov. 30 Iraqi insurgents stage coordinated attacks throughout the city of Samarra, Iraq, catching U.S. soldiers between Iraq and a hard place. On Nov. 30 two South Korean contractors are killed in a roadside ambush in Iraq. In Nov. 2 rigged parliamentary elections in the Repub. of Georgia spark the Rose Revolution, with Mikheil Nikolozis Saakashvili (1967-) claiming a V and carrying roses as he storms into parliament in Tbilisi, displacing Pres. Eduard Schevardnadze in a bloodless coup; he is sworn-in next Jan. 25 (until ?). On Dec. 1 after two years of secret negotiations, the Geneva Accord (Initiative) is announced in Geneva, claiming to be a model permanent status agreement to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a 2-state solution giving almost all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the Palestinians, and returning Israel's borders to the start of the 1967 Six-Day War, with East Jerusalem becoming the capital of the Palestinian state and West Jerusalem of Israel, and Palestinians agreeing to limit their "right of return" and make no more demands. On Dec. 2 the all-wise U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court unanimously rules in U.S. v. Banks that when police knock on your door they only have to wait 15-20 sec. before breaking in if you are a "drug suspect" - a crack house would have a bouncer waiting right at the door anyway, and decency requires he be given enough time to zip up and for her to button up? On Dec. 3 a U.N. tribunal convicts a radio news dir. and a newspaper editor for their role in promoting the 1994 Rwandan genocide, and gives them life sentences. On Dec. 4 Pres. Bush scraps import tariffs he had imposed earlier to help the U.S. steel industry. On Dec. 4 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which improves the nat. credit reporting system and reduces identity theft, providing consumers with a free copy of their credit report each year if they request ait, allowing them to put a fraud alert on it; businesses must partially conceal credit card numbers on receipts. On Dec. 5 a bomb explodes on the Stavropol Krai commuter train in Russia during rush hour, killing 41 and injuring 150+. On Dec. 6 a U.S. warplane pursuing a "known terrorist" attacks a village in E Afghanistan, mistakenly killing nine children. On Dec. 7 allies of Pres. Vladimir Putin win a sweeping V in the Russian parliamentary elections, helping him tighten his group until he is on the brink of being as powerful as people's choice Stalin. The pharmaceutic conglomerate sets up the U.S. to ride it like a hobby horse, paying them as we go down the tubes? On Dec. 8 taking advantage of the 2002 lapsing of the 1990 Pay-As-You Go Budget Enforcement Act, the U.S. Medical Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act (Medicare Part D) (Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors) is signed by Pres. George W. Bush with no corresponding tax increase to pay for it after passing the House by 220-15 in an all-night arm-twisting session backed by the pharmaceutical industry, who are the main beneficiaries, with Rep. (D-Ohio) (1997-2007) Ted Strickland (1941-) uttering the soundbyte:" "This bill was written by and for the pharmaceutical companies", and Rep. (D-N.Y.) (1989-) Eliot L. Engel (1947-) on Nov. 21 uttering the soundbyte: "Shame on this Congress for betraying our seniors and ramming this bill through in the middle of the night"; in 2005 the Bush admin. admits that it will cost $1.2T over 10 years ($8T by?), with the govt. paying exorbitant drug co. prices with no competition so that seniors can get discounts; meanwhile La. Repub. Rep. (1980-2005) William Joseph "Billy" Tauzin II (1943-), chmn. of the House committee that regulates the pharmaceutical industry, who shepherds the bill through Congress, kachings, er, resigns in 2005 to take a $2.5M a year job with the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufactuers of Am. lobbying group. On Dec. 9 the U.N. Convention Against Corruption (drafted Oct. 31), promoted by the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is signed, designed to reduce corruption across country borders incl. abuse of power, private sector corruption, embezzlement, and money laundering; it becomes effective on Dec. 14, 2005, with 140 signatories and 183 parties by 2018. On Dec. 9 Muslim female suicide bomber Khadishat (Khedizhi) Mangerieva (widow of Chechn rebel cmdr. Ruslan Mangeriev) explodes her suicide belt in a busy street near the Kremlin in Red Square, Moscow, Russia, killing six and injuring 44. On Dec. 12 PM #20 (since Nov. 4, 1993) Jean Chretien steps down in favor of new Liberal Party leader and former finance minister #34 (1993-2002) Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (Paul Martin Jr.) (1938-), who becomes Canadian PM #21 (until Feb. 6, 2006). On Dec. 12 West Orange, N.J.-born nurse Charles Edwmund Cullen (1960-) is arrested, admitting to murdering up to 40 patients since 1987 by feeding them unprescribed medications incl. digoxin, allegedly to end their suffering, becoming known as "the Angel of Death"; on Mar. 2, 2006 he receives a life sentence in Somerville, N.J. as relatives of the victims yell at him in the courtroom; he is given 127 years in prison (18 life sentences), eligible for parole in 2403; he is suspected of up to 400 murders, which would make him the U.S. serial murder champ. On Dec. 13/14 (Fri./Sat.) Saddam Hussein is captured like a rat by elite U.S. Special Ops. unit Task Force 145 in Operation Red Dawn (named after the 1984 film), hiding in a rat hole under a farmhouse in Adwar, Iraq near his hometown of Tikrit; he is armed but offers no resistance, and looks a mental and physical wreck; on Dec. 14 he is displayed on TV screens worldwide looking like a bum saying aah for a flophouse doctor? On Dec. 14 female Afghan politician Malalai Joya (1978-) gives a speech at the 502-delegate Loya Jirga constitutional convention, speaking out against the warlords and clerics (former mujahideen), calling them war criminals who shouldn't be appointed to planning groups or be part of the Afghan govt., getting her thrown out, becoming known as "the bravest woman in Afghanistan"; after being elected to the Afghan parliament in Sept. 2005 and continuing to speak out, she is suspended in May 2007 for "insulting" fellow reps (until ?). On Dec. 15 Iraqi leaders celebrate the capture of So Damn Insane, saying that they want to bring him to a quick trial and execute him by summer, but U.S. officials signal that it will be put on the backburner; meanwhile FBI agent George Piro interviews him for 7 mo., getting him to talk and admit that the WMD talk was a bluff aimed at Iran, that the U.N. weapons inspectors dismantled them, and that he never expected a major U.S. invasion, only a 4-day aerial attack like he had survived before. On Dec. 16 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) Act, attempting to stem the flood of junk e-mail spam, along with a bill to establish a nat. museum devoted to black history; political campaigns are exempted from its regulations. On Dec. 17 former Ill. Gov. (1999-2003) George Homer Ryan (1934-) is indicted on corruption charges; he is convicted in 2006, and begins a 6 year 6 mo. federal sentence on Nov. 7, 2007 - making way for Blagojevich? On Dec. 20 Spain's PM Jose Maria Aznar pays a surprise visit to Spanish soldiers in Iraq. On Dec. 21 the U.S. govt. raises the nat. threat level to orange, indicating a high risk of a terrorist attack - Merry Xmas? On Dec. 22 (11:15 a.m. PS) the 6.6 San Simeon Earthquake hits the C Calif. coast 7 mi. NE of San Simeon, killing two and injuring 40, becoming the most destructive U.S. earthquake since the Jan. 17, 1994 Northridge Earthquake. On Dec. 23 the U.S. govt. announces the first case of mad cow disease in the U.S.; it is later confirmed. On Dec. 24 a roadside bomb explodes N of Baghdad, killing three U.S. soldiers, becoming the deadliest attack on Americans so far in Iraq following Saddam Hussein's capture. On Dec. 26 an earthquake strikes Bam, Iran, killing 31K, causing a senior Iranian cleric in 2010 to declare that uncovered women cause earthquakes - wham bam thank you maam? On Dec. 27 coordinated rebel assaults in Karbala, Iraq kill 13, incl. six coalition soldiers. On Dec. 28 for the first time ever Libya allows U.N. nuclear inspectors access to four sites related to its nuclear weapons program after announcing that is is abandoning the program; next year centrifuges from Pakistan and highly enriched uranium are airlifted from the country. On Dec. 30 the Bush admin. bans the sale of the herbal stimulant ephedra (ma huang) (Ephedra sinica), which has been linked to 155 deaths and dozens of heart attacks and strokes. On Dec. 31 a car bomb explodes in a crowded restaurant hosting a New Year's Eve party in Baghdad, Iraq, killing eight Iraqis. In Dec. San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds testifies before a grand jury, admitting to using the products of the Calif.-based co. BALCO, but didn't know they contained steroids; the company's client list incl. Olympian Marion Jones, and N.Y. Yankee Jason Gilbert Giambi, whose reps are tarnished along with his. In Dec. the U.N. Gen. Assembly proclaims 2005-15 as the Internat. Decade for Action 'Water for Life', promoting efforts to fulfill internat. commitments on water and water-related issues. In Dec. a woman in Harbin, China runs over and kills a peasant who had scratched her Mercedes with his vegetable cart, and escapes charges, causing people to think she had govt. ties because she had an expensive license plate filled with lucky number 8s; the stink causes the officials to put license plates up for auction with the proceeds going to accident victims. In Dec. the U.S. Improved Nutrition and Physical Activity Act is sponsored by Sen. Repub. leader Bill Frist, a physician. In Dec. Am. pop star Michael Jackson converts to the Nation of Islam, pissing-off his Jewish ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who next Mar. demands he distance himself from them and threatens to take him to court over custody of their two children. In Dec. Romeo the Black Wolf appears on the outskirts of Juneau, Alaska, making friends with local dogs, returning time and again for the next six years. Ailing Azerbaijan pres. (since June 1993) Heydar Aliyev (b. 1923) chooses his secular Muslim son Ilham Heydar Oglu Aliyev (1961-) as PM, but after opposition he is elected pres., and on Oct. 31 is sworn-in as pres. #4 (until ?) (really dictator); Artur Rasizade (1935-) becomes PM; Heydar Aliyev dies on Dec. 12. CONPLAN 8022 is formulated by the U.S. govt. as "a concept plan for the quick use of nuclear, conventional, or information warfare capabilities" to destroy preemptively, if necessary "time-urgent targets" "anywhere in the world", giving the decision to use nukes to military cmdrs. without need for special pres. authorization. Iran allegedly halts work on its nuclear weapons program; they really didn't? Benjamin Netanyahu openly frets about the "demographic bomb" of higher Arab than Jewish fertility rates, saying that if the percentage of Arab citizens of Israel rises much above its current level of 20%, Israel will lose its Jewish identity. An effort by the U.S. to rebuild Iraq with 20 planes full of $12B in cash from seized Iraqi assets known as the Development Fund for Iraq is stymied when $6.6B is reported missing; in 2011 it turns out it was safe in the Central Bank of Iraq. Saudi Arabia under conservative Wahhibi interior minister (since 1975) Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud begins a crackdown on al-Qaida, incl. mass arrests, a jihadi rehabilitation program, and a border fence with Yemen, driving al-Qaida into Yemen. Gerald Michael Boyd (1950-2006), the first black managing ed. of the New York Times, along with exec. ed. Howell Hiram Raines (1943-) are forced to resign over the Jayson Blair (1976-) plagiarism scandal. Americans Coming Together (ACT) is founded by Steven "Steve" Rosenthal (1953-) and backed by billionaire George Soros and the Service Employees Internat. Union to get out the vote for progressive candidates in the 2004 election. "Sage of Omaha" Warren Buffet warns that derivatives are "financial weapons of mass destruction" that could lead to a "corporate meltdown"; nobody listens? Am. Muslim Abdullah al-Kidd is detained for 16 days without charges because the govt. thinks he has info. in a computer terrorism case against fellow U. of Idaho student Sami Omar al-Hussayen, who is acquitted, causing al-Kidd to sue U.S. atty.-gen. John Ashcroft for violating his constitutional rights, after which on Sept. 4 a 3-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the case may proceed, calling the concept of detention of witnesses without charge "repugnant to the Constitution", and calling the policy "a painful reminder of some of the most ignominious chapters of our national history". Ontario and British Columbia Canada legalize same-sex marriage. The U.S. begins building military bases in the Persian Gulf, incl. Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, UAE, and Bahrain, which becomes home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Moroccan king Mohammed VI gives a speech on Islam in Morroco, with the soundbyte: "Fourteen centuries ago, indeed, the Moroccans decided to adopt Islam because it is the religion of the just middle. It is based on tolerance, honors the dignity of man, preaches coexistence, and rejects aggression, extremism and the quest for power by means of religion... Is there any need therefore for the Moroccan people, strong in the unity of their religious rite and the authenticity of their civilization, to import cultural rites that are foreign to their traditions? We will not tolerate it, all the more so because these doctrines are incompatible with the specific Moroccan identity. Those we see promoting a rite that is foreign to our people we will oppose with the vigor that is required of those whose duty it is to stand guard over the preservation of unity of worship among Moroccans, thus reaffirming our intention of defending our choice of the Malikite rite, while respecting those of others, each people having their own particularities and their own choices" - coming from the descendants of people who viciously invaded and conquered Christian Spain for centuries, it sounds like pandering? 17-y.-o. black Ga. high school football star Genarlow Wilson (1985-) (my genitals are low?) has consensual, er, consentual, er, consensual beejay sex with a 15-y.-o. black girl which is captured on video (there were actually six black males and two black females partying), causing the Ga. authorities to move on him, twisting a 1995 child molestation law to railroad him to a 10-year sentence, causing outrage at the specter of Jim Crow returning to Jawjaw; on June 11, 2007 a judge orders him released from priz after two years, calling it a "grave miscarriage of justice", causing the white Ga. atty.-gen. to announce an immediate appeal to keep him behind bars, stirring more outrage. Am. boxer Mike Tyson somehow manages to squander his $300M fortune, and declares bankruptcy - one dollar for every lap dancer? U.S. Rep. (R-Colo.) (1999-2009) Thomas Gerard "Tom" Tancredo (1945-), 1999 founder of the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus introduces the U.S. Mass Immigration Reduction Act, with the goal of stopping Mexican, er, immigration to the U.S. for five years, with only spouses and children of U.S. citizens being allowed; the act extends itself indefinitely as long as there are 10K or more illegals sneaking in a year; when the Congress doesn't buy it, he tries again in 2007 with a proposed U.S. constitutional amendment to make English the official U.S. language, and another one in 2005 to call on the U.S. pres. to abandon the One-China Policy and recognize Taiwan. The 2003 Tex. Redistricting Plan, redistricting the state in favor of the Repubs., led by U.S. House Majority Leader (Repub.) Tom DeLay is passed by the Tex. legislature despite the Dem. Killer Ds fleeing the state to Ardmore, Okla. for the week of May 23, followed in Aug. by the Dem. Tex. Eleven fleeing the state to Albuquerque, N.M. for 46 days in an attempt to bust the quorum; on June 28, 2006 the U.S. Supreme Court upholds it except for the 23rd congressional district. U.S. Rep. (R-S.D.) William "Bill" Janklow (1939-) strikes and kills a motorcyclist in his car, after which he is convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to 100 days in jail, becoming known as "Wild Bill". U.S. homeland security tsar Tom Ridge announces that al-Qaida sleeper agents in the U.S. are awaiting orders buried in secret codes broacast by the al-Jazeera TV network; too bad, the source Dennis Montgomery (1953-), owner of a Nev. software gaming co. later proves to be lying to them to juke them for money. The U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors, chaired by Va. Repub. Gov. (1998-2003) James Stuart "Jim" Gilmore III (1949-) (required to have at least two USAF Academy grads) investigates alleged mismanagement of the many sexual assault complaints by female cadets, which usually resulted in no action or slaps on the, er, wrist for the male cadets, and humiliation, trumped-up discipline, or expulsion for the female cadet victims. South Central Los Angeles (Calif.) is renamed South Los Angeles. The 100 sq. mi. South Pacific island of Niue becomes the world's first WiFi nation, providing free wireless Internet access to the entire pop.; in 1997 they received the Internet top-level domain .nu, which became popular for obvious reasons. Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco) is founded by Berta Soler et al. to support the wives and relatives of jailed dissidents in Cuba. The Tharwa (Arab. "wealth") Foundation is founded in Washington, D.C. by Syrian-born dissident Ammar Abdulhamid (1966-). Jihad Watch is founded in Oct. by Am. Roman Catholic Islam expert 'Robert Bruce Spencer (1962-) to monitor and warn of the incursions of Islam on the West. The Streisand Effect is coined after Barbra Streisand tries to get photos of her home suppressed, causing more than ever to spread. Rosie O'Donnell loses $10M in her failed Broadway play (closes in 3 mo.) Taboo, about has-been gay pop star Boy George (who stars, but doesn't play himself). Allergen-free cats becoming available on the pet market. The sales of camera phones outstrip stand-alone digital cameras for the first time this year; by next year 186M camera phones are sold, vs. 69M digital cameras. Former infamous Fla. secy. of state Katherine Harris wins a U.S. House seat in Fla. French pres. Jacques Chirac, who used to smoke three packs a day declares a war on tobacco, imposing steep tax increases on cigarettes. The Am. Film Inst. votes Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter the top movie villain of all time. N.Y. state lifts a ban on cultivation of black currants, which had been banned since ? because they can carry a fungus that is lethal to pine trees. A sex tape showing hotel heiress Paris Hilton (1981-) galavanting with boyfriend Rock Salomon in night-vision green, along with her E! channel reality TV series The Simple Life (2003-7) propels her to anorexic stardom, along with her anorexic friend Nicole Richie (1981-); too bad, by 2007 both are getting in trouble with the law for DUI. U.S. 666 from Gallup, N.M. to Monticello, Utah through Colo. and Ariz. is changed to U.S. 491 because so many road signs were being ripped off. In the U.S. 24 people die this year from inhaling microwave popcorn fumes. The $200K Richard H. Driehaus Architecture Prize is established by the U. of Notre Dame to recognize major contributors to New Classical Architecture, an alternative to modernist architecture and the Pritzker Prize. History Detectives debuts on PBS-TV (until 2014), starring C. Wesley "Wes" Cowan (1951-), Elyse Luray, Eduardo Obregon Pagan (Obregón Pagán) (1960-), Gwendolyn "Gwen" Wright, and Tukufu Zuberi (1959-). Hans Neuenfels' production of Mozart's 1781 opera Idomeneo features King Idomeneo presenting the severed heads of Poseidon, Prophet Muhammad, Jesus and Buddha, which backfires after the Muhammad cartoon brouhaha, causing Berlin's Deutsche Opera to cancel it in Sept. 2006. The term "SITCOM" is coined for a family with a single income, two children, and an oppressive mortgage, along with "metrosexual" for a fauxmosexual or faux homosexual, a heterosexual who is fashion conscious. RMS Queen Mary 2 (QM2), the first major ocean liner built since the QE2 (1969) is launched, becoming the longest, widest and tallest passenger ship ever built (until ?), as well as the highest gross tonnage (until 2006); QE2 is purchased in 2008 by Dubai. Mark Rosen (Rosenzweig), 3rd generation CEO of 100-y.-o. European-founded home appliance co. Euro-Pro Operating LLC moves the HQ from Montreal, Canada to Newton, Mass., revamping the product line with the cyclonic Shark Rocket, Shark Rotator, Shark Navigator, Shark Steam & Spray Mop, and Shark Vac-Then-Steam, causing vacuum cleaner sales to zoom from 1% of the market in 2008 to 20% ($1.6B) in 2014 after hiring advertising consultant co. Gap Internat. in 2012 and pushing the products on TV shopping channels with a $130M/year budget, passing Dyson and becoming #1 in the U.S. market. Barbecue University debuts on PBS-TV (until 2006), hosted by Nagoya, Japan-born Am. chef Steven Raichlen (1953-). The first 4-5-day Belgrade Beer Fest is held in Serbia near the Kalemegdan Fortress, attracting 75K foreign visitors in 2004, 650K in 2009, and 900K in 2010. Sports: On Jan. 10 the NBA expands to 30 teams as the Charlotte Bobcats team is founded, changing to the Charlotte Hornets in 2013 after the New Orleans Hornets change their name to New Orleans Pelicans. On Jan. 19 a 92-yard interception return for a TD by Ronde Barber in the closing minutes clinches a 27-10 NFC championship V by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the Philadelphia Eagles in the final game played at Veterans Stadium in Philly. In Jan. the Sunshine Millions, a series of eight Thoroughbred horseraces is first held at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. and Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla. On Feb. 16 the 2003 (45th) Daytona 500 is won by Michael Waltrip (2nd win in 3 years) in 109 laps after rain shuts it down; cars carry decals honoring the Space Shuttle Columbia astronauts; Ryan Newman's Dodge tumbles end-over-end in the tri-oval, causing an investigation. On May 3 underdog Funny Cide becomes the first gelding to win the Kentucky Derby since 1929. On May 25 the 2003 (87th) Indianapolis 500 is won by Gil de Ferran (1967-) of France after passing his Penske teammate Helo Castroneves with 31 laps to go. On May 27-June 9 the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals see the New Jersey Devils defeat the Anaheim Mighty Ducks (first appearance in the Finals) 4-3, ending the Devils-Avalanche-Red Wings string of titles since 1995; MVP is 6'1" Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere (Jean-Sébastien Gigučre) (1977-). On June 4-15 after the #8 seed Philadelphia 76ers (coach Doug Collins) knock off the #1 seed Chicago Bulls, then lose to the Boston Celtics, the 2003 NBA Finals sees the San Antonio Spurs (coach Gregg Popovich) defeat the New Jersey Nets (coach Byron Scott) by 4-2; Tim Duncan of the Spurs is MVP. On July 27 Lance Armstrong wins a record-tying 5th straight title in the Tour de Lance (France). On Aug. 10 SS Rafael Antoni "Fookie" Furcal (1977-) of the Atlanta Braves makes an unassisted triple play against the St. Louis Cardinals, becoming the 12th in ML history (last 2000). On Sept. 13 "Sugar" Shane Mosley (1971-) wins a "close but unanimous" decision over "Golden Boy of Calif." Oscar De La Hoya (1973-) in Las Vegas to take the WBC and WBA 154-lb. boxing titles. On Sept. 21 ABC-TV's Monday Night Football features the Denver Broncos hosting their nemesis the Oakland Raiders in front of a crowd of 76,753, the largest ever home game attendance (least no-shows); the Broncos defeat the Raiders by 31-10. On Oct. 14 after going ahead 3-0 with a 3-2 lead in the NL championship series, the Chicago Cubs are defeated by the Florda Marlins after fan Steve Bartman becomes a villain for tipping a foul ball hit by 2B player Luis Castillo as Cubs left fielder Moises Alou tries to catch it, after which the Marlins score eight runs in the inning and win the game 8-3. In Oct. Seth Franco becomes the first white member of the Harlem Globetrotters (founded 1942); he stays only one year. Michael Jordan (b. 1963) leaves the game of basketball for good, with a total of 32,292 career points, six NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, College Player of the Year for two years, and five NBA MVP awards; he is quickly chosen as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. The first Homeless World Cup is held in Ahnuld's hometown of Graz, Austria, with teams of homeless from 18 nations; the 2008 cup in Melbourne has 56 nations. The NFL establishes the Rooney Rule, requring teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation openings. Architecture: On Feb. 27 Jewish Polish-Am. architect Daniel Libeskind (1946-), known for wearing cowboy boots and thick black glasses with slit sides and designing structures with jagged edges, sharp angles, and tortured geometries wins the competition to design the WTC 9/11 memorial site, proposing the Memory Foundations master site plan, which ends up getting replaced by a cheaper plan. On June 25 the $73M ship's-sail-like Jerusalem Chords Bridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava (1951-). On June 28 he $300M (2.5B yuan) 1,804-ft. Lupu Bridge over the Huangpu River in Shanghai opens, becoming the world's longest steel arch bridge (until 2009). On July 4 the private Nat. Constitution Center (begun Sept. 17, 2000) in Philadelphia's Independence Mall opens in a gray Indiana limestone bldg. (no red brick). In Sept. $365M Soldier Field II in Chicago, Ill. opens as the home of the NFL Chicago Bears. On Oct. 24 the $130M Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 S. Grand Ave. in downtown Los Angeles, Calif. opens, designed by Frank Gehry, seating 2,265, becoming the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. On Dec. 19 the Nat. Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is founded on the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C.; on Feb. 22, 2012 Pres. Obama attends the groundbreaking ceremny; it opens on Sept. 24, 2016. On Dec. 20 the 866-ft. (264.1m) 57-story Triumph Palace luxury apt. bldg. in Moscow is finished, becoming Europe's tallest bldg. (until 2007). On Dec. 26 the $220M Glendale Arena in Glendale, Ariz. across the street from the U. of Phoenix Stadium opens as the home of the NHL Arizona Coyotes and NLL Arizona Sting; in Oct. 2006 it becomes Jobing.com Stadium; in Aug. 2014 it becomes Gila River Arena. Big Sandy Federal Penitentiary near Inez in E Ky. 133 mi. from Frankfort and 320 mi. from Washington, D.C. opens to house people convicted of crimes in Washington, D.C., becoming known for prisoner stabbings. The blob-like Kunsthaus Graz (Grazer Kunsthaus) is built in Graz, Austria by Colin Fournier and Peter Cook as part of the 2003 European Capital of Culture celebrations, becoming known as "the Friendly Alien". Nobel Prizes: Peace: Shirin Ebadi (1947-) (Iran) (first Muslim woman) [women's, children's, and refugee rights]; in 2009 Iranian authorities confiscate her medal for the first time in the history of the Nobel Prize; Lit.: John Maxwell Coetzee (1940-) (South Africa); Physics: Alexei Alexeyevich Abrikosov (1928-) (Russia, U.S.), Sir Anthony James Leggett (1938-) (U.K., U.S.), and Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg (1916-2009) (Russia) [superconductivity]; Chem.: Peter Agre (1949-) (U.S.) and Roderick MacKinnon (1956-) (U.S.) [aquaporins], and Paul Christian Lauterbur (1929-2007) (U.S.) and Sir Peter Mansfield (1933-) (U.K.) [MRI]; Economics: Robert Fry Engle III (1942-) (U.S.) and Sir Clive William John Granger (1934-2009) (U.K.) [ARCH statistical tools for stock market]. Inventions: On Mar. 11 the USAF tests the MOAB (Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb) (Mother of All Bombs), the most powerful non-nuclear bomb yet designed; on Sept. 11, 2007 Russia tests its FOAB (Father of All Bombs, which is 4x more powerful and almost forms a mushroom cloud. On June 10 Spirit, the first of two NASA Mars Exploration Rovers is launched, followed by Opportunity on July 7; Spirit lands next Jan. 4, and Opportunity next Jan. 25 on the opposite side of Mars. In June the first-ever private Moon launch by TransOrbital, Inc. of La Jolla, Calif. blasts off from Kazakhstan. In early Aug. Blaster and SoBig network worms are released, causing Microsoft to begin offering cash rewards to detectives who help capture the worm farmers; despite this, next year Netsky and Sasser do it again - Bill Gates should give all those billions back to his Windoze customers for selling them schlock software, plus more millions to the worm programmers for showing him up, then get a job at a food bank for the elderly? In the fall Theranos (therapy + diagnosis) is founded by Stanford U. sophomore Elizabeth Anne Holmes (1984-) to market a revolutionary faster blood test, causing her to become the youngest self-made female billionaire in the U.S. in 2014 ($4.5B); too bad, many scientists are skeptical of the value of the blood test, which is ever-shrouded in secrecy. On Oct. 29 the first-person shooter video game Call of Duty is released on Microsoft Windows by Activision, launching a franchise that sells 250M copies ($15B). On Nov. 18 the People's Repub. of China announces the Enhanced Versatile Disc (EVD) optical digital audio-video format as a lower cost alternative to the DVD format; too bad, it never takes off. Chinese computer scientist Chen Jin (1969-) announces the creation of China's first home-grown digital microchips, becoming a nat. hero; on May 12, 2006 the govt. announces that it is all a fraud, and that he stole his designs from a foreign co. In 2003-5 the Austrian 440 lb. 6-hour 140mph 55hp 18K-ft. alt. Schiebel Camcopter S-100 rotorcraft surveillance UAV is developed. The Bonker, a sexual position furniture for the bedroom is introduced by Gonk Designs. SBT Co. Ltd. of Beijing, China develops the Electronic Cigarette, which atomizes nicotine with a battery-driven LED. Microsoft Word 2003 features custom XML; on Aug. 11 U.S. district judge Leonard Davis rules that they infringed on the "449 patent" of i4i of Canada, awarding them $290M. The $500 Motorola RAZR V3 cell phone is released, with a VGA camera and 2.2 in. 176x200 LCD; it sells 110M units. Am. inventor John S. Kanzius (1944-2009) invents the Kanzius Machine, which bombards cancer cells with RF energy, allegedly killing them; too bad, he dies of cancer before he can er, perfect it. Intel Corp. releases the Itanium 2 chip, which has a shocking 410M transistors. Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas J. Hopper, and John Langford of Carnegie Mellon U. coin the term CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart), invented in 1997. Toyota begins marketing vehicles with Intelligent Parking Assist (IPA), a system allowing them to self-park. Science: On Jan. 22 Chinese paleontologists announce the discovery of Microraptor gui, a 4-winged flying bird-like dinosaur NE of Beijing. On Mar. 28 Bernard La Scola, Didier Raoult et al. of the U. of the Mediterranean in Marseille pub. an article in Science reporting the discovery of Mimivirus (microbe mimicking virus), with 1.18M bases containing 900+ genes, the size of a small bacterium, overturning the belief that a virus is a simple inert particle and throwing the classification system into a tizzy until? In Apr. Japanese scientists announce the discovery of PQQ (pyrroloquinoline quinone), the first new vitamin discovered in 55 years - does it explain my impotence? On May 15 Michael Nitsche, Walter Paulus et al. of the U. of Gottingen pub. an article reporting that weak DC current applied to the motor regions of the human brain stimulates faster learning. On Sept. 27 the $140M SMART-1 (Small Mission for Advanced Research and Technology) spacecraft (a 3-ft. cube with solar panels) is launched into Earth orbit by an Ariane-5 booster rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, using its ion engine (using only 176 lb. of xenon fuel) to slowly raise its orbit for 14 mo. until the Moon's gravity grabs it, and smashes into the Lake of Excellence on Sept. 3, 2006 after traveling 62M mi. In Sept. the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) public research project is launched by the U.S. Nat. Human Genome Research Inst. (NHGRI) as a follow-up to the Human Genome Project, with the aim of identifying functional elements in the human genome; in June 2007 Phase 1 results are pub. in Nature; on Sept. 5, 2012 Phase 2 results are pub. in 30 papers, with the conclusion that 80% of human DNA has a "biochemical function", meaning that it can be transcribed, which critics consider overbroad; on Nov. 4, 2014 Gerton Lunter et al. of the U. of Oxvord pub. a study that finds that only 8.2% of human DNA is functional; on Juy 18, 2017 Dan Graur of the U. of Houston pub. a study that calculates that 75%-90% of the human genome is junk DNA, which is necessary to prevent deleterious mutations from undermining the species. On Oct. 11 18 doctors at Children's Medical Center in Dallas, Tex. begin a successful 34-hour separation surgery for 2-y.-o. conjoined twins from Egypt, and finish on Oct. 12. On Dec. 3 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, authorizing nearly $4B for programs and activities supported by the Nat. Nanotechnology Initiative. Am. chemist Carolyn Ruth Bertozzi (1966-) coins the term Bioorthogonal Chemistry to refer to any chemical reaction that can occur inside living systems without interfering with native biochemical processes. 2.5km-diam. Eris, a Solar System dwarf planet 27% more massive than Pluto is discovered by Michael E. "Mike" Brown (1965-) of Palomar Observatory, causing Pluto's status as a planet to be reconsidered, and leading to its demotion to dwarf planet. Adilson E. Motter of Northwestern U. conjectures that the expansion of the Universe right after the Big Bang was chaotic; he proves it mathematically in 2010. The first Definitive List of Scientific Predictions is produced by an internat. conference. Canadian biologist Paul David Neil Hebert (1947-) adapts a technique invented by Carl Woese et al. in the 1980s for arthropods and introduces DNA Barcoding, which standardizes molecular species indentification to tell species apart by using a very short gene sequence from a standardized position in the genome, and proposes Cytochrome Oxidase 1 (CO1) as the barcode for animals; in 2007 the Barcode of Life Initiative is launched; in 2009 the Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) is founded as an internat. molecular species identification reference library; in 2009 the Consortium for the Barcode of LIfe Project (CBoL) Plant Working Group proposes rbCL and matK as the duel barcode for land plants; in 2011 the Fungal Barcoding Consortium proposes the Internal Transcribed Spacer Region (ITS) as the barcode for fungi. The newly discovered armored dinosaur Crichtonsaurus bohlini is named in honor of "Jurassic Park" author Michael Crichton. UCLA astronomer Andrea Ghez discovers a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, leading to the conclusion that most galaxies also have them, and that they both destroy and create stars, determining their structure and evolution. The sequencing of the human genome is finished by the Human Genome Project, with 99% of the genome sequenced with 99.99% accuracy. Swedish psychiatrist Lars Christopher Gillberg (1950-) et al. identify the genetic mutations in individuals with autism, two genes on the X chromosome. The first human clone is planned by Prof. Panos Zavos of the U.S. and Dr. Severino Antinori of Italy. David C. Page et al. of Cambridge U. discover that Y chromosomes contain palindromes; in 2009 the palindrome system is discovered to have a simple weakness that explains sex anomalies incl. feminization and sex reversal - Madam, I'm Adam William Ruddiman proposes that humanity's influence on climate began thousands of years ago, not during the Industrial Rev. The first intersex fish, male fish with female sexual traits (immature eggs in their testes) are discovered in the Potomac River, caused by pollutants - followed by intersex humans in ? The recombinant adenovirus Gendicine by Shenzhen SiBiono Gene Tech becomes the first gene therapy product approved for clinical use on humans, delivering unmutated p53 genes. The $173.5M NASA PICASSO-CENA (Climatologie Entendu des Nuages et des Aerosols) (Instruments for Cloud and Aerosol Observations) is launched to examine the role of clouds and aerosols in the Earth's radiation budget using Lidar (laser radar). The article Political Conservatism as Motivated Social Cognition is pub. in the Bulletin of the Am. Psychological Assoc., providing an alleged "elegant and unifying explanation" for political conservatism, claiming that it is "Significantly linked with mental rigidity and close-mindedness, increased dogmatism and intolerance of ambiguity, decreased cognitive complexity, decreased openness to experience, uncertainty avoidance, personal needs for order and structure, need for cognitive closure, lowered self-esteem; fear, anger, and aggression; pessimism, disgust, and contempt", linking Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini with Ronald Reagan because they're all "right-wing conservatives... because they all preached a return to an idealized past and favored or condoned inequality in some form", endung with the disclaimer that the study "does not mean that conservatism is pathological or that conservative beliefs are necessarily false, irrational, or unprincipled." Art: Enrique Chagoya, The Misadventures of Mohammad. Maggie Michael, Travel (2003-5); 46"x64". Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007), Bop. Philip Pearlstein (1924-), Model with Blue Flowered Kimono. Music: 311, Evolver (album #7) (July 22) (#7 in the U.S.); incl. Beyond the Gray Sky, Creatures (For a While). John Coolidge Adams (1947-), On the Transmigration of Souls (Avery Fisher Hall, New York) (Sept. 19) (Pulitzer Prize); tribute to 9/11. Jane's Addiction, Strays (album #3) (July 22) (#4 in the U.S.); first album since 1991; first with bassist Chris Chaney; incl. Just Because, True Nature. a-ha, How Can I Sleep with Your Voice in My Head (album) (Mar. 25). Allman Brothers Band, Hittin' the Note (album #13) (Mar. 18); incl. Heart of Stone; Live at the Beacon Theatre (album) (Sept. 23). Anthrax, We've Come for You All (album #9) (May 6) (#122 in the U.S.); incl. What Doesn't Die, Safe Home, Takin' the Music Back. Apocalyptica, Reflections (album #4) (Feb. 10); incl. Faraway. Ashanti (1980-), Chapter II (album #2) (July 1) (#1 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); incl. Rock Wit U (Awww Baby), Rain on Me, Breakup 2 Makeup (w/Black Child); Ashanti's Christmas (album) (Nov. 18) (#16 in the U.S.). Gilad Atzmon (1963-), Exile (album). Erykah Badu (1971-), Worldwide Underground (album). Joan Baez (1941-), Dark Chords on a Big Guitar (album). Marcia Ball (1949-), So Many Rivers (album). Buju Banton (1973-), Friends for Life (album #7) (Mar. 11). Pat Benatar (1953-), Go (album); incl. Have It All. Belle and Sebastian, Dear Catastrophe Waitress (album #6) (Oct. 6); incl. Step into My Office, Baby. Dierks Bentley (1975-), Dierks Bentley (album) (debut) (Aug. 19); incl. What Was I Thinkin', My Last Name, How Am I Doin'. Beyonce (1981-), Dangerously in Love (#1 in the U.S. and the U.K.) (11M copies); incl. Crazy in Love (w/Jay-Z) (1st by a female artist to go #1 in the U.S. and U.K. simultaneously), Baby Boy (w/Sean Paul), Me, Myself and I, Naughty Girl. Limp Bizkit, Results May Vary (album #4) (Sept. 23); incl. Eat You Alive. Mary J. Blige (1971-), Love & Life (album #6) (Aug. 26) (#1 in the U.S.) (2M copies); incl. Love @ 1st Sight (w/Method Man), Ooh!, Not Today (w/Eve), It's a Wrap. Third Eye Blind, Out of the Vein (album #3) (May 13) (500K copies), first with guitarist Tony Fredianelli; incl. Blinded (When I See You). Blink-182, Blink-182 (album #5) (Nov. 18) (#3 in the U.S., #22 in U.K.); incl. Feeling This, I Miss You. Moody Blues, December (album) (Oct. 28); guest flautist Norda Mullen. Butterfly Boucher (1979-), Flutterby (album) (debut) (Oct. 7); incl. I Can't Make Me, Another White Dash. David Bowie (1947-), Reality (album) (July 15); he gets obsessed with getting old; incl. Never Get Old, The Loneliest Guy, Bring Me the Disco King (with Maynard James Keenan); sho' 'nuff, he suffers a heart attack on June 25, 2004 in Scheessel, Germany, slowing him down. Beastie Boys, In a World Gone Mad; protest against the 2003 U.S. Iraq War. Pet Shop Boys, Disco 3 (album) (Feb. 3); incl. If Looks Could Kill; Pop Art: The Hits (album) (Nov. 24); incl. Flamboyant, Miracles. Michelle Branch (1983-), Hotel Paper (album #2) (June 24) (#2 in the U.S.); sells 1M copies; incl. Are You Happy Now? (#16 in the U.S.), Breathe (#36 in the U.S.). Cam'ron (1974-), Diplomatic Immunity (album). The Cardigans, Long Gone Before Daylight (album #5) (Mar. 19) (#47 in the U.K.). Mariah Carey (1970-), The Remixes (album) (Oct. 14). June Carter Cash (1929-2003), Wildwood Flower (album) (posth.). 50 Cent (1975-), Get Rich or Die Tryin' (album) (debut) (#1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (15M copies, incl. 8M in the U.S.); incl. In Da Club, 21 Questions (w/Nate Dogg), Wanksta, P.I.M.P. (w/Snoop Dogg). Kenny Chesney (1968-), All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan (album). Kelly Clarkson (1982-), Thankful (album) (debut) (Apr. 15) (#1 in the U.S.); sells 3M copies; incl. A Moment Like This. Biffy Clyro, The Vertigo of Bliss (album #2) (June 16); incl. Toys, Toys, Toys, Choke, Toys, Toys, Toys, The Ideal Height, Questions and Answers, Eradicate the Doubt. Alice Cooper (1948-), The Eyes of Alice Cooper (album #23). Elvis Costello (1954-), North (album) (Sept. 23). Cracker, Countrysides (album #7) (Oct. 7); incl. Ain't Gonna Suck Itself. The Cramps, Fiends of Dope Island (album). Counting Crows, Films About Ghosts (album) (Nov.). Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism (album #4) (Oct. 7) (#97 in the U.S.); first with drummer Jason McGerr; incl. The New Year, Title and Registration, The Sound of Setting. The Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Vol. 27 (album) (Jan. 17); recorded on Dec. 16, 1992 in Oakland, Calif.; View from the Vault, Vol. 4 (album) (Apr. 8); Dick's Picks Vol. 28 (album) (Apr. 20); recorded on Feb. 26-28, 1973; Dick's Picks Vol. 29 (album) (June); recorded on May 19-21, 1977; Dick's Picks Vol. 30 (album) (Oct. 30). Deftones, Deftones (album #4) (May 20) (#2 in the U.S) (500K copies); incl. Minerva, Hexagram. Celine Dion (1968-), One Heart (album #8) (Mar. 24); incl. One Heart, Have You Ever Been in Love. Doobie Brothers, Divided Highway (album) (Feb. 25). 3 Doors Down, Another 700 Miles (album) (Nov. 11). Hilary Duff (1987-), Metamorphosis (Aug. 26) (#1 in the U.S., #69 in the U.K.) (5M copies worldwide); incl. So Yesterday, Come Clean, Little Voice. As I Lay Dying, Frail Words Collapse (album #2) (July 1) (250K copies); incl. 94 Hours, Forever. Finger Eleven, Finger Eleven (album #4) (June 17); incl. One Thing (#16 in the U.S.). Epica, The Phantom Agony (album) (debut) (June 5); from Netherlands, incl. Mark Jansen (1978), and Simone Johanna Maria Simons (1985-); incl. Cry for the Moon (about child abuse by priests). Gloria Estefan (1957-), Unwrapped (album #10) (Sept. 22); incl. Wrapped. Eve 6, It's All in Your Head (album #3) (July 22); dropped by RCA Records after poor sales. Elysian Fields, Dreams That Breathe Your Name (album #3). Fall Out Boy, Fall Out Boy's Evening Out With Your Girlfriend (Mar. 25) (album) (debut); from Wilmette, Ill.; incl. Patrick Stump (vocals, guitar), Joe Trohman (guitar), Pete Wentz (bass), and Andy Hurley (drums); Take This to Your Grave (album #2) (May 6) (500K copies); incl. Grand Theft Autumn/Where Is Your Boy. Dan Fogelberg (1951-2007), Full Circle (album). Arcade Fire, Arcade Fire (AKA Us Kids Now) (album) (debut); from Montreal, Canada, incl. Win Butler (1980-), Regine Chassagne (1977-), and William Pierce Butler (1982-). Fuel, Natural Selection (album #3) (Sept. 23); incl. Won't Back Down (from the film "Daredevil"), Falls on Me, Million Miles, Miss Independent. Nelly Furtado (1978-), Folklore (album #2) (Nov. 25) (#38 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.); incl. Powerless (Say What You Want), Try, Forca, Explode, The Grass Is Green. AQi Fzono (1969-), Chronicle (album #6). Debbie Gibson (1970-), Colored Lights: The Broadway Album (album). Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn (album #3) (May 6) (250K copies); incl. As the Palaces Burn, Ruin, 11th Hour, A Devil in God's Country. Godsmack, Faceless (album #3) (Apr. 8) (#1 in the U.S., #156 in the U.K.) (1.5M copies in the U.S.); first with drummer Shannon Larkin from Ugly Kid Joe; incl. Straight Out of Line, I Stand Alone, Serenity, Re-Align. Macy Gray (1967-), The Trouble with Being Myself (album) (Apr. 28); incl. When I See You, She Ain't Right for You. 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, Other Ways of Speaking (album #3) (Apr. 8) (last album); incl. Never Be Alone Again (w/Chrissie Hynde), Painted Veil, Full Length of the River, Afraid, Folsom Prison Blues; Russell Crowe then "evolves" the band into The Ordinary Fear of God. Guano Apes, Walking on a Thin Line (album #3) (Feb. 3) (100K copies); incl. You Can't Stop Me, Pretty in Scarlet, Quietly. Nina Hagen (1955-), Big Band Explosion (album #13) (Dec. 9); incl. Let Me Entertain You (by Jules Styne and Stephen Sondheim). Merle Haggard (1937-), Haggard Like Never Before (album); incl. That's the News; questions Bush's declaration that the Iraq War is over. Emmylou Harris (1947-), Stumble Into Grace (album). Hans Werner Henze (1926-), L'Upupa under der Triumph der Sohnesliebe (The Hoopoe and the Triumph of Filian Love) (opera); based on a Syrian fairy tale. Her Space Holiday, The Young Machines (album). Hoobastank, The Reason (album #2) (Dec. 9) (2.5M copies); incl. The Reason, Same Direction, Out of Control. Crowded House, Classic Masters (album) (June 24). David Ippolito, Talk Louder (the Cell Phone Song) (album #6). Isley Brothers, Body Kiss (album). Alan Jackson (1958-) and Jimmy Buffett (1946-), It's Five O'Clock Somewhere (June) (#1 country) (#1 in the U.S.). Jamelia (1981-), Thank You (album #2) (Sept. 20); incl. Bout, Superstar, Thank You, See It In a Boy's Eyes, DJ. Jamiroquai, Late Night Tales: Jamiroquai (album) (Nov. 10). Jay-Z (1969-), The Black Album (album #8) (Nov. 14); claims it's his last studio album; incl. Change Clothes, Dirt Off Your Shoulder, 99 Problems. Jack Hody Johnson (1975-), On and On (album #2) (May 6) (#3 in the U.S.); incl. The Horizon Has Been Defeated, Taylor, Rodeo Clowns. Bon Jovi, This Left Feels Right (album) (Nov.). R. Kelly (1967-), Chocolate Factory (album #5) (Feb. 18) (#1 in the U.S.) (3M copies); incl. Step in the Name of Love, Snake, Ignition (Remix). Alicia Keys (1981-), The Diary of Alicia Keys (album #2) (Dec. 2) (#1 in the U.S., #13 in the U.K.) (8M copies); incl. You Don't Know My Name, If I Ain't Got You, Diary. The Black Keys, Thickfreakness (album #2) (Apr. 8); incl. Thickfreakness, Set You Free (used in the 2003 film "School of Rock"), Hard Row, Have Love, Will Travel (by Richard Berry). Korn, Take a Look in the Mirror (album #6) (Nov. 21) (#9 in the U.S.); last with Brian "Head" Welch; incl. Did My Time (#12 in the U.S.), Right Now (#11 in the U.S.), Y'All Want a Single (#23 in the U.S.), Everything I've Known (#30 in the U.S.). Kraftwerk, Tour de France Soundtracks (album #10) (Aug. 4); first original album since 1986; incl. Tour de France. Barenaked Ladies, Everything to Everyone (album #6) (Oct. 21) (#10 in the U.S., #6 in Canada); incl. Another Postcard (#82 in the U.S.), Testing 1, 2, 3, For You, Celebrity, Maybe Katie. Strapping Young Lad, Strapping Young Lad (album #3) (Feb. 11) (#97 in the U.S.); incl. Relentless, Rape Song. Laibach, WAT (We Are Time) (album #12) (Sept. 8). Jonny Lang (1981-), Long Time Coming (album #3) (Oct. 14) (#17 in the U.S.); incl. Long Time Coming, Red Light. Cyndi Lauper (1953-), At Last (album #8) (Nov. 18); incl. At Last, Makin' Whoopee (with Tony Bennett). Annie Lennox (1954-), Bare (album #3) (June 5) (#4 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.); incl. A Thousand Beautiful Things, Pavement Cracks, Wonderful. Georges Lentz, Ingwe (2003-9); a 60-min. work for solo electric guitar. Black Lips, Black Lips! (Mar. 18); from Atlanta, Ga., incl. Cole Alexander (vocals), Jared Swilley (bass), Ben Eberbaugh (-2002) (guitar), Jack Hines (guitar), and Joe Bradley (drums). Meat Loaf (1947-), Couldn't Have Said It Better (album). Loon (1975-), Loon (album) (debut) (Oct. 21) (#6 in the U.S.); incl. How You Want That, Relax Your Mind. Lorna (1983-), Papi Chulo... (Te Traigo el Mmmm) (debut). Ludacris (1977-), Chicken-N-Beer (album #3) (Oct. 7) (#1 in the U.S.) (2.7M copies); incl. Stand Up, Splash Waterfalls, Diamond in the Back, P-Poppin (Pussy Poppin'). Fleetwood Mac, Say You Will (album #16) (Apr. 15); first without Christine McVie; incl. Say You Will, Murrow Turning Over in His Grave. Madonna (1958-), American Life (album #9) (Apr. 22) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); her lowest-selling album; a collaboration with Mirwais Ahmadzai (1960-), rejecting the values in "Material Girl"; last album produced by Maverick; incl. American Life; "I tried to be a boy, I tried to be a girl, I tried to be a mess, I tried to be the best"; Remixed & Revisited (album) (Nov. 24) (#115 in the U.S.). Mae (Multi-Sensory Aesthetic Experience), Destination: Beautiful (album) (debut) (Feb. 25); from Norfolk, Va., incl. Dave Elkins, Zach Gehring, and Jacob Marshall (drums) (who names the group based on his course at Old Dominion U.); incl. Embers and Envelopes, All Deliberate Speed, This Time Is the Last Time. Vusi Mahlasela (1965-), The Voice (album); incl. Weeping. Iron Maiden, Dance of Death (album #13) (Sept. 2); incl. Wildest Dreams, Rainmaker. Marilyn Manson, The Golden Age of Grotesque (album #5) (Apr. 13); sells 4M copies; incl. mOBSCENE, This is the New Shit, (s)AINT. Bob Marley (1945-81) and the Wailers, Live at the Roxy (double album) (June 24); recorded on May 26, 1976 in West Hollywood, Calif. John Mayer (1977-), Heavier Things (album #2) (Sept. 9) (#1 in the U.S.) (3M copies); incl. Bigger Than My Body, Clarity, Daughters. Martina McBride (1966-), Martina (album #6); incl. This One's for the Girls; "This is for all you girls about 13/ high school can be so rough, can be so mean/ hold onto, onto your innocence", In My Daughter's Eyes. Paul McCartney (1942-), Back in the World: Live (album) (Mar. 17) (#5 in the U.K.). Reba McEntire (1955-), 20th Century Masters: The Christmas Collection: The Best of Reba (album) (Sept. 23); Room to Breathe (album #27) (Nov. 18); incl. Somebody (#1). John Mellencamp (1951-), Trouble No More (June 3) (album); incl. Teardrops Will Fall. Katie Melua (1984-), Call Off the Search (album) (debut) (Nov. 3); sells 1.8M copies; incl. Call Off the Search, The Closest Thing to Crazy, Crawling Up a Hill. Natalie Merchant (1963-), The House Carpenter's Daughter (album #4) (Sept. 16). Metallica, St. Anger (album) (June 5); incl. St. Anger. Metric, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (album) (debut); from Toronto, Canada, incl. Emily Haines (vocals), James Shaw (guitar, vocals), Joshua Winstead (bass, vocals), and Joules Scott-Key (drums); incl. Combat Baby. Steve Miller Band, Young Hearts (album). Kylie Minogue (1968-), Body Language (album #9) (Nov. 20) ($2 in the U.K., #6 in the U.K.); incl. Slow, Red Blooded Woman, Chocolate. Bret Michaels (1963-), Songs of Life (album #2) (Apr. 22); incl. Raine (about his daughter Raine Elizabeth Sychak, b. May 20, 2000), Bittersweet, One More Day (9/11 tribute). Moonspell, The Antidote (album #6); incl. Everything Invaded. Van Morrison (1945-), What's Wrong With This Picture? (album #30) (Oct. 21). Motorhead, Live at Brixton Academy (album) (Dec. 9). Smash Mouth, Get the Picture? (album #4) (Aug. 5); incl. You Are My Number One, Hang On (used in "The Cat in the Hat"). Puddle of Mudd, Life on Display (album #2) (Nov. 25 (#20 in the U.S.) (700K copies); incl. Away from Me (#1 in the U.S.), Spin You Around, Heel Over Head; Greg and Paul leave the band. Dropkick Murphys, Blackout (album #4) (June 10); incl. Buried Alive, Kiss Me, I'm Shitfaced. The National, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (album #2) (Sept. 2). Nelly (1974-), Da Derrty Versions: The Reinvention (album); incl. Iz U (featured on Walt Disney's "The Haunted Mansion), Tip Drill, Pimp Juice. The Nice, Vivacitas: Live at Glasgow 2002 (album #5) (Sept. 16); first album since 1971. Nickelback, The Long Road (album #4) (Sept. 23) (#6 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.) (5M copies); incl. Someday, Figured You Out, See You at the Show, Feelin' Way Too Damn Good, Because of You. Hall & Oates, Do It for Love (album #16) (Feb. 11); incl. Do It for Love. Indian Ocean, Jhini (album #3); incl. Jhini. Sinead O'Connor (1966-), She Who Dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High Shall Abide Under the Shadow of the Almighty (double album) (Sept. 9); claims she's retired now; incl. Molly Malone. Blue October, History for Sale (album #3) (Apr. 8); incl. Razorblade, Calling You. The Offspring, Splinter (album #7) (Dec. 9); sells 1.8M copies; first without Ron Welty; incl. Splinter, Hit That, (Can't Get My) Head Around You. Outkast, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (album); incl. Hey Ya!; "Shake it like a Polaroid picture". Brad Paisley (1972-), Mud on Tires (album); incl. Mud on Tires, Celebrity. Paris (Oscar Jackson Jr.) (1967-), Sonic Jihad (album #5) (Oct. 7); incl. Sheep to the Slaughter, Field Nigga Boogie, AWOL. Linkin Park, Meteora (album #2) (Mar. 25) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (10M copies); incl. Somewhere I Belong (#32 in the U.S., #10 in the U.K.), Faint (#48 in the U.S., #15 in the U.K.), Numb (#11 in the U.S., #14 in the U.K.), From the Inside, Breaking the Habit (#20 in the U.S., #39 in the U.K.), Lying from You (#58 in the U.S.). Snow Patrol, Final Straw (album); incl. Run, Chocolate, Spitting Games, How to Be Dead. Black Eyed Peas, Elephunk (album #3) (June 24); sells 8M copies; will.i.am (William James Adams Jr.) (1975-), apl.de.ap (Allan Pineda Lindo) (1974-), Taboo Nawasha (Jaime Luis Gomez) (1975-), Fergie (Stacy Ann Ferguson (1975-); incl. Hey Mama, Where is the Love?, Shut Up, Let's Get It Started (Let's Get Retarded); adding vocalist Fergie (formerly of the Disney Channel's "Kids Incorporated" and 90s pop group Wild Orchid) causes the L.A. trio to shoot to the top in pop. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Greatest Hits (album) (Nov.); incl. Fortune Faded, Save the Population. Pink (1979-), Try This (album #3) (Nov. 11) (#9 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.) (3M copies); incl. Trouble, God is a DJ, Last to Know. Placebo, Sleeping with Ghosts (album #4) (Apr. 1) (#11 in the U.K.); incl. Sleeping with Ghosts, The Bitter End, Special Needs; Covers (album) (Sept. 22); incl. Running Up That Hill (by Kate Bush) (#66 in the U.K.). Iggy Pop (1947-), Skull Ring (album) (Nov. 4); incl. Little Know It All (w/Sum 41), Rock Show (w/Peaches). The New Pornographers, Electric Version (album #2) (May 6); incl. The Electric Version, The Laws Have Changed. Manic Street Preachers, Lipstick Traces: A Secret History of Manic Street Preachers (album) (July 14). Queensryche, Tribe (album #9) (July 22). Radiohead, Hail to the Thief (album #6) (June 9); incl. There There, Go to Sleep, 2 + 2 = 5. The Raveonettes, Whip It On (album) (debut) (Aug. 6); from Denmark, incl. Sune Rose Wagner (1973) and Sharin Foo (1979); incl. Attack of the Ghostriders; Chain Gang of Love (album) (debut) (Aug. 25); incl. Chang Gang of Love, C'mon Everybody, The Love Gang. Juno Reactor, Mona Lisa Overdrive (from "The Matrix Reloaded"); Navras (from "The Matrix Revolutions"). Eddi Reader (1959-), Eddi Reader Sings the Songs of Robert Burns (album #7). Lou Reed (1942-), The Raven (album #19) (Jan. 28); tribute to Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49); incl. The Conqueror Worm, Edgar Allan Poe. Steve Reich (1936-), Cello Counterpoint. The All-American Rejects, The All-American Rejects (album) (debut) (Jan. 17) (#25 in the U.S., #50 in the U.K.); from Stillwater, Okla., incl. Tyson Ritter (vocals, bass), Nick Wheeler (guitar), Mike Kennerty (guitar), and Chris Gaylor (drums); incl. Swing, Swing. Kid Rock (1971-), Kid Rock (album). The Romantics, 61/49 (album #6) (Sept.); first album since 1985. Skid Row, Thickskin (album #4) (Aug. 5); incl. Thick Is the Skin, New Generation, Ghost. Rush, Rush in Rio (album) (Oct. 21). Pharoah Sanders (1940-), The Creator Has a Master Plan (album). Primal Scream and Kate Moss (1974-), Some Velvet Morning (Nov. 10). Seal (1963-), Seal (album #4) (Sept. 9). Jessica Simpson (1980-), In This Skin (album #3) (Aug. 19) (#2 in the U.S., #36 in the U.K.) (7M copies); incl. Sweetest Sin, With You, Take My Breath Away, Angels. Eve 6, It's All in Your Head (album); incl. Think Twice, At Least We're Dreaming, Good Lives. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Vicious Cycle (album #11) (May 20). Sister Sledge, Style (album #11). Black Label Society, The Blessed Hellride (album #4) (Apr. 22); incl. Stillborn (w/Ozzy Osbourne), Doomsday Jesus; Boozed, Broozed & Broken-Boned (album) (Aug. 12). Britney Spears (1981-), In The Zone (album); incl. Toxic. Chicks on Speed, 99 Cents (album #2) (Oct.); incl. We Don't Play Guitars, Wordy Rappinghood. Staind, 14 Shades of Grey (album #4) (May 20) (#1 in the U.S., #16 in the U.K.) (2M copies); incl. Price to Play, So Far Away, How About You. Ringo Starr (1940-), Ringo Rama (album #12) (Mar. 24). Status Quo, Riffs (album #26) (Dec. 23). Rod Stewart (1945-), As Time Goes By: The Great American Songbook 2 (album) (Oct. 14). Joss Stone (1987-), The Soul Sessions (album) (debut) (Nov. 24) (#39 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); incl. Fell in Love with a Boy, Super Duper Love. Stratovarius, Elements, Pt. 1 (album #9) (Jan. 27); incl. Eagleheart; Elements, Pts. 2 (album #10) (Nov. 24); incl. I Walk to My Own Song. White Stripes, Elephant (album #4) (Apr. 1) (#6 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (5M copies); Rolling Stone mag.'s #5 best album of the decade; incl. Seven Nation Army (#76 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.) ("Don't want to hear about it/ Every single one's got a story to tell/ Everyone knows about it/ From the Queen of England to the hounds of Hell"), The Hardest Button to Button (#8 in the U.S., #23 in the U.K.), There's No Home for You Here, I Just Don't Know What to Do With Myself (#25 in the U.S., #13 in the U.K.). The Strokes, Room on Fire (album #2) (Oct. 28) (#4 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. 12:51 (#15 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.), Reptilia (#19 in the U.S., #17 in the U.K.), The End Has No End (#35 in the U.S., #27 in the U.K.). Styx, Cyclorama (album #14) (Feb. 18); first with Lawrence Gowan (1956-). Sugarbabes, Three (album #3) (Oct. 27); incl. Hole in the Head, Too Lost in You, In the Middle, Caught in a Moment. Howard Tate (1939-), Rediscovered; comeback after having royalties from his 1960s hits "Ain't Nobody Home" et al. ripped off, resulting in homelessness and drug addiction? Within Temptation, The Silent Force (album #3) (Nov. 15); first with Ruud Jolie and Martijn Spierenburg; incl. Stand My Ground, Memories, Angels, Jillian (I'd Give My Heart). ZZ Top, Mescalero (album #14) (Apr. 15). Toto, Through the Looking Glass (album #11) (Nov. 5); all covers; 25th Anniversary: Live in Amsterdam (album). Train, My Private Nation (album #3) (June 3) (#6 in the U.S.); incl. Calling All Angels, When I Look to the Sky, Get to Me; Live in Atlanta (album) (July 31). Randy Travis (1959-), Worship and Faith (album). Cheap Trick, Special One (album #14) (July 23); incl. Scent of a Woman. The Fall of Troy, The Fall of Troy (album) (debut) (Nov. 4); from Mukilteo, Wash., incl. Thomas Joseph Erak (1985-) (vocals), Andrew Forsman (1985-) (drums), and Frank "Black" Ene (bass). Jethro Tull, The Jethro Tull Christmas Album (album #22) (Sept. 30). Bonnie Tyler (1951-), Heart Strings (Heart & Soul) (album #13) (Mar. 24). Six Feet Under, Bringer of Blood (album #5) (Sept. 23); incl. Amerika the Brutal, Murdered in the Basement, When Skin Turns Blue, Bringer of Blood. The Undertones, Get What You Need (album #5) (Sept. 30); first album since 1983; new lead singer Paul McLoone (1967-). Westlife, Turnaround (album #5) (Nov. 24) (7M copies); incl. Hey Whatever (#4 in the U.K.), Mandy (by Barry Manilow) (#1 in the U.K.), Obvious #3 in the U.K.). Amy Winehouse (1983-2011), Frank (album) (debut) (Oct. 20) (900K copies in the U.K.); the English answer to Britney Spears?; incl. Stronger Than Me, Take the Box, In My Bed, Fuck Me Pumps. Steve Winwood (1948-), About Time (album #8) (June 17); last album in 1997. Wisin and Yandel, Mi Vida... My Life (album #3) (Oct. 21); De Otra Manera (album #4). Darryl Worley, Have You Forgotten; about 9/11. Yello, The Eye (album #11) (Dec. 9). Lil' Zane (1982-), The Big Zane Theory (album #2) (Aug. 19). Frank Zappa (1940-93), Halloween (album) (posth.) (Feb. 4); Halloween show at the Palladium in New York City in 1978. Warren Zevon (1947-2003), The Wind (album) (Aug. 26); released 2 wks. before the inventor of rock noir dies of lung cancer (Sept. 7), and finally wins a Grammy; incl. Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Movies: Alejandro Inarritu's 21 Grams (Dec. 26) (This is That), #2 in the Trilogy of Death series ("Amores Perros", 2000; "Babel", 2006"), named after the claim by Dr. Duncan MacDougall that the human soul weighs 21 grams stars miscast Sean Penn as math prof. with a bad heart Paul Rivers, who benefits when born-again Christian convict Jack Jordan (Benicio del Toro) kills the husband of recovering drug addict Christina Peck (Naomi Watts) and his heart is donated to him, after which he follows her around and hooks up with her until the transplant goes bad and she finds she is carrying his baby, with Jack's conscience getting in the middle; does $60M box office on a $20M budget. Spike Jonze's Adaptation (Jan. 10), based on the book by Susan Orlean stars Nicolas Cage as Charlie, and Donald Kaufman, and Meryl Streep as Susan Orlean; "One story. Four lives... A million ways it can end." Robert Pulcini's and Shari Springer Berman's American Splendor (Sept. 12), based on the 1986 biography of Jewish-Am. underground comic book writer Harvey Pekar (1939-2010) stars Paul Giamatti, with appearances by Pekar. Denzel Washington's Antwone Fisher (Jan. 10), based on Fisher's 2001 autobio. stars Denzel as Navy pshrink Dr. Jerome Davenport, who tries to figure out why black swabbie Antwone Quenton "Fish" Fisher (Derek Luke) is so violent, and discovers a messed-up upbringing sorry story. Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa (Nov. 26) (Tryptich Pictures) (Dimension Films) stars Billy Bob Thornton as alcoholic sex-addicted dirty-talking dept. store Santa Claus Willie T. Soke, and Tony Cox as his midget Little Helper Marcus Skidmore, who end each season by robbing the store; Brett Kelly plays fat kid Thurman Merman; Lauren Graham plays Soke's babe Sue; Bernie Mac plays Gin Slagel; does $76.5M box office on a $23M budget; followed by "Bad Santa 2" (2016). Tim Burton's Big Fish (Dec. 10) (Columbia Pictures), based on the 1998 Daniel Wallace novel stars Ewan McGregor as Ed Bloom Jr., a son who tries to relive the baloney stories his daddy Albert Finney told him about himself; Jessica Lange plays Finney's wife Sandra K., Helena Bonham Carter plays an elderly witch with an evil eye, Steve Busceme plays Norther Winslow, a poet from Ashton, Ala. who lives forever in Spectre, Ala., Danny DeVito plays Amos Calloway, a circus ringmaster and werewolf, Matthew McGrory plays giant Karl; does $122.9M box office on a $70M budget. Aaron Blaise's and Robert Walker's animated Brother Bear (Nov. 1) (Walt Disney Pictures) features Joaquin Phoenix as the voice of Kenai, who kills a bear and is turned into one as punishment; the only cure is to travel to a mountain where the Northern lights touch the Earth; does $250.4M box office on a $46M budget. Tom Shadyac's Bruce Almighty (May 23) stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, who is given divine powers for one week by God (Morgan Freeman) to teach him how hard it is; Jennifer Aniston plays his babe Grace Connelly, Catherine Bell plays his other babe Susan Ortega, and Steve Carell plays his rival Evan Baxter; #5 movie of 2003 ($242M U.S. and $484.6M box office on a $81M budget). Nigel Cole's Calendar Girls (Sept. 2) (Buena Vista Pictures) is the story of some Yorkshire women incl. Helen Mirren and Julie Walters who produce a nude calendar for leukemia research; does $96M box office on a $10M budget. Shawn Levy's Cheaper by the Dozen (Dec. 25), based on the novel by Frank G. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernest Gilbreth Carey stars Steve Martin as Tom Baker, father of a family of 12; #10 movie of 2003 ($139M). Mike Figgis' Cold Creek Manor (Sept. 17) is a psychological thriller about NYC filmmaker Cooper and Leah Tilson (Dennis Quaid and Sharon Stone), who are terrorized by ex-con Dale Massie (Stephen Dorff), the former owner of a decaying rural mansion they bought in foreclosure. Jon Amiel's The Core (Mar. 28) (Paramount) stars Hilary Swank as USAF Maj. Rebecca "Beck" Childs, Bruce Greenwood as USN Cmdr. Robert "Bob" Iverson, Aaron Eckhart as U. of Chicago Dr. Joshua "Josh" Keyes, Delroy Lindo as Dr. Edward "Braz" Brazzelton, and Stanley Tucci as Dr. Conrad Zimsky of Project D.E.S.T.I.N.I., which flies the Virgil into the Earth's stalled core relying on their Unobtanium hull; does $73.5M box office on a $60M budget; "Earth has a deadline." Mark Achbar's and Jennifer Abbott's The Corporation (Sept. 10) is a Canadian documentary analyzing the modern corporation like a pshrink might do. Gary Hardwick's Deliver Us from Eva (Feb. 7) based on Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew", stars LL Cool J as Ray Adams, who is paid to date troublesome Eva Dandridge (Gabrielle Union). Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers (Oct. 10), based on the Gilbert Adair novel "The Holy Innocents" stars Eva Green and Louis Garrel as twins Isabelle and Theo, who are in an incestuous relationship, and take in Am. student film buff Matthew (Michael Pitt), secluding themselves and having sex until the 1968 Paris student uprising. Gus Van Sant's Elephant (Oct. 3) stars Alex Frost, Eric Deulen and other no-names in a day in the life of high school students. Jon Favreau's Elf (Nov. 7) (Guy Walks Into a Bar Productions) (New Line Cinema) debuts, starring Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf, who discovers he's really Buddy Hobbs the human, and travels from the North Pole to New York City to see his father Walter Hobbs (James Caan) and his stepmother Emily Hobbs (Mary Steenburgen) during Christmas; Maurice LaMarche voices Buddy's burp; #4 movie of 2003 ($173M U.S. and $220M worldwide box office on a $33M budget); "I'm a cotton-headed ninny-muggins"; inspires the 2010 Broadway musical "Elf: The Musical", and the 2014 NBC-TV animated TV special "Elf: Buddy's Musical Christmas"; "This holiday discover your inner elf." Disney/Pixar's animated Finding Nemo (May 30), dir. by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich is about Marlin the clownfish, who loses his pregnant wife Coral to a barracuda, and saves one egg, which he names you know what; "If this is some kind of practical joke, it's not funny, and I know funny, I'm a clownfish"; "the ultimate fish-out-of-water story" (Time mag.); #2 movie of 2003 ($340M U.S. and $940.3M worldwide box office on a $94M budget); followed by "Finding Dory" (2016). Martin Brest's Gigli (Aug. 1), starring "Bennifer" (Jennifer Lopez and what's his name Ben Affleck) becomes notorious as a bomb; a criminal lesbian, a hit man with a heart of gold, and a retard become best friends? David Caffrey's Grand Theft Parsons (Nov. 6) stars Gabriel Macht as country-rock musician Gram Parsons, and Johnny Knoxville as his road mgr. Phil Kaufman, who stole his corpse and cremated it in Joshua Tree Nat. Park. John Pielmeier's and G. Ross Parker's Hitler: The Rise of Evil (May 18) is a Canadian TV miniseries about Adolf Hitler's childhood and rise to power. Ron Shelton's Hollywood Homicide (June 13) (Columbia Pictures), based on the true experienced of LAPD dick Robert Souza stars Harrison Ford as Sgt. Joe Gavilan, and Josh Hartnett as Det. K.C. Calden, two LAPD dicks who moonlight at real estate and acting; also features Martin Landau, Dwight Yoakam, and Frank Sinatra Jr., with cameos by Eric Idle and Smokey Robinson; Lena Olin plays Ford's babe Ruby; does $51M box office. Stephen Daldry's The Hours (Jan. 24), based on the Michael Cunni, er, Cunningham novel stars Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), Julianne Moore as Laura Brown, Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan, and Miranda Richardson as Vanessa Bell. Donald Petrie's How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (Feb. 7) (Paramount Pictures) stars Kate Hudson as Composure women's mag. writer Andie Anderson, who wants to write an article titled you know what, and meets ad exec Benjamin "Ben" Barry (Matthew McConaughey), who bets his boss that he can make any women fall in love with him in guess how many days, until they find each other out; does $177.4M box office on a $50M budget. Robert Benton's The Human Stain, based on the 2000 Philip Roth novel stars Anthony Hopkins as Jewish classics prof. Coleman Silk, who has an affair with long-legged blonde Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman), whose hubby Lester (Ed Harris) gets mean and exposes his past; meanwhile Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise) acts as narrator. William Friedkin's The Hunted (Mar. 14) stars Tommy Lee Jones as deep-woods tracker L.T. Bonham, who has to hunt down the renegade Special Forces assassin Aaron Hallam (Benicio Del Toro) that he trained in gorgeous Silver Falls, Ore. F. Gary Gray's The Italian Job (May 30), a remake of the 1969 film stars Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron, and Mark Wahlberg; "Trust everyone, just don't trust the devil inside them." Amit Saxena's Jism (Jan. 17) is a Bollywood flick starring Bipasha Basu as a millionaire's wife, and John Abraham as an alcoholic playboy atty., who have a torrid love scene cloned from the 1981 Kathleen Turner-William Hurt flick "Body Heat". Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 1 (Oct. 10) (A Band Apart) (Miramax Films), based on the 1973 Japanese film "Lady Snowblood" stars Uma Thurman as Kung Fu fighting "the Bride" "Black Mamba" Beatrix Kiddo, whose hubby "Snake Charmer" Bill (David Carradine) and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad pop a cap in her crown at her wedding in El Paso, Tex., causing her to vow revenge and obtain a genuine Hanzo samurai sword from swordsmith Hattori Hanzo in Okinawa; also stars Vivica A. Fox as "Copperhead" Vernita Green , Darryl Hannah as 1-eyed "Calif. Mountain Snake" Elle Driver, Lucy Liu as "Cottonmouth" "Queen of the Tokyo Underworld" O-Ren Ishii, Michael Madsen as Bill's brother "Sidewinder" Budd, Sonny Chiba as Samurai swordswmith Hattori Hanzo, Chiaki Kuriyama as 17-y.-o. Kung Fu fighter Gogo Yubari, and Gordon Liu as all-white Kung Fu master Pai Mei, who knows the secret 5-Pointed Palm Exploding Heart Technique; Ellie Driver whistles a song from the 1969 British horror film "Twisted Nerve", composed by talented Bernard Herrmann to indicate she's about to kill Kiddo; grosses $70M in the U.S. and $181M worldwide on a $30M budget; features cool music by the Japanese group The 5, 6, 7, 8s (5.6.7.8's), who perform I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield, I'm Blue, and Woo Hoo (used in Vonage commercials) in the House of Blue Leaves; the sequel Kill Bill Volume 2 (Apr. 16, 2004) features Perla Haney-Jardine as Beatrix's daughter B.B. Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Dec. 13) satisfying closes the Tolkien trilogy; #1 movie of 2003 ($377M). Michael Landon Jr.'s Love Comes Softly, a TV movie based on the 75+ Christian inspirational books of Janette Oke stars Katherine Heigl as a young 21st cent. cosmetic smiling starlet, er, 19th cent. pregnant Am. frontier woman with an ever-fresh blow-dry, who finds herself widowed and ending up living with widower Dale Midkiff, who has a daughter that hates her, until you know what; the 2004 sequel Love's Enduring Promise is about the grown-up daughter finding you know what. Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men (Sept. 12), based on the Eric Garcia book stars Nicolas Cage as an obsessive compulsive con man who unexpectedly loses his innocent daughter. The Wachowski Brothers' The Matrix Reloaded (May 15) is another quantum leap for sci-fi flicks, with hero Nero taking on a mob of Agent Smiths and resurrecting his babe Trinity from the dead; #4 movie of 2003 ($281M); The Matrix Revolutions (Nov. 5) wraps up the series satisfyingly to cool music by Juno Reactor with a cool battle between the underground human city of Zion and 250K robot probes, shocking audiences by substituting new Oracle Mary Alice for deceased Gloria Foster ("I don't recognize my face in the mirror but I still love candy" - "No one can see beyond a choice they don't understand"), becoming the #9 movie of 2003 ($139M); Lambert Wilson plays the martini-loving Merovingian, and Bruce Spence plays the Trainman of Mobil Ave.; "Cookies need love like everything does" - a parable for the struggle of Western civilization against a global Muslim jihad? Ron Howard's The Missing (Nov. 26) (Revolution Studios) (Imagine Entertainment) (Columbia Pictures), based on the 1996 Thomas Edison novel "The Last Ride" stars Tommy Lee Jorenes as Samuel Jones in 1885 N.M., who goes Injun as Chaa-duu-ba-its-iidan then returns to his daughter, medicine woman Magdalena "Maggie" Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett), who doesn't want him back until her daughter Lilly Gilkeson (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by Apaches who start taking her to Mexico to become a white blonde ho; actors spend long hours studying to speak the Apache language; does $38.4M box office on a $60M budget. Kevin Costner's Open Range (Aug. 15) (Touchstone Pictures) (Buena Vista Pictures), based on the Lauran Paine novel set in 1882 Mont. stars Robert Duvall as Boss Spearman, Kevin Costner as Charley Waite, and Annette Bening as Sue Barlow in a film that tries hard not to look like "Lonesome Dove" and fails; does $68.3M box office on a $22M budget. Richard Kwietniowski's Owning Mahowny (Jan. 23), written by Maurice Chauvet based on the book "Stung" by Gary Stephen Ross stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as gambleholic bank mgr. Dan Mahowny, based on Toronto man Brian Molony, who rips off both the bank and the Atlantic City casino, becoming the largest bank fraud in Canadian history, $10M in 1980-2; Minnie Driver plays his girlfriend Belinda, and Chris Collins plays casino employee Chris Collins. John Woo's Paycheck, (Dec. 25), based on a short story by Philip K. Dick stars Ben Affleck as reverse engineer Michael Jennings, Uma Thurman as his babe Dr. Rachel Porter, and Aaron Eckhart as billionaire Allcom CEO James Rethrick, who hires him to reverse engineer a competitor's product, a device that can see the future, promising him the paycheck of his dreams. Roman Polanski's The Pianist (Jan. 3), based on the 1945 memoir by Wladyslaw Szpilman (1911-2000) stars Adrian Brody as Jewish pianist Szpilman, who goes through the horrible Holocaust and plays beautiful music while the *!?!* Nazis bomb his town of Warsaw - if it were Israelis bombing a Palestinian pianist it would be called manipulative? Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (July 7) stars Johnny Depp as mascara-wearing Capt. Jack Sparrow (who channels Rolling Stones member Keith Richards), Keira Knightley as Elizabeth, and Orlando Bloom as Will in a movie based on a theme-park ride; #3 movie of 2003 ($306M); spawns sequels in 2006 (Dead Man's Chest) and 2007 (At World's End); the 2006 sequel earns a record $132M over the July 7-9 weekend; Verbinski is known for the croaking frog Budweiser beer commercials. Michael Tollin's Radio (Oct. 24) stars Cuba Gooding Jr. as black radio-collecting retardo James Robert "Radio" Kennedy of Anderson, S.C., whom Coach Jones (Ed Harris) of Hannah High School takes under his wing, uniting the town; Alfre Woodard (pretty?) plays Principal Daniels, and S. Epatha Merkerson (ugly?) plays Maggie. Gary Fleder's Runaway Jury (Oct. 17), based on the John Grisham novel with a firearms manufacturer substituted for a tobacco co. stars Gene Hackman and Dustin as Hoffman the rival attys., and John Cusack as jury member Nick Easter, who with his babe Marlee (Rachel Weisz) try to sell the jury's verdict to them, with ulterior motives. Ingmar Bergman's Saraband (Dec. 1), a Swedish TV movie stars Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson in a sequel to "Scenes from a Marriage" (1973); Bergman's last film. Richard Linklater's School of Rock (Oct. 3) stars Jack Black as rocker Dewey Finn, who is kicked out of his band No Vacancy, then disguises himself as a substitute teacher at a prep school to form a band out of 5th grade students to win the Battle of the Bands to pay his apt. rent. David Stewart's The Search for the Loch Ness Monster , The Great Loch Ness Debate, Laurie Brian's America's Loch Ness Monster, and the July 29 discovery of a plesiosaur fossil, followed by Werner Herzog's Incident at Loch Ness (Sept. 17, 2004) beat the issue to death? Soren Kragh-Jacobsen's Skagerrak (Mar. 14) is about being hit by happiness when you least expect it. Dewey Nicks' Slackers (Feb. 1) stars Devon Sawa, Jason Segel, Michael C. Maronna et al. in a college ripoff flick about a geek blackmailing other students to win the school's most popular girl; the plot keywords are "nosebleed", "lesbian", "female nudity", "caught masturbating", and "cheating". Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give,/a> (Dec. 12) stars Jack Nicholason as wealthy New York music mogul Harry Sanborn, who only dates women under 30, but falls for 50-something playwright Erica Barry (Diane Keaton), who's also hooking up with 30-something doctor Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves); grosses $266.7M on a $60M budget. Jeffrey Blitz's Spellbound (Oct. 10), a documentary of the 1999 Scripps Nat. Spelling Bee rekindles interest in the stupid contest. Francois Ozon's Swimming Pool (May 18) stars Charlotte Rampling as middle-aged English mystery author Sarah Morton, who gets a writer's block and vacations in her publisher's upscale country house near Lacoste, France, where she meets the publisher's daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), who likes to lounge around the pool topless and engage in 1-night stands with male bimbos; does $22.4M box office on a $7.8M budget. Jonathan Mostow's Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (July 2) boringly continues (ends?) the Terminator series with female terminatrix T-X (Kristanna Loken); Nick Stahl plays adult John Connor; Claire Danes plays his babe Kate Brewster; #8 movie of 2003 ($150M). Antoine Fuqua's Tears of the Sun (Mar. 7) stars Bruce Willis as Navy SEAL Lt. A.K. Waters, who is sent by Capt. Bill Rhodes (Tom Skerritt) to rescue Dr. Lena Fiore Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) from the Nigerian civil war; does $85.6M box office on a $75M budget. C.B. Harding'sThe Three Amigos is a hilarious standup comedy show in English by Hispanic-Am. comedians Carlos Mencia, Pablo Francisco, and Freddy Soto, contributing to racial and ethnic understanding. Steve Boyum's Timecop 2: The Berlin Decision (Sept. 30) stars Jason Scott Lee as 2025 Time Enforcement Commission agent Ryan Chan. Satoshi Kon's animated Tokyo Godfathers (Nov. 8) is another of his cool animes about Christmas in Tokyo. Len Wiseman's action horror film Underworld )Sept. 19) (Lakeshore Entertainment) is about the secret war between vampires and lycans (werewolves), with 600-y.-o. vampire Death Dealer Selene (Kate Beckinsale) hunting lycans while falling for human medical student Michael Corvin (Scott Speedman), who is bitten by a lycan and becomes a hybrid, conflicting her; does $95.7M box office on a $22M budget, spawning the Underworld film series, incl. "Underworld Evolution" (2006), "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" (2009), "Underworld: Awakening" (2012), and "Underworld: Blood Wars" (2016). Rob Schmidt's Wrong Turn (May 30) (Constantin Film) (Summit Entertainment) (20th Cent. Fox) attempts to gross-out the audience with hideous in-bred mountain men in W. Va. who catch motorists and make them into stew; Julian Richings plays Three Finger; does $28.7M box office on a $12.6M budget; spawns sequels incl. "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End" (2009), "Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings" (2011), "Wrong Turn 5: Bloodlines" (2012), "Wrong Turn 6: Last Resort" (2014). Bryan Singer's X2 (May 2) continues the X-Men saga; #6 movie of 2003 ($215M). Nonfiction: Richard Abanes (1961-), One Nation Under Gods: A History of the Mormon Church (July 29); meticulously reviews the history of the LDS Church, bringing out attempted coverups and whitewashes, and exposing its attempt to appear as part of the mainstream while hiding its goal of a Mormon OWG and a money-raking scheme for the prophets; Francesco Alberoni (1929-), The Mystery of Falling in Love. Elizabeth Alexander (1962-), The Black Interior; African-Am. creativity. Isabel Allende (1942-), My Invented Country (autobio.). Aharon Appelfeld (1932-), The Story of a Life: A Memoir. Margaret Atwood (1939-), Negotiating with the Dead: A Writer on Writing (Sept. 9). Blake Bailey, A Tragic Honesty: The Life and Work of Richard Yates; undiscovered genius Richard Yates (1926-92). Bernard Bailyn (1922-), To Begin the World Anew: The Genius and Ambiguities of the American Founders. Brigitte Bardot (1934-), A Cry in the Silence; decries the Islamization of France and her prosecution by the French govt. just for speaking her mind about it; "Over the last twenty years, we have given in to a subterranean, dangerous, and uncontrolled infiltration, which not only resists adjusting to our laws and customs but which will, as the years pass, attempt to impose its own." Herbert Benson (1935-), The Breakout Principle: How to Activate the Natural Trigger That Maximizes Creativity, Athletic Performance, Productivity, and Personal Well-Being. A. Scott Berg (1949-), Kate Remembered; bio. of Katharine Hepburn (1907-2003). Paul Berman (1948-), Terror and Liberalism; the failure of liberalism after WWI led to totalitarianism via Sayyid Qutb's writings of the 1950s?; argues that Islamism is analogous to 20th cent. totalitarianism. John Michael Bishop (1936-), How to Win the Nobel Prize: An Unexpected Life in Science. Conrad Black, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom. Harold Bloom (1930-), Genius: A Mosaic of One Hundred Exemplary Minds. Don Boys, ISLAM: America's Trojan Horse! (Mar.). Tara Brach (1953-), Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life with the Heart of a Buddha. John R. Bradley, Behind the Veil of Vice: The Business and Culture of Sex in the Middle East (Sept.). Rick Bragg, I Am a Soldier, Too: The Jessica Lynch Story. H.W. Brands, Founders Chic: Our Reverence for the Fathers Has Gotten Out of Hand; pub. in the Sept. issue of The Atlantic Monthly. Timothy H. Breen (1942-) and Timothy D. Hall, Colonial America in an Atlantic World: A Story of Creative Interaction. Douglas Brinkley (1960-), Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903-2003. Po Bronson, What Should I Do With My Life?. Judith M. Brown, Nehru: A Political Life. James MacGregor Brown (1918-2014), Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness; proposs a new type of global leadership to combat global poverty. Paul Burrell, A Royal Duty. Augusten Burroughs (1965-), Dry: A Memoir; his alcoholism; Magical Thinking: True Stories (essays). Bill Bryson (1951-), A Short Hitory of Nearly Everything; bestseller; popular science via bios. of scientists. Barbara Bush (1925-), Reflections: Life After the White House (autobio.). Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004), Antiquity (2 vols.). David Caute (1936-), Marechera and the Colonel. Marshall Chapman (1949-), Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller (autobio). Phyllis Chesler (1940-), The New Anti-Semitism: The Current Crisis and What We Must Do About It; "In our contemporary world anti-Zionism is nearly inseparable from anti-Semitism"; "African-Americans (not Jews) are the Jews in America but Jews are the world's niggers". Deepak Chopra (1946-), Golf for Enlightenment: The Seven Lessons for the Game of Life. Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947-), Living History (autobio.) (June 9); bestseller (1M+ copies); Simon & Schuster pays her an $8M advance after the U.S. Senate gives her special permission. Robert Coles (1929-), Bruce Springsteen's America: The People Listening, a Poet Singing. Nadia Comaneci (1961-), Letters to a Young Gymnast (autobio.). Nellie Connally (1919-2006), From Love Field: Our Final Hours with President John F. Kennedy; "Mister President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you". Ann Coulter (1961-), Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism; attempts to rehabilitate Joseph McCarthy, causing admirer David Horowitz to part ranks with her. George Crile III (1945-2006), Charlie Wilson's War; bestseller; the CIA's secret war in Afghanistan in the late 1980s; claims to foresee the later jihad against Westerners. Herman Daly (1938-), Ecological Economics: The Concept of Scale and Its Relation to Allocation, Distribution, and Uneconomic Growth (Oct. 16); Ecological Economics: Principles and Applications (Nov. 1). Robert Dallek (1934-), An Unfinished Life; bio. of JFK. Richard Dawkins (1941-), A Devil's Chaplain. Robert Dallek, An Unfinished Life. Antonio Damasio (1944-), Looking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain. Daniel Dennett (1942-), Freedom Evolves. Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909-2005), A Functioning Society. Alan Dershowitz (1938-), The Case for Israel; bestseller; critics accuse him of plagiarism; spawns the 2005 book "The Case Against Israel" by Michaael Neumann (1946-). Joan Didion (1934-2021), Where I Was From (essays); history of Calif.; Fixed Ideas: America Since 9/11. Dinesh D'Souza (1961-), What's So Great About America? John Edward (1969-), After Life: Answers From the Other Side. Rachel Ehrenfeld, Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It (Aug. 23); exposes Muslims who fund terrorism; too bad, billionaire Saudi businessman Khalid bin Mahfouz (1949-2009) stinks Britain up when he sues her in British court for libel and wins, even though she is a U.S. citizen, causing the N.Y. state legislature on May 1, 2008 to pass a law offering "New Yorkers greater protection against libel judgments in countries whose laws are inconsistent with the freedom of speech granted by the U.S. Constitution." Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-) and Arlie Hochschild (eds.), Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. Joseph Epstein (1937-), Envy. Niall Ferguson (1964-), Empire: How Britain Made the Modern World (2003), showing how "an archipelago of rainy islands... came to rule the world", defending it against critics for "impos[ing] free markets, the rule of law... and relatively incorrupt government" on a quarter of the Earth's pop.; details the British Empire of the 19th cent. and how it led globalization with military conquest, missionary work, spread of the English language, steam power, telegraphs, guns, and engineers, fueled by 20M emigrants between 1600-1960, with imports of coffee, tea, tobacco, and sugar fueling free movement of goods, capital, and labor, leading to mass consumerism; The difficulty with the achievements of empire is that they are much more likely to be taken for granted than the sins of empire"; "The question is not whether British imperialism was without blemish. It was not. The question is whether there could have been a less bloody path to modernity"; Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power. James Henry Fetzer (1940-), The Great Zapruder Film Hoax: Deceit and Deception in the Death of JFK; claims the CIA doctored it to bolster a lone gunman story. Jens Malte Fischer, Gustav Mahler; bestseller in Germany. Thomas Fleming, The Illusion of Victory: America in World War I. Antony Flew (1923-), Social Life and Moral Judgment; Does God Exist: The Craig-Flew Debate (with William Lane Craig). Anatoly Fomenko (1945-), Antiquity in the Middle Ages: Greek and Bible History; prominent Russian mathematician proposes the Fomenko Topological Transformation of History, claiming that human history goes back hundreds not thousands of years, and that most of it happened in the Middle Ages. Al Franken (1951-), Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them): A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right; Oh, the Things I Know! A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness. Richard B. Freeman (1943-), Can Labor Standards Improve Under Globalization? James Christopher Frey (1969-), A Million Little Pieces (autobio.); on Jan. 8, 2006 SmokingGun.com pub. an expose calling it fiction, and on 1-10-06 Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News calls it "a million little fibs"; after Frey appears on CNN's Larry King Live with his mother Lynne on 1-11-06 to explain that it is a "memoir", on 1-27-06 Oprah Winfrey takes him to task and gets him to admit it's a fabrication - but then, what is fact and what is fiction when you got your hands on the green? Steve Fuller, Kuhn vs. Popper: The Struggle for the Soul of Science. Paul Fussell Jr. (1924-2012), The Boys' Crusade: The American Infantry in Northwestern Europe, 1944-1945; "At this distance it may not be easy to remember that the European ground war in the west was fought by American boys 17, 18 and 19 years old…. These infantry soldiers, if they weren't children, weren't quite men either... Taken as a whole, the boys had a powerful propulsion of optimism, a sense that the war couldn't last forever, and that if anyone was going to get wounded, it would not be them." Tess Gallagher (1943-), A Concert of Tenses (essays). Gangaji (1942-), Just Like You: An Autobiography; how she meets Papaji in India in 1990 and becomes spiritual. John William Gardner (1912-2002), Living, Leading, and the American Dream. Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-), The Trials of Phillis Wheatley: America's First Black Poet and Her Encounters with the Founding Fathers. Stephen Jay Gould (1941-2002), The Hedgehog, the Fox, and the Magister's Pox (posth.); the historical war between the sciences and humanities, and how it was all a misunderstanding? Winston Graham (1908-2003), Memoirs of a Private Man (autobio.). Susan Haack (1945-), Defending Science - Within Reason: Between Scientism and Cynicism; disses the far left for considering science to be nothing but rhetoric motivated by power and politics, and shows that it has real benefits, reserving her "greatest admiration for those who delight to exercise the mind, no matter which way it takes them… those for whom doing their damnedest with the mind, no holds barred, is a point of honor"; breaks with Stephen Jay Gould, denying that religion and science have their own distinct domains because they both make assertions of what could lead to a better human condition, and make claims about how the world is. Steven Hahn (1951-), A Nation Under our Feet: Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration (Nov. 10) (Pulitzer Prize); African-Am. political power in the U.S. from the end of the U.S. Civil War to the Great Migration in 1915-30. Pete Hamill (1935-), Why Sinatra Matters. Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age. Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), Ripples of Battle: How Wars Fought Long Ago Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think. Mexifornia: A State of Becoming; the horrible Mexican Huns are taking over Calif., oh my? Donna Haraway (1944-), The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness. John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr, In Denial: Historians, Communism and Espionage; "The American people, through the Constitution and under laws enacted by the Congress, invested in Presidents Roosevelt and Truman authority to share or not share the nation's secrets with our allies. They did not invest that authority in Harry White, Theodore Hall, Alger Hiss, or Lauchlin Currie. These men never went before American voters to ask for this authority or to account for their actions, but arrogated to themselves the right to give secrets to a foreign power. They betrayed the American people and the Constitution. Moreover, not one of them had the courage to admit what he had done and accept the consequences. Why admire and apologize for them." Anthony Hecht (1923-2004), Melodies Unheard: Essays on the Mysteries of Poetry. Chris Hedges (1956-), What Every Person Should Know About War (June 3). David Hirst, The Gun and the Olive Branch. Peter Hitchens (1951-), A Brief History of Crime. Edward Hoagland (1932-), Hoagland on Nature. Tom Holland (1968-), Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic. Ian Spencer Hornsey, A History of Beer and Brewing. David Joel Horowitz (1939-), Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey. Imran Nazar Hosein (1942-), Jerusalem in the Quran; Trinidadian Islamic scholar's anti-Zionist view. Raphael Israeli, Islamikaze: Manifestations of Islamic Martyrology. Philip Jenkins (1952-), The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice (Apr. 17). Davis D. Joyce, Howard Zinn: A Radical American Vision. Robert Kagan (1958-), Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order; internat. bestseller claiming that U.S. foreign policy is based on having power, and Europe's is based on not having any. Efraim Karsh (1953-), Rethinking the Middle East; Arafat's War: The Man and His Battle for Israeli Conquest. Rita Katz, Terrorist Hunter: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman Who Went Undercover to Infiltrate the Radical Islamic Groups Operating in America. Sir John Keegan (1934-), Intelligence in War: Knowledge of the Enemy from Napoleon to Al-Qaeda. Tracy Kidder (1945-), Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World; about Partners in Health (founded 1987). Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror (July 18); how the U.S. and Britain stabbed PM Mossadeq in the back in 1953 to restore the bum shah, turning Iran against them and giving it to the Islamists. Kenneth Kitchen (1932-), On the Reliability of the Old Testament; attempts to prove the historicity of the Old Testament. Edward Klein (1937-), All Too Human: The Love Story of Jack and Jackie Kennedy. Jon Krakauer (1954-), Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (July); a history of the violent origins of the LDS (Mormon) Church combined with a true crime story about the 1984 murder of Brenda Lafferty and her infant daughter Erica by the fundamentalist Mormon School of the Prophets, pissing-off church officials, who nitpick it and hope it goes away; meanwhile in 2011 Warner Bros. purchases the film rights. Tony Kushner (1956-) and Alisa Solomon (eds.), Wrestling with Zion: Progressive Jewish-American Responses to the Israel-Palestinian Conflict (Dec.); Kushner later pisses-off Zionists with his proposal to merge the two countries "because [they're] geographically kind of ridiculous looking on a map". Robert Langdon (1964-), Symbols of the Sacred Feminine; by a prof. of religious symbology at Harvard U., whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to Hollywood actor Tom Hanks? :) Erik Larson (1954-), The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America; bestseller about architect Daniel Burnham and the creepy doings of H.H. Holmes at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Bernard Lewis (1916-), The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror. Michael Lewis (1960-), Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (June 17); Billy Beane of the Oakland A's and how he got good players at low prices by considering college and h.s. performance and using raw number-crunching; after winning a record 20 straight games in the 2002 season, the A's make the playoffs 5x under Beane's system, then miss the playoffs for the next five seasons. Robert Jay Lifton (1926-), Superpower Syndrome: America's Apocalyptic Confrontation with the World; the U.S. "national mind-set... that takes on a sense of omnipotence, of unique standing in the world that grants it the right to hold sway over all other nations", that is "part of an ongoing dynamic in which the American apocalyptic interacts, almost to the point of collusion, with the Islamic apocalyptic"and "has in it the potential seeds of world destruction". David Limbaugh (1952-), Persecution: How Liberals are Waging War Against Christians (Oct.). Graham Lord (1943-), Niv: The Authorised Biography of David Niven; actor David Niven (1910-83). John Lott (1958-), The Bias Against Guns: Why Almost Everything You've Heard About Gun Control is Wrong (Mar. 25); big hit with the NRA crowd. Manning Marable (1950-2011), The Great Wells of Democracy: The Meaning of Race in American Life. Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, The Pig Who Sang to the Moon; farm animal rights. Barr McClellan, Blood, Money & Power: How LBJ Killed JFK (Sept.); NYT #1 bestseller; claims LBJ was the driving force behind JFK's assassination; by a partner in Clark Law Firm of Austin, Tex., which handled LBJ's business transactions; "It is the most serious of public accusations, but it is so serious that serious people dismiss it as nuts." (NYT) Bill McKibben (1960-), Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age; disses Transhumanism. Jon Ellis Meacham (1969-), Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship. Douglas Moggach, The Philosophy and Ethics of Bruno Bauer; the Jesus-is-a-myth guy Bruno Bauer (1809-82). Jurgen Moltmann (1926-), Science and Wisdom. Dito Montiel (1965-), A Guidebook to Recognizing Your Saints (autobio.). James Moore and Wayne Slater, Bush's Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential; released as a documentary film in 2004 dir. by Joseph Mealey and Michael Paradies Shoob. Michael Moore (1954-), Dude, Where's My Country? Robin Morgan (1941-) (ed.), Sisterhood is Forever. Richard Ward Morris (1939-2003), The Last Sorcerers: The Path from Alchemy to the Periodic Table (posth.). Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), Where There's a Will (autobio.). Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran. Jacob Needleman (1934-), Lost Christianity; Heart of Philosophy; Time and the Soul; The American Soul. Aryeh Neier (1979-), Taking Liberties: Four Decades in the Struggle for Human Rights. Paul Newman (1925-2008) and A.E. Hotchner (1920-), Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good; the Newman's Own Co. and the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. Queen Noor (1951-), Leap of Faith. Richard O'Neill, Patrick O'Brian's Navy: The Illustrated Companion to Jack Aubrey's World. Bill O'Reilly (1949-), Who's Looking Out For You?. Michael B. Oren (1955-), Reunion. Elinor Ostrom (1933-), Trust and Reciprocity: Interdisciplinary Lessons from Experimental Research. Elaine Pagels (1943-), Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas; how the Gospel of Thomas claims that Jesus was not God but just a New Age teacher, and that the Gospel of John was written to counter it and to blacken the name of Doubting Thomas' name. Michael Parenti (1933-), The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People's History of Ancient Rome; the rabble's POV. Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926-), Spiritual Initiation and the Breakthrough of Consciousness: The Bond of Power. Francis Edwards Peters, Jerusalem: The Contested City; Islam: A Guide for Jews and Christians. Ralph Peters (1952-), Beyond Baghdad: Postmodern War and Peace. Kevin Phillips (1940-), William McKinley. Daniel Pipes (1949-), Miniatures: Views of Islamic and Middle Eastern Politics (Oct.) (essays). The Pontifical Councils for Culture and Religious Dialogue, Jesus Christ: The Bearer of the Water of Life. A Christian Reflection on the "New Age"; points out that the New Age Movement is neither new nor a religious movement, but is an eclectic mix from the Orient, Gnosticism, and pagan religions, mixed with Darwinian Evolution, Depth Psychology, Quantum Mechanics, Feminism, and Ecology - they're jealous and should see a pshrink? Roy Porter (1946-2002), Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine. Samantha Power (1970-), A Problem from Hell America and the Age of Genocide (Pulitzer Prize). Reynolds Price (1933-), A Serious Way of Wondering: The Ethics of Jesus Imagined. Michael S. Radu (1947-2009), Dangerous Neighborhood: Contemporary Issues in Turkey's Foreign Relations. Tariq Ramadan, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam; claims that "Islam is European" and can develop its own pro-Western brand; in 2009 he pub. "What I Believe", saying "We are witnessing the birth of a Western Islamic culture within which Muslims remain faithful to fundamental religious principles, while owning up to their Western cultures. They are both fully Muslim as to religion and fully Western as to culture, and that is no problem at all." Marcus Raskin (1934-), Liberalism: The Genius of American Ideals. Diane Ravitch (1938-), The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn; accuses both the left and right of having PC police; Making Good Citizens: Education and Civil Society; Kid Stuff: Marketing Sex and Violence to America's Children. Marc Reisner (1948-2000), A Dangerous Place (posth.). Andrew Roberts (1963-), Hitler and Churchill: Secrets of Leadership. Peter Robinson (1957-), How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life; makes a fan of Margaret Thatcher. Pete Rose (1941-) and Rick Hill, My Prison Without Bars. Marshall B. Rosenberg (1934-), Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life; disses the "Dominator Culture" that allows a minority to rule over the majority, advocating educational reforms incl. no grades, authority, labels, punishments, rewards, duty, or obligations. Emmanuel Saenz (1972-) and Thomas Piketty, Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998. Amin Saikal, Islam and the West: Conflict or Cooperation? Michael Savage (1942-), The Enemy Within: Saving America from the Liberal Assault on Our Schools, Faith, and Military; "Federal courts and judges in America today are to be more feared than al-Qaida." Michael F. Scheuer, Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam & the Future of America; chief of the CIA Bin Laden Issue Station (Alec Station) in 1996-9. Peter Dale Scott (1929-), Drugs, Oil and War. Robert J. Shiller (1946-), Is There a Bubble in the Housing Market? Bernie S. Siegel, 365 Prescriptions for the Soul. Kenneth Silverman (1936-), Lightning Man: The Accursed Life of Samuel F.B. Morse. Peter Singer (1946-), Pushing Time Away: My Grandfather and the Tragedy of Jewish Vienna. George Soros (1930-), The Alchemy of Finance (Aug. 1); "I admit that I have always harbored an exaggerated view of my self-importance - to put it bluntly, I fancied myself as some kind of god or an economic reformer like Keynes (each with his General Theory) or, even better, a scientist like Einstein (reflexivity sounds like relativity"; The Bubble of American Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power (Dec.); the "primary objective is to persuade the American public to reject President Bush in the forthcoming elections"; "Although the West has material superiority, Islam will prevail because it has a major competitive advantage: it is not afraid of death." Thomas Sowell (1930-), Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One. George Steiner (1929-), Lessons of the Masters. Victor J. Stenger (1935-), Has Science Found God? The Latest Results in the Search for Purpose in the Universe. Ian Stevenson (1918-2007), European Cases of the Reincarnation Type. Joseph Stiglitz (1943-), The Roaring Nineties: A New History of the World's Most Prosperous Decade. Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Why Societies Need Dissent. Ron Suskind (1959-), The Price of Loyalty. Jeff Tamarkin, Got A Revolution: The Turbulent Flight of Jefferson Airplane. Amy Tan (1952-), The Opposite of Fate. William Taubman (1940-), Khrushchev: The Man and His Era (Mar. 1) (Pulitzer Prize); took 20 years to write, making use of archives in Russia and Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Hugh Thomas (1931-), Rivers of Gold. Lester Thurow (1938-), Fortune Favors the Bold: What We Must Do to Build a New and Lasting Global Prosperity; touts the triumph of U.S. capitalism in a "third industrial revolution" based on a knowledge-based global economy with a global info. infrastructure, which he claims can meet the challenges of the U.S. trade deficit, surge of Chinese exports, stagnation of the Japanese et al.; proposes that the IMF be replaced by internat. bank deposit insurance, that govts. use eminent domain to take over pharmaceutical patents, and that the U.S. govt. permit U.S. corporations to ignore copyrights originating in countries that refuse to prosecute copyright pirates. Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-), Preachers of Hate: Islam and the War Against America. Fred Vargas (1957-), Routes of the Plague (Les chemins de la peste); definite research on the epidemiology of the Black Death. Michael Walzer (1935-) et al. (eds.), The Jewish Political Tradition, Vol. II: Membership. Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke. Stuart Wilde (1946-), God's Gladiators. Garry Wills (1934-), Negro President: Jefferson and the Slave Power. Andrew Norman Wilson (1950-), Iris Murdoch as I Knew Her; English novelist Iris Murdoch (1919-99); how she "thrived on acts of betrayal" and was "prepared to go to bed with almost anyone". Michael Wolff, Autumn of the Moguls: My Misadventures with Titans, Poseurs, and Money Guys Who Mastered and Messed Up Big Media. Robin Wood (1931-2009), Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan; Rio Bravo. Howard Zinn (1922-2010), The Twentieth Century: A People's History. Slavoj Zizek, The Parallax View. Plays: T. Gregory Argall, A Year in the Death of Eddie Jester (Cyril Clark Library Theatre) (Apr. 23). Kwame Kwei-Armah, Elmina's Kitchen (May). Alan Ayckbourn (1939-), Sugar Daddies (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) (July 23); a bimbo and an rich old man, who turns out sinister. Matthew Barber, Enchanted April (Belasco Theater, New York) (Apr. 4). David Barr and Mamie Till Mobley, The State of Mississippi and the Face of Emmett Till; about Emmett Till (1941-55). Nilo Cruz, Anna in the Tropics (Pulitzer Prize) (Royale Theatre, New York) (Nov. 16); stars Jimmy Smits as Juan Julian in a Fla. cigar factory in 1929 reading Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina". Nick Dear, Power; stars Rupert Penry-Jones as Louis XIV of France (1638-1715), and Stephen Boxer as his finance minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619-83). Roddy Doyle (1958-), The Woman Who Walked into Doors; based on his 1996 novel. Bryan Fogel and Sam Wolfson, Jewtopia's Guide to Being All That Jew Can Be! (Coast Playhouse, West Hollywood) (May 8). Michael Frayn (1933-), Democracy (Nat. Theatre, London) (Sept. 9); West German chancellor Willy Brandt's decision to expose Commie spy Gunter Guillaume. William Gibson (1914-2008), Golda's Balcony. Richard Greenberg, The Violet Hour (Manhattan Theatre Club, New York) (Nov. 6) (54 perf.); a strapped publisher must choose between publishing the giant novel of his college rommate Denis McCleary or the memoirs of his mistress Jessie Brewster. Norman Hudis, Seven Deadly Sins Four Deadly Brothers (Princess Theatre, Norfolk) (June 15). Fred Lawless and Len Pentin, Slappers and Slapheads (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool). Ropert Lopez (1975-), Jeff Marx (1970-), and Jeff Whitty (1971-), Avenue Q (musical) (Vineyard Theatre, New York) (Mar. 19) (72 perf.) (John Golden Theatre, New York) (July 31) (2,534 perf.); puppet show with puppetmasters visible onstage, a takeoff on PBS-TV's "Sesame Street", about how it told them that they were special, but reality tells them the opposite; features "Sesame Street" puppeteers John Tartaglia, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Jennifer Barnhart, and Rick Lyon, working puppets Rod and Nicky (Bert and Ernie), Trekkie Monster (Cookie Monster), Bad Idea Bear, and Lucy the Slut; stars Natalie Venetia Belcon as Gary Coleman. Wendy MacLeod, Juvenilia. Peter Martins, Thou Swell (ballet); tribute to Richard Rodgers. William Mastrosimone, The Afghan Women (Mill Hill Playhouse, Trenton, N.J.). Martin McDonagh, The Pillowman (Cottesloe Theatre, London) (Nov. 13); writer Katurian is grilled by his police state over the content of his short stories. Thomas Kilroy (1934-), The Shape of Metal (Peacock Theatre, Dublin). Tony Kushner (1956-), Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy. Nell Leyshon, Glass Eels (radio play); a girls' sexual awakening and eel fishing. Matthew McDonagh, The Pillowman (Nat. Theatre, London) (Nov. 13). Mark Medoff (1940-), Prymate. William Nicholson, The Retreat from Moscow (Booth Theater, New York) (Oct. 23); about Alice (Eileen Atkins) and Edward (John Lithgow). John Henry Redwood, No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs (Philadelphia) (Jan. 1); the Cheeks family in 1949 N.C. Tim Robbins (1958-), Embedded; satirizes the Bush admin. via the Iraqi War. Willy Russell (1947-), Hoovering the Moon. Stephen Lawrence Schwarz (1948-) and Winnie Holzman (1954-), Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz (musical) (Curran Theatre, San Francisco) (May 28) (Gershwin Theatre, New York) (Oct. 30); (Apollo Victoria Theatre) (West End, London) (Sept. 27, 2006); based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West"; Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West (Idina Menzel), Galinda (Glinda), the Good Witch (Kristin Chenoweth), and the Wizard (Joel Grey); reaches 5.6K perf. in 2017. John Patrick Shanley (1950-), Dirty Story; the Israeli-Palestine relationship as a sadomasochistic relationship between a man and woman. Stephen Sonheim (1930-) and John Weidman (1946-), Road Show (Bounce) (musical) (Goodman Theater, Chicago) (June 20); Addison and Wilson Mizner from the Alaska Gold Rush to the 1930s Fla. real estate boom. Simon Stephens (1971-), One Minute. Paul Vogel, The Long Christmas Ride Home (Providence, R.I.) (May 16). John Weidman (1946-) and Stephen Sondheim (1930-), Bounce (Road Show) (Goodman Theatre, Chicago) (June 20); dir. by Harold Prince; first Prince-Sondheim collaboration since "Merrily We Roll Along" (1981); a flop. Doug Wright, I'm My Own Wife (Dec. 3) (Lyceum Theater, New York). Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife (Playwrights Horizons, New York) (May 27); about German transvestite Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (1928-2002), AKA Lothar Berfeld. Nicholas Wright, His Dark Materials (Nat. Theatre, London) (Dec. 20); based on the Phillip Pullman novels; Vincent in Brixton; Vincent Van Gogh in Brixton, London in 1873. Poetry: Nanni Balestrini (1935-), Tutto in una Volta, Antologia 1954-2003; Sfinimondo. Andrei Codrescu (1946-), It Was Today: New Poems. Billy Collins (1941-) (ed.), Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry. Robert Creeley (1926-2005), If I Were Writing This. Stephen Dunn (1939-), Local Visitations. Marilyn Hacker (1942-), Desesperanto: Poems 1999-2002; First Cities: Collected Early Poems 1960-1979. Jim Harrison and Ted Kooser (1939-), Braided Creek: A Conversation in Poetry. John Hollander (1929-), Picture Window. Maxine Kumin (1925-), Bringing Together: Uncollected Early Poems 1958-1988. Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004), Orpheus and Eurydice. Paul Muldoon, Moy Sand and Gravel (Pulitzer Prize). Mary Oliver (1935-), Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays. Frithjof Schuon (1907-98), Adastra & Stella Maris: Poems by Frithjob Schuon (posth.). Charles Simic (1938-), The Voice at 3:00 A.M.: Selected Late and New Poems. Alice Walker (1944-), A Poem Traveled Down My Arm: Poems and Drawings (Oct. 28). C.K. Williams (1936-), The Singing. Novels: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), The Clerkenwell Tales. Catherine Aird (1930-), Amendment of Life. Martin Amis (1949-), Yellow Dog; a flop; "It's like your favorite uncle being caught in a school playground, masturbating" (Tibor Fischer). Margaret Atwood (1939-), Oryx and Crake; Snowman lives in a post-apocalyptic world populated by the primitive humanoid genetically-engineered race of Crakers; when fans call the novel science-fiction, she responds that it's "speculative fiction, not a science fiction proper. It contains no intergalactic space travel, no teleportation, no Martians", later adding "talking squids in outer space", pissing-off sci-fi fans. Gwenaelle Aubry (1971-), The Isolation (L'Isolement). Louis Auchincloss (1917-), The Scarlet Letters; his 59th book. David Ball, Ironfire. J.G. Ballard (1930-2009), Millennium People. John Banville (1945-), The Sea; art historian Max Morden. Pat Barker (1943-), Double Vision. Frederick Barthelme (1943-), Elroy Nights. Austin Bay, The Wrong Side of Brightness. Greg Bear (1951-), Darwin's Children; sequel to "Darwin's Radio" (1999). Thomas Berger (1924-), Best Friends. Steve Berry (1955-), The Amber Room (Aug. 26); pub. by Ballantine Books after 12 years and 85 rejections; Judge Rachel Cutler and her divorced hubby Paul hunt for the Amber Room of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia, which disappeared in 1945; launches his bestselling historical adventure novel career (18M copies). Holly Black (1971-) and Tony DiTerlizzi (1969-), The Field Guide; first of "The Spiderwick Chronicles", a silly fantasy story for kiddies - that are dummer than dog doo? Lawrence Block, Small Town; post-9/11 New York City. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), Drop City. Anita Brookner (1928-), The Next Big Thing (Making Things Better). Pass the cilice, Mother T? Dan Brown (1964-), The Da Vinci Code (Mar. 18) (two days after the U.S. invades Iraq); 10K advance copies and 230K initial press run; 23,578 sold the first week, making #1 on the NYT bestseller list ("the novel that ate the world"); "Renowned curator Jacques Sauniere staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum's Grand Gallery" (first line); "O, Draconian devil! Oh, lame saint!"; "So dark the con of man"; "In London lies a knight a pope interred/ His labor's fruit a Holy wrath incurred/ You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb/ It speaks of Rosy flesh and seeded womb"; "The Holy Grail 'neath ancient Roslin waits/ The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates/ She rests at last beneath the starry skies"; Harris Tweed-loving Harvard U. religious symbology prof. Robert Langdon (language don?), Capt. Bezu Fache (busy fish?) and Lt. Jerome Collet (roam around and collate his boss' microfiche?) of the DCPJ, Jacques Sauniere (saner?) of the Louvre, "Princess" Sophie (Sofia) Neveu (renovate?) alias St. Clair (not Plantard), monk Silas (Sauniere's Judas?) and Bishop Manuel Aringarosa (ring around the rosey?) of Opus Dei (which has only lay members?), Andre Vernet (wears vernier Rolex timepieces?) of the Depository Bank of Zurich, Sir Leigh Teabing (Sir Lipton tea bag?) alias the Teacher at Chateau Villette (1668) and his manservant Remy Legaludec (legal duke?) from Lyons and his Medusa revolver, the Da Vinci cryptex with password SOFIA, er, APPLE, fleur de lis, PHI, Amon L'Isa, 325 Council of Nicea, security warden Claude Grouard (guard?), Pamela Gettum (I'll get um for ya?) of King's College library, Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris with the first Rose Line and Sister Sandrine Bieil (bee eye?), Vatican Biblioteca Astronomica, Gare Saint-Lazre train station, 24 Rue Haxo and the Bois de Boulogne ("garden of earthly delights"), Friday the 13th of Oct. 1307, Leonardo da Vinci (always called Leonardo, never da Vinci?) and his Vitruvian Man, Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks and skitoma-filled Last Supper, Sofia, 1099 Priory of Sion and Godefroi de Bouillon, Pentacle of Venus and Hieros Gamos, Dead Sea Scrolls, Sang Real not San Greal, Mary Magdalene of the tribe of Benjamin and Jesus of the House of David equals unbelievable; Atbash cipher and Sheshach alias Babel, Sir Isaac Newton and Alexander Pope, 1185 London Temple Church and 1065 Westminster Abbey with College Garden and octagonal Chapter House, 1446 Rosslyn Chapel (Cathedral of Codes) with the Boaz and Jachin pillars, Fibonacci sequence 13-3-2-21-1-1-8-5; "Yo soy un espectro" (Silas) (p. 56); starting with Ch. 58 the book gets rather preachy?; "Leonardo was one of the keepers of the secret of the Holy Grail. And he hid clues in his art" (Teabing) (p. 230); "Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false... More than eighty gospels were considered for the New Testament, and yet only a relative few were chosen for inclusion - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, among them... The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman emperor Constantine the Great... a lifelong pagan who was baptized on his deathbed, too weak to protest" (Teabing) (pp. 230-1); "At this gathering many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted upon - the date of Easter, the role of the bishops, the administration of sacraments, and of course, the divinity of Jesus... Until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet... a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless.... Jesus' establishment as 'the son of God' was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea... A relatively close vote at that"; "It was all about power... Christ as Messiah was critical to the functioning of Church and state. Many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power" (Teabing) (p. 233); "The twist is this... Because Constantine upgraded Jesus' status almost four centuries after Jesus' death, thousands of documents already existed chronicling His life as a mortal man. To rewrite the history books, Constantine knew he would need a bold stroke. From this sprang the most profound moment in Christian history... Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ's human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned" (Teabing) (p. 234); "Fortunately for historians... some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive... the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert. And, of course, the Coptic Scrolls in 1945 at Nag Hammadi. In addition to telling the true Grail story, these documents speak of Christ's ministry in very human terms. Of course, the Vatican, in keeping with their tradition of misinformation, tried very hard to suppress the release of these scrolls. And why wouldn't they? The scrolls highlight glaring historical discrepancies and fabrications, clearly confirming that the modern Bible was compiled and edited by men who possessed a political agenda - to promote the divinity of the man Jesus Christ and use His influence to solidify their own power base" (Teabing) (p. 234); "The Grail... is symbolic of the lost goddess. When Christianity came along, the old pagan religions did not die easily. Legends of chivalric quests for the lost Grail were in fact stories of forbidden quests to find the lost sacred feminine. Knights who claimed to be 'searching for the chalice' were seaking in code as a way to protect themselves from a Church that had subjugated women, banished the Goddess, burned nonbelievers, and forbidden the pagan reverence for the sacred feminine" (Langdon) (pp. 238-9); "It was not Peter to whom Christ gave directions with which to establish the Christian Church. It was Mary Magdalene... Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of His Church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene" (Teabing) (p. 248); "Behold the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father. My dear, Mary Magdalene was the Holy Vessel. She was the chalice that bore the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ. She was the womb that bore the lineage, and the vine from which the sacred fruit sprang forth" (Teabing) (p. 249); becomes bestselling adult novel of all time (60M by 2006), spawning the new genre of fractured history written at the 8th grade level for the history-starved masses ("You don't hate history, you just hate your own history"?) spoon-fed during a ridiculous murder adventure; milks the fallacy of the evil albino, the fallacy of the talking killer, and the fallacy of the Bride of Christ not being his Church but his hot freckled red-haired bunkbunny Mary Magdalene, whose DNA (check out that melanocritia-1 receptor?) is more valuable than weapons-grade plutonium?; the best hook is the novel's opening: "FACT... All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate", spawning the Anti-Da Vinci Code Industry; "Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas?" (1 Cor. 9:5). John Burdett, Bangkok 8; Royal Thai Police dick Sonchai Jitpleecheep. James Lee Burke (1936-), Last Car to Elysian Fields. Hortense Calisher (1911-2009), Sunday Jews. Peter Carey, My Life as a Fake. Jimmy Carter (1924-), The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War (Nov. 11); first novel pub. by a U.S. pres. David Caute (1936-), The Dancer Defects. Tom Clancy (1947-2013), The Teeth of the Tiger; pres. Jack Ryan's nephews try to join the Handley Assocs. black ops firm.; introduces Jack Ryan Jr. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), The Second Time Around. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (1940-), Revolutions (Révolutions). Paul Coelho (1947-), Eleven Minutes. Stephen Coonts (1946-), Liberty; Rear Adm. Jake Grafton #10. J.M. Coetzee (1940-), Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons; famous writer travels the world to give lectures on Kafka, and regresses into one of his monkeys?; really the author's female alter-ego? Harlan Cohen, No Second Chance. Jackie Collins (1937-2015), Hollywood Divorces. Robin Cook (1940-), Seizure. Jim Crace (1946-), Six. Clive Cussler (1931-), Trojan Odyssey; Dirk Pitt #17. Marie Darrieussecq (1969-), White; engineers Peter and Edmee on an isolated base in the South Pole. Guy Davenport (1927-2005), The Death of Picasso: New and Selected Writing. Samuel R. Delany (1942-), Aye, and Gomorrah, and Other Stories. Don DeLillo (1936-), Cosmopolis (Apr. 14); 28-y.-o. billionaire Eric Parker tries to take his stretch limo across midtown Manhattan to get a haircut and loses his fortune by betting against the rise of the yen. E.L. Doctorow (1931-), Reporting the Universe. Bruce Ducker, Mooney in Flight. Timothy Egan, The Winemaker's Daughter. Tom Englehardt, The Last Days of Publishing. Joseph Epstein (1937-), Fabulous Small Jews (short stories). Louise Erdrich (1954-), The Master Butchers Singing Club. Sebastian Faulks (1953-), Human Traces. David Flusfeder, The Gift. Mick Foley (1965-), Tietam Brown. Margaret Forster (1938-), Diary of an Ordinary Woman, 1914-1995. Frederick Forsyth (1938-), Avenger (Sept.); a Canadian billionaire hires a Vietnam vet to bring his grandson's killer to the U.S. Karin Fossum ("Norway's Queen of Crime"), Don't Look Back. Esther Freud (1963-), The Sea House. Cornelia Funke (1958-), Inkheart (Tintenherz) (Sept. 23 (NYT bestseller); first in the Inkheart Trilogy, incl. "Inkspell" (2005) and Inkdeath (2007), about teenie Meggie Folchart, whose bookbinder daddy Mo has the ability to bring chars. from books to life; filmed in 2008; the series sells 20M+ copies. Alan Furst (1941-), Blood of Victory; Night Soldiers #7. William Gibson (1948-), Pattern Recognition. Rob Grant, Incompetence. Gunter Grass (1927-), Crabwalk. Thomas Christopher Greene, Mirror Lake (first novel). John Grisham (1955-), The King of Torts; Clay Carter as Melvin Belli? Michael Gruber, Tropic of Night. Laurell K. Hamilton, Incubus Dreams. Pete Hamill (1935-), Forever. Ron Hansen (1947-), Isn't It Romantic? Shirley Hazzard (1931-), The Great Fire; about U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Josh Thurlow in WWII. Zoe Heller (1965-), Notes on a Scandal (What Was She Thinking?); female art teacher Bathsheba "Sheba" Hart at a London school hooks up with an underage pupil, and is played by lonely old history teacher Barbara; filmed in 2006 starring Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench. Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), The Sinister Pig. Russell Hoban (1925-), Her Name Was Lola. Alice Hoffman (1952-), The Probable Future. Janette Turner Hospital (1942-), Due Preparations for the Plague. Khaled Hosseini (1965-), The Kite Runner; a young Afghan boy dealing with the fallout of an unexpected event amid bloodshed, rape, murder and abuse; bestseller. P.D. James (1920-), The Murder Room; Adam Dalgliesh #12. Rula Jebreal (1973-), Miral (first novel); internat. bestseller; filmed in 2010. Charles R. Johnson (1948-), Turning the Wheel. Edward P. Jones (1951-), The Known World (Pulitzer Prize). Kaylie Jones (1960-), Speak Now. Thomas Keneally (1935-), The Tyrant's Novel. Stephen King (1947-), The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla; The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah; Stephen King's The Dark Tower: A Concordance (by Robin Furth). Michael Muhammad Knight (1977-), The Taqwacores; taqwa (Islamic love-fear of Allah) + hardcore; Am.-born Muslim convert begins rejecting Islam's moral code and goes punk. Siegfried Lenz (1926-), Fundburo. Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), A Coyote's in the House. Doris Lessing (1919-2013), The Grandmothers. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), The Fortress of Solitude (Dec. 31). Elinor Lipman (1950-), The Pursuit of Alice Thrift. Penelope Lively (1933-), The Photograph. Mario Vargas Llosa (1936-), The Way to Paradise. Ismail Kadare (1936-), The Successor; Agamemnon's Daughter. Marne Davis Kellogg, Brilliant; internat. jewel thief Kick v. retired Scotland yard cmdr. Thomas Curtis. Stephen King (1947-), Desperation; yet another haunted town (in Nevada) that is saved by children? Dean Koontz (1945-), Odd Thomas. William Kowalski (1970-), The Adventures of Flash Jackson. Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake; two generations of Indian family attempt to assimilate into U.S. culture. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), The Fortress of Solitude. Gregory Maguire (1954-), Mirror, Mirror; a retelling of the tale of Snow White, about 16th cent. nobleman Don Vincente de Nevada of Montefior and his 7-y.-o. daughter Bianca. Peter Manson (1969-), Adjunct: An Undigest. Steve Martin (1945-), The Pleasure of My Company (Oct. 1); OCD-sufferer Daniel Pecan Cambridge of Santa Monica, Calif. James McBride (1957-), Miracle at St. Anna; the African-Am. 92nd Infantry Div. in Italy in 1944-5. Colum McCann (1965-), Dancer; Rudolph Nureyev. Colleen McCullough (1937-), The Touch (Nov.); Elizabeth Drummond travels from Kinross, Scotland to N.S.W., Australia in the late 19th cent. to marry her wealthy cousin Alexander Kinross. Larry McMurtry (1936-), By Sorrow's River; Tasmin Berrybender and Monty, son of her "Sin Killer" husband; Duane's Depressed; conclusion to the trilogy of "The Last Picture Show" and "Texasville". Robert K. Morgan (1965-), Broken Angels. David Morrell (1943-), The Protector. Toni Morrison (1931-), Love. Nicholas Mosley (1923-), Inventing God. Walter Mosley (1952-), Six Easy Pieces (short stories); Easy Rawlins #8, with the return of Mouse. Alice Munro (1931-), No Love Lost (short stories). David Nicholls (1966-), Starter for Ten; a first year British univ. student struggles to get on the Granada TV quiz show "University Challenge" to win hot Alice Harbinson; the first round is worth guess how many points. Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), The Tattooed Girl. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), The Night Country. Suze Orman (1951-), The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life. Chueck Palahniuk, Diary. Sara Paretsky (1947-), Blacklist; V.I. Warshawski #11. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Back Story; Spenser #30; Stone Cold; Jesse Stone #4. Arturo Perez-Reverte, Captain Alatriste. Ralph Peters (1952-), Flames of Heaven: A Novel of the End of the Soviet Union. Harry Mark Petrakis (1923-), Twilight of the Ice. Jodi Picoult (1966-), Second Glance. Marge Piercy (1936-), The Third Child. Stanley Pottinger, The Last Nazi. Richard Powers (1957-), The Time of Our Singing. Richard Price (1949-), Samaritan. Francine Prose (1947-), After Joanna Cotler. John Rechy (1934-), The Life and Adventures of Lyle Clemens. Kenneth Rexroth (1905-82), Complete Poems (posth.). Anne Rice (1941-), Blood Canticle. Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), The Last Days. Boualem Sansal (1949-), Dis-moi le Paradis. Jose Saramago (1922-2010), The Double (O Homem Duplicado). Robert James Sawyer (1960-), Hominids. Deborah Scroggins, Emma's War; British aid worker in Sudan Emma McCune marries a polygamous Sudanese warlord and has her idealism tarnished as he wages jihad in South Sudan. Rupert Sheldrake (1942-), The Sense of Being Stared At, and Other Aspects of the Extended Mind. Carol Shields (1935-2003), Unless (final novel). Anita Shreve (1946-), Light on Snow. Lionel Shriver (1957-), We Need to Talk About Kevin (Apr. 14); Eva Khatchadourian talks about her son Kevin, who blinds his sister in one eye with Liquid Plumr, and uses a crossbow for a school massacre; filmed in 2011. Gary Shteyngart (1972-), The Russian Debutante's Handbook (first novel). Robert Silverberg (1935-), Roma Eterna; how Moses' bid for freedom from Egypt fails, meaning that there is no Jesus Christ, and later the Romans assassinate Muhammad, stopping Islam, allowing the Roman Empire to survive to the present day. Dan Simmons (1948-), Ilium; a recreation of the events of the Iliad on an alternate Earth and Mars; followed by "Olympos" (2005). Jane Smiley (1949-), Good Faith. Gary Soto (1952-), Buried Onions; Local News; Amnesia in a Republican County. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), The Guardian (Apr.); The Wedding (Sept.d). Norman Spinrad (1940-), He Walked Among Us; The Druid King; Caesar's war against Gallic chieftain Vercingetorix in 52 B.C.E. Danielle Steel (1947-), Dating Game; Johnny Angel; Safe Harbour. Charlie Stella, Charlie Opera; Charlie Pelecchia. Neal Town Stephenson (1959-), The Confusion (the Baroque Cycle #2). Robert Stone (1937-), Bay of Souls. Charles Stross (1964-), Singularity Sky; first in the Eschaton series. Graham Swift (1949-), The Light of Day. Amy Tan (1952-), The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. Brad Thor (1969-), Path of the Assassin. Rose Tremain (1943-), The Colour. Lisa Tucker, The Promised World (first novel). Leon Uris (1924-2003), O'Hara's Choice; Amanda and Zachary. Bruce Alan Wagner (1954-), Still Holding; #3 of 3 in the Cellular Trilogy (begun 1996). Lauren Weisberger (1977-), The Devil Wears Prada (Oct. 6) (first novel); bestselling roman a clef about Vogue mag. ed.-in-chief (since 1988) Lady Anna Wintour (1949-) by her former asst. for 10 mo.; 23-y.-o. Brown U. grad. Andrea Sachs becomes asst. to Miranda Priestly of Runway Mag. (who fiendishly wears her Prada), and quits 1 mo. short of her 1-year goal; filmed in 2006 starring Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, and Emily Blunt; followed by "Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns" (2013). Louise Welsh, The Cutting Room (first novel); snuff porn in Glasgow, Scotland. Edmund White (1940-), Fanny: A Fiction; Frances Trollope and Frances Wright. T.L. Winslow (1953-), Kid Chr4ist. Tobias Wolff, Old School. Meg Wolitzer (1959-), The Wife: A Novel; a famous New York Jewish novelist's wife decides to leave him, and tells why; filmed in 2017 starring Glenn Close. James Wood (1965-), The Book Against God (first novel). Births: Swedish climate activist Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg on Jan. 3 in Stockholm. Swedish climate activist Izabella Nilsson Jarvandi on Jan. 6 in Gothenburg. Am. "Damon Cross in Alex Cross" actor (black) Sayeed Shahidi on Feb. 14 in Minneapolis, Minn.; Iranian father, African-Am. mother; brother of Yara Shahidi (2000-); grows up in Calif. English "Dustbin Baby" actress Lucy Hutchinson on July 18 in Sanderstead, Croydon. Am. "Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild" actress (black) Quvenzhane (Quvenzhané) Wallis on Aug. 28 in Houma, La.; first person in the 21st cent. to be nominated for a best actress Oscar. Deaths: Argentine pres. (1981-2) Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri (b. 1926) on Jan. 12 in Buenos Aires. Dominican world's almost oldest woman Elizabeth "Ma Pampo" Israel (b. 1875) in Jan. Chinese Dragon Lady Madame Chiang Kai-shek (b. 1898) on Oct. 23. English-born Am. Texas Instruments co-founder Cecil Howard Green (b. 1900) on apr. 11. German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl (b. 1902) on Sept. 8 in Pocking (dies in her sleep); learned scuba diving at age 70, survived a car crash in her 60s, broke her hip at age 79 while skiing, and survived a heli crash at age 98, all after kissing Hitler? - good genes? Am. politician J. Strom Thurmond (b. 1902) on June 26 in Edgefield, S.C. English archeologist Mary Chubb (b. 1903) on Jan. 22. Am. caricaturist Al Hirschfeld (b. 1903) on Jan. 20 in New York City; on June 21, 2003 the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway is renamed after him. British-born Am. comedian Bob Hope (b. 1903) on July 27 in Toluca Lake, Calif. at age 100; hosted the Academy Awards 20x. Puerto Rico gov. #3 (1969-73) Luis Alberto Ferre Aguayo (b. 1904) on Oct. 21 in San Juan. Am. swimmer Gertrude Ederle (b. 1905) on Nov. 30 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. aviation pioneer Bobbi Trout (b. 1906) on Jan. 24 in San Diego, Calif. (heart attack). Am. jazz man Benny Carter (b. 1907) on July 12 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. actress Katharine Hepburn (b. 1907) on June 29 in Old Saybrook, Conn.; dies at age 96 at home surrounded by loved ones; the lights of Broadway are dimmed for an hour in tribute. English-born Am. jockey Johnny Longden (b. 1907) on Feb. 14 in Banning, Calif. Am. country singer Bill Carlisle (b. 1908) on Mar. 17 in Nashville, Tenn. Am. "Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies" actor Buddy Ebsen (b. 1908) on July 6 in Torrance, Calif. English "Poldark" novelist Winston Graham (b. 1908) on July 10 in London. Am. poet Josephine Jacobsen (b. 1908) on July 9 in Cockneyville, Md.: "Poetry is like walking along a little, tiny, narrow ridge up on a precipice. You never know the next step, whether there's going to be a plunge. I think poetry is dangerous. There's nothing mild and predictable about poetry." English poet-critic Kathleen Jessie Raine (b. 1908) on July 6 in London. Am. playwright Sylvia Regan (b. 1908) on Jan. 18 in New York City. Am. John Wayne's wife (1933-45) Josephine Wayne (b. 1908) on June 24 in Calif. (cancer). Hungarian-born Am. "Dr. Strangelove" H-bomb physicist Edward Teller (b. 1908) on Sept. 9 in Stanford, Calif. English fashion designer Sir Edwin Hardy Amies (b. 1909) on Mar. 5. Vienna-born U.S. treasury secy. #57 (1961-5) C. Douglas Dillon (b. 1909) on Jan. 10 in New York City. Greek-Am. rat fink movie dir. Elia Kazan (b. 1909). English actress Rachel Kempson (b. 1910) on May 24 in Millbrook, N.Y. German SS Col. Helmut Knochen (b. 1910) on Apr. 4 in Baden-Baden; pardoned by Charles de Gaulle in 1958. Am. sociologist Robert King Merton (b. 1910) on Feb. 23 in New York City. Am. journalist Fred James Cook (b. 1911) on Apr. 4 English "Cocoon" actor Hume Cronyn (b. 1911) on June 15 in Fairfield, Conn. (prostate cancer). Am. politician Frank Moss (b. 1911) on Jan. 29. Am. Denver, Colo. mayor #36 (1947-55) James Quigg Newton Jr. (b. 1911) on Apr. 4 in Denver, Colo. Am. nurse Ann Agnes Bernatitus (b. 1912) on Mar. 3 in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. Am. "PT-109" writer Robert J. Donovan (b. 1912) on Aug. 8 in St. Petersburg, Fla. (stroke). Am. poet James Dillet Freeman (b. 1912) on Apr. 9. U.S. Rep. (D-Mich.) (1955-74) Martha Griffiths (b. 1912) on Apr. 22 in Armada, Mich. English historian Christopher Hill (b. 1912) on Feb. 23 in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire (Alzheimer's). English actress Dame Wendy Hiller (b. 1912) on May 14 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. South African ANC leader Walter Sisulu (b. 1912) on May 5. Am. Tex. gov. #40 (1969-73) Preston Earnest Smith (b. 1912) on Oct. 18 in Lubbock, Tex. Am. economist Abram Bergson (b. 1914) on Apr. 23 in Cambridge, Mass. Am. linguist Charles Berlitz (b. 1914) on Dec. 18 in Tamarac, Fla. Am. "Spartacus" novelist Howard Fast (b. 1914) on Mar. 12 in Old Greenwich, Conn. Am. "Because All Men Are Brothers" folk singer-songwriter Tom Glazer (b. 1914) on Feb. 21 in Rochester, N.Y. Am. actor Stacy Keach Sr. (b. 1914) on Feb. 13 in Burbank, Calif. (congestive heart failure). Am. "Li'l Abner", "Road to Utopia" dir. Norman Panama (b. 1914) on Jan. 13 in Los Angeles, Calif. (Parkinson's). Am. actress Elaine Steinbeck (b. 1914) on Apr. 27 in Manhattan, N.Y. English historian Hugh Trevor-Roper (b. 1914) on Jan. 26 in Didcot, Oxfordshire. English "Delbert Grady in The Shining" actor Philip Stone (b. 1914) on June 15 in London. Am. "You Always Hurt the One You Love" songwriter Doris Fisher (b. 1915) on Jan. 15 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. WWII USMC fighter ace and AFL commissioner (1959-66) Joe Foss (b. 1915) on Jan. 1. Am. human ecologist Garrett James Hardin (b. 1915) on Sept. 14 in Santa Barbarra, Calif. (suicide along with his wife a la the Hemlock Society). Am. Washington, D.C. mayor #1 (1975-9) Walter Washington (b. 1915) on Oct. 27 in Washington, D.C. Am. actor Harold Ayer (b. 1916) on Mar. 6 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Bela Oxymyx in Star Trek" actor Anthony Caruso (b. 1916) on Apr. 4 in Brentwood, Calif. German-born Canadian philosopher-theologian Emil Ludwig Fackenheim (b. 1916) on Sept. 19 in Jerusalem. French feminist politician Francoise Giroud (b. 1916) on Jan. 19 in Paris: "Feminism, as far as I know, is not about the right or the left." Am. economist Walt Whitman Rostow (b. 1916) on Feb. 13. Am. "Gilligan's Island Theme" composer George Wyle (b. 1916) on May 2 in Tarzana, Calif. (leukemia). Am. Coors CEO (1980-88) Joseph Coors (b. 1917) on Mar. 15 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (cancer). Am. philosopher Donald Herbert Davidson (b. 1917) on Aug. 30 in Berkeley, Calif. Am. lit. critic Leslie Fiedler (b. 1917) on Jan. 29 in Buffalo, N.Y.: "To be an American (unlike being English or French or whatever) is precisely to imagine a destiny rather than to inherit one; since we have always been, insofar as we are Americans at all, inhabitants of myth rather than history." Spanish novelist Jose Maria Gironella (b. 1917) on Jan. 3 in Arenys de Mar, Gerona. Am. Christian preacher Kenneth E. Hagin (b. 1917) on Sept. 19 in Tulsa, Okla. Am. composer Lou Harrison (b. 1917) on Feb. 2. Am. historian Jackson Turner Main (b. 1917) on Oct. 19 in Boulder, Colo. (Alzheimer's). Russian-born Belgian chemist Ilya Prigogine (b. 1917) on May 28 in Brussels; 1977 Nobel Chem. Prize. Cuban "Watermelon Man" jazz percussionist Mongo Santamaria (b. 1917) on Feb. 1 in Miami, Fla. Am. "Charles Hamilton in Gone with the Wind" actor Rand Brooks (b. 1918) on Sept. 1 in Santa Ynez, Calif. Am. "Ralph Kramden in The Honeymooners" actor Art Carney (b. 1918) on Nov. 9 in Chester, Conn. Am. actress Anne Gwynne (b. 1918) on Mar. 31 in Woodland Hills, Calif. Pakistani leader Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan (b. 1918). U.S. Sen. (D-La.) (1948-87) Russell B. Long (b. 1918) on May 9; chmn. of the Senate Committee on Finance: "Don't tax you; don't tax me; tax that man behind the tree." Italian-born Am. economist Franco Modigliani (b. 1918) on Sept. 25 in Cambridge, Mass.; 1985 Nobel Econ. Prize. U.S. treasury secy. (1981-5) Donald T. Regan (b. 1918) on June 10 in Williamsburg, Va. English producer Peter Shaw (b. 1918) on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart failure). Am. TV game show host Mike Stokey (b. 1918) on Sept. 7 in Las Vegas, Nev. (liver disease). Am. TV quiz show producer Steve Carlin (b. 1919) on Feb. 4 in New York City (Alzheimer's). Am. historian Margaret Louise Coit (b. 1919) on Mar. 15 in Amesbury, Mass. Am. media mogul Edward Gaylor (b. 1919) on Apr. 27 in Oklahoma City, Okla. Am. writer Marion Hargrove (b. 1919) on Aug. 23. Am. actress Andrea King (b. 1919) on Apr. 22 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Episcopal bishop Paul Moore Jr. (b. 1919) on May 1. Am. historian Richard Elliott Neustadt (b. 1919) on Oct. 31 in London. Am. "Eliot Ness in The Untouchables" actor Robert Stack (b. 1919) on May 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. "Forever Amber" novelist Kathleen Winsor (b. 1919) on May 26 in New York City. Am. TV journalist David Brinkley (b. 1920) on June 11 in Houston, Tex. Am. actor Jack Elam (b. 1920) on Oct. 20 in Ashland, Ore. (heart failure). British Social Dem. politician Roy Harris Jenkins (b. 1920) on Jan. 5 in East Hendred, Oxfordshire. Am. psychologist Paul Everett Meehl (b. 1920) on Feb. 14. Am. "Philip Boynton in Our Miss Brooks" actor Robert Rockwell (b. 1920) on Jan. 25 in Malibu, Calif. Am. "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" novelist Sloan Wilson (b. 1920) on May 25 in Colonial Beach, Va. Am. Campus Crusade for Christ evangelist Bill Bright (b. 1921) on July 19. Am. football player Otto Everett Graham (b. 1921). Am. jazz drummer Don Lamond (b. 1921) on Dec. 23 in Orlando, Fla. Am. "Willie and Joe" cartoonist Bill Mauldin (b. 1921) on Jan. 22 in Newport Beach, Calif. Am. Dem. politician Maury Maverick Jr. (b. 1921) on Jan. 28. English historian John Terraine (b. 1921) on Dec. 28 in London. Am. "The Purple People Eater" singer Sheb Wooley (b. 1921) on Sept. 16 in Nashville, Tenn. (leukemia). Am. film dir.-writer George Axelrod (b. 1922) on June 21 in Los Angeles, Calif. U.S. Rep. (R-N.Y.) (1965-85) and World Bank pres. (1986-91) Barber Benjamin Conable Jr. (b. 1922) on Nov. 30 in Sarasota, Fla. Am. "Please Don't Eat the Dasies" writer Jean Kerr (b. 1922) on Jan. 5 in White Plains, N.Y. (pneumonia). Am. sci-fi writer Hal Clement (b. 1922) on Oct. 29 in Milton, Mass. English "Day the World Ended", "The She Creature" film producer-writer Alex Gordon (b. 1922) on June 24. Am. poet Alan Dugan (b. 1923) on Sept. 3 (pneumonia). French "Boeing-Boeing" playwright Marc Camoletti (b. 1923) on July 18 in Deauville. English computer scientist (inventor of relational databases) Edgar Frank Codd (b. 1923) on Apr. 18 in Williams Island, Fla. (heart failure). Am. playwright Jean Kerr (b. 1923) on Jan. 5 in White Plains, N.Y. (pneumonia). Canadian "The Hockey News" founder Ken McKenzie (b. 1923) on Apr. 9 in Toronto, Ont. Am. country singer Redd Stewart (b. 1923) on Aug. 2 in Louisville, Ky. Am. King's Hawaiian Bread founder Robert Taira (b. 1923) on May 29 in Torrance, Calif. Am. country singer Rosalie Allen (b. 1924) on Sept. 24 (heart failure). Mauritanian pres. (1960-78) Moktar Ould Daddah (b. 1924) on July 10 in Paris, France. Am. jaz musician Roy S. Harte (b. 1924) on Oct. 26 in Burbank, Calif. Irish "McGinty in Rogue's March" actor Sean McClory (b. 1924) on Dec. 10 in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Exodust", "Trinity" novelist Leon Uris (b. 1924) on June 21 in Shelter Island, N.Y. Am. country musician Speedy West (b. 1924) on Nov. 15. Ugandan exiled dictator Idi Amin (b. 1925) on Aug. 16 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Italian composer Luciano Berio (b. 1925) on May 27 in Rome. Am. actress Jeanne Crain (b. 1925) on Dec. 14 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Nigerian Biafran pres. #2 (1970) Gen. Philip Effiong (b. 1925) on Nov. 6 in Aba, Abia. Am. "Tracy Steele in Hawaiian Eye" actor Anthony Eisley (b. 1925) on Jan. 29 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. (heart attack). Bosnian pres. #1 (1990-2000) Alija Izetbegovic (b. 1925) on Oct. 19 in Sarajevo. Czech chemist Drahoslav Lim (b. 1925) on Aug. 22 in San Diego, Calif. Am. celeb Carol Matthau (b. 1925) on July 23. Am. "Singin' in the Rain" actor Donald O'Connor (b. 1925) on Sept. 27 in Woodland Hills, Calif. (heart failure). Am. poet Robert Creeley (b. 1926) on Mar. 30 in Odessa, Tex. (pneumonia). Am. feminist educator Carolyn Heilbrun (b. 1926) on Oct. 9 in New York City (suicide): "Today's shocks are tomorrow's conventions." Belgian physician Paul Janssen (b. 1926) on Nov. 11 in Rome, Italy. English "Midnight Cowboy" film dir. John Schlesinger (b. 1926) on July 25 in Palm Springs, Calif. (stroke). Am. jazz saxophonist Herbie Steward (b. 1926) on Aug. 9 in Clearlake, Calif. Am. Nobel-cheated geneticist Martha Cowles Chase (b. 1927) on Aug. 8 (cancer and dementia). Am. actor Richard Crenna (b. 1927) on Jan. 17. Am. tennis champ Althea Gibson (b. 1927) on Sept. 28 in East Orange, N.J.: "No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helps you." English novelist Nicolas Freeling (b. 1927) on July 20. Canadian singer-actress Gisele MacKenzie (b. 1927) on Sept. 5 (colon cancer). Am. Dem. politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan (b. 1927) on Mar. 26 in New York City. Am. novelist Joan Lowery Nixon (b. 1927) on June 28 in Houston, Tex. (pancreatic cancer). Am. writer-actor George Plimpton (b. 1927) on Sept. 25 in New York City. Am. country singer Dave Dudley (b. 1928) on Dec. 22 near Danbury, Wisc. (heart attack). Am. country singer Don Gibson (b. 1928) on Nov. 17. British historian John Morris Roberts (b. 1928) on May 30 in Roadwater, Somerset. Am. children's TV king Mister Rogers (b. 1928) on Feb. 27; aired the show from 1968-2001 from KQED in Pittsburgh, Penn. - won't you do your neighbor? U.S. Dem. politician Paul Martin Simon (b. 1928) on Dec. 9 in Springfield, Ill. (heart surgery). Am. country singer June Carter Cash (b. 1929) on May 15 in Nashville, Tenn. Am. televangelist Garner Ted Armstrong (b. 1930) on Sept. 12 (pneumonia). Am. diet guru Robert C. Atkins (b. 1930) on Apr. 17 in New York City (epidural hematoma from slip on ice). Am. actress Kathie Browne (b. 1930) on Apr. 8 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Central African Repub. (CAR) pres. #1 (1960-6) and pres. #3 (1979-81) David Dacko (b. 1930) on Nov. 20 in Yaounde, Cameroon. Am. jazz flautist Herbie Mann (b. 1930) on July 1 (prostate cancer). Am. "Woman of the Year" lyricist Peter Stone (b. 1930) on Apr. 26 in New York City; won an Emmy in 1962, Oscar in 1965, and three Tonys. Am. historian Robin W. Winks (b. 1930) on Apr. 7 in New Haven, Conn. Am. clarinetist Henry Cuesta (b. 1931) on Dec. 17 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. (cancer). Am. jockey Willie Shoemaker (b. 1931) on Oct. 12; 8,833 career victories in 40,350 races. Australian composer Malcolm Williamson (b. 1931) on Mar. 2 in Cambridge, England. Canadian CanWest Global Communications Corp. founder Israel Harold Asper (b. 1932) on Oct. 7 in Winnepeg, Man. Am. "A Boy Called Sue" singer Johnny Cash (b. 1932) on Sept. 12 in Nashville, Tenn. (diabetes). Am. novelist-screenwriter John Gregory Dunne (b. 1932) on Dec. 30 in Manhattan, N.Y. (heart attack). Am.-born British philanthropist Sir John Paul Getty II (b. 1932) on Apr. 17 in London; son of Jean Paul Getty Sr. (1892-1976). Am. actor Harry Goz (b. 1932) on Sept. 6 in Manhasset, N.Y. (multiple myeloma). Am. actor Gordon Jump (b. 1932) on Sept. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Funny Face" supermodel-actress Suzy Parker (b. 1932) on May 3 in Montecito, Calif. German actor Horst Buccholz (b. 1933) on Mar. 3 in Berlin. English actor Don Estelle (b. 1933) on Aug. 2 in Rochdale. Am. "Selena Cross in Peyton Place" actress Hope Lange (b. 1933) on Dec. 19 in Santa Monica, Calif. (ischemic colitis). Am. "Miss Hannigan in Annie" actress-singer Dorothy Loudon (b. 1933) on Nov. 15 in New York City (cancer). Soviet cosmonaut Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov (b. 1933) on May 28 in Moscow. Am. short story writer Leonard Michaels (b. 1933) on May 10. Am. "To be Young, Gifted and Black" singer-pianist Nina Simone (b. 1933) on Apr. 21 in Carry-le-Rouet, France. English "Zorba the Greek" actor Alan Bates (b. 1934) on Dec. 27 in London. Am. singer-songwriter Skip Battin (b. 1934) on July 6 in Salem, Ore. (Alzheimer's). Am. "I'm Not Rappaport" playwright Herb Gardner (b. 1934) on Sept. 25 in Manhattan, N.Y. (lung disease). Am. playwright-dir. Louis LaRusso II (b. 1935) on Feb. 22 in Hoboken, N.J. (bladder cancer). Palestinian-born Am. scholar Edward Said (b. 1935) on Sept. 25 in New York City (leukemia). Am.-born Canadian novelist Carol Shields (b. 1935) on July 16 in Victoria, B.C. (cancer). Zimbabwe pres. #1 (1980-7) Canaan Banana (b. 1936) on Nov. 10 in London, England. Am. actor Burr DeBenning (b. 1936) on May 26 in Miramonte, Calif. Am. playwright Paul Zindel (b. 1936) on Mar. 27 (lung cancer). Am. "Wall Street Journal" editorial page ed. (1972-2002) Robert Leroy Bartley (b. 1937) on Dec. 10 (cancer): receives the Pres. Medal of Freedome one week before his death: "In general, 'the market' is smarter than the smartest of its individual participants." Italian opera tenor Franco Bonisolli (b. 1937) on Oct. 20 in Vienna, Austria. Am. "Miracle on Ice" hockey player-coach Herb Brooks (b. 1937) on Aug. 11 near Forest Lake, Minn. (car accident). English musician-songwriter-producer Ian Samwell (b. 1937) on Apr. 13 in Sacramento, Calif. Am. legal scholar John Hart Ely (b. 1938) on Oct. 25 in Miami, Fla. (cancer). English "The Searchers" bassist Tony Jackson (b. 1938) on Aug. 18 in Nottingham (alcoholism). English record producer Mickie Most (b. 1938) on May 30 in London (mesothelioma); leaves a Ł50M fortune. Canadian poet John Newlove (b. 1938). Am. hall-of-fame bowler Beverly Ann Ortner (b. 1938) on Dec. 26 in Tucson, Ariz. (cancer). Am. "Take This Job and Shove It" singer Johnny Paycheck (b. 1938) on Feb. 19 in Nashville, Ill. Am. actress Kathie Browne (b. 1939) in Apr. in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. writer-poet Richard Ward Morris (b. 1939) on Aug. 28. Am. computer entrepreneur Adam Osborne (b. 1939) on Mar. 18 in Kodaikanal, India. Am. White House press secy. (1969-74) Ronald Ziegler (b. 1939) on Feb. 10 in Coronado Shores, Calif. (heart attack). Am. basketball player-coach Dave DeBusschere (b. 1940) on May 14 in New York City. English actor-singer Adam Faith (b. 1940) on Mar. 8 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire; last words: "Channel Five is all shit, isn't it? Christ, the crap they put on there. It's a waste of space." Am. "Righteous Brothers" singer Bobby Hatfield (b. 1940) on Nov. 5 in Kalamazoo, Mich. (cocaine OD). Am. hall-of-fame bowler Don Johnson (b. 1940) on May 3 in North Las Vegas, Nev. (heart attack). Am. novelist James Welch (b. 1940) on Aug. 4 in Missoula, Mont. English "Blowup" actor David Hemmings (b. 1941) on Dec. 3 in Bucharest, Romania (heart attack). Russian high jumper Valeri Brumel (b. 1942) on Jan. 26. English "Humble Pie" rock bassist Greg Ridley (b. 1942) on No. 19 in Alicante, Spain (pneumonia). Am. "War" singer Edwin Starr (b. 1942) on Apr. 2 in Detroit, Mich. Am. atty. Robert Kardashian (b. 1944) on Sept. 30 in Los Angeles, Calif. (esophageal cancer). Am. "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" singer Barry White (b. 1944) on July 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. (kidney failure). Am. all-star baseball player Bobby Bonds (b. 1946) on Aug. 23. Am. soul singer Arthur Conley (b. 1946) on Nov. 17 in Ruurlo, Netherlands (cancer). Am. rocker Warren Zevon (b. 1947) on Sept. 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Nell Harper in Gimme a Break!" singer-actor Nell Carter (b. 1948) on Jan. 23 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (diabetes and heart disease). Am. film composer Michael Kamen (b. 1948) on Nov. 18 in London, England (heart attack). Am. "Three's Company" actor John Ritter (b. 1948) on Sept. 11 in Burbank, Calif. (aortic dissection). Am. actress Lynne Thigpen (b. 1948) on Mar. 12 in Marina del Rey, Calif. English-born Australian "Bee Gees" singer Maurice Gibb (b. 1949) on Jan. 12 in Miami, Fla. (emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage); brothers Barry (1946-) and Robin (1949-) don't perform again until Feb. 18, 2006. English "Addicted to Love" singer Robert Allen Palmer (b. 1949) on Sept. 26 in Paris (heart attack). Am. "Del in The Green Mile" actor Michael Jeter (b. 1952) on Mar. 30 in Los Angeles, Calif. (epileptic seizure). Am. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers musician Howie Epstein (b. 1955) on Feb. 23 in Santa Fe, N.M. (drug use complications). Am. prof. wrestler Curt Hennig (b. 1958) on Feb. 10 in Tampa, Fla. (cocaine, steroid, and painkiller OD). Am. actress-model Lana Clarkson (b. 1962) on Feb. 3 in Alhambra, Calif. (murdered). Iraqi smiling devil Uday Hussein (b. 1964) on July 22 in Mosul (killed by U.S. forces). Iraqi heir apparent Qusay Hussein (b. 1966) on July 22 in Mosul (killed by U.S. forces). Am. musician Elliott Smith (b. 1969) on Oct. 23 in Los Angeles, Calif.



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TLW's 2004 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2004 C.E. Historyscope

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2004 - The Year of Johns and George? This year is dominated by America's pig-headed president keeping U.S. troops in a potential Stalingrad in Iraq despite thousands of meaningless deaths, while an American political struggle to remove him falters? The Sri Lanka Earthquake and Train Wreck couldn't have happened to a better country? Meanwhile interesting TV sideshows are played out on a game show and Camp Cupcake?

The Saddam Hussein Trial, 2004-5 Green Zone, Baghdad Abu Ghraib POW Abuse Photo Sri Lanka Tsunami Train Wreck, Dec. 26, 2004 John Kerry of the U.S. (1943-) Jay Leno (1950-) John Edwards of the U.S. (1953-) Elizabeth Edwards (1949-2010) Howard Dean of the U.S. (1948-) Barack Hussein Obama II of the U.S. (1962-) and Will Smith (1968-) Richard Alan Clarke of the U.S. (1950-) Lewis Paul Bremer III of the U.S. (1941-) John Negroponte of the U.S. (1939-) John Owen Brennan of the U.S. (1955-) Kamala Harris of the U.S. (1964-) Alfonso Durazo of Mexico Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain (1960-) Manmohan Singh of India (1932-) Sonia Gandhi of India (1946-) Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovich of Ukraine (1950-) Alu Alkhanov of Chechnya (1957-) Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev of Chechnya (1952-2004) Boris Tadic of Serbia (1958-) Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia (1953-) Lester Mills Crawford of the U.S. (1938-) U.S. Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba (1950-) U.S. Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby (1979-) Pat Tillman of the U.S. (1977-2004) Kim Sun-il of North Korea (1970-2004) Thomas Howard Kean of the U.S. (1935-) Lee Herbert Hamilton of the U.S. (1931-) George Tenet of the U.S. (1953-) Christine Gregoire of the U.S. (1947-) Gérard Latortue of Haiti (1934-) Alan Keyes of the U.S. (1950-) Tim Phillips (1964-) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (1966-2006) Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1968-2010) Mohammed Ali Alayed (1981-) Sheikh Ahmed Yassin (1937-2004) Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi (1947-2004) Abd al-Malik Houthi Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) 1948-) NASA Messenger, 2004 Mike Melvill (1941-) Charles A. Duelfer of the U.S. Dana Rohrbacher of the U.S. (1947-) Iyad Allawi of Iraq (1945-) Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq (1958-) Adnan Pachachi of Iraq (1923-) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia (1949-) Bingu wa Mutharika of Mali (1934-2012) N.J. Gov. James E. McGreevey (1957-) and Dina Matos McGreevey (1966-) Golan Cipel (1968-) Carlos Miguel Gutierrez of the U.S. (1953-) Roy Hallums (1948-) Kenneth Bigley (1942-2004) Porter Johnston Goss of the U.S. (1938-) Bernard Bailey 'Bernie' Kerik (1955-) Sir Mark Thatcher of Britain (1953-) Dan Rather (1931-) Margaret Hassan (1945-2004) Mary Mapes (1956-) Ichiro Suzuki (1973-) Maria Sharapova (1987-) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974-) Smarty Jones (2001-) Tom Brady (1977-) Jake Delhomme (1975-) Muhsin Muhammad II (1973-) Peyton Manning (1976-) Jamario Thomas (1985-) Brad Richards (1980-) Martin St. Louis (1975-) 'Missy Bellinder (1981-) Athens Olympics 2004 Michael Phelps of the U.S. (1985-) Natalie Anne Coughlin of the U.S. (1982-) Paul Hamm of the U.S. (1982-) Carly Patterson of the U.S. (1988-) Jack Idema of the U.S. (1956-) John Claggett Danforth of the U.S. (1936-) Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland (1954-) U.S. Sgt. Ivan 'Chip' Frederick (1966-) Misty May-Treanor (1977-) and Kerri Lee Walsh of the U.S. (1978-) Buddy Rice (1976-) Roger Federer (1981-) Randy Johnson (1963-) Ron Artest (1979-) Robert Kevin Rose (1977-) Stephen Jesse Jackson (1978-) Donald Trump (1946-) Ken Jennings (1974-) 'Alex Trebek (1940-2020) Dick Ebersol (1947-) Mark Haddon (1962-) Terence Tao (1975-) Brian Williams (1959-) Nate Berkus (1971-) David Brock (1962-) Martha Stewart (1941-) in Freedom Poncho SpaceShipOne SpaceShipOne Crew Anousheh Ansari (1966-) Sheldon Adelson (1933-) James Barney Hubbard (1930-2004) Fernando Bengoechea (1965-2004) Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) and Miyoko Watai (1945-) Boris Gulko (1947-) Chai Soua Vang (1968-) Salma Yaqoob of Britain (1971-) Ismail Salim Elbarasse (1947-) Helen Berhane (1975-) Pete Coors (1946-) Richard Ben Cramer (1950-) Judah Folkman (1933-2008) Grigory Petrovich Grabovoy (1963-) Derrick Todd Lee (1968-) Gideon Levy (1953-) Marlboro Man, 2004 Theo van Gogh (1957-2004) Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969-) William Taubman (1940-) Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (1984-) John J. Rigas (1924-) Wangari Muta Maathai (1940-) Christopher Peter Andersen (1949-) Timothy Garton Ash (1955-) Helen E. Fisher (1945-) Stephen Greenblatt (1943-) Esther Hicks (1948-) and Jerry Hicks Sue Monk Kidd (1948-) Ted Kooser (1939-) Dick Morris (1946-) and Eileen McGann Irshad Manji (1968-) Hussam Abdo (1988-) Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1943-2010) John Perkins (1945-) Sarah Ruhl (1974-) Lynne Truss (1955-) Ashlee Simpson (1984-) Britney Spears (1981-) and Kevin Federline (1978-) Jennifer Lopez (1969-) and Marc Antony (1968-) Jim Carrey (1956-) Molly Parker (1972-) Chetan Bhagat (1973-) Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-) Simon Sebag-Montefiore (1965-) Michael F. Scheuer (1952-) Cornel West (1953-) Martin Wolf (1946-) Maya Bond (2000-) Mireille Giuliano (1946-) Lindsay Lohan (1986-) Natasha Bedingfield (1981-) Sara Evans (1971-) Bonnie McKee (1984-) Howard Leslie Shore (1946-) Andrew P. Napolitano (1950-) Nek Muhammad Wazir of Pakistan (1975-2004) Gretchen Wilson (1973-) Feb. 1, 2004 Wardrobe Malfunction Wangari Muta Maathai (1940-) Elfriede Jelinek (1946-) David Jonathan Gross (1941-) Dame Zaha Hadid (1950-2016) A.J. Jacobs (1968-) Frank Anthony Wilczek (1951-) H. David Politzer Aaron Ciechanover (1947-) Thom Hartmann (1951-) Avram Hershko (1937-) C.K. Prahalad (1941-2010) Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen Irwin A. Rose (1926-) Joshua David Stone (1953-2005) Gloria Excelsias Richard Axel (1946-) Linda Brown Buck (1947-) Natasha Campbell-McBride Finn E. Kydland (1943-) Ian Lawton (1959-) Edward C. Prescott (1940-) The Academy Is... Akon (1977-) Feist (1976-) Mos Def (1973-) Franz Ferdinand Prussian Blue KT Tunstall (1975-) Kanye West (1977-) John Legend (1978-) Eric Prydz (1976-) Daddy Yankee (1977-) The Killers Usher (1978-) Nouvelle Vague K'naan (1978-) Omarion (1984-) Pitbull (1981-) Truth & Soul Records 'Boston Legal', 2004-2008 Desperate Housewives', 2004-12 'Entourage', 2004-11 Hugh Laurie (1959-) Fox's 'House, M.D.', 2004- 'Lost', 2004-10 'The L Word', 2004-9 'The Polar Express', 2004 'Rescue Me', 2004-11 'Saw', 2004 'Veronica Mars', 2004-7 'Mary Poppins', 2004 'Christmas with the Kranks', 2004 'The Chronicles of Riddick', 2004 'The Day After Tomorrow', 2004 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', 2004 'The Grudge', 2004 'Hellboy', 2004 'The Incredibles' 2004 'I, Robot', 2004 'Kung Fu Hustle', 2004 'The Merchant of Venice', 2004 Mel Gibson (1956-) Hutton Gibson (1918-) 'The Passion of the Christ', 2004 Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) 'Van Helsing', 2004 'Primer', 2004 'Troy', 2004 MTS Centre, 2004 Freedom Tower, 2004 Nat. Museum of the Am. Indian, 2004 Nat. WWII Memorial, 2004 Crown Fountain, 2004 Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, 2004 Tornado Musical Fountain, 2004 'Bada - Van Gogh' by Zhang Hongu, 2004 Airider, 2004

2004 Doomsday Clock: 7 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Monkey (Jan. 22) (lunar year 4701); China uses the year to try and preserve the Chinese Golden Monkey (Pygathrix roxellana) - Pres. George Dubya Bush is the poster boy? Time Person of the Year: George W. Bush (1946-) (first time 2000); he is chosen after considering and passing over the collective group of Internet bloggers (Webloggers) (citizen journalists), AKA the Bloggosphere, the equivalent of bathroom wall graffiti, where the temptation to respond to anon. insults by creating a "sock puppet" alias gets senior "New Republic" ed. Lee Siegel (1957-) suspended next year; Merriam-Webster names the word "blog" as its new word of the year. This is the U.N. Internat. Year of Rice, emphasizing shortages throughout the world. The 2004 African Locust Infestation ravages crops across the N third of Africa, leaving millions at risk of starvation; in 2006 another swarm reaches 3 sq. mi. in area as it moves across Mauritania; meanwhile a drought in Niger combined with desert locust damage destroys the fall crop, leaving 3.6M short of food, causing a food crisis in 2005-6. The Antarctic Polar Night begins (ends 2016), with 100 different locations on the East Antarctic Plateau reaching temps of -98C (-144F), beating the record low air temp of -89.2C (-129F) of July 23, 1983. Ga. becomes the fastest growing state in the U.S. E of Colo., growing 36% since 1990. And the non-whites keep pouring in: Britain: 2.7M immigrants (5% of total pop.); France: 3.3M (6%); Germany: 7.3M (9%); Italy: 1.3M (2%); Netherlands: 700K (4%); Spain: 2.7M (7%). This year world oil consumption rises 3.4% to 82.4M barrels a day (vs. 74M in 1997), with the U.S. hogging 20.5M; China comes into the radar at 6.6M. Worldwide military spending reaches $1T this year, equal to $162 per capita; 19 conflicts causing more than 1K deaths are fought this year, of which 16 had been raging for more than a decade. The U.S. nat. deficit this year is $413B, a record for the Bush admin. through 2008. Amnesty Internat. reports that over 7K people are sentenced to die in 64 countries this year, and 3,797 people in 25 countries are executed: China: 3,400; Iran: 159; Vietnam: 64; U.S.: 59. On Jan. 1 Michigan defeats USC by 28-14 to win the 2004 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 3 Egyptian charter Flash Airlines Flight 604 (Boeing 737) crashes into the Red Sea, killing all 148 aboard, incl. 133 French tourists. On Jan. 5 Indian PM Atal Bihari Bajpayee and Pakistani pres. Pervez Musharraf meet for the first time since the Dec. 13, 2001 Indian Parliament Attack. On Jan. 5 foreigners begin to be photographed and fingerprinted upon arrival at U.S. airports as part of the U.S. anti-terrorism effort. On Jan. 6 13 children and two adults are killed in Afghanistan's S Kandahar Province after a time bomb in an apple cart goes off on a street regularly used by U.S. military patrols. On Jan. 7 Pres. Bush proposes legal status for millions of illegal immigrants working in the U.S., even if only temporarily - somebody has to clean the toilets and do dirty construction jobs or work on roofs in the hot sun? On Jan. 8 a Black Hawk medivac heli is hit by a rocket and crashes near Fallujah, killing nine U.S. soldiers - the insurgents greet the infidel invaders and wish them a Hellish New Year? On Jan. 8 the Mark Burnett reality TV series The Apprentice, created by Mark Burnett debuts on NBC-TV for 185 episodes (until 2015), featuring Trump lording it over 16-18 job applicants in Trump Tower in Manhattan while making $14M a year, becoming known for the catchphrase "You're fired!"; the theme song is "For the Love of Money" by The O'Jays (1973). On Jan. 8 Oakland, Calif.-born Kamala Devi Harris (1964-) (Tamil Indian father, black Jamaican father) becomes Dem. San Francisco, Calif. district atty. #27 (until Jan. 3, 2011), going on to become Dem. Calif. atty. gen. #32 on Jan. 3, 2011 (untl Jan. 3, 2017) and U.S. Sen. (D-Calif.) on Jan. 3, 2017, succeeding Barbara Boxer (until ?); in 2019 she announces her candidacy for U.S. pres. in 2020. On Jan. 9 the U.S. govt. lowers the nat. threat level from orange back to yellow. On Jan. 11 Dem. candidate Howard Brush Dean III (1948-) acknowledges in his last debate before the Iowa caucuses that no blacks or Hispanics had served in his cabinet during his 12 years as gov. of Vermont. On Jan. 12 Pres. Bush and Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox meet in Monterrey, Mexico before the opening of a 34-nation hemispheric summit, and hammer out agreements on immigration and Iraq. On Jan. 12 a former Molson's Brewery in Barrie, Ont. is raided and found to house one of the largest illegal cannabis growing operations in Canadian history. On Jan. 13 a U.S. Army Apache attack heli is shot down in Iraq, but the two crew members escape injury. The U.S. stinks itself up after supposedly invading Iraq moral grounds? On Jan. 13 U.S. Army Spc. Joseph M. Darby (1979-) of the 800th MP Brigade at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq blows the whistle on the first case of U.S. abuse of Iraqi POWs there (many in the previous 3 mo.); on Mar. 20 after an internal Army probe led by Maj. Gen. Antonio M. Taguba (1950-), six soldiers are charged; on Apr. 28 CBS airs disturbing photos of prisoner humiltation and abuse, setting off a public outcry and becoming the turning point in bland public acceptance of the war, and eroding the U.S. moral image in the world; on May 6 Pres. Bush publicly apologizes, followed by Donald Rumsfeld on May 7. On Jan. 14 Pres. Bush announces that the Internat. Space Station (ISS) will be used for research on human biology in space in preparation for a Mars mission. On Jan. 17 three U.S. soldiers are killed N of Baghdad, pushing the U.S. death toll in Iraq to the 500 mark. On Jan. 18 a suicide truck bombing outside the HQ of the U.S.-led coalition in Baghdad kills 31. On Jan. 18 the soft porn drama The L Word debuts on Showtime for 70 episodes (until Mar. 8, 2009), about lesbians in West Hollywood, Calif., along with their straight, bi, and transgender friends. On Jan. 19 6'4" Jay Leno-jawed Mass. Dem. Sen. (since 1985) John Forbes Kerry (1943-) (worth $750M, mostly from wife Teresa Heinz Kerry) wins Iowa's Dem. caucuses, reviving his sagging campaign; Johnny Reid "John" Edwards (1953-) of N.C. comes in 2nd; his wife (since 1977) Mary Elizabeth Anania Edwards (1949-2010) is dignosed with breast cancer on Nov. 3, 2004, the day that Kerry concedes defeat in the 2004 U.S. Pres. Election; Howard Dean comes in 3rd after he flubs up by delivering his I Have a Scream speech, with a wild fist-pumping yak-like bellow that makes a damaging soundbyte even though the crowd was bellowing too and his contribution was singled out - American Idol reject number what? On Jan. 20 (Tues.) Pres. Bush gives his 2004 State of the Union Address, with Edgar Bergen (Dick Cheney) (his CIA nickname) looking on - let me guess, stay the course, and don't confuse me with details? On Jan. 21 Pres. Bush visits community colleges in Arizona and Ohio to push the new job training initiatives proposed in his State of the Union speech the day before. On Jan. 25 NASA's Opportunity rover sends it first pictures of Mars to Earth. On Jan. 25 the Respect Party (Respect, Equality, Socialism, Peace, Environmentalism, Community and Trade Unionism) is founded in Manchester, England to fight the Iraq war by British Muslim Salma Yaqoob (1971-) et al. On Jan. 26 the White House finally retreats from its confident claims that Iraq had WMDs, and Dems. swiftly seek to make political hay. On Jan. 27 John Kerry wins the N.H. Dem. pres. primary. On Jan. 31 six U.S.-bound flights from England, Scotland, and France are canceled because of security concerns. In Jan. a federal grand jury begins investigating the Plamegate leak scandal, and on Mar. 5 and Mar. 24 Scooter Libby testifies before it that he learned of the info. from NBC-TV's Meet the Press, hosted by Tim Russert (1950-2008), not Cheney; too bad, notes he took at the time surface in Oct. 2005, and his ass is grass and the prosecutor's got the lawnmower? In Jan. King Norodom Sihanouk goes into self-imposed exile in Pyongyang, North Korea, then Beijing, where they treat him for his health problems, and on Oct. 7 abdicates, after which his elder son (a classical dance instructor) Norodom Sihamoni (1953-) becomes king of Cambodia on Oct. 14 (until ?). On Feb. 1 twin suicide bombers kill 109 at two Kurdish party offices in Irbil, Iraq. The 38-D Cup Wardrobe Malfunction Bowl? On Feb. 1 Super Bowl XXXVIII (38) (2004) is held in Houston, Tex., and the New England Patriots (AFC) defeat the Carolina Panthers (NFC) 32-29 as 6'4" MVP (for the 2nd time) Patriots QB (#12) Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom Terrific" Brady Jr. (1977-) duels Carolina's 6'2" QB (#12) Jake Christopher Delhomme (1975-), the two QBs passing for 677 yards and six TDs; Delhomme makes a SB record 85-yard pass completion to Muhsin Muhammad II (Melvin Darnell Campbell Jr.) (1973-); Carolina becomes the first #3 seed to reach the SB; Justin Timberlake exposes Janet Jackson's breast during the halftime show, and she later claims a "wardrobe malfunction", triggering the Nipplegate controversy; at the Grammys, Timberlake comments "What occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable, and I apologize if you guys are offended"; a record $550K FCC fine results in mass self-censorship at radio and TV stations all the rest of the year, and Howard Stern flees to unregulated satellite radio, debuting on Sirius Satellite Radio (launched on July 1, 2002) in Jan. 2006. On Feb. 3 John Kerry wins Dem. pres. primaries in 5 out of 7 states. On Feb. 3 ricin powder is found in the Dirksen Senate Office Bldg., causing work in the U.S. Senate to all-but stop. On Feb. 4 White Plains, N.Y.-born Jewish-Am. Harvard student Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (1984-) launches the Web site Sucker, er, Facebook.com from his dorm room, then drops out to move to Palo Alto, Calif. and build a megacorp; too bad, he soon becomes a Bill Gates type monopolist who doesn't protect user privacy and terminates accounts at will for any reason?; in 2007 the Beacon advertising platform is launched, but is taken down after it shares user purchasing decisions without their permission - the next big thing will be Assbook.com? On Feb. 6 a Chechen terrorist suicide bombing on a Moscow commuter train kills 44 and injures 70. On Feb. 7 John Kerry wins the Washington state and Michigan Dem. pres. primaries. On Feb. 8 Pres. Bush is interviewed on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press", and denies marching America blind into war under false pretenses, claiming that it was necessary because Madman Hussein could have developed a nuke. On Feb. 10 the White House releases documents claiming to prove that Pres. Bush met his requirements in the Texas Air Nat. Guard during the Vietnam War. On Feb. 11 Gen. Wesley Clark drops out of the U.S. pres. race. On Feb. 11 a car bomb at an army recruiting center in Baghdad kills 47 people. On Feb. 12 Mattel announces that Barbie and Ken have quit dating after 43 years, and that she has a new Australian "friend" named Blaine - he becomes a middle-aged fag and she goes bi, or was it a wardrobe malfunction? On Feb. 13 former Chechen acting pres. (1996-7) Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev (b. 1952) is assassinated via car bomb in Doha, Qatar; two Russian agents are later convicted of murder in Qatar. On Feb. 14 guerrillas raid a police station W of Baghdad, killing 23 and freeing dozens of prisoners. On Feb. 14 a glass and concrete roof of an indoor water park in Moscow collapses, killing 28. On Feb. 17 John Kerry wins the Wisc. Dem. pres. primary, with John Edwards coming in 2nd, and Howard Dean a distant 3rd; on Feb. 18 Dean drops out of the pres. race after losing 17 straight contests, and becomes Dem. nat. chmn. ("Chairman Now"). On Feb. 18 a train fire in Neishabour, Iran kills 320 and devastates five villages. On Feb. 21 the Internat. Red Cross visits Saddam Hussein in U.S. custody. On Feb. 22 consumer advocate Ralph Nader enters the U.S. pres. race as an independent amid calls from Dems. to not mess up their chances again. On Feb. 23 the U.S. Army cancels its RAH-66 Comanche heli program after only two are built and sinking $6.9B into it since Oct. 1988. On Feb. 25 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 7-2 (Thomas, Scalia) in Locke v. Davey that states don't have to underwrite the religious training of students planning careers in the ministry; William Rehnquist writes the majority opinion, saying there is nothing "inherently constitutionally suspect" in the denial of funding for vocational religious instruction, and that there is a "substantial state interest" in not funding "devotional degrees". On Feb. 27 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 to adopt Resolution 1528 to create the U.N. Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (Opération des Nations Unies en Côte d'Ivoire) (ONUC), to take over from the MINUCI on Apr. 4 (ends ?); by Mar. 31, 2017 it comprises 17 uniformed and 689 civilian personnel. On Feb. 29 the 76th Academy Awards in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles are hosted by Billy Crystal (5th time), and 254 films are eligible for consideration; New Line's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the finale of the Tolkien trilogy, dir. by Peter Jackson sweeps the 2003 Oscars with 11 awards, incl. best picture and best dir.; Charlize Theron becomes the first South African to win an Oscar, best actress for Monster; Sean Penn wins best actor, and Tim Robbins wins best supporting actor for Mystic River; Rene Zellweger wins best supporting actress for Cold Mountain. On Feb. 29 (Leap Day) U.S. Marines kidnap Haitian pres. (since Feb. 7, 2001) Jean-Bertrand Aristide; on Mar. 1 in Haiti rebels roll into Port-au-Prince where they meet thousands of residents cheering his ouster; a multinat. U.N. force of 3K troops, incl. French restores order, becoming the first French troops deployed to Haiti since its 1804 independence; the force is later increased to 9K under Brazilian leadership; on Mar. 12 former Haitian foreign minister Gerard (Gérard) Latortue (1934-) becomes PM #12 of Jamaica (until June 9, 2006), and Jamaican PM (since 1992) Percival Patterson refuses to recognize him, while granting Aristide sanctuary and suing the U.S. and France for kidnapping him. In Feb. a team of the world's best kayakers descends the 150-mi. Tsangpo Gorge ("the Everest of Rivers") in SE Tibet in 24 days. On Mar. 2 a series of coordinated blasts in Iraq kills 181 at Shiite shrines in Karbomba, er, Karbala and Bangdead, er, Baghdad during a Shiite Muslim religious festival. On Mar. 3 the first same-sex marriage licenses are issued in Multnomah County, Ore., starting an successful political battle to amend the Ore. constitution to prohibit it. On Mar. 3 the Walt Disney Corp.'s board votes to strip Michael Eisner of his post as chmn. while retaining him as CEO. On Mar. 4 Mounir el Motassadeq, the only person convicted in the 9-11 attacks wins a retrial in a German appeals court. On Mar. 5 Am. homemaking diva Martha Stewart (1941-) is convicted in federal court of four felony charges regarding a Dec. 27, 2001 insider trading sale of 3,928 shares of ImClone Systems for $45,673, receiving a $30K fine and 5-mo. in prison; on Mar. 15 she resigns from the board of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; she ends up serving 5 mo. in Alderson Correctional Facility in W. Va., AKA Camp Cupcake, where she gets the prison nickname M. Diddy and invents the Freedom Poncho, being released on Mar. 4, 2005 and going on to make a comeback, starting with a $2M book deal - a railroad job to keep a good woman down? On Mar. 7 14 Palestinians are killed in the deadliest Israeli raid in Gaza in 17 mo. On Mar. 8 Iraq's governing council signs an interim constitution. On Mar. 9 2002 Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad (a Gulf War vet formerly named John Allen Williams) is sentenced to death in Va.; on Mar. 10 his partner, teenage sniper Lee Boyd Malvo is sentenced in Chesapeake, Va. to life in prison. On Mar. 10 the conservative-libertarian political advocacy group Americans for Prosperity is founded in Arlington, Va., funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers, going on to turn the Obama-era Tea Party into a political force, organizing opposition to Obama admin. initiatives on global warming, Medicaid expansion, economic stimulus, Obamacare, cap and trade, federal min. wage et al., helping achieve a Repub. majority in the House in 2010 and the Senate in 2014; in 2008 it launches the No Climate Tax Pledge, which is signed by 411 politicians incl. 25% of U.S. senators and 33% of U.S. reps by July 213 incl. 9 of 12 Repubs. on the House Energy and Commerce Committee; in 2005 Spartanburg, S.C.-born Repub. political strategist Tim Phillips (1964-) becomes pres. (until ?). Hey won't you play another somebody done somebody wrong song? On Mar. 11 the 2004 Madrid Train Bombings see 10 RDX bombs explode in quick succession across the commuter rail network in Madrid, Spain, killing 192 and injuring 2,050, becoming the deadliest terrorist attack in Europe since WWII; the Muslim response to the Jan. 2, 1492 ouster of the Moors?; the attack is linked to al-Qaida, incl. Moroccan immigrants in Spain; on Aug. 17, 2005 Serbian police arrest 22-y.-o. Abdelmajid Bouchar in connection with it; in May, 2004 Oregon atty. Brandon Mayfield (1966-) is arrested and jailed for two weeks by the U.S. govt., which admits it made a fingerprinting mistake and apologizes to him and his Egyptian immigrant wife, agreeing to pay him $2M. On Mar. 14 opposition Socialists score a dramatic upset win in Spain's gen. election, claiming that conservatives brought on the Madrid bombings by supporting the U.S. war in Iraq, and on Apr. 16 Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (1960-) becomes PM of Spain (until Dec. 21, 2011), going on to piss-off the George W. Bush admin. by pulling out Spanish troops from Iraq, but compensating by increasing troops in Afghanistan, legalize same-sex marriage, reform abortion law despite Vatican abortion, attempt peace negotiations with the separatist ETA, refurm the Statute of Catalonia, and attempt to appease Islam by co-sponsoring the Alliance of Civilizations with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On Mar. 16 China declares victory in its fight against bird flu, claiming to have stamped out all known cases - the devil went down to China, looking for a soul to steal? On Mar. 17 a car bomb blows up a 5-story hotel catering to foreigners in the heart of beautiful Baghdad, killing seven. On Mar. 21 the White House disses assertions by Pres. Bush's former counterterrorism coordinator Richard Alan Clarke (1950-) that his admin. had failed to recognize the risk of an attack by Al-Qaida in the months leading up to 9/11. On Mar. 21 the hit drama Deadwood debuts on HBO for 36 episodes (until Aug. 27, 2006), set in 1877 S.D., starring Canadian-born Molly Parker (1972-) as Alma Garret. On Mar. 22 Hamas founder and Palestinian leader Sheik Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin (b. 1937) is assassinated along with nine bystanders in Gaza City by an Israeli Apache heli; on Mar. 23 other Hamas co-founder Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi (b. 1947) is named his successor, and on Apr. 17 he is ditto by an Israeli Apache heli, which kills two others and wounds four; the U.S. waffles about whether to support or condemn their ally. On Mar. 23 U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld and U.S. state secy. Colin Powell testify before the 9/11 Commission, chaired by former N.J. Gov. (1982-90) Thomas Howard Kean (1935-) and former Ind. rep. Lee Herbert Hamilton (1931-), and strongly defend the pre-9/11 actions of the admin. On Mar. 24 MLK Jr.'s widow Coretta Scott King gives her support to gay marriage, calling it a civil rights issue, and saying that constitutional amendments should expand not restrict freedom. On Mar. 24 16-y.-o. Palestinian Hussam Abdo (1988-) is caught entering the Hawara Checkpoint in the West Bank wired with a suicide vest. On Mar. 25 the U.S. Congress passes the U.S. Unborn Victims of Violence Act, making it a separate offense to harm a fetus during a violent federal crime - unless you have an abortion doctor immunity? On Mar. 28 the govt. of French Pres. Jacques Chirac suffers stinging defeats in regional elections as the people censure his painful economic reforms. On Mar. 28 the first hurricane on record in the South Atlantic (Category I) hits Brazil, killing two, injuring 39 and leaving 1.5K homeless; the first ever in Brazil. On Mar. 29 Mass. lawmakers approve a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage while legalizing civil unions, leaving the issue for the next legislative session - put a wedding band around our dogs and let it fly? On Mar. 30 Pres. Bush flip-flops and allows nat. security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify publicly under oath before the independent 9/11 panel. On Mar. 31 four U.S. civilian contractors are killed by insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq; afterwards frenzied crowds drag the bodies out and string two of them from a bridge - for a look? In Mar. veterinarian-pharmacologist Dr. Lester Mills Crawford (1938-) becomes acting commissioner of the U.S. FDA after the Senate confirms dir. Mark Barr McClellan (1963-) to oversee the agency that runs Medicaid and Medicare. In Mar. the U.S. quietly changes the name of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to CIS - sounds like that hit TV show? In Mar. Muslim ethnic Albanians stage a pogrom of Orthodox Serbs in Dakovica, Kosovo, leaving only five Serbian women holed-up in a monastery under police protection. In Mar. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is appointed Master of the Queen's Music in Britian. On Apr. 4 Baghdad Black Sunday, a U.S. 1st Cavalry Div. patrol assigned to assist with sewage patrol drives into an ambush in a Baghdad alley, suffering their record for single-day casualties as rescue vehicles from nearby Camp War Eagle lack armor plating because the gens. had believed that tanks would appear unfriendly for peacekeepers? On Apr. 5 a U.S.-Canadian task force investigating the Aug. 14, 2003 power blackout calls for urgent approval of mandatory reliability rules for the electric transmission industry. On Apr. 6 Pres. Rolandas Paksas of Lithuania is narrowly ousted by lawmakers for abuse of office. On Apr. 6 a military court in Jordan convicts eight Muslim militants, incl. terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and sentences them to death (some in absentia) for the 2002 killing of U.S. aid official Laurence Foley, linking their conspiracy to Al-Qaida. On Apr. 7 Sept. 11 suspect Mounir el Mostassadeq is freed after a court in Hamburg, Germany rules that the evidence is too weak to hold him pending a retrial; the only person convicted so far in the attack walks? On Apr. 8 Nat. Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice tells the Sept. 11 commission that "there was no silver bullet" that could have prevented 9/11. On Apr. 9 U.S. SSgt. Matt Maupin (b. 1988) is captured near Baghdad, and used as propaganda by Muslim militants, who release videos that are shown on Al-Jazeera; his remains are discovered in Mar. 2008 on the outskirts of Baghdad 12 mi. from where his convoy was ambushed, and on Apr. 27, 2008 10K attend his funeral in Cincinnati, Ohio. On Apr. 14 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon makes a triumphal visit to Washington, D.C., where Pres. Bush endorses his plan to withdraw troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza while laying claim to large settlement blocks in the West Bank; on May 2 Sharon's Likud Party rejects his plan 60-40, embarrassing him. On Apr. 15 a videotape shows a man portraying himself as Osama bin Laden offering a "truce" to European countries whose soldiers leave Islamic nations and do not attack Muslims. On Apr. 16, 2004 Trump gives an interview to Wolf Blitzer of CNN, uttering the soundbyte: "Well, you'd be shocked if I said that in many cases I probably identify more as Democrat." On Apr. 19 Russia launches Soyuz TMA-4, carrying cosmonauts Gennady Ivanovich Padalka (1958-), Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke (1967-) of the U.S., and Andre Kuipers (1958-) of Netherlands; on Oct. 14 Soyuz TMA-5 blasts off, carrying astronauts Salizhan Shakirovich Sharipov (1964-) of Russia, Leroy Chiao (1960-) of the U.S., and Yuri Shargin of Russia; Soyuz TMA-4 returns on Oct. 24 with Gennady Padalka, Michael Fincke, and Yuri Shargin; Soyuz TMA-5 returns next Apr. 24 with Salizhan Sharipov, Leroy Chiao, and Roberto Vittori. On Apr. 20 a tornado in NC Ill. kills eight. On Apr. 21 five suicide bombers detonate car bombs against police bldgs. in Basra, Iraq, killing 74. On Apr. 22 NFL player Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman (b. 1977), who forfeited a multimillion dollar contract to serve as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan is killed by friendly fire near the Pakistani border after emerging from a canyon where the enemy fired on them; his younger bro' Kevin Tillman is in a convoy behind him; the military tries a coverup but goofs up and creates a firestorm of controversy. On Apr. 22 two trains carrying flammable liquids collide in Ryongchon, North Korea near the Chinese border, killing 161 and injuring 1.3K. On Apr. 25 the March for Women's Lives in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. sees 500K-1.15M (largest protest in U.S. history?) protest the Nov. 5, 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act; pro-life protesters line the route in spots. On Apr. 26 after being criticized for his anti-war activities during the Vietnam War, Dem. pres. candidate John Kerry accuses Pres. Bush of failing to prove that he'd fulfilled his commitment to the Nat. Guard during the same period - the I'm as bad as you are defense? On Apr. 27 U.S. warplanes and artillery pound Sunni insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, followed by Iraqi police moving into the streets to take the city back. On Apr. 28 five big investment banks incl. Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs meet with the SEC, asking them to allow them to regulate themselves and determine their own leverage ratio; after the SEC agrees, the Bear Stearns ratio jumps to 33-1. On Apr. 28 the first photos of the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison are shown on CBS' 60 Minutes II. In Apr. Ted Koppel's Nightline gets in trouble when he reads a list of U.S. servicemen and women killed in Iraq, and the Sinclair Broadcast Group accuses him of making an antiwar statement and refuses to carry the program. In Apr. British soccer star David Beckham's personal aide Rebecca Loos claims she had a 10-day affair with him; he denies it - nobody can bend it like Beckham? On May 1 eight ex-Communist nations join the European Union: Poland, Slovakia, Czech Repub., Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania; Cyprus and Malta also join. On May 2 Israeli citizen Tali Hatuel and her four daughters in Gus Katif, Israel are murdered in their vehicle by Palestinian Muslim militants. On May 2 Sonoyo, one of the last 500 Sumatran tigers left on Earth gives birth to three cubs at the Nat. Zoo in Washington, D.C. On May 2 insurgent attacks across Iraq kill nine U.S. soldiers, showing that the U.S. is in for a long ordeal in Iraq - keep on the sunny side while fighting for your country? On May 2 the Yelwa Massacre in Nigeria sees members of the Christian Assoc. of Nigeria massacre 630+ Muslims. On May 6 U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 58/292 is adopted, titled "Status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem", affirming that Palestinian territory incl. East Jerusalem is under military occupation by Israel, which is obligated by the Geneva Convention to protect civilians, supporting the 2-state solution based on pre-1967 borders. On May 6 the 10-year hit NBC-TV show Friends (debuted Sept. 22, 1994) airs its finale this year, sending Joey, Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe to new lives; the spinoff show Joey is a minor success. On May 7 the beheaded body of 26-y.-o. Jewish-Am. telecom expert Nicholas Evan Berg (b. 1978) is found in Baghdad; known for travelling unguarded throughout Iraq, he was warned by the FBI shortly before his Apr. 10 disappearance, and turns down a State Dept. offer for a free flight home; on May 11 the Web site of the militant Malaysian Islamist group Muntada al-Ansar uploads a video titled "Abu Musab al-Zarqawi shown slaughtering a Jewish-American"; the govt. immediately shuts the site down, causing terrorists to begin using Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (1966-2006) in their videos as a poster boy for their cause. On May 9 a bomb destroys the VIP section at a stadium during a Victory Day celebration in Grozny, Chechnya, killing six, incl. pres. (since 2003) Akhmad Kadyrov; on Aug. 30 after elections, Kazhakhstan-born former rebel warlord (who went over to the Russians during the Chechen war) Alu Dadashevich Alkhanov (1957-) becomes pres. (until Feb. 15, 2007). On May 10 Pres. Bush expresses "deep disgust and disbelief" as he examines new photos and video clips of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners while visiting the Pentagon. On May 11 the E-10 join the EU in its largest expansion (until ?), incl. Cyprus, Czech Repub., Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. On May 14 actress Gwyneth Paltrow gives birth to a daughter named Apple, and when asked what kind of apple, she replies "Golden Delicious" - my little Sauce? On May 17 (Mon.) at a 50th anniv. observance of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision in Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., black entertainment millionaire and Ph.D in Education Bill Cosby delivers his Pound Cake Speech, a litany of self-reliance, personal responsibility, and other moral values that need to be taught to black youths and families, causing the press to have a field day when a few black leaders see him as blaming the victim. On May 22 after the Indian Nat. Congress Party of Rajiv Gandhi's Italian-born widow Sonia Gandhi (Edvige Antonia Albina Maino) (1946-) wins parliamentary elections in India, causing PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee to resign, she shocks everybody by refusing to become PM after she takes the criticism of her Italian birth seriously, and finance minister Manmohan Singh (1932-) becomes Indian PM #15 (first Sikh) (until May 26, 2014). On May 23 a large roof section of a new passenger terminal at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris collapses, killing four. On May 24 after he sells Mali's maize reserves and pockets the proceeds before a famine, then is blocked in passing an amendment allowing him to run for a 3rd term, Malian pres. #2 (since may 24, 1994) Elson Bakili Muluzi steps aside for handpicked Bingu wa Mutharika (1934-2012), who becomes pres. #3 of Mali (until Apr. 5, 2012). On May 26 Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for his role in the Okla. City bombing, and receives 161 consecutive life sentences. On May 26 Pres. Bush meets with Gabon Pres. Omar Bongo in the Oval Office; 10 mo. earlier lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked for $9M from Bongo to arrange the meeting, the fees to be paid to his Md. lobbying firm GrassRoots Interactive. In May Christian gospel singer Helen Berhane (1975-) is arrested in Asmara, Eritrea for belonging to the banned charismatic Rema Church, and is finally released in Oct. 2006, claiming inhuman treatment and torture to make her recant her faith; the only officially recognized religions are Islam, Catholicism, and Lutheranism. In May gasoline prices in the U.S. top $2 a gal. for the first time, then reach a record high of $2.06, before starting a gradual decline to about $1.80 at the end of the year; at the end of 2003 they were about $1.50. In May a volcano erupts for the first time in recorded history on the uninhabited island of Anatahan in the Northern Marianas, followed by a more powerful eruption on Aug. 10, 2005, raining volcanic ash on Saipan, Rota, and Tinian. In May the St. Petersburg Erotica Museum opens in Russia, housing Rasputin's penis among other choice tourist items. On June 2 the Taliban stages an ambush in NW Afghanistan, killing three foreign aid workers and two Afghans. One June 3 CIA dir. (since July 11, 2004) George John Tenet (1953-) announces his resignation effective July 11 over intelligence lapses about WMD in Iraq, which Pres. Bush uses to excuse himself from repercussions for steamrolling the U.S. into invasion, particularly Tenet's statement that "It's a slam dunk, Mister President" when allegedly asked if Iraq has WMDs; Tenet becomes the longest office-holder in four decades. On June 5 ex-pres. Ronald Reagan (b. 1911) dies of pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease, becoming the first U.S. pres. to die in the 21st cent. and 2nd longest-lived U.S. pres.; on June 9-11 he lies in state in the Nat. Cathedral in Washington, D.C. (first state funeral since LBK in 1973); on June 11 his funeral is attended by 25 world leaders (compared to 100 for Tito in 1980, 60 for Brezhnev in 1982, and 40 for Rabin in 1995) and 14 foreign ministers, after which he is flown to Calif to be interred at his pres. library. On June 5 Am. singers Jennifer Lynn Lopez (J.Lo) (1969-) and Marc Anthony (Marco Antonio Muniz) (1968-) marry in a surprise ceremony (until ?); she wears $7M in Neil Lane jewelry. On June 6 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon gets his Hitnatkut Unilateral Disengagement Plan approved by the Knesset to forcibly evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and four settlements on the N West Bank. On June 7-8 there is a rare (first since 1882) transit of Venus (visible from North Am. E of the Mississippi River); next on June 5-6, 2012. One June 13 gunmen assassinate a senior Education Ministry official in Iraq. On June 14 a car bomb during rush hour in a busy Baghdad street kills 12 incl. five foreign power plant workers. On June 15 the Southern Baptist Convention quits the Baptist World Alliance, accusing it of accepting liberal theology. On June 16 The Ashlee Simpson Show debuts on MTV for 18 episodes (until Mar. 30, 2005), starring Ashlee Simpson (Ashley Nicolle Simpson Ross) (1984-), younger sister of Jessica Simpson. On June 16 Pornucopia debuts on HBO for six episodes as a spinoff of "Real Sex", about the Calif. porno industry. On June 18 Taliban ally Nek Muhammad Wazir (b. 1975) becomes the first casualty of the CIA-run U.S. Predator drone campaign in Pakistan; at first the U.S. tries to cover it up by claiming the Pakistan military did it, when all they did was make a secret deal to allow them airspace. On June 19, 20, and 25 the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chicks On Speed, and James Brown headline the top-grossing entertainment of 2004 at London's Hyde Park, grossing $17,187,324 and drawing over 258K - having fun and not letting anything get to them? On June 20 Al-Jazeera airs a videotape from Al-Qaida showing South Korean hostage Kim Sun-il (b. 1970) pleading for his life and for his govt. to pull troops out of Iraq; on June 22 he is beheaded, becoming the 3rd in the Middle East in a little over 1 mo. On June 20 Lebanese-born Muslim U.S. Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun goes AWOL from Camp Fallujah in Iraq; he is captured and brought back to Quantico Marine Base in Va. for trial, but never tried until ? On June 21 pilot Michael Winston "Mike" Melvill (1941-) takes the SpaceShipOne rocket plane 62.2 mi. (327K ft.) above the Earth in a 90-min. flight, becoming the first privately financed manned spaceflight after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen pumps $20M into it. On June 23 the U.S. gives up trying to win a new exemption for U.S. troops from internat. prosecution for war crimes after the Abu Ghraib episode ties their hands. On June 24 coordinated attacks in N and C Iraq kill 89 incl. three U.S. soldiers. On June 25 U.S. pres. George W. Bush arrives in Ireland for an EU-U.S. summit at Dromoland Castle in County Clare, where anti-war protests are staged against the use of Shannon Airport as a transit stop for U.S. troops en route to Iraq. On June 27 NATO leaders meeting in Turkey pledge to take a bigger military role in Iraq, causing Pres. Bush to crow that the alliance is ready to "meet the threats of the 21st century". On June 27 former defense minister (a psychologist) Boris Tadic (1958-) of the Serbian Dem. Party is elected pres. of Serbia, and is sworn-in on July 11 (until ?). On June 28 (10:26 a.m.) the U.S. hands power over to an interim Iraq govt. led by Shiite PM Iyad Allawi (1945-) and Sunni pres. Ghazi al-Yawer (1958-) two days ahead of schedule to foil sabotage; Adnan Pachachi (1923-) is head of the gov. council; pres. envoy Lewis Paul Bremer III (1941-), top civilian admin. of the U.S.-led coalition flies from Baghdad about two hours after the handover ceremony; new U.S. ambassador John Negroponte (1939-) arrives in Baghdad the same day. Muhammada Rasul Bush? On June 28 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld that the U.S. govt. has the power to detain enemy combatants incl. U.S. citizens, but that the ones who are U.S. citizens must have the right to due process to challenge their enemy combatant status; on J une 28 it rules 6-3 in Rasul v. Bush that foreign nationals held in Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) detention camp have constitutional rights and can petition federal courts for writs of habeus corpus to review the legality of their detention, reversing a decision of Washington, D.C. circuit judge Merrick Garland, causing Congress to try to get around them by passing the U.S. Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the U.S. Military Commissions Act of 2006, denying habeas corpus to "unlawful enemy combatants" regardless of citizen status, with the govt. having the sole right to label them to keep them locked up indefinitely without charges - how long until the first U.S. president-for-life begins using it to lock up millions? On June 29 a U.N. heli carrying peacekeepers and aid workers crashes in Sierra Leone, killing all 24 aboard. On June 29 a roadside bomb in Baghdad kills three U.S. Marines and wounds two more; youthful insurgents celebrate the bombings for the media - we like this so much it's becoming a habit? On June 30 the U.S. federal appeals court approves an antitrust settlement that Microsoft negotiated with the U.S. Justice Dept. In June Paul Martin is reelected as PM of Canada (until ?), but his Liberal Party loses its majority in parliament after dominating for 11 years. In June former Rwandan pres. (1994-2000) (Hutu) Pasteur Bizimungu is sentenced to 15 years on charges of inciting ethnic hatred, causing many to call it a political vendetta. In June the Sa'dah (al-Houthi) Rebellion in N Yemen begins (ends ?) as Zaidiyya Shiite cleric Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi (-2004) begin a push to impose Shia Sharia over the Dem. Repub. of Yemen, which they accuse of being too friendly with the U.S., with Sunni next-door-neighbor Saudi Arabia playing both ends against the middle; after the Yemeni govt. puts a $55K bounty on his head, al-Houthi is killed along with several aides, but his Houthis fight on, with Hussein's brother Sheikh Abd al-Malik (Abdul-Malik) Houthi (1982-) as the new Houthi leader (until ?); in Dec. 2009 he is allegedly seriously wounded, and has a leg amputated. On June ? Pres. Bush responds to press inquiries about Karl Rove by pledging to fire anyone who leaked info. about the secret identity of Valerie Plame; on July 18, 2005 he changes it to "committed a crime" (so that he can use his grate powah to get Rove off criminal charges and keep him no matter what?). In June trains begin travelling between Moscow and Grozny after a 5-year break. On July 1 the Saddam Hussein Trial begins as he is arraigned on war crimes and genocide charges before a judge in Baghdad, and tells him to stuff it. On July 5 Alfonso Durazo Montano, Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox's chief of staff resigns in a stinking rebuke. On July 5 1K+ U.S. radio stations simultaneously play "That's All Right" to celebrate Elvis Presley's 50th anniv. On July 8 insurgents detonate a car bomb and five mortars at a military station in Samarra, Iraq, killing five U.S. soldiers, one Iraqi guardsman, and three civilians, and wounding 20 U.S. soldiers. On July 8 Adelphia Communications Corp. (cable co.) founder John J. Rigas (1924-) (son of Greek immigrants to the U.S.) is convicted of securities fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy charges in U.S. federal court, and on June 27, 2005 is sentenced to 15 years in federal prison, losing control of the NHL Buffalo Sabres team. On July 11 elections in Japan retain a majority for PM Junichiro Koizumi and his Liberal Dem. Party, while the largest opposition party makes strong gains in the upper house. On July 13 Osama bin Laden's associate Khaled bin Ouda bin Mohammed al-Harby surrenders to Saudi diplomats in Iran and is flown to Saudi Arabia. On July 13 after running from U.S. authorities, who accuse him of violating a trade embargo by playing Boris Spassky in Belgrade in 1992 and earning $3.3M, and having his passport revoked by the U.S. in Dec. 2003, chess champ Bobby Fischer is detained as he tries to fly from Japan's Narita Airport; he fights deportation to the U.S. by renouncing his U.S. citizenship and by marrying a Japanese woman, Miyoko Watai (1945-), acting pres. of the Japan Chess Assoc.; on Aug. 24 his application for protection as a political refugee is rejected by the Japanese authorities, and he has to figure out what move to make next. On July 14 Donald Trump gives an interview to Esquire mag., dissing the Bush admin. for its handling of the Iraq War, with the soundbytes: "Does anybody really believe that Iraq is going to be a wonderful democracy where people are going to run down to the voting box and gently put in their ballot and the winner is happily going to step up to lead the country?” C’mon. Two minutes after we leave, there’s going to be a revolution, and the meanest, toughest, smartest, most vicious guy will take over. And he’ll have weapons of mass destruction, which Saddam didn’t have", also dissing Bush for failing to find Osama bin Laden, with the soundbyte: "Tell me, how is it possible that we can’t find a guy who’s six-foot-six and supposedly needs a dialysis machine? Can you explain that one to me? We have all our energies focused on one place, where they shouldn’t be focused"; in Nov. he gives an interview to Larry King, saying: "I don't believe we made the right decision going in to Iraq, but hopefully we're getting out." On July 17 the first Rock the Bells hip hop festival in San Bernardino, Calif. features Wu-Tang Clan (4 mo. before the death of Ol' Dirty Bastard), Redman (Reginald "Reggie" Noble) (1970-), Dilated Peoples, Paul "Sage" Francis (1976-), MC Supernatural, Chali 2na (Charles Stewart) and DJ Nu Mark of Jurassic 5, Eyedea & Abilities (E&A) et al.; a 2nd festival is held on Nov. 13 in Anaheim, Calif., featuring MC Supernatural, Jurassic 5, A Tribe Called Quest, Xzibit (Alvin Nathaniel Joiner) (1974-), Cypress Hill, Jaylib, Little Brother, Crown City Rockers et al.; in 2006 it goes on a nat. tour. On July 18 Doug Ellin's comedy drama series Entourage debuts on HBO for 96 episodes (until Sept. 11, 2011), based on the life of Mark Wahlberg, starring Adrian Grenier (1976-) as Vincent Chase, who grew up in Queens, N.Y. and became an A-list movie star in Hollyweird, and Kevin Connolly (1974-) as his mgr. and best friend Eric "E" Murphy, based on Eric Weinstein (Stephen Levinson?). On July 20 former nat. security adviser (since 1997) Samuel Richard "Sandy" Berger (1945-) quits as John Kerry's informal adviser after a criminal investigation is disclosed about his alleged mishandling of classified terrorism documents. On July 21 the comedy-drama series Rescue Me debuts on FX (until Sept. 7, 2011), about New York City fighters suffering from post-9/11 trauma,starring Tommy Gavin, played by Denis Colin Leary (1957-), who sports a thick Boston accent. On July 22 the 911 Commission Report is issued, dishing out lukewarm blame on U.S. leaders; it finds that 11 Saudi hijackers had traveled to the U.S. via the Dubai airport, and that two of them were UAE citizens, and one had received $100K via the UAE. On July 23 U.S. Sen. (R-Mo.) (1975-95) John Clagett Danforth (1936-) (grandson of Purina Mills founder William H. Danforth) (known for the Danforth Report whitewashing the 1993 Waco Siege) becomes U.S. U.N. ambassador #24 (until Jan. 20, 2005), attempting unsuccessfully to bring peace to the Sudan and submitting his resignation on Nov. 22 six days after the announcement that he is going to be replaced by Condoleeza Rice. On July 25 Israeli protesters of PM Ariel Sharon's Gaza Strip withdrawal plan form a 55-mi. human chain from Gasa to Jerusalem. On July 26-29 the 2004 Dem. Nat. Convention is held in Boston, Mass.; on July 26 Al and Tipper Gore engage in a long kiss in an attempt to soften up his "stiff boring" image; after a parade of speakers takes Pres. Bush to task for the economy and the war on terror, on July 28 Vietnam Swift Boat war hero Sen. John Kerry of Mass. is nominated for pres., with personal liability atty. Sen. John Edwards of Va. as vice-pres.; Tex. homebuilder Bob J. (Bobby Jack) Perry (1932-) funds the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, attacking Kerry's war record with ads showing Viet vets making unsubstantiated allegations. On July 26 Google.com files to go public on the same day that a computer virus takes the site down for several hours; on Aug. 18 it goes public and becomes a $50B co. six years after founding. In July Pres. Bush finally drops his insistence on calling all radical Muslims "terrorists", and begins using the phrase "Islamic militants". In July a U.S. Senate investigation reveals $28M in foreign bank accounts owned by Gen. Augusto Pinochet of Chile, getting him indicted for tax evasion. On Aug. 1 the U.S. govt. warns of possible Al-Qaida attacks against several specific financial institutions in New York City, Washington D.C., and Newark, N.J., putting them on Orange (High) Alart), putting security checkpoints in the Capitol Hill and Foggy Bottom neighborhoods and erecting fences around monuments, limiting tours of the White House, turning it into Fortress Washington; on Aug. 3 Tom Ridge defends his decision to tighten security in those cities, admitting it's all based on 4-y.-o. intel; the vehicle inspects around the U.S. Capitol are removed in Nov. - what's in your wallet? On Aug. 4 Staten Island ferry pilot Richard Smith pleads guilty to manslaughter in the crash that killed 11 commuters last Oct., admitting that he passed out at the helm after going to work with medication in his system. On Aug. 5 74-y.-o. James Barney Hubbard (b. 1930) is executed in Ala. after 26 years on death row, becoming the oldest person to be executed in the Ala. history and the oldest in the U.S. since 1976. On Aug. 8 2-time black Repub. pres. hopeful Alan Lee Keyes (1950-) enters the Ill. Senate race, but ends up losing to handsomer black Dem. Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-) (I'm So Damn Hussein and I'm Back, Bam?) (the new Adlai Stevenson?) (first African-Am. pres. of the Harvard Law Review), whose un-PC name comes from a Muslim grandfather (a Kenyan farmer), and Muslim father (a Kenyan govt. economist and Communist), although he is a member of Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ and opposes abortion; the name Barack is of African origin and means blessed, while Hussein is of Arabic origin and means handsome; Barach comes from the Hebrew phrase "Ben Rabi hayyim" meaning son of Rabbi Hayyim?; rumors soon spread that he is really a Muslim terrorist plant with a master plan to take over the controls of the U.S. and pilot it into the ground; meanwhile the fact that he's half-white and half-black and that the U.S. suffers from a dearth of leaders makes him an instant candidate for U.S. pres. in 2008 despite lack of voter knowledge about him; Keyes ran after original Repub. nominee Jack Ryan left the race over a sex club scandal, and former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka turned down a chance to run against Obama, later saying that he probably would have won, and that it was the biggest mistake of his life seeing how the bum made it to the White House. On Aug. 9 Okla. City bomber Terry Nichols addresses a court for the first time, asking victims for forgiveness while being sentenced to 161 consecutive life sentences. On Aug. 10 Pres. Bush chooses Repub. U.S. rep. and ex-spy Porter Johnston Goss (1938-) as CIA dir. #19 (until May 5, 2006); he takes office on Sept. 24. On Aug. 11 Britain grants its first license for human cloning for the purpose of stem cell research. It's like kissing your sister? On Aug. 12 47-y.-o. Dem. N.J. gov. (since Jan. 15, 2002) (a Roman Catholic in favor of abortion) James Edward "Jim" McGreevey (1957-) announces that he is gay and had an extramarital affair with his male Israeli-born N.J. Homeland security adviser Golan Cipel (1968-), and that he will bend over and step down on Nov. 15 and leave his Portuguese-born wife Diana Matos McGreevey (1966-) (who is manipulated into standing by his side during the announcement and smiling) to be with his new life partner Mark O'Donnell; Cipel had forced him to out himself by filing a sexual harassment suit, which he later drops; McGreevey is replaced by Dem. Richard James "Dick" Codey (1946-) followed on Jan. 17, 2006 by Dem. U.S. Sen (since 2001) Jon Stevens Corzine (1947-), who defeats Repub. businessman Doug Forrester (1943-) in a race in which the two multimillionaires spend $70M, doubling the previous N.J. gov. race record; in 2009 McGreevey begins training to become an Episcopal priest. On Aug. 13-29 the XXVIII (28th) (2004) Summer Olympic Games are held in the "real place to hold it" Athens, Greece; 10,2625 athletes from 201 nations compete in 301 events in 28 sports; the U.S. team wins 102 total medals, incl. 36 gold, with China coming in #2 with 32 golds, and Russia #3 with 27 golds; official mascots are sister-brother Athina and Phevos; the first Olympics with live Internet coverage; the opening ceremony, choreographed by avant-garde dir. Dimitris Papaioannou (1964-) starts with a 28-sec. countdown paced by an amplified heartbeat, and features a topless Minoan priestess and nude men dressed as Greek statues, which is totally censored in Janet Jackson's U.S.; at first only 14K of 140K planned visitors show up in Athens, leading to empty seats until a 2nd effort fills them; 6'4" "Golden Boy" swimmer Michael Fred Phelps II (1985-) becomes the first U.S. athlete to win eight medals in one Olympiad (six gold and two bronze); Natalie Anne Coughlin (1982-) of the U.S. wins two golds, two silvers, and one bronze in swimming, becoming the first woman to swim the 100m backstroke in less than 1 min. on Aug. 13, and first woman to win gold in the 100m backstroke in two straight Olympics; on Aug. 18 Paul Elbert Hamm (1982-) (who competes alongside his twin brother Morgan) becomes the first U.S. athlete to win the men's gymnastics all-around gold medal, setting a record for the closest margin after it was discovered that a scoring error might have given the title to Yang Tae-Young (1980-) of South Korea; 16-y.-o. Carly Rae Patterson (1988-) becomes the first U.S. gymnast since Mary Lou Retton to take the women's all-around gold medal; 5'9" Misty Elizabeth "the Turtlle" May-Treanor (1977-) and 6'3" Kerri Lee Walsh (1978-) ("Six Feet of Sunshine") win a gold in beach volleyball, and do it again in 2008, earning the name of "greatest beach volleyball team of all time". On Aug. 13 Hurricane Charley hits the W coast of Fla., killing 19 and causing $10+B in damage; failure of weather prediction software to pinpoint the landfall location (50 mi. off) adds to the damage and confusion. On Aug. 14 Israeli TV channel 10 airs the documentary The Ringworm Children (100,000 Rays), dir. by David Belhassen and Asher Hermias, which claims that starting in 1951 the Israeli govt. began subjecting 100K dark Sephardic mainly Moroccan children to megadoses of X-rays in order to make them sterile or kill them, and that the U.S. govt. paid them 300M Israeli liras a year for this program. On Aug. 17 British police charge eight terrorist suspects with conspiring to use WMD to cause "fear of injury". On Aug. 19 John Kerry fights allegations that he exaggerated his Vietnam combat record, accusing Pres. Bush of using a Repub. front group "to do his dirty work". On Aug. 20 Palestinian-born Am. Muslim Ismail Salim Elbarasse (1947-) (who was arrested in Apr. 1998 for refusing to testify in an Islamic terror fundraising investigation then released in Dec. 1998) is arrested as a material witness in a Hamas terror support case; a search of his home turns up a sub-basement containing archives of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.; his associate Abdelhaleem Ashqar is sentenced to 11 years for refusing to testify about his knowledge of Hamas networks in the U.S. after prosecutors seek a life sentence. On Aug. 21 after his wife videotaped the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, the FBI seized hundreds of documents from the Annandale, Virginia home of Ismael Selim Elbarasse tying him to Hamas, later exposing him as a U.S. front for the how-many-times-did-I-mention Muslim Brotherhood, uncovering the Annandale Explanatory Memorandum, detailing a 5-phase plan to infiltrate and take over the U.S., starting with churches, then set up Sharia, proving that almost every major U.S. Islamic group is controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood incl. CAIR; the documents are used as evidence in the 2007 Texas-based Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development case, the largest terrorism funding case so far in U.S. history, with one of the documents containing the soundbyte "The Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood's name for itself] must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah's religion is made victorious over all other religions." On Aug. 22 as spectators watch, armed black-masked thieves steal one of the four versions of Edvard Munch's painting The Scream along with his Madonna from the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway; they are recovered on Aug. 29, 2006 after David Toska, mastermind of an Apr. 2006 $9M bank robberty admits they were stolen to divert the heat from their trail, and makes a deal for a milder prison term for their return - one call, that's all? On Aug. 23 Pres. Bush criticizes a commercial that had stopped running a week before which accused John Kerry of inflating his Vietnam War record, and says that broadcast attacks by outside groups have no place in the pres. race. On Aug. 24 two passenger planes in Russia are bombed by Chechen rebels, killing 90. On Aug. 25 Sir Mark Thatcher (1953-), son of former British PM Margaret Thatcher is arrested in South Africa for violating the country's anti-mercenary laws after he allegedly paid to charter an Alouette III heli to be used in a takeover attempt of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, where Pres. Teodoro Obiang Nguema has ruled for 24 years; on Jan. 13 he pleads guilty in exchange for a suspended jail sentence. On Aug. 25 a U.S. Army investigation finds that 27 people attached to Abu Ghraib Prison either approved or participated in POW abuse. On Aug. 27 John Owen Brennan (1955-) becomes acting dir. #1 of the new Nat. Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) in McLean, Va. (until Aug. 1, 2005), reporting to the Dir. of Nat. Intelligence along with the CIA, FBI, and Dept. of Defense; his position becomes official after signing of the U.S. Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act on Dec. 17, which establishes the office of Dir. of Nat. Intelligence (DNI), the Nat. Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board; by 2010 the CIA has the largest budget of all U.S. intel agencies; in 2012 U.S. atty. gen. Eric Holder grants the NCTC authority to collect, store, and analyze data collected on U.S. citizens by govt. and non-govt. sources for suspicious behavior via pattern analysis, collected in its Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) of 1.2M terror suspects, and to share data with foreign states, causing a firestorm of controversy. On Aug. 29 Tropical Storm Gaston hits S.C. at near-hurricane force. On Aug. 30-Sept. 2 the 2004 Repub. Nat. Convention is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City; on Aug. 31 Laura Bush and Ahnuld praise Bushy Baby as a man of strength and compassion who is steady and decisive compared to shift-with-the-wind Kerry; on Aug. 31 Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger gives a speech, with the soundbytes: "But then I heard Nixon speak. He was talking about free enterprise, getting the government off your back, lowering the taxes and strengthening the military. Listening to Nixon speak sounded more like a breath of fresh air. I said to my friend, I said, 'What party is he?' My friend said, 'He's a Republican.' I said, 'Then I am a Republican.' And I have been a Republican ever since"; "If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers... If they don't have the guts, I call them girlie men"; "Speaking of acting, one of my movies was called True Lies. It's what the Democrats should have called their convention"; on Sept. 2 Pres. Bush addresses the 2004 Repub. Nat. Convention, giving his acceptance speech, picking apart John Kerry's Iraq War record and tax cuts, and uttering the soundbyte "We will prevail" over terrorism - snore? On Aug. 31 (a.m.) a suicide bomber in a Moscow metro station outside Rizhskaya kills 10+ and injures 50+. In Aug. 15 Yemeni militants are convicted of involvement in the Oct. 12, 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden, Yemen, incl. Jamal Ahmed Mohammad Ali al-Badawi (1906-), who helped plan and organize the attack, and on Sept. 29 gets a death sentence, which is reduced to 15 years in 2005; on Feb. 3, 2006 he escapes from jail in Yemen, and is captured on ? - in cole blood? On Sept. 1 (1st day of school) Sunni Muslim Chechen militants (followers of Shamil Basayev) stage the Beslan Massacre at a school in North Caucasus, holding 1,128 hostages and setting off bombs before Russian commandos storm in and shoot it out with them, ending the conflict on Sept. 3; 319 hostages incl. 187 children are killed, and hundreds injured, making the Colo. Columbine H.S. massacre look like a walk in the park to pick Elberta peaches; Al-Qaida is suspected of being involved in this Muslim attack on a Greek Orthodox Christian school; on Sept. 7 130K Russians rally outside the Kremlin in a show of unity against baby-killer Islamic terrorists; Russian faith healer Grigory Petrovich Grabovoy (1963-) promises to resurrect the children, and ends up in prison for fraud in 2006-10. On Sept. 5 Hurricane Frances slams into Fla.'s EC coast from the SE, weakening to a tropical storm and dumping more than 13 in. of rain, adding to the damage of Hurricane Charley weeks before; in Orlando the combined rainfall overwhelms the drainage system, turning Disney World into Sea World; on Sept. 6 it strikes the Fla. panhandle. Big day for U.S. drug companies and bad day for the U.S. beef and fast food hamburger industry? On Sept. 6 (Labor Day) former U.S. pres., fast food lover and monica, er, sax player Bill Clinton has a 4-hour quadruple heart bypass operation in New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia after it is found that his arteries are 90% blocked by years of gorging on junk food and trying to jog it off while discontinuing his cholesterol-controlling meds. On Sept. 7 an AP tally shows that the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq tops the 1K mark (1003); the Iraqi civilian death toll is estimated at 10K+. On Sept. 7 the Denver, Colo.-based firm Invesco agrees to a $450M settlement (third largest in history) with regulators for allowing favored investors to rapidly trade in and out of their funds ("market timing"). On Sept. 7 Category 5 Hurricane Ivan "the Terrible" pummels Grenada (killing 39), Barbados, and other southern Caribbean islands (the deadliest storm damage in a decade); it skirts by Jamaica on Sept. 11, killing 15, then the Cayman Islands on Sept. 12 (200 mph wind gusts), damaging half of the 15K well-built homes with 150-mph winds, then Cuba on Sept. 13; it disrupts underwater oil pipelines, raising prices in the U.S. after generating at least two dozen waves over 50 ft. high, the largest measuring 91 ft. Sixty Minutes Too Much, or, Rathergate? On Sept. 8 after investigative work by CBS 60 Minutes II producer Mary Alice Mapes (1956-) (known for reporting the Abu Ghraib scandal), the Rathergate Scandal begins when Wharton, Tex.-born CBS Evening News anchor (since Mar. 19, 1981) Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather Jr. (1931-) airs an investigation on 60 Minutes II (launched Jan. 13, 1999) into Pres. Bush's Air Nat. Guard service in Ala., claiming to have authenticated the Killian documents from Tex. Army Nat. Guard lt. col. Bill Burkett stating that Bush's squadron cmdr. lt. col. Jerry B. Killian believed that Bush had been shirking his duties and receiving preferential treatment; when the documents later turn out to be faked on a typewriter that didn't exist at the time, the fit hits the shan, and on Sept. 20 CBS apologizes for a "mistake in judgment" in airing a show that could influence the election in favor of Kerry; cries of conspiracy from Repubs. cause an independent panel chaired by former U.S. atty. gen. Dick Thornburgh and former AP pres. Louis Boccardi to be formed to investigate; Mapes is fired in Jan. 2005, and senior vice-pres. Betsy West and executive producer Josh Howard and his deputy Mary Murphy are asked to resign; Rather steps down as anchor of CBS Evening News on Mar. 9, 2005, suing unsuccessfully for breach of contract; after having its name changed to 60 Minutes Wed., it is cancelled on Sept. 2, 2005; the entire affair is portayed in the 2015 film The Truth starring Robert Redford as Rather and Cate Blanchett as Mapes, based on Mapes' 2005 book "Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power". On Sept. 9 the Bush admin. for the first time calls attacks in W Sudan's Darfur region by govt.-backed Arab Janjaweed Muslim militia against black non-Muslim Africans "genocide"; by now tens of thousands have been killed, and 1.2M uprooted; too bad, the U.N. fails to accept the call of genocide, claiming the leaders have no genocidal intent, and therefore the U.N. law against genocide doesn't apply. On Sept. 9 Jemaah Islamiyah Muslim militants detonate a car bomb outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 9 and wounding 173 as reprisal for their support of the U.S. in Iraq. On Sept. 10 Osama bin Laden's chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahri claims in a videotape broadcast that the U.S. is on the brink of defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan: "The Americans in both countries are between two fires. If they continue they bleed to death and if they withdraw they lose everything", becoming the 3rd tape in a row issued by Al-Qaida on Sept. 10 - why a day early this time and why no mention of attacks in the U.S.? On Sept. 12 Iraq has a Bloody Sunday as insurgents hammer C Baghdad with mortar and rocket barrages, and nearly 60 people are killed nationwide, incl. 37 in Baghdad. On Sept. 12 violent demonstrators in Herat, Afghanistan ransack four U.S. office compounds to protest the removal of Gov. Ismail Khan by the central govt.; he is replaced by Sayed Muhammad Khairkhwa, a member of the same Jamiat-i-Islami faction. On Sept. 12 Mt. Etna erupts yet again. In Sept. 12 US Airways, 5th largest airline in the U.S. declares bankruptcy for the first of 2x in two years (Aug. 11, 2002). On Sept. 12 terrorists set off a car bomb in a Baghdad shopping street full of police recruits, and fire on a police van N of the city, killing 59. On Sept. 13 Russian pres. Valadimir Putin orders a stunning overhaul of Russia's political system allegedly to fight terrorism, consolidating power to himself and his party. On Sept. 13 U.S. warplanes unleash airstrikes on a suspected terrorist (Al-Qaida) hideout in Fallujah, Iraq, killing 20. On Sept. 13 the U.S. Congressional ban on 19 types of military-style assault weapons as well as magazines holding up to 100 rounds of ammo expires as the NRA holds a gun to, er, flexes its muscles with both parties? On Sept. 13 a video posted on a Web site shows a Turkish driver being beheaded by Islamic militants - this Bud's for you? On Sept. 13 the BBC quotes the foreign minister of North Korea as explaining a 2-mi.-wide mushroom cloud from an explosion on Sept. 9 as due to planned demolition for a hydroelectric project, and not from a nuclear test as speculated. On Sept. 13 Batman scales the walls of Buckingham Palace and waves to the admiring crowds and frantic bobbies for hours before being escorted away. On Sept. 15 five foxhunting enthusiasts storm the floor of the House of Commons to disrupt a debate on banning their favorite sport; one lawmaker says that here hasn't been such an intrusion in Parliament since the year 1642. On Sept. 15 U.S. Rep. (R-Calif.) (1989-) Dana Tyrone Rohrabacher (1947-) introduces an amendment to the U.S. Constitution allowing anyone who's been a U.S. citizen for 20 years to run for U.S. pres., esp. fellow Calif. Repub. Arnold Schwarzenegger; Senate Judiciary Committee chmn. Orrin Hatch of Utah proposes the same; on 60 Minutes on Oct. 31 (Halloween) Ahnuld says he would support such an amendment, with the soundbyte: "I mean, you know, anyone with my way of thinking, you always shoot for the top." On Sept. 15 the Los Alamos Nat. Laboratory fires four workers and forces one to resign for their roles in a security and safety scandal that caused two computer disks containing classified info. to go missing and an intern to be injured in a laser accident; since July 7 the lab had been virtually shut down, idling some 12K workers. In Sept. 15 10 Palestinians are killed in two confrontations with Israeli troops, the highest single-day death toll in the West Bank since 2002; the same day Israeli PM Ariel Sharon acknowledges that he is casting aside the U.S.-backed peace "road map". On Sept. 15 ex-U.S. Green Beret Jonathan Keith "Jack" Idema (1956-) is sentenced to 10 years by a court in Kabul, Afghanistan for running a private jail and torturing terror suspects; he is released and deported on June 2, 2007 after a gen. amnesty is declared by pres. Hamid Karzai. On Sept. 16 Calif. Gov. Ahnuld announces that he's running for reelection in Nov. 2006, saying "I originally got into this... to finish the job. I'm in there for seven years" - the only state with the golden poppy as its flower? On Sept. 17 a U.S. law passed the year before requires the federal govt. and any school receiving federal funding to organize Constitution-related activities on the anniv. of the 1787 adoption; since it falls on Sat. they do it on Sept. 16 instead. On Sept. 18 Miss America 2004 Ericka Dunlap (black) crowns Miss America 2005 Deidre Downs (1980-) (white) in Atlantic City, N.J. before an ABC-TV audience of a record low 9.8M (28.2 in 1984, 20.9 in 1994); the org. announces that its next pageant will be broadcast on Country Music TV on Jan. 21; at its peak in the 1960s three of four households tuned in - the largely white audience has grown tired of rigged PC elections of minorities over their favorite blonde-blue contestants but can't admit it, only tune out? On Sept. 18 Am. pop star Britney Spears marries backup dancer Kevin Federline (K-Fed) (1978-) (until Nov. 7, 2006); they have son Sean Preston next Sept. 14 and Jayden James on Sept. 12, 2006. On Sept. 19 former Chinese pres. Jiang Zemin leaves his top military post, leaving gen. secy. (since 2002) and pres. (since 2003) Hu Jintao (1942-) as the undisputed leader of China - who jin charge tao? On Sept. 21 Pres. Bush addresses the U.N. Gen. Assembly, defending his decision to invade Iraq and urging the U.N. to stand united with Iraq's struggling govt. On Sept. 21 a United Airlines flight from London to Washington, D.C. is diverted to Bangor, Maine at the order of U.S. officials after discovering that Yusuf Islam (1948-), the singer known until 1977 as Cat Stevens (formerly Stephen Demetre Georgiou) is aboard, claiming he is on the Terrorist Watch List for activities linking him with terrorism; he is arrested and put on a plane back, returning to London on Thur., saying "Half of me wants to smile, and half of me wants to growl"; on Nov. 10 he is presented with a Man of Peace award by Mikhail Gorbachev's foundation in Rome, followed by other recognition, and after many back-and-forths and a successful libel suit in Britain he is quietly allowed to enter the U.S. in Dec. 2006. On Sept. 22 18-y.-o. female suicide bomber Zainab Abu Salem (b. 1986) detonates at a busy Jerusalem bus station, killing two Israeli policemen who stopped her for a security check, and blowing her head clean off; the same day PM Sharon drops a plan to simultaneously evacuate 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of 2005, reverting to a staged pullout plan for the summer. On Sept. 22 Lost debuts on ABC-TV for 121 episodes (until May 23, 2010), about 48 survivors of crashed Oceanic Flight 815 on a mysterious tropical island somewhere between Australia and Los Angeles (really Oahu, Hawaii); created by Damon Lindelof, J.J. Abrams, and Jeffrey Lieber, it is one of the most expensive TV series on the U.S. networks, with a large multiracial ensemble cast incl. Terrance "Terry" O'Quinn (1952-) as John Locke, Naveen William Sidney Andrews (1969-) as ex-Iranian Repub. Guard member Sayid Jarrah, Matthew Chandler Fox (1966-) as surgeon Jack Shephard, Jorge Garcia (1973-) as lottery winner Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, Margaret "Maggie" Grace Denig (1983-) as dance teacher Shannon Rutherford, Joshua Lee "Josh" Holloway (1969-) as con man James "Sawyer" Ford, Yunjim Kim (1973-) as mobster's daughter Sun-Hwa Kwon, Daniel Dae Kim (1968-) as her hubby Jin-Soo Kwon, Nicole Evangeline Lilly (1979-) as fugitive Kate Austen, Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Managhan (1976-) as ex-rock star Charlie Pace, Harold Perrineau (1963-) (Link in The Matrix) as construction worker Michael Dawson, Malcolm David Kelley (1992-) as his son Walt Lloyd, Emilie de Ravin (1981-) as pregnant Australian Claire Littleton, and Ian Joseph Somerhalder (1978-) as Boone Carlyle; beside the Others and the DHARMA Initiative, their common enemy is the Monster AKA the Smoke Monster and Man in Black. On Sept. 22 Veronica Mars debuts on UPN for 64 episodes (until May 22, 2007), set in Neptune, Calif. (zip code 90909), starring Kristen Anne Bell (1980-) as a h.s. student and daughter of sheriff Keith Mars, who is dumped by beau Duncan Kane and tries to solve the murder of best friend Lilly Kane, whose software billionaire father Jake Kane is a suspect, turning into a PI. On Sept. 26 Fla. receives its 4th visit from a hurricane in one season (the first time since Tex. in 1886) as Hurricane Jeanne (Category 3) slams into the E coast with 120 mph winds, killing six, becoming the worst hurricane season in Fla. since 1851; on Sept. 27 Pres. Bush asks Congress for $7.1B to help the SE states recover. On Sept. 28 the 6.0 Parkfield Earthquake rocks C Calif. On Sept. 29 British hostage Kenneth John Bigley (b. 1942) appears on an Islamic web site in a video weeping and pleading for his life; on Oct. 7 he pleads for his life again, then minutes later is later beheaded by members of al-Zarqawi's group. On Sept. 30 Northern Ireland Protestant Dem. Unionist Party leader Ian Paisley makes an historic first visit to Dublin for talks with Taoiseach (PM) Bertie Ahern. On Sept. 30 after a 16-mo. $900M coverup, er, invesigation, the Iraq Survey Group, led by top U.S. arms inspector (since 2004) Charles A. Duelfer reports that no evidence has been found that Saddam Hussein's regime had produced WMDs after 1991; on Aug. 6, 2006 despite a blizzard of publicity a Harris poll indicates that half of Americans still believe WMDs existed in Iraq in 2003. In Sept. Madonna's blockbuster Re-Invention Tour wraps up, selling out 55 of 56 performances with an avg. nightly take of $2.23M, ringing up a total of $125M, which places it far ahead of all tours this year; Prince's Purple Reign (Musicology) Tour draws 1.5M people and grosses $90.2M to come in 2nd, and Shania Twain comes in 3rd with 950K attendance and $62.5M; Celine Dion grosses $77M at the Colosseum at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, and in a total run of four years grosses $400M, working out to $697K per show. On Oct. 1 Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupts for the 1st time in 18 years, but it turns out to only be a belch of white steam and ash; it does it again on Oct. 4. On Oct. 1 the oil market opens for the first time ever at over $50 a barrel ($51 on Oct. 5). On Oct. 3 (Sun.) David E. Kelley's legal dramedy Boston Legal (original title The Practice: Fleet Street) debuts on ABC-TV for 101 episodes (until Dec. 8, 2008) as a spinoff of "The Practice", starring James Todd Spader (1960-) as atty. Alan Shore, and William "Bill" Shatner (1931-) as atty. Denny Crane. On Oct. 3 (Sun.) Marc Cherry's comedy-drama-mystery series Desperate Housewives debuts on ABC-TV for 180 episodes (until May 13, 2012), set on Wisteria Lane in Fairview in the Eagle State, about a group of women as seen through the eyes of neighbor Mary Alice Young (played by Brenda Strong), who committed suicide in the first episode. causing their seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood to have mucho skeletons in the closets; stars Teri Lynn Hatcher (1964-) as Susan Mayer, Felicity Kendall Huffman (1962-) as Lynette Scavo, redheaded Marcia Anne Cross (1962-) as Bree Van de Kamp, and Mexican-Am. Eva Jacqueline Longoria (1975-) as Gabrielle Solis. On Oct. 4 insurgents unleash a powerful car bomb near the Green Zone (AKA Karradat Mariam) in C Baghdad, symbol of U.S. authority in Iraq, becoming a quantum leap; two other explosions bring the day's bombing total to 24 dead and 100+ wounded. On Oct. 4 Polish pres. (since 1995) Aleksander Kwasniewski (1954-) announces that he is considering withdrawing Poland's 2.4K soldiers from Iraq by late 2005 - faster if we can get away with it? On Oct. 5 Dick Cheney and John Edwards debate for the first and only time. On Oct. 6 the 30-member European Union executive commission recommends that Turkey be put on a course to membership, but not until at least the year 2015. On Oct. 7 (night) bomb attacks on three resorts in Sinai, Egypt kill 34 and injure 171; Al-Qaida is suspected. On Oct. 8 in response to the Sept. 1 Beslan School Massacre in Russia et al., the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1566, condemning terrorism, which is defined as "criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act", adding that such acts are "under no circumstances justifiable by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature", with U.S. U.N. ambassador John Danforth uttering the soundbytes: "The resolution which we have adopted states very simply that the deliberate massacre of innocents is never justifiable in any cause - never", and "Some claim that exploding bombs in the midst of children is in the service of God", calling it instead "the ultimate blasphemy"; the resolution calls for the creation of a working group to expand the list of sanctioned terrorist entities beyond al-Qaida and the Taliban; meanwhile work begins to draft a comprehensive convention defining terrorism for adoption by the U.N. Gen. Assembly (ends ?). On Oct. 11 EU foreign ministers lift sanctions against Libya and ease their arms embargo. On Oct. 12 after deliberating only 80 min., a jury in Baton Rouge, La. finds black serial killer Derrick Todd Lee (1968-) guilty of first degree murder in the death of 22-y.-o. Charlotte Murray Pace; he later receives the death penalty. On Oct. 13 Bush and Kerry hold their 3rd and last pres. talking heads debate. On Oct. 14 the U.S. Treasury Dept. announces that the federal deficit has surged to a record $413B for the year. On Oct. 16 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, ordering the U.S. State Dept. to monitor global anti-Semitism and report annually to Congress. On Oct. 16 the 150th anniv. of the birth of Irish writer Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) is celebrated by BBC-TV in Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde, featuring fellow Irishmen Bono, James Cromwell, Liam Neeson, Rosie Perez, Hector Elizondo et al. On Oct. 17 Jordan indicts Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and 12 other Muslims for an alleged al-Qaida plot to attack the U.S. embassy in Amman as well as Jordanian govt. targets. On Oct. 17-20 the Boston Red Sox win four consecutive games to overcome a 3-0 deficit and defeat the New York Yankees in the AL Championship Series - come from behind feels so good yah? On Oct. 18 Bush and Kerry trade barbs, with Bush claiming Kerry stands for "protest and defeatism", while Kerry accuses Bush of "arrogant boasting". On Oct. 19 Dalkey, County Dublin, Ireland-born aid worker Margaret Hassan (nee Fitzsimons) (b. 1945) AKA Madam Margaret is kidnapped in Baghdad by ISIS, and killed on Nov. 8 after a video is releaed showing her pleading for help, with the soundbyte: "Tell Mr. Tony Blair to take the troops out of Iraq and not bring them here to Baghdad." On Oct. 18 1,830m Mount Soputan Vocano in N Indonesia awakens, but causes no fatalities. On Oct. 20 retired gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (1949-) (AKY SBY) becomes pres. #6 of Indonesia (until ?); in 2009 he becomes the first Indonesian pres. to be reelected. On Oct. 20 U.S. Army Reserve SSgt. Ivan "Chip" Frederick (1966-) of Buckingham, Va. pleads guilty to eight criminal counts for abusing Iraqi detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison, saying that the degrading treatment was "for military intelligence purposes"; six other members of his Cresaptown, Md.-based 372nd Military Police Co. are also charged. On Oct. 20 the Global Corruption Perceptions Index is pub. by Transparency Internat. in London (0=most corrupt, 10=least corrupt) giving the U.S. a 7.5 score and a ranking of 17; the #1 ranking/score (9.7) goes to Finland, and the lowest ranking (145) and score (1.5) to Haiti. On Oct. 21 an AP poll finds Bush and Kerry in a tie. On Oct. 23 Operation Cajuana sees Brazil launch its first rocket into space, the VSB-30 sounding rocket from Alcantara Launch Center in Brazil. On Oct. 24 a plane owned by top NASCAR team Hendrick Motorsports crashes in Martinsville, Va., killing all 10 aboard. On Oct. 25 it is announced that U.S. chief justice William H. Rehnquist has thyroid cancer. On Oct. 26 the FCC gives its approval to the $41B acquisition by Cingular Wireless LCC of AT&T Wireless Services Inc., making it the #1 wireless firm; the orange "Jack" logo becomes successful, and the subscriber base grows to 62M, until AT&T buys BellSouth Corp. in Jan. 2007 and retires it. Maybe the world will never end? On Oct. 27 the Boston Red Sox (mgr. Terry Francona) finally 86 the 1919 Curse of the Bambino, end an 86-year drought (only 4 WS appearances and no wins), and sweep the One Hundredth (100th) World Series 4-0, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals (mgr. Tony La Russa) 3-0 at Busch Stadium, and becoming the 4th team in WS history to never trail an inning (1963 Dodgers, 1966 Orioles, 1989 A's); the Cardinals join the 1963 Yankees as the only teams winning more than 100 games in the regular season and winning no games in the WS; the Red Sox had come back from a 3-0 deficit in the AL Championship Series to bury the Babe; seating capacity at Fenway Park is 36,298; ticket prices range from $50 for SRO to $190 for box seats; 112,462,559 tickets had been sold at Fenway Park during the 1919-2004 regular seasons; since 1918 the Boston Celtics won 16 sports championships, the Boston Bruins 5, the New England Patriots 2; owner John William Henry II (1949-) made his fortune by using statistics in the soybean market; co-owner Thomas C. "Tom" Werner (1950-) is a TV exec known for "Roseanne" and "The Cosby Show"; CEO Lawrence "Larry" Lucchino (1945-) is the father of the old-style Fenway-style ballpark movement; in Nov. 2002 lifelong Red Sox fan Theo Nathan Epstein (1973-) became the youngest gen. mgr. in ML baseball at age 28. On Oct. 27 Palestinian Nat. Authority pres. #1 (since Jan. 20, 1996) Yasser Arafat (b. 1929) collapses during the night in Ramallah, and is unconscious for about 10 min. after he vomits while eating soup inside his partially demolished compound where he has been confined for 2-1/2 years; a committee of three senior officials incl. PM Ahmed Qureia run Palestine while he recuperates in a military hospital in France, where he is flown on Oct. 29; he dies at 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 11. On Oct. 27 a 6.1 earthquake and several large aftershocks shake the prefecture of Niigata, Japan, killing 40 and damaging 6K homes, become the deadliest in Japan since 1995. On Oct. 28 the U.S. Check Clearing for the 21st Cent. (Check 21) Act (signed by Pres. Bush on Oct. 28, 2003) goes into effect, allowing paper checks to be replaced by digital images to facilitate electronic processing. On Oct. 28 insurgents execute 11 Iraqi soldiers and vow on a Web site that they will avenge the "blood" of woman and children killed in U.S. strikes on Fallujah. On Oct. 28 Scotch terrier Miss Beazley, a relative of First Dog Barney is born, and is given as a gift by Pres. Bush to his wife Laura as a 58th birthday present on Nov. 4, scheduled to arrive just before Christmas. On Oct. 29 the first European Union Constitution is signed in Rome. On Oct. 30 a suicide car bomber rams a U.S. convoy W of Baghdad, Iraq, killing eight Marines and wounding nine. On Oct. 31 Bush and Kerry campaign in Fla. and Ohio, starting with Sunday church services. In Oct. news leaks that the monks of the 950-y.-o. hospice of St. Bernard (8114 ft. alt.) (above the village of Martigny) are getting rid of their remaining 18 St. Bernard dogs, modern helis having replaced the need for the big cute gluttons; they intend to keep their golden retriever Justy; the last 16 St. Bernard puppies are put up for sale at $1.7K each. In Oct. ultra-Orthodox Jewish yeshiva student Natan Zvi Rosenthal is arrested for spitting at the cross carried by Armenian archbishop of Jerusalem Nourhan Manougian, who strikes back, starting a fist fight; Rosenthal tells police he had been brought up to consider crosses and Christianity itself as idol worship. In Oct. Tulane U. shuts down its Willed Body Program after allegations of mistreatment of bodies, incl. selling them to the U.S. Army to test protective footwear for land mines. In Oct. John Howard wins a 4th term as PM of Australia (since 1996). In Oct. North Korea launches its "Let's Trim Our Hair According to the Socialist Lifestyle" program, requring all males to trim their locks to stay under a 2-in. limit; even Kim Jong-il trims his famous pompadour to go with the program; by Feb. the state-run Central TV is openly singling out and ridiculing slackers. In Oct. warlords and civilian leaders in Somalia agree on a new govt. In Oct. an outbreak of Ebola-like Marbug virus begins in Angola, infecting 214 and killing 194 by Apr. 2005, when the outbreak is finally recognized among the numerous early deaths from infectious diseases (one in four dies before age five). On Nov. 2 after defeating fellow Repub. Bob Shaffer in the primary by pointing to his support for same-sex civil unions, and his company's payment of benefits to same-sex partners and promotion of their beer in gay bars, Coors chmn.-CEO (since 1993) Peter Hanson "Pete" Coors (1946-) (great-grandson of Adolph Coors Sr., and son of Joseph Coors and Holly Coors) loses the election for U.S. Sen. for Colo. to Dem. Colo. atty. gen. Ken Salazar by 51%-47%; in 2005 Coors merges with Molson, and he stays on as a dir. On Nov. 16 Fox-TV debuts the hit drama House, M.D. for 177 episodes (until May 21, 2012), starring English actor Hugh Laurie (1959-) as Dr. Gregory House, who walks with a cane and pops self-prescribed Vicodin pills while chasing his ex-wife Sela Ward and managing his team of diagnosticians, incl. single black man Omar Hashim Epps (1973-) (Dr. Eric Doreman), single white babe Jennifer Marie Morrison (1979-) (as Dr. Alison Cameron), (who's in love with him but can't overcome the ex-wife), and single white doc Jesse Gordon Spencer (1979-) (as Dr. Robert Chase) (who's in love with Morrison in real life, but never get married); meanwhile his female boss Dr. Lisa Cuddy, played by Lisa Edelstein (1966-) struggles to keep control of this authority-bucking precious genius, who never fails to solve the insoluble medical problem just in time to save the patient, his hospital, and his job - TLW's favorite TV show for the next few years? On Nov. 1 U.S. contract workers Roy Hallums (1948-), Robert Tarongoy of the Philippines et al. are kidnapped in an armed assault on their Baghdad compound; Tarongoy is freed after 8 mo., Hallums on Sept. 7, 2005 after 311 days. On Nov. 2 (Tue.) the 2004 U.S. Pres. Election sees the "compassionate conservatism" campaign by incumbent pres. George W. "Dubya" Bush and running mate Dick Cheney pay off with a high voter turnout (60% of the electorate voting, most since 1968), getting reelected by 51% to 48%, capturing the Solid South and the heartland states, with the swing states of Ohio, Mich., and Fla. going for him, and only Penn. going for Kerry, the first Roman Catholic pres. candidate since 1960, who garners less Catholic votes than the Methodist Bush, and fares worse with them than Gore did in 2000; Hispanic voters (8% of the electorate, up from 6% in 2000) give Bush 44% of their vote, up from 35% in 2000; millions of pre-Brokeback Mountain Billy Bobs in the heartland states who never voted in past elections wait in line for hours to vote against the perceived threat of Kerry of legalizing gay marriage, ensuring straight Billy Bob Bush's election; 11 states pass constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, and Kerry's opposition to a federal constitutional ban is blamed for uniting many religious denominations behind Bush, although Bush garners 20% of the gay vote also; online voting becomes a reality in the U.S. as 50M vote on touch-screen machines; too bad that the system for testing and certifying these machines is virtually nonexistent; for the first time, the Org. for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitors the election, sending 92 observers from 34 countries; guaranteed future Dem. pres. candidate Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-) (whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to Hollywood star Will Smith (1968-)?) trounces Alan Keyes by 43 percentage points in the Ill. U.S. Senate race; Thomas Andrew "Tom" Daschle (1947-) (D-S.D.) becomes the first U.S. Sen. majority leader to be defeated in an election; Calif. decides to channel $3B into embryonic stem-cell research via Proposition 71, which causes the creation of the Calif. Inst. for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM); the U.S. Congress is now 30% conservative Christian; Kerry leaves $14M of his campaign funds unspent, although he lost by only 10K votes in Iowa and if he had spent more? The Year of the White Prick in a Suit, Pt. 2? Or, a Nerd is Zerged? Why are some Mormons so smart and so dumb? On Nov. 2 the 40-y.-o. TV quiz show Jeopardy! holds its 4000th episode, featuring emcee Alex Trebek (1940-2020) and announcer Johnny Gilbert (1924-); since changing its rules allowing unlimited appearances to the winner in 2003, after making his first appearance on June 2, 30-y.-o. Edmonds, Wash.-born Mormon software engineer of Holladay, Utah (the state that's 65% Mormon) Kenneth Wayne "Ken" Jennings III (1974-) ("nerd") ("smarmy") ("peronality of a hall monitor") (resembles a white prick in a suit with the face of Mel Gibson pasted on?) (B.S. in computer science and English at BYU) rakes in $2M+ in earnings by this date, then ups his total to $2,197K, making him the biggest game show winner in TV history (later falling to #1 behind Brad Rutter), the hoopla boosting the show's ratings 22% to #1 among syndicated TV shows; on Nov. 3 (his 66th appearance) he wins a single game record $75K; on Nov. 30 he finally loses in his 75th appearance after winning $2,520,700 (10% of which he gives straight to the Mormon Church) and giving 2.7K correct responses when 48-y.-o. Ventura, Calif. real estate agent Nancy Zerg (1956-) beats him in Final Jeopardy on a question about income tax prep. service H&R Block: "This company has 70K employees, most of which only work 4 mo. of each year"; he guesses Federal Express (and later says that he does his own taxes, meaning the Mormon Church does them to make sure they get all of their 10%?), losing $5601 of his $14,400, leaving $8799, while Zerg bets $4401 of her $10K, giving $14,401; if he hadn't flubbed an easy Double Jeopardy question about Nutsy Bastogne, he wouldn't have lost $5.4K, and if he hadn't flubbed another easy one about cloche hats, he wouldn't have lost another $4.8K, and thus had a shutout game; she loses on her next appearance (Dec. 1) to Katie Fitzgerald; lucky for Ken, losing on a question about a major corp., with a wrong answer giving the name of another major corp., he later makes more moolah by doing ads for both, and gets free income tax prep service for life from H&R Block. On Nov. 2 Sotheby's Auction House announces the sale for $30K of a small leather-bound vol. of drawings by Muhammad Ali, depicting himself fighting Smokin' Joe Frazier; an acrylic-bound vol. of drawings by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney raises $23K, followed by a leather-bound volume of drawings by author J.K. Rowling for $20K; in all $225K is raised for a S London charity for the homeless. On Nov. 3 John Kerry concedes the election to Pres. Bush, choosing not to launch a legal fight over Ohio - knowing the Repubs. can rig the U.S. Supreme Court? On Nov. 3 an AP-Ipsos poll shows Pres. Bush's approval rating dipping to 37%, its lowest ever. On Nov. 2 Dutch filmmaker Theodoor "Theo" van Gogh (1957-2004), great-great grandson of Vincent van Gogh brother Theo van Gogh, known for his criticism of Islamic extremism in the 2004 film Submission is slain in Amsterdam on his bicycle by Dutch-born Dutch-Moroccan Muslim Mohammed Bouyeri (1978-); by Nov. 14 20 attacks are made on Muslim sites, and 13 suspects are being held on terrorist charges; on Nov. 14 PM Jan Peter Balkenende vists a Turkish mosque in Eindhoven in a show of solidarity with the Muslims; a note on van Gogh's chest says that Somalian-born Dutch Muslim-turned-atheist politician-activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969-), his collaborator on the film (which showed naked women with Quran verses inscribed on their bodies) is next, causing her to go under protection with 24-hour bodyguards, then flee to the U.S., where she joins the conservative Am. Enterprise Inst. On Nov. 4 Pres. Bush pledges to aggressively pursue major changes in Social Security, the tax code and medical malpractice awards. On Nov. 4 Latin Am. leaders kick off the Rio Group Conference in Brazil, which commits to sending an additional 1.5K troops to join the 4K already trying to restore order in Haiti. On Nov. 4 military hardliners in top cocoa producer Ivory Coast (two bar soap brand names?) break a ceasefire and launch surprise air strikes against rebel positions in an effort to retake the N part of the country held by Muslim rebels since 2002; on Nov. 6 French troops clash with soldiers and angry mobs in Abidjan after Ivory Coast warplanes kill at least nine French peacekeepers and a U.S. civilian in an air strike, and, although govt. officials call it an accident, on Nov. 7 France responds with overwhelming military force, destroying two Soviet-made Sukhoi jets used in the bombing, plus at least three heli gunships; the 6K-man U.N. peacekeeping force there incl. 4K French troops; the French declare that new Ivory Coast pres. (2000-11) Laurent Koudou Gbagbo (1945-) will be "held personally responsible by the international community for the public order in Abidjan", and order an evacuation; on Nov. 14 African leaders meeting in Abuja, Nigeria back an arms embargo. On Nov. 7 coordinated attacks on police stations throughout Iraq kill more than 50 people; two dozen Americans are wounded. On Nov. 8-Dec. 23 thousands of U.S. troops attack Sunni insurgent strongholds in the Second Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, scoring a big military V for the U.S. and destroying the city, eliminating the last major guerrilla safe haven in Iraq; it is really a U.S. atrocity because they used depleted and enriched uranium, cluster bombs, white phosphorous, and other terror weapons? On Nov. 9 U.S. atty.-gen. John Ashcroft and commerce secy. Don Evans resign, becoming the first George W. Bush cabinet members to leave. On Nov. 10-16 the USS Nimitz UFO Incident sees two F/A-18 Super Hornet pilots led by Strike Fighter Squadron 41 cmdr. allegedly ancounter a UFO, which critics attribute to equipment malfunction; on May 31-July 5, 2019 the History Channel debuts Unidentified: Inside America's UFO Investigation, featuring Blink-182 lead singer Tom DeLonge, 2015 founder of the To the Stars Academy of Arts & Sciences; in Sept. 2019 a 2nd season is greenlit after viral clips from the show are confirmed by the U.S. Navy to be authentic footage. On Nov. 11 Palestinians worldwide mourn the death of leader Yasser Arafat, waving flags and burning tires. On Nov. 12 after damning testimony and tapes of conversations with his lover Amber Frey are heard by the jury, former fertilizer salesman Scott Lee Peterson (1972-) is convicted of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and dumping her body in San Francisco Bay in a crowd-pleasing verdict after a sensationalized 5-mo. trial; on Dec. 13 the jury recommends the death penalty; Judge Alfred A. Delucchi sentences him formally on Feb. 25, at which time Peterson joins 641 other inmates on Calif.'s death row, only 10 of whom have been executed since Calif. brought back capital punishment in 1978; San Quentin happens to overlook San Francisco Bay, where Laci's body was dumped?; Amber Frey's atty. is up-and-coming Gloria Allred, who represented Paula Jones against Pres. Bill Clinton. On Nov. 13 a U.S. Marine shoots and kills an apparently unarmed wounded Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah, Iraq, angering Sunni Muslims as a video tape of the incident is shown over and over on Muslim TV; Marines could be heard telling the soldier that the raghead bum was playing dead? - everybody plays the fool sometime, but in Iraq it's one time too many? On Nov. 14 a group of Palestinian gunmen unleash bursts of gunfire as Yasser Arafat's likely successor Mahmoud Abbas arrives at a morning service for the deceased leader, killing two security officers and wounding four more; this comes hours after it is announced that elections will be held on Jan. 9 to replace Arafat, the first vote in nine years. On Nov. 14 Iran notifies the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it will suspend uranium enrichment and related activities to dispel suspicions that it is trying to build nukes - how soon will they forget? On Nov. 15 Colin Powell announces his resignation, and on Nov. 16 Pres. Bush names his nat. security adviser Condoleezza Rice (1954-) as the new U.S. secy. of state (until Jan. 20, 2009), becoming the 2nd woman and first black woman. On Nov. 15 the White House announces the resignation of education secy. Rod Paige, agriculture secy. Ann Veneman, and energy secy. Spencer Abraham. As of Nov. 15 the U.S. Supreme Court has gone 10 years and 3 mo. without a change; the only longer period was 11 years 8 mo. from 1812-23; only 3 times before (1932-7, 1864-70, 1846-51) has it even gone past 5 years. On Nov. 15 a steamy intro to ABC's Monday Night Football (Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys) featuring naked white blonde babe Nicolette Sheridan of the hit show Desperate Housewives dropping her towel and jumping into the arms of big tall black Eagles receiver Terrell Owens in his locker room draws complaints from angry viewers and the NFL, and an apology from ABC; announcer John Madden was originally picked for the skit, but didn't have the time? On Nov. 16 Iraq CARE dir. Margaret Hassan (b. 1945) (abducted on Oct. 19 from her car in Baghdad) becomes the first woman hostage to be killed by the insurgents since the U.S. invasion; so far 243 foreigners and Iraqis have been abducted, 162 freed, 31 missing and 50 killed; another woman, a Polish-Iraqi citizen remains a hostage. On Nov. 17 ailing retail giants Sears and K-Mart announce an $11B merger in hopes of staying afloat in the face of the dominant retailer Wal-Mart. On Nov. 18 the U.K. Civil Partnership Act of 2004 is given royal assent, creating parallel rights to married couples; full same-sex marriage is legalized in ? On Nov. 19 Iraqi electoral officials announce that they have set the date of Jan. 30 for the country's first dem. elections for the 275-member Nat. Assembly despite all the Sunni violence and boycott threats by Sunni Arab leaders. On Nov. 19 the world's leading economic nations cancel 80% of Iraq's $38.9B debt; Iraq owes another $80B to Arab countries. On Nov. 19 the U.S. House stuns Pres. Bush by killing legislation to reorganize America's intel services after the Pentagon, fearful of losing their turf influence conservative Repubs. to block it; public outcry causes them to about-face on Dec. 7, creating a dir. of nat. intelligence with power over the country's 15 intel agencies, a nat. counterterrorism center, and a civil liberties board to monitor the govt.'s activities; Defense officials are given priority in battlefield areas over spy satellite and other intel. The real She Vangs combined with the real Deer Hunter? On Nov. 21 36-y.-o. Hmong Lsoa immigrant Chai Soua Vang (b. 1968) of St. Paul, Minn. shoots eight deer hunters in NW Wisc., killing six after he claims that the white hunters surrounded and threw racial slurs at him; on Nov. 8, 2005 he is sentenced to six life sentences, equal to life without parole; on Jan. 6, 2007 the body of Hmong squirrel hunter Cha Vang (b. 1976) is found shot with a shotgun and stabbed 6x in a wildlife refuge near Green Bay, Wisc., and on Jan. 16, 2007 James Allen Nichols (1978-) (white) is charged with murder, but ony convicted by an all-white jury of 2nd degree intentional homicide on Oct. 6, 2007, with a 60-year sentence, causing Hmongs to call it a retaliatory killing. On Nov. 21 Pres. Bush attends an economic summit in Chile, pledging a fresh push for stalled immigration reforms. On Nov. 21 scientists supervise the release of water from Glen Canyon Dam near Page, Ariz. into the Grand Canyon in an effort to restore beaches and save fish and plants that have been disappearing since the dam's construction 40 years earlier; four of eight native species of fish have disappeared, and a fifth (the humpback chub) is endangered. On Nov. 21 a China Yunnan (Eastern) Airlines CRJ-200 en route from Baotou to Shanghai, China catches fire, breaks up, and crashes into a frozen lake 2km (1.2 mi.) from the runway,killing all 47 passengers and six crew plus two on the ground; the next major Chinese airline accident isn't until Aug. 24, 2010. On Nov. 22 in Ukraine the Orange Rev. begins with tens of thousands of demonstrators jamming downtown Kiev, resulting in pro-Western opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declaring himself the winner of the disputed Nov. 21 pres. election and taking a symbolic oath of office to the approval of hundreds of thousands of street protesters as the U.S. govt. urges the Ukrainian govt. not to certify Kremlin-backed PM Viktor Fedorovich Yanukovich (1950-), backed by outgoing Pres. Leonid Kuchma as the winner, but they do it on Nov. 24; on Nov. 27 Ukraine's parliament declares the election to have been rigged by the Central Elections Commission, but their vote is only symbolic, and the Supreme Court is left to decide; on Nov. 29 the opposition, which had been blocking access to govt. bldgs. gives Kuchma 24 hours to fire Yanukovich; a revote is scheduled for Dec. 26; the whole affair puts Pres. Bush in opposition to Russian Pres. Putin, who had been developing a close relationship based on their shared fight against terrorism but who seems to be aiming at becoming a dictator in the process; the Orange Rev. smells of a pattern of pro-NATO "Color Revs." stage-managed by the U.S., causing a break in U.S.-Russian relations?; meanwhile, speaking of organ, in Dec. tests reveal that Yushchenko has been surreptitiously poisoned with dioxin (Agent Orange), causing him to visibly age and his face to become pockmarked; he reportedly has the 2nd-highest level of dioxin ever recorded, more than 6K times the normal concentration; luckily he recovers. On Nov. 23 Dan Rather apologizes for his Sept. 8 60 Minutes II misreport on Bush, then announces that he will step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News next Mar. 9, leaving the anchor post he inherited from Walter Cronkite after 24 years to the day; he never reveals if one is caused by the other. On Nov. 23 former pres. Clinton opens his double-wide-trailer-shaped pres. library during a rainy day in Little Rock, Ark.; U-2 performs live to jazz it up for the four living presidents present (Carter, Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Clinton). On Nov. 23 actor Robert Downey Jr. makes his singing debut with a CD, The Futurist, containing eight pop ballads written and sung by himself, plus Smile, by his movie alter-ego Charlie Chaplin; he appears on the Oprah Winfrey Show to plug it and talk about his past life of drugs and scrapes with the law; just two days earlier comedian $25M per movie actor Jim Carrey (1956-) tells 60 Minutes that he gave up Prozac and alcohol because they didn't cure his depression, and "life is too beautiful". On Nov. 25 Yemen authorities announce the release of 113 Al-Qaida militants after they had "recanted their extremist views". On Nov. 25 Sunni Muslim spokesman urge postponement of the upcoming Jan. 30 Iraqi nat. elections, without effect. On Nov. 25 (Thur.) Pres. Bush visits Iraq, getting involved in Turkeygate when critics claim he poses with a plastic turkey, although it's real? On Nov. 28 a gas explosion in the state-owned Chenjiashan coal mine in Shaanxi province in C China kills 25 and traps 141 others, and 127 escape. On Nov. 28 a plane crash outside Montrose, Colo. injures NBC-TV Sports chmn. Dick Ebersol (1947-) (husband of actress Jill St. John, er, Susan St. James), and kills his 14-y.-o. son Teddy and two crew members. On Nov. 29 a 7.1 earthquake strikes Hokkaido, Japan at 3:22 a.m., but no deaths result. On Nov. 29 Pres Bush nominates Havana-born cereal giant Kellogg Co. CEO Carlos Miguel Gutierrez (1953-) to be U.S. commerce secy. - start the day right? On Nov. 30 Tom Ridge announces his resignation as Dept. of Homeland Security secy. On Nov. 30 NAACP pres. Kweisi Mfume announces his resignation after nearly nine years. On Nov. 30 Ambrose Kappos is acquitted of burglary and stalking charges involving singer Sheryl Crow. In Nov. the civil war in Ivory Coast erupts again. In Nov. Turkey declares Mt. Ararat and the surrounding area a nat. park. In Nov. Shania Twain becomes the first singer to have an album certified 20x platinum. In Nov. the San Francisco Chronicle runs a photo of the cigarette-smoking "Marlboro Man", identified only as "a member of Charlie Company" in Iraq during the battle for Fallujah; he turns out to be James Blake Miller from Jonancy, Ky., later being discharged from the Marines with post-traumatic stress disorder; on June 3, 2006 he marries Jessica Holbrook, with readers of the San Francisco Chronicle contributing $15K; he files for divorce on June 26; of course the real Marlboro Man David McLean (-1995) died of lung cancer? In Nov. the season premiere of the Oprah Winfrey Show features a giant giveaway of a free new Pontiac G6 to every member of the audience; Pontiac pays for it, not Oprah, and the lucky winners have to pay taxes on it - while her soup tonight's butternut squash? In Nov. the mummy of King Tutankhamun is taken from its tomb in the Valley of the Kings outside Luxor and flown to Cairo for X-rays in an attempt to solve the mystery of how the 17-y.-o. pharaoh died; it is the first time in 82 years that his remains leave his tomb. In Nov. the Indian state of Orissa uses wildlife protection laws to shut down 20K prof. snake charmers, but they fight back, threatening to release their snakes in the state assembly if arrests don't cease. In Nov. the 51-member Cuban dance troupe Havana Night Club, created by Nicole "N.D." Durr becomes one of the largest groups of Cubans to defect to the U.S.; in July, 2005 49 are allowed to stay after the rest decide to return. In Nov. former U.S. pres. Bill Clinton interviews Peter Jennings on ABC PrimeTime, and calls Kenyan pres. (since 2002) Mwai Kibai the one living person he'd most like to meet "because of the Kenyan government's decision to abolish school fees for primary education", which increased school attendance by 1.7M; he finally meets the dude on July 22, 2005. In Nov. the Intelligencer, Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies pub. an article by Mass. Gen. Hospital senior psychiatrist William Henry Anderson warning that the U.S. Muslim body politic contains 100K "zealots" that would have to be exterminated the way the "treatment of cancer requires killing of the malignant cells"; he is ignored until ? In Nov. after becoming the first Ascended Master to admit a channeled UFO-related entity, Master Ashtar into his teachings, Joshua David Stone (1953-2005) founds I AM (Integrated Ascended Masters) U. in San Luis Obispo, Calif., which later moves to Austria; when he dies Gloria Excelsias takes over. On Dec. 1 World AIDS Day laments that 39.4M people now have it, two-thirds of them in black Africa, starting with 5.3M in South Africa, then continuing N, 1.8M in Zimbabwe, 1.2M in Kenya, 1.1M in Congo, 1.5M in Ethiopia, peaking at 3.6M in Nigeria, then suddenly ending with the N border states of Gambia, Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, none of which have more than 15K; the Bush admin. goes ahead with its June, 2002 $500M plan to push the AIDS drug nevirapine for pregnant women across Africa, despite Health & Human Services Dept. warnings that NIH research on the drug is flawed, and that it might threaten newborns with severe reactions incl. death. On Dec. 1 Tom Brokaw leaves the anchor desk at #1 "NBC Nightly News" after 42 years at the network, and is succeeded by Brian Douglas Williams (1959-) - the straight white cowboy on the evening boob tube continues to reassure those hiding from the racial-sexual zoo on the daytime boob tube? On Dec. 2 Pres. Bush nominates former New York City police commissioner (2000-1) Bernard Bailey "Bernie" Kerik (1955-) to run the Dept. of Homeland Security, but Kerik withdraws his name days later, citing immigration problems with a former nanny; in 2006 Kerik pleads guilty to two ethics violations and pays $221K, then on Nov. 8, 2007 is indicted by a federal grand jury on 16 counts of conspiracy and fraud; his friend Ruly Giuliani, who had promoted him in New York City gets the flak - immigrated what into her what? On Dec. 5 Russian Pres. Putin makes the first official visit by a Russian leader to Turkey, meeting with Turkish Pres. Ahmet Necdet Sezer for two days while shrugging off protests by Turkish pro-Chechans. On Dec. 5 gunmen ambush a bus carrying unarmed Iraqis to work at a U.S. ammo dump near Tikrit, Iraq, killing 17. On Dec. 5 the Web site Digg is launched by Robert Kevin Rose (1977-) et al. to let users suggest technology news articles. On Dec. 6 "eternal teenager" Dick Clark suffers a mild stroke, which prevents him from hosting his annual "Rockin'" Times Square New Year's Eve TV special, and Regis Philbin subs; he returns for the Jan. 1, 2006 show, displaying speech impediments. On Dec. 6 Al-Qaida militants invade the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, killing five non-U.S. consulate employees and wounding 13; four of the five attackers are killed, and one captured wounded; on Dec. 16 Osama bin Laden, speaking on an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site praises the attackers, and calls on militants to stop the flow of oil to the West. On Dec. 6 Iraqi militants brazenly roam Baghdad's streets within blocks of the U.S. Embassy and the HQ of Iraq's interim govt., looking to kill any Iraqis working for the U.S.; the U.S. strikes back, but the militants score a publicity coup. On Dec. 7 Hamid Karzai (1957-) is sworn-in as the first popularly elected pres. of Afghanistan (until ?); U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney attends the ceremony in Kabul; men line up for a shave after five hairy years under the intolerant Taliban. On Dec. 7 deputy interior dept. secy. (former lobbyist) J. Steven Griles resigns in the wake of an ethics probe alleging that he failed to sever ties with former business interests. On Dec. 8 the U.S. Senate votes 89-2 to approve the biggest overhaul of the U.S. intelligence system in 50 years. On Dec. 8 Joyce and Stanley Boim of the U.S. are awarded $156 by a federal court jury for the murder of their teenie son David, who was shot and killed in May 1999 by Hamas in Israel; the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Islamic Assoc. for Palestine, Quranic Literacy Inst., and Muhammad Salah are defendants found liable. On Dec. 9 Pres. Bush publicly rules out raising taxes to finance a Social Security overhaul. On Dec. 10 an Apache heli collides with a UH-60 Black Hawk heli that was on the ground at an air base in Mosul, Iraq, killing two U.S. soldiers and injuring four. On Dec. 12 a bomb explodes in a S Philippines market, killing 14. On Dec. 12 militants blow up a base in Israel, killing five soldiers. On Dec. 12 Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas apologizes for PLO support of Saddam Hussein during his 1990 invasion of Kuwait. On Dec. 13 media billionaire Rupert S. Murdoch buys the 834 Fifth Ave. penthouse of the late Laurence S. Rockefeller (at 64th St., across from the entrance to the Central Park Zoo) for $44M, becoming the most expensive residence in Manhattan history. On Dec. 14 two trains collide head-on in the rural N Punjab state of India, killing 37 and injuring 40. On Dec. 14 Felix Vazquez (1965-), a catcher on his co. baseball team catches 1-mo.-o. Eric Guzman after mother Tracinda Foxe drops him from her 3rd floor Bronx, N.Y. apt. during a fire, then gives him mouth-to-mouth, and is captured on video, making him a nat. hero. On Dec. 15 a bomb targeting prominent Shiite cleric Sheik Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalayee wounds him and kills seven outside one of S Iraq's holiest shrines. On Dec. 15 Time Warner Inc. agrees to pay more than $500M to settle federal securities fraud and accounting investigations of its America Online unit. On Dec. 16 Pres. Bush says that Social Security is headed for bankruptcy, and pushes a plan for private retirement accounts. On Dec. 16 Bobby Jo Stinnett (1981-) of Skidmore, Mo. is found in her home, dying with her unborn baby cut from her womb; Lisa Montgomery of Melvern, Kan. is arrested for strangling her, stealing the baby from her womb and claiming it as her own. On Dec. 16 17M viewers watch Donald Trump hire West Point grad. and software exec Kelly Perdew as his latest protege; in Apr. 28M watched him hire his 1st protege, Bill Rancic, all on NBC-TV. On Dec. 19 car bombs go off in a funeral procession in Najaf, Iraq and the main bus station in Karbala (both Shiite holy cities), killing 60 and wounding 120. On Dec. 20 Pres. Bush lets the cat out of the bag in a press conference, admitting that American resolve has been shaken by the carnage in Iraq, bravely blaming it on the performance of U.S.-trained Iraqi troops? On Dec. 21 a crowded dining hall at a U.S. base near Mosul, Iraq is bombed by Abu Omar al-Mosuli, a suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi uniform who slips into the base through a hole in the fence, killing 22, incl. 18 Americans (14 U.S. service members), and wounding 76, upping the ante as elections approach; seven employees of Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Houston-based Halliburton Co. that supplies food service are among the dead; insurgent group Ansar al-Sunnah immediately claims responsibility. On Dec. 22 U.S. defense secy. Donald H. Rumsfeld utters the soundbyte "Their grief is something I feel to my core" in answer to criticism of insensitivity to U.S. troops and their families. On Dec. 22-23 a snowstorm across the lower Midwest U.S. and Ohio Valley breaks 104-y.-o. records for size, intensity and cost, dumping 23 in. of snow on Mansfield, Ohio. Look what the cat dragged in? On Dec. 26 (6:58 a.m.) (Boxing Day in Britain) the 2004 Boxing Day (Indian Ocean) Tsunami sees the Sumatra-Anaman Earthquake, the strongest (9.0) earthquake in 40 years (4th largest in the last cent., equal to 1M Hiroshima-size A-bombs) strike deep beneath the Indian Ocean, unleashing 20-40 ft. tidal waves that ravage the coasts of 11 S Asian and African countries (Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand), killing 230K, destroying 430K homes, and leaving millions homeless; 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model Petra Niemcova (1979-) and her boyfriend, fashion photographer Simon Atlee are carried away in the resort of Phuket (pr. POO-ket, not fukit?), which is totally devastated, the 2004 Sri Lanka Tsunami Train Wreck kills 1.7K, becoming the worst rail disaster in history (until ?); but she survives by clinging to a tree for 8 hours; Sri Lanka is hardest hit with over 30K dead; Poom Jensen (b. 1983), grandson of Thai King Bumipol-Adulyadej is killed in Phuket while jet skiing; actor Richard Attenborough's 14-y.-o. granddaughter Lucy is killed, along with his daughter Jane; former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl is evacuated from a Sri Lankan hotel by the Sri Lankan air force; interior designer Nate Berkus (1971-) survives the tsunami in Sri Lanka after losing his gay lover, photographer Fernando Bengoechea (b. 1965); the first tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 500 years, there was no warning system put in place like the U.S. one in the Pacific, costing only $4M a year; on Dec. 29 Pres. Bush proposes a worldwide one, at $20M a year, and one is installed on Sumatra Island by German and Indonesian scientists beginning in Oct.; Pres. Bush embarrasses the U.S. when the initial offer of a paltry $35M for emergency aid draws cries of cheapskate from Jan Egeland, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator; the offer is raised by Dec. 31 to $350M, and total world aid offered reaches $4B ($1.3B from the U.S.) after U.N. Secy.-Gen. Kofi Annan makes a special appeal for long-term aid; Egeland later claims he was misquoted, and that he was talking about rich countries' total contribution to poor countries in dire need, not the one tsunami disaster per se; by 2006 the U.S. gives $3.16B, and individual donors $2.78B, with an avg. household donation of $135; U.S. corps. give $340M. On Dec. 26 residents of Pe'at Sadeh agree to become the first Jewish settlement in Gaza to be evacuated from the area, which is done next Aug. - 20 more to go. On Dec. 27 opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko declares victory in the 3rd (Dec. 26) Ukrainian pres. election, receiving 56%-58% of the vote, depending on whom you believe. On Dec. 27 satellites, radio transmissions etc. on Earth are disrupted for 0.1 sec. by a starquake. When will the Bush admin. give up that old time Iraq and roll? On Dec. 28 at least 54 are killed by car bombs, assassinations, ambushes, and raids on police stations in the sunny Sunni Triangle; in one Tikrit police station insurgents slit the throats of 12 policemen, then blow it up; a suicide bomber in Samarra wounds 10 people at the city center; in Muradiya a car bomb kills five civilians and wounds dozens more; another group claims it executed eight Iraqi employees of a U.S. security co.; the deputy gov. of Anbar province is assassinated near Ramadi; a car bomb in Baqouba kills five Iraqi Nat. Guardsmen and injures 26, while another gunman assassinates a local police cmdr. On Dec. 29 Pres. Bush assembles a 4-nation coalition to organize humanitarian relief for Asia, and affirms that the U.S. will help bankroll long-term rebuilding. On Dec. 29 64-y.-o. William Alfred "Al" Ginglen (1940-) is sentenced to 40 years in prison in Springfield, Ill. for a string of bank robberies after his own sons recognize him in a surveillance photo and turn him in. On Dec. 30 Adrian, Mich.-born Dem. Christine "Chris" O'Grady Gregoire (1947-) is declared victor of the Wash. gov. election over Repub. Dino Rossi by 129 votes out of 2.8M cast, and next Jan. 12 she is sworn-in as Wash. gov. #22 (until Jan. 16, 2013). On Dec. 30 (night) a fire sweeps through the crowded Buenos Aires nightclub Republica de la Cromagnon during a rock concert, killing 194 and injuring 1,492; 4K mainly teens were inside the club with a building capacity of 1.5K for a concert of the Argentine rock band Los Callejeros; the fire is blamed on the govt. for giving it a permit despite no basic safety equipment incl. fire extinguishers. In Dec. New Zealand legalizes same-sex unions. In the winter of 2004-5 Death Valley, Calif. experiences its greatest rainfall on record (until ?), 6 in., over 3x normal, causing an explosion in Mar. 2005 of 50 kinds of wildflowers and developing the fragrance of a flower shop, along with jillions of bees. The British Labour Party finally pushes through a ban on foxhunting, causing die-hard Conservative Ian Farquhar to break down and cry. South Korean pes. Roh Moo-hyun tries unsuccessfully to move the capital from Seoul to Gongjiu. Kazakhstan signs a deal permitting China to build an oil pipeline to the Chinese border. Genoa, Italy is the European City of Culture for this year. After a scandal causes the arrest of several officials of the "Mutiny on the Bounty" island of Pitcairn, Brenda Christian becomes its first mayor. The govt. of Pakistan outlaws Vani, the Muslim practice of parceling out or trading girls to familes to settle disputes. Flu vaccine prepared by the Chiron Corp. in Britain becomes contaminated, causing a shortage in the U.S. The U.N. World Leaders Summit on Hunger in New York City results in a declaration signed by 110 nations, stating: "The greatest scandal is not that hunger exists but that it persists even when we have the means to eliminate it"; 5M children die each year of hunger, 852M people don't have enough to eat (815 in underdeveloped countries, 28 in developing countries, 9 in developed countries). The Valdai Discussion Club is founded in Russia as a forum that "aims to promote dialogue of Russian and international intellectual elites". Dictator Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan gets a law passed making him and all his family members immune from prosecution forever, making him one of the last authoritarian leaders in control of a former Soviet republic. Aruba decides to indefinitely pospone its independence from the Netherlands, leaving its defense and foreign affairs to it. Brazil briefly pisses-off the world when it denies Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to an enrichment plant. Kayseri, Turkey starts a record 139 new businesses in a single day, earning the title "Anatolian tiger"; meanwhile capitalism is sweeping Turkey, making it the home of "Calvinist Islam". Chile legalizes divorce. The U.S. Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act requires U.S. citizens traveling by air to and from Western Hemisphere states to have a passport to enter the U.S.; starting in Jan. 2008 persons traveling by land and sea also must have one. Federal agents raid the offices of the Islamic Am. Relief Agency-USA, and charge five officers incl. dir. Mubarak Hamed, and former Congressman Mark Deli Siljander with illegally sending $1M+ to Iraq, claiming that it's part of a global network of similar Islamic charities that fund Islamic terrorists; by 2020 three plead guilty. The top three selling vehicles in the U.S. this year are gas-guzzling pickups. The British govt. gives out over 1M blue wristbands in its campaign to stop bullying. A secret 2004 CIA program to hire Blackwater Worldwide to kill top al-Qaida leaders is begun, staging raids Vt.'s largest city Killington, Vt. unsuccessfully tries to join N.H. Jon Stewart criticizes the TV show Crossfire as "partisan hackery". This is the Year of the Gnome for the Bohemian city of Usti nad Labem. Econ Journal Watch is founded (until ?). The Israelis begin putting containers of pork fat in their buses on the theory that Islamists won't want to enter them and blow them up. Hope Not Hate is founded in the U.K. to counter the British Nat. Party (BNP). The London Times pub. its first annual Times Higher Education World Universities Rankings; in 2016 the top five are Oxford U., Caltech, Stanford U., Cambridge U., and MIT. The Muslim Histories and Culture (MHC) Project is founded by the U. of Tex. at Austin and Aga Khan U. in Pakistan to create a Muslim-friendly curriculum for Tex. students. Officials at Sequoia Nat. Park in Calif. destroy 44K marijuana plants this year, allegedly worth $4K per plant; next year they only discover 4.4K plants. A memorial to military chaplains is erected at Ft. Snelling Nat. Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minn. (founded in 1939). The Nat. Trust for Historic Preservation designates the entire state of Vt. as endangered. The first wolverine in 200 years is seen in Mich., the Wolverine State. A descendant of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" author Samuel Taylor Coleridge enters the 2K-mi. Albatross Race. The word "snowclone" is coined by Glen Whitman on Jan. 15 in reference to the many words for snow in the Eskimo language; e.g., "40 is the new 30", "50 is the new 40". Tylenol finally markets an EZ-Open container for arthritics. After designing the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu-Dhabi in 1997-2010, and the Nat. Museum of the Arts of the 21st Cent. (MAXXI) in Rome, Italy in 1998-2010, Iraqi-born British architect ("Queen of the Curve" Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid (1950-2016) becomes the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Truth & Soul Records is founded in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, N.Y. by Leon Michels and Jeff Silverman, going on to sign acts incl. The Phenomenal Handclap Band, The Fabulous Three, and Lee Fields and The Expressions. A 10-y.-o. cheese sandwich that resembles the Virgin Mary (from a Wall Drug in S.D.?) is auctioned on eBay for $28K. The Oldsmobile discontinues production after 106 years. Coke announces Coke II, and Pepsi announces Pepsi Edge, new versions with half the calories and carbs. Reynolds American Inc. is formed in Jan. from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Am. Snuff Co., Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., and Niconovum AB, becoming the 2nd largest tobacco co. in the U.S., selling 28% of all cigarettes in the U.S. by 2010; in July 2014 it purchases Lorillard Tobacco Co. for $25B. Nevada becomes a big attraction with Chinese tourists, causing the Nevada Tourism Board to run ads there. U.S. Jewish immigration to Israel is 2,690, the highest since the 1984 figure of 2,827. Between 1998-2004 the avg. nicotine yield of an Am. cigarette goes up 10%; the Newport 100 menthol is #1 at 3.2 mg. "Low-carb" is the U.S. food product marketing buzzword this year, but by the end of the year consumers begin to lose interest with the often flat and tasteless potato chips, cookies and other food on the store shelves, and it just sits there. Ryan Seacrest replaces Casey Kasem on the radio show "America's Top 40". Jack Daniel's lowers the alcohol of its flagship brand Old No. 7 Black Label "Quality Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey" from 86 proof to 80 proof. The liberal Air America Network gets off to a shaky start but reaches 40 radio markets by the end of the year. The World Wide Web sports 10B+ pages; the Internet still fails to kill paper-based book sales, although 1 of 12 book sales is of used books ($2.2B total, $600M over the Internet, a 11%/33% jump from 2003). The Statue of Liberty, shut down after 9/11 reopens, but tourists are only allowed to the top of the pedestal, or Lady Liberty's toes. Thieves steal 240 manhole covers in Beijing, China for scrap. The avg. 1-way commute in the U.S. this year is 24.4 mi. Billboard begins carrying a top-20 list of ring tones for cell phones, incl. "My Boo", "Theme from Halloween", and "Ice Ice Baby". Wrigley Co. purchases Life Savers and Altoids from Kraft Foods for $1.48B; in 2008 Mars Co. purchases Wrigley for $23B. Intel Corp. begins shipping 95% lead-free microprocessor packages. Mark Zackersky founds Freebook.com to provide free ebooks, audio, books and book summaries. The U.S. Mint issues state quarters for Mich. (Jan.). A Ming vase is auctioned for $6M. Ted "The Poet Man" Kooser (1939-) becomes U.S. poet laureate #13 (until 2006). The U.S. porno industry goes through an AIDS scare. Velcro is added to U.S. Army uniforms; too bad, after it proves unable to handle desert dust, it is discontinued in Aug. 2010. British neurologist Natasha Campbell-McBride coins the term Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS), for the connection between functions of the digestive system and brain. The Guam Broadbill songbird is declared extinct after loss of habitat and the introduction of brown tree snakes wipe it out. Sports: On Feb. 15 the 2004 (46th) Daytona 500, the first to air in high-definition is won by Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1974-), becoming his first win six years to the day after his father's first and only win; Tony Stewart comes in 2nd, and rookie Scott Wimmer comes in 3rd. In Feb. Roger Federer (1981-) of Switzerland becomes the #1 tennis player in the world; too bad, he can't win on clay, and never wins the French Open? On Mar. 31 Laguna, Calif.-born Melissa "Missy" Bellinder (1981-) (later Parkin) becomes the first woman to join the Prof. Bowlers Assoc. (PBA). On May 1 despite smashing his head against an iron bar and fracturing his skull the year before, causing him to be nicknamed "Quasimodi" for his swollen head and eyes, Philly's favorite son Smarty Jones (2001-) (chestnut colt) (jockey Stewart Elliott in his Triple Crown debut), owned by emphysema sufferer Roy Chapman (1926-2006) wins the Kentucky Derby, becoming the first horse with a perfect record to win since Seattle Slew in 1977; on May 15 he wins the 129th Preakness by a record 11.5 lengths; on June 5 at Belmont (a 3-10 favorite) he fades in the stretch and is beaten by 36-1 longshot Birdstone (2001-) (jockey Edgar Prado) by a length; he retires in the summer. On May 8 6'10" pitcher Randall David "Randy" Johnson (1963-) ("the Big Unit") of the Arizona Diamondbacks throws a perfect game in a 2-0 win over the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta, becoming the 15th in ML baseball since 1900. On May 14 Brandon Inge and Omar Infante of the Detroit Tigers hit back-to-back homers, becoming the first-ever teammates with names beginning with the letter I to do it? On May 25-June 7 the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals see the Tampa Bay Lightning (first appearance in the Finals) defeat the Calgary Flames (first appearance since 1989) 4-3; MVP is 6'0" center Bradley Glenn "Brad" Richards (1980-) of the Lightning; on June 5 in Game 6 a goal by Lightning right wing Martin St. Louis (1975-) 33 sec. into the 2nd OT forces a game 7, in which Ruslan Fedotenko (1979-) scores two goals to help the Tampa Lightning to its first championship vs. the Calgary Flames. On May 30 the 2004 (88th) Indianapolis 500 is won by Buddy Rice (1976-) after the race is ended by rain at 180 laps (450 mi.); team owners are Bobby Rahal and David Letterman. On June 6-15 the 2004 NBA Finals sees the Detroit Pistons (coach Larry Brown) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) by 4-1; Chauncey Billups of the Pistons is MVP; William Davidson becomes the first pro sports owner to win two titles in one year. On June 9 Rusty Wallace sets a NASCAR speed record of 216.309 mph at Talladega Superspeedway, beating Bill Elliott's 1987 record of 212.809 mph. On June 18-July 13 the 2004 FIDE World Chess Championship is held at the Almahary Hotel in Tripoli, Libya, where Muammar al-Gaddafi offers $2M in prizes and Israeli players are excluded, causing former U.S. and U.S.S.R. champ Boris Franzevich Gulko (1947-) and most top players to boycott it, with Gulko writing a letter to FIDE pres. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, with the soundbyte: "I implore you not to be the first president of FIDE to preside over the first world chess championship from which Jews are excluded. Our magnificent and noble game does not deserve such a disgrace"; originally the winner was going to play world champ Garry Kassparov, but it never happens; a similar thing happened in 1986, where it was held in the UAE. On July 3 17-y.-o. 6'2" Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (1987-) upsets Serena Williams to win the 2004 Wimbleton women'a singles title; she becomes world #1 next Aug. 22, but wins no major titles until the 2006 U.S. Open. On July 25 Texas-born bicyclist Lance Armstrong wins a record 6th Tour de Lance, er, France. In Aug. the Internat. Basketball League (IBL) is founded with eight teams by Portland, Ore. sports promoter to play a faster, more exciting, higher-scoring (by 30 points) form of the game, incl. a 22-sec. shot clock and the immediate inbound rule; by Apr. 2005 it has 17 teams; the first championship is won by the Battle Creek Knights after they defeat the Dayton Jets; in July 2011 it is sold to Bryan Hunter of Vancouver, Wash.; in Mar. 2014 it merges with the West Coast Basketball League (WCBL). On Sept. 17 Barry "asterisk" Bonds hits his 700th homer at SBC Park, becoming the first member of the ML 700-homer club in 31 years; Steve Williams (1979-) secures the ball after a scramble in the beachers, and later Timothy Murphy (1965-) sues him, claiming the ball should be his because he had it locked behind his knees before Williams swiped it; on Oct. 27 Williams sells the ball for $804,129 after a 10-day online auction on Overstock.com. On Oct. 1 Ichiro Suzuki (1973-) of the Seattle Mariners breaks the 84-y.-o. record of George Sisler as he scores his 258th ML hit in a single season, with a single in the 3rd inning against the Texas Rangers in an 8-3 game; he later gets another hit, giving him 259 for the season and a ML-leading .373 average; "Through my career, I think this is the best moment" (Suzuki). On Nov. 20 the 2004 Harvard-Yale Prank at the annual Harvard-Yale football game sees Yale students pretending to be the Harvard pep squad hand out placards to Harvard fans which when they raise the together spell "We Suck". The 2004 Anti-FIDE Chess Olympiad is hosted in Libya, where Muammar al-Gaddafi offers $2M in prizes and Israeli players are excluded, causing former U.S. and U.S.S.R. champ Boris Gulko and most top players to boycott it; a similar thing happened in 1986, where it was held in the UAE, and 1976, when it was held in Tripoli, LIbya. On Nov. 19 (Fri.) in The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. an Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game is stopped with 45.9 sec. remaining after the fans and the teams get into a brawl, incl. the Pacers' Ronald William "Ron" Artest Jr. (1979-) and Stephen Jesse Jackson (1978-) going into the stands after fans dump refreshments on them; the Pacers win 97-82, but the struggling NBA is given a black eye, and on Nov. 21 nine players are banned for 143 games, incl. a season-long (73 game) suspension for Artest, 30 games for Jackson, 25 for Jermaine O'Neal, 5 for Anthony Johnson (all of the Pacers), and 6 games for Detroit's Ben Wallace, who started it all by shoving Artest after a foul - why can't we be friends? I take my honey to the welfare line, I see you standing in it every time? On Dec. 26 Indianapolis Colts QB (#18) Peyton (Gael. "royal") Williams Manning (1976-) breaks Dan Marino's 1984 record of 48 TDs in the regular season in a game against the San Diego Chargers, with 49, which it takes Tom Brady of the New England Patriots until 2007 to beat (50); Manning ends the season with an NFL record QB rating of 121.1. The Brunswick Euro Challenge is founded, open to amateur and prof. 10-pin bowlers from the U.S., Europe, and Asia. In the 2004-5 season the avg. NBA salary tops $4M ($4.4M), making basketball players the world's highest-paid athletes. 5'11" Tex.-born RB Jamario Thomas (1985-) of the U. of North Tex. sets an NCAA record for the fastest to reach 1K yards, with 1,801 yards for the season, and the NCAA freshman record for five 200-yard games; too bad, after injuries his performance drops for the rest of his college career, and he is not drafted by the NFL. Architecture: On May 18 the 1M sq. ft. Sands Macau, owned by Sheldon Gary Adelson (1933-) opens, becoming the PRC's first Las Vegas-style casino. On Apr. 29 the Nat. World War II Memorial between the Washington and Lincoln Monuments in Washington, D.C. opens; on May 29 it is dedicated by Pres. George W. Bush. On July 4 a 20-ton granite slab inscribed "The enduring spirit of freedom" is laid as the cornerstone of the 1,776-ft. Freedom Tower skyscraper that will replace the WTC twin towers. On July 6, 2004 the Ł3.6M Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain at the SW corner of Hyde Park S of the Serpentine Lake in London, England opens, featuring 545 pieces of Cornish granite arranged in 165 ft. x 260 ft. x 20 ft. stream bed surrounded by a lush grassy field. In July $17M Crown Fountain opens in Millennium Park in Chicago, Ill., designed by Catalan artist Jaume Piensa, consisting of a black granite reflecting pool between a pair of 50' glass brick towers covered with LEDS that display digital videos incl. waterfalls and 1K+ Chicago residents who puff their cheeks as a stream of water shoots out of their mouths. On Aug. 8 the 22K sq. ft. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Hindu Temple in Bartlett (near Chicago), Ill. opens, becoming the largest Hindu stone temple in the U.S. (until ?). On Sept. 21 the 250K-sq.-ft. Nat. Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., on the Nat. Mall next to the Air and Space Museum opens; it features an exterior of Kasota limestone from Minn. with a unique curvilinear design suggesting carving by wind and water. On Nov. 16 the $133M MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Man. opens as the home of the NHL Winnipeg Jets and the AHL Manitoba Moose; on Oct. 17, 2011 the Winnipeg Jets win their first game there. On Dec. 31 the 1,667-ft. Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan opens to the public, becoming the world's tallest bldg. (until 2007). The Tornado Musical Fountain opens in Europa Park in Rust, Germany, later moved to the Colosseo Hotel; more are installed at Futuroscope in Poitiers (2011), Sharjah, UAE, Wetzlar, Germany, Tbilisi, Georgia, Ningbo, China, and Busan, South Korea, which becomes the world's largest indoor water show. Nobel Prizes: Peace: Wangari Muta Maathai (1940-) (Kenya) [Green Belt Movement]; Lit.: Elfriede Jelinek (1946-) (Austria) (states that she considers Austrian writer Peter Handke to be more worthy and that she got the award just for being female, and sends a video message instead of attending, claiming agoraphobia); Physics: David Jonathan Gross (1941-) (U.S.), Frank Anthony Wilczek (1951-) (U.S.), and Hugh David Politzer (U.S.) [asymptotic freedom in the strong interaction]; Chem.: Avram Hershko (1937-) (Israel), Aaron Ciechanover (1947-) (Israel), and Irwin A. Rose (1926-) (U.S.) [ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation]; Medicine: Richard Axel (1946-) (U.S.) and Linda Brown Buck (1947-) (U.S.) [odorant receptors and org. of olfactory system]; Economics: Finn Erling Kydland (1943-) (Norway) and Edward Christian Prescott (1940-) (U.S.) [dynamic macroeconomics]. Inventions: On Jan. 3 NASA's Mars rover Spirit touches down on Mars - monsters vs. aliens is a must-see in 3-D? On Sept. 8 the $264M Lockheed-Martin Genesis space capsule (launched Aug. 8, 2001), after 29 mo. in space collecting solar wind particles from the sun crashes in a Utah desert at 193 mph after the parachute fails to deploy, losing the data collected; a part that releases the parachute was later found to have been installed backwards? - was it software or hardware? On Sept. 29 after being piloted on Dec. 17, 2003 (100th anniv. of the Wright Brothers' first flight) by William Brian Binnie (1953-), reaching supersonic flight, SpaceShipOne, travels into space and back, breaking the 100 km (62 mi.) line and reaching an alt. of 102.93km, piloted by Michael Winston "Mike" Melvill (1940-), then on Oct. 4 reaching 112.014km piloted by Binnie, being plagued by a series of 29 rapid rolls near the top of its ascent, winning the $10M Ansari X Prize for the first manned private spaceflight, named for Iranian-born Am. Texas telecom entrepreneur Anousheh Ansari (1966-); it was designed by Burt Rutan (brother of Dick Rutan) and financed by Paul G. Allen; the previous record alt. for an air-launched craft was 354K ft., reached by a U.S. X-15 in 1963; on Sept. 18, 2006 Ansari becomes the first private female space explorer and first Eastern and Muslim woman in space. On Sept. 30 arthritis drug Vioxx is withdrawn from the market by its manufacturer Merck & Co. after reports of it triggering heart attacks, plus a $253M award on Aug. 9 in Angleton, Tex. to the widow of Robert Ernst, who died after taking the drug for 8 mo. In Oct. Google Maps is acquired from Sydney, Australia-based Where 2 Technologies, owned by Danish brothers Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen, turned from a downloadable to Web-based app, and launched by Google in Feb. 2005. On Nov. 16 the 12-ft.-long unmanned air-breathing NASA X-43A scramjet flies under its own power above the Pacific Ocean for 10 sec., reaching Mach 9.7 (7K mph), the 3rd of its kind (#2 reached Mach 6.83 in Mar.); the SR-71 Blackbird is still the fastest air-breathing manned aircraft at Mach 3. In Nov. Firefox open source browser is released by Mozilla, gaining 300M users by 2009. Honda releases the first fuel cell vehicle to the consumer market; fuel cells were supposed to begin appearing in homes and camps this year. Iomega introduces a 1 GB model of its Micro Mini line of zip drives, weighing 0.5 oz. and having an 8 MB/sec read speed, all for only $179.95. The PalmOne Treo 600 smartphone is released, causing a rev. in palmsize Internet terminals. Roll-up displays (flexible computer/TV screens) were supposed to go on the market this year, according to Wired.com. The first electronic cigarette, based on ultrasonic atomizing technoogy is patented in the U.S., in which nicotine is dissolved in a cartridge containing propylene glycol, then atomized to create an ultrafine spray resembling smoke. Science: On Feb. 13 (Ides of Feb.) the Diamond Star Lucy (white dwarf BPM 37093) 50 l.y. from Earth is announced by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, containing 10 billion trillion trillion (1E34) carats, becoming the universe's largest known diamond; named after the 1967 Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds". On Mar. 23 NASA announces that its Mars Exploration Rovers have discovered evidence of past liquid water on the Martian surface after Opportunity's landing site Meridiani Planum shows evidence of being the shoreline of a long-gone salty sea. In Apr. a female mouse named Kaguya-hime (after a 10th cent. folk tale about a baby girl discovered in a bamboo stalk) becomes the first mammal created from the eggs of two other mice without a Mickey's help; mammalian parthenogenesis becomes a reality; in 2009 13 more are born; the mice live 28% longer than control mice. On May 24 scientists announce that the Universe has been measured at 156B l.y. wide - expanding raisin pudding jokes here? On Aug. 3 the NASA MESSENGER (Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging) robot spacecraft blasts off on a Delta II rocket, entering orbit around Mercury on Mar. 18, 2011 (first spacecraft), going to complete its primary mission in 2012, then impacting the surface on Apr. 30, 2015 after discovering wrinkle ridges called lobate scarps. Barry Popkin and On Oct. 28 Australian and Indonesian scientists announce the discovery of Homo floresiensis (Flores Man), a clan of tiny humans standing about 30 in. tall, who lived in the isolated island of Flores in E Indonesia as recently as 18K years ago, until a volcanic eruption caused their extinction 12K years ago. In Nov. the Assoc. of Black Cardiologists pub. a 2-year study in The New England Journal of Medicine on BiDil, a new heart drug for blacks only, made by NitroMed Inc. of Lexington, Mass.; it becomes the first drug ever approved for only one racial group? In Nov. researchers at the Univ. of Colo. and the Caltech announce that they have found a key brain receptor, Alpha-4 Beta-2, responsible for the addictive effects of nicotine after it releases the neurotransmitter dopamine. On Dec. 6 Encinitas, Calif. h.s. senior Aaron Goldstein wins the Siemens Westinghouse $100K college scholarship for inventing a gyroscopic device that converts ocean wave energy into electricity. On Dec. 25 after entering Saturn orbit on July 1, the NASA Cassini spacecraft (launched on Oct. 15, 1997 by a Titan IV to orbit Saturn) drops the Huygens probe on Titan, landing on Jan. 14, becoming the first-ever in the outer Solar System. The U.S. FDA approves the first biological therapy that blocks the formation of new blood vessels to tumors, pioneered by Judah Folkman (1933-2008) of the U.S. George Bray accuse high fructose corn syrup in soft drinks of endangering health, pissing-off Coca-Cola, Pepsi et al. Australian mathematician Terence "Terry" Chi-Shen Tao (1975) and English mathematician Ben Green prove the Green-Tao Theorem, that there are arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions of prime numbers. The Compressed (Compressive) (Sparse) Sensing is invented by Emmanuel Candes of Caltech, and Justin Romberg and Terry Tao of UCLA, based on L1 norms, permitting the Nyquist-Shannon Criterion to be surpassed and enabling noisy images to be startlingly sharpened. A species of lemur discovered in Madagascar is the first known primate to hibernate. The CMB Cold Spot is discovered, a region of the sky with unusually cold cosmic microwave background radiation. Jay McNeil of Ky. becomes the first amateur astronomer to find a new nebula. The FDA approves the use of Botox for excessive sweating. Scientists drop their estimate of the number of genes in the human genome from 30K-40K to 20K-25K; in contrast, Arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family has about 27K, a fruit fly 13.6K, rice 45K, and maize 50K. Merck introduces a vaccine for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), effective for HPV 16 and HPV 18, which cause 70% of cervical cancers by inactivating tumor suppressor genes. Nonfiction: 9-11 Commission, The 9-11 Commission Report. Walter Abish (1931-), Double Vision: A Self-Portrait. Catherine Allegret (1946-), World Upside Down (autobio.); daughter of Simone Signoret and stepdaughter of Yves Montand claims sexual abuse. Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Felicia, Carson Kressley, and Jai Rodriguez, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab Five's Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better. Graham Allison, Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe (Aug. 9); "Tonight, I'm going to talk about two big ideas. First, the proposition that on the current course, if we continue on the present trajectory, I believe the likelihood of our seeing a nuclear weapon explode in one of our cities is greater than even. That is, there is a higher than fifty one percent chance of a nuclear bomb exploding in one of our cities before the end of a decade from when this book was written, that is, by 2014. That's the first big idea. So, just stay on auto-pilot and we see a nuclear 9/11. The second big idea is that this does not have to happen. This is not written inevitably in the cards." Chris Anderson (1961-), The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More; the new business model created by Amazon.com, Netflix.com et al.; why iTunes makes big bucks selling personalized albums from a selection of 2M songs, when most of the individual titles don't sell many units per year, proving that the era of the "hit song" is dead. Christopher Peter Andersen (1949-), Sweet Caroline: Last Child of Camelot; American Evita: Hillary Clinton's Path to Power (June 6); compares her to Eva Peron. Mohammed H. Anwar, Memories of Afghanistan (autobio.); child abuse, sadism and homosexual rape by authorities, mistreatment of women, public execution "orgies", royal spies. Karen Armstrong (1944-), The Spiral Staircase. Timothy Garton Ash (1955-), Free World: America, Europe, and the Surprising Future of the West (Nov. 2); urges cooperation to spread democracy and freedom; "There are not two separate sets of values, European and American, but several intersecting sets of values." Rick Atkinson (1952-), In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat. Margaret Atwood (1939-), Moving Targets: Writing with Intent 1982-2004. Andrew J. Bacevich (1947-), American Empire: The Realities and Consequences of U.S. Diplomacy. Purain Bair (1944-) and Susanna Bair, Energize Your Heart in 4 Dimensions. James Bamford (1946-), A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America's Intelligence Agencies; the "neocon" Pentagon hawks vs. the "ideologically" liberal CIA; how nat. security advisers Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser drew up plans for an Iraqi invasion in 1996 for Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu (who rejected them), and only needed a pretext to set them in motion? Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele, Critical Condition: How Health Care in America Became Big Business and Bad Medicine. Robert Bauval (1948-) and Graham Hancock (1950-), Talisman: Sacred Cities, Secret Faith. Michelle Belanger (1973-), The Psychic Vampire Codex. Herbert Benson (1935-), Mind Over Menopause; Mind Your Heart. Jayson Blair, Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at The New York Times. William Bloom (1948-), Solution: The Holistic Manifesto (Oct. 15). John Morton Blum (1921-2011), A Life with History (autobio.) (Sept. 3); one of the top 20th cent. Am. historians tells about his years as a history prof. at Yale U. (1957-91), one of the Big Three at the Yale U. History Dept. (#1 in the U.S.) along with Edmund Morgan and C. Vann Woodward, which were "not a refuge from reality but an alternative reality", where he taught classes to privileged mainly white WASP students incl. C-students George W. Bush and John Kerry, lasting long enough to see Jews like Joseph Lieberman and blacks like Henry Louis Gates. David Bodanis, Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity. Christopher Booker (1937-), The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories. Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice. Dannion Brinkley (1950-), The Secrets of the Light: Spiritual Strategies to Empower Your Life... Here and in the Hereafter. Douglas Brinkley (1960-), Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War. Douglas Brinkley (1960-) and Ronald J. Dretz, Voices of Valor: D-Day, June 6, 1944. Rick Broadhead, Dear Valued Customer: You Are a Loser. David Brock (1962-), The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy; his rationale for founding Media Matters for Am. (MMfA)to monitor U.S. media for conservative misinfo. Harry Browne (1933-2006), Liberty A to Z; "872 libertarian soundbytes you can use right now". Frederick Buechner (1926-), Speak What We Feel (Not What We Ought to Say): Reflections on Literature and Faith; Beyond Words: Daily Readings in the ABC's of Faith. Richard Bulliet, The Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization; disses Bush admin.-backed Jewish history of Islam scholar Bernard Lewis for confusing Iraq with Turkey and thinking of Osama bin Laden as the last gasp of the Western triumph over Islam. Peter Burke (1937-), What is Cultural History?; 2nd ed. 2008. James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014) and Susan Dunn, George Washington (Jan. 7); ed. Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014), Georgia Jones Sorenson, and George R. Goethals (eds.), Encyclopedia of Leadership (4 vols.) (Mar. 19). Augusten Burroughs (1965-), Magical Thinking. Thomas Cahill (1940-), Sailing the Wine Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matters. Bruce Caldwell, Hayek's Challenge: An Intellectual Biography of F.A. Hayek. Philip Caputo (1941-), In the Shadows of the Morning: Essays on Wild Lands, Wild Waters, and a Few Untamed People. Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004), The Last Knight: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era; about John of Gaunt. George Carlin (1937-2008), When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops? Ethan Casey, Alive and Well in Pakistan: A Human Journey in a Dangerous Time. Charlotte Chandler, Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder [1906-2002], a Personal Biography (Aug. 1). Richard Alan Clarke (1950-), Against All Enemies; Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror - What Really Happened; the Saudi royal family is secretly Jewish, and so is al-Qaida, which was created so that extremist Muslims could be channeled into Jewish, actually Israeli and U.S. ends? Bill Clinton (1946-), My Life (autobio.) (June 22); bestseller (2.25M copies); receives a $15M advance. Jonathan Coe, Like a Fiery Elephant; bio. of novelist B.S. Johnson (1933-73), causing a resurgence of interest. Nadine Cohodas, Queen: The Life and Times of Dinah Washington. Steve Coll (1958-), Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (Dec. 28) (Pulitzer Prize). Evan S. Connell Jr. (1924-), Francisco Goya: A Life. Robert Conquest (1917-2015), The Dragons of Expectation: Reality and Delusion in the Course of History. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-) and John Ellis O'Neill (1946-), Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry (Aug.); bestseller (1.2M copies). Ann Coulter (1961-), How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must): The World According to Ann Coulter. Harvey Gallagher Cox Jr. (1929-), When Jesus Came to Harvard: Making Moral Choices Today. Lynne Cox (1957-), Swimming to Antarctica; survives 25 min. and swims 1.6km. Richard Ben Cramer (1950-), How Israel Lost: The Four Questions; 1979 Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for the Philly Inquirer questions his Zionist faith. Michael Crummey (1965-), Newfoundland: Journey into a Lost Nation. G. Brent Dalrymple (1937-), Ancient Earth, Ancient Skies: The Age of Earth and Its Cosmic Surroundings. Richard Dawkins (1941-), The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life; human evolution told backwards; "The fact that life evolved out of nearly nothing, some 10 billion years after the universe evolved literally out of nothing is a fact so staggering that I would be mad to attempt words to do it justice." Jimmy Dean (1928-2010), 30 Years of Sausage, 50 Years of Ham (autobio.). John Wesley Dean III (1938-), Warren G. Harding; Harding has the Teapot Dome Scandal, he had the Watergate Scandal?; Worse Than Watergate: The Secret Presidency of George W. Bush; the Bush. admin. classifies too much info. to cover its mistakes up? Alan Dershowitz (1938-), Rights From Wrongs: A Secular Theory of the Origins of Rights. Jared Mason Diamond (1937-), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. E.J. Dionne (1952-), Stand Up, Fight Back: Republican Toughs, Democratic Whimps, and the Politics of Revenge. Maureen Dowd, Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk. Anthony Downs (1930-), Still Stuck in Traffic: Coping with Peak-Hour Traffic Congestion; rev. ed. of the 1992 book. Bob Dylan (1941-), Chronicles: Volume One (Oct. 5) (autobio.). Martin Edmond (1952-), Chronicle of the Unsung (autobio.) (May 1). John Edward (1969-), Final Beginnings: The Tunnel - I thought the tunnel was the initial beginning? Albert Ellis (1913-2007), Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy: It Works for Me, It Can Work for You (autobio.). Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington. Khaled Abou El Fadl (1963-), Islam and the Challenge of Democracy. Oriana Fallaci (1929-2006), The Force of Reason (La Forza della Ragione) (Apr.); bestseller warning that Europe is becoming Eurabia, and that coexistence of the West with "Islamofascism" is impossible. Niall Ferguson (1964-), Colossus: The Price of America's Empire (Apr. 22); pooh-poohs Pres. George W. Bush's statement that "America has never been an empire", and U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld's assertion that "We're not imperialistic", claiming that the U.S. is a global empire with attention deficit disorder that's in denial of its responsibilities both foreign and domestic. James Henry Fetzer (1940-), American Assassination: The Strange Death of Senator Paul Wellstone; claims a conspiracy. Helen E. Fisher (1945-), Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love; love is just chemistry?; lust v. attraction v. attachment; explorer (dopamine), negotiator (estrogen), director (testosterone), builder (serotinin) - we can recognize it but can we beat it? E.J. Fleming, The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine; sumptuous scandals about the coverups of the deaths of Jean Harlow's hubby Paul Bern, Three Stooges mgr. Ted Healy, Superman actor George Reeves, et al. Larry Flynt (1942-), Sex, Lies & Politics: The Naked Truth; "I have been shot and paralyzed; sued for millions; indicted, convicted and incarcerated numerous times, and it has never stopped me from speaking my mind." Thomas Frank (1965-), What's the Matter With Kansas (America)? How the Conservatives Won the Heart of America; formerly left-wing Populist working class people turn the state over to the Repubs.? Gen. Tommy Ray Franks (1945-) (with Malcolm McConnell), American Soldier. Jo Freeman (1945-), At Berkeley in the Sixties: The Education of an Activist, 1961-1965. Amber Frey (1975-), Witness for the Prosecution of Scott Peterson. Francis Fukuyama (1952-), State-Building: Governance and the World Order in the 21st Century. Mark A. Gabriel, Jesus and Muhammad: Profound Differences and Surprising Similarities (Mar.). John Lewis Gaddis (1941-), Surprise, Security, and the American Experience. Nicholas Gage (1939-), A Place for Us: A Greek Immigrant Boy's Odyssey to a New Country and an Unknown Father (autobio.). Jim Garrison (1951-), America as Empire: Global Leader or Rogue Power?. Suzy Gershman, Born to Shop. Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015), D-Day. Warren Goldstein, William Sloane Coffin Jr.: A Holy Impatience. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012), G.R.S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest (w/G.R.S. Mead and Clare Goodrick-Clarke) (2005). Helena Blavatsky. Simon Gray (1936-2008), The Smoking Diaries (autobio.); playwright dying of cancer sticks. Glenda Green (1945-), The Keys of Jeshua. Stephen Greenblatt (1943-), Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare; Falstaff is a combo of Shakespeare's father and rival Robert Greene?; Hamlet is a combo of Greene, Shakespeare's son Hamnet, his father, and the "world of damaged residuals" that undercover Roman Catholics had to endure?; Shylock is Jewish physician Roderigo Lopez? Brian Greene (1963-), The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality. Linda Greenlaw, All Fisherman Are Liars: True Tales from the Dry Dock Bar; the female captain in "The Perfect Storm" speaks about carrying three red lights and bleeding the monkey (drinking). Stanislav Grof (1931-) and Melody Sullivan, Caterpillar Dreams. Mireille Guiliano (1946-), French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating for Pleasure (Dec. 28); bestseller. Stefan Halper (1944-), America Alone: The Neo-Conservatives and the Global Order (bestseller). Pete Hamill (1935-), Downtown: My Manhattan. Bethany Hamilton (1990-), Soul Surfer: A True Story of Faith, Family, and Fighting to Get Back on the Board; filmed in 2011. Sean Hannity (1961-), Deliver Us From Evil. Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), Between War and Peace: Lessons from Afghanistan and Iraq. Everett Lynn Harris (1955-2009), What Becomes of the Brokenhearted (autobio.). Sam Harris (1967-), The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. Gary Hart (1936-), The Fourth Power: A Grand Strategy for the United States in the Twenty-First Century; American's inherent values as set forth in the Constitution should form the basis of U.S. foreign policy? Thom Hartmann (1952-), What Would Jefferson Do?; We the People: A Call to Take Back America. Peter Heller, Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet's Tsangpo River. Tony Hendra, Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul; the ed. of National Lampoon has a 40-year friendship with a Benedictine monk? Esther Hicks (1948-) and Jerry Hicks, Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires (Sept.). Charles Higham (1931-2012), Murdering Mr. Lincoln: A New Detection of the 19th Century's Most Famous Crime; Murder in Hollywood: Solving a Silent Screen Mystery; the mysterious death of movie dir. William Desmond Taylor. Paris Hilton and Merle Ginsberg, Confessions of an Heiress. Philip Hoare (1958-), The Ghosts of Netley. David Horovitz (1962-), Still Life With Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism. David Joel Horowitz (1939-), Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left. David Joel Horowitz (1939-) and Peter Collier, The Anti-Chomsky Reader. A.E. Hotchner (1920-), Everyone Comes to Elaine's. Tristram Hunt (1974-), Building Jerusalem. Samuel Phillips Huntington (1927-2008), Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity. Rhys Llywelyn Isaac (1937-2010), Landon Carter's Uneasy Kingdom: Revolution and Rebellion on a Virginia Plantation. Antje Jackelen and Charles L. Harper, Time and Eternity: The Question of Time in Church, Science, and Theology; "The tension between the already and the not-yet as the eschatological disruption of linear chronology." A.J. Jacobs (1968-), The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World; NYT bestseller; spends one lousy year reading the 44M-word 32-vol. 33K-page Encyclopaedia Britannica and thinks he's TLW? :); "The Know-It-All is a terrific book. It's a lot shorter than the encyclopedia, and funnier, and you'll remember more of it. Plus, if it falls off the shelf onto your head, you'll live." (P.J. O'Rourke) Jane Jacobs (1916-2006), Dark Age Ahead; North Am. civilization is beginning a spiral decline like the Roman empire? Shiv R. Jhawar (1948-), Building a Noble World; to change the world first change oneself spiritually. Susan Jacoby (1945-), Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. Elizabeth Jenkins (1905-2010), The View from Downshire Hill (autobio.). Ha Jin (1956-), War Trash. Chalmers Ashby Johnson (1931-), The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic; how the way that the U.S. Military-Industrial Complex kept humming after the 1989 collapse of the Soviet Union proves that the U.S. wants a global empire, and how this must lead to terrorism against it, the loss of core democratic values, and eventual disaster for the economy. Walter Johnson Jr. (1966-), The Chattel Principle: Internal Slave Trades in the Americas; State of the Field: Slavery. Tony R. Judt (1948-2010) (ed.), Identity Politics in a Multilinguage Age. Sir John Keegan (1934-), The Iraq War. Kitty Kelley (1942-), The Dynasty: The Real Story of the Bush Family (Sept. 14); claims that George W. Bush snorted cocaine at Camp David during his daddy's presidency. Daren Kemp, New Age, A Guide: Alternative Spiritualities from Aquarian Conspiracy to Next Age. David I. Kertzer (1948-), Prisoner of the Vatican: The Pope's Plot to Capture Italy from the New Italian State. Rashid Khalidi (1948-), Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East; accuses the U.S. of imperialism and colonialism, warning that it will backfire; which accuses the U.S. of imperialism and colonialism, warning that it will backfire; "I wrote this book before, during, and immediately after the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, out of a desire to warn against what I believed was a looming disaster." (opening line) Stephen Kinzer, Crescent and Star: Turkey Between To Worlds. Edward Klein (1937-), Farewell, Jackie: A Portrait of Her Final Days. Larry J. Kolb, Overworld (memoir); a spy, trained by CIA spymaster Miles Copland, he is the real watch-out-Shrek James Bond? Philip B. Kunhardt Jr. (1927-2006), The Dreaming Game; his mother, "Pat the Bunny" children's writer Dorothy M. Kunhardt. Mark Kurlansky, 1968: The Year that Rocked the World. Gavin Lambert (1924-2005), Natalie Wood: A Life; by his personal friend, who details her relationship with Elvis Presley, Robert Wagner, Warren Beatty et al., and claims that she liked to date gay and bi men, incl. James Dean, Tab Hutner, Nicholas Ray, and Nick Adams. The Ivan Moffat File: Life Among the Beautiful and Damned in London, Paris, New York and Hollywood. Richard D. Lamm (1935-), The Brave New World of Health Care; "Health care has been the fastest growing cost of business, government and the family budget"; "No budget can tolerate open-ended demands." William Langewiesche, The Outlaw Sea: A World of Freedom, Chaos, and Crime. Frances Moore Lappe (1944-), You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear. Ian Lawton (1959-), The Book of the Soul: Rational Spirituality for the Twenty-First Century; introduces the idea of "Rational Spirituality" that relies on "evidence not faith", using near-death experiences (NDEs) and past-life regression as proof of the soul. Gideon Levy (1953-), Twilight Zone: Life and Death under the Israeli Occupation, 1998-2003; Jewish journalist turns sympathetic to the Palestinians and calls for unilateral Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories. Bernard Lewis (1916-), From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East. Seymour Martin Lipset (1922-2006), Noah Meletz, Rafael Gomez and Ivan Katchanovski, The Paradox of American Unionism: Why Americans Like Unions More Than Canadians Do, But Join Much Less; Seymour Martin Lipset (1922-2006) and Jason M. Lakin, The Democratic Century. Kip Lornell, The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to American Folk Music; foreword by Linda Ronstadt. Michelle Malkin (1970-), In Defense of Internment: The Case for "Racial Profiling" in World War II and the War on Terror. Irshad Manji (1968-), The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith; bestseller by a "Muslim refusenik" who refuses to "join an army of robots in the name of God"; "Osama bin Laden's worst nightmare" (NYT). Martin Emil Marty (1928-), Martin Luther. Robert K. Massie (1929-), Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. Ali al-Amin Mazrui (1933-), The African Predicament and the American Experience: A Tale of Two Edens. David McCullough (1933-), John Adams; sells 2M copies. Walter Allen McDougall (1946-), Freedom Just Around the Corner: A New American History, 1585-1828; calls the U.S. "the central event of the past four hundred years", showing how Americans used their historically unequalled freedom for both good and bad. Dina Matos McGreevey (1966-), Silent Parter: A Memoir of My Marriage; she speaks out about a hubby whose breath smells like you know what while she claims she never suspects? John McPhee (1931-), The American Shad: Selections from the Founding Fish. Brian McWilliams, Spam Kings: The Real Story Behind the High-Rolling Hucksters Pushing Porn, Pills and @*#?% Enlargements. Paul Charles Merkley, American Presidents, Religion and Israel. Michael Mirdad, The Seven Initiations of the Spiritual Path: Understanding the Purpose of Life's Tests (Mar. 31); Sacred Sexuality: A Manual for Living Bliss (Aug. 21). Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), The Free Market and Its Enemies: Pseudo-Science, Socialism, and Inflation (posth.); lectures given in 1951. Jurgen Moltmann (1926-), In the End the Beginning. Edmund Sears Morgan (1916-2013), The Genuine Article: A Historian Looks at Early America; articles he pub. in New York Review of Books, expressing appreciation for the Puritans' religion for "the intellectual rigor and elegance of a system of ideas that made sense of human life in a way no longer palatable to most of us. Certainly not palatable to me... What Americans said from the beginning about taxation and just government deserved to be taken as seriously as the Puritans' ideas about God and man." Dick Morris (1948-) and Eileen McGann, Rewriting History (May 4); a rebuttal to Hillary Clinton's "Living History", exposing her as cold, manipulative, and single-mindedly in pursuit of grate wealth and powah; Because He Could (Oct. 12); an insider look at the Clinton White House, written as a rebuttal to Pres. Clinton's memoir "My Life". Toni Morrison (1931-), Remember: The Journey to School Integration. Abu Bakr Naji, The Management of Savagery; becomes a Bible for Al Shabaab, ISIS et al. Zoe Nicholson, The Hungry Heart: A Woman's Fast for Justice; her 37-day fast in 1982 to get Ill. to ratify the ERA. Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-), Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (autobio.); admits that he tried marijuana and cocaine in his youth; the audio version nets him a Grammy. Mark Obmascik, The Big Year (first book); three men compete to see the most bird species in one year. Maureen O'Hara (1920-2015), 'Tis Herself (autobio.); NYT bestseller. Mary Oliver (1935-), Long Life: Essays and Other Writings. Stewart O'Nan (1961-) and Stephen King (1947-), Faithful: Two Diehard Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season. Andrew P. Napolitano (1950-), Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When the Government Breaks Its Own Laws (first book) (Nov. 11). John E. O'Neill and Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), Unfit for Command. P.J. O'Rourke (1947-), Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism. Steven Ozment (1939-), A Mighty Fortress: A New History of the German People. Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories (June 14). Ilan Pappe (1954-), A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. Michael Parenti (1933-), Superpatriotism. John Perkins (1945-), Confessions of an Economic Hit Man; bestseller about his lovely career at the consulting firm of Chas. T. Main. Francis Edwards Peters, Children of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Kevin Phillips (1940-), American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush; have the Bushes turned the U.S. into a royal dynasty? Sarah M. Pike, New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. Roy Porter (1946-2002), Flesh in the Age of Reason (posth.). Bernard van Praag (1939-) and Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Happiness Quantified: A Satisfaction Calculus Approach; founds Happiness Economics. C.K. Prahalad (1941-2010), The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits (Aug. 5); "An intriguing blueprint for how to fight poverty with profitability" (Bill Gates). Karl H. Pribram (1919-), Gordon G. Globus, and Giuseppe Vitiello, Brain and Being: At the Boundary between Science, Philosophy, Language, and Arts (Sept. 30). Aron Ralston, Between A Rock and a Hard Place. Feisal Abdul Rauf (1948-), What's Right with Islam: A New Vision for Muslims and the West; by the Kuwaiti-born imam of the Masjid al-Farah Mosque in New York City since 1983; the Arabic ed. has the title "The Call from the WTC Rubble: Islamic Da'wah from the Heart of America Post-9/11". Richard Rhodes (1937-), John James Audubon: The Making of an American. Andrew Roberts (1963-), What Might Have Been. Corey Robin (1967-), Fear: The History of a Political Idea. Christine Rosen, Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the American Eugenics Movement (Mar. 4); how eugenics took over Am. religious groups in the early 20th cent. John Ross (1938-2011), Murdered by Capitalism: A Memoir of 150 Years of Life and Death on the American Left (autobio.). Barry Rubin (1950-2014), Hating America: A History (Aug. 10); Loathing America (ed.). Tim Russert (1950-2008), Big Russ and Me; his newspaper truck driver daddy. Michael Ryan (1946-), Baby B (autobio.). Acharya S (D.M. Murdock), Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled; shows parallels. Amin Saikal (1950-), Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival. James Salter (1925-), Gods of Tin (autobio.). Mark Ivor Satin (1946-), Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now; changes "Dare to struggle, dare to win" to "Dare to synthesize, dare to take it all in." Jeremy Schaap (1969-), Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Fighting History; Am. boxer James J. Braddock (1905-74), dubbed "Cinderella Man" by Damon Runyon. Albert Schatz (1922-2005) and Inge Auerbacher, Finding Dr. Schatz: The Discovery of Streptomycin and a Life It Saved. Orville Hickok Schell (1940-) Empire: Impressions of China. Michael F. Scheuer (1952-), Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror; pub. anon. by the CIA official in charge of the anti-Osama bin Laden effort in 1996-9; claims that Muslim terrorists hate the U.S. not for its freedom and democracy, but for its support of Israel and interventionist policies, causing him to endorse Ron Paul for U.S. pres. in 2012; "The fundamental flaw in our thinking about Bin Laden is that Muslims hate and attack us for what we are and think, rather than what we do. Muslims are bothered by our modernity, democracy, and sexuality, but they are rarely spurred to action unless American forces encroach on their lands. It's American foreign policy that enrages Osama and al-Qaeda, not American culture and society." Larry Schweikart (1951-) and Michael Allen, A Patriot's History of the United States: From Columbus's Great Discovery to the War on Terror (Dec. 29) (NYT bestseller); rebuts Howard Zinn's America-hating "A People's History of the United States", calling America an "overwhelmingly positive" force for good. Simon Sebag-Montefiore (1965-), My Affair with Stalin; Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar; Catherine the Great and Potemkin. David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim. Seether, Disclaimer II (album #2) (June 15); remix of the 2002 debut album, plus Broken (w/Amy Lee) (#20 in the U.S.). Hans F. Sennholz (1922-2007), Sowing the Wind. Mary Lee Settle (1918-2005), Spanish Recognitions: The Road from the Past. Laura Shapiro, Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America. Natan Sharansky, The Case for Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny. Maria Shriver (1955-), What's Happening to Grandpa? Sherif Shubashy, Down With Sibawayh If Arabic Is to Live On!; disses 8th cent. Persian Sibawayh, father of Arabic philology for making Arabic into a dead language like Latin, whose hallowed status "has rendered it a heavy chain curbing the Arabs' intellect, blocking their creative energies... and relegating them to cultural bondage." Peter Singer (1946-), The President of Good and Evil: The Ethics of George W. Bush. Zecharia Sitchin (1920-2010), The Earth Chronicles Expeditions - imagine hair that defies all kinds of weather? Jane Smiley (1949-), A Year at the Races: Reflections on Horses, Humans, Love, Money, and Luck (autobio.) (Apr. 13). Susan Sontag (1933-2004), Regarding the Pain of Others. Thomas Sowell (1930-), Basic Economics: A Citizen's Guide to the Economy. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), Three Weeks with My Brother (Apr.); they lose both parents and their sister then go on a trip. George Steiner (1929-), Nostalgia for the Absolute. Victor J. Stenger (1935-), The Comprehensible Cosmos: Where Do the Laws of Physics Come From? Gerald Stern (1925-), What I Can't Bear Losing: Notes from a Life. Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, de Kooning: An American Master (Nov. 9) (Pulitzer Prize). Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, and David Javerbaum, America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction. John Stossel (1947-), Give Me a Break. Ron Suskind (1959-), The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O'Neill (Jan. 13); claims that Bush started planning the Iraq War right after taking office. Kara Swisher, There Must Be a Pony In Here Somewhere: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Quest for the Digital Future (Oct. 26); "Time Warner was had by AOL". Brian Sykes, Adam's Curse: A Future Without Men. Jacob Taubes, The Political Theology of Paul; Jewish writer takes on pesky German pro-dictatorship theological thinker Carl Schmitt (1888-1985). Tarita Teriipia (1941-), Marlon, My Love and My Torment; her 1962-72 marriage to Marlon Brando. Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-), The French Betrayal of America. David Toop (1949-), Haunted Weather: Music, Silence, and Memory. Donald Trump (1946-), How to Get Rich; The Way to the Top: The Best Business Advice I Ever Received; Think Like a Billionaire: Everything You Need to Know About Success, Real Estate and Life. Lynne Truss (1955-), Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation; dedicated "to the memory of the striking Bolshevik printers of St. Petersburg who, in 1905, demanded to be paid the same rate for punctuation marks as for letters, and thereby directly precipitated the first Russian Revolution" - shouldn't be zero-tolerance? Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-) and Donald Goldsmith, Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution; written to accompany a Nova special; "Science depends on organized skepticism"; "A hundred billion years from now... all but the closest galaxies will have vanished over our horizon of visibility. Enjoy the view while you can." Sinan Ulgen and Kemal Dervis, The European Transformation of Modern Turkey. Douglas Valentine, The Strength of the Wolf: The Secret History of America's War on Drugs. Richard Vedder, Going Broke By Degree: Why College Costs Too Much. Gore Vidal (1925-2012), Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia; warns against electronic voting and the Help Am. Vote Act; thinks that Bush will lose the 2004 election. Michael Walzer (1935-), Arguing About War; Politics and Passion: Toward a More Egalitarian Liberalism. Elizabeth Warren (1949-), The Two Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents Are Going Broke. Benjamin J. Wattenberg (1933-), Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape Our Future. Stuart Wilde (1946-), The Three Keys to Self-Empowerment. Stanley Tookie Williams III (1953-2005), Blue Rage, Black Redemption: A Memoir (autobio.). Paul Winchell (1922-2005), Winch (autobio.). Cornel West (1953-), Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism; sequel to "Race Matters" (1993); free market fundamentalism, aggressive militarism and escalating authoritarianism, oh my? Cornel West (1953-) and Ken Wilber (1949-), The Ultimate Matrix Collection; his cameos as Councilor West of the Council of Zion in "The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions", where he utters the soundbyte "Comprehension is not a requisite of cooperation". Marjorie Williams, The Woman at the Washington Zoo; ed. by Timothy Noah. Fred Alan Wolf (1934-), The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time. Martin Wolf (1946-), Why Globalization Works; former free market economist turned New Keynesian blames past failure on govts., which he claims can be reformed; helps drive the 2008–2009 Keynesian resurgence, a massive fiscal and monetary response to the financial crisis of 2007–2010. James Wood (1965-), The Irresponsible Self: On Laughter and the Novel. Bob Woodward (1943-), Plan of Attack. Arthur Middleton Young (1905-95), Nested Time: An Astrological Autobiography (posth.); ed. Kathy Goss. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd (1943-2010), Rethinking the Quran: Towards a Humanistic Hermeneutics; gets him declared an apostate by the Egyptian supreme court, causing his marriage to be forcibly dissolved, after which he flees Egypt. Howard Zinn (1922-2010) and Anthony Arnove, Voices of a People's History of the United States; primary sources; "I want to point out that people who seem to have no power, whether working people, people of color, or women - once they organize and protest and create movements - have a voice no government can suppress." Art: Damien Hirst (1965-) and David Bailey (1938-), The Stations of the Cross (12 photographs). Zhang Hongtu, Bada - Van Gogh. Tsehai Johnson, Field #2 (ceramic). Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007), So Long Maryanne. Erwin Redl, FADE; pure-red LEDS in a wavelike fade moving across a virtual curtain. Music: The 5, 6, 7, 8s, Woo Hoo (by The Rock A-Teens) (#28 in the U.K.) (featured in "Kill Bill Vol. 1", and used in Vonage commercials); I'm Blue (#71 in the U.K.). The Academy Is..., The Academy (album) (debut) (Mar. 23); originally The Academy; from Hoffman Estates, Ill., incl. William Beckett, Mike Carden, Michael Guy Chislett, Adam T. Siska (bass), Andy "the Butcher" Mrotek; incl. Slow Down, Checkmarks, The Phrase That Pays. Bruce Adolphe (1955-), Tiger's Ear: Listening to Abstract Expressionist Painting; evokes the look and feel of the Big Six. Aerosmith, Honkin' on Bobo (album #14) (Mar. 30); big-lipped long-tonued Steven Tyler's term for oral sex. Allman Brothers, One Way Out (album) (Mar. 23). Amon Amarth, Fate of Norns (album #5) (Sept. 6); incl. Fate of Norns. The Presidents of the United States of America, Loves Everybody (album #4) (Aug. 17). Akon (1977-), Trouble (album) (debut) (June 29); sells 1.6M copies; becomes known for parent advisory labels on his albums for profanity; incl. Locked Up, Ghetto, Lonely. Joseph Arthur (1971-), Our Shadows Will Remain (album #4) (Oct. 12); incl. In Ohio, Devil's Broom. Ashanti (1980-), Concrete Rose (album #3) (Dec. 14) (#7 in the U.S., #20 in the U.K.); incl. Only U (#13 in the U.S.), Don't Let Them, Wonderful (w/Ja Rule, R. Kelly), Don't Leave Me Alone. Anita Baker (1958-), My Everything (album #6) (Sept. 7) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. You're My Everything. Beatallica, Beatallica (The Grey Album) (EP #2) (Apr. 1, 2004); incl. Blackened the USSR, Hey Dude, I Want to Choke Your Band. Natasha Bedingfield (1981-), Unwritten (album) (Sept. 6) (debut) (#26 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Unwritten, Single, These Words, I Bruise Easily, The One That Got Away. Big & Rich, Horse of a Different Color (album #1) (May 4) (3M copies); incl. Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) (#56 in the U.S.) (#11 country). Bjork (1965-), Medulla (album #6) (Aug. 30) (#14 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); original title "Ink"; contra U.S. racism and patriotism generated by 9/11; incl. Where Is the Line, Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right, Oceania, Ancestors. Prussian Blue, Fragment of the Future (album) (debut) (Nov.); white supremacist duo from Bakersfield, Calif. incl. fraternal twins Lynx Vaughan Gaede (1992-) and Lamb Lennon Gaede (1992-); incl. Aryan Man Awake. Maya Bond (2000-), Pink Drums, Purple Lights (album) (debut); incl. Cute Papa. Beastie Boys, To the 5 Boroughs (album) (June 15); incl. Ch-Check It Out. Jimmy Buffett (1946-), License to Chill (album #26) (July 13); his first #1 album; incl. Hey Good Lookin'. Chris de Burgh (1948-), The Road to Freedom (album #14). Cake, Pressure Chief (album #5) (Oct. 5) (#17 in the U.S.); incl. No Phone (#13 in the U.S.), Carbon Monoxide, The Guitar Man; Extra Value (album). Neko Case (1970-) and Her Boyfriends, The Tigers Have Spoken (album) (Nov. 9). Peter Cetera (1944-), You Just Gotta Love Christmas (album #8) (Oct. 19). Ray Charles (1930-2004) et al., Genius Loves Company (last album) (Aug. 31). Ray Charles (1930-2004) and Norah Jones (1979-), Here We Go Again. Kenny Chesney (1968-), When the Sun Goes Down (album); incl. When the Sun Goes Down (with Uncle Kracker), There Goes My Life. Metal Church, The Weight of the World (album #7); first with Ronny Munroe (vocals), Jay Reynolds (guitar), Steve Unger (bass), and Kirk Arrington (drums); incl. Weight of the World Cover. Kelly Clarkson (1982-), Breakaway (album #2) (Nov. 30) (#3 in the U.S.); sells 14M copies worldwide (6M in the U.S.); incl. Breakaway, Since U Been Gone (written by Max Martin and Dr. Luke Gottwald), Behind These Hazel Eyes, Because of You. Biffy Clyro, Infinity Land (album #3) (Oct. 4); incl. There's No Such Thing as a Jaggy Snake, Glitter and Trauma, My Recovery Injection, Only One Word Comes to Mind. Joe Cocker (1944-2014), Heart & Soul (album #19) (Oct. 12). Leonard Cohen (1934-), Dear Heather (album) (Oct. 26); incl. Dear Heather. Elvis Costello (1954-), Il Sogno (album) (Sept. 21). Elvis Costello (1954-) and the Imposters, The Delivery Man (album) (Sept. 21); incl. The Scarlet Tide. The Cramps, How to Make a Monster (double album). Counting Crows, Accidentally in Love. The Cure, The Cure (album #12) (June 28); comeback time?; incl. The End of the World, alt.end, Taking Off. Death Cab for Cutie, Studio X Sessions EP (album) (July 27). D12, D12 World (album); incl. My Band; on Apr. 12 member Deshaun "Proof" Holton (blood alcohol level 0.32) murders retired Army Sgt. Keither Bender Jr. and is shot and killed in self-defense by the latter's cousin Mario Etheridge. Green Day, American Idiot (album #7) (Sept. 21) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); sells 15M copies; rock opera about Jesus of Suburbia; incl. American Idiot, Boulevard of Broken Dreams, Holiday, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Jesus of Suburbia. The Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Vol. 31 (album) (Mar.); recorded on Aug. 4-5, 1974; Dick's Picks Vol. 32 (album) (July 20); recorded on Aug. 7, 1982 in East Troy, Wisc.; Dick's Picks Vol. 33 (album) (Nov. 15); recorded on Oct. 9-10, 1976 in Oakland, Calif. Mos Def (1973-), The New Danger (album #2) (Oct. 19) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Sex, Love & Money. Celine Dion (1968-), A New Day... Live in Las Vegas (album) (June 14); Miracle (album #9) (Oct. 11). Snoop Dogg (1971-), R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (album #7) (Nov. 16) (1.7M copies); incl. Let's Get Blown (w/Pharrell Williams). Dokken, Hell to Pay (album #9) (July 13). Goo Goo Dolls, Live in Buffalo: July 4th, 2004 (album) (Nov. 23). Doobie Brothers, Live at Wolf Trap (album) (Oct. 26). No Doubt, It's My Life. System of a Down, Mesmerize (album #4) (May 17); incl. B.Y.O.B., Question. Hilary Duff (1987-), Hilary Duff (album #3) (Sept. 28) (#2 in the U.S.) (1.8M copies in the U.S.) ("Basically, I'm not Lizzie McGuire anymore"); incl. Fly, Someone's Watching Over Me. Duran Duran, Astronaut (album #11) (Oct. 11); first with original five members since 1983; incl. (Reach Up for the) Sunrise, What Happens Tomorrow, Nice. Eminem (1972-), Encore (album); incl. Mosh ("fuck Bush", "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president"); Just Lose It; disrespects Michael Jackson. Epica, We Will Take You With Us (album #2) (Sept.). Melissa Etheridge (1961-), Lucky (album) (Feb. 10); incl. Breathe, This Moment. Europe, Start from the Dark (album #6) (Sept. 22); incl. Got to Have Faith. Sara Evans (1971-), Restless (album); incl. Back Seat of a Greyhound Bus, Perfect, Suds in the Bucket. Exodus, Tempo of the Damned (album #6) (Mar. 9); first studio album since 1992; incl. War Is My Shepherd, Impaler (by Metallica). Better Than Ezra, Live at the House of Blues, New Orleans (album) (Sept. 28). Faithless, No Roots (album) (June 7); their first #1 U.K. album; incl. Mass Destruction, I Want More; Everything Will Be Alright Tomorrow (album) (Aug. 30). Fall Out Boy, My Heart Will Always Be the B-Side to My Tongue (EP) (May 18) (#153 in the U.S.). Feist (9176-), Let It Die (album #2) (May 18); incl. Gatekeeper, Mushaboom, One Evening. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand (album) (debut) (Feb. 9) (#32 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.) (3.6M copies); from Glasgow, Scotland, incl. Alex Kapranos (Alexander Paul Kapranos Huntley) (1973-) (vocals, guitar), Robert Byron "Bob" Hardy (1980-) (bass), Nicholas John Augustine "Nick" McCarthy (1974-) (keyboards, vocals), and Paul Robert Jude Nester Thomson (1976-) (drums); incl. Take Me Out (#3 in the U.K.), The Dark of the Matinee, This Fire, Michael. Arcade Fire, Funeral (album) (debut) (Sept. 14); title comes from band members who recently lost family members; incl. Rebellion (Lies) (#19 in the U.K.), Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels), Neighborhood #2 (Laika), Neighborhood #3 (Power Out), Wake Up. John Fogerty (1945-), Deja Vu All Over Again; the war in Iraq continues long after Pres. Bush declares mission accomplished? Peter Frampton (1950-), Gold (album). Gandalf (1952-), Colors of a New Dawn (album #24); incl. Colors of a New Dawn. Indigo Girls, All That We Let In (album #9) (Feb. 17). Lamb of God, Ashes of the Wake (album #4) (Aug. 31) (#27 in the U.S.) (400K copies); incl. Ashes of the Wake (anti-Iraq War), Now You've Got Something to Die For, One Gun, The Faded Line, Laid to Rest. Godsmack, The Other Side (EP) (Mar. 16). Van Halen, The Best of Both Worlds (album) (July 20); Eddie Van Halen subs for Michael Anthony on bass; incl. It's About Time, Up for Breakfast. P.J. Harvey (1969-), Uh Huh Her (album #7) (May 31) (#29 in the U.S., #12 in the U.K.); incl. The Letter (#28 in the U.K.), You Come Through, Shame. Heart, Jupiters Darling (album #13) (#94 in the U.S.) (June 22); incl. The Oldest Story in the World, The Perfect Goodbye. Helmet, Size Matters (album #5) (Oct. 5) (#12 in the U.S.); first album since 1997; incl. See You Dead. Hans Werner Henze (1926-), Sebastian im Traum. Missy Higgins (1983-), The Sound of White (album) (debut) (Sept. 6); incl. The Sound of White, Scar, The Special Two, Ten Days. Janis Ian (1951-), Billie's Bones (album). Incubus, A Crow Left of the Murder... (album #5) (Feb. 3) (#2 in the U.S.) (#6 in the U.K.) (600K copies); first with Ben Kenney replacing Dirk Lance; incl. Megalomaniac (#1 in the U.S.), Talk Shows on Mute (#3 in the U.S.). David Ippolito, Common Ground (album #7). LL Cool J (1968-), The DEFinition (album) (Aug. 31); incl. Headsprung, Hush. Janet Jackson (1966-), Damita Jo (album #8) (Mar. 30) (#73 in the U.S.); incl. Just a Little While, I Want You, All Nite (Don't Stop), R&B Junkie. Jimmy Eat World, Futures (album #5) (Oct. 19); incl. Pain, Work, Futures. Elton John (1947-), Peachtree Road (Elton John's Billy Elliot the Musical) (album #28) (Nov. 9); incl. Electricity. JoJo (1990-), JoJo (album) (debut) (June 22); incl. Breezy, The Happy Song. Norah Jones (1979-), Feels Like Home (album #2) (Feb. 9) (#1 in the U.S.) (14M copies, incl. 4M in the U.S.); incl. Sunrise, What Am I to You?, Those Sweet Words. Bon Jovi, 100,000,000 Bon Jovi Fans Can't Be Wrong (boxed set); marks the sale of 100M albums and the band's 20th anniv. Juanes, Mi Sangre (album #3) (Sept. 28); incl. La Camisa Negra. R. Kelly (1967-), Happy People/ U Saved Me (album #6) (double album) (Aug. 24) (#2 in the U.S.) (3M copies); incl. Happy People (#19 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.), U Saved Me (#52 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.). Unfinished Business (album) (with Jay-Z). The Black Keys, Rubber Factory (album #3) (Sept. 7); incl. When the Lights Go Out (used in the 2006 film "Black Snake Moan"), 10 A.M. Automatic (used in the 2006 film "Live Free or Die"), Till I Get My Way, Grown So Ugly (by Robert Pete Williams) (used in the 2008 film "Cloverfield"). Chaka Khan (1953-), Classikhan (album #10) (Oct. 5). Rilo Kiley, More Adventurous (album #3) (Aug. 17); incl. Portions for Foxes. The Killers, Hot Fuss (album) (debut) (June 7) (#7 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); from Las Vegas, Nev., incl. Brandon Richard Flowers (1981-) (vocals), David Keuning (guitar, vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass, vocals), and Ronnie Vannucci Jr. (drums); incl. Somebody Told Me, All These Things That I've Done, Mr. Brightside, Smile Like You Mean It. K'naan (1978-), My Life Is a Movie (album) (debut); incl. Soobax. Diana Krall (1964-), The Girl in the Other Room (album) (Apr.); incl. Tempation. Fela Kuti (1938-97), The Underground Spiritual Game (album). Patti LaBelle (1944-), Timeless Journey (album); incl. 2 Steps Away, When You Smile. Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked for the Holidays (album) (Oct. 5). Laibach, Anthems (album #13) (double album). k.d. lang (1961-), Hymns of the 49th Parallel (album #9) (July 27). Avril Lavigne (1984-), Under My Skin (album #2) (May 25) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (10M copies); incl. Don't Tell Me, My Happy Ending, Nobody's Home, He Wasn't, Girlfriend. John Legend (1978-), Get Lifted (album) (debut) (Dec. 28); sells 3M copies; incl. Let's Get Lifted, Ordinary People, Used to Love U, So High, Number One (w/Kanye West). Juliette and the Licks, ...Like a Bolt of Lightning (EP) (debut) (Oct. 12). Juliette and the Licks, You're Speaking My Language (album) (debut) (May 17); fronted by Juliette Lewis (1973-); incl. You're Speaking My Language, Got Love to Kill. Black Lips, We Did Not Know the Forest Spirit Made the Flowers Grow (album #2) (May 18); title from Hayao Miyazaki's 1997 film "Princess Mononoke"; incl. Time of the Scab, 100 New Fears. Robert Lockwood Jr. (1915-2006) et al., Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesman: Live in Dallas (album). Lindsay Lohan (1986-), Speak (album) (debut) (Dec. 7); incl. Rumors, Over, First. Ludacris (1977-), The Red Light District (album #4) (Dec. 7) (#1 in the U.S.) (2.1M copies); incl. Get Back, Number One Spot, The Potion, Pimpin' All Over the World. Loretta Lynn (1935-), Van Lear Rose (album) (Apr. 27); incl. Van Lear Rose. 10,000 Maniacs, Campfire Songs: The Popular, Obscure and Unknown Recordings (album). Marilyn Manson, Lest We Forget: The Best Of (album) (Sept. 28); incl. Tainted Love. John Mayer (1977-), As/Is (album) (Oct. 19). Tim McGraw (1967-), Live Like You Were Dying (album #8) (Aug. 24) #1 in the U.S.) (#1 country) (4M copies); dedicated to his father Tug McGraw, who died of brain cancer; incl. Live Like You Were Dying (#29 in the U.S) (#1 country) (2M copies), Back When (#30 in the U.S.) (#1 country). Live Like You Were Dying (album #9) (Aug. 24); Live Like You Were Dying. Tim McGraw (1967-) and Nelly (1974-), Over and Over. Bonnie McKee (1984-), Trouble (album) (debut) (Sept. 28); incl. Trouble. Christine McVie (1943-), In The Meantime (album). Mike + the Mechanics, Rewired (album #6) (June 7). Megadeth, The System Has Failed (album #10) (Sept. 14) (#18 in the U.S.); incl. Die Dead Enough (#21 in the U.S.), Of Mice and Men (#39 in the U.S.). Alanis Morissette (1974-), So-Called Chaos (album) (May); incl. Everything, Eight Easy Steps. Morrissey (1959-), You are the Quarry (album). Paul Moravec, Tempest Fantasy (Pulitzer Prize). Motorhead, Inferno (album #17) (June 22); incl. Terminal Show, In the Name of Tragedy, Killers, Life's a Bitch, Whorehouse Blues. Modest Mouse, Good News for People Who Love Bad News (album #4) (Apr. 6) (#18 in the U.S., #40 in the U.K.); incl. Float On (#68 in the U.S., #46 in the U.K.), Ocean Breathes Salty (#96 in the U.K.); Baron von Bullshit Rides Again (album) (Apr. 13). The National, Cherry Tree (album) (July 20). Nelly (1974-), Sweat (album #3) (Sept. 14) (#2 in the U.S.); incl. Flap Your Wings, Heart of a Champion; Suit (album #4) (Sept. 14) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. My Place (w/Jaheim), Over and Over (w/Tim McGraw), 'N' Dey Say. Olivia Newton-John (1948-), Indigo-Women of Song. Twisted Nixon, Iraqi War; Saddam Don't Surf. Nonpoint, Recoil (album #3) (Aug. 3) (#115 in the U.S.); incl. Wait, Broken Bones. Hall & Oates, Our Kind of Soul (album #17) (Oct. 26). Blue October, Argue with a Tree... (album #4) (Sept. 15). Midnight Oil, Best of Both Worlds (album) (Apr. 5). Omarion (1984-), O (debut). Wilson Phillips, California (album #3) (May 25); first album since 1992; sells 30K copies. Phish, Undermind (album) (Mar.); released before their last show on Aug. 15. Phoenix, Alphabetical (album #2) (Mar. 29); incl. Everything Is Everything, Run Run Run; Live! Thirty Days Ago (album) (Nov. 8). Pitbull, M.I.A.M.I. (Money Is A Major Issue) (album) (debut) (Aug. 24) (#14 in the U.S.); incl. 305 Anthem (w/Lil Jon), Toma (w/Lil Jon). Phantom Planet, Phantom Planet (album #3) (Jan. 6); incl. Big Brat. Insane Clown Posse, Hell's Pit (Aug. 31) (album); intended to warn listeners of the horrors of Hell? Manic Street Preachers, Lifeblood (album #7) (Nov. 1) (#2 in the U.K.); incl. The Love of Richard Nixon, and Empty Souls. Prince (1958-), Musicology (album) (Apr. 20); incl. "Musicology", "Cinnamon Girl". Eric Prydz (1976-), Call on Me (Sept. 23) (#1 in the U.K.). Skinny Puppy, The Greater Wrong of the Right (album #9); first album since 1996; incl. EmpTe. Queensryche, The Art of Live (album) (Apr. 20). Rammstein, Reise, Reise (Arise, Arise) (album #4) (Sept. 27) (1.5M copies); incl. Mein Teil (My Part) (about the German cannibals Armin Meiwes and Bernd Jurgen Armando Brandes, who ate Brandes' penis together and went from there), Amerika, Ohne Dich (Without You), Keine Lust (No Desire). Juno Reactor, Labyrinth (album #6) (Oct. 26); incl. Angels and Men, Zwara. Martha Reeves (1941-), Home to You (album). Steve Reich (1936-), You Are (Variations). R.E.M., Around the Sun (album #13) (Oct. 4); incl. Leaving New York, Electron Blue, Wanderlust, Aftermath. Lionel Richie (1949-), Just for You (album #7) (May 4). My Chemical Romance, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge (album #2) (June 8) (#28 in the U.S., #34 in the U.K.) (1.7M copies); first with Reprise Records; incl. Helena (#33 in the U.S.), I'm Not Okay (I Promise) (#86 in the U.S.), The Ghost of You (#84 in the U.S.). Linda Ronstadt (1946-), Hummin' to Myself (album); jazz. Rush, Feedback (album) (June 29). Scorpions, Unbreakable (album #14); incl. New Generation, Love 'Em or Leave 'Em, Deep and Dark. Mr. Scruff (1972-), Keep It Solid Steel Volume 1 (album) (Jan. 1). Howard Leslie Shore (1946-), The Lord of the Rings: Symphony in Six Movements. Ashlee Simpson (1984-), Autobiography (album) ((debut) July 20) (#1 in the U.S.); biggest debut album so far by female artist; incl. Autobiography, La La, Pieces of Me; performs it on Oct. 23 on Saturday Night Live (hosted by Jude Law), and gets critized for using a pre-recorded vocal track and getting caught when the wrong song is played. Jessica Simpson (1980-), Rejoyce: The Christmas Album (album #4) (Nov. 23) (#14 in the U.S.). Twisted Sister, Still Hungry (album) (Oct. 19). Fatboy Slim (1963-), Palokaville (album #4) (Oct. 4); incl. Don't Let the Man Get You Down, Slash Dot Slash. Patti Smith (1946-), Trampin' (album #9) (Apr. 27); incl. Jubilee. Black Label Society, Hangover Music, Vol. VI (album #5) (Apr. 20); incl. A Whiter Shade of Pale (by Procul Harum). Collective Soul, Youth (album #6) (Nov. 16); (#66 in the U.S.); first on their own label EI Music Group; incl. Better Now, Counting the Days, How Do You Love? Regina Spektor (1980-), Soviet Kitsch (album #3) (Aug. 17); title comes from Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"; incl. Carbon Monoxide, Us. Spiderbait, Tonight Alright (album #6) (Aug. 17); incl. Black Betty, Fucken Awesome, Tonite. Ringo Starr (1940-), Tour 2003 (album) (Mar. 23). Rod Stewart (1945-), Stardust: The Great American Songbook 3 (album) (Oct. 19) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); dedicated to the Tartan Army (fans of the Scottish nat. soccer team); his first #1 album in the U.S. since "Blondes Have More Fun" (1978). Joss Stone (1987-), Mind, Body & Soul (album #2) (Sept. 27) (#11 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (youngest female singer to top the U.K. albums chart since Avril Lavigne); incl. You Had Me, Spoiled. Right to Be Wrong, You Had Me. Rolling Stones, Live Licks (double album) (Nov. 1). Therion, Sirius B (album #14) (May 24); incl. Sirius B; Lemuria (album #15) (May 24); incl. Lemuria. Seven Mary Three, Dis/Location (album #6) (May 11); incl. Without You Feels. Train, Alive at Last (album) (Nov. 2); recorded in Birmingham, Ala. Randy Travis (1959-), Passing Through (album) (Nov. 9); incl. Four Walls. Jethro Tull, Nothing Is Easy: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970 (album) (Nov. 2). Shania Twain (1965-), Greatest Hits (album) (Nov. 8); sells 7M copies. Bonnie Tyler (1951-), Simply Believe (album #14) (Apr. 13). Uma2rman, V Gorode N (album) (debut); from Moscow, incl. Sergei Kristovski and Vladimir Kristovski; incl. Uma Thurman, Nochnoi Dozor (theme of the film "Night Watch"). U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (album #11) (Nov. 22) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); sells 9M copies; incl. Vertigo, City of Blinding Lights, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, Yahweh, Original of the Species. Six Feet Under, Graveyard Classics 2 (album) (Oct. 19). Keith Urban (1967-), Be Here; You'll Think of Me. Usher (1978-), Confessions (album #4) (album #4) (Mar. 23) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (10M copies in the U.S. and 20M copies worldwide, #2 of the decade, incl. 1.1M copies in week #1, a record for an R&B artist); incl. Confessions, Confessions Part II, Yeah! (w/Lil Jon and Ludacris), Burn, My Boo (w/Alicia Keys), Caught Up. Nouvelle Vague, Nouvelle Vague (album) (debut) (Aug. 9); cover band from France, incl. Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux; incl. Love Will Tear Us Apart, Too Drunk to Fuck. Kevin Welch (1955-), You Can't Save Everybody (album #6). Kanye West (1977-), The College Dropout (album) (debut) (Feb. 10) (#2 in the U.S.) (4M copies worldwide); incl. Through the Wire, Slow Jamz (w/Twista and Jamie Foxx), All Falls Down (w/Syleena Johnson), Jesus Walks, The New Workout Plan. Westlife, ...Allow Us To Be Frank (album #6) (Nov. 8) (#3 in the U.K.); Rat Pack tribute album. Wilco, A Ghost Is Born (album #5) (June 22); incl. Hell is Chrome, Muzzle of Bees, Spiders (Kidsmoke). Brian Wilson (1942-), Smile (album). Gretchen Wilson (1973-), Here for the Party (album) (debut); incl. Redneck Woman. Chely Wright (1970-), Everything (album) (Oct. 26); incl. Back of the Bottom Drawer. Daddy Yankee (1977-), Barrio Fino (album #3) (July 13) (#26 in the U.S.) (1M copies in the U.S. - a first for a reggaeton artist); incl. Gasolina. Frank Zappa (1940-93), Joe's Corsage (album) (posth.) (May 30); AuAUDIOPHILIAc (album) (posth.) (Sept. 14); Joe's Domage (album) (posth.) (Oct. 1). The Zutons, Who Killed... The Zutons? (album) (debut) (May). Movies: Oliver Stone's Alexander the Great (Nov. 24), about the young, blonde gay Greek conqueror makes a star of Colin Farrell even though the 175-min. unhistorical movie rambles, and his momma Olympia (Angelina Jolie) looks like his sister?; meanwhile 2 mo. later Jim Lindsay's The True Story of Alexander the Great (Jan. 25, 2005) also comes and goes. Istvan Szabo's Being Julia (Oct. 28), based on the W. Somerset Maugham novel "Theatre" stars Annette Bening as bored 1930s London diva Julia Lambert, who has an affair with young Yank Tom Fennel (Shaun Evans), and gets revenge when she finds out he's using her; the role gets her an Oscar nomination, but she gets "Swanked" by Hilary Swank for a 2nd straight time (first time "American Beauty"). Paul Greengrass' The Bourne Supremacy (July 15) stars Matt Damon as trained assassin Jason Bourne, who is framed and goes on da run; #8 movie of 2004 ($176M). Joe Roth's Christmas with the Kranks (Revolution Studios) (1492 Pictures) (Columbia Pictures), written by Chris Columbus based on the 2001 John Grisham novel "Skipping Christmas" stars Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis as empty nesters Luther and Nora Krank of Riverside, Ill., who decide to skip Christmas while daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) is in Peru, bringing down the neighbors on them led by Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd) along with Luther's co-workers, only to flop fast when Blair suddenly returns on Christmas Eve morning; Tom Poston (last film role) plays Father Zabriskie; does $96.6M box office on a $60M budget. Mike Nichols' Closer (Dec. 3) (Columbia Pictures), based on the 1997 Patrick Marber play based on Mozart's opera "Cosi fan tutte" stars Natalie Portman as Alice Ayres/Jane Jones, Jude Law as Dan Woolf, Julia Roberts as Anna Cameron, and Clive Owen as Larry Gray in a flick about love at first sight, who are "traitors at every glance"; in reality, it's an excuse to put out phone sex disguised as movie dialogue?; does $115M box office on a $27M budget. Michael Mann's Collateral (), the first feature film shot mostly with hi-definition cameras stars Tom Cruise as prof. hitman Vincent, who hires cabbie Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) all night so he can pull off a string of hits to stop a federal drug case, but goes too far when he tries to hit his love babe Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett Smith). Sara Sugarman's Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (Feb. 20) stars Lindsay Lohan in her first non-remake as Mary Elizabeth Cep, whose family moves to the suburbs, causing her to have to fit in; a flop with critics but not at the box office. Michael Lembeck's Connie and Carla (Apr. 16) (Universal Studios) stars Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette, two women who pose as men dressing in drag to hide from gangsters; David Duchnovny plays Jeff, who falls for Connie; does $11.3M box office on a $27M budget. David Twohy's The Chronicles of Riddick (June 11), a sequel to "Pitch Black" stars Vin Diesel as Riddiculous, er, Richard B. Riddick in a black screen with 5-quick-beat pseudo-music trying to lull you to sleep while jarring you back awake?; a world where nobody eats, sleeps, or takes time for bodily functions, and the bill for the war is paid by, er, isn't?; "You keep what you kill"?; brings in $107M on a $105M budget; based on the prequel "Pitch Black" (2000); followed by "Riddick" (2013). Pieter Jan Brugge's The Clearing (July 2) (Thousand Words) (Brugge's dir. debut) stars Robert Redford, Hellen Mirren, and Willem Dafoe in a kidnapping flick. Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow (May 17) (20th Cent. Fox) stars Dennis Quaid as climatologist Jack Hall, who must save the world from super-fast global warming er, cooling, which incl. New York being taken over by a new ice age; Jake Gyllenhaal plays his stranded son Sam; #7 movie of 2004 ($187M in the U.S., $544.3M worldwide on a $125M budget). Irwin Winkler's De-Lovely (May 22) stars Kevin Kline as Cole Porter (1891-1964), and Ashley Judd as his wife Linda. Oliver Hirschbiegel's Downfall (Der Untergang) (Sept. 16), based on books by Hitler's secy. ("the best boss I ever had") Traudl Junge (1920-2002) et al., about the final days of Herr Hitler (played by Bruno Ganz) in the bunker is the best German-perspective WWII flick since Das Boot, although it is controversially intimate and lifelike? Renny Harlin's Exorcist: The Beginning (Aug. 20) stars Stellan Skarsgard as Father Merrin, who first encounters demon Pazuzu while bedding Dr. Sarah (Isaella Scorupco). Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Mar. 19) (Focus Features), named after a line in Alexander Pope's poem "Eloisa to Abelard" stars Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet as separated lovers Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski, who had Lacuna Inc. of New York City erase their memories, and meet by accident on a train and fall in love over again; does $72.2M box office on a $20M budget. Roger Moore's Fahrenheit 911 (June 25) (the first documentary to win the Palme d'Or since Cousteau in 1956) is a persuasive indictment of the Bush chimp in a suit mismanaging America, but it fails to cost Bush the election; Ray Greedbury, er, Bradbury stinks himself up by trying to sue him for "infringing" on the title of his sci-fi novel, which shall remain nameless, knowing that titles aren't copyrightable, much less scientific measurements? John Moore's Flight of the Phoenix (Dec. 17) stars Dennis Quaid as Frank Towns, Tyrese Gibson as A.J., Giovanni Ribisi as Elliott, and Hugh Laurie as Ian, whose plane crashes in a Mongolian desert and they have to try to build a new one. Peter Berg's Friday Night Lights (Oct. 8) (Universal Pictures), based on the 1990 H.G. Bissinger book about the 1988 5A Permian H.S. Panthers football team in Odessa, Tex. stars Billy Bob Thornton as coach Gary Gaines, who coaches them to the state championship against the Dallas Carter H.S. Cowboys; does $61.95M box office on a $30M budget. Zach Braff's Garden State (Jan. 16) (Miramax) stars Braff as 26-y.-o. actor/waitor Andrew Largeman, who returns to his home in N.J. after his mother dies, who hooks up with pathological liar Sam (Natalie Portman); does $35.8M box office on a $2.5M budgets. Peter Hewitt's Garfield (June 11) features the voice of Bill Murray as Jon Arbuckle's (Breckin Meyer) cat Garfield, who has to rescue his dog Odie. Takashi Shimizu's The Grudge (Oct. 22) (Ghost House Pictures) (Columbia Pictures), a remake of the 2003 film "Ju-on: The Grudge" about a curse that is born when someone dies in extreme sorrow or powerful rage stars Sarah Michelle Gellar as U. of Tokyo exchange student Karen Davis, and Jason Behr as her beau Doug McCarthy; does $187.2M box office on a $10M budget; followed by "The Grudge 2" (2006), "The Grudge 3" (2009), and "Grudge" (2019); watch trailer; watch trailer. Alfonso Cuaron's Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (June 4) is the #6 movie of 2004 ($249M). Paul Etheredge-Ouzts' Hellbent (June 26) (Regent Releasing) bills itself as the first gay slasher film; does $183K box office. Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy (Mar. 30) (Revolution Studios) (Dark Horse Entertainment) (Columbia Pictures), based on the Dark Horse Comics series by Mike Mignola stars Ron Perlman as the Baby Ruth candy bar-munching half-man half-devil hero with a right hand of stone Abe Sapien, and Selma Blair as pyrokinetic babe Liz Sherman, who fight the demon Sammael, then have a flaming kiss, proving that what makes a man is "not how he starts things but how he decides to end them"; followed by "Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (2008); does $99.3M box office on a $66M budget. Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers (May 19), set in 859 during the Tang Dynasty stars Andy Lau as Police Capt. Leo, who is ordered to kill the unknown leader of the rebel House of Flying Daggers in Fengtian in 10 days, causing him to arrest blind dancer Mei (Zhang Ziyi), who is suspected of being the previous leader's daughter; features elaborate cinematography and period costumes; does $92.9M box office on a $12M budget. Brad Bird's computer-animated The Incredibles (Oct. 24) is about a family of undercover superheroes, starring the voices of Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible, Holly Hunter as Elastigirl, Samuel L. Jackson as Brozone, and Jason Lee as Syndrome; #4 movie of 2004 ($261M U.S. and $631.6M worldwide box office on a $145M budget); followed by "Incredibles 2" (2018). Alex Proyas' I, Robot (July 15) (20th Cent. Fox), written by Jeff Vintar (not based on the 1950 Isaac Asimov book) and set in robot-filled 2035 stars Will Smith as Chicago detective Del Spooner, who was saved from drowning by a robot who allowed a 12-y.-o. girl to drown in his place, making him hate all robots, investigating the suspicious suicide of U.S. Robotics founder Dr. Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell), tracing it to the AI called V.I.K.I. (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) (Fiona Hogan) with the help of robopsychologist Susan Calvin (Bridget Moynahan); Bruce Greenwood plays USR CEO Lawrence Robertson; grosses $347M worldwide on a $120M budget. Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle (Sept. 14) (China Film Group) (Columbia Pictures) (Sony Pictures Classics) stars Chow as Sing, specialist in the Fut Gar Buddhist Palm technique, who joins the Axe Gang, led by Brother Sum (Danny Chan Kwok-kwan); does $102M box office incl. $17M in North Am. on a $20M budget, becoming the highest-grossing film in Hong Kong history until "You Are the Apple of My Eye" (2011). Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Dec. 25) is a stinker starring Bill Murray as a kooky oceanographer (spoof of Jacques Cousteau) who is out to get revenge on a fabled Jaguar shark that ate his partner Esteban; features Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldlbum, Owen Wilson, and Anjelica Huston. Stephen Hopkins' The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (May 21), based on the book by Roger Lewis stars Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers, John Lithgow as Blake Edwards, Emily Watson as Emily Watson, and Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland. Tony Scott's Man on Fire (Apr. 23), based on the A.J. Quinnell books stars Denzel Washington as Creasy, an ex-CIA agent who used to be a govt. assassin and has lost the will to live and turned into a Nicolas Cage alcoholic, until he is given a second chance to guard cute loveable Pita (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City, then goes on a Rambo-style revenge mission against her kidnapper-murderers, only to discover several kinks in the official coverstory; Mark Anthony and Radha Mitchell play Pita's parents, Christopher Walken plays Creasy's handler Rayburn, and Giancarlo Giannini and Rachel Ticotin are good as the local federales and press, who play Creasy off to lead them to "The Voice" Daniel Sanchez (Gustavo Sanchez Parra). Joshua Marston's Maria Full of Grace (Apr. 2) stars Catalina Sandino Moreno as a pregnant Colombian teenie who becomes a drug mule, gaining her the first best actress Oscar nomination for an actress speaking only Spanish lines. Nagi Noda's Mariko Takahashi's Fitness Video for Being Appraised as an Ex-Fat Girl features exercisers dressed in poodle costumes with superimposed dog faces, going viral on the Internet. Mark Waters' Mean Girls (Apr. 30), written by Tina Fey based on Rosalind Wiseman's 2002 book "Queen Bees and Wannabees" about female teenage social cliques is the first PG-13 (and non-Disney) role for child star Lindsay Lohan (1986-), and features several SNL alumni, grossing $128M worldwide at the box office, turning Lohan into a paparazzi-targeted star. Jay Roach's Meet the Fockers (Dec. 22) introduces Greg Focker's parents Bernie and Rozalin (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand); almost nixed by movie censors until a real Focker family is found in a Canadian phone book; #4 movie of 2004 ($279M). Michael Radford's The Merchant of Venice (Dec. 3), based on the Shakespeare play becomesthe first full-length sound version in English; stars Al Pacino as Shylock, Jeremy Irons as Antonio, Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio, and Lynn Collins as Portia; does $21.4M box office on a $30M budget. Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin (Sept.3), based on the 1995 Scott Heim novel about a teen male gay hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions who cross paths and discover their childhood abuse stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brian Corbet. Jared Hess' Napoleon Dynamite (Aug. 27), a high school nerd flick stars Hispanic Efren Ramirez as Pedro, and white Afro-wearing Jon Heder, who helps him run for class pres. wearing a "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt, and buys a brown suit for the school dance down the street from his Rex Kwon Do studio in Preston, Idaho; "Knock it off, Napoleon! Just make yourself a dang quesa-dilluh!" Jon Turteltaub's National Treasure (Nov. 19) stars Nicolas Cage as Am. history buff Benjamin Franklin Gates, who uses a code hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence to track down the fabled treasure of the Knights Templars in Old North Church in Boston, Mass.; #9 movie of 2003 ($173M). Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ (Feb. 25) (Icon Productions) (Newmarket Films), based on the visions of 19th cent. German mystic nun Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) (who is beatified by Pope John Paul II on Oct. 3) reenacts the Catholicized Gospel story of the Stations of the Cross with actors speaking the original languages (with subtitles) is a bloody lovefest for millions of Christians, bringing in $370M U.S. and $611.9M worldwide box office on a $30M budget (#3 movie of 2004), becoming the top-grossing R-rated film in history (until ?), and making Mel too rich to want to be Pope Mel I?; he gyps the screenwriter Benedict Fitzgerald, who later sues him; too bad, in Mar. 2003 Mel's ultra-conservative Roman Catholic daddy Hutton Peter "Red" Gibson (1918-) (the 1968 "Jeopardy!" grand champ, with a genius IQ) gave an interview to The New York Times Mag., saying that Vatican II was a "Masonic plot backed by the Jews", that the 9/11 attacks were perpetrated by remote control, and that the WWII Holocaust was impossible as stated because the Nazis couldn't have disposed of 6M corpses without a trace, and census figures prove there were more Jews in Europe after WWII than before, also adding that certain Jews want a OWG with a global religion, then reiterated these views a week before the film's release to radio talk show host Steve Feuerstein, after which charges of anti-Semitism are denied by Mel, who is defended by Focus on the Family and other anti-Semitic, er, Christian groups. Robert Zemeckis' 3-D computer animated film The Polar Express (Oct. 21) (Castle Rock Entertainment) (Warner Bros. Pictures), based on the 1985 Chris van Allsburg children's novel stars Tom Hanks in motion-capture mode, with Daryl Sabara doing the voice of Hero Boy; does $310.6M box office on a $165M budget. Shane Carruth's Primer (Oct. 8), made on a $7K budget is about the accidental discovery of a means of time travel that leads to unexpected difficulties. Jonathan Hensleigh's The Punisher (Apr. 16) (Lionsgate Films) (Marvel Entertainment), based on the Marvel Comics char. stars Thomas Jane as Thomas Castle AKA The Punisher, John Travolta as Howard Saint, Will Patton as Quentin Glass, Rebecca Romijn as Joan, Ben Fsoter as Spacker Dave, and John Pinette as Nathaniel Bumpo; does $54.7M box office on a $33M budget. Taylor Hackford's Ray (Oct. 29) stars Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in a bopic that twists a few facts but captures the genius, claiming he was banned from Jawjaw for life in 1961 in order to make a climax out of him singing "Georgia on My Mind" for the Ga. state legislature in 1979. James Wan's Saw (Jan. 24) (Twisted Piectures) (Lionsgate Films) (Wan's dir. debut), written by Leigh Whannell stars Tobin Bell as John Kramer, and Cary Elwes as oncologist Dr. Lawrence Gordon who is along with photographer Adam Stanheight (Whannell) in a dilapidated bathroom by the mysterious Jigsaw Killer, and learn that Lawrence must kill Adam by 6:00 or his wife and daughter will be killed by Zep Hindle (Michael Enderson); meanwhile detective David Tapp (Danny Glover) pursues Lawrence in the belief that he's the Jigsaw Killer, who turns out to be Bell after it's too late; does $103.9M box office on a $1.2M budget, becoming the first big horror film hit since "Scream" (1996), launching the Saw franchise that grosses $975M, incl. "Saw II" (2005), "Saw III" (2006), "Saw IV" (2007), "Saw V" (2008), "Saw VI" (2009), "Saw 3D" (2010), and "Jigsaw" (2017); critics call it "torture porn". David Koepp's Secret Window (Mar. 12) (Columbia Pictures), based on the Stephen King novel "Secret Window, Secret Garden" stars Johnny Deep as blocked writer Morton "Mort" Rainey, who is hounded by writer John Shooter (John Turturro) over alleged plagiarism until it gets bloody, when P.I. Ken Karsch (Charles S. Dutton) and Sheriff Dave Newsome (Len Cariou) get involved; Maria Bellow plays Mort's cheating wife Amy; does $92.9M box office on a $40M budget. Bibo Bergeron's and Vicky Jenson's Shark Tale (Oct. 1) is an animated flick starring the voices of Will Smith, Robert De Niro, Renee Zellweger and Jack Black; #10 movie of 2004 ($161M). Andrew Adamson and Kelly Asbury's Shrek 2 (May 19) continues the animated series with new char. Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas); #1 movie of 2004 ($436M). James L. Brooks' Spanglish (Dec. 17) stars Adam Sandler as a chef who hires Spanish-speaking maid Flor (Paz Vega), who finally decides to learn English. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 (June 30) stars Alfred Molina as Dr. Otto Gunther Octavius, who turns himself into bad guy Doctor Octopus (Doc Ock), based on a July 1963 Stan Lee char.; #2 movie of 2004 ($374M on a $200M budget). Richard Eyre's Stage Beauty (May 8) (BBC Films) (Momentum Pictures) (Lionsgate), written by Jeffrey Hatcher based on his play "Compleat Female Stage Beauty" stars Billy Crudup as 17th cent. British drag actor Edward "Ned" Kynaston.; does $2.15M box office. Frank Oz's The Stepford Wives (June 11), based on the Ira Levin book is the film debut of Faith Hill as Sarah Sunderson, and stars Nicole Kidman as Joanna Eberhart, Bette Midler as Bobbie Markowitz, Jon Lovitz as Dave Markowitz, Glenn Close as Claire Wellington, Christopher Walken as Mike Wellington, and Matthew Broderick as Walter Kresby. Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me (May 21) follows the writer-dir. for 30 days as he lives entirely on McDonald's foods, consuming 5K calories avg. per day, gaining 24.5 lbs., and experiencing mood swings, sexual dysfunction and liver damage, then takes 14 mo. to lose the weight. Steven Spielberg's The Terminal (June 18) stars Tom Hanks as Eastern European everyman Viktor Navorski living at a New York Airport that won't him leave as long as his country is at war; based on a real man living at a Paris airport? Wolgang Petersen's Troy (May 14) (Warner Bros.) stars Brad Pitt as Achilles, Eric Bana as Hector, Orlando Bloom as Paris, and Diane Kruger as Helen, and features hi-tech battle scenes although the actors are too scrawny to look like real Greeks, SFX or not?; Pitt injures his Achilles heel during filming, delaying production for weeks?; does $497M box office on a $175M budget. Stephen Sommers' Van Helsing (May 7) (Sommers Co.) (Stillking Films) (Universal Pictures) stars Hugh Jackman as monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, Kate Beckinsale as Anna Valerious, Will Kemp as her brother Velkan Valerious, Richard Roxburgh as Count Vladislaus Dracula, Shuler Hensley as Frankeinstein's monster, Kevin J. O'Connor as Frankenstein's ex-servant Igor, David Wenham as Friar Carl, Silvia Colloca as Dracula's concubine Verona, Elena Anaya as Dracula's concubine Aleera, Josie Maran as Dracula's concubine Marishka, Samuel West as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Tom Fisher as Transylvanian grave digger Top Hat, and Robbie Coltrane as the voice of Mr. Hyde; does $300.3M box office on a $160M budget. M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (July 30), about a village near Philly in 1897 stars Joaquin Phoenix as Lucius Hunt, and Bryce Dallas Howard as Livy Elizabeth Walker, daughter of chief elder Edward Walker (William Hurt), who are all afraid of "Those We Don't Speak Of" in the woods. William Arntz's What the Bleep Do We Know!? (Apr. 23) posits a connection between quantum physics and consciousness; does $10M at the box office. Plays: Alan Ayckbourn (1939-), Drowning on Dry Land (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) (May 4); eternal failure Charlie Conrad; Private Fears in Public Places (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) (Aug. 17). Alan Bennett (1934-), The History Boys (Lyttleton Theatre, Royal Nat. Theatre, London) (May 18) (Broadhurst Theatre, New York, Apr. 23, 2006, 185 perf.); Cutler's Grammar School in Sheffield under headmaster Felix Armstrong in the 1980s prepares for the Oxbridge entrance exams with teachers Douglas Hector (English) (based on Frank McEachran), Irwin (history) (based on Niall Ferguson), and Mrs. Dorothy Lintott (history). Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Behzti (Dishonour) (Rep Theatre, Birmingham) (Dec. 18); opening night causes a riot by Sikhs. Peter Braunstein, Andy & Edie (New York) (June 3); stars Misha Sedgwick as Edie Sedgwick, and Thomas Blake as Andy Warhol. Paul Day Clemens and Ron Magid, Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight; stars John Astin. Per Olov Enquist (1934-), The Book About Blanche and Marie (Boken om Blanche och Marie). Athol Fugard (1932-), Exits and Entrances (Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles); stars Morlan Higgins and William Dennis Hurley. Jeremy Joseph Gable (1982-), American Way (Blank Theatre, Los Angeles) (Oct. 24); three comic book superheroes are powerless to prevent a tragedy (the Bush admin. and 9/11); Slurp!. Gina Gionfriddo, After Ashley (Louisville, Ky.) (Mar.). Miles Gregley, Rafael Agustin, and Allan Axibal, Nigger Wetback Chink: The Race Play (Los Angeles) (Mar.); takes on racial sterotypes and slurs. Davie Hare (1947-), Stuff Happens; about the Iraq War, based on a Donald Rumsfeld quote from Apr. 11, 2003. Brent Hartinger, The Geography Club (Seattle); based on his novel. Jack Heifner, Seduction; all-male gay adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's 1900 "La Ronde (Reigen)". Robert Hewett, The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead (Stables Theatre, Sydney); Rhonda Russell. Rolf Hochhuth (1931-), McKinsey is Coming. David Henry Hwang (1957-), Tibet Through the Red Box (Children's Theatre, Seattle) (Jan. 30); based on a children's book by Peter Sis. Terry Johnson, Dumb Show (Royal Court Theatre, London) (Sept. 4); Barry, AKA Mr. Saturday Night. Thomas Kilroy (1934-), My Scandalous Life. Lisa Kron, Well (Joseph Papp Theater, New York. Bryony Lavery, Frozen; 10-y.-o. Rhona disappears. Mark Medoff (1940-), The Dramaturgy of Mark Medoff. Arthur Miller (1915-2005), Finishing the Picture (last play) (Goodman Theatre, Chicago) (Sept.); based on his time with wife Marilyn Monroe while shooting "The Misfits" in summer-fall 1960. Walter L. Newton, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden; based on the Joanne Greenberg novel. Louis Nowra (1950-), The Woman with Dog's Eyes; #1 in the Boyce Trilogy (2004-6). Tyler Perry, Meet the Browns. Bert V. Royal, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead (Soho Playhouse, New York) (Aug.); the Peanuts chars. as teenagers. Gregory Charles Royal, It's a Hardbop LIfe (JVC Jazz Festival, New York) (July). Sarah Ruhl (1974-), The Clean House (Yale Repertory Theatre); Brazilian cleaning woman Mathilde won't clean her physician boss' house because she wants to be a comedian. Sam Shepard (1943-), The God of Hell (Actors Studio, New York); Wisc. dairy farmers Frank and Emma are targeted by govt. employee Mr. Welch, who is pursuing Frank's old friend Haynes. Robert B. Sherman (1925-2012), Richard M. Sherman (1928-), George Stiles (191-), Anthony Drewe, Julian Fellowes (1949-), and William David Brohn (1933-), Mary Poppins (musical) (Prince Edward Theatre, West End, London) (Dec. 15) (New Amsterdam Theatre, New York) (Nov. 16, 2006) (2,619 perf.); based on the P.L. Travers books and the 1964 Walt Disney film; first Disney musical to debut in the U.K. (until ?); stars Laura Michelle Kelly (Ashley Brown on Broadway) as Mary Poppins, and Gavin Lee as Bert; "For children seven years and up"; on Mar. 17, 2005 Julie Andrews visits as a guest, giving a speech. Nicky Silver, Beautiful Child (Vineyard Theater, New York) (Feb. 24); stars George Grizzard and Penny Fuller as middle-aged couple Harry and Nan, who blind their grown son Isaac for falling in love with a boy. Simon Stephens (1971-), Christmas; Country Music. Tom Stoppard (1937-), Enrico IV; tr. of the Luigi Pirandello play. Imogen Stubbs, We Happy Few (John Gielgud Theatre, London) (June 29); title from Shakespeare's "Henry V". David Williamson (1942-), Amigos (Sydney). Robert Wilson (1941-), I La Galigo. Doug Wright (1962-), I Am My Own Wife (Pulitzer Prize). Poetry: John Ash (1948-), To the City. Rita Dove (1952-), American Smooth. Norman Dubie (1945-), Ordinary Mornings of a Coliseum. George Fetherling (1949-), Singer, An Elegy. Donald Rodney Justice (1925-2004), Collected Poems (posth.). Bill Knott (1940-), The Unsubscriber. Ted Kooser (1939-), Delights and Shadows (Pulitzer Prize); Local Wonders: Seasons in the Bohemian Alps. Rod McKuen (1933-), Rusting in the Rain. Sharon Olds (1942-), Strike Sparks: Selected Poems. Mary Oliver (1935-), Why I Wake Up Early: New Poems; Blue Iris: Poems and Essays. Michael Ryan (1946-), New and Selected Poems. Philip Schultz (1945-), Living in the Past. Charles Simic (1938-), Selected Poems 1963-2003. Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006), New and Selected Poems, 1958-1998. Gerald Stern (1925-), Not God After All. James Tate (1943-), Return to the City of White Donkeys. Tomas Transtromer (1931-), The Great Enigma. Calvin Trillin (1935-), Obliviously On He Sails: The Bush Administration in Rhyme. Jean Valentine, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965-2003. Derek Walcott (1930-), The Prodigal. Richard Wilbur (1921-2017), Collected Poems, 1943-2004 (Dec. 6). Charles Wright (1935-), Buffalo Yoga. Franz Wright, Walking to Martha's Vineyard. Novels: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), The Lambs of London. Catherine Aird (1930-), Chapter and Hearse. Mitch Albom (1958-), The Five People You Meet in Heaven; Eddie finds that heaven is where you reveal the haunting secrets behind the meaning of life. Monica Ali (1967-), Brick Lane (first novel) (June); Bengali immgrants in London's East End. Isabel Allende (1942-), Kingdom of the Golden Dragon. Jonathan Ames (1964-), Wake Up Sir! Donna Andrews, We'll Always Have Parrots. Louis Auchincloss (1917-), East Side Story. Paul Benjamin Auster (1947-), Oracle Night. Nanni Balestrini (1935-), Sandokan, Storia di Camorra. Russell Banks (1940-), The Darling. Clive Barker (1952-), Abarat: Days of Magic, Nights of War. Julian Barnes (1946-), The Lemon Table (short stories). Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatchers; a Peter Pan prequel, featuring Molly Aster, teenage daughter of the British Ambassador to Rundoon. Richard Bausch, Wives & Lovers: Three Short Novels; incl. "Requisite Kindness". Thomas Berger (1924-), Adventures of the Artificial Woman. Steve Berry (1955-), The Romanov Prophecy. Wendell Berry (1934-), Hannah Coulter; That Distant Land: The Collected Stories of Wendell Berry. Chetan Bhagat (1973-), Five Point Someone: What not to do at IIT; bestseller (1M copies); filmed in 2009 as "3 Idiots". Maeve Binchy (1940-), Night Of Rain And Stars. Daniel Black, They Tell Me of a Home. Michael Blaine, The Midnight Band of Mercy. James Carlos Blake, Handsome Harry: Or The Gangster's True Confessions. Pierre Bourgeade (1927-2009), Les Comediens; Crashville. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), The Inner Circle. Anita Brookner (1928-), The Rules of Engagement. Terry Brooks, Tanequil. Christopher Buckley (1952-), Florence of Arabia. Jimmy Buffett (1946-), A Salty Piece of Land. James Lee Burke (1936-), In the Moon of the Red Ponies; Billy Bob Holland #4. Robert Olen Butler (1945-), Had a Good Time: Stories from American Postcards. Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason, The Rule of Four - death by scratch and sniff? Hortense Calisher (1911-2009), Tattoo for a Slave (autobio.). John le Carre (1931-), Absolute Friends; Ted Mundy and Sasha. Michael Chabon (1963-), The Final Solution: A Story of Detection; McSweeney's Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories; incl. Stephen King's "Lisey and the Madman". Barbara Chase-Riboud (1939-), Hottentot Venus. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Nighttime is My Time; You Belong to Me. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-) and Carol Higgins Clark (1956-), The Christmas Thief. Susanna Clarke, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (short stories). Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (1940-), The African. Andrei Codrescu (1946-), Wakefield. Paul Coelho (1947-), The Genie and the Roses; Journeys. Robert Coover (1932-), Stepmother. Bernard Cornwell, Sharpe's Prey: Denmark 1807; Richard Sharpe vs. Napoleon. Patricia Cornwell (1956-), Trace. Douglas Coupland, Eleanor Rigby; 36-y.-o. Vancouver woman's 20-y.-o. adopted-out son returns. Michael Crichton (1942-2008), State of Fear (Dec. 7); NYT bestseller (1.5M copies); ecoterrorists plot mass murder to publicize the dangers of global warming, calling climate change "a vast pseudo-scientific hoax", which the book attempts to refute with scientific arguments that are pooh-poohed by climate warmists, making it more popular? M. Allen Cunningham, The Green Age of Aher Witherow (first novel). Clive Cussler (1931-), Black Wind; Dirk Pitt #18. Edwidge Danticat, The Dew Breakers. Guy Davenport (1927-2005), Wo es War, Soll Ich Werden: The Restored Original Text. Diane Mott Davidson (1949-), Double Shot. Jeffrey Deaver, Garden of Beasts: A Novel of Berlin 1936. Nelson DeMille, Night Fall; about TWA Flight 800 in 1996. John Denning, The Bookman's Promise. Kate DiCamillo (1964-), The Tale of Despereaux. Cory Doctorow (1971-), A Place So Foreign and Eight More (short stories). E.L. Doctorow (1931-), Sweet Land Stories. Anthony Doerr, About Grace. Roddy Doyle (1958-), Oh, Play That Thing!; vol. 2 of the Last Roundup Trilogy (1999-2010). Margaret Drabble (1939-), The Red Queen: A Transcultural Tragicomedy; Barbara Halliwall receives a 200-y.-o. memoir from a Korean princess. Martin Bauml Duberman (1930-), Haymarket. John Gregory Dunne (1932-2003), Nothing Lost (posth.). James Ellroy (1948-), Destination: Morgue!. Louise Erdrich (1954-), Four Souls. Maria Flook, Lux: A Novel. Ken Follett (1949-), Whiteout. Richard Ford (1944-), Vintage Ford (short stories). Alan Furst (1941-), Dark Voyage; Night Soldiers #8. Alex Garland, The Coma. George Garrett (1929-2008), Double Vision. Lisa Glatt, A Girl Becomes a Comma Like That (first novel). Robert Goddard, Sight Unseen. Francisco Goldman (1954-), The Divine Husband. Sue Grafton (1940-), 'R' is for Ricochet. John Grisham (1955-), The Broker; the CIA gets a pardon for Joel Backman. Michael Gruber, Valley of Bones. Judith Guest (1936-), The Tarnished Eye. Mark Haddon (1962-), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (first novel); an autistic narrator launches a murder investigation. Jennifer Haigh, Baker Towers. Janice Hallowell, The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn. Laurell K. Hamilton, Micah. Peter Handke (1942-), Don Juan (Told by Himself). Jim Harrison (1937-), True North. John Harrison, Light; The Course of the Heart. Brent Hartinger, The Last Chance Texaco. Ken Haruf, Eventide. Mark Helprin (1947-), The Pacific and Other Stories. Carl Hiaasen (1953-), Skinny Dip; bad marine biologist Chaz Perrone in the dark Sunshine State? George V. Higgins (1939-99), The Easiest Thing in the World: The Unpublished Fiction of George V. Higgins (posth.). Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), Skeleton Man. S.E. Hinton (1950-), Hawkes Harbor. Alice Hoffman (1952-), Blackbird House. Pam Houston (1962-), Sight Hound. Susan Isaacs (1943-), Any Place I Hang My Hat. John Jakes (1932-), Savannah. Gish Jen, The Love Wife. Ha Jin (1956-), War Trash. Iris Johansen, Blind Alley. Edward P. Jones (1951-), The Known World (first novel); slave life in the antebellum South (Pulitzer Prize). Craig Johnson, The Cold Dish. Neil Jordan, Shade. Ward Just (1935-), An Unfinished Season. Cynthia Kadohata (1956-), Kira-Kira. Marne Davis Kellogg, Priceless; Kick the Shamrock Burglar again. Sue Monk Kidd (1948-), The Secret Life of Bees (first novel); living in the racist Am. South of 1964, 14-y.-o. Lily Owens copes with having killed her mother Deborah at age 4, and having to live with a daddy that doesn't love her, finally running away to find a new hive of black beekeeper mothers in Tiburon, S.C. Stephen King (1947-), The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (Nov.); King now claims to retire, but the catch is, what do most people do after they retire except write a book? Leslie S. Klinger, The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes (2 vols.). Dean Koontz (1945-), Life Expectancy; The Good Guy; Tim Carter gets mixed up in a contract murder. William Kowalski (1970-), The Good Neighbor. Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), The Millennium Trilogy (posth.); about 20-something Lisbeth Salander, who has a photographic memory and poor social skills, and investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, who works for Millennium mag.; becomes the #22 best-selling author on Earth in 2008, selling 27M copies in 40+ countries by 2010, 65M by Dec. 2011, and 80M by 2015, becoming the first ebook with 1M Kindle downloads in 2010; incl. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played with Fire", "he Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest"; Lisbeth gets revenge on her tormentor Nils by tattooing "I'm a sadistic pig and a rapist" on his stomach. Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), Mr. Paradise. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), Men and Cartoons (short stories). Jeff Lindsay, Darkly Dreaming Dexter. Charles de Lint (1951-), The Blue Girl. Laura Lippman (1959-), Every Secret Thing; filmed in 2014. Margot Livesey, Banishing Verona. Chuck Logan, After the Rain. Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), Dreams of the Rehabilitation (Recovery) Period. David Maine, The Preservationist. John Robert Marlow, Nano. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014), Memories of My Melancholy Whores; "In my ninetieth year, I decided to give myself the gift of a night of love with a young virgin." Yann Martel, We Ate the Children Last (short stories). Ron McLarty, The Memory of Running. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, Citizen Girl. Larry McMurtry (1936-), Folly and Glory. Stanley Middleton (1919-2009), Brief Garlands. Anchee Min (1957-), The Empress Orchid; concubine Orchid rises to become Empress Cixi (Tzu Hsi) (1835-1908), mother of the last emperor of China. David Mitchell (1969-), Cloud Atlas; six different ages and voices, which double back in eternal recurrence; sells 400K copies. L.E. Modesitt Jr., Flash. Walter Moers, The 13-1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear. Elizabeth Moon, The Speed of Dark. Christopher Moore (1957-), The Stupidest Angel. Mary McGarry Morris (1943-), A Hole in the Universe; a man returns to his community after 25 years in priz. Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders. Walter Mosley (1952-), Little Scarlet; Easy Rawlins #9. Alice Munro (1931-), Runaway (short stories). V.S. Naipaul (1932-), Magic Seeds. Larry Niven (1938-), Ringworld's Children; Ringworld #4. Craig Nova, Cruisers. Irene Nemirovsky (-1942), Suite Francaise (posth.); sent to Auschwitz in 1942, her two young daughters (5 and 13) escape with her ms.? Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), The Falls. Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000), The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey (posth.); Aubrey-Maturin #21. Dan O'Brien, The Indian Agent. Simon J. Ortiz (1941-), The Good Rainbow Road: Rawa Kashtyaa'tsi Hiyaani (A Native American Tale in Keres). Tatum O'Neal, Paper Life. Cynthia Ozick (1928-), Heir to the Glimmering World (The Bear Boy). Orhan Pamuk, Snow. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Double Play; Bad Business; Spenser #31; Melanchony Baby; Sunny Randall #4. T. Jefferson Parker (1953-), California Girl. James Patterson (1947-), London Bridges. Michael Pearce, A Dead Man in Trieste. Arturo Perez-Reverte, The Queen of the South. Harry Mark Petrakis (1923-), The Orchards of Ithaca. Arthur Phillips (1969-), The Egyptologist; steals plot from Nabokov's "Pale Fire"? Rex Pickett (1952-), Sideways. Jodi Picoult (1966-), My Sister's Keeper; one Fitzgerald sister is being used as a Frankenstein parts machine to keep another sister alive, and finally sues her parents for emancipation. Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain, and Andrew Thompson, Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures; three young people joins the U.N. in Cambodia in the 1990s. Steven Pressfield (1943-), The Virtues of War; Alexander the Great. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, Brimstone. Annie Proulx (1935-), Bad Dirt: Wyoming Stories 2. John Rechy (1934-), Beneath the Skin. Terry Reed, The Full Cleveland. Reggie Rivers, 4th and Fixed: When the Mob Tackles Football, It's No Longer Just a Game. Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram. Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-), Forty Signs of Rain; Science in the Capital #1. Marilynne Robinson, Gilead (Pulitzer Prize). Philip Roth (1933-), The Plot Against America; the Nazis win WWII. Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), The Treasure Ship (posth.). Jose Saramago (1922-2010), Seeing (Ensaio Sobre a Lucidez). Lisa Scottoline, Killer Smile. Jeffrey Shaara (1952-), To the Last Man; WWI. Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007), Are You Afraid of the Dark? Lucius Shepard, A Handbook of American Prayer. John Shors (1969-), Beneath a Marble Sky (first novel); narrator is 17th cent. Hindustani princess; "If you're not writing a Tom Clancy or Clive Cussler book, you'd better appeal to women if you want to write a novel". Anita Shreve (1946-), Light on Snow. Anne Rivers Siddons (1936-), Islands. Daniel Silva, A Death in Vienna. Alexander McCall Smith, The Sunday Philosophy Club; The Girl Who Married a Lion (Dec.). Martin Cruz Smith (1942-), Wolves Eat Dogs; Arkady Renko #5; detective Arkady Renko vs. the new Russian billionaires near Chernobyl. Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006), The Moon in Its Flights (short stories). Muriel Spark (1918-2006), The Finishing School. Danielle Steel (1947-), Ransom; Second Chance; Echoes. Neal Town Stephenson (1959-), The System of the World; part 3 of 3 in the Baroque Cycle. Charles Stross (1964-), Iron Sunrise; The Atrocity Archives; first in the Laundry Files, about British spy Bob Howard; The Family Trade; first in the Merchant Princes series. Brad Thor (1969-), State of the Union. Colm Toibin (1955-), The Master; Henry James. Lily Tuck, The News from Paraguay. Anne Tyler (1941-), The Amateur Marriage; it began in WWII and lasts for decades? John Updike (1932-2009), Villages. Vernor Vinge (1944-), The Cookie Monster. Helen Walsh, Brass. Jennifer Weiner, Little Earthquakes. Fay Weldon (1931-), Mantrapped. Andrew Norman Wilson (1950-), My Name is Legion. Tom Wolfe (1930-2018), I Am Charlotte Simmons; party school Dupont U.; gets a sales boost when Pres. George Dubya Bush recommends it. Births: Am. musician Grace Avery VanderWaal on Jan. 15 in Kansas City, Kan.; grows up in Suffern, N.Y. Am. 5'9-1/2" tennis player (black) Cori "Coco" Gauff on Mar. 13 in Atlanta, Ga. Deaths: Austrian actor Carl Esmond (b. 1902) on Dec. 4 in Brentwood, Calif. Am. poet Carl Rakosi (b. 1903) on June 25 in San Francisco, Calif.; last surviving member of the Objectivist poets. Am. physiologist Ancel Benjamin Keys (b. 1904) on Nov. 20 in Minneapolis, Minn. Italian film historian Joseph-Marie Lo Duca (b. 1905) on Aug. 6 in Samois-Sur-Seine (near Fontainebleu). Am. advertising exec Mac Dane (b. 1906) on Aug. 8 in New York City. Am. cosmetics queen Estee Lauder (b. 1906) on Apr. 24 in New York City. Am. GM CEO (1965-71) James M. Roche (b. 1906) on June 6 in Belleair, Fla. Am. astronomer Fred Lawrence Whipple (b. 1906) on Aug. 30. German photographer Walter Frentz (b. 1907) on July 6 in Uberlingen. Am. photographer Carl Mydans (b. 1907) on Aug. 16. Am. diplomat Paul Henry Nitze (b. 1907) on Oct. 19 in Washington, D.C. Am. musician Alvino Rey (b. 1907) on Feb. 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah (heart failure). Canadian "Ann Darrow in King Kong" actress Fay Wray (b. 1907) on Aug. 8 in New York City; on Aug. 10 the Empire State Bldg. turns off its lights for 15 min. in tribute: "Every time I'm in New York, I say a ltitle prayer when passing the Empire State Building. A good friend of mine died up there." Am. architect Max Abramovitz (b. 1908) on Sept. 12 in Pound Ridge, N.Y. French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson (b. 1908) on Aug. 3 in Cereste. British-born Am. journalist Alistair Cooke (b. 1908) on Mar. 30 in New York City (cancer); his bones are illegally sold as medical bone grafts with the cancer certificate covered-up, after which N.J. surgeon Michael Mastromarino and Lee Cruceta are convicted and sentenced to 18-54 years each: "As I see it, in (America)... the race is on between the decadence and its vitality." Am. Tammany Hall Boss (last?) Carmine DeSapio (b. 1908) on July 27 in Manhattan, N.Y. English "The Far Pavilions" novelist Mary Margaret Kaye (b. 1908) on Jan. 29. French novelist Robert Merle (b. 1908) on Mar. 28 in Grosrouvre (near Paris) (heart attack). Austrian-born Am. music publisher Julian Aberbach (b. 1909) on May 17 in New York City (heart failure). Am. geneticist Harriet Creighton (b. 1909) on Jan. 9. Am. actress Frances Dee (b. 1909) on Mar. 6 in Norwalk, Conn. English ballerina Dame Alicia Markova (b. 1910) on Dec. 2 in Bath, Somerset (stroke). Am. "Brother Rat" actor-writer-dir. John Cherry Monks Jr. (b. 1910) on Dec. 10 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.: "Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse" (John Derek as Nick Romano in "Knock On Any Door", 1949). Am. philanthropist Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (b. 1910) on July 11 (pulmonary fibrosis). Am. jazz bandleader Artie Shaw (b. 1910) on Dec. 30 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Am. economist Paul Sweezy (b. 1910) on Feb. 27; "the most noted American Marxist scholar [of the 20th cent.]" (John Kenneth Galbraith). Dutch prince consort (1948-80) Bernhard (b. 1911) on Dec. 1 in Utrecht. Am. "My Sister Eileen" playwright Jerome Chodorov (b. 1911) on Sept. 12 in Nyack, N.Y. Polish-born Am. writer Czeslaw Milosz (b. 1911) on Aug. 14 in Crakow; 1980 Nobel Lit. Prize. Am. Tang food chemist William A. Mitchell (b. 1911) on July 26 in Stockton, Calif. (heart failure). U.S. Repub. pres. #40 (1981-9) Ronald Reagan (b. 1911) on June 5 in Belvedere, Calif. (pneumonia and Alzheimer's); acted in 50+ films, but only once in a villain role: "Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book"; "You can tell a lot about a person's character by the way he eats jelly beans"; "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought"; "The West will not defeat Communism, it will transcend it"; "Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid"; "The most terrifying words in the English language are 'I work for the government and I'm here to help you'"; "No arsenal, no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women"; "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it was once like in the United States where men were free"; "How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin"; "I don't think you can overstate the importance that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism will have to the rest of the world in the century ahead - especially if, as seems possible, its most fanatical elements get their hands on nuclear and chemical weapons and the means to deliver them against their enemies." Am. "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" country singer Jerry Scoggins (b. 1911) on Dec. 7 in Westlake Village, Calif. Am. ed.-publisher Donald Allen (b. 1912) on Aug. 29 in San Francisco, Calif. English-born Am. chemist Herbert Charles Brown (b. 1912) on Dec. 19 in Lafayette, Ind.; 1979 Nobel Chem. Prize. Am. internat. French chef ("the first celebrity chef") Julia Child (b. 1912) in Aug. Am. children's writer Syd Hoff (b. 1912) on May 12. Canadian-Am. painter Agnes Martin (b. 1912) on Dec. 16. Am. historian John Toland (b. 1912) on Jan. 4 in Danbury, Conn. (pneumonia). Am. physicist Philip Hauge Abelson (b. 1913) on Aug. 1. Am. "Woody Woodpecker's laugh" singer Harry Babbitt (b. 1913) on Apr. 9 in Newport Beach, Calif. Am. "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth" songwriter Donald Yetter Gardner (b. 1913) on Sept. 15 in Needham, Mass. Am. actress-swimmer Eleanor Holm (b. 1913) on Jan. 31 in Miami, Fla. (kidney failure). English actress Anna Lee (b. 1913) on May 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. historian Daniel Joseph Boorstin (b. 1914) on Feb. 28 in Washington, D.C. English historian Alan Bullock (b. 1914) on Feb. 2. Am. film producer Max J. Rosenberg (b. 1914) on June 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Inherit the Wind", "Auntie Mame" playwright Jerome Lawrence (b. 1915) on Feb. 29 in Malibu, Calif. (stroke). Am. architect Edward Larrabee Barnes (b. 1915) on Sept. 22 in Cupertino, Calif. Am. "Inherit the Wind" playwright Jerome Lawrence (b. 1915) on Feb. 29 in Malibu, Calif. Am. actor John Randolph (b. 1915) on Feb. 24 in Hollywood, Calif. Swedish biochemist Sune Karl Bergstrom (b. 1916) on Aug. 15; 1982 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. jazz pianist-songwriter Joe Bushkin (b. 1916) on Nov. 3; co-author with John DeVries of Frank Sinatra's first hit song "Oh! Look at Me Now". English molecular biologist Francis H.C. Crick (b. 1916) on July 28 in San Diego, Calif.; 1962 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. journalist J. Frank Diggs (b. 1916) on Jan. 26 in Arlington, Va. (pneumonia). Am. children's writer Bill Martin Jr. (b. 1916) on Aug. 11 in Commerce, Tx. Am. actress Mercedes McCambridge (b. 1916) on Mar. 2 in La Jolla, Calif. Kiwi molecular biologist Maurice H.F. Wilkins (b. 1916) on Oct. 5 in Blackheath, London; 1962 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. "Reveille With Beverly" radio host Jean Ruth Hay (b. 1917) on Sept. 18. English writer-politician Nigel Nicolson (b. 1917) on Sept. 23. English psychiatrist Humphry Fortescue Osmond (b. 1917) on Feb. 6. Am. "Louise Weezy Jefferson in The Jeffersons" actress Isabel Sanford (b. 1917) on July 9 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. publisher Roger Williams Straus Jr. (b. 1917) on May 25 in New York City (pneumonia). Dutch athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen (b. 1918) on Jan. 25 in Hoofddorp. Am. geneticist Edward B. Lewis (b. 1918) on July 21; 1995 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. entertainer Jack Paar (b. 1918) on Jan. 27 in Greenwich, Conn. Am. "Fail-Safe" writer John Harvey Wheeler (b. 1918) on Sept. 6 in Carpinteria, Calif. English X-ray computed tomography inventor Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield (b. 1919) on Aug. 12; 1979 Nobel Medical Prize. German-born Am. actress Uta Hagen (b. 1919) on Jan. 14 in New York City. Am. "Showboat", "Clayton Farlow in Dallas" actor-singer Howard Keel (b. 1919). Canadian writer Pierre Berton (b. 1920) on Nov. 30 in Toronto, Ont. (heart failure). Irish Provisional IRA founder Joe Cahill (b. 1920) on July 23 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Austrian astrophysicist Thomas Gold (b. 1920) on June 22. English "Hotel", "Airport" novel Arthur Hailey (b. 1920) on Nov. 24; sold 170M copies. German-Australian photographer Helmut Newton (b. 1920) on Jan. 23 in West Hollywood, Calif. (automobile accident). Am. scientist Arthur Nobile (b. 1920) on Jan. 13. Canadian physicist Gilbert Norman Plass (b. 1920) on Mar. 1 in Bryan, Tex. Am. "Felix Unger in The Odd Couple" actor Tony Randall (b. 1920) on May 17 in New York City. English writer Jasper Ridley (b. 1920). Canadian Bank of Canada gov. (1973-87) Gerald Bouey (b. 1921). Am. "I don't get no respect" comedian Rodney Dangerfield (b. 1921) on Oct. 5 in Westwood, Calif.: "There goes the neighborhood" (tombstone). French-born Am. economist Gerard Debreu (b. 1921) on Dec. 31 in Paris; 1983 Nobel Econ. Prize. Am. poet Mona Van Duyn (b. 1921) on Dec. 2 in University City, Mo. (bone cancer). Indian PM #9 (1991-1) P.V. Narasimha Rao (b. 1921) on Dec. 23 in New Delhi. English "Spartacus" actor Sir Peter Ustinov (b. 1921) on Mar. 28 in Genolier, Vaud, Switzerland (heart failure): "World government is not only possible, it is inevitable; and when it comes, it will appeal to patriotism in its truest, in its only sense, the patriotism of men who love their national heritages so deeply that they wish to preserve them in safety for the common good." Am. auto racer Rodger Ward (b. 1921) on July 5 in Anaheim, Calif. Am. "The Magnificent Seven" film composer Elmer Bernstein (b. 1922) on Aug. 18 in Ojai, Calif. (cancer). U.S. vice-adm. Samuel Lee Gravely Jr. (b. 1922) on Oct. 22 in Bethesda, Md. Am. writer Townsend Hoopes (b. 1922) on Sept. 20 (cancer). Am. jazz musician Illinois Jacquet (b. 1922) on July 22 in Queens, N.Y. (heart attack). Am. "The Death of a President" writer William Manchester (b. 1922) on June 1. Am. porno producer-dir. Russ Meyer (b. 1922) on Sept. 18 in Hollywood Hills, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. children's TV actor Ray Rayner (b. 1922) on Jan. 21 in Fort Myers, Fla. Am. photographer Richard Avedon (b. 1923) on Oct. 1 in San Antonio, Tex.: "I think charm is the ability to be truly interested in other people." Austrian-born Am. philosopher Paul Edwards (b. 1923) on Dec. 9 in New York City. Am. poet Anthony Hecht (b. 1923) on Oct. 20. Am. "Mr. K in Nissan ads" actor Dale Ishimoto (b. 1923) on Mar. 4. Am. actress-dancer Ann Miller (b. 1923) on Jan. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Godfather" actor Marlon Brando (b. 1924) on July 1 in Los Angeles, Calif. (lung disease): "I have eyes like those of a dead pig"; "Acting is the expression of a neurotic impulse"; "Acting is a bum's life. Quitting acting, that is the sign of maturity." Australian writer Janet Frame (b. 1924) on Jan. 29 in Dunedin. Romanian-born French "Twilight Zone Theme" composer Marius Constant (b. 1925) on May 15 in Paris. German-born Am. historian Karl Joachim Weintraub (b. 1924) on Mar. 25 in Chicago, Ill. Am. poet Donald Justice (b. 1925) on Aug. 6. Am. billionaire oil-entertainment mogul Marvin Davis (b. 1925) on Sept. 25 in Beverly Hills, Calif.; #30 on Forbes' list of the top 400 richest Americans. Am. Christian evangelist Billy James Hargis (b. 1925) on Nov. 27 in Tulsa, Okla. (Alheimer's). English "Guinness Book of Records" co-founder Norris McWhirter (b. 1925) on Apr. 19 in Wiltshire (heart attack). Mexican chemist Luis Miramontes (b. 1925) on Sept. 13 in Mexico City. English chemist Sir John Anthony Pople (b. 1925) on Mar. 15 in Chicago, Ill.; 1998 Nobel Chem. Prize. Swiss-born Am. "On Death and Dying" physician-writer Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (b. 1926) on Aug. 24 in Scottsdale, Ariz. English Shakespearean scholar Eric Sams (b. 1926) on Sept. 13 in London; leaves unfinished "The Real Shakespeare: Retrieving the Later Years, 1594-1616". Am. "Sgt. MacDonald in Adam-12" actor William Boyett (b. 1927) on Dec. 29 in Mission Hills, Calif. (pneumonia and kidney failure). U.S. Navy Capt. Lloyd M. Bucher (b. 1927) on Jan. 28 in San Diego, Calif. Am. astronaut Gordon Cooper (b. 1927) on Oct. 4. Am. jazz drummer Elvin Jones (b. 1927) on May 18 in Englewood, N.J. Am. "Captain Kangaroo" actor Bob Keeshan (b. 1927) on Jan. 24 in Windsor, Vt. Am. comedian Alan King (b. 1927) on May 9 in New York City. Am. "Psycho" actress Janet Leigh (b. 1927) on Oct. 3 in Beverly Hills, Calif.; she never took a shower again after that movie? English pharmacologist Sir John Robert Vane (b. 1927) on Nov. 19 in Kent; 1982 Nobel Medicine Prize. Am. bluegrass fiddler Vassar Clements (b. 1928) on Aug. 16. Am. "Cabaret" lyricist Fred Ebb (b. 1928) on Sept. 11 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. S.C. Johnson & Son pres. Samuel Curtis Johnson Jr. (b. 1928) on May 22 in Racine, Wisc. Am. philanthropist (McDonald's Restaurants heir) Joan Beverly Kroc (b. 1928) on Oct. 12 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. (brain cancer); leaves $1.6B of her $2B fortune to her favorite charity the Salvation Army, and $225M to NPR - no wonder they don't want my old junk anymore? Am. "Ajax Man" actor Eugene Roche (b. 1928) on July 28 in Encino, Calif. (heart attack). Am. "Last Exit to Brooklyn" novelist Hubert Selby Jr. (b. 1928) on Apr. 26 in Los Angeles, Calif. (lung disease). Am. leftist activist Richard Barnet (b. 1929) on Dec. 23. Indian Kundalini Yoga guru Yogi Bhajan (b. 1929) on Oct. 6 in Espanola, N.M. Canadian historian Norman F. Cantor (b. 1929) on Sept. 18 in Miami, Fla. Am. "Sweet Charity" songwriter Cy Coleman (b. 1929) on Nov. 18 (heart failure). Am. "Star Trek", "The Omen" composer Jerry Goldsmith (b. 1929) on July 21 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (colon cancer). English-born Am. poet Thom Gunn (b. 1929) on Apr. 25 in Haight Ashbury, San Francisco, Calif. (meth OD). Am. actor Ron Hayes (b. 1929) on Oct. 1 in Malibu, Calif. Am. economist (AIM founder) Reed Irvine (b. 1929) on Nov. 16. Am. psychiatrist John Edward Mack (b. 1929) on Sept. 27 in London, England (automobile accident). Am. photographer Francesco Scavullo (b. 1929). Egyptian-born Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (b. 1929) on Nov. 11 in Paris, France; leaves a $1B estate; 1994 Nobel Peace Prize; dies of AIDS caused by gay love affairs?; poisoned by the Israelis with polonium on his toothbrush? Am. "Georgia On My Mind" singer Ray Charles (b. 1930) on June 10 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (liver failure): "To me, it's the worst thing in the world" (deafness). French deconstructionist philosopher Jacques Derrida (b. 1930) on Oct. 8 in Paris (pancreatic cancer) - fatal deconstruction jokes here? Am. country singer Roy Drusky (b. 1930) on Sept. 23 in Nashville, Tenn. (lung cancer). Am. country musician Hank Garland (b. 1930) on Dec. 27 in Orange Park, Fla. German-born Austrian conductor Carlos Kleiber (b. 1930) on July 13. Israeli "Jerusalem of Gold" songwriter Naomi Shemer (b. 1930) on June 26 in Tel Aviv. Am. country singer Skeeter Davis (b. 1931) on Sept. 19 in Nashville, Tenn. Am. artist Tom Wesselmann (b. 1931) on Dec. 17. Am. actor John Drew Barrymore (b. 1932) on Nov. 29 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. writer Douglas Day (b. 1932) on Oct. 10 in Charlottesville, Va. (suicide). Am. novelist Ronald Sukenick (b. 1932) on July 22. Am. photojournalist Eddie Adams (b. 1933) on Sept. 19 in New York City. Am. lyricist Fred Ebb (b. 1933) on Sept. 11 in New York City (heart attack). Am. writer-activist "zealot of seriousness", "besotted aesthete", "obsessed moralist" Susan Sontag (b. 1933) on Dec. 28 in New York City (acute myelogenous leukemia after a 30-year battle with cancer); called the white race "the cancer of human history" during the 1960s Vietnam War days. Am. "Singing the Blues" songwriter Melvin Endsley (b. 1934) on Aug. 16; wrote 400+ songs. Am. country singer Jimmy Lee Fautheree (b. 1934) on June 29 in Dallas, Tex. (cancer). English soccer player-mgr. Brian Clough (b. 1935) on Sept. 20 in Derby. Am. "Law and Order" actor Jerry Orbach (b. 1935) on Dec. 28 in New York City (testicular cancer). French novelist-playwright Francoise Sagan (b. 1935) on Sept. 24 in Honfleur, Calvados (pulmonary embolism): "A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you"; "To jealousy, nothing is more frightful than laughter"; "Are you joking? I believe in passing, nothing else. Two years, no more, alright, then, three" (when asked if she believed in love). Am. comedian Vaughn Meader (b. 1936) on Oct. 29 in Waterville, Maine. English historian Conrad Russell, 5th earl Rusell (b. 1937) on Oct. 14 in Park Royal, London (emphysema). Am. "Just One Look" R&B singer Doris Troy (b. 1937) on Feb. 16. Am. "Youngblood Priest in Super Fly" actor Ron O'Neal (b. 1937) on Jan. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pancreatic cancer). Am. "Jelly in Analyze That" actor Joe Viterelli (b. 1937) on Jan. 28 in Las Vegas, Nev. (heart operation). Norwegian billionaire Arne Naess Jr. (b. 1938) in Jan. in South Africa; dies in a fall while mountain climbing; husband of singer Diana Ross. Am. journalist Jack Newfield (b. 1938) on Dec. 20 (lung cancer). Am. "Jan and Dean" singer William Jan Berry (b. 1940) on Mar. 26. Soviet cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov (b. 1940) on Dec. 25 in Moscow. Am. "Lt. Ed Traxler in The Terminator" actor Paul Winfield (b. 1940) on Mar. 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. atty. Anne Gorsuch Burford (b. 1942) on July 18 in Aurora, Colo. (cancer). Am. music producer Terry Melcher (b. 1942) on Nov. 19 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (melanoma). Am. bluesman Son Seals (b. 1942) on Dec. 20 in Chicago, Ill. (diabetes). Am. baseball pitcher Tug McGraw Jr. (b. 1944) on Jan. 5 (brain tumor): "Ten million years from now, when the Sun burns out and the Earth is just a frozen snowball hurtling through space, nobody's going to care whether or not I got this guy out"; "I don't know, I never smoked AstroTurf" (asked whether he prefers it or real grass); "Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish whiskey, the other ten percent I'll probably waste" (asked what he will do with his salary). Irish-born Iraqi aid worker Margaret Hassan (b. 1945) on Nov. 8 (murdered by ISIS). Am. astrologer Joyce Jillson (b. 1946) on Oct. 1 in Los Angeles, Calif. (kidney failure). Canadian rocker Bruce Palmer (b. 1946) on Oct. 1 in Belleville, Ont. (heart attack). British serial killer Harold Shipman (b. 1946) on Jan. 13 in HMS Prison Wakefield, West Yorkshire (suicide); hangs himself in his cell one day before his 58th birthday. French economist Jean-Jacques Laffont (b. 1947) on May 1 in Colomiers. English "The Woman in Black" playwright Stephen Mallatratt (b. 1947) on Nov. 22. Am. "Super Freak" singer Rick James (b. 1948) on Aug. 6 in Burbank, Calif. (heart attack not OD). Am. punk rocker Johnny Ramone (b. 1948) on Sept. 15 in Los Angeles, Calif. (prostate cancer). Palestinian terrorist Muhammad Zaidan (b. 1948) on Mar. 8; dies in U.S. custody after being captured in Iraq on Apr. 15, 2003. Chechen pres. #1 (2003-4) Akhmad Kadyrov (b. 1951) on May 9 in Grozny (assassinated). Am. "Gloria in Flashdance" singer Laura Branigan (b. 1952) on Aug. 26 in East Quogue, Long Island, N.Y. (brain aneurysm). Am. ping-pong player Glenn L. Cowan (b. 1952) on Apr. 6 (heart attack); Chinese table tennis champ Zhuang Zedong calls from Beijing to express sympathy, and visits the U.S. in 2007, meeting his mother and calling not seeing Cowan again the "regret of my life." Am. "Valerian in Dragonslayer" actress Caitlin Clarke (b. 1952) on Sept. 9 in Sewickley, Penn. (ovarian cancer). Am. "Superman" actor spinal chord and stem cell research activist Christopher Reeve (b. 1952) on Oct. 10; paralyzed from the neck down from a horseback riding accident in Culpeper, Va. in May 1995. English-born Canadian PowerBar inventor Brian Maxwell (b. 1953) on Mar. 19 in San Anselmo, Calif. (heart attack). Am. fashion designer Stephen Sprouse (b. 1953) on Mar. 4 in New York City. Swedish "Millennium Trilogy" novelist Stieg Larsson (b. 1954) on Nov. 9 in Stockholm (heart attack); after his trilogy is pub. posth., it sells 27M copies in 40+ countries by 2010, 65M by Dec. 2011, and 80M by 2015, becoming the first ebook with 1M Kindle downloads in 2010. Scottish New Wave guitarist John McGeoch (b. 1955) on Mar. 4. Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh (b. 1957) on Nov. 2 in Amsterdam (murdered). Am. comedian Eric Douglas (b. 1958) on July 6 in New York City (OD). Am. "Woman at the Washington Zoo" Washington Post reporter-columnist Marjorie Williams (d. 1958) in Jan. (liver cancer): "We are hopelessly small to be trusted with the raising of people even smaller." Am. football player (#92 for the Green Bay Packers) Reggie White (b. 1961) on Dec. 26. Am. Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott (b. 1966) on Dec. 8 in Columbus, Ohio; murdered onstage by Nathan Gale while performing with Damageplan (mad that he left Pantera?). Am. Wu-Tang Clan rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard (b. 1968) on Nov. 13 in New York City (OD). Am. "Rape of Nanking" writer Irish Chang (b. 1968) on Nov. 9 in Los Gatos, Calif. (suicide). Am. drag racer Darrell Russell (b. 1968) on June 27 in Madison, Ill; dies of injuries at the Sears Craftsman Nationals.



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TLW's 2005 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2005 C.E. Historyscope

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.



2005 - The Brokeback Mountain Year of Chicken or Rooster Bird Flu, Thrill Seekers and Bargain Hunters Unite, or, My How Time Flies Like Shiite? The Year of the IED? The Hurricane Katrina Year? The Final Throes Year? A year starting with expensive natural catastrophes against a backdrop of ceaseless senseless killing and endless U.S. expenses in Iraq weakening a faltering U.S. economy, followed by daily terrorism, more disasters, disease, and starvation all over the world, and culminating in one of the biggest natural disasters in U.S. history, all leaving a brooding sense of impending Armageddon at the help desk? Iraqi insurgents prove that low tech can beat hi tech? Meanwhile the blue-red (Democrat-Republican) split in the U.S. broods in the broken background?

Condoleezza Rice of the U.S. (1954-) Michael Chertoff of the U.S. (1953-) Alberto R. Gonzales of the U.S. (1955-) Charles Christopher Cox of the U.S. (1952-) Margaret Spellings of the U.S. (1957-) Tom DeLay of the U.S. (1947-) Roy Blunt of the U.S. (1950-) Ronnie Earle of the U.S. (1942-) Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine (1954-) Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine (1935-) John Robert Bolton of the U.S. (1948-) King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (1924-2015) Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud of Saudi Arabia (1928-) Christiane Amanpour (1958-) Dominique de Villepin of France (1953-) Nicolas Sarkozy of France (1955-) Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022) Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (1936-) Sister Marie Simon Pierre (1960-) Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa (1938-) John Glover Roberts Jr. of the U.S. (1955-) Antonio Villaraigosa of the U.S. (1953-) Kristin Halvorsen of Norway (1960-) Terri Schiavo (1963-2005) Orhan Pamuk (1952-) U.S. Pfc. Lynndie England (1982-) Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti (1947-2013) BTK Killer Dennis Lynn Rader (1944-) Jeff Weise (1988-2005) Michael DeWayne Brown of FEMA (1954-) Dan Rather (1931-) Harriet Miers of the U.S. (1945-) Thomas Arthur Mesereau Jr. Jalal Talabani of Iraq (1933-) Adel Abdul-Mahdi of Iraq (1942-) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran (1956-) Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani of Iraq (1930-) Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi (1934-) Rafik Hariri of Lebanon (1944-2005) Saad Hariri of Lebanon (1970-) Albert II of Monaco (1958-) Angela Merkel of Germany (1954-) Alfredo Palacio of Ecuador (1939-) Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico (1953-) Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. of the U.S. (1950-) Jean Schmidt of the U.S. (1951-) Ruud Lubbers of Netherlands (1939-2018) Hurricane Katrina, Aug. 23-31, 2005 Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. of the U.S. (1956-) U.S. Gen. Russell L. Honoré ¨1947-) Ishenbai Kadyrbekov of Kyrgyzstan (1949-) Kurmanbek Bakiev of Kyrgyzstan (1949-) Massoud Barzani of Iraq (1946-) Hajim al-Hassani of Iraq (1954-) Ghazi al-Yawer of Iraq (1958-) Ibrahim al-Jaafari of Iraq (1947-) John Garang de Mabior of Sudan (1945-2005) Salva Kiir Mayardit of Sudan (1951-) Faure Gnassingbé of Togo (1966-) Col. Ely Ould Mohammed Vall of Mauritania (1953-) Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi (1963-) Charles Konan Banny of Ivory Coast (1942-) Scott McClellan of the U.S. (1968-) Bob Taft II of the U.S. (1942-) Martti Ahtisaari of Finland (1937-) Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista of Mexico (1947-) Jose Miguel Insulza of Chile (1943-) George Galloway of Britain (1954-) Paul Wolfowitz of the U.S. (1943-) Shaha Ali Riza of the U.S. (1953-) Cindy Sheehan (1957-) Ali al-Tamimi (1963-) Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi (-2005) Tayseer Allouni (1955-) Muqtada al-Sadr (1974-) Samantha Lewthwaite (1983-) Germaine Maurice Lindsay (1985-2005) Hassan Dahir Aweys of Sudan (1935-) Nazir Ahmed (1965-) Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania (1951-) Juan Manuel Alvarez (1978-) Stephen M. Ressa (1978-) Scott Richter (1967-) Ching Cheong (1949-) David Geffen (1943-) Steve Huffman (1983-) and Alexis Ohanian Sr. (1983-) Sam Zell (1941-) July 21, 2005 London Bombers Ramzi Mohammed (1981-) and Muktar Said Ibrahim (1978-) of Somalia Samantha Lewthwaite (1984-) Robert Davis (1941-) Francisco J.M. Mojica (1963-) Paul Richard Shanley (1931-) John Patrick Shanley (1950-) Robert Charles Wilson (1953-) Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 2005 Steve Fossett (1944-2007) Sir Richard Branson (1950-) Tim Flannery (1956-) Brad Pitt (1963-) and Angelina Jolie (1975-) Peter Jennings (1938-2005) Abdullah Abu Azzam (-2005) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (1966-2006) Abu Ayyub al-Masri of Iraq (1968-2010) Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei of Egypt (1942-) John Murtha of the U.S. (1932-2010) Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi (1970-) Shenzhou 6 Crew, 2005 Ed McBain (1926-2005) May Chidiac of Lebanon (1964-) Fouad Siniora of Lebanon (1943-) Christopher Pittman (1989-) Giuliana Sgrena (1948-) William Lepeska (1965-) and Anna Kournikova (1981-) Baby 81 (2004-) Adriana Iliescu (1938-) U.S. Sgt. Hasan Karim Akbar (1971-) Donna Grace Glenn Humphrey (1915-2005) U.S. Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow (1944-) Bart Ross (-2005) Matthew F. Hale (1971-) Sharon Olds (1942-) Ashley Smith (1978-) Brian Gene Nichols (1971-) Debra LaFave (1980-) Irv Gotti Lorenzo (1970-) Roland E. Arnall of the U.S. (1939-2008) Rabbi Yisrael Ariel Ali al-Timimi (1963-) Randall Todd Royer Robert Blake (1933-) Bonnie Lee Bakley (1956-2001) Andrey Nikolayevich Illarionov (1961-) Corey Delaney Clark (1980-) Arnold M. Cooper (1930-2011) Michael Ross (1959-) Danica Patrick (1982-) Oscar Sherman Wyatt Jr. (1924-) Dan Wheldon (1978-2011) Michael Schumacher (1969-) Deion Branch (1979-) Andrew Bynum (1987-) Sheryl Swoopes (1971-) Fisher DeBerry (1938-) Gary Bruce Bettman (1952-) 'Kent Wagner (1958-) Sali Berisha of Albania (1944-) Evo Morales of Bolivia (1959-) Jose Socrates of Brazil (1957-) Randy 'Duke' Cunningham of the U.S. (1941-) U.S. Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski (1953-) Priscilla Richman Owen of the U.S. (1954-) Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. (1949-) Robert Finlayson Cook of Britain (1946-2005) Natalee Holloway (1986-2005) Maya Marcel-Keyes (1985-) Jennifer Wilbanks (1973-) Isabelle Dinoire (1967-2016) Jean-Michel Dubernard (1941-) Ayman Nour of Egypt (1964-) Djamel Beghal George Hawi of Lebanon (1938-2005) Lech Kaczynski of Poland (1949-2010) Marc Cohn (1959-) STS-114 Crew, 2005 Eileen Collins of the U.S. (1956-) Mel Martinez of U.S. (1946-) Lawrence Anthony Franklin of the U.S. (1947-) 'Kent Wagner (1958-) Bruce Scott Gordon (1946-) Kelly A. Frank (1962-) Jose Canseco (1964-) Carlton Dotson (1982-) Dave Bliss (1943-) Robert Iger (1951-) Martin J. Sherwin (1937-) Kai Bird (1951-) Sir Walter Bodmer (1936-) Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (1981-) Antony Flew (1923-) Prince Charles (1948-) and Camilla (1947-) of Britain Cat Cora (1967-) Jim B. Tucker Philip Treacy (1967-) Philip Treacy Example Heidi Klum (1973-) and Seal (1963-) Kate Moss (1974-) Kate Moss (1974-) Sheik Horn of the U.S. Army Sadiq Aman Khan of Britain (1970-) Diane Wilson (1948-) Michelle Wie (1989-) Paris Hilton (1981-) and Paris Latsis (1979-) Ward Churchill (1947-) Michael Arthur Newdow (1953-) Frank Tassone Juan Marcos Gutierrez Gonzales of Mexico Joseph Edward Duncan III (1963-) Susanne Kristina Osthoff (1962-) Ted Stevens (1923-2010) with Incredible Hulk tie, 2005 Stanley Tookie Williams III (1953-2005) at age 51 Raj Chetty (1979-) Emmanuel Saenz (1972-) Peter Diamond (1940-) Johannes Feddema Peter Richard Orszag (1968-) Bart D. Ehrman (1955-) Atilla Ekici (1984-) Farid Essebar (1987-) Thomas L. Friedman (1953-) Donald T. Thompson of the U.S. (1947-) Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan Jordi Galí (1961-) Rev. Kyle Lake (1972-2005) Marla Ruzicka (1976-2005) Markus Zusak (1975-) Lil' Kim (1975-) Terry McMillan (1952-) and Jonathan Plummer (1975-) U.S. Lance Cpl. Miguel 'TJ' Terrazas (1985-2004) U.S. SSgt. Frank Wuterich (1980-) Shaul Mofaz of Israel (1948-) Joel Osteen (1963-) and Victoria Osteen (1961-) Muhammad Taqi Usmani (1943-) Mikhail Khodorkovsky (1963-) Jeffrey Ake (1958-) Nicholas Negroponte (1943-) Carrolyn Correa (1954-) John Lewis Hall (1934-) Theodor Wolfgang Hansch (1941-) Yves Chauvin (1930-) Stephen Dubner (1963-) and Steve Leavitt (1967-) Robert Howard Grubbs (1942-) Sherman A. Jackson Edward Klein (1937-) Nicole Krauss (1974-) Anne Lamott (1954-) David M. Oshinsky (1944-) Harold Pinter (1930-2008) John Lewis Hall (1934-) Roy Jay Glauber (1925-) Chad Meredith Hurley (1977), Jawed Karim (1979-), and Steve Shih Chen (1978-) Theodor Wolfgang Hansch (1941-) Robert Howard Grubbs (1942-) Tom Reiss (1964-) Richard Royce Schrock (1945-) Barry James Marshall (1951-) John Robin Warren (1937-) Robert John Aumann (1930-) Thomas Crombie Schelling (1921-) Carrie Tiffany (1965-) Michael Collins Piper (1960-) John Edward Jones III of the U.S. (1955-) Raghuram Rajan (1963-) Tash Aw (1971-) Marin Alsop (1956-) Reza Aslan (1972-) Robert Berringer Andrew G. Bostom Richard Cevantis Carrier (1969-) Jürgen Habermas (1929-) Garret LoPorto (1976-) Richard McCann (1949-) David McCullough (1933-) Nicholas Ostler (1952-) Walid Phares Brad Rutter (1978-) Archbishop Christoph Schönborn (1945-) Frank Stronach (1932-) Dr. Catherine DeAngelis (1940-) Michael Jackson SUV Dance, Jan. 18, 2005 Melissa Ann Young Pepe the Frog, 2005 'Bones', 2005- 'The Closer', 2005-12 'Criminal Minds', 2005- 'Everybody Hates Chris, 2005-9 'Grey's Anatomy', 2005- 'How I Met Your Mother', 2005 'Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, 2005- Allison DuBois (1972-) 'Medium', 2005-11 'My Name Is Earl, 2005-9 'Numb3rs', 2005-10 'The Office', 2005-13 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee', 2005 'The 39 Steps', 2005 'Billy Elliot the Musical', 2005 'Jersey Boys', 2005 'Rock of Ages', 2005 'Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson', 2005 'Monty Pythons Spamalot', 2005 'American Dad', 2005- Tom Cruise (1962-) and Katie Holmes (1978-) 'Brokeback Mountain', 2005 Heath Ledger (1979-2008) and Michelle Williams (1980-) 'Capote', 2005 'The Cave', 2005 'The Constant Gardener', 2005 'Constantine', 2005 'The Descent', 2005 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose', 2005 'Anneliese Michel (1952-76) 'Hostel', 2005 'The Island', 2005 'Kingdom of Heaven', 2005 'King Kong', 2005 'Lords of Dogtown', 2005 'Madagascar' 2005 'Munich', 2005 'North Country', 2005 'Santas Slay, 2005 'Separate Lies', 2005 'Serenity', 2005 'Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith', 2005 'Syriana', 2005 'Wedding Crashers', 2005 Sandra Bullock (1964-) and Jesse James (1969-) Olivia Newton-John and Patrick McDermott Donna Goeppert Cuyler Frank (1977-) James Blunt (1974-) The Bravery Chris Brown (1989-) Panic! at the Disco Pussycat Dolls Melody Gardot (1985-) Chelsea Handler (1975-) Stephenie Meyer (1973-) Elizabeth Kostova (1964-) Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) Wayne Kopping Gordon James Ramsay (1966-) John Scalzi (1969-) Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-) James Van Praagh (1958-) Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979-) Michael Bublé (1975-) Carrie Underwood (1983-) Bo Bice (1975-) Carrie Vaughn (1973-) Rihanna (1988-) Maximo Park Dropkick Murphys Fall Out Boy Niyaz M.I.A. (Mathangi 'Maya' Arulpragasm (1975-) 'A Bigger Bang' by the Rolling Stones, 2005 New Young Pony Club Funtwo (1984-) The Fray The Veronicas Yehudi Wyner (1929-) Jay Greenberg (1991-) Sam the Ugliest Dog (1990-2005) 'Little Black Man in Big White World' by Richard Pryor 'Ruan' by Xiao Yu, 2005 'Blue Bear Statue', by Lawrence Argent, 2005 Nat. Holocaust Memorial, Berlin, 2005 Airbus A380 F-22 Raptor, 2005

2005 Doomsday Clock: 7 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Rooster (Chicken) (Feb. 8) (lunar year 4702). Time Persons of the Year: The Good Samaritans (Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Bono). This is the U.N. Internat. Year of Microcredit. The U.N. Gen. Assembly adopts the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Doctrine. Iraq surpasses Israel as the #1 annual recipient of U.S. foreign aid, followed by Egypt and Jordan, which receive aid on the condition that they maintain peaceful relations with Israel. Pop. of Mexico: 103.1M (about 1M a year increase since 2000); the U.S. Border Patrol catches 155K non-Mexican migrants along the 2K-mi. U.S.-Mexico border this year, incl. some from terrorist countries incl. Iran, Iraq, and Pakistan, up 5x in three years; 516 Mexican illegal die attempting to come across the border this year, up 40% from 2004; the U.S. has 55K centenarians. On top of regular immigration since the passing of the 1965 U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act, a record 96K Muslims become permanent legal U.S. residents this year. As of this year the world consumes 84M barrels of oil a day, while oil fields produce 85M, leaving only 1M barrels of "excess capacity"; meanwhile China is motorizing at jet speed, causing a tug of war with the U.S., which consumes 25% of the world's energy with just 5% of the pop., and imports 10M barrels a day, half from OPEC (35% domestic, 11% Canada, 10% Mexico, 9% Saudi Arabia, 8% Venezuela, 7% Nigeria, 20% other); world reserves of oil total 1.1T barrels (.9T previously consumed), enough for 40 years. According to WHO, 1.6M people die each year as a result of violence; in Africa 609 per million people die a violent death; since 1990 human wars (incl. 55 civil wars) have claimed 3.6M lives, nearly half of them children. In Iraq this year 10,593 IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) detonate, causing 64% of all U.S. deaths; meanwhile the U.S. policy is to "de-weaken" the country so that they can eventually pull out. In the U.S. this year 51% of women claim to be living without a spouse, compared to 49% in 2000 and 35% in 1950; 47% of adults in their 30s and 40s have lived in a cohabiting relationship; 37% of U.S. births are out of wedlock, compared to 5.3% in 1960; meanwhile a Pew Research Study finds that 71% of people believe that having children out of wedlock is a "big problem" for the U.S., and 44% believe it is "always or almost always wrong" for unmarried women to have children. Between Feb. of this year and Oct. 2006 more than 93M data records of Americans are exposed to breaches of security. The U.S. has a negative savings rate this year for the first time since 1933. Over 17.5K are trafficked into the U.S. this year, one-third from Mexico for slave labor, incl. sexual exploitation; over 2M children worldwide are employed in the sex industry; human trafficking worldwide is a $6B-$9B industry. Kentucky leads the U.S. with the highest percentage (28%) of smokers as its leaders try to change the state economy's "Three B's" (Bourbon, Building and 'bacco) to about anything else. Since 1970 20M legal Islamic immigrants have come to Europe, equaling the combined pops. of Ireland, Denmark, and Belgium? Horn of Africa pirates begin raking in $50M a year (until ?), using it to finance global criminal operations. Between this year and 2009 the U.S. Dept. holds $880M worth of contracts with seven internat. corps. that do significant business with Iran in the oil, gas, and petrochemical sectors. After 14 consecutive years of double-digit increases in its military budget, China has the 2nd biggest in the world ($65B), with 2.5M soldiers; it targets 600 missiles at Taiwan, adding 75 more each year. China shows how Big Brother and the Internet can coexist? After investing $138B in infrastructure over five years, China now has 94M Internet users, compared to 24M for India; online revenue is $1.1B, compared to $93M for India; in Aug. Yahoo.com pays $1B for a 40% stake in Alibaba.com, China's biggest online commerce firm; in 2003 it invested $120M in a Chinese search engine, and in 2004 bought a controlling stake in online auction site 1pai.com.cn; Chinese web sites are prohibited from containing content that "divulges state secrets, subverts the govt. or undermines national unity", and in 1997 this was announced to incl. "feudalistic" and "supersitious" content, incl. astrology, fortune-telling and numerology; there are Internet police depts. in over 700 cities and provinces; Microsoft Corp. draws criticism for implementing software for China which kow-tows to these demands, warning bloggers not to use words like "democracy", "freedom", "liberty", "demonstration", "separatism", "capitalism", "human rights"; China also bans Wikipedia, the 2.3M article 100-language free online user-supported hit-miss encyclopedia. This year 73M people in the U.S. receive "phishing" emails, looking for dupes to visit their fake web sites and give them personal info. so they can steal from them - the first pure Internet crime not imported from the non-Internet world? U.S. workers waste 551K years of time reading blogs as 35M people (one in four of the work force) visit blogs, averaging 3.5 hours per week. Text messaging reaches 1M a day avg. worldwide; short message service (SMS) allows ads to intrude; Islamic countries allows a man to divorce his wife by sending the message "I divorce you" three times by SMS - I ain't no hollaback girl? The U.S. drug industry hooks millions on its pills and potions, spending an average of $663K a day advertising Nexium (heartburn), $586K for Crestol (cholesterol), $447K for Cialis (erectile dysfunction), $405K for Levitra (ED), $340K for Zelnorm (irritable bowel), $334K for Prevacid (heartburn), $320K for Flonase (nasal allergies), and $312K for Celebrex (arthritis). Latin America replaces Asia as the source for most of the heroin seized in the U.S.; in 1989 Asia accounted for 96%, but this year only 10%, with Colombia alone accounting for 60%. The school pop. in America reaches 49.6M children, finally breaking the 1970 record of 48.7M set by the baby boomer generation. In the U.S. 50.3% of all business mgrs. and profs. are female, but comprise less than 2% of Fortune 1000 CEOs and 7.9% of Fortune 500 top earners. U.S. traffic deaths of 43,443 (1.47 deaths per 100M mi. traveled) are the highest since 1990; 2.7M are injured in crashes, and 4,675 pedestrians die, plus 3,374 drivers between ages 16-20. On Jan. 1 Michigan defeats Texas by 38-37 to win the 2005 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 at 0:00:00 the Turkish govt. drops six zeroes from its nat. currency, a result of decades of double-digit inflation that inflated its lira from 2.8 to the U.S dollar in the 1950s to 1.35M, made possible by recent stunning economic progress. On Jan. 1 a prison riot at Bayside State Prison in Leesburg, N.J. by the Bloods street gang begins after guards confiscate contraband chicken from convicted 25-y.-o. drug dealer Omar McCray, and he yells, "Bloods out, rat-a-tat, Bloods out". On Jan. 2 sports figures Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, NFL teams and others join in assisting the relief mission for the tsunami in S Asia; on Jan. 3 Pres. Bush taps his daddy and former pres. Clinton to help. On Jan. 3 Medium debuts on NBC-TV for 130 episodes (until Jan. 21, 2011), moving to CBS-TV on Sept. 25, 2009, based on real-life medium Allison DuBois (1972) starring Patricia Arquette as medium Allison DuBois of Phoenix, Ariz., who works with the DA; all three of her daughters have her gift. On Jan. 4 the pro-U.S. gov. of the Baghdad region is assassinated with six bodyguards as he drives to work - great start defensively for the Trojans as they start the second half? On Jan. 4 half-white half-black Barack (Arab. "blessed") Hussein (Arab. "handsome") Obama (Kenyan "crooked") II (1961-) becomes U.S. Dem. Sen. for Ill. (until ?), beginning a meteoric rise in U.S. politics. On Jan. 5 China's pop. officially reaches 1.3B. On Jan. 5 Pres. Bush opens a new push for caps on medical malpractice awards - contending that his owner-trainers tell him what to do? On Jan. 5 Am. paleontologist Charles Repenning (b. 1922) is found dead in his home in Lakewood, Colo. (first to find dino bones on the North Slope of Alaska), killed by meth-addict burglars Richard James Kasparson (1970-) and Michael Wessel, who had been hired by Nicholas Savajian, a remodeler who had been invited into Repenning's home and saw all the neat fossils and other artifacts it contained; both are later sentenced to life in priz with no meth. On Jan. 5 CNN Pres. Jonathan Klein describes CNN's coverage of the tsunami, saying "We were able to flood the zone immediately." On Jan. 6 Nelson Mandela announces that his 54-y.-o. son Makgatho died of AIDS that morning. On Jan. 6 the Internat. Summit on Tsunami Relief convenes in Jakarta. On Jan. 6 a roadside bomb strikes a Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Bag Ur Dad (Baghdad), killing seven U.S. soldiers, and showing that the insurgents can make big enough bombs to penetrate their best armor - I don't know why you say goodbye I say boom? On Jan. 6 a freight train slams into a parked train in Graniteville, S.C., rupturing a chlorine tank, and the gas kills nine and injures 234. On Jan. 7 super-intense rainstorms begin drenching the Pacific coast of Southern Calif., dumping a whole year's worth of rain (20+ in.) and causing mudslides and deaths as the old song lyrics "it never rains in Southern California" are played by radio stations; the Sierra Nevadas get 19 ft. of snow at elevations above 7K feet from Dec. 28-Jan. 9, the most since 1916; storms also cause flooding in Ariz., avalanches in Utah, and ice damage and flooding in the Ohio Valley; MF believers increase their volume of warnings of an approaching Armageddon? On Jan. 7 Hollywood dream couple (since July 29, 2000) Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston announce their separation, and in Mar. Aniston files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences; in an Aug. interview for Vanity Fair she denies that the breakup is due to her not wanting children, saying "I did and I do and I will", attributing it instead to "when you stop growing together, that's when the problems happen"; she says "I was shocked" at published pictures of Pitt with actress Angelina Jolie and her 3-y.-o. son Maddox on a beach in Africa while filming Mr. and Mrs. Smith; on Dec. 2 the acting team of Brad Pitt (1963-) and Angelina Jolie (1975-) confirm rumors of having a serious affair since the filming of Mr. and Mrs. Smith when they file a legal petition in Los Angeles to change the names of Jolie's children Maddox (b. 2002) (adopted from Cambodia) and Zahara (b. 2005) (adopted from Ethiopia) to Jolie-Pitt, causing their acting duo to be called "Brangelina" (Bradgelina); she later claims that she refused to "be intimate" with him until he got a divorce, then has his baby Shiloh in May, 2007; in Mar. 2007 she adopts Pax Thien (b. 2004) in Vietnam. On Jan. 8 a roadside bomb goes off under a U.S. convoy at night near a police checkpoint in Yussifiyah (9 mi. S of Baghdad), causing the troops to open fire; two police officers and three civilians are killed; earlier that day, at 2 a.m. the U.S. drops a 500-lb. bomb on the wrong house during a search for terror suspects in Aitha, 30 mi. S of Mosul, killing seven adults and seven children; another U.S. soldier assigned to Task Force Baghdad is killed in a roadside bomb; Samarra's deputy police chief Col. Mohammed Mudhafir is shot by insurgents as he drives alone; an accidental explosion kills seven Ukrainian soldiers and one from Kazakhstan at an ammo dump 6 mi. S of Suwaira about noon. On Jan. 9 Mahmoud Abbas (1935-) is elected pres. of the Palestinian Authority, winning 65% of the vote in a field of seven candidates, and taking office on Jan. 15 (until ?); his avowed goals are a Palestinian state in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, and the right of return for displaced Palestinians. On Jan. 9 Britain's Prince Harry (1984) wears a Nazi uniform to a costume party, a photo of which is featured on the front page of the Jan. 12 ed. of The Sun with the title "Harry the Nazi", bringing a public apology and cries from the Simon Wiesenthal Center for him to go to Auschwitz to atone. On Jan. 10 PM Ariel Sharon's new govt. takes office after a close (58-56) parliamentary vote, giving him a cabinet majority for his plan to remove all 21 settlements from the Gaza Strip and four from the West Bank (8.5K Israelis total) starting in July. On Jan. 10 CBS issues the thick Rathergate Report after an internal review, accusing three news execs and producer Mary Mapes of 60 Minutes II of "myopic zeal", and firing them or asking them to resign; CBS News Pres. Andrew Heyward and Dan Rather escape punishment, although the latter is criticized by CBS Chief Exec. Leslie Moonves for "errors of credulity and over-enthusiasm"; the name of the disgraced show is changed to 60 Minutes Wednesday, as the mother show begins its 38th season on Sun. Jan. 16, and last airs on Sept. 2. On Jan. 10 Pope John Paul II puts lobbying against same-sex marriage at the top of the Vatican's agenda for the year; also on the anti-list are abortion, cloning, assisted procreation, and embryonic stem cell use. On Jan. 10 a roadside bomb destroys an armored Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Baghdad, killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding four more (the second such attack in a week); hours earlier gunmen in a passing car assassinate Baghdad's deputy police chief and his son while they drive to work; a suicide bomber blows up a fake police car at a Baghdad police station, killing four officers and wounding ten more; afterwards, two rockets tear a hole in a family home nearby, injuring two; a roadside bombing kills three Iraqi Nat. Guard soldiers and wounds six during a joint patrol with U.S. troops in Mosul; the insurgents give notice that they will station snipers to stalk voters outside polling places during the Jan. 30 elections. On Jan. 10 a U.S. SH-60 Seahawk heli on a relief operation hard-lands in a rice paddy near the Banda Aceh airport, injuring all 10 U.S. servicemen aboard. On Jan. 10 Air Force officials announce that Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Fiscus, Judge Advocate Gen. of the Air Force from Feb. 2002-Sept. 2004 will be retired at the rank of col. after being dismissed for engaging in "unprofessional relationships" with female subordinates - he didn't pay them union scale for beejays and hand jobs? On Jan. 11 Pres. Bush nominates federal judge Michael B. Chertoff (1953-) (co-writer of the U.S. Patriot Act) (his mother Livia Eisen was an El Al air hostess with alleged links to the Mossad) as U.S. homeland security secy. #2 (until Jan. 21, 2009), replacing Tom Ridge, who steps down on Feb. 1; Ridge had been subject to news coverage of his ritzy fun-filled junkets at taxpayer expense to Hawaii supposedly for official govt. business. On Jan. 12 French justice minister Dominique Perben asks the Paris prosecutor's office to prosecute anti-immigration Nat. Front Party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen for making a remark to the weekly pub. Rivarol that "the German occupation was not that inhumane, even if there were a number of excesses" - book him, life without parole? On Jan. 12 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in U.S. v. Booker to strike down the federal mandatory sentencing guidelines, making them advisory only. On Jan. 12 the NASA Deep Impact spacecraft (built by Ball Aerospace of Boulder, Colo.) blasts off on a mission to smash a hole in a comet to investigate its contents; on July 3 at 10:57 p.m. PDT its 820-lb. cooper-fortified "impactor" smashes into icy Comet Tempel 1; later Russian astrologer Marina Bai (1965-) sues NASA for $300M for interfering with her horoscopes by "ruining the natural balance of forces in the Universe"; her case is thrown out of court then reinstated, and ends in ? - and ice cream truck drivers everywhere do what? On Jan. 13 a federal judge in Atlanta, Ga. orders a suburban Atlanta school system to remove stickers from its h.s. biology textbooks that call evolution "a theory, not a fact", and carry a legend that they are "approved by Cobb County Board of Education, Thusday, Mar. 28, 2002." On Jan. 13 a large scale Palestinian attack kills six Israeli civilians at a Gaza crossing point, causing Israeli PM Ariel Sharon on Jan. 14 to suspend all contacts with the Palestinian leadership until they halt militant attacks. On Jan. 13 (night) 28 Iraqi POWs escape en route from the Abu Ghraib Prison to another facility; meanwhile the U.S. Nat. Intelligence Council releases a report saying that Iraq has replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next gen. of "professionalized" terrorists. On Jan. 14 an Iraqi military bus is rocketed by insurgents W of Baghdad; a large U.S.-Iraqi force descends on Av Gani, Iraq looking for insurgents, an Iraqi bus collides with a U.S. tank, killing six bus passengers and injuring eight. On Jan. 14 a U.S. military judge convicts SSgt. Jonathan J. Alban-Cardenas of murder for the mercy-killing of a 16-y.-o. Iraqi, sentencing him to one year in prison. On Jan. 14 Alberta PM Ralph Klein utters the soundbyte: "You would have to eat 10 billion meals of brains, spinal cords, ganglia, eyeballs and tonsils to get the [mad cow] disease" - since I got in the loop, everyone can eat my guts? On Jan. 15 PLO chmn. Mahmoud Abbas is sworn-in as pres. of the Palestinian Authority, and armed Palestinian factions swear to press ahead with attacks, but the PLO calls for an end to them; Abbas utters the soundbyte: "We are telling the entire world, today Gaza and tomorrow Jerusalem"; despite this Hamas renews rocket and mortar fire against Jewish settlers in Gaza on Jan. 16; on Jan. 16 Sharon warns Palestinian PM Ahmed Qureia that he has given the army orders to act "without restrictions" against any acts of Palestinian terrorism; the latter responds with a statement demanding a halt to "all military acts that harm our national interests and provide excuses to Israel". On Jan. 15 Richard Armitage, a deputy of U.S. state secy. Colin Powell reveals that he and Powell sometimes used the "bully pulpit" and went public with dissenting views to try to influence the less-moderate Bush admin. on policy issues. On Jan. 16 the U.S. frees 81 detainees in Afghanistan ahead of the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha. On Jan. 16 the Golden Globe Awards are held in Hollywood; The Aviator wins for best dramatic film, Sideways for best comedy film. On Jan. 16 66-y.-o. Adriana Iliescu (1938-) gives birth to 3.19 lb. Eliza Maria in Bucharest, Romania, becoming the oldest recorded woman to give birth; a twin sister is stillborn. On Jan. 17 former Chinese PM Zhao Ziyang (b. 1920) dies; he had been under house arrest since being toppled in a power struggle following the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests. On Jan. 17 Iraqi expatriates in 14 countries begin registering to vote in Iraq's Jan. 30 elections. On Jan. 17 Sunni insurgents seeking to derail the election kidnap Syrian Catholic archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa (1938-) in Mosul, and 20+ people in a series of brazen assaults in the flashpoint region N and W of Baghdad. On Jan. 18 the 1.2M lb. Airbus A380 superjumbo jet (30% bigger than a 747) is unveiled in Toulouse, France, making its first flight on Apr. 27; it has a record passenger cap. of 800, and 149 have already been ordered; on Oct. 25 the first airline to fly is Singapore Airlines; it is tested with passengers in Mar. 2007, and has 156 standing orders, none from U.S. carriers. On Jan. 18 the Michael Jackson Trial People of the State of Calif. v. Michael Joseph Jackson for molesting 13-y.-o. Gavin Arvizo begins as he is arraigned in Santa Maria, Calif., then goes outside and wows fans with an electrifying dance atop his black SUV; on Jan. 31 jury selection begins; on Feb. 23 a jury is selected; on Feb. 28 opening statements are made; the trial becomes the most publicized in history (until ?). On Jan. 19 Iraqi insurgents set off five car bombs across Baghdad (the first four within a 90 min. span), killing at least a dozen; the first is at 7 a.m. in the Australian embassy, followed a half hour later by one at a police station, then one at a military recruiting center; the 4th is at the Baghdad Int. Airport, and the fifth explodes around noon near a Shiite mosque and bank in the northern part of the city; insurgents in a car also fire on an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, killing one member. On Jan. 19 the Am. Cancer Society's annual statistical report notes that cancer has surpassed heart disease as the top killer of Americans younger than 85 (476,009 from cancer in 2002 vs. 450,637 from heart disease). On Jan. 19 21-y.-o. homeless Mexican man Francisco Serrano (1983-) is arrested 2x at Apple Valley High School, his alma mater where he had been posing as a student for three weeks, sitting in on classes, showering in the locker room, and sleeping in the theater - they did a good job preparing him for his life work? On Jan. 19 under pressure from the U.S. and others, Israeli PM Ariel Sharon approves a "security meeting" with field cmdrs. which prevents a large-scale Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. On Jan. 19 in Tampa, Fla. U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. issues the first-ever ruling upholding the federal law letting states ban same-sex marriages, dismissing a lawsuit by two women seeking to have their Mass. marriage recognized in Fla. - well blow me down? On Jan. 19 Pres. Bush pledges to seek unity in a divided U.S., saying, "I am eager and ready for the work ahead" - how about capable? On Jan. 20 U.S. pres. #43 George W. Bush is inaugurated for a 2nd term in the 64th U.S. Pres. Inauguration (the 16th 2-term pres.), with Richard Cheney continuing as the 46th vice-pres.; corporate America donates $40M to the inauguration fund; Washington Post columnist and CFR senior fellow Michael John Gerson (1964-) writes Bush's idealistic 1.8K-word inaugural speech, containing the soundbyte: "We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world"; Margaret Spellings (1957-) becomes U.S. education secy., and later in Jan. writes a letter to the head of PBS-TV complaining about an episode of Postcards from Buster about a lesbian couple; on Oct. 8, 2006 she appears on Celebrity Jeopardy!, getting eaten, er, whipped, er, beaten bigtime by Michael McKean, who played Lenny on "Laverne and Shirley". Colorado's political regime stinks itself up trying to get around academic freedom in a public university, a good argument for private universities? On Jan. 21 Ian Mandel (1984-), a junior at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. pub. an article in the college newspaper "The Spectator", setting off a chain reaction over the un-PC views of super-popular U. of Colo. (Boulder) ethics studies PhD-less Urbana, Ill.-born prof. Ward LeRoy Churchill (1947-), who rose from an admin. asst. position with the Am. Indian Equal Opportunities Program in 1978 to full prof. in 1997 and chmn. of the ethnic studies dept. in 2002 ($100K a year), and pub. an article written on Sept. 12, 2001 titled Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens, comparing the Twin Tower victims of the 9/11 attack to Nazis and "little Eichmanns", saying they are just "technocrats" getting deserved payback from victims of prior U.S. misdeeds in the Middle East; on Feb. 1 he resigns as chmn. amid angry outcries by Student Repub. protesters and Colo. politicians, incl. the infamous C.U. Board of Regents, and Gov. Bill Owens (a Texan) stinks himself up by calling for his removal, claiming that as a public official supported by public funds they have a right to control his public speech, like any govt. bureaucrat that has no freedom to speak out against the regime, then calling CU pres. Betsy Hoffman and threatening to cut off state funds if they don't fire him; Churchill threatens to sue if he's fired, saying "I don't work for Governor Bill Owens", but for the students, and has tenure and the right to academic freedom, but that doesn't stop the regents, the Rocky Mt. Roman Emperors, enjoying a unique position in the state constitution as an independent state arm equal to the legislature (big mistake), and not stymied by the law being on Churchill's side they declare all-out war on him, all at taxpayer expense, immediately switching to an attack on his years-old claim to be a member of the Keetowah Cherokee tribe in Okla., claiming that this mostly white prof. without a doctorate lied to get affirmative action preference in hiring; after that doesn't work, they spend years having academic committees go through every word of his massive published output, adding a blizzard of petty allegations of plagiarism and copyright violations like any author might have let slip in, and which should have been brought to his attention incrementally not all at once, then appointing a 5-person committee chaired by law prof. Marianne "Mimi" Wesson to rubber-stamp their prior decision to 'get' him by making it look like due process, and on May 9, 2006 it finds him guilty on all seven "counts", incl. pub. an unsupported footnote claiming that Capt. John Smith had tried to spread smallpox to the Indians, and plagiarism for plagiarising himself because he ghost-wrote a paper under an alias, although only one of the members recommends that he be fired, causing him to call it "a travesty" and threaten a lawsuit, while his enemies, incl. loser Denver newspaper Rocky Mountain News (closes 2009) (known for supporting Col. Chivington in the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre, and personally pissing-off TLW by refusing to print his letters to the editor since the 1970s) jump at the chance to call for him to "never teach again"; sho' 'nuff, on July 24, 2007 after the regents fire him rather than put him on probation or suspend him for awhile, calling any attempt to sue them on First Amendment grounds "frivolous", which doesn't stop him, and on Apr. 2, 2009 after a 6-week trial a jury finds in his favor, awarding him $1 in damages, and in July 2009 a district court judge vacates the award and denies his request to order his reinstatement because CU is an arm of the Colo. govt. itself and has "quasi-judicial immunity"; on Apr. 1, 2013 after the Colo. Supreme court rubberstamps the decision, the U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear the case - moral: CU is a party school and a joke hiding behind govt. immunity, and should be closed? On Jan. 23 a bug is found outside actress Nicole Kidman's home in Sydney, Australia, causing paparazzo Jamie Fawcett to be suspected and ordered by a judge on Apr. 6 to provide a DNA sample. On Jan. 23 Viktor (Victor) Andriyovich Yushchenko (1954-) is sworn-in as pres. #3 of Ukraine (until Feb. 25, 2010). On Jan. 23 charges against Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk (1952-) are dropped after the EU objects; he had been charged in 2004 in Istanbul with "insulting Turkish identity" for speaking in a newspaper interview about the 1915 million-man Armenian massacre and the 1980 30K-man Kurdish massacre by Turks; on Oct. 12, 2006 he wins the Nobel Lit. Prize. On Jan. 23 Numbers (NUMB3RS) debuts on CBS-TV for 118 episodes (until Mar. 12, 2010), starring Robert Alan "Rob" Morrow (1962-) as FBI Special Agent Don Eppes, and David Krumholtz (1978-) as his math whiz brother Prof. Charlie Eppes, who solve crimes in LA mathematically with their father Alan Eppes, played by Judd Seymore Hirsch (1935-). On Jan. 24 Iraqi authorities announce that Sami Mohammed Ali Said al-Jaaf (AKA Abu Omar al-Kurdi), an al-Qaida lt. arrested on Jan. 15 in Baghdad "confessed to building approximately 75% of the car bombs used in attacks in Baghdad" during the war (32 car bombings). On Jan. 24 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Cour rules 8-0-1 in Commissioner v. Banks that a taxpayer's settlement is income, even the contingency fee he pays his atty., except for in employment cases, which are exempted by the 2004 U.S. Am. Jobs Creation Act; Rehnquist recused himself. A vacant adult gives millions a magic moment with the Void? On Jan. 24 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court clears the way for the plug to be pulled on brain-damaged 41-y.-o. Theresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo (Schindler) (b. 1963), who has been kept on life support in Fla. since potassium deficiency and an eating disorder induced a heart attack on Feb. 25 1990, interrupting oxygen flow to her brain for 5 min. and leaving her in a persistent vegetative state (she can open her eyes, but can't think, and depends on a feeding tube); after years of fruitless therapies, her hubby Michael decides to have her feeding tube removed, but her parents Robert and Mary Schindler don't, and they begin a court battle; Repub. Gov. Jeb Bush successfully lobbies the Fla. legislature to pass a law to keep her alive; when the U.S. Supreme Court again clears the way, her feeding tube is pulled on Mar. 18 in her hospice in Pinellas Park; on Mar. 21 the U.S. House by 203-58 passes an emergency law throwing her case into Fla. District Court, which sides with her hubby against her parents; on Mar. 22 Terri's parents beg a federal appeals court to order her feeding tube reinserted; the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to intervene in the case for the 6th time on Mar. 30 at 10:40 p.m., less than 2 hours after the request is filed; she dies on Mar. 31 at 9:05 a.m. amid a throng of protesters; House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) asks the House Judiciary Committee to examine the case and make recommendations on how to address a politicized "arrogant, out-of-control" federal judiciary, that he says will have to answer for its actions; on Apr. 13 he apologizes for his remarks, calling them "inartful" (he is a marked man now?); on June 15 an autopsy is released backing Michael's contention that she was in a persistent vegetative state. On Jan. 25 a video shows U.S. contractor Roy Hallums (1948-), who was kidnapped in Baghdad the previous Nov. 1 by Iraqi hoodlums looking for ransom pleading for his life; his ex-wife Susan gets Moammar Gadhafi to make a public appeal for his release; he is rescued by coalition troops on Sept. 7. On Jan. 26 a U.S. CH-53E Sea Stallion transport heli crashes in a desert sandstorm in early morning darkness in W Iraq, killing all 30 U.S. Marines and one Navy medic aboard; they had been on a security mission in support of the upcoming election; hours after the crash, Pres. Bush holds the first news conference of his 2nd term (18th overall), pleading for Americans' patience in Iraq, urging Iraqis to defy terrorist threats and vote, and declaring "I firmly planted the flag of liberty" (at a cost to U.S. taxpayers of $1B a week?); later in the day insurgents set off eight car bombs which kill 13 and injure 40, incl. 11 Americans, and carry out a string of attacks on schools slated to be used as election centers; the U.S. death toll for the Iraqi war exceeds 1,400. On Jan. 26 (6:03 a.m. PST) Juan Manuel Alvarez (1978-) leaves his gasoline-soaked SUV on some railroad tracks in Glendale, Calif., at the outskirts of Los Angeles, causing a commuter train to smash into it, derail, and crash into an oncoming train, killing 11 and injuring 177; in Aug. 2008 he is sentenced to 11 consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole - guess why I did it? On Jan. 26 Birmingham, Ala.-born Repub. Condoleezza Rice (1954-) (sounds like a soul food recipe?) is sworn-in as U.S. secy. of state #66 (until Jan. 20, 2009) after the Senate confirms her by a 85-13 vote (2nd woman and first black woman to have the job); 2nd secy. of state to never be married (James Buchanan); 12 of 44 Dems. and one Independent vote not to confirm her, the highest number of votes against a SOS nominee since Henry Clay in 1825; the last nominee to receive any no votes was Alexander Haig in 1981; on Jan. 26 U.S. deputy nat. security advisor (since 2001) Stephen John Hadley (1947-) succeeds her as nat. security adviser #21 (until Jan. 20, 2009); U.S. EPA secy. (since 2003) Mike Leavitt becomes U.S. Health and Human Services secy. #8 (until Jan. 20, 2009). On Jan. 26 hip-hop label Murder Inc. founder Irving "Irv Gotti" Lorenzo (1970-) and his brother Chris are charged with laundering $1M+ in drug profits from Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff's multistate crack and heroin operation; the label's superstar artists Ja Rule (Jeff Atkins) and Ashanti are not charged. On Jan. 29 a court in Saudi Arabia rules that the value of a woman's life is equal that of one man's leg as far as blood money is concerned. On Jan. 30 (Sun.) the first Iraqi parliamentary elections in half a cent. are held in U.S.-occupied Iraq (150K troops) under heavy security from spoilsport insurgents, who kill at least 40 with suicide bombers, and shoot down a British military transport plane, killing 10 as Pres. Bush calls the balloting a resounding success; the majority Sunnis are victorious (only 10% of the Shiites vote); on Jan. 31 spoilsport al-Qaida issues a message promising to "destroy the American game of democracy" in Iraq through holy war - stick with what works? On Jan. 31 the Vatican announces that Pope John Paul II has a mild case of flu, forcing cancellation of appearances; on Feb. 1 he is rushed to the hospital after upper respiratory problems and larynx spasms cause breathing difficulties; on Feb. 9 he misses the Ash Wed. ceremony for the first time, allowing Am. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford (b. 1832) to preside in his place; he leaves the hospital in the evening of Feb. 10 in his white popemobile, makes a 30 min. public appearance on Feb. 23, but is rushed back by ambulance on Feb. 24 for an emergency tracheotomy to relieve more flu-like symptoms; he then makes a surprise public appearance on Sun. Feb. 27 from his hospital window; on Mar. 13 he returns to his Vatican apt. overlooking St. Peter's Square; on Mar. 20 he misses his first Palm Sunday Mass in his 26 years as pope, appearing only briefly on his 3rd-story balcony, appearing frustrated; on Mar. 27 he delivers an Easter Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square, but is unable to speak and makes the sign of the cross. In Jan. the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is signed by the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the genocide-loving Islamist Nat. Congress Party, calling for a secession referendum for non-Islamic South Sudan by 2011; on July 9 SPLM rebel leader John Garang de Mabior (1945-2005) is inaugurated into a nat. unity govt. as vice-pres. #1 of Sudan, looking to form a cabinet by Aug. 9; too bad, 3 weeks later on July 30 he dies along with 13 others in a heli crash into a mountain in S Sudan in bad weather, causing supporters, suspecting a govt. plot to riot in Khartoum on Aug. 1, killing 36; the SPLM quickly quashes the rumors and names Garang's deputy Salva Kiir Mayardit (1951-) as its head as well as pres. of South Sudan, and new Sudan vice-pres.; meanwhile Omar al-Bashir's troops still occupy the south. Here cums da judge? Oklahoma shows the power of Christianity to make public exposure of Dick Almighty a crime? In Jan. indecent exposure charges are filed against 58-y.-o. ex-judge Donald D. Thompson (1947-) of Oklahoma City for using a sexual device (a white-handled penis pump) to masturbate under his robe in court during trials, causing him to become known as the "Penis Pump Judge"; he retired in Aug. 2004 after 23 years on the bench after being threatened with removal; his trial in June-Aug. 2006 results in a 4-year sentence, despite claiming the pump was a gag gift and he never used it after court reporter Lisa Foster testifies she saw him expose himself in court at least 15x between 2001-3 - and kept her mouth shut? In Jan. the Jewish Sanhedrin (70 rabbis) in Tiberias, Israel meets for the first time since 475 C.E.; meanwhile the Cohen Modal Haplotype is discovered, permitting Jews qualified to act as priests to be ID'd, causing Rabbi Yisrael Ariel et al. to go ahead with extensive plans for rebuilding the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem - when/if I can only imagine? In Jan. gay fashion reporter Steven "Cojo" Cojocaru (1962-) has a kidney transplant, only to be unceremoniously fired by NBC-TV when he arranges to go on the Oprah Winfrey show to talk about it; when he does go on that show in Apr., he says "I thought I was cynical - like L.A., New York cynical - but I found out I'm Pippi Longstocking". In Jan. the Muslim hajj in Saudi Arabia sees a record 2.56M people. On Feb. 2 Pres. Bush delivers his 2005 State of the Union Address, with vice-pres. Dick Cheney looking on as usual, acting oblivious to setbacks in Iraq and uttering the soundbyte: "Right now, Americans in uniform are serving at posts across the world, often taking great risks on my orders." On Feb. 3 San Antonio, Tex.-born, Humble, Tex.-raised, Harvard-educated Roman Catholic Alberto R. Gonzales (1955-), former head of the White House counsel's office is sworn-in as U.S. atty.-gen. #80 (until Sept. 17, 2007); although declaring his independence from Pres. Bush, he names three attys. from that office as his top aides - just wait? On Feb. 5 Gnassingbe Eyadema dies after 38 years in office, and on Feb. 25 his son Faure Essozimma Gnassingbe (Gnassingbé) (1966-) becomes pres. of Togo, but resigns on Feb. 25 after pressure by the U.S., U.N., and West African leaders, along with an arms embargo imposed by the Economic Community of West African States; too bad, an election on Apr. 24 puts him back in office on May 4 (until ?), despite the opposition claiming fraud. On Feb. 6 Super Bowl XXXIX (39) (2005) is held Jacksonville, Fla., and the 14-2 New England Patriots (AFC) defeat the 13-3 Philadelphia Eagles (NFC) 24-21; Patriots WR (#83) Deion Branch (1979-) is MVP; the pregame talk about Terrell Owens returning from a broken ankle is eclipsed by a Patriots wide receiver mockingly flapping his wings after a TD catch; the Patriots' 3rd win in four Super Bowls (the 2nd team ever), and 3rd straight SB win by 3 points; the once-powerful San Francisco 49ers finish the season 2-14 at the bottom of their NFC West division as Joe Montana fades away on TV commercials, and Jerry Rice tries out for the Broncos and retires rather than face being cut, then ends upon TV's Dancing With the Stars; 43.8M lbs. of love-the-skin-you're-in avocados are eaten during the game by viewers. On Feb 6 the adult animated sitcom American Dad!, created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker, and Matt Weitzman debuts on Fox Network, about Repub. CIA agent Stan Smith (Set MacFarlane), his wife Francine (Wendy Schaal), liberal college-age daughter Hayley (Rachael MacFarlane), and dorky h.s. age son Steve (Scott Grimes); Stan's boss is Avery Bullock (Patrick Stewart), deputy dir. of the CIA. On Feb. 7 Pres. Bush proposes a $2.57T budget that proposes to end scores of programs but still increases the federal deficit by $42B over the next five years. On Feb. 8 Palestinian (Fatah) leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli PM Ariel Sharon sign a ceasefire at a summit meeting in Egypt. On Feb. 8 a suicide bomber blows himself up in the middle of a crowd of army recruits in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 21 in the city's deadliest attack since the election (see Feb. 11, 2004). On Feb. 9 a new U.S. postage stamp honoring Pres. Reagan is issued in ceremonies across the nation. On Feb. 9 a snowstorm in Pakistan causes avalanches and floods, killing 2,029. On Feb. 10 Hamas launches a mortar and rocket barrage on Jewish settlements in the S Gaza Strip before dawn in retaliation for the death of two Palestinians the day before; Mahmoud Abbas calls an emergency session of the central committee of the Fatah movement and fires three of his security chiefs along with a number of lower-ranking officers in his determination to enforce the ceasefire of Feb. 8. On Feb. 10 North Korea declares publicly that it possesses nukes just as the U.S. believes it is about to return to the negotiating table after an 8 mo. hiatus; this time the Bush admin. avoids all bluster about having to invade an "axis of evil" country possessing WMD; North Korea becomes the 9th nation to get nukes (U.S. 6K, Russia 8.5K, Britain 200, France 350, China 400, India 45-95, Pakistan 30-50, Israel 200). On Feb. 10 56-y.-o. Prince Charles of Wales (1948-) announces his engagement to 2nd wife, 57-y.-o. horseface Camilla Parker Bowles (1947-), Scottish Duchess of Rothesay, whose 30-year love affair broke up his marriage to Diana; since she knows how to keep the British stiff upper lip the queen gives her approval; they marry on Apr. 9 after delaying one day to allow for attendance at Pope John Paul II's funeral; Camilla's titles after marriage are HRH Princess of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, and Duchess of Rothesay, followed by Queen if/when Charles becomes king; she never uses princess of Wales to avoid confusion with Lady Diana Spencer; he gives her a family heirloom square-cut diamond with three diamond baguettes on each side on a platinum band for an engagement ring; Irish-born London hat designer Philip Treacy (1967-) designs hats for the wedding. On Feb. 12 artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude unveil their project (#19) The Gates in New York's Central Park, consisting of 7.5K 16-ft.-tall yellow-orange vinyl gates at 12-ft. invervals lining 23 of its 58 mi. of walkways, each with its own saffron colored fabric panel; they remain in place until Feb. 27. On Feb. 13 the final results in the Iraqi elections come in, showing the clergy-backed Shiites and independence-minded Kurds winning. Valentine's Day Shakespearean Tragedy, or Who Was That Masked Man? On Feb. 14 a massive 1K kg car bomb blasts the motorcade of 60-y.-o. billionaire Muslim politician and former PM (1992-8, 2000-4) Rafik Hariri (b. 1944) in Beirut, Lebanon, killing him along with six bodyguards and 15 passersby, and wounding almost 100; he resigned last Oct. 20 after a dispute with Syria over its influence and its maintenance of 15K troops in Lebanon; on Mar. 24 a U.N. report concludes that Lebanon's probe into the killing is unsatisfactory, and the U.N. begins its own investigation; his 2nd son Saad Hariri (Saad ed Deen Rafiqk Al-Hariri) (1970-) becomes head of his daddy's Sunni Movement of the Future; on July 22, 2010 Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah makes a surprise announcement that his party is likely to be implicated in the assassination. On Feb. 14 Pres. Bush asks Congress to provide $81.9B more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, making the total price tag for the war on terrorism since 9/11 a whopping $300B. On Feb. 14 Maya Jeane Marcel-Keyes (1985-), daughter of conservative black politician Alan Keyes comes out as a "liberal queer" at a rally sponsored by the gay rights group Equality Maryland. On Feb. 14 a gas explosion in the Sunjiawan Mine in Liaoning province in NE China kills 203 miners, injures 22 and traps 13 more underground, becoming the deadliest mine disaster since the beginning of Communist rule in 1949; the final death toll is 214. On Feb. 14 a mosque fire in Tehran during evening prayers begins after a female worshipper's veil catches flames from a kerosene heater, killing 59 and injuring 250+ of 400 worshippers. On Feb. 14 a Sri Lankan court rules that Baby 81 (born Oct. 19) should be given the name Abhilasha and awarded to Murugupillai and Jenita Jeyarajah; he had been swept from his mother's arms by the Dec. 26 tsunami; the father vows to smash 100 coconuts at a temple of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesh, offer sweet rice to the warrior god Murugan and kill a rooster for the goddess Kali. On Feb. 14 the U.S. govt. announces that a test of its nat. ballistic missile defense system, designed to defend against missiles launched from North Korea across the Pacific Ocean has failed for the 2nd time in as many months; the interceptor bases are in Alaska and Calif.; the same day South Korea announces high-level military talks with North Korea in an effort to coax it to return to 6-nation disarmament negotiations; at the same time Seoul officials say it's too early to declare North Korea a nuclear power as the alleged nukes haven't been confirmed. On Feb. 15 15-y.-o. Christopher Frank Pittman (1989-) is found guilty in Charleston, S.C. and sentenced to 30 years for killing his grandparents Joe and Joy and burning down their house in 2001 after he claims that the antidepressant drug Zoloft drove him to do it. On Feb. 15 74-y.-o. defrocked hip "street priest" Paul Richard Shanley (1931-) is sentenced in Boston, Mass. to 12-15 years on child rape charges for molesting a boy 20 years earlier; he claims it is a frame-up; just a coincidence that John Patrick Shanley writes the play "Doubt" about a priest accused of you know what, who claims it is a you know what? On Feb. 16 Ariz. Repub. Sen. John McCain tells reporters asking him about a local TV station's preference for auto accident coverage, "If a local candidate wants to be on TV and can't afford advertising, his only hope is to have a freak accident." On Feb. 16-May 30 the first major retrospective on the work of Spanish surrealist Salvador Dali in the U.S. since 1941 is held in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, displaying more than 200 of his works. On Feb. 17 Libya skips its final payment of the $540M settlement it agreed to pay families of the 270 people killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 after Moammar Gadhafi becomes annoyed at the slowness of the Bush admin. in lifting sanctions. It never rains in Southern California? On Feb. 17-21, 2005 storms in and around Los Angeles, Calif. drop 6.5 in. of rain, making the total since July 31.4 in. (5th highest on record), and killing four in mudslides; on Feb. 22 N Calif. is hit by severe thunderstorms and a pair of tornadoes. On Feb. 18 WHO announces that a rare form of pneumonic plague has killed at least 61 workers in a diamond mine in the remote wilds of NE Congo 170 mi. N of Kisangani (provincial capital of Oreintal), and the rest of the 7K workers have fled into the forests. The U.S. Roman Catholic priesthood is a gay pedophile brothel? On Feb. 18 Roman Catholic leaders admit receiving 1,092 new abuse claims against U.S. priests and deacons in 2004, even after paying more than $800M in settlements for claims prior to that year; 756 clerics are accused, of which nearly three quarters had died, been defrocked, or removed from public ministry before the claims were made; most alleged victims were boys aged 10-14. On Feb. 18 Greek Orthodox Church leader Archbishop Christodoulos apologizes to the Greek nation for a blitz of allegations ranging from antiquity smuggling to embezzlement to trial fixing to sex escapades by a 91-y.-o. with a young woman, and opens an emergency conclave of senior clerics (the 102-member Holy Synod) to fix (coverup?) the problems; lawmakers call for the ending of the church's status as the official state religion of Greece. On Feb. 18 Venezuelan police rescue Maura Villarreal (1951-), mother of Detroit Tigers pitcher Ugueth Urbina from kidnappers; she was kidnapped from her home last Sept. 1. On Feb. 18-25 the World Summit on the Information Society is held in Geneva, Switzerland to address the global digital divide between rich and poor countries and spread Internet access across the world, establishing May 17 as World Info. Society Day in Nov., which is adopted by the U.N. Gen. Assembly as Resolution 60/252 in Mar. 2006; in Nov. 2006 it decides to celebrate May 17 as World Telecommunication and Info. Society Day. On Feb. 19 the $3.2B 453-ft. nuclear-powered sub USS Jimmy Carter (the Nuclear Peanut?) is commissioned in New London, Conn. (built in Groton); it features the ability to tap undersea cables, and replaces the USS Parche, which was retired last fall. On Feb. 20 former Dutch PM (1982-94) Rudolphus Franciscus Marie "Ruud" Lubbers (1939-2018) resigns as the 9th U.N. high commissioner for refugees over sexual harassment allegations; he held the post since Jan. 1, 2001, and refused to accept a paycheck. On Feb. 20 Israel's cabinet gives final approval to the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements. On Feb. 20 the stop-motion animated TV series Robot Chicken debuts on cable, named after an item on the menu of a Chinese restaurant in West Hollywood; created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. On Feb. 21-22 Pres. Bush visits Brussels for a NATO summit; on Feb. 21 he scolds Russia for backsliding on democracy and urges Mideast allies to take difficult steps for peace; on Feb. 22 he tells reporters, "This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." On Feb. 23 Pres. Bush meets with European leaders, and urges them to maintain an arms embargo on China, then stops in Germany for nine hours, where he and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder demand in unison that Tehran abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions, Bush saying "Iran must not have a nuclear weapon"; on Feb. 24 he meets with Pres. Putin in Bratislava, where he praises him for ditching the old totalitarianism thinking; Putin comments that it is impossible not to, since the Russian public has changed. On Feb. 24 the New York City medical examiner's office announces that it has exhausted all efforts to identify remains of WTC 9/11 victims, the limits of DNA technology having been reached with more than 1,100 of the 2,800 victims unidentified; fewer than 300 whole bodies were recovered; 20K body pieces were found in the ruins, 6K small enough to fit in 5-in. test tubes; over 800 victims were identified by DNA alone; the most matched to one person was over 200. BTK: a new Burger King sandwich? On Feb. 25 Pittsburg, Kan.-born Dennis Lynn Rader (1945-), a white church-going family man and code enforcement supervisor with the Wichita, Kan. suburb of Park City is arrested, and admits to being the self-styled BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) killer, confessing to at least six out of 13 suspected slayings dating back to 1974; he eluded capture for years with his pose as a married father of two who was a Cub Scout leader and pres. of the church council of the Christ Lutheran Church, but resurfaced a year earlier after 18 years of silence; on Mar. 1 he is charged with 10 counts of first degree murder, pleads guilty, and on Aug. 18 is sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences (min. 175 years without chance of parole) - try using that for your starting point? On Feb. 26 gunmen kill nine U.N. Bangladeshi peacekeeping troops in a grass ambush in NE Congo near the town of Kafe 20 mi. NW of Bunia. On Feb. 27 Iraqi officials announce the capture of Saddam Hussein's half-brother Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti (1947-) in Hasakah in NE Syria where he was financing Iraqi insurgents. On Feb. 27 Iran and Russia sign a nuclear fuel agreement, enabling Tehran to bring its first reactor online by mid-2006, and snubbing Pres. Bush, who attempted to persuade Pres. Putin against it at the Feb. 24th Slovakian summit. On Feb. 27 the 77th Academy Awards (moved up 1 mo.), hosted by Chris Rock (first time) are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.; 267 films are eligible for consideration; best picture Oscar for 2004 goes to Million Dollar Baby, along with best dir. to Clint Eastwood, best actress to Hilary Swank, and best supporting actor to Morgan Freeman; Swank joins Vivien Leigh, Helen Hayes, Sally Field, and Luise Rainer as the only actresses with a perfect track record of two nominations and two wins; best actor goes to Jamie Foxx for Ray (he was also nominated for best supporting actor for Collateral, and had a Billboard #1 pop album, becoming #4 after Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Barbra Streisand); best supporting actor goes to Cate Blanchett for her portrayal of Katherine Hepburn in The Aviator; Al Otro Lado Del Rio, from The Motorcycle Diaries, the first Spanish language song ever nominated for an Oscar wins for best original song. On Feb. 28 Nemaha County, Kan.-born Donna Grace Glenn Humphrey (b. 1915) and her son-in-law Michael Lefkow (64) are shot to death at the Chicago area home of her daughter, U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow (1944-); on Mar. 9 Chicago electrician Bart Ross is stopped by police in his car and commits suicide, leaving a suicide note claiming responsibility for the slayings; the judge had earlier dismissed his lawsuits over a cancer treatment; white supremacist leader Matthew F. "Matt" Hale (1971-), convicted in Apr. 2004 for trying to have the same judge killed over a trademark case is sentenced to 40 years on Apr. 6 by U.S. District Judge James Maxwell Moody (1940-) in Chicago after the Ross confession clears him of the killings, causing Hale to claim he is a victim of govt. persecution. In Feb. the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) begins Operation Community Shield, arresting 7,655 street gang members, followed in Sept. by the FBI arresting 660 more incl. members of Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), the 1980s Central Am. (mainly Salvadoran) gang of LA, which has 50K +members. In Feb. the 9K-sq.-ft. Churchill Museum opens next to the underground Cabinet War Rooms in the Treasury bldg. on King Charles St. in London. In Feb. France passes a law stipulating that school textbooks "recognize in particular the positive character of the French overseas presence, notably in North Africa"; it takes until Oct. for the public to complain, causing the govt. to backpeddle amid calls to abrogate the law? In Feb. the first annual Israeli Apartheid Week is observed in Toronto, Canada, spreading to 50+ cities around the world by 2015 incl. the U.S., U.K., and South Africa. Live fast and leave a good-looking corpse? On Mar 1 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Roper v. Simmons to reverse Stanford v. Kentucky (1989), raising the min. age for capital punishment from 16 to 18; dissenters incl. Justices Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist, and Clarence Thomas, who argue that it is for Congress to set an age not the court; Scalia disses the court for quoting foreign law, with the soundbyte that the court would "invoke alien law when it agrees with one's own thinking, and ignore it otherwise"; a total of 72 people on state death rows around the U.S. are saved - never too old though? On Mar. 1 2K+ black-clad Iraqis protest outside a medical clinic in Hillah, Iraq (60 mi. S of Baghdad), where a suicide car bomber killed 125 and wounded 130 the day before, chanting "No to terrorism!" On Mar 1 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 6-3 in Roper v. Simmons to reverse Stanford v. Kentucky (1989), raising the min. age for capital punishment from 16 to 18; dissenters incl. Justices Antonin Scalia, William Rehnquist, and Clarence Thomas. On Mar. 2 Syrian pres. Bashar Assad buckles under growing pressure from internat. leaders and tells Time mag. that he will withdraw Syria's 15K troops from Lebanon "maybe in the next few months". On Mar. 2 the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq reaches 1,500. On Mar. 2 the lawsuit against NBA star Kobe Bryant for rape is settled, with the terms undisclosed - so many games' pay to the white ho? On Mar. 3 Pres. Bush visits CIA HQ and promises the employees that they will retain an "incredibly vital" role despite the creation of the new post of nat. dir. of intelligence. On Mar. 4 Martha Stupor, er, Stewart is released from Alderson Prison and returns to one of her luxurious homes in a 153-acre model farm in Bedford in rural Westchester County, N.Y., where she must complete 5 mo. of home confinement with an ankle bracelet; she wears a Freedom Poncho knitted by a fellow inmate, which becomes popular; "The experience of the last 5 months has been life altering and life affirming." On Mar. 6 Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena (1948-) claims that U.S. soldiers opened fire on the car carrying her to the Baghdad airport without warning, killing the Italian agent who just won her freedom after 1 mo. in captivity. On Mar. 9 Dan Rather anchors CBS Evening News for the last time, ending a 24 year career, incl. a decade in 3rd place behind NBC and ABC, signing off with "... and to all of you, courage"; he is replaced by Bob Schieffer as interim anchor until Katie Curie can come aboard. On Mar. 9 Michael Jackson's accuser takes the stand, calling him "the coolest guy in the world"; on Mar. 10 Jackson goes AWOL from his trial and is nearly jailed before showing up more than an hour late in his pajama bottoms and slippers, wearing a tuxedo coat over a white t-shirt, and claiming he has just been treated at a hospital for a serious back problem (ready to go to bed with some more kids?); on Mar. 21 Jackson again arrives at court late, claiming back problems, but is only a few minutes late and is not penalized. On Mar. 10 a suicide bomber attacks a funeral tent in a mosque courtyard jammed with Shiite mourners in Mosul, Iraq, killing 47 and wounding over 100, and splattering blood and body parts over rows of cheap white plastic chairs. On Mar. 10 former U.S. pres. Bill Clinton undergoes successful surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia U. Medical Center to remove fluid and scar tissue from his chest cavity caused by his quadruple heart bypass operation 6 mo. earlier. On Mar. 10 a U.S. federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y. dismisses a lawsuit against the U.S. by the Vietnamese govt. on behalf of millions of Vietnamese for using the toxic defoliant Agent Orange (beginning in 1962); in June Vietnam appeals to a U.S. appeals court. On Mar. 10 chess champ Garry Kasparov retires from prof. chess to devote his time to politics, forming the United Civil Front and joining the Other Russia anti-Putin coalition. On Mar. 11 the British Prevention of Terrorism Act is passed, permitting the home secy. to impose "control orders" on people suspected of involvement with terrorism and derogate (opt out) of human rights laws; the first derogating control orders are issued on ?. On Mar. 12 Socialist Jose Socrates de Carvalho Pinto de Sousa (1957-) becomes PM of Portugal (until ?), succeeding Social Dem. Pedro Santana Lopes. On Mar. 13 black rape defendant Brian Gene Nichols (1971-) is captured in Duluth (a suburb N of Atlanta, Ga.) for a crime rampage that started on Mar. 10 in an Atlanta courtroom at his own rape retrial and left four people dead, incl. Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, a sheriff's deputy, and U.S. customs and immigration agent David Wilhelm; 26-y.-o. white widow Ashley Smith (1978-) (whose first hubby Danial McFarland "Mack" Smith was stabbed to death on Aug. 18 in Augusta, Ga.) is bound and held for 7 hours at her suburban Atlanta home on Mar. 11 before she talks him into giving himself up on Mar. 12, reading the death penalty case passages from Rick Warren's "A Purpose-Driven Life" and giving him crystal meth after he demands pot; on Mar. 24 she receives $70K in reward money; she reveals the meth thingie in her Sept. book Unlikely Angel, but is not charged with drug possession because she's the new hero of Am. evangelicals, who know Jesus is a friend of sin sin sinners? On Mar. 13 the Walt Disney Co. announces that Disney pres. Robert A. "Bob" Iger (1951-) will succeed Michael Eisner as CEO, effective Oct. 1 (until ?). Fun with Dick & Jane? On Mar. 15 former CEO Joe Nacchio and six other former execs. of Colo. communications co. Qwest are accused by the SEC of orchestrating a massive $3B financial fraud to mislead investors after receiving total compensation of $216.4M from 1999-2001 while the stock plummeted from $64 to $2 in 2000-2002, ruining employees; the same day former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers is convicted in a New York federal court of securities fraud and conspiracy, and seven counts of filing false reports with regulators (later receiving 25 years in priz); on Dec. 20 Nacchio is indicted on 42 counts of insider trading in federal court in Denver; Nacchio's trial begins in Denver on Mar. 19, 2007 with presiding judge Edward Nottingham, known for losing his temper in the courtroom getting started fast by scolding lead Nacchio atty. Herbert Stern for arriving minutes late from a break; on Apr. 19 a jury finds him not guilty on the first 23 counts, then guilty on the rest, resulting from his illegal trades between Apr. 26-May 29, 2001, making for a roller coaster ride for his family, getting him a $52M forfeiture order and 6 years in prison on July 27; wait, it's not over, on Mar. 17, 2008 the appeals court grants him a new trial after an expert defense witness was found to be incorrectly excluded. On Mar. 15-21 U.S. secy. of state Condi Rice visits Asia, concluding in Beijing, where she states that North Korea could face internat. sanctions for pulling out of 6-way talks on nuclear disarmament a year earlier; she also mentions U.S. displeasure over heightened Chinese tensions with Taiwan, and attends a Palm Sunday church service on Mar. 20. America's justice for the stars system produces two verdicts in one day? On Mar. 16 71-y.-o. actor Robert Blake (Michael James Gubitosi) (1933-) is acquitted of the May 4, 2001 murder of his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley (1956-2001) in a parked car outside a restaurant in Studio City, Calif. by a Los Angeles jury after a 4-mo. trial; he claims to have spent $10M in his defense and to be broke and in need of a job; on Nov. 18 he is found liable for his wife's death by a civil jury in Burbank, Calif. and ordered to pay her children $30M (O.J.'s victims got $33.5M). On Mar. 16 Scott Peterson (1972-) is sentenced to death row by Judge Alfred Delucchi in Redwood City, Calif for the slaying of his pregnant wife Laci after a turbulent court session in which Laci's father Dennis Rocha tells him "You're going to burn in Hell for this", and he is sentenced to death by lethal injection, beginning a bonanza for lawyers handling his appeals - they go from mini-floodlights to mini-spotlights just like that? On Mar. 16 the 275-seat Iraqi parliament is sworn in. On Mar. 16 the U.S. Senate votes 51-49 to approve oil drilling in the Arctic Nat. Wildlife Refuge, causing environmentalists who have successfully blocked it for decades to throw a hissy fit. On Mar. 16 oil prices close at a record $56.46 a barrel, beating the previous peak price of $55.17, set twice in Oct. On Mar. 16 15 pirates board a Japanese vessel in the Asian Pacific and take the captain and two crewman hostage for ransom, becoming the 37th pirate attack in the Malacca Straits this year, which has annual traffic of 50K ships between Malaysia and Indonesia. On Mar. 17 the Pakistani military attacks Bugti, Balochistan. On Mar. 17 the U.S. Congress hears testimony from ML baseball stars on the ML Baseball Steroid Problem; Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa neigh, er, claim they never used them, while Mark McGwire refuses to answer - until his voice changes back? On Mar. 17 rapper Lil' Kim (Kimberly Jones) (1975-) is convicted of lying to a federal grand jury about her involvement in a shootout outside a Manhattan radio station, and is sentenced to a year and a day. On Mar. 17 contractor Kelly A. Frank (1962-) is charged with felony solicitation, and accused of a plot to kidnap David Letterman's 3-y.-o. son and nanny from his 2.7K-acre Montana ranch for a $5M ransom (a month's pay for Letterman?); after the jury doesn't buy it, they railroad him to 10 years for overcharging Letterman; he then escapes from a prison ranch on June 8, 2007. On Mar. 20 Iraqi insurgents ambush a U.S. military convoy 12 mi. SE of Baghdad in Salman Pak (al-Salman) military facility near Baghdad, starting a battle that leaves 24 insurgents dead and seven wounded; six U.S. soldiers are wounded. On Mar. 20 Iraq and Jordan mutually withdraw their ambassadors over a claim that Jordan is failing to block terrorists from entering Iraq; the same day a Jordanian court sentences Jordan-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi to a 15-year prison term, while he remains at large with a $25M U.S. bounty on his head. On Mar. 21 U.N. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan lays out his plans for sweeping changes to the U.N. before its 191-member General Assembly; his 63-page report is released on Mar. 20, callings for a new U.N. Human Rights Council to replace the Commission on Human Rights, an expanded Security Council, a streamlined Secretariat, programs to cut poverty and nuke proliferation, and a new convention against terrorism by Sept. 2006. On Mar. 21 16-y.-o. Prozac-popping Ojibwe h.s. student Jeffrey James "Jeff" Weise (b. 1988) goes on a shooting rampage at a poverty-stricken Indian rez in Red Lake, Minn., killing his grandfather and his girlfriend, followed by seven people at Red Lake H.S., injuring five before killing himself after exchanging gunfire with police; on Apr. 12 the school reopens, and more than two-thirds of the students stay away. On Mar. 21 U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist returns to court, despite being diagnosed with thyroid cancer in Oct. and receiving radiation and chemotherapy; on July 13 he ends up back in the hospital, causing rumors of his imminent resignation to abound until he "puts to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement" after his release on July 14; in July and Aug. he is briefly hospitalized for observation after running fevers. On Mar. 21 a real life "Dumb and Dumber" occurs as Australians Luke Carroll and Anthony Prince stick up the WestStar Bank in Vail, Colo. with a BB gun, escaping with $132K, then go to Denver Internat. Airport to make a getaway flight to Mexico, stopping to have their photos snapped displaying fistfuls of their loot, and are arrested by FBI agents at the airport, who use the photos to ID them? On Mar. 22 39-y.-o. Anna Ayala (1965-) claims to find a 1.5-in. fingertip in a bowl of chili she bought at a Wendy's in San Jose, Calif.; she is later arrested for fraud, and admits she planted the finger of a friend of her husband, who lost it in an asphalt plant in Las Vegas; in 2005 Mike Casey, mgr. of the plant splits a $100K reward from Wendy's Internat. Inc. with an anonymous tipster for helping solve the "chili finger case"; on Jan. 18 Anna and her husband Jaime Plascencia are sentenced to nine years in San Jose, Calif. and to pay $21.8M to Wendy's for damages, along with $170K to Wendy's workers for lost wages. On Mar. 23 a BP America refinery in Texas City, Tex. explodes, killing 15 and injuring 180+, becoming the worst gas and chemical industry accident since the Arco Chemical plant exploded in nearby Channelview in 1990, killing 17. On Mar. 23 Pres. Bush holds the First North Am. Leaders Summit in Waco, Tex. near his Texas ranch to discuss progress on NAFTA with the presidents of Mexico and Canada, which becomes an annual affair; meanwhile the U.S. SAFETEA-LU Act (Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act - a Legacy for Users) is passed to fund the NAFTA Superhighway, incl. tollways, tracks, FAST lanes, and giant inland shipping ports, incl. the $138B Trans Texas Corridor from Mexico to Canada, and the CANAMEX Corridor in the W U.S.; the whole plan stirs fears of an attempted merger of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico into a North Am. Union (NAU) patterned after the EU, with a "joint perimeter" around all three, and the inevitable short-circuiting of U.S. laws and constitutional guarantees, incl. the end of all efforts at stemming illegal immigration; on Mar. 23 the Security and Prosperity Partnership is signed in well-chosen Waco, Tex. by U.S. Pres. Bush, Mexican pres. Vicente Fox, and Canadian PM Paul Martin, calling for the establishment of a common security border perimeter around North Am. by 2010, along with free movement across boards of people, commerce and capital, facilitated by a North Am. Border Pass, which will replace a U.S. passport for travel to Canada and Mexico, with the soundbyte "Our security and prosperity are mutually dependent and complementary"; further goals of a North Am. court, inter-parliamentary group, executive commission, military defense command, development bank and customs office, piss-off Bible-thumpers and others, who call it an attempt to foist the feared North Am. Union on the U.S. and take away its sovereignty, with the sinister Council on Foreign Relations ruling all three countries in favor of multinat. corporate profits, causing the Bush admin. to pub. SPP Myths vs. Facts on its Web site www.spp.gov, saying that "no agreement was ever signed", and it is only a "dialog" to "enhance prosperity", only pissing-off the critics more as they point out massive activity going on in the NAFTA section of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, and how the EU was incrementally foisted on Europe the same way, via incremental official denials until it was too late. On Mar. 24 Kmart, only two years out of bankruptcy buys Sears, Roebuck and Co. for $12.3B in attempt to compete with Wal-Mart and Home Depot; the merged co. has annual sales of $55B. On Mar. 24 after parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan in Feb.-Mar. are called for flaws by internat. observers, touching off the Tulip (Pink) Rev., a wave of violent dem. protests throughout the country; after protesters take over the pres. compound, Pres. Askar Akayev flees, then resigns on Apr. 4 (after making sure his Swiss bank accounts are safe?), becoming the 3rd govt. in a former Soviet repub. after Georgia and Ukraine to be brought down by popular revolt during the past 1.5 years; opposition leader Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiev (1949-) is freed from prison, along with Felix Kulov; Bakiev becomes interim pres. until the election on July 10, which he wins with 88.7%, appointing Kulov as PM; opposition lawmaker Ishenbai Duyshonbiyevich Kadyrbekov (1949-) is an also-ran. On Mar. 24 hundreds of power workers shouting "No, no to terror!" march in Baghdad to protest attacks on their colleagues. On Mar. 24 chess champ Bobby Fischer arrives in Iceland after what he calls an illegal 9-mo. detention in Japan (since July 13), blasting the U.S. and calling it an "illegitimate country" that should be given back to the Indians; on Mar. 21 he is granted Icelandic citizenship, allowing him to leave Japan - shouldn't Iceland be given back to the Eskimos? On Mar. 24 the comedy series The Office debuts on NBC-TV for 201 episodes (until May 16, 2013), a "mockumentary" based on the BBC series that debuted on July 9, 2001, starring Steve Carell (1962-) as Michael Scott, mgr. of Dunder Mifflin stationery co. in mainly white PC Scranton, Penn., interacting with mainly white office mates Rainn Wilson (1966-) (as Dwight Schrute), John Krasinski (1979-) (as Jim Halpert), Jenna Fischer (1974-) (as Pam Beesly), and B.J. Novak (1979-) (one of the writers) (as Ryan Howard) while pushing all the latest PC Hollyweird values on the viewers, with the gag being that the camera is part of the show; the theme song is written by Jay Ferguson and performed by the Scrantones. On Mar. 25-Sept. 25 Expo 2005 is held in Aichi (near Nagoya), Japan, drawing 121 countries, stressing sustainable growth and healing the "Wounded Planet"; Bio-Lung, a 490 ft. x 50 ft. wall made up of 200K plants of 200 species is the show's symbol; Linimo, Japan's first commercial maglev linear train debuts. On Mar. 27 the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy debuts on ABC-TV for ? episodes (until ?), about surgical interns and residents at Seattle Grace Hospital trying to become full-fledged physicians, with a multiracial cast incl. Ellen Kathleen Pompeo (1969-) as Dr. Meredith Grey, and Patrick Galen Dempsey (1966-) as Dr. Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd. On Mar. 28 the 8.7 Nias Earthquake hits the Indonesian region, killing 1,313, but this time there only a tiny tsunami. On Mar. 28 the Colo. Supreme Court throws out the death penalty in a rape-murder case because five jurors had consulted the Bible and quoted Scripture during deliberations - that's no longer the law in this state? On Mar. 30 First Lady Laura Bush visits Kabul, Afghanistan, where she talks with Afghan women freed from Taliban repression and urges greater rights - just don't read a Christian Bible or kkkkk-kkkkk? On Mar. 31 a report by the U.S. Pres. Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities concludes that the U.S. govt. knows "disturbingly little" about nuke and bio threats from dangerous adversaries. In Mar. longtime rocker Eric Clapton visits Buckingham Palace, and Queen Elizabeth II asks him "Have you been playing a long time?" In Mar. Somalian Islamic militia leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys (1935-) threatens a jihad if foreign troops enter Somalia again, and pledges to establish an Islamic govt. In Mar. Popular Mechanics pub. a story about nine reporters and 70 profs. investigating claims of an inside-job conspiracy at the 9/11 WTC disaster then discarding them, pissing-off Jim Hoffman of the 9/11 Truth Movement; on Apr. 7, 2008 BBC-TV airs Nine Hundred and Eleven Questions, narrated by Charlie Sheen. In the spring the non-tax-exempt Democracy Alliance (DA) is founded by Rob Stein to fund progressive groups, with 110 partners incl. George Soros who each contribute at least $200K/year; by 2016 it gives away $500M, which doesn't prevent Donald Trump from defeating Hillary Clinton for U.S. pres. Rome goes for Easter eggs benedict with sauerkraut? On Apr. 2 Parkinson's disease sufferer Pope (since 1978) John Paul II (b. 1920) dies (3rd-longest reigning pope at 26 years), and on Apr. 3 his body lies in state while millions attend services worldwide, incl. 100K at Pilsudski Square in Warsaw and 60K in Krakow; on Apr. 4 his unembalmed body is carried on a crimson platform to St. Peter's Basilica, where 2M view it; on Apr. 8 he becomes the 147th pope to be buried beneath St. Peter's Basilica (in the tomb formerly used by dead Pope John XXII before he was moved to the main floor following his beatification), joining Emperor Otto II, Queen Christina of Sweden, Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul I, and of course St. Peter himself; archbishop of Canterbury #104 (since 2003) Rowan Douglas Williams (1950-) becomes the first English archbishop of Canterbury to attend a papal funeral since Henry VIII, and he also attends Benedict's installation; on Apr. 17 (Sun.) the 183 cardinals (of whom only 115 are young enough to vote) go into conclave to pick a new pope, and on Apr. 19 (Adolf Hitler's birthday, three days after his own birthday) strict orthodox archconservative Munich Archbishop and "Iron Cardinal" (since 1977) (prefect emeritus of the Doctrine of the Faith in the Roman Curia and Dean of the College of Cardinals, who is behind John Paul II's policy of a "strong Rome") Joseph Ratzinger (a WWII member of the Hitler Youth who deserted and became a U.S. POW while erecting defenses for the Nazis?) is elected Pope (#265) Benedict XVI (1927-2022) on the 4th ballot (1st German pope since Victor II in 1055-57, and 1st Pope Benedict since 1922); Argentine Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (1936-) comes in 2nd in each ballot; according to John Paul II's request, the Vatican departs from tradition by ringing bells at 6:04 p.m. in addition to sending white smoke up the chimney at 5:49 p.m. to signal the completion of the election after just a little over 24 hours in conclave; the new pope receives 56K emails in his first two days, and fast-tracks his predecessor for sainthood within weeks; in 2007 Sister Marie Simon Pierre (1960-) publicly claims that praying to Pope John Paul II cured her of Parkinson's Disease, becoming the first of two miracles required to make him a saint - the whole thing is proof that the Nazis, having toppled Soviet Communism and reunified Germany are slowly regaining strength and positioning for a Fourth Reich? On Apr. 3 Kirkuk-born economist Hajim Mahdi Saleh al-Hassani (1954-), a Sunni is chosen to be speaker of the 275-seat transitional nat. assembly in Iraq. On Apr. 4 an explosion in Anbar Province in Iraq kills one Marine, and two U.S. and one Iraqi soldier are killed in a joint attack on insurgents in E Diyala Province; the AP death toll for the U.S. military in Iraq reaches 1,536; on Apr. 5 another U.S. soldier is killed in Baghdad when an abandoned taxi explodes on an expressway. On Apr. 4-10 the U.S. Justice Dept. runs Operation FALCON (Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally), with U.S. marshals deputizing hundreds of police, sheriff's deputies, and agents to round up more than 10K fugitives wanted for violent crimes around the U.S. On Apr. 5 the Bush admin. announces that starting in 2008 Americans travelling from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and Panama will no longer be able to get by just stating their citizenship, but must show a passport - that really hurts? On Apr. 5 3K detailed patient hospital statements blow across downtown Cleveland, Ohio in the wind after a box falls off a delivery truck. She drives me crazy, I can't help myself, or, Forever and always, I go crazy? On Apr. 6 the 275-member Iraqi parliament chooses Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani (1933-) as pres. #6 (until July 24, 2014), and Baghdad-born Shiite leader Adel (Adil) Abdul-Mahdi (1942-), and interim pres. (Mosul-born Sunni Arab) Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (1958-) as vice-presidents, along with Karbala-born Shiite leader Ibrahim al-Eshaiker al-Jaafari (1947-) as PM #1 (until May 20, 2006); they take their oaths on Apr. 7, two days short of the 2nd anniv. of Baghdad's fall to U.S.-led forces; Saddam Hussein watches the action on tape in his Baghdad jail cell as his longtime foes take over his job in Iraq's first dem. govt. in 50 years; the new govt. must draft a new constitution by Aug. 15, submit it to a referendum by Oct. 15, and hold new elections by Dec. 15. On Apr. 6 Monaco's Prince (since May 9, 1949) Rainier III (b. 1923) dies in Monaco (pop. 32K), and his 47-y.-o. U.S.-educated 5-time bobsledding Olympian billionaire son Prince Albert II (1958-) succeeds as ruler of "a sunny place for shady people" (he took over royal powers a week earlier because of his dad's bad health), becoming the only ruling monarch of Europe to share a name with another (Albert II of Belgium); Rainier is buried alongside Princess Grace on Apr. 15 at the Monaco Cathedral where they were wed. On Apr. 6 Brian Darling (1965-), legal counsel of Cuban-born Fla. Repub. Sen. (2005-) Melquiades (Melquíades) Rafael "Mel" Martinez (1946-) resigns after an unsigned memo passed around on Capitol Hill during deliberations on the Terri Schiavo case, claming that it "is a great political issue... and a tough issue for Dems." (first reported by ABC News on Mar. 18) is traced to him. On Apr. 6 a U.S. CH-47 Chinook heli crashes in a dust storm near Ghazni, Afghanistan S of Kabul, killing 15 military and three civilian contractor personnel. On Apr. 6 Bobbi Parker, wife of asst. warden Randy Parker is reunited 11 years after being kidnapped by murder convict Randolph Dial in a 1994 escape from an Okla. prison and held under threats of harm to her family. On Apr. 7 U.S. drug regulators issue a sweeping Warning on Non-Opioid Painkillers that most popular painkillers on the market can hurt the heart, stomach, and skin, and persuade Pfizer to withdraw its hot-selling pain pill Bextra; tough warnings are required for prescription painkillers Celebrex, Naprosyn, Motrin, Voltaren et al., and even OTC pills such as Advil and Aleve are required to cite risks. On Apr. 7 Mexico's Congress votes to strip leftist Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (1953-) of his immunity, opening the way for his arrest on charges of disobeying a court order in 2001; the vote comes hours after he announces his candidacy for pres., later being touted as the "Mexican Messiah". On Apr. 7 a motorcycle sets off a bomb in the midst of a tour group in a historic bazaar in Cairo, Egypt, killing four and wounding 18, becoming the first attack targeting foreign tourists in the city since 1997. On Apr. 7 Jeffrey Doyle Robertson (1960-), f ather of a h.s. football QB (known for being a hothead) shoots and wounds coach Gary Joe Kinne with an assault rifle at the fieldhouse of Canton High in Canton, Texas, then flees; he is carried out of the woods on a stretcher a few hours later. I'm bad, bad bad? On Apr. 7 former Neverland ranch security guard Ralph Chacon finally uses the O word in testimony in Santa Maria, Calif., claiming that he saw Michael Jackson perform oral sex on a boy after taking a whirlpool bath with him in late 1992 or early 1993; the boy received a multimillion dollar settlement from Jackson in 1994 and refused to cooperate in a police investigation, which resulted in no charges filed; on Apr. 10 Michael's mom Katherine Jackson leaves the courtroom during graphic testimony, but later explains that she needed to use the restroom - to throw up? On Apr. 8 Eric Rudolph agrees to plead guilty to the bombing at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and three other bombings in exchange for escaping the death penalty. On Apr. 8 Timu, the world's first test-tube gorilla gives birth to a female baby, then loses interest in it 7 hours later, causing zookeepers to step in. Bride of Chucky? On Apr. 9 (Sat.) Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles marry in a civil ceremony in the 17th cent. Guildhall at Windsor before 30 guests, where they acknowledge their "sins and wickedness" for being divorcees; she wears a straw hat overlaid with ivory French lace and trimmed with a fountain of feathers; the queen does not attend the wedding, but does attend the blessing ceremony in the Gothic St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where Camilla switches to a feathered semicircular headdress, while the queen and just about every other female wears some kind of feathers in their hats - now if she will just keep her mouth shut between feedings like a good chick? On Apr. 9 Pakistani embassy employee Malik Mohammed Javed is kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq while en route to pray in a mosque by the Omar bin Khattab terrorist group. On Apr. 9 three Palestinian teenagers are killed by Israeli forces at a refugee camp, causing militants to retaliate by firing dozens of mortar shells toward Jewish settlements in Gaza. On Apr. 10 a rally called by anti-pullout Israeli extremists at the Temple Mount (Al Aqsa compound) in Jerusalem's Old City is blocked by hundreds of Muslim demonstrators, who are chased out by thousands of Israeli riot police. On Apr. 10 40K anti-Japanese protesters rally in Guangzhou, along with more in other major Chinese cities over Japan's bid to get a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council; on Apr. 13 China calls Japan's decision to let cos. explore a disputed area of the East China Sea for natural gas a "provocation" that could imperil Japan's bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat; on Apr. 14 a 3rd straight week of anti-Japanese demonstrations over Japan's wartime past and its bid for a permanent U.N. Security Council seat takes place in China, worrying the govt. that protesters could end up criticizing their regime. On Apr. 10 the U.S.-backed candidate drops out, leaving the race for new secy.-gen. of the Org. of Am. States (OAS) to Mexican foreign secy. Luis Ernesto Derbez Bautista (1947-) and Chilean Socialist interior minister Jose Miguel "El Panzer" Insulza Salinas (1943-), becoming the first time in its 57-year history that a U.S.-chosen candidate does not lead the OAS; Chilean pres. Ricardo Lagos steps in, insuring U.S. officials that his brand of Socialism is not the hard line Hugo Chavez type, and that he wants to "break the bipolar axis" between left and right; on June 2 Insulza becomes the sec.-gen. of the OAS (until ?). On Apr. 10 a Canadian Pacific Railway freight train en route from Chicago to St. Paul, Minn. smashes into a minivan near Columbus, Wisc., killing all four in the vehicle at an intersection without lights or gates. On Apr. 11 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon visits Pres. Bush at his Tex. ranch, and Bush tells him that he could not allow further West Bank settlment growth and that mutual Israeli-Palestinian are hampering peace prospects. On Apr. 11 a 9-story garment factory in Savar, Bangladesh collapses after a boiler explodes, killing four and trapping 200 of the 300 workers in the rubble. On Apr. 11 a 6.8 undersea earthquake rocks Sumatra, Indonesia, followed by at least 10 aftershocks up to 6.3. On Apr. 12 a New York City grand jury indicts Dhiran Barot (Abu Musi al-Hindi), Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi (all with suspected al-Qaida ties) for a plot to attack the NYSE and Citicorp bldgs. in New York City, the Prudential Bldg. in Newark, N.J., and the IMF and World Bank HQ in Washington D.C. On Apr. 12 data broker Reed Elsevier Group PLC of London admits that criminals may have breached computer files containing personal info. of 310K people from their subsidiary LexisNexis, revising an earlier estimate of 32K people - just press Send, it's easy? On Apr. 12 U.S. troops battle arms smugglers near Qaim, Iraq along the Syrian border, killing an unknown number; car bombs in two northern cities kill 10; Fadhil Ibrahim Mahmud al-Mashadani, a member of Saddam's regime is captured on a farm NE of Baghdad. On Apr. 12 thousands of scientists scramble to destroy vials of 1957 killer flu sent to 5K labs in 18 countries by mistake; since it has not been included in flu vaccines since 1968, people born after that year have no immunity to it. On Apr. 12 Lebanese officials announce that the last 4K Syrian soldiers will leave Lebanon within 10 days. On Apr. 12 police commandos capture a 50-y.-o. man who hijacked a bus and held four schoolgirls at knifepoint in a house in Ennepetal, Germany, identifying him as an Iranian asylum seeker. On Apr. 13 abortion opponent Olympic Park Bomber Eric Robert Rudolph (1966-) pleads guilty to four bombings across the S U.S. that killed two and injured 120 in back-to-back court appearances in Birmingham and Atlanta, saying "Because I believe that abortion is murder, I also believe that force is justified... in an attempt to stop it"; he gets a plea bargain giving him four consecutive life sentences without parole, and is shipped off to Florence Supermax prison in Colo. to join Sammy "the Bull Gravano, Robert Hanssen, Ted Kaczynski, Richard Reid and Ramzi Yousef. On Apr. 13 insurgents blow up a fuel tank in Baghdad, kill 12 policemen in Kirkuk, and drive a car bomb into a U.S. convoy, killing five Iraqis and wounding four U.S. contract workers on Baghdad's airport road; Indiana man Jeffrey Ake (1958-) of bottled-water equipment maker Equipment Express, who was kidnapped on Apr. 11 is shown at gunpoint on a videotaped aired by Al-Jazeera TV pleading for his life and a $1M ransom; he is never heard from again? On Apr. 13 the U.N. Gen. Assembly after seven years of waffling adopts a Global Treaty to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism, making it a crime to possess radioactive material or weapons with the intention of committing a terrorist act. On Apr. 13 the FDA allows silicone-gel breast implants to return to the U.S. market after a 13-year ban after Mentor Corp. persuades them that it has improved their durability; just the day before rival Inamed Corp. had lost its appeal to them. On Apr. 13 Afghanistan pres. Hamid Karzai calls for a security partnership with the U.S. to make its military presence there permanent. On Apr. 13 a jury in London finds Algerian militant Kamel Bourgass (1974-) guilty of murdering a policeman trying to arrest him for an al-Qaida plot to spread the deadly toxin ricin; eight other suspects are cleared, along with four others a week earlier - kamel bourgass on you too? On Apr. 13 Conn. becomes the 2nd U.S. state to legalize same-sex civil unions, and the first to do it without a court order; marriage is still legally defined as being between one man and one woman - but I just have to do it even if it's illegal? On Apr. 14 the Oregon Supreme Court nullifies about 3K marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year earlier by Portland's Multnomah County, incl. the first license, issued to Becky Kennedy and Mary Li. On Apr. 14 two car bombs in C Baghdad in front of the Interior Ministry kill 18 and wound 36; U.S. troops detonate a 3rd one that had failed to explode; al-Aqida claims credit - partial credit? On Apr. 14 Prince Charles and Camilla open a play park in Scotland in their first royal engagement as a married couple. On Apr. 15 a fire in the Paris Opera Hotel in Paris' 9th district (popular with tourists) kills 20 aand injures 51, and requires 50 fire engines and 250 firefighters. On Apr. 15 Ecuadorian pres. (since 2003) Lucio Gutierrez declares a state of emergency in Quito as he closes down a newly-appointed supreme court, then lifts it on Apr. 16 after the army refuses to enforce it, and the congress announces a session to investigate him, which they hold on Apr. 20 after massive demonstrations driving him into the Brazilian embassy, voting 60-2 to remove him from office, after which he flees to Brazil, becoming the 3rd leader forced from office in Ecuador in eight years; vice-pres. (since 2003) Luis Alfredo Palacio Gonzalez (1939-) replaces him as pres. (until Jan. 15, 2007). On Apr. 15 violent demonstrations erupt in Ahvaz, Iran on the Iraqi border after reports circulate of a plan to decrease the proportion of Arabs in the area, causing 20 deaths and 250 arrests; Iran's pop. is 51% Persian and 3% Arab. On Apr. 15 the Russians launch Soyuz TMA-6, carrying cosmonauts Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (Krikalyov) (1958-), John Lynch Phillips (1951-) of the U.S., and Roberto Vittori (1964-) of Italy; on Oct. 1 Soyuz TMA-7 blasts off, carrying cosmonauts Valery Ivanovich Tokarev (1952-), William Surles McArthur Jr. (1951-) of the U.S., and space tourist #3 Gregory Hammond "Greg" Olsen (1945-) of the U.S.; Soyuz TMA-6 returns on Oct. 15 with Sergei Krikalev, John Phillips, and Gregory Olsen; Soyuz TMA-7 returns next Apr. 8 with Valery Tokarev, William McArthur, and Marcos Pontes. On Apr. 16 Mary Kay Letourneau (1962-) marries Vili Fualaau (1983-), her former 6th grade pupil with whom she had two children and served 7.5 years in prison for "raping him" when he was 12 and she was a 34-y.-o. married mother of four - he got the best of the first deal? On Apr. 16 Marla Ruzicka (b. 1976) of Lakeport, Calif., founder of Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) is killed along with two other people by a car bomb in Iraq; she had successfully lobbied Congress to put millions of dollars in aid into the 2004 foreign aid bill to help Iraqi businesses that had been bombed by mistake. On Apr. 17 registered sex offender David Lee Onstott (1969-) is charged with the first degree murder of 13-y.-o. Sarah Michelle Lunde of Fla., whose body had been found a day earlier; he is convicted on Aug. 21, 2008. On Apr. 20 Pres. Bush signs the 2005 U.S. Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act, basically written by credit card cos., which makes it harder for people to declare bankruptcy, allowing the cos. to employ sleazy debt collectors to get their hands on everything they can; Dem. Del. Sen. Joe Biden, bankrolled by the credit card industry spearheads the effort to get the bill passed that he wrote, leading the battle to vote down Dem. amendments, going on to get bankrolled by them in his 2020 run for U.S. pres. When does a president declare a war bankrupt? On Apr. 20 Iraq announces the recovery of more than 50 bodies from the Rigor Mortis, er, Tigris River, claiming they had been deducted from an area S of Bagdead, er, Baghdad; another 19 bullet-ridden bodies are found in NW Baghdad in a soccer stadium in Hades, er, Hadith. On Apr. 20 U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice tells Russian pres. Vladimir Putin that it need not fear American "encirclement" as former Soviet repubs. establish pro-Western govts. in Georgia, Ukraine, et al., but that it is "the normal development of U.S. relations with fully independent states" - Tsar Putin don't wanna hear that? On Apr. 21 a Russian-made civilian Shatoy Mi-8 commercial heli contracted by the U.S. Defense Dept. is shot down by missile fire N of Baghdad, killing 11 incl. six U.S. diplomat bodyguards. On Apr. 21 U.S. ambassador to Iraq (since June, 2004) John Negroponte becomes dir of U.S. nat. intelligence (until Feb. 13 2007). On Apr. 24 Iraqi insurgents score 21 more dead and 73 wounded, plus one U.S soldier, giving them 38 kills for the week, incl. 3 Americans. On Apr. 24 Syrian troops pack up their remaining equipment in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley after 29 years as Syrians dance in the street; on Apr. 26 the last soldiers leave, ending their 29-year military presence. On Apr. 24 hundreds of thousands of protesters jam Mexico City's central square to protest federal prosecution of their mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. On Apr. 24 Pope Benedict XVI is formally installed in the Vatican, saying in his installation homily that as pontiff he will listen to the will of God in governing the world's 1.1B Catholics. On Apr. 25 the Amagasaki Rail Crash sees a crowded 7-car commuter train carrying 580 passengers derail and plow into an apt. bldg. near Amagasaki, Japan, 250 mi. W of Tokyo, killing 107 and injuring 460, becoming the worse Japanese train accident since 1963 (until ?); the 23-y.-o. driver only had 11 mo. of experience, and was speeding to get the train back on schedule. On Apr. 26 Faure Gnassingbe (Gnassingbé) (1966-), son of late dictator Gnassingbe Eyadema (who died of a heart attack on Feb. 5) wins 60% of the vote to become pres. of Togo, causing opposition supporters to mob the streets in Lome; he is sworn on on May 4 (until ?). On Apr. 26 Washington, D.C.-born Muslim "rock star" scholar Ali al-Timimi (1963-) is convicted of exhorting Muslims in Va. to join the Taliban and fight U.S. troops in the days following 9/11, and given life without parole; on July 13 he is sentenced to life in prison for "soliciting treason" by exhorting his followers to join Lashkar-e-Taiba and fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan at a small mosque in Falls Church, Va.; his 11-man Va. Jihad Network, which incl. CAIR civil rights and comm. dir. Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer played paintball to train for jihad; all are sentenced to terms ranging from 46 mo. to life. On Apr. 27 Pres. Bush gives a speech calling for more nuclear power plants and urging Congress to give tax breaks for fuel-efficient hybrid and clean-diesel cars. On Apr. 25 Condoleezza Rice begins her first (5-day) trip as U.S. secy. of state to Latin Am.. She packed my bags pre-flight, zero out 9 a.m.? On Apr. 27 "E.T.-eyed" Jennifer Wilbanks (1973-) cuts her hair and takes a Greyhound bus to Las Vegas to avoid a lavish Apr. 30 600-guest wedding in Duluth, Ga.; she calls her fiancee John Mason and police from a pay phone in Albuquerque, claiming she had been kidnapped, but later admits a case of cold feet; on June 2 the "runaway bride" is sentenced to two years of probation and 120 hours of community service as part of a plea bargain on a charge of making a false statement; on Mar. 7, 2006 Runaway Bride bobblehead dolls sell well at a sports promo in her hometown of Duluth. On Apr. 27 U.S. atty.-gen. Alberto Gonzales seeks renewal of the powers granted law enforcement under the U.S. Patriot Act, telling Congress that "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse" since it was enacted; it later comes out that a Mar. report by inspector gen. Glenn A. Fine documenting violations was sent to him by the FBI on Apr. 21, causing his asst. Kenneth Wainstein to describe them as mistakes not violations. On Apr. 28 U.S. Sgt. Hasan Karim Akbar (Mark Fidel Kools) (1971-) is sentenced to death for fragging and killing two U.S. officers during the opening days of the Iraqi invasion because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims. In Apr. 567 Iraqis are killed, incl. 364 civilians in 34 car bombings, 16 other blasts and 54 other attacks; only 341 Iraqis (incl. 164 civilians) were killed in Mar. In Apr. the U.S. federal govt. stops funding the Matrix (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) database of public and commercially-collected private info. on Americans that was created as a response to 9/11 by Fla. law enforcement officials and a 1-time drug-running computer whiz named Hank Asher of Seisint, Inc.; civil liberties groups loudly objected to it, causing several states to discontinue its use, but Conn., Fla., Ohio, and Penn. continue to use it. In Apr. Hollywood actors Tom Cruise (Thomas Cruise Mapother IV) (1962-) and Kate Noelle "Katie" Holmes (1978-) go public with their relationship, smooching and posing for photographers in Rome; since they both have major movies in the works, critics label it a publicity stunt, but on June 17 they announce their engagement at the Eiffel Tower, and marry on Nov. 18, 2006 at Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy after she becomes a Scientologist, becoming known as Tomkat; on May 23 Cruise appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show to declare his love for "Dawson's Creek" actress Katie Holmes, jumping on Oprah's couch like a trampoline and hurting his image; on June 29, 2012 Holmes files for divorce, stating that she fears intimidation by the Church of Scientology, which she is leaving, and that Tom will abduct their daughter Suri (b. Apr. 2006). In Apr. actress Reese Witherspoon claims paparazzi tried to run her car off the road. In Apr. Algerian-born Frenchman Djamel (Jamel) Beghal, a confessed al-Qaida and Tablighi Jamaat member is convicted in Paris for plotting to blow up the U.S. embassy. In Apr. after decades of the shah and Saddam Hussein restricting religious pilgrimages from Iran to Iraq, an agreement is signed allowing 1.5K Iranian pilgrims to enter Iraq daily; by 2009 it is raised to 5K a day, and 6K a day in 2011 (2M a year vs. 1.6M going on hajj to Mecca). On May 2 after random highway shootings in the Los Angeles and Southern Calif. area begin occurring within a 75-mi. area on Mar. 12, killing four and wounding four, police close down a section of the highway to search for bullet fragments after the shooters remain unidentified. In Apr. the World Bank Food Programme approves a $3.8B loan for hungry Zambia, and announces that it will stop food aid shipments to China at the end of the year; China becomes the world's 3rd largest food aid donor by 2009. On May 2 U.S. Pfc. Lynndie Rana England (1982-) pleads guilty at Ft. Hood, Tex. to mistreating POWs at Abu Ghraib Prison; Army Reserve Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr. (1968-) (father of her infant son Carter Allan) was convicted in Jan. and sentenced to 10 years in prison; on May 4 the military judge throws out her guilty plea, saying he is not convinced she knew her actions were wrong; after trying to cop a plea about just wanting to please her soldier boyfriend, on Sept. 26-27 she is found guilty and sentenced to three years on six counts of prisoner maltreatment. On May 2 a Los Angeles judge throws out a $9M palimony lawsuit against political comic Bill Maher by former model Nancy "Coco" Johnson. On May 2 Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush signs the Fla. Jessica Lunsford Act, imposing tougher penalties on child molesters, incl. mandatory 25 years to life, and a lifetime GPS monitoring for released offenders; 9-y.-o. Jessica Lundsford's death was discovered in Mar., and convicted sex offender John E. Couey was arrested and charged with snatching her from her bedroom and murdering her by burying her alive; in Apr. 13-y.-o. Sarah Lunde is found dead, and another registered sex offender is charged with her murder; on Aug. 24, 2007 Couey is sentenced to death; the Jessica Marie Lunford Foundation works to get the act passed in all 50 states. On May 3 a forensic accountant testifies in Michael Jackson's child molestation trial that he spends $20 to $30M more each year than he earns; on May 4 the prosecutors rest their case. On May 4 Pakistani commandos nab senior al-Qaida leader Abu Farraj al-Libbi (a Libyan native), the group's no. 3 operative after a shootout at one of his hideouts. On May 4 a suicide attacker kills 60 and wounds 150 at a police recruitment center in Irbil, Iraq; earlier another bomber kills 11 at an Iraqi army recruitment center in C Baghdad, and two more bombers kill nine policemen in W Baghdad. On May 4 an ABC News "Primetime Live" special details allegations by 2003 American Idol contestant Corey Delaney Clark (1980-) that he had an affair with judge Paula Abdul which involved kisses and coaching on how to win the game. On May 4 Pentagon analyst Lawrence Anthony "Larry" Franklin (1947-), an Air Force reserve col. who once was the #3 Defense Dept. official is arrested for divulging top secret info. about Iraq to two execs. of the Am. Israel Public Affairs Committtee at a lunch in June 2003 in Arlington, Va. On May 5 Tony Blair wins a historic 3rd term as Britain's PM, but his Labour Party's majority in Parliament is sharply reduced from 161 to 68 seats (594 of 646), with only 37% of the popular vote, lowest winning share in English history; he enjoyed landslide victories in 1997 and 2001; two makeshift granades explode outside the British Consulate near the U.N. HQ in New York City as British voters go to the polls; Sadiq Aman Khan (1970-) becomes Labour MP for Tooting, London (until ?). On May 5 U.S. Army Brig Gen. Janis Lee Karpinsky (nee Beam) (1953-), whose Army Reserve unit was in charge of the Abu Ghraib (absent garb?) Prison is demoted to col., ending her career; three other more senior gens. are cleared of wrongdoing, while three majors, three captains, two first lts., one second lt., and two chief warrant officers are punished. On May 5 the U.S. and Vietnam announce the Vietnam Religious Freedom Agreement, making it easier for people (esp. Roman Catholics) to worship freely in Communist Vietnam. The Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (OVT) is established by the U.S. Dept. of Justice to aid the victims and families of U.S. citizens injured or killed in terrorist attacks abroad; in 2006 it becomes part of the new Justice Dept. Nat. Security Div. On May 8 Pres. Bush and Pres. Putin hold a Moscow Summit, and go out of their way to take a unified stand on Middle East peace and terrorism to quell criticism of backsliding on democracy. Justice for the cop dept. shows the true face of Dirty Denver, Colo.? On May 8 (Mother's Day) illegal Mexican immigrant Raul Gomez-Garcia kills off-duty sacred cow Denver cop John "Jack" Bishop and wounds his partner at a baptism party at the Salon Ocampo banquet hall, then flees to Mexico, where he is later captured after an intensive manhunt in Denver and L.A.; on June 6 U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) asks U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice to intervene with Mexico, followed on June 7 by U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) asking Mexico's atty. gen to make an exception in their extradition laws, followed on June 8 by U.S. Rep. (R-Colo.) (1999-2009) Tom Tancredo (1945-), introducing an amendment to open negotiations with Mexico to change its extradition laws; on June 13 the Mexican govt. says it will take 1-3 years to make a decision on returning him, and only if prosecutors agree not to seek the death penalty; on June 14 U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.) proposes a bill to block foreign aid to Mexico if it won't hand over the accused "cop-killer", commenting to the press that "I've vacationed in Mexico before; I know exactly what 'Mexican time' is"; on June 15 Mexican consul gen. Juan Marcos Gutierrez Gonzalez quips "I don't think he should call it Mexican time, it's legal time"; the extradition finally is done in 2006 after promises not to seek the death penalty; on June 16, 2006 Jaime Arana del Angel receives a max. 12 years as accessory to murder of a cop for burying the murder weapon and giving G-G a ride out of town, the taxi service meriting the max because it had "extraordinary, almost mind-boggling repurcussions", according to the prosecutors, costing them the chance to get G-G a death penalty; on Sept. 16, 2006 Gomez-Garcia is convicted of 2nd degree murder, and gets the max of 80 years - they can just lock him up with the right psycho? On May 10 the U.S. Congress approves an additional $82B for the war on terror, bringing the total cost since 9/11 to over $300B - who made the real profits? On May 10 the Iraqi Parliament appoints 55 legislators (44 men and 11 women) to write a new constitution; on June 23 14 more men and two more women are added to give Sunni Arabs more representation; they work on it for a total of 4 mo. using the old U.S. Articles of Confederation and Iraq's interim constitution. On May 10 the federal courts approve the plan of United Airlines to terminate its employee pension plans. On May 10 German white blonde supermodel Heidi Klum (1933-) ("the Body") marries bald black London-born Nigerian-Brazilian soul singer Seal (Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel) (1963-) in Costa Careyes, Mexico, then has son Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel on Sept. 12, followed by Johan Riley Fyodor Taiwo Samuel next Nov. 22; she also has a daughter Helene "Leni" Klum (2004-) by Italian Renault Formula One team dir. Flavio Briatore (1950-); a German newspaper calls them a "patchwork family". On May 11 the U.S. Real ID Act of 2005 is signed by Pres. George W. Bush, effective May 11, 2008, requiring states to check that the documents presented for getting a diver's license (birth certificate, passport) are genuine, and incl. a digital photo and some form of biometric data such as a thumbprint, with licenses from non-complying states not to be accepted at airports and federal bldgs.; Section 102 gives the Homeland Security secy. unprecedented power to suspend any law standing in the way of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, incl. environmental laws; the act freaks-out libertarians, who compare it with Nazism; Rep. Jim Guest (R-Mo.) calls it a "frontal assault on the freedom of Americans"; Maine's legislature votes to demand its repeal. On May 11 a suicide bomber in a vehicle swerves in front of a police station in Tikrit, Iraq into a market, killing 31 and wounding 66; meanwhile another bomber blows up while standing in a line outside a police and army recruiting center in Hawija, Iraq, killing 32 and wounding 40. On May 11 Hayden "Jim" Sheaffer Jr. (1936-) and student pilot Troy D. Martin (1969-) of Penn. fly into Washington airspace within 3 mi. of the White House at midday, but it is determined that they were simply lost, and they are released without charges after giving statements. On May 12 after being nominated by Pres. George W. Bush, the GOP-controlled Foreign Relations Committee votes 10-8 along party lines to send the nomination of ultra-conservative interventionist (known for the Feb. 3, 1994 soundbyte: "The Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference") John Robert Bolton (1948-) as the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. to the full U.S. Senate, but without the usual recommendation; Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) calls Bolton "the poster child of what someone in the diplomatic corps should not be. He is an ideologue and fosters an atmosphere of intimidation" - work, it's like you don't even know me? On May 12 Russian security chief Nikolai Patrushev accuses U.S. and other foreign intelligence services of using nongovt. orgs. (NGOs) such as the Peace Corps and Merlin to spy on Russia and stir up unrest in former Soviet repubs. On May 12 Ed Viesturs (44) of Bainbridge Island, Wash. becomes the first Am. to scale all of the world's 14 peaks higher than 26,240 ft., reaching the 26,540-ft. summit of Mt. Annapurna in Nepal. On May 13 (Fri.) Cornell-educated serial killer Michael Ross (b. 1959) is executed by lethal injection after fighting attempts by public defenders to save his life, becoming the first execution in New England in 45 years. On May 13 thousands of protesters take to the street after 23 Islamic businessmen are arrested on extremist charges in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; meanwhile 500 are killed in Andijan, Uzbekistan, 30 mi. W of the Kyrgyz frontier in an Islamic uprising, raising cries of govt. atrocities. On May 13 U.S. state secy. Condoleezza Rice speaks out against the alleged desecration of the Quran by U.S. troops in Iraq with the soundbyte: "Disrespect for the holy Quran is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be, tolerated by the United States. We honor the sacred books of all the world's great religions. Disrespect for the holy Quran is abhorrent to us all"; on May 16 Newsweek mag. retracts a story by Michael Isikoff claiming that U.S. military personnel abused the Quran (Koran) and flushed them down the toilet, which caused protests in Afghanistan that killed 15 and injured scores; on May 26 five cases of mishandling Qurans of Muslim POWs at Guantanamo Bay are confirmed, but investigators find no "credible evidence" of flushing one of the giant toilet-chokers down - if she calls it holy one more time I'll scream? On May 13 the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise winds up its 4th and last season on UPN, ending an 18-year run for Star Trek as an original show on that network since Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted in 1987; the original Star Trek show ("ST: TOS") debuted on NBC-TV in 1966, followed by ST:TNG in 1987, then Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1992, and Star Trek: Voyager in 1995; says Enterprise exec. producer Rick Berman "You can squeeze only so many eggs out of a golden goose." On May 14 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) animal rights activists take on the English palace guards and their bearskin hats, which each require 1-2 bear pelts to make, announcing that its members will shadow Queen Elizabeth II on her May 15-25 visit to Canada. On May 15 the bodies of 46 Iraqis shot execution-style are found dumped around an abandoned chicken farm W of Baghdad; meanwhile secy. of state Condi Rice makes a surprise visit to Iraq (her first), telling Shiite leaders in Baghdad to court the Sunnis in writing the new constitution; she also visits the N city of Salahuddin, where she wears a flak jacket as she meets Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani (1946-). On May 15 (Sun.) Palestinians commemorate Al Nakba (the catastrophe) of the 1948 creation of the bandit state of Israel which displaced 700K (now 4M, counting descendants), with mourners carrying old keys of homes they lost; meanwhile Israelis celebrate with fireworks and other festivities. On May 15 eight Uzbek soldiers and three Islamic militants are killed in a battle in Fergana, Uzbekistan near the Kyrgyz border. On May 15 soldiers in Nepal rescue 600 students in Niskov village 190 mi. W of Katmandu after they had been abducted from their classrooms by Maoist rebels; a ceasefire is signed on May 25, 2006. On May 17 British (Scottish) Socialist politician George Galloway (1954-) (known for meeting with Saddam Hussein 1994 and appearing to praise his regime, then being expelled from the British Labour Party in Oct. 2003) denounces U.S. Senators in testimony on Capitol Hill, denying accusations of profiting from the U.S. oil-for-food program. On May 17 Dem. Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (nee Antonio Ramon Villar Jr.) (1953-) defeats Dem. Mayor James Hahn by 59%-41%, and on July 1 is sworn in as Los Angeles mayor $1 (until July 1, 2013), becoming the first Hispanic mayor of Los Angeles since 1872, when it was a town of 5K people; the city is now 48% Hispanic, 31% white, 11% Asian, and 10% black; Mexican ambassador Carlos de Izaga attends the inauguration; in Nov. 2016 he announces his candidacy for Calif. gov. in 2018 - the reconquista is 48% complete? On May 22 U.S. First Lady Laura Bush visits holy sites in Jerusalem, and is heckled - shave your bush before showing your face here? On May 22 three Romanian journalists and their Iraqi-Am. guide are freed after nearly 2 mo. in captivity in Iraq. On May 23 suicide car bomber explodes outside a Shia mosque in Mahmudiyya, Iraq killing 10; meanwhile a car bomb in a crowded Baghdad commercial district outside a restaurant frequented by police explodes, killing 11 and wounding 110, after which irate Iraqis take it out on police and U.S. troops arriving on the scene, throwing stones at them. On May 23 the Gang of 14 U.S. Senators forges a compromise ending the blockage of an up-or-down vote on judicial nominees, with Repubs. threatening the "nuclear option" (majority vote instead of 60 votes to end a Dem. filibuster); on May 24 white Palacios, Tex.-born Tex. Supreme Court Justice Priscilla Richman Owen (1954-) wins Senate confirmation as a federal appeals judge after a bitter 4-year battle in which Pres. Bush compromises on current and future judicial nominees. On May 23 Donald Trump founds Trump U. to coach dupes, er, students in real estate investing for fees ranging from $1.5K-$35K depending on how much room they have left in their credit cards, with high-pressure salesmen working out of a phone boilerroom coached to get suckers to max out their credit cards in a mad rush to get rich quick, like many other real estate investment courses which only make money for those who run them, although there are isolated cases of lucky pluckers buying some property low and flipping it for a good profit, making it borderline legal; it ceases operations in May 2011; on Aug. 24, 2013 the state of New York files a $40M civil suit against it, followed by lawsuits from disgruntled students. On May 25 a referendum in Egypt on a constitutional amendment permitting a multicandidate vote for pres. is boycotted by six opposition groups, who say it sets nearly impossible conditions for new candidates who want to present an alternative to Pres. Hosni Mubarak and his Nat. Dem. Party. On May 26 Iraqi's Shiite majority govt. launches Operation Lightning with 40K troops to crush Sunni, er, insurgents, who lash back with several sustained attacks on several police stations and an army barracks, killing 20+. On May 26 the Hmong refugee (from Laos) camp at Wat Tham Krabok 60 mi. N of Bangkok (the largest) is officially closed. On May 27 (Fri.) (10:07 p.m.) Big Ben in London stops ticking during record hot weather (90 F); it restarts, stops again at 10:20 p.m., and restarts at 11:50 p.m.; it is stopped deliberately for 33 hours on Oct. 29 for maintenance. On May 29 55% of French voters reject the European Union (EU), followed on June 1 by 62% of Dutch voters; only 9 of 25 states have approved it (Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain), and all 25 have until 2006 to approve it or else the 450M person economic superstate is kaput. On May 29 police find six people shot to death and another injured in adjacent farmhouses in the C Ohio city of Bellefontaine, and conclude that it is a multiple murder and suicide. On May 29 2M (that's million) gays and their supporters parade in Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city (home of the group Os Mutantes) wearing lavish costumes and waving rainbow-colored flags to demonstrate for legalization of gay civil unions. On May 30 U.S. vice-pres. head, er, Dick Cheney issues a soundbyte that the Iraq insurgency is in its "final throes", which is regularly trotted out against him as the war grinds on throe-out his term of office. Welcome to the beginning of a whole new life? On May 30 18-y.-o. blonde beautiful honors student Natalee Ann Holloway (b. 1986) of Mountain Brook, Ala. disappears in Oranjestad, Aruba in the early hours after celebrating her high school graduation with 124 other students and seven chaperones on the boat Tattoo; she is seen leaving with three young men; in June Joran van der Sloot (1988-), son of Dutch justice ministry official Paul van der Sloot and two Surinamese brothers, Satish Kalpoe (1987-) and Deepak Kalpoe (1984-) are detained, telling police that they dropped her off from their car beside a lighthouse at Arisha Beach after she and the Dutch teen had been kissing in the back seat; on June 12 one of them admits that "something bad happened" to her, and on June 15 authorities search elder van der Sloot's home; on June 17 DJ Steve Gregory Croes (1979-) is arrested, while Natalee's mom Beth Holloway Twitty complains that the authorities are dragging their feet; in July a judge releases the Kalpoe brothers for lack of evidence, but they are rearrested on Aug. 26 after new evidence is found, then released again; critics complain that 53% of 47.6K active cases of missing adults in the U.S. are men and 29% black, but that only upper-middle class white (usually blonde and sexy) women get news coverage and police action; on Nov. 8 Ala. Gov. Bob Riley steps it up a notch by asking for a nationwide travel boycott of Aruba after the case remains unsolved; on Feb. 23, 2006 Joran appears on ABC News' Primetime claiming that he left her on the beach after they "cuddled for a while"; too bad, on Feb. 3 a hidden camera video is released where he confesses to dumping her possibly alive body in the sea and brags that she'll never be found - bleach is how many dimes a gallon? On May 31 Vanity Fair reveals that former #2 at the FBI William Mark Felt Sr. (1913-2008) is the Watergate mystery figure Deep Throat; his family got him to divulge his identity so they could cash in and pay family bills?; Felt had wanted to become head of the FBI, but was passed over for less deep L. Patrick Gray. On May 31 French Pres. Jacques Chirac fires PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin over voter rejection of the EU, and replaces him with 51-y.-o. poet (son of a senator) Dominique de Villepin (1953-) (until May 15, 2007); on June 2 he appoints 50-y.-o. former interior and finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy (Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa) (1955-) as interior minister (until Mar. 26, 2007), which is cool, since Sarkozky is leader of the center-right Union for Popular Movement Party, and is Chirac's rival for pres.; with his wife Cecilia, the Sarkozys are called the Kennedys of France; too bad, they announce their divorce on Oct. 18, 2007. On May 31 an Italian AB-412 heli crashes 8 mi. S of Nasiriyah, Iraq, killing four aboard; it is listed as an accident. In May Pres. Bush signs the Dominican Repub. - Central Am. Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) with leaders of five Central Am. countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) and the Dominican Repub.; the U.S. Congress ratifies it in Aug. In May Hilton Hotel heiress Paris Hilton (1981-) gets engaged to shipping heir Paris Latsis (1979-), who gives her a 24-carat diamond engagement ring; they call it off in Sept. In May a pressure group arranges a release ceremony for 7K slaves in Niger; too bad, after the govt. warns that anybody admitting to being a slavemaster will be prosecuted, the ceremony is scrapped. In May Chinese pres. Hu Jintao cancels an int. conference on democracy in Beijing planned for June, and accuses Ching Cheong (1949-), detained Hong Kong-based reporter for Singapore's The Straits Times of spying for a foreign intelligence agency for trying to obtain a ms. of a book on late purged Chinese leader Zhao Ziyang. In May another peace is signed in 99-44/100 pure Ivory Coast, and elections are scheduled for Oct., but they are cancelled after the U.N. declares it impossible to stop the fighting, and the U.N. Security Council recommends that pres. Laurent Gbagbo remain in office for another year while turning over most of his power to new transitional PM Charles Konan Banny (1942-), gov. of the West African Central Bank, who becomes PM on Dec. 7 (until Apr. 7, 2007). In May Donald Trump establishes the online Trump Univ. In May a paparazzi crashes into Lindsay Lohan's car in West Los Angeles. In May the Downing Street Org. is founded, issuing the Downing Street Memos demanding that Congress hold Pres. Bush and Vice-Pres. Cheney and their aides accountable for crimes and abuses of power. In May Arianna Huffington and former AOL exec Kenneth Lerer found the leftist pro-Islam Huffington Post Web site, which reaches 25M monthly viewers by 2011 when AOL purchases it for $315M. In May Hell's Kitchen debuts on Fox Network, featuring British chef Gordon James Ramsay (1966-) putting aspiring chefs through Hell drill instructor-style for a season before selecting one to become a high-paid chef in charge of their own restaurant. On June 1 an al-Qaida suicide bomber detonates in a mosque during a funeral in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing 20, incl. Kabul's police chief, and wounding 42 others, becoming the deadliest attack in Afghanistan since the violent surge began in Mar. On June 1 a landslide in Laguna Beach, Calif. causes 1K to be evacuated. Michael Jackson joins O.J.'s exclusive Calif. A-Team? On June 1 jurors in the Michael Jackson trial are given their instructions, and begin deliberations on June 3 (Fri.); early in the deliberations three jurors vote to convict, but on June 13 after 30 hours of deliberations over seven days they unanimously acquit him of all 14 charges carrying nearly 20 years; on June 14 Jackson's chief atty. Thomas Arthur Mesereau Jr. (with flamboyant white hair) says that the star won't let children into his bed anymore because "it makes him vulnerable to false charges"; on Aug. 8 white jurors Ray Hultman (1943-) and Eleanor Cook (1926-) go public with regret at his acquittal on MSNBC's Rita Cosby Show, Hultman saying that the other jurors "just wouldn't take those blinders off long enough to really look at all the evidence that was there", and Cook saying that the other jurors are "the ones that let a pedophile go"; in June Cook told ABC's Good Morning America that she thought Jackson had molested other children but had to limit her decision to the 13-y.-o. boy at the trial; on Aug. 23 the mother of Jackson's accuser is charged with welfare fraud, accused of collecting nearly $19K illegally. On June 1 U.N. Secy.-Gen. Kofi Annan fires staffer (Cypriot diplomat) Joseph Stephanides for manipulating contracts under the $64B Iraq oil-for-food program. On June 1 federal investigators unearth the casket of 14-y.-o. black Chicago teen Emmett Till, slain in Aug. 1955 for whistling at a white woman. On June 1 a landslide takes down 17 multi-million dollar homes in Laguna Beach, Calif., all built on a steep sandstone hill for them luxurious ocean views. On June 2 insurgents kill 39 in a series of rapid-fire attacks, incl. 12 at a restaurant in Tuz Khormatu, Iraq; meanwhile Iraq's interior minister claims that the govt. sweep by police and soldiers has captured 700 and killed 28 insurgents. On June 2 Israel releases nearly 400 Palestinian POWs as part of a ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian Authority. On June 2 prominent anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir (b. 1960) is killed by a bomb placed under his car's driver's seat in Beirut, causing the opposition to accuse Syria. On June 2 a suicide bomber explodes in the remote village of Sa'ud, Iraq (near Balad), killing 10 and wounding 10. On June 2 13-y.-o. Anurag Kashyap wins the U.S. nat. spelling bee by spelling "appoggiatura", an embellishing musical note - Anurag and the Bee? On June 5 militias loyal to the Council of Islamic Courts drive the warlords out of Somalia; on June 30 Osama bin Laden calls on Muslims to open a third front in the war against the U.S. there. On June 6 the U.S. (Rehnquist) Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Gonzales v. Raich (Ashcroft v. Raich) that people can be prosecuted for violating federal drug laws for smoking marijuana even if their doctors prescribe it and the state approves it, citing the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause; Justice Antonin Scalia writes that Congress may regulate intrastate activities if it is a necessary part of a more gen. regulation of interstate commerce; Sandra Day O'Connor and Clarence Thomas dissent - I thought I'd never side with a white woman and a black man against a bunch of white men? On June 6-7 the Hussein Brigade arrests 60 men as part of Operation Lightning in Iraq. On June 6-7 the Bolivian capital La Paz is blockaded by poor Indian anti-govt. demonstrators, demanding more power from the white minority, causing Pres. Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert (who for 19 mo. had been pushing a U.S.-backed free market govt.) to resign on June 6. On June 7 Pres. Bush and PM Blair embrace an African debt relief plan to put them "on a path to reform". On June 7 the Repub.-controlled U.S. Senate ends a nearly 2-year filibuster, clearing the way for Calif. Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown (1949-), a black conservative from Ala. to be confirmed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for D.C., the 2nd highest U.S. court. On June 7 GM CEO (since 2000) Rick Wagoner announces plans to close plants and eliminate 25K manufacturing jobs in the U.S. by 2008. On June 7 three explosions in and around Hawija, Iraq kill 34. On June 9 Donna Goeppert hits the $1M jackpot in the Penn. lottery for the 2nd time, the first time being in Jan. On June 10 an Iraqi shepherd finds the buried bodies of 20 blindfolded, shot-from-behind Sunni men in the Nahrawan Desert 20 mi. east of Baghdad; 21 men are found slain near Qaim, Iraq on the Syrian frontier 200 mi. W of Baghdad. On June 11 four U.S. soldiers die in two roadside bombings W of Baghdad, bringing the number of U.S. forces killed in Iraq since the start of the war over the 1,700 mark; meanwhile gunmen open fire on a minibus in Diyara, Iraq, killing 11 Iraqi construction workers. On June 11 insurgents working for al-Zarqawi stage a suicide bombing inside the heavily-guarded Interior Ministry HQ in Baghdad, killing three; the attack was aimed at the Shiite-dominated Wolf Brigade. On June 11 French Liberation journalist Florence Aubenas, who had been abducted Jan. 5 in Baghdad is freed, and returns to France on June 12, being greeted by French Pres. Jacques Chirac, and describing her captivity tied-up and blindfolded in a cellar as "harsh"; her Iraqi interpreter Hussein Hanun is also freed. On June 12 a flash flood in Shalan in NE China's Heilongjiang Province swamps a school and kills 88 out of 352 students (ages 6-14) and four villagers; none of the 31 teachers are killed; 25 people are hospitalized; the same day a fire at the Huanan Hotel in Shantou in S China thousands of miles away kills 31 and injures 15. On June 12 Iraqi police find the bullet-ridden bodies of 28 people buried in shallow graves or dumped on the streets in Baghdad. On June 12 three Georgia Army Nat. Guard are seriously wounded in a mortar attack in Mahmudiyah, Iraq. On June 12 Iraqi Wolf Brigade leader Gen. Rashid Flaiyeh narrowly escapes an assassination attempt when mortars rain down on his mother's funeral in N Baghdad, wounding 11. On June 12 a bomb derails a passenger train travelling from Chechnya to Moscow, 90 mi. S of Moscow, injuring 15; Chechen separatists are blamed; the blasts happens hours before Pres. Putin holds a Kremlin ceremony in honor of the Day of Russia, a nat. holiday marking the breakup of the Soviet Union. On June 12 four bombs in Ahvaz, Iran kill eight and injure 86, followed hours later by two bombs in Tehran, killing one and wounding four; Iran blames Saddam Hussein supporters. On June 12 the Palestinian Authority executes four Palestinian men for murder, becoming the first execution in three years. On June 12 the Iranian Women Movement protests in front of Tehran U. against the regime's gender discrimination, and police break it up, arresting two - the most bodacious ones, for a body cavity search? On June 12 five children ages 6 mo. to 6 years die in a house fire in the well-tended Kensington neighborhood of Philly as security bars on the windows hamper rescue attempts. On June 12 the 111-member Kurdish Parliament unanimously elects veteran guerrilla leader Massoud Barzani to be the first pres. of Iraq's N Kurdistan region, which has a 100K-man Kurdish-Peshmerga militia. On June 12 U.S. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) says that even though he voted for the Iraq War, "We've done about as much as we can do", and that the reasons for invading Iraq have proved false; he and other lawmakers plan to introduce legislation immediately calling for a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal - table that? On June 12 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney tells Fox News that there are no plans to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. On June 12 Paris Hilton and her mother Kathy serve as grand marshals in the 35th annual Gay Pride Parade in West Hollywood, Calif. On June 13 Sen. Repub. leader Bill Frist orders his trustee to see his shares of Hospital Corp. of America (founded by his father Thomas), leading to accusations of insider trading when two weeks later the corp. issues a bad earnings report causing the stock price to fall 16%. On June 13 the police procedural show The Closer, a spinoff of "Prime Suspect" debuts on TNT Network for 109 episodes (until Aug. 13, 2012), starring Kyra Minturn Sedgwick (1965-) as LAPD deputy chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, an expert case-closing interrogator who sometimes uses deceit and intimidation to make suspects confess. On June 14 a suicide bomber detonates himself in a crowded bank in Kirkuk, Iraq, killing 23 and wounding 100, becoming the city's worst attack since Saddam's ouster. On June 14 Okla. country sweetheart Carrie Marie Underwood (1983), American Idol winner #4 (May 25) releases her first single, Inside Your Heaven with Arista Records; Ala. runner-up Harold Elwin "Bo" Bice Jr. (1975-) also releases the same song, and passes her on the charts. On June 14 Bill and Hillary Clinton finally pay off the last of their legal bills from the Whitewater and impeachment investigations, reporting a joint bank account valued at $5M-$25M and a blind trust valued between $5-$25M; in 2004 Bill earned $875K from speaking engagements, compared to $13.9M in 2002-3. On June 15 the U.S. House votes 238-187 to block the fed govt. from using the Patriot Act to peek at library records and bookstore sales slips, reversing a narrow loss the year before by allowing the govt. to continue to obtain records of Internet use at libraries. On June 15 six masked gunmen take 70 students and teachers hostage at an internat. school in Siem Reap Province in NW Cambodia, demanding money, weapons and cars, then killing a 3-y.-o. Canadian boy before being captured by police on June 16. On June 15 a Marine Harrier jet carrying four 500-lb. bombs crashes into the backyard of a home in Yuma, Az. On June 15 the Shinnecock Indian Tribe files a multi-billion dollar lawsuit in U.S. District Court claiming ownership of 3.6K acres on E Long Island in the hopes of building a casino at the gateway to the super-rich Hamptons (Southampton). On June 15 the Mexican Supreme Court rules that former pres. Luis Echeverria can be charged with genocide for his involvement in a 1971 massacre of student protesters. On June 15 Taliban rebels break into a medical clinic near the Pakistan border in Afghanistan and kill a doctor and six of his assistants; the same day hundreds of insurgents clash with U.S.-led coalition forces, and seven insurgents are killed. On June 15 105-y.-o. Percy Arrowsmith, who two weeks earlier set the record for the world's longest marriage (80 years) with 100-y.-o. wife Florence dies in his home in Hereford, NW of London, England. On June 16 Australian hostage Douglas Wood is freed from a Baghdad home by U.S. troops after 47 days; the captors kept him under a blanket in Arab dress and claimed he was their ailing father. On June 16 a suicide bomber in an army uniform detonates himself in a crowded mess hall in Baghdad, killing 26 Iraqi soldiers; a roadside bomb kills five U.S. Marines near Ramadi; the total kill by insurgents in one day exceeds 50. On June 17 former Tyco Internat. CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark H. Swartz are convicted on 30 of 31 counts of securities fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny, and falsifying business records in Manhattan; prosecutors use the case to send a message against corporate greed. On June 17 credit card transaction co. MasterCard Internat. Inc. announces the largest breach of security involving financial data to date, saying that 13.9M MasterCard accounts had been breached by a computer virus that captured data from CardSystems Solutions Inc., which processes credit card payments; at least 68K accounts have had fraudulent charges posted to them so far. On June 17 Guidant Corp., sued on June 1 by a Penn. man over their failure to tell patients using its cadiac defibrillators that they can short-circuit announces that the devices used by 50K heart patients are flawed and offer to replace more than half of them. On June 17 black clan patriarch Marcus Wesson (1947-) is convicted in raisin capital Fresno, Calif. of murdering nine of his incestuous children and of raping and molesting seven of his underage daughters and nieces; the police found the bodies in a bloody pile on Mar. 12, 2004 after a standoff. On June 19 fighting in S Afghanistan kills 20 militants; meanwhile the Taliban claims that it has assassinated a kidnapped Afghan police chief and five of his men who collaborated with the U.S. On June 19 a suicide bomber explodes in a popular Baghdad restaurant during lunchtime, killing 23. On June 19 the temp. reaches 116 F in Lahore, Pakistan, followed by 118 F on June 20 and 121 F on June 22. On June 20 Pres. Bush attends a joint news conference with European leaders, saying that he is determined to complete the mission of establishing democracy in Iraq to make the world a better place. On June 20 parliamentary elections in Lebanon are announced, showing that the anti-Syrian opposition with a majority; on June 21 anti-Syrian Greek Orthodox Christian Lebanese politician (former Communist Party leader) (Captain Kangaroo lookalike?) George Hawi (b. 1938) is killed by a car bomb in W Beirut; he joins anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir (June 2) and former PM Rafik Hariri (Feb. 14); White House press secy. (2003-6) Scott McClellan (1968-) calls them "targeted assassinations of political figures", but stops short of blaming Syria, while anti-Syrian leaders claim that Syria has drawn up a hit list of enemies in Lebanon. On June 20 a suicide bomber in Arbil, Iraq kills 15 traffic cops and wounds 100. On June 21 80-y.-o. wheelchair-riding former KKK member Eager Racist Killer Edgar Ray "Preacher" Killen (1925-) is found guilty of manslaughter of three civil rights workers 41 years after he did it by a jury of 9 whites and 3 blacks, who deliberate for less than 6 hours and clear him of murder charges; "Forty-one years after the tragic murders... justice finally arrives in Philadelphia, Miss.", says Rep. Bennett Thompson, the only black congressman in Miss. On June 21 Vietnamese PM Phan Van Khai visits the White House, becoming the highest-ranking Communist official from Vietnam to visit since the end of the Vietnam War; meanwhile hundreds protest the visit in front of the White House. On June 21 Afghan and U.S.-led coalition troops battle rebels in the Daychopan district in Zabul Province in S Afghanistan, killing 40 rebels while killing a policeman and wounding five U.S. soldiers and two more policemen. On June 22 a U.S. U-2 spy plane crashes while returning to its base in the UAR from a mission in Afghanistan, killing the pilot. The U.S. Congress reaches its all-time peak of stupidity? On June 22 the U.S. House passes (by 8 votes, 286-130) the U.S. Flag Desecration Amendment to the U.S. Bill of Rights: "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States"; luckily it fails to pass the U.S. Senate by one vote next June 27 after being sponsored by Mormon Utah Repub. sen. Orrin Hatch - a "flag of the United States" incl. not just those owned by the govt. (which are already protected), but copies or fancied copies owned by private individuals, incl. icing on cakes and drawings on the backs of matchbooks? Drop that cake you're desecrating, you're under arrest? What is "desecration" (de-consecration) in those cases, since real flags that soldiers died for on battlefields are one thing, but a piece of private property containing a design of stars and stripes that represents the freedom of the people under a constitutional sovereign state is not a holy object that must be carefully stored, revered, kissed, etc., like the Big Black Cube of the Muslims in Mecca? So what is being desecrated, the flag or the Constitution? the near-passing of this horrible monstrosity shows the low level to which U.S. literacy has sunk, and signals its downward slide? On June 23 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 5-4 in Kelo v. City of New London, Conn. that it is "permissible use" for the govt. to take property from one private owner under the law of eminent domain and give it to another in furtherance of economic development as long as it is for a public purpose, not just a public use; Donald Trump utters the soundbyte "I happen to agree with it 100 percent." On June 24 Hollyweird and Scientology superstar Tom Cruise gives an interview to ABC-TV's Matt Lauer, dissing Brooke Shields for using anti-depressant drugs like Ritalin and Paxil for postpartum depression after giving birth to daughter Rowan Frances in 2003 instead of vitamins and exercise, calling Lauer "glib" for disagreeing, and uttering the soundbytes: "You don't even know what Ritalin is"; "Before I was a Scientologist I never agreed with psychiatry, and when I started studying the history of psychiatry, I understood more and more why I didn't believe in psychology", "Psychiatry is a pseudo-science", and "You don't know the history of psychiatry, I do"; in 2008 Cruise apologizes for being "arrogant"; on July 1 Shields pub. an op-ed piece in The New York Times, saying, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression"; meanwhile, Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise debuts on June 30 with $21.3M at the domestic box office, and $34.6M worldwide; in Dec. a museum called "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death", linked to the Church of Scientology opens in Hollywood, the opening attended by Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley, Danny Masterson, Jenna Elfman, Catherine Bell et al. On June 24-26 Rev. Billy Graham (b. 1918) holds a revival meeting in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, N.Y. that he claims is his last after preaching to 210M in 185 countries, the most in history; his son Franklin will take his place. On June 26 four suicide bombers strike Iraqi police and army forces in a 16-hour wave of violence in Mosul, killing 38; defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld says that the Iraqi insurgency could take as long as 12 years to defeat, with Iraqi security forces, not U.S. and foreign troops taking the lead and finishing the job. On June 26 U.S. troops sweep the Khakeran Valley in Afghanistan 130 mi. NE of the main S city of Kandahar, seeking up to 300 insurgents. On June 27 the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) Court rules 7-2 in Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales that a town and its police dept. can't be sued in federal court for failing to enforce a restraining order, which led to the murder of a woman's three children by her estranged husband. On June 27, 2005 after arguments by Repub. Tex. atty. gen. #50 (since Dec. 2, 2002) Greg Abbott (future Tex. gov. #48 on Jan. 20, 2015), the U.S. Supreme (Rehnquist) rules 5-4 in that it's okay to display the Ten Commandments on govt. property at the Tex. State Capitol in Austin because it is a "passive monument"; McCreary County v. ACLU of Ky. to ban the same kind of display in Ky.; Stephen Breyer is the swing vote in both cases - just blank out the non-PC ones? On June 28 Pres. Bush issues Executive Order 13382, titled "Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters", barring financial entities involved in nuclear proliferation from the U.S. financial and commercial system; starting in 2007 the U.S. Treasury Dept. designates 15 Iranian banks under it. On June 29 the Petrocaribe oil alliance between Venezuela and 17 South Am. and Caribbean nations is signed, providing preferential payment conditions. On June 29 Mexico releases a series of postage stamps depicting the black char. Memin Pinguin (created in 1943 by Yolanda Vargas Dulche and Sixto Valencia), drawing howls from U.S. black activists. On June 30 Spain becomes the country #3 to legalize gay marriage - let's play bull and matador? On June 30 the U.S. Federal Reserve boosts the interest rate for the 9th time in a row (from 3.00% to 3.25%). In June the Stockholm Int. Peace Research Inst. reports that U.S. defense spending this year breaks the $1T mark, almost half of the world's military expenditures, but after adjusting for inflation it's actually 6% lower than the Cold War peak in 1987-8. In June John Kerry releases his college transcript, showing a 76% (C) average, incl. 3 D's in his freshman year (rocks for jocks, history, political science); in 1999 The New Yorker pub. George W. Bush's transcript, showing a 77%, graduating two years after Kerry. In June the U.S. signs a 10-year defense pact with India, upsetting Pakistan by their possible acquisition of the U.S. Patriot ABM system. In June the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) votes 6-3 to proceed with ".xxx" domain names for porn sites; participation in the "red-light district" porn domain is voluntary. In June black Verizon exec Bruce Scott Gordon (1946-) becomes head of the NAACP (until Mar. 2007). In June the State Supreme Court of Chihuahua, Mexico throws out the case against Victor Javier Garcia Uribe, setting him free after 3.5 years in prison after police frame him and torture him into a false confession in the mysterious rape-deaths of more than 350 women in and around the border city of Juarez during the past decade; meanwhile the crime spree is spreading to other Mexican cities such as Chihuahua; the police are suspected of being involved. In June 86-y.-o. Billy Graham holds yet another gospel crusade with an audience of 230K. In June a Statue of "Samantha on Bewitched" Elizabeth Montgomery is erected in Salem, Mass. In June the worst red tide outbreak since 1972 strikes the Atlantic shore from Cape Cod to Maine, putting clammers out of business and causing federal officials to declare an economic emergency. In the summer U.S. Army SSgt. Dale L. Horn (1980-) from Fort Walton Beach, Fla. is made an official sheik in the village of Qayyarah, Iraq after helping 30 villages get clean water; other sheiks gave him five sheep and a postage stamp of land to fulfill the requirements for becoming "Sheik Horn"? On July 2 Egyptian diplomat Ihab al-Sherif is kidnapped in Baghdad, and is later killed, with al-Qaida's Iraqi wing claiming credit; meanwhile a suicide bomber explodes in a Baghdad police recruiting center, killing 16 and wounding 22. On July 2 Joseph Edward Duncan III (1963-), a convicted sex offender is arrested at a Denny's restaurant in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho after a waitress recognizes the 8-y.-o. girl with him as the one kidnapped on May 15 along with her 9-y.-o. brother after the mother and her boyfriend were bludgeoned to death; he had been entering messages in his Internet blog about his sex addiction, writing "God has shown me the right choice, but my demons have me tied to a spit and the fire has already been lit" on Apr. 24. On July 3 Saidi security forces kill Younis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, the al-Qaida leader of Morocco in a gun battle in Riyadh. On July 4 Pres. Bush gives a speech in Morgantown, W. Va. defending staying the course in Iraq, saying "The proper response is not retreat, it is courage." On July 4 a U.S. airstrike in E Afghanistan in the same province where the U.S. heli was downed a week earlier kills 17 civilians; meanwhile rebel attacks across the country kill 700. On July 4 the United Church of Christ votes by 80% to endorse same-sex marriage, making it the largest Christian denomination to do so (until ?). On July 5 Pres. Bush makes a stopover in Denmark and thanks them for their help in the Iraq War, then heads to the 13-nation Group of Eight Summit (U.S., Britain, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, plus China, India, Mexico, Brazil, S Africa) in Gleneagles, Puppet-Masterland (Scotland), where on July 6 he finally admits publicly that greenhouse gases are warming the Earth, and finds PM Tony Blair balking at his attempt to scale back goals for relieving poverty and disease in Africa; meanwhile 5K-15K demonstrators surround the Gleneagles Golf Resort, while Pres. Bush collides with a police officer and falls during a bike ride on the grounds - we are supersizing our surprises while surprising our biggest fans? On July 5 gunmen open fire on senior envoys from Pakistan and Bahrain in a failed kidnap attempt. On July 5-10 an AP poll finds that 6 in 10 Americans think another world war in their lifetime is likely, compared to only one-third of Japanese. British bulldog gets kicked in jaw by pesky Muslim immigrants on 7/11? On July 7 (7/7) (8:49 a.m. BST) the London 7/11 Suicide Bombings see four bombings in London, England (pop. 7.4M) by four jihadists, incl. near Paddington Station (Circle line) (N of Hyde Park), Liverpool Street Station (Circle line) (NW of Aldgate Station), Russell Square (Piccadilly Line) (N of the U. of London and the British Museum), and King's Cross Station (Piccadilly Line) (stop for the Hogwart's Express?) kill 52 plus four suicide bombers, and injure 784, becoming the deadliest attack on London since WWII, and shocking the supposedly safe city, which had been considered a tolerant haven for budding Muslim terrorists; former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is yards away from the explosion near the Liverpool St. Station, and calls it an "eerie reminder" of 9/11; the politicos come thru with great soundbytes: "We will show, by our spirit and dignity, and by our quiet but true strength that there is in the British people, that our values will long outlast theirs" (PM Tony Blair); "This scorn for human life is something we must fight with every greater firmness" (Jacques Chirac); "No matter where such inhuman crimes occur... they demand unconditional condemnation" (Vladimir Putin); on July 17 the Sunni Council, Britain's largest Sunni Muslim group, led by Sheikh Abu Basir al-Tartusi issues a fatwa condemning the bombings as "perverted ideology", while al-Tartusi later issues the soundbyte "More than half of the Quran and hundreds of the Prophet's sayings call for jihad and fighting those unjust tyrants"; one of the bombers, Shehzad Tanweer (22), a Briton of Pakistani descent who worked at his father's fish and chips shop in Leeds leaves behind savings of $212,460, which goes to his family; ringleader Tafazal Mohammad (1964-) is later paid 80K pounds to lecture Scotland Yard's counterterrorism unit on how best to "engage" with Muslims; British pacifist Samantha Louise Lewthwaite (1983-), widow of black Jamaica-born British Muslim convert Germaine Maurice Lindsay (Abdullah Shaheed Jamal) (1985-2005), who blew up on Russell Square, killing 26, goes on to become the Muslim terrorist AKA the White Widow. On July 8 Category 4 (150 mph) Hurricane Dennis hits Haiti, killing 10, then the S coast of Cuba, killing 10, then weakens to Category 2 (110 mph) and heads for the Florida Keys and Gulf Coast, picking up to Category 3 (120ph) as it slams into the Fla. Panhandle on July 10. On July 9 a panda is born at the Nat. Zoo in Washington, D.C.; another is born on Aug. 2 at the San Diego Zoo. On July 9 the BDS movement is founded by Palestinians to campaign for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. On July 10 the body of a missing U.S. commando is found in E Afghanistan, becoming the last member of a 4-man Special Forces unit that disappeared the previous month to be found. On July 10 a suicide bomber detonates at a Baghdad army recruiting center at Muthana Airfield in C Baghdad, Iraq, killing 25 and wounding 47. On July 11 four terror suspects incl. a top al-Qaida lt. escape from a U.S. military jail in Afghanistan; the identity of Omar al-Farouq is acknowledged in Nov.; on Sept. 25, 2006 he is killed during a raid on his home in Basra, Iraq. On July 12 U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist is hospitalized with a fever. On July 13 a suicide car bomber in Iraq denotates next to U.S. troops handing out candy and toys, killing 32 children and one U.S. soldier, and wounding 70. On July 13 a triple train collision near Ghotki, Pakistan kills 133. On July 16 suicide bomber explodes beneath propane tanker parked near a Shia mosque S of Baghdad, killing 98 and wounding 156. On July 16 Hollywood star Sandra Bullock (1964-) marries "Monster Garage" host Jesse James (1969-); he was previously married twice, last time to to porno star Janine Marie Lindemulder in 2002-4. On July 17 an Iraqi Special Tribunal files its first criminal case against Saddam Hussein for a 1982 massacre of Shiites. On July 17 a federal jury convicts Michael Zuchet, the acting mayor of San Diego, Calif. and city councilman Ralph Inzunza of taking payoffs from a strip club owner to help repeal a "no touching" law at nude clubs; it was Zuchet's first day on the job. On July 18 Hurricane Emily hits Mexico's Mayan Riviera, stranding thousands of tourists and making local residents homeless. On July 18 (night) Israeli security forces block thousands of Jewish setlers from marching in Netivot, Israel in protest of the upcoming Gaza Strip pullout. On July 18 Pres. Bush holds the first Washington A-list dinner of his 2nd term, honoring Indian PM Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur; he only held four grand dinners in his first term, compared to 25 by his 1-term father and 57 by two-term Reagan. On July 18 Pres. Bush lowers his standard for staff dismissals to those "who committed a crime", superseding his June 2004 pledge to fire anyone who leaked info. about the secret identity of Valerie Plame. On July 18 Mamoun Darkazanli (b. 1959), an al-Qaida suspect is freed after the German high court blocks his extradition to Spain, ruling that a EU-wide arrest warrant violates the German constitution; he had appeared in a 1999 wedding video with two of the three 9/11 suicide pilots who lived and studied in Hamburg. On July 18 the first shipment of Canadian cattle roll into the U.S. (35 black Angus at Lewiston, N.Y.) after a 2-year ban because of mad cow disease. On July 19 Sunni Muslim former Citibank employee Fouad (Fuad) Siniora (1943-) becomes PM of Lebanon; on May 25, 2008 he is renominated along with the post of acting pres. (until Nov. 9, 2009). Mecca lecca hi, Mecca lecca ho, Mecca tancredo? On July 19 Turkish, Russian, and U.S. officials react angrily to comments made by Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) the week before during an interview with Fla. radio talk show host Pat Campbell that if Islamic terrorists nuke the U.S., "and we determine that it is the result of extremist, fundamentalist Muslims, you know, you could take out their holy sites"; on July 19 he explains that he didn't mean Mecca. On July 19 Mijbil Issa and Dhamin Hussein al-Obeidi, two of 15 Sunni Arabs on the new Iraqi constitution drafting committee are assassinated in Baghdad; earlier threats had caused two other Sunnis to resign. On July 19 thousands of Jewish settlers clash with Israeli police in a makeshift protest camp in Kfar Maimon, Israel, while trying to march to Gaza Strip settlements marked for evacuation in Aug.; "Ariel Sharon is not scared of 20K or 50K marching settlers", says vice-PM Ehud Olmert. On July 21 the 2005 Attempted London Bombings sees four bombs planted by terrorists on three London Underground trains and a double-decker bus, but they fail to fully detonate; by July 31 police arrest 21 people; Somali-born Ramzi Mohammed (1981-) and Muktar Said Ibrahim (Muktar Mohammed Said) (1978-) are convicted and given 40 years to life for the Oval tube station attempt; during their July 27 arrest they stand nearly naked on their balcony to avoid tear gas, with Ramzi shouting "I have rights" to the media; Somali-born Yasin (Yassin) Hassan Omar (1983-) and Ethiopian-born Hussain Osman (Hamdi Isaac) (1978-) are convicted of the Victoria Line attempt and given 40-life. On July 21 (just hours after the London attack) the U.S. House votes 257-171 (214 Repubs. and 43 Dems.) to extend the U.S. Patriot Act. On July 21 China announces that it is cutting its currency's link to the dollar, raising the yuan 2.1% against it, thus making Chinese exports to the U.S. more expensive and helping America's $162B trade deficit with them. On July 21 two Algerian diplomats and their driver are kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq in the infamous Mansour District, bringing the total to five key diplomats from Islamic countries in less than 3 weeks; victims incl. Ali Belaroussi, chief of the Algerian mission, and Azzedine Ben Kadi; al-Qaida later announces that it killed them. On July 21 the 2nd day of riots in Sana'a, Yemen over its crumbling economy leave 16 dead in the country's worst civil strife in a decade; this time rioters demand the ouster of the govt., which had signed an economic pact with the U.S. and is a close ally on their war on terror. On July 21 the U.S. Treasury Dept. identifies four nephews of Saddam Hussein who they claim played significant roles in supporting insurgents from Syrian bases, all sons of Saddam's half-brother and adviser Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti, who was captured in Feb. in Syria. On July 21 Sudanese security officers in Khartoum rough up members of U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice's entourage at the compound of Pres. Omar el-Bashir, and the foreign minister meets her demand to apologize personally; she also meets refugees in Darfur, and leaves without promising that the U.S. will lift economic sanctions or remove Sudan from their list of terrorist-sponsoring countries. On July 21 the U.S. and Russia open a new U.S.-financed command center aimed at preventing nuclear arms trafficking in Russia. On July 21 Vladimir Arutyunian is arrested in Tbilisi, Georgia, and admits to throwing a grenade during a May rally where U.S. Pres. Bush was making a speech. On July 21 Lisa G. Berzins, a prominent eating disorder expert who collapsed in a supermarket after inhaling whipped cream propellant applies for accelerated rehabilitation to avoid a guilty plea. On July 21 suburban teenager Andrew Osantowski is sentenced to at least 4.5 years for plotting a massacre at his high school and amassing a home arsenal; "You still have a future", says Judge Matthew Switalski. On July 21 U.S. authorities announce the shutting down of a 360-ft. underground marijuana-smuggling tunnel underneath the U.S.-Canadian border near Lynden, Wash., the first such tunnel discovered on that border; Canadian authorities learned of it while under construction in Feb. and U.S. officials monitored it then shut it down as it opened, arresting five people with a total of 200 lbs. of weed. On July 22 British police chase down and shoot Brazilian citizen Jean Charles de Menezes (b. 1978) 5x in the head after he emerges from a S London apt. complex; they later admit that they wrongly suspected him of being a terrorist and that he was totally innocent, stirring angry protests; later a police coverup is exposed, showing that he was not even acting guilty; on Nov. 1, 2007 the London police force is found guilty of endangering the public by a jury, and ordered to pay $2.1M, although the police chief Ian Blair refuses to resign. On July 22 filmmaker Roman Polanski (1933-) wins a libel suit against Vanity Fair mag. over a 2002 article accusing him of propositioning Norwegian model Beatte Telle while on the way to the funeral of his murdered wife Sharon Tate, putting his hand on her thigh and promising "I will make another Sharon Tate out of you"; at the trial the mag. admitted that it didn't happen before the funeral after all, but two weeks after it; on July 24 she tells the London Mail that it never happened and that "Polanski just stood there. He just stared at me for ages... Perhaps I reminded him of Sharon Tate." On July 23 (1:15 a.m.) (Egyptian Rev. Day) a series of three bombs kill 88 and injure 150 in a downtown market the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, in Egypt, causing numerous arrests esp. of Bedouins in the Sinai, and a separation barrier to be built around the city to keep Bedouins out; al-Qaida claims credit; the same resorts had been attacked on Oct. 7, 2004. On July 23 a 6.0 earthquake shakes Tokyo, injuring 27. On July 23-28 81-y.-o. Pres. Robert Mugabe of platinum-rich Zimbabwe visits China as part of his "Look East" policy to switch from Britain to China for its economic support, with his human rights abuses not an issue there, incl. a life expectancy drop since 1988 from 62 to 38 years. On July 23-24 60 survivors of the July 30, 1945 USS Indianapolis tragedy gather in Indianapolis, Ind. for a reunion at a memorial, where Navy secy. Gordon England lays a wreath. The next Aryan Hitler takes the baton and carries on? On July 24 former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (1956-) (Imadinnajacket, Inajacket) steamrolls former pres. Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani in a surprise to Westerners, and is sworn-in on Aug. 6 as Islamic Repub. of Iran pres. #6 (until ?); on June 17 he only received 19% of the vote in a pres. runoff against former pres. Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who warned that he will run a totalitarian regime and that the 200K-man Rev. Guard (of which MA is a former cmdr.) is rigging the vote; during the campaign Imadinnajacket says that Iran "did not have a revolution in order to have democracy"; on July 27 he vows to pursue a peaceful nuclear program and says that his govt. will not be extremist, while U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld calls the election a "mock election" because more than 1K potential candidates were disqualified from running by the hard-line Guardian Council; former U.S. hostages say he was one of the Iranians who seized them in 1979 (co-founder of the student org.); as pres. he becomes known for frequently weeping; he is a puppet of Shiite #1 grand ayatollah Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani (1930-) and ayatollah Mohammad Taghi (Taqi) Mesbah Yazdi (1934-), who claims that his protege is the "chosen" of the Mahdi. On July 24 a suicide truck bomber denotes outside the al-Rashad Police Station police station in Baghdad, killing 25 and wounding 33; in the night four U.S. soldiers are killed in SW Baghdad by a roadside bomb. On July 24 a luxury long-haul passenger bus dives off the Tamburaw Bridge into a river in Kano in N Nigeria after the driver falls asleep, killing 56 of 62. Om July 25 the AFL-CIO splinters after the Service Employees Internat. Union and the Teamsters announce their exit. On July 25 14-y.-o. Jamie Marie Daigle of Ganzales, La. is killed by an 8-ft. bull shark in Destin, Fla. as she swims on a boogie board 100 yards from shore. On July 25 Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations debuts on Travel Channel for 142 episodes (until Nov. 5, 2012). The real Capt. Janeway? On July 26 (10:39 a.m. EDT) Space Shuttle Discovery "Return to Flight" Mission STS-114 (first flight since the Columbia disaster 2.5 years earlier), with a 7-person crew commanded by 48-y.-o. Eileen Marie Collins (1956-), incl. James MacNeal "Vegas" Kelly (1964-), Japanese-born Soichi Noguchi (1965-), Stephen Kern Robinson (1955-) Australian-born Andrew Sydney Withiel "Andy" Thomas (1951-), Wendy Barrien Lawrence (1959-), and Charles Joseph "Charlie" Camarda (1952-) has a picture-perfect liftoff 13 days after a postponement caused by a faulty fuel sensor in the external tank; 36 hours later (July 27) images shot from one of the 100+ cameras onboard show that a piece of foam insulation separated from the external fuel tank but missed hitting the shuttle, causing NASA to ground all future shuttles until the problem can be fixed; on July 28 NASA announces that the Shuttle looks safe to return to Earth; on Aug. 3 astronaut Stephen K. Robinson removes two pieces of filler material from the Shuttle's belly; the Shuttle returns safely on Aug. 9 after 219 orbits and lands at Edwards AFB, Calif. at 6:11 a.m. EDT as the song Come On, Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners is played. On July 26 16 Iraq govt. employees are killed and 27 wounded near Abu Ghraib Prison when gunmen fire at a pair of buses taking them home to Shiite neighborhoods. On July 26 a draft copy of the new Iraqi constitution proclaims that Islam will be the main source of legislation, and that no law will be approved that contradicts "the rules of Islam" - how many infidel U.S. servicemen died for that? On July 26 North Korea ends a 13-mo. boycott and begins talks in Beijing on denuclearizing. On July 27 about 300 Boy Scouts out of 40K at their 2005 Nat. Scout Jamboree (July 25-Aug. 3) at Ft. A.P. Hill, near Bowling Green, Va. (S of Washington, D.C.) are treated for heat sickness in 100+ deg. F heat while waiting for Pres. Bush to arrive at a memorial service for four Scout leaders who were killed by a power line while pitching a tent on July 25; Bush cancels the visit because of high winds. On July 28 the House by a 217-215 vote approves the Dominican Repub. - Central Am. Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), becoming a personal triumph for Pres. Bush; it adds six Latin Am. countries to the list of nations with free-trade agreements with the U.S. On July 29 the British army begins dismantling military positions in Northern Ireland one day after the IRA promises full disarmament and renounces all violence; on July 27 the Brits parole an IRA mass murderer as part of the deal; on Sept. 23 the Sinn Fein and Irish govt. meet for the time time in 8 mo., and the IRA agrees to dispose of its stockpiled arms within a week. On July 29 actress Cameron Diaz accepts "substantial" damages from a British tabloid for alleging she had an affair with a married man; on July 25 a photographer who tried to sell topless photos of her in 2003 is found guilty of forgery, attempted grand theft and perjury by a Los Angeles court. On July 29 a suicide bomber at an army recruitment center in Rabi'a, Iraq in N Iraq kills 48 and wounds 58. On July 30 Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) angers the Bush admin. by coming out in support of expanded human embryonic stem-cell research - no more Superman movies for you? On July 30 a raid on an apt. in S England nabs seven more suspects for the July 21 transit bombings, followed by 2 more in S London on Aug. 1, bringing the total to 21. On July 30 18-y.-o. black student Anthony Walker (b. 1987) is murdered with an ice axe by Michael Barton (18) and his cousin Paul Taylor (20) in Huyton (near Liverpool), Merseyside, England while waiting for a bus after a man shouts racial insults; on Aug. 3 they are arrested, receiving life sentences. In July the U.S. suffers from a nationwide heat wave, caused by late arrival of the summer monsoon season, with temperatures reaching 120 deg F in Ariz.; Cuba suffers from both a heat wave and a breakdown of the electrical grid, causing anti-govt. protests and graffiti, causing Pres. Fidel Castro to ask for patience on July 26 in his 52nd anniv. of the rev. speech. In July Sandra Day O'Connor announces her retirement, 2 mo. before chief justice William Rehnquist dies; she later says that he told her he wasn't ready to retire and she didn't want to to quit at the same time, and would have preferred to stay on until she was "really in bad shape", but decided to do it for her ailing husband. In July Canada legalizes gay marriage, joining Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain as #4. In July hidden porno material is found hidden in the popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Antonio, causing it to be removed from store shelves and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) to introduce legislation prohibiting the sale of violent or sexually explicit video games to minors; in Aug. video-game execs host a fundraiser for her. In July the U.S. approves a measure to transmit radio and TV newscasts into Venezuela to get around their iron curtain, causing Pres. Hugo Chavez to vow to jam them. In July Marin Alsop (1956-) becomes the first female conductor of a major U.S. orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In July Penn. lawmakers vote themselves a 16% pay raise in secret without public debate or scrutiny, then leave town, using a 20-y.-o. court ruling to collect their pay increases immediately despite a provision in the constitution barring same-term pay increases; when the public finds out they raise hell about the Great Harrison Caper of 2005, but the lawmakers keep their raises. In July four terrorist suspects incl. al-Qaida's highest ranking operative in SE Asia and a Saudi al-Qaida operative escape from the U.S. military detention center Cell 119 in Bagram, Afghanistan; it takes until Dec. for the military to admit how dangerous the escapees were. In July Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra assumes emergency powers to deal with the resurgent Muslim South Thailand Insurgency, which is causing thousands of Buddhists to flee north; next Sept. 19 a military junta ousts Shinawatra, while the death toll increases to 2,579 by mid-Sept. 2007 and 3K in Mar. 2008; the insurgency ends in ?. In July a ms. of "All You Need is Love" by Beatle John Lennon sells for $1M at auction - money can't buy me love? Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (1924-2015) (de facto ruler since Jan. 1, 1996 when Fahd had an incapacitating stroke) is crowned as king #6 of Saudi Arabia (until Jan. 23, 2015), with his brother prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud (1928-) as crown prince and heir apparent; London-born CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour (1958-) is the last to interview Fahd and the first to interview new king Abdullah. On Aug. 1 Iraq's electoral commission begins registering voters for the upcoming constitutional referendum on Oct. 15 and gen. election on Dec. 15. On Aug. 1 the co. distributing Atkins diet products (pancake-waffle mix, cookie mix, potato chips, etc.) goes bankrupt; just a year ago (May 17, 2004) NBC-TV's Nightly News was touting them as the big new thing among dieters, but the percentage of Americans on the plan slides from 9% to 2% - most of the products tasted awful, so what's the surprise? On Aug. 1 seven U.S. Marines are killed in two separate attacks W of Baghdad, bringing the Iraq War total of U.S. military dead since Mar. 2003 past 1.8K. On Aug. 1 Minn. drops its DWI limit to 0.08%, the last state to do so (first was Utah in 1983); the previous uniform limit was 0.10%. On Aug. 1 Paris-born Jewish billionaire founder of Ameriquest Corp. Roland E. Arnall (1939-2008), known for raising millions for Pres. George W. Bush, Arnold Schwarzenegger et al. is appointed U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands; meanwhile in early 2006 his Ameriquest Corp. announces a $325M settlement with 49 states after its crooked predatory balooning-payment mortgage practices that have ruined hundreds of thousands of families are exposed. On Aug. 1 the Calif. Supreme Court rules that country clubs must offer gay members who register as domestic partners the same discounts given to married heteros after Bernardo Heights Country Club (San Diego) member B. Birgit Koebke (1957-) gets pissed-off about her lezzie domestic partner Kendall E. French having to play as a guest - sin and you're in in California? On Aug. 2 at 4:03 p.m. Flight 358, an Air France Airbus A340 from Paris slides off a runway by 200 yards at Pearson Int. Airport in a thunderstorm in Toronto, Canada, breaks into three pieces, then burns, but all 309 people (297 passengers) survive as they exit in 90 sec., 75% of them in 52 sec.; the first A340 crash in 13 years of commercial service? On Aug. 2 U.S. freelance journalist Steven Vincent and a female Iraqi translator are abducted by five men at a currency exchange shop in Basra, and Vincent's body is discovered that night shot in the head; he had written a recent article in The New York Times claiming that Basra's police had been infiltrated by Shiite militiamen - shiite if he wasn't right? On Aug. 2 Pres. Bush takes advantage of Congress being in recess to appoint controversial diplomat John Robert Bolton (1948-) as U.S. ambassador #25 to the U.N., saying, "This post is too important to leave vacant any longer"; he resigns on Dec. 31, 2006 after becoming known for undiplomatic outbursts and failing to gain Senate confirmation. On Aug. 1 King Fahd (b. 1923) dies, and his pro-U.S. half-brother Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1924-2015) becomes king and PM of Saudi Arabia (until Jan. 23, 2015), going on to attempt several reforms, making his son-in-law Faisal bin Abdullah a minister, and U.S.-educated teacher Nora Al Fayez a deputy education minister in charge of a new dept. for female students, reforming Sharia courts and judges and cracking down on homegrown terrorism; in Nov. 2007 he visits Pope Benedict XVI (first monarch to do it); in June 2008 he holds a conference in Mecca to urge Muslim leaders to speak with a single voice with Jewish and Christian leaders in interfaith dialogue, holding the first in Madrid, Spain in July 2008; in Nov. 2012 his Internat. Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue opens; in Jan. 2011 he calls for the establishment of an Arab common market; in July 2012 he allows women athletes to compete in the Olympics for the first time; in Aug. 2013 a new law makes domestic violence a crime with a sentence of up to 1 year and a 50K riyal fine; when Barack Obama becomes U.S. pres. he becomes his big booster, with the soundbyte: "Thank God for bringing Obama to the presidency", adding that his election brought "great hope" in the Muslim world. On Aug. 2 Russia's Foreign Ministry gets pissed-off after ABC-TV airs an interview by Russian journalist Andrei Babitsky of Chechen Warlord Shamil Basayev on Nightline, and says it will not renew permission for them to operate in Russia. On Aug. 2 26-y.-o. Susan M. Torres (1979-), whose cancer spread to her brain, causing her to go into a coma on May 7 and become brain dead, gives birth to a baby girl, Susan Anne Catherine Torres (1 lb. 13 oz.) by C-section; her husband Justin then okays the pulling of her life support plug. On Aug. 2 Pres. Bush signs a free trade pact with five Central Am. nations and the Dominican Repub. On Aug. 2 Pres. Bush tells a group of Tex. newspaper reporters that "both sides ought to be properly taught", referring to the theory of intelligent design. On Aug. 3 14 U.S. Marines in a 25-ton armored amphibious vehicle (AAV) in Baghdad, Iraq are killed by a huge IED planted under the road, which flips it over and engulfs it in a giant fireball; a civilian translator is also killed, and one Marine wounded (the deadliest roadside bombing suffered by U.S. forces to date in the Iraq war); the town of Brook Park, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland), home to the 3rd Battalion of the 25th Marines loses all 14, plus five others killed two days earlier on sniper duty. On Aug. 3 67-y.-o. Luis Diaz (1938-), known as Florida's Bird Road Rapist is released from prison after 26 years when DNA evidence clears him in two of the seven sexual assaults occurring in 1977-9 in Coral Gables. On Aug. 3 Mauritanian pres. (since Dec. 12, 1984) Maaoya Sid'Ahmed Ould Taya is overthrown by a military junta while he is visiting nearby Niger after attending King Fahd's funeral; nat. police chief Col. Ely Ould Mohammed Vall (1953-) is named the new transitional military leader (until Apr. 19, 2007). On Aug. 3 the Islamic Jihad promises that it will fire no more rockets at Israelis as the planned Aug. 15 Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip approaches; in Ofakim in S Israel thousands of Jewish settlers scuffle with Israeli police as they try to march toward the Jewish Gush Katif settlements that are set to be evacuated; on Aug. 4 extremist Israeli rabbis pronounce an ancient Aramaic death curse on Israeli PM Ariel Sharon, identical to the one they put on assassinated PM Rabin; on Aug. 4 19-y.-o. Israeli army deserter Eden Natan Zada (1986-), upset over the planned evacuation opens fire in a bus in Shfaram in N Israel carrying Israeli Arab passengers, killing four and wounding 13 before being beaten to death by an angry crowd. On Aug. 3 Focus on the Family sparks a nat. controversy when its founder James Clayton "Jim" Dobson (1936-) in his radio program compares stem cell research to Nazi death camp experiments, causing the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to accuse him of trivializing the Holocaust. On Aug. 4 Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former employees of the pro-Israel lobbying org. AIPAC (Am. Israel Public Affairs Committee) are charged with conspiring to disclose classified U.S. defense info. since 1999; in June Pentagon analyst (USAF Reserve col.) Lawrence Anthony Franklin was indicted for leaking clasified info. to AIPAC employees, and pleads guilty in Oct. On Aug. 4 al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri releases a videotape (his 7th), claiming that the U.S. will suffer tens of thousands of military deaths in Iraq if it doesn't pull out, along with more bombings in London, and "you will see, God willing, what will make you forget the horrible things in Vietnam"; Pres. Bush replies that this only proves that the U.S. is in a war with "killers" who seek to "impose their dark vision on the world". On Aug. 4 Jordan arrests 17 al-Qaida militants for allegedly plotting to attack U.S. troops. On Aug. 4 a joint European-U.S. proposal to Iran is prepared, offering it a full political and economic relationship with the West if it stops trying to develop nukes. On Aug. 4 Pakistan's Supreme Court rules a law establishing a Taliban-style morality police in a NW province unconstitutional. On Aug. 4 Rob McElhenney's sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia debuts on FX Network for ? episodes (until ?), about the self-centered group of misfit friends called The Gang who run Paddy's Pub in South Philadelphia, Penn., incl. Robert Dale "Rob" McElhenney (1977-) as co-owner Ronald "Mac" McDonald, Charles Peckham "Charlie" Day (1976-) as co-owner Charlie Kelly, Glenn Franklin Howerton III (1976-) as co-owner Dennis Reynolds, Kaitlin Willow Olson (1975-) (Rob Mcelhenney's wife in 2008-) as Dennis' twin sister and bartender Deandra "Sweet Dee" Reynolds, Daniel Michael "Danny" DeVito (1944-) as Charlie's sleazy businessman roommate Frank Reynolds, father of Dennis and Sweet Dee, and Mary Elizabeth Ellis (1979-) (wife of Charlie Day in 2006-) as the Waitress; the series tanks until DeVito joins, then becomes the longest-running comedy in cable TV history (until ?). On Aug. 8 the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 is signed by Pres. George W. Bush, creating the Renewable Fuel Standard, a requirement to put a min. vol. of renewable fuels in all transportation fuel sold in the U.S.; it is expanded and extended by the U.S. Energy Independence and Security (Clean Energy) Act of 2007, signed by Pres. George W. Bush on Dec. 19, 2007, implementing his "Twenty in Ten" challenge to reduce gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years. On Aug. 6 Typhoon Matsa (formed July 30) slams into China's SE coast, killing four. On Aug. 6 a march is held in Atlanta, Ga. calling for renewal of the 1965 U.S. Voting Rights Act. On Aug. 6 (Sat.) Pres. Bush begins a 1-mo. stay at his Texas ranch, and Calif. mother Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan (1957-), who lost her 24-y.-o. son in Iraq begins a roadside protest outside the ranch, claiming she plans to stay the entire month unless and until Bush meets with her; on Aug. 23 Bush tells the press "I sympathize with Mrs. Sheehan", but thinks that pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq "would send a terrible signal to the enemy"; in July 2006 she buys a 5-acre lot 7 mi. from Bush's ranch for $52.5K with insurance money received after her son was killed in Iraq, and resumes her protests on Aug. 6, 2006, the 1st anniv. of her first protests - Yo, Cindy? On Aug. 6 British Labour MP (1983-2003) and foreign secy. (1997-2001) Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (b. 1946), who resigned as House of Commons leader on Mar. 17, 2003 in protest of the Iraq invasion dies four weeks after describing al-Qaida as a fiction invented by Western intel: "Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by Western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. Al-Qaida, literally 'the database', was originally the computer file of the thousands of mujahideen who were recruited and trained with help from the CIA to defeat the Russians." On Aug. 7 Canadian-born ABC News anchorman (since 1965) Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (b. 1938) dies of lung cancer in his Manhattan home; an ex-smoker, he started chemotherapy in early Apr., and announced his ailment on Apr. 5 in a scratchy voice and never returned as anchor; his example causes millions to vow to quit smoking; 173K new cases of lung cancer are diagnosed each year, and 160K die (28% of all cancer deaths). On Aug. 7 a trapped (since Aug. 4) 7-man Russian AS-28 Mini-sub is freed from the Pacific floor in Beryozovaya Bay S of Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky in the Bering Sea by a British remote-controlled vehicle three days after it became ensared in a fishing net and cables in 600 ft. of water; the crew only had six hours of air left. On Aug. 7 Israeli finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly resigns before the cabinet votes 17-5 to approve the first stage of the withdrawal from Gaza. On Aug. 7 the privately-owned Daxing Colliery in Meizhou City in Guangdong Province, China floods, trapping 102 miners 1378 ft. underground. Things Not to Do in Denver When You're Dead? On Aug. 7 Grammy-winning musician Marc Cohn (1959-), husband (since July 20, 2002) of ABC News anchor Elizabeth Vargas is shot in the head in downtown Denver, Colo. while returning to his hotel after a concert by carjacker Joseph William Yacteen (1979-), who shoots through the windshield; a bullet is removed from Cohen's right temple, and Yacteen is captured after a police standoff. On Aug. 8 former U.N. procurement officer Alexander Yakovlev of Russia pleads guilty to soliciting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from contractors in connection with the Iraqi oil-for-food program, and the same day Cyprus-born Armenian program chief Benon Vahe Sevan (1937-) is accused by a U.N.-backed probe led by former Federal Reserve chmn. Paul Volcker of taking $148K in kickbacks; in Sept. the probe releases a report claiming that half of the 4.5K cos. taking part in the program paid kickbacks or illegal surcharges. On Aug. 8 Palestinian gunmen linked to Farouk Kaddoumi, Tunisian-based rival of Mahmoud Abbas abduct two U.N. workers and their driver in the Gaza town of Khan Younis, but Palestinian security officers storm their hideout and free the hostages. On Aug. 8 Israel's Security Cabinet refuses to let the Rafah crossing to Egypt, Gaza's only link to the outside world to be taken from their control. On Aug. 8 Iran resumes operations at the Uranium Conversion Facility near Isfahan (255 mi. S of Tehran), which had been suspended in Nov., causing the U.S. and Europe to seek U.N. sanctions; on Aug. 10 they remove the U.N. seals on the equipment and begin processing raw yellowcake uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas; 7.5 tons of yellowcake can make 40 lb. of weapons grade uranium, enough for one crude nuke; in July 2008 they ship 500 metric tons of yellowcake to Canada, as revealed in 2010 by WikiLeaks - you shovel 7.5 tons and whadya get, a crude little nuke and deeper in debt? On Aug. 8 thieves steal a record $65M from a Central Bank vault in Fortaleza, Brazil after digging a 262-ft. tunnel from a nearby house. On Aug. 8 38 detainees at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Navy base in Cuba begin a hunger strike; on Dec. 25 46 more join, for a total of 84. On Aug. 9 a suicide car bomber strikes a U.S. convoy waiting at a street intersection in Baghdad, Iraq, killing seven (one U.S. soldier and six Iraqi civilians) and wounding 90+. On Aug. 9 Niger's pres. Mamadou Tandja claims that people in his country "look well fed" despite TV images of starving children, and that the locust invasion of the year before and poor rains are not unusual for his country. On Aug. 9 Christopher Reeve's 44-y.-o. widow Dana Reeve (b. 1961) announces that she has lung cancer, even though she is a non-smoker; she dies on Mar. 6, 2006 - she might as well have smoked? On Aug. 9 Colo.-based "spam king" Scott Richter (1967-), owner of OptInRealBig.com agrees to pay Microsoft Corp. $7M to settle a Dec. 2003 lawsuit over his spamming activities; the N.Y. atty.-gen. settled for $50K in July 2004. On Aug. 9 the U.S. Army announces that it has sacked 55-y.-o. 4-star Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes, cmdr. of Army Training and Doctrine Command over sexual misconduct (adultery) charges. On Aug. 9 white nurse Jennifer Hyatte (1974-) ambushes two guards leading her black husband George (34) from a courthouse in Kingston, Tenn., killing guard Wayne "Cotton" Morgan; they are captured on Aug. 10 in Columbus, Ohio. On Aug. 10 insurgents kidnap brig. gen. Khudayer Abbas, a senior Interior Ministry official tied to the paramilitary in Andalus Square in Baghdad. On Aug. 10 four U.S. soldiers in a 10-member patrol are killed by insurgents near Beiji, Iraq 155 mi. N of Baghdad. On Aug. 10 smug Iran resumes full operations at its uranium conversion plant. On Aug. 10 Pres. Bush signs a $286.4B transportation bill containing 6,371 special pet projects valued at $24B, incl. a $231M bridge near Anchorage to be named Don Young's Way in honor of its sponsor House Transportation Committee Chmn. Don Young of Alaska. On Aug. 11 Britain detains Osama bin Laden's "spiritual ambassador in Europe" Abu Qatada and 10 others as security threats, and announces plans to deport them. On Aug. 11 Shiite leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim calls for a Shiite federal region in Iraq in three northern provinces, plus Kirkuk, where much of Iraq's oil is located, threatening to defeat the new constitution in the four (out of 18) provinces where they have a majority of the pop. On Aug. 11 Pakistan successfully test-fires the 310-mi.-range Babur, its first cruise missle; India already has a Russian-made one. On Aug. 11 Monsignor Eugene Clark resigns as rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City after court papers name him as "the other man" in a divorce case between Philip DeFilippo and his wife Laura; Clark had been taped with her entering/exiting a Long Island hotel in July. On Aug. 12 Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar (73) (a Tamil) is assassinated in Sri Lanka by two snipers, causing Pres. Chandrika Kumaratunga to declare a state of emergency; the Liberation Tigers of Tamileelam (against whom Kadirgamar had led an internat. campaign) are suspected. On Aug. 13 Tony Hall, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Assoc. is barred from meeting victims of Zimbabwe Pres. Robert Mugabe's mass eviction campaign Operation Murambatsivana (Clean the Filth), the forcible eviction of 700K from their homes and businesses to forestall demonstrations in an economy with the world's highest inflation rate, 80% unemployment, and and HIV/AIDS rate of over 20%. On Aug. 13 the Israeli army begins the forced evacuation of the Jewish Gush Katif settlement in SW Gaza Strip; the residents are evicted on Aug. 22, after which overjoyed Palestinians move in and destroy four synagogues while looting the homes and moving in; meanwhile on Aug. 15 8.5K Israeli settlers (1.6K families), "assisted" by 15K army troops with orders to use force if needed begin evacuating all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip (plus four more in the N West Bank) after 38 years of occupation; some settlers paint pig faces on their floors to offend any of the 1.3M Palestinians who might take over, while others burn their houses down; on Aug. 16 hundreds of settlers hunker down in advance of a midnight deadline to leave; by Aug. 17 only 600 families remain; there are 122K Palestinians living in Jordan, 401K in Syria, and 394.5K in Lebanon, all hoping to return; Palestinian negotiator Saeb Muhammad Salih Erekat (1955-) (known for negotiating the Oslo Occords) issues the soundbyte: "At this moment of our history, we extend our arms to Mr. Sharon... to please join us back at the negotiating table"; the great menorah (7-branch) is removed from the last synagogue by Jewish men walking single file carrying it on a rod, bringing back memories of the Arch of Titus in 81 C.E.; 180 Israeli families set up the Halutza (Heb. "pioneer") agricultural community along the Gaza-Egypt border, piping in desalinated water from the Mediterranean coast, and by 2010 exporting $50M a year of produce. On Aug. 13 former U.S. Rep. (R-Calif.) (since 1989) Charles Christopher Cox (1952-) becomes SEC chmn. (until ?). On Aug. 14 Helios Airlines Flight ZU522 crashes into a hillside in suburban Athens, killing all 115 passengers and six crew after it loses pressure, causing loss of consciousness of almost everybody aboard. On Aug. 15 drafters of the new Iraqi consitution fail to reach an agreement in spite of strenuous efforts by the U.S. - but Muhammad says? On Aug. 15 Mara Salvatrucha gang members stage simultaneous riots in seven Guatemalan prisons, attacking MS-18 gang members and killing 31 inmates. On Aug. 15 Rev. Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels ambush a car 260 mi. NE of Bogota, Colombia, killing two Catholic priests; Victor Julio Suarez Rojas (1963-), AKA Mono Jojoy is implicated. On Aug. 15 a car bomb explodes outside a restaurant in Grozny, near where regional Pres. Alu Alkhanov is conducting a meeting, killing two On Aug. 15 Muslim cleric Shabbir Ahmed (1966-) agrees to be deported from San Francisco, Calif. after being accused of trying to open a terrorist camp. On Aug. 15 a small boat carrying 113 illegal immigrants goes down 100 mi. off the Pacific coast of SW Colombia, and on Aug. 17 the nine survivors are rescued by the Ecuadoran navy. On Aug. 16 a chartered West Caribbean Airways MD-80 jet filled with tourists returning to the island of Martinique crashes in W Venezuela near Machiques close to the Colombian border, killing all 160 aboard. On Aug. 16 17 Spanish NATO peacekeeper soldiers are killed and five are injured in a heli crash in a W Afghan desert in Herat Province in a sandstorm. On Aug. 16 a 7.2 earthquake strikes Tokyo, injuring 16. On Aug. 16 Oregon enacts a law making it the first state to require prescriptions for cold and allergy medications containing pseudoephedrine, which is used to make methamphetamine. On Aug. 16 Pres. Bush announces plans to return two U.S. Army divs. from Cold War era bases in Germany. On Aug. 16 Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Cologne for the 20th (2005) World Youth Day in his first foreign trip and first return to Germany since his elevation; on Aug. 21 (Sun.) he addresss 1M participants. On Aug. 17 Israeli Shvut Rahel West Bank settler and bus driver Asher Weisgan (1966-2006) kills four Palestinian laborers and wounds two after seizing a gun from a guard at a security post and shooting his own passengers; PM Sharon condemns the act as "Jewish terror"; Hamas agrees not to retaliate to allow the Gaza pullout to proceed smoothly, but a mortar shell falls near Israeli soldiers without causing casualties. On Aug. 17 Iraq celebrates Three Car Bomb Day as a car bomb explodes near the crowded Nadha bus station in Baghdad, then another explodes as police respond, and a 3rd explodes a half hour later across the street from the al-Kindi Hospital where the injured were arriving by ambulances; the total score is 38 dead and 68 injured, all civilians; meanwhile, the U.S. military death toll reaches 1860. On Aug. 17 Repub. Ohio Gov. (1999-2007) Robert Alphonso "Bob" Taft II (1942-) (great-great grandson of Pres. William Howard Taft) is charged with four ethics violations for failing to report a lousy $5.8K in gifts, becoming the first Ohio gov. to be charged with a crime; he pleads no contest in Aug.; in Nov. his approval record hits a U.S. low of 6.5%. On Aug. 17 Coretta Scott King (78) is hospitalized for a stroke; she returns home on Sept. 23 after therapy. On Aug. 17 a New Orleans judge fines singer Michael Jackson $10K when his atty. is a no-show in a civil case accusing him of sexually assaulting an 18-y.-o. man during the 1984 World's Fair - would you let me go down on you if my face were whiter? On Aug. 18 a roadside bomb kills four U.S. soldiers in Samarra, Iraq. On Aug. 18 a tornado in Stoughton, Wisc. kills one and injures eight. On Aug. 22 Pres. Bush gives a speech in Salt Lake City, Utah, comparing the fight against terrorism to WWI and WWII. On Aug. 22 Pat Robertson calls for the assassination of Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez on his Christian Broadcasting Network show The 700 Club, saying, "I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assasinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop"; on Aug. 24 he apologizes after initial attempts to lie his way out of it; on Aug. 28 Rev. Jesse Jackson calls his comments "immoral" and "illegal" (two true Christian leaders); meanwhile, Chavez says, "If something happens to me, the responsible one will be President George W. Bush", whom he calls "Mr. Danger", stockpiling 100K Russian AK-47s and acquiring combat planes from Brazil, warning that "If the government of the United States attempts to commit the foolhardy enterprise of attacking us, it would be embarked on a 100-year war". On Aug. 23 TANS Peru Flight 204 (Boeing 737) carrying 100 crashes near a jungle town while attempting an an emergency landing in a tropical storm, splitting in two and killing 57. On Aug. 23 Pakistani Pres. Gen. Pervez Musharraf (b. 1943) confirms that nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of Pakistan's nuclear program had provided North Korea with centrifuge machines to make fuel for an atomic bomb, as well as uranium hexafluoride for processing into fuel; he had already confessed in Jan. 2004 to trafficking nuclear secrets and parts to other countries, and was pardoned by Musharraf, but remains under house arrest to force cooperation with the authorities, who continue to keep him muzzled even after an Aug. 22, 2006 announcement that he is suffering from prostate cancer; Musharaff's defection from Muslim terrorist ranks causes him to be targeted for assassination. On Aug. 23 the CIA's independent watchdog recommends disciplinary reviews for officials involved in the failed intel efforts before the 911 attacks, incl. former CIA Dir. George Tenet, former clandestine service chief Jim Pavitt, and former counterterrorism center head Cofer Black. On Aug. 23 New York City announces a $212M security upgrade for its subways, incl. 1K surveillance cameras and 3K motion sensors. On Aug. 24 masked Sunni insurgents attack Iraqi police in W Baghdad with multiple car bombs and small-arms, killing 13 and wounding 43; in S Iraq supporters of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (1974-) try to repoen his office in Najaf, causing rival Shiites to try to block them, with fights breaking out that kill four and injure 20; fighting then spreads across C and S Iraq incl. Basra. On Aug. 24 Pres. Bush speaks to members of the Idaho Nat. Guard in Nampa, Idaho, saying that as long as he is pres., "We will stay, we will fight and we will win the war on terrorism"; Idaho has the highest percentage of Nat. Guard troops serving in Iraq. On Aug. 24 gasoline in the U.S. reaches a record avg. of $2.61/gal. Katrina and the Waves Walking on Sunshine Not? America's troubles pile ever higher as it gets hit with its greatest natural disaster in a century and proves it can't respond properly? On Aug. 24 Tropical Depression 12 (begun Aug 23) strengthens into Tropical Storm Katrina; on Aug. 25 Category 1 (92 mph) Hurricane Katrina (Latrine-a?) strikes Fla.'s SE coast, killing two and leaving more than 1M customers without power before heading into the Gulf of Mexico; Kiss Me Katrina is the 11th storm of the June 1-Nov. 30 Atlantic hurricane season, seven ahead of the typical number; on Aug. 28 New Orleans mayor (2002-10) Clarence Ray Nagin Jr. (1956-) orders total evacuation; on Aug. 29 (Mon.) Hurricane Katrina increases to Category 4 (150 mph) as it closes in on the Big Easy New Orleans, causing 53 levee breaches and submerging 80% of the city, killing 1,577 in La., 221 in Miss., 14 in Fla., 2 in Ga., 2 in Ala.) and leaving 1M+ in six states without electricity in the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history ($125B); at 9:12 a.m. the Nat. Weather Service receives reports of a levee breach and issues a flash flood warning, but shortly after noon La. Dem. Gov. (2004-8) Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (1942-) mistakenly tells the Bush admin. "I think we have not breached the levee at this time"; on Aug. 29 100 die in Harrison County, Miss. (Biloxi and Gulfport); on Aug. 30 two levees break in New Orleans, leaving 80% of it underwater, up to 20 ft., and making the city uninhabitable, while rescuers in boats and helis rescue hundreds of stranded people amid looting; some areas underwater stay for 4-6 weeks, incl. 67K pop. middle-class St. Bernard Parish, and Lakeview Parish (9 ft. of water); central New Orleans is underwater for 57 days; the fortunate whites successfully flee New Orleans (in their gas-guzzling SUVs?) before the storm arrives, leaving a huge number of poor and/or elderly blacks trapped behind, looking like Third World refugees on TV, which causes white Americans to yawn and/or wink at their misfortune, and only after black may Ray Nagin announces "This is a desperate SOS" on Sept. 1 does massive federal aid arrive, finding a hellhole of human waste, looting, murders and gang rapes, and the need for martial law and complete evacuation of the city, causing 1.3M to flee the Gulf Coast, becoming the largest urban evacuation in U.S. history (until ?); on Aug. 31 10K Nat. Guard troops from across the U.S. arrive, and instead of engaging in evacuation of refugees concentrate on martial law against looting, incl. people trying to forage for food for survival?; on Sept. 5 Nagin announces the city has been "destroyed"; 30K mostly poor inner city blacks huddle up for five days in the leaky unsupplied Superdome amid tons of human waste, incl. used heroin needles, where jungle rules apply; (most of these poor human garbage, er, Afro-Am. citizens vote Democrat, so Bush thinks why get too worked up?) 28K federal troops don't arrive until Sept. 3 (five days), led by U.S. gen. Russel L. Honore (Honoré) (1947-), "the Ragin' Cajun"; one bright spot, the U.S. Coast Guard ("semper paratus") moves in fast and rescues 33K from rooftops from helis equipped with TV cameras for self-publicity; since La. supplies one-third of America's oil (4M barrels a day), it trades briefly at a record $70 a barrel; on Aug. 27 offshore oil rigs producing 1M barrels a day are shut down; on Aug. 30 gasoline prices jump 10-50 cents/gal. throughout the U.S. (and don't come back down until mid Nov.); Katrina costs 500K Americans their jobs, ruining the fun of a Sept. 2 report that the nat. unemployment rate is at a four-year low (4.9%); the disaster causes winter natural gas prices to increase over 70%; 18K slot machines in Mississippi's floating casinos are destroyed or stolen because of the hurricane; the loss of life is the greatest caused by a U.S. storm since 1928; 500K cars are damaged by the hurricane, and about half of these are refurbished and put back on the market as unsafe lemons; on Aug. 15, 2006 U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. rules that an insurance co.'s policies do not cover damage from flood waters or storm surge; attempts by the U.S. govt. to supply aid to hurricane victims results in massive fraud claims; the New Orleans Saints (NFL) end up playing home games in three different states this year; Austrian-Canadian Magna Internat. auto parts magnate Frank H. Stronach (Franz Strohsack) (1932-) buys victims a $2.4M farm near Simmesport (upriver from Baton Rouge) and provides free mobile homes to 190 residents in exchange for 8 hours a week of communityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadaville,_Louisiana service on its self-sufficient organic farm, causing the community to become known as Canadaville; between July 2005 and July 2006 the pop. of Texas increases by 580K from Katrina refugees; the disaster causes the popularity of the name Katrina for newborn girls to plummet from #247 to 382, with only 850 given the name in the U.S. in 2006; on Nov. 18, 2009 a federal judge in New Orleans finds that the Army Corps of Engineers is liable to homeowners for damage. On Aug. 24 the Italian Red Cross admits that it had treated four Iraqi insurgents a year earlier with the knowledge of the Italian govt. and hid them from U.S. forces in exchange for the release of kidnapped aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who had been abducted on Sept. 7 and freed Sept. 28. On Aug. 24 the 9-member base-closing commission votes to shut down the U.S. Army's historic Walter Reed hospital, moving its staff to the Nat. Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., updating and expanding it and renaming it Walter Reed II. On Aug. 24 The Journal of the Am. Medical Assoc. pub. an article by Dr. Catherine DeAngelis (1940-) (a staunch Roman Catholic) claiming that fetuses likely don't feel pain until late pregnancy, which abortion foes decry as politically motivated and aimed at proposed federal legislation requiring doctors to provide fetal pain info. to women seeking abortions of fetuses at least 20 weeks old. On Aug. 25 Calif. atty.-gen. Bill Lockyer files suit against dozens of pharmaceutical cos. for cheating the state out of hundreds of millions of dollars by fraudulently inflating the cost of drugs. On Aug. 25 African health ministers at a WHO meeting in Mozambique, Africa declare a continent-wide tuberculosis emergency, where it kills 500K people a year. On Aug. 26 after being elected unopposed by parliament, Christian Pierre Nkurunziza (1963-) becomes pres. of Burundi (until ?); on Aug. 26, 2010 he is reelected for a 2nd term with 91% of the vote; in Mar. 2014 he bans Sat. morning jogging due to "fears it was being used as a cover for subversion", as militants in Bujumbura have been doing for years, sentencing 21 members of the Movement of Solidarity and Democracy Party (MSD) to life in prison for it. On Aug. 26 Uzbekistan's upper house of parliament votes 93-0 to evict U.S. troops from their base in the country to get even for the U.S. criticizing their bloody crackdown on unrest in E Uzbekistan. On Aug. 26 Farid Essebar (1987-) of Morocco and Atilla "Coder" Ekici (1984-) of Turkey are arrested for infecting the Internet with the Zotob Worm, which targets Microsoft Windows 2000 operating systems through their "plug and play" hardware detection feature. On Aug. 26 a fire in a rundown Paris apt. kills 17, mainly sleeping children, mostly poor immigrants from Africa. On Aug. 28 the 71-member Iraqi constitutional committee signs a draft charter over the objections of Sunni Arab leaders. On Aug. 31 thousands of Shiite pilgrims fearing a suicide bomber stampede on the Two Imams Bridge in the N Baghdad neighborhood of Kazimiyah, Iraq, crushing each other or plunging 30 ft. into the Tigris River, killing 953, mostly women and children, leaving thousands of abandoned sandals on the bridge, becoming the greatest loss of life in Iraq since the Mar. 2003 U.S. invasion; they were celebrating the 799 death of the 7th (of 12) imams revered by the Shiites, Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim; it is not reopened until Nov. 11, 2008. In Aug. former Hutu rebel leader Pierre Nkurunziza (1963-) (a born-again Christian?) is elected pres. of Burundi by parliament, ending the 12-year civil war, with the one rebel group remaining engaging in peace talks. In Aug. the U.S. blacklists a bank in Macao accused of laundering counterfeit U.S. currency printed by North Korea, causing banks around the world to follow suit. In Aug. retired country superstar Garth Brooks signs a deal with Wal-Mart after splitting with Capitol Records, becoming the first exclusive music distribution deal with a single retailer by a major recording artist. In Aug. the U.S. Mint announces the seizure of 10 rare 1933 Double Eagle $20 gold coins that had been given to them for authentication by Joan Langboard, who found them among the property of her father Israel Switt, a Philly jeweler; the Mint claims they had been taken from them originally "in an unlawful manner" and plans to display them in public exhibits; she files a federal lawsuit seeking their recovery, saying that mint officials can't prove they had been stolen or were subject to forfeiture. In early Aug. Chinese workers start setting up and operating oil drilling rigs in Colo. after HongHua Ltd. of Guanghan City, China is invited in by Texas-based GTS because of a shortage of U.S. labor and equipment; when they arrive trouble brews as Am. workers making $22-$30 an hour find the imports work for only $10-$12. In Aug. a new Nat. Intelligence Estimate claims that Iraq is a decade away from developing nukes, conflicting with testimony in Feb. by Vice-Adm. Lowell E. Jacoby, dir. of the DIA that they are five years away. In Aug. actress Scarlett Johansson is involved in a minor car crash in a Disneyland parking lot after being followed by paparazzi. In Aug. Fla. Repub. Rep. Katherine Harris becomes a candidate for U.S. Sen., causing the late-night mockery of her makeup and form-fitting clothes to resume, compounded by an appearance on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, where she appears to flirt with Sean Hannity and has little of substance to say, other than that she's "excited"; her defense contractor Mitchell Wade, who pleaded guilty to bribing another congressman admits giving her $32K in illegal contributions, causing her to kick in $10M of her own money to stay in, causing all her key staff to quit, incl. campaign mgr. Jim Dornan, who comments "This campaign will go down in history as one of the most disastrous ever run in the United States" - everybody's gonna be happy, as happy as you and me? On Aug. ? a rocket attack on a U.S. Navy warship in the Jordanian port of Aqaba kills on Jordanian soldier; Abu Musab al-Zarqasi is suspected. On Aug. ? Dorothy's $1M ruby slippers are stolen from a museum devoted to Judy Garland. On Sept. 1 a videotape features al-Qaida's No. 2 making the group's first direct claim of responsibility for the July 7 London bombings. Now Tom Cruise know's he's over the hill? On Sept. 1 the last two squadrons of F-14 Tomcats leave Oceana Naval Air Station in Norfolk, Va. in the last mission for the "Top Gun" planes, which are being replaced by the slower, smaller, but easier to maintain F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet; the last two F-14 squadrons (22 planes) fly back to Oceana on Mar. 10, 2006, one day before the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt returns to Norfolk Naval Station; fearing that the parts could fall into the hands of terrorists, the Pentagon pays a contractor $900K per plane to shred them. On Sept. 2 NBC's Brian Williams goofs in his coverage of New Orleans, saying "When we get back to the States"; Pres. Bush issues the inane soundbyte to FEMA dir. Michael DeWayne "Nero?" Brown (1954-) (who resigns 10 days later): "Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job"; in 2005 an investigation by Time mag. reveals discrepancies in the resume he used to get his job - for a fema-le? On Sept. 3 (Sat.) U.S. Chief Justice William Rehnquist (b. 1924) dies at his home in Arlington, Va. after nearly a year of battling tyroid cancer; the last time there were two simultaneous court vacancies was in 1971 (Black and Harlan), and he was one of the two new justices appointed; his record incl. supporting racial segregation as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson in 1952-3, campaigning for Barry Goldwater in 1964, dissenting on the Roe vs. Wade case in 1973, opposing affirmative action in 1979, supporting Hustler mag.'s freedom of speech claims in 1987, supporting Congress' right to appoint special prosecutors in 1988, presiding over Pres. Clinton's impeachment in 1999, and supporting the 5-4 majority in stopping the Florida recount in 2000; Pres. Bush immediately upgrades John Roberts' nomination to chief justice; since 1789 U.S. presidents have nominated 149 for the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Senate has rejected only 12 (9 were withdrawn by the pres., 6 withdrew themselves, 5 lapsed from a time limit). On Sept. 3 the Taliban claims responsibility for killing five people, an election candidate and a govt. official, as well as British engineer David Addison, who was abducted on Sept. 1. On Sept. 5 Indonesian Mandala Airlines Flight 091 (Boeing 737) en route to Jakarta crashes into a crowded residential neighborhood in Medan, Indonesia shortly after takeoff, bursting into flames and killing all 99 aboard plus 44 on the ground (143 total). On Sept. 5 the Danziger Bridge in E New Orleans, La. sees five New Orleans police officers open fire on unarmed civilians walking into a grocery, killing two and wounding four others; on Aug. 5, 2011 all five are found guilty by a federal jury for doing it and and trying to cover it up. On Sept. 6 the avg. price of U.S. gasoline zooms to $3.07, a $0.47 increase since Hurricane Katrina. On Sept. 7 Egyptian voters vote for pres. for the first time, and Hosni Mubarak is reelected for another six years in a 10-candidate field amid charges of fraud; Sean McCormack of the U.S. State Dept. calls the election "a beginning"; runner-up Ayman Abd El Aziz Nour (1964-) is later convicted of forging documents and given a 5-year jail sentence, although his main accuser later recants. On Sept. 8 Pres. Clinton's former (1997-2001) nat. security adviser Sandy Berger is fined $50K for taking classified documents from the Nat. Archives, multiplying the $10K fine recommended by govt. lawyers. On Sept. 11 former pres. (1992-7) Sali Berisha (1944-) of the Dem. Party of Albania becomes PM of Albania (until ?). On Sept. 11 Pres. Bush visits New Orleans, staying in the USS Iwo Jima amphibious assault ship docked in the Mississippi River on the edge of the C business district, then on Sept. 12 tours the city in a military convoy, followed by an aerial tour and meetings with state and local officials. On Sept. 11-12 parliamentary elections in Norway give a V to the Socialist Left Party along with the Centre Party and Labour Party; on Oct. 17 Socialist Left Pary leader (1997-2012) Kristin Halvorsen (1960-) becomes finance minister #125 (until Oct. 20, 2009), becoming the first woman and first Socialist Left Party cabinet member, promising that all children will be provided with kindergarten by the end of 2007, that that poverty in Norway can be eliminated "with the stroke of a pen"; on Jan. 5, 2006 she calls for a boycott of Israeli products in solidarity with the Palestinians, which backfires, causing her to apologize; in Jan. 2009 she participated in anti-Israel protests that turn into violent riots. On Sept. 12 FEMA dir. Mike Brown (50) resigns under intense criticism of his handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster; on Sept. 14 he blames La. Gov. Kathleen Blanco for creating an "out of control" situation, saying "I can't get a unified command established"; he also reveals that on Aug. 30 at the end of the day he asked the White House to take over the response efforts, which he calls his biggest mistake for his tardiness; in Mar. 2007 Shooting Blanco announces she won't seek a 2nd term. On Sept. 12 a mistake by a power worker leads to a blackout of half of Los Angeles, Calif. On Sept. 13 Pres. Bush takes responsibility for federal govt. mistakes in dealing with Hurricane Katrina; the death toll stands at 659 incl. 423 in La., 218 in Miss., 14 in Fla., 2 in Ala., 2 in Ga. On Sept. 13 husband-and-wife owners Salvador and Mabel Mangano of St. Rita's Nursing Home in Chalmette, La. are booked by La. atty.-gen. Charles Foti with negligent homicide in the deaths of 34 patients on Sept. 29 during Hurricane Katrina, claiming they "were asked if they wanted to move [the patients]. They did not. They were warned repeatedly that this storm was coming"; in Sept. 2006 they sue the govt. for failing to keep residents safe and evacuate them as the storm approached. On Sept. 13 U.S. chief justice nominee John Roberts refuses to answer questions about abortion and other controversial questions for Dems. at his Senate confirmation hearing, saying "My faith and my religious beliefs do not play a role" in his decisions, but that he would not discuss matters that might come before the court - do I sense Roe v. Wade coming to an end? On Sept. 13 6K protesters march in Katmandu, Nepal demanding the restoration of democracy, and are beaten down by bamboo baton-wielding riot police, who arrest 300 incl. top opposition leaders. On Sept. 13 85-y.-o. Kimani Ng'ang' of Kenya, billed as the world's oldest elementary school pupil tours Manhattan, N.Y. and holds a news conference outside the U.N. HQ for the 100M children denied an education because of poverty; he began school in Jan. 2004. On Sept. 13 the crime procedural comedy-drama Bones debuts on Fox Network for ? episodes (until ?), starring Emily Erin Deschanel (1976-) as forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan (based on real life writer Kathy Reichs, the show's producer), who works at the Jeffersonian Inst. in Washington, D.C., and David Paul Boreanaz (1969-) as her partner, FBI special agent Seeley Booth; every episode features a disgusting decomposing corpse, causing some networks to later air reruns at lunchtime as a joke? On Sept. 14 (6:30 a.m.) a suicide car bomber kills 80 and wounds 160 near a group of construction workers in a Shiite district in N Baghdad. On Sept. 14-16 the 2005 World Summit, a follow-up to the 2000 Millennium Summit meets at the U.N. HQ in New York City, with 191 member states (largest gathering of world history until ?) given "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations"; the U.N. Convention Against Corruption (signed Dec. 9, 2003) receives its 30th ratification, allowing it to go into force in Dec.; the inaugural session of the Clinton Global Initiative is held in New York City to coincide with the summit. On Sept. 14 in San Francisco, Calif. U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton rules that the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools is unconstitutional because of the words "under God", backing a 2002 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Sacramento, Calif. Jewish atheist physician-atty. Michael Arthur Newdow (1953-); in Nov. 2005 he files a federal lawsuit challenging the motto "In God We Trust" on U.S. currency, but it is thrown out in June 2006 on the grounds that the words are a secular nat. slogan, and the same year the U.S. House of Reps. by a 260-167 vote passes the U.S. Pledge Protection Act. On Sept. 14 Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines declare bankruptcy. On Sept. 15 Pres. Bush promises that the federal govt. will pay most of the costs of rebuilding the Gulf Coast, expected to reach $200B. On Sept. 15 Israel's Supreme Court rejects an opinion by the Internat. Court of Justice calling for the removal of its West Bank barrier. On Sept. 15 actress Renee Zellweger and country music star Kenny Chesney announce announce the annulment of their 4-mo. marriage, the court papers citing "fraud"; they first met at the Concert of Hope tsunami relief benefit on Jan. 15 where Renee was answering phones and Kenny was singing; Kenny gets the hit song You Had Me From Hello to show for the experience? On Sept. 17 a commuter train en route from Joliet to Chicago, Ill. derails 5 mi. S of downtown, killing two and injuring dozens; an investigation reveals that it was going 69 mph at a crossover designed for 10 mph. On Sept. 17 Iraqi pilgrims celebrate the Mid of Shaban in Karbala; meanwhile a car bomb in the Nahrawan district 20 mi. E of Baghdad kills 30 Iraqis and wounds 48; another 10 die in other parts of the country, bringing the 4-day death toll from political violence triggered by a U.S.-Iraqi attack in the Sunni stronghold of Tall Afar to at least 250. On Sept. 18 (Sun.) Afghanistan holds its first contested legislative elections in more than 25 years; the Taliban fails to disrupt the voting, wounding three people in 19 attacks; there are 582 female candidates out of 5.8K for a quarter of the seats in parliament and 34 provincial councils reserved for women. On Sept. 18 elections in Germany fail to give any party of candidate a clear majority, and rivals Gerhard Schroder of the Social Dems. (34.3%) and pro-U.S. Russian-speaking quantum chemist Angela Merkel (1954-) of the Christian Dems. (35.2%) both claim a mandate to govern as chancellor, with the parliament yet to choose; on Oct. 10 Merkel strikes a power-sharing deal, becoming the first woman as well as the first politician from ex-Communist East Germany to be Germany's chancellor; her Christian Dem. Party controls half of the cabinet posts, and the rival Social Dems. the rest; Germany suffers from 11.2% unemployment. On Sept. 18 North Korea pledges to drop its nuclear weapons programs and rejoin internat. arms treaties in a unanimous agreement with the other five parties at 6-party talks (China, Japan, Russia, U.S., the two Koreas). On Sept. 18 hundreds of Palestinian troops seal off Gaza's border with Egypt to quash a week-long free-for-all along the frontier; Hamas stages a military-style victory parade in downtown Gaza City; meanwhile Hamas and Fatah begin preparing for a final all-out battle, stockpiling weapons, with Iran aiding Hamas, the arms race causing assault rifle prices to double in a year (to $2.3K for an Egyptian or Chinese model, and more for a higher quality Russian or Iraqi model, plus over $3 per bullet). On Sept. 18 Faris Nasir Hussein, a Kurdish member of parliament is assassinated 50 mi. N of Baghdad by insurgents, and police find 20 bodies in the Tigris River N of the city, which had been murdered on Sept. 17 as they drove to Baghdad for a Sept. 18 session of the legislature. On Sept. 18 Typhoon Khanun batters China's E coast, killing 18. On Sept. 18 Hurricane Ophelia drifts slowly off the SE coast of the U.S. before lashing the E Carolinas (no fatalities). On Sept. 18 Philippe Roch, head of Switzerland's environment agency claims that Hurricane Katrina and other recent storms are indicative of global warming, saying "These are typically phenomena described by the models for climate change, so the link is for me personally evident." On Sept. 19 NASA announces a $104B ">Apollo on Steroids program to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2018 using a beefed-up shuttle with Apollo parts which can ferry up to six astronauts at a time for stays of one week to 6 mo. On Sept. 19 How I Met Your Mother debuts on CBS-TV for 208 episodes (until Mar. 31, 2014), about daddy Joshua Thomas "Josh" Radnor (1974-) as Theodore Evelyn "Ted" Mosby telling his kids in 2030 about how he did you know what; co-stars Jason Jordan Segel (1980-) as Marshall Eriksen, Jacoba Francisco Maria "Cobie" Smulders (1982-) as Robin Scherbatsky, Neil Patrick Harris (1973-) as Barney Stinson, and Alyson Lee Hannigan (1974-) as Lily Aldrin; they like to meet in MacLaren's Bar in New York City. On Sept. 19 the TV sitcom Kitchen Confidential debuts on Fox Network for 13 episodes (until Dec. 5, 2005), starring Bradley Cooper as chef Jack Bourdain. On Sept. 20-21 the multimillion-dollar career of supermodel Kate Moss (1974-) tanks when photos of her dosing on cocaine with bad boy rocker beau Pete Doherty (1979-) appear in the British tabloid Sunday Mirror, immediately losing a $1.25M a year contract with Chanel as the face of their Coco Mademoiselle fragrance, plus a $2M a year contract with Swedish clothing giant Hennes & Mauritz, eventually reaching $8M of lost work; on Sept. 22 Moss issues a public apology, taking "full responsibility for my actions"; the fact that her entire industry pushed her underfed "heroin chic" image in its ads for products such as Opium promotes conservation of public fiction in the Fiction Cent.?; by the end of the year her career is back, and she is on three major mag. covers? On Sept. 20 the comedy series My Name Is Earl debuts on NBC-TV for 96 episodes (until May 14, 2009), starring former skateboard champ Jason Michael Lee (1970-) as ex-small-time criminal Earl Jehoshaphat Hickey of Camden County, who spends his remaining life trying to undo all his bad karma with friend Randy Hickey, played by Ethan Suplee (1976-); "Karma is a funny thing." On Sept. 21 JetBlue Flight 292 (Airbus A320) en route to New York City from Burbank, Calif. makes an emergency landing at LAX after its front landing gear turns sideways. On Sept. 21 Stephen M. Ressa (1978-) of Rialto, Calif. plows his car into pedestrians "like a lawnmower" on the Las Vegas Strip in Nev., killing three and injuring 14; he tells police he thought the people in the crowd were staring at him like demons, and is charged with murder and attempted murder, receiving six life sentences. On Sept. 21 Hurricane Rita (17th Atlantic Basin storm of the year) lashes the Fla. coast and heads into the Gulf of Mexico, where on Sept. 22 it becomes Category 5 (175 mph), heading towards Galveston, Tex., then slows down to Category 3 (126 mph) before hitting the Tex.-La. coast on Sept. 23; on Sept. 22 1.3M people in Tex. and La. are ordered to evacuate, and 3M end up evacuating; this time the Bush admin. is up to speed with advance preparations (probably because Tex. has more Repubs. than La.?); on Sept. 23 Bush goes to the 3-y.-o. Northcom observation center in Colorado Springs, Colo. to watch the storm's progress; on Sept. 23 23 elderly evacuees from Bellaire, Tex. (previously evacuated to Houston from New Orleans to Katrina) die in a charter bus near Dallas when their oxygen bottles feed a fire; on Sept. 28 bus driver Juan Robles Gutierrez (1970-) is taken into federal custody on an immigration violation, then on Oct. 17 charged with 23 counts of criminally negligent homicide; on Feb. 1, 2006 bus owner James H. "Butch" Maples (a former NFL player) is arrested on federal transportation charges, facing seven years and $1.35M in fines; the storm causes $5B in damage, and kills 10. On Sept. 21 two students are shot and wounded at Del. State U. in Dover, causing a lockdown of the dorms while a suspect is sought; he is never caught? On Sept. 22 after intending him to replace retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor until chief justice William Rehnquist dies, giving Pres. George W. Bush an idea, the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 13-5 vote approves John Roberts' chief justice nomination; all 10 Repubs. back him, plus three Dems.; Edward Kennedy (Mass.), Joseph Biden (Del.), Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Charles Schumer (N.Y.), and Dick Durbin (Ill.) vote against him; on Sept. 29 Buffalo, N.Y.-born John Glover Roberts Jr. (1951-) (Roman Catholic) becomes U.S. Chief Justice #17 and justice #109 (until ?) just hours after the Senate votes 77-23 to confirm him; 22 Dems. (exactly half) join all 55 Repubs. On Sept. 22 Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husayni (al-Husseini) al-Sistani (1930-), Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric endorses the draft Iraqi constitution. On Sept. 22 rebels kill 10 police officers on a highway in Bogota, Colombia in the mountains outside La Cruz, ambushing their truck. On Sept. 22 JDL member Earl Krugel (b. 1943-) is sentenced in Los Angeles, Calf. to 20 years for a plot to bomb a mosque and a Lebanese-Am. congressman's office. On Sept. 22 five Chicago officials are indicted on fraud (patronage) charges by federal prosecutors, rocking Mayor Richard M. Daley's admin. On Sept. 22 a Philly Judge rules that a Muslim firefighter can't wear a beard because it defeats the seal on his respiratory mask. On Sept. 22 Jeff Davis' Criminal Minds (original title "Quantico") debuts on CBS-TV for ? episodes (until ?), focusing on profiling the criminal "unsubs" (unknown subjects) rather than the crime, set in the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Va., starring Mandel Bruce "Mandy" Patinkin (1952-) for the first three seasons, followed by Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna Jr. (1947-). On Sept. 22 the period sitcom Everybody Hates Christ, er, Everybody Hates Chris debuts on UPN for 88 episodes (until May 8, 2009) (after switching to The CW in 2006), inspired by the teenage experiences of African-Am. comedian Chris Rock attending an all-white high school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1982-7, starring Tyler James Williams (1992-) as Chris, Terry Alan Crews Jr. (1968-) as his father Julius, Tichina Rolanda Arnold (1971-) as his mother Rochelle, Tequan Richmond (1992-) as his brother Drew, and Vincent Michael Martella (1992-) as his white best friend Greg Wuliger. On Sept. 23 Britain formally proposes that the Iranian govt. be reported to the U.N. Security Council for failure to comply with nuclear treaties, causing Iran's foreign miniter on Sept. 25 to call possible sanctions "illegal and illogical" and accuse the U.S. of behind behind them; a letter to Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by 180 of 290 lawmakers calls for cancelling of Iran's voluntary suspension of nuclear activities. On Sept. 23 Carolyn Correa (1954-) of Willingboro, N.J. receives 9-30 years in prison for kidnapping 10-day-old Delimar Vera in Dec. 1997 from a crib in Philly during a fire and raising her as her own after officials conclude that the baby died in the fire, until her parents see her at a birthday party in Mar. 2004 and recognize her. On Sept. 23 Ghost Whisperer, based on the experienced of Bayside, N.Y.-born psychic medium James Van Praagh (1958-) debuts on CBS-TV for 107 episodes (until May 21, 2010), starring Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979-) as medium Melinda Gordon, who helps the dead pass over to the other side. On Sept. 24 the Sept. 24, 2005 Anti-Iraq War Protest in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. is attended by tens of thousands incl. Cindy Sheehan; on Sept. 25 about 400 stage a lame counter-rally; on Sept. 26 370 protesters are arrested in front of the White House during another anti-Iraq War protest, the first being Cindy Sheehan. On Sept. 25 a U.S. CH-47 military heli crashes near Daychopan, Afghanistan 180 mi. SW of Kabul, killing all five aboard. On Sept. 25 Polish voters oust their scandal-prone govt. of ex-Communists in parliamentary elections, giving a broad majority to two center-right parties that promise tax cuts and clean govt. - do the math and save? On Sept. 25 a car bomb explodes in a car driven by Lebanese political talk show host and news anchor May Chidiac (1964-) in Jounierh, N of Beirut, severing her left arm and leg; on Sept. 26 thousands of students protest in Lebanon, calling for the govt. to take action. On Sept. 25 a 7.0 earthquake hits N Peru 420 mi. N of Lima, killing four. On Sept. 26 (8 a.m.) Sept. Fun Day in Iraq begins when a suicide car bomber in Baghdad, Iraq kills six and wounds 13 at a police checkpoint guarding govt. ministries; later another suicide car bomber detonates in a convoy carrying Interior Ministry commandos, killing seven plus two civilians; S of Baghdad two bicycle bombings in town markets kill seven and wound dozens; followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ambush an Iraqi patrol in E Baghdad, causing U.S. forces to counterattack during the 90 min. battle in which eight attackers are killed; an armored car in Baghdad is robbed of $850K, and two guards are killed. On Sept. 26 Israel kills top Islamic Jihad cmdr. Mohammed Khalil (b. 1970 and his bodyguard in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip, and rounds up 200+ wanted Palestinians in a broad offensive against Islamic militants as a response to a wave of rocket attacks against Israeli towns over the weekend; Hamas then calls off the rocket fire, but Islamic Jihad's top leader Mohammed al-Hindi says his group will no longer honor the ceasefire; meanwhile a Likud meeting is sabotaged by Sharon's opponents, who get the electricity shut off, causing him to walk out. On Sept. 26 nine Islamic miitants are arrested outside Paris for plotting a terrorist attack on the Paris subway system. On Sept. 26 Ethiopia's Mount Erta Ale (Arteale) erupts, displacing about 40K nomads; it erupts again in Oct. On Sept. 26 Syrian-born Al Jazeera journalist Tayseer (Taysir) Allouni (1955-), who was granted an interview by Osama bin Laden after 9/11 is convicted in Spain of collaborating with al-Qaida, and sentenced to seven years. On Sept. 27 Abdullah Abu Azzam, #2 in command of the al-Qaida in Iraq is killed in battle after his high-rise apt. bldg. in SE Baghdad is raided before dawn by troops; a suicide attacker detonates at a police recruitment center in Baqouba, N of Baghdad, killing nine, and gunmen in Baghdad kill four policemen; another suicide bomber is intercepted within 1 mi. of the U.S. embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone (AKA Karradat Mariam). On Sept. 27 Typhoon Damrey (Khmer for elephant) slams into N Vietnam, causing the evacuation of 300K after killing 31 in China and the Philippines, becoming the biggest storm in China in three decades - and them foreign devils have to give it a name with one of them "r"s in it? On Sept. 27 Michael Brown appears before Congress, angrily blaming the New Orleans mayor, the La. gov., the White House, and Pres. Bush for the lousy showing with Hurricane Katrina; meanwhile on Sept. 27 New Orleans police chief (superintendent) Eddie Compass announces his resignation after 28 years after his force disintegrates in the wake of Hurricane Katrina into desertions and looting; on Sept. 29 the police dept. announces it is investigating 12 officers for looting. On Sept. 27 Michaelle Jean (1957-), a refugee from Haiti is sworn-in as Canada's 27th gov.-gen. in Toronto, becoming the 1st black and the 3rd woman to hold the largely ceremonial post of head of state. On Sept. 27 investment banker Michael Wittenberg (b. 1962), husband of Broadway star Bernadette Peters (b. 1948) (since 1996) is killed in a heli crash. On Sept. 28 female suicide bomber in drag detonates in a line of army recruits in the Sunni town of Tal Afar, Iraq far, er, near the Syrian border, killing six and wounding 35, becoming the first known Iraqi suicide bomber; al-Qaida claims responsibility for the work of a "blessed sister"; after an Iraq govt. offensive in Tal Afar, Jordan-born Iraqi al-Qaida leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (1966-2006) declares all-out war on the Shiites, bombing three hotels in Amman, Jordan this year; he is killed by the U.S. on June 7, 2006 N of Baqubah, Iraq, leaving 2nd in command Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1968-2010), who is killed by the U.S. on Apr. 18, 2010 in Tikrit. On Sept. 28 Iraqi police find seven construction workers who had been led away by police impersonators, then blindfolded, bound and shot to death. On Sept. 28 Israeli aircraft unleash a barrage of missles and artillery into the Gaza Strip for the first time as fighting enters its fifth day. There was a lone cupcake with your name on it? On Sept. 28 Tex. Repub. House Majority Leader (since Jan. 3 2003) Thomas Dale "Tom the Hammer" DeLay (1947-) is indicted by a Tex. grand jury (on the last day of their term) for conspiring to violate political fundraising laws, causing him to step down from his GOP post; he becomes the highest ranking member of Congress to face criminal prosecution while in office; Mo. Rep. Roy Dean Blunt (1950-) (House Majority Whip since Jan. 3, 2003) is appointed to take over his leadership duties; the indictment alleges that DeLay's PAC Texans for a Repub. Majority accepted $155K from corps. in 2001-2 then used it to fund candidates for the Texas House in violation of Texas law; Dem. Travis County D.A. Ronald Dale "Ronnie" Earle (1942-) is behind the indictment; House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) jumps on the indictment, calling it "the latest example that Repubs. in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people"; DeLay faces 6 mo. to two years and a $10K fine for criminal conspiracy on the charges, but in Oct. his attys. get the charges dismissed because the law alleged to have been broken was not in effect at the time of the alleged violation; this only causes Earle to get a 2nd grand jury to indict him on conspiracy and money laundering charges, which DeLay calls an "abomination of justice", turning himself into the Travis County sheriff's office on Oct. 20, 2006; on Apr. 3, 2006 he announces his decision to leave Congress in May-June; the grand jury dissolves on Aug. 16, 2010 without bringing charges, calling DeLay to bemoan the "criminalization of politics", telling reporters "It's no longer good enough to beat you on policy, they have to completely drown you and put you in prison and destroy your family and your reputation, your finances and then dance on your grave"; on Nov. 24, 2010 a Tex. jury convicts DeLay of illegally channeling $190K in corporate donations into 2002 Tex. legislative races through a money swap that DeLay argued was legal, and on Jan. 10 he is sentenced to three years in prison. On Sept. 28 five U.S. soldiers are killed in a roadside bombing during combat in Ramadi, Iraq W of Baghdad. On Sept. 28-29 a 17K-acre wildfire rages in the hills of NW Los Angeles, forcing hundreds to evacuate; on Sept. 28 90K chickens are killed when it consumes three coops. On Sept. 29 (6:45 p.m.) three Sunni suicide bombers detonate simultaneously in the heart of Balad, Iraq 50 mi. N of Baghdad, killing 65 and wounding 80 as part of the all-out war declared by al-Qaida leader al-Zarqawi against the Shiite majority in rocking Iraq. On Sept. 29 New York Times reporter Judith Miller is released after 85 days (since July 6) behind bars after agreeing to testify in the investigation into the disclosure of the identity of a covert CIA officer after her source Scooter Libby releases her from her promise of confidentiality; she appears before a grand jury on Sept. 30, and Cheney becomes the focus of conspiracy investigation; on Oct. 24 notes from a meeting on June 12, 2003 between him and Libby surface, implicating them both, causing them to double-shuffle about his poor memories, and on Oct. 28 Libby is indicted on five counts of obstruction of justice and two counts each of making a false statement and perjury, pleading not guilty on Nov. 3 (that lie is free?); the trial is successfully stalled by somebody until Jan. 23, 2007, safely after the nat. elections; on Nov. 9 Judith Miller retires from the New York Times, saying, "Over the last few months I have become the news, something a ... reporter never wants to be" - we call it the Three Stooges syndrome? On Sept. 29 five migrants are killed and nearly 100 injured during an attempt to cross from Morocco into Spanish Ceuta by scaling razor-wire fences; Spain's other enclave Melilla is also a target. On Sept. 29 by 9-0 the Supreme Court of Canada clears the way for the govt. to sue cigarette cos. for the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses. On Sept. 29 the U.S. House of Reps. passes by 229-193 a bill pushed through by GOP House Resources Committee chmn. Richard Pombo of Calif. to overhaul the 1973 Endangered Species Act, weakening protections in the name of facilitating oil and gas development, and using Hurricane Katrina as an excuse. On Sept. 29 the FDA warns doctors about the Eli Lilly drug Strattera, used to treat ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in adolescents and children, saying that it can lead to suicidal thinking. On Sept. 29 Repub. Calif. Gov. Ahnuld (Arnold Schwarzenegger) fulfills a campaign and vetoes a bill attempting to legalize same-sex marriages - don't be a girlie man? On Sept. 30 New York Times journalist Judith Miller, out of jail for 85 days testifies before a grand jury in Washington, D.C. as the final holdout witness needed by special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald on the Valerie Plame ID leak probe; she says she hopes her case will help get a federal shield law for reporters passed. On Sept. 30 the First Bush-Kerry Debate sees Kerry call Iraq an "incredible mess", and Bush say that U.S. troops look at Kerry and wonder, "How can I follow this guy?" On Sept. 30 former Reagan secy. of education William J. Bennett apologizes for remarks made on his radio show that "... if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose... abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down", saying the comments were taken out of context; White House spokesman Scott McClellan says that Pres. Bush "believes the comments were not appropriate". In Sept. the annual Antarctic ozone hole forms, reaching 9.5M sq. mi. in area, the same size as North Am. In Sept. GM's employee-discount-for-everyone promotion ends, selling lots of vehicles at an avg. loss of over $1K per sale, and causing 3rd quarter losses of $1.6B; on Oct. 17 GM gains concessions by the UAW to cut $1B of its $5.2B a year in generous health care benefits to 1.1M workers, retirees and dependents; shortly before this, Delphi, the auto parts co. that was owned by GM until 1999 seeks bankruptcy protection, leaving GM liable for up to $12B in pension and health care benefits. In Sept. the Houston Astrodome is assigned a special zip code of 7734, er, 77230 for Hurricane Katrina refugees to receive mail. In Sept. the Campaign to Defend the Constitution (DefCon) is founded by the Tides Center to combat the religious right in the name of separation of church and state; its funding runs out in Dec. 2007. In Sept. Brooklyn, N.Y.-born gay billionaire DreamWorks SKG co-founder David Lawrence Geffen (1943-) begins discussing the purchase of the Los Angeles Times with Leo Wolinsky, making a $2B offer in Nov. 2006, which the parent Tribune Co. rejects, selling instead in Dec. 2007 to Chicago billionaire real estate tycoon Samuel Zell (Shmuel Zielonka) (1941-), who also acquires the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Cubs ML baseball team. In late Sept. Emily Stern (1986-), daughter of shock jock Howard Stern is anon. cast as Madonna in the off-Broadway satire Kabbalah, in which she performs nude in the final 10 min.; she quits in Jan. after fan websites reveal her identity. On Oct. 2 the Ethan Allen Tour Boat tips and sinks on Lake George, N.Y., killing 20 of 47 elderly passengers when Capt. Richard Paris turns into the wake of another boat; on Oct. 3 state regulators suspend the co.'s licenses because the boat did not have the required min. two crew members aboard. On Oct. 2 Hurricane Stan hits Central Am., killing 1,648. On Oct. 3 Condoleezza Rice appears on ABC's This Week and defends her characterization of Saddam Hussein's nuclear capabilities in the months preceding the Iraq invasion - aren't you a specialist? Deconstructing Harriet? On Oct. 3 after going with the Repub. program of limiting the selection process to anti-abortion candidates, and yielding to pressure to replace Sandra Day O'Connor with another woman, only to find no Repub. women with good enough credentials, Pres. Bush nominates his personal friend, Conservative Baptist Texas atty. (White House counsel) Harriet Ellen Miers (1945-) to the U.S. Supreme Court despite lack of experience as a judge and her close ties, stirring immediate opposition from conservatives who believe she will be another swing vote like O'Connor; on Oct. 24 Pres. Bush refuses to turn over documents detailing private advice she gave him while serving in the White House, and on Oct. 27 after she flunks a test given her by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and after requests for private papers to determine her political views, the White House announces that Bush asked her to withdraw her nomination (11th to be withdrawn of 157 submitted to the Senate since 1789, and the first since Abe Fortas in 1968). On Oct. 4 U.S. Operation River Gate begins in W Iraq (ends Oct. 21) - listen, you made them strong, we'll make them army strong? On Oct. 5 a bomb at the entrance of a Shiite mosque S of Baghdad kills 25 and wounds 87, and U.S. troops capture 35 suspected insurgents in Baghdad. On Oct. 5 Iraqi authorities begin distributing constitution booklets to the public, which Sunnis use for toilet paper, filling trash dumps. On Oct. 6 Pres. Bush gives a speech before the Nat. Endowment for Democracy, citing "steady progress" in the war on terror, and claiming that the U.S. and its allies foiled at least 10 serious al-Qaida plots in the past four years. On Oct. 6 the Woodhouse (Calimesa) Fire in San Timoteo Canyon in Riverside County, S Calif. consumes 6K acres. On Oct. 6 health experts identify Legionnaire's Disease as the cause of the death of 16 elderly people at the Seven Oaks Home for the Aged in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough; a total of 88 were infected; in Feb. 2014 the city and province agree to a $1.2M settlement. On Oct. 6 Gregg Miller receives the Ig Noble Prize for medicine at Harvard U. in Boston for his invention of Neuticles, prosthetic testicles for neutered dogs. On Oct. 7 chief U.N. nuclear inspector Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei (1942-) and his Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) win the Nobel Peace Prize, which he claims vindicates his approach of using diplomacy rather than confrontation. Deconstructing Harriet? On Oct. 7 after going with the Repub. program of limiting the selection process to anti-abortion candidates, and yielding to pressure to replace Sandra Day O'Connor with another woman, only to find no Repub. women with good enough credentials, Pres. Bush nominates his personal friend, Conservative Baptist Texas atty. (White House counsel) Harriet Ellen Miers (1945-) to the U.S. Supreme Court, stirring immediate opposition from Conservatives who believe she will be another swing vote like O'Connor; on Oct. 24 Pres. Bush refuses to turn over documents detailing private advice she gave him while serving in the White House, and on Oct. 27 she withdraws her nomination (the 11th to be withdrawn of 157 submitted to the Senate since 1789, and the first since Abe Fortas in 1968). On Oct. 7 six U.S. Marines are killed in two roadside bomb attacks in W Iraq during a 2-pronged offensive against strongholds along the Euphrates River; in S Iraq British forces heat up their campaign to curb the influence of conservative Shiite militias by arresting 12; in SE Iraq police announce the finding of the bodies of 22 men, mostly Sunnis, who had been abducted in Baghdad in Aug. On Oct. 7 a week of intense rain, mudslides, and flooding caused by Hurricane Stan kills 27 in C Mexico, with Guatemala bearing the brunt, followed by a strong earthquake in Guatemala and El Salvador; total dead and missing top 1K. On Oct. 7 intense rains waterlog the NE U.S., dropping more than a 1 ft. in places for the next ? days. On Oct. 7 Typhoon Krosa slams into China, killing five and causing 1.4M to be evacuated, and causing $1B damage by Oct. 9. On Oct. 7 tens of thousands of Iranians rally aross Iran to back its nuclear activities, causing its top envoy to announce that Iran could stop U.N. inspections. On Oct. 7 a Victoria's Secret store in McLean, Va. is picketed by 30 women for promoting lesbianism and sadomasochism with displays of a tied-up mannequin and two female mannequins lying on a bed together - add a male mannequin and it's okay again? On Oct. 7 Calif. Gov. Ahnuld signs a bill barring high school athletes from taking nutritional supplements synephrine, ephedra, and DHEA after being criticized for having his own multimillion-dollar contract with muscle mags. advertising supplements - although when he was Mr. Olympia he popped roids like candy? On Oct. 8 (8:50:39 local time) the 7.6 Kashmir (South Asian) Earthquake of 2005 rocks Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan, killing 86K-87K, injuring 69K-75K and leaving 2.8M homeless; hundreds are trapped in a 19-story bldg. in Islamabad; 11K are killed in Muzaffarabad, capital of Kashmir; on Oct. 10 Kuwait and the UAR each announce $100M and the U.S. pledges $50M in aid after govt. officials predict the death toll will climb to 20K-40K; on Oct. 15 the Pakistani death toll reaches 38K, with 2M homeless; on Oct. 19 the death toll soars to 79K, and aftershocks send up huge clouds of dust; in Nov. the Quantum Shift Concert raises money for the relief effort, featuring Sean Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul Simon, and his son Harper Simon. On Oct. 8 retired black elementary teacher Robert Davis (1941-) is arrested and beaten by two white New Orleans police officers, Robert Evangelist (36) and Lance Schilling (29) for alleged drunkenness, and the incident is caught on tape, causing police Supt. Warren Riley to call their actions unacceptable; Davis later claims "I haven't had a drink in 25 years", and the officers are all charged with battery, pleading not guilty; a 3rd white officer, Stewart Smith (50) is caught on tape grabbing and shoving an AP TV News producer, and also pleads not guilty, relying on the double-sidedness of laws protecting police to get off; on Dec. 21 the police dept. jumps the gun and fires the officers doing the beating, and suspends the shover for 120 days, causing the police union to vow to appeal to the Civil Service Commission; in Mar. 2006 they are indicted by a grand jury. On Oct. 9 Guatemalan officials announce that they will abandon communities buried by landslides and declare them mass graveyards, while dozens of foreign tourists flee mucked-up lakeside Mayan towns to better bargains for their tourist money? On Oct. 9 the Somalian Council of Islamic Courts declares holy war (jihad) on too-Christian Ethiopia. On Oct. 10 Iraq issues arrest warrants for the defense minister and 27 other officials from the U.S.-backed govt. of former PM Iyad Allawi over the misappropriation of $1B in military procurement funds, most of them fleeing Iraq for Britain after 10 mo. in office, incl. Allawi, Adnan Pachachi, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari; up to $2.3B is stolen from the Iraqi treasury; not that they're alone, as over 1.5M leave the country - I was just taking the ponies out for a ride? On Oct. 10 the first meeting between Israeli PM Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas since the Israeli Gaza Strip withdrawal is called off after the two sides deadlock over Israeli troop pullouts from the West Banka nd releases of Palestinian prisoners; three unarmed Palestinian laborers crawling over the Gaza-Israeli border are shot and killed by Israeli troops. On Oct. 10 an open letter by Am. poet Sharon Olds (1942-) to First Lady Laura Bush declining an invitation to the Nat. Book Festival in Washington, D.C. contains the soundbyte: "So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it." On Oct. 11 Iraqi negotiators reach a breakthrough deal on the new constitution, causing at least one Sunni Arab Party, the Iraqi Islamic Party to begin urging support; the deal calls for a commission to consider amendments to be set up by parliament after it is formed in Dec.; too bad, it's too late to modify the millions of copies of free constitutions handed out to the public. On Oct. 11 Japan's lower house approves a plan to privatize Japan's $3T postal system and create the world's largest bank. On Oct. 11 millionaire Am. scientist Gregory Olsen returns with a Russian-U.S. crew from the ISS, landing in Kazakhstan after a 7-day space trip, the third trip to the orbiting lab. by a private citizen; he blasted off on Oct. 1 with U.S. astronaut William McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev from Balkonur in Kazakhstan, and returned with John Phillips and Sergei Krikalev, who had been there since Apr. On Oct. 11 the Los Angeles City Council votes to turn the famed Florentine Gardens nightclub in Hollywood on Hollywood Blvd. near the Hollywood Fwy. (big among stars in the 1940s) into a fire station; they later give up after a backlash. On Oct. 12 Syrian interior minister Brig. Gen. Ghazi Kenaan (b. 1942), who had controlled Lebanon for two decades is found dead in his office days before a U.N. report is due to be released implicating high-ranking Syrian officials in the murder of Lebanon PM Rafik Hariri; the Syrian govt. claims it is a suicide; hours before Syrian Pres. Bashar Asaad said that if Syrian involvement is proved those involved would be charged with treason and handed over to an internat. court; the report is released on Oct. 20, implicating high-ranking Syrian and Lebanese intel officers, but not naming names, but a diplomat says that Asad's brother-in-law and number two man in Syria military intel chief Asef Shawkat is the ringleader; lead investigator Detlev Mehlis from Germany is given until Dec. to continue the inquiry. On Oct. 12 after 14 years of civil war the first pres. election is held in Liberia; soccer star George Weah is backed by most of the country's top warlords and faction leaders, but surprising upstart "Iron Lady" Ellen Johnson Sirleaf proves popular with the masses. On Oct. 12 police in Bogota, Colombia discover a cluster of rockets pointing at the pres. palace, while a key ally of Pres. Alvaro Uribe narrowly survives a bomb attack, causing Uribe to publicly criticize his military commanders. On Oct. 12 Israel announces the capture of senior Hamas operative Ibrahim Ighnimat (1958-), who is linked to a 1997 suicide bombing that killed three Israelis, and the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier; the Israelis were disguised as vegetable vendors to gain access to the Hebron region to make the arrest. On Oct. 12 the World Bank releases a report saying that 40M in Eastern Europe have moved out of poverty in 1998-2003, leaving 61M still poor; Russia, Moldovia, Romania, Hungary, and Kazakhstan have scored the greatest gains. On Oct. 12 the Shenzhou 6 is launched on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Launch Center, carrying Fei Junlong (1965-) and Nie Haisheng (1964-), orbiting 4x and returning to Earth after 4 d 19 h 33 m. On Oct. 12 Michelle Duggar (1966-) of Rogers, Ark. has her 16th child; she had her first one at age 21 four years after being married to Jim Bob Duggar (a state rep.), and they are all given names beginning with the letter "J". On Oct. 14 James Bond fans are shocked when short blonde-haired working class Chester, Cheshire-born English actor Daniel Wroughton Craig (1968-) is revealed as the star of the Nov. 2006 Bond film Casino Royale after being picked over 200 other actors; he goes on to win them over? On Oct. 15 a referendum on the new Iraqi constitution is held despite Sunni insurgents killing hundreds in the days leading up to it. On Oct. 15 Romania quarantines the Danube River Delta in the E where one of Europe's first bird flu strains appears; Poland bans the sale of live birds at open-air markets starting Oct. 17; the deadly H5N1 virus, responsible for 60 human deaths is confirmed on Oct. 14 in Turkey; Turkish officials kill 3K poultry in the NW province of Balikesir after they mess with migratory birds near a nature reserve; on Oct. 16 thousands of domestic fowl are killed in eastern Roman. On Oct. 15 Pamela Jeanne Vitale (b. 1953), wife of TV legal pundit Daniel Horowitz is clubbed to death by a 16-y.-o. Goth student who believed that his marijuana-growing equipment had been mistakenly delivered to them. On Oct. 15 the Millions More Movement is held on the 10th anniv. of the Million Man March; too bad, only a few thousand show up. On Oct. 16 Palestinian Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade gunmen in a speeding car kill three Israelis and wound four more at a crowded bus stop in Gush Etzion in the West Bank; minutes later another drive-by shooting in the West Bank seriously wounds one Israeli; Isreali troops kill one Islamic militant and wound a bystander in the West Bank. On Oct. 17 the U.S. Supreme Court refuses to allow the Bush admin. to pursue a $280B penalty against tobacco cos. for misleading the public about the dangers of smoking after a 9-mo. trial; the case is left pending until the judge rules if they violated the federal RICO statue. On Oct. 17 women calling themselves the Granny Peace Brigade are arrested while protesting the Iraq War outside the Times Square military recruiting center by police who accuse them of blocking the entrance; on Apr. 27, 2006 they are acquitted of disorderly conduct in Manhattan Criminal Court by Judge Neil Ross after claiming they were there to enlist themselves but were turned down, and being grannies would have politely let anybody else through, although there was nobody else wanting to enlist? On Oct. 17 the US Weekly carries a headline carrying a picture of Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, with the title "Split!"; she later says that a trip to Africa on behalf of Operation Smile (which helps children with facial deformities) on the eve of her 3rd wedding anniv. while he stays home causes her to know "I needed to find something more in my life on my own", causing her to stop answering his calls and file for divorce. On Oct. 15 Category 5 (185 mph) Hurricane Wilma starts as a tropical depression in the Caribbean Sea near Jamaica, going W and t urning into a tropical storm on Oct. 17, then turning S and becoming a hurricane on Oct. 18, growing to Category 5 on Oct. 19, becoming the strongest storm in the Atlantic in recorded history as it wobbles its way through the Caribbean, hitting the Yucatan Peninsula on Oct. 21-22 then entering the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 2 hurricane, sideswiping Cuba on Oct. 23 and accelerating to Category 3 on Oct. 24 before hitting Cape Romano, Fla. with 120 mph winds, crossing Fla. while weakening to Category 2 and reintensifying to Category 3 as it reaches the Atlantic Ocean and dissipating on Oct. 27, killing 87 incl. 13 in Haiti and Jamaica, causing $27B damage, becoming the 3rd most costly hurricane in history after Katrina and Andrew, and the 8th hurricane to hit Fla. in 15 mo., after which no major hurricane hits the continental U.S. until Hurricane Harvey on Aug. 26, 2017 after 11 years 10 mo.; no hurricane hits Fla. until Hurricane Hermine in 2016, and no major hurricane until Hurricane Irma in Sept. 2017. Life after Wife Swap? On Oct. 19 the Saddam Hussein Trial begins on charges of ordering the 1982 massacre of 148 Shiites in the town of Dujail, along with seven co-defendants, Awad Hamed al-Bandar (chief justice of the Rev. Court), Taha Yassin Ramadan (-2007) (vice-pres.), Mizhar Abdullah Ruwayyid) (Ba'th official), Mohammed Azawi Ali Baath (Ba'th Dujail official), Ali Dayih Ali (Ba'th Dujail official), and Barzan Ibrahim (intel chief) (Saddam's half-brother); only Azawi Ali (who sits at the back end of the back row) is acquitted; Saddam refuses to identify himself to the court, saying, "I do not respond to this so-called court, with all due respect to its people, and I retain my constitutional right as the president of Iraq", finally entering a not guilty plea - you bozos captured one of my impersonators? On Oct. 19 a deadly strain of bird flu is detected S of Moscow, and another in the grasslands of N China. On Oct. 19 a man reports seeing a woman toss her three young children (6, 2, and 16 mo.) into San Francisco Bay from a pier, and on Oct. 20 23-y.-o. schizophrenic Lashuan T. Harris (1984-) is charged with murder after it is found she told her mother she was going to feed her kids to the sharks; in Jan. 2007 she is convicted of 2nd degree murder, declared inane and sent to a mental hospital - I'm an environmentalist? On Oct. 19 the U.S. Congress votes to cut off federal subsidies for erectile dysfunction drugs such as Viagra - no more fun in old folks' homes at Uncle Sam's expense? On Oct. 19 the Houston Astros advance to their first World Series in their 44-year history by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series. On Oct. 19 Steve West and his landscaper wife Carolyn, along with their in-laws Bob and Frances, all of Salem, Ore. win the $340M Powerball lottery (2nd biggest jackpot in U.S. lottery history) after going together on $40 worth of tickets; o n Nov. 17 a secy. and six lab workers at Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, Calif. win the $315M Mega Millions jackpot after chipping in $3 each to buy 21 tickets. On Oct. 20 the U.S. House votes 283-144 to shield firearms manufacturers and dealers from liability from gun-crime victims after the Senate passes the bill by 65-31 in July; Nat. Rifle Assoc. (NRA) forces are both glad and sad, as provisions are snuck in requiring trigger locks on some weapons. On Oct. 22-26 the Chicago White Sox (mgr. Ozzie Guillen) defeat the Houston Astros (mgr. Phil Garner) 4-0 in the 101st (2005) World Series, ending their 88-year dry spell; the first appearance ever for the Astros, the longest wait for a ML franchise (Angels 44, St. Louis Browns 42, St. Louis Cardinals 24); Game 3 on Oct. 25 goes for 14 innings, equaling the series record, and a record 17 pitchers are used, and is ended when former Houston infielder Geoff Blum hits a 2-out homer in the 14th inning to give the White Sox a 7-5 victory. On Oct. 21 Saddam Hussein's Sunni Arab atty. Saadoun Sughaiyer al-Janabi is abducted from his office, them dumped in the street in Baghdad dead with two bullet wounds in the head; meanwhile four U.S. servicemen are killed in insurgent attacks. On Oct. 21 Beaumont, Tex.-born oil mogul Oscar Sherman Wyatt Jr. (1924-) (chmn. of Coastal Corp.) and two Swiss execs are charged with paying millions in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in the Oil-for-Food Scandal; in Oct. 2007 Wyatt pleads guilty, and receives a 1-year sentence in a minimum security prison in Beaumont. On Oct. 21 Operation River Gate ends with one U.S. Marine killed near Haqlaniyah as four insurgents are killed and a bunker destroyed. On Oct. 22 U.S. forces kill 20 injurgents and destroy five safe houses in Iraq near the Syrian border. On Oct. 22 Croatian authorities begin killing thousands of domestic birds near a nat. park where six swans died of bird flu. On Oct. 23 (Sun.) a team of top Afghan officials visits S Afghanistan to investigate allegations that U.S. soldiers cremated the remains of Taliban fighters in violation of Muslim Sharia and then used the scene for propaganda. On Oct. 23 pro-capitalist Warsaw mayor Lech Kaczynski (1949-2010) is elected pres. of Poland with 54% of the vote over pro-market Civic Platform candidate Donald Tusk Franciszek (1957-), an admirer of Reagan and Thatcher, taking office on Dec. 23 (until Apr. 10, 2010), and becoming the best friend the Jews in Poland have had in a Polish leader (until ?); his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski (1949-), leader of the nationalist conservative Law and Justice Party is appointed PM on July 2006 (until Nov. 2007). On Oct. 23 a bomb in a residential area of Tikrit, Iraq kills an Iraqi police col. and four children; other attacks in Iraq bring the death toll to 20, with 31 wounded. On Oct. 23 a Nigerian Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 plane carrying 117 crashes near Lissa 30 mi. N of Lagos shortly after takeoff, killing all aboard. On Oct. 23 record-breaking 23nd named Atlantic storm Tropical Storm Alpha drenches Haiti and the Dominican Repub.; the 2005 U.S. Hurricane season ends with 27 named storms and 15 hurricanes, and the names Dennis, Katrina, Rita, Stan, and Wilma are permanently retired by the World Meteorological Org. On Oct. 23 Pope Benedict XVI presides over his first saint-making Mass in Vatican City at the 250-member Synod of Bishops, naming five new saints incl. Chilean Jesuit Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, while reaffirming the church's position on celibacy for priests, calling it a "precious gift" - give me a word that rhymes with choir boy? On Oct. 24 a car bomb explodes near the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, blowing a hole in the protective wall, allowing a 2nd suicide bomber truck to get through, but it gets stuck, blowing up and killing six passersby; the AP counts 1,997 U.S. military deaths in the Iraq War so far, six higher than the official U.S. govt. tally. On Oct. 24 a Los Angeles judge signs a Dec. 13 death warrant at San Quentin Prison for Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams III (b. 1953), who has been on death row since Apr. 20, 1981 for four 1979 shotgun murders, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his prison-written children's books; his lawyers appeal to Calif. Gov. Ahnuld for clemency, hoping to be the first to receive clemency since Reagan spared a mentally-ill killer in 1967; on Dec. 12 the Governator nixes it, and he is executed by lethal injection on Dec. 13 - appealing to the Terminator for clemency? Keep the pace, you're in the race? On Oct. 25 the U.S. military death toll in the Iraq War reaches 2,000 (incl. 497 Nat. Guard or Reserve troops); the U.S. Senate observes a moment of silence to honor them; 30K or more Iraqis have died in the war, incl. 3,870 in the past 6 mo., but who's counting? On Oct. 25 Iraq's election commission declares that the new constitution was ratified by 79% of the 9.8M voters; only three heavily-Sunni provinces, Anbar (E of Baghdad) (96%), Salaheddin (N of Baghdad) (81%) (Sadam's province), and Diyala (W of Baghdad) (51%) defeat it, but three of the 18 provinces had to defeat it by two-thirds for the constitution to go down. On Oct. 25 U.S. Adm. Timothy Keating, head of the U.S. Northern Command in Colo. Springs, Colo., which provided the military response to Hurricane Katrina proposes that the Dept. of Defense be given complete authority to respond to all natural disasters - tell a friend to tell a friend? On Oct. 25 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah announces the withdrawal of 220 missionaries from Venezuela two weeks after Pres. Hugo Chavez ordered the expulsion of the Fla.-based evangelical New Tribes Mission. On Oct. 25 the EU's highest court ends a 2-decade fight with France and Britain and announces that feta cheese is Greek and deserves protection throughout the 25-nation EU. On Oct. 25 Russian Jewish geek billionaire (wealthest in Russia, 16th wealthiest on Earth) Mikahil Borisovich Khodorkovsky (1963-), head of Yukos, which controls 2% of the world's oil is arrested on fraud charges, and convicted on May 31, 2005, getting eight years in prison. On Oct. 26 a 20-y.-o. Palestinian blows himself up at a falafel stand in an open air market in Hadera, Israel, killing five Israelis and wounding more than 30; on Oct. 27 the Israelis counter with a missile attack on a car belonging to Islamic Jihad Movement members in the Jabalya refugee camp N of the Gaza Strip. n Oct. 26, 2005 at the World Without Zionism Conference in Tehran, Imadinnajacket made the statement "Our dear imam [Ayatolla Khomeini] ordered that this Jerusalem-occupying regime must be erased from the page of time. This was a very wise statement... Soon this stain of disgrace will be cleaned from the garment of the world of Islam, and this is attainable." When the New York Times translated his statement as "must be wiped off the map", it caused an international controversy until the Iranian Republic's official translation said wiped off the map also; it takes until Nov. 13 for U.S. secy. of state Condoleezaa Rice to publicly rebuke him, saying "No civilized nation should have a leader who wishes or hopes or desires or considers it a matter of policy to express that." On Oct. 26 Mumbai, India-born Parsi Noshir Sheriarji Gowadia (1944-) of Haiku, Hawaii, who calls himself the father of the technology protecting B-2 stealth bombers from heat-seeking missiles is arrested for selling U.S. military secrets. On Oct. 27 Sunni Arab militants kill 14 Shiite militiamen and policemen in a clash SE of Baghdad, Iraq; two U.S. Army soldiers are killed when their convoy hits a roadside bomb in Baghdad; another soldier dies in an ambush 37 mi. N of Baghdad, and four others are wounded. On Oct. 27 the accidental electrocution deaths of two Muslim teenagers hiding in an electrical power substation from the pigs after fleeing an ID check in the NE Paris banlieue (low-income suburb) of Clichy-sous-Bois sparks rioting by Mauritanian and Tunisian Muslim youths, spreading all over the country to 300 cities, with the Allah-Akbar-shouting youths burning 1K cars, vandalizing bldgs., and throwing rocks and bottles at the police, doing millions in damage for a mo., causing some to call Paris the new "Baghdad-sur-Seine"; on July 15 the New York Times carried an article titled "The Time Bombs in France's Suburbs", telling of French Muslims turning jihadist and going to Iraq to fight against the U.S. On Oct. 28 I. Lewis "Scotter" Libby is indicted on five charges of obstruction of justice and perjury, carrying a max. penalty of 30 years and $1.25M in fines, causing him to resign; "Mr. Libby's story that he was at the tail end of a chain of phone calls... was not true. It was false" says special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. On Oct. 29 (2 days before the Hindu Diwali Festival) a series of three bomb blasts by Islamic Kashmiri Lashkar-e-Taiba (Urdu "Army of the Righteous") Islamic separatist militants strikes New Delhi, India killing 62 and injuring 210; in Dec. the U.N. declares Lashkar-e-Taiba a terrorist org., and Pakistani prof. Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (1950-) its leader. On Oct. 30 Iraqi insurgents kill Ghalib Abdul-Mahdi, brother of Iraq's Shiite vice-pres. Adil Abdul-Mahdi on Palestine St. in Baghdad; the same day police find the bodies of 11 blindfolded, bound and shot men in a village near Baghdad where Sunnis and Shiites clashed three days earlier. On Oct. 30 the Frauenkirche ("Church of Our Lady") in Dresden, Germany, firebombed by the U.S. and Britain on Feb. 13-14, 1945 is reopened in front of a crowd of 60K after $215M is spent to restore it, incl. $120M in donations, much of it from the U.S. and Britain. On Oct. 30 the remains of U.S. civil rights icon Rosa Parks (1913-2005), who died on Oct. 24 just weeks of the 50th anniv. of her big bus ride in Montgomery, Ala. on Dec. 1, 1955 lie in honor in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, becoming the 31th person and first woman so honored; on Oct. 31 a memorial service is held. On Oct. 30 Pastor Kyle Lake (b. 1972) is electrocuted while performing a baptism in the University Baptist Church in Waco, Tex. when he tries to adjust a microphone. On Oct. 31 Rev. Irene "Beth" Stroud (1970-) is defrocked by the United Methodist Church for being caught in a lesbian partnership - from the Matrix Reloaded to End of Days? Ready, jump? On Oct. 31 Pres. Bush picks extremely right-wing Catholic N.J. native 3rd Circuit U.S. Appeals Court Judge (since 1990, when he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate for the position) Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. (1950-) for Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court four days after withdrawing Harriet Miers' name; Sen. Dem. leader Harry Reid of Nev. questions the choice, saying that Alito is "too radical for the American people"; Reid also nixes Judge J. Michael Luttig of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and Judge Priscilla Owen of the 5th Circuit; a 1985 application for a promotion in the Reagan. admin. is disclosed by the White House, showing Alito's 1972-87 membership in the Concerned Alumni of Princeton, which lobbied against the university's affirmative action policies; his confirmation will give the court a Roman Catholic majority; ironically, Dem. Catholic Mass. Sen. Edward Kennedy soon drops his membership in the Owl Club, a Harvard college social club that bans women members after it is pointed out to him; Alito is approved by the Senate 58-42 on Jan. 31, 2006, the closest vote since the 1991 52-48 Clarence Thomas vote, becoming U.S. Supreme Court justice #110 (until ?); the lone Repub. Sen. to vote no is Lincoln Chafee (son of Sen. John Chafee, whose seat he was appointed to when he died in 1999) from Dem.-leaning R.I., which Kerry won by 20 points in 2004; Chafee was the only Repub. sen. to vote against the Iraq War resolution; four Dems. vote for Alito, Robert C. Byrd of W.V., Kent Conrad of N.D., Tim Johnson of S.D., and Ben Nelson of Neb. (all from states carried by Pres. Bush in 2004); he is sworn-in as U.S. Supreme Court justice #110 (becoming first in the all-time alphabetized list?), and Sandra Day O'Connor retires and returns to Ariz. In Oct. the Vatican's Congregation for Catholic Education issues an "instruction" reaffirming the ban on ordination of homosexuals; at the same time an evaluation of all 229 U.S. seminaries begins under their direction; the U.S. has 42.5K priests, 25%-50% of whom are homos - something is sure to hit the fan? In Oct. the Bush admin. releases the 381-page Pandemic Influenza Strategic Plan to deal with a possible outbreak of pandemic flu. In Oct. 44-y.-o. lezzie Am. rocker Melissa Etheridge (b. 1961) begins touring again for the first time after contracting breast cancer in 2004 - she turned it on with new Venus Vibrance and revealed the goddess in you? In Oct. two Aleutian Island volcanoes, Cleveland Volcano and Tanago Volcano rumble to life beneath a major world airline flyway between North Am. and Asia, causing small earthquakes and spitting an ash cloud almost 3 mi. high; the mile-hi Sierra Negra Volcano on the largest of the Galapagos Islands begins erupting on Oct. 23. In Oct. the principal of Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, N.Y. cancels the sex-booze-drugs-filled spring prom because of "the flaunting of affulence, assuming exaggerated expenses, a pursuit of vanity for vanity's sake - in a word, financial decadence." In Oct. Eduardo Braga, gov. of Amazonas state in Brazil decrees a "state of public calamity" caused by the worst recorded drought in the Amazon River basin, source of a quarter of the world's fresh water, caused by the same temp. rise in the Atlantic that brought Hurricane Katrina. Salad terrorism? In Oct. an outbreak of E. coli sickens 11 in Minn., calling the U.S. FDA to warn people not to eat certain Dole prepackaged salads; starting on Aug. 25, 2006 in Wisc. another E. coli outbreak sickens at least 187 and kills one, causing the FDA to warn against eating fresh bagged spinach nationwide, which causes it to be pulled from store shelves, becoming the 20th leafy green scare in 10 years, mainly in Calif.; in late Oct. authorities trace it to wild pigs, then next Mar. decide it came from Paicines Ranch in San Benito County, Calif., which sells to Mission Organics. In Oct. former Soviet pres. Mikhail Gorbachev and chess players Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar meet in Lindsborg, Kan. to promote "Chess for Peace"; Karpov and Polgar end up in a 3-3 tie (2 wins, 2 draws). In Oct. the Kansas School Board becomes the first in the U.S. to back Intelligent Design as a subject to teach alongside Darwininian Evolution, raising a storm of protest; leave it to Oregon State physics grad Bobby Henderson to trivialize the issue by sending them a letter claiming to speak for 10M members followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, demanding equal time for their views; the board eventually backs down, but the FSM cult continues to grow on campuses, spreading to Europe? On Nov. 1 after holding a special session on Jan. 24 marking the 60th anniv. of the closing of the Nazi concentration camps, the 42nd Session of the U.N. Gen. Assembly unanimously approves U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 60/7 which designates Jan. 27 as Internat. Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the WWII Holocaust tragedy that killed 6M Jews, 5M Slavs, 3M Poles, 200K Romani, 250K disabled people, and 9K homosexual men. On Nov. 2 more good news in Iraq as a suicide bomber detonates a minibus in an outdoor shopper-packed market ahead of a Muslim festival in Musayyaib, Iraq 40 mi. S of Baghdad at 5 p.m., killing 20 and wounding 60. On Nov. 3 Scooter Libby pleads not guilty to charges of lying about disclosing classified info, his atty. saying he intends to "clear his good name"; meanwhile Pres. Bush's job approval rating falls to the lowest of his presidency, down to 37%, with 59% disapproving of the job he's doing; among Repubs. it drops to 78%, Dems. 9%, independents 24%, men 39%, women 35%. On Nov. 3 emails are released showing former FEMA dir. Michael Brown fiddling while Rome burned, discussing his appearance, his dog, and his public image as the Hurricane Katrina disaster was going into the red zone; "If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire you'll really vomit - I am a fashion god." On Nov. 3 the 4th Summit of the Americas begins in Mar Del Plata, Argentina to discuss the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, a free trade zone stretching from Alaska to Argentina; at the same time Venezuela stages a mock U.S. invasion of its own territory, and its pres. Hugo Chavez arrives at the summit emboldened by thousands of anti-U.S. protesters, joking that Pres. Bush is afraid of meeting him face to face, and he might sneak up and scare him at the summit; after Chavez leads a stadium full of anti-U.S. protesters and the summit fails to support the free trade zone, Bush leaves early. On Nov. 3 the EU, the Council of Europe, and Human Rights Watch announce an investigation into alleged secret jails set up by the CIA in Eastern Europe and elsewhere incl. Szymany Airport in Poland and Mihail Kogalniceanu Military Airfield in Romania, based on allegations reported on Nov. 2 in The Washington Post. On Nov. 5 U.S.-Iraqi troops begin an offensive against al-Qaida militants in Husaybah, Iraq on the Syrian border, a major entry point for foreign insurgents; on Nov. 7 al-Qaida warns the Iraq govt. to halt the offensive within 24 hours or see "the earth... shake beneath their feet". On Nov. 6 the deadliest tornado since 1974 hits SW Ind. and W Ky., killing 22, 17 of them in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park. On Nov. 6 Israeli authorities unveil a 3rd cent. Christian church found under the planned site of a new prison ward of Megiddo Prison in Israel, which head archeologist Yotam Tepper calls "the oldest archeological remains of a church in Israel, maybe even in the entire region. Whether in the entire world, it's still too early to say"; the mosaics depict fish rather than a cross, and tell about a Roman officer and a woman named Aketous who donated money to build the church in the memory "of the god Jesus Christ" - roll in over in your grave, Arius? On Nov. 6 rioters in a working class suburb of Paris fire shotguns on police, wounding 10, just hours after Pres. Chirac called an emergency meeting of top security officials; 1.3K vehicles are burned in a dozen cities, incl. 35 in the heart of Paris; on Nov. 7 French Pres. Jacques Chirac imposes the first state emergency and curfew in 40 years after France's worst civil unrest in decades (begun Oct. 27) enters a 12th night, with French-born Muslim children of Arab and African immigrants rioting in Toulouse, Sevran, Vitry-sur-Seine, and other Paris suburbs, burning 814 vehicles (1.4K the night before, and a total of 10K vehicles), becoming the worst and most widespread damage since WWII; Algerian-Tunisian-Mauritanian leaders call for an overall solution to decades of white discrimination and segregation; on Nov. 6 1.4K cars are torched; on Nov. 12 502; on Nov. 13 (Sun.) the riots are concentrated in Lyon, still without touching the tourist districts of Paris as feared, and only 374 cars are torched (about 100 were burned in France on an avg. Sat. night before the riots). On Nov. 7 a suicide bomber at a checkpoint S of Baghdad, Iraq kills four U.S. soldiers; meanwhile five U.S. soldiers from an elite unit are charged with kicking and punching Iraqi detaineers. On Nov. 7 Pres. Bush holds a news conference with Pres. Martin Torrijos in Panama City, saying "We do not torture" those held in overseas CIA prisons; meanwhile, he supports an effort of vice-pres. Cheney to block a proposed Senate ban on CIA torture, Cheney telling Senate Repubs. on Nov. 1 that it would "tie the president's hands" - both sides of his mouth are working? On Nov. 7 file-sharing service Grokster Ltd. agrees to a settlement, shutting down and paying $50M to settle piracy complaints by Hollywood and the music industry, after a Supreme Court ruling in June in MGM v. Grokster that they and not just their pirate customers can be gone after causes them to lose the desire to fight. As of Nov. 7 WHO reports 41 deaths from bird flu in Vietnam, 13 in Thailand, 5 in Indonesia, and 4 in Cambodia, for a total of 63 since late 2003. On Nov. 8 a masked gunman in a speeding Opel assassinates Saddam Hussein's atty. Adel al-Zubeidi in a W Baghdad Sunni Arab neighborhood; Thamir al-Khuzaie, atty. for Saddam's half-brother Barazan Ibrahim is wounded; the first killing of an atty. for Saddam happened on Oct. 20, when his body was found the day after the trial's opening session. On Nov. 8 Australian authorities arrest 17 terror suspects, incl. a prominent radical Muslim cleric sympathetic to Osama bin Laden, claiming to foil a major terror attack; a Muslim identified as BUSB shoots at the police, who shoot and arrest him; in Sept. 2011 he is acquitted of attempted assault on a police officer because the court finds "anti-Muslim feeling in the community" made him skittish - the Islamophobia Defense? On Nov. 8 Calif. voters reject all four govt.-overhaul measures put on the ballot by Gov. Ahnuld just as he is gearing up for a re-election bid for 2006; "He had a mandate to reform state government, and he no longer has that mandate", says Dem. consultant Darry Sragow. On Nov. 8 Tim Kaine wins the gov. race in Va., beating Repub. Jerry Kilgore, becoming the first back-to-back Dem. wins for gov. in the predominantly red (Repub.) state since 1989, despite an appearance by Pres. Bush. On Nov. 8 by a 6-4 vote the Kansas State Board of Ed. adopts new science curricula standards that openly question the theory of evolution; six Repubs. vote yes, and two Repubs. and two Dems. vote no. What's in your wallet, boo? On Nov. 8 former finance minister Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (b. 1939) is elected the 23rd pres. of Liberia, becoming the first female head of state in Africa; pres. #22 served briefly before a caretaker govt. took over, #21 Charles Taylor won office after igniting a civil war but fled into exile in 2003; #20 Samuel Doe was executed by guerrillas who first cut off his ears; #19 William Tolbert was overthrown and assassinated in 1980, along with 13 cabinet ministers tied to wooden poles in their underwear and shot by a firing squad; Sirleaf was Tolbert's finance minister, but escaped and fled overseas, returning to be jailed by Doe in 1985 for criticizing him, emerging as the "Iron Lady"; she immediately faces pressure to extradite and try Charles Taylor for his crimes in a country that lost 200K of its 3M people in back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003. On Nov. 8 15-y.-o. Ken Bartley Jr. (1990-) shoots and kills Campbell County High School asst. principal Ken Bruce in Jackson, Tenn. (30 mi. NW of Knoxville) and wounds principal Gary Seale after a scuffle. On Nov. 8 Ernst Zundel, author of the book The Hitler We Loved and Why is put on trial in Mannheim, Germany for the horrible crime of daring to deny the historicity of the Holocaust - is that like denying the Eucharist? On Nov. 9 suicide bombers working for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi carry out nearly simultaneous suicide bombings on three U.S.-based hotels in Amman, Jordan, the Grand Hyatt, Radisson SAS, and Days Inn, killing 58 and wounding 115, incl. 27 West Bank Palestinians, becoming the first time Palestinians have been the target of a suicide bombing, and perhaps sobering them up, causing the Palestinian Authority to condemn Zarqawi, lower flags to half staff, and declare a 3-day mourning period; on Nov. 10 thousands of angry protesters demonstrate throughout Jordan, shouting "Burn in hell, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi!", causing Zarqawi's group to post rare justifications of their attack on the Web: "Let all know that we have struck only after being confident that they are centers for launching war on Islam and support the crusaders' presence in Iraq and the Arab Peninsula and the presence of the Jews on the land of Palestine"; on Nov. 15 11 top Jordanian officials incl. the nat. security adviser resign. On Nov. 9 two young men rob the home of Denver, Colo. Police Chief Gerry Whitman in broad daylight, taking his gun; it is later revealed that Whitman spends much time at home running the dept. on a cell phone for his $140K salary, despite his own officers having to go through elaborate paperwork to get any leave. On Nov. 9 the Pakistan Internat. Airlines Worldliner (Boeing 777-200LR) takes off from Hong Kong, and arrives in London on Nov. 10 after a 22 hour 42 min. 11,664 nautical mi. flight, breaking the record for the longest nonstop commercial jet flight set in 1989 by a Boeing 747-400. On Nov. 9 Pope Benedict XVI makes comments in his gen. audience in Vatican City that the Universe was made by an "intelligent project", quoting 4th cent. St. Basil the Great; Austrian Cardinal-Archbishop Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert, Count of Schoenborn (Schönborn) (1945-), who backed Intelligent Design and dismissed Pope John Paul II's 1996 statement that evolution is "more than just a hypothesis" attends the audience. On Nov. 10 (9:45 a.m.) a suicide bomber detonates in the Baghdad ? Restaurant favored by police and army recruiters, killing 35 and wounding 25 (al-Qaida takes credit); later a car bomb blows up outside an Iraqi army recruiting center in Tikrit, killing seven and wounding 13, all officers of Saddam's regime invited (up to the rank of major) a week earlier by Iraq's defense minister to reenlist; meanwhile Iraqi troops find 27 decomposing bodies near Jassan, Iraq close to the Iranian border. On Nov. 10 the European Court of Human Rights in Leyla Sahin v. Turkey upholds the legitimacy of a Turkish law prohibiting women from wearing religious head covering in govt. bldgs., schools, and univs.; on Feb. 22, 2008 the pres. of Turkey approves two constitutional amendments allowing them, but the Turkish supreme court overturns them. On Nov. 11 Pres. Bush gives a speech on Veterans Day at Tobyhanna, Pa. Army Depot, lashing out at congressional Iraq War policy critics, calling them "deeply irresponsible"; Sen. John Kerry shoots back, saying that Bush plays "the politics of fear and smear". On Nov. 11 Saddam's #2 man Izzat Ibraham al-Douri, the King of Clubs (#6) in the U.S. deck of cards is reported dead in an e-mail signed by the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party; suffering from leukemia, he had a $10M bounty put on his head in 2003. On Nov. 12 (Sat.) Iraqi police arrest 350+ incl. local officials and Sunny Arab party leaders in a dragnet operation in Baquba, Iraq, drawing criticism that they are trying to intimidate Sunnis from participating in the upcoming Dec. 15 elections. On Nov. 12 Afghanistan elects provincial reps to the Meshrano Jirga, its upper house of parliament (house of elders), becoming the country's first elected legislature in 30 years, meeting for the first time on Dec. 18. On Nov. 13 Iraqi woman Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi (1970-) is arrested, and confesses on Jordanian state TV that she tried to blow herself up along with her husband in the Radisson Hotel on Nov. 9, but it failed to detonate, after which she is convicted and sentenced to death by hanging on Sept. 21, 2006, and recants her confession and appeals, which is denied in Jan. 2007. On Nov. 13 a chemical plant explodes in Jilin, China, creating a 50-mi. benzene slick that causes running water to be shut down in the city of Harbin (pop. 3.8M) for five days; the slick continues on into Russian territory, threatening Khabarovsk (580K pop.). On Nov. 13 World Wrestling Entertainment star Eduard "Eddie" Gory Guerrero (b. 1967) is found dead in his hotel room at the Minneapolis Marriot City Center. On Nov. 14 Pres. Bush leaves for a 8-day trip of Asia, incl. Japan, China, and South Korea, and on Nov. 15 attends the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Conference in Busan, where leading members, the U.S., China, South Korea, Russia, and Japan agree to support free trade talks at the WTO; on Nov. 16 he tells China to be more like archrival Taiwan, and asks them to open its economy to foreign competition to narrow its $200B trade surplus with the U.S. - he should have kept mum? On Nov. 14 a Presbyterian congregation in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. ordains gay Raymond Bagnuolo, despite his refusal to practice chastity - the squirrels need a nut feeder? On Nov. 15 the U.S. Senate votes 79-19 to urge the Bush admin. to publicly explain its strategy for success in Iraq and to begin providing quarterly reports on military ops.; a plan for calling for a phased troop withdrawal is dropped. On Nov. 15 Iraq's PM announces that 173 malnourished, probably tortured detainees were found at an Interior Ministry basement lockup seized by U.S. forces in Baghdad, validating Sunni complaints of abuse by the Shiite-controlled ministry. On Nov. 15 after strong U.S. pressure, Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement to open Gaza's borders. On Nov. 15 the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colo. hears arguments over a 55-year 10-ft.-thick reams of legal BS paperwork prison sentenced imposed on 26-y.-o. Salt Lake City man Weldon H. Angelos for selling small amounts of marijuana while possessing a firearm (he sold 8 oz. of weed 3x times to an acquaintance working for the police) - and now his ass is grass for life because the U.S. is becoming a gulag controlled by super-rich Puritans in Congress who have architected victimless crime legal bull into machines for turning people into slaves with even judges' hands being tied? How about just I'm throwing it out of court and never bring this kind of garbage before me again or I'll jail you prosecutors for contempt? On Nov. 15 Muslim leaders meet in the Hofburg Palace of Vienna to complain about how terrorists are distorting the image of Islam, with Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik uttering the soundbyte: "Muslims throughout the world are suffering increasingly from the unacceptable connection of Islam with violence or even terrorism", and Iraq pres. Jalal Talabani uttering the soundbyte: "The Islamic religion is facing a disfigurement in essence to its reality as a religion of love, compassion and peace by a small group of radicals who have lost the way." On Nov. 16 China reports its first human cases on the mainland, incl. at least one death from the deadly H5N1 strain, racing to inoculate billions of poultry. On Nov. 16 famed Washington Post asst. managing editor Bob Woodward apologizes to the paper's top editor for withholding for more than two years the fact that a Bush admin. official had told him the identity of the CIA agent at the center of the 23-mo. federal criminal investigation, explaining that he didn't want to testify before the federal grand jury and end up like Judith Miller. On Nov. 16 Iraq continues to be a meat grinder as five U.S. Marines are killed in fighting with insurgents nar the Syrian border, and U.S. Army soldier dies of wounds suffered in Big Daddy. On Nov. 16 Pres. Bush and South Korean Pres. Roh Moo-hyun meet in Gyeongju, Korea's ancient capital, and declare that a nuclear-armed North Korea "will not be tolerated", but stress that the little problem they're having with them should be resolved through peaceful and diplomatic means down to the x-y-z. On Nov. 16 Iran admits that its new Russian-made (Polyot) 375-lb. Sina-1 satellite, launched 1 mo. earlier is capable of spying on Israel (that country their pres. said should be wiped off the map?); a 2nd Iranian-built satellite is set to be launched in 2 mo. On Nov. 16 the U.S. Senate votes to force U.S. cos. to make up an underfunding of pension plans estimated at $450B and live up to promises made to employees. On Nov. 16 the $230M "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska, supposed to lead to an island with a pop. of 50 is scrapped by the U.S. Congress, defeating Repub. Senate Appropriations Committtee chmn. Theodore Fulton "Ted" Ted Stevens (1923-2010) from Alaska (known for his trademark "The Hulk" tie); they also axe "Don Young's Way", a $229 bridge between Anchorage and sparsely populated Knik, Alaska, named after Repub. House Transportation Committee chmn. Don Young, also from Alaska; but they score a back atchya by getting the money earmarked for their state anyway, this time without strings? On Nov. 17 CREA pres. Italia Federici, a former aide of Gale Norton defends nearly $500K in contributions her org. received from Indian casino tribes represented by Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff (1959-) (Jack Off for short?) in front of a Senate panel; on Nov. 18 Abramoff is charged with defrauding Amerindian tribes of millions of dollars; on Dec. 14 Norton denies that Abramoff influenced her interior dept., but on Mar. 10, 2006 decides to resign. On Nov. 17 U.S. Rep. (D-Penn.) (1969-) John Patrick "Jack" Murtha Jr. (1932-2010) flip-flops from being a hawk to calling for an immediate U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. On Nov. 18 pure-bred blind Chinese Crested hairless Sam, the World's Ugliest Dog (b. 1990) (with hairless body and crooked teeth) dies just short of his 15th birthday after winning his 3rd straight title at the Sonoma-Marin Fair this summer; owner Susie Lockheed of Santa Barbara, Calif. took him in six years earlier and met her boyfriend through an online dating site with a photo of them. On Nov. 18 U.S. Rep. (R-Ohio) (2005-) Jeannette Marie Hoffman "Jean" Schmidt (1951-) (most junior member of the House) is booed by Dems. after telling them that a Marine col. back home sent a message "Cowards cut and run - Marines never do"; the House then defeats a measure for a quick U.S. Iraqi pullout by 403-3. On Nov. 19 a suicide bomber plows his car into a tent full of Shiite mourners in Iraq, killing 30 - and turning them into what? Had it up to tha' in Iraq, boys? On Nov. 19 U.S. Marines stink up the U.S. name after a bomb rocks their military convoy in Haditha, Iraq, killing Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel "TJ" Terrazas (b. 1985), and causing the rest, led by SSgt. Frank Wuterich (1980-) to shoot and kill unarmed civilians in a taxi at the scene, then go into two homes and massacre up 24 inhabitants; the brass attempts to cover it up until next May, when news leaks happen, and the fit hits the shan. On Nov. 20 a gunman opens fire in a busy shopping mall in Tacoma, Wash., wounding six and taking three hostage in a music store before surrendering. On Nov. 21 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon announces that he is gambling and breaking away from his hardline Likud Party to avoid squandering peacemaking oportunities created by the Gaza Strip pullout, and forms a new coalition "liberal" party called Kadima; Mar. elections are now likely; on Dec. 11 Tehran-born Mizrahi Jewish defense minister (since 2002) Shaul Mofaz (1948-) quits Likud to join Sharon's new centrist faction. On Nov. 21 a car bomb attack in Baqouba, Iraq kills four and wounds 10 civilians; U.S. soldiers mistakenly fire on a civilian vehicle outside a U.S. base in Baqouba, Iraq, killing two adults and a child. On Nov. 21 Pres. Bush becomes the first U.S. pres. to visit Mongolia (for 4 hours), telling Pres. Nambaryn Enkhbayar that his country has stood with the U.S. as "brothers in the cause of freedom", and telling him "I feel very much at home in your country" because of all the yaks"; Mongolia, which refers to the U.S. as their "third neighbor" sends more troops per capita to Iraq than every country except Britain and Denmark? - for old Genghis Khan? On Nov. 21 the U.S. bans poultry from mainland British Columbia because of one case of the bird flu, one duck out of 56K birds at a farm in Chillwack, which are killed for safety. On Nov. 22 Ted Koppel (b. 1940) makes his final appearance on ABC-TV's Nightline (begun 1980); a new vers. debuts on Nov. 28. On Nov. 22 the Italian Catholic news agency Adista posts a long-awaited Vatican Instruction on Gay Priests, toughening its stand against gay candidates for the priesthood, saying it "cannot admit to the seminary and the sacred orders those who practice homosexuality, present deeply rooted homosexual tendencies or support so-called gay culture"; since 25%-50% of U.S. priests are gay, will the future see an aging fag subgroup pigging out on each other until they go to hog heaven? On Nov. 22 Houston, Tex.-born Muslim student Ahmed Omar Abu Ali (1981-) (raised in Falls Church, Va.) is convicted of joining al-Qaida and plotting to assassinate Pres. Bush; he was arrested at a Medina, Saudi Arabia univ. in June 2003, and later claims that the Saudi Mubahith security force tortured him to obtain a confession. On Nov. 22 a suicide car bomber in Kirkuk, Iraq kills 21 incl. 12 police and injures 24 after his accomplices lure police to the scene by shooting an officer. On Nov. 22 gorgeous blonde former Greco Middle School, Fla. reading teacher Debra Jean LaFave (nee Beasley) (1980-) is sentenced to three years of house arrest and seven years of probation in Hillsborough County for lewd and lascivious battery, the horrendous offense of having sex (for free?) with a 14-y.-o. male student twice, once in the classroom and once in her home; she is then charged for having sex with the same lucky, er, victim in a SUV, but on Mar. 21, 2006 the charges are dropped out of concern for the boy, whose mother is disappointed that she didn't get jail time - Puritanism is alive and well in Latter Day Amerika? On Nov. 23 Kenyan pres. (since 2002) Mwai Kibaki dismisses his entire cabinet after they help voters defeat a proposed new constitution that would give him sweeping powers; next July Kibaki's new Narc-Kenya political party wins three out of five parliamentary seats, showing popular support, helped by a growing GDP. On Nov. 24 the Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N.'s key nuclear watchdog agency meets in Vienna over the future of Iran's nuclear program; two weeks earlier its head Mohamed ElBaradei traveled to Iran to offer a proposal to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia, which was declined. On Nov. 24 several supermarkets defy the 17th cent. Puritan Blue Laws in Boston, Mass., causing the Mass. atty.-gen. to launch an investigation; although the ban on Sunday liquor sales has been repealed, the opening of most stores on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day still has not? On Nov. 24 a suicide bomber detonates outside a hospital S of Baghdad while U.S. troops are handing out food and candy to children, killing 30. On Nov. 25 British Columbia, Canada pledges $4.3B in funding over the next decade for the nearly 1M aboriginal peoples of the North Am. nation, the First Nations, and Inuits. On Nov. 25 German archeologist Susanne Kristina Osthoff (1962-) and her Iraqi driver are taken hostage in Iraq, and shown on TV footage on Nov. 27 by the German broadcaster ARD; another tape shows four peace activists, an American, a Briton, and two Canadians, all members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams; Osthoff is released on Dec. 18, and claims she had been happy, and had even been given some of the ransom money to pay for her digital camera. On Nov. 26 Palestinians take control of the Rafah border crossing on the Gaza Strip between Gaza and Egypt amid a festive air. On Nov. 27 Senate Armed Services Committee chmn. John Warner (R-Va.) appears on NBC-TV's Meet the Press, suggesting that Pres. Bush should begin FDR-style fireside chats to save his admin. from tanking over the Iraq war, and debates with Sen. Foreign Relations Committee's top Dem., Joe Biden of Del. about whether the U.S. can maintain its baseline troop levels past next year; meanwhile the Pentagon announces that U.S. troop levels will drop from 160K to below 140K after the Dec. 15 Iraqi elections. On Nov. 27 eight Sunni Arab men are arrested by police in N Iraq for plotting to assassinate Raid Juhi, chief investigative judge of the court trying Saddam Hussein, whose trial resumes after a recess of almost six weeks. On Nov. 27 a 5.9 earthquake in S Iran kills 10 and injures 70. On Nov. 27 the Tex.-Okla. Wildfires of 2005-6 begin after a combo of high temps, drought, and high winds, with 22,564 wildfires burning 1,872,701 acres in the year as of Apr. 5, 2006. On Nov. 28 voters in the tiny Alpine principality of Vaduz reject by 80%-20% a Roman Catholic-backed constitutional amendment preventing abortion, birth control, assisted suicide, and living wills. On Nov. 28 a corruption scandal forces a no-confidence vote, toppling Canadian PM Paul Martin's minority Liberal Party govt. (pro same sex marriage, contra U.S. invasion of Iraq and continental ballistic missile shield), prompting the first Christmas-winter campaign in Canada in 26 years. On Nov. 28 8-term congressman (R.-Calif.) (1991-2005), former U.S. Navy Top Gun flight instructor and Vietnam War flying ace Randy "Duke" Cunningham (1941-), member of the House Intelligence Committee pleads guilty to taking $2.4M in bribes from defense contractors and resigns, and on Mar. 3, 2005 receives 8 years 4 mo. in priz, is ordered to forfeit $1.85M and pay another $1.8M for back taxes; the Rancho Santa Fe mansion and Rolls Royce kind of gave him away?; on Oct. 17 a report by an investigator hired by the Intel. Committee claims that he had directed at least $70M in business to two contractors in return for millions in bribes. On Nov. 28 Benjamin Franklin Elementary becomes the first public school in New Orleans, La. to reopen since Hurricane Katrina; 120 of 210 students show up. On Nov. 29 Va. Gov. Mark R. Warner commutes the death sentence of Robin McKennel Lovitt (1963-), who would have been the 1,000th person executed in the U.S. since 1976. On Nov. 31 the U.S. hurricane season ends with a record 13 hurricanes and 26 named storms. In Nov. Frank Tassone, former superintendent of the Roslyn, N.Y. school district asks a judge to rule that he doesn't have to testify against his gay spouse Stephen Signorelli in a trial in which he pled guilty on Sept. 26 to stealing $219K from the school district to pay for flying to London on the Concorde and dry cleaning, alleging he is his spouse; it it later learned that he also paid for romantic getaways with him to Las Vegas; his spending spree causes many teachers to be forced into early retirement for lack of funds. In Nov. Myanmar dictator Gen. Than Shwe moves the entire govt. from Rangoon (Yangon) (capital for the last 120 years) to Pyinmana, in a remote area 245 mi. away, giving civil servants two days notice and forbidding resignation. In Nov. former pres. of Finland (1994-2000) Martti Ahtisaari (1937-) is appointed by U.S. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan as special envoy for the "Kosovo status process" to determine whether it should remain a province of Serbia or become independent, and he eventually decides on independence with internat. monitoring, which causes the Serbs to begin personal attacks on his character to discredit him, after which he quits in July 2007, then after Serbia declares independence in Feb. 2008, he receives the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. In Nov. the 300 lb. Hollywood Walk of Fame star of actor Gregory Peck is stolen, becoming the 4th since the Walk of Fame was begun in 1960 (Kirk Douglas, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Autry). In Nov. Nicholas Negroponte (1943-), brother of Homeland Security dir. John Negroponte unveils the Children's Machine, a $100 laptop computer with many advanced features, which he hopes to put into the hands of every child in the Third World via his org. One Laptop Per Child. On Dec. 1 World AIDS Day 2005 draws attention to the 40M people worldwide infected with HIV, dying at the rate of 3M a year (6 a min.); over half of HIV infections are in Africa, which has only 10% of the world's pop; the same day the World Health Org. (WHO) stops hiring smokers - dick smokers okay? On Dec. 1 South Africa's Constitutional (highest) Court rules in favor of gay marriage, and gives Parliament a year to make necessary legal changes. On Dec. 1 Oprah Winfrey appears on David Letterman's Late Show for the first time in 16 years, tripling its audience to 13.5M, and apparently forgiving him for his "Uma Oprah" skit in the Oscars in 1995; he then escorts her to the Broadway debut of The Color Purple. On Dec. 2 convicted murderer Kenneth Lee Boyd (b. 1948) is executed in Raleigh, N.C., becoming the 1,000th person executed in the U.S. since 1977 (#1 was Gary Gilmore in Utah). On Dec. 2 an IED in Fallujah kills 10 and wounds 11 U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 8 based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., becoming the deadliest attack against U.S. troops in Iraq in 4 mo. On Dec. 2 the U.S. Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) announces relaxed regs. for airline passengers, who will now be permitted to carry scissors with blades up to 4 in. long and screwdrivers up to 7 in. (effective Dec. 22), despite objections from flight attendants and 9/11 attack victim relatives; pat-downs will become more thorough to compensate. On Dec. 3 insurgents kill 19 and wound two Iraqi soldiers NE of Baghdad. On Dec. 3 the Vatican holds a Christmas concert, taping it for broadcast in Italy on Christmas Eve after dropping Brazilian singer Daniela Mercury for appearing in TV ads promoting the distribution of free condoms. On Dec. 4 a would-be suicide bomber detonates when hit by a motorbike in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing them both and wounding two others hours earlier two U.S. helis collide during combat operations, wounding six. On Dec. 5 Saddam Hussein puts up a show in court, telling the judge "You cannot continue with this game. Do you want the neck of Saddam Hussein? Then have it"; meanwhile witnesses describe abuse in Dujail, incl. "Hall 63", where a meat grinder is used; Hussein's atty. Gen. Ramsey Clark (former U.S. atty.-gen.) leads a walkout after arguing that the court is illegitimate because it is based on U.S. occupation. On Dec. 5 a suicide bomber detonates outside a shopping center in the coastal city of Netanya, Israel, killing five and wounding 40; an alert driver spots him walking toward the mall and alerts police, limiting injuries. On Dec. 5 the Sept. 11 Public Discourse Project reports that the U.S. is "arlarmingly vulnerable to terrorist strikes". On Dec. 6 after dark police crack down on a social protest in the Chinese countryside in the town of Dongzho, China over plans to build a coal fired generator, killing 20, becoming the greatest demonstrator-kill since Tiananmen Square in 1989? On Dec. 6 a military C-130 4-engine tuboprop plane loaded with Iranian journalists crashes into the 10-story Towhid apt. bldg. in the Azari suburb of Tehran near Mehrabad Airport during an emergency landing after engine trouble, killing 115. On Dec. 6 the U.N. authorizes a regional peacekeeping force for Somalia, but the Council of Islamic Courts rejects it; on Dec. 19 the first direct fighting between Somalia and Ethiopia begins. On Dec. 8 the 50-nation summit of Islamic nations in Mecca, Saudi Arabia issues the Mecca Declaration promising to stamp out extremist thought; meanwhile Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad tells a news conference that he doubts that the Holocaust took place and that if Europe feels guilty about it they should move Israel to Europe instead of making "the repercussions fall on the Palestinians"; Saudi spokesmen take exception, comparing his statements to those of Sodamn Insane and Moammar Daffy Duck - you look kind of lost yourself? On Dec. 8 the U.S. House and Senate reach agreement on reauthorizing the U.S. Patriot Act, extending the provisions permitting govt. roving wiretaps and secret access to library and other files for four years; on Dec. 16 Senate Dems., citing civil liberties concerns block its passage with a filibuster after a 52-47 vote to advance it to a final vote; meanwhile the Senate begins looking into accusations that Pres. Bush has authorized the Nat. Security Agency (NSA) to eavesdrop without warrants on people inside the U.S., causing him to attempt to justify it on Dec. 17 as "critical to saving American lives", which causes a Dem. to say he is attempting to justify the divine right of kings again; on Dec. 30 Pres. Bush signs a bill renewing the law for a few more weeks (until Feb. 3). On Dec. 8 a suicide bomber in a bus en route from Baghdad to Nasiriyah, Iraq kills 32, making the 3-day suicide bomber death toll in Bagged Dead at least 75. On Dec. 8 Southwest Airlines Flight 1248 (Boeing 737) from Baltimore slides off a runway in a heavy snowstorm in Midway Internat. Airport, the second largest in Chicago at 7:15 p.m., crashing through a fence into a busy street and hitting a vehicle, killing a 6-y.-o. boy. On Dec. 8 Boulder, Colo. physicist John Hall and co-winner Roy Glauber use their Nobel Prize platform in Stockholm to criticize the Bush admin., saying that their attitude in science "does not go in the right direction" (Hall); "Some in Congress are more concerned with the political consequences of research projects than their scientific importance" (Glauber). On Dec. 9 N.J. gov.-elect Jon Corzine appoints Dem. Rep. Robert Menendez (1954-) to serve the remaining year in his Senate term, making him the 3rd Hispanic in the Senate after Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.). On Dec. 9 a storm blankets the NE U.S. with up to 1 ft. of snow, causing five fatal crashes. On Dec. 9 Pres. Clinton tells the U.N. Climate Conference in Montreal that the Bush admin. is "flat wrong" in failing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to reduce CO2 emissions just because it might damage the U.S. economy, as 150+ countries and about three dozen industrialized countries have done; the huffing-puffing U.S., China, and India still have not signed on. On Dec. 10 Russia Today (later RT) internat. TV network is launched, funded by the Russian govt., featuring content in English, Spanish, French, German, and Arabic as well as Russian. On Dec. 11 a suicide bomber kills himself and wounds three civilians near a U.S. and Afghan military convoy in Kandahar, Afghanistan. On Dec. 11 a tape by Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahri surfaces, calling for a global jihad against "the Cross and Zionism". It's time to play the Nutcracker Suite? On Dec. 11-12 neo-Nazi violence between whites and Arabs in Sydney, Australia follows a rumor that Lebanese youths had assaulted two white lifeguards on "surfers only" Cronulla Beach on Dec. 4. On Dec. 12 Pres. Bush estimates that 30K Iraqis have died in the war, and says that "knowing that I know today, I'd make the decision again" to remove Saddam Hussein. On Dec. 12 Lebanese journalist and critic of Syria Gibran Tueni (1957-), gen. manager and grandson of the founder of An-Nahar (founded 1933), Lebanon's leading newspaper is killed in Beirut in a car bombing. On Dec. 12 Red Cross chief exec (since 2002) Marsha Evans is ousted with a $780K severance package from the $4B charity after criticism for its handling of Hurricane Katrina. On Dec. 14 the U.S. House narrowly passes a spending bill which freezes or cuts back a wide variety of domestic programs and cuts federal aid to education for the first time in a decade. On Dec. 14 Iran's pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls the Nazi Holocaust a "myth", used as a pretext for the Jewish state's existence, causing the White House to reply that this proves Iran must not be allowed to develop nukes. On Dec. 15 parliamentary elections are held for a new govt. in Iraq that is to take power on Dec. 31, and about 11M Iraqis (70% of registered voters) turn out; voters' fingertips are marked with purple dye; after angry street protests and charges of vote-rigging, U.S. and Iraqi officials announce an attempt to form a coalition govt. on Dec. 24. On Dec. 15 the New York Times reports that in 2002 Pres. Bush signed a pres. order to allow the NSA to spy on Americans suspected of being connected to terrorist activity without warrants. On Dec. 15 a $3M bronze statue by English sculptor Henry Moore is stolen from the grounds of the Henry Moore Foundation Museum in Hertfordshire with a crane and truck. In mid-Dec. the U.S. has 159K troops in Iraq, up from 146.3K in May, and down from 192K in Mar. 2003; Bulgaria and Ukraine begin withdrawing their combined 1,250 troops from Iraq; the so-called coalition of 24 nations supporting the 150K troops of the U.S. consists of 8K troops from Britain, 3.2K from S. Korea, 2.8K from Italy (troop and police trainers), 1.4K from Poland (troop and police trainers), 900 from Australia, 898 from Georgia, 876 from Ukraine, 863 from Romania, 600 from Japan (noncombat troops), 380 from Bulgaria, down to 32 from Macedonia. On Dec. 16 Hamas celebrates a landslide V in West Bank city elections. On Dec. 17 the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death Museum at 6616 Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, Calif. opens, owned by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), founded by the Church of Scientology, attended by Scientologist celebs Lisa Marie Presley, Priscilla Presley, Jenna Elfman, Danny Masterson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anne Archer et al.; Hollywood actress Leah Remini tells CNN: "If somebody is going to get turned off about something because of what they read or heard, then that person's not smart enough to even enter a church. If you're really against something, then know what you're against." On Dec. 18 (eve.) for 16 min. Pres. Bush addresses the nation live from the Oval Office for the first time since the beginning of the Iraq War in Mar. 2003 to crow about the successful Iraqi elections and talk about the "path that lies ahead", saying, "we do not create terrorism by fighting the terrorists", adding that the latter "feel a tightening noose, and fear the rise of a democratic Iraq", concluding that he's determined to "finish the job", "doing what is right and accepting the consequences", and exhorting Americans not to "give in to despair, and do not give up on this fight for freedom". On Dec. 18 nearly two dozen die in Iraq from suicide bombings and gunmen as vice-pres. Dick Cheney makes a surprise visit. On Dec. 18 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon suffers a minor stroke. On Dec. 18 Socialist candidate and coca farmer Evo Morales (Juan Evo Morales Ayma) (1959-) wins the pres. election in Bolivia, becoming its first Indian pres. (until ?), waving a coca branch as he greets supporters, promising to end the U.S.-backed anti-cocaine campaign, and that if the U.S. wants relations "Welcome, but no to a relationship of submission"; he is sworn-in on Jan. 22, and goes on a world tour wearing a brightly striped sweater which sparks an "Evo Fashion" craze; he halves his $3.9K a mo. salary along with his cabinet ministers, using the savings to hire public school teachers. On Dec. 19 TV "prosperity gospel" evangelist Joel Scott Hayley Osteen (1963-) of the giant Lakewood Church in the former Compac Center in Houston, Tex. (viewing audience 200M; church attendance 40K, income $55M a year) stinks himself up when his wife Victoria Iloff Osteen (1961-) is asked to leave Continental Airlines Flight 1602 (Houston to Vail, Colo.) after a dispute over a spill on her pull-down tray; she is later fined $3K. On Dec. 19 (2:30 p.m.) a Chalk's Ocean Airways twin-engine Grumman G-73T Turbine Mallard crashes off Miami Beach en route from Miami to Bimini, killing all 20 aboard. On Dec. 19 Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bans all Western music, incl. classical from Iran state radio and TV stations. I'm too sexy for my Volvo? On Dec. 19 lezzies Shannon Sickels of Northern Ireland and Grainne Close of New York City become the first gay couple in the U.K. to legally form a civil partnership in Belfast, as North Ireland, the last region of the U.K. to legalize homosexuality (1982) becomes the first to legalize same-sex partnerships; Scotland follows its lead on Dec. 20, and England and Wales on Dec. 21; Denmark was the first country (1989), and by now Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden permit them. On Dec. 20 federal judge John Edward Jones III (1955-) rules in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District that the Oct. 2004 decision of the Dover, Penn. school board to permit teaching Intelligent Design in public schools is un-PC, er, unconstitutional, because it "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents", and on Jan. 3, 2006 they rescind their policy; a video of the school board hearings where noted pro-ID experts testify while pro-evolution experts boycott it is released, becoming a great time capsule - because it prohibits the free exercise of religion or might cause it to receive equal time and threaten the ACLU program of freedom from religion? On Dec. 20-22 3K mass transit workers in New York City strike, bringing the city to its knees and causing thousands to don sneakers and walking shoes and walk to work over the Brooklyn Bridge, like in the Apr. 1, 1980 strike. On Dec. 21 minister #11 of foreign affairs (1995-2005) (Julius Nyerere protege) Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (1950-) becomes pres. #4 of Tanzania (until Nov. 5, 2015). On Dec. 21 singer Sir Elton John (1947-) weds his male partner of 12 years, Canadian ad man David Furnish (1962-) in the 17th cent. Windsor Town Hall (where Prince Charles and Camilla got married in Apr.) after Britain's civil partnership law takes effect, along with hundreds of same-sex couples; the wedding reception at Elton John's Windsor mansion for 700 guests incl. George Michaels, Donatella Versace, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne, and Posh Spice Girl Victoria Beckham costs $1.75M. On Dec. 21 after Gov. Ahnuld's denial of leniency to Tookie Williams gets him assailed by citizens of his hometown of Graz, Austria ("city of human rights") (capital punishment is illegal in Austria), he decides to cut his ties with them and return a ring of honor they gave him in 1999, causing mayor Siegfried Nagi begs him to reconsider, assuring him that most residents still admire him; at his request, on Dec. 25 officials remove giant letters spelling out his name on a 15.3K-seat soccer stadium. On Dec. 21 Saddam Hussein claims in court that Americans beat and tortured him and other defendants in prison in an obvious effort to top witnesses who describe his own forces using electric shocks and molten plastic hoses to rip skin off Kurds in Dujail in 1982. On Dec. 21 vice-pres. Cheney breaks the tie in the U.S. Senate to pass a 6-mo. extension of the U.S. Patriot Act, due to expire on Dec. 31, and Pres. Bush issues his sternest warning yet that "the terrorists still want to hit us again"; the House still is holding up the bill because of civil rights concerns. On Dec. 21 the Senate denies the bid of powerful Alaska Repub. Sen. Ted Stevens (1923-2010) (wearing his lucky Incredible Hulk tie) to get oil drilling authorized in the Arctic Nat. Wildlife Refuge by putting the measure in a $453.5B defense spending bill after Maria Cantwell (D.-Wash.) calls it "legislative blackmail" and Dems. threaten a filibuster; Stevens claims that in 1980 Dem. Sens. Henry "Scoop" Jackson of Wash. and Paul Tsongas of Mass. made a "deal" to do it, but died before fulfilling it, and "A promise made is a debt unpaid"; in 1998 the U.S. Geological Survey estimated 5.6B-16B barrels of oil are recoverable from the area, which would produce 1M barrels a day, about 5% of U.S. consumption. On Dec. 22 Muslim Brotherhood supreme guide Mohammed Mahdi Akef posts a statement on his Web site that the Holocaust is a myth, and that the U.S., the public face of the NWO is being "manipulated by the hands of the sons of Zion"; the MB won 88 seats in Egypt's parliament two weeks earlier, establishing itself as the only significant opposition org. in the country? On Dec. 23 the last air-cooled engine for the classic VW minivan comes off the Volkwagen AG assembly line in Sao Paulo, Brazil because of a new Brazilian emissions law. Islam, the religion of Kill Kill Kill Kill strikes again? On Dec. 24 Nazir Ahmed (1965-) of Gago Mandi, Punjab, Pakistan slits the throats of his three young daughters and their 25-y.-o. stepsister in front of his wife and 3-mo.-o. son to salvage his family's "honor" after the older girl allegedly commited adultery and he doesn't want the daughters to do the same when they grow up; he is arrested and faces the death penalty, but remains unrepentant, saying that "I wish that I get a chance to eliminate the boy she ran away with and set his home on fire." On Dec. 25 two burqa-clad Muslim gunmen attack a Presbyterian church Christmas service in Chianwala, E Pakistan with a grenade, killing three young girls, after which police detain an Islamic cleric who called on Muslims to kill Christians a few days earlier. On Dec. 25 (night) two police officers in an emergency truck plunge 40 ft. off the open drawbridge Lincoln Highway Bridge on the Hackensack River in Jersey City, N.J. in thick fog after they go out to place fares to warn motorists that the bridge's safety warning system is broken, and they forget to warn the bridge operator of their presence. On Dec. 26 at least two dozen people incl. a U.S. soldier are killed in shootings and bombings in Iraq; two U.S. pilots are killed when their Apachi heli collides with another heli W of Baghdad. On Dec. 26 a dozen New Orleans police officers surround Anthony Hayes (1967-) as he brandishes a small knife, and shoot him 9x, killing him, claiming they felt their lives to be threatened; the officers are not charged with a speck of spit by the justice-for-the-pigs DA. On Dec. 26 survivors pray beside mass graves and beachside memorials in Indonesia to mark the first anniv. of the tsunami; on Dec. 27 rebels in Indonesia's Aceh province formally disband their armed wing after 29 years struggling for independence and thousands of deaths, saying they plan to join the political process and participate in upcoming elections. On Dec. 27 Russian Pres. Putin's outspoken libertarian economic adviser Andrey Nikolayevich Illarionov (1961-) resigns after criticizing the Kremlin for stifling political freedom and competition with govt.-controlled corps, and moves to the U.S. On Dec. 27 the U.S. Nat. Security Agency (NSA) stops placing permanent (expire 2035) cookies on computers of visitors to their Web site after complaints. On Dec. 27 the Europart independent artists' group in Austria begins displaying nude pics of Pres. Bush, Pres. Chirac, and Queen Elizabeth II engaging in sex acts on electronic billboards across Vienna; they are yanked on Dec. 28 by orders of chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel, despite the govt. giving the group $1.2M in subsidies - change the pics to Jesus and they'll be OK? On Dec. 28 the U.S. Agency for Internat. Development adds $20M to their initial $15M Asian tsunami relief fund after secy. of state Colin Powell reacts to the suggestion that the U.S. is "stingy". On Dec. 28 a British aid worker and her parents are kidnapped in the S Gaza Strip by Palestinian gunmen, and are freed two days later. On Dec. 28 inmates at the A'dala Prison in the Baghdad suburb of Kazimiyah, Iraq storm the prison armory and steal an AK-47 rifle, which is used to kill eight and wound one U.S. soldier in a botched escape attempt. On Dec. 30 Palestinian policeman go on a rampage over the killing of a colleague and seize the Gaza-Egypt border crossing for several hours, forcing EU monitors to flee. On Dec. 30 Egyptian riot police kill 23 unarmed Sudanese migrants in a public park in Cairo that they had occupied for 3 mo. in an effort to pressure U.N. officials into relocating them. On Dec. 30 the U.S. issues its first electronic passports, containing an embedded IC in the cover allowing sensor scanning. On Dec. 30 iPledge, a nationwide registry of Americans taking the anti-acne drug Accutane (isotretinoin) begins accepting names in an effort to limit women who are about to get pregnant from taking it and risking birth defects. On Dec. 31 (New Year's Eve) at least 20 more are killed in Iraq in bombings and shootings; meanwhile U.S. troops shiver through a performance of "American Idol 3" finalist Diana DeGarmo et al. On Dec. 31 a nail bomb in a meat market in Palu, Indonesia 1K mi. NE of Jakarta kills eight and wounds 45 after warnings that the Jemaah Islamiyah, linked to al-Qaida is planning holiday strikes in an attempt to establish an Islamic state spanning Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and S Philippines. On Dec. 31 the Internat. Telecomm. Union decrees that the final minute of the year will contain 61 rather than 60 seconds to keep up with the slip in the planet's rotation, becoming the 23rd leap sec. inserted since 1972. On Dec. 31 97-y.-o. heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey undergoes a procedure to repair an aortic aneurysm with a Dacron graft. In Dec. Kazakhstan pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev is reelected for another seven years with 91% of the vote - does that incl. Borat? In Dec. the U.S. House of Reps. passes an immigrant deportation bill that would initiate felony charges and deportation for the 11M-12M illegals in the U.S., causing illegal immigrants to begin planning mass action to fight back. In Dec. the venerable City News Service of the Chicago Tribune (founded in 1890) is eliminated and replaced with a 24-hour news desk for the paper's websites only; Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Charles MacArthur, Ben Hecht (1894-1964), Melvyn Douglas all cut their teeth there. In Dec. Gov. Ahnuld goes to the hospital for a rapid heartbeat. In Dec. a movement to ban the word "Christmas" and replace it with more PC words such as "Holiday" gains momentum; meanwhile Rev. D. James Kennedy and other Christian leaders organize a political countermovement, which results in the NBC show The Book of Daniel, written by a homosexual, about an Episcopalian minister (Aidan Quinn) who talks to a laid-back relativistic ethics Jesus canceled; Kennedy next takes on Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code"; Wal-Mart instructs its employees to use happy holidays in hellos to customers, then flip-flops next year. Former U.S. deputy defense secy. Paul Wolfowitz (1943-), Pres. Clinton's atty. in the Paula Jones case, who was instrumental in ramrodding the U.S. into the Iraq War ("I'm reasonably certain that they will greet us as liberators") becomes pres. of the World Bank, raising eyebrows; he then stinks himself up by promoting his longtime babe Shaha Ali Riza; he takes his new job to give the appearance of avoiding a conflict of interest, but only angering watchdogs, who call for his resignation, which he finally tenders on May 17, 2007. In 2005 a total of 844 (841 according to the AP) U.S. service members are killed in Iraq, compared to 848 in 2004; the number wounded is 9,157, compared to 7,956 in 2004; the total dead since the war began is 2,178, with 15,955 wounded; the bloodiest month in 2005 was Jan., with 107 killed and 500 wounded; the second worst month was Oct., with 96 dead and 603 wounded; more than half of the deaths are caused by homemade, usually roadside bombs. An advisory panel recommends permitting women to ascend the throne in Japan, abolishing a 1947 law; the imperial family, led by Emperor Akihito has not produced a male heir since the 1960s; Crown Prince Naruhito and crown Princess Masako have one child, 3-y.-o. Aiko (Jap. "little loved one"), Princess Toshi (2001). In response to the Mar. 2004 bombing of Madrid, the U.N. founds the Alliance of Civilizations to prevent a clash of civilizations, tracing back to the U.N. initiative called "Dialogue Among Civilizations" proposed in 1998 by Iranian pres. Mohammad Khatami to counter Samuel Huntington's book "The Clash of Civilizations"; too bad, it ends up being coopted by Islamic countries against the West. The Israeli Supreme Court issues a ruling barring use of enemy civilians as human shields; too bad, in Feb. 2007 AP TV News films an incident involving 24-y.-o. Sameh Amira (1983-) being taken from his house on the West Bank by Israeli troops and used for one. Bhutan becomes the first country in the world to ban the sale of all tobacco products and public smoking. The U.S. govt. launches the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) initiative for teen students from Afghanistan; in June 2011 after scores of students flee to Canada rather than return home, they scrap it. Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush signs a law making the orange the official state fruit of Fla. After 50 years (1955) Britain discontinues the famous red Routemaster double-decker buses for more efficient German-made ones. Allergan Inc. sells $800M worth of Botox Cosmetic, 42% going for cosmetic uses (90% women). Cheap Monday jeans, by designer Bjorn Atldax cause controversy in Sweden with their logo of a skull with an upside-down cross on its forehead, fueled by the designer's announcement that "It's an active statement against Christianity", which he calls a "force of evil", responsible for many wars throughout history; 200K pairs were sold since Mar. 2004. Israel signs a 20-year contract with Egypt to supply it with natural gas; 45% of Israel's natural gas is supplied by Egypt. A 35-mi. rift opens in the desert of Ethiopia, which some geologists believe will eventually spawn a new ocean. An oil sands boom begins in Alberta, Canada, at $25 a ton; 175B barrels of proven reserves up for grabs with current technology, and up to 2T barrels total (8x Saudi Arabia). The top 10 Web search terms on Google.com from 1995-2005: "Pamela Anderson", "Dragonball", "Pokemon", "Britney Spears", "WWE", "Tattoos", "Las Vegas", "NFL", "Sept. 11 attacks", "Christmas". Google.com announces plans to create a "print library", consisting of digitized versions of millions of books from distinguished U.S. univ. libraries, but without receiving author permission, although the latter may remove their titles from the program; their plan to also profit from the program causes the Authors' Guild and the Assoc. of Am. Publishers (pres. Pat Schroeder, former Colo. U.S. Rep.) to sue; meanwhile Yahoo, Hewlett-Packard, Adobe, and Internet Archive introduce Open Content Alliance, a similar program limited to books free of copyright; an attempt by Google to get Yahoo and Microsoft to give it info. about their projects to defend against the suit is rebuffed as an attempt to get at trade secrets. Kraft Foods discontinues junk food ads for children. The U.S. Mint issues state quarters for Calif., Minn., Ore., Kan., and West Va. 82-y.-o. writer Norman Mailer accepts an honorary medal at the Nat. Book Awards dinner, saying "The passion readers used to feel for venturing into the serious novel has withered." Olivia Newton-John's half-Korean cameraman boyfriend (since 1996) Patrick Kim McDermott is reported missing while on a fishing trip; he is later allegedly sighted in Mexico. Jonathan Plummer (1975-), husband of "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" novelist Terry McMillan (1952-) reveals that he's gay and divorces her, claiming royalties from her bestselling novel inspired by him; in 2007 she sues him for $40M for trying to smear her rep during the divorce. A federal court puts wolves in the W U.S. under the Endangered Species Act, with penalties of up to $100K fine and one year in prison for killing one except in defense of human life. Widespread use of the sleeping pill Ambien (Zolpidem) causes an epidemic of sleepwalking and "sexsomnia"; that doesn't stop the U.S. FDA from approving generic versions of it on Apr. 23, 2007. The Syrian Am. Council is founded on Nov. 20 in Burr Ridge, Ill. The WB Network's onscreen symbol Michigan J. Frog (b. 1955) "dies" after "The frog was on life support for a long time and we got permission from a federal court to remove the feeding tube" (WB Pres. Garth Ancier). Am. seer Alex Yuan Chun Chiu predicts that China will nuke the U.S. this year over the Taiwan dispute. Total Web pages by the end of this year number 600B; Blogs: 50M; eBay: 50M live auctions/min. The European online market exceeds the U.S. this year, or next? Exxon grabs headlines when it posts an all-time record $36.13B operating profit for 2005; it spends $17.7B a year and pumps 4M barrels of oil and natural gas a day; it announces that it is going to build natural gas wells in Piceance Basin in Colo. using new multizone-stimulation technology, stirring concerns from environmentalists. The U.S. Congress votes to change the beginning of Daylight Savings Time to the first Sun. in Nov. in order to save energy. The U.S. Real ID Act of 2005 is passed, mandating federal requirements for driver's licenses, stirring fears of a coming national ID card and Big Brother, sealing the fate of Americans as hostages in a coming New World Order One-World Govt., and causing a rebellion at the state level to resist implementation. The Arab League and the EU create the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) as the first step toward a Euro-Mediterrean free trade area. CIA dir. George J. Tenet pub. a classified document claiming that the Clinton admin. bankrupted the intel community and refused to let the CIA prioritize anti-terrorism over other major priorities, leaving the CIA stretched too thin in the days leading to 9/11; it is not declassified until June 12, 2015. The Voyager 1 space probe launched in 1977 reaches the Sun's termination shock this year after 28 years in space, followed by Voyager 2 in July 2008. China leads the world in baby adoptions by U.S. families, thanks to the country's mad desire for male babies. The U.S. still calls 53 of the top 100 brand names home; Germany 9; France 8; Japan 7; Britain and Switzerland 5; Italy 4; Netherlands and South Korea 3; Finland, Sweden and Spain 1. The U.S. launches Operation Avarice (ends 2006), secretly buying 400 Borak chemical warhead rockets from Iraq that they manufactured in the 1980s but hid from inspectors; Pres. Bush fails to declassify the info., allowing his critics to claim that Iraq had no WMDs prior to the U.S. invasion. The U.S. Defense Dept. discharges 726 people this year for being gay, up 10% from 2004. The annual Global Peace and Unity Event in London is founded to bring Muslims and non-Muslims together; too bad, it ends up inviting speakers who are for terrorism and against Israel. The era of mass audience movies starts to end this year, with Disney, Sony, DreamWorks and others awash in red ink; the drop in prices from $7K to $2K of giant home HDTV systems keeps the demand for DVDs high, shrinking the release time from 9 mo. to 6 mo. to 3 mo. A record 145K Germans (highest since 1954) emigrate amid record (highest since WWI) unemployment (5.2M in Feb.); in June the jobless rate hits 8.2%. The Current Channel, AKA the Al Gore Network, backed with $70M in investment begins airing on cable. Adidas buys Reebok to better compete with Nike. The Renee and Lester Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis U. is founded, going on to become rabidly anti-Israel, endowing Pascal Menoret to the Crown Chair on Sept. 8, 2015. U2 singer Bono founds the "socially conscious" Edun (nude backwards) fashion line. Melissa Ann Young wins the Miss Wisc. USA beauty pageant; on Mar. 30, 2016 she tells Donald Trump that she is suffering from a terminal illness, causing Trump to set up a crowdfunding site through Fundanything.com for her Mexican-Am. son to go to college. White gay nudist Richard Hatch (1961-), the first winner of the Survivor TV reality show in Borneo (hosted by Jeff Probst of Rock & Roll Jeopardy fame) gets in trouble with the IRS for not reporting his $1M earnings which were presented to him on TV watched by millions, plus other income; he is convicted of income tax fraud after a trial where he claims he thought the show's producers paid the taxes for him, and in 2006 gets 51 mo. from U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres, who said he repeatedly lied on the witness stand - outsmart, outwit, outlast? This year there are an avg. of 15 murders a day in post-Communist Moscow, compared to two a day in New York City. A fisherman nets a record 646-lb. catfish in the Mekong River, home to an endangered species of catfish that can grow to 9 ft. - I smell a monster movie here? Jordanian-born Muslim Omar Alomari is hired by the Ohio Dept of Public Safety's Office of Homeland Secuity as a liaison with the Ohio Muslim community, and he goes on to pub. "A Guide to Arabic and Islamic Culture", defining jihad as "the benign pursuit of personal betterment. It may be applied to physical conflict fo Muslims, but only in the arena of Muslims defend themselves when attacked or when attempting to overthrow oppression and occupation... Jihad as a holy war is a European invention, spread in the West"; the Obama admin. appoints him to the U.S. Dept. of Security's Countering Violent Extremism Working Group, which turns out to be spreading "Islamist propaganda", and Alomari is fired for lying aout a previous job firing and failing to disclose ties to the Jordanian govt., where he held a high govt. position; in Apr. 2012 he files a "lawfare" lawsuit for investigating his background. Cartoonist Matt Furie introduces Pepe the Frog in his Boy's Club comic series, becoming known as the Sad Frog Meme, with a speech bubble saying "Feels good/bad man", becoming popular on the Internet; in 2016 anti-Semites co-opt it as their logo on Twitter. The Country Music Assoc. Awards are moved from Nashville, Tenn. to New York City. English philosophy prof. and "world's most influential atheist" Antony Flew (1923-) pub. an interview in the journal Philosophia Christi, titled "Atheist Becomes Theist", saying that he now believes in God because he "had to go where the evidence leads"... the findings of more than fifty years of DNA research have provided materials for a new and enormously powerful argument to design... the biblical account [of Genesis] might be scientifically accurate"; asked if he will also become a Christian he replies, "It's very unlikely... if I wanted any sort of future life I should become a Jehovah's Witness" - he flew the atheist coop? Suicides in Japan top 30K for the 8th straight year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that vaccination rates for black children in the U.S. has caught up to that of the other racial groups for the first time in a decade. Online gambling peaks at $12B, then slides by half by 2007. Montana issues hunting licenses for bison after reports of brucellosis. The B1 Butcher in Namibia begins murdering and dismembering women along Nat. Road B1, reaching five victims by 2007; he is not identified until ?. Blockbuster initiates a "no more late fees" policy for movies. U.S. publishers begin marketing "premium ed." paperbacks for aging Baby Boomers, using higher quality paper and larger type with more space between lines, and 3/4 in. taller (4.75 x 8). The SAT for U.S. college admissions is modifed and lengthened, with analogy questions removed from the reading test and quantitative comparisons removed from the math test, and a written essay test added. The Free File Software Program, created by a partnership of 19 cos. with the IRS, and available for free to any taxpayer with an adjusted gross income of $52K or less begins operation, attracting 5.12M taxpayers; after it proves full of bugs and the IRS doesn't have the authority to make them correct it, filers fall to 3.9M in 2005, and less in 2006. Guitar Hero video game is released by Harmonix and RedOctane, starting a craze. The U.S. Mint issues a new Jefferson nickel which contains the first-ever face-forward depiction of a U.S. pres. Jewish-Am. "Portnoy's Complaint", "Goodbye, Columbus" writer Philip Roth (1933-) becomes the 3rd living writer to have his collected works pub. by the Library of America. After Barbra Streisand unsuccessfully sues photographer Kenneth Adelman and Pictopia.com for pub. an aerial photo of her Malibu, Calif., mansion, causing 420K Web site visits in 1 mo., the term "Streisand Effect" is coined by Mike Masnick of Techdirt.com to mean the backfiring of attempts to censor info. by making everybody rush to see it. The Walk of Game in San Francisco, Calif. opens to honor pioneers and icons of the video game industry. Am. comedian Stephen Colbert coins the word "truthiness" to mean things a person claims to know "from the gut" on The Colbert Report of Oct. 17; too bad, it was already listed in the OED. Lindsay Lohan becomes the first living person to have a "My Scene Goes Hollywood" doll released by Mattel. The Brewers Assoc. (BA) is formed from the merger of the Brewers Assoc. of Am. (founded 1942) and the Assoc. of Brewers (founded 1983), with Charlie Papazian as pres. #1 (until), reaching 1.9K brewers by 2016. Jackson, Miss.-born chef (Culinary Inst. of Am. graduate) Catherine Ann "Cat" Cora (1967-) co-founds Chefs for Humanity in Jan. "to quickly be able to raise funds and provide resources for important emergency and humanitarian aid, nutritional education, and hunger-related initiatves throughout the world." Sports: Dennis Quaid (1.1 handicap) becomes the top celeb golf player in the U.S. On Jan. 13 ML baseball adopts a new tougher steroid testing program that suspends first-time offenders for 10 days and randomly tests players year-round. On Jan. 30 homeless man William Lepeska (1965-) is arrested after swimming nude across Biscayne Bay, trying to get into the $5M Sunset Island estate of tennis star Anna Kournikova (1981-), screaming "Anna, save me!", and accused of stalking her; on Feb. 23 he is ordered to permanently stay at least 1K ft. away from her after he admits to doing the swimming, and she reads portions of a letter sent to her by him - her ass is too high class for him? On Feb. 16NHL commissioner (since 1993) Gary Bruce Bettman announces that the league's entire season is being cancelled because of a labor dispute over a salary cap, becoming known as the 2004-5 NHL Lockout; the NHL becomes the first prof. league in North Am. to shut itself down; on July 22 NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces the end of the 310-day lockout and unveils rule changes to favor more offense. On Feb. 20 the 2005 (47th) Daytona 500 is won by Jeff Gordon (3rd win); Kurt Busch comes in 2nd, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. comes in 3rd; due to the green-white-checker finish rule of 2004, it becomes the first Daytona 500 to go longer than 500 mi. (507. mi.); the first to end at sunset. On Feb. 28 the Pakistan cricket team arrives in India on its first tour in six years. On Mar. 3 James Stephen "Steve" Fossett (1944-2007) of Beaver Creek, Colo. completes the first solo nonstop balloon flight around the world in 67 hours, financed by Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (1950-), who stars in his own exciting TV reality show The Rebel Billionaire this year. On Apr. 10 Tiger Woods wins his 4th Masters with a finish of birdies and bogeys. On May 13 Tiger Wood's streak of 142 consecutive cuts made on the PGA Tour ends at the Byron Nelson Championship at the Cottonwood Valley Course in Irving, Tex.; his 2nd round 2-over-par 72 gives him 1-over 141, one over the cut; his streak started in Feb. 1998 at the Pebble Beach Nat. Pro-Am; his only other missed cut was in the 1997 Canadian Open; in 2003 he passed Byron Nelson's record of 113 consecutive cuts to become the all-time leader. On May 15 the Czech Repub. defeats Canada for a 3rd straight time in the world ice hockey championships in Vienna Austria, winning 3-0. On May 25 Bradford Gates "Brad" Rutter (1978-) of Penn. beats Ken Jennings and Jerome Vered to win the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, winning $2M, giving total show winnings of $3,255,102, the highest in the show's history; Jennings comes in 2nd, getting a measly $500K, giving total show winnings of only $3,020,700. Lady and gentlemen, start your engines? On May 29 the 2005 (89th) Indianapolis 500 is upstaged by 5'2" 100 lb. bikini-loving Danica Sue Patrick (1982-), the 4th woman ever in the race, who achieves the highest starting position for a woman as well as the highest finish, and becomes the first woman to lead a lap (#56); she regains the lead near the end, but is low on fuel and finishes 4th in her Honda, which is put in the Honda Museum; the winner is English driver Daniel Clive "Dan" Wheldon (1978-2011), sponsored by Michael Andretti, ending a 35-year Andretti drought; Patrick becomes the first female Indy Racing League Rookie of the Year; Wheldon is killed on Oct. 16, 2011 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. On June 9-23 the 2005 NBA Finals sees the San Antonio Spurs (coach Gregg Popovich) defeat the Detroit Pistons (coach Larry Brown) by 4-3; Tim Duncan of the Spurs is MVP. On June 12 John Elway's Colorado Crush defeats the Georgia Force 51-48 in ArenaBowl XIX in Las Vegas after only three seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL). On June 14 Michelle Wie (1989-) becomes the first female player to qualify for an adult male U.S. Golf Assoc. championship, tying for first in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur Public Links sectional qualifying tournament; in 2003 she became the youngest woman to win the same tournament. On June 15 former Baylor U. basketball player Carlton Eric Dotson Jr. (1982-) is sentenced to 35 years in prison in Waco, Tex. for the murder of his teammate and best friend Patrick James Dennehy (1982-2003), whose body was found in 2003 in a field after Dotson called police to say he was hearing voices saying he is Jesus Christ, and told them where to find the body, launching the Baylor U. Basketball Scandal, causing head basketball coach (since 1999) David Gregory "Dave" Bliss (1943-) to resign after he is exposed for paying Dennehy's tuition, not reporting failed drug tests, and asking players to lie about it; the team doesn't have another winning season until 2008. On June 19 14 Formula One drivers refuse to participate in the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix because of fears of the safety of their Michelin tires; the race is won by Michael Schumacher (1969-), one of six who race on Bridgestones. On July 15 "Golden Bear" Jack Nicklaus plays his last pro golf game at the British Open in St. Andrews, Scotland, uttering the soundbyte: "I knew that hole would move wherever I hit it." On July 17 Tiger Woods wins the British Open with a 2-under 70 for his 10th career major. On July 24 Lance Armstrong wins his 7th straight "Tour de Lance" in France and retires (as he had announced on Apr. 18), saying "Viva Le Tour de France"; he contines to raise funds to fight cancer by selling his yellow Livestrong bracelets; an emotional speech blasts those who accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs of being unable to dream big and believe in achieving the impossible; he later goes on a 17-mi. Tour de Crawford with Pres. Bush on his Tex. ranch. On Aug. 1 5,000-hit 300-homer Hall of Fame sure-thing Baltimore Orioles 1st baseman Rafael Palmeiro (1964-) fails a drug test for steroids, prompting him to apologize to his team; he had been the most emphatic ball player testifying before Congress in Mar. that he had never used them and never would? On Sept. 20 the Sacramento Monarchs finally win a sports title for starving Sacramento, Calif. when they win the NBA title in front of 15K fans in Arco Arena. In the fall Cuyler Frank (1977-) becomes the first radio announcer to do a play-by-play of a football game in Navajo, for the N.M. State U. Aggies. White men can't jump, but they can't open their mouths in public either in the new PC U.S.? On Oct. 25 after a 48-10 loss to Texas Christian U. (TCU), Cheraw,S.C.-born lily white Air Force Academy coach (1980-2006) Fisher DeBerry (1938-) makes un-PC statements and touches the new third rail of U.S. politics at a media luncheon, commenting that TCU "had a lot more Afro-American players than we did and they ran a lot faster than we did. That doesn't mean that Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me that they run extremely well"; also "The black athlete, statistically, from program to program, seems to have an edge as far as speed is concerned"; the PC police then come down on him hard, resulting in a reprimand, even though the statements are true and white men can't run with the black men?; black running backs have led the NFL in rushing for the past 43 consecutive seasons; between 1977-2005 96 receivers were drafted in the first round of the NFL, all of them black; the world records at every race distance under 800m are held by men of West African descent, as it has been since the middle of the 20th cent.; as of 2001, 494 of the fastest 500 times in the 100m run have been by men of West African descent; of the approx. 200 times the 10-sec. barrier has been broken, all have been by runners of West African descent; when it comes to distance running, Kenyans and Ethiopians dominate, with most of the top runners coming from one small Kenyan ethnic group - East is East and West is West, and never the what? In Oct. WNBA basketball star Sheryl Swoopes comes out as a lesbian after divorcing her hubby with whom she had a child, announcing a relationship with Comets asst. coach Alisa Scott; in 2011 she gets engaged to a man, Chris Unclesho, and marries him. On Nov. 2 7'0" center Andrew Bynum (1987-) (#17) of the Los Angeles Lakers (b. Oct. 27, 1987) becomes the youngest player to play in a regular season NBA game at 18 years 6 days, breaking Jermaine O'Neal's 1995 record by 46 days. On Nov. 5, 2005 the 22-team BJ (Basketball Japan) League is founded in Japan, divided into Eastern and Western Conferences; it holds its first All-Star Game in 2006; in 2012 the Nat. Basketball League (NBL) is founded by the Japanese Basketball Assoc. to exist alongside the BJ League; in 2013-4 former Chicago Bulls coach Bill Cartwright becomes head coach of team Osaka Evessa. On Nov. 28 after 20 years of trying, Kent Wagner (1958-) (husband of Lisa Wagner) of Palmetto, Fla. scores a 292 game in Bradenton, Fla. after deliberately hitting two pins with his final ball to become the first bowler with sanctioned games with scores of every number from 290 to 300. Jennifer Tilly becomes the first celeb. to win the World Series of Poker. The U.S. (United States) Bowling Congress in Greendale, Wisc. is formed from the merger of the Am. Bowling Congress (ABC), Women's Internat. Bowling Congress (WIBC), Young American Bowling Alliance (YABA), and USA Bowling, founding the USBC Hall of Fame by merging the ABC (1941) and WIBC (1953) halls of fame; in Nov. 2008 it moves to Arlington, Tex. Architecture: On Apr. 19 the $115M Abraham Lincoln Museum complex opens in Springfield, Ill., with 47K Lincoln-related items, becoming the largest collection of Lincoln artifacts on Earth. On May 10 Germany dedicates a new Nat. Holocaust Memorial, a square block of 2.7K+ undulating charcoal-colored concrete slabs in the heart of Berlin one block from the Brandenburg Gate near Hitler's bunker; on July 30, 2006 vandals scratch a swastika onto one of the slabs. On June 12 Shaab Stadium in Baghdad (the city's biggest sports complex, cap. 50K) opens after two years as a U.S. military base, and two elite Iraqi soccer teams, the Zawraa (ancient name for Baghdad) and the Shurta (Arabic for police) play before 2K fans, and Zawraa wins 2-0. On Aug. 27 the 623-ft. (190m) 54-story 90-degree-twist HSB Turning Torso Bldg. in Malmo, Sweden, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava Valls (1951-) opens, becoming the tallest bldg. in Scandinavia, tallest residential bldg. in the EU, and 2nd tallest residential bldg. in Europe. The 1,058-ft. (322.5m) Q1 Bldg. in Gold Coast, Australia opens, becoming the world's tallest all-residential bldg. (until ?), and tallest in Australia (until ?). Nobel Prizes: Peace: Mohamed Mostafa ElBaradei (1942-) (Egypt) and Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Lit.: Harold Pinter (1930-2008) (U.K.) ("uncovers the precipice under everyday prattle"); Physics: John Lewis "Jan" Hall (1934-) (U.S.) [quantum theory of optical coherence], Roy Jay Glauber (1925-) (U.S.), and Theodor Wolfgang Hansch (1941-) (Germany) [laser spectroscopy and optical frequency comb technique]; Chem.: Yves Chauvin (1930-) (France), Robert Howard Grubbs (1942-) (U.S.) (born near Possum Trot, Ky.), and Richard Royce Schrock (1945-) (U.S.) [olefin metathesis method of organic synthesis]; Medicine: Barry James Marshall (1951-) (Australia) and John Robin Warren (1937-) (Australia) [Helicobacter pylori]; Economics: Robert John Aumann (1930-) (U.S.) and Thomas Crombie Schelling (1921-) (U.S.) [for "having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis"]. Inventions: By this year the avg. desktop PC has 109 GB of storage, and the laptop has 58 GB. Intel Corp. releases a new 2005 Intel Itanium 2 chip with 1.7B transistors, and introduces the BTX motherboard, which allows repositioning of PC parts for more efficient cooling. On Feb. 14 20-something Am. geeks Chad Meredith Hurley (1977-), Bangladeshi-descent Jawed Karim (1979-), and Taipei, Taiwan-born Steve Shih Chen (1978-) found YouTube.com for sharing homemade videos on the Web, and within a year receive a $11.5M venture capital investment from Sequoia Capital of Menlo Park, Calif., the same firm that helped launch Google, and ramp up its San Mateo, Calif. site to 9M visitors a mo. by Feb. 2006; the first video is Me at the zoo by Karim; like MySpace.com, it gets into trouble with either sexual predators or copyright violation issues, but on Oct. 16, 2006 Google buys YouTube for $1.65B - but but but they're the future? On Apr. 27 the 853-seat double-deck 8K nmi.-range Airbus A380 wide-body airliner makes its first flight to compete with the Boeing 747, becoming the world's largest passenger airliner, selling for $445.6M in the U.S.; too bad, after electrical wiring difficulties cause a 2-year delay, development costs balloon to $25B, which the co. can't recoup, and inability to carry cargo prevents it from being repurposed, causing production to end in 2021; 234 are built by Jan. 31, 2019. On May 12 the Xbox 360 home video console is introduced by Microsoft. On June 23 Reddit social news aggregation, rating, and discussion Web site is founded in Medford, Masss. by former U. of Va. roommates Steve Huffman (1983-) and "Mayor of the Internet" Alexis Kerry Ohanian Sr. (1983-) with the goal of becoming "the front page of the Internet"; in Oct. 2006 it is acquired by Conde Nast Pubs. of San Francisco, Calif. going on to reach 542M visits/mo. by Feb. 2018. In July Rupert Murdoch purchases the artist community Web site MySpace.com (founded on Aug. 1, 2003) for $580M from founders Tom Anderson and Chris De Wolfe, who launched it in Jan. 2004, and benefitted from the penetration of the Internet into homes; by the end of the year it has 42M registered users and has 550K musical artists with songs on the site. On Sept. 29 the FDA warns doctors about the Eli Lilly drug Strattera, used to treat ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in adolescents and children, saying that it can lead to suicidal thinking. Durand-Wayland of LaGrange, Ga. introduces laser coding, AKA natural light labeling for fruits and vegetables, allowing those pesky paper stickers to be dispensed with. The USAF $137.5M F-22 Raptor enters service in Dec., becoming the #1 fighter on Earth, with everything but the kitchen sink, incl. stealth capability; 187 are ordered by 2009; they are not used in combat until ?. Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) is introduced commercially. The Rheos System is developed by the U. of Rochester Medical Center to regulate blood pressure similarly to how a pacemaker regulates heart rhythm. Science: On Feb. 1 after 18 mo. of rejections by four journals, Spanish microbiologist Francisco Juan Martinez Mojica (1963-) et al. pub. the article Intervening sequences of regularly spaced prokaryotic repeats derive from foreign genetic elements in Journal of Molecular Evolution, reporting their discovery that some CRISPR spacers are derived from phage DNA and extrachromosomal DNA incl. plasmids, indicating that they are fragments of DNA gathered from viruses that tried to attack the cells, indicating that they might have a role in adaptive immunity in bacteria. On Feb. 1-3 after an invitation by British PM Tony Blair, Avoiding Dangerous Climate Change: A Scientific Symposium on Stabilisation of Greenhouse Gases is held at the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter, Devon, England, chaired by Dennis Tirpak to take action on the 2001 IPCC Third Assessment Report and achieve the objectives of the 1991 U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, concluding that the runaway level of 2C of global warming would likely happen after the atmospheric CO2 level reaches 550ppm, and that action must be taken when it is still below 400ppm because if it reaches 450 ppm then there is only a 50% likelihood of stopping the global warming from reaching 2C, also that if no action is taken for 20 years, emission reduction rates will have to be 3x-7x greater to achieve the same temperature target, causing the U.K. to change its target in its Climate Change Act from 60% to 80% by 2050. On Mar. 25 the journal Science pub. an announcement that soft tissues that resemble blood vessels and cells were recovered from the thighbone of an 18-y.-o. T-Rex known as MOR 1125, found in a sandstone formation in Montana. On Mar. 31 Palomar Observatory discovers plutoid Makemake in the Kuiper Belt. On Apr. 12 thousands of scientists scramble to destroy vials of 1957 killer flu sent to 5K labs in 18 countries by mistake; since it has not been included in flu vaccines since 1968, people born after that year have no immunity to it. In Apr. scientists announce the discovery of the Laotian rock rat (kha-nyou) (Laonastes aenigmamus) in the Khammouan region of Laos, which has the face of a rat and the tail of a squirrel, and classify it as part of the Diatomyidae family that supposedly went extinct 11M years ago, "the coelacanth of rodents" (Mary Dawson) - doesn't everybody know that squirrels are tree rats? Where's the 11 million years of missing bones? In Apr. ornithologists announce the confirmation of the sighting of the elusive ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) (believed extinct since 1944) by a kayaker in the Cache River Nat. Wildlife Refuge in E Ark. in 2004; skeptics are convinced by audio recordings of its distinctive double rap (one echo, one close)? In May South Korean scientists use skin samples from patients to create embryonic stem cells; meanwhile, in Britain scientists produce a cloned embryo from which stem cells can be harvested. In May the Blue Brain Project is launched to reverse-engineer the mammalian brain down to the molecular level from lab data; on July 22, 2009 dir. Henry Markram of the Ecole Polytechnique in Switzerland utters the soundbyte: "It is not impossible to build a human brain and we can do it in 10 years." In June scientists at St. Thomas' Hospital in London release a study showing that 34% of the difficulty women face in reaching orgasm during intercourse is due to genes - wearing them too tight? In July a new planetoid orbiting the Sun at 9B mi. (3X the orbit of Pluto) named UB313 (nicknamed Xena) is announced, with an albedo of .6; it has methane ice on its surface, and has a moon. The Red Planet gets Americanized? In July NASA cancels the $500M Lockheed Martin Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, planned for a 2009 launch, to be the first of a network of Martian comm satellites on a 10-year mission in orbit 2.8K mi. above Mars in order to have a line of sight to Earth and pioneer the use of lasers for planet-to-planet communication; on Aug. 12 the Lockheed Martin Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is launched, attaining Martian orbit on Mar. 10, 2006 and aerobraking for 5 mo. until Nov. 2006, joining five other Mars spacecraft to measure Mar in 8-12 in. scale and will serve as the main relay for the data to be returned by the Mars Science Lab, to be launched in 2009. In July the Ninth World Multi-Conference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics in Orlando, Fla. is held, trying to live down ridicule from its early acceptance of the bogus computer-generated paper "Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy", submitted by MIT students Jeremy Stribling, Max Krohn, and Dan Aguayo as a joke to prove that academic conferences pander to academics looking to pad resumes with worthless alphabet soup papers that they spend all their time on instead of real research. Would-be Christopher Columbus sinks? On Aug. 3 the journal Nature reports that South Korean scientists, led by Hwang Woo-suk have created the Afghan hound Snuppy (Seoul Nat. U. puppy), the world's first cloned dog, after implanting over 100 dogs with more than 1K cloned embryos; in a May article in Science he announces creation of the technology to create patient-matched stem cells, and on Dec. 23 resigns from Seoul Nat. U. after admitting he had fabricated the results of 9 of the 11 stem cell lines involved, while still maintaining that the technology works; on Jan. 10 his school, Seoul Nat. U says that he did fake his results with human stem cells but that his cloned dog is genuine; on June 17, 2009 South Korea finally lifts its ban on human stem cell research despite opposition by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea. On Aug. 11 the online ed. of Science pub. three reports three reports reporting that old temp. records used to feed calculations indicating that there is no global warming contained errors, and that the troposphere has warmed during the last two decades; John Christy and Roy Spencer of the U. of Ala., who developed the original records concede the error, but say that the warming rate calculated is too small to be a concern? On Sept. 8 the first non-invasive pediatric procedure ever webcast is performed at Presbyterian/St. Luke Medical Center in Denver, Colo, as a 13-y.-o. undergoes a procedure to alleviate acid reflux. On Sept. 28 the Nat. Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. releases data that the Arctic ice cap is shrinking, reaching its smallest-ever size this summer, and that the cause is probably global warming from human-generated greenhouse gases; they also speculate that the change is becoming self-sustaining as the holes in the ice allow the sea to absorb solar energy; they also claim that the permafrost is disappearing, coastal areas are being inundated, and polar bears are losing hunting grounds. On Oct. 26 researchers from the U.S., Britain and Japan announce the completion of a new kind of DNA map in a 3-year $138M effort, a compilation of 5M different regions in the human genome where chemical sequences vary from person to person, in an effort to speed up gene-hunting searches. In the Nov. 11 issue of Science, Stanford U. researchers announce the discovery of a single human gene that produces two hormones with opposite effects, ghrelin, which stimulates appetite, and obestatin, which inhibits it. Fillet of face, the new pet chow? On Nov. 27-28 38-y.-o. unemployed divorced French mother Isabelle Dinoire (1967-2016), who had the lower half of her face ripped off in June by her Labrador retriever mix while unconscious with drugs becomes the first recipient of a partial face transplant by an internat. team in Amiens led by Dr. Jean-Michel Dubernard (1941-), who operate for 15 hours; the donor was a brain-dead woman in Lille; the announcement on Dec. 2 draws internat. criticism that she won't be able to handle the new face psychologically; on Oct. 25, 2006 an ethics panel in London approves full-face transplants; in the U.S. in 2007 the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio and the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass. become the first to offer it - hold the ugly jokes? In Nov. Kevin Luhman of Penn. State U. announces the discovery of a brown dwarf (1% of the mass of the Sun) located 500 l.y. from Earth in the constellation Chamaeoleon, claiming it appears to be undergoing a planet-forming process. On Dec. 8 researchers at Harvard and MIT announce in Nature mag. the first complete deciphering of the genetic code of a dog, a boxer named Tasha; "Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read. We're here to unveil the book of the dog", says Dr. Francis Collins, dir. of the Nat. Human Genome Research Inst.; in 2003 the DNA (2.4B chemical building blocks) of a male poodle named Shadow was partially decoded. On Dec. 9 U. of Kan. researcher Johannes Feddema et al. pub. the article The Importance of Land-Cover Change in Simulating Future Climates in Science predicting that the deforestation of Amazon jungles could strengthen the summer monsoon in the SW U.S., adding 2 in. to the precipitation and offsetting some of global warming's effects; global deforestation is going at a rate of 50K sq. mi. a year. On Dec. 12 Fred Gage et al. of the Salk Inst. in San Diego, Calif. announce the birth of mice with 0.1% of human cells in their brains after injecting 14-day-old embroys with 100K human embryonic stem cells. The British Journal of Psychology pub. an article by Paul Irwing and Richard Lynn showing that men average 5 more points on IQ tests than women, and that the disparity grows as IQ scores rise, with 2x as many at IQ 125, and 5.5x as many at IQ 155 - what about penis size? Merck & Co. announces that its new vaccine Gardasil is 100% effective in a 2-year test on 10K girls and women in preventing the most common forms of cervical cancer, caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV), which kills 300K women a year (only 3.7K in the U.S.). German-born British human geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer (1936-) is appointed to lead a Ł2.3M program at Oxford U. to study the genetic makeup of the U.K. Paralyzed patient Matt Nagle is taught to operate an artificial hand via a computer chip implanted in his head. Asteroid 87 Sylvia is found to have two moons. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory Scientific Collaboration (LIGO) begins measurements to detect gravity waves; too bad, it doesn't detect any until ? U. of N.C. physicist Laura Mersini-Houghton and Carnegie Mellon U. physicist Richard Holman predict anomalies in Big Bang radiation caused pull from other Universes; Mersini-Houghton claims proof in 2013. Eugene Koonin of the Nat. Insts. of Health et al. discover Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) (pr. "crisper"), in DNA, which implement an immune system against viral DNA. The Nat. Geographic Society and IBM begin a $40M 5-year project to reconstruct a genealogy of the world's pops. and the migration paths of early humans from their ancestral homeland in Africa by collecting and analyzing 100K blood samples from indigenous pops. around the world and analyzing them genetically. Scientists observe gorillas in the wild for the first time using tools when female gorilla Leah uses a stick to test the depth of the water in Nouabal De-Ndoki Nat. Park in the Repub. of Congo. Ramon Bonfil and Barbara Block Stanford U. announce that a great white shark (named Nicole) swam over 12K mi. from Africa to Australia and back, linking the shark pops. of the two continents - human meat makes good fuel? A record 21 surviving baby pandas are born in China's zoos and breeding centers this year using artificial insemination. KV 63, the 63rd tomb found in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt is discovered by U.S. archeologists, becoming the first new tomb uncovered since King Tut's in 1922; in June 2006 the tomb is opened, revealing embalming materials and woven flowers from the period of -1500 to -1000. New measurements of Mt. Everest indicate a height of 29,017 ft., down 12 ft. from 1975. The Badlands Guardian (Indian Head) near Medicine Hat, Albert, Canada is discovered, becoming a mystery of history (until ?). Nonfiction: Anon. (1911-2001), A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City - a Diary; Apr. 20-June 22, 1945 in balls-out Berlin. Peter Ackroyd (1949-), Shakespeare: The Biography. Amir D. Aczel, Descartes' Secret Notebook: A True Tale of Mathematics, Mysticism, and the Quest to Understand the Universe. Francesco Alberoni (1929-), Sex and Love. Alan Alda (1936-), Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Other Things I've Learned (autobio.) (Sept. 13). Svetlana Alexievich (1948-), Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster. Woody Allen (1935-), Above the Law, Below the Box Springs. Gotz Aly (1947-), Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State; how Hitler bought his people's loyalty with plunder, making occupied countries pay two-thirds of the cost of the war while keeping taxes low at home. Jonathan Ames (1964-), Sexual Metamorphosis: An Anthology of Transsexual Memoirs. Andy Andrews, The Seven Decisions. Maya Angelou (1928-), Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer. Reza Aslan (1972-), No god But God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam; big hit with Westerners, claiming that we are now living in the era of the Islamic Reformation a la the 16th cent. Protestant Reformation, and that there isn't really a clash of civilizations, jihad was intended to be solely defensive, etc.; "The notion that historical context should play no role in the interpretation of the Koran – that what applied to Muhammad's community applies to all Muslim communities for all time – is simply an untenable position in every sense" - Allahu Akbar off with his head? Joseph Atwill, Caesar's Messiah; claims that the Roman Flavian emperors invented Jesus using Jewish traitor brain man Josephus ca. 73 C.E. in order to create a peaceful Messiah that would never lead another violent revolt against Rome. Paul Auster (1947-), Collected Prose. Chris Ayres, War Reporting for Cowards (autobio.); embedded reporters in Iraq. David B. (Pierre-Francois Beauchard), Epileptic (autobio.); growing up with an epileptic brother. Bruce Babbitt (1938-), Cities in the Wilderness: A New Vision of Land Use in America; wants stronger federal leadership, incl. expanding the Endangered Species Act to landscapes. Andrew J. Bacevich (1947-), The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War. Mike G.L. Baillie and Patrick McCafferty, The Celtic Gods: Comets in Irish Mythology. Bernard Bailyn (1922-), Atlantic History: Concept and Contours. Marc Ian Barasch, Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness. Fantasia Barrino (1984-) and Kim Green, Life is Not a Fairy Tale; winning Am. Idol despite being illiterate, she takes tutoring and learns to read. John M. Barry, The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History; the 1918-19 Spanish Flu Pandemic. Martha Nibley Beck (1962-), Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith; by the daughter of chief Mormon apologist Hugh Nibley (1910-2005), claiming she was sexually abused as a child by daddy in bizarre religious rituals - the work of Stan? Michelle Belanger (1973-), Sacred Hunger. Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Next Attack: The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for Getting It Right (Oct. 13); "We are losing" (opening line); disses the Bush admin. for its handling of al-Qaida and Bush's statement that "75% of known al-Qaida leaders have been brought to justice", claiming that the invasion of Iraq played into their hands, helping al-Qaida with recruitment and turning the Muslim world and much of the rest of the world against the U.S., with the soundbyte "It is unlikely that even in his most feverish reveries Usama bin Laden could have imagined that America would stumble so badly and wound itself so grievously". Phyllis Bennis, Challenging Empire: How People, Governments,and the U.N. Defy U.S. Power (Nov. 30); world opinion is the 2nd world power after the U.S.? John Berendt (1939-), The City of Falling Angels (2nd novel); about Venice since the last opera house burned down in 1996. Nate Berkus (1971-), Home Rules: Transform the Place You Live into a Place You'll Love. Paul Berman (1948-), Power and the Idealists: Or, The Passion of Joschka Fischer, and Its Aftermath. Gary Berntsen, Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander (Dec. 27); claims that Osama bin Laden could have been captured in Tora Bora. Robert Berringer, Ancient Gods and Their Mysteries: Will They Return in 2012 AD? (Apr. 1); claims that ancient deities Yahweh (Jehovah) and Quetzalcoatl left a "trail of breadcrumbs", and will return on Dec. 21, 2012. Anne Bird, Blood Brother. Kai Bird (1951-) and Martin J. Sherwin (1937-), American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Pulitzer Prize). Joan Biskupic, Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice. H.G. Bissinger (1954-), Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy; the St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Chicago Cubs. Harold Bloom (1930-), Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine. Christopher Booker (1937-) and Richard A.E. North, The Great Deception: Can the European Union Survive?. Neal Boortz and John Linder, The Fair Tax Book; tax purchases not income with a 23% nat. retail sales tax. Andrew G. Bostom, The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims; shows that jihad doesn't have many rich meanings, but is all about expansion of the faith by violence. James Bradley (1954-), Flags of Our Fathers; the story behind the WWII photo taken at Iwo Jima on Feb. 23, 1945 by Joe Rosenthal. Taylor Branch, At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-1968. Timothy H. Breen (1942-), Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence. Douglas Brinkley (1960-), The Boys of Pointe du Hoc: Ronald Reagan, D-Day, and the U.S. Army 2nd Ranger Battalion. Po Bronson, Why Do I Love These People? David Jay Brown, Conversations on the Edge: Contemplating the Future with Noam Chomsky, George Carlin, Deepak Chopra, Rupert Sheldrake, and Others (Apr. 21). James Brown (1933-2006), I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul (autobio.). Judith Anne Brown, John Marco Allegro: The Maverick of the Dead Sea Scrolls; by his daughter. Robert Bruegmann, Sprawl; open space and smart growth create hysteria? Howard Bryant, Juicing the Game: Drugs, Power, and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball. Kenneth Burke (1897-1993), Here and Elsewhere: Collected Fiction (posth.). Robert Olen Butler (1945-), From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction. Cambridge U. Press, The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib. Jose Canseco (1964-), Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big; admits to juicing up with steroids. Norman F. Cantor (1929-2004), Alexander the Great (posth.). Philip Caputo (1941-), Ten Thousand Days of Thunder: A History of the Vietnam War; 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings. Richard Carrier (1969-), Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism (first book); defends Scientific Materialism (Metaphysical Naturalism). Sean B. Carroll, Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom - Charles Darwin has this innocent look on his face like I didn't do nothing? Jimmy Carter (1924-), Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis; Sunday Mornings in Plains: Bringing Peace to a Changing World. Phyllis Chesler (1940-), The Death of Feminism: What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom. Raj Chetty (1979-) and Emmanuel Saenz (1972-), Dividend Taxes and Corporate Behavior: Evidence from the 2003 Dividend Tax Cut; reports that the 2003 dividend rate cut from 35% to 15% caused more companies to pay out dividends, but also that they are likelier to pay dividends if top execs own substantial stock, and that when the rate is too high, or execs own too few shares, mgt. tends to reinvest earnings in low priority projects or frivolous purchases to keep the money within the firm. Deepak Chopra (1946-), The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit. Peace is the Way: Bringing War and Violence to an End; how a "critical mass" of people can defeat the global "addition to war", founding Alliance for a New Humanity to form "peace cells" around the world. David Christian (1946-), Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History; makes a fan of history ignoramus Bill Gates. Church of England, The 100-Minute Bible; designed to be read between soap operas, it reduces the Old Testament to 17 1-page sections and the New Testament to 33; it calls Satan one of God's servants, and identifies the Great Babylon in Rev. ch. 17 as Rome. Steve Coll, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001; Charlie Wilson's War plus plus. Arnold M. Cooper (1930-2011), The Quiet Revolution in American Psychoanalysis (essays) (Jan. 9), how psychiatry has evolved since Freud, plus his contributions in the area of narcissism and masochism. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-) and Craig R. Smith, Black Gold Stranglehold: The Myth of Scarcity and the Politics of Oil. W. Michael Cox and Richard Alm, Myths of Rich and Poor. Daniel Coyle, Lance Armstrong's War: One Man's Battle Against Fate - no tomato sauce or chocolate mousse, but Juanita Cuervo is okay? Catherine Crier (with Cole Thompson), A Deadly Game: The Untold Story of the Scott Peterson Investigation. Theodore Dalrymple (1949-), Our Culture, What's Left Of It: The Mandarins and the Masses (essays). Marie Darrieussecq (1969-), The Country (Le Pays); about writer Marie Riviere, who leaves Paris with her 2-y.-o. child to live with her parents in a trailer in the country. John H. Davis (1929-), The Hill. Andrew Delbanco, Herman Melville: His World and Work; existentialist skeptic author is finally figured out? Daniel Dennett (1942-), Sweet Dreams: Philosophical Obstacles to a Science of Consciousness. Jared Mason Diamond (1937-), Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed; how Eurasian dominance comes from ecological factors not racial superiority, while trying to deny ecological or environmental determinism; the case of Hispaniola Island. Larry Diamond, Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq. Peter Diamond (1940-) and Peter Orszag (1968-), Saving Social Security: The Diamond-Orszag Plan (Apr.); proposes small incremental increases in contributions based on actuarial tables adjusted for changes in life expectancy, and an increase in the proportion of earnings subject to taxation. Joan Didion (1934-), The Year of Magical Thinking (memoir) (Oct.) (Pulitzer Prize); her hubby John Gregory Dunne (d. 2003) and daughter Quintana Roo Dunne Michael (d. 2005) die within two years. The Downing Street Memos; minutes from British PM Blair's war cabinet revealing that the head of the British Secret Service believed the Bush admin. was fixing intel to justify invading Iraq in summer 2002, and had no plan for rebuilding postwar Iraq. Thomas Michael Disch (1940-2008), On SF (essays on science fiction). Donovan (1946-), The Hurdy Gurdy Man (autobio.). Maureen Dowd (1952-), Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide; men don't like women with power, but love servants, maids, masseuses, etc.? Robert Dreyfuss, Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam. Stephen Dubner (1963-) and Steve Levitt (1967-), Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Apr. 12); bestseller (4M copies); how simple fixes can solve big problems; the drop in violent crime traces to Roe v. Wade?; backyard swimming pools are more dangerous than guns? Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn, 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers. John Edward (1969-), Practical Praying: Using the Rosary to Enhance Your Life. Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time. Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-), Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream. Bart D. Ehrman (1955-), Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (Whose Word Is It?); NYT bestseller; exposes the New Testament's dirty laundry of inconsistent and unsure text, making it impossible to know what it really says, even in matters of basic doctrine, pissing-off Bible-thumpers, who mainly studiously ignore him? Caroline Elkins, Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya (Pulitzer Prize). Eve Ensler (1953-), The Vagina Warriors: 35 Women Leaders in the Spoken World Revolution. Khaled Abou El Fadl (1963-), The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists (Oct. 4). Emmanuel Faye, Heidegger: The Introduction of Nazism into Philosophy; claims that his Nazi sympathies ruin all his philosophical works, hence should be banned. John Feinstein, Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today's NFL. Marilyn Ferguson (1938-2008), Aquarius Now: Radical Common Sense and Reclaiming Our Personal Sovereignty (Nov.); sequel to "The Aquarian Conspiracy" (1980). Niall Ferguson (1964-), 1914: Why the World Went to War. Nathaniel Fick, One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer; "Sure as Christ made little red apples." Andrew J. Field, Mainliner Denver: The Bombing of Flight 629; the Nov. 1955 plane bombing by John Gilbert Graham in Colo. Norman Gary Finkelstein (1953-), The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering; a U.S. Jew asserts that the Holocaust is being used by Zionist Jews for personal and political reasons and to extort money from Germans and oppress the Palestinians, then criticizes sacred cows Elie Wiesel and Steven Spielberg, pissing-off Zionist bulldog Harvard law prof. Alan Morton Dershowitz (1938-), who goes on a successful crusade to get his tenure at DePaul U. revoked. Frank Fitzpatrick, The Lion in Autumn: A Season with Joe Paterno and Penn State Football. Tim Flannery (1956-), The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change; makes fans of Sir Richard Branson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, British Columbia PM Gordon Campbell, and Zhou Ji, pres. of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Jane Fonda (1937-), My Life So Far (autobio.). Paula Fox (1923-), The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe (autobio.). Al Franken, The Truth (with Jokes). Harry G. Frankfurt, On Bull----. John Hope Franklin (1915-2009), Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin (autobio.). James Christopher Frey (1969-), My Friend Leonard. Thomas L. Friedman (1953-), The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century; about his visit to Bangalore, India, where he witnessed work flow software converge the personal computer with fiber-optic micro cable, which he calls Globalization 3.0, superseding Globalization 2.0 (mutlinat. corps.) and Globalization 1.0 (govts.), arguing for countries to surrender a degree of economic sovereignty to the "golden straitjacket" of global capital markets and multinational corporations while preserving local traditions via "glocalization"; the U.S. needs energy independence from the Saudis so that their younger generation can overthrow them, and needs to open up immigration to "the world's first-round intellectual draft choices in an age when everyone increasingly has the same innovation tools and the key differentiator is human talent." Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012), This I Believe: An A to Z of a Life. Mark Fuhrman (1952-), Silent Witness: The Untol Story of Terri Schiavo's Death; after the O.J. Trial, the writer suffers from a credibility gap? John Lewis Gaddis (1941-), The Cold War: A New History. Jordi Gali (1961-) and Olivier Blanchard (1948-), Real Wage Rigidities and the New Keynesian Model; coins the term "divine coincidence" for the property of New Keynesian macroeconomic models that stabilizing the inflation rate stabilizes the output gap, allowing central bankers to pursue a simplified Taylor Rule focused only on inflation stabilization without needing to consider output growth, then showing that with frictional unemployment and other frictions added to the model, there is a tradeoff between stabilizing inflation and stabilizing the output gap. Oded Galor (1956-), From Stagnation to Growth: Unified Growth Theory (Jan. 20); "Deciphering the fundamental determinants of the transition from stagnation to growth and the great divergence has been widely viewed as one of the most significant research challenges facing researchers in the field of growth and development"; Discrete Dynamical Systems (Apr. 1). Joel Garreau, Radical Evolution; will nanobots replicate out of control and turn the planet into gray goo, or transhumans and posthumans accelerate their own evolution, creating the Heaven Scenario, AKA the Rapture of the Nerds, or a middle ground called the Prevail? John Gibson, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday is Worse Than You Thought; secular (read liberal Jewish) orgs. are behind a plot to rob Xmas of its spiritual nature? Malcolm Gladwell (1963-), Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Jan. 11); sells 2M copies; coins the terms "blink" and "thin-slicing", claiming that experts often make better decisions with snap judgments based on narrow, targeted views of the big picture. Rebecca Godfrey, Under the Bridge; the Reena Virk murder of Nov. 14, 1997. Jacques le Goff, The Birth of Europe; tries to rehabiliate the Middle Ages as cooler than cool. Bernard Goldberg (1945-), 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America; "Liberals [who are] snooty, snobby know-it-alls, who have gotten angrier and angrier in recent years and who think they're not only smarter, but also better than everyone else, especially everyone else who lives in a 'red state' - a population they see as hopelessly dumb and pathetically religious"; repub. in 2006 as "110 People Who Are Screwing Up America"; incl. Michael Moore (1954-), Arthur Sulzberger (1926-), Ted Kennedy (1932-), Jesse Jackson (1941-), Jimmy Carter (1924-), Al Gore (1948-), Noam Chomsky (1928-), Dan Rather (1931-), Howard Stern (1954-), Eminem (1972-), Ludacris (1977-), and Courtney Love (1964-) ("Ho"). Rebecca Goldstein (1950-), The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Godel. Lawrence Goldstone, Dark Bargain: Slavery and Profits at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke (1953-2012) (ed.), G.R.S. Mead and the Gnostic Quest. Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943-), Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Oct. 25), about how he managed his cabinet, becoming a favorite of Pres. Obama; used as a basis for the 2012 Steven Spielberg film "Lincoln". William P. Grady, How Satan Turned America Against God; afterword by nuclear physicist Samuel Theodore Cohen, supporter of Patrick Buchanan's 2000 U.S. pres. run. Seth Grahame-Smith (1976-), The Big Book of Porn: A Penetrating Look at the World of Dirty Movies. Francine du Plessix Gray, Them: A Memoir of Parents. Karen J. Greenberg and Joshua L. Dratel (eds.), The Torture Papers. John Grogan (1957-), Marley & Me (autobio.) (Oct.); life with an unruly yellow Lab; filmed in 2008 by David Frankel starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston. Peter Guralnick, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke; the first gospel music superstar to move into pop in the late 1950s. Jurgen Habermas (1929-), Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe: Transatlantic Relations After the Iraq War; plea for a common foreign policy after 9/11. Graham Hancock (1950-), Supernatural: Meeting with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind. Peter Handke (1942-), The Tablas of Daimiel; Travelling Yesterday. Chelsea Handler (1975-), My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands (autobio.) (May 12); bestseller. Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Pelopponesian War. John F. Harris, The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House - a new meaning for whitewater? Sam Harris (1967-), The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason; an atheist nukes all religions, which are "all equally uncontaminated by evidence", and "allows otherwise normal human beings to reap the fruits of madness and consider them holy"; "It is merely an accident of history that it is considered normal in our society to believe that the Creator of the universe can hear your prayer, while it is demonstrative of mental illness to believe that he is communicating with you by having the rain tap in Morse code on your bedroom window"; "The Nazis were agents of religion"; Islam is a "cult of death"; "Not only do we still eat the offal of the ancient world, we are positively smug about it"; on the other hand, "Mysticism is a rational enterprise, religion is not". Gary Hart (1936-), God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics. Thom Hartmann (1951-), Ultimate Sacrifice: John and Robert Kennedy, the Plan for a Coup in Cuba, and the Murder of JFK. Chris Hedges (1956-), Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America (May 31). Paul Hemphill, Lovesick Blues: The Life of Hank Williams. Jessica Hendra, How to Cook Your Daughter (Oct.); daughter of comedian Tony Hendra claims he sexually abused her as a little girl, and calls his 2004 book "Father Joe" "a horrible lie, a con." Philip Hoare (1958-), England's Lost Eden: Adventures in a Victorian Utopia. Adam Hochschild (1942-), Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves. Alice Hoffman (1952-), The Ice Queen. Tom Holland (1968-), Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West. Nick Hornby (1957-), The Polysyllabic Spree; the joys of reading. David Joel Horowitz (1939-), The End of Time. Rachel Howard, The Lost Night: A Daughter's Search for the Truth of Her Father's Murder. Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge Jr., American Gunfight: The Plot to Kill Harry Truman and the Shot-out That Stopped It. Tab Hunter (with Eddie Muller), Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star. Sherman A. Jackson, Islam and Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection (Apr. 15); claims that Islam took root among African-Ams. as a tool against racism. Brenda James and William D. Rubenstein, The Truth Will Out: Unmasking the Real Shakespeare; proposes that the real Shakespeare was his distant relative Sir Henry Neville (1564-1615), a courtier, politician, and diplomat, who was in the right place at the right time, and whose letters contain a startlingly large number of hapaxes found in Shakespeare, e.g., "inconveniences" and "petit", found only once each in Henry V. Molly Jong-Fast (1978-), The Sex Doctors in the Basement: True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood (autobio.). Haynes Johnson (1931-), The Age of Anxiety: McCarthyism to Terrorism. Joyce Johnson (1935-), Missing Men: A Memoir. Alvin M. Josephy Jr. (ed.), Lewis and Clark Through Indian Eyes; Josephy, #1 native Am. historian and Vine Deloria Jr. (1933-2005), #1 native Am. (Lakota Sioux) intellectual contribute to this vol., then die a 1 mo. apart in fall 2005. Tony R. Judt (1948-2010), Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945. Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944-), Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Robert D. Kaplan, Imperial Grunts: the American Military on the Ground. Efraim Karsh (1953-), La Guerre D'Oslo. Tracy Kidder (1945-), My Detachment. Stephen Kinzer, Blood of Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua. Edward Klein (1937-), The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President; claims she is a lesbian who conceived daughter Chelsea after being raped by hubby Bill. David Klinghoffer, Why the Jews Rejected Jesus. Chuck Klosterman, Killing Yourself To Live: 80% of a True Story. Jonathan Kozol (1936-), The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (Sept. 13). Nick Kotz, Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Lutehr King Jr., and the Laws That Changed America. Erich Krauss, Wave of Destruction. David Kupelian, The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Pseudo-Experts Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom (Aug.); how sin is in because of slick marketing. Mark Kurlansky, Salt: A World History. Ray Kurzweil (1948-), The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology; how the PCs will equal human brains by 2020, mind uploading will begin in 2030, PCs will be 1Bx smarter than humans by 2045, and the Singularity will make humans #2 after machines, and the Universe will "wake up" as early as 2199 after the godlike chips figure out how to travel faster than the speed of light - dumbest book of the century, or, Isn't the Earth a tough place for any visiting intelligence to play? Jean-Jacques Laffont (1947-2004), Regulation and Development; policies for improving the economies of less-developed countries (LDCs). Anne Lamott (1954-), Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith; "George Bush doesn't have a clue as to the mission of Jesus. Could you please, please take care of suffering and the poorest of the poor and try not to kill people today." Richard Land, The Divided State of America: What Liberals and Conservatives Are Missing in the God and Country Shouting Match; Southern Baptist leader says God is not partisan, but Pres. Obama is "very dangerous" in his economic policies, and his foreign policy is causing "severe damage" to U.S. world standing. Frances Moore Lappe (1944-), Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life. Brian Latell, After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader; how Fidel (recently found by the CIA to be suffering from Parkinson's disease) has plans for his brother (army head) Raul (1931-) to take over. Robert Betts Laughlin (1950-), A Different Universe: Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down; by the 1998 Nobel Prize Winner who doubts the existence of black holes; how the fact that there are simple laws doesn't help when trying to understand why football crowds suddenly begin singing in unison, arguing for emergence as the replacement for reductionism; "Physics is now in the midst of a crisis, an ideological battle. The most fundamental things you know may not be fundamental" - whoops there goes gravity? Dominic Lawson, End Game: Dispatches From a War for the World Chess Crown; the 1993 match between Nigel Short of Britain and Garry Kasparov. Richard Layard (1934-), Happiness: Lessons From a New Science. Cynthia Lennon (1939-), John; John Lennon's first wife deserves an extra reward? Jonathan Lethem (1964-), The Disappointment Artist. Jerry Lewis (1926-) and James Kaplan, Dean and Me (A Love Story); "It's hard to explain to a 99-channel, Internet-connected, all-entertainment-all-the-time world what it felt like to be a big act in a much simpler time, having very public trouble." Michael Lewis (1960-), Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life. Garret LoPorto (1976-), The DaVinci Method: Break Out & Express Your Fire (first book); claims that a 1996 study concluding that dopamine D4 receptor (DRD4) exon III polymorphism is associated with the human personality trait of novelty-seeking means that everybody with it can and should become a genius like Leonardo DaVinci, or at least, rehearsing quotes from Leonardo Da Vinci will make you into one? Graham Lord (1943-), John Mortimer: The Devil's Advocate - The Unauthorised Biography. James Lovelock (1919-), Gaia: Medicine for an Ailing Planet. John Lukacs (1924-), Democracy and Populism: Fear and Hatred; how populism renders the U.S. pop. vulnerable to demagogues. Gary Magnesen, The Investigation: A Former FBI Agent Uncovers the Truth Behind Howard Hughes, Melvin Dummar, and the Most-Contested Will in American History; backs up Dummar's claim with new witnesses. Magnus Magnusson (1929-2007), Scotland: The Story of a Nation. Michelle Malkin (1970-), Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild (Oct.). Mary Mapes (1956-), Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power; film in 2015 as "Truth". Greil Marcus (1945-), Like A Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads. Stephen J. May, Michener: A Writer's Journey; the first bio. of James A. Michener (1907-97). John McCain (1936-) and Mark Salter, Character is Destiny; says that Charles Darwin is "steadfast and honest in his pursuit of knowledge", and "I don't see why that magnificence excludes religious faith from its interpretation." Frank McCourt (1930-2009), Teacher Man; his 30 years of teaching English in New York City public high schools, starting in Mar. 1958 at McKee Vocational and Technical H.S. on Staten Island, where he is come down on by the principal for eating a student's baloney sandwich in front of his class to stop a fight. David McCullough (1933-), 1776 (May 24); the military story, incl. the two Georges, and the inside story of how hard it was to create a free society. Terry McDermott, Perfect Soldiers: The Hijackers, Who They Were, Why They Did It; "It was their ordinariness that makes it much more likely there are a great many more men just like them." Gerald McKnight, Breach of Trust; disses the Warren Commission as a failure. James D. McLaird, Calamity Jane: The Woman and the Legend; Martha Canary AKA Calamity Jane (1852-1903). Ed McMahon (1923-), Here's Johnny: My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship. Candice Millard, The River of Doubt: Teddy Roosevelt in Brazil in 1913-14. Larry McMurtry (1936-), The Colonel & Little Missie Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, and the Beginnings of Superstardom in America. Giles Milton, White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's One Million White Slaves (May 19); the sad episode of Islamic pirates kidnapping 1.25M Christian Euros from 1530-1789. Andrea Mitchell, Talking Back: To Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels. Matthew Modine, FULL METAL JACKET Diary. J.R. Moehringer, The Tender Bar. Chris Mooney, The Republican War on Science; it all began with Reagan. James Moore and Wayne Slater, Rove Exposed: How Bush's Brain Fooled America. Martin Moran, The Tricky Part. Dick Morris (1948-), Condi vs. Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race - wrong twice? Frederic Morton (1924-), Runaway Waltz (autobio.). Michael Neumann (1946-), The Case Against Israel; reply to Alan Dershowitz's 2005 book "The Case for Israel". Thomas J. Noel, Riding High: Colorado Ranchers and 100 Years of the National Western Stock Show. Christiane Northrup, Mother-Daughter Wisdom. Paul Orfalea, Copy This! Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic; how he founded Kinko's in 1970. Suze Orman (1951-), The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke. Sharon Osbourne (1952-) and Penelope Dening, Extreme: My Autobiography (autobio); bestseller (2M copies). David M. Oshinsky (1944-), Polio: An American Story (Pulitzer Prize). Nicholas Ostler (1952-), Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, "the first history of the world's great tongues". Elinor Ostrom (1933-), The Samaritans' Dilemma; Understanding Institutional Diversity. Cynthia Ozick (1928-), The Din the Head (essays). Ilan Pappe (1954-), The Modern Middle East. Roger Penrose (1931-), The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe; the recognized laws of physics are incomplete, and "I do not believe that we have yet found the true 'road to reality'." Ralph Peters (1952-), New Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy. Tom Peters (1942-), Design. Tom Peters (1942-) and Martha Barletta, Trends. James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer, Social Movements and State Power: Argentina, Brazil,Bolivia, Ecuador. Walid Phares, Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America; bestseller. David L. Phillips, Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco. Michael Collins Piper (1960-), Target: Traficant: The Untold Story (Jan.); U.S. Rep. (D-Ohio) Jim Traficant, who was ousted and convicted of corruption charges and claims he was set up by the "pro-Israel clique", singling out U.S. asst. atty.-gen. Michael Chertoff. David Plotz, The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank; Robert Graham and his 215 kids. Clyde V. Prestowitz Jr. (1941-), Three Billion New Capitalists: The Shift of Wealth and Power to the East (May 3) . William Poundstone, Fortune's Formula; the Kelly Stock Wagering System of John Kelly Jr. (1921-65). Ron Powers, Mark Twain: A Life. Edvard Radzinsky, Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar. Raghuram Rajan (1963-), Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier?; chief economist of the IMF in 2003-6 predicts disaster for the global financial sector, making him a hero when the Great (Global) Recession hits in Dec. 2007. Jenny Randles, Breaking the Time Barrier. Marcus Raskin (1934-) and Carl LeVan, In Democracy's Shadow: The Secret World of National Security. Raheel Raza, Their Jihad... Not My Jihad! (Nov. 15). Richard Reeves, President Reagan: The Triumph of the Imagination; "No one ever called Reagan an intellectual, but he did see the world in terms of ideas... that he held with stubborn certainty." Tom Reiss (1964-), The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life; internat. bestseller. John M. Richardson Jr. (1938-), Paradise Poisoned: Learning About Conflict, Development and Terrorism from Sri Lanka's Civil Wars; claims that violent conflict and terrorism are predictable and preventable, even with al-Qaida. Andrew Roberts (1963-), Waterloo: June 18, 1815: The Battle for Modern Europe. Chris Roberts, Heavy Words, Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind the Rhyme. David Roberts, On the Ridge Between Life and Death: A Climbing Life Reexamined. Sharon Rocha, For Laci. Marion Elizabeth Rodgers, Mencken: The American Iconoclast. Dennis Rodman (1961-) and Jack Isenhour, I Should Be Dead By Now (autobio.) (Sept. 1). Carl Rollyson, Essays in Biography. Bill Romanowski (1966-), Living on the Edge: Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons; NYT bestseller; former NFL star, the league's dirtiest player known for giant mood swings on the field disses talk of his 34 concussions and blames it on chemical performance enhancers; points fingers. Murray Newton Rothbard (1926-95), A History of Money and Banking in the United States (posth.). Jeffrey Sachs (1954-), The End of Poverty; NYT bestseller that argues that extreme poverty (income of less than $1 a day) can be eliminated globally by 2025. Rick Santorum, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good; rebuttal of Hillary Clinton's 1996 bestseller by a Repub. Sen. from Penn. Dan Savage (1964-), The Commitment: Love, Sex, Marriage, and My Family; his yummy gay marriage with his partner Terry. Michael Savage (1942-), Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions (Apr. 12) (NYT bestseller); how liberals and leftist undermine the basic tenets of Am. life incl. marriage, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the Ten Commandments; calls radical Islam "Islamofascism"; "I believe it's time for the heads of... left-wing agitation groups who are using the courts to impose their will on the sheeple to be prosecuted under the federal RICO statutes"; "I envisage an Oil for Illegals program.. The president should demand one barrel of oil from Mexico for every illegal alien that sneaks into our country"; "Real homeland security begins when we arrest, interrogate, jail, or deport known operatives within our own borders... One dirty bomb can ruin your whole day." Simon Schama (1945-), Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution; about the Black Loyalists of the Am. Rev. who fled to Britain, and their fate. Barnet Schecter, The Devil's Own Work: The Civil War Draft Riots and the Fight to Reconstruct America. Richard Schickel, Elia Kazan: A Biography. Peter Schweizer (1964-), Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy(Oct. 25). Peter Schweizer (1964-) and Rochelle Schweizer, The Bushes: Portrait of a Dynasty (Jan. 4). Stacy Schiff (1961-), A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America (Dr. Franklin Goes to France). Leigh Eric Schmidt, Restless Souls: The Making of American Spirituality. Rob Schultheis, Waging Peace: A Special Operations Team's Battle to Rebuild Iraq; the U.S. Army Civil Affairs Corps, AKA the "cleanup crew". Simon Sebag-Montefiore (1965-), Potemkin: Catherine the Great's Imperial Partner; A History of Caucasus. John Selby (1945-), Seven Masters, One Path: Meditation Secrets from the World's Greatest Teachers. Vikram Seth, Two Lives; his uncle Shanti and aunt Henny in the Holocaust. Kenneth Sewell and Clint Richmond, Red Star Rogue; a Soviet nuclear sub attempts to nuke the U.S., and it's covered up? Anthony Shadid, Night Draws Near. Sidney Sheldon (1917-2007), The Other Side of Me (autobio.). Edwin Sherman, Bible Code Bombshell: Compelling Scientific Evidence that God Authored the Bible; the Book of Isaiah is the real deal and he's gonna squeeze for us some of that juice? Michael Shermer, The Science of Good and Evil. Brooke Shields, Down Came the Rain. Walid Shoebat, Why I Left Jihad: The Root of Terrorism and the Return of Radical Islam (May 30). Russell Shorto, The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America (Apr. 12). Mark Singer, Character Studies: Encounters with the Curiously Obsessed. Peter Singer (1946-) (ed.), In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave. Mark Skousen (1947-), Vienna and Chicago: Friends or Foes? A Tale of Two Schools of Free-Market Economics. Jane Smiley (1949-), Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel; "The ultimate fact about novel-writing is that you can never control whether your writing efforts will be successful, but you can control whether they will be enjoyable or satisfying." Ashley Smith (1978-), Unlikely Angel (Sept.); her ordeal with Brian Gene Nichols. Philip Smith, Why War? The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez (Dec. 1). Dava Sobel, The Planets. Thomas Sowell (1930-), Black Rednecks and White Liberals: And Other Cultural and Ethnic Issues; claims that black ghetto culture is a relic of white Southern redneck culture. Bob Spitz, The Beatles: The Biography (Nov.). Hilary Spurling, Matisse the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse (1869-1954), The Conquest of Colour, 1909-1954. Tom Standage, The History of the World in Six Glasses. George Steiner (1929-), The Idea of Europe. Victor J. Stenger (1935-), God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist. Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan, De Kooning: An American Master (Pulitzer Prize). James B. Stewart, Disney War; Disney's true Seven Dwarfs: Sneaky, Screamy, Pushy, Greedy, Grabby, Nasty, and Snarky. Martha Stewart (1941-), Martha's Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Build, or Manage a Business (Oct.); sells only 37K copies by Dec. - the marriage was built to last but the house was built too small? John A. Stormer (1928-), Betrayed by the Bench; subversion of the U.S. Constitution by the U.S. judiciary. Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Radicals in Robes: Why Extreme Right-Wing Courts Are Wrong for America; The Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle. Dick Taverne (1928-), The March of Unreason: Science, Democracy, and the New Fundamentalism; British Liberal PM and 2002 founder of Sense About Science speaks. Philip Tetlock, Expert Political Judgment. Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-), Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran; gets him a nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 by Swedish deputy PM Per Ahlmark. Blair Tindall, Mozart in the Jungle: Sex, Drugs and Classical Music; the X-rated side of the fun classical music world. Eckhart Tolle (1948-), A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose; bestseller (5M copies). Nikolai Tolstoy, Patrick O'Brian: The Making of the Novelist 1914-1949. Clarence Arthur Tripp (1919-2003), The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln (posth.); claims he was gay. Lynne Truss, Talk to the Hand: The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay at Home and Bolt the Door. Jim B. Tucker, Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives; his continuation of the search of Ian Stevenson (1918-2007). Sinan Ulgen, Handbook of EU Negotiations. Muhammad Taqi Usmani (1943-), Islam and Modernism; Pakistani Muslim scholar causes controversy in the West with his claims that the Islamic doctrine of jihad is a real threat to the West, not just a misinterpretation of the Quran, because the Quran orders that "killing is to continue until the unbelievers pay jizyah after they are humbled and overpowered", and "In my humble knowledge there has not been a single incident in the entire history of Islam where Muslims had shown their willingness to stop jihad just for one condition that they be allowed to preach Islam freely." Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), A Man Without a Country (autobio.); "When the last living thing has died on account of us, how poetical it would be if Earth could say, in a voice floating up perhaps from the floor of the Grand Canyon, 'It is done.' People did not like it here." Stephen Wackwitz (b. 1952), An Invisible Country. Elijah Wald, The Mayor of MacDougal Street; folk musician Dave Van Ronk (1936-2005). David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster And Other Essays. Mike Wallace (1918-) and Gary Paul Gates, Between You and Me: A Memoir. Maureen Waller, London 1945: Life in the Debris of War. Essie Mae Washington-Williams, Dear Senator: A Memoir by the Daughter of Strom Thurmond. George Weigel (1951-), The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God; argues that Europe's "demographic suicide" (low birthrates) will cause its welfare states to collapse, and is creating a "vacuum into which Islamic immigrants are flowing" - tourniquet! tourniquet? Alison Weir (1951-), Isabella: She-Wolf of France, Queen of England. Brian Weiss (1944-), Same Soul, Many Bodies: Discover the Healing Power of Future Lives through Progression Therapy (Aug 30). Jack Welch and Suzy Welch, Winning; the "differentiation system" of sorting employees into a top 20% of stars, a middle 70% of the "crucial majority", and a bottom 10% to be weeded out - what happened to some are more equal than others? Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles. Edmund Valentine White III (1940-), My Lives (autobio.). Sean Wilentz, Andrew Jackson; The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. Marjorie Williams (ed. by Timothy Noah), The Woman at the Washington Zoo: Writings on Politics, Family and Fate. Garry Wills (1934-), Henry Adams and the Making of America; attempts to rescue Adams' rep. as a "wholly owned subsidiary of English departments", and rehabiliate him as a historian. Diane Wilson (1948-), An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas (autobio.); 4th gen. shrimper and environmental activist. Simon Winchester, A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906. Joel S. Wit, Daniel B. Poneman, and Robert L. Gallucci, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis. Bob Woodward (1943-) and Carl Bernstein (1944-), The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate's Deep Throat; FBI agent William Mark Felt (1913-2008). Randall D. Wright (1956-) and Ricardo Lagos (1938-), A Unified Framework for Monetary Theory and Policy Analysis; expands the Kiyotaki-Moore Model of Credit Cycles to make it useful for monetary policy. Bat Ye'or, Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Asia; coins the term "Eurabia" for the evermore Islamized Europe. John C. Yoo, The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs After 9/11; argues for broad pres. war powers up to the King George III level - incl. a little tickly-tickly? Byron York (1955-), The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy: The Untold Story of How Democratic Operatives, Eccentric Billionaires, Liberal Activists, and Assorted Celebrities Tried to Bring Down a President - and Why They'll Try Even Harder Next Time. Rafi Zabor (1946-), I, Wabenzi (memoir). Robert Zubrin, Benedict Arnold: A Drama of the American Revolution in Five Acts. Music: 311, Don't Tread On Me (album #8) (Aug. 16) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Don't Tread On Me (#93 in the U.S.), Speak Easy, Frolic Room. The Academy Is..., Almost Here (album #2) (Feb. 8) (#185 in the U.S.); incl. Checkmarks, Slow Down (Hollywood Hills), The Phrase That Pays, Classifieds. Death From Above, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine (album). John Coolidge Adams (1947-), Doctor Atomic (opera) (San Francisco Opera) (Oct. 1); Robert Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project; incl. Bhagavad Gita Chorus, Batter, My Heart, Red Alert, Doctor Atomic Solo. Queens of the Stone Age, Lullabies to Paralyze (album #4) (Mar. 21) (#5 in the U.S.) (450K copies); incl. Little Sister, In My Head, Burn the Witch, Medication. a-ha, Analogue (album #8) (Nov. 4); incl. Analogue (All I Want), Celice, Birthright, Cosy Prisons. Tori Amos (1963-), The Beekeeper (album #8) (Feb. 20) (#5 in the U.S., #24 in the U.K.); incl. Sleeps with Butterflies, Sweet the Sting. Apocalyptica, Apocalyptica (album #5) (Jan. 24); incl. Life Burns!, Bittersweet. Fiona Apple (1977-), Extraordinary Machine (album #3) (Oct. 4) (#7 in the U.S.); incl. Parting Gift, Not About Love. Audioslave, Out of Exile (album #2) (May 23) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Be Yourself, Your Time Has Come, Doesn't Remind Me. Bun B (1973-), Trill (album) (debut); incl. Draped Up, Git It, Get Throwed. Anita Baker (1958-), Christmas Fantasy (album #7) (Oct. 4) (#120 in the U.S.). Beck (1970-), Guero (album) (Mar. 29); incl. Girl, E-Pro, Hell Yes. Dierks Bentley (1975-), Modern Day Drifter (album #2) (May 10); incl. Lot of Leavin' Left to Do, Come a Little Closer, Settle for a Slowdown. Bo Bice (1975-), Inside Your Heaven (#2 in the U.S.). The Notorious Big (1972-97), Duets: The Final Chapter (album #4) (Dec. 20) (posth.) (#3 in the U.S., #13 in the U.K.); incl. Nasty Girl (w/Diddy, Nelly, and Jagged Edge) (#45 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.), Spit Your Game (w/Twista and Krayzie Bone). Limp Bizkit, The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) (album #5) (May 2); sells 1M copies; incl. The Truth. Bjork (1965-), Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (album) (May 31); The Music from Drawing Restraint 9 (album) (July 25); incl. Storm, Holographic Entrypoint. Mary J. Blige (1971-), The Breakthrough (album #7) (Dec. 20) (#1 in the U.S., #22 in the U.K.) (7M copies); incl. Be Without You, Enough Cryin' (w/Brook Lynn), Take Me As I Am, One (w/U2). Blink-182, Greatest Hits (album) (Oct. 31). Orange Blossom, Everything Must Change (album #2); incl. Habibi (My Darling). Prussian Blue, The Path We Chose (album #2) (last album); incl. The Green Fields of France. Moody Blues, Lovely to See You: Live (double album) (Nov. 15). James Blunt (1974-), Back to Bedlam (album) (debut) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (12M copies); incl. You're Beautiful (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (written after spotting his ex with a new beau; ex-military man becomes the first Brit to top the Billboard Top 100 in the U.S. since Elton John in 1997), Wisemen, High, Goodbye My Lover. The Backstreet Boys, Never Gone (album #5) (June 14) (#3 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.) (2M copies); first album with a rock sound; incl. Incomplete, Just Want You to Know, I Still.... Pet Shop Boys, Back to Mine (album) (Apr. 25); Battleship Potemkin (album) (Sept. 5); written to accompany the 1925 silent Sergei Eisenstein film. The Bravery, The Bravery (album) (debut) (#18 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); from New York City, incl. San Endicott (vocals, guitar), Michael "Moose" Zakarin (guitar), John Conway (keyboards), Mike Hindert (bass), and Anthony Burulcich (drums); incl. An Honest Mistake, Fearless, Unconditional, Swollen Summer. Toni Braxton (1967-), Libra (album) (Sept. 27); incl. Please, Trippin' (That's the Way Love Works) (with Keyshia Cole). Alison Brown (1962-), Stolen Moments (album); incl. Musette for a Palindrome. Michael Buble (1975-) It's Time (album) (Feb. 15); sells 6M copies. Echo and the Bunnymen, Siberia (album #10) (Sept. 20); incl. Of A Life. Bush, The Best of: 1994-1999 (double album) (June 14). Kate Bush (1958-), Aerial (A Sea of Honey/ A Sky of Honey) (double album #9) (Nov. 7) (first in 12 years); incl. Aerial, King of the Mountain, Bertie, Joanni, Pi; sings it to its 137th decimal place, omitting 79-100, A Choral Room Chris Brown (1989-), Chris Brown (album); sells 4M copies; incl. Run It!; "I know what girls want, I know what girls like, they like to stay up, and party all night." Cake, Wheels (album). The Cardigans, Super Extra Gravity (album #6) (Oct. 4). Mariah Carey (1970-), The Emancipation of Mimi (album #10) (Apr. 4) (#1 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.); her old nickname; highest-selling album of 2005 (10M copies); incl. We Belong Together, It's Like That (w/Fatman Scoop, Jermaine Drupri), Shake It Off, Mine Again, Say Somethin' (w/Snoop Dogg), Get Your Number (w/ Jermaine Dupri). Fall Out Boy, From Under the Cork Tree (album #3) (May 3) (#9 in the U.S.) (3M copies); incl. Sugar, We're Goin Down, Dance, Dance, and A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'. 50 Cent (1975-), The Massacre (album #2) (Mar. 3) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (11M copies worldwide); incl. Disco Inferno, Candy Shop (w/Olivia), Just a Lil Bit, Outta Control (Remix) (w/Mobb Deep). Tracy Chapman (1964-), Where You Live (album #7) (Sept. 13) (#49 in the U.S., #43 in the U.K.). Kenny Chesney (1968-), Be As You Are (Songs from an Old Blue Chair) (album) (Jan.); The Road and the Radio (album); incl. Living in Fast Forward, Summertime, Beer in Mexico. Chic, A Night in Amsterdam (album) (June 20); recorded in the Amsterdam Paradiso on July 17, 2005. Kaiser Chiefs, Employment (album). New Young Pony Club, Ice Cream (debut) (Feb.); The Get Go (June 27); Fantastic Playroom (album) (debut) (July 9) (#54 in the U.K.); incl. The Bomb. from London, England, incl. Tahita Rotardier Bulmer, Andy Spence, Lou Hayter, and Sarah Jones. Coldplay, X&Y (album #3) (June 6) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); incl. Fix You (written for his babe Gwyneth Paltrow, whose daddy Bruce Paltrow died in 2002), The Hardest Part, Speed of Sound, Talk, What If, White Shadows. Alice Cooper (1948-), Dirty Diamonds (album #24). Susan Cowsill (1959-), Just Believe It (album) (solo debut). Sheryl Crow (1962-), Wildflower (album) (Sept.). D4L, Laffy Taffy; "Shake that Laffy Taffy". Death Cab for Cutie, The John Byrd EP (Mar. 1); named after their sound engineer; Plans (album #5) (Aug. 30) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. Soul Meets Body, Crooked Teeth, I Will Follow You Into the Dark. Craig Ashley David (1981-), The Story Goes... (album) (Sept. 6); incl. All the Way, Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry). Green Day, Bullet in a Bible (album) (Nov. 15) (#8 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.). Grateful Dead, Dick's Picks Vol. 34 (album) (Feb. 14); recorded on Nov. 2, 1977 in Toronto; Dick's Picks Vol. 35 (album) (June 17); recorded in Aug. 1971; Dick's Picks Vol. 36 (album) (Oct.); recorded in Sept. 1972. Panic! at the Disco, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out (album) (debut) (#13 in the U.S.) (Sept. 27) (2M copies); from Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nev.; Brendon Boyd Urie (1987-) (vocals), George Ryan Ross III (1986-) (guitar), Peter Wentz (bass), and Spencer James Smith (1987-) (drums); named after the Name Taken song "Panic"; incl. I Write Sins Not Tragedies, The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage, Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off, But It's Better If You Do, Build God, Then We'll Talk. Disturbed, Ten Thousand Fists (album #3) (Sept. 20, 2005) (#1 in the U.S., #59 in the U.K.) (1.9M copies in the U.S.); first with bassist John Mayer; dedicated to Dimebag Darrell; incl. Ten Thousand Fists, Guarded, Stricken, Just Stop, Land of Confusion (by Genesis). Pussycat Dolls, Don't Cha (w/Busta Rhymes) (Apr. 26) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); from Los Angeles, Calif., incl. Hawaiian-born Nicole Prescovia Elikolani Valiente Scherzinger (1978-), Carmit Bachar, Melody Thornton, Jessica Sutta, Ashley Roberts, and Kimberly Wyatt; PCD (#5 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.) (album) (debut) (Sept. 12) (sold 9M copies); incl. Stickwitu (w/Avant), Buttons (w/Snoop Dogg), Beep (w/will.i.am). Donovan (1946-), To Try for the Sun: The Journey of Donovan (album) (Sept. 13). Doobie Brothers, The Very Best of the Doobie Brothers (double album) (Mar. 13). System of a Down, Hypnotize (Nov. 22) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Hypnotize, Lonely Day, Kill Rock 'n Roll, Victim of Obscenity. 3 Doors Down, Seventeen Days (album #3) (Feb. 8) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Let Me Go, Behind Those Eyes. As I Lay Dying, Shadows Are Security (album #3) (June 14) (#35 in the U.S.) (275K copies); incl. Confined, Through Struggle, The Darkest Nights. Eminem (1972-), Curtain Call: The Hits (album) (Dec. 6). Public Enemy, New Whirl Odor (album #9) (Nov. 1); incl. MKLVFKWR (Make Love Fuck War) (w/Moby). Brian Eno (1948-), Another Day on Earth (album). Enya (1961-), Amarantine (album #7) (Nov. 22); incl. Amarantine, It's In the Rain. Epica, Consign to Oblivion (album #2) (Apr. 21); incl. Solitary Ground, Quietus; The Score... An Epic Journey Soundtrack (album #3) (Sept. 20). Melissa Etheridge (1961-), The Road Less Traveled (album) (Oct.). Sara Evans (1971-), Real Fine Place (album); incl. A Real Fine Place to Start Blues Explosion, Damage (album). Exodus, Shovel Headed Kill Machine (album #7) (Oct. 4); first with vocalist Rob Dukes and drummer Paul Bostaph; incl. Deathamphetamine. Better Than Ezra, Before the Robots (album #6) (May 31); incl. A Lifetime. Marianne Faithfull (1946-), Before the Poison (album). Kevin Federline (1978-), The Truth (album). Franz Ferdinand, You Could Have It So Much Better (album #2) (Oct. 3) (#8 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Do You Want To, The Fallen/ L. Wells, Walk Away, Eleanor Put Your Boots On. Elysian Fields, Bum Raps and Love Taps (album #4); incl. Duel with Cudgels, We're in Love. Foo Fighters, In Your Honor (album #5) (double album) (June 14); incl. In Your Honor, Best of You, DOA, Resolve, No Way Back, Miracle, Cold Day in the Sun. Fishbone, Live in Amsterdam (album) (May 31). The Fray, How to Save a Life (album) (debut) (Sept. 13) (#14 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); from Denver, Colo., incl. Isaac Edward Slade (1981-) (vocals) and Joe King (1980-); incl. How to Save a Life (#1 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.), Over My Head (Cable Car) (#8 in the U.S., #19 in the U.K.). Crazy Frog, Axel-F; first hit cell phone ring tone. Funtwo (Lim Jeong-hun) (1984-), Pachelbel's Canon in D Major; South Korean plays in his bedroom, uploads it to YouTube, and becomes an instant guitar legend, getting over 80M views and 500K viewer text comments; too bad, he decides not to go pro. The Game, The Documentary (album) (debut) (Jan. 18); original title "Nigga Witta Attitude Vol. 1"; sells 6M copies; incl. Westside Story, Hate It or Love It (w/ 50 Cent). Garbage, Bleed Like Me (album #4) (Apr. 11); incl. Why Do You Love Me. Lamb of God, Killadelphia (album) (Dec. 13). Melody Gardot (1985-), Some Lessons: The Bedroom Sessions (album) (debut) (May 3); incl. Some Lessons. OK Go, Oh No (album). Jay Greenberg (1991-), Symphony No. 5. Merle Haggard (1937-), Chicago Wind (album) (Oct.); incl. America First ("Let's get out of Iraq, and get back on track"). Herbie Hancock (1940-), Possibilities (album #45) (Aug. 30). Faith Hill (1967-), Fireflies (album); incl. Mississippi Girl, Like We Never Loved At All (with Tim McGraw). Her Space Holiday, The Past Presents the Future (album). Yusuf Islam (1948-), Indian Ocean; the 2004 tsunami. Jamiroquai, Dynamite (album #6) (June 20); incl. Feels Just Like It Should, Seven Days in Sunny June, (Don't) Give Hate a Chance. Flotsam and Jetsam, Dreams of Death (album #9) (July 26). Billy Joel (1949-), My Lives (boxed set). Elton John (1947-), Elton John's Christmas Party (album) (Nov. 10); released exclusively at Hear Music outlets in Starbucks coffee ships. Elton John (1947-) and Bernie Taupin (1950-), Lestat (musical) (Dec.) (San Francisco); based on the Anne Rice novels. Jack Hody Johnson (1975-), In Between Dreams (album #3) (Mar. 1) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Better Together, Good People, Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, Breakdown, Banana Pancakes. Journey, Generations (album) (Aug. 29); incl. Faith in the Heartland. Bon Jovi, Have a Nice Day (album) (Sept. 20) (#2 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. Have a Nice Day, Welcome to Wherever You Are, Who Says You Can't Go Home (with Jennifer Nettles) (first rock & roll band with a #1 Billboard Hot Country hit). Toby Keith (1961-), White Trash with Money (album); first release on his new Show Dog Nashville label. R. Kelly (1967-), Sex in the Kitchen (Apr.); TP-3: Reloaded (album #7) (July 5) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Trapped in the Closet, Ch. 1-Ch. 5. K'naan (1978-), The Dusty Foot Philosopher (album #2) (June 7); incl. If Rap Gets Jealous. Korn, See You on the Other Side (album #7) (Dec. 6) (#2 in the U.S.); original title "Souvenir of Sadness"; first without Brian "Head" Welch; last with drummer David Silveria; incl. Twisted Transistor (#3 in the U.S.), Coming Undone (#4 in the U.S.), Politics (#18 in the U.S.). Strapping Young Lad, Alien (album #4) (Mar. 22) (#32 in the U.S.); incl. Love? Cyndi Lauper (1953-), The Body Acoustic (album #9) ((Nov. 8). Huey Lewis (1950-) and the News, Live at 25 (album) (May 17). Black Lips, Let It Bloom (album #3) (Nov. 22); incl. Boomerang, Not a Problem, Everybody's Doin' It, Feeling Gay. Lindsay Lohan (1986-), A Little More Personal (Raw) (album #2) (Dec. 6); incl. Confessions of a Broken Heart (Daughter to Father), Edge of Seventeen, I Want You to Want Me. Jennifer Lopez (1969-), Rebirth (album #4) (Mar. 1) (#2 in the U.S., #8 in the U.K.); incl. Get Right (#12 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.). Madonna (1958-), Confessions on a Dance Floor (album #10) (Nov. 15) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (12M copies); incl. Hung Up (her 38th top-10 Billboard hit, tying Elvis Presley), Sorry, Get Together, Jump; I'm Going to Tell You A Secret (album) (Oct. 21). Mae, The Everglow (album #2) (Mar. 29); concept album. Metric, Live It Out (album #2) (Sept. 27) (150K copies); incl. Monster Hospital, Poster of a Girl, Empty. Iron Maiden, The Essential Iron Maiden (album) (July 5); Death on the Road (Aug. 30). Dave Matthews Band, Stand Up (album). John Mayer Trio, Try! (album) (Nov. 22). Martina McBride (1966-), Timeless (album #7). Paul McCartney (1942-), Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (album #13) (Sept. 12) (#6 in the U.S., #10 in the U.K.); incl. Fine Line, Jenny Wren, Friends to Go, Too Much Rain, This Never Happened Before. Gene McDaniels (1935-), Screams and Whispers (album #12); first album since 1975. Katie Melua (1984-), Piece by Piece (album #2) (Sept. 26); Nine Million Bicy8cles, I Cried for You, Spider's Web, It's Only Pain, Shy Boy. Natalie Merchant (1963-), Retrospective: 1995-2005 (album). M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasm) (1975-), Arular (album) (debut) (Mar. 22); incl. Bucky Done Gun. Ingrid Michaelson (1979-), Slow the Rain (album). Moby, Hotel (album). Depeche Mode, Playing the Angel (album #11) (Oct. 17); incl. Precious, A Pain That I'm Used To, Suffer Well, Join the Revelator/ Lilian. Van Morrison (1945-), Magic Time (album #31) (May 17); incl. Stranded, I'm Confessin'. Dropkick Murphys, The Warrior's Code (album #5) (June 21); incl. I'm Shipping Up to Boston. Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth (album #4) (May 3) (#1 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.); incl. The Hand That Feeds (#1 in the U.S.), Only (#1 in the U.S.), Every Day Is Exactly the Same (#1 in the U.S.). The National, Alligator (album #3) (Apr. 12); incl. Mr. November. Olivia Newton-John (1948-), Stronger Than Before; features herself (1992) and other cancer survivors incl. Diahann Carroll; Hypnotize (album) (Nov.). Nickelback, All the Right Reasons (album #5) (Oct. 4) (#1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (11M copies); first with drummer Daniel Adair; incl. Rockstar, Photograph, Animals, Savin' Me, Far Away, If Everyone Cared, Side of a Bullet. Niyaz, Niyaz (album) (debut) (Apr. 19); Niyaz means "yearning" in Persian and Urdu; from LA, incl. Carmen Rizzo, Azam Ali, and Loga Ramin Torkian; incl. Ghazal, Allahi Allah, Dilruba. Nonpoint, To the Pain (album #4) (Nov. 8) (#147 in the U.S.); incl. Bullet With A Name, Alive and Kicking. Oasis, Don't Believe the Truth (album #6) (May 30) (#12 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Lyla, The Importance of Being Idle, Let There Be Love. Indian Ocean, Black Friday Soundtrack (album) (Jan.). Sinead O'Connor (1966-), Collaborations (album) (June 21); Throw Down Your Arms (album) (Oct. 4). Omarion (1984-), Touch; O (album) (debut) (Feb. 22); sells 750K copies; incl. O. New Order, Waiting for the Sirens' Call (album #8) (last album) (Mar. 28) (#46 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); incl. Waiting for the Sirens' Call, Krafty, Jetstream. Tony Orlando (1944-) and Dawn, Christmas Reunion (album). Brad Paisley (1972-), Time Well Wasted (album). Maximo Park, A Certain Trigger (album) (debut) (May 16); from Newcastle, England, incl. Paul Smith (1979-) (vocals), Duncan Lloyd (guitar), Archis Tiku (bass), Lukas Wooller (keyboards), Tom English (drums); incl. The Coast Is Always Changing, Apply Some Pressure, Graffiti, Going Missing, I Want You to Stay. Bloc Party, Silent Alarm (album). Black Eyed Peas, Monkey Business (album #4); (May 27); sells 10M copies; incl. Pump It (based on Dick Dale's 1962 hit "Misirlou"), Don't Phunk with My Heart, Don't Lie, My Humps, Dum Diddly, Bebot, Union (with Sting). Peter and the Test Tube Babies, A Foot Full of Bullets (album #12). Silversun Pickups, Pikul (album) (debut) (July); named after a liquor store at the intersection of Sunset Strip and Silver Lake Blvd. in Hollywood, Calif.; Brian Aubert (vocals), Nikki Monninger (bass), Christopher Guanlao (drums), and Joe Lester (keyboards). Pitbull (1981-), Money Is Still A Major Issue (album #2) (Nov. 15). The New Pornographers, Twin Cinema (album #3) (Aug. 23); incl. Twin Cinema, The Bleeding Heart Show. The Posies, Every Kind of Light (album #6) (June 28); last album in 1998; incl. Second Time Around. Daniel Powter (1971-), Daniel Powter (album); incl. "Bad Day" (played for the losers in 2006 Am. Idol). Judas Priest, Angel of Retribution (Mar. 1). Eric Prydz (1976-), Woz Not Woz (w/Steve Angello) (#55 in the U.K.). Bonnie Raitt (1949-), Souls Alike (album #15) (Sept. 13). Rammstein, Rosenrot (Rose Red) (album #5) (Oct. 28); incl. Rosenrot, Mann Gegen Mann (Man Against Man), Benzin, Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don't Die Before I Do), Zerstoren (Destroy), Te Quiero Puta! (I Want You Whore!) (with Carmen Zapata), Feuer und Wasser (Fire and Water). Raveonettes, Pretty in Black (album #2) (May 3); incl. Love in a Trashcan, My Boyfriend's Back (cover of the Angels' hit). Steve Reich (1936-), The Desert Music: Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. The All-American Rejects, Move Along (album #2) (July 12) (#6 in the U.S., #45 in the U.K.) (2M copies); incl. Move Along (#15 in the U.S., #42 in the U.K.), Dirty Little Secret (#9 in the U.S., #18 in the U.K.), It Ends Tonight (#8 in the U.S., #66 in the U.K.). Rihanna (1988-), Music of the Sun (album) (debut) (Aug. 26) (#10 in the U.S.) (2M copies); incl. Pon de Replay, If It's Lovin' That You Want. My Chemical Romance, Warped Tour Bootleg Series (EP) (July 19). Rush, R30: 30th Anniversary Tour (album) (Nov. 22). Mr. Scruff (1972-), Mrs Cruff (album) (May 22). Seal (1963-), Live in Paris (album) (July 6). Belle and Sebastian, Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (album #7) (May 24); If You're Feeling Sinister: Live at the Barbican (album) (Dec. 6). Seether, Karma and Effect (album #3) (May 24) (800K copies worldwide) (their masterpiece?); incl. Remedy, Truth, The Gift. Shaggy, Clothes Drop (album); incl. Wild 2Nite (with Olivia). Carly Simon (1945-), Moonlight Serenade (album). Spoon, Gimme Fiction (album). Bruce Springsteen (1949-), Devils & Dust. LeAnn Rimes (1982-), This Woman (album); her country music comeback. Shakira (1977-), Fijacion Oral Vol. 1 (album #4) (June 3) (#4 in the U.S.) (4M copies); incl. La Tortura; Oral Fixation, Vol. 2 (album #5) (Nov. 28) (#5 in the U.S., #12 in the U.K.) (8M copies); incl. Don't Bother, Hips Don't Lie (w/Wyclef Jean), Illegal (w/Santana). Ashlee Simpson (1984-), I Am Me (album #2) (Oct. 18) (#1 in the U.S., #50 in the U.K.)); incl. Boyfriend, L.O.V.E.. Sleater-Kinney, The Woods (album #7) (last album) (May 24); incl. Jumpers, Modern Girl. Black Label Society, Mafia (album #6) (Mar. 8) (#15 in the U.S.) (250K copies in the U.S.); incl. In This River (dedicated to Dimebag Darrell), Fire It Up, Suicide Messiah. Collective Soul, From the Ground Up (EP) (#129 in the U.S.). Hush Sound, So Sudden (album); Bob Morris, Mike Leblanc, Greta Saltpeter (piano), Darren Wilson (drums). LCD Soundsystem, LCD Soundsystem (album) (debut) (Jan. 24); James Murphy (1970); Staind, Chapter V (album #5) (Aug. 9) (#1 in the U.S., #112 in the U.K.) (1.5M copies); incl. Right Here, Falling, Everything Changes, King of All Excuses. Big Star, In Space (album #4) (Sept. 27); first new album since 1974; incl. Turn My Back on the Sun, Best Chance, Dony. Ringo Starr (1940-), Choose Love (album #13) (June 7). Status Quo, The Party Ain't Over Yet (album #27) (Sept. 19). The Hold Steady, Separation Sunday (album). Gwen Stefani (1969-), Love.Angel.Music.Baby. (album) (solo debut) (Nov. 22); incl. Rich Girl (with Eve), Harajuku Girls; Hollaback Girl (the cheerleader capt. who hollas, as opposed to the rest who holla back?); first track to get 1M paid downloads. Al Stewart (1945-), A Beach Full of Shells (album #17). Rod Stewart (1945-), Thanks for the Memory: The Great American Songbook 4 (album) (Oct. 18). Rolling Stones, A Bigger Bang (album #24) (Sept. 5) (#3 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. Rough Justice, Streets of Love (#15 in the U.K.), Rain Fall Down (#33 in the U.K.), Biggest Mistake (#51 in the U.K.); Rarities 1971-2003 (album) (Nov. 21). Stratovarius, Stratovarius (album #11) (Sept. 5); last with Timo Tolkki; incl. Maniac Dance. White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan (album #5) (June 7); incl. Blue Orchid, My Doorbell, The Denial Twist. Steven Stucky, Second Concerto for Orchestra (Pulitzer Prize). Styx, Big Band Theory (album #15) (May 10). Sugarbabes, Taller in More Ways (album #4) (Oct. 10); incl. Push the Button, Ugly, Red Dress, Follow Me Home. Nada Surf, The Weight Is a Gift (album #4) (Sept. 20). Plain White T's, All That We Needed (album). Livingston Taylor (1950-), There You Are Again (album). Testament, Live in London (album). Therion, Atlantis Lucid Dreaming (album) (Sept. 6). Train, Get To Me EP (album) (Aug. 16). The Fall of Troy, Doppelganger (Doppelgänger) (album #2) (Aug. 16); incl. F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. Jethro Tull, Aqualung Live (album) (Sept. 19). KT Tunstall (1975-), Eye to the Telescope (album) (debut) (Dec. 13) (#33 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.) (2.6M copies worldwide); incl. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (#28 in the U.K.), Suddenly I See (#12 in the U.K.), Other Side of the World (#13 in the U.K.), Under the Weather (#39 in the U.K.), Another Place to Fall (#52 in the U.K.). Bonnie Tyler (1951-), Wings (album #15) (May 14). Six Feet Under, 13 (album #6) (Mar. 21); incl. Decomposition of the Human Race, Shadow of the Reaper, The Art of Headhunting. Keith Urban (1967-), Days Go By. Steve Vai (1960-), Real Illusions: Reflections (album #8) (Feb. 22); last album in 1999; about a town visited by God-sent Pamposh to construct a new church; incl. Lotus Feet. The Veronicas, The Secret Life Of... (album) (debut) (Oct. 17) (#133 in the U.S., #2 in Australia); incl. 4ever (#90 in the U.S.), Everything I'm Not, When It All Falls Apart, Revolution, Leave Me Alone. The Wallflowers, Rebel, Sweetheart (album #5) (May 24); incl. The Beautiful Side of Somewhere. Roger Waters (1943-), Ca Ira (Ça Ira); 3-act opera based on the French Rev. Kanye West (1977-), Late Registration (album #2) (Aug. 30) (#1 in the U.S.) (3M copies); incl. Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Gold Digger (w/Jamie Foxx), Heard 'Em Say (w/Adam Levine), Touch the Sky (w/Lupe), Drive Slow (w/Paul Wall). Weezer, Make Believe (album #5) (May 10) (#2 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.); incl. Beverly Hills, Perfect Situation, We Are All on Drugs, This Is Such A Pity. Kanye West (1977-), Late Registration (Aug. 30) (#1 in the U.S.) (3M copies); incl. Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Gold Digger (w/Jamie Foxx), Heard 'Em Say (w/Adam Levine), Touch the Sky (w/Lupe), Drive Slow (w/Paul Wall). Westlife, Face to Face (album #7) (Oct. 31) (#1 in the U.K.) (6M copies); incl. You Raise Me Up, When You Tell Me That You Love Me (w/Diana Ross) (#2 in the U.K.), Amazing (#4 in the U.K.). Gretchen Wilson (1973-), All Jacked Up; incl. All Jacked Up; highest debuting single for a female country artist (until ?). Wisin and Yandel, Pa'l Mundo (album #5) (Nov. 8); their first hit; incl. Rakata, Llame Pa' Verte (Bailando Sexy), Noche de Sexo. Stevie Wonder (1950-), A Time to Love (album) (Oct. 18); incl. So What the Fuss (with Prince and En Vogue), Positivity (with Aisha Morris), From the Bottom of My Heart, Shelter in the Rain. Chely Wright (1970-), The Metropolitan Hotel (album #6) (Feb. 22); incl. Back of the Bottom Drawer. Yehudi Wyner (1929-), Chiavi in Mano (concerto) (Pulitzer Prize). Trisha Yearwood (1964-), Jasper County (album). Neil Young (1945-), Prairie Wind (album); written in the weeks before a procedure to relieve a brain aneurysm. Frank Zappa (1940-93), Joe's XMASage (album) (posth.) (Dec.). Movies: Karyn Kusama's Aeon Flux (Dec. 2), based on the 1991-5 MTV series is a silly-but-cool sci-fi flick starring Charlize Theron as an assassin working for the Monicans to overthrow the govt. of Bregna; Frances McDormand plays Handler, Marton Csokas plays Trevor Goodchild, Jonny Lee Miller plays Oren Goodchild, and Sophie Okonedo plays Sithandra; does $52M box office on a $62M budget. James Cameron's Aliens of the Deep (Jan. 28) is a documentary about ocean life in the Mid-Ocean Ridges of the Atlantic and Pacific. Rebecca Miller's The Ballad of Jack and Rose (June 2) stars Daniel Day-Lewis and Camilla Belle as father-daughter Jack and Rose Slavin, who live on an abandoned island commune until developer Marty Rance (Beau Bridges) tries to build a housing tract. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (June 15) stars Christian Bale as Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard, and Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes in the story of how he you know what; #8 movie of 2005 ($205M). ?'s Be Cool (), based on the 1999 Elmore Leonard novel stars John Travolta. Gurinder Chadha's Bride and Prejudice (Feb. 11), a Bollywood flick based on the Jane Austen classic stars Aishwarya Rai as Lalita and Martin Henderson as Will Darcy in an Indianized musical having little to do with classic English anything? Two big thumbs up? The Holy Grail of Social Engineering Pictures is launched by Hollyweird in Oh-nly-Six? Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (Dec. 9), written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana based on an Oct. 13, 1997 New Yorker short story by Annie Proulx is about two 1963 sheep cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) in Wyo., who go gay and do the bob-and-weave (and bareback?) in high altitude in secret, causing sperm to flow like champagne, after which they separate and marry straight women Alma (Mont.-born Michelle Williams) (Ennis) and Laureen (Anne Hathaway) (Jack); too bad, "this thing gets hold of them again" and they continue to meet once a year for 20 sperm-filled years, fighting the feelings of missed same-sex marital bliss (not just fast food that melts in your mouth?) to the hauntingly sterile "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" as yet more sperm flows, but not in chicks, because it's a dick flick, although not a single one is seen; grosses only $83M in the U.S. despite the ploy of using non-gay actors to keep audiences from getting the feeling they're in a gay movie house, where male-male marriage is a 4-letter word?; in real life Heath Ledger (1979-2008) falls in love on the set with Michelle Williams (1980-), and they marry and have daughter Matilda on Oct. 28, 2005 - one could substitute a man and a boy, two women, a woman and a girl, a father and his son, etc., and the values stay free-floating, welcome to the 21st century of sin is in? Jim Jarmusch's Broken Flowers (Aug. 5) (Focus Features) stars Bill Murray as aging former playboy Don Johnston, who enjoys his retirement nest egg made in the computer industry until he finds out that he has a 19-y.-o. son from an anon. letter, causing him to travel cross-country in his car to visit four old flames, incl. Laura (Sharon Stone), Dora (Frances Conroy), Carmen (Jessica Lange), and Penny (Tilda Swinton); does $13.7M box office in the U.S. and $46.7M worldside on a $10M budget. Nick Love's The Business stars Danny Dyer as Frankie and Tamer Hassan as Charlie, two Brits who import drugs on the Costa del Crime (Sol) in Spain in the 1980s. Bennett Miller's Capote (Sept. 2) (United Artists) gives Philip Seymour Hoffman the role of his life as the New York goo-goo talking-walking literary sockhusking chief prickhead; Miller's first narrative feature; does $49.2M box office on a $7M budget; yet another film about the transforming power of dick? - now when you wake up with milk you wake up in paradise? Bruce Hunt's The Cave (Aug. 26) (Lakeshore Entertainment) (Screen Gems) debuts, set in the Carpathian Mts. of Romania during the Cold War, where a group of British-Soviet explorers search for a lost 13th cent. Eastern Orthodox abbey, finding it only to find it's built over the world's largest underground cave system and get trapped in a landslide; 30 years later a team of archeologists led by Dr. Nicolai (Marcel Ires) and Katheryn Jannings (Lena Headey) along with a team of Am. spelunkers led by Jack McAllister (Cole Hauser) and his brother Tyler McAllister (Eddie Cibrian) return with a ton of scientific equipment to investigate, encountering mutated parasites that turn them into demonic mutants; does $33.2M box office on a $30M budget. Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (July 15), based on the book by Roald Dahl stars Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Bucket, and David Kelly as Grandpa Joe; #7 movie of 2005 ($207M). Mark Dindal's animated Chicken Little (Nov. 4) chokes in $134.3M during the Xmas season (#4). Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Dec. 9), the last great fantasy epic of the 20th cent. to be filmed, is spawned and influenced by the newborn Christian evangelical "no dicks in flix" community that made big bucks for Mel Gibson the previous year, despite producer Disney's protestations that it's not a Christian proselytizing tool; #2 movie of 2005 ($292M in the U.S., $745M worldwide); stars William Moseley as Peter, Anna Popplewell as Anna, Georgie Henley as Lucy, and Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie; Liam Neeson is the voice of Aslan; Tilda Swinton plays the White Witch; the pedophile-questionmark faun Mr. Tumnus, played by James McAvoy makes the dinner a winner? Ron Howard's Cinderella Man (June 3) (Miramax Films) (Universal Pictures), filmed in Toronto based on the book by Jeremy Schaap stars Russell Crowe as light heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock, and Renee Zellweger as his wife Mae, who breaks his right hand but learns to make up for it with his left, and rises from longshoreman in NYC to champion after upsetting Max Baer on June 13, 1935, then loses his title to Joe Louis and ends up operating heavy machinery on the docks; Crowe dislocates his shoulder during filming and holds production up for 6 weeks, but its publicity is stunk up by his June 6 arrest in the swank NYC Mercer Hotel for assault for throwing a phone at concierge Nestor Estrada after failing to get through to his wife Danielle Spencer in Australia, causing AMC Theaters to help sagging ticket sales by offering a money-back guarantee; Crowe apologizes on the Letterman Show, then pleads guilty to misdemeanor charges and settles for an undisclosed sum; the movie wasn't bad?; does $108.5M box office on an $88M budget. Thomas Carter's Coach Carter (Jan. 14) (MTV Films) (Paramount Pictures), based on a true story stars Samuel L. Jackson as Richmond, Calif. H.S. basketball coach Ken Carter, who imposes discipline and ends up suspending his undefeated team in 1999 for not maintaining 2.3 GPA; the film debut of hunk Channing Matthew Tatum (1980-); does $76.7M box office on a $30M budget. Fernando Meirelles' The Constant Gardener (Aug. 31) (Focus Features), written by Jeffrey Caine based on the 2001 John le Carre novel stars Ralph Fiennes as British diplomat Justin Quayle, whose young activist wife Tessa (Rachel Weisz) is murdered in the veldt near Lake Turkana in Kenya, causing her black driver Arnold Bluhm (Hubert Kounde) to be suspected, until he turns out to be gay and murdered also, leading to a conspiracy involving sinister drug co. KHA Pharamaceuticals; "Love, at any cost"; does $82.5M box office on a $25M budget. Francis Lawrence's Constantine (Feb. 17) (Warner Bros. Pictures) (Lawrence's dir. debut), based on the "Hellblazer" comic books of Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis stars Keanu Reeves as chain-smoking evil soul hunter John Constantine, who attempted suicide, damning him to Hell, and Rachel Weisz as LAPD Det. Angela Dodson, whose twin sister mysteriously committed suicide, and wants him to rescue her; Shia LaBeaouf plays John's driver Chas Kramer; Tilda Swinton plays Archangel Gabriel; Djimon Hounsou plays witch doctor Papa Midnite, who plays both sides; Peter Stormare plays Lucifer Morningstar; does $230.9M box office on a $100M budget; becomes a cult favorite, but Reeves isn't interested in a sequel; "What if I told you that God and the Devil made a wager for the souls of all mankind. No direct contact with humans, that would be the rule, just influence, see who would win. Demons stay in Hell, angels in Heaven. They call it the Balance."; "You see them, they see you"; - 2K years of Christianity have been reduced to a comic book movie? Paul Haggis' Crash (May 6), about race relations in ever-mixing L.A. features an ensemble cast incl. Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and smiley Sandra Bullock, who plays against type as an angry mugged woman; Iranian-born Bahar Soomekh debuts as Persian-Am. Dorri, who buys her daddy a gun with blanks that end up saving him from murdering a little girl; since it's a Hollyweird PC film, it's okay to throw the N-word around a jillion times since the message is that naturally racist people will recognize each other's humanity during an emergency like a car crash; "I think we miss that touch so much that we crash into each other just so we can feel something". Neil Marshall's claustrophobic horror film The Descent (July 6) (Celador Films) (Pathe Distribution) is about six women who enter a cave system filled with evil crawlers; does $57.1M box office on a Ł3.5M budget; followed by "The Descent Part 2" (2009). Tony Scott's Domino (Oct. 14), about British "Manchurian Candidate killer" actor Laurence Harvey's daughter Domino (1970-2005) (who OD'd in June) ends with Tom Waits playing mescaline-pushing preacher "The Wanderer". Stuart Gordon's Edmond (Aug. 31), based on the 1982 David Mamet play stars William H. Macy as Manhattan office worker Edmond, who stops by fortune teller Frances Bay and is told "You are not where you belong", causing him to quit his marriage and walk the streets looking for where he does belong. Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown (Sept. 4) stars Orlando Bloom as shoe designer Drew Baylor, who costs his co. $972M and gets fired by his boss Phil DeVoss (Alec Baldwin) then plans suicide with a butcher knife taped to his exercise bike before finding out that his father died of a heart attack in you know where, Ky.; also stars Kirsten Dunce, er, Dunst as his new babe Claire Colburn, and and Susan Sarandon as grieving widow Hollie Baylor. Scott Derrickson's The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Sept. 9) (Lakeshore Entertainment) (Screen Gems), based on Felictas Goodman's book "The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel" stars Laura Linney as agnostic atty. Erin Christine Bruner representing parish priest Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson), who is on trial for negligent homicide for performing an exorcism on 19-y.-o. Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter), based on real-life devout German Roman Catholic Anneliese Michel (1952-76; does $144.2M box office on a $19.3M budget. Robert Schwentke's Flightplan (Sept. 23), based on the 1938 Hitchcock film "The Lady Vanishes" is a thriller starring Jodie Foster as aircraft engineer Kyle Pratt, whose hubby David died from a fall in Germany, causing her to return to New York with his casket on a giant Elgin E-474 with her 6-y.-o. daughter Juliet (Marlene Lawston), who mysteriously disappears midway through the flight, causing mommy to begin frantically searching for her and violating security until she's arrested by the air marshal Carson (Peter Sarsgaard), who turns out to be a hijacker who was trying to frame her in his place to get away with the dough; Sean Bean also stars as airplane capt. Marcus Rich; grosses $89M in the U.S. and $223M worldwide despite being boycotted by the Assoc. of Prof. Flight Attendants, making it more popular? Michael Hoffman's Game 6, written by Don DeLillo in 1991 stars Michael Keaton as Boston Red Sox fan Nicky Rogan on Oct. 25, 1986, who vents his frustrations by planning a murder. George Clooney's B&W Good Night, and Good Luck (Oct. 14) covers the 1953-4 war between CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow (David Strathairn) and Sen. Joseph McCarthy, showing that the center was turning against McCarthy, although it leaves out how others took him on earlier, such as The Washington Post and other CBS journalists; the 2nd Oscar-nominated film to have 60 Minutes newsman Don Hewitt as a char. after "The Insider". Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man (Dec. 7) looks at the life of longtime bear lover Timothy Treadwell (1957-2003), who ends up in a bear's stomach in Oct. 2003 in Alaska along with his girlfriend Amy, killed while his camera is rolling with the lens cap on. Mike Newell's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Nov. 18) goblets up the bucks at the box office, coming #3 for 2005 ($290M). David Cronenberg's A History of Violence (Sept. 30), based on the graphic novel by Vince Locke and John Wagner stars Viggo Mortenesen as a diner owner with a hit man past, Maria Bellow as his wife, and William Hurt as a put-upon mobster. Andy Tennant's Hitch (Feb. 11) stars Will Smith as prof. date doctor Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, who finds it doesn't work so good for himself with his dream babe, Raquel Welch lookalike Sara Melas (Eva Mendes); also stars Tom Arnold lookalike Kevin James as Albert Brennaman, and Cameron Diaz lookalike Amber Valletta as Allegra Cole. Garth Jennings' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Apr. 28) (Touchstone Pictures), based on the 1979 book by Douglas Adams stars Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Sam Rockwell as Pres. Zaphod Beeblebrox, Mos Def as Ford Prefect, Zooey Deschanel as Tricia McMillan/Trillian, and the voices of Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman; does $104.5M on a $50M budget. Eli Roth's Hostel (Sept. 17) (Raw Nerve) (Lionsgate) (Screen Gems), filmed in the Czech Repub. stars Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson as two college students traveling through Europe who are captured and tortured by a mysterious group called the Elite Hunting Club; does $80.6M box office on a $4.8M budget; "There is a place where all your darkest sickest fantasies are possible. Where you can experience anything you desire. Where you can torture, punish, or kill for a price"; followed by "Hostel: Part II" (2007), "Hostel: Part III" (2011). Jaume Collet-Serra's House of Wax (May 6), a remake of the 1953 Vincent Price movie is the waxen acting debut of Paris Hilton as Paige Edwards. Craig Brewer's Hustle and Flow (July 22) stars Terrence Howard as Djay, a black Memphis street pimp with a white ho Nola (Taryn Manning), whom he pimps to pay for his Caddy and make money to buy studio equipment for his aspiring rapper career; blacks calling each other the N word is okay because they're doing it to each other? Sydney Pollack's The Interpreter (Apr. 8) stars Nicole Kidman as South African interpreter Silvia Broome, whose dual citizenship in the African country of Motobo along with past terrorist ties cause Secret Service agent Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) to mistrust her when she claims she heard talk of an assassination plot against corrupt Matobo pres. Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron); Pollack's last film. Michael Bay's The Island (July 22) (Warner Bros) stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as Lincoln Echo Six and Jordan Two Delta, who discover that they're clones created to harvest for body parts; does $162.9M box office (only $36M in the U.S.) on a $126M budget; in 2007 Bay settles a copyright infringement lawsuit by the makers of "Parts: The Clonus Horror" (1979). Sam Mendes' Jarhead (Nov. 4) (Red Wagon Entertainment) (Neal Street Productions) (Universal Pictures), based on the Anthony Swofford novel about U.S. Marines Anthony Swofford (Jack Gyllenhaal) et al. in the First Gulf War portrays them as hopped-up killing machines parked in t he Saudi Arabian desert with nothing to do except shout "Oorah", play football wearing gas masks, and fight gay tendencies; does $96.9M box office on a $72M budget. Penelope Spheeris' The Kid and I stars Tom Arnold and Eric Gores (1983-), who becomes the first person with cerebral palsy to star in an action movie after he sees "True Lies" then moves in next door to Arnold (being the son of a billionaire doesn't hurt?) - the other Ahnuld doesn't have cerebral palsy? Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (May 2) (Scott Free Productions) (Studio Babelsberg) (20th Cent. Fox), filmed in Quarzazate, Morroco and filled with super-cool medieval battle scenes stars Orlando Bloom as 12th cent. French knight Balian of Ibelin, who fights cool dressed-in-black chivalrous Ayyubid Muslim sultan Saladan (Ghassan Massoud) for Jerusalem in 1187 while romancing super-hot (those eyes, those eyes) Queen Sibylla (Eva Green) and fighting mean Guy de Lusignan (Marton Csokas) and crazy-as-a-fox Raynald de Chatillon (Brendan Gleeson) (master of Kerak Castle) with help from marshal Tiberias (Jeremy Irons); Liam Needson, er, Neeson plays Balian's father Godfrey; David Thewlis plays the Hospitaller; Alexander Siddig plays Saladin's Persian lt. Imad ad-Din al-Isfahani; Edward Norton plays leprous Jerusalem king Baldwin IV; Iain Glen plays Richard Lionheart; "What is Jerusalem worth?" (Balian); "Nothing... everything" (Saladin); "Nearly a thousand years later, peace in the Holy Land remains elusive"; does $211.7M box office on a $130M budget. Phil Morrison's Junebug (Aug. 5) (Sony Pictures) stars Embeth Davidtz as newlywed Chicago art dealer Madeleine Johnsten, who travels to N.C. to meet the family of hubby George (Alessandro Nivola) and chase a local painter David Wark (Frank Hoyt Taylor), getting involved with pregnant Ashley McKenzie (Amy Adams), who wants to name her baby you know what; does $3.4M box office on a $1M budget. Peter Jackson's King Kong (Dec. 13) (Universal Pictures), an updated remake with the latest SFX stars Jack Black as Carl Denham, Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll, and Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow; the #5 movie of 2005 ($218M U.S., $550.5M worldwide based on a $207M budget). Julian Jarrold's Kinky Boots (Oct. 7) stars Joel Edgerton as Charlie Price, a Northampton shoemaker who begins manufacturing fetish footwear in order to save the failing family business. Martin Campbell's The Legend of Zorro (Oct. 28), a sequel to "The Mask of Zorro" (1998) set in 1850 San Mateo County, Calif. stars Antonio Banderas as Don Alejandro de la Vega, and Catherine Zeta-Jones as his wife Elena, with Rufus Sewell playing the bad guy Jacob McGivens; grosses $142M worldwide. Dylan Avery's Loose Change (Apr. 13) is the first in a series of films (2006, 2007, 2009) claiming that the 9/11 false flag attacks were conducted by the U.S. govt. Catherine Hardwicke's Lords of Dogtown (June 3) (Columbia Pictures) (TriStar Pictures), written by Stacy Peralta is about the Z-Boys (Zephyr Boys) skateboarders (former surfers) in "Dogtown" Venice Beach, Los Angeles, Calif. ("kennel by the sea") in the late 1970s, who turned skateboarding from a safe to an extreme sport and launched a nat. craze; stars John Robinson as Peralta, Emile Hirsch as Jay Adams, Victor Rasuk as Tony Alva, Michael Angarano as rich kid Sid, and Heath Ledger as mgr. Skip Anglund; does $13.4M box office on a $25M budget. Eric Darnell's and Tom McGrath's computer-animated comedy adventure film Madagascar (May 27) (DreamWorks Pictures) is about four animals who escape from the New York Central Zoo to you know where, and discover how spoiled they had been; stars the voices of Ben Stiller as Alex the lion, Chris Rock as Marty the zebra, David Schwimmer as Melman the giraffe, and Jada Pinkett Smith as Gloria the hippo; #9 movie of 2005 ($193M U.S. and $556.6M worldwide box office on a $75M budget); followed by "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (2008), "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted". Luc Jacquet's March of the Penguins (Marche de l'Empereur) (July 22) is a documentary that turns into a surprise hit as the sight of male penguins mothering chicks melts hearts? Miranda July's Me and You and Everyone We Know (Aug. 19) is about falling in love via mind games. Rob Marshall's Memoirs of a Geisha (Dec. 23), based on the novel by 47-y.-o. Tenn. white author Arthur Golden becomes the first big budget Hollywood movie with Asian actors in every leading role, starring China's Beijing-born "female Brad Pitt" Ziyi Zhang (1979-), who speed-learns English in New York City over the summer, then gets criticized for playing a Japanese. Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby (Jan. 28), based on the book by F.X. Toole stars Hilary Swank as poor white trash girl Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald, who fights to become a boxing champ, only to become a paraplegic and end up asking coach Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) to pull the plug on her, while Dunn's partner, grandfatherly Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan) Freeman plays an impotent God; Maggie wears the slogan "Mo Chuisle" (pro. mokh-HUH-shluh) (misspelled as Mo Cuishle) on her robe, which is Gaelic for "My pulse"; Swank's main sparring partner is "the Real Million Dollar Baby" Maureen Carranza Shea (1981-); does $216.7M box office on a $30M budget. Robert Luketic's Monster in Law (May 13) stars Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez; does $155M box office on a $43M budget. Doug Liman's Mr. & Mrs. Smith (June 10) is a comedy about married assassins Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, who end up being paid to hit each other; #10 movie of 2005 ($186M). Petter Naess' Mozart and the Whale (Sept. 10) stars Radha Mitchell and Josh Hartnett as Aspberger Syndrome (autism) sufferers. Steven Spielberg's Munich (Dec. 23) (Universal), a remake of the 1986 TV movie "Sword of Gideon" based on George Jonas' 1984 book about the secret Israeli Mossad Operation Wrath of God formed to get even with 11 Black September terrorist for the 1972 Munich Massacre stars Eric Bana as Avner Kaufman, Daniel Craig as Steve, Hanns Zischler as Hans, Mathieu Kassovitz as Robert, Ciaran Hinds as Carl the Cleaner, and Moshe Ivgy as Michael Harari, leader of the team who killed innocent waiter Ahmed Bouchiki in Lillehammer, Norway after mistaking him for Black Sept. chief Ali Hassan Salameh, causing the govt. to go after his team; does $130M box office on a $77M budget. Niki Caro's North Country (Sept. 12) (Participant Productions) (Warner Bros.), based on the 2002 book "Class Action: The Story of Lois Jenson and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law" by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler stars Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes, a N Minn. miner who gets sexually harassed and starts a class action suit over it; does $25.2M box office on a $35M budget. Wayne Kopping's Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West is a shark-music documentary showing the looming threat to Judeo-Christian civilization, while claiming that only 10%-15% of the 1.2B Muslims support terrorism (although far more hate the U.S. and Israel), and that the "good" Muslims are victims too, woo woo woo; the film pisses-off Western leftists, who fear a gen. anti-Islamic backlash in Western countries more than they fear Islamic terrorism? John Madden's Proof (Sept. 5) (Miramax Films), written by Rebecca Miller based on the 2000 play by David Auburn stars Gwyneth Paltrow as 27-y.-o. Catherine, daughter of brilliant but cracked dead mathematician Robert Lllewellyn (Anthony Hopkins); Jake Gyllenhaal plays his ex-student Harold "Hal" Dobbs, who wants to search through her pants, er, his papers for a brilliant mathematical you know what; does $14M box office on a $20M budget. The Proposition (Oct. 6) (FIrst Look Pictures), set in the 1880s Australian Outback stars Guy Pearce as Charlie Burns, Ray Winstone as Capt. Morris Stanley, Emily Watson as martha Stanley, and John Hurt as Jellon Lamb; does $5M box office on a $2M budget. Vikram Bhatt's Raaz (Mar. 12), based on the film "What Lies Beneath" about a haunted house, starring Bipasha Bashu becomes the top Bollywood film of the year. John Turturro's Romance and Cigarettes (Dec. 1) stars James Gandolfini as a Queens steel worker, whose wife Susan Sarandon finds a love letter he wrote to his mistress Kate Winslet. Breck Eisner's Sahara (Apr. 4) (Paramount Pictures), based on the Clive Cussler Dirk Pitts novels stars Matthew McConaughey as Dirk Pitt, and Penelope Cruz as Dr. Eva Rojas on a quest up the Niger River in Mali for the Confed. ironclad CSS Texas, containing the Confed. treasury by following a disease it's spreading; Lambert Wilson plays businessman Yves Massarde; Lennie James plays dictator Brig. Gen. Zateb Kazim; does $119M box office on a $130M budget; too bad, its giant $81M distribution cost incl. bribes to the Moroccan govt. causes it to lose $105M. Liam Lynch's Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic is a long standup comedy routine by the new Lenny Bruce, who uses her race, religion, and sexuality as punch lines?; "Mommy is one of the Chosen People, and daddy believes that Jesus is magic... I hope the Jews did kill Christ; I'd do it again in a second." David Steiman's Santa's Slay (Dec. 20) (Media 8 Entertainment) is a black comedy horror Christmas film starring prof. wrestling star Bill Goldberg as an evil Santa who drives a sleigh pulled by hell-deer and arrives at Hell Township, proceeding to slaughter the pop. based on his Naughty List; "I'm just trying spread a little yuletide fear"; "Christmas is over when I say it's over." Julian Fellowes' Separate Lies (Sept. 16) (Fox Searchlight Pictures), based on the 1951 novel "A Way Through the Wood" by Nigel Balchim and the 1957 play "Waiting for Gillian" stars Tom Wilkinson as wealthy London doctor James Manning, and Emily Watson as his trophy wife Anne, who welcome bad apple William "Bill" Bule (Rupert Everett) into their happy lives; Fellowes' dir. debut. Joss Whedon's Serenity (Aug. 22), based on the 2002 series "Firefly" debuts, bringing in $38.9M on a budget of $39M. Anand Tucker's Shopgirl (Oct. 21), based on the 2000 Steve Martin novel stars Martin and Claire Danes. Alexander Payne's Sideways (Jan. 21), based on the Rex Pickett novel makes stars of both Paul Giamatti and the Santa Ynez Valley wine country of Santa Barbara, Calif., as pinot noir-loving merlot-hating Miles Raymond (Paul) gives Jack (Thomas Haden Church) a wine-tasting lesson at the Sanford Winery, while Jack begins an ill-fated tryst with waitress Maya (Virginia Madsen) at the A.J. Spurs restaurant; "Quaffable... but not transcendent"; "If anyone orders merlot, I'm leaving. I am not drinking any fucking merlot"; "Good, I like nonfiction. There is so much to know about this world. I think you read something somebody just invented, waste of time"; Miles tells Maya that his unpub. novel "evolves or devolves into a kind of Robbe-Grillet mystery, but no real resolution". Zach Niles' and Banker White's Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars (Nov. 9) is a documentary about a group of musicians in a West African refugee camp who fight to survive the horrible civil war. Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale (Jan. 23) (Samual Goldwyn Films) (Sony Pictures) stars Jesse Eisenberg as Walt Berkman, and Owen Kline as Frank Berkman, who have to deal their parents' divorce in the 1980s at the Am. Museum of Nat. History squid-sperm whale diorama; does $11.2M box office on a $1.5M budget. George Lucas' Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (May 15) (2oth Cent. Fox) brings the 6-part saga to an end adequately but not brilliantly, as Canadian teenie actor Christian Hayden is not quite up to the face-acting requirements in the reaction shots?; Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid almost steals the show as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine alias the Evil Emperor; #1 movie of 2005 ($381M U.S. and $848.8M worldwide box office on a $113M budget). Stephen Gaghan's Syriana (Nov. 23), based on the Robert Baer memoir "See No Evil" stars George Clooney (after Harrison Ford turns down the role) as CIA operative Bob Barnes, Matt Damon as young oil analyst Bryan Woodman, and Jeffrey Wright as Washington, D.C. atty. Bennett Holiday, who is investigating a merger between oil cos. Connex and Killen, showing how the Western oil addiction has corrupted U.S. foreign policy; Alexander Siddig plays Prince Nasir Al-Subaai, eldest son of the emir, who his brother Prince Meshal (Akbar Kurtha) plots to assassinate; Pax Syriana is the necessary state of peace between Assyria (from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and from the Sinai to the Taurus Mts.) and the U.S. so that it can get oil; grosses $50.8M in North Am. and $93.9M worldwide; "You want to know what the business world thinks of you? We think that 100 years ago you were living out here in tents in the desert chopping each other's heads off, and that's exactly where you're gonna be in another 100." Duncan Tucker's Transamerica (Feb. 10) stars "Desperate Housewives" babe Felicity Huffman as man named Stanley preparing for sex-change surgery, taking female hormones to become Bree, who on the eve of his final castration has to bail his 17-y.-o. son Toby he never knew he had (Kevin Negers) from jail, and finds out he's a hustler who wants to become a porn star - nice way to round out the Hollyweird Year of Dick Almighty? Gavin Hood's Tsotsi (Dec. 23), based on a novel by South African playwright Athol Fugard is set in a Soweto slum near Johannesburg, featuring music by South African artist Zola; wins the best foreign film Oscar. Lasse Hallstrom's An Unfinished Life (Sept. 15) stars Jennifer Lopez as a down-on-her-luck woman with a daughter who moves in with rancher father-in-law Robert Redford, who blames her for the death of his son in a car accident, while taking care of friend Morgan Freeman, who was wounded by a bear, and after he finally forgives the bear, they forgive each other. James Mangold's Walk the Line (Nov. 18) stars Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon in an uncanny channeling of Johnny "tortured soul" Cash and June "fever" Carter, even doing their own singing and geetar playing, and featuring the outdated hetero lifestyle; it brings in $116.3M (#5). Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (June 29) (Amblin Entertainment) (Paramount Pictures), a remake of the 1953 Byron Haskin flick stars Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, and Dakota Fanning as his daughter Rachel, using images from the 9/11 exodus of New Yorkers from Lower Manhattan; "The images that stand out most in my mind are of everybody from Manhattan crossing the George Washington Bridge in the shadow of 9/11. It was a searing image I haven't been able to get out of my head" (Spielberg); does $591.7M box office on a $132M budget. Gore Verbinski's The Weather Man (Oct. 28) stars Nicolas Cage as Chicago weatherman David Spritz, whom everbody around him sees as a failure, incl. his Pulitzer Prize-winning writer dad Robert (Michael Caine) and ex-wife Noreen (Hope Davis); a box office flop. David Dobkin's Wedding Crashers (July 15) (New Line Cinema) stars Owen Wilson, as John Beckwith and Vince Vaughn as Jeremy Grey, bachelor divorce mediators in Washington, D.C. who you know what to bed women; co-stars Christopher Walken as U.S. treasury secy. William Cleary Jane Seymour as his wife Kathleen "Kitty Kat" Cleary, Rachel McAdams and Isla Fisher as his daughters Claire and Gloria, and Bradley Cooper as Claire's cheating boyfriend Sack Lodge; #6 movie of 2005 ($209M U.S. and $285.2M worldwide box office on a $40M budget). Atom Egoyan's Where the Truth Lies (Oct. 7), based on the novel by Rupert ("Pina Colada Song") Holmes features a 3-way sex scene between Kevin Bacon, Rachel Blanchard, and Colin Firth (dicks are for sharing?); "What happened to Maureen O'Flaherty?" Art: The 40-ft.-high Blue Bear Statue, designed by Lawrence Argent is built on the E side of the Colo. Convention Center in Denver, Colo.; it is made of polymer concrete and weighs 5 tons, dwarfing the 26-ft. 1954 Smokey Bear Statue in International Falls, Minn. Banksy, Wall and Piece. Damien Hirst (1965-), The Wrath of God; another shark in formaldehyde; The Inescapable Truth; human skull and dove in formaldehyde; The Sacred Heart of Jesus; perspex, bull's heart et al. in formaldehyde; Faithless; butterflies on canvas with glossy house paint; The Hat Makes de Man (painted bronze). Shanell Pap, Crocheted Human; anatomically correct. On Aug. 9 Ruan, a human fetus head grafted onto the body of a bird is withdrawn from a Swiss museum after a visitor complains; Chinese artist Xiao Yu says he bought the head in 1990 for a few bucks and that it was a female specimen from the 1960s. Emmi Whitehorse (1957-), Salmonberry B. Michael Whiting, 2005 Boogie. Kehinde Wiley (1977-), Napoleon Leading the Army Over the Alps; er, apes Jacques-Louis David's 1801 equestrian portrait substituting a young black man. Plays: Alan Ayckbourn (1939-), Improbable Fiction (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) (May 31). Patrick Barlow (1947-), The 39 Steps (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (June 17) (Tricycle Theatre, London) (Aug. 10, 2006) (Criterion Theatre, West End, London) (Sept. 14, 2006) (3,731 perf.) (Am. Airlines Theatre, New York) (Jan. 15, 2008) (Cort Theatre, New York) (Apr. 29, 2008) (Helen Hayes Theatre, New York) (Jan. 21, 2009); based on the 1915 John Buchan novel and the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film; a 4-actor cast. George Barthel, Through a Naked Lens (Wings Theater, New York); about Hollywood star Ramon Navarro and his publicist (gay bud?) Herbert Howe. Chris Bartlett and Nick Awde, Pete and Dud: Come Again (Edinburgh) (Aug.). Howard Brenton (1942-), Paul (Nat. Theatre, London) (Sept. 30); St. Paul. Amelia Bullmore, Mammals (Bush Theatre, London) (Apr. 6). Rebecca Clarke, Unspoken; how she copes with a severely disabled brother. Eric Coble, The Dead Guy. Simon Mendes Da Costa, Losing Louis (Hampstead Theatre, London) (Jan. 26). Chris D'Arienzo, Rock of Ages (musical) (King King, Los Angeles) (July 27) (New World Stages, New York) (Oct. 16, 2008) (Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York) (Apr. 7, 2009) (Helen Hayes Theatre, New York) (Mar. 24, 2011) (2,328 perf.); about 1980s glam metal bands incl. Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Europe, Steve Perry, Poison, Styx, and Twisted Sister. Don DeLillo (1936-), Love-Lies-Bleeding (Fulton St. Theater, Boise) (May 2); vegetating artist Alex Macklin, his son Sean, and wives Toinette and Lia. Will Eno, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (New York) (Feb. 1). William Finn (1952-), Rachel Sheinkin, and Jay Reiss, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (musical) (Second Stage Theatre, New York) (Feb. 7) (Circle in the Square Theatre, New York) (Apr. 15) (1,136 perf.); dir. by James Lapine; choreography by Dan Knechtges; four audiences members are invited on stage to compete along with the six young actors. Brian Friel (1929-), The Home Place (Gate Theatre, Dublin) (Feb. 1). Jeremy Gable (1982-), Marat.Sade; Weapons of Ass Destruction. Ray Galton and John Antrobus, Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane; their deaths. Bob Gaudio (1942-), Bob Crewe (1930-2014), Marshall Brickman (1939-), and Rick Elice (1956-), The Jersey Boys (musical) (Nov. 6) (August Wilson Theater, New York) (4,642 perf.) (Prince Edward Theatre, West End, London) (Feb. 2008) (Piccadilly Theatre, West End, London) (Mar. 15, 2014) (3,657 perf.); the story of Frankie Valli (1934-) and the Four Seasons. Benjamin T. George, True Blue (Riant Theater, New York) (Aug.); an American (Will) and an Iraqi family deal with the horrors of war. Kathie Lee Gifford (1953-), David Pomeranz (1951-), and David Friedman (1950-), Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson (musical) (White Plains Performing Arts Center) (Oct.) (Neil Simon Theatre, New York) (Nov. 15, 2012) (29 perf.); stars Carolee Carmello; Hurricane Sandy is blamed for the early closing. Richard Greenberg, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way (South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, Calif.) (Apr. 1). Stephen Adly Guirgis, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Public Theater, New York) (Mar. 2); dir. by Philip Seymour Hoffman. David Harrower, Blackbird. Darcy Hogan, The Land Southward (Hunger Artists Theatre, Fullerton, Calif.) (Apr.); U.S. nuclear testing in the 1950s. Hugh Hughes, Floating; the Isle of Anglesey breaks off from Wales and floats around the world. Eric Idle (1943-), Neil Innes (1944-), and John Du Prez (1946-), Monty Python's Spamalot (musical) (Shubert Theatre, Chicago) (Jan. 9) (Shubert Theatre, New York) (Mar. 17) (1,575 perf.); seen by 2M people, grossing $175M; based on the 1975 film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", dir. by Mike Nichols. Elton John (1947-) and Lee Hall (1966-), Billy Elliot the Music (musical) (Victoria Palace Theatre, West End, London (May 11) (4,566 perf.) (Imperial Theatre, New York) (Oct. 1, 2008); based on the 2000 film about a boxer who becomes a ballet dancer during the U.K. miner's strike of 1984-5 in County Durham, NE England. Rolin Jones, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (David Mamet's Atlantic Theatre Co.); agoraphobic OCD-suffering Jennifer Marcus reengineers obsolete missile components for the U.S. Army from her bedroom, then devises a new form of human contact to find her family in China. David Knijnenburg, Hitchcock & Herrmann; Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann. Neil LaBute, Some Girl(s) (Lucille Lortel Theater, New York); stars Fran Drescher, Judy Reyes, Brooke Smith, Maura Tierney, and Eric McCormack; This Is How It Goes (Public Theater, New York) (Mar. 27); an interracial love triangle between Belinda (Amanda Peet), Cody (Jeffrey Wright), and Man (Ben Stiller). Carlos Lacamara, Nowhere on the Border. James Lapine (1949-), Fran's Bed. David Lindsay-Abaire, Rabbit Hole (Pulitzer Prize). Matthew Lombardo, Tea at Five; stars Kate Mulgrew as Katharine Hepburn. Ken Ludwig, Be My Baby (Alley Theatre, Houston); stars Hal Holbrook and Dixie Carter. Ann-Marie MacDonald, Belle Moral. David Mamet, Romance (Atlantic Theater, New York). Melanie Marnich, Cradle of Man. Elaine May, After the Night and the Music; title from the Howard Dietz song "You and the Night and the Music". Frank McGuinness (1953-), Speaking Like Magpies (Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon). Allison Moore, Hazzard County. Peter Morris, Guardians (Edinburgh). Chloe Moss, How Live is Spelt (Bush Theatre, London). Tommy Murphy, Strangers in Between (Griffin Theatre, Sydney) (Feb.). Richard Norton-Taylor, Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry (Tricycle Theatre, London). Louis Nowra (1950-), The Marvellous Boy (Sydney). Philip Ridley, Mercury Fur (Menier Chocolate Factory, London). John Patrick Shanley (1950-), Defiance (Manhattan Theatre Club); stars Stephen Lang as a col. who promotes black officer Chris Bauer solely based on race; Doubt: a Parable (Manhattan Theatre Club, New York) (Nov. 23) (525 perf.) (Pulitzer Prize); Father Flynn's suspected sexual conduct with Donald Muller (school's first black student) is questioned in St. Nicholas Church School in Bronx, N.Y. in fall 1964 by Sister Aloysius and Sister James, and the quality of doubt becomes a more positive force than faith; a battle between pre and post Vatican II views?; "What do you do when you're not sure?" (Flynn). Gerald Sibleyras, Heroes: Le Vent des Peupliers; tr. by Tom Stoppard. Simon Stephens (1971-), On the Shore of the Wide World (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester) (Apr. 18); title taken from the John Keats poem "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be". Caridad Svich, Luna Park (San Francisco). Stephen Temperley, Souvenir; socialite Florence Foster Jenkins and pianist Cosme McMoon in 1964. Vern Thiessen, Shakespeare's Will (Edmonton). Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), Third (last play) (Lincoln Center, New York) (Sept. 29). Michael Weller (1942-), Approaching Moomtaj. David Williamson (1942-), Influence (Sydney). August Wilson (1945-2005), Radio Golf (Yale Repertore Theatre); last in the 10-part Pittsburgh Cycle. Robert Wilson (1941-), Jean de La Fontain's The Fables; Ibsen's Peer Gynt. Vincent Woods, A Cry from Heaven. Poetry: Elizabeth Alexander (1962-), American Sublime. Archie Randolph Ammons (1926-2001), Bosh and Flapdoodle: Poems. Frank Bidart (1939-), Star Dust. Robert Bly (1926-), My Sentence Was a Thousand Years of Joy; The Urge to Travel Long Distances. Billy Collins (1941-) (ed.), 180 More Extraordinary Poems for Every Day; The Trouble with Poetry. Mark Doty (1944-), School of the Arts. Thomas Sayers Ellis, The Maverick Room. Jack Gilbert, Refusing Heaven. Jorie Graham (1950-), Overlord. Jim Harrison (1937-), Livingston Suite. Ted Kooser (1939-), Flying at Night: Poems 1965-1985; The Poetry Home Repair Manual: Practical Advice for Beginning Poets. Maxine Kumin (1925-), Jack and Other New Poems. W.S. Merwin (1927-), Migration: New and Selected Poems; Present Company. Mary Oliver (1935-), New and Selected Poems, Vol. 2. Pattiann Rogers (1940-), Fireweed: Selected Poems, Revised and Expanded. Michael Ryan (1946-), New and Selected Poems. Martin Seymour-Smith (1928-98), Collected Poems (posth.). Charles Simic (1938-), My Noiseless Entourage. Dave Smith (1942-), Little Boats, Unsalvaged: Poems, 1992-2004. Gerald Stern (1925-), Everything Is Burning. Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012), Colon. David Wagoner (1926-), Good Morning and GoodNight. Charles Wright (1935-), The Wrong End of the Rainbow. Kevin Young, Black Maria; a noir in verse. Novels: A year in which historical fiction sells better than other kinds, brought on by 9/11 and Millennium Fever? Catherine Aird (1930-), A Hole in One. Mike Albo and Virginia Heffernan, The Underminer. Wendy Alec, The Fall of Lucifer (Oct.). Isabel Allende (1942-), Forest of the Pygmies; Zorro. Rudolfo Anaya, Serafina's Stories. Pam Anderson (1967-), Star; "What happens when the A-list meets a D-cup"; she goes on to star in the comedy TV series Stacked about a blonde rock & roll bimbo with brains to spare who works in a lit. bookstore. Robert Anderson, Little Fugue (first novel); about Sylvia Plath (1932-63) and her hubby Ted Hughes (1930-98). Neal Asher (1961-), Cowl. Margaret Atwood (1939-), The Penelopiad; Homer's Odyssey from the female POV, dissing the injustice of males. Gilad Atzmon (1963-), My One and Only Love. Paul Benjamin Auster (1947-), The Brooklyn Follies. Tash Aw (1971-), The Harmony Silk Factory (first novel); textile magnate Johnny Lim, his wife Snow Soong, and son Jasper in 1940s British-ruled Malaysia. Melissa Bank, The Wonder Spot; Sophie Applebaum. John Banville (1945-), The Sea; aging dilettante art historian Max Morden; author likes the words "cinereal" and "flocculent". Julian Barnes (1946-), Arthur & George. Nevada Barr, Hard Truth. Sebastian Barry, A Long Long Way. John Barth (1930-), Where Three Roads Meet. Nancy Baxter, Norma Ever After (first novel); Norma Dale. Barrington J. Bayley (1937-2008), The Sinners of Erspia; The Great Hydration. Greg Bear (1951-), Quantico; about FBI agents trying to prevent a bioterrorist attack. Frederic Beigbeder, Windows on the World (tr. Frank Wynne). Ann Beattie (1947-), Follies: New Stories (short stories). Madison Smartt Bell, The Stone That the Builder Refused; hate hate Haiti. Aimee Bender, Willful Creatures (short stories). Steve Berry (1955-), The Third Secret. Tom Bissell, God Lives in St. Petersburg. Baxter Black, Hey Cowgirl, Need a Ride? Alice Blanchard, Life Sentences. M.H. Bonham, Prophecy Swords. Marshall Boswell, Alternative Atlanta (first novel). Robert Olen Butler (1945-), Mots de Tete (Severance) (short stories). T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), Tooth Claw and Other Stories; The Human Fly (short stories). Ray Bradbury (1920-), Somewhere a Band Is Playing; "I wrote it for Katherine Hepburn back around 1962... But she got tired of waiting, grew old and died." Gayle Brandeis, The Book of Dead Birds (first novel). Marlon Brando and Donald Cammell, Fan-Tan (posth.) (Sept.); pirate Anatole "Annie" Doultry and gangster Madame Lai Choi San in 1927 Hong Kong. Kathy Brandt, Dangerous Depths: An Underwater Investigation; detective Hannah Simmons. Anita Brookner (1928-), Leaving Home. Geraldine Brooks (1955-), March (Pulitzer Prize). Marshall Browne, Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn; thriller featuring the game of Go. Ken Bruen, Vixen. Edna Buchanan, Shadows. Frederick Buechner (1926-), The Christmas Tide. John Burdett, Bangkok Tattoo. James Lee Burke (1936-), Crusader's Cross; Dave Robicheaux and his half-brother Jimmie in 1958. Bebe Moore Campbell, 72 Hour Hold; Keri and her 18-y.-o. mentally-ill daughter. Philip Caputo (1941-), Acts of Faith; Douglas Braithwaite, Fitzhugh Martin, Tara Whitcomb, Michael Goraende, Quinette Hardin; Graham Greene's "The Quiet American" set in Sudan? Orson Scott Card (1951-), Magic Street. Caleb Carr, The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. Jonathan Carroll, Glass Soup. Lee Child (1954-), One Shot; Jack Reacher #9; filmed in 2012 strring Tom Cruise. Sandra Cisneros, Caramelo; Lala Reyes, Aunty Light-Skin, "Uncle Old", "Awful Grandmother". Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), No Place Like Home; Liza Barton returns to her childhood home; Dancing in the Dark; TV journalist Diane Mayfield in Ocean Grove, N.J. Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter, Sunstorm (A Time Odyssey). Clare Clark, The Great Stink (first novel); the 1855 London heat wave and how it become a very superstitious handwriting on the wall. Richard Alan Clarke (1950-), The Scorpion's Gate (Oct. 25) (first novel); a thriller billed as the sequel to "Against All Enemies". Stephen Clarke, A Year in the Merde. Rita Cleary, Calling the Wind: A Lewis & Clark Story. Chris Cleave, Incendiary (first novel). Margaret Coel, Eye of the Wolf; Father John O'Malley and Vickey Holden. Paul Coelho (1947-), The Zahir; Revived Paths. J.M. Coetzee (1940-), Slow Man; a misanthropic photographer loses his leg in an accident and is saved by a married Croat woman; "Someone needs to rescue J.M. Coetzee from Elizabeth Costello" (John Freeman). Susann Cokal, Breath and Bones. Marjorie Kowalski Cole, Correcting the Landscape. Larry Collins (1929-2005) and Dominique Lapierre (1931-), Is New York Burning? (New-York Brule-t-il?); a terrorist attack on New York City. Michael Connelly, The Closers; The Lincoln Lawyer; Mickey Haller. Robin Cook (1940-), Marker. Robert Coover (1932-), A Child Again. Bernard Cornwell, The Last Kingdom; Vikings vs. Britons for control of 9th-10th cent. England. Ann Howard Creel, Under a Stand Still Moon; the Anasazis. Cheryl Howard Crew (wife of Ron Howard), In the Face of Jinn; Christine and Elizabeth Shepherd in India, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Justin Cronin, The Summer Guest. John Crowley (1942-), Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land. James Crumley, The Right Madness; C.W. Sughrue of Meriwether, Montana. Michael Crummey (1965-), The Wreckage. Mitch Cullin, A Slight Trick of the Mind. Michael Cunningham (1952-), Specimen Days. John M. Daniel, The Poet's Funeral. Rana Dasgupta, Tokyo Cancelled (first novel); a modern mini-Decameron. Craig Davidson, Rust and Bone (short stories). Katherine Davies, The Madness of Love (first novel). Claire Davis, Season of the Snake. Nelson DeMille, Night Fall. Kate DiCamillo, Mercy Watson to the Rescue. E.L. Doctorow (1931-), The March; Sherman's 1864 March to the Sea; how the northward exodus of slaves after the war begins makes the Emancipation Proclamation a rhetorical default; sells 100K copies by the end of the year. Christina Dodd, Close to You; TV reporter Kate Montgomery and bodyguard Teague Ramos. John Dunning, The Sign of the Book. Umberto Eco (tr. Geoffrey Brock), The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana: An Illustrated Novel; the lost memory of rare book dealer Yambo. David Harris Ebenbach, Between Camelots (short stories). George Alec Effinger (1947-2002), Live! From Planet Earth (short stories). Chris Elliott, The Shroud of the Thwacker. Bret Easton Ellis (1964-), Lunar Park; about fictional Gen-X enfante terrible writer Brad Easton Ellis. Louise Erdrich (1954-), The Painted Drum. Carrolly Erickson, The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette (first novel). Andreas Eschbach, The Carpet Makers. Loren D. Estelman, The ndertaker's Wife; Wild Bill Hickock as a gun-toting Oscar Wilde? Nicholas Evans, The Divide. Richard Paul Evans, The Sunflower. Jim Fergus, The Wild Girl: The Notebooks of Ned Giles, 1932 Signed 1st Edition. George Fetherling (1949-), Jericho. Jasper Fforde, The Big Over Easy - would fit as a new name for New Orleans? Karen Fisher, A Sudden Country; James MacLaren in the 1847 Oregon migration. Thomas Fleming, The Secret Trial of Robert E. Lee; asst. secy. of war of Charles A. Dana puts Lee on trial in Arlington? Vince Flynn, Consent to Kill; Mitch Rapp of the CIA. Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close; 9-y.-o. Oskar Schell loses his dad to 9/11, and finds God, er, his grandfather? Mick Foley (1965-), Scooter. Alan Dean Foster, The Light-Years Beneath My Feet. Margaret Forster (1938-), Is There Anything You Want? Henry G. Frankfurt, On Bullshit. Marilyn French (1929-2009), The Love Children. Lisa Fugard, Skinner's Drift (first novel). Neil Gaiman (1960-), Anansi Boys; Fat Charlie Nancy's dad is an Anansi, one of the trickster gods who first brought fiction to man; thus, Charlie isn't even fat? Mark Gatiss, The Vesuvius Club. Anne Giardini, The Sad Truth About Happiness (first novel). Barry Gifford (1946-), Do the Blind Dream? Micaela Gilchrist, The Fiercer Heart. Lisa Glatt, The Apple's Bruise (short stories); chick-lit with attitude?; "Let's give it a whirl - I'm not a carnival ride"; "Let's just talk. I want to hear everything you have to say"; the answer to Freud? Gail Godwin (1937-), Queen of the Underworld. Myla Goldberg, Wickett's Remedy; about Southie girl Lydie Kilkenny in the early 1900s, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, and how a stolen tonic recipe is used to make a popular soda pop. Nadine Gordimer (1923-), Get a Life; based on the death of her hubby Reinhold Cassirer. Mary Catherine Gordon (1949-), Pearl. Maya Gold and Louise Fitzhugh (1928-74), Harriet the Spy, Double Agent. Steven Gould, Reflex. Thomas Christopher Greene, I'll Never Be Gone. Joanne Greenberg, Appearances; Denver ski atty. Robert Greer, Resurrecting Langston Blue; black bail bondsman C.J. Floyd tears up the streets of Denver in his 2-toned 1957 Chevy Bel Air. Philippa Gregory, The Constant Princess; was Henry VIII's bride Katherine of Aragon really a virgin despite her marriage to his late brother Arthur? W.E.B. Griffin, By Order of the President. Gene Guerin, Cottonwood Saints. Jim Harrison (1937-), The Summer He Didn't Die. Lou Harry and Eric Pfeffinger, The High-Impact Infidelity Diet. John Haskell, American Purgatorio (first novel). Joanne Harris, Gentlemen and Players; St. Oswald's school and its Mole? Jim Harrison (1937-), The Summer He Didn't Die (3 novellas). John Twelve Hawks, The traveller (first novel); "Harlequins protect travellers. That's all you need to know." Mo Hayder, The Devil of Nanking. Mark Helprin (1947-), Freddy and Fredericka. Carl Hiaasen (1953-), Flush. Homer Hickam, The Ambassador's Son; #2 in Josh Thurlow trilogy. Robert Hicks, The Widow of the South (first novel); based on the true story of Carrie Winder McGavock (1829-1905) of Franklin, Tenn.; sells 100K copies by the end of the year, neck-in-neck with Doctorow. Reginald Hill, The Stranger House. Russell Hoban (1925-), Come Dance with Me. Alice Hoffman (1952-), The Ice Queen. Rupert Holmes, Swing. Nick Hornby (1957-), A Long Way Down; a has-been rocker delivers pizzas in North London and plans suicide on the last day of 1999 (Serge Bielanko of Marah?); hyperactive lit.? Michel Houellebecq (1958-), The Possibility of an Island (La Possibilite d'une Ile). Heather E. Howard, Chore Whore: Adventures of a Personal Assistant (first novel). Jeff Hull, Pale Morning Done (first novel); Marshall Tate and the Fly X Ranch. Greg Iles, Turning Angel; Penn Cage, ex-prosecutor from Tex. returns. John Irving (1942-), Until I Find You; Jack Burns, son of wandering tattoo artist Alice, who searches for Jack's father William, a church organist and ink junkie, and enrolls him in all-girls school St. Hilda, where she has a lez affair with divorced mother Leslie? Kazuo Ishiguro (1954-), Never Let Me Go; Hailsham English private school students Kathy H., Tommy D., and Ruth share a big secret, causing them to be treated like pariahs, but don't figure it out until they grow up and find that they were bred by scientists to use their vital organs. P.D. James (1920-), The Lighthouse; Adam Dalgleish #13; murders on Combe Island off the Cornish coast. Arthur Japin, In Lucia's Eyes; Casanova's first love. Ha Jin (1956-), War Trash. Graham Joyce (1954-), The Limits of Enchantment. Juris Jurjevics, The Trudeau Vector (first novel) (Aug. 17); hubby of Laurie Colwin (1944-92) and ed. of Soho Press; biohazard at Arctic Research Station Trudeau. Ismail Kadare (1936-), The Successor. A.L. Kennedy, Paradise; Hanna Luckraft and Irish whiskey. Sue Monk Kidd (1948-), The Mermaid Chair; Jessie Sullivan. Owen King, We're All in This Together (first novel). Stephen King (1947-), The Dark Tower VII; The Colorado Kid; Stephanie McCann of the "Weekly Islander" - he's always going to be outside the box? Walter Kirn, Mission to America. Dean Koontz (1945-), Forever Odd; Odd Thomas and Pico Mundo, Calif. revisited; Velocity; bartender Billy Wiles and his terrible choice. Elizabeth Kostova (1964-), The Historian (first novel); is Vlad III Dracula the Impaler (1431-71) still alive?; Little, Brown & Co. pays $2M for it, and it sells 500K copies by Dec. 2005; parallel account of historian Paul in the 1950s, his daughter in 1972-3, and his mentor Bartholomew Rossi in 1930. William Kotzwinkle, The Amphora Project. Nicole Krauss (1974-), The History of Love (May 2); internat. bestseller about 80-y.-o. Jewish Holocaust survivor Leo Gurkey, young Alma Singer and a lost ms. Carson Kresley (b. 1969), You're Different and That's Super (children's book). Pascal Laine (1942-), Le Mystere de la Tour Eiffel. Laila Lalami, Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits (first novel); illegal immigrants from Morocco to Spain. Lorna Landvik, Oh My Stars. Rattawut Lapcharoensap, Sightseeing (first novel); sights and sounds of Thailand. Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo; first in the worldwide bestselling (65M copies) Millennium Trilogy (2005, 2006, 2007); about rape victim Lisbeth Salander, based on a real 15-y.-o. girl he saw gang-raped but failed to help, haunting him for life; investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist; in 2010 it becomes the first ebook with 1M Kindle downloads. Jose Latour, Comrades in Miami. Michael Lavigne, Not Me (first novel). Jim Lehrer, The Franklin Affair. Maria T. Lennon, Making It Up As I Go Along. Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), The Hot Kid. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), Thirsty People; The Disappointment Artist. Kathy Lette, A Stitch in Time. Alan Lightman, Einstein's Dreams; Einstein's mind in his big year 5-4-3-2-Ein 1905. Jeff Lindsay, Dearly Devoted Dexter; Dexter Morgan and his Dark Passenger. Penelope Lively (1933-), Making It Up. Jeff Long, The Wall. Jim Lynch, The Highest Tide (first novel); 13-y.-o. old soul Miles O'Malley. Stuart MacBride, Cold Granite (first novel). Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006), The Seventh Heaven. David Maine, Fallen. Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014), Memories of My Melancholy Whores. Russell Martin, The Sorrow of Archaeology. David Marusek, Counting Heads (first novel). Bobbie Ann Mason (1940-), An Atomic Romance. Francine Matthews, Blown. Ed McBain (1926-2005), Fiddlers; 55th and last in the 87th Precinct Series set in the New York City clone of Isola; pub. 2 mo. after McBain's death; the Deaf Man is still out there somewhere, and Steve Carella, Bert Kling, and Fat Ollie Weeks. Richard McCann (1949-), Mother of Sorrows; "unbearably beautiful" (Michael Cunningham). Cormac McCarthy (1933-), No Country for Old Men; title comes from the poem Sailing to Byzantium by William Butler Yeats; Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss discovers a cache of $2M drug money in big bad Tex. near the Mexican border, causing its owners to send killer Anton Chigurh (the next Hannibal Lecter?); filmed in 2007. Sharyn McCrumb, St. Dale; stock car driver Harley Claymore on a tour of Southern speedways which turns into a pilgrimage of Dale Earnhardt sites. Ian McEwan (1948-), Saturday; English neurosurgeon Henry Perowne on Feb. 15, 2003 during a London protest against the invasion of Iraq; "Everyone agrees, airliners look different in the sky these days, predatory or doomed." Kevin McIlvoy, The Complete History of New Mexico (short stories). Jay McInerney (1955-), The Good Life; sequel to "Brightness Falls". Elizabeth McKenzie, Stop That Girl (first novel); about Ann. Ian R. McLeod, The House of Storms. Terry McMillan (1951-), The Interruption of Everything. Catriona McPherson, After the Armistice Ball. Larry McMurtry (1936-), Oh What a Slaughter!; Loop Group; Maggie and Connie. Cheryl Mendelson, Love, Work, Children. Stephenie Meyer (1973-), Twilight (Oct.) (first novel); original title "Forks"; bestseller; first of a bestselling trilogy about high school girl Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from Phoenix, Ariz., to Forks, Wash. and falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen; discovered in a slush pile at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, launching her career as the next J.K. Rowling, going on to sell 100M+ copies. Stanley Middleton (1919-2009), Sterner Stuff. Adrienne Miller, The Coast of Akron (first novel); Merit Haven Ash, daughter of world-famous painter Lowell and wife Jenny. Sue Miller (1943-), Lost in the Forest. Kyle Mills, Fade; Am.-Arab Salam al-Fayed of the U.S. Navy Seals. Denise Mina, Field of Blood. Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Breakdown Lane. Rick Moody (1961-), The Diviners. Richard K. Morgan (1965-), Woken Furies. David Morrell (1943-), Creepers. Mary McGarry Morris (1943-), The Lost Mother; a 12-y.-o. boy tells how his mother leaves the family during the Great Depression. Nicholas Mosley (1923-), Look at the Dark. Walter Mosley (1952-), Cinnamon Kiss; Easy Rawlins #10; Philomena "Cinnamon" Cargill in the Summer of Love. Alice Munro (1931-), Runaway (short stories); high-brow chick-lit? Haruki Murakami (1949-), Mysteries of Tokyo (short stories). Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Cloud, Castle, Lake (short stories) (posth.). David Nicholls, The Understudy. Galt Niederhoffer, A Taxonomy of Barnacles (first novel); self-made N.Y. pantyhose prince and Darwin fan Barry Barnacle dies, and his six daughters Benita, Beryl, Belinda, Beth, Bridget, and Bell fight for his inheritance; the last two have love affairs with next-door twins Billy and Blaine Finch. Audrey Niffenegger, The Three Incestuous Sisters: An Illustrated Novel. Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), Missing Mom. Redmond O'Hanlon, Trawler. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), The Good Wife. Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Haunted (short stories). Sara Paretsky (1947-), Fire Sale; V.I. Warshawski #12. Paul Park (1954-), A Princess of Roumania. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Appaloosa (June 6); Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch #1; Cold Service; Spenser #32; School Days; Spenser #33. James Patterson (1947-), Mary, Mary; Patterson goes for 25 years with less than one book a year, then joins with co-authors and puts out three in 2001, 2002, and 2003, then four in 2004, and five in 2005. James Patterson (1947-) and Andrew Gross, Lifeguard; Ned Kelley, 19th cent. Australian outlaw not. Jack Pendarvis, The Mysterious Secret of the Valuable Treasure. Elliot Perlman (1964-), Seven Types of Ambiguity; The Reasons I Won't Be Coming (short stories). Jodi Picoult (1966-), Vanishing Acts. Marge Piercy (1936-), Sex Wars. Peter Pouncey (1937-), Rules for Old Men Waiting. Reynolds Price (1933-), The Good Priest's Son (June); two weeks in the life of Mabry Kincaid and 9/11. Francine Prose (1947-), A Changed Man; neo-Nazi skinhead Vincent Nolan walks into the World Brotherhood Watch, a human rights org. headed by Auschwitz survivor Meyer Maslow. E. Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry (1936-), and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain: Secret in the Mountain. Eric Puchner, Music Through the Floor (short stories). Robert J. Randisi (ed.), Greatest Hits: Original Stories of Hitmen, Hired Guns, and Private Eyes; 15 crime stories. Holiday Reinhorn, Big Cats (short stories). Ruth Rendell (Barbara Vine), 13 Steps Down. Anne Rice (1941-), Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt; the boyhood of Christ; written after reconverting to Roman Catholicism in 1998 - but keeping the money? Stella Rimington, At Risk. David L. Robbins, Liberation Road. Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-), Fifty Degrees Below; Science in the Capital #2. Roxana Robinson, A Perfect Stranger (short stories). Luis J. Rodriguez, Music of the Mill; an L.A. steel mill. Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), The Ezekiel Option (first novel). J.K. Rowling (1965-), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (12:01 a.m. on July 16); Harry's 6th year at Hogwarts; first printing is 10.8M copies, for a total of 210M series books sold worldwide; Amazon.com rakes in more sales for this one title than in its entire first year of operation; the char. Demelza Robins is named after the Demelza House Children's Hospice for terminally-ill kids, a favorite of Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe. S.J. Rozan, Absent Friends. Gwyn Hyman Rubio, The Woodsman's Daughter; Dahlia Miller in 19th cent. S Ga. Sheldon Rusch, For Edgar (first novel); serial murders with a Poe theme. Salman Rushdie (1947-), Shalimar the Clown; former U.S. ambassador to India Max Ophuls is butchered by his Kashmiri Muslim driver Norman Sher Noman, the title char. Mary Doria Russell, A Thread of Grace. James Salter (1925-), Last Night (short stories). Boualem Sansal (1949-), Harraga. Shamim Sarif, Despite the Falling Snow. James Salter (1925-), Last Night (short stories). Jose Saramago (1922-2010), Don Giovanni ou o Dissoluto Absolvido; Death with Interruptions (As Intermitencias da Morte). Robert James Sawyer (1960-), Mindscan (Mar. 10); Jake Sullivan. John Scalzi (1969-), Old Man's War (first novel). Bill Scheft, Time Won't Let Me; no connection with the 1966 Outsiders hit? Karl Schroeder (1962-), Lady of Mazes; Crisis in Zefra. Lynne Sharon Schwartz, The Writing on the Wall (May). Kamila Shamsie, Broken Verses; Pakistani cosmopolitan youth. James Sheehan, The Mayor of Lexington Ave (first novel); low-IQ Bass Creek, Fla. store clerk Rudy is framed for murdering Lucy Ochoa by police sgt. Wesley Brume, and Miami atty. Jack Tobin comes to the rescue. Lucius Shepard, Eternity and Other Stories. Carol Shields (1935-2003), Carol Shields: Collected Stories (posth.). Jennie Shortridge, Eating Heaven (first novel). Anita Shreve (1946-), A Wedding in December (Oct. 10); Bill and Bridget. Jenefer Shute, User I.D. (Aug. 10); 38-y.-o. ESL instructor Vera de Sica becomes a victim of identity theft. Anne Rivers Siddons (1936-), Sweetwater Creek (Aug. 9); Emily Parmeter. Alan Sillitoe (1928-2010), A Man of His Time (last novel) (Jan. 17); blacksmith Ernest Burton. Dan Simmons (1948-), Olympos (June 25); sequel to "Ilium". Curtis Sittenfield (1976-), Prep (first novel); Lee, Cross and Aspeth at a New England boarding school. Jane Smiley (1949-), Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel. Alexander McCall Smith, Portuguese Irregular Verbs (Jan.); The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs (Jan.); At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances (Jan.); In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (Apr.) (sixth book in the adventures of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, founded by Mma Ramotswe in Botswana); 44 Scotland Street (June). Zadie Smith (1975-), On Beauty; inspired by E.M. Forster's "Howards End"; a mixed-race family British-Am. family in the U.S. Lemony Snicket (1970-), The Penultimate Peril (Oct. 18); 12th book about the Baudelaire orphans. Christopher Sorrentino (1963-), Trance; Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006), Lunar Follies. Patty Hearst. Gary Soto (1952-), The Afterlife; sequel to "Buried Oniones" (2003). Nicholas Sparks (1965-), True Believer (Apr.); At First Sight (Oct.). Norman Spinrad (1940-), Mexica. Danielle Steel (1947-), Impossible; Miracle; Toxic Bachelors. Charles Stross (1964-), Accelerando; stories about the Singularity. Vikas Swarup (1963-), Q&A (first novel); bestseller about a poor waiter in Mumbai who becomes the top quiz show winner in Indian history. Ginger Strand, Flight (first novel). Duane Swierczynski (1972-), Secret Dead Men (first novel); The Wheel Man. Amy Tan (1952-), Saving Fish From Drowning; San Fran art maven Bibi Chen is mysteriously murdered; the way Buddhists fish is to scoop them out of the water to guess what, and unfortunately they don't recover. Whitney Terrell, The King of Kings County; Alton Acheson as narrated by his son Jack in Kansas City, Mo. Brad Thor (1969-), Blowback. Carrie Tiffany (1965-), Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living (first novel); the Better Farming Train moving across drought-plagued 1930s Australia. Katherine Tower, Evening Ferry. Trevanian, The Crazyladies of Pearl Street; Albany, N.Y. during the Great Depression. William Trevor (1928-), A Bit on the Side (short stories). Scott Turow (1949-), Ordinary Heroes. Luis Alberto Urrea, The Hummingbird's Daughter; great-aunt Teresa (Teresita) is a Mexican saint and revolutionary who is declared the most dangerous girl in Mexico. Andrew Vachss, Two Trains Running. Carrie Vaughn (1973-), Kitty and the Midnight Hour (first novel); cute blonde late night radio talk show host Kitty Norville turns into a werewolf every full Moon; spawns a romance series. Victoria Vinton, The Jungle Law. Bruce Alan Wagner (1954-), The Chrysanthemum Palace. Rebecca Wells (1952-), Ya-Yas in Bloom; sequel to "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" (1996). Arnold Wesker (1932-), Honey (first novel); sequel to Alex Haley's "Roots", continuing the story of Beatie Bryant. William T. Wollmann, Europe Central. Jennifer Weiner, Goodnight Nobody. Rebecca Wells (1952-), Ya-Yas In Bloom. Stephen White (1951-), Missing Persons; Boulder, Colo. clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory in novel #13? John Edgar Wideman (1941-), God's Gym (short stories). Elie Wiesel (1928-), The Time of the Uprooted; about Gamaliel Friedman AKA Peter Kertesz. Louise Welsh, Tamburlaine Must Die. Christopher Wilson, Cotton. Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007), Email to the Universe; AKA Tail of the Tribe. Robert Charles Wilson (1953-), Spin; about Tyler Dupree, who lives through the years when aliens construct a "spin membrane" over Earth. Markus Zusak (1975-), The Book Thief; internat. bestseller; Liesel and her foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann, who hide Jewish man Max, who teaches her to read, causing her to steal books intended for burning by the Nazis; filmed in 2013 by Brian Percival. Alan Zweibel, The Other Shulman (first novel); a man in midlife crisis enters the New York Marathon and finishes dead last. Births: British celeb kid Cruz Beckham on Feb. 20 in Madrid, Spain; 3rd son of British soccer star David Beckham and Victoria (formerly known as Posh Spice); has brothers Brooklyn (2000-) and Romeo (2003-). English "Cinderella" child prodigy musician-composer Alma Elizabeth Deutscher in Feb. in Basingstroke; Israeli father. Romanian child bodybuilder Giuliano Stroe on July 18. Am. "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" actress Alana Thompson on Aug. 28 in Mcintyre, Ga. Am. celeb kid Sean Preston Federline on Sept. 14; son of Britney Spears and Kevin Federline. Deaths: Am. historian Arthur Walworth (b. 1903) on Jan. 10 in Needham, Mass. (heart failure). Am. poet Richard Eberhart (b. 1904) on June 9 in Hanover, N.H. Am. diplomat-historian George Frost Kennan (b. 1904) on Mar. 17 in Princeton, N.J.; author of the seminal 1947 paper "The Source of Soviet Conduct" under the alias "X", which launched the Cold War. German-born Am. evolutionary biologist Ernst Mayr (b. 1904) on Feb. 3 in Bedford, Mass. German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling (b. 1905) on Feb. 2 in Hollenstedt, Germany. Am. "Green Acres" actor Eddie Albert (b. 1906) on May 26 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. (Alzheimer's). German-born Am. nuclear physicist Hans Bethe (b. 1906) on Mar. 6 in Ithaca, N.Y.; 1967 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. "glass box" skyscraper architect Philip Cortelyou Johnson (b. 1906) on Jan. 25 in New Canaan, Conn.; dies in his glass cube home; designed the New York State Theater in the Lincoln Center; "The man who introduced the glass box, and then, 50 years later, broke it". Am. "Brenda Starr" cartoonist Dale Messick (b. 1906) on Apr. 5 in Penngrove, Calif. German Olympic athlete Fritz Schlegen (b. 1906) on Sept. 12 in Kronberg im Taunus. Austrian "Gen. Burkhalter in Hogan's Heroes" actor Leon Askin (b. 1907) on June 3 in Vienna. English playwright Christopher Fry (b. 1907) on June 30 in Chichester. Am. actor Ford Rainey (b. 1908) on July 25 in Santa Monica, Calif. Croatian-born Valium chemist Leo Henryk Sternbach (b. 1908) on Sept. 28 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal (b. 1908) on Sept. 20; 89 members of his family died in Nazi concentration camps, and his Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles caught 1.1K Nazis after the war, incl. Adolf Eichmann, Triblinka-Sobibor commandant Franz Stangl, female Majdanek guard Hermine Braunsteiner, and Karl Silbauer, who arrested Anne Frank and her family: "When history looks back, I want people to know the Nazis weren't able to kill millions of people and get away with it" - other than Hitler, Goering, Mengele, etc.? Austrian-born Am. business expert Peter F. Drucker (b. 1909) on Nov. 11 in Claremont, Calif.: "It was naive of the 19th century optimists to expect paradise from technology. It is equally naive of the 20th century pessimists to make technology the scapegoat for such old shortcomings as man's blindness, cruelty, immaturity, greed and sinful pride"; "The best way to predict the future is to create it"; "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things"; "What's measured improves"; "When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course"; "The purpose of business to create and keep a customer"; "The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said"; "Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility." Am.-born "American Madness", "The Jealous God" British actress Constance Cummings (b. 1910) on Nov. 23 in Oxfordshire. Am. actor Marc Lawrence (b. 1910) on Nov. 27 in Palm Springs, Calif. (heart failure). Am. Mormon apologist Hugh Nibley (b. 1910) on Feb. 24. Australian writer-artist Ray Parkin (b. 1910) on June 19. French actress Simone Simon (b. 1910) on Feb. 22 in Paris. English Vegan Society founder Donald Watson (b. 1910) on Nov. 16 in Keswick, Cumbria. Am. "Beverly Hillbillies" creator Paul Henning (b. 1911) on Mar. 25 in Burbank, Calif. U.S. Rep. (D-N.J.) (1949-89) Peter Wallace Rodino Jr. (b. 1909) on May 7 in West Orange, N.J. (heart failure); chmn. of the House Judiciary Committee that impeached Pres. Nixon on July 27, 1974. Am. geneticist Maclyn McCarty (b. 1911) on Jan. 2 (heart failure). British Labour PM (1976-9) James Callaghan (b. 1912) on Mar. 26 in Ringmer, East Sussex. Scottish "The Cone Gatherers" novelist Robin Jenkins (b. 1912) on Feb. 24. Am. feminist leader Molly Yard (b. 1912) on Sept. 21 in Pittsburgh, Penn. Canadian cardiac surgeon Wilred Gordon Bigelow (b. 1913) on Mar. 27. Scottish-born Am. historian Gordon Alexander Craig (b. 1913) on Oct. 30 British epidemiologist Sir Richard Doll (b. 1913) on July 24 in Oxford; first scientist to link smoking and lung cancer in the 1950s. Am. "Truth or Consequences" TV host Ralph Edwards (b. 1913) on Nov. 16 in Los Angeles, Calif. Irish-Am. "Dark Victory" actress Geraldine Fitzgerald (b. 1913) on July 17 in New York City (Alzheimer's). Am. novelist-screenwriter Devery Freeman (b. 1913) on Oct. 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart failure). Am. Gore-Tex queen Genevieve "Vieve" Gore (b. 1913) on Jan. 20 in Newark, N.J. Am. "I'm in the Mood for Love", "Yankee Doodle Dandy" singer-actress Frances Langford (b. 1913) on July 11 in Jensen Beach, Fla. (heart failure). Am. "Hi Ho, Steverino" comedian Louis Nye (b. 1913) on Oct. 9 in Los Angeles, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. civil rights pioneer Rosa Lee Parks (b. 1913) on Oct. 24 in Detroit, Mich. French philosopher Paul Ricoeur (b. 1913) on May 20 in Chatenay-Malabry, Hauts-de-Seine; "The humanist European tradition is in mourning for one of its most talented exponents." (Jean-Pierre Raffarin) French novelist Claude Simon (b. 1913) on July 6 in Paris; 1985 Nobel Lit. Prize. Am. actor Harold J. Stone (b. 1913) on Nov. 18 in Woodland Hills, Calif. Spanish philosopher Julian Marias Aguilera (b. 1914) on Dec. 15. Am. mathematician George Dantzig (b. 1914) on May 13 in Stanford, Calif. U.S. Gen. William C. Westmoreland (b. 1914) on July 18 in Charleston, S.C. Am. "West Side Story", "The Sound of Music" dir.-producer Robert Wise (b. 1914) on Sept. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Kismet" composer-lyricist Robert Wright (b. 1914) on July 27 in Miami, Fla. Chinese Catholic bishop (Hanyang in Hubei Province) Zhang Bairen (b. 1915) on Oct. 12 (heart disease); imprisoned in 1955-79 for telling Chinese authorities that he would rather be shot dead than renounce the pope. English jurist Dame Rose Heilbron (b. 1914) on Dec. 8. German Rear Adm. Erich Topp (b. 1914) on Dec. 26 in Sussen. Canadian-born Am. author Saul Bellow (b. 1915) on Apr. 5 in Brookline, Mass.; 1976 Nobel Lit. Prize: "A man is only as good as what he loves"; "A fool can throw a stone in a pond that 100 wise men cannot get out"; "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep"; "You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write." Am. "Rounds" composer David Diamond (b. 1915) on June 13 in Brighton, N.Y. (heart failure). Am. "A Star is Born" movie exec Sidney Luft (b. 1915) on Sept. 15 in Santa Monica, Calif. (heart attack). Am. "Death of a Salesman", "The Crucible" playwright Arthur Miller (b. 1915) on Feb. 10 in Roxbury, Conn. (heart failure); dies on the 56th anniv. of the debut of "Death of a Salesman"; wrote 23 plays, 12 books, and eight screenplays. Am. "Beth in Little Women" actress Jean Parker (b. 1915) on Nov. 30 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. Am. sports photographer Hy Peskin (b. 1915) on June 2 in Herzliyya, Israel; first staff photographer hired by Sports Illustrated: "I helped make the Dodgers famous and they helped make me." U.S. Sen. (D-Wisc.) William Proxmire (b. 1915) on Dec. 15 in Sykesville, Md. (Alzheimer's). Canadian-born Am. chemist Henry Taube (b. 1915) on Nov. 16 in Palo Alto, Calif.; 1983 Nobel Chem. Prize. Am. Civil War historian-novelist Shelby Foote (b. 1916) on June 27 in Memphis, Tenn.: "It's always been identified as a war over slavery. Believe me, no soldier on either side gave a damn about the slaves"; "This country has two grievous sins on its hands. One of them is slavery - whether we'll ever be cured of it, I don't know. The other one is emancipation - they told 4 million people, you're free, hit the road, and they drifted back into a form of peonage that in some ways is worse than slavery." British Conservative PM (1970-4) Sir Edward Heath (b. 1916) on July 17 in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Upper Volta pres. #2 (1966-80) Sangoule Lamizana (b. 1916) on May 26. Am. New York Giants football team owner Wellington "Duke" Mara (b. 1916) on Oct. 25 in Rye, N.Y. (cancer); joined the team as a ballboy when his father purchased it in 1925; "The heart and soul of the National Football League" (Paul Tagliabue). U.S. Sen. (D-Minn.) Eugene McCarthy (b. 1916) on Sept. 10. Am. Dem. politician (Earth Day founder) Gaylor Anton Nelson (b. 1916) on July 3 in Kensington, Md. Russian-born Am. psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner (b. 1917) on Sept. 25 in Ithaca, N.Y. Am. actor-activist Ossie Davis (b. 1917) on Feb. 4 in Miami, Fla.; dies after starting production of the film Retirement with Peter Falk, George Segal, and Rip Torn, and is replaced by Bill Cobbs. Am. stage actor John Emmett Raitt (b. 1917) on Feb. 20 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. mystic Richard Rose (b. 1917) on July 6 (Alzheimer's). Am. "Commander Cody" actor George Dewey Wallace (b. 1917) on July 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Nixon's gappy secy. Rose Mary Woods (b. 1917) on Jan. 22 in a nursing home in Alliance, Ohio. Am.-born German spy William Colepaugh (b. 1918) on Mar. 16 in Paoli, Penn. Am. bandleader Skitch Henderson (b. 1918) on Nov. 1 in New Milford, Conn. Am. Ebony and Jet mag. pub. John H. Johnson (b. 1918) on Aug. 8 in Chicago, Ill. (heart failure). Am. celeb Rosemary Kennedy (b. 1918) on Jan. 5 in Ft. Atkinson, Wisc. Swedish Wagnerian soprano Birgit Nilsson (b. 1918) on Dec. 25 in Farlove (near Kristianstad), Skane. Am. composer George Rochberg (b. 1918) on May 29 in Bryn Mawr, Penn. English physician Dame Cicely Mary Saunders (b. 1918) on July 14 (cancer). Am. "The Beulah Quintet" novelist Mary Lee Settle (b. 1918) on Sept. 27 in Ivy, Va. (lung cancer). British-Austrian mathematician Sir Hermann Bondi (b. 1919) on Sept. 10 in Cambridge. Am. actress Teresa Wright (b. 1918) on Mar. 6 in New Haven, Conn. (heart attack). Dominican PM (1980-95) Dame Eugenia Charles (b. 1919) on Sept. 6 in Fort-de-France, Martinique (pulmonary embolism). Am. accordionist Myron Floren (b. 1919) on July 23 in Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. (cancer). Am. economist-historian Robert Heilbroner (b. 1919) on Jan. 4 in New York City. Am. microbiologist Maurice Ralph Hillerman (b. 1919) on Apr. 11 in Philadelphia, Penn. (cancer). Am. UFO debunker Philip J. Klass (b. 1919) on Aug. 9 in Cocoa, Fla. (cancer). Am. activist Fred Korematsu (b. 1919) on Mar. 30 in Marin County, Calif. Am. "Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show" actor-dir. Howard Morris (b. 1919) on May 21. Irish "Grig in The Last Starfighter" actor Dan O'Herlihy (b. 1919) on Feb. 17 in Malibu, Calif. Am. biochemist Joseph L. Owades (b. 1919) on Dec. 16 in Sonoma, Calif. Chinese PM (#3 1980-7) and gen. secy. #7 (1987-89) Zhao Ziyang (b. 1919) on Jan. 17 in Beijing; under house arrest since siding with the Tiananmen Square protesters in 1989. Am. actor Keith Andes (b. 1920) on Nov. 11 in Canyon Country, Calif. (bladder cancer). Am. country musician Jerry Byrd (b. 1920) on Apr. 11 in Honolulu, Hawaii (Parkinson's). Canadian "Scotty in Star Trek" actor James Doohan (b. 1920) on July 20 in Redmond, Wash. (Alzheimer's); on Apr. 28, 2007 7 grams of his ashes are launched into space along with those of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and 200 others by UP Aerospace Inc. of Conn. from Spaceport America in S New Mexico (price $495 each), making a 4-min. suborbital flight, and are then retrieved on May 18 in the New Mexico mountains. Am. physicist (laser inventor) Gordon Gould (b. 1920) on Sept. 16 in New York City. German novelist Willi Heinrich (b. 1920) on July 12 in Karlsruhe. Am. CBS newsman George Edward Herman (b. 1920) on Feb. 8 in Washington, D.C. Am. actress Virginia Mayo (b. 1920) on Jan. 17 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Polish Pope (1978-2005) John Paul II (b. 1920) on Apr. 2 in Vatican City; last words: "totus tuus" (completely yours) (a dedication to the Virgin Mary); visited 129 countries (last was Lourdes, France in 2004): "The pope becomes persona non grata when he tries to convince the world of human sin." (1994) Am. microbiologist Albert Schatz (b. 1920) on Jan. 1 in Philadelphia, Penn. English gay radio producer Hallam Tennyson (b. 1920) on Dec. 21 in Highgate, London (stabbed in bed). Chinese PM Zhao Ziyang (b. 1920) on Jan. 17 in Beijing. Czech-born French economist Georges Anderla (b. 1921) on Apr. 26 in Antibes. Am. lit. critic Wayne Clayson Booth (b. 1921) on Oct. 10 in Chicago, Ill. (dementia). Am. Vail Mountain (Colo.) ski resort co-founder (with Peter Seibert) George Peck Caulkins Jr. (b. 1921) on Mar. 24 in Denver, Colo. Am. Marilyn Monroe's 1st hubby James Dougherty (b. 1921) on Aug. 15 in Marin, Calif. English-born Am. Mind Dynamics founder Alexander Everett (b. 1921) on Jan. 18 in Ore. Am. "Jeremiah Collins" actor Anthony George (b. 1921) on Mar. 16 in Newport Beach, Calif. (emphysema). Portuguese PM #103 (1974-5) Gen. Vasco dos Santos Goncalves (b. 1921) on June 11 in Almancil (heart attack in swimming pool). U.S. civil rights atty. and federal judge Constance Baker Motley (b. 1921) on Sept. 28 in Manhattan, N.Y. (heart failure); first black woman to serve as a N.Y. state senator, Manhattan borough pres., member of the Board of Estimate, argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court, and serve as federal judge (1966); directed the legal campaign for James Meredith to gain admission to the U. of Miss in 1962. Am. "Chief Clifford in McCloud" actor J.D. Cannon (b. 1922) on May 20 in Hudson, N.Y. English playwright-actor Anthony Creighton (b. 1922) on Mar. 22. Am. actor Jason Evers (b. 1922) on Mar. 13 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart failure). Am. writer Bill Kaysing (b. 1922) on Apr. 21 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Am. novelist Marjorie Kellogg (b. 1922) on Dec. 19 in Santa Barbara, Calif. (Alzheimer's). Am. paleontologist Charles Repenning (b. 1922) on Jan. 5 in Lakewood, Calif. (murdered). Am. scientist Albert Schatz (b. 1922) on Jan. 17 in Philadelphia, Penn. (pancreatic cancer). Am. ventriloquist Paul Winchell (b. 1922) on June 24. Am. "Maxwell Smart in Get Smart" actor Don Adams (b. 1923) on Sept. 25 in Los Angeles, Calif. (lymphoma). Spanish soprano Victoria de los Angeles (b. 1923) on Jan. 15 in Barcelona (heart failure). Am. "Berenstain Bears" author Stan Berenstain (b. 1923) in Philadelphia, Penn. (cancer); pub. 200+ children's books in 40 years. Am. jazz musician Percy Heath (b. 1923) on Apr. 28. Am. IC, handheld calculator, and thermal printer inventor Jack St. Clair Kilby (b. 1923) on June 20 in Dallas, Tex.; 2000 Nobel Physics Prize. Saudi Arabian king Fahd (b. 1923) on Aug. 1. Am. "Jerry Seinfeld's father Morty" Barney Martin (b. 1923) on Mar. 21 in Studio City, Calif. Am. actor Lon McCallister (b. 1923) on June 11 in South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (heart failure). Monaco "builder" Europe's longest-reigning monarch, 56 years) Prince (since May 9, 1949) Rainier III (b. 1923) on Apr. 6 (6:35 a.m.) (heart, kidney and breathing problems); dies with his son Prince Albert at his side; after Princess Grace's 1982 death he never remarried; on Apr. 15 his funeral is attended by over half a dozen heads of states and dignitaries from 60 countries; last Euro monarch to die on the throne until? Am. sportscaster Chris Schenkel (b. 1923) on Sept. 11 in Fort Wayne, Ind. (emphysema). Am. vice adm. and pres. candidate James B. Stockdale (b. 1923) on July 5 (Alzheimer's complications). Am. hall-of-fame football coach Hank Stram (b. 1923) on July 4 in Covington, La. Russian glasnost economist Alexander Yakovlev (b. 1923) on Oct. 18. Canadian actor Lloyd Bochner (b. 1924) on Oct. 29 in Santa Monica, Calif. (cancer). Am. politician Shirley Chisholm (b. 1924) on Jan. 1; first black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. Israeli dir. Ephraim Kishon (b. 1924) on Jan. 29 in Appenzell, Switzerland. English-born Am. "Sons and Lovers" dir. Gavin Lambert (b. 1924) on July 17 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pulmonary fibrosis). Brazilian physicist Cesar Lattes (b. 1924) on Mar. 8 in Campinas, Sao Paulo. Am. six-foot-tenner basketball pioneer George Mikan (b. 1924) on June 1 in Scottsdale, Ariz. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist (b. 1924) on Sept. 3 (11 p.m. EDT) in Arlington, Va. (thyroid cancer); buried in Arlington Nat. Cemetery since he was an Army sgt. in WWII, his casket placed beneath his wife's ashes. Am. singer Bobby Short (b. 1924) on Mar. 21 in New York City. Jewish pres. #7 (1993-8) Ezer Weizman (b. 1924) on Apr. 24 in Caesarea (respiratory failure). Am. "Point-Counterpoint on 60 Minutes" journalist Shana Alexander (b. 1925) on June 23 in Hermosa Beach, Calif. (cancer). Am. "The Gold Standard" late night TV talk show host Johnny Carson (b. 1925) on Jan. 23 in Malibu, Calif. (emphysema): "Happiness is a dry martini"; "Never continue in a job you don't enjoy." Am. football player Glenn "Mr. Outside" Davis (b. 1925) in Mar.; he and Felix "Doc" Blanchard (b. 1925) ("Mr. Inside") were the two dominant players of the dominant Army college football team of the 1940s. Am. automaker (inventor of the recessed windshield wiper and the overhead cam engine) John Z. DeLorean (b. 1925) on Mar. 19 in Summit, N.J. Am. actor John Fiedler (b. 1925) on June 25 in Englewood, N.J. (cancer). Am. historian Frank Everson Vandiver (b. 1925) on Jan. 7 in College Station, Tex. Am. Bible scholar Robert W. Funk (b. 1926) on Sept. 3. Am. novelist John Fowles (b. 1926) on Nov. 5 in Lyme Regis. Am. actress June Haver (b. 1926) on July 4 in Brentwood, Calif. (respiratory failure). Am. novelist and children's writer Ed McBain (Evan Hunter) (b. 1926) on July 6 in Weston, Conn.; author of the 3M-word "87th Precinct Series", which pioneered the police procedural. Austrian actress Maria Schell (b. 1926) on Apr. 26 in Preitenegg (pneumonia). Am. journalist Shana Alexander (b. 1927) on June 23 in Hermosa Beach, Calif. Am. "The Bold and the Beautiful" TV producer William Joseph Bell (b. 1927) on Apr. 6 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. writer Guy Davenport (b. 1927) on Jan. 4 (lung cancer). Am. bluegrass musician Jimmy Martin (b. 1927) on May 14 in Nashville, Tenn. (bladder cancer); his alcoholism and mood swings keeps him from being invited to join the Grand Ole Opry. Am. "Joseph Sisko in Star Trek: DS9" actor Brock Peters (b. 1927) on Aug. 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. English "Ernst Stavro Blofeld in For Your Eyes Only" actor John Hollis (b. 1927) on Oct. 18 in London. Am. bluegrass musician Vassar Clements (b. 1928) on Aug. 16 in Jamestown, N.Y. (brain cancer). Am. "Oddfather" mob boss Vincent "the Chin" Gigante (b. 1928) on Dec. 19 in Springfield, Mo. (dies in prison). Am. Hispanic (Chicano) activist Corky Gonzales (b. 1928) on Apr. 12. Am. "Dr. Hiram Baker in Little House on the Prairie" actor Kevin Hagen (b. 1928) on July 9 in Grants Pass, Ore. Am. atmospheric scientist Charles David Keeling (b. 1928) on June 20 (heart attack). Am. "Dinosaur Renaissance" paleontologist John H. Ostrom (b. 1928) on July 16 in Litchfield, Conn. (Alzheimer's); originated the modern theory that links dinosaurs and birds. Am. "Is Paris Burning?" writer Larry Collins (b. 1929) on June 20 in Frejus, France (cerebral hemorrhage). Cuban novelist Guillermo Cabrera Infante (b. 1929) on Feb. 21 in London (septicemia). Am. actor Richard Lupino (b. 1929) on Feb. 9 in New York City. Am. TV minister Dr. Gene Scott (b. 1929) on Feb. 21 in Glendale, Calif. Am. hall-of-fame bowler Dick Weber (b. 1929) on Feb. 14 in Florissant, Mo. Am. rock guitarist Link Wray (b. 1929) on Nov. 5 in Copenhagen, Denmark (heart failure). Syrian "Mohammad, Messenger of God" producer-dir. Moustapha Akkad (b. 1930) on Nov. 11 in Amman, Jordan (assassinated by al-Qaida suicide bomber). German-born Am. architect James Ingo Freed (b. 1930) on Dec. 15 in Manhattan, N.Y. (Parkinson's). Am. adm. William P. Lawrence (b. 1930) on Dec. 2 in Crownsville, Md. Am. economist John Muth (b. 1930) on Oct. 23 in Key West, Fla. Am. "old Privazste Ryan in Saving Private Ryan" actor Harrison Young (b. 1930) on July 3 in Port Huron, Mich. Russian pianist Lazar Berman (b. 1931) on Feb. 6 in Florence, Italy. Am. novelist Rona Jaffe (b. 1931) on Dec. 30 in London, England. Am. "Porter Ricks in Flipper" actor Brian Kelly (b. 1931) on Feb. 12 in Voorhees Township, N.J. (pneumonia). Am. composer Donald Martino (b. 1931) on Dec. 8 in Antigua. Am. "Stove Top Stuffing" inventor Ruth M. Siems (b. 1931) on Nov. 13 in Newburgh, Ind (heart attack). Am. "Annie Sullivan" "Mrs. Robinson" actress Anne Bancroft (b. 1932) on June 6 in New York City (uterine cancer). Am. "Cmdr. Ed Straker in UFO" actor Ed Bishop (b. 1932) on June 8 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England. Am. auto racer Coo Coo Marlin (b. 1932) on Aug. 14 (lung cancer). Am. actress Sheree North (b. 1932) on Nov. 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Karate Kid" actor Noriyuki (Pat) Morita (b. 1932) on Nov. 24 in Las Legas, Nev. (heart failure). Canadian "Dean Wormer in Animal House" actor John Vernon (b. 1932) on Feb. 1 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart failure). Am. "Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs" actor Edward Bunker (b. 1933) on July 19 in Burbank, Calif. (diabetes). Am. writer Vine Deloria Jr. (b. 1933) on Nov. 13: "In recent years we have come to understand what progress is. It is the total replacement of nature by an artificial technology"; "Western civilization does not link knowledge and morality, but rather, it connects knowledge and power and makes them equivalent"; "The massive amount of useless knowledge produced by anthropologists attempting to capture real Indians in a network of theories has contributed substantially to the invisiblity of Indian people today." Am. Moog Synthesizer inventor Robert Moog (b. 1934) on Aug. 21 in Asheville, N.C. English right-wing politician John Tyndale (b. 1934) on July 19 in Hove, East Sussex. Am. "Gilligan in Gilligan's Island" actor Bob Denver (b. 1935) on Sept. 2 in N.C. (cancer). Togo pres. (1967-2005) Gnassingbe Eyadema (b. 1935) on Feb. 5 near Tunis, Tunisia (heart attack); longest-serving head of state in Africa. Am. "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" novelist Judith Rossner (b. 1935) on Aug. 9. Indian film producer Ismail Merchant (b. 1936) on May 25 in London. Am. "Somethin' Stupid" songwriter Clarence Carson Parks II (b. 1936) on June 22 in St. Marys, Ga. Am. "My Cousin Vinny" actor Lane Smith (b. 1936) on June 13 in Northridge, Calif. (ALS). Vietnamese-born French computer engineer Andre Truong Trong Thi (b. 1936) on Apr. 4 in Paris. Am. conservative journalist Jude Wanniski (b. 1936) on Aug. 29 in Morristown, N.J. (heart attack). Am. actor Dee Pollock (b. 1937) on Dec. 25 in Chico, Calif. (heart attack). Am. gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson (b. 1937) on Feb. 20 in Woody Creek, Colo. (near Aspen) (suicide); his ashes are mixed with fireworks by the Zambelli Co. and launched from 34 mortar tubes on Aug. 20 (full moon) at sunset from a 153-ft. structure capped by a double-thumbed red fiberglass fist on his 42-acre Owl Farm, where a 400-capacity wooden bar with chandeliers lets observers party hearty; the whole $2M shindig is paid for by actor friend Johnny Depp; on Feb. 20, 2006 The Woody Creeker mag. is launched by his widow Anita Thompson: "The weird turn pro when the going gets weird." Am. flamboyant O.J. defense atty. Johnnie Cochran (b. 1937) on Mar. 29 in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, Calif. (brain tumor): "If it doesn't fit you must acquit." Am. soul singer Tyrone Davis (b. 1938) on Feb. 9 in Chicago, Ill. (stroke). Am. "Jefferson Airplane" drummer Spencer Dryden (b. 1938) on Jan. 11 in Penngrove, Calif. (colon cancer). Canadian-born Am. (since 2003) ABC News anchorman (since 1965) Peter Jennings (b. 1938) on Aug. 7 in Manhattan, N.Y. (lung cancer); a high school dropout, he joined ABC News on Aug. 3, 1964, and since 1983 was the anchor and senior ed. of "World News Tonight"; the last of the "Big Three" TV news anchormen (Tom Brokaw of NBC, Dan Rather of CBS). German celeb photographer Horst Tappe (b. 1938) on Aug. 21 in Vevey, Switzerland (cancer); famous for his photos of "Lolita" author Nabokov. Am. folk singer John Herald (b. 1939) on July 18 in West Hurley, N.Y. (suicide?). Am. musician Fritz Richmond (b. 1939) on Nov. 20 in Portland, Ore. (lung cancer). Am. comedian Richard Pryor (b. 1940) on Sept. 10; suffered from MS since the 1990s; leaves a hand-painted ceramic bowl with the inscription "Little Black Man in Big White World", which raises $7,099 in an online auction for the Geauga, Ohio Humane Society in Mar. 2006. English "Col. Paul Foster in UFO", "Agent XXX's lover Sergei Barsov in The Spy Who Loved Me" actor Michael Billington (b. 1941) on June 3 (cancer). English "The Searchers" drummer Chris Curtis (b. 1941) on Feb. 28 in Liverpool. Am. "Gidget" actress Sandra Dee (b. 1942) on Feb. 20 in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Am. rock music promoter Chet Helms (b. 1942) on June 25 in San Francisco, Calif. (stroke); discovered Janis Joplin. Soviet cosmonaut Gennadi Sarafanov (b. 1942) on Sept. 29. English rock drummer Tony Meehan (b. 1943) on Nov. 28 in Paddington, West London (head injuries from a fall). Am. Macintosh designer Jef Raskin (b. 1943) on Feb. 26 in Pacifica, Calif. (pancreatic cancer). English rock drummer Jim Capaldi (b. 1944) on Jan. 28 (stomach cancer). Lebanese PM (1992-8, 2000-4) Rafik Hariri (b. 1944) on Feb. 14 in Beirut (assassinated). Am. "Bread" pop group singer James Griffin (b. 1945) on Jan. 11 in Franklin, Tenn. Am. dramatist August Wilson (b. 1945) on Oct. 2 in Seattle, Wash. (liver cancer); on Oct. 16 the Virginia Theater on Broadway is renamed after him, becoming the first Broadway theater named after an African-Am. playwright Danish jazz musician Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (b. 1946) on Apr. 19 in Ishoj, Zealand. Am. "Tommy Mullaney in L.A. Law" "Leo McGarry in West Wing" actor John Spencer (d. 1947) on Dec. 16 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart attack); his McGarry character had recently suffered a heart attack. Am. actor Vincent Schiavelli (b. 1948) on Dec. 26 in Polizzi Generosa, Sicily (lung cancer). Am. actor Charles Rocket (b. 1949) on Oct. 7 in Canterbury, Conn. (suicide by slit throat). Am. singer Luther Vandross (b. 1951) on July 1 in Edison, N.J. (stroke); sold 35M records. Am. "feathered hair in Police Academy" actress Debralee Scott (b. 1953) on Apr. 5 in Fla.; dies after going into a coma for several days, getting released from the hospital, and going into a final nap; ever since 9/11 when her fiance police officer John Dennis Levi was killed, she had been drinking heavily. Am. New Age writer Joshua David Stone (b. 1953) in Aug. in Calif. Am. semi-reformed criminal Stanley Tookie Williams III (b. 1953) on Dec. 13 in Marin County, Calif. (executed). Am. "Cowsills" singer Barry Cowsill (b. 1954) on Aug. 29 in New Orleans, La.; dies from Hurricane Katrina; found 4 mo. later on a wharf. Am. journalist Marjorie Williams (b. 1958) in Jan. (liver cancer). Australian "Crowded House", "Split Enz" drummer Paul Hester (b. 1959) on Mar. 26 in Melbourne (suicide). English rock guitarist Nick Hawkins (b. 1965) on Oct. 10 in Las Vegas, Nev. (heart attack). Am. comedian Freddy Soto Jr. (b. 1970) on July 10 in Los Angeles, Calif. (OD). Am. giant actor Matthew McGrory (b. 1973) on Aug. 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart failure). Jamaican-born English Muslim terrorist Germaine Maurice Lindsay (Abdullah Shaheed Jamal) (b. 1985) on July 7 in Camden, London (KIA). Am. mass murderer Jeff Weise (b. 1988) on Mar. 21 in Red Lake, Minn. (suicide by shotgun).



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TLW's 2006 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2006 C.E. Historyscope

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.



2006 - The Year of the Killer Stingray? The 6-6-6 Year? The Motoon Muhammad Cartoon Without Love Where Would You Be Right Now Year? The Flaming Red Flemming Rose Year? The Bye Bye Sodamn Insane Year? The Dark Side of the Muslim World begins claiming the West as its future conquest, while Muslim-free China and India race to take away white and blue collar jobs from Euros and Americans, and Muslim-free North Korea races to get the Big Boom? The U.S. infrastructure wears thinner as it spends $5.9B per month on the Iraq War and Bag-Dead, and $100M per month on the Afghanistan War and Ka-Boom?

Saddam Hussein (1937-2006), Dec. 30, 2006 Bob Woodruff (1961-) Subcommandante Marcos Flemming Rose (1958-) Ehud Olmert of Israel (1945-) Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia (1939-) Michelle Bachelet of Chile (1951-) Stephen Harper of Canada (1959-) Henry Paulson of the U.S. (1946-) Dirk Arthur Kempthorne of the U.S. (1951-) Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq (1950-) Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai (1949-) Zalmay Khalilzad of the U.S. (1951-) Felipe Calderon of Mexico (1963-) Roberto Madrazo Pintado of Mexico (1952-) Shinzo Abe of Japan (1954-) Romano Prodi of Italy (1939-) Mirek Topolánek of the Czech Republic (1956-) Manuel Zelaya of Honduras (1952-) Xiomara Castro de Zalaya of Honduras (1959-) Ramzan Kadyrov of Chechnya (1976-) Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah of Kuwait (1929-) Jill Carroll (1978-) Marcial Maciel Degollado (1920-2008) Clarence Ray Allen (1930-2006) Ismail Haniyeh of Palestine (1963-) Sheik Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah of Kuwait (1930-2008) Sheik Sabah IV Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah of Kuwait (1929-) Sheik Mohammed of Dubai (1949-) Al Shabaab Logo Jim Webb of the U.S. (1946-) U.S. Gen. Michael Vincent Hayden (1945-) U.S. Gen. John Philip Abizaid (1951-) Jose Manuel Ramos Horta of East Timor (1949-) Ban Ki-moon of South Korea (1944-) Léhady Soglo of Benin Anibal Cavaco Silva of Portugal (1939-) Tony Snow of the U.S. (1955-) Joshua Bolten of the U.S. (1954-) Lech (1949-) and Jaroslav Kaczynski (1949-) of Poland Jan Pronk of Holland (1940-) Steve Fossett (1944-2007) and Sir Richard Branson (1950-), Feb. 11, 2006 Ben Bernanke of the U.S. (1953-) Segolene Royal of France (1953-) Rev. Gerald Robinson (1938-2014) U.S. Capt. Nicole Malachowski (1974-) Ladda 'Tammy' Duckworth of the U.S. (1968-) U.S. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli Ruqaya Al Ghasara of Bahrain Charles Edmund Cullen (1960-) Rene Riffaud (1899-) Addwaita (1757-2007) John Mark Karr (1964-) Crystal Gail Magnum (1978-) Anna Diggs Taylor of the U.S. (1932-) Gladys Kessler of the U.S. (1938-) Katie Couric (1957-) Charles Gibson (1955-) Helen Thomas (1920-2013) Tara Elizabeth Conner (1985-) Rosie O'Donnell (1962-) Lawrence Henry Summers of the U.S. (1954-) Bernardo Provenzano (1933-) Lincoln Hall (1956-) Sam Harris (1967-) James Hoggan (1946-) Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947-) Floyd Landis (1975-) Ann Coulter (1961-) Pamela Wechter (1948-2006) Sherpa Guide Appa (1961-) Mo Ibrahim (1946-) Indra K. Nooyi (1956-) Assem Hammoud (1975-) Jazmin Grace Grimaldi (1992-) Sheik Hassan Nasrallah (1961-) Robert Charles Browne (1952-) Paul Salopek (1962-) Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007) Daniel Wayne Smith (1986-2006) Howard Kevin Stern Wang Wenyi (1958-) Ishinosuke Uwano (1922-) Andrew Zimmern (1961-) Larry E. Birkhead (1973-) Jake Joseph Brahm (1985-) Jane K. Fernandes Natascha Kampusch (1988-) Vladimir Luxuria (1965-) Robert Gates of the U.S. (1943-) Israeli SSgt. Gilad Shalit (1986-) Dr. Margaret Chan (1947-) Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006) Alexander Litvinenko (1962-2006) Fatma Omar An-Najar (1942-2006) U.S. Lt. Col. Steven J. Jordan (1956-) U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson (1946-) Portia Simpson Miller of Jamaica Joe Francis (1973-) Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan (1980-) Sa'adu Abubakar III of Nigeria (1956-) Gurbanguly Berdimunamedow of Turkmenistan (1957-) Deval Laurdine Patrick of the U.S. (1956-) Jim Clyburn of the U.S. (1940-) Keith Maurice Ellison of the U.S. (1963-) Bob Ney of the U.S. (1954-) Naveed Afzal Haq (1975-) Harith al-Dari of Iraq Janez Drnovsek of Slovenia (1950-2008) Bernard Lewis (1916-) Randal L. McCloy Jr. (1979-) Bishop Thomas John Gumbleton (1930-) Duane Roger Morrison (1952-2006) Carolyn Kepcher (1969-) Joy Behar (1943-) Elisabeth Hasselbeck (1977-) Kinky Friedman (1944-) George Felix Allen of the U.S. (1952-) Lou Pearlman (1954-) Pablo F. Fenjves (1953-) Dominick Dunne (1925-2009) Judith Regan (1953-) Wendie Ann Schweikert (1970-) Barbaro at Preakness, May 20, 2006 Cory Lidle (1972-2006) Roger Goodell (1959-) LaDainian Tomlinson (1979-) Ben Rothlisberger (1982-) Matt Hasselback (1975-) Jerome Bettis (1972-) Shaun Alexander (1977-) Keyshawn Johnson (1972-) Jimmie Johnson (1975- Sam Hornish Jr. (1979-) Justin Gatlin of the U.S. (1982-) Cam Ward (1984-) Shaun 'the Flying Tomato' White of the U.S. (1986-) Bode Miller of the U.S. (1977-) Antoine Déneriaz of France (1976-) Shani Davis of the U.S. (1982-) Shizuka Arakawa of Japan (1981-) Sasha Cohen of the U.S. (1984-) Irina Slutskaya of Russia (1979-) Tugba Karademir of Turkey (1985-) Yevgeni Plushenko of Russia (1982-) Zinedane Zidane (1972-) head-butts Macro Materazzi (1973-), July 9, 2006 Michael Lewis (1960-) Ilan Halimi (1982-2006) Michael Jerome Oher (1986-) and the Tuohys Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-) Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar (1983-) Muhammad Yunus (1940-) Orhan Pamuk (1952-) George Fitzgerald Smoot III (1945-) Peter Watts (1958-) John Cromwell Mather (1946-) Roger David Kornberg (1947-) Craig Cameron Mello (1960-) Douglas Murray (1979-) William Easterly (1957-) Andrew Zachary Fire (1959-) Edmund S. Phelps Jr. (1933-) Farris Hassan (1989-) Omeed Aziz Popal (1977-) Robert Irwin (1946-) Yasser Ghalban Malachi Ritscher (1954-) Bucky Phillips (1962-) Mel Gibson (1956-) Mugshot, July 28, 2006 Sean Bell (1983-2006) Rev. Ted Haggard (1956-) Mike Forest Jones (1957-) Debby Applegate (1968-) Timothy John Boham (1981-) Pascal Bruckner (1948-) Sir Richard Dannatt (1950-) Jacob D. Robida (1987-2006 Bombed Askariya Shrine, 2006 Harry M. Whittington (1927-) Mark Foley (1954-) Adam Yahiye Gadahn (1978-) Robert Altman (1925-2006) George-Marios Angeletos (1975-) Roland Redmond Griffiths (1946-) Svante Pääbo (1955-) Ivan Werning (1974-) Christian Hellwig (1976-) Ian Bremmer (1969-)-) Robert Morse Edsel (1956-) Claudia Emerson (1957-) Shinya Yamanaka (1962-) Jonathan Alter (1957-) Muriel Barbery (1969-) Barry W. Lynn (1948-) Gabor S. Borrit (1940-) Peter Mandler (1958-) Cormac McCarthy (1933-) Blake Mycoskie (1976-) Ilan Pappé (1954-) James Petras Melanie Phillips (1951-) SQuire Rushnell Mark Steyn (1959-) Studs Terkel (1912-2008) Jonathan Wells (1942-) Joel R. Primack (1944-) Nancy Ellen Abrams Hector Tobar Zackery Bowen (1978-2006) and Addie Hall (1976-2006) Hisham Matar (1970-) Geraldine McCaughrean (1951-) Homaidan Ali Al-Turki (1969-) Jack Dorsey (1976-) '30 Rock', 2006- 'Brothers & Sisters', 2006-11 'Friday Night Lights', 2006-11 'Children of Men', 2006 'Final Days of Planet Earth', 2006 'The Illusionist', 2006 'Inside Man', 2006 Guy Fieri (1968-) Meredith Vieira (1953-) Suri Cruise (2006-) Diablo Cody (1978-) Moses Hardy (1893-2006) Markus Zusak (1975-) Leona Lewis (1985-) Daniel Dennett (1942-) Elizabeth Gilbert (1969-) Al Gore of the U.S. (1948-) 'An Inconvenient Truth' by Al Gore (1948-), 2006 Sara Gruen (1969-) Donald Hall Jr. (1928-) Efraim Karsh (1953-) Isaac Mizrahi (1961-) 'The Audacity of Hope' by Barack Obama (1961-), 2006 Thomas E. Ricks (1955-) 'Top Chef', 2006- Tom Colicchio (1962-) Anthony Watts (1958-) Lee Anne Wong Kelly Choi (1976-) Curtis Stone (1975-) Antony Worrall Thompson (1951-) Gino D'Acampo (1976-) Jean-Christophe Novelli (1961-) Brian Turner (1946-) Lily Allen (1985-) Amon Amarth Rhonda Byrne (1951-) David Cook (1982-) Chris Daughtry (1979-) Jose Feliciano (1945-) Fergie (1975-) Vanessa Hudgens (1988-) The Jonas Brothers Kellie Pickler (1896-) Corinne Bailey Rae (1979-) Red Bianca Ryan (1994-) Taylor Swift (1989-) Plain White Ts The Zutons Taylor Hicks (1976-) Kat McPhee (1984-) Regina Spektor (1980-) Dito Montiel (1965-) Gnarls Barkley Gabriel Kahane (1981-) Ne-Yo (1979-) Buckcherry Cold War Kids Fleet Foxes Arctic Monkeys Cobra Starship The Whitest Boy Alive Jessica Lee Rose (1987-) Nonie Darwish (1949-) Daniel Edwards (1965-) Jason Wu (1982-) Jason Wu Example Dave Smith (1942-) Steve Warshak (1964-) Enzyte 'The New Adventures of Old Christine', 2006-10 Big Love', 2006-11 ''Heroes', 2006-10 'Ugly Betty', 2006-2010 'Grey Gardens', 2006 '300', 2006 'Babel', 2006 'Borat', starring Sacha Baron Cohen (1971-), 2006 'Cars', 2006 'Casino Royale', 2006 Daniel Craig (1968-) 'Curse of the Golden Flower', 2006 'Deja Vu', 2006 'The Devil Wears Prada', 2006 'Hatchet', 2006 'The Last King of Scotland', 2006 'A League of Ordinary Gentlemen, 2006 'Notes on a Scandal', 2006 'Pans Labyrinth', 2006 'The Queen', 2006 'A Scanner Darkly', 2006 'Scoop', 2006 'Shes the Man, 2006 'Silent Hill', 2006 'Ultraviolet', 2006 'V for Vendetta', 2006 'World Trade Center', 2006 'Britney Spears: A Monument to Pro-Life' by Daniel Edwards, 2006 'Hillary Rodham Clinton' by Daniel Edwards Svalbard Global Seed Vault, 2006 Betty Friedan Stamp, 2006 Tesla Roadster, 2006 F-35 Lightning II EA-18G Growler Boeing Dreamlifter NASA's New Horizons Lockheed Martin P-791 Spray-On Condom, 2006 Big Giving Fountain, 2006 Big Giving Fountain, 2006 Big Giving Fountain, 2006 Sir Anish Kapoor (1954-) Cloud Gate, 2006 Three Gorges Dam, 2006-12

2006 Doomsday Clock: 7 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Dog (Jan. 29) (lunar year 4703). Time Person of the Year: You; celebrates the Internet era of blogging and uploading videos. This is the U.N. Year of Deserts and Desertification. The period from Jan. to Aug. is the warmest on record in the U.S. so far. U.S. pop. exceeds 300M on Oct. 17, with one new birth every 7 sec., one death every 13 sec., one immigrant entering every 31 sec., for a net of one new person every 11 sec.; U.S. pop. hit 100M in 1915, 200M in 1967; immigrants constitute 12% of the pop.; Latin Americans working outside their countries earn $500B this year, and send $60B home (up from $55B in 2005) to 30M families, incl. $45B from the U.S.; U.S. life span has increased from 54 to 78 years since 1915, women in the work force from 23% to 59%, and high school graduates from 13% to 85%; U.S. baby boomers (78M, incl. 9M blacks born 1946-64) begin turning 60 at the rate of 7,918 a day (330 an hour); in 1915 the most popular baby names were John and Mary, in 1946 James and Mary, in 1967 Lisa and Michael, this year Jacob and Emily (James #17, Mary #63); median age: 36, life expectancy: 78; price of a new home: $290.6K; milk: $3/gal.; gasoline: $2.66/gal.; avg. household size: 2.6; total U.S. philanthropic giving: $295.02B ($283.05B in 2005) (1.7% of GDP) (Brtain = 0.73% = #2). Chinese imports to the U.S.: $208B (16%); U.S. GNP: $13.2T; U.S. trade deficit: $857B. Fracking starts to take off in the U.S., launching the Shale Rev. that makes the U.S. energy indeendent. There are 285M TV sets in operation in the U.S. Russia suffers its coldest winter since 1978-9. According to the U.N., 21,796 deaths result from natural disasters this year, compared to 92K last year; 140M people are affected, compared with 157M last year. The U.S. Hurricane Drought begins, with no Category 3 or higher hurricane making landfall until 2017; the mean frequency of W North Pacific tropical cyclones is 18% lower in 1997-2014 than in 1980-96; the avg. value of total annual accumulated cyclone energy between 2006-16 is less than 60% of the 1900-2017 avg.; no increase in hurricane landfall frequency from 1900-2017; no correlation between tropical cyclone frequency and sea surface temperature over the W North Pacific basin. Global terrorism this year incl. 14K total attacks with 20K killed, incl. 7K attacks in Iraq with 13K killed, with more than 50% of the victims being Muslims; attacks in Afghanistan are up 53% over 2005, while attacks in Europe and Indonesia are down; the Taliban destroys 200 schools and kills 20 teachers this year, driving 200K children from classrooms, then next Jan. announces that it will open its own Islamic Sharia schools in Mar. with $1M funding; the number of Islamic extremist Web sites grows to 4.5K from 12 in 1998. South Africa loses 950 people a day this year from AIDS-related diseases, and 1.4K new people are infected each day (530K total); 5.6M of the country's 48M people are infected by the end of the year, making South Africa #2 behind India in total HIV-infected people, with life expectancy dropping from 63 in 1990 to 51; Russia has 1.3M infected with HIV, growing by 8%-10% a year, concentrated in St. Petersburg, Sverdlosvsk, Moscow and Samara. This year there are 14 female U.S. Senators (9 Dem., 5 Repub.) out of 100, 67 U.S. reps. (43 Dem., 24 Repub.) out of 435; 8 govs. (6 Dem., 2 Repub.) out of 50; First Lady Laura Bush repeatedly states that she wants to vote for a Repub. woman for pres. By this year there are 20 cities with 10M+ residents, incl. Jakarta, Mexico City, Mumbai, and Sao Paulo, up from only two in 1950, New York and Tokyo. By this year there are 23 nations under Muslim Sharia law, who presumably all want to exterminate Israel and bring Jerusalem back into the House of Islam. This year 34,452 civilians die in Iraq; 3,301 U.S. soldiers desert in the fiscal year (starting Oct.); hardly any are court-martialed. There are 6,912 living languages this year. WHO estimates that 1B adults in the world are overweight and 300M obese, vs. 600M undernourished. This year France's fertility rate zooms from 1.92 to 2.0 children per woman after a govt. program providing parental leave and cheap day care, making France the most fertile nation in the EU; meanwhile this year Germany's pop. begins to decline due to low birthrates. U.S. tourism figures finally reach pre-9/11 levels (19M). The Great Syrian Drought begins (ends 2011), wiping out the livelihoods of 800K farmers and herders. This year the music industry, reeling from massive piracy stages a pathetic mini-British Invasion, featuring James Blunt, KT Tunstall and Corrine Bailey Rae, and even The Who making a pathetic comeback. This year's 109th U.S. Congress (Jan. 3, 2005-Jan. 3, 2007) becomes the worst since the 96th Abscam Congress of 1979-81 (which lost six House members and one senator), losing Rep. Mark Foley (R-Penn.), Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), former House Majority leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), and Rep. Bob New (R-Ohio). On Jan. 1 the first of 77M U.S. Baby Boomers turns 60; more and more of them begin taking care of aged parents who look two generations older, making them the "sandwich generation", while others turn 30 again and start new college or other careers and take up fitness activities? - 50 is the new 30? On Jan. 1 (Sun.) U.S. Medicare payments for erectile dysfunction drugs are ended, and the money is used instead to aid the poor and victims of Hurricane Katrina. On Jan. 1 24 are wounded and two rebels are killed in eight car bombings in Baghdad and three in Kirkuk to kick off the Christian New Year Muslim-style; on Jan. 1-7 200 Iraqis and 12 U.S. troops are killed in Iraq to start year running. On Jan. 1 Mexico's Zapatista rebels, led by ski-masked Subcommandante Marcos launch a 6-mo. tour of Mexico to build a nationalist leftist movement to "shake this country up from below" - if there's anybody left who hasn't crossed the U.S. border? On Jan. 1 the six Latin Am. govts. that signed CAFTA in 2005 delay their entry into the free trade zone because of red tape, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala till Feb. 1, Nicaragua until Mar., and the DR until July 1; Costa Rica still hasn't ratified the pact. On Jan. 1 a tough law (signed last Oct. by Gov. Ahnuld) goes into effect in Calif. levying stiff penalties on "stalkerazzi", paparazzi and publishers who use celeb photos acquired through overly aggressive tactics. On Jan. 1 the U.N. World Food Program, which fed 600K in North Korea last Dec. officially shuts off aid to the country's 22M people at the govt.'s request. Farris Hassan's Day Off? On Jan. 1 16-y.-o. Farris Hassan (1989-) returns to Fla. from Iraq, where he had been since cutting school on Dec. 11, flying to Kuwait, then Lebanon before flying to Baghdad; his parents, who have been in the U.S. for over 30 years were born in Iraq, making it easy to secure an entry visa; his little experiment with "immersion journalism" gets him worldwide publicity. On Jan. 1 singer Liza Minnelli sings "New York, New York" at the inauguration of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his 2nd term, which he won by a 20% margin. On Jan. 1 the 2nd storm in a row (Dec. 31) hits N Calif., causing the Napa and Russian Rivers to crest above flood stage and evacuations to be ordered. On Jan. 1 most of 50K prisoners skip lunch to send food to fellow Kenyans suffering from food shortages as Pres. Mwai Kibaki declares a nat. disaster, saying that drought threatens 10% of the 25M pop., and calling for $153M in emergency food aid. On Jan. 1 Russia's natural gas monopoly Gazprom halts gas sales to Ukraine after the latter refuses to pay quadruple. On Jan. 2 Texas defeats USC by 41-38 to win the 2006 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 2 the Sago Coal Mine in Tallmansville, W. Va. collapses, trapping 13 miners 260 ft. below ground, and rescuers have to wait almost 12 hours for gases to clear before going in; on Jan. 4 after more than 42 hours 12 are found dead 2.5 mi. from the entrance, and on Jan. 5 lone survivor Randal L. McCloy Jr. (1979-) is moved to a Pittsburgh, Penn. hospital for treatment for oxygen deprivation and brain damage, where he emerges from a coma on Jan. 25; rescuers mistakenly informed families that 12 of the 13 had survived, causing them to later threaten lawsuits; on Feb. 1 W. Va. Gov. Joe Manchin calls for all 544 coal mines to voluntarily close for safety checks after two more mine workers are killed in separate accidents; the total U.S. coal mine death this year is 47, equalling the record for 1995. On Jan. 2 the bad holey roof of an ice rink in Bad Reichenhall, Germany collapses, at about 4 p.m. during a school holiday, killing 10. On Jan. 2 surfers lament Blank Monday, as Grubby (Gordon) Clark's Clark Foam Co., which makes most of the foam cores (blanks) for surfboards closes, leading to a rash of thefts in Santa Cruz, Calif., home of "The Hook", one of 65 famous surf breaks. On Jan. 3 Haliburton Co. is awarded $385M by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to build new internment camps inside the U.S. On Jan. 3-4 lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty to felony charges, causing numerous lawmakers to hastily jettison compaign donations linked to him. On Jan. 4 Israeli PM Ariel Sharon (b. 1928) suffers a life-threatening stroke, and his powers are transferred to his cigar-smoking deputy Ehud Olmert (1945-) (former mayor of Jerusalem) of the Kadima Party, who becomes acting PM; on Jan. 5 Am. Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson suggests that the stroke is divine punishment for "dividing God's land" by ordering withdrawal from Gaza; on Jan. 24 Olmert says that he backs the creation of a Palestinian state and the relinquishing of parts of the West Bank by Israel to maintain its Jewish majority, and after his Kadima Party wins elections he becomes permanent PM on Apr. 14 (until ?). On Jan. 4 UAE PM Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (b. 1944) dies, and on Jan. 5 his younger brother (UAE defense minister) Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (1949-) becomes billionaire emir of Dubai (until ?). On Jan. 5 insurgents kill 125 civilians in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims in Karbala, Iraq, and five U.S. soldiers in a line of police recruits in Ramadi. On Jan. 5 a suicide bomber in ?, Afghanistan kills 10 and wounds 50. On Jan. 5 the 8-story Lulu'at al-Khair Bldg. in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (200 ft. from the Grand Mosque) collapses during the annual hajj, killing 20; the number of pilgrims to Mecca has increased 11x since 1990. On Jan. 6 the NYSE closes strong for the first five days of the year, up 3%, compared to 0.5% for all of 2005; on Jan. 9 the Dow Jones closes above 11K for the first time in five years (11,011); as go the first five days so goes the year? On Jan. 7 an explosives-laden fishing boat run by Tamil rebels rams a Sri Lankan navy patrol boat off the coast of Trincomalee, killing 13 sailors. On Jan. 7 a newly-built checkpoint near Miran Shah in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghan border (where thousands of troops had tried to flush out the remnants of the Taliban) is attacked, and eight security forces killed; the area has been wild and untameable since Alexander the Great. On Jan. 7 Tom DeLay announces that he will not attempt to reclaim his post as House majority leader when it reconvenes on Jan. 31, causing Repub. Reps. Roy Blunt (DeLay's whip) and John Boehner to announce their candidacies, pledging action on a reform agenda to save the decade-long hold on power by their party. On Jan. 7 28-y.-o. Am. Christian Science Monitor freelance writer Jill Carroll (1977-) is kidnapped in Baghdad, Iraq by the Sunni Revenge Brigades; her interpreter Allan Enwiyah is shot to death; on Jan. 17 Al-Jazeera airs a video in which her abductors give the U.S. 72 hours to free female prisoners in Iraq to prevent her death; five Iraqi women are released on Jan. 26, a week after the deadline, but U.S. officials insist it is unrelated to her; on Jan. 30 Al-Jazeera airs a video showing her weeping and veiled, calling for the release of all female Iraqi prisoners; she is released on Mar. 30 after 82 days and six safehouses. On Jan. 7 singer Harry Belafonte (1927-) leads a U.S. delgation that meets with Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chavez, on Jan. 8 calling Pres. Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world", and saying that millions of Americans support Chavez' Socialist revolution - tell everyone you're a hit and somewhere somebody will believe it? On Jan. 8 a U.S. Army Black Hawk heli crashes E of Tal Afar, Iraq, killing all four crew and eight passengers aboard, bringing fatal heli crashes in Iraq since Mar. 20, 2003 to 23, with a death toll of 144; five other people die in separate attacks in Baghdad. On Jan. 8 two children and one adult test positive for deadly bird flu virus in Ankara, Turkey becoming the first known cases outside an eastern region; by Jan. 10 15 cases are documented, incl. 3 deaths. On Jan. 8 Calif. Governator Ahnuld gets into an accident on his motorcycle with his son Patrick when it collides with a car in his Los Angeles neighborhood, giving him a gashed lip, requiring 15 stitches; it is later revealed that he had been driving motorcycles since coming to the U.S. in 1968 without bothering to get a motorcycle endorsement on his driver's license, saying he never thought about it. On Jan. 8 New Delhi, India records its coldest temp. in 70 years, -32 F in a bitter cold spell in N India which kills 160+. On Jan. 9 Iran breaks open internationally monitored seals on three of its nuclear facilities, reopening them in violation of a 16-mo.-old agreement with France, Germany and Britain, bringing condemnation by the U.S. and its Euro allies; on Jan. 17 Iran proposes a resumption of nuclear talks with the Europeans, which Britain rejects as "vacuous"; on Jan. 26 the Russians propose to allow Iran to operate civilian nuclear facilities with internat. inspectors in control of the fuel, and to operate its Isfahan facility, and China and the U.S. endorse it. On Jan. 9 Pope Benedict XVI addresses the 174 ambassadors accredited to the Holy See to give his First State of the World Address, pointing to "political ideology combined with aberrant religious ideas" as the root cause of terrorism, along with a "clash of civilizations". On Jan. 11 Judge Samuel Alito's wife (since 1985) Martha-Ann Bomgardner weeps during Senate confirmation hearings as the Dems. attack his record and credibility, and leaves the room with a migraine headache. On Jan. 12 auxiliary bishop Thomas John Gumbleton (1930-) of Detroit, Mich. becomes the first U.S. Roman Catholic bishop to disclose that he was a victim of sexual abuse by clergy (a priest 60 years earlier); he resigns on Feb. 2, citing his age, one year past the normal retirement age. On Jan. 12 nuclear experts David Albright and Corey Hinderstein announce the "worst-case scenario" for Iranian ukes: "Given another year to make enough highly-enriched uranium for a nuclear weapons and a few more months to convert the uranium into weapon components, Iran could have made its first nuclear weapon in 2009... although the weapon may not be deliverable by a ballistic missle", adding that their estimate is "highly uncertain", not taking into account possible technical and scientific difficulties. On Jan. 14-15 thousands protest in Pakistan against a Jan. 14 U.S. air strike on the border village of Damadola, Pakistan in a failed attempt to kill #2 al-Qaida man Ayman al-Zawahri, which instead kills 18 civilians; on Jan. 17 Pakistan authorities admit that 4-5 foreign terrorists were also killed, but PM Shaukat Aziz says that attacks inside Pakistan "cannot be condoned"; John McCain apologizes, saying "It's terrible when innocent people are killed", then adds "I can't tell you that we wouldn't do the same thing again." On Jan. 14 two men on a motorbike in Kabul, Afghanistan shoot and kill former Taliban deputy interior minister Mohammed Khaksar, who switched loyalties to the U.S. after 2001, and was called "a traitor to our cause" by Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammed Yousaf; 10 are killed and 40 are wounded at an Islamic feast. On Jan. 14 the Pitchfork Rebellion in China begins when 1K villagers in Panlong in Guangdong Province (S China) begin a protest of the govt.'s decision to seize communal farmland and lease it to a foreign investor, and police attack them with electric batons, injuring 20 and killing a 13-y.-o. girl; the 900M farmers are getting more and more disgruntled at the so-called Commies selling out to Western capitalism and creating a wealthy urban elite while leaving them behind? On Jan. 15 former defense minister Veronica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (1951-), a Socialist doctor and former political prisoner of the Pinoche regime is elected as the first female pres. of Chile, taking office as pres. #33 of Chile on Mar. 11 (until Mar. 11, 2010) (followed on Mar. 11, 2014-Mar. 11, 2018 as pres. #35), defeating conservative multimillionaire Sebastian Pinera by 53.5% to 46%, becoming the 3rd female elected pres. of a Latin country after Violeta Chamorra of Nicaragua (1990-7) and Mireya Moscoso of Panama (1999-2004), and the 4th democratically elected pres. of the center-left coalition Concertacion in Chile since Pinochet's ouster; her father Air Force Gen. Alberto Bachelet was tortured to death by Pinochet's regime in 1974, and she and her mother were tortured and exiled in 1975. On Jan. 15 a suicide car bomber kills two civilians and a senior Canadian diplomat in a Canadian military convoy in S Afghanistan; the Taliban claims credit. On Jan. 15 Sheik Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (b. 1926) dies after suffering a brain hemmorage in 2001, and his distant cousin Crown Prince Sheik Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah (1930-2008) becomes emir of Kuwait for nine days; on Jan. 24 after an unprecedented public quarrel within the ruling family the ailing emir agrees to abdicate in favor of longtime de-facto ruler and PM Sheik Sabah IV Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (1929-), who is sworn-in on Jan. 29 (until ?). On Jan. 16 Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (b. 1939) takes office as pres. of Liberia (until ?) as U.S. warships appear off the coast in a show of support; U.S. First Lady Laura Bush and Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice attend the ceremonies. On Jan. 16 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin gives a Martin Luther King Day speech in which he predicts that the city will be a "chocolate" city one day, and asserts that "God was mad at America"; he apologizes on Jan. 17 after criticism; he was elected in 2002 with about 90% of the white vote and less than 50% of the black vote. On Jan. 16 a suicide bomber on a motorbike in a crowd watching a wrestling match in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan kills 21. On Jan. 16 (eve.) the 2006 (63rd) Golden Globe Awards gives the best drama film award to "Brokeback Mountain", and best musical or comedy to "Walk the Line"; Philip Seymour Hoffman wins the best drama actor award for "Capote", and Felicity Huffman the best drama actress award for "Transamerica"; gay fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi (1961-) gropes actress Scarlett Johansson's breast, asks Eva Longoria about her pubic hair, and peeks down Teri Hatcher's dress, supposedly to determine how it was constructed. On Jan. 17 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-3 in Gonzales v. Oregon to block the Bush admin.'s attempt to punish doctors who help terminally ill patients die, protecting Oregon's assisted-suicide law, rebuking former U.S. atty.-gen. John Ashcroft for improperly using the 1970 U.S. Controlled Substances Act to pursue Ore. doctors who prescribe lethal doses of medicines; new chief justice John Roberts is on the losing side, as Anthony M. Kennedy begins assuming the swing vote role of retiring justice Sandra Day O'Connor. On Jan. 17 the tercentennial of Benjamin Franklin's 1706 birth is celebrated in Philadelphia, Pa., where he spent half of his 84 years, even though he was born in Boston, Mass.; $5.3M is spent restoring his 4-story brick house in London just off Trafalgar Square, where he lived as a diplomat in 1757-62 and 1764-75. On Jan. 17 Calif.'s oldest death row inmate Clarence Ray Allen (b. 1930) is executed a day after his 76th birthday, saying "Hoka hey, it's a good day to die Fathers 4 Justice group in Britain announces that the group will disband after a "lunatic militant fringe" hatched a plot fo kidnap PM Tony Blair's 5-y.-o. son Leo to highlight the misery of fathers denied access to their children. On Jan. 18 Pakistani officials announce that two senior members of al-Qaida and the son-in-law of #2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri were among those killed in U.S. airstrikes in NE Pakistan a week earlier. On Jan. 18 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court votes 9-0 in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England to uphold the right of states to require parental involvement in abortion decisions by minors, giving N.H. a chance to salvage its 2003 law, but only when an exception is made to protect the mother's health; Sandra Day O'Connor writes the decision, the final one of her 24-year career, and the first presided over by new chief justice John Roberts. On Jan. 18 six former heads of the EPA (five Repubs. and one Dem.) accuse the Bush admin. of neglecting global warming and other environmental problems, its first administrator (1970) Bill Ruckelshaus saying "I don't think there's a commitment in this administration." On Jan. 18 Coretta Scott King (b. 1927) makes her last public appearance on the eve of her late hubby's birthday; she dies on Jan. 31 in an alternative medicine clinic in Mexico; on Feb. 5 she becomes the first woman and first black to lie in honor in the Ga. Capitol Rotunda; on Feb. 7 her funeral draws four U.S. presidents and other notables along with 10K at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Ga.; her hubby's funeral four decades earlier was attended by no presidents - how long before crazed American blacks prohibit caricatures of their prophet? On Jan. 20 Neil Entwistle (1978-) shoots his wife Rachel and 9-mo-.old daughter Lillian in bed in Cambridge, Mass., then flees to England, where he is arrested on Feb. 9 in London; he had met his wife at the U. of York in England. On Jan. 20 23-y.-o. Jewish cell phone salesman Ilan Halimi (b. 1982) is abducted in Bagneux, Paris by a gang of African Muslim immigrants called the Barbarians, after which he is held for ransom and tortured for 3 weeks before being found on Feb. 11, soon dying of his numerous wounds. On Jan. 21 the Miss America 2006 pageant in Las Vegas, Nev. is broadcast on Country Music TV in an attempt to return to the glam days of the past; Miss Congeniality is back for the 1st time since 1974 - Sandra Bullock rules? On Jan. 22 former PM (1985-95) Anibal Antonio Cavaco Silva (1939-) (a Keynesian economist) wins the election, and on Mar. 9 is sworn-in as pres. #19 of the Portuguese Repub. (until Mar. 9, 2016), becoming the first to enjoy an absolute parliamentary majority and going on to lead Portugal into the EU and have the longest tenure of any Portuguese PM since Salazar. On Jan. 23 Ford Motor Co. announces 30K layoffs and the shutdown of 14 plants in the U.S.; the share of the U.S. Big Three (GM, Chevy, Ford) has systematically slid from 75% in 1995 to 60% in 2005 to the Japanese Big Three (Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai). On Jan. 23 Pres. Bush shoots back at critics of his once-secret domestic spying operation, which allows senior NSA officials to approve spying when there is "reason to believe" that al-Qaida is involved, saying it should be termed a "terrorist surveillance program", and asking, "If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?" On Jan. 23 after a scandal involving misappropriation of govt. funds by the Liberal Party, Conservatives win 36% of the vote in Canadian parliamentary elections, ending 12 years of Liberal Party rule; Paul Martin resigns, and on Feb. 6 Conservative Party of Canada leader Stephen Joseph Harper (1959-) becomes Canadian PM #22 (until Nov. 4, 2015), going on to have improved relations with the Bush admin. On Jan. 23 Russia's Federal Security Service accuses four British diplomats of spying using electronic equipment concealed in a fake rock in a park in Moscow. On Jan. 23 Raouf Rasheed Abdel-Rahman (a Kurd) becomes the new chief judge at Saddam Hussein's Kurd genocide trial in Baghdad, replacing fellow Kurd Rizgar Mohammed Amin, who submitted his resignation on Jan. 15 after complaints of failing to maintain control of Sodamn Insane; meanwhile Amin's deputy Saeed al-Hammash, a Shiite is ousted; on Jan. 29 Raouf is given his first test by Sodamn, who chastizes him for removing his half-brother Barzan Ibraham (who calls the court "a daughter of adultery"), then orders all four lead defendants removed and tried in absentia, causing the defense team to walk out; on Feb. 1 Sodam Insane and four other main defendants refuse to attend their trial, which proceeds without them. On Jan. 23 a train derails and plunges into the Moraca Canyon in Bioce outside Podgorica, Montenegro, killing 46 and injuring 19. On Jan. 24 The CW Television Network is founded by CBS and Warner Bros., replacing UPN and The WB; it begins operations on Sept. 18. On Jan. 25 Pope Benedict XVI issues God Is Love, his first encyclical, in which he says that the Church has a duty through charitable work to influence political leaders, and warns against sex without unconditional love, which he says risks turning people into merchandise; in marriage between man and woman eros and agape are united, as well as in God's love for mankind, he says - what about cowboy lovers Heath and Jake? On Jan. 25 Hamas (led by Damascus-based Khaled Mashaal) surprises pollsters by winning in a landslide over the corrupton-riddled ruling Fatah Party in Palestinian elections (76 of 132 seats, vs. 43 for Fatah), offering to share power with pres. Mahmoud Abbas, who enjoys U.S. and Israeli backing since Hamas doesn't accept the existence of either; too bad, Fatah doesn't want to give up power, and plans a coup led by Gen. Keith Dayton. On Jan. 25 "Burqa Boy" Michael Jackson is spotted in a Manama, Bahrain shopping mall disguised in a traditional black Arabic woman's veil and gown (abaya); his brother Jermaine is friends with the king's son Sheik Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who helped him convert to Islam in 1989, causing Michael to move there after his acquittal in Calif.; he lives in a set of $1.5M boy-lined villas there, which causes rumors that he converted to Islam, which has always been friendly to rich male pedophiles? On Jan. 26 Pres. George W. Bush holds his 22nd solo news conference to soothe frayed nerves over Palestine, saying that the U.S. won't deal with an org. devoted to the destruction of Israel, with the soundbyte "Peace is never dead because people want peace"; he also dodges photos showing him in a classic grip-and-grin with Repub. lobbyist Jack Abramoff, saying they prove nothing since tens of thousands of such pictures have been taken with others; in Sept. 2006 a report by the House Govt. Reform Committee reveals using e-mail messages and subpoenaed records to find 485 contacts between Abramoff's lobbying team and White House officials from 2001-4, incl. 82 with Karl Rove's office - thousands of people throw their pics of themselves posing with GWB into the trash? On Jan. 27 thousands of angry Fatah supporters burn cars and shoot into the air across the Gaza Strip, demanding resignations of corrupt party officials and decrying any coalition with Hamas, beginning the Palestinian Civil War (ends 2009), which the Palestinians call Wakseh ("humiliation"), since Muslims are fighting their brothers over Jews. On Jan. 27 Western Union sends its last telegram; the first was sent on May 24, 1844 - stop? On Jan. 27 Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya Rosales (1952-) of the Liberal Party becomes pres. of Honduras (until June 28, 2009), going on to become friends with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and develop links with organized crime, as the U.S. embassy in Honduras wired Pres. Obama, and revealed in Nov. 2010 by WikiLeaks; first lady is Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (1959-). On Jan. 28 a convention hall roof collapses in Katowice, Poland, killing 65 and injuring 170+ during a racing pigeon exhibition. On Jan. 29 Condoleezza Rice tells the press that the U.S. will press allies to deprive the Hamas-led Palestinian govt. of financial support, and wants other nations incl. Arab ones to follow suit. On Jan. 15 Kuwaiti emir #3 (since Dec. 31, 1977) Jaber III al-Ahmed al-Jaber al-Sabah (b. 1926) dies, and Sheikh Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah (1930-2008) becomes emir #4 of Kuwait for nine days, followed on Jan. 29 by Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (1929-), who becomes emir #5 of Kuwait (until ?). On Jan. 29 (weeks after being named as Peter Jennings replacement on ABC's World News Tonight Chinese-speaking co-anchor Bob Woodruff (1961-) and Canadian cameraman Doug Vogt (1960-) are seriously injured in Iraq by an IED near Taji, 12 mi. N of Baghdad as they travel with the U.S. 4th Infantry Div. as "embedded reporters", and are evacuated to medical facilities in Landstuhl, Germany; Woodruff, suffering broken bones and traumatic brain injury (TBI) wakes up from a coma after 36 days - and has to be retaught everything like Uhura in Star Trek? On Jan. 30 a video is aired showing al-Qaida's #2 man Ayman al-Zawahri mocking Pres. Bush, calling him a failure, butcher, etc., and calling for an attack "Allah willing, on your own land" - he looks like LBJ with a beard, glasses, and turban? On Jan. 30 a 2-mo.-old. baby is found floating in a black plastic bag attached to a board in a lake in SE Brazil; police arrest its mother, 29-y.-o. Simone Cassiano da Silva (1975-) for attempted homicide. On Jan. 31 the Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that Iran has obtained a document showing how to cast uranium metal into hemispherical forms for use as an atomic bomb; the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council advise that Iran be hauled before it over its nuclear program and face possible sanctions - better frisk them first? On Jan. 30 a 6-y.-o. black boy in Brockton, Mass. is suspended for three days from Downey Elementary School for sexual harassment for putting two fingers in a classmate's waistband. Sanmarco the Markswoman? On Jan. 30 (9 p.m.) former postal worker Jennifer Sanmarco (b. 1961) forces her way into her old workplace at the Santa Barbara (Calif.) Processing and Distribution Center, and kills five before killing herself, using a 9mm handgun and reloading at least once, becoming the highest kill count for a woman at a workplace shooting. On Jan. 31 Alan Greenspan (last known to not be dead in 2000?) retires as chmn. of the Federal Reserve System after 18 years (current longest-serving U.S. pres. appointee); his agent Robert B. Barnett, who negotiated a $12M deal for Pres. Bill Clinton and an $8M deal for Hillary Clinton gets him $??M for his memoirs; on Feb. 1 Ben Shalom Bernanke (1953-) of Ga. (yes, a Jew) becomes the new chmn. of the Federal Reserve (until ?). Break out the gay baby diapers? In Jan. slick TV ads featuring a cute diapered baby looking at the camera, sponsored by Coloradans for Fairness and Equality begin running in Colo. claiming that "some of us are born gay"; gay Colo. software exec Tim Gill, and Jon Stryker, brother of Ft. Collins, Colo. heiress Pat Stryker financially back the group, which seeks to give gay couples the same rights as hetero ones. As of Jan. there are 50 commercial biodiesel plants in the U.S., with 40 more under construction, producing 75M gal. in 2005; formula: mix 25 gal. vegetable oil, 5 gal. methanol, and 2 lbs. potassium hydroxide (Red Devil drain cleaner?), heat at 130F for 2 hours, mix with water and purify with air bubbles for 2 days, then allow to settle to let the glycerine sink to the bottom. In Jan. the secret Israeli Kopel Report is made public, showing the botched security for Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. In Jan. the U.S. FDA requires food manufacturers to list trans fatty acids on Nutrition Facts labels, causing a new scandal as manufacturers manipulate the labels to boost sales. On Feb. 1 Pres. Bush delivers his 2006 State of the Union Address to a deeply-divided Congress hours after court-tipping ultra-conservative judge Samuel Alito is sworn in, and right before admin. critic Cindy Sheehan is arrested and removed from the House gallery for "unlawful conduct" merely for wearing a t-shirt with an anti-war slogan (that "land of the free" slogan is clearly a piece of crap now?); at one point the Dems. in the audience cheer a Bush statement that his Social Security reforms had been denied by them; he attempts to defend domestic surveillance without court oversight by saying that he's not going to let terrorists hit us again; proclaiming that the U.S. is "addicted to oil" he sets a nat. goal of replacing 75% of oil imports from the Mideast by 2025, and calls for $50M over 10 years to develop cellulosic ethanol, derived from trash and grass; he calls for a congressional bipartisan commission to study the impact of aging Baby Boomers on Social Security; an NBC News poll released on Jan. 31 shows only a 39% approval rate for his admin., which he neglects to mention; Dems. take Bush to task for only giving lip service to alternative energy, Sen. Harry Reid of Nev. saying "We have never had a more oil-oriented administration." On Feb. 1 hundreds of stone-throwing Israeli settlers stand-off Israeli riot police in the West Bank settlement of Amona, after Israel's Supreme Court clears the way for demolition of nine homes, and at least 200 are injured. On Feb. 1 swastika-tattoed Insane Clown Posse fan Jacob D. Robida (b. 1987) attacks customers of a gay bar in New Bedford, Mass. with a handgun and hatchet, then kills a police officer on Feb. 5 at a routine stop in Mountain Home, Ark., followed by his girlfriend Jannifer Bailey of Charleston, W. Va. before the police kill him; ICP mgr. Alex Abbiss later releases a statement: "If anyone knows anything at all about ICP, then you know that they have never, ever been down or will be down with any racist or bigotry bullshit." On Feb. 2 U.S. defense secy. Donald Runsfeld issues the immortal soundbyte about Muslim jihadists: "They will either succeed in changing our way of life, or we will succeed in changing theirs." On Feb. 2 two car bombs detonate in quick succession in the evening near a crowded market in E Baghdad, Iraq, killing 16 and wounding 90; a roadside bomb strikes a U.S. vehicle S of Baghdad, killing five service members. On Feb. 2 the U.S. Supreme Court stops three executions to consider whether the letal injection method is cruel and unusual punishment. On Feb. 2 Congress extends the U.S. Patriot Act through Mar. 10. On Feb. 2 (night) 200 Taliban fighters ambush a police patrol near Sangin, Afghanistan, causing a pitched battle that kills 27 by Feb. 4. On Feb. 2-3 a string of five small Baptist churches in Bibb County, Ala. are torched as fast as the arsonists can drive from one to the next. On Feb. 3 23 al-Qaida prisoners escape from an underground prison in San'a, Yemen through an 180 yard tunnel emerging at a mosque; an inside job is suspected; one escapee is a militant convicted in the 2000 USS Cole bombing, Jamal Ahmed al-Badawi - now let's get some Western cartoonists? On Feb. 3 the 35-y.-o. Al-Salaam Boccaccio 98 Ferry, weighted down with 220 cars sinks in choppy water in the Red Sea between Dubah, Saudi Arabia and Safaga, Egypt, killing 1.1K of 1.4K; some of the survivors have to wait in the water for 24 hours for rescue. On Feb. 3 NASA admin. Michael Griffin sends an e-mail to 19K employees promising "scientific openness" four days after being asked by House Science Committee chmn. Sherwood "Sherry" Boehlert (1936-) (R-N.Y.) to respond to charges that its most senior climate scientist James Hansen, dir. of the Goddard Inst. for Space Studies had been muzzled on global warming. On Feb. 3 Hospital Santa Monica in Rosarito, Mexico, the clinic where Coretta Scott King died is closed by Mexican authorities; its dir. Kurt Donsbach is alleged to have a criminal past and a rep. for offering dubious treatments, and has no medical degree. On Feb. 3 the crew of the ISS shoves SuitSat-1, a spacesuit stuffed with discarded clothing and a 145.990 MHz radio transmitter for tracking by amateur radio operators out into space, giving it the nickname Ivan Ivanovich Smith. On Feb. 4 Cardinal George Pell of Australia gives a speech to the Legatus assoc. of Am. Roman Catholic business owners titled "Islam and Western Democracies", warning of the violence taught by the Quran and how Muslim majorities in the West will seek to impose Sharia. On Feb. 5 Super Bowl XL (40) is held in Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. (first time ever in Detroit) before a cap. 65K crowd; the Rolling Stones perform Microsoft's anthem Start Me Up at the halftime show, causing grumbling by Motown performers, who are only allowed to do a pregame show; the Pittsburgh Steelers, led by QB (#7) "Big Ben" Rothlisberger (1982-) (who wears jersey #7 because his childhood hero was John Elway) (2nd youngest starting SB QB after Dan Marino) defeat the 4-point-underdog Seattle Seahawks, led by QB (#8) Matt Hasselback (1975-) by 20-10; Jerome Abraham "The Bus" Bettis (1972-) returns to his hometown on an Elway-like sentimental journey, while Microsoft-backed Seattle no-name defense and offense led by MVP QB Shaun Alexander (1977-) (with a record 28 TDs during the season) fails to take the 6.7 lb. $25K Tiffany & Co. Lombardi Trophy to Emerald City rather than Steel City; tickets are now $600, and a 30-sec. ad costs $2.5M. Allah vs. Superman, or, Maybe that pope was right who called Muhammad the Antichrist? On Feb. 3 the reprinting of 12 cartoon caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad from the Sept. 30, 2005 issue of Denmark's Jyllands-Posten, ed. by Flemming Rose (1958-), incl. one of Muhammad with a beard in his turban causes madass protests by Muslims in Britain, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Palestine, incl. 50K in Khartoum, Sudan, causing the Danish govt. to apologize, and U.S. State Dept. spokesperson Janelle Hironimus to criticize the papers for "inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner", which she calls "not acceptable" (never criticizes the madass Muslims?); on Feb. 4 crazed caricatures of, er, Muslim protesters in Damascus attack the Danish and Norwegian embassies, then on Feb. 5 set fire to the Danish mission in Beirut, while Iran recalls its ambassador to Denmark; on Feb. 6 400 madass Muslims running loose in Tehran attack the Danish Embassy in the name of their prince of darkness Muhammad, the prophet of Satan who preaches hate and murder, intolerance, subjection of women and non-Muslims, polygamy and pedophilia, and doesn't claim to be divine or a healer but is an admitted killer, yet can't even be portrayed, while worshippers must dance around a black meteorite idol from outer space sent by his father the Devil?; in support many other European newspapers reprint them, the headline of France Soir reading "Yes, we have the right to caricature God" (Oui, on a le droit de caricaturer Dieu); on Oct. 28, 2005 a coalition of Dutch Muslim groups try to press criminal charges against the paper, but the prosecutor drops them; on Jan. 1, 2006 Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen backs up the paper's right to freedom of speech; on Jan. 1, 2006 a Christian newspaper in Norway reprints the cartoons; on Jan. 25 Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia demand punishment of the Danish newspaper, and on Jan. 26 withdraws their ambassador from Denmark as the country begins a boycott of Danish products; on Jan. 30 the paper apologizes for offending the Morons, er, Muslims, but stands by its decision to print them; on Jan. 31 Danish Muslims demand a clearer apology; on Feb. 2 the Jordanian weekly Shihan reprints them with an editorial by former Sen. Jihad Momani, who is then fired as the publisher withdraws the issue from circulation; in 2010 WikiLeaks reveals that Syria helped orchestrate the Motoon riots; meanwhile on Feb. 6 200 more criminals attack the Austrian Embassy in Tehran, yet more crazies storm a U.S. military base outside Bagram, Afghanistan (four being put to sleep by Afghan troops like the mad dogs they are by being shot in the street), and yet more crazed mad dogs stampede in Somalia, killing a teen boy; on Feb. 6 Lebanon apologizes to Denmark about being home to deathhead moth loonies with turbans and beards who can't stand unsevered infidel heads existing on the same planet with them (how can anyone portray the real Muhammad anyway when there are no original pics of him to go by, and don't half of the lookalike loonies call themselves Muhammad, and how is the "idolatrous" behavior of non-believers in the non-Muslim world any business of theirs to punish by taking the law in their own hands?); meanwhile on Feb. 6 Iran's parliament issues a statement mentioning what happened to Salman Rushdie (1947-), with thinly veiled threats that the British author of the cartoons will soon have a death warrant out on him, and sure enough, a $1M reward is put out for the head of the cartoonist; in Nigeria the heavily Muslim north goes bananas and kills 100 Christians in the heavily Christian SE, becoming the bloodiest cartoon fighting; the Muslims then begin pressuring the U.N. to make "defamation of Islam" a world crime, with a yearly vote that starts out strong then dwindles until ?; in July 2013 Lebanese-born Danish Muslim leader Ahmad Akkari, who traveled the Muslim World fueling the uproar over the cartoons repents, admitting the newspaper has the right to print them; too bad, on Sept. 30, 2015 after years of relentless Muslim attacks combined with submission to Sharia by the leftist govts. and PC press, Jyllans-Posten reprints the original page sans cartoons - shouldn't Islam be the world crime, with a worldwide death warrant out for each and every mental zombie suffering from this incurable mental virus for the good of the world? Are there actually any intelligent, sane people in this sick mass mind-control hypnocult ruled by a graveyard Hitler? On Feb. 5 cartoon-hating Iran ends all voluntary cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency - as it races to build A-bombs and use them with reckless abandon like in a, ahem, cartoon? On Feb. 27 Fatwa No. 71480: "The Burning of Ias bin Abdul Yalil by Abu Bakr" is pub. by Qatar-run Islam Web, claiming that burning people alive as punishment is permissible under Islam; too bad, after Jordanian pilot Lt. Muath Kassasbeh is burned alive by ISIS in early 2015, they quickly retract it. On Feb. 7 several photos by paparazzi are pub. showing Britney Spears driving her SUV with infant son Sean Preston (b. 2005) perched on her lap instead of being strapped into a car seat in back; she explains she did it because of a "horrifying, frightful encounter with the paparazzi". My baloney has a first name? On Feb. 8 Pres. Bush weighs into the Muhammad cartoon rage crimes by saying he defends the rights of newspapers to print what they see fit, but admonishes them of their "responsibility to be thoughtful about others"; U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice accuses Syria and Iran of trying to inflame the situation, which on Feb. 12 Iran denies, demanding an apology; on Feb. 8 Jordan's King Abdullah II, standing next to Pres. Bush in the White House adds that "Islam, like Christianity and Judaism, is a religion of peace, tolerance, moderation"; on Feb. 12 the violence spreads to the occupied territories, plus Turkey and Indonesia; graffiti calling Muhammad a pig is scrawled on a West Bank mosque, causing a protest in which Israeli soldiers shoot three Palestinians - like pigs? On Feb. 8 the World Org. for Animal Health reports that H5N1 bird flu virus has been detected for the first time in Africa, in a commercial chicken farm in Nigeria. On Feb. 8 the U.S., Russia, and Germany decide to cancel Afghanistan's debts, incl. $108M owed to the U.S. and $44M to Germany from before the 1979 Soviet Invasion, and $10B owed to Russia from loans to the puppet Communist govt. in the early 1990s. On Feb. 8 the Nat. Center for Health Statistics that annual cancer deaths in the U.S. have fallen for the first time since 1930, down from 557,271 in 2002 to 556,902 in 2003. On Feb. 8 Nepal holds its first election in seven years, marred by low turnout and violence, which the U.S. calls a "hollow attempt" by King Gyanendra to legitimize his power. On Feb. 8 (6:30 p.m.) a security sensor in the Russell Senate Office Bldg. in Washington, D.C. indicates the presence of a nerve agent in the attic, causing 200 staffers and eight senators to be held in a parking garage for three hours until tests give the all-clear. On Feb. 9 Russian Pres. Putin invites Hamas leaders to Moscow, saying that he does not view it as a terrorist org.; meanwhile, Palestinian gunmen abduct Egyptian diplomat Hussam el-Musli (Almousaly) in the Gaza Strip (released on Feb. 11), and a suicide bomber strikes in Hangu, Pakistan during the Shiite Muslims' most holy festival, triggering a riot that burns down the town and leaves 32 dead and 50 wounded. On Feb. 9 Pres. Bush announces the foiling of a terrorist plot to crash a plane into the 73-story US Bank Tower (Library Tower) in Los Angeles, Calif., tallest bldg. on the U.S. West Coast by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (1964-), who refused to swear a loyalty oath to Osama bin Laden so that if he cancelled the 9/11 plan he wouldn't have to obey him; after 9/11 he finally swears the oath. On Feb. 10 a car bomb outside a Sunni mosque in Baghdad, Iraq kills eight, and gunmen abduct a Sunni cleric. On Feb. 10-26 the XX (20th) Winter Olympics are held in Turin (Torino), Italy (first time in Italy since 1956, and first time in Europe since 1994), with 2.5K athletes from 85 countries; NBC-TV pays $613M for the telecast rights, with 418 hours of coverage, averaging 24.5 hours a day (vs. $6.4M for the 1972 Sapporo games, with 37 hours of coverage); the mascots are Neve (female snowball) and Griz (male ice cube); on Feb. 12 Shaun "the Flying Tomato" White (1986-) wins gold in the snowboard halfpipe; on Feb. 12 Michelle Kwan drops out and retires with five world and nine nat. titles but no Olympic gold, and Emily Hughes (sister of Sarah Hughes) takes her place at the last moment after being delayed by the big snowstorm in the E U.S.; U.S. downhill skiing hope Bode Miller (1977-) finishes a disappointing 5th on Feb. 12 and leaving the U.S. team, with surprise Antoine Deneriaz (Déneriaz) (1976-) of France winning gold; U.S. favorite (2002 gold medalist) short-track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno slips in the 1.5Km semifinal on Feb. 12 and fails to qualify; on Feb. 16 Russian biathlete Olga Valeryevna Pyleva (1975-) is thrown out of the games and stripped of her silver medal after being the first athlete caught doping when a blood test detects the stimulant carphedon; on Feb. 18 Shani Davis (1982-) becomes the first black male U.S. athlete to win a Winter Olympic gold (long track ice skating), but his win only exposes hostility (racism?) by fellow white skaters, Chad Hedrick refusing to congratulate him, and expressing indignation that he trained in Canada and dropped out of the relay without notice, keeping the U.S. from a medal; on Feb. 19 Italy finally wins the cross-country skiing gold, the last time being in the first Winter Olympics in 1936; on Feb. 22 Russia ousts Canada from the hockey competition in the men's quarterfinals with a 2-0 win, while Finland ousts the U.S. men's hockey team 4-3 on the 26th anniv. of the Miracle on Ice game; on Feb. 22 Anja Paerson wins the women's slalom, a first for Sweden; on Feb. 23 Shizuka Arakawa (1981-) of Japan wins the gold in women's figure skating (a first), with Sasha Cohen (1984-) of the U.S. winning the silver, and (excuse me?) Irina Slutskaya (1979-) of Russia winning the bronze as the latter two fall in their long programs; Tugba Karademir (1985-) becomes the first figure skater from Turkey, coming in 21st; Evgeni Plushenko (1982-) of Russia wins the gold in men's figure skating; meanwhile the Shroud of Turin is used to resurrect Jesus Christ, who speaks to reporters as the Olympics begins? - (TLW, Salvation Day: the Immortality Device). Cheney's freeze-fame image is made for the administration that can't shoot straight? On Feb. 11 (5:30 p.m.) (Sat.) U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney accidentally shoots and wounds 78-y.-o. Henderson, Tex.-born companion Harry M. Whittington (1927-) (a millionaire atty. from Austin) in a weekend quail hunting trip near Corpus Christi in Kennedy County, Tex., spraying his face and chest with shotgun pellets, becoming the first shooting by a vice-pres. since Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton in 1804; Whittington later has a heart attack in the hospital as a pellet lodges in his heart; on Feb. 16 Tex. authorities close the investigation without bringing charges, and Whittington goes on camera to apologize to Cheney; as late as 2009 he still has 30 pellets in his jaw and gums - how about shooting a certain lame duck? On Feb. 11 a fire at a Baptist church in rural Ala. becomes the 10th in a string of blazes churches in the state, half black and half white; on Mar. 8 three white college students, Russell DeBusk, Ben Moseley, and Matthew Cloyd, described as pranksters are arrested in Birmingham, Ala.; they tell federal agents that the first few blazes were "a joke" and that the others were started to throw investigators off the track. On Feb. 11-12 a record nor'easter, the Blizzard of 2006 hits 14 states, dumping 29.6 in. of snow in New York City (most since data were kept in 1869), and is Boston's 11th biggest snowstorm ever; 12-27 in. of snow hits the coast from N.C. to Maine; 520 flights are cancelled at LaGuardia, Liberty Int. in Newark, and JFK airports. On Feb. 12 the British govt. says it is investigating allegations that British soldiers kicked and beat Iraqi teenagers in an army compound in Basra in 2004 as pub. by the News of the World, showing scenes filmed by a "disgusted whistle-blower", in one of which a soldier shouts "Oh yes! You're going to get it. Yes, naughty little boys." On Feb. 12 supporters of agronomist and former pres. Rene Preval protest in Port-au-Prince (1958-), Haiti after he falls less than one point short of enough votes to avoid a runoff election for pres.; on Feb. 16 he is declared the winner after 85K blank votes are divided among the candidates to avoid a runoff, giving him 51%; Leslie Manigat comes in 2nd; he is sworn-in on May 14, donning the blue-red sash of scary Hate-y. On Feb. 12 the New York Times pub. the first known use of the term "social distancing", calling it "the new politically correct way of saying 'quarantine'." On Feb. 13 a suicide bomber at a bank in E Baghdad, Iraq kills five and wounds 32. On Feb. 15 members of the U.S. Congress pillory execs of Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems after Billy Goat, er, Microsoft responds to a Chinese request to shut down the blog site of Chinese journalist Michael Anti (1964-) and provides the Commies with censoring software, and Yahoo stinks itself up by providing info. to help the Commies track down and imprison dissidents Shi Tao (10 years), Li Zhi (8 years), and Jiang Lijun (4 years); a grassroots Internet Boycott Yahoo campaign begins; Google has actually done nothing objectionable, offering the Chinkfaces a censored version of its search engine but keeping its uncensored version available? On Feb. 15 new images showing Iraqis being abused by U.S. guards at Abu Ghraib Prison in 2003 are broadcast by Australia's Special Broadcasting Service, incl. one group of naked men with bags over their heads being forced to masturbate. On Feb. 15 U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice tells a Senate panel that she is planning to ask for $75M to promote democracy in Iran - should be $75T? On Feb. 15 Homeland Security Dir. Michael Chertoff is basted by senators for his handling of Hurricane Katrina, admitting to "many lapses". On Feb. 16 U.N. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan says that the U.S. should close its Guantanamo Bay Prison for terrorists as soon as possible. On Feb. 16 after lobbying by the Forum Against Islamophobia and Racism, the British Racial and Religious Hatred Act makes it a crime in England and Wales to intentionally incite hatred against a person on the grounds of race or religion (or lack thereof), effective Oct. 1, 2007; too bad, while obviously aimed at protecting Muslims, it conflicts with freedom of religion and expression and might itself stir up more hatred? On Feb. 17 a mudslide wipes out the Guinsaugon village in Leyte, SE of Manila, Philippines, killing almost all 1.8K, leaving 21 survivors. On Feb. 17 two U.S. CH-53E transport helis carrying a dozen crew and troops from the counterterrorism force crashes into the sea in the Gulf of Aden near the N coastal town of Ras Siyyan, killing 10. On Feb. 17 another Muhammad cartoon protest in Benghazi, Libya kills 10, causing Italian govt. minister Roberto Calderoli (1956-), who had worn a t-shirt printed with the Danish Muhammad cartoons on TV to be forced to resign on Feb. 18 after PM Silvio Berlusconi demands his resignation, which Calderoli does under protest, warning of an Islamic attack on the West, saying, "In these last days, I expressed in my way solidarity with all those who have been struck by the blind violence of religious fanaticism". On Feb. 18 Communist insurgents in Nepal call for a nationwide strike to protest the autocratic rule of King Gyanendra, which he instituted to end an alleged communist insurgency; meanwhile the country's major political parties stage a weekend protest, starting with Democracy Day on Feb. 18, a celebration of the 1980s movement that forced the king to permit multiparty democracy; the protests drag on until Apr.; a legend says that Nepal's Shah dynasty of Hindu god-kings will end after 11 generations, and he is #12? On Feb. 18 thousands of Muslim looney tunes protesting the Muhammad cartoons attack Christians and burn churches in Maiduguri, Nigeria, killing 15. On Feb. 18 militants launch a wave of attacks across the oil-rich S delta of Nigeria, blowing up oil installations and seizing nine foreign oil workers, incl. three Americans; a 400K barrel-a-day facility supplying 16% of the country's output is shut down by Royal Dutch Shell. On Feb. 18 a U.S. soldier and three Iraqi police are killed in two roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad, along with three other officials in the 2nd attack. On Feb. 19 a predawn gas explosion in a mine in San Juan de Sabinas in N Mexico traps 65 miners. On Feb. 19 the Israeli govt. brands the Palestinian Authority a "terrorist authority" and halts the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars in tax and tariff money. On Feb. 19 eight ConAgra Foods ham processing 2nd-3rd shift workers in Neb. win the $365M Powerball jackpot (largest in U.S. history) after purchasing the ticket at a U-stop convenience store in Lincoln; two are immigrants from Vietnam and one from the Congo; they take home $15.5M each after taxes. On Feb. 19 more looney tunes protests against the Muhammad cartoons in Islamabad, Paistan cause hundreds to be arrested, and more looney tunes try to storm the U.S. embassy in Indonesia, while tens of thousands more rally in Istanbul; meanwhile Danish businesses suffering boycotts place full-page apologies in Saudi Arabian newspapers; total roadkill stands at 45 worldwide. On Feb. 20 the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala, scene of the Sept. 15, 1963 KKK bombing which killed four black girls is designated a U.S. nat. landmark. On Feb. 20 a Bush admin. decision to allow UAE-owned Dubai Ports World (owned by Dubai's royal Maktoum family) to operate six major U.S. ports in New York, Newark, Philly, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Miami is questioned by two Repub. governors, sparking an outcry., causing Pres. Bush to say that he will veto any measure to block the $6.8B deal; on Feb. 23 the Dems. push for a 45-day investigation; on Mar. 8 a House panel dominated by his own Repub. Party votes overwhelmingly to block the deal, and on Mar. 9 the co. agrees to transfer its U.S. operations to a U.S. co. On Feb. 20 Afghanistan-born U.S. ambassador Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad (1951-) warns Iraqi leaders that they risk losing U.S. support unless they establish a nat. unity govt. not controlled by religious crazies; meanwhile a string of Is-Lame (I-Slam?) suicide bombings kills 24, incl. one U.S. soldier. On Feb. 20 a new Betty Friedan Stamp is issued by the U.S. Post Office. On Feb. 21 Hams appoints former univ. admin. Ismail Haniyeh (1963-) as Palestinian PM (until June 14, 2007). On Feb. 21 a car bomb attack on an outdoor market in a Shiite area of SW Baghdad, Iraq kills 22 and injures dozens. On Feb. 21 Harvard pres. Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers (1954-) announces his resignation on June 30 rather than fight his PC faculty pissed-off by his comments that innate ability may explain why few women reach top science posts; he ends up as Barack Obama's top economic adviser - which explains why he didn't pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate? On Feb. 22 a large explosion destroys the Golden Dome of the Shiite Askariya Shrine in Samarra (60 mi. N of Baghdad), raising fears of a religious civil war in Iraq as angry demonstrators cry for revenge, trashing Sunni mosques on Feb. 23 in violence that kills 120, causing the govt. to order a daytime curfew in Baghdad; on Feb. 22 Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, Iraq's most powerful Shiite politician blames U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for threatening to cut off support to the Shiite-run Interior Ministry that oversees police because of its sectarian ties; the bombing triggers a cycle of Hatfield-McCoy retaliations for the rest of the year; on Aug. 2, 2007 Golden Mosque attack mastermind (al-Qaida cmdr.) Haytham Badri (Sabi) is killed during a U.S. air assault on his home in the Banat Hassan area 65 N of Baghdad. On Feb. 22 Pope Benedict XVI names 15 new cardinals, incl. John Paul II's longtime private secy., the archbishops of Hong Kong (Joseph Zen), Caracas, Seoul, Bordeaux, Toledo, Manilla, Boston (Sean P. O'Malley), and William Levada of the U.S. (Benedict's successor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith); 12 of them are under still 80 and thus eligible to pick a new pope. On Feb. 22 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias wins the pres. election in Costa Rica by a close 18,167 votes. On Feb. 22 China finally releases journalist Yu Dongyue, the 38-y.-o. Tiananmen Square protester who three red paint-filled eggshells on the giant portrait of Muhammad, er, Mao in Tiananmen Square on 5-23-1989; 16 years of torture and solitary have driven him insane; his partners, teacher Yu Zhijian. and bus driver Lu Decheng were released in 1998 after nine years in jail, and Lu fled to Thailand in 2004; 74 others T-protesters remain in priz. On Feb. 22 a judge in London orders the release of Prince Charles' 1997 Diary, leaked by a palace employee, despite his claim of confidentiality and copyright infringement; it shows him lamenting that he has to travel business class to Hong King to watch its handover to China, saying "I then discovered that [they - politicians?] were confortably ensconced in first class immediately below us. Such is the end of the Empire, I sighed to myself." On Feb. 22-23 (night) the Great Tronbridge Robbery sees a gang of armed robbers impersonating police officers make off with $85M from a cash center at Tonbridge, Kent County in S England. On Feb. 23 a 7.5 earthquake (strongest in a cent.) strikes Mozambique 19 min. after midnight, swaying bldgs. in the capital Maputo. On Feb. 23 (5:45 a.m.) the Moscow roof collapse sees a snow-covered football-field-size roof of a market in Moscow collapse, killing 56. On Feb. 24 Philippine pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares a state of emergency on the eve of the Feb. 25 20th anniv. of the People Power Uprising that forced Ferdinand Marcos into exile; on Feb. 24 Corazon Aquino leads a street protest urging her to step down; on Feb. 25 police raid newspaper offices and detain prominent critics. On Feb. 25 24-y.-o. Imette Carmella St. Guillen (b. 1981), a criminal justice student disappears from the Falls Bar in SoHO, N.Y. (in a bldg. owned by the family of Geraldine Ferraro), and is later found dumped on the side of a road in Brooklyn, raped, strangled, bound, and suffocated with packaging tape wrapped over her face. On Feb. 25 5th-grade teacher Wendie Ann Schweikert (1970-) is held on $100K bail in Laurens, S.C. for having sex with a male student twice at the E.B. Morse Elementary School, the boy's mother choked with tears at the hearing of the horrible "female pedophile" - the new Salem Witchhunt begins, meanwhile the hos down the block do tricks every night for bucks and everybody looks the other way? On Feb. 28 (Fat Tuesday) New Orleans holds its Mardi Gras parade down St. Charles Street, with signs that read "Come Hell or High Water", and revelers dressed up in satire of hurricane disaster, such as blind men with T-shirts reading "Levee Inspectors"; Mayor Ray Nagin dresses as cigar-chomping Gen. Russell L. Honore, "the Ragin' Cajun", who led the first convoy of hurricane relief aid. On Feb. 28 68 die in Sunni-Shiite strife across Baghdad in 65% Shiite, 32% Sunni Iraq, which is tilting toward civil war daily; meanwhile Pres. Bush seems unconcerned, telling ABC News' Elizabeth Vargas that he had talked with Iraqi leaders and they are cool. On Feb. 28 the U.S. Supreme Court rules that the U.S. Hobbs Act (extortion) and U.S. RICO Act (racketeering) can't be used against abortion demonstrators, clearing the way for Joseph Scheidler and other abortion leaders to go back at it, with only the 1994 U.S. Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to use to limit their protests against what women do with their fetus' bodies. On Feb. 28 German officials announce that a deadly strain of bird flu has been found in a cat, becoming the first animal other than a bird to be found with it in C Europe; it was found on the Baltic Sea island of Ruegen where more than 100 wild birds infected with the H5N1 strain have been found; in 2003-4 tigers and snow leopards in a zoo in Thailand died after eating chicken carcasses infected with it, and three house cats died in 2004 near Bangkok from it. On Feb. 28 prosecutors in Baghdad present documents showing that Saddam Hussein approved the executions of 140+ Shiites in the 1980s; on Mar. 1 Saddam Hussein admits in court to ordering the death of the 148 Dujail Shiites, but points out that as they were given due process of law before execution, it was all legal - as if anybody cares by now? In Feb. the Great Lakes remain ice-free in the middle of the winter for the first time in memory, upsetting tourism and ice fishing. In Feb. Radio Shack CEO David Edmondson resigns after admitting that he lied about his academic credentials on his resume - no credit for life experience? In Feb. Michael Mastromarino, owner of Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J. is charged with stealing hundreds of cadavers from New York City funeral homes to sell tissue for transplants, incl. the body of "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke (d. 2004). In Feb. Russia's stock market jumps 108% since the same month in 2005; India's market jumps 54%, and Brazil's market jumps 38%; the U.S. market grows only 1%, and the Chinese market 3%. In Feb. the N.M. legislature appropriates $110M to develop the first commercial spaceport on a ranch W of White Sands Missile Range near Truth or Consequences, N.M. where Virgin Galactic will use a rocket-glider combo to sell passengers into space for $200K a head, on a 2.5 hour trip which incl. 6 min. of weightlessness. In Feb. Condoleezza Rice wears a military-inspired dress and coat with big buttons and knee-high black boots to visit U.S. troops at Wiesbaden Army Field, creating a stir. On Feb. 24-28 New Orleans, La. celebrates its first Mardi Gras since Hurricane Katrina 6 mo. earlier; on Feb. 28 (Tue.) (Mardi Gras) the top of the Empire State Bldg. is lit in purple, green, and gold. In Feb. English Muslim Omar Khayam dresses up as a suicide bomber, shocking the country; in 2010 he receives a 13-year sentence for involvement in a heroin-cannabis factory. On Mar. 2 Pres. Bush concludes a historic nuclear deal with former bad boy India, meeting with Indian PM Manmohan Singh to tell them that now it's okay to have nukes?; on Mar. 3 Bush goes to Pakistan despite a bomb attack which killed a U.S. diplomat and three others near the U.S. consulate in Karachi, and massive anti-U.S. and anti-Indian protests; the deal with India allows them to receive nuclear fuel and technology from the U.S. and others, Bush issuing the non-sequitur, "It's in our economic interests that India have a civilian nuclear power industry to help take the pressure off the global demand for energy." On Mar. 2 the U.S. Senate finally passes the U.S. Patriot Act by a 89-10 vote after adding privacy protections, followed by the House on Mar. 7, and Pres. Bush signs it on Mar. 9, a day before it is set to expire; the measure also regulates cold and allergy medicines used to cook meth. On Mar. 2 an Italian parliamentary commission announces that it has concluded that top Soviet leaders were behind the failed plot to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981, saying that they hired Bulgarian secret agent Serghei Ivanov Antonov (former dir. of Balkan Air) et al. to eliminate him for supporting the Solidarity trade union; as if everybody hasn't read Tom Clancy's 2002 novel Red Rabbit? The U.S. manufactures its own cartoon controversy? On Mar. 2 students protest over the Mar. 1 suspension of Jay Bennish, a geography teacher at Overland H.S. in Aurora, Colo. for giving a world geography class lecture on Feb. 2 (the day after Bush's State of the Union address) calling the U.S. "probably the single most violent nation on planet Earth" and comparing Pres. Bush to Hitler "in tone", then inviting students to think for themselves and respond; the dimwitted administrators actually try to make something out of it after student Sean Allen makes an MP3 recording and shops it around, getting it played on a local radio talk station, taking official action and bringing it on themselves, showing the limits of their own education? On Mar. 2 the AP pub. figures obtained from the Iraqi Health Ministry putting the 2005 civilian death toll at 4,024, more than twice as many as the 1,222 police and 473 soldiers killed. On Mar. 2 new more colorful $10 bills are issued by the U.S. Mint, containing red, yellow, and orange as well as the traditional green. On Mar. 3 the Pentagon ends four years of secrecy and hands over the names of detainees at the U.S. military priz at Guantanamo embedded in 5K pages of transcripts of hearings, which also contain the revelation that many were detained simply for wearing common Casio watches - the new U.S. terrorist petting zoo? On Mar. 3 Wal-Mart reverses its decision and decides to stock the Plan-B "morning after" pill in its pharmacies. On Mar. 3 Hamas political chief Khaled Mshaal meets with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, but refuses to recognize Israel or abandon violence. On Mar. 3 a Vietnamese court convicts British rocker Gary Glitter (Paul Francis Gadd) (1944-) of obscene acts with two Vietnamese girls ages 10 and 11 in 2005 in his villa in S Vung Tau, and sentences him to three years in prison; afterwards he utters the soundbyte: "I haven't done anything. I'm innocent. It's a conspiracy by you know who." (British tabloids?) On Mar. 3 (noon) Iranian-born Muslim U.S. citizen Mohammed Reza Taheri-azar (1983-) gets a message from Allah and runs down six people with his SUV at the U. of N.C. Chapel Hill campus to "avenge the deaths of Muslims worldwide" and "punish the U.S. govt. for their actions around the world", adding "I was aiming to follow in the footsteps of one of my role models, Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers, who obtained a doctorate degree"; at his initial hearing he tells the judge he was "thankful for the opportunity to spread the will of Allah"; none are seriously injured or killed; he is convicted of nine counts of attempted first-degree murder and gets 33 years in prison. On Mar. 4 Muslim paramilitary leader and Kremlin loyalist Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov (1976-), son of former Chechen pres. Akhmad Kadyrov (assassinated in 2004), and Chechnya's most feared and-or hated man is appointed PM of Chechnya by Kremlin-backed pres. Alu Alkhanov, replacing Sergei Abramov, who resigned for medical reasons after a car accident. The Academy members break the back of viewers' expectations in '06? On Mar. 5, 2006 the 78th Academy Awards hosted by Jon Stewart are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.; 311 films are eligible for consideration; the best picture Oscar for 2005 goes to Lions Gate's Brokeback Mountain, er, Crash, best dir. to Ang Lee for Crash, er, Trash, er, Brokeback Mountain, best actor to Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (first duplicate best actor surname - Dustin Hoffman for "Kramer vs. Kramer" in 1979 and "Rain Man" in 1988), best actress to Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line, best supporting actor to George Clooney for Syriana, and best supporting actress to Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener; best original song goes to It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp by Three 6 Mafia ("Juicy J" Jordan Houston, "Crunchy Black" Cedric Coleman, and "DJ Paul" Beauregard) from Hustle & Flow; dir. Robert Altman (1925-2006) (who looks like a cross between Jimmy Stewart, Peter Fonda, and Clint Eastwood?) receives a lifetime achievement award, and reveals that he received a heart transplant from a young woman 10 years earlier; Larry McMurtry wears jeans with his tuxedo jacket; Jon Stewart jokes that Walk the Line is "'Ray' for white people", and that "The Oscars is really the one night of the year where you can see all your favorite stars without giving money to the Democratic Party"; the actresses and actors mainly dress in penguin-like black and white, with Michelle Williams going for mustard (canary?) with bright red lipstick, Keira Knightley for eggplant (with heavy black eye makeup and a vintage Bulgari necklace), Amy Adams for chocolate brown, Jessica Alba for gold, and Reese Witherspoon for silver; Charlize Theron wears a deep emerald Dior dress with a freaky bridesmaid bow on her shoulder almost big enough to be a 2nd head, while Helena Bonham Carter (English name and Russian looks?) wears a short blue gown with white shoes and a freaky big stiff updo. On Mar. 6 the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in ? v. that the govt. can force colleges campuses to accept military recruiters whether or not they provide them with federal money. On Mar. 6 Pres. Bush asks Congress for a modified version of the line-item veto struck down by the U.S. Supreme court eight years earlier; the new version would let him send line items back for an up-down vote; not only Repubs. but Dems. incl. John Kerry support him. On Mar. 6 S.D. bans most abortions except those necessary to save the mother's life; Ala., Miss., and Mo. immediately introduce similar bills - coat hangers fly off the store shelves? On Mar. 6 Milan Babic, a Croatian Serb convicted of ethnic cleansing during the Balkan wars commits suicide in prison in Amsterdam. On Mar. 7 a Pew Hispanic Center Report is pub., saying the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S. has grown to 11.5M-12M, with about 7.2M undocumented workers, or about 5% of the workforce, and that increased security has backfired by making it harder for them to return to Mexico; 6.2M illegals come from Mexico, 2.5M from Latin America, 1.5M from Asia, 0.6M from Europe or Canada, and 0.4M from Africa or other. On Mar. 7 the U.S. House votes 280-138 (only two more than needed) to extend the U.S. Patriot Act, sending it to Pres. Bush. On Mar. 7 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney warns Iran of "meaningful consequences" if it doesn't stop developing nukes. On Mar. 7 a terrorist attack in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, India kills 15 and injures dozens during services for the monkey deity Hanuman, the Liberator From Troubles? On Mar. 7 11-term Texas Rep. Tom DeLay beats three Repub. rivals and is renominated for Congress despite the charges hanging over his head. On Mar. 7 Pearson Educational Measurement in Austin, Tex. says that heavy rainy weather caused answer sheets to expand and its equipment that scans SAT college entrance exams to foul up and give lower scores (as much as 450 points) to 4,411 out of 495K taking the Oct. test, messing up the students' college entrance chances with such a late announcement after admissions are closed. On Mar. 7 an excerpt is pub. from Game of Shadows, an upcoming book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters accusing baseball star Barry Bonds of using steroids, causing ML baseball commissioner Bud Selig to comment on Mar. 9 that he will review the allegations but not launch an official investigation; Bonds comments, "I won't even look at that" (the book). On Mar. 7 Munsuf Abdallah Khalidi, a news anchor on Sunni-run Baghdad TV in Iraq is shot and killed by terrorists. Let's hear it for the true-blue Dubs? On Mar. 8 the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland admits that 102 of its 2.8K Dublin priests past and present (3.6%) are suspected of child abuse; 32 have been sued and eight have been convicted of criminal offenses. On Mar. 8 the U.S. Senate unanimously approves a ban on gifts and meals from lobbyists to members of Congress as a reaction to the Jack Abramoff scandal. On Mar. 8 the reality TV show Top Chef debuts on Bravo (until ?), with judges incl. Elizabeth, N.J.-born chef (head judge) Thomas Patrick "Tom" Colicchio (1962-) (known for his Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan, N.Y., opened in July 1994 and named most popular restaurant in New York City in 2003 and 2005), Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, and Anthony Bourdain, spawning spinoffs "Top Chefs: Master", and "Top Chef: Just Desserts"; in 2007-10 Am. chef Lee Anne Wong becomes the culinary producer of "Top Chef", hosting the Webcast "Top Recipe: The Wong Way to Cook"; on June 10, 2009 Top Chef: Masters debuts on Bravo-TV (until ?), produced by Tom Colicchio and hosted by South Korean-born Kelly Choi (1976-) and Australian-born chef Curtis Stone (1975-); winners incl. Rick Bayless (1953-) (season 1), Ethiopian-born chef Marcus "Joar" Samuelsson (Kassahun Tsegie) (1970-) (season 2), Am. chef Floyd Cardoz (season 3), and R.I.-born chef (known for loving to cook offal) Chris Cosentino (season 4). On Mar. 9 Christophe Fauviau of Mont-de-Marsan in SW France is convicted of drugging his children's tennis opponents, leading to one accidental death. On Mar. 9 4-star Gen. John Philip Abizaid (1951-) (highest-ranking U.S. gen. of direct Arab descent, known as the "Mad Arab"), top U.S. cmdr. in the Middle East (July 7, 2003 - Mar. 16, 2007) tells Congress that Sunni-Shiite violence is more of a threat than the insurgency; when pressed by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.), Donald Rumsfeld reveals that a civil war would be initially handled by Iraqi security forces; in 2004 Abizaid used the term Long War to describe the war on Islamic insurgents, which he expects to last from 50-80 years, and which is adopted by the Bush admin. On Mar. 9 the U.S. military announces that it will begin moving the 4,537 prisoners of Abu Ghraib Prison in W Baghdad (out of 14,589 total U.S. prisoners in Iraq) to a new facility at Camp Cropper near the airport within 3 mo., then turn over the old facility to the Iraqis - so they can use it to torture Americans? On Mar. 8 the U.S. State Dept. releases its Annual Report on Global Human Rights Conditions, pointing fingers at 190+ countries, and saying that conditions have worsened in China since 2005; on Mar. 9 China criticizes the human rights record of the U.S., pointing to racial discrimination and the treatment of military POWs. On Mar. 10 Pres. Bush's approval rating drops to 37%, only 11 points higher than Tricky Dicky Nixon's in Mar. 1974; Clinton's lowest rating was 57% in Nov. 1997, Raagan's 65% in Nov. 1985, and Ike's 58% in Nov. 1957. On Mar. 10 the body of Tom Fox (b. 1951), the lone American among four Christian Peacemaker activists kidnapped a year earlier in Iraq is found; a video dated Feb. 28 shows the other three appealing for their release, Canadians James Loney (41) and Harmeet Singh Sooden (32), and Norman Kember (74) of Britain; British special forces and the U.S. military rescue them on Mar. 23; Kember's attitude after his rescue irks British army head Gen. Mike Jackson, who says "I am slightly saddened that there doesn't seem to have been a note of gratitude for the soldiers who risked their lives." On Mar. 10 police in Chichibu, Japan (50 mi. NW of Tokyo) find a van with six bodies slumped inside along with a smoking stove; they had all met over the Internet and formed a suicide pact. On Mar. 11 (Sat.) Amjad Hameed (b. 1960), dir. of Iraq's public TV channel Al-Iraqiya is shot and killed along with his driver as he heads to work in C Baghdad, bringing the total of journalists killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion to over 70, and bringing calls for new laws permitting journalists to carry firearms. On Mar. 12 after a wait of 644 days (6-6-04) the HBO mob drama The Sopranos (created by David Chase) begins its 6th and final season, with 20 hour-long episodes (12 in 2006, 8 in 2007), compared to the usual 13, starting with episode #66; the final episode on June 11, 2007 (Mon.) is widely panned as a stinker, with a cat taken as a reincarnated murder victim, and James Gandolfini about to be wiped out by rival mobsters but never resolved. Iraq's Anatomy on Web-TV? On Mar. 12 after a planned attack near their checkpoint, four members of a family in Mahmoudiya, Iraq (20 mi. S of Baghdad) are murdered, and 14-y.-o. Abeer Qassim al-Janabi (b. 1992) raped and murdered by five U.S. soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment, incl. St. Paul E. Cortez (1986-), Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, Pfc. Steven Dale Green (1984-), Spc. James P. Barker, and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard; on July 4 Iraqi lawmakers blast the U.S. and demand justice after the Mujahedeen Army reports the incident on a Web site; Green is arrested in N.C. after being discharged for a personality disorder; eight soldiers from the 101st Airborne Div. in Evansville, Ind. end up being court-martialed on murder charges; Cortez and Spielman are charged with the death penalty; on Feb. 22, 2007 Cortez gets 100 years (eligible for parole in 10 years) in exchange for testifying against the others; on Aug. 24, 2007 Spielman gets 110 years.; on May 7, 2009 Green is convicted of rape and four murders, and given life after a jury gets hung over the death penalty. On Mar. 12 Mark V. Olsen's and Will Scheffer's TV drama series Big Love debuts on HBO-TV for 53 episodes (until Mar. 20, 2011), about the United Effort Brotherhood of fundamentalist polygamous renegade Mormons in the Juniper Creek compound in Utah, starring Bill Paxton as patriarch Bill Henrickson, and his wives Barbara "Barb" (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Nicolette "Nicki" (Chloe Sevigny), and Margene "Margie" (Ginnifer Goodwin); Douglas Smith plays Bill's and Barb's son Ben, who is sexually attracted to Margene; Harry Dean Stanton plays Prophet Roman Grant. On Mar. 13 the sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine debuts on CBS-TV for 88 episodes (until May 12, 2010), starring Julia Scarlett Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus (1961-) as neurotic women's gym owner Christine Campbell. On Mar. 13-14 Iraqi authorities discover 87 executed corpses in the Shiite neighborhood of Kamaliyah in E Baghdad, and another 55 are recovered elsewhere in the city as the country edges toward civil war. On Mar. 14 the U.S. govt. begins prosecuting 32 murders and attempted murders reaching back 30 years by members of the Aryan Brotherhood AKA the Brand using the RICO Act in order to dismantle the gang that has infiltrated nearly every U.S. prison since its beginnings in San Quentin in 1964 - what are they going to do, put them in prison? On Mar. 14 Israeli troops storm a Palestinian-run prison in the West Bank and seize a Palestinian militant and his accomplices suspected of assassinating an Israeli cabinet minister, causing retaliation by Palestinian miliants against offices linked to the U.S. and Europe. On Mar. 14 Iraqi security officials announce that they have foiled a plot to put 421 al-Qaida men at guard posts in Baghdad's 2-sq.-mi. Green Zone on the W bank of the Tigris River, who were to then storm U.S. and British embassies; only one more bureaucrat's signature was required to hire them. On Mar. 14 Leonie Brinkema, the judge in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial bars half of the prosecution's key witnesses after finding that Federal Transportation Security Admin. atty. Carla Martin improperly coached several witnesses and gave them trial transcripts after lawyers for two airlines being sued for damages by 9/11 victims asked her to; having already pleaded guilty, the trial is about the death penalty? On Mar. 15 the FCC rules that programs on three TV networks, Fox, ABC, and CBS are "indecent" because of language, citing their 2004 ruling that virtually any use of certain expletives will be so considered; they all appeal by Apr., and NBC files on behalf of the others, all of them issuing a joint statement on Apr. 14 calling the ruling unconstitutional and inconsistent with two decades of previous rulings; the "S" word is especially cited, although the FCC says it can be used after 10 p.m. in the Eastern and Pacific time zones - "S" that stinks? On Mar. 15 Saddam Hussein testifies in Baghdad for the 1st time in his trial, using the photo op to call on Iraqis to stop killing each other and "resist the invaders and their backers". On Mar. 15-16 (night) U.S. troops execute 10+ Iraqi civilians incl. an infant in Ishaqi, Iraq, then try to cover it up with an airstrike. On Mar. 16 the U.S. begins Operation Swarmer, sending 1.5K Iraqi and coalition troops in 50 helis into Salahuddin Province in the largest air assault in nearly three years. On Mar. 16 Iraq's new 275-member parliament is sworn in, incl. 130 from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, 55 from Sunni parties, 53 from the Kurdish Alliance, and 37 from secular and minority parties. On Mar. 16 Iran offers for the first time to enter into talks with the U.S. aimed at stabilizing Iraq - at a slightly smaller size of course? On Mar. 16 the U.S. Congress raises its debt ceiling from $6T to $9T. On Mar. 16 Pres. Bush picks pro-development Repub. Idaho gov. #30 (since Jan. 8, 1899) Dirk Arthur Kempthorne (1951-) to replace Gale Norton as interior secy. #49 (until Jan. 20, 2009); she left the U.S. with more wetlands than at any time since 1954? On Mar. 16 exotic black dancer Crystal Gail Magnum (1978-) accuses three Duke U. lacrosse players, Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann of sexual assault, causing their lives to be ruined as politically ambitious district atty. Michael Byron "Mike" Nifong (1950-) goes after them despite a faulty case. On Mar. 16 the Internat. Criminal Tribunal for the former Yuglosavia (ICTY) in The Hague convicts Bosnian Muslim army chief of staff Enver Hadzihasanovic (1950-) of war crimes, along with Amir Kubura. On Mar. 17 Muslim gunmen attack a Protestant church in Islamabad, Pakistan with a grenade, killing five and injuring 40. On Mar. 17 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. reaches a 5-year high of 11,279.65, its highest level since reaching 11,301.74 on 5-21-2001. On Mar. 19 global protests mark the 3rd anniv. of the Iraq War. On Mar. 19 a tropical 180 mph cyclone hits NE Australia, smashing into the coastal town of Innisfail, Australia. On Mar. 19 U.S. hold an emergency meeting in the Gaza Strip, mediating the 2-mo. border standoff. On Mar. 20 residents of Haditha, Iraq 140 mi. NW of Baghdad give new details about U.S. troops entering and shooting and killing 15 members of two families after a roadside bomb kills a U.S. Marine on Nov. 19, 2005. On Mar. 20 the Bush admin. calls for new elections in Belarus after independent observers call the reelection of hardline incumbent Alexander Lukashenko a farce. On Mar. 20-22 the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City grapples over the worldwide clean water shortage suffered by 1.1B and killing 3.1M a year; women in developing countries walk an avg. of 6 km (3.75 mi.) a day to fetch water. On Mar. 21 Colo. lawmarkers learn that 113 illegal immigrants were involved in accidents or traffic stops in the state and detained on Mar. 20-21 during a spell of snowy weather, incl. six vehicle crashes in the snow; of the 10K illegals crossing the U.S. border each day, a third come through the interstates in Colo.? On Mar. 21 Pres. Bush holds a press conference, admitting that U.S. forces will remain in Iraq after his term expires, and quashes questions by veteran reporter Helen Thomas (1920-2013), who believes he railroaded the U.S. into the war, saying "To assume I wanted war is just flat wrong"; "I'm optimistic we'll succeed; if not, I'd pull our troops out"; he then admits that he has spent his 2004 reelection victory capital on the war. On Mar. 21 Sgt. Michael J. Smith (1981-) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. is found guilty at a court-martial of 6 of 13 counts for tormenting POWs with his snarling black Belgian shepherd at Abu Ghraib Prison, competing with a comrade to make the Iraqi prisoners soil themselves, and having his dog lick peanut butter off the genitals of a male soldier. On Mar. 21 100 masked Sunni Mujaheddin Shura Council gunmen storm the Muqdadiyah Prison near the Iranian border of Iraq 60 mi. NE of Baghdad, killing 20 policemen and freeing all 33 inmates, incl. 18 insurgents; 10 gunmen are killed. On Mar. 21 Iraqi interim PM Ibrahim al-Jaafari says that he hopes that "the formation of the new government does not last beyond April". On Mar. 21 retired FBI supervisor Michael Rolince, the FBI's top terrorism official testifies at the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui that he never read FBI field agent's Harry Samit's Aug. 18, 2001 warning that Moussaoui (arrested 26 days before 9/11) appeared to be part of an unfolding airline hijacking plot; Moussaoui's rommate Hussein al-Attas testifies that he tried to enlist him in jihad, saying "This is the only way for me to get to paradise." On Mar. 21 the Bush admin. issues a whimpy subdued appeal to Afghanistan to let Afghan man Abdul Rahman (1965-), who converted from Islam to Christianity be spared the death penalty; on Mar. 29 he is freed from prison in Kabul after a court drops capital charges of apostasy, and receives asylum in Italy after an internat. uproar incl. an appeal by Pope Benedict XVI - it should be a world crime to be a Muslim in the first place? On Mar. 21 Thailand-born former Army pilot Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth (1968-), who lost both legs in Iraq wins the Dem. nomination for an Ill. seat in Congress, later losing by 2% of the vote to State Sen. Peter Roskam, who ran unopposed in his primary. On Mar. 22 the Basque militant group ETA (Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna) (Basque Homeland and Freedom) announces a permanent ceasefire and a new effort to provide democracy in the N Spanish Basque region; the group allegedly has caused over 800 deaths and $15.5B in damage since the 1960s. On Mar. 22 the U.S. Supreme Court in ? v. ? ends its unity under new chief justice John Roberts and splits 5-3 over the right of police to search a house when one resident says no, the majority going against the police. On Mar. 22 Hal the Coyote is captured near Belvedere Castle (79th St. and Central Park West) after visiting New York City and being chased by police through Central Park. On Mar. 22 a bus carrying Millennium cruise ship tourists plunges 300 ft. down a mountainside in N Chile, killing 12 Americans and injuring four others. On Mar. 24 a Pentagon report is released claiming that Russia collected info. about U.S. troop movements and battle plans at the outset of the U.S. invasion of Iraq by tapping U.S. military sources, then passed it to Saddam Hussein; Russia denies it. On Mar. 24 the U.S. joins Euro nations in imposing sanctions on Belarus in retaliation for its crackdown on political protesters; on Mar. 25 opposition leader Alexander Kazulin is seized in Minsk as he leads a march. On Mar. 24 (Fri.) thousands of Hispanics, mainly illegal immigrants protest around the U.S. against legislation cracking down on, er, illegal immigration; on Mar. 25 500K march in Los Angeles. On Mar. 27 Zacarias Moussaoui goes against his attys. and testifies against himself, telling how he wasn't supposed to be the 5th terrorist on United Airlines Flight 93 (the 20th hijacker), but rather was picked to hijack a 5th airplane on 9/11 along with shoe bomber Richard Reid and fly it into the White House. On Mar. 27 the Senate Judicary Committee caves in to protesters and approves sweeping immigration legislation claring the way for 10M-20M illegal immigrants to seek citizenship without having to first leave the country; the 12-6 vote incl. some flip-flopping of Repubs. On Mar. 28 Pres. Bush replaces longtime chief of staff Andrew Card with budget dir. and Harley rider (Jewish) Joshua "Bad Mitzvah" Bolten (1954-), whose father was a lifelong CIA officer; he is sworn-in on Apr. 14. On Mar. 28 1.16M demonstrate against a new youth labor law in France which threatens lifetime job security; on Apr. 4 another 1M come out after PM Dominique de Villepin refuses to scrap the law; on Apr. 10 Pres. Jacques Chirac caves in and cancels it. On Mar. 28 masked gunmen kidnap 24 Iraqis from three businesses in Baghdad, and make off with tens of thousands in cash. On Mar. 29 flamboyant black U.S. Rep. (D-Ga.) Cynthia McKinney,who once said that vice-pres. Al Gore has a low "Negro tolerance level" and claimed that Bush admin. officials had advance knowledge of 9/11 scuffles and strikes a pig, er, police officer as she tries to enter a House building, later blaming racial profiling and claiming self-defense. On Mar. 29-30 6.1 earthquakes in W Iran kill 70, injure 1.2K, and leave thousands homeless. On Mar. 30 Iraqi soccer star Manar Modhafar is gunned down in Baghdad. On Mar. 30 the Mass. Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples from state where gay marriage is prohibited cannot wed in Mass.; Repub. Gov. Mitt Romney (a Mormon married to Ann Romney for 37 years, and whose great-grandfather Miles Park Romney was a polygamist) welcomes the decision, saying he doesn't want Mass. to become "the Las Vegas of same-sex marriage" - how about an unmarried or polygamous lesbian-homoville? On Mar. 31 Iran announces the test-firing of a missile undetectable by radar, the Fajr-3 ("victory") that can host MIRVs and has a range of 1.2K mi., enough to reach Israel; the missile all but announces that Iran is trying to develop nukes? On Mar. 31 a mortar shell explodes on a street in N Baghdad, Iraq, killing three women in their homes. On Mar. 31 a Soyuz capsule docks with the ISS, bringing Brazil's first astronaut, Marcos Pontes, a new Russian-Am. crew and fresh supplies. On Mar. 31 a Palestinian Hamas militant is killed by a car bomb in Gaza City, unleashing factional unrest leaving three dead and 35 wounded. In Mar. Portia Simpson Miller of the People's Nat. Party (PNP) becomes the first PM of Jamaica - yo ho ho? On Mar. ? a disoriented elderly woman in a hospital gown is discharged from Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center near Los Angeles and sent off in a taxi cab, then dumped in Los Angeles's Skid Row area, where she is spotted wandering around and saved by the Union Rescue Mission, causing prosecutors to force them to stop the dumping of homeless people and go after other hospitals in the city. In Mar. the U.S. begins a housing bust, followed by a recession next Dec. In Mar. Lehady (Léhady) Soglo, son of former pres. Nicephore Soglo (who is past the age limit of 70) draws only 8.44% of the vote, and Pres. Mathieu Kerekou is reelected once again. In Mar. Humphrey, the b&w cat owned by several British PMs since 1989 ("Chief Mouser") (retired in 1997) dies. In Mar. an internat. Internet-based pedophile ring is busted by agencies from 35 countries, based on the chat room "Kids the Light of Our Lives"; 31 kids are rescued from sexual abuse, and 700 suspects are ID'd; ringleader Timothy David Martyn Cox (1980-) is later convicted. In Mar. Forbes mag. pub. its 2006 List of the World's Richest People, listing 793 world billionaires, 102 more than 2005, with a combined wealth of $2.6T (18% increase); Bill Gates heads the list with a $50B fortune (up from $46.5 bilion), Warren Buffett from Omaha, Neb. (chmn. of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.) is #2 with $42B; Martha Stewart (1941-), who was new to the list in 2005 drops off this year; the Czech Repub. places its first billionaire on the list, Petr Kellner (#224 with $3B); China has 10 billionaires, up from two last year. In Mar. Random House, publisher of "The Da Vinci Code" (2003) by Dan Brown is sued by "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" (1982) writers Michael Baigent (1948-) and Richard Leigh (1943-) in London's High Court for copyright infringement, claiming he "appropriated the architecture" of their nonfiction work by writing a fiction work with a totally different architecture that makes loads more money?; ideas can't be copyrighted, only expressions, but the news agencies gloss over this obvious dual publicity ploy and play along like it's a serious suit?; Brown basks in the extra publicity for his upcoming movie, testifying on Mar. 13 and producing a 69-page memoir about his starving author days; Judge Peter Smith (1952-) puts a secret code in his ruling that Dan Brown didn't infringe their copyright that reads "Smithy Code Jackie Fisher who are you Dreadnought"; after they lose their appeal, Baigent and Leigh are stuck with $?M in legal bills - when they coulda studied basic copyright law first and saved it all? In Mar. Research in Motion, maker of Blackberry e-mail devices loses a legal battle with patent troll NTP Inc., agreeing to pay $612.5M after being threatened with an injunction that would have shut them down; meanwhile EBay goes to the U.S. Supreme Court to try to make it difficult for injunctions to be won; the Blackberry becomes so addictive that it begins to be called the Crackberry? In Mar. Capt. Nicole Malachowski (1974-), wife of Maj. Paul Malachowski makes her debut with the Air Force's elite Thunderbird precision squadron, becoming its first female demonstration pilot; she is one of only 71 women pilots out of 568 who fly fighter jets for the Air Force. In Mar. Tunisian-born Rene Riffaud (1899-) is officially added to the rolls of living French WWI vets, bringing the total to seven; the U.S. has two, Britain 13, Italy 10, Germany 5, and Turkey none; the world total is less than 50. In Mar. the giant tortoise Addwaita ("the one and only") (b. 1757) dies in Calcutta, India at estimated age 250, one of four Aldabra tortoises brought in by British sailors in the 18th cent. In Mar. U.S. fatalities in Iraq are 31, the lowest number since Feb. 2004; in Apr. the number exceeds 40 by mid-mo. In Mar. a U.S. jury orders Mike Battles and his partner Scott Custer to pay $10M for swindling the U.S. govt. over Iraqi rebuilding projects. On Apr. 2 career criminal Ralph James "Bucky" Phillips (1962-) escapes from Erie County, N.Y. jail, living off the land and becoming a folk hero, until on June 10 he shoots N.Y. state trooper Sean Brown, then on Aug. 31 ambushes state troopers while staking out a family member's house in Pomfret, killing trooper Joseph Longobardo (b. 1974), after which the reward on him jumps to $450K; on Sept. 8 (8:00 p.m. EDT) he is captured by Penn. State Police in Warren County, Penn., and sentenced to life in prison. On Apr. 3 tornadoes strike Iowa, Ky., Ark., Mo., Ohio, Ill., and Ind., killing 27, incl. 23 along a 25-mi. swath of rural W Tenn. On Apr. 3 Citizens for Health asks the U.S. FDA to revoke its approval of popular sweetener Splenda ("made from sugar, so it tastes like sugar"), citing stomach pains, rashes et al. days after a federal court dismisses a suit against Splenda maker McNeil Nutritionals, accusing the trade Group Sugar Assoc. of false advertising on its Splenda-bashing Web site thetruthaboutsplenda.com; meanwhile the Nat. Cancer Inst. releases a study concluding that rival aspartame (Equal et al.) doesn't increase risks of certain kinds of cancer. On Apr. 4 the Iraq govt. files new charges against Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (1941-2010) ("Chemical Ali") and five others for killing an estimated 180K Kurds in N Iraq in 1987-8. On Apr. 4 former Sinn Fein official Denis Martin Donaldson (b. 1950), whose spying for Britain for 20 years was revealed in Dec. 2005 is found shot to death after being tortured in his home near Glenties, County Donegal in NW Ireland; the IRA denies responsibility. On Apr. 4 PM Thaksin Shinawatra of Thailand announces his resignation after allegations of corruption and abuse two days after his party wins parliamentary elections; last Dec. King Bhumibol Adulyadej gave a speech jabbing at his misconduct, and allegedly didn't want his June Diamond Jubilee (60 years on the throne) disturbed by street protests. On Apr. 4 Carlos the Jackal (Ilich Ramirez Sanchez) is fined $6K by a Paris court for telling French TV that terrorist attacks are sometimes necessary. On Apr. 5 at 01:02:03 there is a calendar digit lineup in the U.S.; for Europe it happens on May 4. On Apr. 5 Booker T. Washington's 150th birthday is not attended by him personally, but. On Apr. 6 a car bomb in Najaf, Iraq kills at least 10 and injures 34 near the Shiite Imam Ali Mosque at the entrance to a cemetery. On Apr. 7 three suicide bombers dressed as women detonate inside the Shiite Buratha Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 85 and injuring 160. On Apr. 9 (Sun.) Iraqi Shiite lawmakers meet on the 3rd anniv. of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces as Iraqis observe Freedom Day; meanwhile at least 15 are killed, incl. eight suspected insurgents shot by U.S. soldiers in a pre-dawn raid N of Baghdad; meanwhile Egyptian Pres. Hosni Mubarak says that Iraqi Shiites are more loyal to Iran than Iraq. On Apr. 9 a stampede of Muhammad birthday celebrants in Karachi, Pakistan kills 29 women and children, and injures 70. Just try living without us Hispanics doing your menial jobs? On Apr. 10 2M illegal immigrants and supporters come out of the shadows and declare May 1 a Nat. Day of Action for Immigrant Justice AKA the Great Am. Boycott (El Gran Paro Estadounidense), staging mass rallies throughout the U.S., incl. 125K in New York City, 100K in Phoenix, Ariz., and 50K in Atlanta, Ga.; this time, wising up, the wannabe Americans no longer wave Mexican flags but try the more PC U.S. flags; the New York rally incl. Koreans and other nationalities; meanwhile the Center for Am. Progress in Washington, D.C. pub. a Report on Rounding Up Illegal Aliens, claiming it would cost $215B over five years to round them up and ship them back (20K each?) - they each get their own car to drive home in? Nobody mentions dissolving the cruddy Mexican govt. and annexing Mexico to the U.S.? On Apr. 10 Al Jazeera broadcasts a speech by Muammar al-Gaddafi of Libya, containing the frank soundbyte: "Some people believe that Muhammad is the prophet of the Arabs or the Muslims alone. This is a mistake. Muhammad is the prophet of all people. He superseded all previous religions. If Jesus were alive when Muhammad was sent, he would have followed him. All people must be Muslims... We have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe without swords, without guns, without conquests. The 50 million Muslims of Europe will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades... Allah mobilizes the Muslim nation of Turkey and adds it to the European Union. That's another 50 million Muslims. There will be 100 million Muslims in Europe. Albania, which is a Muslim country, has already entered the EU. Fifty percent of its citizens are Muslims." On Apr. 10 Cheeta the Chimp, star of a dozen "Tarzan" movies in the 1930s and 1940s and the oldest chimp in the world celebrates hs 74th birthday with diabetic cake in Palm Springs, Calif. - if they'll admit him into the U.S.? On Apr. 10 Italian elections give the center-left L'Unione coalition of economist Romano "the Professor" Prodi (1939-) a 2-seat Senate majority, leaving PM Silvio Berlusconi's conservative coalition a slim lead in the senate; on May 17 Prodi becomes Italian PM #52 (until May 8, 2008). On Apr. 10 Great British Menu debuts on BBC-TV for ? episodes (until ?); the first series cooks the birthday meal for Queen Elizabeth I on June 16 for 300 people; Irish chef Richard Corrigan (1964-) goes on to win 3x. On Apr. 11 Iran holds a celebration in Mashhad over its newly manufactured raw uranium, enriched using 164 centrifuges, with artists dancing and hoisting vials of the stuff; raw uranium is 0.7% U-235, and it must be boosted to 4% for a reactor and 90% for a warhead - to your health? On Apr. 11 Bernardo Provenzano (1933-2016), "the Phantom of Corleone", "the Accountant", "Binnie the Tractor", capo of the Corleonesi crime family and boss of bosses of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily is captured; on June 20 Italian authorities stage Operation Gotha, issuing 52 arrest warrants for the top echelon of the Cosa Nostra. On Apr. 11 77-y.-o. John McDarby is awarded $13.5M, incl. $9 in punitive damages in a suit against Merck & Co. for its drug Vioxx, the jury finding that the co. failed to warn of the drug's risks and committed consumer fraud in misrepresenting them to prescribing physicians; on Apr. 5 $4.5M was awarded to another plaintiff in Atlantic City, N.J.; in 2008 McDarby's award is overturned by an appeals court in N.J. On Apr. 12 Pakistani forces kill al-Qaida member Mohsin Musa Matawalli Atwah (b. 1960) of Egypt in a raid near the Afghan border in the N Waziristan village of Naghar Kalai, along with six other militants. On Apr. 12 the cockpit voice recorder from United Flight 93 on 9/11 is played at the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, and Sandy Dahl, wife of pilot Jason Dahl claims it shows that he was not killed immediately but fights the hijackers after being injured? - just in time for the new movie? On Apr. 13 the govt. of Chad fights off an onslaught of rebels from Darfur arriving in N'Djamena after traveling W 600 mi. in pickup trucks; oOn Apr. 14 350 are killed in a failed coup in N'Djamena, Chad; 271 rebels are captured, and 250 are paraded through the streets on Apr. 15, while Chad's Pres. Idriss Deby breaks off relations with Sudan and threatens to expel 200K Darfur refugees, calling the rebels Sudanese mercenaries. On Apr. 13 Israeli chief of military intel Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin (1951-) claims that Iran is within three years of having a nuclear bomb. On Apr. 13 a black bear kills 6-y.-o. Elora Petrasek and mauls her 45-y.-o. mother Susan Cenkus and 2-y.-o. brother Luke Cenkus in the Cherokee Nat. Forest on the Tenn.-N.C. line, becoming the 2nd documented black bear attack on a human in modern Tenn. history; there are 750K black bears in North Am., and they have killed a total of 56 people in the past cent. On Apr. 13 Kris Everson (33) and Sarah Everson (45) of Kansas City, Mo. publicly apologize for a scheme to claim the birth of sextuplets in order to get donations; in Jan. 2008 she is sentences to four years of probation. On Apr. 14 U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld gives an interview on Al-Arabiya TV, rejecting calls from six retired U.S. generals, Maj. Gen. John Batiste, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, and Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold to resign; Pres. Bush then backs him up, saying "He has my full support"; on Apr. 18 Rumsfeld suggests that calls for his resignation were caused by controversial changes he made at the Pentagon, such as cancelling favored Army weapons, appointing a retired gen. as Army chief of staff, and naming Marine generals to posts usually held by Army officers (James Jones for NATO command, James Carthwrite to head the U.S. Strategic Command, Peter Pace to be chmn. of the JCS), saying "The president knows... there are no indispensible men. He knows that I serve at his pleasure." On Apr. 14 Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defends Iran's nucler program, and issues a soundbyte calling Israel a "permanent threat" that will "soon" be liberated, saying, "Like it or not, the Zionist regime is heading toward annihilation", calling it "a rotten, dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm". On Apr. 14-16 Christian-Muslim violence in Alexandria, Egypt is touched off by knife attacks at three Coptic Christian churches which kill one and injure 16; on Apr. 16 one Muslim man dies. On Apr. 15 the U.S. military announces two more U.S. Marines killed and 22 wounded in Anbar Province in W Iraq. On Apr. 16 41 Taliban militants and six police are killed in Kandahar Province in SE Afghanistan by U.S.-led coalition forces, 2.5K of which are involved in an operation against the Taliban; an attack on a house in E Afghanistan kills seven and wounds three Afghan civilians. On Apr. 16 Pope Benedict XVI gives his First Easter Message, calling for nations to use diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises, and praying for Palestinians to have their own state alongside Israel; Grace Episcopal Church in Providence, R.I. hosts a U2 Eucharist (U2Charist), playing the Irish rock band's religious music, and handing out glow sticks and earplugs. On Apr. 17 a lunchtime car bomb kills seven and injures ? in Baghdad, Iraq as Shiite politicians meet to replace PM Ibraham al-Jaafari with another Shiite. On Apr. 17 (1:40 p.m.) a Palestinian suicide bomber kills nine and wounds dozens at the Mayor's Falafel fast food restaurant in Tel Aviv, Israel; the Hamas-led Palestinian admin. publicly defends the attack as a legitimate response to Israeli aggression, while Fatah Party leader Mahmoud Abbas condemns it? On Apr 17 the Maltrata Bus Crash sees an overcrowded bus filled with Easter celebrants en route from Guadalajara to Mexico City plunge 650 ft. into a ravine near Maltrata, Veracruz, Mexico, killing 57 of 60 aboard; on Apr. 18 another bus tumbles off a mountain road in C Peru in the Jaucan district 190 mi. SE of Lima, killing 25. On Apr. 18 the centenary of the San Francisco earthquake rumbles around. On Apr. 18 speaking of earthquakes, the German govt. announces that it will meet with 10 other countries in Luxembourg next May to consider amending a 1955 treaty closing their archives on 17M Nazi concentration camp inmates that are housed in Bad Arolsen. On Apr. 18 Chinese Pres. Hu Jintao kicks off a 4-day U.S. tour in Seattle, Wash. meeting with Microsoft chmn. Bill Gates in Redmond, telling him "Because you, Mr. Bill Gates, are a friend of China, I'm a friend of Microsoft", adding, "I am dealing with the operating system produced by Microsoft every day", laughing. On Apr. 18 Pres. Bush picks 6-term Repub. Rep. from Ohio Rob Portman to head the Office of Mgt. and Budget (OMB), and promotes his deputy Susan Schwab to top trade negotiator; Portman replaces Joshua Bolten, who was promoted to Bush's chief of staff. On Apr. 18 the German govt. announces the indictment of German Germar Rudolf (extradited from the U.S.?) and Belgian Siegried Verbeke for the crime of "systematically" denying the Nazi genocide of WWII Jews in pubs. - John Peter Zenger rolls over in his grave? On Apr. 18 two Roosevelt Island Tramway cable cars stall for several hours while hanging over the East River in New York City, stranding 70 in a scene reminiscent of Hollywood terrorist flicks. On Apr. 19 Ishinosuke Uwano (1922-), a former Japanese soldier last seen by his family when he went off to fight in WWII arrives in Tokyo from the Ukraine with his Ukrainian son; the Japanese govt. says that about 400 more WWII soldiers are still living in states of the former Soviet Union. On Apr. 20 Pres. Bush meets with Chinese Pres. Hu Jintai in Washington, D.C., and Hu is interrupted in a speech by Wenyi Wang (1958-), who shouts at him to stop persecuting the Falun Gong, causing Bush to apologize for her brief freedom of speech before she is manhandled and her mouth cupped by Secret Service agents and taken to jail like in er, Commie China on trumped-up charges of intimidating foreign officials?; when Bush later asks Hu when China will become a democracy with free elections, he responds, "I don't know what you mean by a democracy... we always believe in China that if there is no democracy, there will be no modernization" - whose achievement of rhetorical B.S. is greater, East or West? On Apr. 20 Iraqi PM Ibraham al-Jaafari bows to Sunni and Kurdish opposition and quits - did he keep his health benefits, and do you think his stress headaches will go away? On Apr. 20 the Hamas govt. of Palestine names Col. Jamal Abu Samhadana, head of the Popular Resistance Committees, which allegedly bombed a U.S. convoy to head a new security force made up of Islamic militants. On Apr. 20 U.S. nat. intel dir. John Negroponte gives a speech at the Nat. Press Club in Washington, D.C. marking his first year on the job, saying that "The United States intelligence community comprises almost 100,000 patriotic, talented and hard-working Americans in 16 federal departments and agencies" - so what happened in Iraq? On Apr. 20 an autopsy linking the Jan. death of police officer James Zadroga to dust at the WTC 9/11 site is released in New York City. On Apr. 20 five teen boys are arrested in Riverton, Kan. for allegedly plotting a Columbine-style high school massacre on its anniv. after they stupidly brag about it on the Internet. On Apr. 20 ICE begins rounding up 1.2K workers for pallet-maker IFCO Systems in 26 U.S. states for immigration violations, and arrests seven mgrs. for harboring illegals, then announces that more raids are coming. On Apr. 21 crude oil prices top $75 a barrel for the first time. On Apr. 21 Nepal's King Gyanendra offers to turn power over to political party leaders, and is rejected; on Apr. 22 protesters in Katmandu defy a curfew, and are attacked by riot police. On Apr. 21 Microsoft mogul Bill Gates makes his first-ever visit to Hanoi, Vietnam, and is greeted by thousands of cheering students, then meets with PM Phan Van Khai (who visited with him in the U.S. in 2005) and talks about getting Vietnamese into IT - I can remove your wart in as little as one treatment? On Apr. 21 a 27-y.-o. man plummets 10 ft. and is covered by rubble, killing him after a large sinkhole opens in the middle of his house in Alta, Calif., built on top of an underground mine. On Apr. 21 Dallas, Tex.-born Tara Elizabeth Conner (1985-) wins the Miss USA 2006 (55th) Pageant in 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Md. in front of 7.8M viewers (2nd lowest ever); hosts are Nancy O'Dell and Drew Lachey; "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" star Carson Kressley provides commentary for the first time; too bad, after reports that she had been engaging in underage drinking and taking cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth, and has kissed Miss Teen USA Katie Blair, the PC press calls for her to be decrowned, but Donald Trump announces that he's giving her a second chance because "I believe in second chances, and sometimes it works when you give somebody a second chance" in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, causing celeb and lesbian rights activist Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (1962-) to criticize him on The View, with the soundbyte: "[Trump] left the first wife, had an affair, left the second wife, had an affair. Had kids both times, but he's the moral compass for 20-year-olds in America. Donald, sit and spin, my friend", mocking his comb-over, then calling him a "snake oil salesman" and bringing up his bankruptcies, pissing Trump off and causing him to appear on several TV shows, with the soundbytes: "Rosie is a bully. I hit her between the eyes, she's worried about being sued, and her response today was nothing. She's not a very smart person, if you look at her IQ I guarantee you it's not up there", and "I guarantee I'll have a lot of Rosie's money right out of her big fat pocket. I'll have a lot of Rosie's money coming into my pocket. That's my prediction""; in an interview with People mag., he utters the soundbyte: "You can't make false statements. Rosie will rue the words she said. I'll most likely sue her for making those false statements... and it'l be fun. Rosie's a loser, a real loser. I look forward to taking lots of money from my nice fat little Rosie"; in an interview with Anderson Cooper of CNN, he utters the soundbyte: "If you looked like Rosie you'd be critical of beauty pageants, believe me. Rosie is a very unattractive woman, both inside and out. And as hard as it is to believe, inside is probably uglier than outside, and that's really saying something. But you have to understand, I know Rosie. Rosie's a loser. Rosie's been pulling the wool over people's eyes for a long time. She is a stone cold loser. What she is is a bully. Rosie says a lot of negative things about a lot of people. Nobody.. they don't do anything about it. I did something about it." On Apr. 21-22 the Danube River swells to its highest level in more than a cent. On Apr. 22 a mayoral election in New Orleans, La. gives incumbent Ray Nagin (black) 38% among 21 challengers, and #2 Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu (white) 29%, forcing a May 20 runoff, which is run by Nagin. On Apr. 22 four Canadian soldiers are killed by a roadside bomb in S Afghanistan in the mountainous Shah Wali Kot District of Kandahar Province, where they took over from U.S. forces 1 mo. earlier, becoming the deadliest attack on Canadian troops since being deployed in Afghanistan four years earlier. On Apr. 22 street clashes erupt in the West Bank and Gaza Strip after Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal accuses Mahmoud Abbas of being a traitor for seeking to limit Hamas' powers. On Apr. 23 Osama bin Laden issues a taped message, saying that the West is at war with Islam, accusing the U.S. and Europe of supporting a Zionist war on Islam by cutting off funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian govt., and calling on followers to go to Sudan to fight a proposed U.N. force in Darfur. On Apr. 23 three U.S. soldiers are killed in the Baghdad area of Iraq by insurgents who fire mortars near the Defense Ministry; 27 Iraqis are killed in Iraq violence. On Apr. 24 (eve.) three nearly simultaneous bombings hit the Sinai seaside town of Dahab, Egypt, killing 24 incl. 21 Egyptians and three foreigners; on Apr. 25 Egyptian authorities arrest 30 men, while radical Muslim groups Hamas and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood move to distance themselves from the attacks, later pinning them on Gaza-based Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad. On Apr. 24 a wave of seven car bombs across Baghdad, Iraq kills 10 and wounds 76, while another 30 are killed or found murdered aross lovely Iraq. On Apr. 25 Pres. Bush gives the EPA the authority to temporarily waive regional clean-fuel regs to ease gasoline shortages and help with prices exceeding $3 a gal.; meanwhile in Apr. U.S. oil and gas cos. report combined first-quarter profits of $16+B, up 19%, with the combined profits from ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobile, and Chevron beating Google, Apple, and Oracle by 14x. On Apr. 25 an earthquake triggers a gold mine collapse in Beaconsfield, Australia, killing Larry Knight (44), and trapping Brant Webb (37) and Todd Russell (34) 3K ft. underground for two weeks; on May 7 60 Minutes reporter Richard Carleton (b. 1943) collapses and dies while covering the story and asking about the mine's safety record - don't ask? On Apr. 25 Iran threatens to hide its nukes if the West takes "harsh measures", and to transfer nuclear technology to Sudan. On Apr. 25 Abu Musab al-Zarqawi appears on a video posted on Web, mocking the U.S. military in Iraq for suicides, drug-taking and mutinies, and warning of attacks to come; the first video to clearly show his face? On Apr. 26 Nouri Kamel Mohammed Hassan al-Maliki (1950-) becomes acting PM of Iraq, followed by official PM on May 20 (until ?), reverting to his birth name after using the nome de guerre of Jawad al-Maliki during Saddam Hussein's reign; a sister of new Sunni vice-pres. Tariq al-Hashimi is killed in a drive-by shooting as she leaves her home in SW Baghdad, along with a bodyguard. On Apr. 28 five members of the U.S. Congress incl. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), John Oliver (D-Mass.), and Jim Moran (D-Va.) are arrested and led away in plastic handcuffs from the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C. in protest of govt. atrocities in the Darfur region, along with six others; on Apr. 30 thousands attend a D.C. rally urging the U.S. govt. to end genocide in Sudan. On Apr. 30 (Sun.) Pres. Bush says that plans floating around to counter high gasoline prices will only have a modest impact and that the ultimate goal must be reducing dependence on foreign oil. On Apr. 30 fishermen near Barbados find a boat with the mummified bodies of 11 young men who had left Senegal with 52 people aboard on Christmas Eve, bound for the Canary Islands, a gateway to Europe. On Apr. 30 the 2006 Doda Massacre in Jammu and Kashmir sees Muslim terrorists massacre 35 Hindu civilians. In Apr. Iranian officials claim they have trained 40K suicide bombers to be sent against the U.S. and Britain if their nuclear sites are attacked. In Apr. CIA dir. Porter Goss fires veteran CIA intel analyst Mary O. McCarthy (1945-) for leaking info. on CIA detention centers, which she denies. In Apr. Nuestro Himno, a fractured Spanish language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" debuts on U.S. Spanish-speaking TV and radio, causing a backlash, with Puerto Rican immigrant singer Jose Feliciano (Jose Montserrate Feliciano Garcia) (1945-) (who got into trouble at the 1968 World Series for tinkering with it) saying "I know Mexico would be pissed-off if we took the Mexican national anthem and did it in English." In Apr. the Nat. Geographic Society announces pub. of the lost 2nd cent. C.E. Coptic Gospel of Judas, causing a firestorm of controversy. In Apr. a total of 952 are killed in war-related violence in Iraq, incl. 686 civilians, 190 insurgents, 54 police and 22 Iraqi soldiers. On May 1 A Day Without Immigrants (Un Dia Sin Inmigrantes) is staged in the U.S as 1M+ Hispanic immigrants walk off their jobs for one day to show gringos how much they're needed, incl. 400K in Chicago, 400K in Los Angeles, 75K in Denver, 50K in San Jose, Calif. and 20K in New York City; former Denver mayor (1983-91) Federico Fabian Pena (1947-), who grew up in Brownsville, Tex. speaks at the Denver rally, calling for a solution for all immigrants, not just Hispanic, dissing border fences and calling for amnesty after certain conditions are fulfilled - then the next group of ten jillion sneaks in, and? On May 1 Pres. Bush gives a White House speech on the the 3rd anniv. of his "mission accomplished" speech, saying that a "turning point" has arrived with the establishment of a permanent govt. in civil war-ready Baghdad, which is "more determined than ever to succeed"; meanwhile Rumsfeld and Rice stand by his side, trying to figure out how to put a spin on the future reality show? - two civil wars to go, and one to stay? On May 1 Bolivian Pres. Evo Morales fulfulls an election promise and nationalizes Bolivia's natural gas resources, which he says have been "looted" by foreign corps. On May 1 the first nesting pair of bald eagles is found in Vt., making it the 50th state to have them; in 1966 there were only 417 pairs in the entire U.S., but this year there are 7K. On May 3 Zacarias Moussaoui is sentenced to life in solitary confinement in a supermax federal prison (six life sentences), the judge telling him that he will "die with a whimper" and be denied publicity and martyrdom, or even the chance to talk to somebody; his last words are that the trial was a "wasted opportunity for this country to understand... why people like me... have so much hatred for you... America, you lost... I won"; meanwhile his mother Aicha El Wafi arrives at Dulles Internat. Airport on Apr. 25 and says "My life is hell". On May 3 Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox bows to major U.S. pressure and refuses to sign a law allowing small amounts of drugs to be possessed for personal use in an attempt to free police to focus on major dealers - blew their one chance to keep people on your side of the border? What's this problem Kennedys have with cars? On May 3 an Armenian Airbus A-320 crashes in stormy weather off the Black Sea coast in Russia, killing all 113 aboard. On May 3 Serbia's leading negotiator on EU relations resigns after the EU calls off talks on closer ties with Belgrade, citing Serbia's failure to turn over war crimes suspect Ratko Rizzo, er, Mladic. On May 4 R.I. Dem. Rep. Patrick Kennedy, son of Sen. Edward Kennedy crashes his Ford Mustang near the U.S. Capitol, and when a police officer accuses of him of appearing intoxicated he issues a statement that "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident", later claiming he had been taking prescription Phenergan for gastroenteritis, and the sleeping pill Ambien. On May 4 Donald Rumsfeld gives a speech at the Southern Center for Internat. Studies in Atlanta, Ga., and is accosted by four protesters, then accused by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern of lying to get the U.S. into the Iraq War. On May 4 an earthquake strikes Tonga, followed by a 2-ft. tsunami. On May 4 the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution by 6-3 passes the House's 2005 Flag Desecration Amendment, and sends it to the full Judiciary Committee, asking the U.S. to join China, Iran, and Cuba in jailing people for free expression in the name of those who died for it - the old icon vs. iconoclast schism in Christianity? On May 5 thousands of Mexicans take to the streets for A Day Without Gringos, a boycott of U.S.-owned businesses to show support for Mexican immigrants to the U.S. Where's Harrison Ford when you need him? On May 5 CIA dir. Porter Goss (until 2004) is forced to resign by Pres. Bush, who picks Air Force Gen. Sterling, er, Michael Vincent Hayden (1945-), head of the NSA to replace him as CIA dir. #20 (until Feb. 12, 2009), drawing bipartisan fire for not being a civilian, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) saying it could leave the impression that the CIA has been "just gobbled up by the Defense Department"; criticism grows hotter when it is revealed that he is the one who supervised the hated domestic spying program, plus revelations on May 12 that the NSA has been building a secret database of millions of telephone calls by Americans, and only Qwest refused to turn over its records; he is confirmed on May 26. On May 6 a British military heli is shot down at 2 p.m. by a missile in Basra, Iraq, killing five soldiers, followed by several hundred young Shiite men arriving to celebrate and attack British troops, causing a firefight which kills six children and injures 46. On May 6 Pres. Bush hires conservative Fox broadcaster Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow (1955-) to replace Scott McClellan as press secy. (until Sept. 14, 2007), and on Apr. 14 hires new conservative chief of staff Joshua Brewster "Josh" Bolten (1954-). On May 7 Iran scoffs at sanctions as "meaningless" as its parliament prepares to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, as North Korea did in 2003. On May 7 Israeli authorities evict Jewish squatters from a Palestinian-owned bldg. in the West Bank town of Hebron in a show of zoom zoom for the govt. On May 7 three car bombs detonate within 30 min. of each other in Baghdad and the Shiite holy city of Karbala, Iraq, killing 16 and injuring dozens. On May 7 a fire breaks out at the Route 999 Nightclub in Pattaya, Thailand 70 mi. SE of Bangkok, killing seven and injuring 49. On May 8 at least 34 are killed in Iraq, incl. one U.S. soldier and five civilians in C Bagghdad killed and 10 wounded by a car bomb. On May 8 Jane K. Fernandes, the new pres. of Gallaudet U. in Washington, D.C. faces protests from its 1.9K-student body for not being "deaf enough" for the job, because, even though born deaf, she learned to speak and only picked up sign language as an adult?; on Oct. 29 the board of trustees votes to revoke her appointment after weeks of protests shut down the campus. On May 8 South African deputy pres. Jacob Zuma (1942-) is acquitted of the rape of a 31-y.-o. HIV-positive AIDS activist last Nov., the judge saying she made a false rape claim and that the sex was consensual; Zuma once headed South Africa's campaign against AIDS, yet had unprotected sex with her?; his political career salvaged, he goes on to become pres. in 2009. Something strapless this time? On May 8 the FBI places polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Pricks, er, Saints leader Warren Jeffs on its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List ($100K reward) for sex with a minor and rape; the sect based in Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. split off from the mainstream in 1890; he has been on the lam for two years already on an Ariz. charge of sex with a minor; America's Most Wanted details his case, showing pics of the weird Puritannically-dressed underage babes that marry the old farts and claim that no man may put asunder what God has joined, and that it's all done in holy wedlock; in 2007 he is convicted on two counts of rape as an accomplice and sentenced to two consecutive terms of 5-life; on June 9, 2010 all four charges against him in Ariz. are dismissed with prejudice, meaning they can be refiled. On May 8 an 18-page letter from Iranian Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is received by Pres. Bush, lecturing him like a teacher, telling him that Western democracy has failed and that the U.S. invasion of Iraq, treatment of POWs, and support for Israel cannot be reconciled with Christian values, becoming the first contact by an Iranian leader with a U.S. pres. since the 1979 rev., it echoes Ruhollah Khomeini's Sept. 1989 letter to Gorbachev that Communism was dead, with an invitation to study Shiite Islam? On May 9 a widespread tornado outbreak sees two tornadoes sweep through N Tex., killing 3, injuring 10 and destroying 26 homes; on May 10 heavy storms rake Ark., topping trees. On May 9 Cuba, Saudi Arabia, China, and Russia become the 44th through 47th members of the new U.N. Human Rights Council, hich replaces the politicized Human Rights Commission known for allowing members with bad records; 64 of the 191 U.N. member states submitted candidacies, which must be approved by a majority of the states; Venezuela and Iran are rejected; the U.S. didn't apply. On May 10 Pres. Vladimir Putin says that Russia must increase its birth rate, calling the yearly pop. decline of 700K "the most acute problem of contemporary Russia". On May 10 the EU issues a report on Romanian human rights abuses, citing gross treatment of kids and young adults in orphanages. On May 10 Okla. becomes the last U.S. state to make tattooing legal. Call in the investi-gators? On May 10 the body of female jogger Yovy Suarez Jimenez (28) is found in a canal in Sunrise, Fla., and authorities determine that she was killed by an alligator, becoming the 18th confirmed fatal gator attack in Fla. since 1948 (9 unconfirmed); within a week gators kill two more women, Annemarie Campbell (23) and Judy W. Cooper (43) - yum yum? On May 11 Catholic priest Rev. Gerald Robinson (1938-2014) is convicted of murder in the Apr. 5, 1980 (Holy Sat.) slaying of Sister of Mercy Margaret Ann Pahl, who was found stabbed 31x in a hospital chapel with her forehead anointed with a smudge of blood and her wounds forming an upside-down cross on her chest; a sword-shaped letter opener found in his room gives him away, plus he presided at her funeral Mass; he is sentenced to 15 to life, and dies in prison on July 4, 2014 while appealing. On May 11 seven U.S. service members die in Iraq, incl. four Marines who drown when their tank rolls off a bridge near Al-Karmah, Iraq, a suburb of Fallujah; an 8th death from May 9 is also announced. On May 11 the U.S. Senate reaches an agreement to send 14 Repubs. and 12 Dems. to negotiate with the House on the basis of providing them with a chance for citizenship despite their Dec. bill making them into potential felons. On May 11 the May (Mother's Day) 2006 New England Flood begins, becoming the worse since the 1938 New England Hurricane, bringing more than 10 in. of rain. On May 12 a gasoline pipeline in Ilado, Nigeria (30 mi. E of Lagos) explodes as villagers scavenge for fuel, killing 200; 1K+ have died in recent years from the same thing? On May 12 U.N. inspectors announce finding traces of near-weapons grade uranium on Iranian research equipment linked to the military. On May 12 the U.S. State Dept. sends John Hillen to visit the Persian Gulf to discuss a new defensive security strategy for the Persian Gulf against Iran. On May 12 famous oral historian Studs Terkel (1912-2008) et al. sue AT&T in federal court to stop it from giving customer records to the Nat. Security Agency without a court order; judge Matthew F. Kennedy dismisses it fast on July 26, telling them that the federal govt. has a state secrets privilege. On May 12-15 downpours in the NE U.S. cause the region's worst flooding since the 1930s, with more than 1 ft. of rain in some places. On May 13 10K people meeting in a town square in Andijan, Uzbekistan to support 23 businessmen freed from prison by supporters while awaiting a verdict are attacked by govt. troops, massacring hundreds. On May 13 Mount Merapi on the island of Java in Indonesia erupts, causing thousands to flee (last eruption 1994). On May 13-14 the First Capital Command (PCC), a notorious criminal gang in Brazil launches a wave of attacks against police in Sao Paulo state, killing 52; meanwhile there are revolts at 51 out of 144 prisons. On May 13 State Farm Insurance in Fla. announces that it is seeking to raise rates by over 70% for houses and 95% for mobile homes. On May 14 two car bombers tear into a C checkpoint for Baghdad's airport and detonate, killing 14 and wounding 16, becoming the first bomb attack aimed at the airport in nearly a year; meanwhile another 18 are killed and 60 wounded in other attacks in Iraq - where's my head? On May 14 the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem upholds a law barring many Palestinians from living in Israel with Israeli spouses and children; meanwhile Britain's 67K-member Nat. Assoc. of Teachers in Further and Higher Ed. considers a boycott of Israeli lecturers for its "apartheid policies". On May 14 (Sun.) NBC-TV airs the last episode of The West Wing, showing pres.-elect (Dem.) Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits) taking over the Oval Office from Pres. Jed Bartlett (Martin Sheen), who pardons his adviser Toby Ziegler (Richard Schiff) for leaking classified info.; Santos appoints rival Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), a liberal Repub. Calif. Sen. On May 15 U.S. secy. of state Condy Rice announces that the U.S. has decided to restore diplomatic relations with Libya and remove it from the list of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism, praising their "historic decisions... in 2003 to renounce terrorism and to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs". On May 15 Pres. Mush, er, Bush addresses the nation from the Oval Office on Immigration Reform, and acknowledges that the U.S. "has not been in complete control of its borders", and must be "shut to illegal immigrants, as well as criminals, drug dealers, and terrorists", then announces a $50B plan to increase the number of border patrol officers, construct $7.6B 2K-mi. hi-tech fences from the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, and deploy 6K Nat. Guard members by July 1 to support the Border Patrol at $962M a year; he then announces a "temporary work program", with a new ID card for every legal foreign worker with biometric technology, with no plan for deporting workers who overstay their visas; the coyotes (smugglers) immediately jump their asking price from $2K to $3K, up from $300 in 1994; the U.S. begins to seal itself up - just like the ancient Roman Empire did before it fell? On May 15 the deadline for signing up for the U.S. govt. Medicare drug benefit arrives, with ? of the 43M eligible still not having signed up. On May 15 the govt. of Myanmar publicly acknowledges that its army is targeting the Karen ethnic minority, and criticizes the U.S. for granting political asylum to them. Dick Almighty loses a big one? On May 15 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court refuses to block lesbian Sue Ellen "Mian" Carvin of Wash. state from seeking parental rights to 5-y.-o. L.B. (1995-) she helped raise with longtime partner Page Britain, the biological mother by artificial insemination; the girl calls Carvin "Mama" and Britain "Mommy"; in 2001 they break up, and in 2002 Britain bars Carvin from seeing the girl, then marries the sperm donor and moves to Thailand - was it something she ate? My life on the D-list, only on Bravo? On May 15 British mountaineer David Sharp (b. 1972), on his 3rd straight attempt to summit Mt. Everest dies about 1K ft. into his descent in an alcove near the summit at 29,760 ft. holding Indian climber Green Boots, who died in 1996; before he dies, 40 people walk past him, and only one team gives him some oxygen, that of Kiwi mountaineer Mark Joseph Inglis (1959-), the first double amputee to reach the summit; the same day Maxime Chaya (with Sherpa guide Dorjee) becomes the first Lebanese citizen to reach the summit, and on their way down he, Russell Brice and Sherpa guide Dorjee find Sharp still alive but unconscious, spending an hour with him and giving him oxygen; a Turkish team led by Sherpa guide Nima visits him on their descent, finding him unconscious; Brice's chief Sherpa guide Phurba Tashi then visits him at 11:45 a.m., and find him conscious and talking, but can't get him on his feet, so they give him oxygen and move him into the sunlight, where the next visitors find him dead; he becomes the 190th person to die on the attempt to reach the summit, with more than 1.5K making it since Hillary in 1953; on May 25 Australian climber Lincoln Hall (b. 1956) succumbs in the death zone at 10:30 a.m., and is again left by other climbers, but is miraculously found alive the next day at 7 a.m. On May 16 gunmen in the Shiite commercial district of Al Shaab in N Baghdad wound five guards, and then a car bomb explodes after rescuers arrive, killing 19 and wounding dozens. On May 17 aircraft carrier USS Oriskany ("Mighty O") (commissioned in 1950), home to Ariz. Sen. John McCain in the Vietnam War is sunk 24 mi. off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., becoming the world's largest manmade reef, the first in a pilot program. On May 17 over 500K people are evacuated from China's S coast in advance of Typhoon Chanchu (Caloy), which hits Guangodong Province on May 18. On May 17-18 more than 100 are killed in a string of attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan; Pres. Hamid Karzai accuses the madrasas in Pakistan of prepping students for jihad. On May 17-30 the suggestively-named Hidden Dreams Horse Farm in Milford Township, Mich., 30 mi. NW of Detroit is searched for the remains of Jimmy Hoffa, who was last seen in July 1975 at a restaurant 20 mi. away; nothing is found. On May 18 Australian PM John Howard visits Canada in the first visit by an Aussie leader in decades, and tells the parliament that a diminished U.S. role in global affairs "will leave a more vulnerable world... more exposed to terrorism". On May 18 a bomb in Iraq kills four U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter, and another two dozen Iraqis die in violence across the country. On May 18 10 POWs at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba use a faked suicide attempt to stage a riot, which is stopped by guards, leaving six detainees injured. On May 19 Pope Benedict XVI disciplines 86-y.-o. Mexican priest Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado (1920-2008), founder of the conservative Legionaries of Christ for sexual abuse allegations, making him "renounce every public ministry", making him a priest in name only after nine former seminaries accused him of abuse when they were young boys or teens in semen, er, seminaries in Spain and Italy in the 1940s through 1960s - that blows? On May 19 Sherpa guide Appa (1961-) scales Mt. Everest for a record 16th time; on Apr. 6, 2009 he does it for the 19th time - I'm appa to see ya? On May 19 Tommy Hilfiger gets in a fight with Axl Rose at the Plumm Nightclub in New York City. On May 20-21 the FBI raids the office of La. Dem. rep. William Jefferson in the Rayburn House Office Bldg. under a May 18 search warrant issued by U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan during its investigation of his acceptance of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for securing business deals in Africa, becoming the first warranted search of the office of a U.S. rep. in Congress' 219-year history, and causing an uproar from Dems. and Repubs.; on May 23 House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) complains directly to Pres. Bush, while Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) predicts the case will go to the U.S. Supreme Court; on May 25 Pres. Bush orders the seized documents sealed for 45 days; on May 28 Sen. majority leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) breaks ranks and says that "nobody in government should be above the law of the land, period." On May 21 a U.S. air strike on the village of Azizi in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan kills 16-34 civilians along with 80 militants, drawing the ire of Pres. Hamid Karzai. On May 22 cool-coastline postage-stamp-sized Slav Orthodox Christian Montenegro (pop. 600K, 30% Serb) votes by 55.4% to secede from much larger Serbia, ending its 88-year union (1918), causing celebrations in Podgorica and grumbling in Belgrade; on June 3 Montenegro declares independence, and joins the U.N. as member #192; of the 194 world countries, only Vatican City and Taiwan aren't members; on June 22 the U.N. Security Council adopts Resolution 1691 without vote to admit Montenegro. There's a fortune in American junk? On May 22 U.S. Veterans Affairs secy. (2005-7) Robert James "Jim" Nicholson (1938-) (former Colo. land developer) discloses thatpersonal data on 26M veterans discharged since 1975 was stolen from an employee's home on May 3, becoming the biggest security breach since the June CardSystems Solutions case; on May 25 Nicholson takes personal responsibility but refuses to resign; on June ? it is disclosed that records of 80% of all active duty U.S. service personnel are also on the stolen computer; on June 28 it is recovered untampered with from a buyer of a used PC for $100 who hears about the $50K reward; on June 27 Nicholson asks Congress for $160.5M to cover the costs of monitoring and indemnifying the people compromised, and turning his agency into a "model for information security". On May 22 Saddam Hussein's female defense atty. Bushra al-Khalil is pulled from the courtroom for arguing with chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman. On May 22-June 4 the U.S. Nat. Highway Traffic Safety Admin. holds a Click It or Ticket campaign to get the estimated 48M people in the U.S. who still don't click their seat belts to do it; 65% of 31K killed each year are men, and 58% of those crashing along rural roads were not wearing theirs. On May 23 Osama bin Laden releases an audiotape mocking the U.S. for railroading Zacarias Moussaoui, saying that "he had no connection at all with Sept. 11. I am the one in charge of the 19 brothers, and I never assigned brother Zacarias to be with them in that mission"; he also says that none of the terror suspects in Gitmo were involved, and most have no ties to al-Qaida. On May 23-24 Fox Network's American Idol Season 5 stages its final between contestants Taylor Reuben "Soul Patrol" Hicks (1976-) from Birmingham, Ala. (the winner) and Katharine Hope "Kat" McPhee (1984-) from Los Angeles, Calif.; a poll by Pursuant Inc. in Washington, D.C. indicates that one in 10 U.S. adults placed a vote for a candidate this season, incl. 50M (75% female) for the second-to-last week, and 35% believe their votes count as much or more than for U.S. pres.; the final garners 63.4M votes, more than any U.S. pres. has received?; the 5th straight winner from the South, after Kelly Clarkson from Tex., Ruben Studdard from Ala., Fantasia Barrino from N.C., and Carrie Underwood from Okla. On May 25 the U.S. Senate by 62-36 passes the U.S. Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006, creating road to citizenship for the criminal, er, illegal immigrants who already snuck in, while attempting to close the borders so that the other zillion trying to sneak in will have to pay the coyotes more?; talks are held with the House to convince them to not make them into felons and yet not grant them amnesty either, and the 109th Congress ends next Jan. 3 without an agreement. On May 25 Pres. Bush and British PM Tony Blair hold a press conference in the White House East Room, looking like "yesterday's men", according to former British diplomat Jonathan Clarke. On May 25 Palestinian Pres. Mahmoud Abbas announces that he will call a nat. referundum on the Prisoners' Peace Plan, a deal hammered out by militants in an Israeli prisoner yard, which would accept the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a recognized state of Israel. On May 25 Pope Benedict VI begins a 4-day visit to Poland, meeting with Eastern Orthodox Archbishop Jeremiasz in Warsaw after his plane touches down at 11 a.m., and he doesn't do a JPII and kiss the tarmac?; newspapers suspend their daily pics of topless women; he speaks in Italian rather than his native German because of WWII sensitivities: he visits Wadowice on May 27, gives a Mass in a meadow in Krakow attended by 900 on May 28, then visits Auschwitz-Birkenau as "a son of the German people" on May 28, asking God why he remained silent during the "unprecedented mass crimes" of the Holocaust (Shoah), in which "the rulers of the Third Reich wanted to crush the entire Jewish people, to cancel it from the register of the peoples of the Earth... they ultimately wanted to tear up the taproot of the Christian faith and to replace it with a faith of their own invention"; this is his third visit to Auschwitz incl. one in 1979 with Pope John Paul II; not originally scheduled to see the camp, he tells his handlers, "I want to go, I have to go." On May 25 the U.S. House votes 225-201 to open the Alaska Nat. Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, citing the $3+ a gal. price of gasoline, even though it could only reduce prices by 1 cent a gal.; the Senate kills the idea. On May 25 the U.S. FDA approves thalidomide for treating multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer). On May 27 at 5:54 a.m. a 6.3 earthquake in Indonesia (a lovely country located on the Ring of Fire) kills 5.7K and leaves 200K homeless on Java; Borobudur Buddhist Temple is spared, but Prambanan Hindu Temple is seriously damaged. On May 28 law-and-order conservative Colombian pres. (since 2002) Alvaro Uribe is reelected in a landslide, becoming the first time in over a cent. that a Colombian leader is reelected. On May 28 Sheik Osama al-Jadaan, a pro-U.S. Sunni chief who sent fighters to help U.S. troops battle al-Qaida in W Iraq is assassinated in Baghdad; meanwhile nine are killed and 35 wounded across the lovely paradise. On May 28 tens of thousands flee the East Timor capital of Dili as gangs terrorize the city at will, capping a week of bloodshed that kills 27. On May 29 (U.S. Labor Day) three dozen are killed in Iraq, incl. two CBS News crew members and a U.S. soldier; CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier is seriously wounded; 71 U.S. journalists have now died in the Iraq War, compared to 63 for the Vietnam War, 17 for the Korean War, and 69 for WWII; meanwhile Pres. Bush gives his Memorial Day Message at Arlington Nat. Cemetery, saying: "I am in awe of the men and women who sacrifice for the freedom of the United States of America", and claiming that the best way to honor the dead is by "defeating the terrorists... and by laying the foundation for a generation of peace". On May 29 violent anti-foreigner protests in Kabul, Afghanistan begin after a U.S. military truck crashes into traffic, killing four, and the soldiers fire into the crowd, killing four; a total of eight are killed and 107 injured before the streets are pacified of rioters shouting "Death to America". On May 29 public transit workers in Quebec, Canada go on strike, paralyzing the city. On May 30 Pres. Bush selects Goldman Sachs CEO (worth $600M) Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson Jr. (1946-) as U.S. treasury secy. #74, succeeding John Snow, who resigned the same day; he is sworn-in on July 10 (until Jan. 20, 2009). On May 30 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Garcetti v. Ceballos to scale back protections for govt. whistleblowers in a 5-4 decision in which Samuel Alito casts the deciding vote, ruling that the speech of public employees has no First Amendment protection; dissenting are David Souter, John Paul Stevens, Ruther Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer. On May 30 car bombs in Shiite areas of Iraq kill 54 and injure 120. On May 30 the UNAIDS Report is released, showing 40M wordwide living with the virus; India passes South Africa as the country with the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS, 5.5M-5.7M. On May 31 the U.S., which has cut off diplomatic relations with Iran since 1979 offers to talk face-to-face over its nuke program if it first puts it on hold, but Iran rejects the offer, calling it a "propaganda move". On May 31 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki declares a state of emergency in Basra after violence around the country kills 25 and wounds dozens, promising an "an iron fist against... those who threaten security". On May 31 Katie Couric (1957-) says goodbye on NBC's Today Show, and on Sept. 5 replaces Bob Schieffer as anchor and managing ed. of the CBS Evening News, and becomes a contributor to 60 Minutes after switching networks, becoming the first woman hired as solo anchor of a U.S. weeknight network newscast, with the lame sign-on "Hi, everyone"; Connie Chung shared the anchor desk with Dan Rather (1931-), Barbara Walters with Harry Reasoner, and Elizabeth Vargas with Bob Woodruff; to hedge their bets, CBS keeps Bob Schieffer on for two weekly commentaries; too bad, she's a disaster as anchor and her ratings slide to a distant third. On May 31-June 1 the 75th Scripps Nat. Spelling Bee, the first to feature prime-time TV coverage (on ABC) is held at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C., and 13-y.-o. Katherine "Kerry" Close of Spring Lake, N.J. wins with "ursprache" (a parent language), becoming the first female to win since 1999. In May after Chad dictator Idriss Deby reneges on his promises to the World Bank to use oil revenues for social programs and funnels it into his military regime, causing the World Bank to freeze Chad's bank accounts, and he survives a coup attempt in Apr. using French troops, and is reelected in May after the opposition boycotts the election, Idriss reaches another compromise, accepting 30% of oil revenues instead of the original measly 10%, with 70% to go to social programs instead of the original 80%; meanwhile the per capita income remains at $150 a mo. In May the 525-ft. Star of Nanchang opens in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, becoming the tallest operating Ferris wheel in the world (until Feb. 2008). On June 1 Monaco's Prince Albert II acknowledges 14-y.-o. Jazmin Grace Grimaldi of Palm Desert, Calif. as his daughter, mothered by 44-y.-o. Tamara Rotolo when she had a fling with him in 1991 on the Cote d'Azur in S France (born Mar. 4, 1992); too bad, she won't be in line for the throne. On June 1 the U.S. Homeland Security Dept. cuts anti-terrorism funding to New York City by 40% ($83M) after determining that it has no nat. monuments or icons, such as the Empire State Bldg., Statue of Liberty, NYSE, Rockefeller Center, Holland and Lincoln tunnels, U.N. Bldg., or Brooklyn Bridge; outraged New Yorkers call for the firing of chief Michael Jack, er, Chertoff - how did they vote in the last pres. election? On June 3 Baltasar Garzon, Spain's top investigative magistrate gives a speech in Florence, Italy, calling the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay an "insult to countries that respect laws" and demanding its closing. On June 3 Canadian authorities announce the arrest of 17 people "inspired by al-Qaida", who they say were planning terrorist attacks in S Ontario and tried to acquire 3 tons of ammonium nitrate and other bomb components, three times the amount used in Oklahoma City. On June 3 four Russian diplomats are abducted in Iraq by al-Qaida gunmen, and are later killed. On June 4 Sunni gunmen stop two minivans N of Baghdad and kill 21 Shiites (incl. 11 students) "in the name of Islam" after separating out Sunnis. On June 4 Hamas rejects an ultimatum from Pres. Mahmoud Abbas to endorse a plan implicitly recognizing Israel, and a pregnant woman is killed during a clash between rival forces in Gaza. On June 5 gunmen in police uniforms raid bus stations in C Baghdad, Iraq, kidnapping 50. On June 5 the Islamic Courts Union milita with ties to al-Qaida, led by Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed seizes Somalia's capital of Mogadishu after weeks of fighting with U.S.-based secular warlords, ending 15 years of anarchy in the city, with 300 killed and 1.7K wounded; too bad, the militant Islamic Al-Shabaab (Arab. "Party of Youth") movement emerges, breaking with other insurgent groups and seeking to institute Sharia law. 666 is now a punchline for filthy lucre? On June 6 (6-6-6) (Rev. 13:18) another Millennium Fever Date comes and goes, but watch anybody who was born on this date very closely? - 1966 was a false 6-6-6, but this one is true? On June 6 (6-6-6) a remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen, starring Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Liev Schreiber, and Julia Stiles, dir. by John Moore and with script by original screenwriter David Seltzer opens; Calif. Satanic speed metal band Slayer declares a Nat. Day of Slayer; at 6 p.m. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins sign copies of the latest installment of their "Left Behind" series at the Mardel Bookstore in Littleton, Colo.; an online oddmaker makes the world a 100K-to-1 favorite to survive. On June 6 Iraq PM Nouri al-Maliki promises to release 2.6K POWs by June 30 to promote "reconciliation and national dialogue"; on June 7 the first batch of 594 is freed, followed on June 11 by 230 more. On June 6 former PM (1999-201) Jacques-Edouard Alexis becomes PM of Haiti (until Sept. 5, 2008). The Bush admin. finally gets the Devil, only a day late? On June 7 U.S. Task Force 145 scores a direct hit on a safe house 1.25 mi. N of Hibhib outside Baqouba, Iraq occupied by 39-y.-o. irhabi (terrorist) Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "the Beheader" with two 500-lb. bombs dropped by F-16 fighters, killing him along with adviser Abu Abdul-Rahman and four others (two men, a woman and a child); but not immediately for Zarqawi, as he tries to escape from his stretcher before croaking 52 min. after the bombing; within a few hours U.S.-Iraqi forces, using captured computer disks conduct 17 raids in and around Baghdad, yielding a "treasure trove" of intel, followed by 425 more, capturing or killing 104 terrorists; at least 40 are killed in Baghdad after a rash of bombings; the publicity causes the elite force to change its name?; on June 15 the Iraq govt. releases a transcript of a document found in al-Zarqawi's hideout that describes the "current bleak situation" of al-Qaida in Iraq. On June 8-10 Am. white supremacist David Duke holds the Internat. Conference on the White World's Future in Moscow, Russia. On June 10 ...Cooks! debuts on ITV for 167 episodes (until May 21, 2010), hosted by Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England-born chef Henry Antony Cardew Worrall Thompson (1951-), with regular chefs incl. Torre del Greco, Italy-born Gennaro "Gino" D'Acampo (1976-), Arras, France-born Jean-Christophe Novelli (1961-), and Halifax, West Riding of Yorkshire, England-born Brian Turner (1946-). On June 11 an Israeli air strike in Gaza kills to Hamas militants, while Palestinian militants bombard S Israel with homemade rockets. On June 11 three grenade attacks in Jammu, capital of Jammu-Kashmir kills one and wounds 29. On June 12 88-y.-o. Robert Byrd (D.-W. Va.) becomes the longest-serving member of the U.S. Senate, serving 17,237 days since 1959, while planning to run for a 9th term in Nov., which would add 2,190 more. On June 12 the U.S. Supreme Court, led by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy unanimously side with prisoners, making it easier for death row inmates to get DNA evidence before the courts and to contest lethal injections. On June 12 Palestinian forces loyal to Pres. Mahmoud Abbas go on a rampage against the Hamas-led govt. in Ramallah, West Bank, riddling govt. buildings with bullets and setting them on fire to protest an attack on their comrades in the Gaza Strip. On June 12 a new Security Plan for Baghdad is announced; meanwhile a car bomb in Baghdad kills five, and the Shiite Revenge begins. On June 12 Am. conservative writer Ann Coulter (1961-) pub. Godless: The Church of Liberalism, immediately gaining publicity for a statement about the "Jersey Widows", who lost their husbands at the WTC on 9/11, saying "These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arrazies. I've never seen people enjoying their husbands' deaths so much... And by the way, how do we know their husbands weren't planning to divorce these harpies?" On June 13 after five grand jury appearances it is announced that Karl Rove won't be prosecuted for his role in Plamegate; meanwhile Valerie Plame files a lawsuit claiming that her CIA career was destroyed by the leak, and that her privacy rights were violated in retribution for her hubby's actions, and on July 19, 2007 U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismisses it on jurisdictional but not constitutional grounds. On June 13 Pres. Bush stages a surprise 5.5-hour visit to Iraq to make hay out of the al-Zarqawi thingie; PM Nouri al-Maliki announces an extended 6 a.m. curfew starting June 14, and orders a joint mission to deploy 75K Iraqi and U.S. troops in Baghdad. On June 14 Pres. Bush, back in Washington, D.C. calls an Iraqi pullout "bad policy" and election-year politicking, saying "It will endanger our country to pull out of Iraq before we accomplish the mission." On June 15 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Hudson v. Mich. to let police break into homes and seize evidence without knocking and announcing and waiting a reasonable time first, with dissenting Justice Stephen Breyer writing: "The Court destroys the strongest legal incentive to comply with the Constitution... And the Court does so without significant support in precedent." On June 15 the U.S. Congress pauses for a minute of silence to recognize the 2,500th U.S. military death in the Iraq War as part of a day-long debate, with six Dem. senators voting to withdraw troops by year's end, incl. Ted Kennedy (Mass.), John Kerry (Mass.), Robert Byrd (W.V.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Russ Feingold (Wisc.), and Tom Harkin (Iowa). On June 15 140K sq. mi. Papahanaumokuakea Marine Nat. Monument in Hawaii is established by Pres. George W. Bush, giving refuge to 7K species incl. the endangered hawksbill sea turtle, the threatened green turtle, and the endangered Hawaiian monk seal; commercial fishing ends in 2011; in Aug. 2016 it is expanded to 583K acres by Pres. Obama. On June 16 220-lb. Bruno (Bear JJ1) (b. 2004), the first bear seen in Germany since 1835 eludes capture in S Germany after killing livestock; it is part of a program to reintroduce bears to the Italian Alps; on June 26 it is shot and killed by govt.-sanctioned hunters in Schliersee after it kills sheep and rabbits, pissing-off animal lovers. On June 16 a 4.9 earthquake rocks most of Southern Calif., with no fatalities. On June 16 Mytishchi, Moscow-born "Bitsa Park Maniac" Alexander Yuryevich "Sasha" Pichushkin (1974-) is arrested after killing 48-63 mainly elderly homeless men in Bitsa Park in Moscow with a hammer to the head after offering them vodka, then pushing a vodka bottle into the holes in their skulls, becoming known as "the Chessboard Killer" after he states that his aim is to kill 64 people, the number of squares on a chessboard; he is given life in prison. On June 16 Pres. Bush and Repub. Rep. Dave Reichert drive by a school bus in Seattle, Wash., and the 43-y.-o. driver gives Bush the finger, causing him to be fired; on Nov. 3 he files a union grievance pleading wrongful termination; meanwhile on June 16 vice-pres. Cheney and his two sons are walking with their two sons to a piano camp in Beaver Creek, Colo. when Steven Howards (former dir. of the Denver Metro Air Quality Council) chances by, and tells him "Your policies in Iraq are reprehensible", then moves on, only to be handcuffed minutes later by Secret Service agent Virgil D. "Gus" Reichle Jr., who asks him, "Did you assault the vice president?", then takes him to jail; in Oct. he sues Cheney in federal court in Denver, Colo. after his charges are dismissed by a judge on July 10, and on June 4, 2012 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court unanimously rules that Secret Service Agents have qualified immunity preventing them from being sued. On June 16 Al-Qassam Brigades leader Yasser Ghalban is killed in an ambush by Fatah; he is known for the soundbyte: "We will rule the nations, by Allah's will. The U.S.A. will be conquered, Israel will be conquered, Rome and Britain will be conquered. The Jihad for Allah is the way of the truth and the way for salvation and the way which will lead us to crush the Jews and expel them from our country" - it's so nice to have the absolute truth before going to Hell? On June 18 ex-Beatle Paul McCartney (b. 1942) reaches 64, with everybody remembering his hit song (written at age 16) When I'm Sixty-Four from the 1967 "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album; "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?"; meanwhile ex-wife Heather Mills hires Princess Diana's atty. Anthony Julius, while Paul hires Prince Charles' atty. Fiona Shackleton. On June 18 Nevada bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, an oceanographer becomes the first woman elected to lead a church in the global Anglican Communion as she is picked to be the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church by the Episcopal Gen. Convention in Columbus, Ohio, whose membership is predominantly white and has been declining for years. On June 19 the grisly, tortured, beheaded, booby-trapped remains of two missing Americans, Pfc. Kristian Menchaca (b. 1983) of Houston, Tex. and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker (b. 1981) of Madras, Ore. are found in Baghdad a few mi. from where they disappeared on June 16 in an attack near Yousifiyah in the Sunni Triangle, which killed Spc. David J. Babineau (25) of Springfield, Mass.; a Web site posting claims that new Iraq al-Qaida leader Abu Hamza al-Muhajer did it personally; 8K U.S. and Iraqi troops searched for them, killing two insurgents and detaining 78. On June 19 the prosecution of Saddam Hussein, his half-brother Barzan Ibrahim (intel chief), Taha Yassin Ramadan (vice-pres.) and Awad Hamed al-Bandar (chief of jusice of the Rev. Court) finishes, demanding the death penalty, saying that So Damn Insane showed "no mercy", and that "Even the trees were not safe from their oppression", causing Saddam to mutter "Well done". On June 19 a suicide bomber detonates in a Baghdad restaurant 400 yards from the main gate of the Green Zone at lunchtime, killing 23; another bomber detonates during morning roll call outside a traffic police HQ in the Kurdish city of Irbil, wounding 50; meanwhile 1K U.S. and Iraqi forces take part in Operation Spear and Operation Dagger in rural Anbar Province, which began June 17 and June 18, respectively. On June 19 the first stone of the Svalbard "Doomsday" Global Seed Vault on Spitsbergen Island, Norway 680 mi. from the North Pole is laid by the PMs of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. On June 19-23 at least 25 people are executed gangland-style in Mosul, Iraq. On June 20 the La. Nat. Guard marches into New Orleans to patrol streets after a surge in violent crime and gang-related murders. On June 21 America's Got Talent, created by Simon Cowell debuts on NBC-TV for ? episodes (until ?). On June 22 the FBI arrests seven black people in Miami City, Fla.'s Liberty City area, claiming they were planning to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago; on June 23 they reveal that they tried to join al-Qaida but never made contact or obtained explosives; on Nov. 18, 2009 Burson Augustin (1975-) is convicted and sentenced to six years in a federal prison; on Nov. 20 leader Narseal Batiste (1974-) gets 13.5 years. On June 23 the worst storm to hit the U.S. eastern seaboard in 300 years floods the Potomac and turns Washington, D.C. into a swamp, dumping more than 1 ft. of rain on June 26 and toppling a cent.-old elm tree on the White House lawn (portrayed on the back right side of the U.S. $20 bill), then on June 28 going on to flood the Schuykill River in Penn. On June 25 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki unveils a 24-point Nat. Reconciliation Initiative offering amnesty to insurgents under certain conditions; a bomb in a plastic bag explodes in one of Baghdad's main markets in the al-Shurja Souk, killing 6 and injuring 17. On June 25 Palestinian Hamas militants sneak into Israel underneath a Gaza border crossing in a tunnel, then kill two Israeli soldiers and capture another, 19-y.-o. SSgt. Gilad Shalit (Schalit) (1986-), the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 12 years; after Israel offers to release hundreds of Palestinian terrorists in exchange for him, he is released on ?; on June 28 Israel attacks S Gaza and takes out power and bridges in an effort to pressure his release; on June 30 Israeli planes set the Palestinian Interior Ministry on fire. On June 25 Warren Buffett, world's 2nd richest man announces plans to donate 85% ($37.4B) of his $44B fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four other charities starting in July; he and Bill Gates have been friends since they met in 1991; earlier in the month Bill Gates announces that he is giving up his daily duties at Microsoft to spend more time with his foundation; his kids Susie (52), Howard (51), and Peter (48) get a measly $1B each? On June 25 (Sun.) actress Nicole Kidman marries Keith Urban in a Roman Catholic ceremony overlooking Manly Beach in Sydney, Australia. On June 26 bombs at markets in two Iraqi cities kill at least 40 hours after lawmakers announce that seven Sunni Arab insurgent groups have offered the govt. a conditional truce. On June 26 the U.S. announces deployment of PAC-3 (Patriot Advanced Capability-3) interceptor missiles on U.S. bases in Japan for the first time in anticipation of North Korean tests of a long-range missile capable of reaching both nations; in 2004 the PAC-3 was deployed in South Korea, and it has also been deployed in Taiwan. On June 26 lightning-sparked wildfires burn more than 50K acres in N Nevada, while others scorch eight other W U.S. states plus Alaska and Fla. On June 25 Guy's Big Bite debuts on Food Network (until ?), starring Columbus, Ohio-born Guy Fieri (Ferry) (1968-); on Apr. 23, 2007 Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives debuts on Foot Network (until ?); on Feb. 17, 2008 Ultimate Recipe Showdown debuts on Food Network (until 2011), co-hosted by Marc Summers; on Sept. 14, 2008 Guy Off the Hook debuts on Food Network (until Oct. 19, 2008); on Jan. 1, 2012 Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off debuts on Food Network (until ?), co-starring Rachael Ray; on Oct. 20, 2013 Guy's Grocery Games (Triple G) debuts on Food Network (until ?). On June 26 Nobel laureate (1996 Peace Prize) Jose Manuel Ramos Horta (1949-) is sworn-in as PM #3 of East Timor (until May 19, 2007) after being chosen by pres. Xanana Gusmao to replace Mari Alkatiri, who resigned in June after failing to stop the violence and being accused of forming a hit squad. And you thought the 4th cent. Roman civil war over homoousion vs. homoiousion was stupid? Who's more dangerous to America, the Christians within or the Muslims without? On June 27 the U.S. Senate avoids approving the Flag Desecration Amendment to the Constitution, sponsored by Moron, er, Mormon Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah by 1 vote (66-34); in 2005 the so-called more democratic House passed it by 286-130 (I know 286 House and 66 Senate members who should be burned alive?); retarded supporters, confusing official govt.-owned flags with private copies, missed permanently undermining the U.S. Bill of Rights for a "salute to veterans"?; Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) sums up the dumb side with "Countless men and women have died defending that flag", and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) sums up the smart side with "We are being asked to undermine the foundations of our democracy to squash a gnat" - give me some "U.S. flag" toilet paper and I'll desecrate it for you Mormons whose daddies died defending it? On June 27 U.S. Surgeon Gen. Richard Carmona issues the 670-page report The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco, announcing that any amount of second-hand smoke is harmful, and calls it a "serious health hazard" - what about those scenes of Lucas McCain smoking his stogie at the fireplace in front of his son Mark? On June 27 boyish-faced lily-white mainstream-appearing Charles Gibson (1951-) leaves ABC-TV's Good Morning America after 19 years to become the anchor of ABC's World News Tonight - the perfect man to take on Katie Couric on NBC? On June 28 the Susquehanna River floods, causing 200K to be evacuated from the Wilkes-Barre, Penn. area. On June 28 Ill. Sen. Barack Obama gives a keynote speech to the liberal Christian org. Call to Renewal in Washington, D.C., dissing Alan Keyes for saying that Jesus Christ wouldn't vote for him, then making light of the Bible a la Tom Paine: "And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount, a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let's read our Bibles. Folks haven't been reading their Bibles" - neither has he, he just found a Web site with a list of crap and regurgitated it? On June 29 Japanese PM Junichiro Koizumi meets with Pres. Bush at the White House; on June 30 Koizumi, an Elvis fan visits Graceland in Memphis, Tenn. On June 29 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-3 in Hamdan v. Rumsfield that Pres. Bush's decision to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and internat. law, incl. the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, esp. Common Article 3; Alito goes with the minority, and Roberts does not vote; the biggest rebuke of an overreaching U.S. pres. since Pres. Truman and the steel mills in 1952? In June the 2.3M-member Presbyterian Church (USA) holds its 217th Gen. Assembly in Birmingham, Ala., and votes 282-212 to "receive" a document trying to get around the traditional language suggesting that God is male, suggesting 12 new phrases for their beloved Trinity (triune God), incl. "Compassionate Mother, Beloved Child and Live-giving Womb", "Lover, Beloved, and Love That Binds Lovers and Beloved Together", "Rock, Cornerstone, and Temple", and "Rainbow of Promise, Ark of Salvation, and Dove of Peace" - shalalala live for today? On June ? moderate Alan Garcia wins the pres. election in Peru over leftist Ollanta Humala, an ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. In June flooding kills at least 349 in China. In June an avg. of 100+ civilians a day are killed in Iraq, incl. nearly 6K for May-June. In June police arrest the Toronto 18, suspected Islamic terrorists in Toronto, Canada, claiming to have foiled a major terrorist attack; on Jan. 21, 2010 Jordanian-born mastermind Zakaria Amaria (1985-) is given a life sentence; Saad Gaya is given 12 years in prison. In June Pakistan-born U.S. citizen Syed Hashmi (1980-) is arrested at Heathrow Airport in London en route to Pakistan to visit it family, and next May becomes the first U.S. citizen to be extradited to the U.S. under the post-9/11 terrorism laws; too bad, they torture him at a Guantanamo-like prison in New York City, making him a cause celebre for civil libertarians. In June Pakistani Christian Qamar David is sentenced to life in prison for sending derogatory text messages about Muhammad; on Mar. 15, 2011 he dies in prison amid suspicions of being murdered. In June Tokyo-based Nissan Corp. (founded 1933), Japan's 2nd-biggest automaker produces its 100 millionth vehicle, reaching 100,140,000 by June 30, incl. 76,640,000 in Japan and 23,500,000 overseas. In June Paris Hilton goes on David Letterman's Late Show to tell him that her big feud with The Simple Life co-star Nicole Richie was just a sham - ha ha? On July 1 a giant car bomb explodes in an outdoor market in a Shiite district of Baghdad, Iraq, killing 66 and injuring 100 - watching you terrorists grow and go through the changes in your life? On July 1 the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest railway is opened between Beijing, China and Lhasa, Tibet (2.5K mi.), reaching 16K ft. above sea level and featuring oxygen for passengers. On July 2 pres. elections in Mexico create a deadlock between pro-free-market pro-U.S. Felipe Calderon Hinojosa (1963-) of the ruling Nat. Action Party, and leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (1953-), each with 36%, with Roberto Madrazo Pintado (1952-) of the yesterday's news PRI lagging with 19%; after much baksheesh, er, recounting, the winner is declared to be Calderon by 0.56% (35.89% to 35.33%) (a margin of 233,831 of 41.6M votes cast) on July 6; on July 16 (Sun.) hundreds of thousands of protesters in Mexico City demand a recount for Obrador, charging rampant fraud; Obrador's supporters are mainly in the poor S states, Calderon's in the affluent N and NW states. On July 3 half-mi.-wide Asteroid 2004 XP14 comes to within 269K mi. of the Earth. On July 3 a subway train in Valencia, Spain flips off the tracks, killing 41 and injuring 47. On July 3 the Philippine govt. says that at least 5K villagers have fled their homes in the S Philippines after nearly a week of clashes between govt. forces and Muslim guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. On July 3 a U.S. federal judge issues a temporary restraining order barring the U.S. Navy from using a high-intensity sonar during war games because it could harm marine animals; on July 7 a settlement is reached barring the sonar from being used within 25 mi. of the new Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine Nat. Monument. On July 4 (2:38 p.m. EDT) NASA launches its crappy Space Shuttle Discovery from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. (first 4th of July launch) on mission STS-121; once again flying floam strikes the flying bomb, causing the mission to turn into a breast self-exam in space even though the pieces come off after the 2 min. 15 sec. critical point; on July 16 the astronauts issue a soundbyte: "We just flew over the Middle East, and I have to tell you, from up here it looks peaceful and quiet just like the rest of the planet" (Piers Sellers); a 14-in. repair spatula is lost during a spacewalk; they make a successful landing on July 17. A rare Commie fireworks tribute to U.S. Independence Day? On July 4 North Korea, ignoring repeated internat. warnings tests their Taep'o-Dong 2 (Taepodong-2) missile (2985-9320 mi. range), which proves a dud and breaks up and crashes into the Sea of Japan; six more missiles are launched in the next 24 hours, drawing protests from 13 nations while Dear Leader and Lodestar of the 21st Cent. Kim Jong Il remains crazy like a fox?; on July 5 the U.N. Security Council attempts to impose sanctions, but Russia and China block it; on July 6 the North Korean foreign minister declares that his country has a right to test missles as a "self-defense deterrent", and "If anyone intends to dispute or add pressure about this, we will have to take stronger physical actions in other forms." On July 4 Palestinian militants hit the Israeli city of Ashkelon with a rocket from Gaza for the first time, just hours after a deadline set by militants holding Israel soldier Gilad Shalit passes without Israel releasing 1.5K Palestinian POWs, all pissing Israelis off more than ever. On July 4 U.S. soldiers wounded in Iraq publicly read portions of the Declaration of Independence at the Nat. Archives in Washington, D.C. On July 5 oil hits a record $75.40 a barrel. On July 5 Dem. N.J. Gov. Jon S. Corzine closes New Jersey's casinos for the first time in 28 years, putting 80K out of work as part of a 5-day state govt. shutdown caused by a fight with the legislature over a proposed sales tax increase; on July 6 the dispute is ended. On July 6 New York and Ga. uphold bans on same-sex unions, leaving Mass. as the only gay marriage haven. On July 6 Angela Magdaleno (1966-) of Los Angeles, Calif. gives birth to quadruplets by C-section (without fertility drugs) three years after delivering triplets via IVF, giving her a total of 10 children, all but the two oldest living with them in a 1-bedroom apt. On July 7 U.S. authorities announce the foiling of a terrorist plot to cripple the U.S. economy in Oct. or Nov. by destroying train tunnels in New York City, arresting eight suspects; on July 9 authorities announce the discovery of files describing a plan to attack New York train tunnels on the computer of al-Qaida man Assem Hammoud (1975-), who visited the U.S. in 2000. On July 9 India test-fires its 1.8K mi.-range, nuclear-capable Agni (Hindi "fire") 3 missile. On July 9 Polish Pres. Lech Kaczynski announces the appointment of his twin brother Jaroslav Kaczynski to succeed moderate PM Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, who resigned on July 8, and on ? he is sworn-in (until ?). On July 9 hundreds of Canadian and Afghan soldiers raid Taliban strongholds in Kandahar Province, killing at least 15 militants and one Canadian. On July 10 Chechen rebel leader Shamil Basayev (b. 1945) is killed when a dynamite-laden truck in his convoy explodes in Ekazhevo, Ingushetia - what a shamil the basayev-killer is no more? On July 14 Polish pres. (since Dec. 2005) Lech Kaczynski appoints his identical 45-min. older twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski (1949-) as PM of Poland (until Nov. 16, 2007). On July 10 Colo. passes the most restrictive anti-immigrant legislation so far in the U.S., requiring businesses to keep records sent to the federal govt. on employees for random state audits. On July 11 (6:24-35 p.m. local time) the 2006 Mumbai Train Bombings sees Kashmiri Muslim militants set off seven pressure cooker bombs in first-class train cars in the financial capital of Mumbai (Bombay), India (pop. 18M) during the evening rush hour (at seven stations), killing 209 commuters and injuring 700+; Indian police detain 350 in the NE suburb of Malwani for questioning, causing Muslims to complain that they're being targeted unjustly; on July 12 PM Manmohan Singh utters the soundbyte: "No one can make India kneel"; on Feb. 27, 2009 Indian Mujahideen leader Sadiq Sheikh confesses on TV to his role in the bombings; in Sept. 2015 12 Muslims are convicted. On July 11 a series of grenade attacks in Srinagar, Kashmir kill nine tourists. On July 11 a Big Dig tunnel in Boston, Mass. drops 12 tons of concrete onto a passing car, killing Milena Delvalle (38), and causing the state atty.-gen. Tom Reilly to begin a criminal investigation, saying "No one is going to be spared"; within days 362 violations are found, adding to the 169 defective areas found in 2005, exposing the $14.6B boondoggle as dangerous as well as wasteful; six people had been charged earlier in the year for covering up the use of inferior concrete; on July 27 Matthew Amorello, chmn. of the Mass. Turnpike Authority resigns under pressure of Gov. Mitt Romney. On July 11 Hezbollah militants capture Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in a cross-border raid, causing Israel to invade Lebanon on July 12, shutting down Beirut Internat. Airport, which causes Hezbollah to fire rockets into 20 Israeli towns, incl. one of which lands in a train station in Haifa, killing eight, causing the Israeli PM to go nonlinear, causing the Middle East to go into the hairy edge of war; on July 16 the 6th day of hostilities causes the death toll to top 230 (210 Lebanese, 24 Israelis, incl. 410 Lebanese and 303 Israelis wounded) as hundreds of U.S. evacuees from Lebanon fly into Cyprus; meanwhile on July 16 world leaders incl. British PM Tony Blair and U.N. Secy.-Gen. Kofi Annan call for deployment of internat. forces to stop the bombardment of Israel, while Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah (1961-) says the battle has just begun; on July 17 Israel briefly sends troops into Lebanon while Hezbollah rockets knock down a 3-story house in N Israel; on July 19 mass evacuation to Cyprus of the 25K Americans and other foreigners by U.S. Navy and Marines begins. On July 11 comedian Robin Williams checks into the Hazelden Rehab. Center in Ore. after he begins drinking after 20 years of sobriety. On July 12 gunmen seize two dozen Shiites from a bus station in Baghdad, Iraq in a predominantly Sunni area, then kill them and dump their bodies in a nearby village. On July 12 the Journal of the Am. Medical Assoc. reveals that for the 2nd time in 2 mo. article contributors failed to disclose financial ties to drug cos. On July 13 the U.S. House votes to renew the 1965 U.S. Voters Rights Act, rejecting efforts by Southerners to relax federal oversight of their states; 33 Repubs. vote no, claiming that their racist voting obstacles are history. On July 14 oil prices reach a peak of $77.03 a barrel before beginning to decline. On July 14-16 Tropical Storm Bilis pounds SE China, killing 154 and injuring hundreds. On July 15 a heat wave begins in Calif., lasting 2 weeks and killing 139. On July 16 a suicide bomber detonates inside a cafe packed with Shiites in Tuz Khormato, Iraq 130 mi. N of Baghdad, killing 26 and injuring 22. On July 17 a 7.7 earthquake causes a 6-ft.-high 110-mi.-wide tsunami along the S coast of Java, killing at least 463, causing 23K to flee their homes in Pangandaran and other towns. On July 17 the U.S. House approves a treaty with Russia to protect the remaining 25K polar bears from overhunting. On July 17 Shiite gunmen massacre 50 in a market in Mahmoudiya, Iraq; reprisals kill at least 19 more. On July 17 Britain outlaws the Islamist org. Al Ghurabaa (Arab. "The Strangers"), causing spokesman Anjem Choudary to form Islam4UK in 2010. On July 17-Sept. 12 the 50+-day Siege of Musa Qala (Arab. "Fortress of Moses") in Helmand Province, Afghanistan sees a small force of British and Danish troops hold off a Taliban siege. On July 18 a Sunni driver in Iraq lures Shiites to his van by promising jobs, then blows it up, killing 53. On July 18 Dr. Anna Pou (50), nurse Cheri A. Landry (49), and nurse Lori L. Budo (43) are arrested for murdering four sick elderly patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Latrine, er, Katrina by administering a lethal morphine-Versed cocktail; "We're talking about people that pretended that maybe they were God" (La. Atty. Gen. Charles C. Foti). On July 19 Israeli troops invade S Lebanon as warplanes flatten houses and buildings, incl. one believed to hold top Hezbollah leaders; the death toll reaches 70; meanwhile 1K Americans are evacuated from Beirut to Cyprus by the 8-deck luxury liner Orient Queen. On July 20 Brandon Hedrick (b. 1979) becomes the first person to die in the electric chair in the U.S. in more than 2 years, taking the juice at 9:12 p.m. in Greensville, Va. Correctional Center; he chose it over lethal injection, a choice given inmates since 1995. On July 20 Pres. Bush makes his first appearance as pres. at an annual convention of the NAACP in the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.; chmn. Julian Bond had in the past compared Repubs. to Nazis and Bush to Hitler, but new pres. Bruce Gordon has mellowed the group out? On July 22 Kashmiri militant Mudassir, chief planner of Pakistan-based Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba is arrested in the Indian portion of Kasmir; he is thought to be behind June 11 and July 11 grenade attacks in Jammu and Srinagar. On July 23 (Sun.) bombs in Baghdad and Kirkuk, Iraq kill 62 and wound 200+. On July 23 Saddam Hussein is hospitalized on the 17th day of a hunger strike and fed with a tube; Saddam is striking to demand better security for his defense team, three of whom have been assassinated since the trial began, the last being Khamis al-Obeidi on June 21. On July 23 Amnesty Internat. issues a report claiming that security agents in Jordan torture terrorism suspects on behalf of the U.S. to force confessions. On July 23 a 5-y.-o. boy called Prince is rescued from a 60-ft. irrigation shaft in Aldeharhi, India after a 50-hour ordeal that gripped the nation. On July 24 Israeli troops seize a key Hezbollah stronghold in S Lebanon; Condoleezza Rice makes a surprise visit to Beirut, and meets with Lebanese PM Fuad Saniora, saying that the U.S. will not press Israel for a quick ceasefire until the long-term threat of Hezbollah is addressed; Israeli rockets hit Bint-Jbail near the Israeli border; Israel captures two Hezbollah guerrillas and plans to interrogate them; meanwhile the U.S. completes its evacuation of 12K Americans, and says it will switch to humanitarian aid; on July 25 a U.N. observation post near Khiam on Lebanon's E border with Israel comes under Israeli fire 21x, killing four observers, despite 10 phone calls in six hours telling them to stop; Hezbollah militants were using the U.N. workers as shields; U.N. Secy.-Gen. Kofi Annan calls the attack "apparently deliberate"; by July 28 Hezbollah has launched 1500 Katyusha rockets at Israel; on July 26 nine Israel soldiers are killed in battles for key towns, and Israel announces its intention of establishing a 1.2 mi.-wide security zone in Lebanon, and keep the Shebaa Farms in the Israel-Lebanon-Syria triangle, which they seized in the 1967 war. On July 24 the U.S. Freedom to Display the American Flag Act is signed by Pres. Bush, prohibiting real estate mgt. orgs from you know what. On July 27 Pres. Bush signs a bill to renew the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965 one year ahead of time. On July 27 it is announced that the NORAD complex in Colo. Springs, Colo. is being put on "warm standby". On July 27 rockets and mortars kill 31 in an upscale mostly Shiite area of Baghdad (high class Shiite?), collapsing an apt. house; a car bomb explodes in the commercial and residential district of Karradah, Iraq, injuring 150. On July 28 Hezbollah uses the Khaibar-1 (Iranian-made Fajr-5) missile for the first time, striking Haifa. On July 28 (2:36 a.m. PDT) film superstar Mel Colmcille Gerard Gibson (1956-) is arrested for drunk driving in Malibu, Calif., launching into a "barrage of anti-Semitic remarks", incl. the immortal soundbyte "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world", which is at first allegedly covered up, then causes a firestorm of controversy and threatens his career; his wife (since 1981) Robyn Gibson separates with him 1 mo. later, and files for divorce in Apr. 2009; he later apologizes and calls his statements "despicable", and enters a rehab program, then on Oct. 18 talks with Diane Sawyer on ABC-TV, calling his comments "the stupid ramblings of a drunkard", admitting that he slicked up his hair for his mugshot to avoid "one of those hideous mug shots" like Nick Nolte took; meanwhile on Aug. 1 he is arrested on terrorism charges by the feds for allegedly funneling money through Australia into Lebanon and Palestine to fund Muslim extremists against Israel (actually a joke posted on the Web) - but since true Jews never forgive or forget, just wait? On July 28 a bomb explodes between a Sunni mosque and youth center in Baghdad, Iraq during Friday prayers, killing four and wounding nine. On July 28 (4:00 p.m.) the Seattle Jewish Federation Shooting sees Muslim extremist Naveed Afzal Haq (1975-) go on jihad and shoot six women, killing one, calling himself a "soldier of Islam", shouting "I'm a Muslim-American, I'm angry at Israel"; on Jan. 14, 2010 after his attys. coach him to paint himself as mentally troubled with inadequate mental health care, he is sentenced to life in prison. On July 29 four U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 7 are killed in Anbar Province in a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold W of Baghdad, while a U.S. F-16 drops two precision-guided bombs on a bldg. near Baghdad believed to be used by militants.; on July 31 a car bomb in Mosul explodes on a passing police patrol, killing three officers and three civilians. On July 30 an Israeli airstrike on a 3-story bldg. in the S Lebanese village of Qana kills 28, almost all of them women and children, igniting a firestorm of protest; Israel later releases video showing the village being used as a launch point for Katyusha rockets; Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issues a call for an immediate ceasefire, saying that "Islamic nations will not forgive the entities that hinder a ceasefire"; Iraqi Pres. Jalal Talabani (Sunni Kurd) calls the attack a "crime"; the U.N. Security issues a statement which "strongly deplores this loss of innocent life"; Israel agrees to suspend air attacks in S Lebanon for 48 hours; so far 518 have been killed in Lebanon, incl. 458 civilians - all over two Israeli soldiers? On July 30 the Dem. Republic of Congo has its first dem. elections in 46 years. On July 30 Mogadishu's internat. airport opens for the first time in a decade. On July 30 leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador calls for hundreds of thousands of his supports to erect permanent protest camps on the Zocalo (central plaza) of Mexico City "until the court resolves" the disputed pres. election; after he gets leftist lawmakers to protest, Vicente Fox becomes the first Mexican leader to abandon his state of the union speech on Sept. 4; he then calls for a halt to Sept. 16 Independence Day celebrations, and vows to rule the country from the streets, with the soundbyte "They can keep their pirated institutions and their phony president, but they cannot keep our fatherland and our national dignity"; on Sept. 5 the Federal Electoral Tribunal rules Calderon the pres.-elect, while millions of Mexicans are angry that outgoing pres. and fellow party member Vicente Fox didn't make good on promises of sweeping changes; on Sept. 14 Fox caves in and cancels the "Viva Mexico" Independence Day celebrations in the Zocalo to avoid protests, and move it to the small town of Dolores Hidalgo 170 mi. NW of Mexico City in Fox's conservative home state of Guanajuao. On July 31 Fidel Castro temporarily reliquinshes his pres. powers to his radical brother Raul Castro (1931-) after suffering GI bleeding from a surgery; he has six sons by his first two wives, plus several others out of wedlock; Cuban exiles in Monday take to the streets in anticipation of the old snake's death? On July 31 the U.N. Security Council passes a resolution giving Iran until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment or face sanctions. On July 31 British PM Tony Blair and Calif. Gov. Ahnuld announce an agreement to bypass the Bush admin. and work together to cut pollution and fight global warming; "This is an agreement to share ideas and information. It is not a treaty", Ahnuld spokesman Adam Mendelsohn says. On July 31 gunmen in military fatigues burst into the offices of the Iraqi-Am. Chamber of Commerce and a nearby mobile phone co. and seize 26 in the upscale Karradah Shiite area of Baghdad; four Iraqi soldiers are killed in a suicide bombing in N Iraq, the first-ever in the Kurdish-ruled province of Dahuk. In July China finally links Tibet and Beijing by train. In July the U.S. heat wave shaters 2.3K records, incl. a 117 F high in Cottonwood, S.D. on July 15, and 23 out of 31 days above 90 F in Helena, Mont.; this is the first year that the yearly heat wave in the U.S. West since 2000 has spread to the C plains; so far 7.1M acres of forest have burned, the most in any 10-year period (8.7M by Sept.) (annual avg. over the past 10 yars is 4.9M). In July the free mag. Babytalk shocks readers by displaying a photo of a baby nursing on a giant breast, a sign that the "lactivist" movement of public breastfeeding is gaining ground despite the Puritanical attitudes prevalent in the U.S. In July Pfizer's Chantix, a drug that makes the immune system attack nicotine to prevent the pleasurable "buzz" as a way to end addiction hits the market in the U.S., following Sanofi-Aventis SA's Acomplia, which won approval in Europe under the guise of a weight-loss drug. In July Robert Charles Browne (1952-), a life sentence inmate in a Colo. prison claims to have killed 48 other people starting in the early 1970s and spanning nine states and South Korea until his 1995 conviction. While the U.S. military is out in Iraq fighting ghosts, back home the illegals move in like insects? In July the town of Riverside, N.J. (pop. 8K) passes the Illegal Immigration Relief Act, banning hiring and housing of approx. 3.5K undocumented aliens, causing a protest by hundreds on Aug. 20, led by the Nat. Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders, which vows to invite new illegals to move in to replace any forced out; meanwhile other towns incl. Hazleton, Penn. pass similar ordinances. In July a Scrips Howard and Ohio U. poll finds that more than one-third of Americans believe that federal officials assisted in the 9/11 attacks or purposely took no action to stop them so that the U.S. could have an excuse to start a war in the Middle East. In July the U.S. has its highest avg. temp (77.2 F) since 1936 (77.5 F). In July U.S. gas pump prices reach a record $3.015 per gal., rising by mid-Aug. to $3.025; from July-Oct. oil company profits reach $31.6B. In July the civilian death toll in Iraq (3.5K) exceeds the entire war before that; the total of killed and wounded in the Battle of Baghdad reaches 22K by mid-Aug. In July a computer programmer mistakenly wipes out the disk drive info. on a $38B oil-funded account at the Alaska Dept. of Revenue, costing it $200K to scan the original paperwork back in. In July the Italian govt. frees thousands of prisoners convicted of "minor" crimes, causing a resurgence in the Camorra in Naples, which soon rakes in 15B euros a year from drugs. In July Am. TV chef Anthony Bourdain is caught in Beirut when the Israel-Lebanon Conflict breaks out, holing-up in a hotel until cleaner "Mr. Wolf" helps the U.S. Marines evacuate him and his crew on July 20, resulting in a No Reservations episode that airs on Aug. 21 and is nominated for an Emmy. On Aug. 1 Iraq starts out a new month of killing with more than 70 killed, incl. 20 Iraqi troops, a U.S. soldier, and a British soldier. On Aug. 2 Toyota which passes Ford and becomes #2 in the U.S. auto market after GM; on Sept. 5 Bill Ford steps down as Ford Motor Co. CEO for Boeing hatchet, er, turnaround expert Alan Roger Mullaly (1945-), who wastes no time, and on Sept. 13 Ford announces that it will install electronic stabilization controls on all its vehicles by the end of 2009, then on Sept. 15 announces a reorg. plan which will cut 45K jobs. On Aug. 2 bomb blasts in a soccer field in the mostly Shiite district of Amil in W Baghdad kills 11 young people. On Aug. 2 Hezbollah launches 230+ rockets into Israel, followed on Aug. 3 by 200 more, killing eight; meanwhile a pro-Hezbollah rally called by Muqtada al-Sadr and approved by the Iraq govt. is held by thousands of white-shrouded Shiite youths in Baghdad's Sadr City while a motorcycle bomb kills 12. Hell's Top Model? On Aug. 2 Uruguayan model Luisel Ramos (b. 1984) dies of starvation, er, heart attack, followed on Nov. 14 by 5'8" 88 lb. Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston (b. 1985), then by the first one's sister Eliana Ramos on Feb. 13, 2007 (same cause), despite fashion show organizers in Spain and Italy setting weight guidelines for models; London Fashion Week organizers respond by prohibiting size zero models; the avg. model is 5'11" and size 0 or 2, vs. the avg. non-model woman at 5'4" and size 14; "2 is the new 4 and zero is the new 2" (The Devil Wears Prada). On Aug. 3 top U.S. cmdrs. tell Congress that civil war in Iraq is a "possibility" (Gen. Peter Pace); meanwhile Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton calls on defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld to resign. On Aug. 3 militants kill four Canadian soldiers and wound 10 in Pashmul, Afghanistan W of Kandahar; meanwhile a suicide car bomb in a market in Panjwayi 15 mi. away, killing 21 civilians and wounding 13. On Aug. 3 Toni Braxton (1968-) replaces Wayne Newton at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., becoming the first African-Am. performer to enter the Top 10 Vegas Show chart. On Aug. 5-13 forest fires in NW Spain burn over 24K acres of forest and scrubland; more than 20 people are arrested for deliberately starting them. On Aug. 6 (night) a suicide bomber detonates among mourners at a funeral in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, Iraq, killing 10 and injuring 22; meanwhile three U.S. soldiers are killed in a roadside bombing SW of Baghdad. On Aug. 6 Iran defies a U.N. Security Council deadline and vows to expand its urianium enrichment. On Aug. 6 Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba calls for the elimination of all nukes on the 61th anniv. of the U.S. A-bomb attack. On Aug. 6 U.S. journalist Paul Salopek (1962-) is arrested in Darfur, Sudan on espionage charges, and released on Sept. 9. On Aug. 7 a U.S.-Iraqi attack on a Shiite military stronghold in Baghdad, Iraq kills three, incl. a woman and child, causing Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki to criticize it, saying it could undermine his efforts at nat. reconciliation. On Aug. 7 Lebanese PM Fuad Saniora tearfully rejects a U.N. ceasefire plan, demanding an immediate Israeli pullout of S Lebanon. On Aug. 7 4-y.-o. conjoined twin sisters Kendra and Maliya Herrin undergo successful separation surgery in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Aug. 8 after a "netroots" campaign featuring video of Pres. Bush planting a kiss on his cheek after the 2005 State of the Union address, 3-term Conn. Sen. Joe Lieberman loses the Dem. primary to anti-war millionaire challenger Ned Lamont 52-48, causing Lieberman to vow to run as an independent, only to see top Dem. senators John Kerry, Edward Kennedy et al. back Lamont; flamboyant Ga. Rep. Cynthia McKinney loses a runoff for the Dem. nomination. On Aug. 9 a string of bombings in the center of Baghdad kill at least 20 and wound 60. On Aug. 9-13 Perseid meteor showers brighten the night sky. On Aug. 10 British and Pakistan authorities break up a plot (set for Wed. Aug. 16) to smuggle chemicals aboard 10 U.S.-bound planes in England in soft drink containers and blow them up, arresting 24 people (41 by Aug. 12), and causing new restrictions on air travel as most liquids except baby food are prohibited, along with laptops and other electronic devices; on Aug. 21 police charge 11 people, and confirm that the plot involved the manufacture of explosives; on Aug. 10 Pres. Bush utters the soundbyte: "The recent arrests that our fellow citizens are now learning about are a stark reminder that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists who will use any means to destroy those of us who love freedom, to hurt our nation." On Aug. 10 a Sunni Jamaat Jund al-Sahaba (Arab. "Soldiers of the Prophet's Companions") suicide bomber detonates outside Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq (Iraq's holiest Shiite shrine), killing 35 and wounding 122. On Aug. 10 Ukrainian cosmonaut Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko (1961-) becomes the first person to marry in space, marrying Ekaterina Dmitrieva in Tex. while he is over New Zealand on the Internat. Space Station. On Aug. 11 135 mph Typhoon Saomai (Juan) (formed Aug. 4) becomes China's worst tropical storm in a cent., hitting the SE coast, killing 100 and destroying 50K homes, then forcing 1.5M from their homes. On Aug. 11 the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution calling for the end of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, authorizing the deployment of 15K U.N. Peacekeepers and calling for an Israeli withdrawal by Mon. morning, which the Israelis use to stage their largest commando raid ever in S Lebanon; minutes after the U.N. vote Israeli warplanes pounds S Beirut with 20+ missiles, causing Hezbollah to fire more than 250 rockets at N Israel, the worst since July 12; on Aug. 11 an Israeli drone fires at a convoy of refugees in S Lebanon, killing seven and wounding 22; the death toll is 800, incl. 741 Lebanese and 123 Israelis. On Aug. 11 James Dobson of Focus on the Family calls the loss of life in Lebanon "terrible", likens Israel to "little David" facing "mighty Goliath", and asks God to intervene and "give His people a miracle on the battlefield"; meanwhile Rev. Ted Haggard, pres. of the Nat. Assoc. of Evangelicals says he is purposely maintaining silence about the conflict to protect "a rapidly growing evangelical population in virtually every Islamic country". On Aug. 11 Sesame Street introduces its first female muppet Abby Cadabby, a 3-y.-o. fairy with wings. On Aug. 11 U.S. Sen. (R-Va.) George Felix Allen (1952-) uses the word "macaca" at a campaign stop in Breaks, Va. to refer to Indian-Am. photographer S.R. Sidartha, who works for his opponent Jim Webb, bringing out the PC police and causing Webb to win the race. On Aug. 13 prominent British Muslim leaders pub. an Open Letter to Tony Blair, saying that his policy on the Middle East and Iraq offers "ammunition to extremists" and puts British lives "at increased risk". On Aug. 13 (eve.) a series of explosions in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad causes a battle between the U.S. military and Iraqis over who caused them, the U.S. blaming them on a gas line blast and the Iraqis on car bombs and rockets. On Aug. 14 as peacekeepers move in, tens of thousands of Lebanese jam roads trying to return to Beirut after 34 days of combat; meanwhile Hezbollah leader Nasrallah becomes a hero to the Muslims, the "lion of Lebanon", first-ever to shoot rockets into Zionist Israel, as his org. hands out $12K in $100 bills to each Lebanese family whose home was destroyed by Israel. On Aug. 14 the U.S. begins issuing electronic passports to the gen. public containing an embedded IC containing a digital photo, facial recognition data, and other security features. On Aug. 14 a video is released showing Fidel Castro healthy and joking from his hospital bed with Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez, causing anti-Castro forces to grumble. On Aug. 14 four masked gunmen in Gaza City kidnap U.S. Fox News correspondents Steven James "Steve" Centanni (1946-) of the U.S. and Olaf Wiig (1970-) of New Zealand; on Aug. 23 a video is released showing them and demanding the release of Muslim POWs within 72 hours; on Aug. 27 they appear on a video dressed in Arab robes and ranting against the West, then are released after the payment of a $2M ransom, immediately claiming the statements were made under duress and they been forced to convert to Islam at gunpoint. On Aug. 15 the last POW is transferred to Abu Ghraib Prison, and on Aug. 28 the prison is turned over to the Iraq govt. America's Got Talent Salutes Whom? On Aug. 15 41-y.-o. Ga. elementary school teacher John Mark Karr (1964-) is arrested in Bangkok, Thailand for the 1996 Christmas night murder of 6-y.-o. Boulder, Colo. beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey; he had become a suspect after long e-mail correspondence with U. of Colo. Michael Tracey in which he volunteered info. on the killing that was not public; in 2001 a 5-count misdemeanor child porno charge was brought against him in Calif.; on Aug. 17 he tells the press that he "was present at her death" but that it was "an accident" and that he "loves" her, stirring concerns that he is just confessing to gain fame; after being extradited to Boulder, he is cleared on Aug. 28 by district atty. Mary Lacy hours before appearing before a judge after DNA tests fail to match; Karr is sent to Calif. on his child porno charges, but they are dropped after prosecutors lose the evidence, the computer holding the images. On Aug. 16 Mirek Topolanek (Topolánek) (1956-) of the center-right Civic Dem. Party becomes PM of the Czech Repub. (until Mar. 26, 2009). On Aug. 16 Mexican officials announce the capture of drug lord Francisco Javier Arellano Felix (1969-) while deep-sea fishing on Aug. 14. On Aug. 17 U.S. District Judge (since 1979) Anna Diggs Taylor (1932-) in Detroit, Mich. rules that the NSA's warrantless surveillance program is unconstitutional, and orders it ended; meanwhile U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler (1938-) in Washington, D.C. rules that cigarette makers did violate racketeering laws and deceived the public for over 50 years about the health hazards of smoking, but that she couldn't order them to pay the $10B-$130B sought by the govt., nor order a national stop-smoking program, because an appeals court ruling permits only forward-looking remedies, although she does order them to publish "corrective statements", and to stop labeling cigarettes as "low tar", "light", "ultra light" and "mild" because of the way people smoke them. On Aug. 17 a coalition aircraft mistakenly drops a bomb in SE Patika Province in Afghanistan, killing 10 Afghan police officers on border patrol. On Aug. 18 acting Cuban pres. Raul Castro says that he has mobilized tens of thousands of troops in response to "aggressive U.S. acts", incl. stepped-up radio and TV broadcasts and an $80M plan to hasten the end of Commie rule - gotta keep these muscles tight? On Aug. 19-20 rolling battles with Taliban insurgents and Afgahan and NATO troops kill 71 militants and five Afghan security forces. On Aug. 20 rooftop snipers kill 20 and wound 300 white-shrouded Shiites as they throng around the Shrine of Imam Moussa Kadhim (d. 799) in the Kazimiyah neighborhood of N Baghdad, in what appears to be the opening of a civil war; on Aug. 21 (Mon.) Pres. Bush holds a press conference, sticking to his optimism of a democratic Iraq without a civil war, and insisting on the need for Iraq to "succeed" for U.S. security, saying, " We're not leaving so long as I'm president"; meanwhile Sen. Joe Lieberman calls on defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld to resign, but sticks to his pro-Iraq War policy, saying that the U.S. cannot "walk away" from the Iraqis; meanwhile Sen. John McCain of Ariz. says he won't campaign against his friend Lieberman in Del. On Aug. 21 Saddam Hussein's Genocide Trial (his 2nd trial) begins, with witnesses giving tear-jerking stories of how Kurds were treated like garbage, causing Saddam Hussein to bark at the prosecutors and refuse to enter a plea; on Aug. 22 Najiba Khider Ahmed (1965-) testifies about the Apr. 16, 1987 poison gas attack on Basilan and Sheik Wasan: "I saw 8-12 jets... There was greenish smoke from the bombs. It was as if there was a rotten apple or garlic smell minutes later. People were vomiting... We were blind and screaming. There was no one to rescue us, just God." On Aug. 21 Calif. agrees to raise the minimum wage from $6.75 to $8 by 2008. On Aug. 22 a Pulkovo Airlines Tu-154 passenger jet en route from the Russian Black Sea resort of Anapa to St. Petersburg crashes near Donetsk, Ukraine during a thunderstorm, killing all 170 aboard, becoming the third Russian passenger plane crash this year. On Aug. 22 U.S. District Judge Charles R. Bryer in San Francisco blocks a Jan. 2004 Bush admin. plan to permit commercial logging in Giant Sequoia Nat. Monument, calling it "incomprehensible". On Aug. 22 Iraq War hawk Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says the Bush admin. misled Americans into believing it would be "some kind of day at the beach", and "it grieves me so much that we had not told the American people how tough and difficult this would be". On Aug. 22 the Ill. Restaurant Assoc. sues the city of Chicago, Ill. for banning the sale of foie gras, which involves force-feeding of ducks and geese to enlarge their yummy livers, and many restaurants incl. pizza parlors begin offering it free under-the-table as a protest. On Aug. 22 Zimbabwe switches to a new currency with three zeroes struck off the old denominations. On Aug. 22 Iran claims it will respond to U.S. demands regarding development of nukes; Anglo-Am. Jewish scholar (expert on Islam) Bernard Lewis (1916-) stirs concerns by noting that this is the 27th of Rajab of the Muslim year 1427, when Muslims commemorate the night flight of Muhammad from Jerusalem to heaven and back, saying that it would be "an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and, if ncessary, of the world". On Aug. 23 Viacom chm. Sumner Murray Redstone (Rothstein) (1923-) announces that actor Tom Cruise has been dropped despite bringing in $2.5B at the box office saying that he "has not been acceptable to Paramount" for all his public antics, and committed "creative suicide" which caused MI:III to lose $100M at the summer box office ($400M total); Cruise announces he will use private investors from now on, immediately getting $100M in backing, and on Nov. 3 buying 1919 film studio United Artists. On Aug. 23 Northwest Airlines Flight 42 en route from Amsterdam to Bombay is escorted back by Dutch F-16s after radioing that some passengers were acting suspiciously; 12 people are arrested. On Aug. 23 Wolfgang Priklopil (b. 1962) of Strasshof, Austria (10 mi. NE of Vienna) commits suicide by throwing himself in front of a commuter train in Vienna after 18-y.-o. Natascha Kampusch (1988-) comes to police with a story that she had been confined in a small cellar by him for the last eight years. On Aug. 24 French Pres. Jacques Chirac announces that France is sending 2K soldiers to S Lebanon and retain command of the peacekeeping force. On Aug. 24 ABC-TV airs Out of Control: AIDS in Black America, a Primetime documentary hosted by Terry Moran and Peter Jennings about gay and bisexual Am. black men spreading HIV; it was Jennings' last assignment for ABC News, 10 days before being diagnosed with lung cancer in spring 2005; black Ams. are 13% of the U.S. pop. but more than 50% of HIV cases; almost 70% of new Am. HIV cases are black women, and they are 23x more likely to be diagnosed with it than white women, with hetero contact being the overwhelming method of infection, as black men hide their closet gay sex because of social stigma in the black community - black men can't control what? The school year in the U.S. starts out fast with school shootings? On Aug. 24 Christopher A. Williams (b. 1980) shoots one teacher and wounds another at an elementary school in Essex, Vt., then shoots himself twice in the head and is arrested; he also killed his ex-girlfriend's mother. On Aug. 25 Iraqis loot Camp Abu Naji, a vacated British military base, embarrassing the govt. On Aug. 25 a forest fire in Montana is started by lightning, and grows to over 27K acres by Sept. 14. On Aug. 26 the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda signs a truce with the govt., ending nearly two decades of cutting off tongues and lips of innocent civilians, enslaving tens of thousands of children, and driving 2M from their homes; "good Christian" leader Joseph Kony (1962-) claims to be innocent of war crimes charges filed by the Internat. Criminal Court. On Aug. 26 a Taliban cmdr. and 15 other militants are announced killed in S Afghanistan, 1 day after 13 insurgents were killed along wih two French soldiers; meanwhile Canadian troops mistakenly kill a policeman and wound six others; the death toll in the past 4 mo. is now over 1.6K. On Aug. 26 the Pakistani army kills Nawab Akbar Bugti and 35 comrades, later causing legal trouble for army chief Gen. Pervez Musharraf. On Aug. 27 at 6:07 a.m. Comair Flight 5191 (twin-engine Bombardier Canadair CRJ-100) barrels off the runway in the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington, Ky. after turning onto the wrong runway (1.5K ft. too short), and bursts into flames, killing 49 of 50 aboard, becoming the worst U.S. plane disaster in almost five years (Nov. 12, 2001); only first officer James M. Polehinke survives after police officer Bryan Jared pulls him out; an $18K cockpit warning system might have prevented the crash says Jim Hall, former chmn. of the NTSB. On Aug. 27 an Israeli aircraft fires two missiles at an armored car belonging to the Reuters News Agency, wounding five, incl. two cameramen. On Aug. 27 bomb attacks and shootings across Iraq kill dozens despite everything the U.S. and the Iraq govt. can do. On Aug. 27 a TV interview of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah is aired, in which he says he wouldn't have ordered the July 12 capture of two Israeli soldiers if he had known it "would lead to a war at this time and of this magnitude" (34 days of fighting ending Aug. 14). On Aug. 27 60 Minutes airs an interview of New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin in which he replies to a CBS correspondent pointing out flood-damaged cars still on the streets of the Ninth Ward, saying, "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later, so let's be fair"; after an outcry he apologizes on Sept. 1, saying, "I will never refer to that site as a hole. It's a sacred site that's currently in an undeveloped state." On Aug. 27 a garbage can bomb blows up a minibus in Ankara, Turkey, injuring 21, incl. 10 British tourists; Kurdish guerrillas are suspected. On Aug. 27 a British NATO soldier is killed and seven Afghan troops are wounded in insurgent attacks in Kandahar Province in S Afghanistan; meanwhile police kill 10 suspected Taliban militants attacking a govt. compound. On Aug. 27 Iran tests a new anti-ship sub-fired missile, raising worries of disruption of Persian Gulf oil tanker traffic. On Aug. 27 a hurricane watch is issued for the Fla. Keys as Tropical Storm Ernesto approaches; on Aug. 29 it hits Fla. after slowing down to 45 mph winds, then hits the S N.C. coast on Aug. 30 with 70 mph winds, weakening to a tropical depression on Sept. 1, and dumping 6 in. of rain; meanwhile Hurricane John reaches Category 4 as it moves toward the W coast of Mexico; on Sept. 1 it brushes by the E tip of Baja Calif., causing minor damage. On Aug. 28 a suicide bomber targeting a former police chief kills 21 civilians in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan. On Aug. 28 Denver, Colo.-based Newmont Mining Corp., #2 world gold producer shuts down operations in Yanacocha, Peru after workers demanding jobs and clean water block road access; clashes with police earler in Aug. left one dead and a dozen injured; meanwhile the corp. continues to fight a year-old prosecution in Manado, Indonesia charging that their Sulawesi Island mine has been polluting waters with mercury and arsenic. On Aug. 29 a kangaroo escapes from an exotic animal owner and begins hopping down the road in Oklahoma City, Okla. On Aug. 30 in San Francisco, Calif. Omeed Aziz Popal (1977-) deliberately plows into pedestrians in his black Honda Pilot SUV, killing one and injuring 13, later saying "I'm a terrorist, I don't care"; he is charged with murder and 19 counts of attempted murder. On Aug. 30 a series of explosions in Shiite neighborhoods in E Baghdad kills 43 and wounds 200; bringing the death toll in Iraq since Aug. 27 to 300+. On Aug. 31 Saudi-born Muslim Homaidan Ali Al-Turki (1969-) is sentenced to 28 years in Colo. for keeping an Indonesian housekeeper as a sex slave for four years; he complains that it's not a crime in Sharia countries, calling it "cynical Islamophobia". On Aug. 31 three white students hang noses from a tree at Jena High School in Jena, La., sparking protests by blacks; on Dec. 4 the Jena Six, six black teenies beat a white teenie and are arrested and charged, sparking more protests, incl. one by 10K-20K on Sept. 20, 2007; on Feb. 12, 2008 Pres. Bush makes a speech at a ceremony commemorating African-Am. History Month, saying "The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice but of gross injustice. Displaying one is not a harmless prank. And lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest" - a new word about to be criminalized? In Aug. Monday Night Football moves from ABC to ESPN, and the Oct. 23 show gets record cable ratings. In Aug. Madonna stages a mock crucifixion scene on a mirrored cross while wearing a crown of fake thorns and singing "Live to Tell" in Italy, Germany and elsewhere; her Confessions Tour (tour #7) (May 21 - Sept. 21) sells $194M in tickets in 60 shows (1.2M attendance), topping Cher's $192.5M from 273 shows in 2002-5 for the top-grossing tour by a solo female artist. In Aug. U.S. Rep. (R-Fla.) (2003-7) Katherine Harris (1957-) (R-Fla.) (Fla. secy. of state during the infamous 2002 U.S. Pres. Election) pub. controversial remarks in the weekly journal of the Fla. Baptist State Convention, saying that God did not intend the U.S. to be a "nation of secular laws", and that failure to elect more Christians will allow lawmaking bodies to "legislate sin", calling the separation of church and state a "lie we have been told" because "God is the one who chooses our rulers"; rival Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) says that "she does not deserve to be a representative"; she was only quoting the Bible, e.g. 1 Peter 2:13-14, 1 Tim. 2:1-2, Daniel 4:17? In Aug. the Trafigura shipping co. pays a bribe to dump 400 tons of toxic chemical waste near Abidjan, Ivory Coast, causing 85K to get sick and eight to die, after which Trafigura pays the Ivory Coast govt. $225M without admitting liability, and in Sept. 2009 it settles a class action suit in Britain, agreeing to pay 30K Ivory Coast residents $1.5K each; too bad, the British court stinks itself up on Sept. 11, 2009 by issuing an injunction against circulating a copy of the analysis of the waste, but Twitter and other Internet sites blow the cover on it. On Sept. 1 an Iran Airtour Tu-154 en route from Bandar Abbas in S Iran skids off the runway in the Shiite pilgrimage town of Mashhad (620 mi. NE of Tehran), raking a wing on the ground which sparks a fire that kills 29 of 148 aboard; all 11 crew survive; the 2nd Tu-154 crash in a month. On Sept. 1-4 31-y.-o. cook Christian Nielsen (1975-) goes on a 4-day killing spree in Newry, Maine, shooting and dismembering the owner of the Black Bear Bed & Breakfast and three others over the Labor Day weekend; there was a "for sale" sign in front of it. On Sept. 2 NATO forces launch Operation Medusa, a major anti-militant campaign by 8K Canadian, British, and Dutch troops in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province, claiming to kill 517 militants by Sept. 13. On Sept. 3 Iraqi nat. security adviser Mouwaffak al-Rubaie announces the arrest of Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, AKA Abu Humam and Abu Rana, calling him the #2 man in the Iraqi al-Qaida, which the latter denies on Sept. 4. On Sept. 3 1K Italian soldiers join the first wave of internat. peacekeepers in S Lebanon, bringing the total to 3.25K, while Israeli soldiers remain and Israel continues it air blockade until Sept. 7, the 1 mo. anniv. of the ceasefire, and the sea blockade until ?. On Sept. 3 (Sun.) a fire in an apt. complex on Chicago's North Side kills six children; the family had been using candles since having their electricity shut off a mo. earlier. On Sept. 3-4 U.N. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan visits Tehran, Iran, meeting with Pres. Ahmadinejad, who on Sept. 4 announces that Iran will host a conference to examine "exaggerations" about the Jewish WWI Holocaust as a response against the caricatures of their Prophet in Western media; says Annan, "I think the tragedy of the Holocaust is an undeniable historical fact... We should avoid anything that incites hatred." On Sept. 3-10 the Internat. Congresss on Obesity in Sydney, Australia is held; in the opening speech, ? Zimmet says, "This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world. It's as big a threat as global warming and bird flu." On Sept. 4 police in Baghdad find the bodies of 33 tortured, blindfolded men scattered across the city; meanwhile seven coalition forces die in combat, and Iraqi Olympic soccer star Ghanim Ghudayer is kidnapped. On Sept. 4 Nabeel Ahmed Issa Jaourah, from Rusaifa near al-Zarqawi's hometown of Zarqa in Iraq opens fire on Western tourists at the Roman ruins in C Amman, Jordan, wounding six. On Sept. 4 famed Australian TV star ("the Crocodile Hunter") Steve Irwin (b. 1962) is killed in the water at Batt Reef near Low Isles off the Australian resort town of Port Douglas (60 mi. N of Cairns) in NE Queensland state while shooting the series Ocean's Deadliest when he swims too close too a stingray, and it stabs him in the heart with its barbed tail, causing him to die within seconds of removing it; he is offered a state funeral, which his widow turns down; his death was filmed. On Sept. 4 leading Dem. lawmakers (House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid and other other congressional party leaders) urge Pres. Bush to consider changing the civilian leadership at the Pentagon. On Sept. 4 U.S. warplanes mistakenly fire on Canadian troops in Kandahar, Afghanistan, killing one and wounding five, but claim that 200 insurgents are also killed in the operation; meanwhile a suicide vehicle bombing in Kabul kills one British soldier and four Afghans. On Sept. 5 Chevron Corp et al. announce the first successful oil production from the deep-water region of the Gulf of Mexico, drilling down 28.175 ft. in 7K-ft. waters to lower tertiary rock, which is believed to contain 3B-15B barrels of oil, compared to current U.S. reserves of 29.3B barrels, incl. 15B in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. On Sept. 5 Pres. Bush gives a speech to the Military Officers Assoc. of Am., linking those who underestimate terrorists to those who underestimated Hitler and Lenin, and accusing Dems. of being soft on terrorism, causing them to accuse him of making the U.S. less safe with his Iraq War. The view of zoo-like America changes cast members? On Sept. 5 raging liberal lezzie Roseann "Rosie" O'Donnell (1962-) joins the all-female-host morning talk show The View on ABC-TV, replacing diva-ish Star Jones Reynolds, who was fired in June, joining Barbara Jill Walters (1929-) (who represents the older set), comedian Josephine Victoria "Joy" Behar (1942-) (the middle age set), and Elisabeth DelPadre Hasselbeck (nee Filarski) (1977-) (the 20-something set); two Jews, a leftist Italian Roman Catholic, a family values Italian Roman Catholic, a lez, and no blacks, Hispanics, and what else? On Sept. 5 Intel Corp. announces the cutting of 10.5K jobs, about 10% of their workforce. On Sept. 5 Donald Trump announces the sacking of longtime right-hand person Carolyn Kepcher (1969-). On Sept. 5 Katie Couric makes her debut as anchor of CBS Evening News, with 13.6M viewers, most in 8 years; she draws fire for snubbing mention of a key ruling by Mexico's electoral tribunal but displaying photos of It-babe Suri Cruise. On Sept. 6 Pres. Bush acknowledges that the CIA runs secret overseas prisons, and says that 14 suspects have been transferred to Guantanamo Bay for trials; the CIA program "has helped us to take potential mass murderers off the streets before they were able to kill"; meanwhile the Revised Army Field Manual is released (an update of the 1992 vers.), specifically barring torture and degrading treatment of POWs. On Sept. 6 Calif. becomes the U.S. state legislature to approve same-sex marriages; Gov. Terminator later vetoes it. On Sept. 7 Iraq takes control of its armed forces command from the U.S. On Sept. 7 Plamegate figure, former U.S. deputy sec. of state Richard Armitage finally acknowledges that he was the leak source to Novak and Woodward, but claims he didn't realize that Plame's job was covert. On Sept. 7 U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 60/285 is adopted, expressing serious concern for environmental damage in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, calling on all U.N. orgs. to help rehabilitate it. On Sept. 8 U.S. Air Force Maj. Jill Metzger (1973-) knocks on the door of a house in Kant, Kyrgyzstan, 22 mi. from Bishkek, claiming to have been abducted after vanishing on Sept. 5. On Sept. 8 a car bomb in Kabul, Afghanistan kills 16 incl. two U.S. troops, and U.S. officials announce that a suicide bombing cell is hunting foreign troops there. On Sept. 9 Va. Repub. Sen. George Allen concedes defeat to Dem. (former Repub. and U.S. Navy secy.) James Henry "Jim" Webb Jr. (1946-), sealing Dem. control of Congress after he is sworn-in next Jan. 3 (until Jan. 3, 2013). On Sept. 10 a suicide bomber assassinates Gov. (since 2005) Abdul Hakim Taniwal (1946-) of Paktia Province in E Afghanistan, while NATO kills 94 Taliban fighters in the S, bring the 9-day toll to 420; meanwhile Pres. Hamid Karzai attends the inauguration of a $25M Coca-Cola bottling plant in Kabul. On Sept. 10 (14:56 UTC) the 5.8 2006 Gulf of Mexico Earthquake centered 260 mi. SW of Anna Maria, Fla. causes no damage. On Sept. 10 British PM Tony Blair announces that he will step down within a year after a letter from Labour Party leaders urging him to do so is circulated; finance minister James Gordon Brown (1951-) is his heir apparent; Conservative Party leader David William Donald Cameron (1966-) waits in the wings. On Sept. 10 Daniel Wayne Smith (b. 1986), son of Playboy playmate, reality TV star, and heiress Anna Nicole Smith (1967-2007) dies in his mother's hospital room in Nassau, Bahamas three days after she gives birth to a girl, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern/Birkhead; she later claims memory loss of the event; on Sept. 28 she holds a nonlegal wedding ceremony in a boat off Nassau, Bahamas with her atty. Howard Kevin Stern, who claims to be the father; on Oct. 3 photographer and former beau Larry E. Birkhead (1973-) files a paternity suit over the baby in Calif.; on Mar. 13, 2009 Stern is charged with conspiracy to provide a "known addict" with thousands of prescription pills in the months before she died, along with her physicians Khristine Eroshevich and Sandeep Kapoor; in Oct. 2010 a jury finds Stern and Eroshevich guilty of conspiracy to obtain prescription drugs by fraud, and acquits Kappor; on Jan. 6, 2010 a judge dismisses all charges. On Sept. 10 Jeff Ingram (1966-) turns up on the streets of Denver, Colo. with amnesia, and after being put on TV news programs is recognized by relatives in Olympia, Wash. On Sept. 10 mother of two Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani is sentenced to death by stoning in Sharia-land Iran; on July 8 after internat. appeals she is spared that form of death, but other execution options remain on the table. On Sept. 11 the U.S. commemorates the 5th anniv. of 9/11, and Pres. Bush gives a prime-time speech, which is later criticized for using the 9/11 attacks to bolster support for the Iraq War; meanwhile al-Qaida releases three videos lionizing themselves as men "who changed history". On Sept. 11 Hamas makes a deal to share power with Fatah in a bid to end the 6-mo.-ole sanctions and receive foreign aid. On Sept. 11 a suicide bomber detonates at the funeral of the gov. of Paktia Province in Kabul, killing seven and wounding 40, incl. two policemen and two children. On Sept. 11 Mitchell Cozad, backup punter for the U. of Northern Colo. does a Tonya Harding and stabs starting punter Rafael Mendoza in the right (kicking) leg, leaving a 4-in. wound in an effort to get his job; he is charged with attempted murder. On Sept. 12 Syrian guards foil an al-Qaida attempt to blow up the U.S. embassy in Damascus. On Sept. 12 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki visits Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran, and is gifen a red carpet reception in his office; al-Maliki spent part of his exile from Iraq during Saddam's rule in Iran. On Sept. 13 Meredith Vieira (1953-) replaces Katie Couric as co-host of NBC's The Today Show (until ?). On Sept. 13 25-y.-o. Columbine H.S. copycat Kimveer Gill (b. 1981) of Laval, dressed in a black trench coat with a mohawk haircut opens fire at Dawson College in downtown Montreal, Canada, killing one and wounding 19 before police arrive and he kills himself; a blog is later discovered in which expresses a desire to die "in a hail of gunfire"; on Sept. 14 two 17-y.-o. boys are arrested in Green Bay, Wisc. with a cache of weapons for planning another Columbine-style massacre. On Sept. 13 Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab group, the Iraqi Accordance Front calls on Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki to disband militias after police announce the finding of 65 tortured bodies in and around Baghdad. On Sept. 13 NATO releases its first figures of deaths from suicide bombings in Afghanistan, 173 (151 civilians), incl. 50 on Sept. 13, but NATO nations fail to agree on calls for an extra 2.5K troops. On Sept. 13 the White House and three powerful GOP senators, John Warner (Va.), John McCain (Ariz.), and Lindsey Graham (S.C.) reach an impasse over a plan to have the Senate define what "inhumane treatment" is under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Protocols, fearing that it might lower the standard and put U.S. troops at risk. On Sept. 14 chief judge Abdullah al-Amiri (Shiite) gets in a pissing contest with Saddam Hussein in his Baghdad genocide trial, and ends up saying "you are not a dictator", causing Saddam to reply "Thank you". On Sept. 14 the U.S. military announces four U.S. soldiers killed and 25 injured in Iraq, incl. six killed by a car bomb in a soccer field in Fallujah, Iraq. On Sept. 14 top central banker Andrei Kozlov, a crusader against money-laundering is killed while playing soccer in Moscow. On Sept. 14 Elie Wiesel and actor George Clooney address the U.S. Security Council, pressing them to send peacekeepers to Darfur, Sudan to prevent the first genocide of the millennium, pointing to the 1994 Rwanda Genocide; Clooney and his journalist father Nick spent five days in Darfur in Apr. You can do it put your back into it? On Sept. 14 Pope Benedict XVI gives his Regensburg Lecture at Regensburg U. which quotes 14th cent. Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus (1350-1425) in 1391 that some of the teachings of Muhammad are "evil and inhuman", with the soundbyte "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached", adding that violence is contrary to God's nature and to reason; no surprise, his mere quoting of 600-y.-o. words to history ignoramus Westerners sparks a worldwide reaction of Muslim hate and anger to prove him right, incl. death threats, violence in the streets, attacks on Christian churches in Palestinian areas, and the murder of 65-y.-o. Italian missionary nun Sister Leonela in Mogadishu, Somalia hours after a Somalian cleric condemned the pope's speech, with Muslim disifnormation artists ignoring their own criminals and the Quran that created them, and instead savaging the Catholic Church, bringing up the usual trinity of the Crusades, Inquisition and Vatican relations with the Nazis; on Sept. 17 the pope says that he's "deeply sorry" that his remarks offended the Allah Akbars, and lamely claims he doesn't believe the words he was quoting, after which on Sept. 18 al-Qaida in Iraq issues the soundbyte "You and the West are doomed", saying its war with the West and Christianity will never end until Islam takes over the world, adding "We will break up the cross, spill the liquor and impose the jizya tax, then the only thing acceptable is a conversion or the sword"; on Sept. 25 the pope tells Muslim envoys that their two faiths can overcome historic enmities and together reject violence, saying that the future of humanity is at stake, and urges "reciprocity" in religious freedom, calling for preserving the rights of Christians throughout the Islamic world - how much jumpin' and moving' around are you doing up there? - just walking slowly down the stairs? On Sept. 14 Daniel Alter (47) of Germany, Tomas Kucera (35) of Czech Repub., and Malcolm Mattitiani (38) of South Africa, the first rabbis since WWII are ordained in Germany in the rebuilt Dresden Synagogue; too bad, only Alter will stay in Germany, in Oldenburg. On Sept. 14 Survivor: Cook Islands debuts, gaining hype by dividing its 20 contestants by race into four tribes, white, black, Asian and Hispanic, bringing accusations of racism for ratings, which had dipped 25% in the prior season. On Sept. 15-17 the 11th PeaceJam is held in Denver, Colo., featuring the largest gathering (10) of Nobel Peace Prize winners ever assembled along with 3K young people from 31 countries. On Sept. 17 a gunman at the Duquesne U. campus in Pittsburgh, Penn. shoots five basketball players then escapes. On Sept. 17 six car bombs in Kurkuk, Iraq kill 24 and wound 84; meanwhile the U.S. military in Iraq imprisons AP photographer Bilal Hussein for being a security threat for 5 mo. sans charges or public hearing. On Sept. 18 49-y.-o. Taco Bell worker Luz Maria Franco Fierros is dragged behind a car for over a mi. in Douglas County, Colo. and killed by her live-in boyfriend Jose Luis Rubi-Nava (1970-); both are illegal immigrants. On Sept. 18 three suicide bombers kill 19 across Afghanistan, while bombers and gunmen kill at least 41 in Iraq. On Sept. 18 20-y.-o. Carlos Greene of Silver Spring, Md. crashes his vehicle on the U.S. Capitol grounds and runs armed through the Capitol before being tackled. On Sept. 19 the govt. of Thailand is overthrown by Muslim Gen. Sondhi Boonyaratkalin (1947-) (first coup in 15 years) as PM Thaksin Shinawatra is away in New York City; Sondhi, who became head of the army in 2005 to better deal with the S Thailand Muslim insurgency becomes acting PM, and claims on TV in front of giant portraits of the king and queen that he will return the country to dem. elections in 1 year and turn the govt. to a civilian PM in two weeks; meanwhile Thaksin plots his comeback. On Sept. 19 Norfolk, Va. lifts its 56-year ban on tattoo parlors in the city hosting the world's largest naval base - close captioning provided by Garnier Fructis? On Sept. 19 U.N. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan opens the 61st U.N. Gen. Assembly, uttering the soundbyte: "On one side, supporters of Israel feel that it is harshly judged by standards that are not applied to its enemies, and too often this is true, particularly in some U.N. bodies"; on Sept. 19 U.S. Pres. #43 (2001-9) George Walker Bush (1946-) gives a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, claiming that the U.S. is not in a "war against Islam", saying "This propaganda is false and its purpose is to confuse you and justify acts of terror. We respect Islam"; Iranian pres. Ahmadinejad is nearby but snubs the speech; on Sept. 20 Venezuelan pres. (1999-2013) Hugo Chavez (1954-2013) gives a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, hamming it up by calling Bush a "diablo", saying "The Devil came here yesterday... as if he were the owner of the world", adding "In this very spot it smells like sulfur still", accusing the U.S. govt. of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world"; "We appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head"; U.S. ambassador John Bolton comments "Too bad the people of Venezuela don't have free speech"; in Oct. Chavez's behavior costs Argentina a seat on the U.N. Security Council; on Sept. ? a U.S. Secret Service agent accidentally discharges his shotgun as Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket is loading his motorcade at the InterContinental Hotel, freaking out Pres. Bush and co.; Imadinnajacket's refusal to make a public stink of the incident teaches the White House that he acts strategically, with caution, giving them respect for him? On Sept. 20 the CW Network, a combo of WB and UPN debuts with a new season of America's Top Model from the UPN. On Sept. 20 the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual conference of 50 world leaders hosted by former Pres. Clinton begins; Al Gore warns of a "full-scale planetary emergency" caused by global warming; on Sept. 21 Sir Richard Branson pledges to invest $3B over the next decade to combat global warming and promote alternate energy by using all of the profits of his train and airline cos.; another 113 commitments totaling $2.7B are made, topping 2005's $2.5B in pledges. On Sept. 21 Pakistan's Pres. Pervez Musharraf says that U.S. deputy secy. of state Richard Armitage once threatened his intel dir., "Be prepared to be bombed. Be prepared to go back to the Stone Age"; Armitage denies it. On Sept. 21 Steven Warshak (1964-), pres. of of Berkeley Premium Neutraceutics, which makes the fraud, er, wonderful male enhancement product Enzyte is indicted in federal court for defrauding thousands of customers and banks of at least $100M; he is later convicted; too bad, the massive TV ads never actually make any explicit claims allowing it to be shut down, and continue raking in megabucks until ? - convicted, but he has a sackful of pride? On Sept. 23 Christian convert Mansuur Mohammed (b. 1981) is brutally beheaded with a knife by Muslim al Shahab extremists in Manyafulka (near Baidoa), Kenya, the videos making a disgusting stir on the Internet. On Sept. 24 Chris Wallace interviews former U.S. pres. Bill Clinton on News Sunday, and gets defensive when asked about why he didn't kill Osama bin Laden, saying he came closer to killing him than Bush did: "No, I didn't get him, but at least I tried". On Sept. 24 the drama series Brothers & Sisters debuts on ABC-TV for 109 episodes (until May 8, 2011), airing in the timeslot after "Desperate Housewives", about the wealthy Walker family of LA after the death of patriarch William Walker (Tom Skerritt), starring Sally Margaret Field (1946-) as matriarch Nora Walker, Rachel Anne Griffiths (1968-) as her eldest daughter Sarah Louise Walker, Calista Kay Flockhart (1964-) as #2 Katherine Anne "Kitty" Walker McAllister, Balthazar Getty (1975-) as #3 Thomas "Tommy" Walker, Matthew Rhys (Evans) (1974-) as #4 Kevin Walker, David Rodman "Dave" Annable (1979-) as #5 Justin Walker; Patricia Wettig (1951-) plays Holly Harper. On Sept. 25 the refurbished New Orleans Superdome reopens to host a game for ABC's Monday Night Football - for a mainly white paying audience? On Sept. 25 U.S. aviation security officials ease the ban on carry-on liquids for airlines passengers, permitting 3-oz. bottles that all fit into a quart-size zip-top plastic bag. On Sept. 25 women's rights champion Safia Ama Jan is murdered outside her home as she leaves for work by two men on a motorcycle in Kandahar, Afghanistan; Taliban cmdr. Mullah Sadullah claims credit; she was shot even though she was wearing the full burqa. On Sept. 25 Tim Kring's sci-fi drama series Heroes debuts on NBC-TV for 85 episodes (until Feb. 8, 2010), about ordinary people who discover they have superhuman abilities. On Sept. 26 James Hansen et al. of NASA's Goddard Inst. for Space Studies warn that the Earth's temperature is the warmest in 12K years, and has been warming .036F (0.2C) per decade for the past 30 years; 1.7K plant, animal, and insect species move poleward at an avg. rate of 4 mi. (6.5km) per decade in the last half of the 20th cent. On Sept. 26 Shinzo Abe (1954-) becomes PM #90 of Japan (until 2007) after a landslide V in Liberal Dem. Party elections, and promises to create a more assertive nation and give the military a larger internat. role; he also hints at strengthening ties with China. On Sept. 26 a remote-control bomb under a bridge in ? detonates as a 3-vehicle NATO convoy passes over, killing a NATO soldier and a child. On Sept. 27 (11:40 a.m.) tinerant haunted house maker Duane Roger Morrison (b. 1952) attacks Platte Canyon H.S. in Bailey, Colo. and takes six girls hostage in an English classroom, sexually molests them, releases two, then after promising that "something will happen" at 4 p.m., police raid the school at 3:35 p.m. and shoot it out, causing him to kill 16-y.-o. Emily Keyes (b. 1990) and then himself, becoming the 377th U.S. school shooting or stabbing in 15 years. On Sept. 27 Nancy Pelosi utters the soundbyte: "It is the most closed and corrupt Congress in history, being a rubber stamp for the Bush administration"; on Oct. 12 she says "He is in denial" about Iraq; on Oct. 30 she adds "Their approach comes down to this: The terrorists win and America loses." On Sept. 27 the Calif. Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 is signed by Calif. Repub. Gov. (2003-11) Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (1947-), establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse emissions from all sources in the state, strengthening his Executive Order S-3-05 of June 1, 2005 establishing greenhouse emissions targets. On Sept. 28 Silvio Horta's comedy-drama series Ugly Betty, based on Fernando Gaitan's telenovela "You Soy Betta, La Fea" debuts on ABC-TV for 85 episodes (until Apr. 14, 2010), starring braces-wearing America Georgine Ferrera (1984-) as ugly Betty Suarez, who lands a job at a prestigious fashion mag. On Sept. 29 15-y.-o. special ed. student Eric Hainstock shoots Weston H.S. principal John Kalang (b. 1957) 3x in Cazenovia, Wisc., killing hime; he aims a shotgun at his face, has it wrestled away, pulls a handgun and shoots, then the wounded principal wrestles him to the ground; he had given the punk a disciplinary warning the day before for having tobacco on school grounds. On Sept. 29 (16:48 local time) Brazilian Gol Airlines Flight 1907 crashes in the jungle after colliding with a small Legacy executive jet after takeoff from Manaus in Para state, killing all 154 aboard. On Sept. 30 U.S. 6-term moderate Repub. Fla. Rep. Mark Foley (1954-), chmn. of the House Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, who introduced legislation in the summer to child children from adult exploitation over the Internet resigns after gay e-mails and instant messages to his male "hot stud" pages under the screen name Maf54 are exposed; on Oct. 4 Kirk Fordham top aide of Rep. (R-N.Y.) Tom Reynolds and Foley's top aid until Jan. 2004 resigns after claiming he warned Repub. staffers more than three years earlier about Foley, causing House Speaker Dennis Hastert's ass to become grass; meanwhile on Oct. 4 Foley admits that he's gay, referring to abuse by a clergy member as a teen when he was an altar boy - an in-your-face admission? On Sept. 30 a dam in NW Nigeria near Kano, Nigeria collapses, killing 40. In Sept. a record 55M children enroll in U.S. schools. In Sept. Time Inc.'s "People" mag. offshoot Teen People ceases pub. In Sept. the bimonthly Draft mag. is founded in Phoenix, Ariz. by Erika Rietz; in 2013 it pub. America's 100 Best Beer Bars List. In Sept. the end-of-summer size of the floating Artic polar ice cap shrinks for the 5th straight year, incl. 6% from 2004-5, as reported by NASA. In Sept. (after Labor Day) U.S. retail gas prices begin plummeting, reaching the low twos in some areas. In Sept. Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, head of the Saudi nat. security council has an unofficial meeting with an Israeli envoy over the spreading influence of Iran and its terrorist allies. In Sept. Mexican illegal immigrant Elvira Arellano (1975-) tries to avoid deportation by declaring sanctuary in the Adalberto United Methodist Church in Chicago, Ill.; too bad, she makes the mistake of leaving, and is arrested on Aug. 19, 2007 in Los Angeles, Calif. In the fall anon. people in Sweden begin installing homemade dog sculptures called roundabout dogs at roundabout traffic intersections. On Oct. 1 (2:30 a.m.) Israel withdraws it last troops from Lebanon to beat the onset of Yom Kippur at sundown. On Oct. 1 Hamas and Fatah gunmen fight running battles in Gaza, in which eight are killed and 100 wounded. On Oct. 1 a video dated Jan. 18, 2000 showing 9/11 hijackers Mohamed Ata and Ziad al-Jarrah joking and making wills surfaces on the Web site of the London Sunday Times. On Oct. 1 CFO Indra K. Nooyi (1956-) becomes CEO of PepsiCo Inc., becoming one of 11 female CEOs of Fortune 500 cos. On Oct. 1 suspected al-Qaida terrorists Fawaz Yahya al-Rabeie and Mohammed al-Dailami are killed in Yemen in a dawn raid by govt. troopsl al-Rabeie had been sentenced to death for a 2002 attack on French oil tanker Limburg, and escaped earlier this year. On Oct. 1 Brazilian pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is reelected for a 2nd 4-year term (the limit). On Oct. 1 Donald Rumsfeld tells reporters that Bob Woodward's new book "State of Denial" reports that White House staff had encouraged Pres. Bush to fire him after the 2004 election, and says Bush had called him personally recently to express his continued support. On Oct. 1 the annual Red Mass of Roman Catholic U.S. Supreme Court justices is held at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., led by Archbishop Donald Wuerl, and is attended by four of the five Roman Catholics on the court, except Alito. On Oct. 1 Donald Hall Jr. (1928-) becomes U.S. poet laureate #14 (until Aug. 2, 2007). On Oct. 2 32-y.-o. milk truck driver Charles Carl Roberts IV (1974-) storms a 1-room Amish schoolhouse in Nickel Mines, near Paradise in Lancaster County in SE Penn., barricading himself in after expelling boys and adults, then opening fire on a dozen girls, shooting 10 and killing three before comming suicide; two more are killed the next day; the Amish forgive him because the kids are going to heaven; on Oct. 3 investigators claim he plotted the attack for a week, had molested two relatives 20 years earlier, and brought flexible plastic ties, eyebolts, and lubricating jelly; the 1997 death of his premie baby Elise haunted him?; the schoolhouse is razed on Oct. 12. On Oct. 2 Russia suspends all air, road, rail, sea, and postal links with Georgia after it arrests then releases four Russian officers on spying charges. On Oct. 2 Iraqis display a picture of a smiling Buddy Christ which they said was left by U.S. troops after an Oct. 1 raid in Sadr City, Baghdad; the U.S. military denies it. On Oct. 3 U.S. Gen. Barry McCaffrey utters the soundbyte that the Iraq War has left the U.S. military in critical condition, put it in danger of "breaking", and claims it has $61B in equipment shortages; he also says that two-thirds of the 14 U.S. Army brigades in Iraq "are not ready to fight". On Oct. 3 a Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 is hijacked by Hasan Ekinci of Turkey after takeoff from Tirana, Albania en route to Istanbul; he surrenders to police and releases all 113 passengers after landing in Brindisi, Italy, saying he was going to be arrested upon arrival in Turkey for evading the military draft last May for being a Christian convert, and asking for political asylum. On Oct. 3 Irish PM Bertie Ahern apologizes from taking secret money from businessmen in the 1990s before he took office nine years ago, and holds off but finally announces his resignation on Apr. 2, 2008, effective on May 6. On Oct. 3 the drama series Friday Night Lights, based on the 1990 book by H.G. Bissinger debuts on NBC-TV for 76 episodes (until Feb. 9, 2011), about the Dillon, Tex. Panthers H.S. football team coached by Eric Taylor, played by Kyle Martin Chandler (1965-), with an ensemble cast; too bad, although praised by critics, people not from Texas don't 'get' it, and it lingers at the bottom of the ratings until it is mercifully cancelled? On Oct. 4 a parliamentary committee approves a ban on smoking in all public areas in France, closing loopholes in the 1991 law banning it everywhere except designated areas; 20% of the pop. are smokers, following the proud tradition of smokers Camus, Cocteau, Colette), Sartre, and Jean-Paul Belmondo to early death? On Oct. 5 a Calif. appeals court upholds Calif.'s ban on gay marriage, reversing the Mar. 2005 ruling of a San Francisco trial judge, saying that the legislature not the courts must change the traditional definition. On Oct. 5 an outbreak of Dengue fever in India which infects 2.9K and kills 38 lands two grandchildren of PM Manmohan Singh in hospital. On Oct. 5 Iraqi War vet Zackery Bowen (b. 1978) kills his girlfriend Adriane "Addie" Hall (b. 1976) in their 1-bedroom 1829 garret above a voodoo temple in the macabre-loving French Quarter of New Orleans, La., then dismembers her and cooks her head and legs before leaping to his death on Oct. 16 from the roof of the Omni Hotel in the French Quarter, leaving a long suicide note in his pocket with instructions on finding her pieces; her torso is found in the fridge, her arms and legs in the oven, and her charred head in a pot; they met in Aug. 2005 when Hall gave Bowen refuge in her apt. the night that Hurricane Katrina hit, and they defied the mayor's order to evacuate and fell in love; subject of the 2009 book Shake the Devil Off by Ethan Brown. On Oct. 6 (Fri.) the U.N. Security Council unanimously urges North Korea to abandon all atomic weapons and cancel test plans; on Oct. 9 North Korea detonates a nuke underground anyway, causing Pres. Bush to call it "a threat to internat. peace and security", and the U.N. Security Council to weigh severe sanctions, voting 15-0-0 on Oct. 14 for "clear threat to international peace and security", causing North Koream ambassador Pak Gil Yon to walk out of the council chamber after calling their action "gangster-like" for ignoring the U.S. nuclear arsenal, which gives U.S. U.N. ambassador John Bolton a chance to snicker; the resolution was castrated of its authorization of military action by Russia and China, but bans luxury items such as cognac, French wine, and lobster loved by Kim Jong-il; Russia is alone in saying it has "no doubts" over the North Korean claim of an underground atomic explosion, while U.S. experts claim it was a dud at a mere 1 kiloton. On Oct. 6 ex-pres. Clinton and the Am. Heart Assoc. announce a deal with U.S. schools and major food cos. to make school snacks healthier, with less fat, sugar and salt, banning Snickers and other candy bars in favor of baked chips, yogurt, and reduced sugar chew bars. On Oct. 6 the Hallmark Channel miniseries Final Days of Planet Earth debuts, about an alien takeover, starring Daryl Hannah as Earth Queen Liz Quinlan, Campbell Scott as William Phillips, and Gil Bellows as Lloyd Walker. On Oct. 7 Russian investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya (b. 1958) is gunned down in the elevator of her apt. bldg. in Moscow, causing concerns that there is a pattern behind the silencing of journalists traceable to corrupt Pres. Putin; on Oct. 10 her funeral is attended by hundreds of Russian journalists, diplomats et al, while Pres. Putin calls her slaying a "disgustingly cruel" crime that cannot go unpunished, while downplaying her influence as "very minor"; meanwhile Internet postings from the "Russian Will" call for 89 people, incl. refugee rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina to be executed by "patriots" as friends of "alien peoples". On Oct. 9 the brother of Iraq's Sunni Arab vice-pres. is assassinated, becoming the 3rd of his four siblings he loses this year. On Oct. 9 U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stop seizing small amounts of prescription medicines mailed from Canada, permitting up to a 90-day supply, and turning enforcement back over to the FDA, which focuses only on large shipments. On Oct. 10 a ban on child labor under age 14 takes effect in India. On Oct. 10 after being escorted out of her lavish mansion on New York's Upper East Side by her hubby Ron Perelman's security guards, Am. actress Ellen Barkin auctions 100+ pieces of jewelry from her marriage, fetching $20.3M at Christie's, saying "I'm not proud of that marriage." 10/11: a curious day of mellow crashes and mellowing organization changes? On Oct. 11 a Cirrus SR-20 plane owned by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle (b. 1972) plunges into the 30th and 31st floors of the 40-story Belaire residential bldg. on E. 72nd St. in the Upper East Side of New York City; his flight instructor Tyler Stanger is also killed; the incident stirs fears of another 9/11; Yankees catcher Thurman Munson was killed in a 1979 crash of a plane he was piloting, and Lidle had repeatedly assured reporters that he wouldn't become another; novelist Carol Higgins Clark lives one floor below impact zone; on Oct. 7 the Yankees had been eliminated embarassingly quick from the playoffs, during the 5th inning of which which Lidle had been relegated to the bullpen. On Oct. 11 Pope Benedict XVI announces a loosening of restrictions of use on the 16th cent. Tridentine Latin Mass, permitting priests to say it after getting permission from the local bishop - the more the Church changes? On Oct. 11 Britain's Law Lords (highest court) rules for the first time that journalists have the right to pub. allegations about public figures as long as their reporting is responsible and in the public interest, reversing cents. of winning libel cases against journalists. On Oct. 11 Pres. Bush announces that up to a generous 70K refugees from around the world will be admitted to the U.S. next year, incl. 22K from Africa, 11K from E Asia, 6.5K from Europe and C Asia, 5.5K from the Near East and S Asia, and 5K from Latin Am. and the Caribbean, with 20K left up to the State Dept. - I'd rather just sneak in? On Oct. 11 a train crashes near Zoufftgen on France's NE border with Luxembourg, killing five. On Oct. 11 the satirical sitcom 30 Rock debuts on NBC-TV for 138 episodes (until Jan. 31, 2013), about fictional live sketch comedy "TGS with Tracy Jordan", located at the GE Bldg. of NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, starring creator Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (1970-) (based on her experiences at Saturday Night Live) as head writer Liz Lemon, Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin (1957-) as exec Jack Donaghy, Tracy Jamal Morgan (1968-) as the show's male African-Am. star Tracy Jordan, and Jane Krakowski (1968-) as co-star Jenna Maroney. On Oct. 12 gunmen dressed as police storm a new satellite TV station in Baghdad, Iraq and kill 11 employees two days before its debut. On Oct. 12 Dianne Curry wins a runoff election for the Little Rock, Ark. school board, giving it a black majority for the first time, 49 years after federal troops escorted nine black students into Central High School. On Oct. 12 a Web site alleges that seven NFL football stadiums in the U.S. will be hit with radiological dirty bombs over the weekend on Oct. 18, causing the Homeland Security Dept. to alert stadium owners; the feds later say it is a hoax, and arrest Wisc. grocery store clerk Jake Joseph Brahm (1985-), who pleads guilty to violating the paranoid U.S. Patriot Act. On Oct. 13 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Financial Services Regulatory Relief Act, reducing the regulatory burden on banks, S&Ls, and credit unions. On Oct. 13 British Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt (1950-), its top military cmdr. says that Britain should withdraw its troops from Iraq "sometime soon", contradicting PM Tony Blair, who said that retreat from Iraq would be "a craven act of surrender". On Oct. 15 (7:07 a.m.) the 6.7 2006 Kiholo Bay Earthquake hits 13 mi. N of Kailua Konaon the W coast of Hawaii Island (the Big Island) near the Kona Airport, becoming the strongest since 1983; no fatalities are reported, but vacationers suffer from power outages; it does $100M damage. On Oct. 16 civil rights atty. Lynne Stewart (1939-) is sentenced to 28 mo. in prison for helping imprisoned "Blind Sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman communicate with followers on the outside; prosecutors wanted 30 years. On Oct. 16 a suicide bomber rams his truck into a military convoy 100 mi. NE of Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing 94 and wounding 150, most sailors; the govt. blames the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. On Oct. 17 U.S. forces are called back to patrol the streets of the predominantly Shiite city of Balad, Iraq after five days of sectarian all-new-Ugly-Betty slaughter kill 95, which begin with the killing of 17 Shiite workers on Oct. 13, and the Iraqi 4th Army fails to stop it and fighting spills over into nearby Duluiyah, a Sunni city across the Tigris River on the E side. On Oct. 17 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. John Warner Defense Authorization Act, authorizing interrogation and prosecution of terror suspects, and amending the 1878 U.S. Possee Comitatus Act to read: "The President may employ the armed forces to restore public order in any State of the United States the President determines hinders the execution of laws or deprives people of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law or opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws"; HR 4986: Nat. Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 repeals the changes, reverting back to the 1807 Insurrection Act, but Pres. Bush attaches a signing statement that he doesn't feel bound by the repeal. On Oct. 17 U.S. officials announce that satellite images of North Korea indicate they are getting ready for a 2nd nuclear test as it holds huge rallies and proclaims that U.N. sanctions amount to a declaration of war. On Oct. 17 10 U.S. troops are killed in Iraq, followed by another on Oct. 18, bringing the Oct. death toll to 70, the highest since Nov. 2004 (137). On Oct. 17 British PM Tony Blair joins the debate over full-face veils worn by some kooky British Muslim women, calling it a "mark of separation", backing House of Commons leader Jack Straw, who earlier in Oct. says they shouldn't wear the disguises, arguing that it prevents communication, makes people feel uncomfortable, and sets them apart - since the eyes peering through the black slit make one think of poon peeking out of crotchless panties, I know why you can't speak? On Oct. 17 Pres. Bush signs the 2006 U.S. Military Commissions Act, establishing procedures for the use of military commissions to try alien unlawful enemy combatants engaged in hostilities against the U.S. On Oct. 18 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. tops 12K for the first time (12,049); on Oct. 19 it ends the day at a record 12,012. On Oct. 18 Japan assures the U.S. that it vows to remain nuke-free; Condy Rice vows that U.S. military commitments to Japan will continue undiminished. On Oct. 18 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki meets with Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army, Iraq's most feared militia; meanwhile one of al-Sadr's district chiefs is arrested, causing a Shiite protest, and foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari blames U.S. officials for the chaos from the way they ran Iraq before the new govt. took control. On Oct. 18 NATO heli air strikes kill nine civilians in three mud-dried homes in Ashogho, Afghanistan in the S, and another rocket strikes a house in a village to the W, killing 13, hurting NATO's hopes of winning local support. On Oct. 18 Mexico, the birthplace of corn rejects requests from several multinat. corps. to start planting genetically modified (GMO) corn there. On Oct. 19 a suicide car bombing near Kirkuk, Iraq kills eight and wounds 70, while a total of 66 are killed and 175 wounded around Iraq; meanwhile the U.S. military finally concedes that it has failed to stem the tide of bombings and tortures in Baghdad despite a 2-mo. effort with 12K new U.S. and Iraqi troops, with U.S. Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV announcing that they are rethinking (oxymoron?) their strategy. On Oct. 19 Father Anthony Mercieca (1937-) of the Maltese island of Gozo admits that he had fondled Rep. Mark Foley as a teen, but it wasn't abuse because he "seemed to like it" - I love every little thing about this job? On Oct. 19 81-y.-o. James Bertakis of Lighthouse Point, Fla. is stabbed in the chest and heart by a stingray (eagle ray) that flopped into his boat in a deja vu of the Crocodile Hunter incident - an Alfred Hitchcock movie in the making? On Oct. 19 al-Qaida terorists conduct two IED attacks in Algeria, one against a police station in El Harrach (E of Algiers), the 2nd against a fuel storage site belong to the French Razel co. in Lakhdaria; on Oct. 29 they strike again at police stations in Reghaia and Dergana, followed by two more attacks against foreign oil workers next Mar. 5, and two more next Apr. 11. On Oct. 20 the 2006 EU Summit in Lahti, Finland sees Euro leaders stumbling over themselves trying to court Russian pres. Vladimir Putin - we have a family room, a media room, and a backyard? On Oct. 21-27 the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat the Detroit Tigers (AL) 4-1 in the 102nd (2006) World Series; the same year St. Louis, Mo. is named the most dangerous city in the U.S.; the Washington Nationals fire ML's first black mgr. Jackie Robinson after 17 seasons with the Indians, Giants, Orioles, Expos, and Nationals, and a record of 1,065 wins vs. 1,176 losses; of the 317 mgr. positions filled in ML baseball since him, only 17 were filled by 11 different blacks, and of 30 ML teams in 2007 only two are managed by blacks, the New York Mets by Willie Randolph, and the Texas Rangers by Ron Washington; meanwhile blacks fail to sign up for baseball in high school and college in favor of basketball and football. On Oct. 22 former Iraq finance minster Ali Allawi appears on CBS-TV's 60 Minutes, alleging that up to $800M meant to equip the Iraqi army has been stolen by former officials, calling it "one of the biggest thefts in history"; meanwhile shoppers buying sweets for the feast marking the end of Ramadan are targeted by insurgents, killing 44. On Oct. 22 Sudan orders Johannes Pieter "Jan" Pronk (1940-) of Holland, the top U.N. official there (since 2004) to leave after he accuses the army of mobilizing Arab militias on Oct. 14. On Oct. 22 voters in Panama approve by 78% a $5.25B expansion of the Panama Canal to allow the largest ships to squeeze through; current traffic is at a max cap. of 35-40 ships a day, and generates $1.4B a year. On Oct. 23 Hungary celebrates the 50th anniv. of its 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, and anti-govt. protests grow violent, injuring 40. On Oct. 24 actor Michael J. Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's disease appears on TV asking voters to support stem cell research by voting for Dem. candidates incl. Tammy Duckworth of Ill. On Oct. 24 the U.S. Education Dept. announces that it will make it easier to create single-sex classes and schools - as long as the women don't wear veils? On Oct. 25 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki gets angry at the U.S. for asking his govt. for a timetable to curb violence, and also vents anger at a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, where he derives a lot of support; meanwhile Pres. Bush tells the press that he still thinks the U.S. must come, er, win before it pulls out. On Oct. 25 the New Jersey Supreme Court rules 4-3 that gay couples are entitled to the same rights as hetero ones, and gives lawmakers 180 days to rewrite laws to offer either same-sex marriage or anal, er, oral, er, civil unions. On Oct. 25 after confessing to killing eight people, Shreveport, La.-born serial murderer ("the Gainesville Ripper") Daniel Harold "Danny" Rolling (b. 1954) is executed by lethal injection in Fla. for murdering five U. of Fla. college students in Gainesville in Aug. 1990; he confesses to eight murderers on Nov. 4, 1989-Aug. 27, 1990. On Oct. 26 after the Repub.-dominated U.S. House of Reps approves it (incl. 64 Dems., incl. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton), plus 80 of 100 U.S. senators, Pres. Bush signs an election-pleaser law approving a 700-mi. border wall (fence) with Mexico's 2,100-mi. border, covering most of Ariz. and parts of Calif., N.M., and Tex.; too bad, the Dem.-controlled Congress amends it to allow DHS officials unlimited discretion, and by 2016 only 35.6 mi. of fencing have been set up. On Oct. 26 a fire set by arsonists at 1 a.m. near Cabazon, Calif. gets whipped up by Santa Ana winds and goes out of control, killing four firefighters; flames burn to the edge of a 400-person RV park in Poppet, stranding them; 700 are evacuated from Banning. On Oct. 26 Sheik Taj Aldin al-Hilali, head of the 300K Muslims (out of 20M) in Australia stirs an outcry after he utters the Arabic soundbyte: "If you take uncovered meat outdoors and the cats come to eat it, whose fault is it, the meat's or the cat's?", referring to women appearing in public without a veil (hijab). On Oct. 26 the Nicaraguan legislature votes 52-0 (28 passing) to ban all abortions, joining El Salvador and Chili as the only countries in the Western hemisphere to ban it without exception, although most Latin Am. countries banit with rare exceptions (rape, life of mother in danger); only in Cuba and a few English-speaking Caribbean countries is it readily available. On Oct. 26 after selling Celtel (which sold 24M mobile phone subscriptions in 14 African countries) for $3.4B in 2005, 60-y.-o. Sudanese-born cell phone billionaire Mohammed "Mo" Ibraham (1946-) announces the creation of the Mo Abrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership ($5M upfront followed by $200K/year for life) for the sub-Saharan African pres. showing the greatest commitment to good governance. On Oct. 27 the last Ford Taurus cars (introduced 1985) are produced, and the plant in Atlanta, Ga. is closed along with 2K employees. On Oct. 27 gun battles in Oaxaca, Mexico kill three, incl. a U.S. journalist, causing outgoing pres. Vicente Fox to finally order 4K riot police into the city after 5 mo. of stalling while protests rage. On Oct. 29 Sunni Arab gunmen kill 23 police in Iraq, incl. 17 in one attack in Basra; meanwhile 2K Shiites demonstrate in Sadr City against U.S. forces "sieging" their district looking for a kidnapped comrade; meanwhile Saddam Hussein's chief atty. warns of worsening violence and chaos across the Mideast if he is sentenced to death. On Oct. 29 House majority leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) tells ABC's This Week: "I think Donald Rumsfeld is the best thing that's happened to the Pentagon in 25 years", sparking a Dem. debate on voting the GOP out of power. On Oct. 29 a Nigerian Boeing 737 jetliner crashes on the runway during takoff in Abuja, Nigeria, killing 99 of 105, incl. Muhammadu Maccido (b. 1928), sultan #19 of Sokoto (since Apr. 20, 1996), spiritual leader of Nigerian Muslims (50% of the pop.); the pilot had ignored ATC warnings about stormy weather; on Nov. 2 his brother Sa'adu Abubakar III (1956-) becomes sultan #20 of Sokoto (until ?). On Oct. 29 Mexican Pres. Vicente Fox finally sends thousands of federales into Oaxaca to end 5 mo. of unrest. On Oct. 30 Kentucky Fried Chicken announces that it will stop frying its chicken in trans fats by next Apr. in all 5.5K of its U.S. restaurants, switching to soybean oil; its famous biscuits will continue to use trans fat shortening, which they can't find a replacement for. On Oct. 30 the pres. election in Congo is disrupted by a drunken army sgt. in Goma in E Congo, who shoots and kills two election workers, inciting riots which destroy 43 polling stations along with thousands of ballots. On Oct. 31 agrees to return to 6-nation disarmament talks. On Oct. 31 Mass. Sen. John Kerry puts his foot in his mouth when he tells a group of Calif. students that those who don't study hard and do their homework and make an effort to be smart could "get stuck in Iraq"; after Sen. Hillary Clinton and other Dems. distance themselves and Pres. Bush demands an apology, he apologizes on Nov. 1, saying he meant to say "You end up getting us stuck in a war in Iraq - just ask President Bush". In Oct. Adam Yahiye Gadahn (Pearlman) (1978-), a part-Jewish Californian who converted as a teen to Islam and first appeared in an al-Qaida video as "Azzam the American" (Azzam al-Amriki) is charged by the U.S. with treason, becoming the first since Tomoya Kawakita in 1948; if arrested and convicted he would be the 9th person in U.S. history; his grandfather was a Zionist Jew; he remains at large until ?. In Oct. Am. rock megastar Madonna adopts a motherless 1-y.-o. black child in Malawi with the approval of his father, but human rights groups object to the way she seemingly bought him like a cute little, er; in June 2009 she adopts a 2nd one for a matched set? In Oct. Jared Harris (22), a cousin of 10-y.-o. Katlyn "Katie" Collman forcibly tattoos "KATIE'S REVENGE" on the forehead of her convicted killer Anthony Ray Stockelman. In Oct. Italian TV personality Vladimir Luxuria (Wladimiro Guadagno) (1965-), the first transvestite lawmaker in Italy causes a controversy when she/he uses the women's restrooms. In Oct. a total of 96 U.S. troops die in Ramadan-celebrating Iraq (107 in Jan. 2005, 135 in Apr. 2004, 137 in Nov. 2004). In Oct. Louis Farrakhan (b. 1933), known for calling Hitler "wickedly great" and Judaism a "gutter religion" cedes leadership of the Nation of Islam to an exec. board while he recovers from an anal ulcer resulting for 2000 surgery for prostate cancer. In Oct. U.S. Rep. (R-Ohio) Robert William "Bob" Ney (1954-) pleads guilty to conspiracy and making false statements in connection with campaign donations arranged by Jack Abramoff, and in Jan. 2007 is sentenced to 2.5 years in priz. In Oct. Megan Meier (b. 1993) commits suicide after receiving cruel messages from fake MySpace 16-y.-o. boy Josh Evans, saying the world would be better off without her; on May 15, 2008 neighbor Lori Drew (1959-) is charged with conspiracy for perpetrating a hoax on her, the trumped-up charges raising civil rights questions? In Oct. the U.S. Army changes its slogan from "An Army of One" to "Army Strong"; 1 mo. earlier the U.S. Air Force beat them to the punch by changing their slogan from "Cross Into the Blue" to "Do Something Amazing". On Nov. 1 Ethiopian immigrant Khalid Adem (1975-) is sentenced to 10 years in prison in Lawrenceville, Ga. for the genital mutilation of his 2-y.-o. daughter after he removes her clitoris with scissors in his Atlanta, Ga. apt. in 2001; he claims his wife's family did it, and that the daughter was coached to testify; on Nov. 18 2K protest against the sentence in Addis Ababa, Ethopia the U.S. State Dept. estimates that up to 130M women worldwide (not all of them Muslim) have been circumcized since 2001 in an effort to deny them sexual pleasure. In Oct. Operation Repo starring Sonia Pizarro debuts on Telemundo, moving to TruTV on Mar. 31, 2008 (until ?), becoming their #1-rated show (until ?). On Nov. 1 Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern debuts on the Travel Channel (until ?), starring New York City-born Minneapolis, Minn.-based chef Andrew Scott Zimmern (1961-), who plays the circus geek, traveling around the world and chowing down on foods that would gross a cat off a gut wagon, always with a serious look. The tip of the iceberg, indicating a massive loosening of morals among U.S. Christians in the face of the hurricane of Internet porn? On Nov. 2 Yorktown, Ind.-born Rev. Ted Arthur Haggard (1956-), a top Christian evangelist in Colo. Springs (founder of 14K-member New Life Church, son of an Indiana pig farmer, grad. of Oral, er, Roberts U. in 1978, married to plain Gayle Alcorn, daughter of a USAF col., with five kids, some of whom have his funny eyebrows?), and an opponent of gays and gay marriage leaves his posts as pastor and pres. of the 30M-member Nat. Assoc. of Evangelicals after admitting on his radio show on Nov. 1 to having responded to an ad at rentboy.com and having sex monthly with bodybuilder male escort Mike Forest Jones (1957-) from Denver for 3 years for $200/hour; says Jones "We always met at my place... It was pretty much vanilla sex"; Jones also produces a tape of Haggard asking him to buy meth; on Nov. 3 Jones fails a lie detector test, but maintains his story, while Haggard admits buying meth and that Jones gave him a massage, but denies having sucked, er, had sex with him, only going so far as to say "I was tempted" by the meth, but didn't take any; on Nov. 4 (Sun.) his congregation is packed when the board reads a letter from him admitting to "sexually immoral conduct", saying "There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark, I've been fighting it all my life", and fires him; after a 3-week "spiritual restoration" program overseen by four ministers, he is proclaimed "completely heterosexual" next Feb. (just in time for Valentine's Day?) - that delicious forbidden fruit that melts in my mouth is like a plain vanilla ice cream cone, no, a used cigarette butt? On Nov. 2 a sheriff and 12 law officers in Roanoake, Va., "Sweatshirt Capital of the World" are charged in a scheme to resell drugs seized from criminals. On Nov. 2 a man in Toronto, Canada sexually abuses a preschool age girl live on the Internet while an undercover detective watches, and is arrested 2 hours later. On Nov. 2 a Website approved by Pres. Bush containing an archive of 48K boxes of documents seized in Iraq since the Mar. 2003 invasion is shut down after a dozen documents detailing Iraqi plans for a nuke are discovered. On Nov. 2 Iran test-fires dozen of missiles, incl. the Shahab-3 that can reach Israel three days after U.S.-led warships finish naval exercises in the Persian Gulf and Iran brands them as "adventurist". On Nov. 3 Israeli troops fire on a large crowd of unarmed Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip as they march to the Um al-Nasir Mosque in Beit Hanun (NE Gaza Strip) to help seiged militants who have been battling Israeli troops since Nov. 1, killing two and injuring 10, and causing a protest; Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya calls for the world to "come here and witness the daily massacres that are being carried out against the Palestinian nation"; Israeli Maj. Avital Leibovich counters that Hamas was "using those poor women as human shields". On Nov. 3 (6:30 a.m. anti-Iraq War protester Malachi (Mark David) Ritscher (1954-) publicly immolates himself in Chicago, Ill. in front of morning commuters in front of a video camera, saying "If I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world." On Nov. 4 thousands protest across Taiwan to demand the resignation of pres. Chen Shui-bian over a corruption scandal involving his wife Wu Shu-chen and three pres. aides, accused of siphoning $450K from a special diplomacy fund between 2002-6; he leaves office, is indicted along with his wife Wu Shu-chen, then convicted on corruption charges on Sept. 11, 2009, and sentenced to life in priz, plus a $15M fine. On Nov. 4 African leaders convene in Beijing, and Chinese pres. Hu Jintao pledges to double African aid to "build a harmonious world". On Nov. 5 the verdict in Saddam Hussein's first trial comes in, and as he trembles but remains defiant he is sentenced to death by hanging, causing celebrations by Shiites and protests by Sunnis, who vow to avenge him with their blood; "Today we witnessed a landmark event in the history of Iraq" (Pres. Bush). On Nov. 5 4K Russian ultranationalists demonstrate in Moscow's Red Square on the new (2nd year) Nat. Unity Day holiday, shouting "Russia for Russians"; they then leae the square for a march and run into 10K police, who detain 200; meanwhile 1K attend an officially sanctioned counter-rally to denounce fascism. On Nov. 5 after three tries over 16 years, Daniel Ortega wins the pres. election in Nicaragua despite U.S. opposition, claiming to no longer be a Sandinista revolutionary, changing the old anthem "We fight against the Yankee enemey of humanity to "Give peace a chance"; thanks to "the pact", he wins with less than a majority of votes in a power-sharing agreement with the right-wing Constitutionalist Liberal Party. On Nov. 7 (Tues.) the 2006 U.S. Nat. Elections are held with bated breath by the Repubs., as the Dems. only need to gain 6 seats to win control of the House and 15 for the Senate, and becomes a Repub. bloodbath and anti-Bush backlash, with the Dems. winning the House and Senate (first Sen. majority in 12 years); 79M people vote (40.4%); Dem. Deval Laurdine Patrick (1956-) becomes the first African-Am. elected gov. of Mass., and the 2nd in the U.S.; Ted Strickland (1941-) becomes the first Dem. gov. of Ohio in 16 years, while Sherrod Campbell Brown (1952-) defeats Mike DeWine to take his U.S. Senate seat; the new Congress has 42 black reps. and one black sen., all Dems.; black rep. James Enos "Jim" Clyburn (1940-) of S.C. becomes the #3 leader of the House as majority whip, the 2nd black to reach the post after William Gray of Philly; Keith Maurice Ellison (1963-) (D-Minn.) (a black atty. from Detroit who converted in college) becomes the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, planning to use the Quran at his swearing-in; Nancy Pelosi becomes the 52nd U.S. House Speaker and the first female one, becoming the 3rd in line for U.S. pres. and the most powerful woman in U.S. history - two whats and four whats separate her from the Ovulating Office? On Nov. 7 voters in Mich. by 58%-42% pass the Mich. Civil Rights Initiative (Proposal 2), banning affirmative action by publicly-funded institutions; on Apr. 22, 2014 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-2 in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action that voters in Mich. have the right to ban race-based preferences in college admissions, upholding the initiative. On Nov. 7 seven U.S. states pass constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage: Colo., Idaho, S.C., S.D., Tenn., Va., Wisc.; Ariz. defeats such an amendment; "Jewish cowboy" singer ("'Scuse Me While I Whip This Out") Kinky Friedman (1944-) comes in 4th in a 5-way race for gov. of Tex. On Nov. 7 Panama wins a seat on the U.N. Security Council on the 48th ballot after Guatemala and Venezuela cancel each other out and drop out; the other new members are Belgium, Indonesia, Italy, and South Africa. On Nov. 7 the Iraq govt. charges 57 members of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi police force, incl. a gen. with the torture of hundreds of detainees at Site No. 4 prison in E Baghdad after finding the bullet-riddled bodies of 15 death squad victims floating in the Tigris River S of Baghdad. On Nov. 7 a tornado in Saroma, Japan on Hokkaido kills nine, becoming the most deadly tornado in Japanese history, beating the record of three in Sept. on Kyushu; the first known tornado death in the country was in 1961. On Nov. 8 (within hours of the Dem. triumph in the nat. elections) Pres. Bush announces his acceptance of the resignation of unpopular (patsy?) defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld in favor of former CIA dir. (CIA man since 1966) and Texas A&M U. pres. Robert Gates (1943-) (co-chmn. of the 2004 Council on Foreign Relations task force that advocated a U.S. deal with Iran) and holds a press conference where he calls the election a "thumping", and admits to misleading the public when before the election he left the impression that Rumsfeld would be in to the end, saying that he didn't want to inject it into the campaign; when asked if the election results will cause him to pull out of Iraq, he replies "I'd like our troops to come home too, but... with victory"; speculation is rife that if had ditched Rummy weeks before the election they wouldn't have lost the Senate; meanwhile activist Cindy Sheehan leads about 50 protesters to a White House gate to deliver anti-war petitions, and is arrested; on Dec. 6 Gates is approved by a 95-2 Senate vote. On Nov. 8 Hamas calls off a 2-year ceasefire with Israel after 18 members of a family, incl. 8 children are killed by an Israeli artillery barrage in the densely populated N Gaza neighborhood of Beit Hanoun, becoming the highest number of Palestinian civilians killed in a single strike in 6 years; the Israelis later admit it was a mistake and apologize. On Nov. 8 a suicide bomber kills 42 troops and wounds 20 in Dargal, Pakistan. On Nov. 8 bird flu expert Dr. Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun (1947-) of Hong Kong becomes the first Chinese to lead the World Health Org. (WHO) of the U.N. as dir. #7, taking office next Jan. 4 (until July 1, 2017); she was Hong Kong's health dir. in 1997 when the city reported the first-ever outbreak of H5N1 bird flu virus, and wins kudos for ordering all 1.5M poultry in the area slaughtered in 3 days - I can enjoy food again? On Nov. 8 Francisco de Goya's 1778 painting Children with a Cart is stolen from a truck outside a hotel in Stroudsburg, Penn. as it is being transported from the Toledo Museum of Art to the Solomon Guggenheim Museum in New York City; it is recoverd on Nov. 21 in N.J., an FBI agent saying the thieves "probably thought it was a truck full of PlayStations". On Nov. 9 Iraq's health minister Ali al-Shemari gives a new estimate of 150K Iraq civilians killed in the 44-mo. Iraq War, tripling previous estimates; meanwhile Donald Rumsfeld acknowledges that progress has not been going "well enough or fast enough", and when asked to grade his performance says "I'd let history worry about that". On Nov. 9 the U.S. Army changes its slogan from "Army of One" to "Army Strong" - God bless America and no place else? On Nov. 9 gay leaders cancel a parade in Jerusalem after pressure from fundamentalist religious leaders who called such a public display in the holy city offensive, and after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews clashed with police and burned trash bins. On Nov. 9 oilman Tim Marquez, a graduate of Lincoln H.S. in Denver, Colo. (TLW's school) donates $50M to launch the Denver Scholarship Foundation to give free higher eds. to graduates of Lincoln and other high schools in the district, who have systematically got more Hispanic-Latino each year since TLW's days. On Nov. 12 159 are killed in Iraq, incl. 35 men blown up while waiting to join the police force, and 50 bodies found behind an electrical co. in Baqouba, causing Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki to promise to reshuffle his cabinet and blaming the Sunnis for the violence; meanwhile Saudi Prince Naif says that a fence is being built along the frontier to keep its youth from going to Iraq to join the insurgents. On Nov. 16 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi starts out lame by losing a battle by 149-86 to get her favorite (Iraq War critic) John Murtha of Penn. chosen as House majority leader; instead House minority whip (since 2003) Steny Hamilton Hoyer of Md. is picked. On Nov. 16 Segolene Royal (1953-) beats two rival candidates for the Socialist Party nomination in the French pres. race. On Nov. 16 U.N. leaders agree to a joint African Union and U.N. peacekeeping force for Sudan's Darfur region, with as many as 27K troops. On Nov. 16 Harith al-Dari, grandson of Sheikh Dari, who became a big Sunni hero in Iraq for assassinating a mean British army officer in 1920 becomes the most wanted man in Iraq after the Iraq govt. puts out an arrest warrant for him. On Nov. 16 white gay porn star Timothy John Boham ("Marcus Allen") (1981-) is arrested near the Mexico border for the slaying of collection co. pres. John Paul Kelso (43) in his Denver, Colo. home in a bathtub. For America not to be White is Right anymore, free speech must go? On Nov. 17 (Fri.) white "Kramer on Seinfeld" comedian Michael Richards (1949-) is recorded on a cell phone video camera making a racist N-word outburst at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood (owned by Mexican-Am. comedian Paul Rodriguez) after two black patrons heckle him, causing a nat. PC police media action against him, almost ending his career; on Nov. 20 he appears on David Letterman, saying "I'm not a racist; that's what's so insane about this", only to see the audience laugh at his fumbling use of the term "Afro-American"; on Nov. 22 he appears on the Jay Leno Show to apologize after Jewish comedian Jerry Seinfeld cancels an appearance to plug his show's DVDs, but it only adds fuel to the fire for not being contrite enough; on Nov. 27 he appears on Rev. Jesse Jackson's syndicated radio show "Keep Hope Alive" apologizing again, and criticism simmers down more when he apologizes to the two hecklers, who sue him; meanwhile a barrage of U.S. network TV shows cover all the issues of what whites should (must?) and should (must?) not call blacks, and on Dec. 2 comedian Andy Dick uses the N-word in a joke about Richards, causing a ton of criticism that makes him issue another apology for "my insensitivity"; in 20?? the U.S. Congress makes racist speech a capital crime, followed by the OWG Assembly making it a world capital crime in ??, causing the execution of ??M by ?? - only blacks can call each other the N-word, and only blacks can tell whites that their remark was racially insensitive and they're a racist and sue them, and don't call me black call me Afro-American, but don't make me call you Euro-American, cracker? On Nov. 17 Am. TV meteorologist Willard Anthony Watts (1958-) launches the blog Watts Up With That? (WUWT), opposing proponents of anthropogenic climate change esp. by CO2, going on to help spread the Climatic Research Unit controversy in Nov. 2009, and becoming the #1 climate change blog on Earth (until ?). On Nov. 17-20 Pres. Bush visits Vietnam, and on Nov. 20 visits the Vietnam stock exchange in Ho Chi Minh City, praising the Commies for trying capitalism; on Nov. 13 the U.S. House defeats by 228-161 (32 votes short) legislation to normalize trade relations on the first day it reconvened after the nat. elections; the same day the U.S. govt. drops Vietnam from a list of countries severely violating their people's religious freedom. On Nov. 19 the U.S. and Russia sign a trade pact removing the last major obstacle to Russia's 13-year effort to join the World Trade Org. On Nov. 19 three car bombs explode in a bus station in SE Baghdad, Iraq, killing 11 civilians and injuring 40; meanwhile the Iraqi deputy health minister is kidnapped from his Baghdad home. On Nov. 19 Colo. anti-immigration politician Tom Tancredo gives an interview to WorldNetDaily, calling the city of Miami, Fla. a "Third World country", pissing-off Fla. gov. Jeb Bush, who calls his remarks "naive", which Tancredo sloughs off by calling it "politically correct happy talk"; on Nov. 30 a speech he gives at Michigan State U. College of Law turns violent. On Nov. 20 a series of attacks in Baghdad, Ramadi, and Baqouba in Iraq kill 25, and the bodies of 75 tortured Iraqis are found. On Nov. 20 Iranian pres. Ahmadinejad invites Iraq and Syria to a weekend summit in Tehran; meanwhile Syrian foreign minister Walid Moallem visits Baghdad, restoring diplomatic relations after a quarter cent. On Nov. 20 Pres. Bush leaves Vietnam to spend 6 hours in Jakarta, Indonesia at Bogor Palace with pro-U.S. pres. (since 2004) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. On Nov. 20 (6:30 p.m.) the Six Flying Imams, led by Jordanian-born Sheikh Omar Shahin board US Airways Flight 300 from Minneapolis, Minn. to Phoenix, Ariz., acting suspiciously and causing security to remove them after a 3-hour standoff; on July 24, 2009 after they hire CAIR atty. Omar Mohammedi, U.S. district judge Ann Montgomery allows a discrimination lawsuit against the airline to proceed. On Nov. 22 92-y.-o. Kathryn Johnston is killed by police bursting into her Atlanta, Ga. home with a warrant to search for drugs after she opens fire on them because the neighborhood is so tough and she always has her gun ready. On Nov. 22 the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) is signed, eliminating barriers to trade; the U.S. Congress passes it on Oct. 12, 2011, and it goes into effect on May 15, 2012 despite concerns that it helps the rich oil and other companies trample workers' rights. On Nov. 23 civil war gets just a tad closer in Iraq as Sunni insurgents attack Sadr City, the main enclave of Muqtada al-Sadr, setting off five bombs and firing mortars, killing 215 and wounding hundreds, becoming the deadliest sectarian attack since the U.S. invasion; the Shiites quickly strike back, lobbing 10 mortar shells at the Sunni Abu Hanifa Mosque, killing one, and 8 shells at the offices of the Assoc. of Muslim Scholars, top Sunni org. in Iraq, followed by more barrages on Sunni neighborhoods, killing 10 and wounding 21 - and Bush says he's gonna wait till the midnight hour? On Nov. 23 former Russian KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko (b. 1962), who was investigating the shooting death of journalist Anna Politkovskaya and accused Pres. Putin of behind behind it dies after being poisoned, claiming it was by Putin's agents; the poisoning is traced to radioactive isotope polonium-210, and traces are found on two British Airways jets, causing 33K passengers on 221 flights to be contacted; Mario Scaramella, an Italian security expert he met the day he fell ill is later found to show traces of polonium-210, along with his wife Marina Litvinenko; in 2007 Britain requests arrest warrants for KGB officer Dmitry Kovtun (who underwent treatment in Moscow for radiation poisoning) and his partner Andrei Lugovoi, who met Litvinenko at the Pine bar in London's Millennium Hotel on Nov. 1 (the day he fell ill), but Russian pres. Putin refuses to extradite them. On Nov. 23 hundreds of thousands of Lebanese mourn slain Christian Phalange Party politician Pierre Gemayel in Beirut and vent their anger at Syria and its ally Hezbollah. On Nov. 23 64-y.-o. Palestinian grandmother Fatma Omar An-Najar (b. 1942) detonates near Israeli troops in N Gaza, becoming the oldest of 100+ Palestinian suicide bombers targeting Israelis since 2000. On Nov. 23 Lt. Col. Steven Lee Jordan (1956-), who ran the U.S. interrogation center at Abu Ghraib Prison is charged with 12 counts carrying 42 years for allowing the prison misconduct to happen, becoming the highest level patsy so far in the scandal. On Nov. 23 Thursday Night Football debuts on NFL Network (until ?); in 2014 CBS Sports begins simulcasting the games. On Nov. 24 the small Mustafa (Sunni) Mosque in Baghdad, Iraq is attacked during Friday midday prayers by 50 unarmed men wearing mostly black uniforms and some with ski masks, chanting "We are the Mahdi Army, shield of the Shiites", followed by backups who blast the mosque with RPGs, then drag six worshippers outside and burn them with kerosone. On Nov. 24 Rwanda severs dilomatic ties with France after a French judge decies to issue internat. arrest warrants for nine high-ranking Rwandans for plotting the Apr. 6, 1994 murder of Rwandan pres. Juvenal Habyarimana. The reason cop cars are black and white? On Nov. 25 police in New York City fire 50 shots at the car of unarmed 23-y.-o. black man Sean Bell (b. 1983), killing him and wounding Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman outside the Club Kalua strip club where Bell had just attended his bachelor party and was about to attend his wedding, stirring outrage from black leaders, who stage a march along Fifth Ave. on Dec. 16, led by Rev. Al Sharpton; in Mar. 2007 three of the five police involved are indicted by a grand jury; too bad, on Apr. 25, 2008 they are acquitted of all charges and allowed to walk, Queens justice-for-the-cops puppet judge Arthur Cooperman giving a gobbledygook coverup explanation, while 1K police are mobilized to control possible unrest when the news sinks in - the only medicine you need is copcaine? On Nov. 25-26 protesters in Oaxaca, Mexico battle police and burn bldgs. On Nov. 25-Dec. 1 the U.S. SPCA bans the adoption of black cats - sounds like discrimination against blacks? On Nov. 25-Dec. 6 Super Typhoon Durian terrorizes Philippines, hitting the islands on Nov. 31, killing 208 and injuring 82 in Mayon, site of a July volcano eruption, which goes into massive mudslides, burying several villages and leaving 250+ missing; total fatalities reach 1,497, with $510M in damage. On Nov. 26 Palestinian factions stop firing rockets at Israel in exchange for an Israeli troop withdrawl. On Nov. 26 tens of thousands protest the pope's visit at a rally in Istanbul, Turkey. On Nov. 26 The Nativity Story becomes the first feature film to debut at the Vatican, in Paul VI Hall. On Nov. 27 73-y.-o. Lutheran pastor Roland Weisselberg (b. 1933) burns himself to death with gasoline in Erfurt (where Martin Luther took his first religious vows) after giving a sermon expressing fear that Christian Europe will be overwhelmed by Islam; his last words: "Jesus" and "Oskar" (a ref. to the 1976 self-immolation of Rev. Oskar Bruesewitz, protesting the East German Commie regime). On Nov. 27 Sunni insurgents begin bloody fighting with Iraqi security forces in Diyala Province (ends ?); meanwhile a U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashes 12 mi. NW of Baghdad, and insurgents kidnap the pilot, Maj. Troy L. Gilbert (34) before rescue forces can arrive. On Nov. 27 Israeli PM Ehud Olmert makes a conciliatory speech, holding out the hope of a Palestinian state if they quit them *!?*! rocket attacks and choose the path of peace. On Nov. 27 Iraqi pres. Jalal Talabani meets with Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran to seek his help in stopping the looming civil war, and Ahmadinejad pledges support, saying he will "stand next to its brother Iraq and will do all it can to strengthen security in Iraq"; meanwhile Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki asks the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate of its 160K multinat. force in Iraq, which it votes to do unanimously on Nov. 28, while Britain announces that it will withdraw thousands of its 7K military personnel by the end of 2007, and Poland and Italy also announce impending troop withdrawals. On Nov. 27 the Australian govt. clears itself of wrongdoing in the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. On Nov. 27-28 a Nato Summit in Riga, Latvia is held to deal with the deteriorating conditions in opium-king (90% of the world supply, 1M addicts) Afghanistan, where NATO has 32K troops; Pres. Bush attends, and urges increased military spending and the inclusion of non-NATO countries Japan, Australia, and South Korea into joint missions; the summit also frets about the growing energy clout of Russia, whose natural gas Europe is dependent on for half of its imports, expected to rise to 80% by 2026, after a confidential study by NATO experts warning that Russia is seeking to build a gas cartel, er, leaks. On Nov. 28 Pres. Bush becomes the first U.S. pres. to visit Estonia (while his wife Laura is back at the White House receiving the Christmas tree), meeting with pres. Toomas Hendrik at Kadriorg Palace in Tallinn, praising its flat income tax as "transparent, open and simple"; PM Andrus Ansip shows him how his govt. holds paperless cabinet meetings. Did you ever dance with the Devil in the pale blue mosque? On Nov. 28 Pope Benedict XVI begins a 4-day visit to Turkey, two days after 25K hate-filled Muslim protesters demonstrated in Istanbul, pissed-off about his equating Islaughter, er, Islam and its prophet Manslaughter, er, Muhammad with violence, and calling for his blood and for the Christian church of Hagia Sophia to be turned into a Muslim mosque; the pope tells diplomats that all religions must "utterly refuse to sanction recourse to violence as a legitimate expression of faith", and greets Turkey's top religious official Ali Bardakoglu (1952-), who puts in the soundbyte, "The so-called conviction that the sword is used to expand Islam in the world and growing Islamophobia hurts all Muslims" (they're the ones who are hurt?); on Nov. 29 he visits Turkey's tiny (20K Roman Catholic, 65K Armenian Orthodox, 3.5K Protestant, out of a total pop. of 70M) Christian communities, and meets with ecumenical patriarch Bartholomew (Bartholomeos) I (1940-) (known as the "green patriarch" for his environmentalism), while al-Qaida calls his visit a "Crusader campaign" designed to "extinguish the burning ember of Islam" in Turkey; on Nov. 30 he visits the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, then leaves for Ephesus after issuing saying "I should like to reiterate today all the esteem and profound respect that I have for Muslim believers" (not Muhammad or his crap?); on Nov. 31 he visits the Hagia Sophia, on guard not to make the sign of the cross or appear to be worshipping in "their" place that they took by, er, violence after 1K years; he then goes across the street and becomes the second pope to visit a Muslim house of worship, entering Istanbul's Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque (built by Sultan Ahmed I in 1603-17), where he faces toward Mecca and meditates with eyes closed along with head cleric Mustafa Cagrici (1950-); he also issues a joint declaration calling for the preservation of Europe's Christian roots and for membership to the EU to require religious freedom, knowing that current candidate Turkey doesn't recognize Bart Simpson, er, Bartholomew I as leader of 300M Orthodox Christians and has rejected EU demands to open an Orthodox seminary. On Nov. 29 Pres. Bush holds talks in Amman, Jordan with Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki and King Abbdullah over what to do in Iraq. On Nov. 29 former U.S. secy. of state Henry Kissinger utters the soundbyte on a London TV interview that military victory in Iraq is no longer possible, and that the U.S. must enter into dialogue with Iraq's neighbors incl. Iran to make progress. On Nov. 29 actor Danny DeVito calls Pres. Bush "President Numbnuts" on ABC's "The View", which Joy Behar later defends, saying that numb is just a lack of sensation, nuts means crazy, and numbskull is non-sexist? On Nov. 31 Pres. Bush rejects the idea of a quick troop withdrawal from Iraq, while Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki says his country's forces will be ready to take over by June 2007. In Nov. the Sunni Islamist jihadist group Fatah al-Islam (Arab. "conquest of Islam") is founded by Saudi Arabia (and the U.S.?), going on to fight the Lebanese army in May-June 2007 in the Nahr al-Bared (al-Barid) Palestinian refugee camp. In Nov. a poll of 2K Chinese citizens finds that most expect China to become as powerful as the U.S. within a decade, and only a small minority believe it will still be the dominant world power in 50 years. In Nov. an Andy Warhol portrait of Chairman Mao sells for $17M at auction. In Nov. a judge in Al-Awwamiya, Saudi Arabia shocks Westerners by sentencing the female victim of a gang rape to 90 lashes for being alone with a former boyfriend after her marriage to get a picture of herself back from him, before being abducted from the car, and both gang raped; the rapists receive 1-5 years and 80-1000 lashes; the male victim gets no punishment. On Dec. 1 the 2006 hurricane season ends with no hurricanes hitting the U.S. On Dec. 1 Felipe Calderon is sworn-in as pres. of Mexico in a surprise early ceremony, while leftist lawmakers attempt to physically block him from attending his inauguration, turning the Mexican Congress into a free-for-all. On Dec. 1 800K protesters called by Hezbollah flood downtown Beirut to call for the U.S.-supported govt. to resign. On Dec. 3 a triple car bomb in a food market in a Shiite area of C Baghdad kills 51 a day after a U.S.-Iraqi raid against Sunni insurgents in a nearby neighborhood. On Dec. 3 the High Court of Botswana rules that the country's 100K Bushmen are entitled to live and hunt on their ancestral lands in the C Kalahari Game Reserve, stopping the govt. from evicting them to steal diamonds and other minerals. On Dec. 3 Joseph R. "Joe" Francis (1973-), founder of the Girls Gone Wild video empire (Mantra Films Inc.), which entices young women to bare their breasts in public pleads guilty for using two 17-y.-o. girls filmed on Panama City Beach during the 2003 spring break, and receives a $1.6M fine plus community service - the last gasp of the Christian right is using minors to sandbag those whom they want to 'get' for free love and sexually-liberated behavior? On Dec. 4 U.S. Sen. Barack Obama visits the New York City office of George Soros (1930-), where he is allegedly interviewed by billionaires for higher office, after which he soon announces his candidacy for U.S. pres. On Dec. 5 secy. of defense nominee Robert Gates tells the Senate that he doesn't believe the U.S. is winning the war in Iraq, but adds, "we are not losing", and that U.S. forces remain undefeated in battle; meanwhile a memo by Donald Rumsfeld two days before he resigns calls for a change of plan in Iraq - what Hitler said at Stalingrad? On Dec. 6 the 10-member bipartisan Iraq Study Group, led by former U.S. secy. of state James A. Baker III and former Ind. Rep. Lee H. Hamilton recommends a change in course to the new "primary mission" of training Iraq security forces, and pullout of most (75K) combat troops by spring 2008, but no timetable for troop withdrawals, stressing the need for more aggressive diplomatic efforts in the Middle East; the little problem that Iraq security forces are forever split between Sunni and Shiite, so that training more would be tantamount to arming both sides of a future civil war is conveniently ignored?; it also recommends a U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan, reinvigoration of the Arab-Israeli peace process, and a diplomatic engagement of Iran and Syria; on Dec. 7 Pres. Bush, backed by PM Tony Blair nix the report, refusing to endorse a major troop withdrawal and objecting to talks with Iran and Syria; meanwhile the report reveals that millions of dollars are being funneled from Saudi citizens to Iraqi Sunni insurgents, who have purchased Russian Strela shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. On Dec. 6 Mary Claire Cheney (1969-), lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney announces that she and her partner of 15 years Heather Poe (1961-) (UPS mgr.) are expecting; she has baby boy Samuel David Cheney on May 22, 2007 - I can't explain why Poe wasn't having it instead of me? On Dec. 6 an Islamic court official orders beheading for any residents of Bulo Burto, 125 mi. NE of Mogadishu in S Somalia who do not pray to Allah 5x a day - let's go outback tonight? On Dec. 6 the conservative Committee on Jewish Law and Standards in New York City eases its ban on ordaining gays for the first time in history, prohibiting gay clergy while permitting gay ordination and blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples - it's those changes in attitude, changes in attitude? Pres. Bush finds a new way to stink himself up on top of Iraq? On Dec. 6 the Bush admin. fires eight U.S. attys., causing an uproar next year with the new Dem. Congress, who accuse U.S. atty.-gen. Alberto R. Gonzales of letting himself be used by Karl Rove and other White House politicos and violating pledges and jeopardizing prosecutions; his contradictory statements about the reasons for firing and his personal involvement heat up the call for his dismissal; up till now only two of 486 U.S. attys. have been fired, and always for criminal misconduct. On Dec. 9 the U.S. announces that it is selling nuclear fuel to India. On Dec. 9 Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti, half-nephew of Saddam Hussein, who is serving a life sentence for bomb-making escapes from a prison in N Iraq with help from a police officer (until ?); on Dec. 18 Ayham al-Samaraie, former electricity minister and dual U.S.-Iraqi citizen being held on corruption charges escapes with help of Blackwater Worldwide private security guards who used to work for him, and ends up in Chicago, Ill.; although arrest warrants have been issued for 90 former officials, incl. 15 ex-Cabinet ministers, he was the only Iraqi official convicted and jailed on corruption charges. On Dec. 9 Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. on a 12-day mission to rewire the Internat. Space Station (ISS), returning on Dec. 21. On Dec. 10 Donald Rumsfeld, who is still defense secy. until Dec. 18 makes a surprise visit to Assad Air Base in Iraq's Anbar Province; meanwhile Iraqi pres. Jalal Talabani criticizes the Iraq Study Group's report as "an insult to the people of Iraq", saying that increasing the number of U.S. troops training its forces would undermine his country's sovereignty. On Dec. 10 Gen. Augusto Pinochet (b. 1915) dies after being hospitalized on Dec. 3 for a heart attack and undergoing angioplasty, stopping efforts to try him for human rights violations and execute him; wild celebrations in the streets of Santiago, Chile cause scores of arrests, and 23 police are injured; on Nov. 25 Pinochet had issued a statement taking "full political responsibility" for the actions of his govt. On Dec. 10 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai gives a speech on the 58th anniv. of the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, tearfully lamenting the killing of Afghan children by NATO and U.S. bombs and Pakistani terrorists. On Dec. 11 U.N. secy.-gen. Kofi Annan gives his farewell address at the Truman Library in Independence, Mo., saying that the U.S. must not sacrifice its dem. ideals in its war against terrorism, that "human rights and the rule of law are vital to global security and prosperity", and that when Bush, er, the U.S. "appears to abandon its own ideals and objectives, its friends abroad are naturally troubled and confused", and finally "There's no secy.-gen. of the U.N. that's going to be in lockstep with the U.S. or any other country with regard to its policies"; he steps down on Dec. 31. On Dec. 11 three children are killed in the Gaza Strip in a drive-by shooting, targeting their father, a top Palestinian security officer and Fatah loyalist, causing civil war to edge closer. On Dec. 11 Israeli PM Ehud Olmet slips in an interview with a German TV station, listing Israel among the world's nuclear powers, violating the country's policy of not officially acknowledging its nukes. On Dec. 11 Iran hosts the Internat. Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran, with 67 participants from 30 countries, incl. former U.S. KKK leader David Duke, Frederick Toben of Australia, Robert Faurisson of France et al., some of whom have been imprisoned for expressing their Holocaust-denying beliefs in Europe; on Dec. 12 pres. Mahmoud Ahmedinajad says that "The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom" while sitting next to six members of Neturei Karta AKA Orthodox Jews United Against Zionism, whose spokesman Rabbi Moshe David (Yisroel Dovid) Weiss says "We don't want to deny the killing of Jews in World War II, but Zionists have given much higher figures for how many people were killed. They have used the Holocaust as a device to justify their oppression"; David Duke adds "The Holocaust is the device used as the pillar of Zionist imperialism, Zionist aggression, Zionist terror and Zionist murder"; Toben says, "The number of victims at the Asuchwitz concentration camp could be about 2,007"; on Dec. 20 Austria suddenly releases David Irving on probation after 13 mo. in priz for denying the sacred Holy-At-Any-Cost for two 1989 speeches; on Apr. 1, 2007 the Bais Yehuda Synagogue in Monsey, N.Y. of the Neturei Karta is burned - the irony of freedom of speech on this one issue being allowed only where Zionists don't have power? On Dec. 12 Pres. Bush signs the U.S. Financial Netting Improvements Act, revising the bankruptcy code and clarifying safe harbor protections. On Dec. 12 U.S. Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, multi-nat. corps cmdr. #2 in Iraq (Jan. 2006-July 2008) says that curbing unemployment and improving services are needed to reduce violence, and that military muscle cannot win the war alone; meanwhile two car bombs targeting laborers in Baghdad kill 63, and 50 men are found bound and shot to death. On Dec. 12 the U.S. INS raids six Swift meat plants in six states and arrests suspected illegal immigrants after uncovering a scheme to steal IDs and Social Security numbers of lawful U.S. residents to get jobs at the plant in Greeley, Colo. On Dec. 12 vans carrying 200 illegal immigrants are stopped by armed men just S of the U.S.-Mexican border, who burn the vehicles to warn them to stay out of the drug smuggling route of the Sinaloa drug cartel, signalling their takeover of the migrant-smuggling business, using them as decoys and demanding extortion money; by summer 2007 the flow of migrants slackens, and the U.S. tries to take credit for their work? On Dec. 13 the U.N. Gen. Assembly adopts the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which is opened for signatures on Mar. 30, 2007; it comes into force on May 3, 2008, establishing the 18-person Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva; by Apr. 2018 it has 161 signatories and 177 parties; in Dec. 2012 the U.S. fails to ratify it by six votes. On Dec. 13 U.S. Sen. (D-S.D.) (1997-2015) Timothy Peter "Tim" Johnson (1946-) is hospitalized for bleeding in his brain caused by congenital arteriovenous malformation (AVM), leaving him in critical condition, causing concerns that the balance of power will tip back to the Repubs., getting a mention in Pres. Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address; he returns to the Senate on Feb. 15, 2007. On Dec. 13 William Roebuck receives a cable at the U.S. embassy in Damascus from Washington, D.C., explaining how Bashar al-Assad's weaknesses can be used to justify an invasion of Syria. On Dec. 14 after the U.N. Security Council recommends him by acclamation on Oct. 9, the U.N. Gen. Assembly elects Ban Ki-moon (1944-) of South Korea as U.N. secy.-gen. #8; he is sworn-in on Jan. 1, 2007 (until Dec. 31, 2016), with the soundbyte "My mission could be dubbed Operation Restore Trust", becoming known as "the bridge-builder". On Dec. 14 the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in San Antonio, Tex. reports that U.S. breast cancer rates plunged 7% in 2003, the year after millions of women stopped taking menopause hormones. On Dec. 14 New Jersey passes legislation giving gay couples all the rights and responsibilities of marriage (but not the title) in response to a state supreme court order last Oct.; goes into effect next Feb. 19, joining Conn. and Vt. (civil unions), Mass. (gay marriage) and Calif. (domestic partnersips). On Dec. 9 Bhutan's king (since July 24, 1972) Jigme Singye Wangchuck (1955-) abdicates in favor of his 26-y.-o. Oxford-educated son Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (1980-) and permit a new constitution to turn the country into a parliamentary democracy; on Nov. 6, 2008 he is officially crowned as dragon king #5 of Bhutan (until ?). On Dec. 14 the 3-year $7M Operation Paget pub. the 871-page Paget Report after interviewing 300 witnesses, concluding that there was no conspiracy in the car crash death of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, and that she was not pregnant or engaged, and had told a friend that she needed marriage "like a rash on my face" - leave him alone he's a family man? On Dec. 15 Fla. Gov. Jeb Bush suspends all executions after prison officials botch the Dec. 13 lethal injection of Angel Nieves Diaz (b. 1951), shooting the chemicals into the flesh of his arms instead of his veins, causing a 2nd dose to be needed and the execution to take 34 min. instead of the usual 15 min. max.; meanwhile a federal judge in Calif. imposes a moratorium on executions, declaring that the state's method of lethal injection violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment, followed by Md. on Dec. 19 - ask Spock about the Vulcan death grip? On Dec. 16 3K ethnic Tamils flee into govt.-held areas in E Sri Lanka, while the U.N. calls on Tamil Tiger rebels to let tens of thousands more flee the rebel-held town of Vaharai in E Batticaloa, where they fired artillery on Nov. 7 from a school filled with refugees, causing the Sri Lankan army to return fire, killing 45 civilians and injuring 100+; boats carrying fleeing civilians capsize, killing 8+. On Dec. 17 gunmen in Iraq army uniforms kidnap 25 employees at Red Crescent offices in downtown Baghdad, later releasing six hostages; a car bomb in Mahmoudiya (20 mi. S of Baghdad) injures four; 36 tortured corpses are found in the Baghdad area by police. On Dec. 17 a suicide bomber detonates in front of a U.S. convoy outside Khost City in E Afghanistan, killing one Afghan civilian and wounding two others. On Dec. 17 North Korea begins nuclear talks with the U.S. and four other nations in Beijing after a 13-mo. hiatus, proclaiming itself a nuclear power and calling on the U.S. to soften its stance. On Dec. 18 Robert Gates is sworn-in as U.S. defense secy., saying that failure in Iraq would be a "calamity" that would haunt the U.S. for years, but that "All of us want to find a way to bring America's sons and daughters home again." On Dec. 18 "moderate conservatives" outpoll Pres. Ahmadinejad's hardliners in local council races, sending a signal that people of Iran are getting pissed at his provocation of the West and isolation of his country. On Dec. 18 grocery store clerk Tom Stephens (1969-) is arrested in Ipswich, England (70 mi. NE of London) for the murder of five hos, whose naked bodies were found dumped in rural areas, causing fear of a modern Jack the Ripper; he later confesses after his involvement with up to 50 hos in the year after his 8-year marriage collapsed is revealed. On Dec. 18 the White House reveals that First Lady Laura Bush had a skin cancer tumor removed from her right shin in early Nov. On Dec. 19 Pres. Bush says that the U.S. should, er, expand and beef-up its armed forces. On Dec. 19 the Guttmacher Inst. of New York releases a report saying that 90% of Americans of both genders have had premarital sex, incl. 91% of women born between 1950-78 by age 30, and 88% of women born in the 1940s by age 44 - the Muslim extremists are right that the U.S. is an immoral whorehouse? On Dec. 20 the U.S. Stolen Valor Act of 2005, sponsored by Colo. Dem. rep. John Salazar makes it a crime to claim, wear, manufacture, or sell military decorations and medals, with a punishment of up to 1 year in prison; on July 23, 2010 Denver, Colo. U.S. district judge Robert Blackburn dismisses the case of Rick Glen Strandlof, ruling the law an unconsitutional violation of freedom of speech because the govt. doesn't have a compelling reason to restrict that type of speech. On Dec. 21 radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr agrees to allow his supporters to rejoin the Iraq govt., ending a 3-week boycott. On Dec. 21 dictator (since Nov. 2, 1990) Saparmurat Niyazov (b. 1940) dies, and Sunni Muslim dentist Gurbanguly Malikgulyyewic Berdimuhamedow (1957-) becomes pres. #2 of Turkmenistan (until ?), going on to dismantle his personality cult. On Dec. 24 Ethiopian Christian PM Meles Zenawi announces that his country is at war with Islamic militants in Somalia, sending troops and aircraft. On Dec. 24 Iraq interior minister Jawad al-Bolani admits that a total of 12K Iraq police have been killed since Saddam's ouster, but says "When we call for new recruits, they come by the hundreds and by the thousands". On Dec. 25 hundreds of British and Iraqi soldiers rescue 127 prisoners from Jameat Police Station in Basra, Iraq which had been infiltrated by militias; gunmen rob a bank in Basra of $740K; a car bomb at a market and a suicide bomber on a bus in Baghdad ill 14 and wound 33 civilians, and police find 40 bodies; meanwhile the U.S. military death toll in Iraq reaches 2,974, compared to 2,976 for the 9/11 attacks. On Dec. 25 Ethiopian jets bomb Somailia's two main airports in Mogadishu while ground troops capture three villages and the strategic border town of Belet Weyne; Islamic militia leader Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys flies into the airport shortly after the attack. The year 2006 ends with two final thoughts? On Dec. 26 Iraq's highest court rejects the appeal of Saddam Hussein (b. 1937) and orders him to be hanged within 30 days; thousands of requests stream in to be the lucky guy who throws the lever on him; he is held at Camp Cropper near the Baghdad airport; not wasting any time, on Dec. 30, hours after the U.S. gives custody of him to Iraqi authorities, he is hung like a dog ; it takes 20-30 min. for the heart to stop beating after the brain dies, so they leave him up while filming and releasing a video; state-run Iraqiya TV runs a screen legend reading "Saddam's execution marks the end of a dark period of Iraq's history"; his last words are "Long live Moqtada al-Sadr"; on Dec. 27 a Nov. 5 farewell letter by Saddam is posted on the Internet, saying "Here, I offer my soul to Allah as a sacrifice, and if he wants, he will send it to heaven with the martyrs", and calling for an end to sectarian hatred in a united war against the U.S.; on Dec. 28 two half-brothers visit Saddam's cell and take his personal belongings and his will; meanwhile on Dec. 26 former U.S. pres. Gerald R. Ford dies like a trooper at age 93, and the U.S. seizes the opportunity to show off how white is right one more time with a super-elaborate memorial to contrast the honor given this Dudley Doright, Christian hetero white all-American male with the hanging of the dark-complected Iraqi Dog, starting with Pres. Bush declaring Jan. 2 (Tues.) as a nat. day of mourning; one little kink?) on Dec. 27 the Washington Post reports that Ford questioned the Bush admin. rationale for the U.S. invasion of Iraq in July, 2004 interviews with Bob Woodward that he granted on condition that they be released only after his death; on Dec. 30 (after being transported in a Lincoln?) Ford's casket is placed outside the door of the U.S. House of Reps. (first time ever for a U.S. pres.); in June 2009 documents are declassified showing that Saddam told the FBI before he was hanged that he had allowed the world to believe he had WMDs in order to keep from appearing weak to his real enemy Iran - meaning that the U.S. barrelled into Iraq for nothing, and ended up helping Iran more than they could have hoped? On Dec. 27 boy band impresario (Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC) Louis Jay "Lou" Pearlman (1954-) (1st cousin of Art Garfunkel) is indicted in Fla. for the largest Ponzi scheme in history ($500M), and next June 27 he is indicted by a federal grand jury for bank, mail and wire fraud, then convicted in 2008 and sentenced to up to 25 years - are the charges in sync? On Dec. 28 drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil set fire to buses and fire on police, killing 19 (incl. 3 policemen) and wounding 21. On Dec. 28 the U.S. FDA gives preliminary approval to meat and milk from cloned animals or their offspring without special labeling, although retailers plan on using "clone-free" labels for marketing appeal. On Dec. 28 scientists announce that the 41-sq. mi. 3K-y.-o. Ayles Ice Shelf broke clear from the coast of Ellesmere Island (500 mi. S of the N Pole) 16 mo. earlier in a mere 1-hour period, one of six major shelves remaining in the Canadian Arctic, the rest being 90% smaller than when first discovered in 1906; the ice shelf drifts 30 mi. then refreezes into the sea ice. On Dec. 29 four U.S. sailors are swept from the deck of the nuclear sub USS Minneapolis-St. Paul by surging waves as it is leaving the harbor of Plymouth, England; two are killed. Make that three thoughts? On Dec. 31 the official U.S. Operation Iraqi Freedom military death toll reaches 3K, incl. 62 women, compared to 2,973 victims in the 9/11 attacks; 61.1% were KIA, 35.6% from IEDs, 3.2% from suicide; more than a third were killed in Anbar Province (1,111) and Baghdad (683). On Dec. 31 nine bomb blasts in Bangkok, Thailand kill two and injure 20. On Dec. 31 10-y.-o. Sergio Pelico in Webster, Tex. (near Houston) accidentally hangs himself from a bunk bed after watching a news report on Saddam's execution, tying a slipknot around his neck; other boys do it in Yemen, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, this time on purpose? In Dec. UNICEF releases a report saying that 7K girls go unborn each day in India because of "male child mania", which causes pregnant women to use ultrasound to find the gender of their fetus and then abort it if it's female. In Dec. lesbian couple Margaret Chambers and Cassandra Ormiston become the first same-sex married couple to file for divorce; they were married in 2004 and file for divorce in Providence, R.I. - lesbianism is better than male child mania? In Dec. airport officials in Seattle, Wash. hastily remove 14 plastic Christmas trees after a local rabbi threatens to sue unless they also display a giant menorah, but restores them after the rabbi claims he didn't want the trees removed, and then agrees not to sue after they promise to consider the menorah for next year. In Dec. the euro surpasses the dollar in combined value of cash in circulation, €610B, equivalent to US$800B. Late in the year Am. feminists turn against Hillary Clinton, with former backer Nora Ephron saying "She will do anything to win", claiming she's now one of those "who believe she doesn't really take a position unless it's completely safe, who believe she has taken the concept of triangulation and pushed it to a geometric level never achieved by anyone including her own husband, who can't stand her position on the war, who don't trust her as far as you can spit", and Jane Fonda calling her "a ventriloquist for the patriarchy with a skirt and a vagina." The Chinese govt. begins relocating 250K Tibetans (10% of the pop.) against their will from rural hamlets to "Socialist villages" serviced by Chinese roads and schools, and orders them to build their own housing; meanwhile it encourages ethnic Han Chinese to immigrate, tightens control of religion, and plans on replacing the 70-something Dalai Lama with a state-appointed stooge successor; thousands of I-think-you're-crazy Tibetans flee to Nepal. Iranian Council of Cultural Rev. head and pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad names the first cleric to head Tehran U., and begins a purge of liberal and secular teachers. Pres. Bush signs a law renewing the 1996 welfare overhaul law, with stricter work requirements for recipients. The U.S. govt. requires all produce to have labels giving the country of origin. The U.S. House of Reps votes to lift the 1980 ban on offshore drilling for 85% of the U.S. coastline, but the Senate fails to approve it; Pres. Obama finally lifts on the ban on Mar. 31, 2010. The British govt. pub. A New Deal for Welfare, Empowering People to Work, proposing shaking up the British welfare state as millions of disabled, sick, and injured workers are eventually forced to take steps to go back to work (until ?). Saudi Arabia launches the Khurais Project to pump water underground to boost oil production. Egyptian blogger (student at al-Azhar U.) Abdel Kareem Nabil (AKA Kareem Amer) (1986-) is arrested for insulting Islam and Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak, and isn't released until Nov. 2010, saying he was detained for 11 days beyond his sentence and beaten before release. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service claims that over 650M exotic animals worth $10B were legally imported into the U.S. since 2003, with only 120 full-time inspectors to police them for zoonotic diseases, which the Journal of Internal Medicine claims have infected 50M worldwide since 2000, killing up to 78K; during the summer Paris Hilton is bitten by her pet kinkajou (known for containing dangerous bacteria) named Baby Luv on the arm, ending up in the emergency room. The world was supposed to end this year according to the religious cult The Family, AKA Children of God; it is the first year of the Great Tribulation according to Ras Andy. According to myweb.ecomplanet.com/LENT6366/" Atlantis was supposed to rise this year from the Caribbean, causing Armageddon. China begins constructing a 52.8K-mi. highway system, which will equal the U.S. interstate highway system. A rabies epidemic in China causes mass extermination of dogs. The U.S. Mint issues state quarters for Nev., Neb., Colo., N.D., and S.D. Norway charges its citizens over $7/gal. for gas this year, while sitting on a $250B bank account from its oil exports and making as much as $500M from each of its North Sea oil platforms? Brazil discovers gigantic "pre-salt" oil fields, which are expected to produce an annual revenue of $45B by 2020. The Beepocalypse begins when beekeepers report losing up to 90% of their hives with no apparent reason, causing predictions of devastation to the food supply; by 2018 bee colonies are replenished, reaching a 20-year high? During Bernie Sanders' 2006 reelection campaign, the Bernie Arcade Game is put online, allowing players to navigate Bernie's eco-friendly hydrogen-fuelled plane through unfriendly skies filled with extreme right wing enemies, bags of special interest money, mud from mudslingers, and fat cats, fighting back by shooting fact sheets while the Vt.-based Cleary Brothers band plays in the background; no matter how low your score is, a voice says "That is an unbelievable number." Slovenian pres. #2 (since Dec. 22, 2002) Janez Drnovsek (1950-2008) goes New Age and founds the Movement for Justice and Development. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps adopt the Counterinsurgency Field Manual (pub. in June), which teaches that insurgencies can't be defeated without protecting and winning over the gen. pop., ignoring the lessons of the Hundred Years' War? 89-y.-o. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi pushes his World Peace Bond Plan for feeding the world's hungry and establishing world peace, calling for investors ($60K minimum) for a World Peace Bond to buy 5B acres in 100 developing countries to create labor-intensive subsistence farms - so concerned for the poor he wants everybody to be that way? The Mexico Technical Surveillance System is installed to eavesdrop on drug dealers. The Muxlim social networking Web site for Muslims is founded by Mohamed El-Fatatry and Pietari Paivanen of Finland, adhering to the principles of Islam vis a vis vulgarity etc. Of 4M live births by U.S. mothers this year, 29.1% are by Caesarean section (C-section), up 40% from 1996 and 400% since 1980; the convenience of not having to wait for labor? This year Internet consumer sales reach $211B, up from $2B in 1997. By this year there have been 442 Internet-related homicides (since 1995). By this year China has 34M Internet blog sites, with 75M people reading them. The cost of childhood vaccinations in the U.S. rises to $1,250 (for 12 shots), up from $100 (for 4 shots) 20 years earlier; a 13th shot costing $360 to protect girls from cervical cancer is in the queue. Early in the year a $32M goof by Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block on its own income tax return, plus other technical glitches drives away 250K customers, many into the arms of rival Jackson Hewitt Tax Service based in Parsippany, N.J. Ireland blocks shipments of U.S. arms to Israel via Shannon Airport, causing U.S. ambassador James C. Kenney to warn them that the U.S. will use other airports, costing the Irish economy millions of dollars; not disclosed until Nov. 2010 by WikiLeaks. NORAD moves its U.S. Northern Command from Cheyenne Mountain to Petersen AFB in Colorado Springs, Colo.; in 2015 it moves back underground. By this year one-third of new cars in Brazil are dual-fuel, using either gasoline or sugar-cane alcohol. The Parsall Oil Field in the Bakken Formation and Three Forks Formation in N.D. is discovered, causing the North Dakota Oil Boom (ends ?). The Great Am. Honeybee Collapse begins (ends 2013); by 2010 20-40% of colonies in the U.S. collapse; by 2013 1M beehives are lost. The Mormon Transhumanist Assoc. is founded in Salt Lake City, Utah to combine Mormonism and Transhumanism. The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is founded by Jewish-Am. atty. (former Judge Advocate Gen. and atty. to H. Ross Perot) Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein to oppose evangelical Christian influence in the U.S. military, representing Jews, Muslims et al. The 70 Metal Books are found in a cave in Jordan, and believed to date from just after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., which caused Christians to flee to the area. Am. comedian Jon Stewart pokes fun at Alaska Repub. Ted Stevens, chmn. of the Senate Commerce Committe for saying that the Internet isn't a dump truck but a series of tubes. China, which adds 2K new cars a day to Beijing traffic plants 2.16B trees using its cheap labor, and slaps a 5% tax on chopsticks in an effort at forest conservation, announces plans to stop exporting them in 2008, pissing-off the Japanese, who buy 97% of their 25B sets of "waribashi" (Chin. "kuaizi") a year from them, having become dependent on China for them in the 1980s; retail prices zoom from 1 yen a pair to 1.5-1.7. The Phantom of the Opera reaches 7,986 performances, beating the record set by Cats. The Oxford U. Press lists "time" as the most commonly used noun in the English language. The govt. of Malaysia seizes over 5M illegal DVDs and CDs from pirates in over 2K raids, arresting 780; beginning on Mar. 13, 2007 they begin using two dogs loaned by the Motion Picture Assoc. of Am. (MPAA), who sniff out another 1M disks in Johor on Mar. 19, causing pirates to put a hit out on them and spray chemicals on their disks to foil them. The phrase "crazy crackalackin' mamajama" is coined in the U.S. After designing Jason Wu dolls for Integrity Toys since age 16, Taipei, Taiwan-born gay Canadian fashion designer Jason Wu (1982-) debuts his first fall collection, making fans of Ivanka Trump, January Jones, RuPaul, Amber Valletta, and Michelle Obama, who wears one of his coats during her visit with Queen Eliabeth II, and a ruby red velvet-chiffon dress at the 2013 U.S. pres. inaugural ball. This year the Rolling Stones concert tour grosses $437M, followed by Madonna ($195M), Bon Jovi ($131M), U2 ($96M), and Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ($88.8M). This year the Hedge Fund Unscandal begins, with hedge fund mgrs. taking home incomes of over $1B, then sheltering the earnings by using their busineses as virtual 401(k) accounts which accumulate tax-free capital gains; meanwhile the 2001 U.S. Tax Cut Bill allows them to leave their estates to children without estate tax; it is set to expire in 2010. Los Alamos Nat. Lab develops bomb-sniffing honeybees; when they recognize an explosive they stick out their proboscis. The Am. Film Inst. (AFI) votes "It's a Wonderful Life" as the most inspirational film of the 20th cent. Time Warner in the U.K. censors all smoking scenes from "Tom and Jerry" cartoons. Toms (TOMS) Shoes in Santa Monica, Calif. is founded by Tex.-born Blake Mycoskie (1976-) to produce jute rope-soled Argentine alpargata (espadrille) shoes, becoming known for its non-profit subsidiary Friends of TOMS that gives out a free pair to a needy person for every pair sold - make Charlie feel good? Sports: On Jan. 22 the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Denver Broncos 34-17 to win the AFC title and become the first team since the 1985 New England Patriots to win three road playoff games to reach the Super Bowl; the Seattle Seahawks defeat the Carolina Panthers 34-14 to win the NFC Championship. On Feb. 11 U.S. adventurer James Stephen "Steve" Fossett (1945-2007) completes a record 26,389 mi. 76-hour nonstop round-the-world flight on the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer (sponsored by Virgin Airlines founder Sir Richard Branson), making an emergency landing at Bournemouth Internat. Airport in Manston, England; the previous record was 24,987 mi.; he left on Feb. 8 from Kennedy Space Center in Fla., losing about 750 lbs. of fuel during takeoff from a leak. On Feb. 19 the 2006 (48th) Daytona 500 is won by Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (1975-) in 203 laps (507.5 mi.) (2nd in a row to go longer than 500 mi.), becoming the first to end after sunset. On Mar. 8 NFL owners approve a 6-year extension to the collective bargaining agreement with the players' assoc., increasing the salary cap to 59.5% of league revenues; only the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals (who had a 52-108 record in the 1990s) vote against it. On Mar. ? Kobe Bryant of the L.A. Lakers scores 16K career points at age 27 years, 192 days, edging out Wilt Chamberlain by four days; the all-time scorer is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 38,387. On Apr. 10 Phil Mickelson "works magic" for his 2nd Masters win in the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga. On May 3 Tiger Woods' father Earl dies, and he withdraws from the Memorial Tournament in late May for the first time in his career, his first major tournament missed since turning pro in 1997; he returns on June 15 for the 106th U.S. Open at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., and scores a 6-over-par 76 for 82nd place, three short of the cut, breaking his string of 39 consecutive cuts in majors, tied with Jack Nicklaus. On May 12 Justin Gatlin (1982-) of the U.S. equals the record for the 100 yard dash of 9.77 sec.; too bad, in 2006 he is banned for four years from track and field for using banned substances. On May 20 Barry Bonds hits career homer #714 after 29 at-bats (9 games) without one, a hit into the first deck of the elevated stands in right-center during the San Francisco Giants' 4-2 10-inning V over the Oakland Athletics, trying Babe Ruth's record; he is booed before the game; on May 28 he hits #715 in San Francisco's AT&T Park off Colorado Rockies pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim. On May 20 the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico sees Triple Crown hopeful Barbaro (2003-7) (who won the Kentucky Derby by 6.5 lenghths) shatter three bones in his right hind ankle; Dr. Dan Richardson of the U. of Penn. later pins his leg bones together with 27 screws in a noble effort to save him for stud work, even though the owners coulda collected $16M in insurance; too bad, on Jan. 29, 2007 he takes a turn for the worse and is put down, then becomes the first derby champ to be buried at Churchill Downs. On May 28 Samuel Jon "Sam" Hornish Jr. (1979-) whips by father-son team of Michael (43) and Marco (19) Andretti to win the 2006 (90th) Indianapolis 500 by .0635 sec., the 2nd closest finish ever; although Mario Andretti won in 1969, neither of his sons has; Hornish wins in his 7th try after leaving the pit late in the race with his fuel hose connected, losing a lap; much-touted Danica Patrick finishes 8th - did she panica? In May pro golfer "Long" John Patrick Daly (1966-) reveals that he has a little gambling habit, and gambled away as much as $60M. On June 5-19 the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals see the Carolina Hurricanes defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3; MVP is 6'2" Hurricanes goalie Cameron Kenneth "Cam" Ward (1984-), becoming the first starting goaltender to win since Patrick Roy in 1986. On June 8-20 the 2006 NBA Finals sees the Miami Heat (coach Pat Riley) defeat the Dallas Mavericks (coach Avery Johnson) by 4-2: Dwayne Wade of the Heat is MVP. On June 9-July 9 the men's 18th FIFA World Cup is held in Germany; 715.1M watch the final match; Italy defeats France to win; the song The Time of Our Lives by Il Divo and Toni Braxton is the anthem. On June 9-July 9 the 18th FIFA World Cup of Soccer final between France and Italy in Berlin is won by Italy 5-3 on penalty kicks after French star Zinedine Yazid "Zizou" Zidane (1972-) (who came out of retirement) gets pissed in OT and head-butts Italian defender Marco Materazzi (1973-) ("the head butt heard round the world"), drawing a red card; he later claims a racial remark made him see red. On July 9 Roger Federer of Switzerland defeats Rafael Nadal of Spain in four sets to win the Wimbleton men's singles title for the 4th year in a row. On July 23 Floyd Landis (1975-) of the U.S. wins the Tour de France (begun July 1) 57 sec. ahead of Spain's Oscar Pereiro after first cracking in the final climb of Stage 16 on July 19 then staging a stirring comeback in Stage 17 on July 20, going from 8 min. 8 sec. behind Pereiro to only 30 sec. behind in the mountains; he dedicates the V to the Swiss Phonak team, for which he abandoned a U.S. team containing Lance Armstrong; too bad, elevated testosterone in his blood test causes him to be disqualified, despite negative tests on all the other days, and the uselessness of a 1-day shot of the stuff?; meanwhile his Mennonite parents in Farmersville, Penn. ride bicycles all the time? On July 23 Tiger Woods wins the British Open and his 3rd Claret Jug with a 5-under-par 67 2-shot victory over Chris DiMarco, his 11th major championship, then walks off the 18th green with tears in his eyes in his first V since his daddy died of cancer on May 3 - Liquid Plummer Power Jet, blasts clogs away in 3 seconds? On Aug. 20 Tiger Woods wins the PGA championship with a 4-under-par 68 and a 5-shot victory, becoming his 12th major (3rd PGA title); only Jack Nicklaus' 18 titles stand between him and being #1 of all time. On Aug. 27 Tiger Woods wins his 4th consecutive tournament at the Bridgestone Invitational; since missing the cut at the U.S. Open in June he has played five, and tied for 2nd in one. On Aug. 28 the USTA Nat. Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, N.Y. is renamed for Billie Jean King. On Sept. 1 Jamestown, N.Y.-born Roger Stokoe Goodell (1959-) succeeds Paul Tagliabue as NFL commissioner (until ?). On Oct. 1 the Chicago Bears defeat the Seattle Seahawks 40-7, scoring the final 17 points, becoming the 2nd time in the season they score 50 unanswered points, and bringing their record to 5-0, incl. four wins by 25 points or more, the second team in NFL history to do so, the first being the 1941 Bears. On Oct. 21 Tim Matheson of Colo. catches and releases a world record 29-in. 16 lb. brook trout at Barbe Lake in Manitoba, Canada; his record is certified in Jan. after ruumors that it is a splake (brook-lake trout hybrid) are investigated. On Nov. 13 #19 Joseph Keyshawn Johnson (1972-) of the Carolina Panthers becomes the first player to score a TD on Monday Night Football with four different teams (New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys); he is released by the Panthers on May 1, 2007 after one season, and retires. On Dec. 10 LaDainian Tomlinson (1979-) scores his 29th TD, breaking the NFL season record held by Shaun Alexander. On Dec. 11 female sprinter Ruqaya Al Ghasara of Bahrain wins the gold medal in the 200m (23.9 sec.) in the Asian Games (held on Dec. 1-15 in Doha, Qatar) wearing a Muslim hijab headgear and full-length running suit among a crowd of babes wearing trunks so skimpy you can do gynecology exams on them with binoculars, becoming the first athlete from Bahrain to win a major internat. athletics gold medal. Spalding Co. and the NBA announce a new NBA Official Game Ball made of synthetic material; too bad, players complain that it gets too slick and won't bounce right, causing the NBA to revert to the old leather balls effective Jan. 1, 2007. Architecture: On May 15 the 33' x 66' x 42' 110-ton Cloud Gate AKA The Bean public sculpture by Bombay, India-born British artist Sir Anish Kapoor (1954-) in AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park, Chicago, Ill. is dedicated, composed of 168 welded stainless steel plates modeled after liquid mercury. On May 23 52-story 1.7M sq. ft. 7 World Trade Center 7 World Trade Center, designed by David M. Childs (1941-) and developed by billionaire original developer Larry A. Silverstein (193a-), the first destroyed skyscraper to be rebuilt since 9/11 opens, offering state of the art safety features but attracting few tenants, leaving 80% unrented; it becomes the first commercial tower in New York City to be certified "green" by the U.S. Green Building Council. On Aug. 1 $455M "giant Hostess Ding-Dong" Ariz. Cardinals Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., designed by Dennis Wellner opens, featuring 88 luxury lofts, a roll-out natural grass field, and retractable roof. On Nov. 13 ground is broken for the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C. next to the Nat. Mall between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials; it opens on Aug. 22, 2011. Eglin Federal Prison Camp at Eglin AFB in Fla. closes after gaining the nickname "Club Fed" for being too cushy. The Big Giving Fountain in South Bank, Central London opens, designed by Klaus Weber, consisting of six industrial waste human sculptures with water spurting from various orifices; it is soon dismantled. Italy scraps plans to build a 2.5 mi. bridge across the Messina Straits to Sicily, which would have been the world's longest single-span suspension bridge. The Frederic C. Hamilton Bldg. for the Denver Art Museum in Colo., designed by architect Daniel Libeskind (1946-) opens, which he describes as "two lines taking a walk". After the dam body is completed, the Chinese govt. evacuates 1.3M people to make way for the $22B Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River near Sandouping, Yiling District, Hubei Province, China, the world's largest hydroelectric project; it is completed on July 4, 2012, becoming the world's largest hydroelectric power station (22.5GW) (until ?); meanwhile one-third of China's landmass suffers from acid rain caused by rapid industrial growth as its factories spew 25.5M tons of sulfur dioxide in 2005, up 27% from 2000. Nobel Prizes: Peace: Muhammad Yunus (1940-) (Bangladesh) [Grameen Bank]; Lit.: Orhan Pamuk (1952-) (Turkey); Physics: George Fitzgerald Smoot III (1945-) and John Cromwell Mather (1946-) (U.S.) [cosmic microwave background radiation]; Chem.: Roger David Kornberg (1947-) (U.S.) [eukaryotic transcription] (his father Arthur Kornberg won the Nobel Med. Prize when he was 12, and as a son of a Nobel laureate he got to conduct research for more than a decade before having to pub. any results); Med.: Craig Cameron Mello (1960-) (U.S.) and Andrew Zachary Fire (1959-) (U.S.) [RNA interference]; Econ.: Edmund Strother Phelps Jr. (1933-) (U.S.) [inter-temporal tradeoffs in macroeconomic policy]. Inventions: By this year the avg. desktop PC has 129 GB of storage, and the laptop has 71 GB. By this year the Apple iPod personal music player 60 GB model weighs only 5.5 oz. and holds up to 15K songs for $399. Apple Corp. begins using Intel microcprocessors in its Macintosh computers instead of IBM PowerPC chips. On Jan. 31 the Lockheed Martin P-791 experimental hybrid airship makes its first flight, going on to be used for landings in rough areas sans roads and airstrips. In Mar. Twitter.com is founded by Jack Dorsey (1976-), becoming the first Internet telegraphing service, where users can select whose message stream of up to 140 chars. per message to follow; on Aug. 27 Chris Messina invents the Twitter hashtag, with the first Tweet using it reading "how do you feel about using # (pound) for groups." In Mar. Microsoft announces the Origami Ultra-Mobile Personal Computer (UMPC), smaller than a laptop and larger than an iPod, weighing 2.5 lbs. with a 7-in. touchscreen, which compresses Windows and an onscreen keyboard and gives Internet and GPS access; a steal at $600-$1K? In Mar. the HD-DVD high-definition disc format goes on the market, followed in June by rival Blu-ray Disc to service the 25M U.S. homes with HD TVs by the end of this year; the U.S. DVD market is $23.2B, $15.4B from sales and $7.8B from rentals; Blu-ray gives up in Feb. 2008. On Apr. 2 Iran announces the test-firing of the new high-speed (223 mph) Hoot (Whale) Torpedo, capable of destroying warships and subs., as fast as the Russian-made VA-111 Shkval, developed in 1995. On Apr. 23 Spotify "freemium" music streaming service is launched in Stockholm, Sweden, paying royalties to rights holders, reaching 170M users in 2018, 75M of them paying after it launches on Oct. 7, 2008. On Apr. 28 Google launches Google Translate free multilingual machine translation service, supporting 100+ languages and reaching 500M users/day by May 2017; in Nov. 2016 Google announces that it is switching to a neural machine engine called Google Neural Machine Translation (GNMT), which translates whole sentences at a time. In May Sir John Brian Pendry (1944-), a physicist at the Imperial College in London announces the possibility of using metamaterials with a negative refractive index to create a Harry Potter-like "invisibility cloak", claiming that he's as close as 18 mo. to having a working one; he announces a working product in ? On July 19 the electric Tesla Roadster is introduced, with a Lotus chassis and a 248 hp motor; it can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 3.9 sec. and can travel 244 mi. (393 km) on a single charge, which takes only 3.5 hours; only $153K fully loaded, strictly cash; customers incl. Ahnuld. In July Nature pub. an article announcing success by John P. Donoghue et al. of Brown U. in test patient Matthew Nagle of Weymouth, Mass. in using small implants in the brain of paralyzed people to enable them to control external devices such as computers and robot arms. On Aug. 15 the $68M carrier-based Boeing EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft makes its first flight, going into service on Sept. 22, 2009 to replace the Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler. On Sept. 9 the Boeing 747 Dreamlifter (originally the Large Cargo Freighter) makes its first flight, being only used to transport Boeing 787 parts after being loaded by the world's longest cargo loader; only four are built. On Sept. 10 U.S. entrepreneur (co-founder of Texas-based Telecom Tech.) Anousheh Ansari (1966-) takes off with crew Joe Tanner and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper on the Space Shuttle Atlantis for the internat. space station, becoming the first paying woman to make the voyage, and the first construction mission since the 2003 Columbia disaster; on Sept. 14 240-ft. solar wings are unfurled on the station; they return on Sept. 21, a day later than planned to give them time to check the tiles after space debris is spotted. In Sept. Jesse Sullivan of Dayton, Tenn. receives the first thought-controlled artificial arms, controlled by shoulder nerves grafted to his pectoral muscles, invented by Todd Kuiken et al. in U.S. govt.-sponsored research. On Oct. 17 the antidiabetic drug Sitagliptin by Merck & Co. (brand name Januvia) is approved by the U.S. FDA; on Apr. 2, 2007 they approve an oral combo with metformin, and on Oct. 7, 2011 an oral combo with simvastatin. On Dec. 1 United Launch Alliance is founded by Boeing and Lockheed Martin in Centennial, Colo., going on to unveil the Vulcan Centaur launch vehicle on Apr. 13, 2015 to replace the Atlas V at about half the price, featuring the Advanced Cryogenic Evolved Stage (ACES) upper-stage rocket for boosting satellite payloads into geosynchronous orbit and interplanetary space probes to escape velocity. On Dec. 15 after Lockheed announced the program in 2001, the $98M-$116M single-seat single-engine all-weather Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole fighter makes its first flight, complete with F-35A (conventional takeoff and landing), F-35B (short takeoff and vertical landing), and F-35c (catapult-assisted takeoff and arrested recovery) models, its lower cost causing the F-22 Raptor to be phased-out; 115 are built by Nov. 2014, with a total of 2,457 planned for use by the USAF, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps; too bad, it's only good for its stealth, and can't win a close-up dogfight, and instead of wasting big bucks the military should have upgraded the F-15, F-16, and F-18? The $399 Microsoft Xbox 360 game platform is released, with a 20GB hard drive; it sells 34M units. IBM's Watson supercomputer undergoes initial tests to see if it can compete with humans in answering "Jeopardy!" clues, losing badly; in 2007 the IBM team is given a staff of 15 and 3.5 years to make it work, and by Feb. 2010 it reguarly beats humans; on Feb. 14, 2011 it goes on the air with champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, kicking their butts; too bad, it gives away how utterly devoid of intelligent it is by getting the Final Jeopardy clue wrong, claiming that Toronto is a U.S. city. The first digital projection systems for movie theaters are installed in the U.S., allowing studios to save $1.3B a year in film print manufacture and shipping costs, and permitting realistic 3-D. IBM patents Identification and Tracking of Persons Using RFID-Tagged Items. The Maxtor One Touch III Turbo Ed. is introduced, offering 1TB of digital storage for $799. James Harrison of Germany invents the Spray-On Condom. Science: A big year for planetary science? On Jan. 17 the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano pub. an article saying that "intelligent design" isn't science, and that teaching it alongside evolutionary theory in classrooms only creates confusion, but adds: "In a vision that goes beyond the empirical horizon, we can say that we aren't men by chance or by necessity, and that the human experience has a sense and a direction signaled by a superior design"; the article echoes the Vatican's chief astronomer Jesuit Rev. George V. Coyne (1933-), and either rebuffs or clarifies Pope Benedict XVI's Nov. off-the-cuff comments that the Universe was made by an "intelligent project". On Jan. 19 NASA launches the $650M unmanned New Horizons spacecraft on a 9.5-year 3B-mi. mission to flyby Pluto, the last unexplored planet, er, planetoid in the Solar System, followed by the Kuiper Belt; it features a memorial to Plugo, er, Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh; on Aug. 24, 2014 it passes the orbit of Neptune, rendezvousing with Pluto on July 14, 2015 at 8K mi. distance. On Jan. 23 scientists spot a gigantic storm on Saturn that unleashes lightning bolts 1Kx stronger than those found on Earth and lasts 10 hours; dozens more are spotted in the succeeding weeks. In Jan. Doron Behar, Karl Skorecki et al. in Israel pub. a study indicating that 40% of the 8M Ashkenazi Jews (out of a total world Jewish pop. of 13M) are descended from just four women who lived in Europe within the last 2K years, although ultimately they can be traced back to Jews dispersed from Israel to Italy in the 1st and 2nd cents. In Jan. the DeSmog Blog is founded by public relations exec James "Jim" Hoggan (1946-) of Vancouver, B.C., Canada to push the global warming theory and oppose "a well-funded and highly organized public relations campaign" that is "poisoning" the climate change debate. On Feb. 2 German astronomers report that icy ball 2003 UB313 in the Kuiper Belt (nicknamed Xena, then formally named Eris, the largest object discovered orbiting the Sun since Neptune in 1846 is 1,860 mi., 30% wider than Pluto (1.4K mi.), causing astronomers, led by U.S. astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson (1958-) to begin questioning the status of Pluto as a planet; in Aug. the Internat. Astronomical Union (IAU) decides that Pluto is no longer a planet, but "dwarf planet" #13430, leaving Sol with only eight planets; Pluto joins Ceres and Xena as Sol's three dwarf planets; the word "plutoed" is coined, meaning demoted or devalued; on June 11, 2008 the IAU announces that similar distant bodies in the Solar System will be called "plutoids". On Feb. 10 Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass unveils the first tomb to be discovered (#63) in the Valley of the Kings since King Tut's in 1922, containing five wooden sarcophagi with mummies, surrounded by 20 jars with pharaonic seals intact, saying they're likely from the Thebes (Luxor)-based 18th Dynasty (1500-1300 B.C.E.). On Feb. 17 Science pub. the discovery that new neurons are born in the adult brain, overturning decades of neuroscientific dogma. In Feb. three major studies in the U.S. question the value to women of low fat diets to ward off heart disease and breast and colon cancer, calcium and Vitamin D pills to prevent broken bones, and glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate for arthritis patients - what about the Vitamin P from a man, and the exercise and bone-strengthening power of shagging? In Feb. archeologists unearth a massive eight-chambered tomb in the N Greek town of Pella (370 mi. N of Athens) dating to the period after Alexander, becoming the largest ever found and the first with more than three chambers. In Feb. the white nose syndrome in bats is first identified in a cave in Schoharie County, N.Y., after which it spreads throughout the NE U.S., killing 1M+ bats by 2009. On Mar. 10 Science pub. a report on water geysers on Saturn's moon Enceladus, raising the possibility of life. In Mar. Sandia Nat. Labs in Albuquerque, N.M. announces the heating of particles to a record 2B Kelvin with their Z Machine, revealing a phenomenon they say will make nuclear fusion power plants more feasible. In Mar. the Am. Journal of Human Genetics pub. a study on Ashkenazi Jews, indicating a Hebrew origin for them, not Khazars as proposed by Arthur Koestler. On Apr. 10 U.S. health officials link Bausch & Lomb's ReNu brand contact lens solution to Fusarium keratitis, a blinding fungal eye infection reported in 109 cases in 17 states since June 2005. On Apr. 19 the JAMA pub. two govt.-funded studies which find no evidence that amalgam fillings containing mercury cause neurological problems in children; it also contains an article concluding that pregnancies spaced from 18-60 mo. apart produce the healthiest babies. On Apr. 20 the U.S. FDA (dir. John Walters) declares that "no sound scientific studies" support the medical use of smoked marijuana, contradicting a 1999 review by the Inst. of Medicine of the Nat. Academy of Sciences that finds it to be "moderately well suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting." In Apr. a polargrizz (pizzly), a polar-grizzly bear hybrid is shot on the S end of Banks Island in the Beaufort Sea, becoming the f irst confirmed case of the formerly zoo-only hybrid in the wild. On May 1 Avandia maker GlaxoSmithKline releases a study linking Alzheimer's disease to diabetes, saying that brain cells can lose their ability to properly use sugar, and that therefore everybody over the age of ? should take their product?; 4.5M suffer from Alzheimer's this year, but it could zoom to 14M by 2050? On May 7 Nature Genetics pub. an article announcing a new genetic marker which signals a 60% increased risk of prostate cancer in men, and which is twice as common in blacks than whites. On May 9 Swedish researchers pub. an article in the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences showing the results of a study that shows that gay women's brains react somewhat like those of hetero men; a year ago the same group reported that gay men's brains act similar (stronger than gay women's) to hetero women; they later claim that their study does not add weight to the idea that homosexuality has a physical underpinning and is not learned behavior - what hormone turns a mouth into the opposite gender's sex organ? On May 27 Am. Johns Hopkins U. neuroscientist Roland Redmond Griffiths (1946-) et al. pub. the landmark study Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance in Psychopharmacology, reviving interest in clinical research with psychedelic drugs as a potential treatment for addiction, anxiety, and depression. On June 19 China says it will put a Chinese man on the Moon by 2024. In June Nix and Hydra, two new moons of Pluto are discovered by S. Alan Stern in Boulder, Colo. using the Hubble Space Telescope, and are christened by the Internat. Astronomical Union next year; after Pluto is downgraded, they are called mini-moons - a planet has moons, right, so go Pluto? In July the U.S. Congress passes H.R. 810, a bill sponsored by Rep. Diana DeGette (1957-) (D-Colo.) allowing federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, but on July 19 Pres. Bush vetoes it, saying "Our conscience and history as a nation demand that we resist this temptation", speaking to a White House audience which incl. the "Snow Flake Babies", adopted children who came from frozen embryos once slated to be discarded; an attempt to override his veto in the House fails 235-193. In July Terry Wallis (b. 1964), who suffered a traumatic brain injury 20 years earlier leaving him in a minimally conscious state, regains speech and movement after his brain spontaneously rewires itself, become the first such person in the U.S. - Terri Schiavo could have been the second? In July the U.S. FDA approves Atripla, the first one-pill once-a-day AIDS treatment, containing three drugs and costing only $1,150/mo. at wholesale. On Aug. 23 Dr. Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Tech. reports in Nature a new technique for establishing colonies of human embyonic stem cells without destroying embryos, using 2-day-old embryos that have divided into eight cells (blastomeres), commenting "There is no rational reason left to oppose this research", but Roman Catholic bishops chime in with objections to IVF itself. In Aug. the U.S. FDA approves the spraying of a mix of six bacteriophage viruses to combat Listeria Monocytogenes bacterium on cold cuts et al., becoming their first approval of viruses as a food additive. In Sept. the new planet HAT-P-1 is announced in the constellation Lacerto 450 l.y. from Earth, becoming the biggest known planet, with a density less than water. In Sept. after Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen invests $100M to develop it, the Allen Brain Atlas, a 3-D map of the 21K genes in the mouse brain goes public. On Oct. 6 article in Science reports that the longstanding latitudinal diversity gradient discovered by explorers over the cents., resulting in the debate about whether the tropics are a cradle or museum of biodiversity has been answered, and they they are both, "the engine for global biodiversity", and "What this means is that human-caused extinctions in the tropics will eventually start to affect the biological diversity in the temperate and high latitudes" (Kaustuv Roy, UCSD). On Oct. 16 U.S. and Russian scientists led by Ken Moody of the U.S. announce the creation of element #118 (a new noble gas under radon in the Periodic Table), plus its decay product element #116; since it lasts for less than 1 millisec., other scientists are skeptical, considering that Lawrence Berkeley Lab in Calif. announced the same discovery in 1991 but retracted it in 2001 after Dr. Victor Ninov admitted he fabricated data. In Oct. scientists announce the discovery of the grey Cypriot Mouse on Cyprus, calling it a "living fossil", identical to fossils predating the arrival of humans by several thousand years - a weak link in evolutionary theory? In Oct. researchers at the Bronx, N.Y. Zoo announce that their research proves that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror and are therefore self-aware. On Nov. 2 Nature pub. a study by 27 different researchers who find that the red wine ingredient resveratrol lowers the rate of diabetes, liver problems, and other fat-related illnesses in obese mice. On Nov. 3 an article in Science by a team of ecologists and economists pub. data from a 4-year study of seafood pops., and warns that 29% of species have collapsed (catch declined 90%), and the rest will collapse by 2048. On Nov. 15 Dr. Simon Hoerstrup of the U. of Zurich announces the growing of human heart valves using stem cells from amniotic fluid. In Nov. 6-y.-o. Daniel Kerner becomes the first patient to have stem cells from aborted fetuses transplanted into his brain in an effort to slow his Batten disease, a genetic disorder preventing wastes from being eliminated from brain cells. On Dec. 3 the U.S. govt. announces that circumcising adult men may reduce by half their risk of getting the AIDS virus through hetero intercourse, then shuts down two African studies so that the "uncut" men may get "cut". On Dec. 6 NASA announces that its Global Surveyor spacecraft has taken photos of an area where muddy water appears to have run down crater walls, becoming a "squirting gun for water on Mars" - maybe an ET was taking a leak? On Dec. 12 two studies in Nature report that mice with larger ratios of the bacterium Firmicutes than Bacteroidetes get twice as fat and take in more calories from the same amount of food - firm is cute? In Dec. Flora the Komodo Dragon at the Chester Zoo in England becomes the first documented case of parthenogenesis (asexual reproduction) in the species. Swedish biologist Svante Paabo (Pääbo) (1955-) announces a plan to reconstruct the entire genome of the Neanderthals. This year U.S. beekepers begin reporting Colony Collapse Disorder (CCDE). Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka (1962-) of Kyoto U. in Japan creates the first Induced Pluripotent (iPS) Cells, that can develop into any cell type; too bad, less then 1% of adult cells can be reprogrammed into iPS cells until a new technique is found in Aug. 2009 that involves silencing the p53 pathway that prevents mutations and preserves the genome sequence. Israeli scientists announce the creation of ball lightning in a microwave oven. Art: Luis Cruz Azaceta, Bowl. Paul Vella Critien, Colonna Mediterranea; a large phallic statue erected in Luqa, Malta; stirs controversy in 2010 when the mayor tries to have it removed before a papal visit. Daniel Edwards (1965-), Britney Spears: A Monument to Pro-Life (sculpture); Britney in the moment of childbirth on a bearskin rug; Hillary Rodham Clinton: First Woman President of the United States (sculpture). Mitchell Gaudet, Waterline (glass). Andrew Gonzalez, Yemanja. Damien Hirst (1965-), The Death of God; made in Mexico. Marc Quinn, Self (sculpture); a cast of his head made from his own frozen blood; the Nat. Portrait Gallery of London pays Ł300K for it. William Stockman, Bully. Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004), Sunset Nude with Matisse Odalisque. Melanie Yazzi, Talking About Change. Music: The Academy Is..., From the Carpet (album #2) (Feb. 21). Queens of the Stone Age, Over the Years and Through the Woods (album) (Jan. 22). Christina Aguilera (1980-), Back to Basics (album) (Aug. 15); incl. Hurt, Ain't No Other Man, Candyman. Akon (1977-), Konvicted (album #2); incl. Smack That. Lily Allen (1985-), Alright, Still (album) (debut) (July 14) (#20 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); sells 2.6M copies; incl. Smile, LDN, Shame for You, Littlest Things, Alfie. Amon Amarth, With Oden on Our Side (album #6) Sept. 22); first album to enter the Billboard Charts; incl. With Oden on Our Side, Under the Northern Star. India.Arie (1975-), Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (album #3) (June 26) (#1 in the U.S., #103 in the U.K.) (700K copies); incl. I Am Not My Hair (w/Akon), The Heart of the Matter, There's Hope. Joseph Arthur (1971-), Nuclear Daydream (album #5) (Sept. 19). Audioslave, Revelations (Sept. 4) (1M copies) (#2 in the U.S.) (#12 in the U.K.); incl. Original Fire, and Revelations; in Feb. 2007 after becoming the first U.S rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba, Cornell leaves and the group disbands; too bad, on May 18, 2017 Chris Cornell is found dead in his hotel room in Detroit, Mich. Buju Banton (1973-), Too Bad (album #8) (Sept. 12). Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (album) (debut) (Apr. 24) (#4 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (5.8M copies); original title "Who Cares?"; from Atlanta, Ga., incl. Danger Mouse (Brian Joseph Burton) (1977-) and Cee Lo Green (Thomas DeCarlo Callaway) (1974-); named after NBA star Charles Barkley; incl. Crazy (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (first U.K. single based solely on downloads). Natasha Bedingfield (1981-), Live in New York City (album). Dierks Bentley (1975-), Long Trip Alone (album #3) (Oct. 17); incl. Long Trip Alone, Free and Easy (Down the Road I Go), Every Mile a Memory. Beyonce (1981-), B'Day (album #2) (Sept. 4) (#1 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.)) (3.5M copies); incl. Deja Vu, Beautiful Liar, Irreplaceable. Bo Bice (1975-), The Real Thing (album) (Dec. 13); incl. The Real Thing. Bjork (1965-), Volta (album #7) (May 2); incl. Declare Independence, The Dull Flame of Desire (w/Antony Hegarty), Innocence. Mary J. Blige (1971-), Reflections (A Retrospective) (album). Joe Bonamassa (1977-), You & Me (album #6) (June 6); incl. Django. Pet Shop Boys, Fundamental (album) (May 22); sells 1M copies; dedicated to Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhohi (hanged on July 19, 2005 for raping a 13-y.-o. Iranian boy); incl. Minimal, Numb (with Diane Warren), I'm with Stupid; Concrete (album) (Oct. 23). Laura Branigan (1952-2004), The Platinum Collection (album) (July 24) (posth.). Buckcherry, 15 (album #3) (Apr. 16) (1M copies); incl. Crazy Bitch, Next 2 You, Sorry (#39 in the U.S.), Everything, Broken Glass. Jimmy Buffett (1946-), Take the Weather with You (album #26) (Oct. 10). Chris de Burgh (1948-), The Storyman (album #15) (Nov. 6); incl. Storyman Theme, One World, The Shadow of the Mountain, Raging Storm (with Krystina Miles). Candlebox, The Best of Candlebox (album) (May 23). Cascada, Everytime We Touch (album) (debut) (Feb. 21); from Germany, incl. Natalie Horler (1981-), DJ Manian (Manuel Reuter), Yanou (Yann Peifer); incl. Everytime We Touch; The Remix Album (album) (Nov.). Neko Case (1970-), Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (album #4) (Mar. 7). Cassie, Cassie (album); incl. Me and U. Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone, The Sound of Revenge (album); incl. Ridin'. Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way (album); incl. Not Ready to Make Nice, about the 2003 London controversy; sweeps the 2007 Grammys on Feb. 11. El Chombo and Andys Val Gourmet, Chacarron Macarron. Metal Church, A Light in the Dark (album #8) (June 19); incl. A Light in the Dark, Mirror of Lies. New Young Pony Club, Get Lucky (Mar. 20). Leonard Cohen (1934-) and Anjani Thomas, Blue Alert. Ornette Coleman (1930-2015), Sound Grammar (album) (Sept. 12) (Pulitzer Prize). Shawn Colvin (1956-), These Four Walls (album #7) (Sept. 12). Sean "Diddy" Combs (1969-), Press Play (album #4) (Oct. 17) (#1 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.); incl. Come to Me (w/Jimmy Page), Last Night. David Cook (1982-), Analog Heart (album) (debut) (May 6). Coolio (1963-), The Return of the Gangsta (album #5) (Oct. 16); incl. Gangsta Walk (w/Snoop Dogg). Elvis Costello (1954-), My Flame Burns Blue (album) (Feb. 28); recorded at the North Sea Jazz Festival, July, 2004. Elvis Costello (1954-) and Allen Toussaint (1938-), The River in Reverse (album) (June 6); incl. Who's Gonna Help Brother Get Further? Black Crowes, Freak 'n' Roll into the Fog (live album). Chris Daughtry (1979-), Daughtry (album) (debut) (Nov. 21); fastest-selling debut album in history (until ?), selling 1M copies in 5 weeks, and 4M total; incl. It's Not Over. Mos Def (1973-), True Magic (album #3) (Dec. 29); leaked on the Internet, killing sales; incl. True Magic. Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist (album #5) (Oct. 31) (#10 in the U.S.); last with Chi Cheng ("Straight evil music" - Moreno); incl. Hole in the Earth (#19 in the U.S., #69 in the U.K.), Mein (w/Serj Tankian) (#40 in the U.S.). Disney Studios, High School Musical Soundtrack (album); first animated movie soundtrack to reach #1. Snoop Dogg (1971-), The Blue Carpet Treatment (album #8) (Nov. 21) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. I Wanna Fuck You (w/Akon). Goo Goo Dolls, Let Love In (album #8) (Apr. 25) (#9 in the U.S.); incl. Better Days (#3 in the U.S.), Let Love In (#9 in the U.S.), Stay With You (#6 in the U.S.). Forgive Durden, Wonderland (album) (debut) (May 9); named from the novel "Fight Club"; Thomas Dutton. Bob Dylan (1941-), Modern Times (album #32) (Aug. 29); named after a 1936 Charlie Chaplin movie; incl. Rollin' and Tumblin', Someday Baby. Europe, Secret Society (album #7) (Oct. 25); incl. Secret Society, Always the Pretenders. Better Than Ezra, Juicy; used on "Desperate Housewives". Eminem (1972-), Eminem Presents the Re-Up (album) (Dec. 5). Arch Enemy, Live Apocalypse (double album) (July 24); incl. My Apocalypse. Public Enemy, Rebirth of a Nation (album #10) (Mar. 7). Faithless, Renaissance 3D (triple CD) (July 10); To All New Arrivals (album) (Nov. 27); incl. Bombs. Feist (1976-), Open Season (album #3) (Apr.). Fergie (1975-), The Duchess (album) (debut) (Sept. 13); sells 6M copies; incl. London Bridge, Fergalicious, Big Girls Don't Cry (Fergie Song). Foo Fighters, Skin and Bones (album) (Nov. 7). Fishbone, Still Stuck In Your Throat (album) (Oct. 16); first with Rocky George (guitar), Dre Gipson (keyboard, vocals), and Curtis Storey (trumpet, vocals); incl. Let Dem Ho's Fight. Rascall Flatts, Me And My Gang (album). Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes (EP) (debut) (fall); original name Pineapple; from Seattle, Wash., incl. Robin Pecknold (vocals); incl. She Got Dressed. Peter Frampton (1950-), Fingerprints (Sept. 12); incl. Black Hole Sun. The Fray, How to Save a Life (album) (debut) (Sept. 13); from Denver, Colo., incl. Isaac Slade (1981-), Joe King (1980-); incl. How to Save a Life, Over My Head (Cable Car); Live at the Electric Factory: Bootleg No. 2 (album) (July 18). Nelly Furtado (1978-) Loose (album #3) (June 7) (10M copies) (best-selling album of 2006-7); incl. No Hay Igual, Promiscuous, Maneater, Te Busque, All Good Things (Come to an End), Say It Right, Do It, In God's Hands. The Game, Doctor's Avocate (album) (Nov. 14). Secret Garden, Once in a Red Moon (album #5) (Mar. 26); incl. Awakening, You Raise Me Up (w/Brian Kennedy). Melody Gardot (1985-), Worrisome Heart (album #2) (Feb. 26); incl. Quiet Fire, Worrisome Heart, Goodnite. Ben Harper (1992-), Both Sides of the Gun (#7 in the U.S.) (Mar. 21) (double album) (White disc and Black disc); soul, hard rock, funk, and gospel; incl. Better Way. Indigo Girls, Despite Our Differences (album #10) (Sept. 19). Lamb of God, Sacrament (album #5) (Aug. 22) (#8 in the U.S.) (300K copies); incl. Redneck, Walk With Me in Hell, Blacken the Cursed Sun. Godsmack, IV (album #4) (Apr. 25) (#1 in the U.S.) (500K copies in the U.S.); incl. Speak, Shine Down, The Enemy. Jay Greenberg (1991-), Intelligent Life. Nina Hagen (1955-), Irgendwo auf der Welt (album #14) (Apr. 24). Procol Harum, The Wells on Fire (album #13). P.J. Harvey (1969-), The Peel Sessions 1991-2004 (album) (Oct. 23). Heather Headley (1974-), In My Mind (album); incl. "Me Time", "Am I Worth It". Helmet, Monochrome (album). Paris Hilton (1981-), Paris (album) (debut); incl. Stars Are Blind. Hinder, Extreme Behavior (album); incl. Lips of an Angel. Her Space Holiday, The Telescope (album). Hoobastank, Every Man for Himself (album #3) (May 8); incl. If I Were You, Inside of You, Born to Lead. Crowded House, Farewell the World (album) (Nov.). Vanessa Hudgens (1988-), V (album) (debut) (Sept. 26); incl. Come Back to Me, Say OK. Janis Ian (1951-), Folk is the New Black (album). Incubus, Light Grenades (album #6) (Nov. 28) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Love Hurts, Anna Molly (#66 in the U.S.), Dig (#94 in the U.S.), Oil and Water. Yusuf Islam (1948-), An Other Cup (album) (Nov. 10); first Western album since "Back to Earth" in 1978; incl. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, I Think I See the Light. Isley Brothers, Baby Makin' Music (album). LL Cool J (1968-), Todd Smith (album) (Apr. 11); incl. Control Myself, Freeze (featuring Lyfe Jennings). Janet Jackson (1966-), 20 Y.O. (album #9) (Sept. 20) (#2 in the U.S., #63 in the U.K.); incl. Call On Me (w/Nelly), So Excited, Enjoy, With U. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam (album #8) (May 2) (#2 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); incl. World Wide Suicide. Jamelia (1981-), Walk with Me (album) (Sept. 25); incl. Something About You, Beware of the Dog, No More. Jamiroquai, High Times: Singles 1992-2006 (album) (Nov. 6). Jay-Z (1969-), Kingdom Come (album #9) (Nov. 21); sells 680K copies the first week; incl. Show Me What You Got, 30 Something. Elton John (1947-), The Captain & The Kid (album #29) (Sept. 18); incl. The Bridge, Postcards from Richard Nixon. Jack Hody Johnson (1975-) and Friends, Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George (album) (Feb. 7) (#1 in the U.S.) (4M copies); incl. Upside Down, Talk of the Town (w/Kawika Kahiapo), We're Going to Be Friends (by Jack White), The 3 R's (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), With My Own Two Hands (w/Ben Harper). JoJo, High Road (album); incl. Too Little Too Late. Jonas Brothers, It's About Time (album) (debut) (Aug. 8); incl. Paul Kevin Jonas II (1987) (AKA K2), Joseph Adam "Joe" Jonas (1989), and Nicholas Jerry "Nick" Jonas (1992-); incl. Mandy. Journey, Live in Houston 1981: The Escape Tour (album) (Nov.). Gabriel Kahane (1981-), Craigslistlieder. Danity Kane, Danity Kane (album) (debut); sells 1M copies; Aubrey O'Day, Wanity "D. Woods" Woodgette, Shannon REx, Dawn Richard, Aundrea Fimbres; incl. Show Stopper, Ride for You. The Black Keys, Magic Potion (album #4) (Sept. 15); incl. Your Touch, You're the One, Just Got to Be. Cold War Kids, Robbers & Cowards (album) (Oct. 10) (debut); from Long Beach, Calif., incl. Nathan Willett (vocals), Jonnie Russell (drums), Matt Maust (bass), Matt Aveiro (drums); incl. Hang Me Up to Dry, Hospital Beds. The Killers, Sam's Town (album #2) (Oct. 2) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); sells 4.5M copies; incl. Read My Mind, When You Were Young, Bones, For Reasons Unknown. Nick Lachey (1973-), What's Left of Me (album) (May 9); incl. What's Left of Me, I Can't Hate You Anymore. Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked Ladies Are Me (album #7) (Sept. 12). Strapping Young Lads, The New Black (album #5) (last) (July 11) (#200 in the U.S.); incl. Wrong Side. Laibach, Volk (album #14) (Oct. 26); their take on several nat. anthems; incl. America; Turkiye. k.d. lang (1961-), Reintarnation (album) (Mar. 14). John Legend (1978-), Once Again (album #2) (Oct. 24); incl. Save Room, Heaven, P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care), Stereo. Sean Ono Lennon, Friendly Fire (album); incl. Dead Meat. Def Leppard, Yeah! (album) (May 23). Level 42, Retroglide (album #11) (last album in 1994) (Sept. 18); incl. Ship, Hell Town Story. Huey Lewis (1950-) and the News, Greatest Hits & Videos (album) (May 23). Jenny Lewis, Rabbit Fur Coat (album) (Jan. 24). Leona Lewis (1985-), A Moment Like This (Dec. 17) (#1 in the U.K.); winner of X Factor, Series 3; cover of the Kelly Clarkson #1 U.S. solo debut single; downloaded a record 50K times in 30 min. Juliette and the Licks, Four on the Floor (album #2) (last album) (Oct. 2); incl. Hot Kiss, Sticky Honey. Flaming Lips, At War with the Mystics (album #11) (Apr. 3); incl. The W.A.N.D.(The Will Always Negates Defeat), The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (With All Your Power), It Overtakes Me. Meat Loaf (1947-), Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose (album); sells 2.5M copies. Loon (1975-), No Friends (album #2) (Aug. 29); Wizard of Harlem (album #3) (Oct. 26). Ludacris (1977-), Release Therapy (album #5) (Sept. 26) (#1 in the U.S.) (1.3M copies); incl. Money Maker (w/Pharrell) (#1 in the U.S.), Grew Up a Screw Up (w/Young Jeezy), Runaway Love (w/Mary J. Blige) (#2 in the U.S.), Girls Gone Wild, Slap. Where'd You Go? Madonna (1958-), I'm Going to Tell You A Secret (first live album) (June 20). Iron Maiden, A Matter of Life and Death (album #14) (Aug. 25); incl. The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, Different World. John Mayer (1977-), Continuum (album #3) (Sept. 9) (#2 in the U.S., #47 in the U.K.) (3M copies); incl. Waiting on the World to Change, Gravity, Dreaming with a Broken Heart; The Village Sessions (album) (Dec. 12). 10,000 Maniacs, Live Twenty-Five (album). Ziggy Marley (1968-), Love Is My Religion (July 2). Paul McCartney (1942-), Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart) (album) (Sept. 25). Ingrid Michaelson (1979-), (Take Me) The Way I Am. Mika (1983-), Dodgy Holiday EP (album) (debut) (Nov. 20); incl. Billy Brown. Fort Minor, The Rising Tied (album); incl. Where'd You Go. Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (album) (debut) (Jan. 23) (#24 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); fastest-selling debut album in British music history (360K copies in week #1); from High Green, Sheffield, England, incl. Alexander David "Alex" Turner (1986-) (vocals), Jamie Phillip Cook (1985-) (guitar), Nicholas "Nick" O'Malley (1985-) (bass), Matthew "Matt" Helders (1986-) (drums); incl. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor (#1 in the U.K.), When the Sun Goes Down (#1 in the U.K.). Dito Montiel (1965-), Dito Montiel (album) (debut). Moonspell, Memorial (album #7) (Apr. 24). Van Morrison (1945-), Pay the Devil (album #32) (Mar. 6); Live at Austin City Limits Festival (album). Morrissey (1959-), Ringleader of the Tormentors (album). Van Morrison (1945-), Pay the Devil (album) (Mar. 7); incl. Half as Much. Motorhead, Kiss of Death (album #18) (Aug. 29); incl. Kingdom of the Worm. Smash Mouth, Summer Girl (album #5) (Sept. 19); first with drummer Jason Sutter, who is replaced next year by Mitch Marine; incl. So Insane, Story of My Life. Michael Martin Murphey (1945-), Heartland Cowboy: Cowboy Songs Vol. 5 (album #27 (Oct. 31)); incl. Long and Lonesome Ride to Dalhart. Ne-Yo (1979-), In My Own Words (album) (debut); incl. So Sick, Sexy Love. Nickelback, All the Right Reasons (album); incl. Far Away, Savin' Me. Twisted Nixon, Left is Right. Yannick Noah (1960-), Charango (album #3); incl. Donne-moi une Vie, Aux Arbres Citoyens. Nonpoint, Live and Kicking (album) (Nov. 7). Gary Numan (1958-), Jagged (album #16) (Mar. 13). Blue October, Foiled (album) (Apr. 4); incl. Hate Me, Into the Ocean. Midnight Oil, Flat Chart (album) (Aug. 14). Omarion (1984-), 21 (album #2) (Dec. 26); incl. IceBox (w/Timbaland and Entourage). Yoko Ono (1933-), Yes, I'm A Witch (Feb.); remixes of her back catalog of sh, er, hits. Maximo Park, Missing Songs (album) (Jan. 9). Paris, Rebirth of a Nation (album); Paris Presents: Hard Truth Soldiers. Snow Patrol, Eyes Open (album); incl. Chasing Cars, You're All I Have, Hands Open. Sean Paul, The Trinity (album); incl. Temperature, Give It Up To Me. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium (album #9) (May 5) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); sells 7M copies; last with John Frusciante; incl. Dani California, Tell Me Baby, Snow (Hey Oh), Desecration Smile, Hump de Bump. Tom Petty (1950-), Highway Companion (album #3) (July 25); incl. Saving Grace, Square One. Phoenix, It's Never Been Like That (album #3) (May 15); incl. Long Distance Call (May 8), Consolation Prizes. Kellie Pickler (1986-), Small Town Girl (album) (debut) (Oct. 31); incl. Red High Heels, I Wonder, Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind. Silversun Pickups, Carnavas (album) (debut) (July 26); incl. Lazy Eye, Well Thought Out Twinkles. Pink (1979-), I'm Not Dead (album #4) (Mar. 31) (#6 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.) (6.5M copies); incl. Stupid Girls (#13 in the U.S.), Who Knew (#9 in the U.S.), U + Ur Hand (#9 in the U.S.), Dear Mr. President. Pitbull (1981-), El Mariel (album #2) (Oct. 31) (#17 in the U.S.); incl. Miami Shit, Come See Me, Jealouso. Placebo, Meds (album #5) (Mar. 13); incl. Meds, Because I Want You, Song to Say Goodbye, Infra-Red. Iggy Pop (1947-) and the Teddybears, Punkrocker. Daniel Powter, Daniel Powter (album); incl. Bad Day. Prince (1958-), 3121 (album) (Mar. 21); incl. "Te Amo Corazon", "Black Sweat". Queensryche, Operation: Mindcrime II (album #10) (Mar. 29); incl. I'm American. Corinne Bailey Rae (1979-), Corinne Bailey Rae (album) (debut) (Feb. 24); sells 3M copies; incl. Like a Star, Put Your Records On. Rammstein, Volkerball (V欫erball) (Dodgeball) (album) (Nov. 17). The All-American Rejects, Move Along (album); incl. Dirty Little Secret, Move Along. Red, End of Silence (album) (debut) (June 6) (#194 in the U.S.); from Nashville, Tenn.; incl. Michael Barnes (vocals), Anthony Armstrong (guitar), Randy Armstrong (bass), and Joe Rickard (drums); incl. Breathe Into Me, Let Go, Lost, Break Me Down. Steve Reich (1936-), Daniel Variations. Busta Rhymes (1972-), The Big Bang (album #7) (June 13) (#1 in the U.S., #19 in the U.K.) (600K copies); incl. Touch It (#16 in the U.S.), I Love My Chick (w/will.ia.am, Kelis). Lionel Richie (1949-), Coming Home (album #8) (Sept. 12); sells 500K copies; incl. I Call It Love, Why, All Around the World. Rihanna (1988-), A Girl Like Me (album #2) (Apr. 19) (#5 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); incl. SOS (#1 in the U.S.), Break It Off (w/Sean Paul), Unfaithful, We Ride. If It's Loving' That You Want. LeAnn Rimes (1982-), Whatever We Wanna (album); incl. And It Feels Like. Kid Rock (1971-), Live Trucker (album); recorded the old-fashioned way with mobile recording studio and tape? My Chemical Romance, Life on the Murder Scene (first live album) (triple album) (Mar. 21); The Black Parade (album #3) (Oct. 23) (#2 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); rock opera about the Patient, who is dying of cancer; incl. Welcome to the Black Parade, Famous Last Words, I Don't Love You, Teenagers. Skid Row, Revolutions Per Minute (album #5) (Oct. 24); first with drummer Dave Gara; incl. Shut Up Baby, I Love You. Bianca Ryan (1994-), Bianca Ryan (album) (debut) (Nov. 14). Primal Scream, Riot City Blues (album #8) (June 5); incl. When the Bomb Drops, Hell's Coming Down. Seal (1963-), One Night to Remember (album) (Mar. 27). Belle and Sebastian, The Life Pursuit (album #7) (Feb. 6) (#8 in the U.K.); incl. Funny Little Frog, The Blues Are Still Blue, White Collar Boy. Bob Seger (1945-), Face the Promise (Sept. 12); incl. Wait for Me. Duncan Sheik, White Limousine (album) (Jan. 24); incl. White Limousine. Robert Sher-Machherndl, Anilla (for three dancers). Jessica Simpson (1980-), A Public Affair (album #5) (Aug. 26) (#5 in the U.S., #65 in the U.K.) (1M copies); she now switches to country; incl. A Public Affair, I Belong to Me, You Spin Me Round (Like A Record). Twisted Sister, A Twisted Christmas (album) (Oct. 17) (#147 in the U.S.). Slayer, Christ Illusion (album #10) (Aug. 8) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Eye of the Insane, Final Six. Black Label Society, The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live (album) (Aug. 22); Shot to Hell (album #7) (Sept. 12); incl. Concrete Jungle. Collective Soul, Home: A Live Concert Recording With the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra (album) (Feb. 7). Hush Sound, Like Vines (album #2); incl. We Intertwined, Lions Roar, You Are the Moon, Where We Went Wrong. LCD Soundsystem, 45:33 (album) (Nov. 12). Regina Spektor (1980-), Begin to Hope (album #4) (June 13); incl. Fidelity, Better, On the Radio. Bruce Springsteen (1949-), We Shall Overcome (album). Ringo Starr (1940-), Ringo Starr and Friends (album) (Aug. 15). Cobra Starship, While the City Sleeps, We Rule the Streets (album) (debut) (Oct. 10); from New York City, incl. Gabe Saporta (vocals), Ryland Blackington (guitar), Alex Suarez (bass), Victoria Asher (keyboards), and Nate Novarro (drums); incl. The Church of Hot Addiction. Rod Stewart (1945-), Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time (album) (Oct. 10). George Strait (1952-), Give It Away. The Strokes, First Impression of Earth (album #3) (Jan. 3) (#5 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. Juicebox (#9 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.), Heart in a Cage (#21 in the U.S., #25 in the U.K.), You Only Live Once (#35 in the U.S.). Taylor Swift (1989-), Taylor Swift (album) (debut) (Oct. 24) (#1 country) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Our Song (#1 country) (#16 in the U.S.) (youngest person to write and perform a Billboard country #1 song), Should've Said No (#1 country) (#33 in the U.S.), Teardrops on My Guitar (#2 country) (#13 in the U.S.), Picture to Burn (#3 country) (#28 in the U.S.), Tim McGraw (#6 country) (#40 in the U.S.); the album stays 274 weeks on the Billboard top 200 chart. Plain White T's, Every Second Counts (album); incl. Hey There Delilah, Hate (I Really Don't Like You). Therion, Celebrators of Becoming (boxed set) (May 6). Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Thug Stories (album) (Sept. 19). Justin Timberlake (1981-) featuring T.I., Future Sex/ LoveSounds (album #2) (Sept. 12) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); sells 4M copies in the U.S. and 14M copies worldwide, and spawns six Top 20 hits for the 1st time since Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" (1991); incl. SexyBack, My Love, What Goes Around Comes Around, Summer Love, LoveStoned, Until the End of Time. Tool, 10,000 Days (album #4) (Apr. 28) (#1 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.) (3M copies worldwide); incl. Vicarious, The Pot, Jambi. T-Pain, Rappa Ternt Sanqa (album); incl. I'm Sprung. Toto, Falling in Between (album #12) (last album) (Feb. 14); incl. Bottom of Your Soul. Train, For Me, It's You (album #4) (Jan. 31) (#10 in the U.S.); incl. Cab, Give Myself to You, Am I Reaching You Now. Cheap Trick, Rockford (album #15) (June 6). KT Tunstall (1975-), KT Tunstall's Acoustic Extravaganza (album) (May 15); incl. Ashes. Carrie Underwood (1983-), Some Hearts (album) (debut); wins Country Music album of the year. Keith Urban (1967-), Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing. Various Artists, Bossa n' Stones, Vols. 1-2 (album) (Aug. 21). Nouvelle Vague, Bande a Part (album #2); incl. Don't Go, Blue Monday, Dancing with Myself, Heart of Glass. Warrant, Born Again (album #7); first without Jani Lane. Kevin Welch (1955-), Lost John Dean (album #7). Westlife, The Love Album (album #8) (Nov. 20) (#1 in the U.K.) (5M copies worldwide); incl. The Rose (by Bette Midler) (#1 in the U.K.). The Whitest Boy Alive, Dreams (album) (debut) (Sept. 4); from Berlin, Germany, incl. Erland Oye of Kings of Convenience (vocals), Marcin Oz (bass), Daniel Nentwig (piano), and Sebastian Maschat (drums); incl. Golden Cage, Inflation, Burning, Fireworks. The Who, Endless Wire (album) (Oct. 30); first original album since 1982; incl. It's Not Enough. Brian Wilson (1942-), Smile (album); long time coming comeback? Amy Winehouse (1983-2011), Back to Black (album #2) (Oct. 4) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (10M copies); incl. Back to Black, Rehab, You Know I'm No Good, Tears Dry on Their Own, Love Is a Losing Game. Winger, IV (album #4) (Oct. 20); last album in 1993. Yehudi Wyner (1929-), Piano Concerto: 'Chiavi in Mano' (Pulitzer Prize). Thom Yorke (1968-), The Eraser (album) (debut) (July 10); incl. The Eraser, Black Swan The Clock, Harrowdown Hill. Frank Zappa (1940-93), Imaginary Diseases (album) (posth.) (Jan.); Trance-Fusion (album) (posth.) (Oct. 24); The MOFO Project/Object (album) (posth.) (Dec. 5); The Frank Zappa AAAFNRAA Birthday Bundle (album) (posth.) (Dec. 15). Zola, Tsotsi Soundtrack (album); incl. Bhambatha. The Zutons, Tired of Hanging Around (album #2); incl. Valerie, Why Don't You Give Me Your Love?. Movies: The Year of Double Zero Six Dick Almighty in Hollyweird? Zack Snyder's 300 (Dec. 9) (Warner Bros.), based on Frank Miller's comic book, er, graphic novel about the 480 B.C.E. Battle of Thermopylae where 300 Am. Cowboys, er, Greek Spartans kick the asses of 250K Iranians, er, Persians marks a new era in movie making with an almost totally computer-generated film, with the few actors such as Gerard Butler (Leonidas), Dominic West (Theron), Lena Headey (Queen Gorgo), and Rodrigo Santoro (Xerxes) working out of a locomotive factory in Montreal; "War's not ugly; ugly is ugly" (Xerxes); "Only Spartan women give birth to real men" (Gorgo); the $70.9M opening weekend sets a record, which only stands until "Spider-Man 3" opens on May 5; #6 movie of 206 ($211M U.S. and $456M worldwide box office on a $65M budget); followed by "300: Rise of an Empire" (2014). Doug Atchison's Akeelah and the Bee (Apr. 28) (Lionsgate Films) stars Keke Palmer as 11-y.-o. Akeelah Anderson, who goes through Matrix-like coaching for the Scripps Nat. Spelling Bee by Dr. Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne) while dealing with her reluctant mother Angela Bassett; does $19M box office on an $8M budget. Mel Gibson's Apocalypto: A New Beginning (Dec. 8) (Touchstone Pictures), about the gruesome human-sacrificing Mayans and starring Rudy Youngblood as Jaguar Paw gets good opening weekend box office despite all the recent bad publicity about Gibson; does $120.7M box office on a $40M budget. Robert Towne's Ask the Dust (Apr. 13), based on the John Fante novel, based on Los Angeles in the 1930s is shot in South Africa, and stars Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek as two hot-blooded lovers fighting the city and themselves. Michael Polish's The Astronaut Farmer (Oct. 15) stars Billy Bob Thornton as unbelievable former NASA astronaut Charles Farmer, who retired to run a family farm, and cobbles together his own manned launch vehicle in his spare time, only to be harassed by the FBI and FAA. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel (May 23), written by Guillermo Arriaga stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett as Richard and Susan Jones of San Diego, Calif., and deals with a series of events occurring in three continents after young goatherder Abdullah fires a shot in the mountains of Morocco at a bus carrying Western tourists, critically wounding Susan; receives seven Oscar nominations; Rinko Kikuchi receives a best supporting actress nomination, turning Japan on; some filmgoers report getting nausea and headaches from it?; does $135.3M box office on a $25M budget. Paul Verhoeven's Black Book (Sept. 14) stars Carice van Houten as WWII Dutch Jewish refugee Rachel Stein, who jons the Dutch Resistance poses as non-Jew Ellis de Vries to become lovers with SS head Ludwig Muntze, and falls in love with him, then is framed by Muntze's rival Gunther Franken (Waldemar Kobus) on being a double agent until she can find the you know what. Edward Zwick's Blood Diamond (Dec. 8) (Warner Bros.) stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Rhodesian gem smuggler Danny Archer in 1999 Sierra Leone, Jennifer Connelly as Am. journalist Maddy Bowen ("In America it's bling-bling; here it's bling-bang"), and Djimon Hounsou as Solomon Vandy, a father searching for his son, who was nonscripted by the rebels in a semi-remake of "The Defiant Ones"; does $171M box office on a $101M budget. Emilio Estevez's Bobby (Nov. 23) follows 22 people at L.A.'s Ambassador Hotel on the night when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated (June 6, 1968); stars incl. Emilio's ex-fiancee Demi Moore and his dad Martin Sheen; cougar Demi Moore also romanced Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt before latching onto young stuff Ashton Kutcher? Larry Charles' Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Nov. 3) (20th Cent. Fox) stars British Jewish comedian Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (1971-) in a country-bumpkin-in-the-big-city satire as reporter Borat Sagdiyev, who goes to New York City with his fat producer Azamat Bagatov (Ken Davitian) and his pet chicken Buh-Kaw, then discovers Pam Anderson and decides to find and marry her by travelling cross-country in an ice cream truck, all while speaking heavily accented Hebrew and using Candid Camera techniques, becoming a box office smash, doint $261.6M box office on an $18M budget; banned in all Arab countries except Lebanon, also pissing-off Russia; "This C.J. was like no Kazakh woman I have ever seen. She had golden hair, teeth as white as pearls, and the asshole of a 7-year-old. For the first time in my lifes, I was in love"; "This is my country of Kazakhstan. It locate between Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan, and assholes Uzbekistan"; features the Kazakhstan Nat. Anthem; "Kazakhstan greatest country in the world. All other countries are run by little girls. Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium, all other countries have inferior potassium. Kazakhstan home of Tinshein swimming pool, it's length thirty meter and width six meter. Filtration system a marvel to behold. It remove 83 percent of human solid waste. Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan you very nice place, from Plains of Tarashek to northern fence of Jewtown. Kazakhstan friend of all except Uzbekistan, they very nosey people with bone in their brain. Kazakhstan industry best in the world, we invented toffee and trouser belt. Kazakhstan's prostitutes cleanest in the region, except of course for Turkmenistan's.... C ome grasp the mighty penis of our leader from junction with the testes to tip of its face!"; on Sept. 29, 2006 Borat gives a fake White House press conference one day before an official visit of Kazakhstan's real pres.; viewers relish dubious factoids about the Big K, incl. that it has the world's largest pop. of wolves, its people drink horse urine, shoot dogs, and view rape and incest as hobbies, causing the Big K govt. to hire two Western PR firms and run a 4-page ad in the New York Times setting the world straight, and rush through the big budget epic Nomad: The Warrior, starring Jason Scott Lee, Jay Hernandez and Kuno Becker, reminding us a zillion times how they're Genghis Khan's country; after Borat garners big bucks at the box office ($129M worldwide), some of the chumps, who all were suckered into signing releases, such as the villagers of Glod ("mud"), Romania attempt to sue; original dir. Todd Phillips quits after shooting the Star Spangled Banner Scene at a Texas rodeo. Peyton Reed's The Break-Up (June 2) (Universal Pictures) stars Jennifer Aniston as Brook Meyers, and Vince Vaughan as Gary Grobowski, who meet at a Chicago Cubs home game and move in together, until they you know what and Brooke lets him know by having him kicked off their couples-only bowling team; does $205M box office on a $52M budget. John Lasseter's and Joe Ranft's computer-animated sports comedy film Cars (May 28) (Walt Disney Pictures) (Pixar Animation Studios) is about vehicles with eyes on their windshields in Radiator Springs, featuring the voices of Owen Wilson as Lightning McQueen, Paul Newman as Doc Hudson, Bonnie Hunt as Sally Carrera, Larry the Cable Guy as Mater, Tony Shalhoub as Luigi, and Cheech Marini as Ramone; ;#3 movie of 2006 ($244M U.S. and $462M worldwide box office on a $120M budget); followed by "Cars 2" (2011). Martin Campbell's Casino Royale (Nov. 14) (Eon Productions) (Stillking Films) (Babelsberg Film) (MGM) (Columbia Pictures) (James Bond 007 film #21), a reboot of the series, starring working class-looking Daniel Wroughton Craig (1938-) as James Blond, er, Bond, before he gets his 007 license, and Dame Judi Dench as M; Mads Mikkelsen plays the villain Le Chiffre, whom Bond must stop from winning a high stakes Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament at Casino Royale in Montenegro; doll-faced Eva Green stars as treasury agent Vesper Lynd (West Berlin); highest-grossing Bond film so far, taking in $167M in the U.S. (#10 movie of 2006), and $600M worldwide on a $150M budget; too bad, this new PC Bond is all about running fast and jumping high, and turns into an Alan Alda sensitive guy with women, complete with a woman boss, and literally gets his nuts cracked at the end and kind of wusses out for awhile, finally emerging looking bitter and damaged for the sequel?; the theme is You Know My Name, sung by Chris Cornell; followed by "Quantum of Solace" (2008), "Skyfall" (2012), and "Spectre" (2015). Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men (Sept. 22), based on the 1922 P.D. James novel about illegal immigrants suffering in 2027 U.K. after a plague of infertility stars Clive Owen as civil servant Theo Faron, who helps pregnant West African Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) escape; does $70M office on a $76M budget. Kevin Smith's Clerks II (July 21) stars Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) as clerks who lose their Quick Stop to a fire, causing them to settle at Mooby's and descend farther into degenerate potty-mouth talking than in the original, incl. discussions of girls with oversize clits, oral-anal sex, and saving the term "porch monkey" from applying only to N-words; "If I were you I'd spraypaint Eat Pussy across the side of the building in huge letters"; "You're going to be rolling in the pussy, man"; "Just a guy caught playing tonsil-hockey with his mother"; "The best part of the job is the barely legal pussy coming in here"; "You never go ass to mouth." Anthony Minghella's Cold Mountain (Dec. 25), based on the 1997 Charles Frazier novel about the U.S. Civil War stars Jude Law as Will Inman, Nicole Kidman as Ada Monroe, and Renee Zellweger as Ruby Thewes; Elvis Costello sings the hit song The Scarlet Tide. Zhang Yimou's Curse of the Golden Flower (A Whole City Clothed in Golden Armor) (Dec. 21) (Sony Pictures), set in 928 C.E. Tang China stars Chow Yun-fat as Chinese Tang emperor Ping, and Gong Li as his empress, whom he's slowly poisoning with a Persian fungus, causing her to plot a coup, steeped in lushly colorful opulence and back-stabbing; most expensive Chinese film to date ($45M); does $78.5M box office. Ron Howard's The Da Vinci Code (May 17) (Imagine Entertainment) (Columbia Pictures), with screenplay by Akiva Goldman and the cool song Chevaliers de Sangreal by Hans Zimmer stars Tom Hanks as Harris Tweed-loving Harvard religious symbology prof. Robert Langdon, Audrey Tautou (pr. "toe-TOO") as Sophie Neveu, Jean Reno as French dick Bezu Fache, and Ian McKellen as Sir Lipton Teabag, er, Sir Leigh Teabing in a fairly faithful reproduction of this insanely improbable action novel based on fractured feminist-freethinker history (they couldn't X-ray or disassemble the cryptex?); (Fache thinks Langdon did it because of all the writing in blood, none of which says Langdon did it?); (the tomb of Mary Magdalene will causes millions to worship her like a new saint, when nobody needed the tomb of the Virgin Mary to ditto?); (the secret documents proving everything are in an underground room open to the public which anybody could discover easily?); (Sophie is the real grail, yet all these mysterious Priory of Sion people leave her in harm's way throughout the flick?); Paul Bettany plays albino Opus Dei sulpice-loving monk-assassin Silas, and "'You give me the whip, I give you the idol' in Raiders of the Lost Ark" Alfred Molina plays Bishop Aringarosa; the 68th film since 1960 to feature the fallacy of the evil albino, according to the Nat. Org. for Albinism and Hypopigmentation; #5 movie of 2006 ($218M U.S. and $758.2M worldwide box office on a $125M budget). Tony Scott's Deja Vu (Déjŕ Vu) (Nov. 22) (Touchstone Pictures) stars Denzel Washington as ATF agent Doug Carlin, who investigates a New Orleans Mardi Gras terrorist attack against ferry Sen. Alvin T. Stumpf that killed 543, and discovers the time window called Snow White, traveling into the past to prevent it and save Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), a woman he falls in love with; does $180.6M box office on a $75M budget. Amy Berg's Deliver Us From Evil (June 24) is about Father Oliver O'Grady, a Roman Catholic pedophile priest who was transferred to various parishes around the U.S. during the 1970s to coverup his crimes. Martin Scorsese's The Departed (Sept. 26) (Warner Bros.), a remake of the 2002 film "Infernal Affairs" stars Matt Damon as Mass. State Police Sgt. Colin Sullivan, who moles for Boston crime boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), while Leonardo DiCaprio plays undercover state cop Billy Costigan, who moles inside Costello's org. for state police chief Oliver Queenan (Martin Sheen), and ends up in a death duel with Sullivan, with Costello and Queenan caught in the middle; the 3rd consecutive best picture Oscar nomination for Scorsese with DiCaprio as a star ("Gangs of New York", 2002; "The Aviator", 2004); does $290M box office on a $90M budget. David Frankel's The Devil Wears Prada (June 30), based on the 2003 Lauren Weisberger novel stars Anne Hathaway as recent college grad Andy Sachs, who gets her first job as asst. to tyrannical fashion mag. ed. Mirandy Priestley (Meryl Streep, who gets her record 14th Oscar nod), pissing-off Vogue ed. Anna Wintour, who believes it's really her, later flopping and praising the film; Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci play co-asst. Emily Charlton and art dir. Nigel; the most expensively costumed film in history (until ?); does $327M worldwide on a $35M budget. Bill Condon's Dreamgirls (Dec. 25), based on the 1981 Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger musical about the Dreams (clones of the Supremes) stars Beyonce Knowles as Deena Jones, Jennifer Hudson as Effie White, Jamie Foxx as Curtis Taylor Jr., and Eddie Murphy as James Brown, er, James "Thunder" Early; too bad, faux Supremes music gives it a dreambusting quality? Scott Coffey' and Naomi Watts' Ellie Parker (July 14) stars Naomi Watts as Ellie Parker, showing how becoming a paid actor is a process of total self-sellout? Stefen Fangmeier's Eragon (Dec. 15), based on the 2001 Christopher Paolini novel is about farm boy Eragon (Edward Speleers), who finds the last blue dragon egg, which hatches into blue dragon Saphira (voiced by Rachel Weisz), and he becomes the last dragon rider, leading a revolt against the evil king Galbatorix (John Malkovich); Jeremy Irons plays former dragon rider Brom; "One part brave, three parts fool." Tom Dey's Failure to Launch (Mar. 10) stars Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Terry Bradshaw, and Kathy Bates in a comedy about 30-something Tripp, who still lives with his parents Al and Sue, who try to hook him up with Paula to get him outta there; filmed in New Orleans in the summer before the big flood, doubling for Md. Bobby Farrelly's and Peter Farrelly's Fever Pitch (Apr. 8), a remake of the 1997 flick based on the 1992 Nick Hornby novel stars Jimmy Fallon as diehard Boston Red Sox fan Ben Wrightman, and Drew Barrymore as his babe Lindsey Meeks, who inevitably makes him choose between Winter Guy and Summer Guy. Richard Loncraine's Firewall (Feb. 10) stars Harrison Ford as security expert Jack Stanfield, who's forced to rob a bank to pay his family's ransom. Sidney Lumet's Find Me Guilty (Mar. 17) stars overweight Vin Diesel as Lucchese crime family member Jackie DiNorscio, who becomes his own atty. and gets an ass for a client in a 21 mo. trial in 1987-8 for racketeering. Lawrence Malkin's Five Fingers (Aug. 25) stars Ryan Philippe as a Dutch pianist who is kidnapped in Morocco and tortured by mean chess-loving Muslim man Ahmat (Laurence Fishburne), losing four you know whats. Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain (Nov. 22) (Warner Bros. Pictures) stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz as star-crossed lovers who reincarnate from 16th cent. Spain to the future while chasing a magic tree to escape death; does $16M box office on a $35M budget, later becoming a cult film. James Gartner's Glory Road (Jan. 13) is a Disney film about the famous 1965-6 NCAA Div. 1 basketball championship season, where Texas Western defeated #1 lily-white Kentucky by using all-black starters, breaking the color line in the South, starring Jon Voight as losing coach Adolph Rupp, and Josh Lucas as winning coach Don Haskins. Christopher Dillon Quinn's God Grew Tired of Us: The Lost Boys of Sudan is about the 25K you know whats, refugees from the 1983 war, of which 3.8K came to the U.S. in 2001, and were quietly distributed 38 per lucky city. Ryan Fleck's Half Nelson (Aug. 11) stars Ryan Gosling as white inner city 8th grade teacher Dan Dunnne, who has a drug habit and forms a relationship with Drey (Shareeka Epps), who catches him smoking crack. George Miller's Happy Feet (Nov. 17) features lovable toe-tapping animated Emperor Penguins dancing to MC Hammer's You Can't Touch This; #8 movie of 2006 ($198M). Adam Green's Hatchet (Apr. 27) (ArieScope Pictures) (Anchor Bay Entertainment) is a slasher flick set in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, starring Joel Moore as Ben, Tamara Feldman as Marybeth Dunston, Deon Richmond as Marcus, Mercedes McNab as Misty, and Robert Englund as Sampson Dunston; does $208K box office on a $1.5M budget; spawns "Hatchet II" (2010), "Hatchet III" (2013), and "Victor Crowley" (2017). Kenny Ortega's High School Musical (Jan. 20) (Disney Channel) stars Zac Efron as basketball star Troy Bolton, and Gabriella Montez as brain girl Vanessa Anne Hudgens, who meet while singing karaoke during the summer, and just happen to end up in the same school together in the fall; Lucas Grabeel stars as Ryan, and new diva wannabe Ashley Tisdale as new diva wannabe Sharpay Evans, who lose their acting jobs to the new hit musical team of Troy and Gabriella; followed by "High School Musical II" (2007). Alexandre Aha'a The Hills Have Eyes (Mar. 10) (Dune Entertainment) (Fox Searchlight Pictures), a remake of the 1977 Wes Craven film is a splatter flick about a suburban Am. family being stalked by a group of inbred mutant cannibal desert psychos on a former atomic test site, proving that tomcats are fighters?; stars Aaron Stanford as Doug Bukowski, Kathleen Quinlan as Ethel Carter, Vinessa Shaw as Lynn Carter-Bukowski, Emilie de Ravin as Brenda Carter, Dan Byrd as Bobby Carter, Billy Drago as Papa Jupiter, Robert Joy as Lizard, Ted Living as Big Bob Carter, Desmond Askew as Big Brain, Ezra Buzzington as Goggle, and Michael Bailey Smith as Pluto; does $69.6M box office on a $15M budget; "Between 1945 and 1992 the United States Government conducted 311 nuclear tests in the desert of New Mexico." Nicholas Hytner's The History Boys (Oct. 13), based on the Alan Bennett play is about a British working class school where the boys prepare for college entrance exams while the teachers dream of ranging their rumps? Joon-ho Bong's The Host (Gwoemul) (July 27) is a hilarious monster film set in the polluted Han River in South Korea. Bob Dolman's How to Eat Fried Worms (Aug. 25), based on the 1973 children's book by Norman Rockwell's son Thomas Rockwell stars Luke Benward as Billy, who accepts a bully's challenge to eat 15 worms in 15 days; "New town. New friends. New menu." Carlos Saldanha's Ice Age: The Meltdown (Mar. 31) features a return of Diego, Manny and Sid; #9 movie of 2006 ($195M). Douglas McGrath's Infamous (Aug. 31) (Warner Bros.), based on the 1997 George Plimpton book "Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances, and Detractors Recall his Turbulent Career" stars Toby Jones as Truman Capote, Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee, Lee Pace as Richard Hickock, Daniel Craig as Perry Smith, and Jeff Daniels as DA Alvin Dewey; does $2.6M box office on a $13M budget. Neil Burger's The Illusionist (Aug. 18) (Yari Film Group), based on a short story by Steven Millhauser stars Edward Norton as magician Eisenheim in 1889 Vienna, whose childhood sweetheart Sophie (Jessica Biel) is controlled by mean crown prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), causing him to use all his powers to get her away from him, while Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) tries to keep him from going to prison or worse; does $88M box office on a $16.5M budget. Spike Lee's Inside Man (Mar. 24) (Universal Pictures), written by Russell Gewirtz stars Clive Owen as bank robber Dalton Russell, who pulls off a perfect heist, not money but evidence against Manhattan Trust Bank chmn. Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), ending in a hostage situation with Det. Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) and power broker Madeleine White (Jodie Foster); does $184.4M box office on a $45M budget; "This time next week I'll be sucking down pina coladas in a hot tub with six girls named Amber and Tiffany" (Russell); "More like taking a shower with two guys named Jamal and Jesus, if you know what I mean. And here's the bad news. That thingy you're sucking on, it's not a pina colada." (Frazier) Jet Li's Jet Li's Fearless (Sept. 22) is the story of Chinese martial artist Huo Yuanjia; Li's last martial arts film? Phil Morrison's Junebug (Feb. 22) stars George Johnsten as Alessandro Nivola, an art dealer from Chicago who travels to N.C. to meet his wife Madeline's (Embeth Davidtz) dysfunctional in-laws and gets into their problems. Jason Reitman's Juno (Sept. 1) stars Ellen Page as pregnant Minn. teenager Juno MacGuff, who decides to adopt it out to a wealthy couple she finds in "Pennysaver", Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). Wayne Wang's Last Holiday (Jan. 13), a remake of the 1950 film by J.B. Priestley stars Queen Latifah as dept. store employee Georgia Byrd, who learns she has incurable terminal (fictional) Lampington's Disease, and decides to cash her life savings and live it up in the Grandhotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, Czech Repub. Kevin Macdonald's The Last King of Scotland (Sept. 27) (Fox Searchlight Pictures) stars Forrest Whitaker as man-boy-devil Idi Amin Dada, dictator of Uganda during the 1970s; James McAvoy plays Scottish physician Nicholas Garrigan, whom Amin takes under his wing because his time in the British army taught him to love all things Scottish as symbolic of resistance against the "British conqueror"; Garrigan falls for Amin's charm, then guess what?; the movie is run, manned, and acted by real Scots, and filmed in Uganda, making for an interesting dir.'s cut?; does $48.4M box office on a $6M budget; "We've got no monkeys in Scotland." Christopher Browne's and Alex Browne's A League of Ordinary Gentlemen (Mar. 21) is a documentary film about 10-pin bowling starring PBA stars Pete Weber, Walter Ray Williams Jr., Chris Barnes, and Wayne Webb; it debuts on PBS-TV on Apr. 25, 2006. Laurence Dunmore's The Libertine (Mar. 10), adapted by Stephen Jeffreys from his play stars Johnny Depp as the debauched 2nd Earl of Rochester in 1670s Britain, whoring, drinking, writing porno plays and hanging out with "Merry Monarch" Charles II before his face falls off from syphilis? Todd Field's Little Children (Nov. 3) stars Kate Winslet and Gregg Edelman as Sarah and Richard Pierce, Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Wilson as Kathy and Brad Adamson, and Jackie Earle Haley as registered sex offender Ronnie J. McGorvey in an updated Madame Bovary. Jonathan Dayton's and Valerie Faris' Little Miss Sunshine (Aug. 18) (husband-wife team of dirs.) is about the Hoover family, who travel in their yellow VW van from Albuquerque, N.M. to Redondo Beach, Calif. to attend a beauty contest, taking an erratic course that puzzles fans, ending up in Scottsdale, Ariz., and at one point showing an I-10 sign in the wrong part of the journey? Ramesh Flinders, Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried's lonelygirl15 (June 16) is an interactive Web-based YouTube video series focusing on the diary of fictional teenie girl Bree, played by Jessica Lee Rose (1987), who is chased by the evil Order (ends Aug. 1, 2008); it gets 110M+ combined views, becoming the most popular show on the Internet of the year. Richard Shepard's The Matador (Jan. 27) stars Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear in a new dark twist on the buddy movie genre. J.J. Abrams' Mission: Impossible III (May 5) stars Tom Cruise as Eatin, er, Ethan Hunt, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as evil arms dealer Owen Davian, who fight over the Rabbit's Foot; does $398M box office on a $150M budget. Chris Noonan's Miss Potter (Dec. 3) (MGM)) stars Rene Zellweger as Peter Rabbit creator Beatrix, and Ewan McGregor as her young publisher in the English Lake District; does $35M box office on a $30M budget. Shawn Levy's Night at the Museum (Dec. 17) (20th Cent. Fox), based on the 1999 children's book by Milan Trenc stars Ben Stiller as divorced father night watchman Larry Daley, who deals with a magical Egyptian object tthat makes the exhibits at the Am. Museum of Natural History in New York City come to life at night; #2 movie of 2006 ($251M U.S. and $574.5M worldwide box office on a $110M budget). Patrick Stettner's The Night Listener (Aug. 4), based on the 2000 Armistead Maupin novel stars Robin Williams as gay "dick smoker" late night talk show host Gabriel "Noone at Night", and Toni Collette as the adoptive mother of abused dying 14-y.-o. Peter Logand in a Hitchcockian noir about a woman with Munchausen's Syndrome by Phantom Proxy?; does $10.6M box office on a $3M budget. Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal (Dec. 25) (Fox Searchlight Pictures), based on the 2003 Zoe Heller novel stars Cate Blanchett as Sheba Hart, and and Judi Dench as Barbara Covett, a young and an old teacher in London, who have a sick pseudo-lez affair while Sheba hooks up with 15-y.-o. student Steven Connolly (Andrew Simpson) and gets them both in trouble; soundtrack by Philip Glass; does $49.8M box office on a $15M budget. Michel Hazanavicius' OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (Apr. 19) is a spy spoof starring Jean Dujardin as French secret agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath AKA OSS 117, an ex-trapeze artist who sports a goofy grin and suffers from vertigo; sequel OSS 117: Lost in Rio (Apr. 15, 2009) features a hilarious scene of trying to BBQ a crocodile. Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth (May 27) (El Laberinto del Fauno) (Warner Bros.), about 11-y.-o. Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) during the Spanish Civil War and her meetings with a remarkable beast is a remake of Hansel and Gretel combined with the 1997 72-day kidnapping of del Toro's father in Mexico, which caused his family to move to Spain; does $83.3M box office on a $19M budget. Satoshi Kon's Paprika (Nov. 25) is a Japanime about police detective Konakawa, who suffers fantastic nightmaries haunted by the sprite Paprika, the avatar of lady scientist Dr. Atsuko Chiba, and features flute-playing frogs and a disturbing metaphorical dream rape. Victor Salva's Peaceful Warrior (June 2), based on the 1980 book by Dan Millman stars Scott Mechlowicz as Dan Millman, and Nick Nolte as "Soc" Socrates. Stephen and Timothy Quay's The Piano Tuner of Earthquakes stars Amira Casar as a beautiful opera singer, Cesar Sarachu as a lovesick piano tuner, Gottfried John as a mad scientist who keeps a clitoris in a display case, and Assumpta Serna as his housekeeper vamp who seduces the piano tuner by inviting him to smell her armpits - MC Hammer U can't touch this? Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon (May 12), a remake of the 1972 film stars Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, and Richard Dreyfuss; brings in $201.4M on a $160M budget. Stephen Frears' The Queen (Sept. 2) (Granada Productions) (Pathe Pictures), about the stiff royal reaction to Princess Diana's Aug. 31, 1997 death and the public's rage at the perceived lack of sympathy, causing the queen to stump to save the monarchy stars Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II, James Cromwell as Prince Philip, Michael Sheen as Tony Blair, Helen McCrory as Cherie Blair, Sylvia Syms as the Queen Mother, and Alex Jennings as Prince Charles; does Ł77.9M box office on a Ł9.8M budget. Christopher Nolan's The Prestige (Oct. 17 (Warner Bros.)), based on the 1995 Christopher Priest novel is about feuding magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) in Victorian England; 73-y.-o. Michael Caine is the narrator and stage engineer John Cutter; Scarlett Johansson plays Angier's asst.-lover Olivia Wenscombe; David Bowie plays Nikola Tesla; Andy Serkis plays Tesla's asst. Mr. Alley; does $109.7M box office on a $40M budget. Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn (Sept. 9) (MGM), bsed on the true story of U.S. Navy Lt. Dieter Dengler in Laos in 1966 stars Christian Bale as Dengler; does $7.1M box office on a $10M budget. Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa (Dec. 20), the 6th and last (until next time?) of the Rocky saga features an Adrian-less champ trying to prove that 60 is the new 30 as he battles Mason "The Line" Dixon (real-life boxer Antonio Tarver) in Las Vegas. Ryan Murphy's Running With Scissors (Oct. 27), based on the Augusten Burroughs memoir stars Annette Bening as aspiring Anne Sexton-like poet Deirdre Burroughs, who uses her young boy Augusten as her audience; Jill Clayburgh plays the wife of the boy's pshrink. Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly (May 25), based on the 1977 Philip K. Dick novel stars Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr., and Rory Cochrane, about a future world of drug addicts who live under intrusive hi-tech police surveillance; uses an interpolated rotorscope on digital footage to give the film an animated look. Woody Allen's Scoop (July 28) (BBC Films) (Focus Features) stars Scarlett Johansson as Sondra Pransky, an Am. journalism student in London who scoops a big story on the Tarot Card Killer serial ho murderer and has a fling with the suspect, aristocrat Peter Lyman (Hugh Jackman); Allen plays magician Sid Waterman "the Great Splenidini"; does $39M box office on a $4M budget. Gregory Dark's See No Evil (May 19) (original title "Eye Scream Man") (WWE Films) (Lionsgate Films) is about axe murderer Jacob Goodnight (WWE star Kane), who gouges out eyes, Christina Vidal as Christine Zarate, Samantha Noble as Kira Vanning, and Luke Pegler as Michael Montross; does $18.6M box office on a $8M budget. David Von Ancken's Seraphim Falls (Sept. 13) stars Pierce Brosnan as Carver, who is hunted down by mean ex-Civil War Col. Carver (Liam Neeson) in the frozen wilderness. Andy Fickman's She's the Man (Mar. 17), loosely based on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night" stars Amanda Byrnes as Viola Hastings, who cross-dresses and enters her brother's school in his place in order to play boys' soccer; "Everybody has a secret... Duke wants Olivia who likes Sebastian who is really Viola whose brother is dating Monique so she hates Olivia who's with Duke to make Sebastian jealous who is really Viola who's crushing on Duke who thinks she's a guy"; does $57M box office on a $20M budget. Christophe Gans' Silent Hill (Apr. 21) (Davis Films), adapted from the 1999 Konami video game about the Brethren pagan cult that burns those deemed witches to maintain a sinless existence and prevent the Apocalypse stars Radha Mitchell as Rose Da Silva, Sean Bean as her hubby Christopher, Laurie Holden as police officer Cybil Bennett, Jodelle Ferland as psychic Alessa Gillespie, and Deborah Kara Unger as her mother Dahlia; Alice Krige plays Brethren high priestess Christabella; Roberto Campanella plays Pyramid Head; does $97.6M box office on a $50M budget; followed by "Silent Hill: Revelation" (2012). James Gunn's Slither (Mar. 31) stars Michael Rooker as Wheelsy, S.C. car dealer Grant Grant, who is taken over by an ET parasite, and tries to infect the rest of Earth until he is "all that is"; does $12.8m box office on a $15M budget. David R. Ellis' Snakes on a Plane (Aug. 18) stars Samuel L. Jackson as FBI agent Neville Flynn, who accompanies Sean Jones (Nathan Phillips), witness against mobster Eddie Kim (Byron Lawson) on redeye Pacific Air Flight 121 from Honolulu to Los Angeles, and finds that the mobsters have filled the planes with a multitude of mean killer snakes from around the planet in an attempt to make it crash; a movie whose very title suggests its plot and makes it a hit?; features Bring It! (Snakes on a Plane Theme) by Cobra Starship. Tom Vaughan's Starter for 10 (Sept. 13), based on the 2003 David Nicholls novel stars James McAvoy as young Brian Jackson, who goes from working class roots to airy Bristol U., where he comes of age with his mealy-mouth Brit accent and cheats on the Challenge finale to get in the pants of hot blonde babe Alice Harbinson (Alice Eve), although he really loves Rebecca Epstein (Rebecca Hall), whom he jilts for her; after getting caught, guess what, he redeems himself like a man? Rob Cohen's Stealth (July 29) is a sci-fi thriller about U.S. Navy super hi-tech starring Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel, Josh Lucas and Sam Shepard; too bad, it does $77M in box office on a $135M budget - since after 9/11 who believes the U.S. govt. can protect them from terrorists with anything they got? Marc Forster's Stranger Than Fiction (Nov. 10) stars Will Ferrell as IRS auditor Harold Crick, who is haunted by a narrator that only he can hear; when the narrator reveals that he's about to die, he hunts the author of the story to convince her to change the ending. Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (June 28) stars Brandon Routh as Clark Kent, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen, Frank Langella as Perry White, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor; #7 movie of 2006 ($200M). Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking (Apr. 14), based on the Christopher Buckley novel stars Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor, a member of the MOD (Merchants of Death) Squad, which incl. Polly Bailey (Maria Bello) of the liquor industry and Bobby Jay Bliss (David Koechner) of the firearm industry in a friendly competition. Adam McKay's Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Aug. 4) stars Will Ferrell as #1 NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby, who leans on his teammate Cal Naughton Jr. (John C. Reilly); also features Mos Def and Elvis Costello. Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Feb. 3) stars Tommy Lee Jones as ranch hand Pete Perkins, who promises his best friend that he will bury him in his hometown in Mexico. Kurt Wimmer's Ultraviolet (Mar. 3), based on the comic book stars supermodel Milla "Lite" Jovovich as a kick-ass futuristic chop-sockey Joan of Arc with purple hair in a movie about retaining belief in God despite all the attempts of man to play God with genetic engineering?; the state of the art in action movies, combining American, Japanese, and Chinese with cool industrial rock music and artistic touches to every kill. Paul Greengrass' United 93 (Apr. 28), released on DVD on Sept. 5, 1 week before the 5th anniv. of 9/11 depicts the final hours of the plane whose heroic passengers struck back against the raghead terrorist coward bums, only have it crash in a Penn. field; the survivors' families authorize the film and get 10% of the first weekend's box office; federal East Coast air traffic operations mgr. Ben Sliney plays himself. Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan's An Unreasonable Man is a documentary about ever-more-inflexible Ralph Nader (1934-), who still doesn't admit he caused Bore, er, Gore to lose the 2000 election, saying, "He knows he didn't do the best campaign... an excessively cautious campaign." James McTeigue's V for Vendetta (Mar. 17) (an Andy and Larry Wachowski film), based on a 1989 graphic novel by Alan Moore stars John Hurt as the Chairman, the British Norsefire dictator crushing TV production asst. Evey (Natalie Portman) (who has her head shaved onscreen by Jeremy Goodhead, er, Woodhead to the slogan "Strength Through Unity, Unity Through Faith", while the ever-masked you-go-weaving-and-I-go-weaving V (Hugo Weaving) (a Guy-Fawkes-masked Count of Monte Cristo reject transported to the 21st cent.?), named for the slogan from Christopher Marlowe's "Faust" ("Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici" - "By the power of truth, I, a living man, have conquered the Universe") fights the evil govt., tipping over 22K dominoes to form a giant letter V; "England Prevails" (BTN host Lewis Prothero); James Purefoy was originally cast as V. Ismail Merchant's and James Ivory's The White Countess (Dec. 21), based on a Kazuo Ishiguro novel stars Ralph Fiennes as blinded U.S. diplomat Todd Jackson, and Natasha Richardson as White Russian countess Sofia Belinskaya in the 1936 White Countess bar in Shanghai; the last Merchant-Ivory film, as Ismail Merchant (b. 1936) died on May 25, 2005 while working on the postproduction. Oliver Stone's World Trade Center (Aug. 9) (Paramount Pictures) stars Nicolas Cage and Michael Pena as New York Port Authority policemen John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno, who are trapped under the ruins of the you-know-what, abandoning Stone's usual conspiracy theory mindset for a feel-good-America we-saved-them ring-the-cash-registers ending; Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal play wives Donna McLoughlin and Allison Jimeno; Michael Shannon plays USMC Sgt. Dave Karnes; does $163.2M box office on a $65M budget. Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand (May 26) sees the mutants split after a cure is found; #4 movie of 2006 ($234M). Art: Joellyn Duesberry, Spring Creek Flowing to the Yellowstone River in Montana (painting). Emilio Lobato, Descansolado (with Solice) (collage). A year for frantically churned-out books attempting to explain why America seems to be tottering on the brink? Nonfiction: Shinzo Abe (1954-), Toward a Beautiful Nation (July); claims that Japanese WWII Class A war criminals were not really criminals in the eyes of Japanese domestic law. Bruce Arnold Ackerman (1943-), Before the Next Attack: Preserving Civil Liberties in An Age of Terrorism; implementing an emergency constitution. Peter Ackroyd (1949-), Turner. Fouad A. Ajami (1945-), The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq. Madeleine Albright, (1937-) The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs; separation of church and state vs. the religious regimes? Jay Allison and Dan Gediman (eds.) This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women. Gloria Allred (1941-), Fight Back and Win: My Thirty-Year Fight Against Injustice and How You Can Wind Your Own Battles. Jonathan Alter (1957-), The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope; the U.S. came close to dictatorship before FDR was elected? Jonathan Ames (1964-), I Love You More Than You Know (essays); "(S)ex scenes and bathroom jokes are my bread and butter". Christopher Peter Andersen (1949-), Barbra: The Way She Is. Kurt Anderson, Graydon Carter and George Kalogerakis, Spy: The Funny Years. George-Marios Angeletos (1975-) and Ivan Werning (1974-), Crises and Prices: Information Aggregation, Multiplicity, and Volatility. Debby Applegate (1968-), The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher (first book) (Pulitzer Prize). Karen Armstrong (1944-), Muhammad: A Prophet for Our Time. Jacques Attali, A Brief History of the Future. Andrew Bacevich, Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced By War. Michael Baigent (1948-), The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-up in History (Easter); claims secret papers prove that Jesus survived his crucifixion; an obvious attempt to cash in on the Dan Brown bandwagon? - no one touches my buttons but me? Mike G.L. Baillie, New Light on the Black Death: The Cosmic Connection; he global environmental downturn in 540 C.E. Stephen Baldwin (1966-), The Unusual Suspect (autobio.); how he became a born-again Christian after 9/11, and co-founded Breakthrough Ministries, changed to Antioch Ministries in 2008. Robert Bauval (1948-), The Egypt Code (Oct.). Bruce Bawer (1956-), While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within (Feb. 21); a takeoff on JFK's 1940 book "While Europe Slept"; how the its archenemy Islam is infiltrating the West with mass Islamic migration financed by free govt. handouts while the leaders have their heads in the sand because of the leftist PC establishment; the Nat. Book Critics Circle Award committee disses it as "Islamophobia"; "While there are such things as moderate and liberal Christianity, there is no such thing as a moderate or liberal Islam." J.C. Beall and Greg Restall, Logical Pluralism (Feb. 2); develops Susan Haack's thesis in "Philosophy of Logics" (1978), arguing that there are many forms of validity, all of which satisfy the Generalized Tarski Schema. Moazzam Begg, Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey to Guantanamo and Back; the first memoirs of a Guantanamo Bay prisoner? Robert L. Beir and (with Brian Josepher), Roosevelt and the Holocaust: A Rooseveltian Examines the Politics and Remembers the Times; a response to David Wyman's "The Abandonment of the Jews". Marshall Berman (1940-), On the Town: One Hundred Years of Spectacle in Town Square. Herbert Benson (1935-), Aggie Casey, and Brian O'Neill, The Harvard Medical School Guide to Lowering Your Blood Pressure. Josh Bernstein, Digging for the Truth: One Man's Epic Adventure Exploring the World's Greatest Archaeological Mysteries; the Indiana Jones hat and jacket and everything? Tanya Biank, Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Army Wives. Kola Boof (1969-), Diary of a Lost Girl (autobio.); Osama bin Laden's Sudanese mistress tells how he used to fantasize about killing Bobby Brown and getting Whitney Houston into his harem? Wayne Clayson Booth (1921-2005), My Many Selves: The Quest for a Plausible Harmony (autobio.) (posth.). Gabor S. Borritt (1940-), The Gettysburg Gospel: The Lincoln Speech Nobody Knows. John Botte, Aftermath: Unseen 9/11 Photos by a New York City Cop. Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018), The Nasty Bits: Collected Varietal Cuts, Usable Trim, Scraps, and Bones (May 16). James Bowman, Honor: A History; the "tyranny of the face". Peter Boxall, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. James Bradley and Ron Powers, Flags of Our Fathers; the six soldiers in the Mt. Suribachi photo. Taylor Branch (1947-), At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years, 1965-1968. Ian Bremmer (1969-), The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall. Douglas Brinkley (1960-), The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast; Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism. Rosa Brooks (1020-), Jane Stromseth, and David Wippman, Can Might Make Rights? Building the Rule of Law After Military Interventions; helps shape U.S. army praxis. David Jay Brown, Mavericks of Medicine: Exploring the Future of Medicine with Andrew Weil, Jack Kevorkian, Bernie Siegel, Ray Kurzweil, and Others (Jan. 1). Ethan Brown, Queens Reigns Supreme: Fat Cat, 50 Cent, and the Rise of the Hip-Hop Hustler. Judith M. Brown, Global South Asians: Introducing the Modern Diaspora. Pascal Bruckner (1948-), , The Tyranny of Guilt: An Essay on Western Masochism (La Tyrannie de la Penitence: Essai sur le Masochisme Occidental); tr. Steven Rendall, 2010; how the West has been guilt-tripping itself, opening it up to mass invasion from Africa and the Muslim World without a protest; "Nothing is more Western than hatred of the West... All of modern thought can be reduced to mechanical denunciations of the West, emphasizing the latter's hypocrisy, violence, and abomination", which has led Westerners to romanticize the "South" (Africa and the Middle East) as innocent victims, and revile Israel; "Europe relieves itself of the crime of the Shoah by blaming Israel, it relieves itself of the sin of colonialism by blaming the United States", hence the Palestinian question has "quietly relegitimated hatred of the Jews", making Europe "the sick man of the planet"; meanwhile the U.S. is "the last great nation in the West" because "Whereas America asserts itself, Europe questions itself"; "The white man has sown grief and ruin wherever he has gone." Frederick Buechner (1926-), Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons. Avraham Burg (1955-), God is Back. Kenneth Burke (1897-1993), Essays Toward a Symbolic of Motives (posth.). Augusten Burroughs (1965-), Possible Side Effects (essays). Ian Buruma, Murder in Amsterdam: The Death of Theo van Gogh and the Limits of Tolerance; "With extreme religious believers, if you insult God, you insult them." Bill Bryson (1951-), The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir. Rhonda Byrne (1951-), The Secret (Nov. 26); bestseller (19M copies); promotes the New Age Law of Attraction. Caroline Burau, Answering 911: Life in the Hot Seat; 911 emergency operator on 9/11. James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014), Running Alone: Presidential Leadership - JFK to Bush II: Why It Has Failed and How We Can Fix It (Sept.). Paul Burrell, Diana, the Way We Were; her former butler says she said, "I need a new marriage like I need a rash", referring to Dodi Fayed. Augusten Burroughs, Possible Side Effects: True Stories. Thomas Cahill (1940-), Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe. Gail Caldwell, A Strong West Wind; a memoir by a book reviewer? Julia Cameron (1949-), Floor Sample (autobio.); former wife of Martin Scorsese and founder of the Artist's Way workshops. Peter Ames Carlin, Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall & Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Cynthia Carr, Our Town. James P. Carroll (1943-), House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power; son of Defense Intel. Agency dir. James Carroll grows up with the Pentagon; "Beware the House of War when understood as the House of God." Linda Carroll, Her Mother's Daughter: A Memoir of the Mother I Never Knew and of My Daughter, Courtney Love; her oldest child is the lead singer of Hole, and the widow of Kurt Cobain, who binded together pharmaceutically, and is herself really the daughter of children's book author Paula Fox? Jimmy Carter (1924-), Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid; shit-for-brains leftist paints outrageous fantasy of the Palestinian people as peaceful and oppressed, and Israelis as Nazis; how Israel's "occupying, confiscating and colonizing land that belongs to the Palestinians... perpetrates even worse instances of... apartheid than we witnessed in South Africa"; starts a furor, causing 14 Carter Center advisory board members to resign. Richard Carwardine, Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power. Shari Caudron, Who Are You People?; Barbie doll collectors and tornado chasers. Marcia Cavell, Becoming a Subject. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone. Julia Child (1912-2004) (posth.) and Alex Prud'homme (her grand-nephew), My Life in France. Noam Chomsky (1928-), Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance; endorsed by Pres. Hugo Chavez. Deepak Chopra (1946-), Life After Death: The Burden of Proof; Kama Sutra: Including the Seven Spiritual Laws of Love. Robin Chotzinoff, Holy Unexpected: My New Life as a Jew. Diane Cilento (1933-), My Nine Lives (autobio.); former wife of James Bond 007 (1962-73). Andrei Codrescu (1946-), New Orleans, Mon Amour: Twenty Years of Writing from the City; Dialogues in Cyberspace with Robert Lazu. Diablo Cody (1978-), Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper; known for her Pussy Ranch blog and writing the screenplay plus an Oscar for "Juno" (2007). Jonathan Coe, Like a Fiery Elephant: The Story of B.S. Johnson [1933-73] - raising or lowering the bar on experimental novels? Terry Coleman, Olivier [1907-89]; all the warts? Francis S. Collins (1950-), The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief; how he found God at age 27 by reading C.S. Lewis. Anderson Cooper, Dispatches From the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival. David Cope (1941-), Computer Models of Musical Creativity. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-) and Kenneth Blackwell, Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People, and Ending Welfare. Ann Coulter (1961-), Godless: The Church of Liberalism (June 12); the new state religion, with its sacrament of abortion, its holy writ of Roe v. Wade, its churches disguised as govt. schools (where prayer is prohibited and condoms are free), and its founding creation myth of Darwinian evolution? Lynne Cox (1957-), Grayson; her encounter with a lost baby gray whale off the coast of Calif. William Dalrymple, The Last Mughal. Mary Daly (1928-2010), Amazon Grae: Recalling the Courage to Sin Big; her war with Boston College to get away with excluding men from her radical feminist theology classes. John Clagett Danforth (1936-) Faith and Politics; decries the infiltration of U.S. politics by the religious right. Nonie Darwish (1949-), Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel, and the War on Terror; Egyptian-born Muslim who founded Arabs for Israel. Richard Dawkins (1941-), The God Delusion; first crusading atheist book to make it to #6 on the NYT nonfiction list. John W. Dean (1938-), Conservatives Without Conscience; pink-faced pigs like Dick Cheney and Karl Rove as the amoral power behind the Bush throne and the new political authoritarians. Frank Delaney (1942-), Simple Courage: A True Story of Peril on the Sea; Capt. Henrik Kurt Carlsen and the "Flying Enterprise" in 1951-2. Daniel Dennett (1942-), Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. Alan Dershowitz (1938-), The Case for Israel; an attempted rebuttal of Norman Finkelstein, arguing that the Palestinians are led by a known Nazi war criminal and are dedicated to Jewish genocide - if you give me a blood sample I can extract the antigens? Karen DeYoung, Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell. Joan Didion (1934-2021), We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction. Lou Dobbs, War on the Middle Class: How the Government, Big Business, and Special Interest Groups are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back (Oct.). E.L. Doctorow (1931-), The Creationists: Selected Essays 1993-2006; 16 essays on creative people, from Genesis to the A-bomb; "Composition is the reigning enterprise of the human mind"; "Whatever any author says of his novel, is of course another form of fiction and is never to be taken on faith"; "We are what we create"; "There is no necessary equivalence between the aesthetic and moral achievement of a novel and the confused, drunken and tormented or immoral package of humanity who has produced it". Christophe Dubois and Christophe Deloire, Sexus Politicus; sex and politics in France; big hit in France. Kitty Dukakis (1936-), Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy; admits to undergoing the therapy starting in 2001 to treat depression. Michael Eric Dyson, Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. William Easterly (1957-), The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good; reply to Jeffrey Sachs' "The End of Poverty" (2005), dissing foreign aid donors as ineffective do-gooders, and dividing them into top-down Planners and bottom-up Searchers, the latter having the best chance of success. Bob Edgar, Middle Church: Reclaiming the Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the Religious Right (Sept.). Robert Morse Edsel (1956-), Rescuing Da Vinci: Hitler and the Nazis Stole Europe's Great Art - America and Her Allies Recovered It (Dec. 15). Elizabeth Edwards (1949-2010), Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers (autobio.). Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. Barbara Ehrenreich, Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy; a 60s hippie child should know? Bart Ehrman, The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot. Rahm Emanuel (1959-) and Bruce Reed, The Plan: Big Ideas for America; incl. universal college access and child health care. Ken Emerson, Always Magic in the Air: The Bomp and the Brilliance of the Brill Building Era. Steven Emerson (1953-), Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the U.S. Nora Ephron (1941-), I Feel Bad About My Neck. Joseph Epstein (1937-), Friendship: An Expose; Alexis de Tocqueville: Democracy's Guide. Susan Estrich, The Case for Hillary Clinton; the perfect candidate for 2008 (moderate, pro-military, family-values Dem.)? Khaled Abou El Fadl (1963-), The Search for Beauty in Islam: Conference of the Books. Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports. Peter Falk (1927-), Just One More Thing (autobio.). Niall Ferguson (1964-), The War of the World: History's Age of Hatred (Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West); about the incomprehensible 20th cent., the "lethal century", with a global multi-polar Hundred Years War, attempting to explain the paradox that even though it was "so bloody" it was also "a time of unparalleled progress." Charles Fishman, The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works, and How It's Transforming the American Economy. Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East; "It was an interesting precedent. When Iraq almost sank an American frigate [in 1987], Iran was to blame. When Al-Qaeda attacked the United States fourteen years later, Iraq was to blame." Tim Flannery, The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change; "Global warming changes climate in jerks". Jonathan Franzen (1959-), The Discomfort Zone (memoir). Francis Fukuyama (1952-), America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Nonconservative Legacy; After the Neo Cons: Where the Right Went Wrong. Tess Gallagher (1943-), Soul Barnacles (essays); Words Like Distant Rain. Oded Galor (1956-) and Omer Moav, Das Human Kapital: A Theory of the Demise of the Class Structure. Norman Geras et al., The Euston Manifesto (Mar.); attempts to mobilize the traditions of British liberalism and the dem. left against the totalitarianism of radical Islam. Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-), Kristallnacht: Prelude to Destruction; The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War. Jim Gilchrist and Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders; 30M illegals in the U.S. now, and 100M by 2025, oh my? Charles Glass (1951-), The Tribes Triumphant (June); sequel to "Tribes With Flags" (1991); The Northern Front: An Iraq War Diary (Oct.). William H. Glass, A Temple of Texts; a list of his 50 most treasured writers for the remnant who still read; "Misinformation alley is a more apt designation for the Internet, although it is lined with billboards called 'Web sites', obscuring whatever might been seen from the road." Jane Glover, Mozart's Women: His Family, His Friends, His Music. Rebecca Goldstein (1950-), Betraying Spinoza: The Renegade Jew Who Gave Us Modernity. Eva Golinger, The Chavez Code: Cracking U.S. Intervention in Venezuela. Jeff Goodell, Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America's Energy Future; the avg. American uses 20 lbs. of coal a day, and he tells us why that ain't good; "Coal is the only energy source that requires workers to put their lives on the line on a daily basis." Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943-), Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Adam Gopnik (1956-), Through the Children's Gate; how to live in a world where J.D. Salinger co-opted all writing about children in New York City as symbols of innocence? Al Gore (1948-), An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It (May 24); pub. by Rodale Press in Emmaus, Penn.; the cover photo shows huge smokestacks belching a complete tornado; "I am Al Gore, and I used to be the next president of the United States of America"; "You see that pale, blue dot? That's us. Everything that has ever happened in all of human history, has happened on that pixel. All the triumphs and all the tragedies, all the wars all the famines, all the major advances... it's our only home. And that is what is at stake, our ability to live on planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization. I believe this is a moral issue, it is your time to seize this issue, it is our time to rise again to secure our future"; "As for why so many people still resist what the facts clearly show, I think, in part, the reason is that the truth about the climate crisis is an inconvenient one that means we are going to have to change the way we live our lives"; "Global warming, along with the cutting and burning of forests and other critical habitats, is causing the loss of living species at a level comparable to the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. That event was believed to have been caused by a giant asteroid. This time it is not an asteroid colliding with the Earth and wreaking havoc: it is us"; "Future generations may well have occasion to ask themselves, 'What were our parents thinking? Why didn't they wake up when they had a chance?' We have to hear that question from them, now"; "The scientists are virtually screaming from the rooftops now. The debate is over! There's no longer any debate in the scientific community about this. But the political systems around the world have held this at arm's length because it's an inconvenient truth, because they don't want to accept that it's a moral imperative"; "It is appropriate to have an over representation of factual presentations on how dangerous it is, as a predicate for opening up the audience to listen to what the solutions are, and how hopeful it is that we are going to solve this crisis"; "An Inconvenient Truth is so convincing that it makes opposers of the argument as credible as Holocaust deniers" (Jon Niccum); released along with a film (May 24), which does $24M U.S. and $26M worldwide box office, which is followed by An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (July 28, 2017), which only grosses $5M worldwide; "I don't think anybody can prepare on a physical level. It isn't possible to prepare for what is about to happen. The Pentagon gives us one to three years left of normal life on this planet. Now you have Al Gore's movie 'An Inconvenient Truth', whom I find very optimistic, as he gives us ten years. But I don't know a single scientist on the planet who gives us ten years or anybody else who gives us that long. What the Pentagon talks about is the rapid changes in climate, making it impossible to live in certain areas. Exactly where those areas are, they don't know" (Drunvalo Melchizedek); the book is followed by the sequel Our Choice (original title: The Path to Survival) (Nov. 2009) - or, drowning polar bears, submerged mainly Dem. Manhattan and San Fran, and why I shoulda been president then grew a beard to save electricity? Amit Goswami, The Visionary Window: A Quantum Physicist's Guide to Enlightenment. Greg Grandin, Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism; the Reagan admin. intervention in Central Am. was a dress rehearshal for Bush's Iraq War? Simon Gray (1936-2008), The Year of the Jouncer (autobio.). Gael Greene (1935-), Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess (autobio.); her sexual encounter with Elvis Presley. Joshua M. Greene, Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison; "George had his rock and roll friends and he had his transcendental friends, and he liked to keep them separate." Robert Greene (1959-), The 33 Strategies of War. Steven Macon Greer (1955-), Hidden Truth, Forbidden Knowledge. Scott Griffin (1938-), My Heart Is Africa (autobio.); his 1996-7 experiences working for the Flying Doctors Service in Africa. John Grisham (1955-), The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town (first non-fiction title); Oakland Athletics draft pick Ronald Keith Williamson (1953-2004) is convicted of murder in Ada, Okla., spends 12 years in priz, and DNA testing sets him free five days before his execution. Stanislav Grof (1931-), The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death. John Grogan, Marley & Me; his dog. Tom Groneberg, One Good Horse: Learning to Train and Trust a Horse. Jurgen Habermas (1929-), The Divided West. Rebecca Hagelin, Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in A Culture That's Gone Stark Raving Mad. Earl Hamner Jr. (1923-), Generous Women: An Appreciation; by the creator of "The Waltons". Sam Harris (1967-), Letter to a Christian Nation; how religion is the root cause of all wars and a threat to the world, and the solution lies in giving up belief in God and becoming a secular atheist; "Many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism"; "People are literally dying over ancient literature." Gary Hart (1936-), The Shield & The Cloak: The Security of the Commons; the U.S., nation-states, and nonstate actors; the military is the shield and the non-military is the cloak; The Courage of Our Convictions: A Manifesto for Dems.; quit abandoning the legacy of FDR, Truman, JFK and LBJ? - and elect Barack Obama? Robert Harvey, American Shogun: A Tale of Two Cultures; gen. Douglas MacArthur and emperor Hirohito. Christian Hellwig (1976-) et al., Self-Fulfilling Currency Crises: The Role of Interest Rates; shows that when prices act as an endogenous public signal and private info. is sufficiently precise, equilibrium multiplicity may be restored. Daniel Hendrex and Wes Smith, A Soldier's Promise: The Heroic True Story of an American Soldier and an Iraqi Boy; 13-y.-o. Iraqi boy Jamil (Steve-O) turns on his Repub. Guard daddy and helps U.S. forces fight insurgents to gain asylum for himself, mother and siblings, later IDing Sayed, the insurgent who killed his mother. Peter Hessler, Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present. Esther Hicks (1948-) and Jerry Hicks, The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent: Living the Art of Allowing; The Law of Attraction: The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham (Oct.). Charles Higham (1931-2012), Dark Lady: Winston Churchill's Mother and Her World; Jennie Churchill. Ben Hills, Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne (Dec.); a Harvard grad. gives up a diplomatic career to marry royalty; Japanese pub. house Kodansha Ltd. cancels plans to trans. it into Japanese next Feb. Harold E. Hinds, Marilyn Ferris Motz, and Angela M.S. Nelson (eds.), Popular Culture Theory and Methodology: A Basic Introduction. E.D. Hirsch Jr. (1928-), The Knowledge Deficit; how the schools deemphasize reading, graduating knowledge-deficient students. Andrew Carrington Hitchcock, The Synagogue of Satan; 2nd ed. 2012; claims that Ashkenazi Jews are behind Communism and want to exterminate Christians. David Albert Hollinger (1941-) and Charles Capper (eds.), The American Intellectual Tradition (2 vols.); a source book for undergrad courses in Am. intellectual history that becomes very popular. Jed Horne, Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City. David Joel Horowitz (1939-), Shadow Party: How George Soros, Hillary Clinton, and Sixties Radicals Seized Control of the Democratic Party; "The Shadow Party is the real power driving the Democrat machine. It is a network of radicals dedicated to transforming our constitutional republic into a socialist hive"; The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America; tenured radicals like Ward Churchill and his socialist feminist colleague Allison Jaggar, who advocates reengineering men's bodies to share childbearing duties? Robert Hughes (1938-), Things I Didn't Know (autobio.). Swanee Hunt, Half-Life of a Zealot (autobio.); daughter of billionaire H.L. Hunt turns liberal and becomes Clinton's ambassador to Vienna. Andrew Hussey, Paris: The Secret History. Patrick Hynes, In Defense of the Religious Right: Why Conservatives Are the Lifeblood of the Republican Party and Why That Terrifies the Democrats. Fred Charles Ikle (1924-2011), Annihilation from Within: The Ultimate Threat to Nations; how science is outpacing religion and politics, leaving an opening for a tyrant to use a few WMDs to annihilate a nat. govt. and assume dictatorial power. Robert Irwin (1946-), For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and Their Enemies; critique of Edward Said's "Orientalism" (1978), which he calls "malignant charlatanry, in which it is hard to distinguish honest mistakes from willful misrepresentations", pointing out that his criticism focuses on British and French scholars, when it was the German ones who made the most original contributions, and ignores Russia's imperialist designs on C Asia and the Caucasus, lumping them in with the other Euro countries who had designs on the Middle East, finally noting that Western Orientalism "owes more to Muslim scholarship than most Muslims realise"; "I am a medievalist, but he hates the Middle Ages. Altogether he loathes the past, he does not have the ability to enter into the spirit of other ages. He lies about European novelists and twists their words; I am myself a novelist with great sympathy for some of those whom he denounces in his book. Finally, I am an orientalist, too, and his book is a long and persevering polemic against my subject, so I need to ask: is there anything at all to like in Said's book? - No. It is written far too quickly and carelessly. It abounds with misprints and mis-spelled names. It is an extremely polemic book, and throughout time many polemic books for or against Islam and the Muslim world have been written, but none have been taken seriously in the same way as Said"; "The fact is that researchers cannot build anything on Said's thoughts - dead-end... He has made it difficult for Westerners to say anything critical about Islam and the Muslim world. You cannot do that because then you run the risk of getting denounced as an orientalist, i.e. a racist, an imperialist and other terrible things." Richard A. Isay (1934-2012), Commitment and Healing: Gay Men and the Need for Reomantic Love. Jonathan Israel (1946-), Enlightenment Contested: Philosophy, Modernity, and the Emancipation of Man 1650-1752. Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon, The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation; the whole thing reduced to a comic book. Philip Jenkins (1952-), Decade of Nightmares: The End of the Sixties and the Making of Eighties America. Ken Jennings (1974-), Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs; like Game #53, where he answers "ho" for "Term for a long-handled gardening tool that can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker". Terri Jentz, Strange Piece of Paradise; her encounter with an axe murderer. Paul Johnson, George Washington: The Founding Father. Ann Jones, Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan; how the stupid Bush admin. declared a V in Afghanistan in Feb. 2003 when women were being kept down as much as ever. Terry Jones, Islam Is of the Devil (Aug. 3). Erica Jong (1942-), Seducing the Demon: Writing for My Life; blames Martha Stewart for breaking up her marriage to publisher Andy Stewart. Molly Jong-Fast (1978-), Girl (Maladjusted): True Stories from a Semi-Celebrity Childhood (autobio.). Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic; "Once upon a time, you could trace the spread of imperialism by counting up colonies. America's version of the colony is the military base; and by following the changing politics of global basing, one can learn much about our ever more all-encompassing imperial footprint and the militarism that grows with it... even more than in past empires, a well-entrenched militarism [lies] at the heart of our imperial adventures"; "Each year we spend more on our armed forces than all other nations on Earth combined" on U.S. troops "in more than 130 countries"; the U.S. officially has 737-860 overseas bases, plus 100+ secret ones. Sebastian Junger (1962-), A Death in Belmont; the Boston Strangler story. Robert Kagan (1958-), Dangerous Nation. Roger Kahn, Into My Own: The Remarkable People and Events that Shaped My Life (autobio.). Kumiko Kakehashi, So Sad to Fall in Battle: An Account of War in War; Based on General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's Letters from Iwo Jima; the loser's side. Justin Kaplan (1924-2014), When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age. Efraim Karsh (1953-), Islamic Imperialism: A History; exposes the thousand-plus-year Great Jihad of Islam and how it persisted in the Ottoman Empire right up through WWI and is still alive today with the jihad against Israel, 9/11, al-Qaida, ISIS, etc.; draws a firestorm of criticism from the PC pro-Islam academic establishment, which accuses them of agitprop. Rodolph Kasser, Marvin Meyer and Gregor Wurst (eds.), The Gospel of Judas (Aug.); Judas is the hero of the gospels because he helped Jesus exit his prison-body, and is rewarded by exiting himself in a "luminous cloud" to a realm far higher than that inhabited by inferior Jewish deity Jehovah, whose creation stinks? Sam Kastensmidt, Indefensible: 10 Ways the ACLU is Destroying America; from freedom of religion to freedom from religion, from separation of church and state to state control of church, their war to get crosses and Ten Commandments off public property; what's next, getting rid of In God We Trust from money? David Katz, The Flavor Point Diet; sensor-specific satiety? Michael Kazin, A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan. Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, Without Precedent: The Inside Story of the 9/11 Commission. Peter Kenez, A History of the Soviet Union from the Beginning to the End (2nd ed.). Edward M. Kennedy (1932-), America: Back on Track. Stephen Kinzer, Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq; Hawaii 1893, Philippines 1898, Nicaragua 1909, Guatemala 1954, South Vietnam 1963, Chile 1973, Grenada 1983, Panama 1989, Iraq 2003. Michael Klare, Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Petroleum Dependency. Aaron J. Klein, Striking Back: The 1972 Munich Olympics Massacre and Israel's Deadly Response. Joe Klein, Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized by People Who Think You're Stupid; "After Reagan, it became practically impossible for a candidate to propose any sort of long-term program involving short-term sacrifice." Hans Kung (1928-), The Beginning of All Things; accepts evolutionary theory but claims that God set up the laws. David Kuo, Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction; how the Bush White House embraces evangelicals for political gain but privately calls them "nuts", "goofy" and "ridiculous". David Kupelian, The Making of Evil; multiculturalism is an attack on Christianity? Pascal Laine (1942-), Un Clou Chasse l'Autre ou La Vie d'Artiste. Wally Lamb (1950-), I'll Fly Away: Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison. Angela Lambert, The Lost Life of Eva Braun; Hitler's 36-hour wife, whom his chaffeur calls "the unhappiest woman in Germany". Dick Lamm (1935-), Two Wands, One Nation; attempts to excuse the low black and Hispanic high school graduation rate by their failure to highly value education like Jews and Japanese; "I don't think Jews are smarter. I don't think Hispanics are dumber". Lewis Lapham, Pretensions to Empire: Notes on the Criminal Folly of the Bush Administration (Sept.). Erik Larson (1954-), Thunderstruck (Oct. 24); Guglielmo Marconi, Harvey Crippen and the invention of radio. Jonathan Laurence, Integrating Islam: Political and Religious Challenges in Contemporary France. Alena Ledeneva, How Russia Really Works. Ray Lemoine and Jeff Neumann, Babylon by Bus; two Americans go to Baghdad in 2004 to scam work as a nongovt. agency. Matthew Levitt, Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad. Bernard-Henri Levy (1948-) (tr. Charlotte Mandell), American Vertigo: Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville; the 1831 glammed-up dreamgirls tour; "She [Sharon Stone] unfolds her legs, refolds them, pulls at the hem of her skirt with the gesture of a flirt who's trying to act virtuous, sighs deeply, takes her time, and finally gives me a look that is already outraged by what she's going to say". Jacqueline Levi-Valensi (ed.), Camus at Combat; his writings for the French Resistance in WWII. Michael Lewis (1960-), The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game; story of homeless 6'4 310 lb. black Michael Jerome Oher (1986-) (pr. oar), who has an 80 IQ but moves so fast that he becomes an NFL left tackle offensive lineman star after the NFL passing game begins to explode in the late 70s and linebackers begin killing QBs by exploiting their blind left side in the early 80s; he was adopted by affluent white Memphis, Tenn. couple Sean Tuohy and Leigh Anne Roberts Tuohy. Michael Lind (1962-), The American Way of Strategy: U.S. Foreign Policy and the American Way of Life. Roger Lowenstein, Louis Rukeyser (1933-2006), and Robert Sobel (1931-99), Crashes, Booms, Panics and Government Regulation. Nelson Lichtenstein, Wal-Mart: The Face of Twenty-First Century Capitalism; the growing movement to boycott the mega-chain monster. David Limbaugh (1952-), Bankrupt: The Intellectual and Moral Bankruptcy of Today's Democratic Party (Sept.). Eugene Linden, The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather and the Destruction of Civilizations; or, ah ah, told you so? Damon Linker, The Theocons: Secular America Under Siege (Sept.) - thought it was the other way around? James Lovelock (1919-), The Revenge of Gaia: Why the Earth is Fighting Back, and How We Can Still Save Humanity; the creator of the Gaia Hypothesis shocks fellow environmentalists by flopping and backing nuclear power as the only alternative to prevent global warming, else by the end of the cent. "billions of us will die and the few breeding pairs of people that survive will be in the Arctic where the climate remains tolerable", claiming that 80% of humans will perish by 2100 C.E., and that the climate change will last 100K years. Barry W. Lynn (1948-), Piety & Politics: The Right-Wing Assault on Religious Freedom; exec. dir. of Ams. United for Separation of Church and State (1992-). Myra MacPherson, All Governments Lie: The Life and Times of Rebel Journalist I.F. Stone; J. Edgar Hoover is a "sacred cow" and a "glorified Dick Tracy"? Maddox, The Alphabet of Manliness; Chuck Norris' favorite food is whiskey, lumberjacks are raised by cyclopses, and Socrates is the father of spite? Norman Mailer (1923-2007) and John Buffalo Mailer (1978-), The Big Empty: Dialogues on Politics, Sex, God, Boxing, Morality, Myth, Poker and Bad Conscience in America. Peter Mandler (1958-), The English National Character: The History of an Idea from Edmund Burke to Tony Blair. Peter Mandler (1958-) (ed.), Liberty and Authority in Victorian Britain (Sept. 21). Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track. Ali al-Amin Mazrui (1933-), Islam: Between Globalization and Counter-Terrorism. John McCain and Mark Salter, Faith of My Fathers: A Family Memoir. James Edward "Jim" McGreevey (1957-), The Confession; Irish Catholic N.J. Gov. stays closeted for 47 years and two marriages until lover Golan Cipal er, blows his whistle in 2004. Danica McKellar (1975-), Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle-School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail; encourages girls to do math. John McPhee (1931-), Uncommon Carriers. Jon Ellis Meacham (1969-), American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. Michael Mewshaw, If You Could See Me Now. John Michell (1933-2009) and Robin Heath, The Lost Science of Measuring the Earth: Discovering the Sacred Geometry of the Ancients. Fergus Millar (1935-), A Greek Roman Empire: Power and Belief under Theodosiius II (408-450), showing how the Byzantine Empire's bureaucracy worked, and its dealings with the Church. Marvin Lee Minsky (1927-), The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind; critiques theories of how human minds work. Bill Minutaglio, The President's Counselor: The Rise to Power of Alberto Gonzales. Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), Marxism Unmasked: From Delusion to Destruction (posth.); lectures given in 1952. Seth Mnookin, Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts and Nerve Took a Team to the Top; the 2004 Boston Red Sox. Eric Henry Monkkonen (1942-2005), Homicide: Explaining America's Exceptionalism (essay) (posth.); a last attempt to explain higher U.S. murder rates. James Moore and Wayne Slater, The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power; Rove's beloved stepfather Louis Rove (Getty Oil geologist) is gay and abandoned his mother to live as a homo? Caroline Moorehead (ed.), Selected Letters of Martha Gelhorn; Ernest Hemingway's 3rd wife. Robin Morgan (1941-), The Burning Time; Fighting Words: A Toolkit for Combating the Religious Right. Ted Morgan (Sanche de Gramont), My Battle of Algiers; is Iraq another no-win Algeria in the making? Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-90), Chronicles of Wasted Time, Vols. I & II (posth.). Mike Mullane, Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut. Laurent Murawiec, Princes of Darkness: The Saudi Assault on the West; Saudi society is fundamentally hostile to all things Western? Jim Murk, Islam Rising (2 vols.). Douglas Murray (1979-), Neoconservatism: Why We Need It (Aug. 28). Pervez Musharraf (1943-), In the Line of Fire (Sept. 25); criticizes the U.S. invasion of Iraq for making the world more dangerous, and says he had no choice after 9/11 but to switch from supporting the Taliban to backing the U.S.-led war on terror; claims that the day after 9/11, Colin Powell called him with an ultimatum "You are either with us or against us", and the next day his deputy Richard Armitage called his spy chief and told them "that if we chose the terrorists, then we should be prepared to be bombed back to the Stone Age"; Armitage denies it. Abu Bakr Naji, Management of Savagery (Idarat al-Tawahush); training course for ISIS, explaining the concept of tashreed (deterrence); "I am talking about jihad and fighting, not about Islam and one should not confuse them. He cannot continue to fight and move from one stage to another unless the beginning state contains a stage of massacring the enemy and deterring him." Andrew P. Napolitano (1950-), The Constitution in Exile: How the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of the Land. Vali Reza Nasr (1960-), The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam will Shape the Future. David Nasaw, Andrew Carnegie (Oct.). Nat. Inst. on Aging and U.S. Census Bureau, 65+ in the United States: 2005. Richard John Neuhaus (1936-2009), Catholic Matters: Confusion, Controversy, and the Splendor of Truth. Rick Newman and Don Shepperd, Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Jack Newfield (1938-2004), The Full Rudy: The Man, the Myth, the Mania. John Julius Norwich (1929-), The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean; from the Phoenicians and Pharaohs to the Arab conquests, the Holy Roman Empire and Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, Suleyman the Magnificent, the Battle of Lepanto, Lord Nelson, Napoleon, the Greek War of Independence, and the Italian Risorgimento to the Gallipoli Campaign. Geoffrey Nunberg, Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Living, Left-Wing Freak Show. Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-), The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream; wins a 2nd Grammy. J. Eric Oliver, Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America's Obesity Epidemic; an invention of public health officials and greedy scientists working for the sinister diet and weight-loss industry? Randy Olson, Flock of Dodos; the Intelligent Design debate. Bill O'Reilly (1949-), Culture Warrior; the "fierce culture war between the traditionalist and secular-progressive camps". Joel Osteen (1963-), Your Best Life Now; sells 4M copies. Nell Irvin Painter, Creating Black Americans. Ilan Pappe (1954-), The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine; claims that Israel did you know what in 1947 then covered it up, and that Zionism is more dangerous than Islam, calling for an internat. boycott of Israeli academics; The Israel-Palestine Question. Sam Parnia, What Happens When We Die. Eboo Patel, Building the Interfaith Youth Movement: Beyond Dialogue to Action; afterword by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. Danica Patrick (1982-) (with Laura Morton), Danica: Crossing the Line (autobio.). Harvey Pekar, Ego & Hubris: The Michael Malice Story; the curmudgeon of Cleveland and top chronicler of kvetch talks about someone other than himself? Tyler Perry, Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings. Ralph Peters (1952-), Never Quit the Fight. James Petras, Empire with Imperialism: The Globalizing Dynamics of Neoliberal Capitalism; The Power of Israel in the United States (Sept. 26); paints Israel as the Little Satan a la Islamists. Kevin Phillips (1940-), American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century; fundamentalist Christianity from the defeated South, hydrocarbon energy, and a colossal nat. debt are going to cause a U.S. meltdown and the emergence of China by 2050? Melanie Phillips (1951-), Londonistan; how the British govt. is afraid to offend Muslim extremists in their country. James Piereson, Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism (Sept. 15). Daniel Pinchbeck (1966-), 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl. Katha Pollitt (1949-), Virginity or Death!: And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time. Gareth Porter (1942-), Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam. Roy Porter (1946-2002), The Cambridge History of Medicine; Madmen: A Social History of Madhouses, Mad-Doctors and Lunatics (posth.). Joel R. Primack (1944-) and Nancy Ellen Abrams, The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos; sums up the super-arrogant Big Bang Evolutionary theory of the Big U of the World Scientific Priesthood, becoming the 21st cent. Bible? Francine Prose (1947-), Reading Like a Writer. Rain Pryor (1969-), Jokes My Father Never Told Me: Life, Love and Loss with Richard Pryor. David Quammen, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution. Michael S. Radu (1947-2009), Islamic and Terrorist Groups in Asia: The Growth and Influence of Islam in the Nations of Asia and Central Asia; Dilemmas of Democracy and Dictatorship: Place, Time, and Ideology in Global Perspective. Jerry Rassamni, From Jihad to Jesus (July 24); Lebanese-born militant Muslim moves to the U.S. and gets born again. Diane Ravitch (1938-), Forgotten Heroes of American Education: The Great Tradition of Teaching Teachers; The English Reader: What Every Literate Person Needs to Know. David Remnick (ed.), Reporting; New Yorker pieces. Frank Rich, The Greatest Story Ever Told: The Decline and Fall of Truth from 9/11 to Katrina; how the Greatest Generation myth is used by Baby Boomers "even if it was other people's children who had to do the fighting". Joel Richardson, Antichrist: Islam's Awaited Messiah; claims that the Islamic Mahdi and Christian Antichrist are the same person. Louise Richardson, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat; "neither crazy nor amoral but rather... rationally seeking to achieve a set of objectives within self-imposed limits". Thomas E. Ricks (1955-), Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq. Andrew Roberts (1963-), A History of the English Speaking People Since 1900. Gene Roberts and Hank Kilbanoff, The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation (Pulitzer Prize). Jason Roberts, A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History's Greatest Traveler; English "Blind Traveler" James Holman (1786-1857). Ronald Suresh Roberts, No Cold Kitchen; bio. of South African novelist Nadine Gordimer (1923-). James M. Robinson, The Secrets of Judas: The Story of the Misunderstood Disciple and His Lost Gospel; the first book about the long-lost Gospel of Judas. Christine Rosen, My Fundamentalist Education: A Memoir of a Divine Girlhood; "Growing up in a particular religion is like a person's daily experience with gravity. It is always there, but it is something you tend to notice only if you stumble." Robert N. Rosen, Saving the Jews: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Holocaust; how FDR mobilized a global coalition to stomp the Nazis and end the killing of innocents and did his utmost, but couldn't win the war until it was too late; he didn't bomb concentration camps because it would kill innocents? Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), Epicenter; events in the Middle East vs. the Bible Book of Daniel by an Am. Jew-turned-Christian. Lyle H. Rossiter Jr., The Liberal Mind: The Psychological Causes of Political Madness; claims he's figured out why radical leftists are mad. Murray Newton Rothbard (1926-95), The Complete Libertarian Forum (2 vols.). Barry Rubin, The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East. SQuire Rushnell, When God Winks at You: How God Speaks Directly to You Through the Power of Coincidence (Sept. 19); coins the term "godwinks". Tim Russert (1950-2008), Wisdom of Our Fathers. Michael Sallah and Mitch Weiss, Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War; May-Nov. 1967 in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. Prentice Earl Sanders and Bennett Cohen, The Zebra Murders: A Season of Killing, Racial Madness, and Civil Rights; the 1973-4 black-on-white murder spree in San Francisco by members of the Nation of Islam; only the 2nd book published on them? John E. Sarno (1923-), The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mindbody Disorders. Michael Savage (1942-), The Political Zoo; Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions. Robert Santelli, Greetings From E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Simon Schama (1945-), The Power of Art; bios. of Euro artists; 8 episodes are aired on BBC-TV in Oct.-Nov. Ronald Shelp (1941-), Fallen Giant: The Amazing Story of Hank Greenberg and the History of AIG; AIG CEO (1968-2005) Maurice Raymond "Hank" Greenberg (1925-). Michael Schiavo, Terri: the Story; with the pres. and the pope on your ass, what else do you need? John Selby (1945-), Jesus for the Rest of Us. Hans F. Sennholz (1922-2007), Age of Inflation Continued. Tahir Shah, The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca; Jinns in the house, and waving an axe at a tree to make it give tastier dates? Eric Shawn, The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security. Cindy Sheehan, Peace Mom: A Mother's Journey Through Heartache to Activism; her son U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan is killed in Iraq; "He didn't want to go to Iraq. He didn't believe in the mission. He thought George Bush was misusing he and his buddies. I begged him not to go and he just said, 'I don't want to go mom, but I have to.'" Gail Sheehy (1937-), Sex and the Seasoned Woman: Pursuing the Passionate Life; aging baby boomers as "a new universe of lusty, liberated women"? Michael Shermer, Why Darwin Matters: The Case Against Intelligent Design; the pro position on Darwin; "Creation by intelligent design is absurd" - and Darwinism isn't? Walid Shoebat, Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror. Zachary Shore, Breeding Bin Ladens: America, Islam, and the Future of Europe (Aug. 28); Muslim terrorists are bred not born, and Westerners shouldn't alarmed at mass Muslim immigration? Hampton Sides (1962-), Blood and Thunder: An Epic of the American West; how Pres. Polk used Kit Carson for his Mission: Impossible Team in the Am. West. Bernie S. Siegel, Love, Magic and Mudpies: Raising Your Kids to Feel Loved, Be Kind, and Make a Difference (Nov. 28). O.J. Simpson, If I Did It, Here's How It Happened (Nov. 30); ghostwritten by Pablo F. Fenjves (1953-) (who used to live at 875 S. Bundy Dr. in Brentwood, Calif., 60 yards away from Nicole Brown Simpson's residence) and Dominick Dunne (1925-2009); he claims it's fiction, but 400K copies are printed in anticipation of making him a bundle until the fit hits the shan; publisher Judith Regan (1953-) claims she wanted O.J. to confess; Fox Network, owned by publisher Harper Collins Publishing (owned by Ruper Murdoch's News Corp.) plans to air an interview of O.J. about the book on sweeps week (Nov. 27 and 29), stirring outrage from the Simpsons, Goldmans et al., causing everything to be cancelled; O.J. receives and keeps a $3.5M advance in the name of his children; in Dec. Regan is fired for making remarks that there is a "Jewish cabal" against her, and that Jews "should know about ganging up, finding common enemies and telling the big lie"; in Aug. 2007 the rights to the book are awarded to the Goldman family to help collect their civil judgment, and they add the subtitle "Confessions of a Killer", and semi-obliterate the word "If"; too bad, it leaks online in June 2007. Dave Smith (1942-), Hunting Men: Reflections on a Life in Poetry (Dec. 1); "Great poetry cannot be divorced from an intimate, organic link to place." Janna Malamud Smith, My Father is a Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud. Lee Smolin, The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next (Sept. 19); science progresses through disagreement, not by following consensus?; U.S. physicists have spent 20 years focusing on the loser approach of a Theory of Everything via String Theory while other countries catch up and overtake it in science?; claims that natural selection is "the only methodology that was really successful for explaining how choices were made in nature", claiming that new universes are born from parent universes via black holes, and advocating that universes should be fine-tuned to maximize the production of hundreds of trillions of black holes. Jason Sokol, There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945-1975. Suzanne Somers (1946-), Ageless: The Naked Truth About Bioidentical Hormones. George Soros (1930-), The Age of Fallibility: Consequences of the War on Terror (May 23); an attempt to rationalize his support for losing Dem. U.S. pres. candidate John Kerry by going philosophical with musings on closed vs. open societies (which supposedly know that truth is uncertain and unknowable and therefore tolerate multiple views), incl. his theory of reflexivity, extreme disequlibrium, and intersection of cognitive and participatory functions, with the soundbyte: "This fact, that our thinking forms part of what we think about, has far reaching implications both for our thinking and for reality. It sets some insuperable obstacles to understanding reality and it also renders reality different from what we understand it to be. Some aspects of reality permit us to acquire knowledge but others are not amenable to dispassionate understanding and reality as a whole belongs to that category"; too bad, by open society he really means flooding hated Naziland Germany with non-whites to get even with Hitler, totally ostriching on the issue of how they will bring their ancient evil scourge of Islam with them, along with an entirely different culture based on polygamy and breeding like rabbits, along with capital blasphemy laws, not to mention rabid anti-Semitism worse than the Nazis, ending the open society dream in a river of blood? J. Souten et al.. Violating Equality in Social Dilemmas: Emotional and Retributive Reactions as a Function of Trust, Attribution, and Honesty; generalizes the principle of Rabin Fairness (1993) to the provision of public goods. Thomas Sowell (1930-), Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays. Jay Spenser, 747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet and Other Adventures from a Life in Aviation; Boeing 747 designer Joseph F. "Joe" Sutter (1921-2016). Morgan Spurlock, Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America; eats at McDonald's for a month, claiming to experience "buzzing pulsations" in his penis. Fritz Stern (1926-), Five Germanies I Have Known; the Weimar Repub., the Third Reich, postwar East-West Germany, post-1990 unified Germany. Ralph Steadman (1936-), The Joke's Over; how his partner Hunter S. Thompson was brilliant and funny but a cheat? Mark Steyn (1959-), America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It (Sept. 16); NYT bestseller warning of coming takeover of the West by Islam, turning it into Eurabia; based on the Jan. 2006 essay "It's the Demography, Stupid", which claims that "much of what we loosely call the Western world will not survive this century" because "The design flaw of the secular social-democratic state is that it requires a religious-society birthrate to sustain it", and Euro birthrates are falling while Muslim birth and immigration rates are soaring; Belgium has already been taken over by Muslims, and Europe, Japan and the U.S. are next, the U.S. by 2040? Joseph Stiglitz (1943-), Making Globalization Work (Sept.); claims that developing countries exert an excessive influence over developing countries. Chris Stringer, Homo Britannicus: The Story of Life in Britain. Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age. Andrew Sullivan, The Conservative Soul: Howe We Lost It, How to Get it Back (Oct.). Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge; The Second Bill of Rights: Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More Than Ever; Are Judges Political? An Empirical Investigation of the Federal Judiciary. Patrick Suskind (1949-), On Love and Death (essays). Ron Suskind (1959-), The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11; NYT bestseller claims that U.S. foreign policy since 9/11 has been driven by vice-pres. Dick Cheney, whose doctrine is that "If there's even a 1% chance of terrorists getting a weapon of mass destruction... the United States must now act as if it were a certainy." Leonard Susskind, The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design. Lars Svendsen (tr. John Irons), A Philosophy of Boredom. James L. Swanson, Manhunt; the 2-week run of John Wilkes Booth in the Md.-Va. countryside. Bryan Sykes, Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland; a 10-year DNA survey of the Brits reveals their Viking blood? James D. Tabor, The Jesus Dynasty: The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family and the Birth of Christianity; the Jewish story that Jesus's father was a Roman soldier named Tiberius Julius Abdes Pantera was right? - of course it's Saturday, that explains it? Gay Talese (1932-), A Writer's Life. Daniel Paul Tammet (1979-), Born on a Blue Day; savant memoir. Tom Tancredo (1945-) and Jon E. Doughtery, In Mortal Danger: The Battle for America's Border and Security (June 6); "Viewed from a different perspective, we can say that 2M people marched in protest on Apr. 10 [2006], and 297M Americans did not join them." Terence Tao (1975-), Solving Mathematical Problems: A Personal Perspective; 2006 Fields Medal winner. John Tayman, The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai. Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, The Old Way: A Story of the First People; how our hunter-gatherer past "clings to us still, in our preferences, in our thoughts and dreams, and even in some of our behavior". Victor Thorn (1962-2016), 9-11 EVIL: Israel's Central Role in the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks (July). John Tirman, 100 Ways America is Screwing Up the World; only 100? Hector Tobar, Translation Nation: Defining a New American Identity in the Spanish-Speaking United States; tour of the not-so-secret "new Latin republic of the United States". Alvin Toffler (1928-), Revolutionary Wealth; the old mass production era institutions are becoming useless to the U.S.? Sandy Tolan, The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East; Ramla in 1948. Martin Tolchin and Susan J. Tolchin, A World Ignited: How Apostles of Ethnic, Religious and Racial Hatred Torch the Globe. Serge Trifkovic (1954-), Defeating Jihad: How the War on Terrorism May Yet Be Won, In Spite of Ourselves. Calvin Trillin (1935-), About Alice; his wife Alice (1938-2001), best editor and perfect muse. Martinus J.G. Veltman (1931-), Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics. Gore Vidal (1925-2012), Point to Point Navigation. Norah Vincent, Self-Made Man; a year and a half dressing as a man named Ned? Richard Vinen, The Unfree French: Life Under Occupation. Nicholas Wade, Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors. Sam Walker, Fantasyland: A Season on Baseball's Lunatic Fringe; the Rotisserie for roto-geeks, 23 ML players for $260, Tout Wars, Ron Shandler, Baseball Forecaster, Low Investment Mound Aces, and Really Expensive Mound Aces. Michael Walzer (1935-) (ed.), Law, Politics, and Morality in Judaism. Denzel Washington (1954-), A Hand to Guide Me: American Reflections (autobio.). Colin Wells, Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World. Jonathan Wells (1942-), The Politically Incorrect Guide To Darwinism and Intelligent Design; the pro position on ID. Mel White, Religion Gone Bad: The Hidden Dangers of the Christian Right. Tom Wicker, Shooting Star: The Brief Arc of Joe McCarthy. Marianne Williamson (1952-), The Gift of Change: Spiritual Guidance for Living Your Best Life (Jan. 3). Garry Wills (1934-), What Jesus Meant; "the real, radical Jesus"; What Paul Meant. Andrew Norman Wilson (1950-), Sir John Betjeman; rival biographer Bevis Hillier springs a hoax letter on him, which contains an acrostic spelling out "AN Wilson is a shit", sent by Eve de Harben (Ever been had). Swain Wolfe, The Boy Who Invented Skiing. Trinny Woodhall and Susannah Constantine, Take on America: What Your Clothes Say About You. Bob Woodward (1943-), State of Denial: Bush at War, Pt. III (Sept. 30); how Philip Zelikow, exec. dir. of the 9/11 Commission warned Bush in 2005 that the U.S. had only a 70% chance of achieving a stable dem. state in Iraq, but they didn't care because they were in a you know what over Iraq? - 70% of 0.007%? Lawrence Wright (1947-), The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 bestseller (Pulitzer Prize); title based on Quran 4:78. Plays: Salvatore Antonio, In Gabriel's Kitchen (first play) (Ontario) (July 26); an Italian-Canadian family finds out they have a gay son. Jacob M. Appel, Arborophilia (Repertory Theatre, Detroit) (Nov.); a man gets pissed-off when one daughter marries a Repub. and the other falls in love with a poplar tree. Alan Ayckbourn, If I Were You (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) (Oct. 17). Douglas Carter Beane, The Little Dog Laughed (Second Stage Theater, New York) (Jan. 10). Howard Brenton (1942-), In Extremis: The Story of Abelard & Heloise (Globe Theatre, London) (Aub. 27); the story of Abelard and Heloise. James Brough and Helen Elizabeth, The Pool: City of Culture. Caryl Churchill (1938-), Drunk Enough to Say I Love You; how Britain sucks up to the U.S. in foreign policy; gay buds Sam and Jack/Guy. Stella Duffy (1963-), Prime REsident. Stuart Draper, To W.H.; William Shakespeare and the mysterious "W.H.". David Eldrige, Festen (Apr. 9) (New York); adapted from the 1998 film "Celebration" by Thomas Vinterberg et al.; stage debut of sorry Ali McGraw as Else. Richard Elkan, To Quote the Bard; satire on the British royal family and PM Tony Blair. Scott Frankel (1963-), Doug Wright (1962-), and Michael Korie, Grey Gardens (Paywrights Horizons, New York) (Feb. 10) (Walter Kerr Theater, New York) (Nov. 2) (307 perf.); based on the 1975 documentary by Albert and David Maysies about formerly rich mother Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale (Big Edie) and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale (Little Edie), Jackie Kennedy's aunt and cousin, who lived in poverty in the seedy Grey Gardens mansion at 3 West End Rd. in the Georgica Pond neighborhood of East Hampton, N.Y. Jeremy Gable (1982-), Giant Green Lizard! The Musical; paradoy of 1950s Japanese monster movies; The Ouroboros Line; Orange Alert; The Flying Spaghetti Monster Holiday Pageant. Graeme Garden, The Pocket Orchestra: The Unlikely Lives of the Great Composers. David Marshall Grant, Pen (Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis). Richard Greenberg, Three Days of Rain. A.R. Gurney, Indian Blood. Peter Handke (1942-), Spuren der Verirrten. David Hare (1947-), The Vertical Hour. Elizabeth Heffron, Mitzi's Abortion (Seattle). Beth Henley (1952-), Ridiculous Fraud (McCarter Theater, N.J.) (May 15); gender-switching version of Anton Chekhov's "Three Sister" set in La. Rand Higbee, The Head That Wouldn't Die!; satire of the 1950s sci-fi/horror films. Paul Hodson, Meeting Joe Strummer (Edinburgh). Tina Howe (1937-), Birth and After Birth. Radovan Ivsic, King Gordogan (Kralj Gordogan) (May 1). Elton John (1947-), Lestat (musical) (Apr. 25) (Palace Theater, New York); based on the Anne Rice novels about er, bloodsuckers with songs by Elton John and Bernie Taupin; a flop. Karoline Leach, Tryst (Promenade Theater, New York) (Apr. 6). Magwayen, Indrapura (Manila) (Dec. 9). Cormac McCarthy (1933-), The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago) (May 18); a black ex-con and a white atheist prof. debate religion. Martin McDonagh, The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Other Place Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon). Terrence McNally (1938-), Some Men; 80 years of gay men in the New York City, culminating with a gay wedding. Peter Morgan, Frost/Nixon (London, Donmar Warehouse) (Aug.); the May 19, 1977 Frost-Nixon interview; stars Michael Sheen as Frost, and Frank Langella as Nixon; opens in Bernbard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York on Apr. 22 for 137 performances. Joanna Murray-Smith (1962-), The Female of the Species (Australia); based on the time that feminist Germaine Greer was held at gunpoint in her own home by a disturbed student. Louis Nowra (1950-), The Emperor of Sydney (Griffin Theatre, Sydney) (Aug. 16); last in the Boyce Trilogy. Debra Oswald, The Peach Season (Griffin Theatre, Sydney). Theresa Rebeck, The Scene. Yasmina Reza, God of Carnage (Dec. 8); two sets of parent meet and devolve. Gary Soto (1952-), Novio Boy (debut). Abbie Spallen, Pumpgirl (Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh) (Aug. 3). Simon Stephens (1971-), Motortown. Tom Stoppard (1937-), Rock 'n' Roll (Royal Court Theatre, London) (June 3); Max Morrow in Prague in 1968-90, where Western rock and roll combats Communism? Michael Weller (1942-) and Lucy Simon, Zhivago (musical). Edmund White (1940-), Terre Haute; Timothy McVeigh is visited by Gore Vidal? Plays: David Kirby and Nicky Alt, Brick Up the Mersey Tunnels (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool) (Aug. 3); comedy about the Kingsway Three, who want to brick up the tunnels between Liverpool and the Wirral. Patrick Marber, Don Juan in Soho (Donmare Warehouse, London) (Dec. 6); based on the Moliere play; stars Rhys Ifans as DJ. Mary Zimmerman, Argonautika (Lookingglass Theatre, Chicago); Jason and the Argonauts search for the Golden Fleece. Poetry: Elizabeth Alexander (1962-), American Blue: Selected Poems. Archie Randolph Ammons (1926-2001), Selected Poems. Renee Ashley, The Museum of Lost Wings. Earle Birney (1904-95), One Muddy Hand: Selected Poems (posth.). Elizabeth Bishop (1911-79), Edgar Allan Poe and the Juke Box: Uncollected Poems, Drafts, and Fragments (posth.). Leonard Cohen (1934-), Book of Longing. Billy Collins (1941-), She Was Just Seventeen. Robert Creeley (1926-2005), On Earth: Last Poems and an Essay; Collected Poems 1975-2005. Stephen Dunn (1939-), Everything Else in the World. Claudia Emerson (1957-), Late Wife (Pulitzer Prize). Janet Frame (1924-2004), The Goose Bath (posth.). Tess Gallagher (1943-), Dear Ghosts. Louise Gluck (1943-), Averno. Donald Hall Jr. (1928-), White Apples and the Taste of Stone. Jim Harrison (1937-), Saving Daylight. Seamus Heaney (1939-), District and Circle. Brad Leithauser (1953-), Curves and Angles. Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004), Collected Poems. Mary Oliver (1935-), Thirst: Poems. Michael Ondaatje (1943-), The Story. Linda Pastan (1932-), Queen of a Rainy Country. Lucia Perillo, Luck Is Luck. Mark Ravenhill, The Cut; Paul practices a mysterious paintful immoral type of surgery that cures patients from desire. Charles Simic (1938-), Monkey Around. Patricia Smith (1955-), Teahouse of the Almighty. W.D. Snodgrass (1926-2009), Not for Specialists: New and Selected Poems. Mark Strand (1934-), Man and Camel. Henry S. Taylor (1942-), Crooked Run. Calvin Trillin (1935-), A Heckuva Job: More of the Bush Administration in Rhyme. C.K. Williams (1936-), Collected Poems, 1963-2006. Charles Wright (1935-), "Meditation on Form and Measure" ("Time and light are the same thing somewhere behind our backs"), Scar Tissue: Poems (July 25); incl. "Confessions of a Song and Dance Man", "Scar Tissue II" ("Hard to imagine that no one counts,/ that only things endure./ Unlike the seasons, our shirts don't shed,/ Whatever we see does not see us,/ however hard we look,/ The rain in its silver earrings against the oak trunks,/ The rain in its second skin"), Louis Zukofsky (1904-78), Selected Poems (posth.); ed. Charles Bernstein. Novels: Lee K. Abbott (1947-), All Things, All at Once (short stories). Peter Ackroyd (1949-), The Fall of Troy. Richard Adams (1920-), Daniel. Mitch Albom (1958-), For One More Day. Monica Ali (1967-), Alentejo Blue (June). Isabel Allende (1942-), Ines of My Soul; Ines Suarez, the female conquistador of Chile. Julia Alvarez, Saving the World. Gary Amdahl, Visigoth (short stories). Martin Amis (1949-), House of Meetings. Rudolfo Anaya (1937-), The Man Who Could Fly and Other Stories. Scott Anderson, Moonlight Hotel; David Richards holed-up in Kutar. Marie Arana, Cellophane (first novel); the Sobrevilla family in Peru. Jeffrey Archer, False Impressions. Sarah Armstrong, Salt Rain (first novel). Kate Atkinson, One Good Turn; a senseless car rage accident in Edinburgh gets good Samaritan Martin Canning in a pickle. Margaret Atwood (1939-), Moral Disorder; Nell's 92-y.-o. mother becomes bedridden and tells her stories; The Tent (short stories). Louis Auchincloss (1917-), The Young Apollo and Other Stories. Chris Bachelder, U.S.!; Upton Sinclair tribute on the 100th anniv. of "The Jungle". Robert Baer (1952-), Blow the House Down. Howard Bahr, The Judas Field; the 1864 battle of Franklin, Tenn. Kevin Baker, City of Fire (trilogy); the secret history of New York City. J.G. Ballard (1930-2009), Kingdom Come (last novel). Amiri Baraka (1934-2014), Tales of the Out & the Gone. Muriel Barbery (1969-), The Elegance of the Hedgehog (L'Élégance du hérisson) (Aug.); English trans. pub. in Sept. 2008; internat. bestseller (1M copies); about the intellectual inhabitants of a small upper-class Paris apt. block, narrated by conceirge Renee Michel and Paloma Josse. Julian Barnes (1946-), Arthur and George (Jan.). Stephanie Barron, Jane and the Barque of Frailty; Jane Austen the sleutch solving the death of a Russian princess. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (illustrations by Greg Call), Peter and the Shadow Thieves (July); 541 more pages on Peter Pan, the Starcatchers (who protect starstuff), evil Lord Ombra and his band of evil Others, divided into chapters of 10 pages max? Rick Bass, The Diezmo; a Mexican prison in the early days of the Texas Repub.? Louis Bayard, The Pale Blue Eye; young Edgar Allan Poe at West Point. Peter S. Beagle, The Line Between (short stories). Kate Benson, Two Harbors (first novel); high school prom queen abandons her family for Hollyweird. Suzanne Berne, The Ghost at the Table. Steve Berry (1955-), The Templar Legacy (Feb. 21); Cotton Malone #1. Wendell Berry (1934-), Andy Catlett: Early Travels. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Whitethorn Woods; Star Sullivan. Jeremy Blackman, Anonymous Lawyer (first novel); anon. blogger lawyer gets found out. Deborah Blum, Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death; paranormal phenom Leonora Piper. Teague Bohlen, The Pull of the Earth (first novel). Pierre Bourgeade (1927-2009), Ramatuelle. C.J. Box, In Plain Sight; Wyo. game warden Joe Pickett. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), Talk Talk; deaf teacher Dr. Dana Halter deals with identity theft; narcissistic bad guy Peck. John Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas; sells 3M copies. Ray Bradbury (1920-), Farewell Summer; sequel to "Dandelion Wine" (1957), originally the second half; young vs. old in Green Town, Ill.; Doug Spaulding, Calvin C. Quartermain. Christopher Bram, Exiles in America; art teacher Daniel Wexler and Iranian artist Abbas Rohani in the Am. South. Kevin Brockmeier, The Brief History of the Dead; Luka Sims of Afterlife City and its residents dependent on the memory of Laura Byrd, who is marooned in Antarctica with dwindling supplies? Peter C. Brown, The Fugitive Wife (first novel). James Lee Burke (1936-), Pegasus Descending; Dave Robicheaux. Stephen J. Cannell, White Sister (Aug.); sixth Shane Scully novel. Peter Carey, Theft: A Love Story; abstract painter Michael "Butcher" Boone, his brother and Marlene. Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games; Hindu kingpin Ganesh Gaitonde vs. Indian cop Sartaj Singh in Mumbai and his partner Constable Katekar; the Indian "Godfather"? C.J. Cherryh, Fortress of Ice; 5th vol. of "Fortress of Dragons" series. Mark Childress, One Mississippi. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Two Little Girls in Blue. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-) and Carol Higgins Clark (1956-), Santa Cruise. Susanna Clarke, The Ladies of Grace Adieu (short stories). Philippe Claudel (tr. Hoyt Rogers), By a Slow River. Alison Clement, Twenty Questions. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (1940-), Ourania; set in an abandoned Jesuit seminary in the utopian Repub. of Campos on the Pacific coast of Mexico in the 1980s, narrated by 16-y.-o. Inuit Raphael. Paul Coelho (1947-), Like the Flowing River; The Witch of Portobello. Jackie Collins (1937-2015), Lovers and Players. Robin Cook (1940-), Crisis; concierge medicine. Bernard Cornwell, The Pale Horseman; sequel to "The Last Kingdom"; Uhtred the warrior of Bebbanburg and Iseult the sorceress in late 9th cent. Anglo-Saxon England. Patricia Cornwell (1956-), At Risk; Win Garano; no Kay Scarpetta? J.M. Coetzee (1940-), Elizabeth Costello. Robin Cook (1940-), Crisis. Douglas Coupland, JPod. Harry Crews (1935-), An American Family: The Baby With the Curious Markings. Michael Crichton (1942-2008), Next; Rick Diehl, Jack Watson, BioGen, and the insane U.S. practice of patenting genes for greed? Clive Cussler (1931-) and Dirk Cussler, Treasure of Khan; Dirk Pitt #19; Pitt stops an oil mogul who seeks to use Genghis Khan's lost tomb to control the world. Mark Z. Danielewski, Only Resolutions. Marie Darrieussecq (1969-), Zoo (short stories). Diane Motte Davidson, Dark Tort; 13th Goldy the gourmet gumshoe tale. Kathryn Davis, The Thin Place; a young girl with an unearthly gift. Debra Dean, The Madonnas of Leningrad (first novel); Marina Buriakov, docent at the Hermitage squirrels the masterpieces away as the Nazis approach - in her memory? Len Deighton (1929-), Sherlock Holmes and the Titanic Swindle. Nelson DeMille, Wild Fire; the Reagan admin. plan to nuke the Islamic world if terrorists nuke the U.S. first?; smart-mouth flirt John Corey's 4th appearance. Nelson DeMille, Wild Fire; NYPD dick John Corey tries to stop oil magnate Bain Madox from triggering the Wild Fire response, the nuking of Islam. Kate DiCamillo, Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride; Mercy Watson Fights Crime; The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. Ivan Doig, The Whistling Season "Can't Cook But Doesn't Bite"; Oliver Milliron and Rose Llewellyn. Keith Donohue, The Stolen Child (first novel); Hendry Day is changed by chanegling hobgoblins into Aniday. Sybil Downing, The Vote; suffragists in 1918 Colo. Roddy Doyle (1958-), Paula Spencer; sequel to "The Who Walked into Doors" (1996). Margaret Drabble (1939-), The Sea Lady. Sarah Dunant, In the Company of the Courtesan; Fiametta Bianchini and her pimp dwarf Bucino Teodoldi in stinking Venice in 1527, the year Rome is sacked by the Germans and Spanish? John Dunning, The Bookwoman's Last Fling; fifth Cliff Janeway novel? Cindy Dyson, And She Was; Brandy in the Aleutians. Jennifer Egan, The Keep; two cousins reunite to renovate a medieval castle in E Europe. Deborah Eisenberg, Twilight of the Superheroes (short stories). Kjell Eriksson (English tr. Ebba Segerberg), The Princess of Burundi. Loren Estelman, The Adventures of Johnny Vermillion. Paul Evans, Finding Noel; "I just love chocolate. It's God's apology for broccoli". Robert Ferrigno (1947-), Prayers for the Assassin; first in the Assassin Trilogy ("Sins of the Assassin", 2008; "Heart of the Assassin, 2009) about a Muslim takeover of the U.S. in the 2030s. David Fesperman, The Prisoner of Guantanamo; Revere Falk, Marine-turned-FBI agent. George Fetherling (1949-), Tales of Two Cities. Jasper Fford, The Fourth Bear. Janet Fitch, Paint It Black; bleached-blonde punk rocker Josie Tyrell in L.A. in the 1980s. Fannie Flagg, Can't Wait to Get to Heaven; Elner Shimfissle. Vince Flynn, Act of Treason; 21st cent. Jack Ryan clone Mitch Rapp in another implausible Tom Clancy wannabe plot? Richard Ford (1944-), The Lay of the Land; 55-y.-o. N.J. realtor Frank Bascombe in the innocent pre-9/11 year 2000 has prostate cancer; #3 in the Frank Bascombe Trilogy ("The Sportswriter", 1986, "Independence Day", 1995). Margaret Forster (1938-), Keeping the World Away. Frederick Forsyth (1938-), The Afghan (Aug.); British operative Col. Mike Martin goes undercover to infiltrate al-Qaida. Dick Francis, Under Orders; his 40th novel, and first in six years, breaking his 2000 vow not to write any more after his wife and collaborator Mary died; ex-jockey dick Sid Halley investigates racetrack deaths. Charles Frazier (1950-), Thirteen Moons; sequel to "Cold Mountain" (1997); orphaned Will Cooper and the Cherokee Trail of Tears; Random House outbids Grove Atlantic $8M to $6M for the rights. Marilyn French (1929-2009), In the Name of Friendship. Neil Freudenberg, The Dissident; a Chinese dissident in Beverly Hills? Carlos Fuentes (1928-2012), Todas las Familias Felices. Alan Furst (1941-), The Foreign Correspondent; Night Soldiers #9; Carlo Weisz of Trieste and the WWII Italian resistance. Neil Gaiman (1960-), Fragile Things (short stories). Debra Galant, Rattled (first novel); Heather Peters. Richard Galli, Of Rice and Men. Barry Gifford (1946-), The Stars Above Veracruz. Elizabeth Gilbert (1969-), Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia (autobio.); bestseller; filmed in 2010 starring Julia Roberts; the female guru is later revealed to be Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. Julia Glass (1956-), The Whole World Over. Allegra Goodman (1967-), Intuition; a virus to cure cancer. Mary Catherine Gordon (1949-), The Stories of Mary Gordon (short stories). Joe Gores (1931-), Glass Tiger. Joanne Greenberg (1932-), Appearances. W.E.B. Griffin, The Hostage; sequal to "By Order of the President". James Grippando, Lying With Strangers. Michael Gruber, Night of the Jaguar; Jimmy Paz. Sara Gruen (1969-), Water for Elephants (May 26); Cornell U. vet student Jacob Jankowski hears that his parents were killed in a car accident, drops out, and joins the Benzini Brothers travelling circus during the Great Depression, and falls for Marlena, who is married to schizo sadist August, and tries to avoid being redlighted (thrown off the train as it passes a trestle); epigraph: "I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.../ An elephant's faithful - one hundred per cent" (from Dr. Seuss's "Horton Hatches the Egg", 1940). Mike Haddon (1962-), A Spot of Bother. Joe Haldeman, War Stories. Jane Hamilton (1957-), When Madeline Was Young; Madeline Maciver has a bike accident leaving her with the mind of a child and thinking her ex-hubby's new wife is her mother. Laurell K. Hamilton, Danse Macabre. Daniel Handler (b. 1970), Adverbs. Kerry Hardie, The Bird Woman; Ellen McKinnon in Belfast. Stephen Harrigan, Challenger Park. Everette Lynn Harris (1955-2009), I Say a Little Prayer. Joanne Harris, Gentlemen and Players. Thomas Harris (1940-), Hannibal Rising; the childhood of Hannibal Lecter and his sister Mischa. Robert Harris, Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome; Cicero's 100-y.-o. secy. Tiro chronicles his boss' rise to power. John Hart, The King of Lies (first novel); N.C. atty. Jackson Workman "Work" Pickens kills his own father? Kenneth J. Harvey, The Town That Forgot How to Breathe (first novel); the coastal Newfoundland town of Bareneed is saved by tall tales? Mo Hayder, The Devil of Nanking; the 1937 rape of Nanking; "One death is hardly worth mentioning in this city where the devil stalks the streets". Amy Hempel, The Collected Stories (short stories). William Haywood Henderson, Augusta Locke. Tony Hendra, The Messiah of Morris Avenue (first novel); Christ returns as Bronx-bred Jose? William Haywood Henderson, Augusta Locke. Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), The Shape Shifter. Russell Hoban (1925-), Linger Awhile. A.M. Homes, This Book Will Save Your Life; Richard Novak's male midlife crisis? Kay Hooper (1958-), Sleeping with Fear; clairvoyant Riley Crane; Michael Houellebecq (1956-), The Possibility of an Island, about a Raelian-type cult that clones successful comedian Daniel twice (Daniel I, 24, and 25). Elisabeth Hyde, The Abortionist's Daughter. Greg Iles, True Evil. Craig Johnson, Death Without Company; Sheriff Walt Longmore in Durant, Wyo. Edward P. Jones (1951-), All Aunt Hagar's Children (short stories). Ward Just (1935-), Forgetfulness. Cynthia Kadohata (1956-), Weedflower. Ken Kalfus, A Disorder Pecular to the Country; 9/11 and divorces? Dave Kalstein, Prodigy; the Stansbury School in 2036 mass-produces geniuses? Michael S. Katz, Shalom on the Range; kosher Western? Jonathan Kellerman, Gone; Alex Delaware mystery; Trouble; medical student Jonah Stem kills the attacker of beautiful Eve Gones, who begins hooking up with him. Philip Kerr, The One From the Other; Bernie Gunther is back. Raymond Khoury, The Last Templar (first novel) (Jan.); after losing Acre in 1219, the Templars lose a big secret proving Christ a fake, which would have helped them unite Christianity, Islam and Judaism?; "What I'm telling you, Agent Reilly, is that basically everything Christians believe in today... was all made up... It's been a runaway bestseller for almost two thousand years... And looking at the state of the world today, I think it's definitely passed its sell-by date" (p. 293); "Christianity served a great purpose when it was conceived. It gave people hope, it provided a social support system, it helped bring down tyranny. It served the needs of a community. What needs does it serve today, apart from blocking medical research and justifying wars and murder?" (p. 297) Stephen King (1947-), Cell; dedicated to movie dir. George Romero; Lisey's Story (Oct. 23) (baed on his 2004 story "Lisey and the Madman") ; Lisey (pr. LEE-see) Debusher Landon, her dead husband Scott and Boo'ya Moon. William Kittredge, The Willow Field (first novel); 15-y.-o. Rossie Benasco becomes a cowboy and a man. Dean Koontz (1945-), The Husband; Brother Odd; he leaves Pico Mundo for a mountain monastery talking to his soul mate Stormy Llewellyn. Nick Laird, Utterly Monkey (first novel). Anne Lamott (1954-), Blue Shoe. Lori Lansens, The Girls; 29-y.-o. Canadian craniopagus (joined at the head) twins Rose and Ruby Darlen each write down their life stories. Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), The Girl Who Played with Fire; #2 in the Millennium Trilogy. Aaron Latham, Riding with John Wayne. J.M. Ledgard, Giraffe (first novel); the May Day 1975 Czech zoo scandal. Doris Lessing (1919-2013), The Story of General Dann and Mara's Daughter, Griot and the Snow Dog. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), How We Got Insipid (short stories). Jonathan Lethem (1964-) and Christopher Sorrentino (1963-), Believeniks!: 2005: The Year We Wrote a Book About the Mets; pub. under alias Ivan Felt and Harris Conklin. Judith Lindbergh, The Thrall's Tale; Katla the thrall and her rape baby Bibrau clash with Leif Eriksson and his Christian settlers in 10th cent. Greenland. Elinor Lipman (1950-), My Latest Grievance; Mr. and Mrs. Hatch at Dewing College in Boston. Mario Vargas Llosa (1936-), Travesuras de la Nina Malas (Pranks of the Bad Girl); a Peruvian man's lifetime obsession with a teen babe. David Long, The Inhabited World. Alison Lurie (1926-), Truth and Consequences; architecture prof. Alan MacKenzie hurts his back and changes his career to artist. Tucker Malarkey, Resurrection; a bunch of what? Gautam Malkani, Londonstani. Benjamin Markovits, Fathers and Daughters. Bobbie Ann Mason (1940-), Nancy Culpepper (short stories). Hisham Matar (1970-), In the Country of Men (first novel); 9-y.-o. Suleiman el Dawani in 1979 phone-tapping Morocco. Anna Maxted, A Tale of Two Sisters; Lizbet and Cassie Montgomery. Cormac McCarthy (1933-), The Road (10th novel) (Pulitzer Prize); the Veteran, the Wife, and the Son try to survive in the apocalyptic remains of cannibal-filled Appalachia; his take on "The Road Warrior"? Geraldine McCaughrean (1951-), Peter Pan in Scarlet (Oct.); the first sequel to "Peter Pan" authorized by the J.M. Barrie Estate. Colleen McCullough (1937-), On, Off; police lt. Carmine Delmonico vs. a serial rapist-murderer the Conn. Monster in 1965 Chubb U. in Holloman, Conn. Alice McDermott (1953-), After This; John and Mary Keane, their children Michael, Annie, Jacob, and Claire during the 1960s sexual rev., and the power of family. Heather McGowan, The Duchess of Nothing. Kathleen McGowan, The Expected One; Maureen Pascal, Tammy, cousin Father Peter Healy, and scholar Lord Berenger Sinclair search for the lost gospel of Mary Magdalene; the author is a direct descendant of Christ? Thomas McGuane (1939-), Gallatin Canyon (short stories). Jay McInerney (1955-), The Good Life. Larry McMurtry (1936-), Telegraph Days (May). Zakes Mda, The Whale Caller; bald kelp horn blower in the Western Cape falls in love with his whale Sharisha? James Meek, The People's Act of Love; escaped prisoner Kyrill Ivanovich Samarin in 1919 Russia. Farah Mendlesohn (ed.), Polder; devoted to John Clute. Brad Meltzer, Book of Fate. Elizabeth Merrick (ed.), This is Not Chick Lit: Original Stories by America's Best Women Writers (No Heels Required). Stephenie Meyer, New Moon (Aug.). Stanley Middleton (1919-2009), Mother's Boy. Joe Miller, Cross-X; an inner-city high school debate team. Denise Mina, The Dead Hour; 21-y.-o. Paddy Meehan of Glasgow. Jacquelyn Mitchard, Cage of Stars; 12-y.-o. Veronica (Ronnie) Swan sees her two baby sisters murdered. David Mitchell (1969-), Black Swan Green; 13 stories about life at age 13 in 1982; a village in Worcestershire, the name is a joke?; "The Earth's a door, if you press your ear against it". Anna Monardo, Falling in Love with Natassia. Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie, Lost Girls (graphic novel); Alice, Wendy and Dorothy on an island in the Boden Sea of Bavaria have an erotic awakening in 1913-4? Christopher Moore (1957-), A Dirty Job; Beta Male Charlie Asher and Minty Fresh, the Death Merchants vs. Death and the Morrigan? James Morrow, The Last Witchfinder; Jennet Stearne in Britain and America in the 18th cent. uses Isaac Newton's "Principia" to prove herself innocent of witchcraft? Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), Rumpole and the Reign of Terror. Walter Mosley (1952-), The Wave; Fortunate Son. Kate Mosse (1961-), Labyrinth; Alice Tanner in 2005 and 17-y.-o. Alais in 1209 chase the Holy Grail in a tale where "women have the swords". Alice Munro (1931-), The View from Castle Rock: Stories (short stories); SW Colo. author's Canadian ancestors named Laidlaw are from Far Hope, Scotland. Haruki Murakami (1949-), Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman (short stories) (Aug.). Sena Jeter Naslund, Abundance; Marie Antoinette wasn't really all that bad? Julia Navarro, The Brotherhood of the Holy Shroud; Marco Valoni stops a conspiracy to destroy it. Irene Nemirovsky, Suite Francaise. John Treadwell Nichols (1940-), American Blood. Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), High Lonesome: Stories 1966-2006; Landfill (Oct. 9 issue of The New Yorker) (based on 19-y.-o. College of N.J. student John A. Flocco Jr., who went missing in Mar. and whose body is later found in a Penn. landfill); Black Girl/White Girl; black girl Minette Swift and white girl Genna Meade. Edna O'Brien (1930-), The Light of Evening. Carol O'Connell, Find Me; Kathy Mallory on the remains of Route 66. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), Last Night at the Lobster. Peter Orner, The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo (first novel); Larry Planska leaves Cincinnati, Ohio to teach at a Catholic boys school in Namibia. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Hundred-Dollar Baby; Spenser #34; Sea Change; Jesse Stone #5; Blue Screen; Sunny Randall #5. T. Jefferson Parker (1953-), The Fallen. Carolyn Parkhurst, Lost and Found. James Patterson (1947-), Cross; Alex Cross goes after his wife's killer. James Patterson (1947-) and Andrew Gross, Judge & Jury; Andie DeGrasse, FBI agent Nick Pellisante and the Mafia trial of the cent. James Patterson (1947-) and Peter De Jonge, Beach Road; three white boys murdered in the Hamptons, and black basketball phenom Dante Halleyville is accused, causing atty. Tom Dunleavy to take the case. James Patterson (1947-) and Maxine Paetro, 5th Horseman. Matthew Pearl, The Poe Shadow. George Pelecanos, The Night Gardener; the Palindrome Murders. Thomas Perry, Nightlife. Marisha Pessl (1978-), Special Topics of Calamity Physics (first novel); Blue Van Meer and her academic father Gareth are drawn into the mystery of several murders. David Petersen (ed.), Postcards from Ed: Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast. Harry Mark Petrakis (1923-), Collected Stories. Nancy Pickard, The Virgin of Small Plains. Jodi Picoult (1966-), The Tenth Circle. Stanley Pottinger, The Boss. Richard Powers (1957-), The Echo Maker. Tim Powers, Three Days to Never. Steven Pressfield (1943-), The Afghan Campaign; Alexander the Great in 330 B.C.E. Anna Quindlen (1953-), Rise and Shine; narrator Bridget Fitzmaurice on her older sister Meghan, a Katie Couric-like host of a morning show, whose career nosedives. Kathy Reichs, Break No Bones (9th Dr. Temperance Brennan novel). Carl Reiner, NNNNN. J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts), Born in Death; another Lt. Eve Dallas and her multimillionaire hubby Roarke romance. David L. Robbins, The Assassins Gallery; a woman sent to kill FDR? Michael Robotham, Lost. Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), The Copper Scroll. Philip Roth (1933-), Everyman; "Old age is not a battle, old age is a massacre." Jed Rubenfeld, The Interpretation of Murder (first novel); Sigmund Freud's 1909 trip to the U.S. intersects with a girl's murder? Rudy Rucker, Mathematicians in Love; Humelock grad students Bela and Paul race to prove the Morphic Classification Theorem, that everything is a form of computation and the right formulas can turn anything into a computer. Carl Safina, Voyage of the Turtle: In Pursuit of the Earth's Last Dinosaur. Jose Saramago (1922-2010), Memories of My Youth (As Pequenas Memorias). Marjane Satrapi (1969-), Chicken with Plums (graphic novel); the last 8 days of her sitar-playing uncle Nasser Ali Khan's life as he dies of a broken heart. Joe Scalzi (1969-), The Ghost Brigades; Old Man's War #2. Karl Schroeder (1962-), Sun of Suns (Oct. 3); first in Virga series. Carolyn See, There Will Never Be Another You. Will Self, The Book of Dave; Carl Devush's quest to reconcil his mummyself in 26th cent. New London, based on a book buried in his ex-wife's backyard by 21st cent. London cabbie Dave Rudman?; "Nobody goes into the business of writing satire to be liked." Jeff Shaara, The Rising Tide; first in WWII trilogy; the North African campaign of 1942-3. Aurelie Sheehan, History Lesson for Girls; Alison Glass. Anita Shreve (1946-), Body Surfing. Gary Shteyngart (1972-), Absurdistan; fat 325 lb. Russian-Jewish gangster's son Misha Borisovich "Snack Daddy" Vainberg is sent to Accidental College in the U.S. after a botched circumcision, falls in love with Rubinesque Desiree, then ends up in you know where? Javier Sierra, The Secret Supper; Pope Alexander IV, Father Agostino Leyre, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Soothsayer in 1497 Milan. Daniel Silva, The Messenger. Dan Simmons (1948-), The Terror; the doomed 1840s expedition to find the Northwest Passage, plus a legendary Esquimax beast. Kyle Smith, A Christmas Caroline. Lee Smith (1944-), On Agate Hill. Scott Smith, The Ruins. Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) (1970-), The Beatrice Letters (A Series of Unfortunate Events #12); The End (A Series of Unfortunate Events #13) (Oct. 13, Fri.). Edmundo Paz Soldan, Turing's Delirium; codebreaker Miguel Saenz of the Black Chamber. Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006), A Strange Commonplace. Gary Soto (1952-), Accidental Love. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), Dear John (Oct.). Dana Spiotta, Eat the Document. Danielle Steel (1947-), The House; Coming Out; H.R.H.. Steve Stern (1947-), The Angel of Forgetfulness. Cheryl Strayed, Torch. Whitley Strieber (1945-), The Grays; aliens abduct humans and tamper with their genes to produce genius kids so they can feed on human emotion in return for technology transfer. Wesley Strick, Out There in the Dark (first novel). Charles Stross (1964-), Glasshouse. Elizabeth Strout, Abide With Me (first novel). Duane Swierczynski, The Blonde; Jack Eisley must stay with 10 ft. of the blonde who poisoned him? Lalita Tademy, Red River; the 1873 Colfax Riot. Michael Thomas, Man Gone Down (first novel); a black Am. father of three in a biracial marriage. Brad Thor (1969-), Takedown. Colm Toibin (1955-), Mothers and Sons (short stories). Rose Tremain (1943-), The Darkness of Wallis Simpson. Lisa Tucker, Once Upon a Day. Justin Tussing, The Best People in the World (first novel); a history student and his student fall in love in the 1970s and hit da road. Anne Tyler (1941-), Digging to America; married to an Iranian immigrant, the author explores upper middle class white-is-not-right Am. families adopting female babies from Asia, incl. an Iranian-Am. couple. Omar Tyree, What They Want; black male model Terrance Mitchell and his white woman Victoria, who doesn't satisfy him?; "It seemed like once you went there, you were a living zombie, with plenty of desert, but no spice". Barry Unsworth (1930-2012), The Ruby in Her Navel. John Updike (1932-2009), Terrorist. Jane Urquhart, A Map of Glass. Carrie Vaughn (1973-), Kitty Goes to Washington; Kitty Norville #2. Gore Vidal (1925-), Clouds and Eclipses: The Collected Short Stories. Vernor Vinge (1944-), Rainbows End. Kaavya Viswanathan, How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life; withdrawn for plagiarizing chick-lit writers incl. Megan McCafferty, killing a $500K book deal from Little, Brown. Bruce Alan Wagner (1954-), Memorial. Ayelet Waldman, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits. Robert James Waller, The Long Night of Winchell Dear; a poker player in W Tex. Jess Walter, The Zero. Joseph Wambaugh (1937-), Hollywood Station; his first LAPD novel since "The Glitter Dome" (1983); life under the federal consent decree and a 20% female cop force. Wendy Wasserstein (1950-2006), Elements of Style (first novel). Sarah Waters, The Night Watch. Peter Watts (1958-), Blindsight; about astronauts of the ship Theseus (captained by a vampire) in 2082 investigating an alien entity called the Rorschach headed for Earth. Betty Webb, Desert Run; 4th Lena Jones mystery. Michael Weisskopf (1948-), Blood Brothers; a Time mag. correspondent goes on patrol with a U.S. platoon in Iraq and gets a grenade in his vehicle, which takes out his hand. Fay Weldon (1931-), She May Not Leave. Irvine Welsh (1958-), The Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs. Stephen White (1951-), Kill Me; Dr. Alan Gregory takes a back seat? Colson Whitehead, Apex Hides the Hurt; the name Winthrop just doesn't cut it anymore? Allen Wier, Tehano. Jacqueline Winspear, Pardonable Lies; 3rd Maisie Dobbs novel. Stephen Wright, The Amalgamation Polka. Lloyd Zimpel, A Season of Fire & Ice. Markus Zusak (1975-), The Book Thief; post-WWII German book thief Liesel Meminger eludes Death three times, causing him to utter the soundbyte "I am haunted by humans". Births: Am. crypto-child Suri (Jap. "pickpocket") (Heb. "princess" (Persian "red rose") Cruise on Apr. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif.; daughter of Tomkat actors Tom Cruise (1962-) and Katie Holmes (1978-); makes her debut on the Sept. 5 CBS Evening News, which is also the debut of anchor Katie Couric; in 2008 British journalist Andrew Morton (1953-) claims that her real daddy is L. Ron Hubbard (1911-86), and rumors fly that she's his reincarnation - does she have fringe on top? Am. celeb child Shiloh Nouvel ("New Messiah") Jolie-Pitt on May 27 in Namibia; son of actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, joining adopted children Maddox (4) and Zahara (16 mo.). Japanese prince Hisahito on Sept. 6 (8:27 a.m.) in Tokyo; 3rd child of Japanese princess Kiko (b. 1967), wife of the emperor's 2nd son prince Akishino; eldest son crown prince Naruhito and wife Masako only have a daughter, making him the first male heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne since Akishino in 1965; he starts out 3rd in line after Naruhito and Akishino, causing talk of dropping the 1947 male-only succession law. Canadian "Jack Newsome in Room" actor Jacob Tremblay on Oct. 5 in Vancouver, B.C. Deaths: Am. WWI vet Moses Hardy (b. Jan. 6, 1893) on Dec. 7 in Aberdeen, Miss.; son of black slaves born in the 1830s; 2nd oldest man (6th oldest person) in the world, and the last African-Am. U.S. veteran of WWI; only 10-12 U.S. WWI vets remain. Am. jazz musician Sweet Emma Barrett (b. 1897) on Jan. 28. Am. poet Stanley Kunitz (b. 1905) on May 14 in New York City. Am. film dir. Vincent Sherman (b. 1906) on June 18. Am. Titanic survivor Lillian Gertrud Asplund (b. 1907) on May 7 in Shrewsbury, Mass.; the last survivor (with her mother and 3-y.-o. brother Felix) of the 1912 Titanic sinking, in which she lost her father and three brothers, incl. a fraternal twin; her mother Selma (b. 1873) dies on Apr. 15, 1964, and Felix (b. 1909) dies on Mar. 1, 1983. Canadian-Am. "Affluent Society" economist John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908) on Apr. 29 in Cambridge, Mass.; "Witty, supple, eloquent and edged with that sheen of malice which the fallen sons of Adam always find attractive when it is directed at targets other than themselves" (Robert Lekachman): "Only the man who finds everything wrong and expects it to get worse is thought to have a clear brain." Am. actress Nancy Rennick (b. 1932) on Apr. 5 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. sci-fi novelist Jack Williamson (b. 1908) on Nov. 10 in Portales, N.M. Scottish composer Robin Orr (b. 1909) on Apr. 9. Am. "The Sting" actor-boxer Robert Earl Jones (b. 1910) on Sept. 7 ion Englewood, N.J.; father of James Earl Jones (1931-). Am. actor Herbert Rudley (b. 1910) on Sept. 9 in Los Angeles, Calif. German-born British economist Sir Hans Singer (b. 1910) on Feb. 26 in Brighton. Am. "Margaret Anderson in Father Knows Best", "Spock's mother in Star Trek", "Ronald Colman's lover in Lost Horizon" actress Jane Wyatt (b. 1910) on Oct. 20 in Bel-Air, Calif. Am. cartoonist Joe Barbera (b. 1911) on Dec. 18 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Teamsters internat. vice-pres. (-1989) Robert Holmes (b. 1911) on Feb. 19 in Detroit, Mich. (heart failure); lifelong associate of Jimmy Hoffa. Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz (b. 1911) on Aug. 29 in Cairo; 1988 Nobel Lit. Prize. Am. "Marines on Iwo Jima" photographer Joe Rosenthal (b. 1911) on Aug. 20 in Novato, Calif. Am. physicist Joseph Harold Rush (b. 1911) on Sept. 12 in Boulder, Colo. Am. conservative economist Milton Friedman (b. 1912) on Nov. 16. Romanian-born Canadian poet Irving Layton (b. 1912) on Jan. 4 in Montreal (Alzheimer's); "I taught him how to dress, and he taught me how to live forever" (Leonard Cohen): "I want to be remembered as someone who believed that a great poem was the noblest work of man and that no one ever wrote one who didn't want to get out of Hell." Am. #1 golf pro "Lord" Byron Nelson (b. 1912) on Sept. 26 in Roanoke, Tex. Am. black photographer-dir. Gordon Parks (b. 1912) on Mar. 7 in New York City: "I was just born with a need to explore every tool shop of my mind." Paraguayan dictator (1954-89) Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (b. 1912) on Aug. 16 in Brasilia. French-born Am. fashion designer Oleg Cassini (b. 1913) on Mar. 17 in Manhasset, N.Y. U.S. pres. #38 (1974-7) Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913) on Dec. 26 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Am. "The Taking of Pelham 123" novelist John Godey (b. 1913) on Apr. 16 in West New York, N.Y. South African-born British Communist leader Ted Grant (b. 1913) on July 20 in London (stroke). Am. conservative writer Willard Cleon Skousen (b. 1913) on Jan. 9. Am. "You Asked For It" TV host Jack Smith (b. 1913) on July 3 in Westlake Village, Calif. (leukemia). Am. TRW co-founder Dean Everett Wooldridge (b. 1913) on Sept. 20 in Santa Barbara, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. Squaw Valley ski resort founder Alexander C. Cushing (b. 1914) on Aug. 20 in Newport, R.I. Am. civil rights activist James Cameron (b. 1914) on June 11 in Milwaukee, Wisc. (heart failure); only known survivor of a lynching attempt. Am. physicist Raymond Davis Jr. (b. 1914) on May 31 in Blue Point, N.Y.; 2002 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. Nicholas Brothers tap dancer Fayard Nicholas (b. 1914) on Jan. 24 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "World Peace Through World Law" atty. Louis B. Sohn (b. 1914) on June 7. Am. space scientist James Alfred Van Allen (b. 1914) on Aug. 9 in Iowa City, Iowa (heart failure). Am. WWII Army medic Desmond T. Doss (b. 1915) on Mar. 23 in Piedmont, Ala.; only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor (for actions in Okinawa). Am. blues guitarist Robert Lockwood Jr. (b. 1915) on Nov. 21 in Cleveland, Ohio (stroke). Chilean dictator-pres. (1973-90) Gen. Augusto Pinochet (b. 1915) on Dec. 10 in Santiago (heart failure). British PM John Profumo (b. 1915) on Mar. 9 in South Kensington, London (stroke). German-born Austrian-British soprano Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (b. 1915) on Aug. 3 in Schruns, Austria. South African PM (1978-84) and pres. #9 (1984-9) Pieter Willem Botha (b. 1916) on Oct. 13 in Wilderness, West Cape. Am. "Betty Boop" movie dir. Richard O. Fleischer (b. 1916) on Mar. 25. Canadian-born Am. "Blackboard Jungle", "Jonathan Kent in Superman" actor Glenn Ford (b. 1916) on Aug. 30 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am.-born Canadian urbanologist Jane Jacobs (b. 1916) on Apr. 25. Am. comedian Jan Murray (b. 1916) on July 2 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Japanese-Am. WWI pardoned traitor Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri d'Aquino) (b. 1916) on Sept. 26 in Chicago, Ill. Am. Dead Sea Scrolls archeologist John C. Trever (b. 1916) on Apr. 29 in Calif. Am. poet-historian Peter Viereck (b. 1916) on May 13: "Anti-Catholicism is the anti-Semitism of intellectuals." Am. actress-singer June Allyson (d. 1917) on July 9. Scottish New Age writer Eileen Caddy (b. 1917) on Dec. 13 in Findhorn. Am. "Singin' the Rain" screenwriter Betty Comden (b. 1917) on Nov. 23 in Manhattan, N.Y. (heart failure). Soviet economist Nikolay Fedorenko (b. 1917) on Apr. 1. Canadian mathematician Irving Kaplansky (b. 1917) on June 25. Am. chef-writer Edna Lewis (b. 1917) on Feb. 13. Am. "George Kerby in Topper" actor Robert Sterling (b. 1917) on May 30 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, Calif. U.S. defense secy. (1981-7) Caspar Willard Weinberger (b. 1917) on Mar. 28 in Bangor, Maine. Am. Coppertone Girl artist Joyce Ballantyne (b. 1918) on May 15 in Ocala, Fla. (heart attack). Am. golfer Patty Berg (b. 1918) on Sept. 10 in Ft. Myers, Fla. (Alzheimer's). Am. novelist-playwright Joseph Hayes (b. 1918) on Sept. 11 in St. Augustine, Fla. Am. Math Olympiads founder George Lenchner (b. 1918) on May 14 in San Francisco. Am. creationist leader Henry M. Morris (b. 1918) on Feb. 25 in Santee, Calif. Am. portrait photographer Arnold Newman (b. 1918) on June 6 in New York City. Scottish "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" novelist Muriel Spark (b. 1918) on Apr. 14. Am. "Mike Hammer" author Frank Morrison "Mickey" Spillane (b. 1918) on July 17 in Murrells Inlet, S.C. (cancer): "No one likes them except the public"; "I don't have fans I have customers"; "That Mickey Spillane, he sure knows how to write" (1955 film Marty). Tonga king (1965-) Taufa'ahau Tupou IV (b. 1918) on Sept. 11 in New Zealand; in the 1990s he reaches a monarch record of 462 lbs., leading his 108K people on a diet-exercise program and losing 154 lbs. Swedish soprano Astrid Varnay (b. 1918) on Sept. 4 in Munich. Am. "Pvt. John Steele in "The Longest Day" actor Red Buttons (b. 1919) on July 13 in Century City, Los Angeles, Calif. (heart disease). Am. singer Georgia Gibbs (b. 1919) on Dec. 9 in New York City (leukemia). Am. political celeb Nellie Connally (b. 1919) on Sept. 1 in Austin, Tex. Am. WWII hero Desmond Doss (b. 1919) on Mar. 23 in Piedmont, Ala. Am. liquor importer Sidney E. Frank (b. 1919) on Jan. 10 (heart failure); dies on a private plane en route from San Diego, Calif. to Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Am. sports announcer Curt Gowdy (d. 1919) on Feb. 20 in Palm Beach, Fla. (leukemia); he sounds like "everybody's brother-in-law" (John Updike). Italian "The Battle of Algiers" dir. Gillo Montecorvo (b. 1919) on Oct. 12 in Rome (heart failure). Am. jazz singer ("the Jezebel of Jazz") Anita O'Day (b. 1919) on Nov. 23 in West Hollywood, Calif. Am. 1-handed pushups at the Oscars actor Jack Palance (b. 1919) on Nov. 10 in Montecito, Calif. Am. Hawaii gov. #1 (1959-62) William Francis Quinn (b. 1919) on Aug. 28 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Canadian-born NBC News pres. (1968-72, 1982-4) Reuven Frank (b. 1920) on Feb. 4: "Sunshine is a weather report, a flood is news"; "New is what someone wants to suppress - everything else is advertising." Am. actor Jack Warden (b. 1920) on July 19 in New York City. Am. actress Shelley Winters (b. 1920) on Jan. 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (heart failure). Am. jockey Anna Lee Aldred (b. 1921) on June 12 in Montrose, Colo. Dutch artist Karel Appel (b. 1921) on May 3 in Zurich, Switzerland. English composer Sir Malcolm Arnold (b. 1921) on Sept. 23 in Norwich. Am. artist Bonnie Woolsey Benschneider (b. 1921) on Oct. 15 in Colorado Springs, Colo. U.S. Sen. (D-Tex.) Lloyd "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" Bentsen (b. 1921) on May 23 in Houston, Tex.; suffered a stroke in 1999. English children's writer Peggy Cripps Appiah (b. 1921) on Feb. 11 in Kumasi, Ghana. Am. test pilot and X-15 rocket plane designer Scott Crossfield (b. 1921) on Apr. 20 in Ranger, Ga. (small plane crash). Am. feminist writer Betty Friedan (b. 1921) on Feb. 4 (85th birthday) in Washington, D.C. (heart failure): "It is easier to live through someone else than to become complete yourself." Polish "Solaris" sci-fi novelist Stanislaw Lem (b. 1921) on Mar. 27 in Cracow. Am. "The Prince and the Pauper" actor Billy Mauch (b. 1921) on Sept. 29 in Palatine, Ill. Am. baritone Robert McFerrin Sr. (b. 1921) on Nov. 24 in St. Louis, Mo. (heart attack). Am. biochemist Robert Bruce Merrifield (b. 1921) on May 14 in Cresskill, N.J.; 1984 Nobel Chem. Prize. Am. "General Hospital" TV producer Gloria Monty (b. 1921) on Mar. 30. Am. bluesman Snooky Pryor (b. 1921) on Oct. 18. Am. writer Jay Presson Allen (b. 1922) on May 1 in New York City: "You write to please yourself"; "The only office where there's no superior is the office of the scribe." Am. "Clarabell the Clown" actor-musician Lew Anderson (b. 1922) on May 14 in Hawthorne, N.Y. (prostate cancer). Canadian "Owen Marshall", "Andromeda Strain" actor Arthur Hill (b. 1922) on Oct. 22 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. French #1 Burgundy winemaker Henri Jayer (b. 1922) on Sept. 21 in Dijon (prostate cancer). English no-frill airlines pioneer Sir Freddie Laker (b. 1922) on Feb. 9. Am. microbiologist Esther Lederberg (b. 1922) on Nov. 11 in Stanford, Calif. (congestive heart failure). Am. "Route 66" writer-producer Herbert Breiter Leonard (b. 1922) on Oct. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. sociologist Seymour Martin Lipset (b. 1922) on Dec. 31: "The more well-to-do a nation, the greater the chances that it will sustain democracy"; "Those who only know one country know no country." Am. "Kolchak the Night Stalker" actor Darren McGavin (b. 1922) on Feb. 25 in Los Angeles, Calif. Polish-born Am. labor economist Jacob Mincer (b. 1922) on Aug. 20 in New York City (Parkinson's). Am. heart transplant pioneer surgeon Dr. Norman Shumway (b. 1922) on Feb. 10 in Palo Alto, Calif. (lung cancer); Sen. majority leader Bill Frist, a heart transplant surgeon studied under him at Stanford U. Japanese "Tiger Tanaka in You Only Live Twice" actor Tetsuro Tamba (b. 1922) on Sept. 22 in Tokyo (pneumonia). Am. actor Joseph Bernard (b. 1923) on Apr. 3 in New York City. Am. sex reassignment surgery physician Stanley H. Biber (b. 1923) on Jan. 16 in Pueblo, Colo. Am. Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun (b. 1923) on Dec. 14 in New York City; hospitalized since an Oct. 29 Rolling Stones concert when he fell, suffered a head injury, and slipped into a coma. Canadian ballerina Melissa Hayden (b. 1923) on Aug. 9 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Canadian-born Am. historian Leonard W. Levy (b. 1923) on Aug. 24 in Ashland, Ore. Am. "Grandpa in The Munsters" actor Al Lewis (b. 1923) on Feb. 3 in New York City. Romanian-born Austrian "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The Shining" composer Gyorgy Ligeti (b. 1923) on June 12 in Vienna. Am. heart surgeon Norman Shumway (b. 1923) on Feb. 10 in Palo Alto, Calif. Am. TV impresario Aaron Spelling (b. 1923) on June 23 in Los Angeles, Calif.; produced 3K+ TV episodes; during the 1970s-80s turned ABC into the "Aaron Broadcasting Company" with his hit "mind candy" ("mindless candy") series and movies incl. "The Mod Quad", "Starsky and Hutch", "T.J. Hooker", "Hart to Hart", "Love Boat", "Fantasy Island", "Charlie's Angels", "Dynasty", Beverly Hills 90210", "Melrose Place", and "7th Heaven". Canadian newspaper-TV mogul Kenneth Thomson, 2nd baron Thomas of Fleet (b. 1923) on June 12 in Toronto, Ont.; dies with a net worth of $19.6B. Am. liberal Protestant peace activist clergyman Rev. William Sloane Coffin Jr. (b. 1924) on Apr. 12 in Strafford, Vt.: "Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat"; "Without love violence will change the world; it will change it into a more violent one"; "The world is too dangerous for anything but truth and too small for anything but love"; "For Christians, the problem is not how to reconcile homosexuality with scriptural passages that condemn it, but how to reconcile the rejection and punishment of homosexuals with the love of Christ"; "By abolishing slavery and ordaining women, millions of Protestants have gone far beyond biblical literalism. It's time we did the same for homophobia"; "To be avoided at all costs is the solace of opinion without the pain of thought"; "I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap and then you grow wings." German-born Am. biologist Vernon M. Ingram (b. 1924) on Aug. 17 in Boston, Mass. Am. "Deputy Barney Fife in The Andy Griffith Show" actor Don Knotts (b. 1924) on Feb. 24 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. celeb Patricia Kennedy Lawton (b. 1924) on Sept. 18 (pneumonia). Am. throughbred owner Bob Lewis (b. 1924) (Silver Charm, Charismatic) on Feb. 17 in Newport Beach, Calif. (heart failure). Irish "Thunderball" writer Kevin McClory (b. 1924) on Nov. 20 in Loughlinstown, County Dublin (cerebral hemorrhage). Am. Nixon-Reagan adviser Lyn Nofziger (b. 1924) on Mar. 27 in Falls Church, Va. (cancer). French journalist-politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schriber (b. 1924) on Nov. 7 in Fecamp. Am. "Chester Goode on Gunsmoke", "McCloud" actor Dennis Weaver (b. 1924) on Feb. 24 in Ridgway, Colo. (cancer); his 10K sq. ft. earthship home made out of tin cans and tires is listed for $3.75M; from 1955-64 his salary on "Gunsmoke" grew from $300 to $9K a week - Mis-ter Dil-lon? Am. film dir.-writer Robert Altman (b. 1925) on Nov. 20 in Los Angeles, Calif. English comedian Charlie Drake (b. 1925) on Dec. 23 in Twickenham, Middlesex (stroke). Am. talk show host Mike Douglas (b. 1925) on Aug. 11 (his birthday). Irish PM (1979-81, 1982-7) Charlie Haughey (b. 1925) on June 13 in Kinsealy, County Dublin (prostate cancer). Am. Harvard Business School prof. Theodore Levitt (b. 1925) on June 28; coined the term "globalization" (1983). Israeli physicist Yuval Ne'eman (b. 1925) on Apr. 26 in Tel Aviv. Am. "Louise Tate in Bewitched" actress Kasey Rogers (b. 1925) on July 6 in Los Angeles, Calif. (throat cancer). Am. "Emma Goldman in Reds" actress Maureen Stapleton (b. 1925) on Mar. 13. Am. "Sophie's Choice" novelist William Styron (b. 1925) on Nov. 1 in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. (pneumonia). Indonesian "Buru Quartet" novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer (b. 1925) on Apr. 30; jailed by Suharto from 1965-79, followed by house arrest until 1992. Am. Smarty Jones thoroughbred owner Roy Chapman (b. 1926) on Feb. 17 in Doylestown, Penn. (emphysema). German historian Joachim Fest (b. 1926) on Sept. 11 in Kronberg im Taunus. Am. Rock Hudson's wife (1955-8) Phyllis Lucille Gates (b. 1926) on Jan. 4 in Marina del Rey, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. actor-bodybuilder (Jayne Mansfield's ex) Mickey Hargitay (b. 1926) on Sept. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. (multiple myeloma). Japanese "The Eel" dir. Shohei Imamura (b. 1926) on May 30 in Tokyo. Am. ambassador Jeane J. Kirkpatrick (b. 1926) on Dec. 7 in Bethesda, Md.: "History is a better guide than good intentions." Kuwaiti emir Sheik Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah (b. 1926) on Jan. 15; emir during the 1990 Iraqi occupation. Scottish ballerina-actress Moira Shearer (b. 1926) on Jan. 31 in Oxford, England. North Vietnamese spy Maj. Gen. Pham Xuan An (b. 1927) on Sept. 27 in Ho Chi Minh City (emphysema). Am. Los Angeles Times pub. Otis Chandler (b. 1927) on Feb. 27 in Ojai, Calif. (Lewy Body Disease); succeeded by Tom Johnson. Am. "first lady of the civil rights movement" Coretta Scott King (b. 1927) on Jan. 31 in Mexico; a mother of four when hubby MLK Jr. was assassinated in 1968. Am. psychologist Robert Plutchik (b. 1927) on Apr. 29. Am. basketball player Paul Arizin (b. 1928) on Dec. 12 in Springfield, Penn. Am. R&B singer Ruth Brown (b. 1928) on Nov. 17 in Henderson, Nev. (heart attack). Am. linguist William Bright (b. 1928) on Oct. 15 in Louisville, Colo.; first honorary member of the Karuk tribe of Calif. for his 1957 work on their language. Am. "Tom Willis in The Jeffersons" actor Franklin Cover (b. 1928) on Feb. 5 in Englewood, N.J. (pneumonia). Am. psychologist Bernard Rimland (b. 1928) on Nov. 21 in San Diego, Calif. Latin "Acid" jazz percussion master Ray Barretto (b. 1929) on Feb. 17 in Hackensack, N.J. (heart failure). English-born Am. writer Anthony Cave Brown (b. 1929) on July 14 in Warrenton, Va. (dementia). Egyptian musician Hamza El Din (b. 1929) on May 22 in Berkeley, Calif. (gall bladder infection). Italian fiery independent journalist ("Heroine of Europe") Oriana Fallaci (b. 1929) on Sept. 15 in Florence (breast cancer); dies after becoming the target of "legal jihad" by Islamic groups in Europe, incl. the Union of Italian Muslims and Islamic Centre of Geneva: "Europe is no longer Europe, it is Eurabia, a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense"; "Behind every Islamic terrorist there is an imam." Am. "Tequila" singer Danny Flores (b. 1929) on Sept. 19 in Huntington Beach, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. country singer Bonnie Owens (b. 1929) on Apr. 24; wife of Buck Owens. Am. country musician Buck Owens (b. 1929) on Mar. 25 in Bakersfield, Calif. (heart attack). Am. Mich. Wolverines football coach Bo Schembechler (b. 1929) on Nov. 17 in Southfield, Mich.; collapses in the studios of WXYZ-TV on the eve of the biggest matchup ever in the rivalry between #1 Ohio State and #2 Michigan. Am. novelist Gilbert Sorrentino (b. 1929) on May 18 Am. country singer Billy "the Tall Texan" Walker (b. 1929) on May 21 in Ft. Deposit, Ala. (van crash). English-born Australian wine promoter Len Evans (b. 1930) on Aug. 17 in Newcastle, N.S.W. (heart attack). Am. athlete-politician Bob Mathias (b. 1930) on Sept. 2 in Fresno, Calif. (cancer). Am. floppy disk inventor Alan F. Shugart (b. 1930) on Dec. 12 in San Jose, Calif. English "Salad Days" composer Julian Slade (b. 1930) on June 17 in London (cancer). French transsexual actress Coccinelle (b. 1931) on Oct. 9 in Marseille (stroke). South Korean video artist Nam June Paik (b. 1932) on Jan. 29 in Miami, Fla. Am. physicist Melvin Schwartz (b. 1932) on Aug. 28 in Twin Falls, Idaho; 1988 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. Tiger Woods' dad-coach Earl Woods (b. 1932) on May 3. Am. "Godfather of Soul" James Brown (b. 1933) on Dec. 25 in Atlanta, Ga. (pneumonia): "I used to shine shoes on the front steps of an Augusta, Georgia radio station. Now I own that radio station." Am. libertarian writer Harry Browne (b. 1933) on Mar. 1 in Franklin, Tenn. (ALS); U.S. pres. candidate of the Libertarian Party in 1996 and 2000. Am. writer (collaborator of Clifford Irving) Herbert Burkholz (b. 1933) on Apr. 30 in Hagerstown, Md. (lung cancer). Am. NASA "Six Million Dollar Man" test pilot Bruce Peterson (b. 1933) on May 1 in Ocean Springs, Calif. Am. Tex. gov. (1991-5) Ann Richards (b. 1933) on Sept. 13 in Austin, Tex. (cancer): "I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house'." Am. "Wall $treet Week" (1907-2002) financial journalist Louis Rukeyser (b. 1933) on May 2 in Hartford, Conn. (multiple myeloma). Am. uranium tycoon Oren Benton (b. 1934) on May 19 in Arapahoe County, Colo. (colon cancer). Irish novelist John McGahern (b. 1934) on Mar. 30 in Dublin. Am. "Frankenstein" actor Peter Boyle (b. 1935) on Dec. 12; John Lennon was his best man in his 1977 wedding. Am. serial murderer Richard Kuklinski (b. 1935) on Mar. 5 in Trenton, N.J. Am. boxing champ Floyd Patterson (b. 1935) on May 11 in New Paltz, N.Y. (Alzheimer's and prostate cancer). Am. four-octave singer-fundraiser Lou Rawls (b. 1935) on Jan. 6 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer); released 70+ albums, sold 40M+ records, and raised over $200M for the United Negro College Fund; "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game" (Frank Sinatra): "When you've said Budweiser, you've said it all." Am. "Mike Bauer in Guiding Light" actor Don Stewart (b. 1935) on Jan. 9 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Am. serial murderer Richard "the Iceman" Kulkinski (b. 1935) on Mar. 5 in Trenton, N.J.; dies in prison of natural causes. English "Freddie and the Dreamers" musician Freddie Garrity (b. 1936) on May 19 in Bangor, Wales. Am. "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" musician Freddy Fender (b. 1937) on Oct. 14 in Corpus Christi, Tex. (lung cancer). Japanese PM #82 (1996-8) Ryutaro Hashimoto (b. 1937) on July 1 in Tokyo. English geologist Sir Nicholas Shackleton (b. 1937) on Jan. 24. Am. Mass. gay rep. (first openly gay member of Congress) Gerry Studds (b. 1937) on Oct. 14; married Dean Hara in 2004 after gay marriage was legalized in Mass., but the federal govt. denies him death benefits, incl. Studds' $114K annual pension because the 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act prevents it. English rocker Art Wood (b. 1937) on Nov. 3 in London (prostate cancer). Egyptian-born Am. historian Rosemarie Said Zahlan (b. 1937) on May 10. Am. abstract painter Larry Zox (b. 1937) on Dec. 16 (cancer). Am. country singer Johnny Duncan (b. 1938) on Aug. 14 (heart attack). Am. "In the News" journalist Christopher Glenn (b. 1938) on Oct. 17 in Norwalk, Conn. (liver cancer). Japanese PM (1996-8) Ryutaro Hashimoto (b. 1938) on July 1. Scottish "Abbey Road" photographer Iain Stewart Macmillan (b. 1938) on May 8 in Carnoustie, Angus. Am. "Act Naturally", "Hee Haw" country singer Buck Owens (b. 1938) on Mar. 25 in Bakersfield, Calif. (home of his Bakersfield Sound); only country star to have a hit record that is later done by the Beatles ("Act Naturally" in 1965, with Ringo Starr singing lead, plus a duet with Owens in 1989). Am. "Breakfast Club" actor Paul Gleason (b. 1939) on May 27 in Burbank, Calif. (asbestosis). Am. anti-Mormon activist Jerald Tanner (b. 1938) on Oct. 1 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Am. novelist Charles Newman (b. 1939) on Mar. 15 in St. Louis, Mo. (heart attack). Am. artist Luis Alfonso Jimenez Jr. (b. 1940). Am. "Jaws" novelist Peter Benchley (b. 1940) on Feb. 11 in Princeton, N.J. (idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis); "Peter kept telling people that the book was fiction, it was a novel, and that he no more took responsibility for the fear of sharks than Mario Puzo ... for the Mafia" (wife Wendy). Am. sculptor Luis Jimenez (b. 1940) on June 13 in Hondo, N.M.; killed when a piece of the 32-ft. steel-fiberglass Mustang Sculpture he had been working on for 14 years for the Denver Internat. Airport swings out of control and crushes him. Turkmenistan dictator-pres. (1990-2006) Saparmurat Atayevich Niyazov (b. 1940) on Dec. 21 in Ashgabat. Am. "Hello Mary Lou", "He's A Rebel" singer-songwriter Gene Pitney (b. 1940) on Apr. 5 in Cardiff, Wales. Am. TV journalist Ed Bradley (b. 1941) on Nov. 9 (leukemia). Jamaican "Israelites" singer Desmond Dekker (b. 1941) on May 25 in London. English "Tyrian in Dragonslayer" actor John Hallam (b. 1941) on Nov. 14 in Clifton, Oxfordshire. Yugoslavian pres. Slobodan Milosevic (b. 1941) on Mar. 12 in his detention cell in The Hague (heart attack). Am. "In the Midnight Hour", "Mustang Sally" R&B singer Wilson "Wicked" Pickett (b. 1941) on Jan. 19 in Ashburn, Va. (heart attack). Am. leftist journalist Ellen Willis (b. 1941) on Nov. 9 in Queens, N.Y. (lung cancer). Am. Enron CEO (1982-2002) Kenneth Lay (b. 1942) on July 5 in Snowmass, Colo. (heart attack). Am. historian Eric Henry Monkkonen (b. 1942) on May 30, 2005 in Culver City, Calif. (prostate cancer). Australian Olympic track athlete Peter Norman (b. 1942) on Oct. 3 in Melbourne, Victoria. Dutch singer-playwright Robert Long (b. 1943) on Dec. 13 in Antwerp, Belgium (cancer) (AIDS?) Kiwi Olympic archer Neroli Susan Fairhall (b. 1944) on June 11 in Christchurch. Am. "Love" singer Arthur Lee (b. 1945) on Aug. 3 in Memphis, Tenn. (leukemia); spent 1997-2001 in priz for a false charge of negligent discharge of a firearm. English "Pink Floyd" rocker Syd Barrett (b. 1946) on July 7 in Cambridge (pancreatic cancer); death certificate lists him as "retired musician". English "Bad Company" musician Boz Burrell (b. 1946) on Sept. 21 in Marbella, Spain (heart attack). Am. dir. Don Dohler (b. 1946) on Dec. 2 in Perry Hall, Md. Am. actor Andreas Katsulas (b. 1946) on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. sci-fi writer Octavia E. Butler (b. 1947) on Feb. 24 in Seattle, Wash. (heart failure); discovered in 1969 by Harlan Ellison while she was trying to break into sitcom writing? Am. "National Lampoon" co-founder Robert Hoffman (b. 1947) on Aug. 20. Am. "sixth Beatle" singer-musician Billy Preston (b. 1947) on June 6 in Scottsdale, Ariz.; accompanied the Beatles on their last album "Let It Be". Am. "Kool & the Gang" founder Claydes Charles Smith (b. 1948) on June 20 in Maplewood, N.J. Am. "Tommy Anderson in Dennis the Menace" actor Billy Booth (b. 1949) on Dec. 31 in San Luis Obispo, Calif. (liver complications). Am. "City Slickers" actor Bruno Kirby (b. 1949) on Aug. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. (leukemia). Am. "Heidi Chronicles" playwright-novelist Wendy Wasserstein (b. 1950) on Jan. 30 (cancer). Am. rock drummer Bruce Gary (b. 1951) on Aug. 22 in Tarzana, Calif. (non-Hodgkin lymphoma). Am. baseball hall-of-fame outfielder Kirby Puckett (b. 1951) on Mar. 6 (stroke); retired in 1996 with serious eye ailments after playing in 10 consecutive All-Star Games. English "Artful Dodger in Oliver!" actor Jack Wild (b. 1952) on Mar. 1 in Tebworth, Bedfordshire. Am. Pointer Sisters member June Pointer (b. 1953) on Apr. 11 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. dog musher Susan Butcher (b. 1954) on Aug. 5 (leukemia). Am. serial murderer Danny Rolling (b. 1954) on Oct. 25 in Raiford, Fla. (executed by lethal injection). Am. serial murderer Robert Shulman (b. 1954) on Apr. 13 in Albany, N.Y. Jamaican heavyweight boxer Trevor Berbick (b. 1955) on Oct. 28 in Norwich, Port Antonio (murdered). Am. Miss W. Va. 1977 mystery woman Patsy Ramsey (b. 1957) on June 24 in Roswell, Ga. (ovarian cancer). Mexican "The Railroad Killer" serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz (b. 1959) on June 27 in Huntsville, Tex. (execution by lethal injection). Am. rock drummer Sandy West (b. 1959) on Oct. 21 (lung cancer). Am. baseball hall-of-fame player Kirby Puckett (b. 1960) on Mar. 6 in Phoenix, Ariz. (stroke); he ballooned to 300+ lbs. after retiring due to glaucoma. Am. actress-singer Dana Reeve (b. 1961) on Mar. 6 in White Plains, N.Y. (lung cancer); wife of "Superman" Christopher Reeve (d. 2004). Australian "Crocodile Hunter" Steve "Crikey!" Irwin (b. 1962) on Sept. 4 in Batt Reef, Australia; stung in the heart by a stingray, becoming the 3rd person in Australian history to die from one, after zillions of winning bouts with more dangerous crocs, snakes, lions, komodo dragons, etc.; "If I'm going to die, at least I want it filmed" (2002 interview) - crikey? Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko (b. 1962) on Nov. 23 in Bloomsbury, London, England (poisoning by radioactive Po-210). Latvian-born U.S. chess grandmaster ("the Polish Magician") Alexander Wojtkewicz (b. 1963) on July 14 (cancer). Am. 310-lb. "Nice Guy Eddie Cabit in Reservoir Dogs" actor Chris Penn (b. 1965) on Jan. 24 in Santa Monica, Calif.; dies the same day his film "The Darwin Awards" debuts at the Sundance Film Festival. Am. actress-dir. Adrienne Shelley (b. 1966) on Nov. 1 in New York City (murdered). Am. "Johnny Grunge of Public Enemy" wrestler Michael Durham (b. 1967) on Feb. 16 in Peachtree, Ga.; weighs 400+ lbs. at death, and steroids are suspected.



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TLW's 2007 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2007 C.E. Historyscope

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2007 - The Double-Oh Seven Al Gore Climate Change Apocalypse Pockmarked Pair of Lips Don't Tase Me Bro' Nappy-Headed Ho Year? Armageddon edges closer as Iran and the U.S. tangle in a proxy war in Iraq, while Blair goes down in Britain and the Scots take over to save the day?

Gordon Brown of Britain (1951-) Harriet Ruth Harman of Britain (1950-) Alistair Darling of Britain (1954-) David Miliband of Britain (1965-) Edward Michael Balls of Britain (1967-) Yvette Cooper of Britain (1969-) Edward Samuel Miliband of Britain (1969-) British Adm. Sir Alan West (1948-) Nicolas Sarkozy of France (1955-) Francois Fillon of France (1954-) Yasuo Fukuda of Japan (1936-) Rafael Correa of Ecuador (1963-) Moshe Katsav of Israel (1945-) Shimon Peres of Israel (1923-2016) Salam Fayyad of Palestine (1952-) Lee Myung-bak of South Korea (1941-) Pratibha Patil of India (1934-) Abdullah Gül of Turkey (1949-) Kevin Michael Rudd of Australia (1957-) Umaru Yar'Adua of Nigeria (1951-2010) Sidi Mohamed Ould Chikh Abdallahi of Mauritania (1938-) Valdis Zatlers of Latvia (1955-) U.S. Gen. Douglas E. Lute (1953-) U.S. Gen. William Eldridge Odom (1932-2008) Bill Ritter of the U.S. (1956-) Adel A. Al-Jubeir (1962-) Dominique Strauss-Kahn (1949-) Robert Bruce Zoellick of the U.S. (1953-) Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1968-2007) Hrant Dink (1954-2007) Don Imus (1940-) Van Jones (1968-) Darrent Williams (1982-2007) Caesar Borja Sr. (1954-2007) Eliot Laurence Spitzer of the U.S. (1959-) John Michael 'Mike' McConnell of the U.S. (1943-) George John Mitchell Jr. of the U.S. (1933-) David Axelrod of the U.S. (1955-) Bamir Topi of Albania (1957-) Srgjan Asan Kerim of Macedonia (1948-) Steven Hayes (1963-) and Joshua Komisarjevsky (1980-) Kate Middleton (1982-) Nada Prouty (1970-) Michael Devlin (1965-) Shawn Hornbeck (1991-) Archbishop Stanislaw Wojciech Wielgus (1939-) Baitullah Mehsud (1974-2009) Rochom P'ngieng (1979-) Fawaz Damra Tamera Jo Freeman (1967-) Lane Kiffin (1975-) Jim Samples (1963-) Aqua Teen Hunger Force Scandal, 2007 Veronica Lario Berlusconi (1956-) and Silvio Berlusconi (1936-) William Oefelein of the U.S. (1965-) Lisa Nowak  of the U.S. (1963-) Gavin Newsom (1967-) of the U.S. and Ruby Rippey-Tourk (1972-) Vergie Arthur Judge Larry Seidlin (1950-) Tongsun Park (1935-) Keith Maurice Ellison of the U.S. (1963-) Harry Mason Reid of the U.S. (1939-2021) David Iglesias of the U.S. Mervyn Patterson of the U.K. Michael Semple of the U.K. Dick Lugar of the U.S. (1932-) Barbara Morgan of the U.S. (1951-) Art Buchwald (1925-2007) Mike Nifong of the U.S. (1950-) Cho Seung-hui (1984-2007) Bilal Abdullah (1980-) Kafeel Ahmed (1979-2007) Martin McGuinness of North Ireland Rotimi Adebari of Ireland (1964-) Barbary Hillary (1931-) Elliot Mintz (1945-) Fred Dalton Thompson of the U.S. (1942-) Mike Huckabee of the U.S. (1955-) Nick Rahall of the U.S. (1949-) Lawrence B. Wilkerson of the U.S. (1945-) Norman Hsu (1951-) Jim Nabors (1930-) Erik D. Prince (1969-) Younis Tsouli (1984-) Sayyed Imam al-Sharif (1950-) Rache Renee Smith (1985-) Riyo Mori of Japan (1986-) Deborah Jeane Palfrey (1956-2008) Randall L. Tobias of the U.S. (1942-) Harlan K. Ullman of the U.S. (1941-) R. Nicholas Burns of the U.S. (1956-) John David Dingell Jr. of the U.S. (1926-) Zalmay Khalilzad of the U.S. (1951-) Polish Gen. Edward Pietrzyk (1949-) Terry Richardson Matthew Murray (1983-2007) Alex Rodriguez (1976-) Mayweather-La Hoya Fight, May 5, 2007 Scott Niedermayer (1973-) Matt Murphy (1985-) Clint Hurdle (1957-) Tony Dungy (1955-) Lovie Smith (1958-) Peyton Manning (1976-) Rex Grossman (1980-) Kevin Harvick (1975-) Dario Franchitti (1973-) John Amaechi (1970-) Tim Hardaway (1966-) Chris Benoit (1967-2007) Viswanathan Anand (1969-) Asafa Powell of Jamaica (1982-) Al Franken of the U.S. (1951-) Norm Coleman of the U.S. (1949-) Erik D. Prince (1969-) James Thomson (1958-) Lisa Genova (1970-) Leonid Hurwicz (1912-2008) John Matteson (1961-) Eric Maskin (1950-) Roger Myerson (1951-) Raila Odinga of Kenya (1945-) Jose Padilla (1970-) Matthew S. Shum Carlos Slim of Mexico (1940-) U.S. Cpl. Kareem Rashad Sultan (1987-2007) Sam Zell (1941-) Celine Lesage (1971-) Ed Brown (1942-) and Elaine Brown (1940-) Efraim Halevy of Israel (1998-2002) Dokka Umarov of Checnya (1964-) Jonah Lehrer (1981-) Alvin F. Poussaint (1934-) Aqsa Parvez (1991-2007) Farfour Michelle Cawthra of the U.S. (1976-) Dinesh d'Souza (1961-) Kenji Nagai (1957-2007) - Sept. 27, 2007 Kenji Nagai (1957-2007) - before Ibrahim Gambari of Nigeria (1944-) Randy Pausch (1960-2008) Michael Bernard Mukasey of the U.S. (1941-) Raymond Walter Kelly of the U.S. (1941-) Elsie McLean (1905-) Andrew Meyer, Sept. 17, 2007 Mohammed Atif Siddique (1985-) Anucha Browne Sanders Isiah Thomas (1961-) James Riley Blake (1979-) Michael Oppenheimer (1946-) Graciela Chichilnisky (1944-) Stefan Rahmstorf (1960-) Jim Salinger (1947-) Jim Wallis (1948-) Tony Campolo (1935-) Ottmar Georg Edenhofer (1961-) Amy Finley (1973-) Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (1948-) Al Gore (1948-) and Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (1940-) Robert Irvine (1965-) Doris Lessing (1919-2013) Peter Grünberg (1939-2018) Albert Fert (1938-) Gerhard Ertl (1936-) Mario Capecchi (1937-) Sir Martin John Evans (1941-) Garrett Lisi (1968-) Oliver Smithies (1925-2017) Leonid Hurwicz (1912-2008) Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) Václav Klaus of Czech. (1941-) Peter S. Onuf (1945-) Amy Palumbo Ann Holmes Redding Patrick Rothfuss (1973-) Peter Schiff (1963-) Robert James Shiller (1946-) Pete Stark of the U.S. (1931-) David Michael Satterfield of the U.S. (1954-) Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960-) Emmanuel Todd (1951-) Michael Worobey Chief Illiniwek Tina 'Brown (1953-) and Lady Diana (1961-97) Ian Johnson (1985-) and Chrissy Popadics Huma Abedin (1976-) Benno Barnard (1954-) Paul Collier (1949-) Lakshmi (2005-) Gillian Gibbons (1953-) Gerhard Ertl (1936-) James Henry Fetzer (1940-) Christopher Paul Neil (1975-) Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust (1947-) Davis R. Ignatius (1950-) Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980-) Tanya Rider (1974-) Serge Trifkovic (1954-) Matt Haig (1975-) Sara Davidson (1943-) Anne Enright (1962-) Gangaji (1942-) Daniel Walker Howe (1937-) Ed Husain (1975-) Millard Kaufman (1917-2009) Yoani Sanchez (1975-) Brian Selznick (1966-) Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1938-) Diana West (1961-) William Paul Young (1955-) Alexander Wang (1983-) Alexander Wang Example Mika (1983-) Katy Perry (1984-) Apocalyptica The Enemy Paul Potts (1970-) Ant and Dec Colbie Caillat (1985-) Josh Groban (1981-) Iggy, 2007 Amy Macdonald (1987-) Philip Schultz (1945-) Charles Simic (1938-) Jordin Sparks (1989-) The Heavy Timbaland (1971-) The Flobots Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (1959-97) Orianthi Pangaris Tarja Turunen (1977-) Sydney Wayser (1986-) 'The Big Bang Theory', 2007- 'The Great Global Warming Swindle', 2007 'Mad Men', 2007-15 Luke and Noah Gay Kiss, 2007 'Little Mosque on the Prairie', 2007- 'In the Heights', 2007 '1408', 2007 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford', 2007 'Atonement', 2007 'Ghost Rider', 2007 'Gone Baby Gone', 2007 'Grindhouse', 2007 'I Am Legend', 2007 'Meet the Robinsons', 2007 'The Mist', 2007 'My Fuehrer', 2007 'No Country for Old Men', 2007 'The Orphanage', 2007 'Paranormal Activity', 2007 'Ratatouille', 2007 'REC', 2007 'Rise: Blood Hunter', 2007 'The Simpsons Movie', 2007 'Sunshine', 2007 'Transformers', 2007 'Trick 'r Treat', 2007 'La Vie en Rose', 2007 Boeing 787, 2007 'Paris Hilton Autopsy' by Daniel Edwards, 2007 Julie Penrose Fountain, 2007 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, 2007 Prudential Center, 2007 Tunnel of Surprises, Lima, 2007 Askinosie Chocolate, 2007 Chinese Lunar Exploration Program Logo

2007 Time Mag. Person of the Year: Vladimir Putin (1952-). Doomsday Clock: 5 min. to midnight (Jan. 17, 14:30 GMT); 4th forward set since 1991, prompted by nuclear standoffs with Iran and N Korea and warnings of climate change; "Global warming could kill millions. We should have a war on global warming rather than the war on terror" (Stephen W. Hawking, Jan. 17); China's emissions increase 8% this year, causing it to overtake the U.S. as the top producer of greenhouse gases (14% higher), although the U.S. still leads on a per capita basis, 19.4 tons, vs. 11.8 in Russia, 8.6 in the EU, 5.1 in China, and 1.8 in India. Chinese Year: Pig (Feb. 18) (lunar year 4704). This is the first U.N. Internat. Year of Planet Earth (ends 2009). Over half the world's pop. lives in cities; almost all worldwide pop. growth in the next 30 years will be concentrated in cities, growing 1.8% annually (doubling every 38 years); immigrants make up 16% of the U.S. pop. (vs. a high of 21% in 1910 and a low of 5% in 1970), with 25% or more in Calif. (35%), N.Y. (27%), N.J. (26%), and Nev. (25%); Muslim pop. of Europe: 18M (vs. 1M at the end of WWII); the U.S. has 1.2K mosques, up from 1K in 1990; a UNICEF report pub. this year puts the once-tallest U.S. in 20th place for avg. stature, with the Dutch as #1, almost 3 in. taller than Americans, who are still taller than Britains; teen students at the British military academy at Sandhurst are 9 in. taller than those at the British Marine School. As of this year nine countries have nukes: U.S., Russia, Britain, France, China, Israel (unacknowledged), India, Pakistan, North Korea; Iran is suspected of pursuing them; Indonesia is suspected of pursuing them in the 1960s after China's 1964 nuclear test; South Africa had them but gave them up in 1991; Egypt is pursuing a nuclear power program; Sweden has been a question mark since the 1950s; Japan has an official anti-nuke policy; more than 30 countries without nukes possess the materials and capabilities to make them using plutonium produced by a total of 435 operating nuclear power reactors worldwide; the U.S. and Russia possess 95% of the 27K known nukes; the original 1980s calculation of nuclear winter conditions only used 100 Hiroshima-sized 15K-ton A-bombs. Early in the year Al-Shabaab (Arab. "The Lads") arises from the ashes of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) that ruled most of S Somalia, setting up horrific Sharia, see the grisly videos if you can stomach it; no surprise, the stupid Islam ignoramus U.S. govt. has been blithely permitting mass Somalian immigration to make the whole country into Black Hawk Down, look what they do to too-white-for-the-U.N. Minneapolis, Minn. (80K and growing), and might do to Ft. Morgan, Colo. (1K), and Shelbyville, Tenn. (1K), so no surprise again that a number of them have returned to join Al Shishkebaab, even white American converts (that's right, Islam isn't a race), incl. Omar Shafik Hammami (Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki) (1984-) of Daphne, Ala., Suleman Essa Ahmed of Columbus, Ohio, and Cabdulaahi Ahmed Farrax (Abdullah Al-Amriki) of Minn., the U.S. govt. never admits to making a mistake, it's their fault. This year ExxonMobil Corp. posts a $40.6B annual profit, a record for a U.S. co. (it held the old record). U.S. household net worth: $64T; by 2009 this is down to $50T (21% drop); U.S. income inequality reaches an all-time high, with the top 0.01% of earners taking home 6% of total U.S. wages, and the top 10% taking in 49.7% of total wages; the Baby Boomers begin retiring, causing an economic slowdown? The Shale Rev. begins, zooming from 5% of U.S. natural gas production this year to 35% by 2012. By this year the exodus of refugees from Iraq reaches 2M, with 50K more per mo. heading away from the insanity. The number of suicide bombings in Pakistan, which since 2001 was only 15, zooms to 358 by Nov. 2013. Illegal immigrants in the U.S. 11.8M (Jan.); just when illegal immigration from Mexico is seen a big problemo in the U.S., the Mexican birthrate drops to 2.2 births avg. (compared to 2.1 for the U.S.), and life expectancy increases to 75 years (77 in the U.S.), causing predictions of a worker shortage? The 2006-7 winter in St. Petersburg (Leningrad) is the coldest since 1941-2. The U.S. prison pop. hits 2.2M, 1 of 133. This year suicide bombers conduct 658 attacks worldwide, incl. 542 in U.S.-occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, double last year's total; the first known suicide attack was in 1983 (U.S. Embassy in Beirut), and by the end of this year 1,840 incidents kill more than 21,350 and injure 50K, with 86% of incidents occurring since 2001, and the highest annual numbers in the past four years. This year 36K women are raped in South Africa; one in four South African men interviewed in 2009 admit to committing rape. Divorces in Italy reach 50K, with 81K separations, compared to only 12K divorces in 1980. Total global data storage: 295 exabytes (billion GB); 2 zettabytes (2K exabytes) of data are broadcast (175 newspapers per person per day). This year Calif. (Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein), Wash. (Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray) and Maine (Susan M. Collins, Olympia J. Snowe) have two female U.S. senators each, and the U.S. Senate has 16 total; only 35 of 1,897 U.S. Senators since 1789 have been female, 12 of them appointed and seven of those succeeding deceased hubbies; the first was Rebecca Latimer Feltin in 1922; in 1930 Hattie Caraway was the first to win an election; no women in 1922-31, 1945-7, 1973-8. World glaciers thin an avg. of 29 in., a rate 2x that in the 1980s and 1990s. On Jan. 1 the U.S. pop. is 300,888,812 (2.9M more than in 2006), with one birth every 8 sec. and one death every 11 sec. (Census Bureau). The Jan. 1 issue of Time mag. names "You" as their Person of the Year, with a cover picture of a PC with a mirror for a screen, and the caption, "Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world"; 2006 was the first year when the individual began to upload his own videos en masse and upstage the major media? On Jan. 1 the the 1,070-lb. ball dropped in Times Square to celebrate the new year switches to LED lights from Sylvania. On Jan. 1 USC defeats Michigan by 32-18 to win the 2007 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 U.S. Medicare payments for erectile dysfunction are ended; Medicaid payments were ended on Jan. 1, 2006. On Jan. 1 seven U.S. states raise the minimum wage from the federal minimum of $5.15 an hour to as high as $7.50 an hour, while Ind. begins offering a new license plate featuring the U.S. flag and the words "In God We Trust". On Jan. 1 China begins requiring approval from the country's highest court before putting anyone to death; in 2005 Amnesty Internat. estimates they executed at least 1,770 people for offenses as paltry as tax evasion, which is 80% of the world total of 2,148, incl. 60 in the U.S. - stop the cat box, stop the cat box? On Jan. 1 Pres. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush join thousands of mourners paying respects to ex-pres. Gerald R. Ford at the U.S. Capitol. On Jan. 1 crowds of Sunnis protest the hanging of Saddam Hussein, while a mob in Samara breaks the lock of the bomb-damaged Shiite Golden Dome carrying a mock coffin and photos of their hero. On Jan. 1 an Indonesian Adam Air Boeing 737-400 crashes in Polewali on E Sulawesi Island, killing 90 of 102. On Jan. 1 2-term Wall Street corruption-fighting atty.-gen. Dem. Eliot Laurence Spitzer (1959-) is sworn-in as gov. of New York after 12-year Repub. gov. George Pataki declines to seek reelection, and state assembly minority leader John Faso proves a pushover. On Jan. 1 Denver Broncos cornerback (#27) Darrent Williams (b. 1982) (AKA D-Will) is killed in his limo in downtown Denver, Colo. by drive-by shooters in a SUV right after his team loses their final game and is eliminated from the playoffs; the SUV is traced to Brian Hicks, leader of a Denver gang called the Elite Eight, formed in a New Year's Eve, 2002 pact, resulting in over 100 people being arrested in Apr. 2007 in the largest gang-drug sweep in Denver history; on Mar. 11, 2009 Willie Clark is found guilty of the murder. On Jan. 1 Yuki Lin becomes the first baby born in the U.S. in 2007, in New York City's Downtown Hospital; a $25K U.S. Savings bond from Toys "R" Us is withdrawn after they find that her parents are illegal aliens. On Jan. 2 the U.S. declares a nat. day of mourning for Pres. Ford, and an elaborate funeral service is held in Washington, D.C., with Pres. Bush saying "In President Ford the world saw the best of America", and Pres. George H.W. Bush calling him a "Norman Rockwell painting come to life"; on Jan. 3 Ford is laid to rest on the grounds of his pres. museum in Grand Rapids, Mich. On Jan. 3 Iraqi authorities report the arrests of three men suspecting of baiting Saddam Hussein and/or shooting cell phone videos of his hanging, which show him acting courteous and dignified in an obvious attempt at becoming a martyr. On Jan. 3 Md. Dem. minority whip (since 2003) Steny Hamilton Hoyer (1939-) succeeds John Murtha of Penn. as majority leader #26 of the U.S. House (until ?). On Jan. 4 the 110th U.S. Congress convenes, and Armani suit-wearing Nancy Pelosi by a straight party vote of 233-202 becomes the first female U.S. pseudo-pres., er, Speaker of the House, saying that her rise "from the kitchen to Congress" is the culmination of two cents. of struggle for women, and that "today we have broken the marble ceiling"; she arrives on the House floor with all six of her grandchildren; the U.S. pres. succession now is: Cheney, Pelosi, Richard Byrd, Condi Rice (male-female-male-female); an elaborate series of events follows, with Tony Bennett singing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" to her and a big delegation from San Francisco, incl. Chamber of Commerce members and mayor Gavin Newson; Harry Mason Reid (1939-2021) (D-Nev.) becomes Senate majority leader (until Jan. 3, 2015); meanwhile on Jan. 4 new U.S. rep. Keith Maurice Ellison (1963-) (D-Minn.), the first African-Am. from Minn. and first Muslim elected to Congress is sworn-in on a 2-vol. Quran (Koran) once owned by Thomas Jefferson (pub. 1764 in London); the 110th Congress has 74 women in the House and 16 in the Senate, 42 blacks in the House and one in the Senate, 27 Hispanics in the House and three in the Senate, seven Asians in the House and two in the Senate, and on Native Am. in the House; the First 100 Hours of the 110th Congress are used by Dems. to railroad legislation on minimum wage, stem cells, medicare, energy et al. On Jan. 4 Fawaz Damra, former imam of the largest mosque in Ohio is arrested by Israeli authorities after being rejected by 72 countries and ending up in his native West Bank; he had been convicted in the U.S. of concealing his ties to terrorist groups. On Jan. 5 Bush's admin. makes quick shuffles: nat. intel. dir. John Negroponte becomes top deputy to secy. of state Condy Rice, while on Feb. 20 retired vice adm. John Michael "Mike" McConnell (1943-) becomes nat. intel. dir. (until ?); Linton Brooks is dismissed as head of the nat. nuclear security admin.; Harriet Miers resigns as White House counsel after six years. On Jan. 5 (eve.) ten bobbies are summoned to protect English Prince William and his girlfriend Kate Middleton (1982-) from paparazzi as they leave a London nightclub; as she turns 25 on Jan. 9, rumors swirl about nuptials, and she is called the "new Lady Di"; she was at William's Dec. 2006 graduation ceremony at Sandhurst Military Academy, and in 2006 was the first romantic non-spousal partner to be invited to spend Xmas with the royal family - looks like a female Dodi Fayed? On Jan. 5 Calif. gov. (since Nov. 17, 2003) Ahnuld is sworn-in for a 2nd term sporting a badly broken right leg from a skiing accident; in Nov. he defeated Dem. challenger Phil Angelides in a landslide; referring to his dismal year of 2005 when his approval rating slid to half, he says that centrist "does not mean weak... It means well-balanced and well-grounded", and talks about his new politics that "looks beyond the old labels, the old ways, the old arguments", seeking a new "creative center" of "post-partisanship"; the 1878 Schwarzenegger family Bible is used. On Jan. 7 Iraqi troops launch a push to oust militias and pacify Baghdad as violence kills 17 across Iraq. On Jan. 7 thousands riot in Dhaka, Bangladesh demanding electoral reforms, and a 19-party alliance halts traffic until Jan. 9 to isolate Dhaka. On Jan. 8 a wildfire in Malibu, Calif. destroys the home of actress Suzanne Somers et al. On Jan. 8 pizzeria mgr. Michael Devlin (1965-) kidnaps 13-y.-o. Ben Ownby in Beaufort, Mo.; on Jan. 12 a tip about his white pickup truck leads to his arrest in suburban St. Louis along with 15-y.-o. Shawn Hornbeck (1991-), whom he kidnapped in 2002; questions are raised about why Hornbeck could have escaped but didn't. On Jan. 9 U.S. AC-130 gunships strafe suspected al-Qaida fighters in S Somalia, killing 5-10, becoming their first military action there since 1994. On Jan. 9 Polish PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski says that the abrupt resignation of new Archbishop Stanislaw Wojciech Wielgus (1939-) and another top Roman Catholic clergyman over ties to Communist-era secret police is a "nat. crisis". On Jan. 9 Pres. Bush drops plans to nominate conservative judges William J. Haynes II, William Myers III, and Terence Boyle to the U.S. appeals courts. On Jan. 9 Denver, Colo.-born Dem. Denver district atty. August William "Bill" Ritter (1956-) becomes Colo. gov. #41 (until Jan. 11, 2011). On Jan. 9 Little Mosque on the Prairie debuts on Canadian CBC-TV for ? episodes (until ?), becoming the first North Am. Muslim family sitcom; set in Mercy, Sask. (pop. 14K). On Jan. 10 Pres. Bush delivers an Address to the Nation, admitting he made a mistake, but not that kind of mistake, only not having enough troops, saying he will add 21.5K new soldiers to Iraq immediately, with 17.5K going to Baghdad and the rest to Anbar Province, raising the troop count to 153.5K, compared to the peak of 159K in Jan. 2005; the U.S. is also committing $1B to rebuild the infrastructure, matched with $10B by the Iraqis; Dem. leaders say they will force lawmakers to vote on his proposal for a troop surge to put them on record; meanwhile Grandma Pelosi announces a smoking ban in the Speaker's Lobby just off the House floor. On Jan. 10 Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez begins his 3rd term, saying that Socialism is the only way forward for his country and the world, concluding: "Socialism or death! We shall prevail!" a la Castro. On Jan. 12 Jennifer Lea Strange (1978-) drinks 1.75 gal. of water without urinating in a "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest at KDND Radio of Sacramento, Calif., then dies of water intoxication, causing 10 careless employees to be fired - K-dumber-than-a-doughnut? On Jan. 13 AP reports that Pres. Obama is going to ask Congress for an additional $13B for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, on top of the record $708B Pentagon budget, making him the first pres. whose defense budget exceeds $700B. On Jan. 13 27-y.-o. Rochom P'ngieng (1979-) is found 19 years after disappearing into the jungles of NE Cambodia while herding buffalo; she likes to go naked and speaks no intelligible language. On Jan. 14 a fire in a 64-unit 5-story apt. bldg. (built 1924) in Huntington, W. Va. kills seven, incl. a child. On Jan. 14 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney says that the Pentagon and CIA are not violating people's rights by examining bank and credit records of people suspected of terrorism or espionage in the U.S. On Jan. 14 Pope Benedict XVI urges immigrants to respect the social values of their new countries and says laws are needed to protect their dignity, and that migrants should be seen as a resource not a problem. On Jan. 14 the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum receives an album containing 116 personal photos from Karl Friedrich Hoecker (1911-2000), adjutant to Auschwitz I Concentration Camp commandant Richard Bauer, taken in May-Dec. 1944, becoming the first insider photos of the German concentration camp, showing happy innocent-looking Nazis having fun off-duty. On Jan. 15 the 64th Golden Globe Awards, broadcast live on NBC-TV go on without the $20K gift packages traditionally given to onstage presenters after the IRS comes down on them; last year's incl. a $2K gym membership, $1.2K diamond pendant, $865 Chopard watch, $475 camera phone, handbags, MP3 players, and gift certificates; the big drama award is presented by crutch-toting Ahnuld to Babel, whose dir. Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu of Mexico jokes "I swear I have my papers in order, governor, I swear"; Jennifer Hudson (7th runner-up on Am. Idol) and Eddie Murphy win for Dreamgirls, which wins best musical, Forest Whitaker wins best actor for The Last King of Scotland, Sacha Baron Cohen wins best actor for Borat, Hellen Mirren wins best dramatic actress for The Queen, Meryl Streep wins best comic actress for The Devil Wears Prada, America Ferrera wins best actress in a TV comedy for Ugly Betty; Martin Scorsese wins best dir. for The Departed; Cars wins the first Globe for animated film; Clint Eastwood's Japanese-language Letters From Iwo Jima wins for best foreign-language film. On Jan. 15 Saddam Hussein's chunky half-brother Barzan Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti (b. 1951) is executed, the hangman's noose severing his blacked-hood head after he falls through a trap door - nobody asked me about wanting a Diet Pepsi? On Jan. 15 a suicide bomber attacks an office of the Kuristan Dem. Party in Mosul, Iraq, killing five incl. four U.S. soldiers and injuring 28. On Jan. 15 "humanist and Christian of the left" Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado (1963-) becomes pres. of Ecuador (until ?), raising a sword given to him by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and vowing to work for an "economic revolution" that will put the country's poor ahead of foreign debt payments; in Dec. 2008 he repudiates Ecuador's nat. debt as illegitimate because it was contracted by past military regimes, and takes on creditors in internat. courts. On Jan. 16 (3:45 p.m.) twin car bombs detonate at Al-Mustansiriya U. in Baghdad as students line up for the ride home, killing 65. On Jan. 17 U.S. health officials issue a Report on U.S. Cancer Deaths, showing that they have dropped for the 2nd straight year, from 556,902 to 553,888 in 2004 (3,014 less, or 0.5%); in 2003 they dropped by 369, the first drop since 1930; the largest drop is in colorectal cancers, 1,110 in men and 1,094 in women. On Jan. 17 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates calls for 2K-3K more GIs for Afghanistan and 21.5K for Iraq; meanwhile Lawrence B. Wilkerson (1945-), chief of staff for U.S. secy. of state Colin Powell tells the BBC that Iran offered to help stabilize Iraq after the U.S. invasion in return for lifting sanctions and helping it fight the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, but that vice-pres. Dick Cheney turned them down, despite warnings that Iran was moving to the far-right, which proved true when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took power. On Jan. 18 the U.S. House wraps up the "Democrats' 100 Hours" in only 87 hours, passing a list of eight key measures, incl. new ethics rules, a raise in the minimum wage, expansion of tax-supported stem cell research, increased homeland security, cheaper Medicare prescription drugs, lower student loan interest rates, requiring tax cuts or new spending on benefit programs to be budgeted by revenue increases elsewhere, and recovering lost oil-gas royalties while rolling back tax breaks. On Jan. 18 U.S. and Iraqi forces arrest Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, top aide to Shiite cleric boos Muqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad. On Jan. 18 Consumer Reports stinks itself up by admitting that an earlier report damning infant car seats for failing federal crash tests was wrong, confusing low speed with high speed crashes. On Jan. 18 former beautician Martha Mata Vasquez (1967-) is sentenced to 15 years in Salinas, Calif. for injecting Mazola brand corn oil into women's buttocks for $1.4K a pop and calling it the "French polymer treatment", causing the Nov. 2005 death of Maria Olivia Castillo (46) of multiple organ failure due to fat blockage. On Jan. 19 China successfully tests an anti-satellite weapon, becoming the 3rd country after the U.S. and Russia to have the capability. On Jan. 19 Armenian "Agos" activist journalist Hrant Dink (b. 1954) (known for criticizing the Turkish govt. for refusing to recognize the Armenian Genocide, and calling for reconciliation) is assassinated in Istanbul, Turkey; on Jan. 23 tens of thousands attend his funeral ceremony in Istanbul; on Jan. 20 17-y.-o. Turkish nationalist (h.s. dropout) Ogun Samast (1990-) is arrested, and confesses; 20 other suspects are arrested, and only Yasin Hayal is convicted of inciting Samast, the court ruling that he acted alone and was not a member of a terrorist org., causing tens of thousands of Turks to protest that it's a coverup. On Jan. 20 a U.S. Black Hawk heli crashes NE of Baghdad, Iraq, killing Colo. native Col. Brian D. Allgood (b. 1960); after three more helis "crash" in two weeks, and an insurgent Web site airs footage giving it away, the U.S. admits on Feb. 4 that they were actually shot down with new anti-aircraft weapons received by Sunni militants. On Jan. 20 Iraqi militants dressed as Iraqi soldiers enter a U.S. military compound in Karbala and kidnap and kill four U.S. soldiers, a 5th one being killed in the firefight; Iranian involvement is suspected, as relation for the arrest of five Iranians by U.S. troops in N Iraq. On Jan. 20 Hillary Clinton announces on her Web web site the formation of a pres. exploratory committee for the 2008 pres. election, with the soundbyte "I'm in, and I'm in to win"; in Apr. the Clintons liquidate the blind trust set up when he became pres. in 1993 to avoid the possibility of ethical conflicts or political embarrassments. On Jan. 22 two car bombs in a C Baghdad market kill 88. On Jan. 22 Iran bars 38 nuclear agency inspectors from entering the country. On Jan. 22 the MSC Napoli cargo ship sinks off Branscome, England, causing cargo containers to reach shore, and bringing out local scavengers, who can legally cart it away if they report it to the govt. On Jan. 23 Pres. Bush gives his 2007 State of the Union Address, starting off by addressing "Madame Speaker" Nancy Pelosi, and remarking that her congressman father would have been proud; he then sticks to his old Iraq policy, saying, "Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq and I ask you to give it a chance to work", then proposing a $7.5K tax deduction for expanded health insurance coverage and a 20% cut in gasoline consumption within a decade by using more ethanol and biofuels; meanwhile new Pelosi sits hovering over his shoulder, and a dozen Congress members in the audience have announced or are considering a run for pres.; the Dem. reply is given by Sen. Jim Webb of Va., a Vietnam vet who switched from the Repub. party last year, who says "Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous wihdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq"; Osama bin Laden's deputy Ayman Muhammad Rabaie al-Zawahiri (1951-) of Egypt (a follower of Sayyid Qutb of Egypt, who executed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, while Osama is a follower of 18th cent. Arabian fanatic Mohammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab) mocks Bush's plan to send a "surge" of 21.5K troops, telling him to send "the entire army"; meanwhile New York City 9/11 responding policeman Ceasar Borja (b. 1954) dies 2.5 hours before his son Ceasar Borja Jr. attends the Bush speech with Sen. Hillary Clinton to symbolize the health problems of 9/11 workers. On Jan. 23 a Blackwater Worldwide heli is shot down in C Baghdad in a Sunni neighborhood, killing five civilians aboard. On Jan. 23 Iranian-born Israeli pres. Moshe Katsav (1945-) is accused of raping 10 female employees, one calling him a "pervert" and "serial sex offender", becoming the first Israeli sitting pres. charged with a crime; he is immune from prosecution while in office, but on June 28 he resigns for a plea deal to avoid a possible 20-year prison term later. On Jan. 23 the U.S. sends a 2nd U.S. aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf to warn Iran to back down in its attempts to dominate the region. On Jan. 23 China confirms that it sent men into orbit and launched dozens of satellites to test a new satellite-killing weapon. On Jan. 23 U.S. officials announce the arrest of 750+ illegal immigrants in the past week in the Los Angeles metro area. On Jan. 23 the trial of Plamegate figure Scooty Libby begins before U.S. district judge Reggie B. Walton (1949-); on Jan. 29 former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer contradicts Libby's account that he first learned of Valerie Plame's covert CIA identity on July 10, 2003, testifying that Libby told him about it on July 7, 2003 over lunch - oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive? On Jan. 24 Ford Motor Co. announces that it lost $12.7B in 2006, which comes to $35M a day. On Jan. 24 Dinner: Impossible debuts on Food Network for 83 episodes (until May 24, 2011), hosted by Salisbury, England-born chef Robert P. Irvine (1965-), known for wearing black T-shirts and chef's jackets with the inscription "Sub sole, sub umbra, virens" (Flourishing in both sunshine and shade); too bad, in 2008 "embellishments and inaccuracies" in his resume come to light, causing him to be replaced by Michael Symon for 10 episodes until they change their minds. On Jan. 25 Hezbollah and pro-Lebanese govt. forces clash, leading to riots and paralyzing the govt. On Jan. 25 after televised squabbling, the Iraqi Parliament approves a new security plan giving PM Nouri al-Maliki more authority. On Jan. 27 Israeli Mossad dir. #9 (1998-2002) Efraim Halevy (1934-) tells the Portuguese newspaper Expresso that "We are in the midst of a Third World War" with radical Islam, and predicts that it will take at least 25 years for the West to win. On Jan. 28 Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces in tanks and helis (so the official version goes) kill at least 250 insurgents hiding in a date palm orchard during a 15-hour battle near the Shiite holy city of Najaf, Iraq; one U.S. heli is shot down, and two U.S. soldiers are killed. On Jan. 28 Saddam Hussein's cousin "Chemical Ali" Hussan al-Majid acknowledges in court that he gave orders to destroy scores of villages during Baghdad's anti-Kurd campaign during the 1980-8 Iran-Iraq War, which killed 100K+ Kurds - way to go? On Jan. 28 conservative Repub. Ark. gov. (since 1996) Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee (1955-) (a Bible-believing Baptist pastor born in Hope, Ark.) (whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to "Gomer Pyle" actor Jim Nabors (1930-)?) enters the U.S. pres. race - wrong year for Huckleberry Finn even if he picks Jim as his running mate? On Jan. 28 Hillary Clinton makes her first pres. campaign swing through Iowa, giving a speech in Davenport, saying that Pres. Bush has made a mess of Iraq and that it's his responsibility to "extricate" the U.S. from it before he leaves office, and that it would be "the height of irresponsibility" to pass the war along to herself, er, the next pres.; meanwhile rumors surface that her Saudi-raised Muslim head of staff Huma M. Abedin (1976-) is having a lezzie affair with her. On Jan. 28 Sinn Fein members vote overwhelmingly to recognize the authority of the North Ireland pigs, er, police, paving the way for the return of a Catholic-Protestant admin. there to meet a 1988 Good Friday Peace Pact deadline of Mar. 26. On Jan. 28 Prince Charles and Camilla visit Harlem, N.Y. during a weekend tour of the U.S., visiting the Children's Zone's Promise Academy. On Jan. 29 the deputy gov. in Najaf Province, Iraq announces that his intel forces had infiltrated the Shiite Soldiers of Heaven and thwarted a major attack planned for that night, the eve of chest-beating forehead-slashing Ashura, the holiest Shiite celebration; bloodletting is banned in Lebanon and Iran, but that doesn't stop them? On Jan. 29 a Palestine suicide bomber kills three Israelis at a bakery in Eilat, Israel, becoming the first attack inside Israel in 9 mo. On Jan. 30 after the recent disclosures of grossly extravagant pay packages disgust millions of U.S. workers, Pres. Bush makes a surprise visit to the New York Stock Exchange, and gives a speech warning companies to keep a lid on exec pay, saying, "America's corporate boardrooms must step up to their responsibilities. You need to pay attention to the executive compensation packages that you approve. You need to show the world that American businesses are a model of transparency and good corporate governance." On Jan. 31 the 2007 Boston Mooninite Panic in Boston, Mass. sees a guerrilla marketing stunt by the Turner Broadcasting System to advertise the Cartoon Network show Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters (about a talking milkshake, box of fries, and meatball) cause Boston authorities to overreact and throw anti-terrorist forces into action at a cost of $750K, pissing them off and causing them to arrest Peter Berdovsky (1979-) and Sean Stevens (1978-) on trumped-up charges, vowing to go after Turner; the stunt involved placing magnetic light packages with pictures of "mooninites" Ignigokt and Err flipping the bird on public property in 10 U.S. cities; the whole thing was openly blogged on the Web, and if the stupid Boston authorities had only checked before calling out the troops?; on Feb. 5 Turner Broadcasting and the ad agency agree to pay $2M in damages; on Feb. 9 James D. "Jim" Samples Jr. (1963-), head of the Cartoon Network (since Aug. 22, 2001) resigns; the film is released on Apr. 13, doing $5.5M box office on a $750K budget. On Jan. 31 British authorities arrest nine men in Birmingham, England for an alleged terrorist plot to torture and behead a British Muslim soldier and broadcast it on the Net. On Jan. 31 Del. Sen. Joe Biden joins the Dem. pres. race, and tells the New York Observer that Barack Obama is "articulate and bright and clean", pissing-off the PC police, who jump on him and try to humiliate him for using a "code word" (clean) that "offends" the sacred cow segment of the U.S.; in the New Millennium U.S., clean is bad? On Jan. 31 actress Veronica Lario (Miriam Raffaella Bartolini) (1956-), wife (1990-2010) of Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi goes public with her anger over his flirtations in public with showgirl Mara Carfagna, making him publicly apologize on his knees. On Jan. 31 Mikhail Gorbachev pub. a Letter to the Wall Street Journal, saying "The goal is to develop a common concept for moving toward a world free of nuclear weapons", advocating dialogue within the framework of the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; on Mar. 2 the Bush admin. tells him to stuff it by announcing the selection of Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab in Calif. to design the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) to be deployed in all U.S. nuclear warheads in the next few decades, pissing-off atmospheric scientists as well as Cold War figures Gorbachev and Henry Kissinger, after which Congress cuts off funding in 2008, and the Obama admin. orders all work to cease in 2009. In Jan. the U.N. estimates that at least 35K Iraqis have been killed each year since the U.S. Iraq War started in 2003. In Jan. U.S. military experts announce that after the Iraq War ends the U.S. must spend $75B to rebuild the military and $24B to rebuild the Nat. Guard. In Jan. Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai appoints Izzatullah Wasifi as head of his 84-person anti-corruption dept., only to find out that he did four years in a Nevada state prison for selling heroin in the 1980s. In Jan. Allen Jasson is kicked off a Qantas flight to London in Melbourne for wearing a T-shirt with a photo of Pres. Bush and the slogan "World's #1 Terrorist". In Jan. the Algerian militant Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) in the Maghreb (N and NW Africa) aligns itself with al-Qaida. In Jan. the Leadership Group on U.S.-Muslim Engagement is formed by a distinguished group of U.S. leaders. In Jan. Tunisian Arab Muslim Abdul Wahab becomes the first Arab to be nominated by the Dept. of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Israel for saving a WWII Jewish family from the Nazis. On Feb. 1 George Casey, outgoing top U.S. gen. in Iraq tells the press that Pres. Bush has ordered thousands more troops into Iraq than needed to stop violence in Baghdad; he is being confirmed as U.S. Army chief of staff, and being replaced in Iraq by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus. On Feb. 1 a pair of suicide bombers detonate in a crowded outdoor market in Hillah, Iraq, a Shiite city S of Baghdad, killing 45 and wounding 150. On Feb. 1 Dem. San Francisco, Calif. mayor #42 (since Jan. 8, 2004) (youngest in a cent.) Gavin Christopher Newsom (1967-) apologizes for getting caught in a sexual relationship with his appointments secy. Ruby Rippey-Tourk (1972-), wife of his former campaign mgr. Alex Tourk (39) 1.5 years earlier as he was divorcing his wife, Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, the couple once being touted by the press as the "New Kennedys". On Feb. 3 British authorities confirm an outbreak of A(H5N1) bird flu that killed 2.5K turkeys in Lowestoft, E Britain since Feb. 1. On Feb. 3 Iran opens its Isfahan Uranian Conversion Facility to almost 100 reporters and a delegation of froeign ambassadors from the U.N. nuclear agency. On Feb. 4 U.S. Gen. Dan K. McNeill takes command of the 35.5K NATO-led troops in Afghanistan after 9 mo. of British command. On Feb. 4 after days of rain, rivers burst their banks in Jakarta, Indonesia, killing 25 and forcing 340K from their homes. On Feb. 4 Super Bowl XLI (41) is held in Dolphins Stadium in Miami, Fla., becoming known as the "Soul Bowl" for being the first in which there are two (any) black head coaches, Tony Dungy (1955-) of the 15-4 Indianapolis Colts, and Lovie Lee Smith (1958-) of the 15-3 Chicago Bears; the first SB appearance for the Colts since their move to Indianapolis in 1984 (384 games), and the 2nd #3 seed to play in the SB (first Carolina in 2004); the two team home stadiums are only 188 mi. apart (a record); the Colts' only SB win came in 1971 in Miami; the Indianapolis Colts, led by QB Peyton Williams Manning (1976-) (#18) defeat the Chicago Bears led by QB Rex Daniel Grossman III (1980-) (#8) by 29-17; Lovie Smith becomes the first African-Am. coach to lose a SB; the score is still 22-17 in the 4th quarter; Snickers runs an ad showing two men accidentally kissing, then validating their heterosexuality by tearing out their chest hair, which pisses-off the gay lobby and causes the ad to be cancelled later; the halftime show features head kerchief-wearing Prince, who performs "Purple Rain" in the rain (first SB to be played entirely in the rain), and gives one of the best SB halftime shows ever, not looking like a has-been like Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones?; too bad, his guitar solo features a silhouette performance projected on a beige sheet, where he appears to sprout a long serpent-like phallus, while his guitar handle appears to become a pitchfork and his kerchief turns into horns? - and he's supposed to be a Jehovah's Witness? On Feb. 5 Pres. Bush sends a $2.9T budget to Congress, and asks for an additional $100B for Iraq and the war on terrorism on top of the $70B already sought, for a grand total of over $500B for the war that Donald Rumsfeld said would cost only $50M. On Feb. 5 U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak (nee Caputo) (1963-) (an astronaut) is charged with attempted kidnapping after she drives 900 mi. and dons a disguise to confront Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman (1976-), a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of Space Shuttle Navy Cmdr. William Anthony "Bill" Oefelein (1965-), then sprays pepper spray through her car window; after being arrested she is found with a wig, trench coat, BB gun, knife, rubber tubing and pepper spray, becoming the first U.S. astronaut arrested on felony charges; Oefelein leaves NASA on June 1; on Nov. 10, 2009 Nowak pleads guilty, and is discharged from the Navy in Aug. 2010. On Feb. 6 a leaked cockpit video reveals an exchange between two U.S. pilots of the 190th Fighter Squadron (based in Boise, Idaho) who kill British soldier Lance Cpl. Matty Hull (1976-2003) and wound four others in Basra, Iraq on Mar. 28, 2003 after mistaking their bright orange "friendly" markers with rockets; the military had tried to cover it up. On Feb. 8 celeb no-talent Marilyn-wannabe sexpot Anna Nicole Smith (b. 1967) collapses at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., causing mucho publicity (while endless deaths in Iraq are forgotten easily?); no pills are found in her stomach; she had spent the last few days with 105-deg. fever, stomach flu, and an infection in her butt from repeated injections; a land grab begins to get hold of her money, with three men claiming to be the father of her 5-mo.-old daughter Dannielynn, Howard Kevin Stern (1968-) (listed as father on the birth certificate), Larry E. Birkhead (1973-), and Frederic von Anhalt (Robert Lichtenberg) (1943-), husband of 90-y.-o. Zsa-Zsa Gabor; her mother Vergie Arthur blames her death on "too many drugs", and thinks Larry is the real daddy; methadone is found in her fridge in the Bahamas, the same thing her son died from; after a court battle which her mother loses, Anna is buried in the Bahamas instead of Tex., after weird Bronx-born Judge Judy Sheindlin, er, Larry Seidlin (1950-) (former Bronx cab driver) gives control of Danniellynn to an advocate and then cries on the bench on Feb. 22, with Dan Abrams of MSNBC comparing the hearing to a "Seinfeld" episode and others predicting he'll be hosting a reality show; on Mar. 25 autopsy results are announced, indicating she ODed on nine prescription drugs incl. chloral hydrate - the nation where Judge Judy makes $20M a year and the chief justice doesn't even make a lousy $1M, and the drug companies rake in $275B, more than anybody? On Feb. 9 Muslims in Jerusalem riot over Israeli construction efforts to replace a damaged cents.-old ramp in Jerusalem leading to Barclay's Gate near the Western Wall; an attempt to open a tunnel there in 1996 caused riots killing 80; in 2000 Ariel Sharon visited unexpectedly, triggering riots and years of violence. On Feb. 9 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates claims that serial numbers found on bombs used by Iraqi terrorists prove they were manufactured in Iran. On Feb. 9 N.Y. gov. Eliot Spitzer declares an emergency after more than 7 ft. of snow falls in Oswego County along E Lake Ontario. On Feb. 9 the Ark. House of Reps. votes down by 20-46 a proposal to name Jan. 29 as Thomas Paine Day because of his writings criticizing the Bible, with Little Rock Repub. Sid Rosenbaum (Jewish) adding that they are "anti-Christian and anti-Jewish". On Feb. 10 Barack Obama officially announces his presidential candidacy in front of the Old State Capitol Bldg. in Springfield, Ill. where his hero Abraham Lincoln (1809-65) (born on Feb. 12) gave his House Divided Speech in 1858, running on promises of a rapid end to the Iraq War, universal health care, and increased energy independence. On Feb. 10 Barack Obama officially announces his candidacy for U.S. pres. before a freezing crowd of 15K-20K in Springfield, Ill., home of Abraham Lincoln, incl. protesters against his pro-abortion stance; his political strategist is New York-born Jewish journalist David Axelrod (1955-). On Feb. 10 at a security conference in Germany, Russian pres. Vladimir Putin blames U.S. policy for inciting other countries to seek nukes to defend themselves from an "almost unconstrained use of military force... Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem; they have become a hotbed of further conflicts", causing U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates to reply "Russia is a partner in endeavors", but "One Cold War was quite enough"; on Feb. 20 Bush's nat. security adviser Stephen Hadley departs for a 4-day trip to Brussels, Moscow, and Berlin. On Feb. 11 a Socialist Party-backed abortion referendum in Portugal to legalize abortion up to 10 weeks is approved 59.24%-40.76%, with 43.61% of registered voters voting, which is less than 50%, hence is not legally binding, which doesn't stop Pres. Anibal Cavasco Silva from ratifying it on Apr. 10; future pres. #20 (2016-) Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa leads the opposition. On Feb. 11 the U.S. announces it has fired artillery rounds into Pakistan to strike Taliban fighters, claiming the right to self-defense. On Feb. 11 Australian PM John Howard criticizes U.S. Dem. pres. candidate Barack Obama, saying his plans for Iraq "encourage those who wanted to completely destabilize and destroy Iraq", causing Obama to fire back "It's flattering that one of George W. Bush's allies feels obliged to attack me." On Feb. 11 Turkmenistan holds its first officially contested pres. elections, which are rigged in favor of the hand-picked successor of former pres. Saparmurad A. Niyazov, who died 7 weeks earlier. On Feb. 11 (Sun.) (eve.) the 2007 Grammys are swept by the Dixie Chicks, and features the Police reuniting to perform "Roxanne". On Feb. 12 photos surface of Anna Nicole Smith making out with black Bahamanian immigration minister Shane Gibson, causing a mini-scandal in the Bahamas. On Feb. 12 after a marathon session led by U.S. envoy Christopher Hill, six countries reach a tentative agreement toward North Korean nuclear disarmament, incl. giving them energy assistance. On Feb. 13 18-y.-o. former Bosnian refugee Sulejmen Talovic walks into Trolley Square shopping mall in Salt Lake City, Mo. and opens up with a shotgun, killing five until off-duty cop Kenneth K. Hammond begins a firefight with him until other officers arrive, killing him. On Feb. 13 Cuban comm. minister Ramiro Valdes Menendez (1932-) defends his country's Internet restrictions, saying "The wild colt of new technologies can and must be controlled." On Feb. 13 Lt. Gen. Abboud Gambar, cmdr. of Baghdad security announces that Iraq wil close its borders with Syria and Iran for 72 hours to help end you know what you know where. On Feb. 13 the U.S. House debates a Dem. resolution to "disapprove of the decision of Pres. George W. Bush announced on Jan. 10, 2007 to deploy more than 20,000 additional U.S. combat troops in Iraq"; "No more blank checks", declares Speaker Nancy Pelosi; on Feb. 16 it passes 246-182. On Feb. 14 U.S. health officials announce the first salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter, warning consumers not to eat Peter Pan or Great Value brands with serial numbers beginning with "2111". On Feb. 14 extreme liberal Dem. Jewish SNL comedian Al Franken (1951-) (known for calling Rush Limbaugh "a big fat idiot") leaves Air America Radio and announces his candidacy for U.S. Sen. from Minn. in 2008; on Nov. 11, 2008 election results have him 206 votes (out of 2.4M votes) behind incumbent (since 2003) Norman Bertram "Norm" Coleman Jr. (1949-), causing an automatic recount to begin. On Feb. 15 the militant Hamas-led Palestinian govt. of PM Ismail Haniya resigns to pave the way for a unity govt. that will incl. Fatah and Palestinian Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas. In an age of electronic money, the U.S. govt. tries to figure out a way to phase-out paper money by issuing tokens? On Feb. 15 the U.S. Mint in Denver, Colo. releases the gold-colored George Washington Dollar Coin under the U.S. Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005, hoping it won't go the way of the Susan B. Anthony and Sacagawea dollar coins, while trying to convince a skeptical public to abandon paper dollars, which only last 18-22 mo. compared to 30 years for coins, and they claim would save the U.S. $500M a year if phased out; in Mar. the Denver Mint makes a mistake and puts out a bunch of Washington dollars missing the "In God We Trust" inscription; in May the Pres. John Adams dollar coin is released, followed by the James Madison coin in Nov., followed by all U.S. presidents who have been dead at least two years; Grover Cleveland gets two coins since he served two nonconsecutive terms; in May the gold $10 Martha Washington Coin for collectors is released, costing more than $400. On Feb. 17 a suicide bomber in a courthouse in SW Pakistan kills 15, indl. a judge, and wounds 24. On Feb. 17 50K-80K march in the NE Italian city of Vicenza to protest a planned U.S. military base for the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade. On Feb. 18 the Chinese Year of the Pig begins; New Year's celebrations reveal a resurgence of Buddhism and Taoism, with 31.4% of Chinese 16 years or older now religious (400M); the other officially recognized faiths are Catholicism, Protestantism, and Islam. Speaking of pig? On Feb. 18 Britney Spears shocks fans by having her head shaved, adding to her systematic self-trashing behavior of divorcing her hubby Kevin Federline, maltreating her baby in cars, and appearing in public sans panties; she then checks herself into a rehab facility - either signs of a crash or a brilliant self-publicity ploy? On Feb. 19 insurgents stage a bold daylight attack against a U.S. combat post N of Baghdad, striking with a suicide car bomb then firing on soldiers pinned down in a former Iraqi police station, killing two soldiers and wounding 17. On Feb. 20 Iranian pres. Madman What's-His-Name tells a crowd of thousands that Iran will stop its nuclear program if the West does the same. On Feb. 20 the U.S. Court of Appeals rules 2-1 that Guantanamo Bay detaineers can't use the U.S. court system to challenge their indefinite imprisonment, upholding the 2006 U.S. Military Commissions Act, which requires detainees to prove to a 3-officer military panel that they don't pose a terror threat. On Feb. 20 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Philip Morris USA Inc. v. Williams to throw out a $79.5M punitive damage award against Philip Morris USA to a smoker's widow, saying that the due process clause allows it only to be punished for the harm done to the plaintiff, not to all or other smokers; Ginsburg, Scalia, Stevens, and Thomas dissent. On Feb. 20 the Australian govt. announces plans to phase out incandescent light bulbs in favor of fluorescent bulbs by 2012. On Feb. 21 British PM Tony Blair announces a new timetable for withdrawal of British troops in S Iraq, with 1.5K to return home in several weeks, and a total of 3K by the end of 2007; Denmark and Lithuania are also bugging out, leaving Bush's "coalition of the willing" in the lurch. On Feb. 21 Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe celebrates his 83rd birthday in a country whose inflation rate reached 1,593% in Jan., all his fault since he froze wages and prices decades ago; the largest banknote allowed in the country is a 1K denomination, which buys one tomato. On Feb. 21 billionaire entertainment mogul David Lawrence Geffen (1943-) gives an interview with Maureen Down of The New York Times, uttering the soundbyte about Bill and Hillary Clinton: "Everybody in politics lies, but they do it with such ease, it's troubling." On Feb. 22 the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency announces that Iran has ignored the U.N. Security Council ultimatum to freeze uranium enrichment and has instead been expanding its program by setting up hundreds of centrifuges (total 1K), saying that new sanctions will be laid on them. On Feb. 22 South Korean businessman-lobbyist Tongsun Park (Pak Dong-seon) (1935-) is sentenced to five years in prison for taking $2M to work on Iraq's behalf in the U.N. oil-for-food program. On Feb. 22 a New Zealand fisheries official announces that a fishing crew has caught a 39-ft.-long 990 lb. colossal squid in Antarctic waters, which was eating a hooked Patagonian toothfish (sold under the name Chilean sea bass). On Feb. 22 the U.S. military announces the discovery of a car bomb factory in Iraq with propane tanks and chlorine cylinders after three chlorine attacks in Feb. piss them off. On Feb. 22 British officials announce that 22-y.-o. Prince Harry ("2nd Lt. Wales") will fight for his country, setting out in May-June with his regiment for a 6-mo. tour, incl. Iraq, becoming the first British royal to see combat since his uncle Prince Andrew flew as a Royal Navy pilot in the 1982 Falklands War; his daddy Prince Charles also served in the navy, along with his grandfather Prince Philip; Queen Elizabeth II was a driver in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service in WWII; 24-y.-o. Prince William is also in his Blues and Royals regiment, graduated from Sandhurst in Dec., and is set to begin 5 mo. of army training in Mar. On Feb. 24 a suicide truck bomber kills 39 near a Sunni mosque in Habbaniyah, Iraq 50 mi. W of Baghdad after the imam of the mosque spoke out against extremists in a sermon on Feb. 23. On Feb. 24 a 140-lb. jaguar kills female zookeeper Ashlee Pfaff (b. 1979) at the Denver Zoo in Denver, Colo. after a door to his cage is left open. On Feb. 25 a Sunni female suicide bomber in Baghdad uses a charge packed with ball bearings to kill 41 at the Shiite Mustansiriyah U. On Feb. 25 Rev. Al Sharpton announces that he has found out that he's descended from a slave owned by relatives of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, calling it "shocking". On Feb. 25 an AP analysis shows that nearly one in six people in the U.S. receive some form of public assistance. On Feb. 25 Louis Farrakhan caps a 3-day convention of the Nation of Islam with his final major speech, saying that Christ and Muhammad would embrace each other with love if they were on the stage behind him. On Feb. 25 the 79th (2007) Academy Awards, hosted by Ellen Degeneres are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.; 306 films are eligible for consideration; the Oscars officially go green; the best picture Oscar for 2006 goes to The Departed, along with best dir. to sentimental favorite Martin Scorsese on his 6th try (beating Paul Greengrass' better United 93?); best actor goes to Forest "Idi Amin" Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland, best actress goes to Helen "Liz II" Mirren for The Queen ("Our Leaders. Ourselves.") (10-y.-o. Abigail Breslin, who played Olive Hoover in Little Miss Sunshine is passed over, as is Meryl Streep, who played Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada, her 14th nomination, two more than Jack Nicholson and Kate Hepburn), best supporting actor goes to Alan Alda in Little Miss Sunshine (Eddie Murphy, who plays James Brown clone James "Thunder" Early is passed over, perhaps because of his crude toilet-humor world's fattest woman flick Norbit, which comes out just at the wrong time, causing him to storm out of the awards show), and best supporting actress goes to Jennifer Hudson for playing Effie White in Dreamgirls (proving that rejection by Simon Cowell on "American Idol" is the ticket to fame?); Al Gore wins for the global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth (dir. by Davis Guggenheim) ("By far the most terrifying film you will ever see"), which also garners Lezzie Lezzeridge, er, Melissa Etheridge a best song Oscar for I Need to Wake Up; before going to the stage she gives her wife a big kiss, then dedicates the win to her and her four kids (the highlight of the evening?); Gore utters the soundbyte: "People all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue"; sound engineer Kevin O'Connell of Apocalypto sets a record with 19 straight Oscar nominations and 0 wins, losing to Dreamgirls; Pilobolus Dance Theatre provides the briefest numbers yet seen, despite one of the longest Oscar ceremonies ever. On Feb. 26 Iraq Shiite vice-pres. Adel Abdul-Mahdi narrowly escapes assassination after a blast in a govt. meeting hall which kills 10 and wounds him. On Feb. 26 the Internat. Court of Justice clears Serbia of genocide against Muslims in the 1995 slaughter of 9K Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica, saying that it was an act of genocide but that the govt. wasn't responsible, although it didn't effectively control its Serb forces. On Feb. 26 The Black Donnellys, by "Crash" producers Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco debuts on NBC-TV, based on the Hell's Kitchen Irish mob of the 1960s-1970s called the Westies, and the Black Donnellys family of the 1880s, who get murdered by Protestants then covered-up by the authorities; it gets cancelled after the Apr. 2 show. On Feb. 26 "Titanic" film dir. James Cameron announces that 10 small caskets discovered in 1980 in Talpiot, a suburb of Jerusalem contain the bones of Jesus Christ, Mary Magdalene, and their wayward child "Judah, son of Jesus", and produces The Lost Tomb of Jesus, dir. by Simcha Jacobovici of Toronto, which debuts on the Discovery Channel on Mar. 4 - he's fallen a long ways since "Titanic"? On Feb. 27 an explosion outside the main U.S. military base in Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan kills 23 and wounds 7 during a visit by U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney; al-Qaida leader Abu Laith al-Libi is suspected as the mastermind. On Feb. 27 Georgetown U.-educated Adel A. Al-Jubeir (1962-) becomes the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the U.S. (until ?). On Feb. 27 burglars slip into the Paris apt. of Diana Widmaier-Picasso, granddaughter of Pablo Piccaso, and steal two Picassos worth $65M+, "Maya and the Doll" (1938) and "Portrait of Jacqueline" (1961). On Feb. 27 Bob Woodruff's prime-time documentary To Iraq and Back shows he's back from brain damage - now an enemy sleeper robot? On Feb. 27 the NBC-TV show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, hosted by Jeff Foxworthy debuts on Fox TV for 98 episodes (until Sept. 18, 2009), becoming a hit as millions of Americans celebrate how bad their education is. On Feb. 28 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. plummets 416 points, causing Federal Reserve Chmn. Ben Bernanke to state that he still expects moderate economic growth, causing it to rebound up by 52 points the next day; he also utters the soundbyte that he does not see a "housing downturn" as a "broad financial concern or a major factor in assessing the state of the economy". On Feb. 28 a car bomb in the mixed neighborhood of Baiyaa, Iraq in W Baghdad kills 10 and wounds 20. On Feb. 28 the New York City council declares the nig, er, n-word off-limits to all races in a symbolic resolution caused by the Michael Richards episode; too bad, it's commonly used in hip-hop music and elsewhere by blacks all the time. In Feb. supermodel Tyra Banks (1973-) is caught by paparazzi in an unflattering pose in a 1-piece swimsuit, causing her to go on her TV show and admit she is 20 lbs. heavier than her Victoria's Secret days (161 lbs., 5'10"), and then wear the same polka dot bikini that first landed her on the mag.'s cover 10 years ago, telling the razzi to kiss her big fat butt; meanwhile the new Rubinesque It Girl Jennifer Hudson appears on the cover of Vogue in a Vera Wang dress, and in Feb. 2007 chunky Beyonce Knowles becomes the first celeb to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue; one bright side, she attends a Feb. 14 bash in West Hollywood to celebrate the issue, and doesn't sample the food, only to find later that it may have contained hepatitis A from an infected cook working for Wolfgang Puck Catering. In Feb. the U. of Ill. retires buckskin-clad basketball mascot Chief Illiniwek after 81 years after pressure from the NCAA, which barred colleges with Am. Indian mascots from hosting postseason events in 2005. On Mar. 3 a large protest against Pres. Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia ends 100+ arrests in Vosstaniya Square on Nevsky Prospekt; chess champ Garry Kasparov speaks to the crowd, and minutes after he leaves the pigs arrest the next speaker, Sergey Gulayev - next time it's pig to rook-you? On Mar. 4 the Clintons and rival Barack Obama go to Selma, Ala. to commemorate the 42nd anniv. of Bloody Sunday (Mar. 7, 1965), marching with the 1965 marchers, causing blacks fits deciding whom to support for pres.; Obama gives a speech, claiming that the 1965 voting rights march gave his parents the idea to have him, making him a child of destiny, despite his birthdate being 1961; "What happened in Selma, Alabama and Birmingham also stirred the conscience of the nation... This young man named Barack Obama... came over to this country. He met this woman... (who) had a good idea there was some craziness going on because they looked at each other and they decided... it might... be possible for us to get together and have a child. There was something stirring across the country because of what happened in Selma, Alabama... So they got together and Barack Obama Jr. was born. So don't tell me I don't have a claim on Selma, Alabama. Don't tell me I'm not coming home to Selma, Alabama." On Mar. 4 a minivan crashes into a convoy of U.S. Marines and officials in Barikaw in Nangarhar Province in E Afghanistan, killing 10 and wounding 34 Afghans as the cowboy Americans fire on every civilian car and pedestrian they pass, causing hundreds of Afghans to protest near the blast site. On Mar. 4 Iraqi and British troops storm the office of an Iraq govt. intel agency in Basra, Iraq, discovering about 30 prisoners, some showing signs of torture; meanwhile more than 1K U.S. and Iraqi soldiers move into Sadr City, meeting no resistance; meanwhile the U.S. Senate is busy rewriting the measure that allowed Pres. Bush to invade Iraq in 2003 to limit the mission to counterterrorism efforts. On Mar. 4 a U.S. Marines special ops unit loses it and opens fire into a crowd near Jallalabad, Afghanistan, killing 19 Afghans and wounding 50 after a suicide bomber rams their convoy; on May 8 U.S. Army brigade cmdr. Col. John Nicholson publicly apologizes and pays $2K compensation to each family, calling it a "terrible, terrible mistake"; on Jan. 8, 2008 Marine Sgt. Nathanial Travers testifies that the Marines fired into civilian traffic even though they saw no evidence that they convoy was fired upon first. On Mar. 4 Bruce S. Gordon announces his resignation as CEO of the NAACP after just 19 mo. Welcome to the Martha Stewart club not? On Mar. 6 Lewis "Scooter" Libby is found guilty of four felony counts of felony lying and obstruction of an investigation, based mainly on the testimony of NBC-TV "Meet the Press" journalist Tim Russert, putting a cloud over his ex-boss vice-pres. Dick Cheney, who says he is "very disappointed with the verdict"; Libby becomes the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the 1980s Iran-Contra Affair; a handwritten note by Cheney introduced into evidence hints that he believed Libby was being sacrified to protect other White House officials; Pres. Bush says he respects the decision, but "was saddened for Scooter Libby and his family"; juror #9 Denis Collins (a journalist) says that there was a "tremendous amount of sympathy" for him and he was probably a fall guy, but was clearly guilty of the charges; on June 5 he is sentenced to 30 mo. in prison; on July 2 at 5:25 p.m., after much speculation and snide comparisons to Clinton, Bush commutes his prison sentence, but keeps him on 2-year probation and makes him pay the $250K fine. On Mar. 6 a 6.3 earthquake kills 52 on the W coast of Sumatra centered near Padang. On Mar. 6 an Garuda Indonesia jetliner bursts into flames as it lands on Java, killing 49 of 140; pres. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono orders an investigation into possible sabotage. On Mar. 6 Pres. Bush names a bipartisan panel to investigation problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, incl. excessive red tape and dilapidated living conditions. On Mar. 6 NATO launches Operation Achilles, its largest offensive yet against insurgents in S Afghanistan, centered in Helmand Province, sending 4.5K NATO and 1K Afghan nat. army troops, with 1.5K U.S. troops expected to eventually join. On Mar. 6 Eric Johnson slams his private plane carrying his 8-y.-o. daughter Emily into the house of his ex-mother-in-law Vivian Pace in Bedford, Ind. after telling ex-wife Beth "I've got her, and you're not going to get her". On Mar. 7 Ed Nabors of N Ga. wins one-third of the $390M Powerball Lottery, telling reporters that he soiled himself when he learned the news. On Mar. 7 a fire in a dilapidated row house near Yankee Stadium in New York City kills nine children and a woman, all immigrants from Mali; the incident later reveals the nasty little secret some African immigrants have of continuing to practicing polygamy. On Mar. 8 the U.S. Congress passes a plan calling for troop pullouts from Iraq beginning in Sept. and completed by next Mar. On Mar. 8 Pres. Bush begins a weeklong trip in Latin Am. to offset the influence of Hugo Chavez and other leftist leaders, being greeted in Sao Paulo by 6K protesters. On Mar. 8 Newt Gingrich admits to having had an extramarital affair while leading the charge to impeach Pres. Clinton for, er, explaining that Clinton "got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge", and "You cannot accept... perjury in your highest officials." On Mar. 9 former FBI agent Robert Levinson disappears on a trip to the Iranian island of Kish; he is located on ?. On Mar. 9 China draws attention to U.S. abuses of human rights in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, saying it has no standing to criticize its abuses. On Mar. 10 Iran and Syria join the five permanent U.N. Security Council members U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China in a regional security conference in Baghdad. On Mar. 11 the U.S. switches to an earlier Daylight Savings Time to save energy, causing a mini-Y2K type bug in software. On Mar. 14 Chiquita Brands Internat. agrees to pay a $25M fine to the U.S. govt. after admitting to paying a Colombian terrorist group for protection. On Mar. 14 Southern Baptist leader Rev. R. Albert Mohler Jr. gets jumped on by the PC police for admitting that homosexuality is biologically based, but that it's still sinful and should be corrected in utero, with Harry Knox of the Human Rights Campaign gay group uttering the soundbyte "He's willing to play God." On Mar. 15 the U.S. House Appropriations Committee approves by 36-28 a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, brushing aside a veto threat from the admin.; meanwhile Dem. legislation in the Senate fails. On Mar. 15 a roadside bomb in Shiite E Baghdad kills four U.S. soldiers and wounds two; a high tech bomb is found at the site, causing the U.S. military to blame Iran. On Mar. 15 U.S.-led coalition forces mistakenly kill five Afghan police manning a checkpoint in Helmand Province. On Mar. 16 al-Qaida in Iraq blows up a suicide truck bomb packed with chlorine gas in Albu Aifan, Afghanistan, pissing-off the local pop., becoming a turning point in the Third Battle of Fallujah. On Mar. 17 a Russian airplane crashes in Samara on the Volga River, killing seven and injuring 20 of 57 aboard. On Mar. 17 a suicide bomber rams his vehicle into a Canadian military convoy in S Afghanistan, killing a child and wounding four, incl. a NATO soldier; meanwhile, a martar attack in NATO's largest base in S Afghanistan wounds three soldiers. On Mar. 17-18 protests throughout the U.S. against the Iraq War bring out the loonies and the hip on both sides. On Mar. 18 (Sun.) U.S. authorities announce that Sunni insurgents killed six U.S. troops in Iraq over the weekend, and a 7th dies from non-combat injuries. On Mar. 19 the U.S. Justice Dept. releases 3K pages of e-mails with new details about the Dec. 2006 firing of eight federal prosecutors, increasing the bipartisan support for the removal of U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, who had claimed he was not involved in the firings then says he was intimately involved; the firing of New Mexico U.S. atty. David Claudio Iglesias (1958-) for allegedly not prosecuting "voter fraud", i.e., voting by Hispanic illegals comes under its own fire; on Mar. 23 Gonzales' top aide Monica Marie Goodling (1973-) tells Congress she's taking the Fifth Amendment and not testifying on the issue, then abruptly quits on Apr. 6; on Mar. 29 his chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee that "I don't think the attorney general's statement that he was not involved in any discussions of U.S. attorney removals was accurate", then takes the blame for firing Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the U.S. atty. in Chicago who prosecuted Scooter Libby; after his support among Repub. senators erodes, he testifies before the SJC on Apr. 17; after a long 6-mo. thud, he resigns on Aug. 27. On Mar. 19 a methane gas explosion in the Ulyanovskaya Mine in Kuzbass, S Siberia, Russia kills 110. On Mar. 19 a car bomb explodes next to a U.S. Embassy convoy on a busy road in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing a bystander and wounding five security guards. On Mar. 19 a Sunni bombs a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, Iraq, killing eight. On Mar. 19 a poll by ABC News et al. shows that the optimism among Iraqis throughout the war has dissolved, with only 18% having confidence in coalition troops. On Mar. 19 officials announce the seizure of a boat carrying 21.4 tons of cocaine by Panamanian police, one of the biggest maritime busts ever. On Mar. 19 Randy Haugen of Ogden, Utah and three other Amway distributors are ordered to pay Procter & Gamble more than $19M for spreading rumors on the Amway electronic voice-mail system that they are Satan worshipers. On Mar. 20 a fire in a home for the elderly and disabled in Yeisk, Krasnodar, Russia kills 63 and injures 22, becoming yet another aging Soviet-era fire trap to burn in recent years, and the 3rd major disaster in Russia in a week. On Mar. 20 former Iraq vice-pres. Taha Yassin Ramadan (1938-) is hanged before dawn, becoming the 4th man executed for the 1982 Dujail massacre. On Mar. 21 Al Gore appears before Congress with a boxes full of petitions to take action on global warming, becoming his first appearance on Capitol Hill since Jan. 2001. On Mar. 21 the new Twitter account of The New York Times tweets the famous tweet: "Word up!" It is I, the Gray Lady, with a 'shoutout' to all my hip young friends." The insurgents begin penetrating the holy Green Zone? On Mar. 22 a Katyusha rocket fired from a Shiite area of the E bank of the Tigris River hits near the office of PM Nouri al-Maliki, 50 yards from visiting U.N. Secy.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon in Baghdad's Green Zone, causing him to duck just minutes after al-Maliki said that the city is "on the road to stability"; meanwhile the U.S. military announces the capture of Qais al-Khazaali and his brother Laith al-Khazaali, who they claim are behind a Jan. sneak attack that killed five U.S. soldiers in Karbala. On Mar. 22 Dem. pres. candidate John Edwards announces that his wife Elizabeth's breast cancer is back, and that it is incurable but manageable, like diabetes. On Mar. 22 Japanese real estate mogul Genshiro Kawamoto opens up eight of his 22 multi-million-dollar homes on Honolulu's Kahala Ave. to low income native Hawaiian families, letting them live rent-free for up to 10 years. On Mar. 22 S.C. bans gay marriage, ratifying a 2006 constitutional amendment, making them one of seven such states, with an 8th, Ariz., defeating a proposed ban. On Mar. 22 a pro-Obama YouTube ad equating Hillary Clinton with Big Brother is revealed to be the work of Philip de Vellis (1973-) of Blue State Digital in Wash. state, which advises Dem. groups and candidates and helped design Barack Obama's Web site, embarrassing him. On Mar. 23 the U.S. House by 218-212 votes to set a date of Aug. 31, 2008 to pull troops out of Iraq; Pres. Bush dismisses it as "political theater" and says he will veto it. On Mar. 23 (10:30 a.m.) Iran's Rev. Guards capture 15 British sailors and marines from the frigate HMS Cornwall at gunpoint in Iraqi waters the Persian Gulf near the Shatt al-Arab waterway, claiming they were in Iranian waters, causing a British protest; meanwhile the Iranians force the Brits to apologize on TV for being in Iranian waters; on Apr. 4 they are released suddenly Pres. Ahmadinejad, who awards medals to his own men. On Mar. 23 an "inside job" suicide bomber detonates among worshippers at the home of Iraqi deputy PM Salam Al-Zubaie, seriously wounding him and killing nine. On Mar. 24 Japanese PM Shinzo Abe criticizes proposed U.S. Congressional House Resolution 121, asking Japan to apologize for its treatment of "comfort women" in WWII, saying that they were not serial rape victims but mere prostitutes; it passes on July 30. On Mar. 24 the U.N. Security Council votes to impose more sanctions on madass Iran for continuing with uranium enrichment after Pres. Ahmadinejad cancels a trip to address them. On Mar. 24 terrorists in Somalia use a portable heat-seeking missile to shoot down a plane carrying humanitarian cargo, killing 11, causing the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security to commission Project Chloe to create unmanned aerial vehicles that can hover around airports and zap the missiles' infrared sensors with a laser; an earlier attempt to put lasers on airliners was scrapped after the airlines refused to pay the $1M-per-plane costs, even though the terrorists can buy their missiles for $10K a pop, and if they score a hit on a fully-loaded airliner it can cost them and their country billions - pay my price or pay the Devil's price, maybe they'll change their minds later? On Mar. 25 roadside bombs kill five U.S. soldiers in Iraq, incl. four in a single strike in Diyala (NE of Baghdad); two Iraqi soldiers die in a bombing at an Iraqi army checkpoint in Baqouba, and 29 more are killed or are found dead; meanwhile Barack Obama says that the war is diminishing America's standing in the world and diverting millions that should be spent at home - er, if the tax outlays are approved for the different purposes first? On Mar. 26 after the IRA drops its goal of ousting Northern Ireland from the U.S. by force, leaders of North Ireland's major Protestant and Roman Catholic parties announce a stunning deal to forge a coalition within 6 weeks, becoming the first time that "Not an inch" "Dr. No" Protestant evangelist Rev. Ian Paisley and his Dem. Unionists and Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams agree to direct negotiations; Britain promises to pass emergency legislation extending its deadline to May 8 for a working power-sharing govt., when the North Ireland Assembly elects a 12-member admin., with Paisley as first minister and former IRA terrorist (high school dropout) Martin McGuinness (1950-) of Sinn Feinn as deputy first minister; the Protestant orange and Catholic green conflict has claimed 3.6K lives since the 1960s. On Mar. 26 the first YouTube Video Awards picks seven videos, incl. the Ask a Ninja series by Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine, and OK Go's Treadmill-Choreographic Music Video; Terra Naomi wins best music video for Say It's Possible. On Mar. 27 a rocket attack in the Green Zone in Baghdad kills a U.S. soldier and a U.S. contractor. On Mar. 27 the U.S. Navy stages its largest show of force in the Persian Gulf since the 2003 Iraq invasion as a message to the pesky Iranians. On Mar. 27 the Dem.-controlled Senate votes 50-48 to incl. a non-binding amendment to an Iraq spending bill calling for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by next Mar. On Mar. 28 San Francisco, Calif. outlaws plastic garbage bags, and begins pushing biodegradable BioBags. On Mar. 28 (7:57 p.m.) a tornado catches the E Colo. plains town of Holly, Colo. by surprise, destroying five homes and killing Rosemary Rosales (b. 1978), who is pulled from her kitchen into a tree while her husband Gus clutches daughter Noelia; meanwhile another 64 tornadoes hit five Am. Great Plains states. On Mar. 29 the U.S. Senate approves the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq by Sept. 1, 2008 by a 51-47 vote, becoming the first time it stands up to the Bush admin. on the Iraq war; Repubs. Chuck Hagel of Neb. and Gordon Smith of Ore. vote with the Dems., and Joseph Lieberman of Conn. votes with the Repubs.; meanwhile more than 120 are killed in Iraq in five suicide bombings, mainly by Sunnis in Shiite neighborhoods, and 140+ are killed in the once-touted success story city of Tal Afar as a Shiite payback; the day's highlight occurs in the Shaab neighborhood of E Baghdad, where a man detonates in a crowded street market just after sundown, killing 60, mostly women and children. On Mar. 29 the U.N. Security Council expresses "grave concern" over Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and marines, and rejects Britain's call for a stronger statement; meanwhile Iran reneges on its promise to release the sole woman, Faye Turney. On Mar. 30 oil prices hit $65.87 a barrel. On Mar. 30 a wildfire burns in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles behind the famous Hollywood sign. In Mar. Barbara Walters interviews Hugo Chavez, who portrays himself as a man with love in his heart who is no enemy of the U.S., just capitalism and imperialism. In Mar. the $30M Grand Canyon Sidewalk over a 4K-ft. chasm in the Grand Canyon in the Hualapai Indian Rez in Ariz. opens. In Mar. a rash of deaths from eating pet food in the U.S. traced to Menu Foods "cuts and gravy" style is traced to rat poison in wheat gluten from China, but scientists later switch to melamine, a chemical from coal used to make plastics, which China had been putting into animal feed as a fake protein; 60M pet food containers of 100 brands are recalled, and 14K pets are reported sick; on Apr. 26 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture orders 6K hogs quarantined or slaughtered after melamine is found in hog feed; on Apr. 26 China accedes to demands and bans it. In Mar. the attys. for 440 phen-fen victims who won $200M from Am. Home Products Corp. in 2001 are investigated by a grand jury for defrauding their clients, paying them only $74M of the $135M promised, then threatening them with retaliation if they tell how much they have been paid. In Mar. France becomes the first country to put its entire CNES Space Agency UFO Archives online, with the oldest sighting dating to 1937, and a total of 1,650 cases and 6K witnesses accounts. In Mar. Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe stars as the troubled stable boy in a London production of Peter's Shaffer's Equus, appearing nude and smoking a cigarette, claiming "rite of passage". In Mar. Turkey bans Youtube.com for criticizing their secular saint Kemal Ataturk. On Apr. 1 U.S. Sen. John McCain visits Shorja Market in Baghdad accompanied by 100 soldiers in armored Humvees along with attack helis, then later brags that it was "like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime"; meanwhile at least two dozen are killed in Iraq the same day, incl. four U.S. soldiers; Shorja, the city's oldest and largest market, has been bombed at least 6x since last summer; meanwhile McCain reports raising $12.5M in the first 3 mo. of 2007, compared to $14M for John Edwards, $15M for Rudy Giuliani, $23M for Mitt Romney, $25M for Barack Obama, and $26M for Hillary Clinton. On Apr. 1 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Israel, followed by Beirut on Apr. 2, and is criticized by the Bush adm. for planning to visit Syria, while three Repub. reps. visit it the day before and are not so loudly criticized; on Apr. 5 she tells Syria that Israel will engage in peace talks only if it stops supporting Palestinian militants. On Apr. 2 (7:39 a.m.) an 8.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami devastates the W side of the 200-island Solomon Islands (pop. 500K), killing 22, destroying 916 homes and displacing 5,409; 25 mi. from the epicenter, a 10-ft. wave devastates the shanty town of Gizo (2nd largest), killing three; the town is 15 min. from the island where Lt. JFK and his crew holed up after their PT-109 accident. On Apr. 2 the U.S. and South Korea conclude a free trade agreement, the biggest for the U.S. since the 1992 NAFA agreement; meanwhile on Apr. 1 the hilltop hotel where delegates are meeting is rocked by 1K protesters, with one man setting himself on fire. On Apr. 2 illegal immigration foe U.S. Rep. (R-Colo.) Tom Tancredo (1945-) announces his candidacy for U.S. pres., going on to sell campaign buttons that say "Deport Pedro"; after his 1-note campaign falters, he gives up on Dec. 20. On Apr. 2 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Mass. vs. EPA (the Endangerment Finding) to rebuke the Bush admin. for inaction on global warming, declaring that CO2 and other greenhouse gases are air pollutants under the 1963 U.S. Clean Air Act, and that the EPA has the authority to regulate those emissions from new cars and trucks, pissing-off climate skeptics, who begin lobbying to overturn it. On Apr. 2 a suicide truck bomber kills 15 in a Kurdish neighborhood of Kirkuk, Iraq, incl. a newborn girl and a U.S. soldier, and wounds nearly 200. On Apr. 2 (9:37:30 p.m.) amateur photographer Grzegorz Lukasik takes the Bonfire Pope John Paul II Photo, appearing to be the pope bending in a gesture of blessing. On Apr. 2 Am. Jewish billionaire Sam Zell (1941-) buys the Tribune Co., incl. the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, promising to sell the Chicago Cubs; after he institutes stringent financial controls, the Washington Post disses him in June 2008, calling him "The L.A. Times' Human Wrecking Ball", "well on his way to... destroying the L.A. Times", equating him to 1910 L.A. Times bomber James McNamara and concluding "Life in San Quentin sounds about right" for him. On Apr. 3 the French 25K-hp bullet train V150 sets a rail speed record of 357.2 mph near the village of Le Chemin, breaking the 1990 record of 320.2 mph also set by a French train. On Apr. 4 in defiance of Pres. Bush, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leads a delegation to Damascus, Syria, where she meets with Bashar al-Assad, uttering the soundbyte: "We came in friendship, hope, and determined that the road to Damascus is a road to peace." On Apr. 4 irreverent radio host John Donald "Don" Imus (1940-) describes the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos", causing a firestorm by PC police; despite being put through an inquisition on Apr. 9 by Rev. Al Sharpton and apologizing to the team (apology accepted), CBS Radio fires him on Apr. 13 (Fri.), causing him to sue them for $40M, citing his contract that acknowledges that his services are expected to be "controversial"; meanwhile other groups cite black rappers for using the words Imus used in multi-million selling albums, raising the specter of double standards again; on Dec. 3 he returns to the airwaves on WABC-AM in New York City, properly contrite about daring to be non-PC? On Apr. 5 the N.C. Senate apologizes for past promotion of slavery and Jim Crow laws, following Va.'s lead. On Apr. 5 the St. Petersburg Declaration is issued by the Inst. for the Secularization of Islamic Society, calling on all world govts. to reject Sharia and other retro Muslim practices incl. suppression of women. On Apr. 6 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai announces for the first time that he has held meetings with Taliban members, but rules out talks with their leader Mullah Muhammed Omar (1959-). On Apr. 6 Disney Parks and Resorts announces that same-sex couples may exchange vows in front of Cinderella's Castle. On Apr. 6 an al-Qaida suicide bomber smashes a truck loaded with TNT and chlorine gas into a police checkpoint in Ramadi, Iraq, killing 27. On Apr. 11 the Algerian al-Qaida group AQIM stages twin suicide attacks, one against the office of the PM in Algiers, the 2nd against a police station near the internat. airport, killing 33 and wounding 150+; on Sept. 6 they bomb a crowd waiting to greet Algerian pres. Abdel Aziz Bouteflika in Batna, killing 22 and injuring 100+; on Sept. 8 the attack the naval barracks in Dellys, killing 30; on Dec. 11 they finish the year by attacking the HQ of the U.N. refugee agency in Algiers, killing 47 incl. 17 U.N. employess. On Apr. 12 N.J. Gov. John Corzine is critically injured in a speeding SUV doing 91 mph in a 65 mph zone with its emergency lights on, fracturing his left thigh and breaking 11 ribs and other bones; after being released from the hospital on Apr. 30 he apologizes for his "poor example" by not wearing a seat belt, and heads to the gov.'s mansion in Drumthwacket in Princeton for rehab. On Apr. 12 (6:54 p.m.) a suicide bomber hits the Iraqi Parliament Cafeteria in the Green Zone in Baghdad, killing a lawmaker. On Apr. 15 six blasts rock Baghdad, killing 45, showing the Iraq govt. up, and causing cabinet members who are followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadra to announce their resignation. On Apr. 15 Monsignor Antonio Franco, Vatican ambassador to Israel attends a Holocaust memorial service in Jerusalem, reversing his earlier decision to boycott it for a caption at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum saying, "Even when reports about the murder of Jews reached the Vatican, the pope [Pius XII] did not protest", and goes on to criticize his "silence and absence of guidelines." An eerie reverse restaging of Pickett's Charge and Columbine H.S. put together? Four days too early proves he needs to study more history? On Apr. 16 (7:15 a.m.) the Va. Tech Massacre sees loner South Korean lousy student English senior Cho Seung-hui (b. 1984) (in the U.S. since 1992) stage the deadliest shooting in U.S. history (until ?) at the Blacksburg, Va. campus of Virginia Tech, killing two at West Ambler Johnston Hall at 7:15 a.m., followed by 30 more plus himself in Norris Hall at 9:15 a.m., and wounding 17; he lamely attempts to conceal his identity, half-filing away serial numbers on his $571 (incl. 50 rounds of ammo) Glock 19 9mm semiauto and $250 Walther P22 .22 handgun (both with 33 cap. magazines) and shooting himself in the face, but leaves a typed 8-page note ranting against rich kids, debauchery, and deceitful charlatans, with the soundbyte "You caused me to do this"; Prof. Carolyn Rude reveals that plays he wrote for her class, incl. Richard McBeef were so violent and twisted that she referred him to a univ. counseling service; "Ismail Ax" in red ink was found on one of his arms; he signed into class with the name "?" (Question Mark); between Ambler and Norris he mails an elaborate videotape package to NBC in New York City which praises the Columbine H.S. shooters; the incident is seized on by gun control advocates, all bringing up the factoid that Britain had 46 homicides in 2006 vs. 590 in New York City alone, and that the death rate from firearms in the U.S. is 46 per million vs. 0.9 in Britain, although it's 146 in South Africa and 213 in Brazil; after the NRA caves, the U.S. House passes a new gun control bill on June 13 to fix flaws in the nat. gun background check system that allowed him to buy guns despite known mental health problems, requiring reporting of flagged nuts like him to the FBI's Nat. Instant Criminal Background System (NCIS), the first major U.S. gun law in more than a decade. On Apr. 16 Jason Benjamin Reynolds (1962-) becomes the first person in Colo. history to be convicted of 1st degree murder resulting from road rage, receiving two consecutive life sentences, then blaming it on "media whores" who downplay the fact that he was also in the accident that he caused by acting like a bull on wheels. On Apr. 16 photos of 57-y.-o. U.S. "white knight" actor Richard Gere sweeping Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty (1975-) into his arms and kissing her several times during an HIV-AIDS awareness event in New Delhi causes outraged prude crowds to appear in several Indian cities and burn effigies of him; judge Dinesh Gupta of Jaipur issues warrants for their arrest, causing the country to become a laughingstock and the judge to be transferred - the future of sex is overcrowding and a prudish public atmosphere? On Apr. 18 the U.S. Supreme Court votes 5-4 in ? v. ? (Alito being the deciding vote) to uphold the federal ban on second trimester partial birth (skull crusher) abortions, becoming the first time that the mother's health doesn't serve as a trump card, pissing-off the women's libbers bigtime, although 90% of abortions take place in the first trimester - they should make the mommies crush the baby's skulls themselves? On Apr. 18 Sunni insurgents stage four bomb attacks in Baghdad, killing 183, becoming the bloodiest day since the 30K U.S. troop surge 9 weeks earlier; the net result is to turn Baghdad from a Sunni to a Shiite city? On Apr. 18 Israel's Mossad briefs the White House about North Korea's secret construction of a nuclear reactor in Syria, expressing their desire to destroy it; after the NSC becomes divided, U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates brings up Pres. Reagan's condemnation of Israel's June 7, 1981 bomb of the Osirak reactor in Iraq, and utters the soundbyte: "I am aware f no precedent for American surprise attacks against a sovereign state. We don't do Pearl Harbors." On Apr. 19 Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi (1938-) becomes pres. of Muritania (until Aug. 6, 2008). On Apr. 21 (3rd Sat.) the first Record Store Day is held to celebrate independently owned record stores; rock star Prince is seen shopping at Electric Fetus in Minneapolis, Minn. on Record Store Day (Apr. 16), 2016 five days before his death. On Apr. 22 the 37th Earth Day is celebrated by 175 countries, with global warming getting top billing. On Apr. 22 gunmen shoot and kill 23 members in Baghdad of the ancient Kurdish Yazidi sect, which worships an angelic figure that Christians and Muslims consider to be the Devil. On Apr. 22 a suicide bomber kills six and wounds 40 civilians in the E Afghanistan city of Khost, Afghanistan. On Apr. 22 Hamas calls for renewed attacks against Israel after its troops kill nine Palestinians in weekend fighting; meanwhile the expected revolt of the pop. of Gaza against them fails to materialize, and instead the pop. becomes more religious, with new veils and beards popping up daily, and the Internet filtered to keep out secular crap. On Apr. 23 Boris Yeltsin (b. 1931) dies; over 25K mourners file by him as he lies in state at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow. Show us you're our star? On Apr. 23 Dem. leaders agree to pass legislation requiring the first U.S. combat troops to pull out of Iraq by Oct. 1, with a goal of a complete pullout within 6 mo. (Apr. 1, 2008); if Pres. Bush can't certify that the Iraq govt. is making progress, troop withdrawal will be moved up to July 1; after the pullout Pres. Bush will be allowed to keep some troops in Iraq to protect U.S. personnel, train Iraqi security forces, and fight terrorists; Bush is given the bill to sign on May 1, the 4th anniv. of his "Mission Accomplished" speech, and he vetoes it (his 2nd veto, compared to 37 for Clinton, 44 for his daddy GHW Bush, 78 for Reagan, 31 for Carter, 66 for Ford, 43 for Nixon, 30 for LBJ, 21 for JFK, 181 for Ike, 250 for Truman, and 635 for FDR), publicly denouncing it is "a prescription for chaos and confusion... we must not impose... on our troops", and that "it makes no sense to tell the enemy when you plan to start withdrawing", causing Sen. majority leader Harry Reid to reply "The president may be content with keeping our troops mired in the middle of an open-ended civil war, but we're not and neither are most Americans", and Nancy Pelosi to add "The president wants a blank check; the Congress is not going to give to give it to him." On Apr. 23 Iraqis protest in Baghdad over a U.S. plan to erect walls between warring neighborhoods, and PM Maliki promises he will stop their construction. On Apr. 23 a suicide car bombers kills nine U.S. soldiers and wounds 20 in an attack on Task Force Lightning soldiers in Diyala Province, Iraq. On Apr. 23 278 women and 12 men are arrested in major cities by Iranian police for improper and/or immodest dress, incl. letting too much hair peek out from under their veils; another 3,548 women are given "warnings and Islamic guidance". On Apr. 23 (guess whose birthday?) the conservative Am. Council of Trustees and Alumni in Washington, D.C. releases The Vanishing Shakespeare, a report complaining about fewer U.S. colleges requiring English students to study Shakespeare, which says "A degree in English without Shakespeare is like an M.D. without a course in anatomy. It is tantamount to fraud" - critics mumble something about white men suck? On Apr. 24 two dump trucks smash into an outpost in the Sunni town of Sadah, Iraq in Diyala Province, defended by U.S. 82nd Airborne Div. paratroopers, killing nine and injuring 20; al-Qaida claims the use of one truck to smash through barriers and a second to ram and drag it before exploding is a "new method" to kill GIs. On Apr. 24 the U.S. Coast Guard seizes 20 tons of cocaine in three ships off the coast of Central Am., becoming their largest single sea-based seizure. On Apr. 24 Muslims murder three Christians in Malatya, Turkey, slitting their throats in their Bible pub. house; on Mar. 21, 2011 Turkey arrests 20 people linked to the murders, claiming they're part of the seret Ergenekon network. On Apr. 24 Kevin Tillman (younger brother of Pat Tillman) and Jessica Lynch testify before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Govt. Reform that the military and admin. created a false hero story about Pat and Jessica to push the Iraq War, and covered up the real facts that the first was killed by friendly fire and the second didn't go down firing at the enemy, and wasn't a "Rambo from West Virginia", and had no bullet wounds, but that her roomate Lori Piestewa, who died in the ambush is a real hero. On Apr. 24 in Mexico City lawmakers vote 46-19 to legalize abortion despite opposition by the Nat. Action Party of pres. Felipe Calderon, becoming the first major Latin Am. capital to legalize it, causing protests by outraged Roman Catholics that escalate for years until ?. On Apr. 24 Alec Holden of Epsom, England wins $50K on a ? bet made with bookmaker William Hill nine years earlier that he would live to age 100, causing bookmakers to raise the age threshold to 110. On Apr. 24-25 the EPA P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) Expo in the Nat. Mall in Washington, D.C. features students competing for an award for the best sustainable design. On Apr. 25 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. closes at 13,089.89, up 135.95, the first time it breaks the 13K barrier; it closes the week on May 4 with the biggest winning streak since 1955. On Apr. 26 paralyzed British physicist Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) goes on a weightless ride, and comments that the human race is in danger of destroying the Earth and should think about escaping into space - just pass Uranus and turn left? On Apr. 26 MIT admissions dean Marilee Jones resigns after three decades after it is found out that she lied about her academic credentials to get er, admitted - work experience doesn't count? On Apr. 27 Saudi Arabia announces the arrest of 172 militants who had big plans for terrorism, incl. disrupting oil production. On Apr. 27 pink-wearing black Harlem rapper Cam'ron (Cameron Giles) (1976-) is interviewed on 60 Minutes about an incident on Oct. 23, 2005 where he was shot 3x by a thief trying to steal his Lamborghini, saying he's "not a snitch" and will not cooperate with police, causing some to suspect a publicity stunt. On Apr. 28 Colo. Dept. of Revenue supervisor Michelle Cawthra (1976-) is arrested after funneling tax money from state accounts into bank accounts controlled by Hysear Don Randell (1966-), stealing up to $10M. On Apr. 28 U.S. Gen. William Eldridge Odom (1932-2008) delivers a Radio Address on Iraq, saying that the CIC has "gone AWOL". On Apr. 29 the world ends, according to Am. conservative Christian TV commentator Pat Robertson (b. 1930) in his 2000 book The New Millennium (p. 138). On Apr. 29 demonstrations are held in more than 30 countries to protest the violence in Darfur; protesters (mainly young babes in jeans?) stage a "die-in" rally on Boston Common, laying on their backs with their legs tightly closed like corpses. On Apr. 29 700K march in Istanbul to protest the possible election of a Muslim fundamentalist president, calling for the resignation of PM Recep Tayyip Erodgan in favor of their guy, foreign minister Abdullah Gul. On Apr. 29 Afghanis carrying the bodies of five Afghans (incl. a woman and teenage girl) killed in a U.S.-led raid block a highway in E Afghanistan with rocks and fell trees to denounce the Afghan govt. and demand an explanation. On Apr. 29 a gasoline tanker carrying 8.6K gal. crashes and burns on a freeway in Emeryville, Calif. feeding the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, causing a stretch of highway to melt and collapse. On Apr. 29 a gunman driving a dead woman's car shoots a police officer then opens fire in a parking lot and enters the Ward Parkway Center in Kansas City, Mo. with a rifle, killing two more before being killed. On Apr. 30 a high-level panel sharply criticizes Israeli PM Ehud Olmert for "serious failure" in his handling of the war in Lebanon, "hastily" rushing into it with an unprepared army, and emboldening Israel's enemies. On Apr. 30 Gen. Sir Richard Dannatt, head of the British army announces that Prince Third-in-Line Harry will serve with a combat unit in Iraq, where he will lead a 12-man team in four armored recon vehicles from his tank; on May 16 Dannatt changes his mind, citing threats to him and his battle group, which is hailed as a big V by insurgents in S Iraq, who call it a chicken play after the capture of the British sailors by Iran. On Apr. 30 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 8-1 in Scott v. Harris that police do not violate a speeding driver's rights by ramming their cars, even if they injure them - we don't need no stinkin' badges? On Apr. 30 after being nominated by Pres. George W. Bush on Feb. 12 and unanimously confirmed by the Dem.-controlled U.S. Senate on Mar. 29, Afghanistan-born Sunni Muslim Repub. ambassador to Afghanistan (2003-5) and Iraq (2005-7) Zalmay Khalilzad (1951-) becomes U.S. U.N. ambassador #26 (until Jan. 22, 2009), going on to charge in Nov. that Iran is helping insurgent groups in Afghanistan and Iraq, and is proceeding with its program to build nukes, and urge the U.N. Security Council in Aug. 2008 to take urgent action to "condemn Russia's military assault on the sovereign state of Georgia". On Apr. 30 "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey (1956-), who is charged with running a prostitution ring in Washington, D.C. announces that she will out many prominent people incl. "a Bush administration economist, the head of a conservative think tank, a prominent CEO, several lobbyists and a handful of military officials", incl. Randall L. Tobias (1942-), top foreign aid adviser in the U.S. State Dept. (who resigned on Apr. 27), and U.S. Defense Dept. consultant Harlan K. Ullman (1941-), who coined the phrase "shock and awe"; her defense is that the girls were told to provide only a "high-end fantasy service", not sex, at $300 for 90 min. In late Apr. Barbara Hillary (1931-) becomes the first black woman to clinton through the bush, er, trek to the North Pole. In Apr. Cuban woman Yoani Maria Sanchez Cordero (1975-) launches her Generation Y Blog, criticizing the Castro regime under his nose, and becoming too popular to shut down. In Apr. the U.S. military death toll in Iraq is 104, the deadliest since Dec. 2006 (112). On May 1 the May Day (Internat. Workers' Day) Parade in Revolution Square in Havana is unusual for the absence of pres. Fidel Castro for the 3rd time in almost 50 years. On May 1 Iraqi al-Qaida leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri (1968-) is gunned down by rivals at a bridge near Lake Tharthar N of Baghdad, Iraq; on May 3 al-Qaida operative Muharib Abdul-Latif al-Jubouria is killed in Iraq. On May 1 in Los Angeles a peaceful immigration rally is swarmed by the elite Metropolitan Div. B Platoon, who fire 148 rubber bullets into the crowd and rough up journalists, causing 60 of them to be taken off the street by police chief William Bratton. On May 2 a rocket attack in the Green Zone in Baghdad kills four Asian contractors working for the U.S. - living in the Wild, Wild West? On May 3 after the Bush admin. long resists talks with both Syria and Iraq, U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice meets with Syrian foreign minister Walid Moallem in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, and tells him of U.S. concerns about his porous border with Iraq ; "It's a start", says Moallem; on May 4 Iraq wins a promise from Arab countries in the Sharm El-Sheikh conference to stop foreign militants from joining the insurgency. On May 3 Queen Elizabeth II and her hubby Prince Philip arrive in the U.S. to visit the Jamestown settlement in Williamsburg, Va. on its 400th anniv., praising the way the U.S. has evolved into "a much more diverse society", adding "The melting pot metaphor captures one of the great strengths of your country and is an inspiration to others around the world as we face the continuing social challenges head", recalling her last visit in 1957 when the celebration was all-white and segregated; after meeting with Virginia Tech families and students, on May 5 she attends the Kentucky Derby, causing all the women to try to outdo her with extravagant hats; on May 7 she visits the White House, her first visit since 1991, where the first white tie and tails dinner of the George W. Bush admin. is held; on May 4 O.J. Simpson is refused service at an upscale Louisville, Ky. steakhouse by owner Jeff Ruby who utters the soundbyte: "I don't want to serve him because of my convictions of what he's done to those families", even though he used to idolize him and had a photo of himself and Simpson on display before the killings; after Simpson leaves quietly and the other customers applaud Ruby, he adds "It was the first time since 1994 he has ever shown any class." On May 3 the first Repub. pres. debate is held at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif., and Rudy Giuliani, the only pro-choice candidate utters the immortal soundbyte "It would be OK" if Roe v. Wade were repealed after Tom Tancredo says it would be the "greatest day in the country's history". On May 3 Dem. pres. candidate Barack Obama is given Secret Service protection after racial threats, becoming the earliest ever given a pres. candidate. On May 3 two army recruits hijack a plane in Havana, Cuba, kill a hostage, and are arrested before it can take off. On May 4 the U.S. govt. places a hold on 20M chickens raised for market after finding that their feed was mixed with pet food containing yukky melamine. On May 4 John Schneider, who played Bo Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard TV show auctions off a version of the 1969 Dodge Charger "General Lee" for an eBay record $9,900,500. On May 4 (9:45 p.m.) a 200 mph 1.5-mi.-wide EF-5 tornado hits Greensburg, Kan. (E of Dodge City), virtually wiping it out, and killing ten; meanwhile Mt. Aetna in Italy erupts for several days. On May 5 a Kenya Airlines Flight 507 (Boeing 737-800) en route from Douala to Nairobi crashes on the outskirts of Douala, Cameroon 12 min. after takeoff, killing all 114 aboard. On May 5 conservative former 8-year Tenn. Repub. Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson (1942-) of "Law & Order" and "Hunt for Red October" acting fame gives a smooth Southern drawl speech at the Lincoln Club in Orange County, Calif., saying that he believes the U.S. should stay in Iraq as long as there is a chance of bringing in a new series, er, stability, adding that otherwise "we are going to leave an area of the world that becomes more and more nuclear" because if Iran gets a nuke other nearby countries will follow suit, and noting al-Qaida's stated intention to "put a mushroom cloud over an American city"; he also says that the 12M illegals in the U.S. don't bother him as much as the next 12M to come; he announces his pres. candidacy on Sept. 5 on The Tonight Show. On May 5 10K Turks gather in Canakkale and Manisa in W Turkey to call for Turkey's secular Islamic govt. to be preserved. On May 5 an explosion in the Pudeng Coal Mine in C China kills 15 miners and traps 30; an avg. of 13 miners die each day in mining accidents in China. On May 5 Hollywood begins releasing a summer-full of threequels, starting with "Spider-Man 3" ($336M), then "Shrek the Third" (May 18) ($320M, plus record animated film $122M opening weekend), "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (May 25) ($307M), "Ocean's Thirteen" (June 8) ($116M), "The Borne Ultimatum" (Aug. 3) ($78M), and "Rush Hour 3" (Aug. 12) ($?M) - guess what, hot pants did come? On May 5 former child star Kirk Cameron (1970-) and Ray Comfort takes on "curer of theism" atheist Brian Sapient on ABC-TV's Nightline Face-Off in a debate about the existence of God, showing the irreconcilable conflict between atheists and theists; Cameron-Comfort feature their Banana Argument for the Existence of God; other theists give the equally tasty Peanut Butter Argument Against Evolution. On May 6 the pres. election in France sees conservative pro-Israel law and order interior minister Nicolas "Sarko the American" Sarkozy (Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa) (1955-) ("an American with a French passport") (son of a Protestant Hungarian immigrant and a half-Greek Jewish half-French Roman Catholic mother) of the center-right UMP defeat Socialist Segolene (Ségolčne) Royal (1953-) by 53.1% to 46.9%, becoming pres. of France on May 16 (until May 15, 2012), pledging to break the old outmoded habits of France, incl. the 35-hour "absurd" workweek, and to stand up against tyranny, dictators, and Muslim oppression of women, then urges the U.S. to take the lead on fighting global warming; after Sarkozy signals that he will take a tougher line toward Russia, pres. Vladimir Putin fails to congratulate him on his win; meanwhile anti-Sarkozy protests are held in Paris and Marseille, comparing him to Mussolini and Hitler; on May 17 Francois Fillon (1954-) of the UMP is appointed by Sarkozy as PM of France (until May 10, 2012); on June 17 elections give the UMP a clear parliamentary majority, although it's no landslide V as voters fear giving him too much power. On May 6 the U.S., Egypt, Iran, the U.N. Security Council et al. hold a conference in Baghdad, Iraq; meanwhile two suicide bombers in Hilla, S Iraq kill 77+ Shiite pilgrims. On May 6 a plane carrying foreign peacekeepers across the Sinai desert crashes 50 mi. from el-Nakhi near a stretch of highway, hitting a truck, killing eight French soldiers and a Canadian, but leaving the truck driver unharmed. On May 6 U.S. gasoline prices surge to a record $3.07 per gal., topping the previous record of $3.03 set on Aug. 11, 2006. On May 7 six Am. Muslims are arrested for planning an attack on Ft. Dix and other military installations; authorities cracked the case 15 mo. earlier when one of them brought a video showing them shouting "Allahu akbar" and firing weapons to a N.J. store; on Dec. 22, 2008 five are convicted of conspiracy, and three are sentenced to life in prison. The double-standard U.S. justice system stinks itself up again? On May 7 Am. diva Paris Hilton is ordered to serve a 45-day jail term starting June 5 for probation violation on a Jan. alcohol-related reckless driving conviction after she fails to obey their orders not to drive and blames it on her publicist Elliot Mintz (1945-), saying that she doesn't read her mail because "I have people who do that for me", and was told by Mintz that it was okay to drive under some circumstances, telling reporters "I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted and I don't deserve this"; she then fires you know who, then quickly rehires him; a few days into her sentence she buys, er talks the sheriff into releasing her to house arrest in her posh mansion, stirring outrage, and causing the judge to order her back to jail to serve the full sentence; she then calls ABC-TV journalist Barbara Walters from jail and tells her that she hopes the media will focus on "more important things", and claims to be changed, saying, "I would like to make a difference... God has given me this new chance." On May 7 the supposedly new Dem. U.S. Congress shows its true colors by kowtowing to the pharmaceutical industry and defeating by 49-40 a law that would have allowed low-priced foreign prescription drugs to be imported. On May 8 French pres. Jacques Chirac becomes the last French leader who lived through WWII to head the annual ceremony celebrating the Allied victory over the Nazis. On May 8 Israeli officials denounce the Hamas-backed Al-Aqsa children's TV program Tomorrow's Pioneers (debuted Apr. 13), which features a giant black-white Mickey Mouse clone named Farfour (Farfur) ("butterfly"), who squeaks "You and I are laying the foundation for a world led by Islamists", and how kids should grow up to "return the Islamic community to its former greatness, and liberate Jerusalem... liberate Iraq... and liberate all the countries of the Muslims invaded by the murderers" - babies, they're so innocent, so pure, shouldn't their food be too? On May 9 Pope Benedict XVI visits Brazil, and says that Mexican lawmakers who legalized abortion on Apr. 24 excommunicated themselves. On May 9 an explosion rattles the U.S. Embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq while vice-pres. Cheney is visiting. On May 10 Bush's poodle, British PM Tony Blair announces that he will step down on June 26; on May 17 he visits the White House, where Pres. Bush pats him on the back. On May 12 7 U.S. soldiers are ambushed near Youssifiyah in the Triangle of Death 20 mi. SW of Baghdad, killing four plus an Iraqi translator; three soldiers are taken hostage, causing a massive manhunt. On May 12 Russia announces a deal to build a new pipeline from Turkmenistan through Kazakhstan into Russia's pipeline network in Europe, dramatically increasing natural gas flow from C Asia to Europe, and giving Russia control of the bulk of it. On May 15 outgoing French pres. (since 1995) Jacques Chirac delivers his final appeal, urging unity and pride, saying "A nation is a family. This link that unites us is our most precious asset." On May 15 U.S. atty. Stephen Pfeiffer tells the court that 10 Earth Liberation Front arsonists who were found guilty of setting 20 fires in five W U.S. states from 1996-2001 and causing $40M in damage should have their sentences enhanced for terrorism, comparing them to the KKK, stirring outrage from environmental activists. On May 15 Pres. Bush nominates Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute (1953-) as the "war czar", his asst. adviser on Iraq and Afghanistan (until ?) - Cool Hand Lute? On May 15 "Rocky" actor Sylvester Stallone pleads guilty to importing human growth hormone (HGH) and steroids into Australia, claiming they were prescribed for a medical condition and he didn't know it was illegal - duh, hey Adrian? On May 15 XM Satellite Radio suspends shock jocks Opie and Anthony for making crude sexual comments about Condy Rice, Laura Bush, and Queen Elizabeth II and then making light of the incident. In mid-May a 11-nation Bad Arolsen Conference is held in Luxembourg to consider repealing the 1955 law restricting access to the Nazi archives in Bad Arolsen, which can only be accessed by the Red Cross. On May 16 World Bank pres. (since 2005) Paul Wolfowitz (who resembles a Jewish Pres. George W. Bush?) negotiates a deal to resign along with an acknowledgment on June 30 from the bank that he doesn't bear sole responsibility for the generous pay package given his girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza; on May 30 Pres. Bush names his trade chief Robert Bruce Zoellick (1953-) to succeed him as World Bank pres. #11 on July 1 (until ?). On May 16 Gaza City turns into a war zone as Hamas and Fatah battle each other in the streets, killing 21. On May 17 the U.S. Senate reaches agreement on legislation to give illegal immigrants a chance at citizenship, allowing them to pay $5K over eight years ($60B total for 12M illegals), and creating a temporary worker program for 400K foreign workers a year; too bad, despite making English the official language of the U.S. as a sop, Repub. opposition over a perceived amnesty program kills it after Tom Tacredo issues the soundbyte "You can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig"; an attempt at a bipartisan compromise collapses in early June. On May 19 the 22-ft.-tall 1954 $15K Italian marble statue of Jesus at the Mother Cabrini Shrine in Golden, Colo. is struck by lightning, knocking off its outstretched arms along with a foot; the statue is insured. On May 19 former pres. Jimmy Carter tells the Ark. Dem.-Gazette: "As far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history"; after Pres. Bush calls his remarks "increasingly irrelevant", he backs down, saying "I wasn't comparing the overall administration, and I was certainly not talking personally about any president. I think this administration's foreign policy compared to President Nixon's was much worse", but not the worse in history. On May 19 an explosion in the Green Zone in Baghdad in the British Embassy compound just before the arrival of PM Tony Blair wounds one. On May 20 a suicide bomber targeting a U.S. convoy kills 14 and wounds 31 in a crowded market in Gardez, Afghanistan in E Afghanistan. On May 20-21 NATO secy.-gen. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visits Pres. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex. On May 20-21 Islamic Fatah Islam militants battle Lebanese troops in the Palestinian refugee camp (one of 12) of Nahr el-Bared 10 mi. N Tripoli; on May 20 22 Lebanese soldiers and 17 militants are killed. On May 20 the Israeli air force strikes the home of Hamas parliament member Khalil al-Haya (1963-), killing eight whie he is attending an Egyptian-sponsored truce meeting; meanwhile Gaza militants fire at least a dozen rockets into S Israel, and Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas calls for internat. pressure to stop the Israeli attacks. On May 20 a bus en route to New York City veers off a highway and crashes near Clearfield, Penn., killing two and injuring 32. On May 22 Pew Research Center pub. the first Nationwide Survey of Muslim-Ams., finding them to be largely assimilated, happy, and moderate; they estimate the U.S. Muslim pop. at 2.35M. On May 23 a political class with pro and anti Pervez Musharraf students in Karachi, Pakistan erupts into violence, killing 28, becoming the worst violence in a 2-mo. govt. crisis caused by the ousting of the head of the supreme court on Mar. 9. On May 23 Conservative married Christian Italian-Am. Elisabeth Hasselbeck and leftist lesbian Rosie O'Donnell get in a verbal cat fight on ABC's The View, causing O'Donnell to resign, even though she was scheduled to leave later anyway because of a salary dispute despite raising the show's ratings. On May 23 U.S. Sen. Barrack Obama gives a Speech on Immigration Reform in the U.S. Senate, with thesoundbyte: "The time to fix our broken immigration system is now. We need stronger enforcement on the border and at the workplace." On May 23 Istanbul mayor Recep Tayyip Erdogan gives a speech, calling Turkey's secular constitution "a huge lie", with the soundbytes "Sovereignty belongs unconditionally and always to Allah", and "One cannot be a Muslim and secular." On May 25 Pres. Bush signs a bill financing the Iraq War after the Dem.-controlled Congress caves in and gives up trying to tie the money to U.S. troops - it's not over, you're not the only one? On May 25 radical Shiite Madhi Army leader Muqtada al-Sadr makes his first appearance in the pulpit of Najaf Mosque in Baghdad 14 weeks after fleeing to Iran. On May 27 U.S. fores free 42 kidnapped Iraqis, many of them tortured from an al-Qaida hideout N of Baghdad, Iraq. On May 28 the U.S. and Iran hold their first diplomatic meeting in 27 years in Baghdad, with U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iranian ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi talking about Iraqi security for four hours, and Iran agreeing to stop arming and financing militants. On May 28 (Mon.) a decision by Pres. Hugh Chavez to shut down Radio Caracas TV (which was critical of his govt.) on midnight Sun. causes 5K protesters to take to the streets. On May 28 the Miss Universe 2007 Pageant is held in Mexico City; Miss Tenn. USA Rachel Renee Smith (1985-) is booed by the anti-U.S. crowd, and slips and falls during her gown competition; ballet dancer Riyo Mori (1986-) becomes the 2nd Japanese contestant to win (first was Akiko Kojima in 1959); wasting no time, Mori lands a role on the NBC-TV sci-fi series "Heroes" as Yaeko, love interest for a main char. On May 29 Pres. Bush orders new U.S. economic sanctions to pressure the govt. fo Sudan to halt bloodshed in Darfur, promising that the U.S. "will not avert our eyes from a crisis that challenges the conscience of the world". On May 29 Nigerian pres. (since 1999) Olusegun Obasanjo (a Christian from the S), who asked lawmakers to change the constitution to allow him to seek a 3rd term in a country of 130M people split into 250 ethnic groups which is also Africa's biggest oil producer is succeeded by Sunni Muslim Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (1951-) as pres. #2 of Nigeria's Fourth Repub. (until ?). On May 29 Russia launches its new RS-24 ICBM, which is fired from a mobile launcher and is capable of carrying six warheads in an effort to prove to the U.S. that its proposed anti-missile shield in Europe will be futile, with Pres. Putin pointin' out "We think it would be harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a tinderbox and fill it with new types of armaments"; Putin then surprises Bush in Germany with a proposal to use a Soviet-era early-warning radar in Azerbaijan as a substitute for radar and interceptors in Poland and the Czech Repub., which Bush dismisses, saying they're obsolete and too close to the potential launching points in Iran. On May 29 full-time anti-war protester mom Cindy Sheehan submits her resignation to the Am. people in her online blog, saying "Good-bye America... you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't make you be that country unless you want it. It's up to you now"; on the way from her property in Crawford, Tex. to the airport to return to native Calif., she tells the AP "I've been wondering why I'm killing myself and wondering why the Democrats caved in to George Bush"; in July she announces plans to seek House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's congressional seat in San Francisco unless she introduces articles of impeachment against Bush by July 23 - 12 months same as cash? On May 30 Pres. Bush asks Congress for an additional $30B to fight AIDS in Africa over five years, doubling the current commitment. On May 30 the Bush admin. announces that it plans to allow nearly 7K Iraqi refugees to settle in the U.S. by the end of Sept.; since the war began in 2003, less than 800 have been admitted. On May 30 a U.S. CH-47 Chinook heli is shot down in Helmand Province, Afghanistan near Kajaki, Afghanistan, site of a U.S.-funded hydroelectric dam, killing five U.S. and two other soldiers. On May 31 Atlanta, Ga. atty. Andrew Speaker (1981-), who suffers from extremely drug-resistant TB contracted during charity work in Vietnam is taken to the Nat. Jewish Hospital in Denver, Colo. and quarantined (first person under federal quarantine since 1963) after he causes an internat. scare by flying to Europe to get married to Sarah Cooksey on Santorini Island in Greece, becoming known as the "TB Man"; his father-in-law Dr. Robert Cooksey is a CDC researcher specializing in TB, causing rumors that he got infected at the CDC lab; it is later learned he was misdiagnosed with XDRTB, and only has multiple drug-resistant TB (MDRTB). On May 31 orthopedic surgeon Valdis Zatlers (1955-) is elected pres. of the pivotal nation of Latvia; he is sworn-in on July 8 (until ?). On May 31 U.S. spammer Robert Allen Soloway is charged with identity theft and other federal criminal counts in an attempt to shut down his billions of spam emails choking the Net. In May Time mag. pub. its List of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, snubbing Pres. Bush, who made all three previous eds., with deputy managing ed. Adi Ignatius explaining "His position on Iraq has cost him support in his own party. To a certain point, he sort of reached a lame-duck status." In May 1,949 civilians die in Iraq, along with 127 police officers and 47 soldiers. In May the approval rating of U.S. Pres. Bush sink to 29%, lowest in U.S. history; it rises to 33% in June - highest for an escaped zoo chimp? In May the price of a U.S. first-class postage stamp rises to 41 cents; surprise, the new Pres. Gerald Ford stamp is issued on Aug. 31. In May the Motion Picture Assoc. of Am. (MPAA) announces that it will use both sex and smoking as excuses to issue an "R" rating. In May a 1K-lb. feral pig dubbed Monster Pig is killed by an 11-y.-o. boy in a fenced hunting preserve near Birmingham, Ala. In May 4-y.-o. Madeleine McCann (2003-) of Britain is kidnapped in Portugal after her parents leave her alone a short time, causing a massive search which leads to Morocco and its child porn fun guys. On June 2 after spotting arms being shipped to Israel from there, U.S. authorities announce the breakup of a militant Muslim terrorist cell planning a "chilling" attack on the John F. Kennedy Internat. Airport by blowing up a 40-mi. jet fuel pipeline running through residential neighborhoods; in June 2010 Abdul Nur (former member of the Guyana parliament) pleads guilty, and on Dec. 15 is given a life sentence; on Aug. 3, 2010 a federal jury in Brooklyn, N.Y. convicts U.S. citizen Russell Defreitas. On June 2 25K-80K protesters rock Rostock, Germany to protest the upcoming Group of Eight summit, which is held on June 6-8 in the seaside town of Heiligendamm; on June 2 146 cops are injured and 17 are arrested after protesters shower police with grapefruit-size rocks and beer bottles before being driven back by tear gas and water cannons. On June 2 saboteurs bomb a vital bridge link to Baghdad, and Turkish troops mass for a possible strike across the Iraqi border into the Kurdish region to attack anti-Turkish Kurdish guerrillas, causing Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki to say "We won't allow it to be turned into a battleground". On June 17-15, 2007 the Battle of Gaza sees Hamas defeat Fatah and take control of the Gaza Strip, pissing-off Israel and the U.S. On June 9 cell phone salesman Paul Robert Potts (1970-) auditions for the new British ITV1 show Britain's Got Talent, wowing the judges and audience with a rendition of Giacomo Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot", and going on to win the first season and start a successful recording career; judges incl. Simon Cowell (1959-), Amanda Holden (1971-), and Piers Morgan (1965-); British "Geordie" (with that Newcastle accent) duo Ant and Dec, consisting of Anthony McPartlin (1975-) and Declan Donnelly (1975-) are the backstage presenters. On June 10 (Sun.) Pres. Bushi, er, Bush ends his 8-day Euro tour by visiting E Europe, incl. the Czech Repub., Germany, Poland, Italy, Albania, and Bulgaria; in Albania he receives a hero's welcome in Fushe Kruje, a small town near the Tirana airport where he stopped to chat in a cafe, and even bigger hoopla in Albania for telling Russia that "Enough's enough - Kosovo is independent", with crowds shouting "Bushie, Bushie", and PM Sali Berisha calling him Albania's "greatest and most distinguised guest we have ever had in all times"; video coverage seems to show the enthusiastic crowd going for and swiping his wristwatch, but it is later shown that he puts it in his pocket; the super-poor country loves the U.S. and is fabled democracy so much that families like to name their children Bill, George and Hillary, and a 15-y.-o. boy was shown clemency by the courts in early June for stealing scrap metal because his name is Xhorxh Bushi - ask the onomastician? On June 10 a suicide bomber takes down a section of the Checkpoint 20 highway bridge outside Mahmoudiya, Iraq (20 mi. S of Baghdad), killing 20 policemen and wounding 10; meanwhile a suicide bomber kills 15 in a police facility in Tikrit, Iraq; on June 11 al-Qaida bombers driven from Baghdad by the 4-mo.-o. U.S. security operation blow up a bridge over the Diyala River in Baqouba, Iraq, capital of Diyala Province 60 mi. N of Baghdad, causing traffic to have to divert to a road running through al-Qaida-controlled territory. On June 10 Khairul Khalil (1975-), son of Brunei sultan Hassanal Bolkiah marries princess Majeedah Nuurul Bulqiah (1976-) in the sultan's 1,788-room palace, where he already has two (wives that is). On June 10 admin. law judge Roy L. Pearson makes a mockery of the U.S. court system by pursuing a $54M lawsuit against Jin Nam, Soo and Ki Y. Chung of Custom Cleaners of Washington, D.C. for losing a pair of his pants in 2005, claiming they displayed a sign guaranteeing "unconditional satisfaction", and trying to twist the words into the language of the city's consumer protection law imposing $1.5K/day fines for violation, asking $3K (double since there's two legs?) for each of 1.2K days they failed to satisfy him, times three for the number of owner-employees, plus $500K for his legal costs, among other demands; the poor immigrant Asian owners already offered him $12K to settle after giving his pants back and him claiming a switch, but on June 25 smart judge Judith Bartnoff throws the bum out of court, making him pay $1K in clerical costs. On June 10-15 after Fatah lost the 2006 parliamentary elections, the Battle of Gaza sees Hamas violently take control of Gaza from Fatah, dissolving the unity govt.and de facto dividing the Palestinian territories in two after killing 118 and injuring 550; on June 11 a rocket-propelled grenade hits the Gaza City home of Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh hours after Hamas gunmen siege the home of senior Fatah official Jamal Abu al-Jediyan in N Gazi, then drag him outside and kill him. On June 11 a "no-confidence" vote against Central Am. dictator, er, U.S. atty.-gen. Alberto Gonzales, led by Dem. Senatorial Campaign Committee chmn. Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer (1950-) of N.Y. fails by 53-38 (seven votes short of the 60 required) after a 2-hour debate in which no Repub. comes to his defense, causing Pres. Bush to fire back that "They can have their votes of no-confidence but it's not going to make the determination about who serves in my government"; meanwhile six Repub. senators have asked for his resignation. The Iraq govt. settles into Three Stooges comedy shorts? On June 11 Iraqi physician Mahmoud al-Mashhadani (1948-), leader of the 44-member Sunni Accordance Front bloc, and known for slapping a fellow lawmaker and hurling insults is ousted from his post as speaker of the 275-member Shiite-dominated legislature, causing him to call it "an illegal decision made by a juvenile house", and digging into Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki and Sunni Kurd pres. Jalal Talabani as "much worse" and "even worse because he does nothing" - nyuk nyuk nyuk? On June 11 three Nat. Guard members assigned to the Tex.-Mexico border are arraigned on federal charges of running an immigrant smuggling ring after 24 illegals are found in a van driven by Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres (1981-) of Laredo, Tex., along with cell phone text messages claiming he charges $150 a person. On June 11 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules unanimously in the case of Long Island Care at Home Ltd. v Evelyn Coke (1934-) that home care workers are not entitled to overtime pay. On June 11 the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules 2-1 that the Bush admin. should either charge suspected terrorist Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri (1966-) (a legal U.S. resident and the only suspected enemy combatant on U.S. soil) or release him from military custody, causing an immediate admin. appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agrees to certiori until the govt. transfers his case to the federal civilian court system, making it moot, after which on Apr. 30, 2009 he pleads guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist org. and receives a 15-year sentence. On June 11 French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner announces that the pres. of Sudan has agreed to a hybrid U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force of 20K to stop the bloodshed in Darfur, but is adamant that all of the troops must be African; on June 17 the British ambassador to the U.N. announces that an agreement has been reached, with the commander to be African. On June 11 a Miami. Fla. co. issues a nationwide recall for 170K Shir brand toothpaste products imported from China which contain poisonous diethylene glycol antifreeze; meanwhile the numerous dangers of Chinese imports cause a backlash boycott in the U.S., even though China imports $290B worth of junk a year, and much of it is not identified as being from there. On June 11-12 two sets of sextuplets are born in two different U.S. states less than a day apart, to Brianna and Ryan Morrison in Minneapolis, Minn. on June 11, and to Jenny and Bryan Masche in Phoenix, Ariz. on June 11. On June 12 Afghan police mistakenly attack U.S. troops, who respond by killing eight of them and wounding four. On June 12 U.S. undersecy. of state R. Nicholas Burns (1956-) tells reporters in Paris that Iran is funding insurgents across the Middle East, and arming the Taliban in Afghanistan, upping the ante on statements made by U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates a week earlier that Iranian weapons were falling into their hands somehow. On June 13 insurgents blow up the two minarets of the Shiite Askariyya (Al-Askari) Shrine in Samarra, Iraq (60 mi. N of Baghdad) for the 2nd time in a year (1st time Feb. 2006), taking out the twin minarets overlooking the kaput Golden Dome, sparking Shiite wrath causing four Sunni mosques in Baghdad to be attacked, and a curfew to be called; meanwhile U.S. Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey tells a news conference that one in six Iraqi policemen trained by U.S. forces has been killed, wounded, deserted, or disappeared. On June 13 a car bomb kills vocal anti-Syrian lawmaker Walid Eido (1942-) and nine others near the Beirut waterfront, making him the 7th anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in two years, starting with the Feb. 14, 2005 death of PM Rafik Hariri (b. 1944). On June 13 after winning support from 86 of 120 Knesset members in the 2nd round, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres (Szymon Perski) (1923-2016), a former PM (1984-6, 1995-6) and founder of Israel's nuclear program is elected as Israel's 9th pres. for a 7-year term, taking office on July 15 (until July 24, 2014). On June 13-14 fighters of Hamas (Palestinian branch of the Muslim brotherhood, formed in 1987) take over the Gaza Strip from Yasser Arafat's Fatah (founded in the 1950s) in a fierce battle, then hold a parade where their green flags are displayed; on June 15 Israeli PM Ehud Olmert orders a Gaza Blockade (until ?); on June 17 a new govt. led by pres. Mahmoud Abbas is sworn-in in Ramallah despite Hamas protests, and he immediately outlaws Hamas militants and announces that he'll work to restore foreign aid and end the 15-mo. boycott; meanwhile Israeli PM Ehud Olmert says in New York City that Israel will be a "genuine partner" of the new govt. and will consider releasing frozen tax funds; on June 18 the Bush admin. lifts its embargo. On June 15 Salam Fayyad (1952-) becomes PM of the Palestinian Nat. Authority (until ?); on June 28 he meets with 800 Muslim clergy in Ramallah, and tells them that he won't tolerate calls for violence delivered from mosque pulpits, causing Clintonites in the U.S. to rally behind him as the hero who will end corruption in Fatah, make it more popular than Hamas, and lead the united Palestinians to sign a permanent 2-state peace solution with Israel. On June 16 after dropping all charges in Apr., Michael Byron "Mike" Nifong (1950-), the Durham County, N.C. distrity atty. who persecuted the three Duke U. lacrosse players since 2006 with unfounded race-card rape charges for political gain is disbarred by a disciplinary committee, who calls his abuses a "fiasco"; on June 18 he resigns, and on June 19 he is suspended with pay; on Sept. 7 he servces a 1-day jail sentence for contempt of court; meanwhile the players and their families prepare to file multimillion dollar lawsuits; no charges are filed against accuser Crystal Magnum, who rushes to cash in with a book. On June 17 a bomb explodes in a bus carrying police instructors in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 35 and wounding 52, becoming the deadliest insurgent attack since the 2001 U.S.-led Afghan invasion; meanwhile an airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition accidentally kills several Afghan boys in E Afghanistan. On June 18 a black bear fatally mauls an 11-y.-o. boy camping in Utah. On June 19 billionaire New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a lifelong Dem. who switched to the Repub. Party in 2000 before his 2001 mayoral race switches to unaffiliated for a possible independent pres. bid. On June 19 hundreds of Palestinians fleeing the fighting hole up in a concrete tunnel at the Erez Crossing in N Gaza Strip. On June 19 the Vatican issues Ten Commandments for Motorists, starting with "Thou shalt not kill" and ending with "Feel responsible toward others". On June 20 the Assembly of Muslim Jurists in Am. (AMJA) issues a fatwa prohibiting Muslims from providing food and supplies to U.S. and allied troops working in Muslim countries incl. Iraq and Afghanistan. On June 20 Ill. Dem. Sen. Barack Obama poses for photos in his Senate office with pornographer Terry Richardson, who is known for making selfies of himself having sex with sheep. On June 20 the U.S. Dept. of State holds a meeting of intel officials to discuss formal engagement with the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which has been diplomatically quarantined since 9/11.; they decide against it. On June 22 Harvard Law School grad. Larry Manzanares (b. 1957), a former Colo. district judge, who resigned as city atty. of Denver, Colo. in Feb. commits suicide at the Mamie Dowd Eisenhower Park hours after appearing in court on a slew of trumped-up felony charges involving a petty offense case of a stolen state court laptop computer found in his possession, which he claims he bought from a man in a parking lot for $200 and didn't know was stolen; the case was sensationalized when typical Colo. drunk-with-power prosecutor Scott Story called a press conference to introduce allegations of porno discovered on the laptop's drive (like just about every computer drive connected to the Internet nowadays), driving a judge to commit hara-kiri; the typical power-abusing Colo. prosecutors collide with one of their own for once? On June 22 militant Islamic madrasa students raid a Chinese-run massage parlor in Islamabad, Pakistan and abduct 25 Chinese masseuses dressed only in bras and panties, then hold them hostage for 24 hours to er, embarrass the govt. On June 22 popular WWE Superstar U.S. wrestler Christopher Michael "Chis" Benoit (b. 1967) strangles his wife Nancy and tranquilizes and kills his 7-y.-o. son Daniel in his $1M home, then hangs himself in his weight room on June 24; "roid rage" is suspected, and on July 2 his physician Dr. Phil Astin, who saw him on June 22 and gave him a prescription for Zoloft the morning before the rampage is charged with improperly dispensing 1M doses of controlled substances during the past two years; Benoit's testosterone ratio is found to be 59x normal - family secrets at 10/9 Central only on what network? The Blair era is over, and is replaced with a new one with Brains and Balls? On June 24 Scottish finance minister James Gordon Brown (1951-) takes control of Britain's governing Labour Party, saying that Britain would "learn lessons that need to be learned" after Tony Blair's support of the Bush Iraq War, and that his new foreign policy will "reflect the truth that to isolate and defeat terrorist extremism now involves more than military force", saying "It is also a struggle of ideas and ideals that in the coming years will be waged and won for hearts and minds here at home and round the world"; Harriet Ruth Harman (1950-) is elected as his deputy (until Sept. 12, 2015), calling for the govt. to apologize for its mistakes over the Iraq War; Brown adds that he will maintain Britian's strong relationship with U.S. pres. George W. Bush; on June 27 Blair steps down, and Brown takes over as British PM (until May 11, 2010) (Elizabeth's 11th PM), and on June 28 names Alistair Maclean Darling (1953-) as finance minister (chancellor of the exchequer) (until May 11, 2010), and pro-U.S. David Wright "Brains" Miliband (1965-) as the 2nd youngest foreign minister in British history (until May 11, 2010); his wife is a U.S. citizen; husband-wife team Edward Michael "Ed" Balls (1967-) (not to be confused with the writer Edward Ball) and Yvette Cooper (1969-) become secy. of state for children, schools, and family (until May 11, 2010), and housing minister (May 10, 2005-Jan. 24, 2008); David Miliband's younger brother Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (1969-) is named minister for the cabinet office (until Oct. 3, 2008); Tony Blair takes a new job as Middle East peace envoy to the internat. diplomatic Quartet, the U.S., the EU, the U.N., and Russia. On June 24 Saddam's cousin Hassan al-Majid AKA Chemical Ali is sentenced to hang for the massacre of 180K Kurds; his trial began on Aug. 21. On June 24 a car bomb kills six U.N. peacekeepers on patrol in S Lebanon; meanwhile a battle between Lebanese troops and Sunni militants in N Lebanon kills 10. We're back to the Biblical era of Judges? On June 25 the Bushified U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court shows its shift to the right in four 5-4 rulings: in Morse et al. v. Frederick (Bong Hits 4 Jesus Case) they decide against freedom of speech near schools, holding that the First Amendment doesn't stop educators from suppressing student speech promoting illegal drug use even it it's across the street from school; Federal Election Commission vs. Wisc. Right to Life Inc. they poke a giant hole in the McCain-Feingold campaign financing law by allowing TV ads by special interests groups as long as they don't mention voting; in Hein, Dir., White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives et al. v. Freedom from Religion Foundation Inc. et al. the Establishment Clause applies to Congress not the White House; in Nat. Assoc. of Home Builders et al. v. Defenders of Wildlife et al. they rule that the EPA was not out of line in transferring Clean Water Act authority to a state; Arthur Kennedy swings to the majority side on all four, which incl. Bush babies John Roberts and Samuel Alito, plus Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas; on June 28 the court rules 5-4 in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 that voluntary school desegregation efforts in Seattle, Wash. and Louisville, Ky. that take race into account in school assignments were not sufficiently "narrowly tailored", with Thomas, despite owing his education to affirmative action writes "It is far from apparent that coerced racial mixing has any educational benefits, much less that integration is necessary to black achievement"; John Roberts adds the soundbyte: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race"; Breyer, Souter, Stevens, and Ginsburg dissents; opinion is divided on whether the Brown case is being affirmed or undermined; liberal justice Stephen Breyer laments "It's not often in law that so few have changed so much so quickly"; the term ends after the court announces that it will review the rights of terrorist suspects detained at Guantanamo Bay next term; on June 28 the liberals score one with a 5-4 ruling to overturn the death sentence of a Texas murderer because he may not be able to understand why he's being executed for gunning down his wife's parents since he quotes the Bible; concurring justices incl. Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, Bryer, and swingin' Anthony Kennedy. On June 25 a wildfire near Lake Tahoe, Calif. forces hundreds of residents to flee as it destroys 200+ bldgs. On June 25 a suicide bomber strikes the Mansour Hotel outside the Green Zone in C Baghdad, Iraq, killing 13, incl. four Anbar tribal chiefs allied against al-Qaida, and wounding 27, pissing-off PM Nouri al-Maliki, who says "We are sure that this crime will not weaken the will of Anbar sheiks". On June 25 6-y.o. Afghan boy Juma Gul tells soldiers at Forward Operating Base Thunder that he had been recruited by the Taliban as a suicide bomber, which the Taliban dismisses as propaganda. On June 25 Rosie O'Donnell announces that she's dropping out of plans to replace retiring Bob Barker (b. 1924) as host of the CBS-TV daytime show "The Price Is Right" because she doesn't want to reclocate from New York to Calif. even though having his job was a childhood fantasy; Barker retired earlier in June after 35 years; on July 23 Drew Cary is announced as the new host. On June 25 white Utah State Prison inmate Curtis Allgier (1980-) gets his 15 min. of fame, escaping while out on a medical appointment, killing the corrections officer escorting him, then leading police on a high speed chase until being captured in an Arby's restaurant after a patron grabs his gun, then posing for a photo in the back seat of a police car, showing off his heavily tattooed handsome face and head, with the words "Skin Head" across his forehead - his whole life is devoted to fighting The Man? On June 26 the CIA Family Jewels are released, containing hundreds of pages of internal reports detailing assassination plots against Fidel Castro in the 1960-70s, as well as secret drug testing and spying on Americans. On June 26 U.S. Sen. (R-Ind.) (1977-) Richard Green "Dick" Lugar (1932-), ranking Repub. on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee breaks ranks with Pres. Bush on the Iraq War, saying "In my judgment, the costs and risks of continuing down the current path outweigh the potential benefits that might be achieved", and that the standing of the U.S. in the world could be irreparably eroded if it doesn't change its strategy soon; other Repub. Sens. chime in support of him as the White House tries to stifle them. On June 27 a PMT Air An-24 tourist plane crashes in Kampot Province, Cambodia, killing all 22 aboard. On June 28 the Vatican announces the Pope Benedict XVI is planning for the old Latin Mass to be used again. On June 28 a car bomb explodes in a bus station in W Baghdad in a Shiite neighborhood of Iraq, incinerating about 40 minibuses and killing 22 - buy one get one free? On June 29 the 2017 Neola North Wildfire starts in Neola in NE Utah 100 mi. E of Salt Lake City, and grows until a federal firefighting team is called in to take over on July 1; meanwhile the Am. Great Plains incl. Tex., Kan., Mo., and Okla. receive drenching rains which cause flooding, and Dallas-Ft. Worth Internat. Airport receives over 11 in., 0.5 in. shy of the 1928 record. On June 29 police foil a plot involving two cars in C London, England packed with explosives near Piccadilly Circus; on June 30 a fiery dark green Jeep Cherokee rams the terminal at Glasgow Internat. Airport, then two men run from it, Iraqi physician Bilal Talal Samad Abdullah (1980-), the latter on fire, both ending up captured and Ahmed in critical condition, obviously a bungled suicide bombing job, which is confirmed by a suicide note; Ahmed dies on Aug. 2; investigators later conclude that they had already tried to bomb a nightclub in C London; Abdullah is given two concurrent life sentences in London for conspiracy on Dec. 17, 2008, with possible parole in 32 years; meanwhile British authorities announce that the Muslim terrorists have been plotting to use health care profs. for attacks. On June 29 the Milford Flat Fire begins in Neola, Utah, in C Utah 100 E of Salt Lake City near Cove Fort, killing three and burning 23 sq. mi. of Ashley Nat. Forest; by July 8 (Sun.) is grows to 283K acres, becoming the largest in stae history, although it destroys no homes. In June 1,227 Iraqi civilians are killed, along with 190 police officers and 31 soldiers, the lowest since the start of the Baghdad security operation in mid-Feb. In June the U.S. Army switches back from the green dress uniform worn for the last cent. to the traditional blue ordered by Gen. George Washington to contrast with the red of the British redcoats in the Am. Rev. War; the combat uniform of gray for city, green for country, and tan for desert is kept. In June Nigerian immigrant Rotimi Adebari (1964-) becomes the first black mayor in Ireland, in the town of Portlaoise W of Dublin. In June the Ergenekon Case begins in Turkey as the first of 300 backers of the secular regime are arrested and put on trial for conspiring to overthrow the Islamist govt., turning into an effort to root out the entire older generation of Ataturk supporters (ends ?). In June the soap opera As the World Turns attempts to save sagging ratings by launching a gay-themed story line about Luke (Van Hansis) and Noah (Jake Silbermann), who engage in the first daytime TV gay kiss - mouth-mouth, not mouth-organ? In summer the number of people living in urban areas exceeds the number living in the countryside for the first time. On July 1 police step up their hunt for plotters of attempted car bombings in London and Glasgow as the anniv. of the July 7 London transit bombings approaches. On July 1 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin arrives in Maine for talks with U.S. Pres. Bush, eating a lobster dinner and going on a tour of Kennebunkport on Bush's speed fishing boat Fidelity III, which had become stuck hours earlier, causing Secret Service divers to be called to bail it out; Putin is the only person to catch a fish, a 30-lb. bass, which is thrown back; Putin then fleshes out his Azerbaijan site proposal, saying it can be modernized and that a radar system can be added in S Russia. On July 1 the 100-ft.-long Sea Stallion (Havhingsten) of Glendalough, a Viking replica long ship leaves Roskilde, Denmark on a 1.2K-mi. voyage to Dublin, Ireland, becoming the biggest Viking ship clone, modeled after a real one excavated in 1962 from the Riskilde fjord and dated to 910 C.E.; it arrives on Aug. 15. On July 1 Am. Civil War historian Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust (1947-) becomes the first female pres. (#28) of Harvard (until ?), replacing Lawrence Henry Summers, who resigned on June 30, 2006 after his free thoughts concerning possible correlation between gender and success in certain academic fields are respected not. On July 1 Tenn. becomes the first U.S. state to require an ID to be produced to buy beer, no matter how old the buyer looks; go figure, it doesn't cover hard liquor and wine. On July 1 smoking in enclosed public places is banned in England. On July 1-3 the 9th African Union Summit is held in Accra, Ghana; Senegalese pres. (since 2000) Abdoulaye Wade backs a United States of Africa, uttering the soundbyte: "If we fail to unite, we will become weak, and if we live isolated in countries that are divided, we face the risk of collapsing in the face of stronger and united economies." On July 2 Pres. Bush commutes Scooter Libby's 2.5-year prison term, but doesn't pardon him, although till the end he leaves the option hanging. On July 2 Hillary Clinton campaigns with hunk hubby Bill at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, and the crowd soon gives away that it's him they love, even though they clumsily try to cover it up? On July 3 masked al-Qaida militants clash with police in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing nine and wounding dozens; on July 4 police capture radical cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz as he tries to sneak out of the seiged Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) dressed in a woman's burqa, after which over 1K of his followers surrender, continuing to work for a Taliban-style govt.; on July 10 govt. troops storm the Red Mosque, where militants are holding 150 hostages, and capture it, killing 50 militants, incl. cleric Abdul Rashid Ghazi (b. 1964), who told the private Geo TV network in advance "My martyrdom is certain now"; eight soldiers are killed; the surprise al-Qaida war on the Pakistani govt. causes a rift with the Taliban, which splits into the Tahreek-e-Taliban in Pakistan and the regular Taliban in Afghanistan; the militant Ghazi Force is created to avenge the assault - it was the heat of the moment showing in your eyes? On July 4 Joseph Christian "Joey Jaws" Chestnut (1983-) defeats 6-time winner Takeru Kobayashi (1978-) in the world hot dog eating contest at Coney Island, N.Y., with 66 in 12 min.; Kobayashi was keeping even until the end, when he reverses (barfs), finishing with 63; both are skinny dudes, not big fat dudes as might be expected, as it's all in the ability of the stomach to expand, and fat just gets in the way? On July 4 an avalanche sweeps a bus down a Mexican mountainside in Eloxochitlan, killing all aboard. On July 4 Chrysler Group signs a deal with Chery, China's biggest automaker to launch a low-cost production venture that will export cars to Latin Am., E Europe and/or North Am., which would become the first Chinese-made cars exported to the U.S. - don't try to eat them? They had to sign it on the Fourth of July? On July 5 Younis Tsouli (1984-) of Morocco, who dubbed himself the "jihadist James Bond" is sentenced to 10 years for running a network of extremist Web sites, using the ID "irhabi007" to upload guides on how to build suicide vests. On July 5 Miss New Jersey Amy Palumbo gives a news confrence in Asbury Park revealing that an anon. party is threatening to pub. personal photos of her if she doesn't resign; the photos later turn out to be lame antics of drinking and partying, but nothing pornographic, so she keeps her crown - and isn't beheaded because it's not Saudi Arabia? On July 6 an assassination attempt is made on Pakistani pres. Pervez Musharraf by gunmen firing at his plane with AA guns from the roof of a home. On July 6 Rev. Ann Holmes Redding, an Episcopal priest for 23 years announces that she has been a practicing Muslim for 15 mo. after being profoundly moved by the Islamic prayer ritual. On July 7 (7/7/07) (Sat.), the "luckiest day of the century" causes a tripling of weddings incl. "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria, and chef Wolfgang Puck; the really superstitious "seven-up" from there, starting with holding services at 7:00; Longoria marries French-born NBA champion San Antonio Spurs player Tony Parker. On July 7 400K attend the globally-televised Live Earth concert at Copacabana Beach in Brazil to spotlight climate change, sponsored by Save Our Selves, founded by Kevin Wall with backing by Al Gore et al., receiving a record 15M live video streams, becoming a hit in Canada and a flop in the U.K. and U.S. On July 7 (Sat.) a truck bomb in the public market in Armili, Iraq N of Baghdad in an area of Turkoman Shiites kills 155 and wounds 265; on July 8 a bomb strikes a truckload of new Iraqi soldier recruits on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing 15 and wounding 20, the whole weekend causing Shiite and Sunni politicians to call on Iraqi civilians to forget the security forces and take up arms to defend themselves, and White Officials to admit that the last pillars of support among Senate Repubs. for Bush's Iraq strategy are collapsing, and that Bush is under pressure to announce a gradual withdrawal from the high-casualty parts of Baghdad at least; on July 9 Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari warns the U.S. that an early withdrawal could bring on an all-out civil war and that it has the responsibility of supporting the current govt.; he also claims that Turkey has massed 140K troops near the border; meanwhile a progress report on Iraq concludes that the U.S.-backed Iraq govt. has not met any targets for reform, causing Bush's center to continue crack; meanwhile the price tag on the Iraq War is $450B, plus $12B a mo. On July 8 new British security minister Adm. Sir Alan William John West, Baron West of Spithead (1948-) warns that the battle against domestic militancy could take up to 15 years and that Britons should snitch on neighbors suspected of being terrorists. On July 8 James Coldwell (1958-) is arrested at his Manchester, N.H. for robbing a Citizen Bank dressed up as a tree, with boughs duct-taped to his head and torso; "He really went out on a limb", quoth police sgt. Ernie Goodno. On July 8 the Israeli cabinet approves the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners in order to bolster pres. Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas, and on July 8 the 22-nation Arab League announces that it is sending envoys on a historic first mission to Israel to discuss a weeping, er, sweeping Arab peace initiative in which full recognition of Israel will be traded for an Israeli withdrawal from all lands captured in 1967 and the creation of a Palestinian state; too bad, Israeli refuses to return all of the West Bank and resettle Palestianian refugees within its borders. On July 8 NAACP chmn. Julian Bond addresses its 98th annual convention in Detroit, saying that the Bush amin. has done little to support blacks, incl. his slow response to Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq War, and immigration issues, and that Americans living in poverty have increased from 32M to 37M during his admin. On July 8 four fuel smuggling trucks driving with headlights off crash into each other and catch fire in SE Iran, killing 13. On July 9 Buenos Aires, Argentina gets its first snowfall since 1918. On July 9 married U.S. Sen. (R-La.) David Bruce Vitter (1961-) apologizes and admits he sinned after Hustler mag. tells him that his telephone number was among those disclosed by "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey; "Canal Street" Madam Jeanette Maier then chimes in that he visited her brothel "several times" before she was shut down in 2001, paying $300 an hour. On July 10 a USA Today/Gallup poll gives Pres. Bush a 29% approval rating, down from 33% a mo. earlier, with 62% of Americans saying he made a mistake sending U.S. troops to Iraq, and 70% favoring withdrawal of most forces by Apr.; meanwhile Bush says that the U.S. will be able to pull back troops "in a while", but asks Congress to wait until Sept. to pass judgment; meanwhile Bush nemesis Cindy Sheehan and supporters begin a 13-day caravan and walking tour starting at her war protest site near Pres. Bush's Crawford, Tex. ranch, arriving in Washington, D.C. on July 23, demanding Bush's impeachment, after which Sheehan quits the Dem. Party for caving in to him, and announces her candidacy as an independent for the San Francisco seat of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not introducing articles of impeachment against the bum. On July 10 a dozen mortars or rockets are launched into the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, killing three, incl. an American, and wounding 18. On July 10 John McCain accepts the resignations of two top aides and elevates a 3rd to campaign mgr. as his maverick pro-Iraq War candidacy auto-scoops. On July 10 al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri releases a tape threatening Britain with more attacks and accusing London of pissing-off the Islamic world by giving novelist Salman Rushdie a knighthood. On July 10 former U.S. surgeon gen. Dr. Richard Carmona tells Congress that the admin. muzzled him for political reasons on hot-button health issues such as emergency contraception and abstinence-only education. On July 10 Pope Benedict XVI approves a document saying that other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches, and that Roman Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation - the more it changes the more it stays the same, 2007 ed.? On July 16 6.8 earthquake hits the W coast of Japan, setting off a fire at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, causing a fire to start, drums of radioactive material to fall over and radioactive water to spill into the sea. On July 16 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles approves a $660M settlement for victims of clergy sex abuse, with insurers to pick up $227M of the tab and religious orders $60M, raising eyebrows about just how rich the Church, which refuses to pub. financial disclosure statements, really is; the total amount of clergy sex abuse setlements rises to $2B. On July 16 Aaron Snyder (b. 1975), a tuxedoed engineer (high school valedictorian) with delusional problems brandishing a weapon and claiming to be "Emperor Aaron Aurelius Romanus Constantinus", appointed by God to take over the state govt. is shot and killed in the Colo. state capitol in Denver near the office of gov. Bill Ritter by Colo. secret service agent Jay Hemphill, becoming the first-ever fatal shooting in the bldg. On July 16 drunken Tamera Jo Freeman (1967-) is arrested on a San Francisco-to-Denver flight for spanking her kids and flinging her drink at a flight attendant for intervening, getting 3 mo. in jail as a felony terrorist under the wonderful new U.S. Jail All Patriots Act, which is now an open pass for the U.S. govt. to jail anybody on any pretext just for being in their way - making millions begin to hate their country and not want to fight for it anymore, like in the days leading to the fall of the Roman Empire? On July 17 U.S. intel agencies pub. a 2-page Nat. Intel. Estimate, saying that al-Qaida is alive and well and continues to plan 9/11-type attacks, and that the threat to the U.S. appears worse than before 9/11, despite the billions spent to stop them. On July 17 Tam Linhas Aereas Flight 3054 (Airbus-320) en route to Porto Alegre skids off the runway in Congonhas Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, crosses a road and crashes into a gas station, causing a 1,830 deg. F fire which kills all 187 aboard plus four on the ground, becoming Brazil's worst air disaster (until ?); on July 21 at midnight just hours after pres. Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva unveils new air safety measures and announces plans to build a new airport in Sao Paulo, a radar failure over the Amazon River forces Brazil to turn back or ground a string of internat. flights, deepening the crisis, which incl. sending part of the fuselage to the U.S. for analysis instead of the flight recorder. On July 17 actor Daniel Baldwin (1960-) appears on ABC News' Primetime exposing his incurable lifetime addition to cocaine that has been dragging him down to rock bottom. On July 17 black Atlanta Falcons QB (since 2001) Michael Vick (1980-) is indicted for operating Bad Newz Kennels, an illegal dog fighting ring, and faces up to 6 years; on July 19 U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) goes on a ranting rage in a mostly empty Senate chamber, calling dogfighting "barbaric", saying "Let that word resound from hill to hill and from mountain to mountain, from valley to valley across the broad land"; on Aug. 27 after lying to his coach and everybody as long as he could, Vick pleads guilty to a felony and apologizes, trying to save his multi-megabuck football career from going totally down the toilet, and serves 18 mo. of a 23-mo. sentence, declaring bankruptcy and signing with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 while trying to stay out of prison by working with the Am. Humane Assoc. On July 17 Matthew Weiner's Mad Men debuts on AMC cable network for 92 episodes (until May 17, 2015), about the Sterling Cooper Ad Agency on Madison Ave. in New York City in the 1960s, starring Jonathan Daniel "Jon" Hamm (1971-) as philandering creative dir. Don Draper AKA Richard "Dick" Whitman, who loves the 1960s Manhattan Mod culture. On July 18 Senate Repubs. block legislation to force the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops within 120 days by 52-47, with 60 votes needed, giving Bush a 2-mo. breather; meanwhile the U.S. announces the July 4 capture of Khaled Abdul-Fattah Dawoud Mahmoud al-Mashhadni, a key link between al-Qaida in Iraq and Osama bin Laden's inner circle. On July 19 U.S. aviation authorities finally drop their ban on taking cigarette lighters onto planes, effective Aug. 4, calling searching for them a waste of time. On July 20 1M protest in La Paz over efforts to relocate the capital of Bolivia to Sucre. On July 20 255 jailed Palestinians are released by the Israelis to bolster the regime of Pres. Abbas, although thousands still remain in jail. On July 20 Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama fields questions on the new campaign video I Got a Crush on Obama, featuring slu, er, sexy model-actress Amber Lee Ettinger (1981-) AKA the Obama Girl. On July 20 Homeland Security secy. Michael Chertoff announces that cargo containers entering U.S. ports will finally be scanned by radiation-detecting equipment by the end of the year; critics complain that it has low sensitivity - as if they haven't already got all the nukes they need past the border by now? On July 20 Purdue Pharma LP, maker of OxyContin oxycodone pills is ordered to pay $634.5M for misleading the public that it is less addictive and abuse-prone than other medications. On July 21 Pratibha Patil (1934-) of the ruling Congress Party is elected by the nat. parliament as the first female pres. of India, defeating vice-pres. Bhairon Singh Shekhwat of the opposition nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party; she had recently elected the first female govt. of the N state of Rajasthan. On July 21 Barack Obama tells union activists in Des Moines, Iowa that he would walk a picket line as pres. if organized labor helps elect him, saying "We are facing a Washington that has thrown open its doors to the most anti-union, anti-worker forces we've seen in generations." On July 21 a U.S. military attack in Husseiniya, Iraq, 20 mi. N of Baghdad kills six and wounds five insurgents, according to the official version, but witnesses claim U.S. helis attack 3 hours during a 4-hour period in "a war against civilians inside their houses", killing at least 18, incl. women and children, and wounding 21. On July 21 Italian police arrest Muslim Moroccans Korchi El Mostapha (1966-) (an imam) and two aides, accusing them of using their Ponte Felcino Mosque in Perugia, Umbria as a terrorist training center. On July 21 Pres. Bush undergoes a colonoscope and hands his pres. powers to vice-pres. Dick "trigger-happy" Cheney; his last check was June 29, 2002. On July 21-22 London experiences its worst flooding in 60 years. On July 23 the Petit Murders see the home of Dr. William Petit (1957-) in Cheshire, Conn. invaded by Steven Hayes (1963-) and Joshua Komisarjevsky (1980-), who beat him with a baseball bat, rape and torture his wife Jennifer Hawke-Petit (b. 1959) and daughters Hayley (b. 1990) and Michaela (b. 1996), after which Petit escapes and goes for help, but the females are bound to their beds and burned alive while police surround the house and do nothing. On July 24 the U.S. federal minimum wage rises 70 cents to $5.85 an hour, becoming the first increase since 1997. On July 24 veterinarian (Catholic) Bamir Myrteza Topi (1957-) becomes pres. #5 of Albania (until ?). On July 30 U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts suffers a seizure in his summer home in Maine, his 2nd since Jan. 1993. On July 30 Barack Obama tells conservative Christian CBN News that "America is no longer just a Christian nation", and offers to be the Messiah who can find ways that religious conservatives and liberals can "begin to find common ground", with the soundbyte: "I think that the right might worry a bit more about the dangers of sectarianism. Whatever we once were, we're no longer just a Christian nation; we are also a Jewish nation, a Muslim nation, a Buddhist nation, a Hindu nation, and a nation of nonbelievers. We should acknowledge this and realize that when we're formulating policies from the state house to the Senate floor to the White House, we've got to work to translate our reasoning into values that are accessible to every one of our citizens, not just members of our own faith community" - is that what they call a New York state of mind, or a Chicago one, make that Washington D.C? On July 31 the Israeli govt. offers their 240K Holocaust survivors (half of whom live in poverty) a measly $20 per mo. stipend, stirring outrage. On July 31 the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 to adopt Resolution 1769, establishing the U.N.-African Union Mission in Darfur (ends ?), which grows to 26K personnel with a budget of $106M/mo. by 2008 after it begins deployment in Oct.; by June 30, 2013 it has 19,735 personnel; by June 20, 2017 it loses 250 personnel KIA. In July U.S. Rep. (D-Mich.) (1955-) John David Dingell Jr. (1926-) proposes a carbon tax to cut greenhouse emissions. On Aug. 1 the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni Arab bloc quits the Iraqi cabinet; meanwhile insurgent attacks kill 142. On Aug. 1 an interstate bridge (built 1967) on the 8-lane I-35W between Minneapolis, Minn. and St. Paul, Minn. suddenly collapses into the Mississippi River during rush hour, dropping cars 60 ft. and killing three. On Aug. 1 a passenger train derails in Benaleka, Congo, killing 100. On Aug. 1 rock star Prince begins his Earth Tour, limiting his performances so he can devote time to studying Jehovah's Witnesses Bible lit. On Aug. 2 Serbian-born Charles (Dusan) Simic (1938-) becomes U.S. poet laureate #15 (until ?). On Aug. 2 two small Russian subs plant a titanium capsule on the floor of the Arctic Ocean near the North Pole containing a Russian flag in a symbolic attempt at claiming the region, which is estimated to contain 10B tons of oil and gas deposits. On Aug. 4 three college students are gunned down and a 4th shot in the head in Newark, N.J. by 28-y.-o. Jose Carranza (1979-), who surrenders five days later as mayor Cory A. Booker snubs him at police HQ an hour after announcing the arrest of another suspect, saying that the killings won't define the city even though the homicide rate is up over 50% in the past decade. On Aug. 5 Pres. Bush signs the controversial U.S. Protect America Act of 2007, amending the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), broadly expanding the U.S. govt.'s authority to eavesdrop on internat. communications of U.S. citizens without warrants as long as the target is a person "reasonably believed" to be overseas; despite fears of destruction of liberties of U.S. citizens, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 reauthorizes many of the 2007 act's provisions. On Aug. 6 the Crandall Canyon Coal Mine in Huntington, Utah collapses, causing a 3.9 earthquake and trapping and killing six miners. On Aug. 6 U.S. Army Cpl. Kareem Rashad Sultan (b. 1987), who joined to prove that not all Muslims are fanatics is killed by an IED in Baqubah, Iraq, and is buried in Arlington Nat. Cemetery after being awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star; Colin Powell later praises him in his endorsement speech of Barack Obama; the first Muslim U.S. soldier to die in combat?; he really turned jihadist and was blown up by his own bomb to go to Paradise with Allah? On Aug. 8 Space Shuttle Endeavour mission STS-118 blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. carrying teacher Barbara Radding Morgan (1951-) (Christa McAuliffe's backup in the doomed 1986 flight), along with Dave Williams (white) and Benjamin Drew (black); too bad, on Aug. 10 a gouge is found on its belly after it docks with the ISS; on Aug. 21 it lands safely. On Aug. 8 Fortune reports that Mexican communications magnate Carlos Slim Helu (1940-) has overtaken Bill Gates as the world's richest man, with a net worth of $68B, vs. $58B for Gates; on Mar. 5, 2008 he slides to #2, and on Mar. 11, 2009 slides to #3 after losing $25B. On Aug. 11 a roadside bomb in Iraq kills Qadisiyah Province gov. Khalil Jalil Hamza and police maj. gen. Khalid Hassan. On Aug. 13 Hurricane Dean starts as a tropical storm off the W coast of Africa, hitting Jamaica on Aug. 19, threatening Tex. and Mexico with Category 5 175 mph winds, causing Space Shuttle Endeavour to land a day early on Aug. 21; by Aug. 27 it kills 45 and causes $1.66B in damage. On Aug. 13 deputy White House chief of staff "the Architect" Karl Rove roves away from the White House, his services no longer needed for a lame duck pres. On Aug. 14 the 2007 Yazidi Communities Bombings sees four coordinate suicide bomb attacks in the Yazidi Kurd combo Jewish-Christian-Muslim-Zoroastrian towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera near Mosul Iraq, which kill 500+ and injure 1.5K+, becoming the deadliest attack since last Nov. 23, when 215 were killed in Sadr City, and the deadliest terrorist attack in modern history after 9/11; there are a total of 100K Yazidis in Iraq; meanwhile dozens of uniformed gunmen in 17 official vehicles storm the Oil Ministry compound, taking the deputy oil minister and four others hostage, and a suicide truck bomber destroys Thiraa Dijla Bridge on the main highway to Mosul; five U.S. troops are killed in a CH-47 Chinook heli crash near Taqaddum Air Base, plus four more elsewhere in combat; meanwhile 16K U.S. and Iraqi soldiers go after militants in the Diyala River Valley N of Baghdad, further herding them towards the Yazidis and other Kurds. On Aug. 15 an 8.0 earthquake hits S of Lima, Peru, killing 350, incl. 17 trapped in a collapsing church in the city of Ica. On Aug. 15 Venezuelan pres. #62 (since Feb. 2, 1999) Hugo Chavez calls for an end to term limits, going on to stay in office until Mar. 5, 2013. On Aug. 15 New York City police commissioner #41 (since Jan. 1, 2002) Raymond Walter Kelly (1941-) utters the soundbyte: "The Internet is the new Afghanistan", citing its use by al-Qaida for recruitment and training, taking advantage of the lack of Westerners who can understand Arabic. On Aug. 15 in Myanmar the raising of fuel prices as much as 500% by the govt. causes citizen protests, launching the Saffron Rev., inspired by Aung San Suu Kyi, which begins as 500 mainly young male Buddhist monks march in Pokokku in N Myanmar (390 mi. NW of Yangon), causing authorities to fire warning shots and beat some of them up; on Sept. 6 the monks take some govt. officials hostage and demand apologies, and the protest spreads throughout Myanmar; on Sept. 22 2K monks march in Yangon in N Myanmar to defy the military junta, along with 10K in Mandalay, passing the house of Aung San Suu Kyi, who appears at her gate (where she is under house arrest) and accepts their blessings; on Sept. 23 150 nuns join in Yangon, along with 15K monks and laymen; on Sept. 24-26 30K-100K, incl. 10K monks stage a pro-democracy protest, which is brutally crushed by troops, who kill up to 200; meanwhile other protests go on in 25 other cities, causing the govt. to move Ain't You So Ashamed Kids to Insein Prison, and impose dusk-dawn curfews starting Sept. 26, then begin arresting hundreds of monks on Sept. 27, which doesn't stop 50K from protesting in Yangon, which troops deal with by hosing them down with insecticide spray, after which the protests stop; on Sept. 27 Japanese photographer Kenji Nagai (b. 1957) is shot and killed in the street like a dog by troops, continuing to take photos as he lies bleeding on the ground, causing Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda to demand a full explanation; in Sept. U.N. under-secy.-gen. (since 2005) Ibahim Agboola Gambari (1944-) of Nigeria is appointed special U.N. envoy to Myanmar; on Oct. 31 they try it again in Pakkoku, but are down to 100 monks; on Nov. 26 hundreds of monks march against the Myanmar regime in safer Patna, India. On Aug. 16 Jose Padilla (1970-), an American arrested at a Chicago airport on May 8, 2002 carrying $10K in cash and a cell phone loaded with al-Qaida e-mail addresses is found guilty of terrorist conspiracy, getting life in priz for plotting to kidnap, maim, and murder unspecified people overseas - a railroad job? On Aug. 19 Dem. candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Bill Richardson, Joseph Biden, Dennis Kucinich, Chris Dodd, and Mike Gravel (of Alaska) debate at Drake U. in Iowa, and George Stephanopoulos presses Joseph Biden on a recent quote that Barack Obama isn't ready and that "the presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training", and he replies "I stand by that statement"; in May 2008 in an interview with Stephanopoulos on ABC's "This Week", he says "That was a year ago; he's learned a hell of a lot." On Aug. 20 an overcrowded bus plunges off a road in the rain in Laghuwa Village in W Nepal, killing 25 and injuring 40. On Aug. 24-28 wildfires in S Greece kill 60, threatening Olympia, site of the ancient Olympics. On Aug. 26 the $95M 349-ft. aluminum-hulled catamaran Hawaii Superferry makes its maiden run from Honolulu Harbor in Honolulu to Kahului Harbor in Maui despite protests from environmentalists, carrying 500 passengers and 150 cars in a 3-hour trip, with a max. cap. of 866 passengers and 282 subcompact cars; on Oct. 9 a Maui judge halts it pending environmental studies; on Oct. 31 the Hawaiian legislature votes to overrule all court decisions to allow it to resume service, which begins in Dec.; too bad, on Mar. 16, 2009 the Hawaiian Supreme Court rules the law unconstitutional, and the co. goes bankrupt, selling its ships Alakai and Huakai to the U.S. Navy at a steep loss. On Aug. 27 MTV announces that they're making gay bud John Ashbery (1927-2017) their first poet laureate. On Aug. 28 two rival Shiite militias run by Muqtada al-Sadr and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council shoot it out in Karbala, Iraq, killing 51. On Aug. 28 Abdullah Gul (Gül) (1949-) of the Justice and Development Party becomes pres. #11 of Turkey (until ?), becoming the first non-secular Muslim pres. in 84 years, breaking the grip of the secular establishment after a 4-mo. political standoff backed by the military, which stands up his swearing-in ceremony; Turkey takes a turn toward re-Islamization; his wife Haynrunnisa Gul wears a headscarf - attaboy says Osama? On Aug. 30 anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada la-Sadr takes his Shiite Mahdi Army out of action for 6 mo. to overhaul it - overhaul the Shiite out of it? On Aug. 30 Pakistani pres. Pervez Musharraf agrees to resign as army chief in a deal allowing him to serve another term if reelected and allow Benazir Bhutto to return and run for PM. In Aug. 2007 Hong Kong-born major Hillary Clinton pres. campaign backer ("HillRaiser") Norman Yung Yuen Hsu (1951) is exposed by the Wall Street Journal for financial irregularities, and in Sept. the U.S. Justice Dept. begins investigating; on Aug. 31 after a warrant for a 1992 fraud conviction is finally served, he makes a $2M bail payment, then skips and is arrested on Sept. 6 in Grand Junction, Colo. in a Calif. Zephyr train headed for Chicago; on Jan. 4, 2008 he is sentenced to three years in jail; on Sept. 19 the feds charge him with running a Ponzi scheme; on Nov. 27 a federal grand jury in Manhattan indicts him for defrauding investors of $20M and violating federal campaign finance laws; on May 7, 2009 he pleads guilty to 10 counts of mail and wire fraud, and is sentenced to 24 years in prison, with release date on Aug. 12, 2030. On Sept. 2 (Labor Day Weekend) U.S. Sen. (R-Idaho) (since 1991) Larry Edwin Craig (1945-) resigns after his political support erodes when he reveals that he pled guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with a bathroom stall incident on June 11 in Minneapolis-St. Paul Internat. Airport, where his big crime is making come-hither noises to an undercover cop in the next stall, all without any overt sexual activity or propositioning (yet), which the officer believed to be gay cottaging; in 1983 he went on NBC News to deny allegations that he had sex with teenage male congressional pages, and again vehemently denies that he's gay, but pled guilty then publicly reneges, and the public doesn't buy it; meanwhile eight men incl. Mike Jones claim he has paid them to have sex with him - I just like a little white meat snack now and then? On Sept. 3 (Labor Day) Pres. Bush makes a surprise visit to Iraq and holds an 8-hour meeting with Iraqi leaders at a military base in Anbar province in a Sunni area, raising the possibility of U.S. troop cuts if security continues to improve, stealing the thunder from the Dems.; his previous trips were Thanksgiving 2003 and June 13, 2006; meanwhile the British abandon Basra, their last outpost in Iraq. On Sept. 3 Argyll, Scotland-born Moira Cameron becomes the first female British Beefeater (Yeoman Warder) since 1485. On Sept. 4 Category 5 Hurricane Felix hits Nicaragua's Mosquito Coast, weakening to Category 1; meanwhile Category 1 Tropical Depression Henriette hits Baja, Calif. On Sept. 4 justice for cops hits a new low when William J. Barnes (1936-), who shot rookie cop Walter Barkley in 1966 and went to prison until 2005 for it is rearrested when paraplegic Barnes dies on Aug. 19, 41 years after being shot, the justice-to-the-cop prosecutors claiming to link his death to his wounds, slapping a new charge of murder of a sacred cow cop on the old dude. On Sept. 6 Israeli planes attack the secret North Korean-designed Syrian Al-Kubar nuclear reactor near Deir al-Zor, and are allowed to overfly Turkish airspace; in Mar. 2018 they admit they did it, calling it a warning to Iran. On Sept. 8 a truck filled with 200 Baba Ramdev pilgrims falls into a gorge in Rajasthan, India, killing 85 and injuring 60+. On Sept. 9 former Panamianian dictator Manuel Noriega is released from prison in Miami, Fla. after receiving time off for good behavior on his 30-year sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering; he plans to return to Panama to fight two 20-year sentences for the 1985 decapitation of dissident leader Hugo Spadafora and the 1989 slaying of Maj. Moises Giroldi, who tried to overthrow him. On Sept. 10 MoveOn.org runs a full-page ad in the New York Times assailing U.S. Gen David Petraeus, calling him "General Betray Us" on the day he begins his testimony in front of the U.S. Congress. On Sept. 11 Ethiopia celebrates the beginning of the Third Ethiopian Millennium. On Sept. 12 oil prices reach a record $80 a barrel, although after adjusting for inflation they still don't top the $100.52 a barrel reached in Dec. 1979. On Sept. 13 Japanese PM Shinzo Abe (since 2006) announces his resignation and checks into a hospital for stress-related stomach problems after a fiasco involving 50M misfiled pension records caused his Liberal Dem. Party to suffer a crushing midsummer defeat in the upper house of parliament; on Sept. 25 dovish moderate former oil co. man Yasuo Fukuda (1936-), new leader of the Liberal Dem. Party becomes PM of Japan (until Sept. 1, 2008), and promises not to do the bad thing of visiting the Yasukuni war shrine in Tokyo and to tone down nationalist rhetoric while strengthening ties with the China and cultivate its relationship with the U.S. On Sept. 14 London-based Opinion Research Business pub. an estimate of 1.2M total war casualties in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion; the techniques used are Alice in Wonderland moose hockey? On Sept. 16 the Blackwater Massacre sees guards working for Blackwater Worldwide shoot at Iraqi civilians as they try to drive away from Nisoor Square in Baghdad, murdering them at will, killing 14 and wounding 18, then trying to cover it up until U.S. soldiers arrive and find the corpses unarmed, causing Pres. Bush to begin seeking a way to expel them from Iraq; on Dec. 8, 2008 five guards surrender to authorities to face criminal charges; Blackwater is banned from Iraq, and changes its name to Xe; too bad, in Aug. it is revealed that Blackwater operatives were allowed to remain armed in Iraq under the name "U.S. Training Center"; on Mar. 2, 2009 Blackwater founder Erik D. Prince (1969-) resigns, and on Aug. 3 a former Blackwater employee and ex-Marine submits testimony linking him to murders to obstruct a federal investigation into the massacre, and alleges that Prince, a fundamentalist Christian "views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with elmiminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe". On Sept. 16 O.J. Simpson (1947-) is arrested without bail on armed robbery charges in Las Vegas, Nev. after barging into a friend's $35-a-night room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino to get back sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him, and two of the five men in his party brandish pistolas cowboy style; the district atty. seizes on the chance to turn black white and white black by charging him with hiring criminal thugs to steal memorabilia in broad daylight (when we all know he does his real crimes under cover of darkness and in disguise) in order to gain publicity and political capital, when everybody knows that in the Am. West the bad guys are the ones with the stolen goods and going after them with a gun to get it all back has always been protected by the law?; on Oct. 4, 2008 he is convicted by a jury of nine women and three men of 12 counts incl. felony kidnaping and armed robbery after a 4-week farce trial during which media tent set aside for the rush is virtually deserted, guaranteeing the jury can find him guilty of anything for payback on the Nicole Simpson case and later have the judge deny it; four of his five accomplices are offered no-jail plea deals to help frame, er, prosecute him, and the 5th, O.J.'s golfing buddy Clarence Stewart (1954-) is convicted; on Dec. 5, 2008 O.J. gets 9-33 years in priz - how are you dealing with the loneliness? On Sept. 17 Michael Bernard Mukasey (1941-) (Jewish, born of Russian immigrants) is nominated by Pres. Bush for U.S. atty.-gen. #81, and on Nov. 9 takes office after refusing to deny that waterboarding of suspects will be used. On Sept. 17 U. of Fla. student Andrew Meyer is ambushed, attacked, and tasered by univ. police at a John Kerry speaking event after Kerry points to him to speak, the Gestapo-like scene and his lack of backbone to stand up to pigs stinking his name up; meanwhile the U.S. govt. closes ranks to justify the abuse and keep the pigs getting their paychecks by claiming they taped him in the police car stating he was glad they did it to him and violated his civil rights like a serf? On Sept. 18 economist-diplomat Srgjan Asan Kerim (1948-) of Macedonia becomes pres. of the U.N. Gen. Assembly (until Sept. 16, 2008). On Sept. 24 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket makes a speech at Columbia U., where he utters the soundbyte "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country", praising capital punishment for them there, raising howls and boos from the audience. On Sept. 24 the sitcom The Big Bang Theory debuts on CBS-TV (until ?), starring John Mark "Johnny" Galecki (1975-) and James Joseph "Jim" Parsons (1973-) as Caltech physicist roommates Leonard Hofstadter (IQ 173, experimental physicist) and Sheldon Cooper (IQ 187, theoretical physicist) (known for the catchphrase "bazinga"), and Kaley Christine Cuoco (1985-) as dumbe blond waitress Penny, who lives across the hall; Simon Maxwell Helberg (1980-) plays MIT engineer Howard Wolowitz, and Kunal Nayyar (1981-) plays astrophysicist Kunal Nayyar. On Sept. 28 French Jewish Socialist economist Dominique Strauss-Kahn (1949-) becomes managing dir. #10 of the IMF (until ?). On Sept. 30 Garry Kasparov enters the Russian pres. race, receiving 379 of 498 votes at the Other Russia Congress in Moscow. In the fall San Francisco, Calif.-born fashion designer Alexander Wang (1983-) launches his first ready-to-wear women's clothing collection, which is a hit, selling in 700 stores worldwide; he goes on to become known for his urban designs, mostly in black. By Oct. 1 news of yet more terrorist attacks in Iraq get so boring and monotonous that they are no longer worth listing except as yearly statistics? On Oct. 2 the U.S. and Russia sign an agreement to cooperate on unmanned missions to search for water on the Moon and Mars. On Oct. 3 100K attend the Arirang Festival in Pyongyang, North Korea, while Kim Jong-il and South Korean pres. Roh Mooh-Hyun sign a reconciliation pact pledging to seek a permanent peace agreement to end the 54-y.-o. ceasefire; on Oct. 2 Jong-il vows to shut down North Korea's nuclear reactor. On Oct. 3 Polish ambassador to Iraq Gen. Edward Pietrzyk (1949-) is wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad; his driver is killed. On Oct. 3 Barrack Obama is quizzed about why he no longer wears a U.S. flag pin like he wore shortly after 9/11, and on Oct. 4 he tells a crowd in Waterloo, Iowa: "My attitude is that I'm less concerned about what you're wearing on your lapel than what's in your heart." On Oct. 3 former Northwestern U. basketball star Anucha Browne Sanders, who was fired as marketing exec. by the New York Knicks in Dec. 2003 wins a $11.6M sexual harassment lawsuit against them and "foul-mouthed bully" coach Isiah Lord "Zeke" Thomas III (1961-); Madison Square Garden is assessed $11.5M in punitive damages - a game that women play with men? On Oct. 4 after being convicted for refusing to pay U.S. federal income tax, then refusing to surrender and engaging in a long armed standoff with authorities at their N.H. home, Edward Lewis "Ed" Brown (1942-) and Elaine Alice Brown (1940-) are arrested, becoming a rallying point for tax protesters; in July 2009 the mean feds tack on more sentences for the standoff. On Oct. 4 car bombs and IEDs kill top Shiite official Abbas Hassan Hamza of the mixed Iskandariyah district S of Baghdad and Sunni Sheik Muawiya Naji Jbara. On Oct. 6 Pakistani forces begin bombing insurgent hideouts in NW Pakistan, killing 250, incl. 45 soldiers in four days. On Oct. 8 a heli carrying aides of Pakistani pres. Pervez Musharraf crashes, killing four; it is blamed on a technical glitch not terrorists. On Oct. 8 a suicide bomber crashes his truck into a police station in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 13; other car bombings in Iraq kill 11 more. On Oct. 8 British PM Gordon Brown announces that troops in Iraq will be cut from 5.5K to 2.5K by spring. On Oct. 8 Afghanistan ends a 3-year moratorium and executes 15 prisoners by firing squad. On Oct. 8 Interpol makes public an image of suspected Canadian pedophile Christopher Paul Neil (1975-) obtained by unscrambling the dope's picture, which he uploaded to the Internet after doing a half-assed job of scrambling it; after an internat. search he is arrested on Oct. 19. On Oct. 11 Am. conservative columnist Ann Hart Coulter (1961-) shocks a cable TV show with a statement that Jews need to be "perfected" by accepting Jesus, and that the U.S. would be better off if everybody were Christian. On Oct. 12 the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize is awarded jointly to U.S. vice-pres. #45 (1993-2001) Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (1948-) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chmn. (2002-15) Rajendra Kumar Pachauri (1940-), "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change"; they accept it on Dec. 10. On Oct. 14 after she wins season #3 of "Food Network Star" (first female winner), The Gourmet Next Door debuts on Food Network for six episodes (until Dec. 23, 2007), hosted by San Diego, Calif.-born chef (Ecole Gregoire-Ferrandi graduate) Amy Finley (1973-); too bad, she bugs out to save her failing marriage and moves with her hubby and children to a farm in Burgundy, France, chronicling it in her memoir How to Eat a Small Country (Apr. 2011). On Oct. 14 after her 2003 sex tape with beau Ray J and friendship with Paris Hilton adds to the celebrity of father Robert Kardashian (O.J. Simpson's atty.), the reality TV series Keeping Up with Kardashians debuts on E! for 234 episodes (until ?), produced by Ryan Seacrest, focusing on the publicity-loving Kardashian sisters Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe, their brother Rob, mother Kris Jenner, and stepfather Bruce Jenner; Khloe's ex-husband Lamar Odom joins the 4th season cast. On Oct. 16 Ellen Degeneres makes a tearful plea for her ex-pet Iggy, whom was taken back by the pet adoption agency on Oct. 14, and is placed in a new home; too bad, it backfires when viewers begin harassing the shelter. On Oct. 18 the biggest strike in 12 years cripples France's public transport system; the same day French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy announces his divorce from wife Cecilia Ciganer-Albéniz (1957-) after 11 years (1996), becoming a first for a French pres. On Oct. 18 former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto returns to Karachi amid joyous celebrations, which are spoiled by an assassination attempt that kills 100+ and injures 150; after terrorism spreads to major cities, on Nov. 3 pres. Pervez Musharaf declares martial law, citing U.S. pres. Abraham Lincoln's actions during the U.S. Civil War - while he was reading about it, he comes on that Ford's Theater thingie and gets ideas? On Oct. 18 U.S. Rep. (since 1973) Fortney Hillman "Pete" Stark Jr. (1931-) (D-Calif.) blasts Pres. Bush on the House floor, uttering the soundbyte "You don't need money to fund the war on children, but you're going to spend it to blow up innocent people, if we could get enough kids to grow old enough for you to send to Iraq to get their heads blown off for the president's amusement"; after the Repubs. try to make him apologize, a CNN poll shows 88% think there's no reason he should. On Oct. 19 Pres. George W. Bush is assassinated in Chicago, Ill. as he leaves a hotel where he gave a speech to a bipartisan group, according to the 2006 film Death of a President, dir. by Gabriel Range for Britain's Channel 4. On Oct. 19 Colo. Panty Thief Chih Hsien Wu (1964-) pleads guilty to stealing 1.3K sheer woo-woo-woo panties, bras, and hose from campus laundry rooms at Colo. State U. in Ft. Collins. On Oct. 19 Luc Margueritte, new beau of French woman Celine Lesage (1971-) discovers the corpses of six newborn babies in her apartment that she murdered since 2000; she is sentenced to 15 years in prison. On Oct. 21 nearly a dozen wildfires driven by Santa Ana winds spread aross Southern Calif., threatening the homes of the rich and beautiful - yawn? On Oct. 21 the U.S. military claims it killed 49 militants in a dawn raid in Sadr City, while Iraqi oficials whittle it down to 15 incl. three innocent children - yawn? On Oct. 22 Turkey builds up its troops on the Iraq border after Kurdish guerrillas kill 12 Turkish soldiers and capture eight. On Oct. 23 a U.S. heli opens fire on five men seen planting roadside bombs in a Sunni area N of Baghdad, Iraq, then continues to fire after they run into a home, killing 11 incl. five women and a child. On Oct. 23 Pakistani troops are sent to the lawless region of NW Pakistan to quell pro-Taliban militants; on Oct. 25 a suicide car bomber strucks a military truck, killing 20. On Oct. 24 China launches the Chang'e-1 lunar-orbiting spacecraft, which in Sept. 2010 obtains the first microwave image of the complete Moon. On Oct. 24-28 the 103rd (2007) World Series sees the Colorado Rockies (first-ever appearance) skunked by the Boston Red Sox 4-0; Rockies mgr. Clint Hurdle (1957-) turned the team (one of the lowest paying in the ML) around in mid-season by recruiting three underpaid wetback, er, Latin Am. pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez (Dominican Repub.), Manny Corpas (Panama), and Franklin Morales (Venezuela), winning 21 of 22 to get to the WS (proving that U.S boys are getting too lazy to practice, preferring video games?). On Oct. 27-Nov. 2 Hurricane Noel rocks the Caribbean, killing 151, becoming the deadliest hurricane (#6) of the 2007 season. On Oct. 30 the U.S. Congress passes a bill extending the moratorium on taxing Internet access for seven years. On Oct. 31 "Russia's Osama bin Laden" Dokka (Doku) Khamatovich Umarov (1964-), who since 2006 has been the underground pres. of the self-proclaimed Checken Repub. of Ichkeria becomes the self-proclaimed emir #1 of the Caucasus Emirate (until ?). In Oct. China launches its first lunar-probing satellite, which broadcasts 30 different songs back to Earth, incl. "I Love China", "The East is Red", and "Singing Praises of the Motherland"; on Nov. 26 China unveils images of the Moon taken by the satellite, causing PM Wen Jiabao to utter the soundbyte: "The full success of our country's first lunar exploration mission is helping to turn the Chinese nation's 1,000-year-old dream of reaching the Moon a reality." In Oct. the Pentagon asks Congress for $88M to build the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a 15-ton $5M bunker buster bomb designed to hit targets buried 200 ft. below ground, such as Iran's nuclear facilities. In Oct. U.S. troops find the Sinjar Records in Sinjar on the Iraqi-Syrian border, detailing Syrian financing of al-Qaida in Iraq in order to undermine coalition efforts. In Oct. the U.S. sends two senior diplomats to London to meet with reps of India's Bollywood to ask them to work to fight against radicalization of British Muslims; revealed by WikiLeaks in Nov. 2010. On Nov. 1 tens of thousands of students protest in Caracas, Venezuela a gainst a proposed removal of term limits for pres. Hugo Chavez, chanting "Freedom! Freedom!", causing soldiers to hit them with tear gas, plastic bullets and water cannon. On Nov. 5 members of the Writer's Guild of Am. go on strike over the refusal of Hollywood to give them a fair share of royalties from DVDs and Internet income; it ends on Feb. 12, 2008 after 100 days. On Nov. 5 a landslide in Ostuacan, Mexico kills 19. On Nov. 6 2-y.-o. Lakshmi, born with a parasitic twin giving her four arms and four legs undergoes a 24-hour operation in Bangalore, India to remove the extra limbs; her resemblance to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi (Mahalakshmi), consort of Vishnu causes villagers to worship her as a god. On Nov. 7 protesters in Tbilisi, Georgia call for the ouster of pro-U.S. pres. Mikheil Saakashvili, who declares a state of emergency and clamps down on news broadcasts. On Nov. 7 Pelindaba Reactor in South Africa is attacked by terrorists, who are stopped before they can make off with highly enriched bomb-grade uranium. On Nov. 7 millions of units of the Chinese-made toy Aqua Dots are pulled from U.S. shelves after they are found to contain a chemical that converts into GHB, the date rape drug, and have caused seizures and comas in children. On Nov. 7 American and Iraqi officials announce that the drop in violence in Iraq ccaused by the U.S. troop increase has caused 46K refugees to cross back over the border. On Nov. 7 Space Shuttle Discovery (launched Oct. 23) returns to Earth after a 15-day mission that featured a tricky repair of a damaged solar wing on the ISS. On Nov. 8 a report issued by the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs states that vets make up 11% of the gen. adult pop., and 25% of homeless people. On Nov. 8 Bernard Bailey "Bernie" Kerik (1955-) is indicted by a federal grand jury on 16 charges of fraud and lying to the IRS, embarrassing his long-time friend Rudy Giuliani, who appointed him New York City police commissioner in 2000-1, and Pres. Bush, who nominated him for homeland security secy. in Dec. 2004. On Nov. 10 King Juan Carlos tells Hugo Chavez of Venezuela to "shut up" after he refers to Spanish PM Jose Maria Aznar as a fascist. On Nov. 10 six U.S. soldiers walking in the mountains of E Afghanistan are ambushed and killed by militants, raising the U.S. death toll in Afghanistan to 101, surpassing the record of 93 in 2005 and 87 in 2006. On Nov. 10 a gun battle between rival Sunni insurgents outside Samarra, Iraq kills 20. On Nov. 10 neo-Nazis try to march in the Jewish quarter of Prague, clashing with anti-Nazis, resulting in 80 arrests by a ton of police. On Nov. 10 the $1.75M Yasser Arafat Mausoleum in Ramallah, West Bank opens. On Nov. 10 Donda West, mother of rapper Kanye West dies from complications after cosmetic surgery by Beverly Hills surgeon January "Dr. Jan" Rudalgo Adams. On Nov. 11 a Russian-owned cargo ship runs around in the stormy Black Sea and breaks apart, threatening 30K birds and countless fish. On Nov. 11 former U.S. deputy secy. of state Richard Armitage finally admits that it was foolish for him to expose the CIA identity of Valerie Plame; a year earlier he publicly apologized, and remains the only one to do so of the Big Four, incl. Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and Ari Fleischer. On Nov. 12 Barack Obama's campaign Web site carries a statement titled "Barack Obama is Not and Has Never Been a Muslim", followed by "Obama never prayed in a mosque. He has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian." On Nov. 12 U.S. congressional Dems. pub. The Hidden Costs of the Iraq War, which concludes that the economic cost to the U.S. of the Iraq and Afghan Wars so far totals approx. $1.5T. On Nov. 12 the Brookings Inst. announces that its 30-year study of the U.S. Black-White Income Gap has shown the gap increasing, although income for white women has increased 400% - time for an African-Am. president? On Nov. 13 Lebanese-born FBI agent (Druze) Nada Nadim Prouty (1970-) pleads guilty to fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship and other hokey, er, serious charges despite claiming her loyalty and service in the fight against terrorism, becoming a cause celebre despite her brother-in-law Talal Khalil Chaine being a known financier of Hezbollah, and that she was suspected of accessing FBI and CIA databases to tip him off to investigations on his activities. On Nov. 14 North Korean PM Kim Jong-Il arrives in Seoul for his first talks in 15 years with South Korean PM Han Duk-soo. On Nov. 14 Iraqi authorities seize the HQ of the Assoc. of Muslim Scholars, Iraq's most influential Sunni clerical group, accusing it of supporting Wahhabi Sunni al-Qaida. On Nov. 15 Pakistani officials lift the house arrest of Benazir Bhutto hours before the arrival of a senior U.S. envoy. On Nov. 16 U.S. Senate Repubs. block a bill by Dems. that would release $50B for the Iraq War, tied to troop withdrawals beginning within 30 days, causing Dem. leaders to announce that they will sit on Pres. Bush's $196B request for war spending until next year. On Nov. 16 Sen. John Kerry announces that he has accepted an offer from Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens to pay $1M to anyone who can disprove a single charge of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, after which he quietly drops it? On Nov. 16 29 members of the True Russian Orthodox Church cult led by Pyotr Kuznetsov (1964-) holing up in a forest cave hideout near the Volga River village of Nikolskoye (400 mi. SE of Moscow), where they believe the world will end by next May tell authorities that if they try to evict them they will commit suicide; on Apr. 3, 2008 Kuznetsov attempts suicide after allegedly realizing that his predictions were wrong; the cult prohibits processed food and considers barcodes to be satanic symbols. On Nov. 17 30+ bodies are found in an unfinished house in W Baghdad, Iraq in the heavily Sunni Hur Rijab section of the Dora neighborhood. On Nov. 19 a suicide bomber targeting a provisional gov. kills seven in Kandahar, Afghanistan, incl. the gov.'s 25-y.-o. son and six police officers, injuring 14. On Nov. 19 Iraqi troops detain 43, most of them Sri Lankans in a convoy run by a U.S.-contracted firm after an Iraqi woman is wounded in a Baghdad shooting involving their vehicles. On Nov. 21 the British govt. announces the loss of CDs containing ID data on 25M Britons, potentially threatening them with financial ruin. On Nov. 21 the three young men previously detained as suspects in the disappearance of Am. teenager Natalee Holloway are rearrested, then released, after which the police officially close the case - so on such a small island, where did she go, and where are all them self-proclaimed psychics when you need them? On Nov. 21 a suicide car bomber kills six and wounds 22 in a police checkpoint outside the courthouse in Ramadi, Iraq. On Nov. 21 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin gives a speech calling his critics foreign-funded "jackals" and accusing the West of meddling in Russian politics; on Nov. 24 half-Armenian half-Jewish former Russian chess champ (1985-2000) Garry Kasparov (1963-) et al. are arrested at an anti-Putin march in Moscow a week before the parliamentary election; on Nov. 29 Kasparov is released from jail, warning the U.S. that Russia is sliding into a dictatorship under Putin. On Nov. 24 suicide bombs explose simultaneously outside two military compounds in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, killing 16. On Nov. 26 British teacher Gillian Gibbons (1953-) from Liverpool is arrested in Khartoum, Sudan for naming a teddy bear Muhammad at the request of her 7-.y.-o. students, thereby insulting Islam's candy-striper prophet somehow, even though about half of Muslim males are named Muhammad? (oh yes, they usually use a loophole by spelling it Mohammed or Mohammad?); despite an internat. outcry she is convicted and sentenced to 15 days and deportation, the usual 40 lashes suspended; after true blue Muslims stink themselves up by calling for her execution, she is finally pardoned after apologizing - now she can really diss the M Guy? On Nov. 26 Pres. Bush welcomes his old rival Al Gore to the White House for a photo op with Nobel Prize Winners, and they have a 30-min. private conversation; "Of course we talked about global warming the whole time" (Gore). On Nov. 27 Somalian immigrant Nuradin Abdi is sentenced to 10 years in prison for plutting to blow up a shopping mall in Columbus, Ohio with al-Qaida in 2002 with truck driver Iyman Faris (Mohammad Rauf) (1969-) who pled guilty in 2003 and got 20 years for plotting to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, and al-Qaida cell member Christopher Paul of Columbus, who was charged in Apr. with a plot to bomb Euro tourist resorts and U.S. military bases. On Nov. 27 the U.S.-led Annapolis Conference in Md. between Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Nat. Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas sees Olmert propose to give the Palestinians 97% of the West Bank and the entire Gaza Strip and let them have their own independent state in return for recognizing Israel, which Abbas rejects, insisting instead on the so-called right of return of all Palestinians to Israel, which would swamp the Jews out and let them take over by squatting, in other words, a non-starter. On Nov. 28 after tons of pressure by the U.S., Pervez Musharaf resigns as army chief in return for a new 5-year term as civilian pres. of pistol-packin' Pakistan - see you at the show? On Nov. 28 NATO admits that its warplanes mistakenly bombed an Afghan road construction crew sleeping in tents, killing 14 workers while hunting Taliban fighters in E Afghanistan. On Nov. 28 Saudi Arabia announces the arrest of 208 suspected terrorists in six cells, its largest terrorism sweep to date. On Nov. 28 about 6K Sunni Arab residents join a security pact with U.S. forces, agreeing to man 200 checkpoints for $275 a mo. each. On Nov. 29 a group of disaffected military officers in Manila, Philippines take over a swank hotel, demanding that the pres. quit, then give up when the people don't flock to their cause; funny, the same thing happened in 2003 a few blocks away? On Nov. 30 Atlasjet Flight 4203 crashes shortly before landing in C Turkey, killing all 56 aboard. On Nov. 30 Leeland Eisenberg (1931-) walks into a Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, N.H. wearing what he claims is a bomb, and takes several hostages, demanding to speak to her about access to mental health care; after he surrenders, the device strapped to his chest turns out to be road flares - but he gets what he wants and becomes the first to beat the famed Catch-22? On Nov. 30 Amtrak Train #371 ("Pere Marquette") plows into a freight train near Chicago, Ill, injuring 14 of 187 passengers. In Nov.-Dec. Egyptian Muslim cleric Sayyed Imam al-Sharif (1950-), whose 1988 book "The Essential Guide for Preparation" became the bible for jihadists incl. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida, calling jihad the natural state of Islam because Muslims must always be at war with unbelievers, with the soundbyte: "The real objective was not victory over the Soviets but martyrdom and eternal salvation", and who has been imprisoned in Yemen since 9/11, suddenly flip-flops in prison, pub. "Document of Right Guidance for Jihad Activity in Egypt and the World", claiming that the Quran actually prohibits most forms of terrorism, with the soundbyte: "There is nothing that invokes the anger of God and His wrath like the unwarranted spilling of blood and wrecking of property", adding: "Oh, you young people, do not be deceived by the heroes of the Internet, the leaders of the microphones, who are launching statements inciting the youth while living under the protection of intelligence services, or of a tribe, or in a distant cave or under political asylum in an infidel country. They have thrown many others before you into the infernos, graves, and prisons", and "God permitted peace treaties and ceasefires with the infidels, either in exchange for money or without it, all of this in order to protect the Muslims, in contrast with those who push them into peril"; too bad, al-Qaida blows him off and continues their jihad, with plenty of Islamic clerics backing them up. On Dec. 1 Pres. Bush writes a Personal Letter to Mr. Chairman (North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il), urging him to fully disclose his nuclear programs by year's end, which is seen as a turnaround in his labeling of his regime as part of an axis of evil. On Dec. 2 elections in Venezuela reject Hugo Chavez' attempt to be elected pres. for life, causing celebrations in the streets. On Dec. 3 Labor leader (since 2006) Kevin Michael Rudd (1957-) becomes PM #26 of Australia (until June 24, 2010); after given an inflammatory speech praising jihad, Muslim cleric Sheik Feiz Mohammed of Sydney, Australia is told by PM Kevin Rudd that he is "not welcome here"; he also denounced Jews as "pigs"; in Mar. 2011 he is allowed to return. On Dec. 5 white teen Robert Hawkins (b. 1988) goes on a shooting spree in the Von Maur Shopping Mall near Omaha, Neb., killing eight plus himself - take your eight and check out, the American way? On Dec. 5 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates visits Baghdad to meet with Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki, and tells reporters in the Green Zone that safety and security for Iraq are within reach; too bad, minutes before he says this, a car bomb in nearby Karrada (a middle-class area with Christians) kills eight and injures 38, becoming the deadliest Baghdad blast since Sept. On Dec. 5 Thai king Bhumibol Adulyadej (b. 1917) celebrates his 80th birthday wearing pink, chucking the traditional royal yellow, causing a run on pink stuff in Thai stores. On Dec. 6 Moron, er, Mormon Repub. pres. candidate Mitt Romney does a JFK and gives a Religion-Qualifying Speech at the George Bush Pres. Library in Tex., saying "If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States", but admitting "My convictions will indeed inform my presidency"; meanwhile a Pew Research Center poll shows that 31% of Americans don't think that Mormons are Christians, and another 17% don't know - the real question is, was Christ a Mormon? On Dec. 6 a Los Angeles Times poll finds that nearly six out of every 10 U.S. military families disapprove of Pres. Bush's job performance and the way he has run the war, and say it was not worth the cost - so why did they go if they weren't drafted? On Dec. 8 Pentagon chief Robert Gates calls Iran a fomenter of "chaos... everywhere you turn", demanding that it renounce nukes. On Dec. 9 (12:30 a.m.) after being refused an overnight stay at the Youth with a Mission Center, Matthew John Murray (b. 1983) shoots four people, killing two, then drives 100 mi. S and shoots five more, killing one at New Life Church in Colo. Springs, then committing suicide after being shot several times by security guard Jeanne Assam; he had posted on the Internet newsgroup alt.suicide.holiday under the name "dyingchild_65", saying "I'm going to make a stand for the weak and the defenseless... for all those young people still caught in the Nightmare of Christianity... for all those people who've been abused and mistreated and taken advantage of by this evil sick religion", explaining that his mother tries to keep him from popular music and video games, then posting Eric Harris' words "I'm coming for everyone soon and I will be armed to the teeth and I will shoot to kill" 11 hours after the first shooting and two hours before the 2nd. On Dec. 10 Aqsa "Axa" Parvez (b. 1991) is killed by her father and brother, who then turn themselves into police; the PC press tries in vain to coverup that it is an Islamic honor killing for becoming too Westernized. On Dec. 10 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 7-2 in Kimbrough v. U.S. that federal district judges may impose sentences outside the federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses. On Dec. 13 the Treaty of Lisbon (Reform Treaty) is signed in Lisbon, Portugal, changing the workings of the European Union (EU) to make it more streamlined. On Dec. 13 the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee votes 12-7 to find Karl Rove and White House chief of staff Josh Bolten in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with subpoenas seeking their testimony about the phunny munny dismissal of nine U.S. attys. in 2006. On Dec. 18 after a campaign launched by the Hands off Cain Assoc. in Italy, the non-binding U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 62/149 (104-54-29) adopts the U.N. Moratorium on the Death Penalty; it is followed by U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 63/168 on Dec. 18, 2008 (106-46-34), and U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 65/206 on Dec. 21, 2010 (109-41-35). On Dec. 18 U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 62/167 is adopted by a 22-59-10 vote, expressing serious concern about grave widespread human rights violations in North Korea and urging the govt. to man up. On Dec. 18 after being introduced by U.S. Rep. (D-W.V.) (1977-2015) Nick Joe Rahall II (1949-) and promoted by Dem. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Energy Independence and Security Act (Clean Energy Act) of 2007) is passed by Congress, and signed on Dec. 19 by Pres. George W. Bush after announcing the Twenty in Ten challenge, to reduce gasoline consumption by 20% in 10 years, with the purpose being "to move the United States toward greater energy independence and security, to increase the production of clean renewable fuels, to protect consumers, to increase the efficiency of products, buildings, and vehicles, to promote research on and deploy greenhouse gas capture and storage options, and to improve the energy performance of the Federal Government, and for other purposes"; too bad, it promotes biofuels incl. corn and palm oil, leading to ripple effects that create fuels with nearly double the greenhouse emissions of conventional fuels? On Dec. 19 Seoul mayor (since July 1, 2002) Lee Myung-bak (1941-) AKA "the Bullzodzer" (former CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction, known for his recent environmental efforts) of the conservative opposition Grand Nat. Party wins the South Korean pres. election by a landslide; he is sworn-in as pres. of South Korea next Feb. 25 (until Feb. 25, 2013). On Dec. 19 Dillon Cossey (1993-) is sentenced to seven years at a juvenile facility for planning a Columbine-style attack on Plymouth Whitemarsh H.S. outside Philadelphia - when you're released you'll be better trained? On Dec. 19 the U.S. govt. announces an agreement with Japan to stop their horrible humpback whale hunt, which they began in Nov. (first since the 1960s). On Dec. 20 Pres. Bush scolds Dems. in Congress for stuffing 9.8K special interest projects into a $550B spending measure, calling it wasteful. On Dec. 20 the CIA opens its files on destruction of videos of possibly illegal interrogation of two al-Qaida suspects to Congress, leaving the latter with proof of a coverup and little else. On Dec. 20 at 5 p.m. GMT Queen (since June 1953) Elizabeth II (b. Apr. 21, 1926) becomes Britain's oldest monarch, passing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who made it to 81 years 243 days; her son Prince Charles is still not the longest-waiting royal heir to the throne. On Dec. 20 a suicide car bomber in the Shiite town of Kaanan, Iraq in Diyala Province NE of Baghdad kills a U.S. soldier plus at least 18 civilians. On Dec. 22 David Michael Satterfield (1954-), senior adviser on Iraq to Condoleezza Rice tells reporters that the Iranian govt. has decided to rein in the violent Shiite militias it supports in Iraq "at the most senior levels", which explains the sharp decrease in roadside bomb attacks over the past several mos. On Dec. 22 Israeli officials call 2007 Israel's safest year in seven years since the 2nd Palestinian uprising. On Dec. 22 Barack Obama makes a stop at the Smoky Row Coffee Shop in Oskaloosa, Iowa, where he is confronted by four locals who ask him straight out if he is a Muslim, to which he answers: "My father was from Kenya, and a lot of people in his village were Muslim. He didn't practice Islam. Truth is he wasn't very religious. He met my mother. My mother was a Christian from Kansas, and they married and then divorced. I was raised by my mother, so I've always been a Christian. The only connection I've had to Islam is that my grandfather on my father's side came from that country, but I've never practiced Islam... For a while, I lived in Indonesia because my mother was teaching there. And that's a Muslim country. And I went to school, but I didn't practice. But what I do think it does is it gives me insight into how these folks think, and part of how I think we can create a better relationship with the Middle East and that would help make us safer is if we can understand how they think about issues"; also "I'm a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ and have been there 15 years"; when a woman asks him to define what a Christian is, he replies "Somebody who believes in Jesus Christ as our lord and savior." On Dec. 24 a 12-story bldg. in the Loran suburb of Alexandria, Egypt collapses, killing 23. On Dec. 25 350-lb. Denver Zoo-born Siberian tiger Tatiana escapes from the San Francisco Zoo and attacks two teenage brothers, killing one and severely wounding the other. On Dec. 25 two suicide bombings N of Baghdad kill 24 and injure 100. On Dec. 25 the Turkish govt. claims that its airstrikes this month destroyed 200+ Kurdish rebel targets in N Iraq and killed hundreds of insurgents. On Dec. 25 a 400-ft. steel footbridge in Chunchu, Nepal (W of Katmandu) 100 ft. over the Bheri River collapses under a huge crowd, killing 15. On Dec. 25 a South Korean ship sinks off South Korea carrying 2K tons of nitric acid, drowning 14 sailors; authorities deny that the acid poses a threat to marine life - but I saw The Host? On Dec. 25 British Lord Ahmed crashes his car on the M-1 into the stationary car of Martyn Gombar, killing him, receiving up to two years in prison; too bad, he blames his sentence on the Jews, with the soundbyte "Because I went to Gaza to support Palestinians. My Jewish friends who own newspapers and TV channels opposed this"; he later apologizes. On Dec. 27 12 days before scheduled elections, after being released from house arrest, uppity Benazir Bhutto is assassinated in Rawalpindi as she waves to supporters from the sunroof of her armored vehicle; after shooting at her five times he throws a bomb that blows himself up and kills 20 others; the news causes riots and chaos, and causes suspicions of involvement by Musharraf, who blame the Taliban and al-Qaida; the police arrest four suspects, and claim that the bullets never hit her and the blast alone killed her; too bad, an email from her surfaces later, saying that if anything happens to her, blame it on Musharraf, causing an arrest warrant to be issued for him on Feb. 2011, causing him to live in self-exile in London; her hit was ordered and supervised by Osama bin Laden? On Dec. 27 mudslides in Indonesia kill at least 87 and force tens of thousands from their homes. On Dec. 27 after a visit by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama to back born-again Christian Raila Odinga (1945-) (former minister of public works and son of former vice-pres. Jaramogi Oginga Odinga), elections in Kenya result in a close (230K votes) V for incument pres. (since 2002) Mwai Kibaki; Odinga, backed by John McCain accuses Kibaki of fraud, causing violence to break out for the rest of the year. On Dec. 27 Western envoys Mervyn Patterson and Michael Semple of the U.K. are expelled from Afghanistan for holding meetings with Taliban leaders in Helmand Province. In Dec. after the U.S. Housing Bubble peaks in 2005-6, and subprime mortgages go into delinquincy and foreclosure, dragging down the securities they back, the Great (Global) Recession begins (ends ?). In Dec. the U.S. Sentencing Commission finally yields to pressure and equalizes sentences for black, er, crack and white, er, powder cocaine, causing the prison terms of 19.5K mainly black convicts to be reviewed for reduction. In Dec. the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Islamist umbrella group is formed in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Pakistan by 13 groups under leader Baitullah Mehsud (1974-2009), with the purpose of a Sharia state and resistance against the U.S. and NATO. In Dec. a large animal stock die-off in Kenya begins, echoing the 1997 die-off that led to Rift Valley Fever, but this time mosquito nets are distributed and religious authorities warn people against eating the animals, making the epidemic milder than the earlier one, killing only 300. In Dec. a 24-cent 1918 Inverted Jenny U.S. postage stamp goes for a record $825K at auction. Andrew Moores of Lakewood, Colo. finds a 2007 Sacagawea dollar from the Denver Mint that was mistakenly stamped with "In God We Trust" on the edge, and sells it for $10K. Genocide Land Rwanda abolishes the death penalty for all crimes incl. genocide. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Calif. settles a lawsuit by 500 victims of sexual abuse by clergy for $660M. The IRS begins investigating Microsoft Inc. for illegally selling products from its Redmond, Wash. facility to overseas subsidiaries at below-market prices in 2004-6 to reduce taxes; it doesn't settle on the amount due until ?. Scottish Muslim student Mohammed Atif Siddique (1985-) is convicted of terrorism after being found to be operating Web sites linking to documents on how to build bombs, showing images of suicide bombers and Islamic murders to fellow students; on Jan. 29, 2010 the most serious charge is overturned, and he walks - any kid can link to other sites and images? The Long War Journal is founded by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD) as a blog reporting on the war on terror, with U.S. Army vet Bill Roggio as ed. The 3-year $1.4B U.S. Merida Initiative provides aid to the Mexican govt. to fight the drug trade by providing helis and training; a provision requires Congress to withhold 15% of the aid until the U.S. secy. of state reports that Mexico has made progress on human rights. U.S. Rep. (D-N.Y.) Edolphus "Ed" Towns (1934-) introduces H.R. 693, Restroom Gender Parity in Federal Bldgs. Act of 2007, requiring a 2-to-1 ratio of women's to men's restrooms - did he use a new definition of parity? The WikiLeaks Web site is founded by Australian activist journalist Julian Paul Assange (1971-) et al. to help govt. whistleblowers publicize their dirty laundry. Green for All is founded by Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones (1968-) with funding by George Soros to lobby for federal climate, energy, and economic policy initiatives. British MP (2001-8) and future London mayor (2008-16) Boris Johnson writes an article for the Daily Telegraph, titled "I want Hillary Clinton to be president", containing the soundbytes: "She's got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital"; "She represents, on the face of it, everything I came into politics to oppose: not just a general desire to raise taxes and nationalize things, but an all-round purse-lipped political correctness." This year U.S. Internet consumer sales exceed Wal-Mart's domestic sales in 2004. By the end of the year 4.1M domestic robots are in use, up 7x from 2003 (U.N. Economic Commission). China admits that it has 60M obese people; meanwhile it permits parents with surnames Zhou and Zhu to name their children Zhou, Zhu, Zhouzhu or Zhuzhou to ease the confusion of only about 100 family names in the whole nation. Hanqing Advanced Inst. of Economics and Finance in Beijing, China is founded to study Western-style economics; on Apr. 23, 2012 Matthew Shou-Chung "Matt" Shum of Caltech becomes dean. The Assoc. of Mature Am. Citizens (AMAC) is founded in New York City by Daniel Weber for people ages 50+, growing to 1M members by Oct. 2013. Early in the year Am. actor Kevin Bacon launches the Web site Sixdegrees.org to use the popularity of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game for charity. Pastor Randy Wilson and his wife Lisa of Generations of Light ministry in Colo. Springs, Colo. launch the idea of "purity balls", where fathers and daughters dress up and glissade together as the daughters pledge chastity before marriage. Fuck those other prizes, war pays? The Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing (originally the Pritzker Military Library Literature Award until 2014) is established by the Pritzker Military Museum and Library and sponsored by the Tawani Foundation of Chicago, Ill., with a $100K prize, becoming one of the richest lit. prizes on Earth; the first winner is James M. McPherson (1936-), followed by Allan R. Millett (2008), Gerhard Ludwig Weinberg (1928-) (2009), Lawrence Rush "Rick" Atkinson IV (1952-) (2010), Carlo W. D'Este (1938-) (2011), Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (1945-) (2012), William Timothy "Tim" O'Brien (1946-) (2013), Antony James Beevor (1946-) (2014), and David Hacket Fischer (1935-) (2015). This year U.S. congressmen obtain more than $18B worth of pork barrel "earmarks", with only 12 House and 6 Senate members declining to get some for their home states; #1 is Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), with $345M, followed by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) with $330M. Google founds REC, a co. that wants to find a way to generate renewable energy at a price lower than coal-fired electrical generation. Mariah Carey charts her 18th Billboard #1 pop single, "Touch My Body" in Apr., more than any other solo artist, passing even the King Elvis Presley. Askinosie Chocolate is founded in Springfield, Mi. by defense atty. Shawn Askinosie to make chocolate bars from 100% traceable single-origin cocoa beans from four regions: San Jose Del Tambo, Ecuador; Davao, Philippines; Cortes, Honduras; and Tenende, Tanzania. Vinyl records make a comeback for a dedicated group of audiophiles (until ?). Sports: On Jan. 22 Lane Kiffin (1975-) of the USC is named head coach #16 of the Oakland Raiders, becoming the NFL's youngest head coach (31 years, 8 mo.), beating Harland Svare of the Los Angeles Rams, who was 31 years 11 mo. in 1962. On Jan. 28 (Sun.) Tiger Woods wins the Buick Invitational for a 3rd straight time, stretching his PGA Tour winning streak to seven, #2 behind Byron Nelson in 1945; his streak ends on Feb. 23 at the Accenture Match Play Championship with Nick O'Hern of Australia, the latter's 2nd win against Woods in match play. On Feb. 7 Boston, Mass.-born English-raised African-Am. retired former NBA player John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi (1970-) announces that he's gay, causing fellow Chicago-born African-Am. player Timothy Duane "Tim" Hardaway (1966-) to comment during a Feb. 14 interview with a sports radio show in Miami, Fla. that he would try to keep an arm's, er, distance himself from a gay player, with the soundbyte: "Well, you know I hate gay people, so I let it be known I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States", adding that he if he found he had a gay teammate he would try to get them fired, bringing out the PC police, which by this time incl. criticism from straights, with Shaquille O'Neal saying that anybody who wants to 'get' a gay player will have to go through him first, then flopping and apologizing the same day, making amends forever after? On Feb. 18 the 2007 (49th) Daytona 500 is won by Kevin Michael Harvick (1975-) by 0.02 sec. over Mark Martin in the closest finish since 1959. On Apr. 1 opening day sees 849 total players in ML baseball; 246 are born outside the U.S., 18 in Asia, and 208 in Latin Am. or the Caribbean, led by the Dominican Repub. (99), Venezuela (50), and Puerto Rico (28); only 100 (8.4%) are black, compared to 19% in 1994, causing Garry Sheffield of Detroit to comment that Latino players from outside the U.S. are preferred to blacks from inner cities because it is easier to control them; the sugar port of San Pedro de Macoris in Dominican Repub. has produced 78 of 171 ML players from DR, incl. "Macorisanos" Sammy Sosa of the Texas Rangers, Alfonso Soriano of the Chicago Cubs, Robinson Cano of the New York Yankees, and Pedro Gonzalez, who signed with the Yankees in 1958. On Apr. 7, 2007 $131M Dick's Sporting Goods Park (cap. 18K) at 6000 Victory Way in Commerce City, Colo. (begun Sept. 28, 2005) opens as the home of the Colorado Rapids men's prof. soccer team. On Apr. 16 102-y.-o. Elsie McLean (1905-) hits a hole-in-one at Bidwell Municipal Golf Course in Chico, Calif., becoming the oldest person to do it (until ?). On May 5 unbeaten IBF welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1976-) wins a 12-round split decision against Oscar De La Hoya in "the Fight of the Ages", then retires to count his money. On May 27 (Sun.) George Dario Marino Franchitti (1973-) of Scotland wins the 2007 (91st) Indianapolis 500 after rain forces it to end after 166 laps, 415 into the scheduled 500 mi., and he outsmarts the other leaders by not pitting right before the downpour begins; Miss Sugar Britches Danica Patrick comes in #8. On May 28-June 6 the 2007 Stanley Cup Finals see the Anaheim Ducks defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-1, becoming their first win, the first West Coast team since the 1925 Victoria Cougars, and the 3rd consecutive first-time winner after the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning; MVP is 6'1" Ducks defenceman (team capt.) Scott Niedermayer (1973-). On June 7-14 the 2007 NBA Finals sees the San Antonio Spurs (coach Gregg Popovich) defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers (coach Mike Brown) by 4-0; MVP is Tony Parker of the Spurs. On June 9 Rags to Riches becomes the first filly since 1905 to win the Belmont Stakes, and the 3rd ever, stumbling out of the starting gate before outdueling Preakness winner Curlin by a head, and rekindling memories of Ruffian, who snapped her leg during a "battle of the sexes" match with a colt and was put down, becoming the only horse buried at the track; the first filly to win a Triple Crown race since Winning Colors in the 1988 Kentucky Derby. On July 7 black tennis star Venus Williams wins her 4th Wimbledon singles title, coloring up the rarified ranks of Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf. On July 14 soccer royalty David and Victoria Beckham debut to a media frenzy in L.A. with Phil Anschutz's Los Angeles Galaxy. On July 15 the Philadelphia Phillies get their 10,000th loss, a ML record. Official despite all the 'roids? On Aug. 4 #25 Barry Bonds of the Giants hits his career 755th homer against Clay Hensley of the Padres in San Diego in the 2nd inning, batting it 382 ft. and tying Hank Aaron's Apr. 1974 record, then holding up his batboy son Nikolai; fans hold up asterisk signs and boo him; on Aug. 7 he hits his 756th homer in AT&T Park in San Francisco, batting it 435 ft. after hitting a full-count 84 mph fastball from Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals; 22-y.-o. Matt Murphy (1985-) from Queens, N.Y. catches the ball wearing a Mets jersey, ending up with a bloody nose after another fan tries to wrestle it from him and ends up with his shoe; back on June 4, 1986 when Bonds of the Pirates hit his first homer against Craig McMurtry of the Braves in Atlanta, he weighed ? less lbs. and was ? in. shorter; Aaron issues a statement congratulating Bonds - and his pharmacist? On Sept. 9 (Sun.) Asafa Powell (1982-) of Jamaica sets a 100m world record of 9.74, besting his own record of 9.77. On Sept. 10-30 the Women's World Cup of Soccer is held in China, and Germany beats 15 other teams to win, incl. a record-breaking 11-0 win over Argentina to open the tournament, and a 2-0 win over Brazil in the final, having never surrendered a goal in the tournament. On Nov. 15 flawed baseball star Barry Bonds (1964-) is indicted on four counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of justice for his bulging Dec. 2003 testimony to a grand jury. On Dec. 13 after a 20-mo. investigation, the 409-page Mitchell Report by former U.S. Sen. (D-Maine) (1980-95) George John Mitchell Jr. (1933-) is released, lamenting the use of steroids in ML baseball, and naming Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Andy Pettite, Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Eric Gagne, Miguel Tejada, David Justice and other players, and calling for new regulations - but not calling for them to give their money back? On Dec. 29 the New England Patriots defeat the New York Giants 38-35 to go 16-0 for the first perfect NFL season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins; New England QB (#12) Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom Terrific" Brady (1977-) beats Peyton Manning's 2004 record of 49 TD passes in a season with 50, which it takes until 2013 to beat. The U. of Fla. becomes the first U.S. univ. to hold nat. titles in football and basketball in the same year. Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand (1969-) becomes world chess champ #15 (until ?). Architecture: In Apr. the 18K-seat Dick's Sporting Goods Park soccer stadium opens in Commerce City, Colo. (near Denver) , staging a Kenny Chesney concert on June 30 to prove its multiple uses. On Oct. 25 the $375M Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. opens as the home of the NHL New Jersey Devils, the NBA New Jersey Nets, and the NCAA basketball Seton Hall Pirates. The 24-ton 40-ft.Julie Penrose Fountain in Am. the Beautiful Park in Colo. Springs, Colo. opens, designed by David Barber and Bill Burgess, consisting of an open loop of silver-colored panels containing 366 water jets, all sitting on a hidden turntable that rotates at 4 rph. 510-ft. 13-story Tianning Pagoda, the world's tallest pagoda opens in Changzhou in E China in May. 2,275-ft. Burj Dubai skyscraper is completed in Dubai, becoming the world's tallest bldg. on Jan. 17 (until ?), passing up Taiwan's chintzy 1,667-ft. Taipei 101 skyscraper and the KVLY-TV mast in N.D. (2002). The Magic Water Circuit in Lima, Peru opens, consisting of 13 illuminated fountains, becoming the largest fountain complex on Earth; the fountains incl. the $13M Tunnel of Surprises, the Maze of the Dream, the Fountain of Harmony, the Rainbow Fountain, the Fountain of Illusion, the Walk-in Dome, the Fountain of Life, the Magic Fountain, and the Fountain of Fantasy. 268.4m 59-story Naberezhnaya (Russ. "tower on quay") Tower in Moscow is completed, becoming the tallest bldg. in Europe (until 2009). The UAE announces plans for Masdar, "the world's first zero-carbon city" 20 mi. from Abu Dhabi; it opens in Sept. 2010. Nobel Prizes: Peace: Albert Arnold "Al" Gore Jr. (1948-) (U.S.) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [global warming]; Lit.: Doris May Lessing (1919-) (U.K.); Physics: Peter Andreas Gruenberg (Grünberg) (1939-2018) (Germany) and Albert Fert (1938-) (France) [giant magnetoresistance]; Chem.: Gerhard Ertl (1936-) (Germany) [surface chem.]; Med.: Mario Ramberg Capecchi (1937-) (Italy), Sir Martin John Evans (1941-) (U.K.), and Oliver Smithies (1925-2017) (U.S.) [homologous recombination and stem cell research]; Econ.: Leonid "Leo" Hurwicz (1912-2008) (oldest to receive a Nobel Prize until ?), Eric Stark Maskin (1950-) (U.S.), and Roger Bruce Myerson (1951-) [mechanism design theory]. Inventions: On Jan. 11 China successfully tests its ground-based direct-ascent Anti-Satellite Ballistic Missile (ASAT); too bad, it creates 3.4K pieces of radar-trackable debris, one-six the total, causing an internat. outcry. On Jan. 28 Microsoft releases Windows Vista Home Premium one, er, two, er three years late, in 6 versions, from $199 up; the consumer ed. lets users record and play TV; too bad, it requires 1-2 GB of RAM, and proves to be an unwieldy turkey. In Mar. Scribd.Com is launched from San Francisco, Calif., allowing anybody to upload anything they write and share it for free with others, becoming known as "the Netflix for books", with 80M users and 60M documents by 2018, causing competing sites to spring up. On May 8 Intel announces a new hafnium-based IC that will allow double the number of transistors per chip compared to silicon and is faster too. On June 17 a failed Russian computer system on the Internat. Space Station (ISS) is fixed, which crashed the week before during a spacewalk to repair a thermal blanket which had peeled back during the June 8 launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis; the $100B ISS program has a net benefit to humanity of $1.98? On June 29 (Fri.) Apple begins marketing their techno-beautiful iPhone enhanced cell phone to long lines of waiting customers, who pay up to $600 each; too bad, AT&T can't handle the increased load on its servers, causing many to have problems activating it, so that even its alarm clock won't work; later buyers learn that the battery is soldered in and needs a technician to replace it for $79. On July 8 Boeing rolls out its new Boeing 787, the first commercial airplane made of lightweight composites not subject to the corrosion and fatigue problems of aluminum, and getting 20% better fuel efficiency, booking $100B in advance orders (677 planes) from 24 airlines who find it just the bee's knees, putting the double-decker Airbus A380 on the skids. On Oct. 24 China launches the Chang'e 1 lunar orbiter from its Xichang Satellite Launch Center; it is followed by Chang'e 2 on Oct. 1, 2010, Chang'e 3 on Dec. 1, 2013, which soft-lands on the Moon on Dec. 14, 2013; Chang'e 5 is launched on ?, 2017. The microblogging Web site Tumblr is created by David Karp, becoming a rival to Facebook and Twitter by 2010. Ortwin Hess et al. of the U. of Surrey in Guildford, U.K. trap a rainbow inside a tapering waveguide for the first time. The CPR Glove is invented by Canadian univ. students Corey Centen and Nilesh Patel. Toygers (toy tigers) are bred for personal pets out of Asian leopard cats, and sell for $800 up - not counting medical insurance for the owners? Hallmark Cards Inc. comes out with a Coming Out of the Closet occasion card. The Japanese begin marketing Bust-Up Gum, based on a plant extract that allegedly mimics estrogen and allegedly help women increase bust size; the dose is two pieces 4x daily for 2 mo., which at $.50 apiece comes out to $240? Neu-View Wraparound Sunglasses by psychotherapist Robert Buck allegedly reduce anger with side sections that stimulate the left side of the brain so that it can control the emotional right side. Science: On Jan. 1 Nature Biotechnology reports that scientists have "knocked out" the genes responsible for making prions, making cows potentially immune from mad cow disease. On Jan. 7 researchers at Wake Forest U. and Harvard U. report in Nature Biotechnology that stem cells may be extracted from amniotic fluid donated by pregnant women. On Jan. 14 an article in the journal Nature Genetics claims that the gene SORL1 can raise the risk of developing the most common form of Alzheimer's disease. On Jan. 22 scientists at the Alpbach Conference (Forum) in Austria warn that glaciers will disappear from the Alps by 2050; glaciers in the Tyrol are shrinking 3% a year. On Jan. 26 an article in Science by researchers at USC claims that the insula inside the cerebral cortex may control addictive cravings. On Jan. 30 federal scientists testify before the first House investigative hearing of the new U.S. Congress that they were pressured to play down global warming. In Jan. scientists at the Nat. Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg, Man., Canada reconstruct the 1918-19 Spanish flu virus from the exhumed body of a victim buried in Alaskan permafrost - how was I to know she was with the Russians too? On Feb. 2 the first "sniffs of air" of two huge distant planets, incl. HD209458b (900T mi. from Earth) by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope cause surprise by the absence of water in their atmospheres. On Feb. 9 Sir Richard Branson offers a $25M reward for the invention of a way to suck greenhouse gases out of the air - plant trees? On Feb. 22 the Nat. Insts. of Health announce that circumcision reduces a man's risk of contracting AIDS from hetero sex by about half, stopping clinical trials because the results are so clear. On Feb. 28 Dutch researchers present findings at the 47th Annual Conference of the Am. Heart Assoc. that drinking a little alcohol each day, esp. wine (one-half glass) may be associated with an increase in life expectancy. In Feb. Takashi Tsuji et al. of Tokyo U. announce in Nature Methods that they have found a way to regrow teeth in mice using embryonic stem cells. In Mar. a group of top physicists incl. Brian Greene (1963-) of Columbia U. announce that time travel is beyond our capabilities - when did they announce this? In Mar. Swiss scientists build a robot lamprey that can swim like an eel and crawl on land like a salamander, allegedly showing how evolution might have worked. On Apr. 13 Science mag. pub. news of the sequencing of the genome of the Rhesus macaque Old World monkey, becoming the 3rd primate to be sequenced. On Apr. 24 astronomers report finding potentially Earth-like Planet 581c a mere 20.5 l.y. (120T mi.) away in Libra orbiting a dim red dwarf star (like 80% of the stars near Earth); surface temp range is 34-124F. On Apr. 26 the first flight of NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) takes off from Waco, Tex. In Apr. the new mineral Jadarite is discovered in Serbia, with the chem. formula sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, the same as written on a case of "kryptonite" stolen by Lex Luther in the movie "Superman Returns"; it is white, powdery and not radioactive. On May 20 Justinus Lahama of Jakarta, Indonesia catches a 4-ft. 110-lb. coelacanth, and keeps it alive in a pool for 17 hours. On May 28 ViaLactia of Australia announces Marge the Cow, the first cow with a genetic mutation to produce low-fat milk. In May the U.S. FDA approves the birth control pill Lybrel, which completely ends monthly periods except for occasional bleeding. In May Watson & Crick survivor James Dewey Watson (1928-) becomes the first person to receive his own personal genome map; too bad, on Oct. 14 an article in the Sunday Times Mag. contains some comments that piss-off the PC police, saying that he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa", because "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says not really", and "There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so", causing him to be fired from Cold Spring Harbor Lab on Oct. 18, and after tries to retract and apologize don't work, he resigns on Oct. 25, after which the Sunday Times pub. a cheap shot article claiming that 16% of his DNA is of African origin, using a flawed version of his genome map. On June 28 J. Craig Venter et al. announce the first species conversion, the conversion of one species of bacterium into another by replacing its DNA; "This is the equivalent of changing a Macintosh computer to a PC by inserting a new piece of software" (Venter); their next goal is to create a simple creature that has never existed before. On Aug. 4 the $386M NASA Phoenix Mars Lander blasts off, with the mission of testing the icy ground near the planet's north pole for signs of past or present life when it lands on May 25, 2008; it was named from the fact it was built from recycled parts from a scrapped 2001 mission; the last contact is on Nov. 2, 2008. On Nov. 6 Am. lone wolf physicist (Anthony) Garrett Lisi (1968-) proposes E8: An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything, a grand unified field theory based on the E8 Lie group combining particle physics and Einstein's theory of gravitation, claiming to embed all three generations of fermions in E8; in July 2009 it is disproven by mathematician Skip Garibaldi of Emory U. and physicist Jacques Distler of UTA. On Nov. 17 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (founded 1988) pub. its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4): Climate Change 007 in Paris, written by hundreds of thousands of scientists (really only 52?) led by New York City-born geoscientist Michael Oppenheimer (1946-), Argentine-born Am. economist Graciela Chichilnisky (1944-), German climatologist Stefan Rahmstorf (1960-), Kiwi scientist Michael James "Jim" Salinger (1947-), German economist Ottmar Georg Edenhofer (1961-) (known for the Nov. 14, 2010 soundbyte: "One has to free oneself from the illusion that international climate policy is environmental policy. [What we're doing] has almost nothing to do with the climate. We must state clearly that we are using climate policy to redistribute de facto the world's wealth") et al., citing 6K+ peer-reviewed scientific studies and concluding that "warming of the climate system is unequivocal", "most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions", warning that human activity poses a risk of "abrupt or irreversible changes" on Earth, and proposing the Carbon Credit Emissions Trading Market, which is adopted by the Kyoto Protocol; the 996-page report Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis is pub. by Working Group I as an addendum to the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, describing causes and consequences of global warming; it has 620 authors; IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri utters the soundbyte: "If there's no action before 2012, that's too late"; the IPCC is awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with former U.S. vice-pres. Al Gore (1948-), whose acceptance speech contains the New Age OWG soundbyte: "The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift Global Consciousness to a higher level." On Nov. 20 James Alexander "Jamie" Thomson (1958-) et al. of the U. of Wisc. report a new way to turn ordinary human skin cells into embryonic stem cells by adding four genes, defusing the debate about using human embryos; the same lab did the first stem cell-plucking from embryos in 1998. In Nov. 2,264 sq. mi. C19A becomes the largest iceberg on Earth after 4.4K sq. mi. B15 cracks in two. On Dec. 12 BBC News science reporter Jonathan Amos pub. a report touting the claims of scientists Wieslaw Maslowski et al. that Arctic summers may be ice-free by 2013, and that this estimate might be "too conservative". On Dec. 20 the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee pub. a report listing 400 prominent scientists who dispute man-made global warming, increasing it to 650 on Dec. 11, 2008. On Dec. 20 Ohio anatomy prof. Hans Thewissen pub. an article in Nature claiming to have found the long-sought missing link between land animals and whales (the hippo having proved a dead-end), the Indohyus, a cross between a long-tailed deer and an overgrown long-legged rat - what's that intelligent design stuff again? By the end of this year scientists have discovered 260 planets orbiting stars other than the Sun. Green Pea Galaxies are discovered by amateur astronomers. Dutch school teacher Hanny van Arkel discovers mysterious Hanny's Voorwerp close to spiral galaxy IC 2497 in the constellation Leo Minor, a huge hole 16K l.y. across sans stars with an unusually green color; on June 17, 2010 Hayden Rampadarath concludes that it contains a massive black hole at its center. "The Berlin Patient" Timothy Ray Brown (1966-) becomes the first person to be cured of HIV/AIDS via a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation; his cure is announced at the 2008 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; he remains anonymous until 2010; in 2019 "the London Patient" Adam Castillejo becomes the 2nd person cured. U. of Ariz. microbiologist Michael Worobey traces the evolutionary origins by HIV, finding HIV infections occurring in the U.S. as far back as the 1960s; in 2019 Worobey extracts HIV virus from a human from the early 20th cent. Kenya's nat. museum stages its first public display of Turkana Boy, the most complete prehistoric human skeleton ever found, causing Christian evangelical Bishop Boniface Adoyo to lead a protest, saying "I did not evolve from Turkana Boy or anything like it". A 405-y.-o. quahog clam is dredged off the N coast of Iceland, becoming the world's oldest known living animal. Art: Daniel Edwards, Paris Hilton Autopsy (sculpture); how she will end up if she doesn't quit drinking and driving? Mary Ehrin, Golden Arabesque; acrylic, gouache and 23-carat gold leaf. Damien Hirst (1965-), For the Love of God; platinum cast of 18th cent. skull covered in 8,601 diamonds; it cost Ł12M to make, and sells for Ł50M. Doris Laughton, Multi Liquid Metal Splats (bronze sculpture). Andrew Long, A Thousand Years. Philip Pearlstein (1924-), Two Nude Women with Flying Goose, Butterfly and Examination Chair. David Zimmer, Alfredo; backlighted image on duratran. Music: The Academy Is..., Santi (album #3) (original title "Chop Chop") (Apr. 27) (#32 in the U.S., #94 in the U.K.) ; incl. We've Got a Big Mess on Our Hands, Neighbors. Queens of the Stone Age, Era Vulgaris (album #5) (June 8) (#14 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.); incl. Sick, Sick, Sick (#65 in the U.K.), 3's and 7's (#19 in the U.K.), Make It Wit Chu. Akon, Don't Matter. America, Here & Now (album #16) (Jan.); incl. Here and Now. Tori Amos (1963-), American Doll Posse (album #9) (Apr. 26) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Big Wheel, Bouncing Off Clouds. Apocalyptica, Worlds Collide (album #6) (Sept. 14) (#59 in the U.S.); incl. I'm Not Jesus (w/Corey Taylor), S.O.S. (Anything But Love) (w/Cristina Scabbia), I Don't Care (w/Adam Gontier). Joseph Arthur (1971-) and the Lonely Astronauts, Let's Just Be (album) (Apr. 17); incl. Spacemen. Beatallica, Sgt. Hetfield's Motorbreath Pub Band (album) (debut) (July 10); incl. Revol-ooh-tion, Helvester of Skelter. Natasha Bedingfield (1981-), N.B. (album) (Apr. 27) (#3 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. Love Like This, Pocketful of Sunshine, Angel, I Wanna Have Your Babies, Soulmate. Beyonce (1981-) and Justin Timberlake (1981-), Until the End of Time. Mary J. Blige (1971-), Growing Pains (album #8) (Oct. 31) (#1 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.); incl. Just Fine, Work That, Hurt Again, Stay Down. Moody Blues, Live at the BBC: 1967-1970 (album) (Mar. 26). James Blunt (1977-), All the Lost Souls (album #2) (Sept. 17) (#7 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (3.6M copies); incl. 1973, Same Mistake, Carry You Home, I Really Want You. Backstreet Boys, Unbreakable (album #6) (Oct. 24); incl. Inconsolable, Helpless When She Smiles. Pet Shop Boys, Disco Four (album) (Oct. 8). Chris Brown, Exclusive (album); incl. Kiss Kiss, With You. Michael Buble (1975-) and Emily Blunt, Call Me Irresponsible (album); incl. Me and Mrs. Jones. Jimmy Buffett (1946-), Live at Texas Stadium (album) (Apr. 3); recorded on May 29, 2004. Colbie Caillat (1985-), Coco (album) (debut) (July 17) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Bubbly (which became a #1 iTunes hit via her MySpace profile), Realize, The Little Things. Cake, B-Sides and Rarities (album) (Oct. 2). Cascada, Waterfall: The Essential Dance Remix Collection (album); Perfect Day (album #2) (Dec. 3) (1M copies). 50 Cent (1975-), Curtis (album #3) (Sept. 11) (#2 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. Straight to the Bank, Amusement Park, I Get Money, Ayo Technology, I'll Still Kill (w/Akon). Chubby Checker (1941-), Knock Down the Walls (album) (Feb. 20); incl. Knock Down the Walls; #1 on the U.S. dance charts. Blue Cheer, What Doesn't Kill You (album #10) (last album) (Aug. 21); incl. Born Under a Bad Sign (by William Bell and Booker T. Jones). Kenny Chesney (1968-), Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (album) (Sept. 11); incl. Never Wanted Nothing More, Don't Blink. Kelly Clarkson (1982-), My December (album #3) (June 22) (#2 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); sells 2M copies; incl. Never Again, Sober, One Minute, Don't Waste Your Time. Black Rebel Motorocycle Club, Baby 81 (album) (Apr. 30); incl. Took Out a Loan. New Young Pony Club, Fantastic Playroom (album) (debut) (July 9). Biffy Clyro, Puzzle (album #4) (June 4) (#2 in the U.K.) (300K copies); incl. Semi-Mental, Saturday Superhouse, Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies, Folding Stars, Machines, Who's Got A Match? Joe Cocker (1944-2014), Hymn for My Soul (album #20) (Mar. 26). Craig Ashley David (1981-), Trust Me (album) (Nov. 12); incl. This is the Girl (w/ Kano). Taylor Dayne (1962-), Beautiful (Dec. 11) (#23 in the U.S.). Celine Dion (1968-), Taking Chances (album #10) (Nov. 7); incl. Taking Chances. Hilary Duff (1987-), Dignity (album #4) (Mar. 26) (#3 in the U.S., #25 in the U.K.) (1.8M copies in the U.S.); incl. With Love (#24 in the U.S.), Play With Fire, Stranger. Tan Dun, The First Emperor (opera) (Dec.) (Metropolitan Opera, New York). Duran Duran, Red Carpet Massacre (album #12) (Nov. 19); incl. Red Carpet Massacre, Falling Down. As I Lay Dying, An Ocean Between Us (album #4) (Aug. 21) (#8 in the U.S.); incl. Nothing Left, The Sound of Truth, I Never Wanted, Within Destruction. Eagles, Long Road Out of Eden (album) (Oct. 30); 20 new songs after a 28-year wait (1979); incl. How Long, Busy Being Fabulous, No More Cloudy Days. Finger Eleven, Them vs. You vs. Me (album #5) (Mar. 6) (500K copies); incl. Paralyzer, Falling On. Public Enemy, How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? (album #11) (Aug. 7); incl. Black Is Back, Amerikan Gangster (w/E.Infinite). The Enemy, We'll Live and Die in These Towns (album) (debut) (July 9) (#1 in the U.K.); from Coventry, incl. Tom Clarke (1986-) (vocals); incl. 40 Days and 40 Nights, It's Not OK, Away From Here, Had Enough, You're Not Alone, This Song. Epica, The Divine Conspiracy (album #3) (Sept. 7); incl. Chasing the Dragon, Never Enough. Gloria Estefan (1957-),90 Millas (90 Miles) (album #10) (Sept. 17) (#25 in the U.S.); incl. No Llores, Me Odio, Pintame De Colores. Melissa Etheridge (1961-), The Awakening (album) (Sept. 25). Eve (1978-), Tambourine (with the Swizz Beatz). Exodus, The Atrocity Exhibition... Exhibit A (album #8) (Oct. 23); incl. Riot Act. On Feb. 2007 they released album #4 Fall Out Boy, Infinity on High (album #4) (Feb. 5) (1M copies); incl. This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race, and Thnks fr th Mmrs (Thanks for the Memories). Feist (1976-), The Reminder (album #4) (Apr. 23) (#16 in the U.S.) (600K copies); incl. 1234 (#8 in the U.S. and U.K.), My Moon My Man, I Feel It All, Honey Honey. The Flobots, Fight With Tools (album) (debut) (Oct. 16); from Denver, Colo., incl. James "Jamie" "Jonny 5" Laurie (1977-) (vocals), Stephen Brackett, Mackenzie Gault, Andy Guerrero, Jesse Walker, and Kenny Ortiz; incl. Handlebars (#15 in the U.S.), Rise. The Foo Fighters, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (album #6) (Sept. 25); incl. The Pretender, Long Road to Ruin. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible (album #2) (Mar. 5) (#2 in the U.S.); incl. Black Mirror, Keep the Car Running, Intervention, No Cars Go. Maroon 5, It Won't Be Soon Before Long (album #2) (May 22) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); incl. Makes Me Wonder, Wake Up Call, Won't Go Home Without You, If I Never See Your Face Again (w/Rihanna), Goodnight Goodnight. John Fogerty (1945-), Revival (album) (Oct. 2); incl. Long Dark Night. The Fray, Acoustic in Nashville: Booleg No. 2 (album) (Sept. 4). Fuel, Angels & Devils (album #4) (Aug. 7) (#42 in the U.S.); last with Carl Bell and Jeff Abercrombie; first with vocalist Toryn Green (1975-); Wasted Time. Nelly Furtado (1978-), Say It Right. Kool and the Gang, Still Kool (album #24). Garbage, Absolute Garbage (album) (July 23). Leif Garrett (1961-), Three Sides Of... (album). Macy Gray (1967-), Big (album) (Mar. 27); incl. Finally Made Me Happy (with Natalie Cole), Shoo Be Doo. Emmy the Great (1984-), My Bad (album) (Aug. 20); incl. Easter Parade. Josh Groban (1981-), Noel (Noël) (album #4) (Oct. 9); sells 3.7M copies in 2007 (#1-selling album in the U.S. for 2007), and 5.8M copies by Oct. 2015, becoming the 2nd best-selling Christmas album in the U.S. after Kenny G's 1994 "Miracles: The Holiday Album". Herbie Hancock (1940-) and Joni Mitchell (1943-), River: The Joni Letters (album) (Sept. 25); 2008 album of the year Grammy, 2nd jazz album to win (first 1965). Glen Hansard (1970-) and Marketa Iglova (1988-), Falling Slowly; from the film "Once". P.J. Harvey (1969-), White Chalk (album #8) (Sept. 24) (#45 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.); incl. When Under Ether, The Piano, The Devil. The Heavy, Great Vengeance and Furious Fire (album) (debut); from Bath, England, incl. Kelvin Swaby (vocals), Dan Taylor (guitar), Spencer Page (bass), and Chris Ellul (drums); That Kind of Man. Levon Helm (1940-), Dirt Farmer (album #4) (Oct. 30); first album since 1980. Hans Werner Henze (1926-), Phaedra (opera). Missy Higgins, On a Clear Night (album) (Apr. 28); incl. Steer. Faith Hill (1967-), The Hits (album) (Oct. 2); incl. Lost, Red Umbrella. Crowded House, Time on Earth (album #5) (June 20) (#46 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.); first album since 1993; first with drummer Matt Sherrod; incl. Don't Stop Now, She Called Up, Pour Le Monde. David Ippolito, I Love the Company (album #8). Jamiroquai, Jamiroquai - Live at Montreux 2003 (album) (Oct. 1). Jay-Z (1969-), American Gangster (album #10) (Nov. 6); based on the film; sells 1M copies; incl. I Know, Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)... Jimmy Eat World, Chase This Light (album #6) (Oct. 16) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Big Casino, Always Be. Elton John (1947-), Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits (album) (Mar. 26). Jonas Brothers, Jonas Brothers (album #2) (Aug. 7); incl. Year 3000, Hold On, SOS, When You Look Me in the Eyes. Norah Jones (1979-), Not Too Late (album #3) (Jan. 30) (#1 in the U.S.) (4M copies); incl. Thinking About You. Bon Jovi, Lost Highway (album); incl. (You Want to) Make a Memory. Midnight Juggernauts, Dystopia (album) (debut) (Aug. 4); from Melbourne, Australia, incl. Vincent Vendetta, Andrew Szekeres, Daniel Stricker; incl. Into the Galaxy. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (1959-97), Wonderful World (album) (posth.). (July 4) (#44 in the U.S.); incl. What a Wonderful World; Over the Rainbow (#46 in the U.K.). Toby Keith (1961-), Big Dog Daddy (album) (June 12); incl. High Maintenance Woman. R. Kelly (1967-), Double Up (album #8) (May 29) (#1 in the U.S., #10 in the U.K.) (1M copies); incl. I'm a Flirt Remix (w/T.l. and T-Pain). Alicia Keys (1981-), As I Am (album #3) (Nov. 13) (#1 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.) (5M copies); incl. No One, Like You'll Never See Me Again. Chaka Khan (1953-), Funk This (album #11) (Sept. 25) (#15 in the U.S.); incl. Disrespectful (w/Mary J. Blige), You Belong to Me (w/Michael McDonald). Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight (album #4). The Killers, Sawdust (album) (Nov. 9) (#12 in the U.S.) (1M copies); incl. Shadowplay, Tranquilize (w/Lou Reed); Don't Shoot Me Santa (Dec. 1) (part of the proceeds devoted to AIDS charity). K'naan (1978-), The Dusty Foot on the Road (album #3) (June 25); incl. Smile. Korn, MTV Unplugged: Korn (album) (Mar. 5); Untitled (album #8) (July 27) (#2 in the U.S., #15 in the U.K.); incl. Evolution (#4 in the U.S.), Hold On (#35 in the U.S.), Kiss, I Will Protect You. Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked Ladies Are Men (album #8) (Feb. 6) (#102 in the U.S., #39 in Canada); Talk to the Hand: Live in Michigan (album) (Nov. 6). David Lang, The Little Match Girl Passion. Avril Lavigne (1984-), The Best Damn Thing (album #3) (Apr. 13) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (7M copies); incl. The Best Damn Thing, Girlfriend, When You're Gone, Hot. Annie Lennox (1954-), Songs of Mass Destruction (album #4) (Oct. 1); incl. Dark Road, Sing. Leona Lewis (1985-), Spirit (album) (debut) (Nov. 9) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (3M copies); incl. Bleeding Love, Better in Time, I Will Be, The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face (by Robert Flack), The Footprints in the Sand. The Black Lips, Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo (album) (Feb. 27); Good Bad Not Evil (album #4) (Sept. 11); incl. Slime and Oxygen, How Do You Tell a Child That Someone Has Died? Lloyd w/Lil' Wayne, You. Loon (1975-), Bad Boy (album #4) (with G. Dep.) (Feb. 13); after selling 7M CDs, he converts to Islam in 2009 and drops out of music. Jennifer Lopez (1969-), Como Ama una Mujer (How A Woman Loves) (album #5) (Mar. 27); Brave (album #6) (Oct. 4) (#12 in the U.S.); last with Epic Records. Amy Macdonald (1987-), This Is the Life (album) (debut) (July 30) (#1 in the U.K.); sells 2M copies; incl. Poison Prince, Mr. Rock & Roll, L.A., This Is the Life, Run. Madonna, The Confessions Tour (album) (Jan. 26) (#15 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.). Mae, Singularity (album #3) (Aug. 14); incl. Sometimes I Can't Make It Alone. Marilyn Manson, Eat Me, Drink Me (album #6) (June 5); incl. Heart-Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand), Putting Holes in Happiness. Martina McBride (1966-), Waking Up Laughing (album #8); incl. Anyway. Paul McCartney (1942-), Memory Almost Full (album #14) (June 4) (#3 in the U.S., #5 in the U.K.); sells 2M copies; incl. Dance Tonight (video features Natalie Portman), 222 (about his young daughter Beatrice). Tim McGraw (1967-), Let It Go (album) (Mar. 27); incl. Last Dollar (Fly Away), Ever Present Past, Only Mama Knows, Nod Your Head. Reba McEntire (1955-), Reba: Duets (album #28) (Sept. 18) (her first #1 on the Billboard and country charts). Megadeth, United Abominations (album #11) (May 8) (#8 in the U.S., #23 in the U.K.); incl. A Tout le Monde (Set me Free) (w/Cristina Scabbia). John Mellencamp (1951-), Freedom's Road (album); incl. The Only Promise That Remains (with Justin Timberlake). This is Our Country. Katie Melua (1984-), Pictures (album #3) (Oct. 1); incl. If You Were a Sailboat, Mary Pickford, If the Lights Go Out. Metric, Grown Up and Blown Away (album #3) (June 27); the first album they cut; incl. Grow Up and Blow Away. M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasm) (1975-), Kala (album #2) (Aug. 8); incl. Boyz, Jimmy, Paper Planes ("I get high like paper/ I fly like planes/ Catch me at the border/ I got visas in your name"). Ingrid Michaelson (1979-), Girls and Boys (album). Mika (1983-), Grace Kelly (Jan. 8); Life in Cartoon Motion (album) (debut) (Feb. 5). Kylie Minogue (1968-), X (album #10) (Nov. 21) (#4 in the U.K., #1 in Australia); incl. 2 Hearts, In My Arms, Wow, All I See, The One. Joni Mitchell (1943-), Shine (album #19) (Sept. 25); first new songs since 1998; incl. If. Pat Monahan (1969-), Last of Seven (album) (solo debut) (Sept. 18). Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare (album #2) (Apr. 18) (#1 in the U.K.); incl. Brainstorm, Fluorescent Adolescent, Teddy Picker. Van Morrison (1945-), Van Morrison at the Movies - Soundtrack Hits (album) (Feb. 12); The Best of Van Morrison Vol. 3 (album) (June 11); Still On Top - The Greatest Hits (double album) (Oct. 22). Motorhead, Better Motorhead (Motörhead) Than Dead: Live at Hammersmith (album) (July 16). Mountain, Masters of War (album). Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (album #5) (Mar. 20) (#1 in the U.S., #47 in the U.K.) (500K copies); first with Johnny Marr; incl. Dashboard (#59 in the U.S., #111 in the U.K.), Missed the Boat. Puddle of Mudd, Famous (album #3) (Oct. 9) (#27 in the U.S.) (360K copies); incl. Famous, Psycho. Dropkick Murphys, The Meanest of Times (album #6) (Sept. 18); first on their own label Born & Bred Records; incl. The State of Massachusetts. Nine Inch Nails, Year Zero (album #5) (Apr. 17) (#2 in the U.S., #6 in the U.K.); a dystopian vision of the U.S. govt. in the year 2022; incl. Survivalism, Capital G. The National, Boxer (album #4) (May 22) (#68 in the U.S.); incl. Slow Show, Fake Empire, Mistaken for Strangers, Racing Like a Pro. Ne-Yo (1979-), Because of You (album #2) (Apr. 25); incl. Because of You. Nonpoint, Vengeance (album #5) (Nov. 6) (#129 in the U.S.); incl. March of War, Wake Up World. Sinead O'Connor (1966-), Theology (album #8) (June 18); incl. I Don't Know How to Love Him (from "Jesus Christ Superstar"), Something Beautiful. Blue October, Foiled for the Last Time (double album) (Sept. 25). Orianthi (Pangaris), Violet Journey (album) (debut). Ozzy Osbourne (1948-), Black Rain (album) (May 22); incl. Black Rain. T-Pain w/Yung Joc, Buy U a Drank. Brad Paisley (1972-), 5th Gear (album) (June 19); incl. Ticks, Online, Letter to Me, I'm Still a Guy. Linkin Park, Minutes to Midnight (album #3) (May 14) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (6.5M copies); incl. What I've Done (#7 in the U.S., #6 in U.K.) ("In this farewell there's no blood, no alibi/ Cause I've drawn regret from the truth of a thousand lies/ So let mercy come, and wash away what I've done"), Bleed It Out (#52 in U.S., #29 in the U.K.), Shadow of the Day (#15 in the U.S., #46 in the U.K.), Given Up (#99 in the U.S.), Leave Out All the Rest (#94 in the U.S., #90 in the U.K.). Maximo Park, Our Earthly Pleasures (album #2) (Apr. 2); incl. Our Velocity, Books from Boxes, Girls Who Play Guitars, Karaoke Plays. Katy Perry (1984-), Ur So Gay (Nov. 20) ("You're so gay and don't even like boys"); so much for her Christian music career? Pitbull (1981-), The Boatlift (album #3) (Nov. 27) (#50 in the U.S.); incl. Sticky Icky (w/Lil Jon and Jim Jones), Secret Admirer, Go Girl, The Anthem (w/Lil Jon), Fuego Remix (w/Don Omar). Robert Plant (1948-) and Alison Krauss (1971-), Raising Sand (album) (Oct. 23); incl. Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On), Please Read the Letter, Rich Woman. Jean-Luc Ponty (1942-), The Atacama Experience (album). The New Pornographers, Challengers (album #4) (Aug. 21) (#34 in the U.S.); incl. Myriad Harbour. Insane Clown Posse, The Tempest (album #10) (Mar. 20). Paul Potts (1970-), One Chance (album) (debut); sells 3M copies. Manic Street Preachers, Send Away the Tigers (album #8) (May 7) (#2 in the U.K.); incl. Underdogs, Your Love Alone is Not Enough, Autumnsong, Indian Summer. Prince (1958-), Planet Earth (album) (July 7); incl. "Guitar", "Chelsea Rodgers". Eric Prydz (1976-), Proper Education (#2 in the U.K.). Smashing Pumpkins, Zeitgeist (album) (June 6). Skinny Puppy, Mythmaker (album #10) (Jan. 30) (#200 in the U.S.); incl. UgLi. Queensryche, Mindcrime at the Moore (album) (July 3); Sign of the Times (album) (Aug. 9); Take Cover (album) (Nov. 13). Radiohead, In Rainbows (album #7) (Oct. 10); released as a you-set-the-price digital download; incl. House of Cards/Bodysnatchers, Jigsaw Falling into Place, Nude, Reckoner, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi. Night Ranger, Hole in the Sun (album #9) (Apr. 23); first album since 1998; incl. Tell Your Vision, There Is Life. Nathaniel Rateliff (1978-), Desire and Dissolving Men (album) (debut). The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust (album #3) (Nov. 12); incl. Lust. Eddi Reader (1959-), Peacetime (album #8). Lou Reed (1942-), Hudson River Wild Meditations (album #20) (Apr. 24); Tai Chi music; incl. Hudson River Wind (Blend the Ambiance). Steve Reich (1936-), Double Sextet. Rihanna (1988-), Good Girl Gone Bad (album #3) (May 31) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.S.) (2.8M copies); incl. Umbrella (#1 in the U.S.), Take a Bow (#1 in the U.S.), Disturbia (#1 in the U.S.), Don't Stop the Music (#1 worldwide), Hate That I Love You, Shut Up and Drive, Rehab. LeAnn Rimes (1982-), Family (album). Kid Rock (1971-), Rock n Roll Jesus (album #7) (Oct. 9) (#1 in the U.S.) (5M copies); incl. So Hott, Amen, All Summer Long (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); a mashup of Warrem Zevon's "Werewolves of London" and Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama", plus Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"; becomes the official theme song of WWE's Backlash 2008, and the 2009 World Cup. My Chemical Romance, AOL Sessions (album) (Dec. 18); Live and Rare (EP) (Dec. 19). Kelly Rowland, Like This (with Eve). Tom Rush (1941-), The Remember Song (by Steven Walters); uploaded to YouTube on Mar. 1, becoming a hit (6M+ views), causing him to utter the soundbyte: "I've been waiting 45 years to be an overnight sensation." Rush, Snakes & Arrows (album #18) (May 1); incl. Far Cry, Spindrift. Saxon, The Inner Sanctum (Mar. 5). Scorpions, Humanity: Hour I (album #15) (May 14). Seal (1963-), System (album #5) (Nov. 12). Seether, Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces (album #4) (Oct. 23); incl. Fake It, Rise Above This, Breakdown, Careless Whisper. Shaggy, Intoxication (album). Michelle Shocked (1962-), ToHeavenURide (album); When I Grow Up (I want to be an old woman). Patti Smith (1946-), Twelve (album #10) (Apr. 17); guess how many tracks?; incl. Are You Experienced?. Collective Soul, Afterwords (album #7) (Aug. 28); incl. Hollywood. Jordin Sparks (1989-), Jordin Sparks (album) (debut) (Nov. 20); sells 2M copies; Am. Idol season #6 winner; incl. Tattoo, No Air (with Chris Brown). Britney Spears (1981-), Blackout (album) (Oct. 30). REO Speedwagon, Find Your Own Way Home (album #15) (Apr. 3) (first since 1996); incl. I Needed to Fall. Regina Spektor (1980-), Live in California 2006 EP (album) (Feb. 27). Ringo Starr (1940-), Ringo Starr: Live at Soundstage (album) (Oct. 23). Status Quo, In Search of the Fourth Cord (album #28) (Sept. 17); title is a play on their rap that they always play the same three chords. Gwen Stefani (1969-) with Akon, The Sweet Escape. Sting (1951-), Songs from the Labyrinth (album); Elizabethan songs "about the nature of love and disappointment". Joss Stone (1987-), Introducing Joss Stone (album #3) (Mar. 12) (#2 in the U.S., #12 in the U.K.) (1.3M copies); Tell Me 'bout It, Tell Me What We're Gonna Do Now (w/Common), Baby Baby Baby. White Stripes, Icky Thump (album #6) (last album) (June 15) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); first on Warner Brothers Records; incl. Icky Thump, Rag and Bone, You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told), Conquest. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver (album #2) (Mar. 12); incl. All My Friends, North American Scum, Someone Great; A Bunch of Stuff (album) (Sept. 18). Cobra Starship, Viva la Cobra! (album #2) (Oct. 23); incl. Guilty Pleasure, The City Is At War, Kiss My Sass. Sugarbabes, Change (album #5) (Oct. 1); incl. Change, About You Now, Denial. Within Temptation, The Heart of Everything (album #4) (Mar. 12) (#106 in the U.S., #38 in the U.K.); incl. All I Need, Forgiven, The Howling, What Have You Done, Frozen. Therion, Gothic Kabbalah (album #14) (Jan. 12); incl. The Wand of Abaris. Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, Strength & Loyalty (album) (May 8); incl. I Tried (with Akon). T.H.U.G.S. (album) (Nov. 13). Robin Thicke (1977-), Lost Without U. Pretty Things, Balboa Island (album #14). Timbaland (1971-), Timbaland Presents Shock Value (album #2) (Apr. 3) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Give It to Me. (Mar. 15) (w/Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.). Justin Timberlake (1981-), What Goes Around. The Fall of Troy, Manipulator (album #3) (May 1). Jethro Tull, Live at Montreux 2003 (album). KT Tunstall (1975-), Drastic Fantastic (album #2) (Sept. 10) (#9 in the U.S., #72 in the U.K.); incl. Little Favours, If Only, Hold On, Saving My Face. Tarja Turunen (1977-), My Winter Storm (album) (solo debut) (Nov. 19); sells 5.5M copies; incl. I Walk Alone. Matchbox Twenty, Exile on Mainstream (album #4) (Oct. 2) (#3 in the U.S., #53 in the U.K.); incl. How Far We've Come (#14 in the U.S.). Thompson Twins, Love On Your Side: The Best of Thompson Twins (album). Six Feet Under, Commandment (album #7) (Apr. 17); incl. Ghosts of the Undead, Doomsday. Carrie Underwood (1983-), Before He Cheats. Tune Up, Ravers Fantasy. The Veronicas, Hook Me Up (album #2) (Nov. 3) (#107 in the U.S., #35 in the U.K., #2 in Australia); incl. Hook Me Up, Untouched, This Love, Take Me on the Floor, Popular. Suzanne Vega (1959-), Beauty & Crime (album #7) (June 11); incl. Bound (about her hubby, who proposed in 1983 and wed her in 2005). Sydney Wayser (1986-), Silent Parade (album) (debut) (May 1). Kevin Welch (1955-), Kane Welch Kaplin (album #8). Kanye West (1977-), Graduation (album #3) (Sept. 11) (#1 in the U.S.) (2M copies in the U.S.); incl. Can't Tell Me Nothing, Stronger, Good Life (w/T-Pain), Flashing Lights (w/Dwele), Homecoming. Westlife, Back Home (album #9) (Nov. 5) (#1 in the U.K.); incl. Home, Us Against the World, Something Right. Whigfield (1970-), All In One (album #5). Great White, Back to the Rhythm (album #10) (Aug.); first album since 1999. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky (album #6) (May 15); incl. Sky Blue Sky, You Are My Face. Gretchen Wilson (1973-), One for the Boys (album). Amy Winehouse (1983-2011), Valerie. Wisin and Yandel, Wisin vs. Yandel: Los Extraterrestres (album #6) (Nov. 6); sells 3M copies; incl. Sexy Movimiento, Ahora Es, Oye, Donde Esta El Amor?. Wu-Tang Clan, 8 Diagrams (album #5) (Dec. 11) (#25 in the U.S.); incl. The Heart Gently Weeps. Daddy Yankee, El Cartel: The Big Boss (album #4) (June 5) (#9 in the U.S.); incl. Impacto, Ella Me Levanto. Trisha Yearwood (1964-), Heaven, Heartache, and the Power of Love (album). Yello, Progress and Perfection (album #12) (Sept. 21). Frank Zappa (1940-93), Buffalo (album) (posth.) (Apr. 1); The Dub Room Special Soundtrack (album) (posth.) (Aug. 24); Wazoo (album) (posth.) (Oct. 30). Movies: Mikael Hafstrom's 1408 (June 22) (Dimension Films) (MGM), based on a 1999 Stephen King short story stars John Cusack as skeptical cynical haunted house debunking author Mike Enslin ("Nothing would make me happier than to experience a paranormal event"), who receive an anon. postcard telling to not enter Room 1408 of the Dolphin Hotel on Lexington Ave. in New York City, and takes the dare; Samuel L. Jackson plays hotel mgr. Gerald Olin, who warns Enslin that 56 people in the last 95 years died after entering the room, with nobody lasting more than an hour; does $132M box office on a $25M budget. Cristian Munglu's 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Aug. 29) is a portrait of an illegal abortion in Communist-era Romania, and wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Julie Taymor's Across the Universe (Oct. 9), a Beatles-infused who-says-pets-can't-drive '60s fantasy stars Jim Sturgess as Jude, Evan Rachel Wood as Lucy, Joe Anderson as Max Carrigan, Dana Fuchs as Sadie, Martin Luther as Jojo, and T.V. Carpio as Prudence, and features over 30 Beatles songs. Alvin and the Chipmunks; #9 movie of 2007 ($217M). Ridley Scott's American Gangster (Nov. 2), based on the Mark Jacobsen story "The Return of Superfly" stars Denzel Washington as black 1970s Harlem heroin kingpin Frank Lucas, who smuggles it in U.S. military planes from Vietnam, and Russell Crowe as detective Richie Roberts. Luc Besson's Arthur and the Invisibles (Jan. 12) stars Madonna (1958-), David Bowie (1947-) and Snoop Dogg as voices in a fairy tale color graphics kiddie film ripoff of King Arthur, "Wizard of Oz", and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", with the tagline "Adventure awaits in your own backyard"; it is disqualified for Oscar competition for best animated feature film because the animated sequences don't comprise at least 75% of the running time. Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Sept. 2) (Virtual Studios) (Warner Bros.), based on the 1983 Ron Hansen novel stars Brad Pitt as Jesse James (1847-82), Sam Shepard as Frank James (1843-1915), Cassey Affleck as "dirty little coward" Robert "Bob" Ford (1862-92), and Sam Rockwell as his brother Charley Ford (1857-84), who whack him on Apr. 3, 1882; coulda been an Oscar contender if it wasn't so long (160 min.)?; does $15M box office on a $30M budget. Joe Wright's Atonement (Aug. 29) (StudioCanal) (Relativity Media) (Working Title Films) (Focus Features), based on the 2001 Ian McEwan novel stars Saoirse Ronan (1994-) as 13-y.-o. Briony Tallis, who accuses the lover Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) of her older sister Cecilia (Keira Knightley) of a sex crime he didn't commit, ruining both of their lives, ending up writing a novel as a you know what; Dario Marianelli wins a best original score Oscar; does $129.3M box office on a $30M budget; "Joined by love, separated by fear, redeemed by hope." Robert Ben Garant's Balls of Fury (Aug. 29), co-written by Thomas Lennon is a hilarious comedy about pudgy grown Def Leppard-loving "Gwai-Lo" (round eyes) failed child ping-pong star Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler), who gets involved in a James Bond 007 spy spoof, with George Lopez playing good guy FBI agent Ernie Rodriguez, and Christopher Walken playing bad guy Feng; James Hong plays Master Wong; Thomas Lennon plays gay Nazi ping-ponger Karl Wolfschtagg; "I'm going to Disneyland"; "Ping Pong is not the Macarena"; "Ping Pong, the sport of emperors and bandits alike"; "Game not in paddle, game in you"; also stars Robert Patrick, Jason Scott Lee, Maggie Q, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Aisha Tyler, and Diedrich Bader. Steve Hickner's and Simon J. Smith's Bee Movie (Nov. 2) is an animated comedy starring Jerry Seinfeld as bee Barry B. Benson, who gets fed up with his boring job and falls in love with human florist Vanessa (Renee Zellweger) in New Hive City, then sues humans for eating honey. Loki Mulholland's Believe (Apr. 20) lampoons the U.S. phenomenon of Multi-Level Marketing, starring Larry Bagby as Adamon Pendon. Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan (Mar. 2), a sequel to "Hustle & Flow" based on George Eliot's "Silas Marner" stars Samuel L. Jackson as blues musician Lazarus, who chains sexually wild white woman Rae (Christina Ricci) to a radiator to save her, while her beau Ronnie (Justin Timberlake) suffers from panic attacks. Josh Gordon's Blades of Glory (Mar. 30) stars Will Ferrell and Jon Heder as feuding Olympic figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy, who are banned for life then find a loophole allowing them to skate as a gay pair; Craig T. Nelson plays their coach. Paul Greengrass' The Bourne Ultimatum (Aug. 3), based on the Robert Ludlum novels starring Matt Damon and Julia Stiles is the #7 movie of 2007 ($227M). Neil Jordan's The Brave One (Sept. 14) stars Jodie Foster as New York City radio host Erica Bain, who is brutally attacked and turns into a female Charles Bronson vigilante, with cop Det. Mercer (Terrence Howard) trailing her; Naveen Andrews plays her beau David Kirmani. Billy Ray's Breach (Feb. 16) stars Chris Cooper as FBI spy Robert Hanssen, and Ryan Phillippe as his asst. Eric O'Neill, who helps smoke him out. Gabor Csupo's Bridge to Terabithia (Feb. 16), based on the 1978 Katherine Paterson novel stars AnnaSophia Robb as Leslie Burke, Josh Hutcherson as Jess Aarons, Robert Patrick as his father, and Zooey Deschanel as music teacher Ms. Edmonds. Rob Reiner's The Bucket List (Dec. 15) stars Jack Nicholson as billionaire Kopi Luwak-drinking hospital magnate Edward Cole, and Morgan Freeman as Jeopardy!-loving mechanic Carter Chambers, two terminally-ill men who take a road trip with a last chance wish list of things to do, incl. visiting the Great Pyramid and the Great Wall of China; does $175M box office on a $45M budget. Marcos Siega's Chaos Theory (Apr. 11) is a romantic comedy about 50-something efficiency expert Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds in bad makeup), who is thrown off by a mistake by his wife Susan (Emily Mortimer) in setting a clock; also stars Stuart Townsend and Sarah Chalke. Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War (Dec. 21) (Relativity Media) (Universal Pictures), based on the 2003 book by George Crile III stars Tom Hanks as U.S. rep. (D-Tex.) (1973-96) Charles Nesbitt "Charlie" Wilson (1933-), who funneled arms to Afghan guerrillas in 1987-7 via Operation Cyclone and broke the Soviets' backs, leading to the downfall of the Soviet Union, then watched helplessly as Afghanistan was taken over by the Taliban; also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a rogue Greek-extraction CIA agent, plus believable aging sex goddess Julia Roberts to sell tickets?; does $119M box office on a $75M budget. Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men (Jan. 5) stars 007 Bond reject Clive Owen as disillusioned white bureaucrat Theo Faron, who tries to save the world's last fertile woman (predictably black?) Clare-Hope Ashitey in 2027. Stefan Kuzowitzky's Counterfeiters (Mar. 22) is about Operation Bernhard in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1936. James Wan's Death Sentence (Aug. 31) stars Kevin Bacon as mild-mannered exec Nick Hume in a departure from his usual cerebral roles, getting stabbed, punched, and kicked as he runs through back alleys; "Protect what's yours". D.J. Caruso's Disturbia (Apr. 13), a remake of "Rear Window" without the real flavor and Hitchcock style stars Carrie-Ann Moss and who cares? Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Scaphandre et le Papillon) (May 23), based on the book by Elle ed. Jean-Dominique Bauby stars Mathieu Amalric as Bauby, who suffers a stroke and ends up paralyzed except for his left eye. David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises (Sept. 21) stars Viggo Mortensen as London gangster Nikolai Luzhin, and Naomi Watts as midwife Anna, who uncovers evidence against him to ruin his cover story. Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Oct. 12) stars Cate Blanchett in a reprise of her role as Elizabeth I of England, along with Geoffrey Rush as Sir Francis Walsingham, Clive Owen as Sir Walter Raleigh, and Samantha Morton as Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, as Liz takes on the 1588 Spanish Armada. Disney's Enchanted (Nov. 21) is a comedy starring Amy Adams as fairy tale princess Giselle, who is thrust into reality in modern-day New York City by evil queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), and ends up in a love affair with flawed atty. Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey), causing her to question her betrothal to fairy tale Prince Edward (James Marsden). Hal Hartley's Fay Grim (Jan. 19), a sequel to "Henry Fool" (1997) stars Parker Posey as precious literary genius garbage man Henry Fool's wife, who is chased by CIA agent Fullbright (Jeff Goldblum) as she travels to Paris to find the ms. of his voluminous but unreadable book to end all books, which now allegedly reveals his exciting spy past and contains sensitive nat. security info.; "An honest man is always in trouble." Richard LaGravenese's Freedom Writers (Jan. 5) stars Hilary Swank as Erin Gruwell, teacher at Long Beach's Wilson High School who tries to tame, er, teach feuding black, brown and yellow students by encouraging them keep diaries; based on the real-life story pub. in 1999. Garry Marshall's Georgia Rule (May 11), a comedy starring Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman becomes another "Gigli" for the offscreen antics of food-picker Lindsay Lohan (1986-), earning her an ugly public reprimand from Morgan Creek Productions CEO James G. Robinson; the script by "As Good As It Gets" Mark Andrus about dysfunctional family cliches is massively zonked? Mark Steven Johnson's Ghost Rider (Jan. 15) (Columbia Pictures) (Sony Pictures Releasing), written by Mark Steven Johnson based on the Marvel Comics char. stars Nicolas Cage as stunt motorcyclist Johnny Blaze, who sells his soul to fight Blackheart (Wes Bentley), son of Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda), and turns into you know what at night, while his reporter babe Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendes) waits in the wings; the Ghost Rider Theme (Ghost Riders in the Sky) by Spiderbait is a trip in itself; does $228.7M box office on a $110M budget; followed by "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" (2012). Chris Weitz' The Golden Compass (Nov. 27) (New Line Cinema) (Warner Bros. Pictures), based on the 1995 novel "Northern Lights", first in the atheistic His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman (an inverted Milton's Paradise Lost) is about a network of lily-white parallel worlds where people's souls reside in daemons that take the forms of shapeshifting animal pets, while the mean Magisterium (Roman Catholic Church in disguise?) stifles free thought (why? because they say so?), and only Dust, which flows from U to U can free the minds of pubescent children with the Biblical idea of Original Sin?; too bad, in a lame attempt to sap some of the big dough from the Lord of the Rings audience, it takes the deep philosophical novels and cuts the guts out, then ramps it up with digital SFX that give the movie a $180M price tag and add nothing to fill the yawning voids; too bad, after the Catholic League calls for a boycott, and the formula is so co-opted that it fires blanks compared to the novels, it only does $70M box office in the U.S., but makes up for it in internat. sales of $372M on a $180M budget, which New Line Cinema screws up by selling foreign rights in advance, pissing-off Time Warner, who merges it into Warner Brothers; expensive but weak cast incl. Nicole Kidman as mean blonde Marisa Coulter of Jordan College, Oxford (head of the Gen. Oblation Board of Gobblers) (should have been Charlize Theron or Michelle Pfeiffer, or better yet, Madonna, or even Cher, anybody but Kidman?), whimpy Daniel Craig (007) as Lord Asriel (give Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise or Leonardo DiCaprio the bucks instead, or use a 20-something black rapper stud to make it more free-thinking?), and (the only one well-cast) Dakota Blue Richards as his niece Lyra Belacqua, the child heroine who can use the last remaining alethiometer (Golden Compass) (truth meter); supporting chars. incl. Witch Clan queen Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green), Texas aeronaut Lee Scoresby (where's-the-vampires Sam Elliott), Iorek Byrnison, prince of the Panserbjorns (armored polar bears) (voice of Ian McKellen), John Faa (Jim Carter), king of the Gyptians of Svalbard, Lyra's daemon Pantalaimon (voice of Freddie Highmore); the casting of Christopher Lee as the first high councilor cross-links it to the Lord of the Rings and takes away from its separate franchising goals?; "What will the quarrel be about?"; "Nothing less than free will. The Magisterium seeks to control not only this world but every world in the Universe." (yawn) Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone (Oct. 19) (Miramax)) (his dir. debut), based on the 1998 Dennis Lehane novel stars his brother Casey Affleck as P.I. Patrick Kenzie, Morgan Freeman as police capt. Jack Doyle, and Ed Harris as Det. Sgt. Remy Bressant in a story about Boston police code of silence that almost works for good for once as they try to get an abused girl away from her mother; does $34M box office on a $19M budget. Davis Guggenheim's Gracie (June 1) stars Carly Schroeder as Grace Bowen, who wants to play soccer with unwilling men; features soccer-playing Elizabeth and Andrew Shue in a tribute to their late older brother William. Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters (Dec. 25) stars Washington as 1935 prof. Melvin B. Tolson (1898-1966) of Wiley College in Texas, who forms the school's first debating squad, which takes on lily-white Harvard (really USC?) in the nat. championship, and wins when the contestants gets personal about their experiences with the KKK, playing the race card. Martin Durkin's The Great Global Warming Single (Mar. 8) (original title: "Apocalypse my arse") debuts on BBC Channel 4, questioning the scientific consensus on global warming, calling it "a lie" and "the biggest scam of modern times", pissing-off the PC police, causing U.K. broadcasting regulatory agency Ofcom to come down on it, making them rebroadcast it and correct three errors. Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez' Grindhouse (Apr. 6) (Troublemaker Studios) is a horror double feature consisting of Rodriguez' "Planet Terror" and Tarantino's "Death Proof", bookended with fictional trailers, ads, and in-theater announcements, starring Rose McGowan as machine gun-legged Cherry Darling, Freddy Rodriguez as El Wray, Marley Shelton as Dr. Dakota Block, Michael Biehn as Sheriff Hague, Jeff Fahey as J.T. Hague, Bruce Willis Lt. Muldoon, Kurt Russell, Fergie et al.; does $25.4M box office on a $53M budget. Adam Shankman's Hairspray (July 20), a clean remake of the 1988 John Waters' flick stars 18-y.-o. Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, singing the opening number "Good Morning Baltimore", Queen Latifah as Motormouth Maybelle, who tries to make every day Negro Day on the Corny Collins Show, her son Seawweed J. Stubbs (Elijah Kelley), Michelle Pfeiffer as station mgr. Velma Von Tussle, Brittany Snow as her daughter Amber, Zac Efron as her beau Link Larkin, all watched over at home by Tracy's fat mother Edna, played by John Travolta, who dances in a 30-lb. fat suit; grosses $119M. David Yates' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (July 11), about Harry's 5th year at Hogwarts, where he forms Dumbledore's Army to fight Lord Voldemort is darker than the previous flicks in the series, as the horrible evil of Satanism can no longer masquerade as a light joke, but by now they're so addicted it doesn't matter?; #5 movie of 2007 ($292M). Lasse Hallstrom's The Hoax (Apr. 20) stars Richard Gere as failed novelist ("Rudnick's Problem - I like it") Clifford Irving (b. 1930), who runs one of the biggest literary frauds in history by palming off a fake autobio. of Howard Hughes for $100K, plus $900K to "H.R. Hughes" (which his wife cashes in Switzerland), and keeps it from being exposed until it's rolling off the presses of McGraw-Hill on Jan. 9, 1972, when the real Hughes goes on TV via phone disavowing him, after which he ends up doing jail time, later claiming that Howie was really passing him dirt on Tricky Dicky Nixon but cut him loose to make a secret deal saving him from a $137M TWA shareholders' lawsuit and help him with an Air West merger; he also claims that the Watergate break-in was in order to see if the DNC had a copy of his book with its revelations of Nixon's past bribes. Francis Lawrence's I Am Legend (Dec. 14) (Warner Bros.) stars Will Smith as not-too-believable scientist Robert Neville, sole New York City survivor of a world plague that transformed the rest into monsters (Darkseekers); Alice Braga plays Brazilian survivor Anna Montez, who takes care of Ethan (Charlie Tahan); Emma Thompson plays Dr. Alice Krippin, who created the cancer cure that morphs into a vampire maker; real-life daughter Willow Smith plays Will's daughter; filmed on location in New York City; $5M was spent on a scene at the Brooklyn Bridge; #6 movie of 2007 ($256M domestic and $329M foreign on a $150M budget). Todd Haynes' I'm Not There stars six different actors, incl. Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett as battery-powered Bob Dylan. Jon Kasdan's In the Land of Women (Apr. 20) stars Adam Brody as softcore porn writer Carter Webb, whose actress babe Sofia Bunuel (Elena Anaya) breaks up with him, after which he moves on with his quirky grandmother Phyllia (Olympia Dukakis); Kasdan's dir. debut. Dennis Dugan's I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (July 20) stars Adam Sandler as Chuck Levine and Kevin James as Larry Valentine, two straight firefighters pretending to be gay to get domestic partner benefits, while the flick busily indoctrinates the audience on how acceptable the gay lifestyle is. Sean Penn's Into the Wild (Sept. 21), based on the 1996 book by Jon Krakauer stars Emile Hirsch as 24-y.-o. Christopher McCandless, who gives his bank account to charity and hikes to wild Alaska alone under the alias Alexander Supertramp, and dies of starvation in 1992 in an abandoned bus after failing to adequately prepare; the movie attempts to glamorize his quest as a Thoreau thing, and blames the cause of death on poison wild sweet peas, ignoring possible undiagnosed schizophrenia causing him to starve himself to death purposely?; "Careers are a 20th century invention." Parvez Sharma's A Jihad for Love (original title: In the Name of Allah) (May 21) is the first documentary on homosexuality in Islam, incl. gay Iranian asylum seekers in Turkey, a gay imam, and a devout Egyptian lesbian; it is shown in the Arab world for the 1st time in Sept. 2010 in Beirut. Martin Scorsese's The Key to Reserva (Dec. 14) is something about a lost Hitchcock script and a cup of java. Peter Berg's The Kingdom (Aug. 22), based on the June 26, 1996 bombings of the Khobar housing complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia stars Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner in a "balls out", "circle jerk" 5-day Mission: Impossible in Saudi Arabia to locate a terrorist cell in Saudi Arabia, only to find that authorities don't want them there because infidels in their land iz da problem; only Col. Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) befriends them, and guess how he ends up?; the message that the Saudi govt. is barely hanging on against the pro-Osama bin Laden insurgents and is in fact selling out to the West and its big money comes through loud and clear. Marc Forster's The Kite Runner (Dec. 26) stars Khalid Abdalla as Amir, who leaves Calif. for his homeland of Afghanistan to help his friend Hassan, whose son is in trouble. Judd Apatow's Knocked Up (June 1) stars Seth Rogan as Ben Stone, whose pregnant 1-night stand Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) shows up on his doorstep eight weeks later. A.J. Schnack's Kurt Cobain: About a Son (Oct. 3) tries to figure out why he would have wanted to commit suicide. Craig Gillespie's Lars and the Real Girl (Oct. 12) (MGN) stars Ryan Gosling as Lars Lindstrom, who develops a romance with a sex doll (RealDoll) named Bianca; does $11.2M box office on a $12M budget. Robert Redford's Lions for Lambs (Nov. 9) stars Redfod as Calif. prof. Stephen Malley, Meryl Streep as journalist Janine Roth, and Tom Cruise as right-wing U.S. Sen. Jasper Irving yamming it up in order to make right-wingers look bad thanks to liberal Hollyweird writers, while an Army ranger incident in Afghanistan gives Michael Pena and Derek Luke a SAG card; "If you don't stand for something, you might fall for anything"; only Cruise film in 21 years not to gross $100M worldwide. Len Wiseman's Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4.0) (June 12) (Cheyenne Enterprises) (Dune Entertainment) (Ingenious Film Partners) (20th Cent. Fox), the 4th installment in the 1988 "Die Hard" franchise, based on the 1997 Wired mag. article "A Farewell to Arms" by John Carlin stars Bruce Willis as Baby Boomer NYPD dick John McClane, last of the 20th cent. male action heroes, hunting down cyberspace terrorism mastermind Thomas Gabriel (Timothy Olyphant), whose lover Mai Linh (Maggie Q) is a Kung Fu fighter; Mary Elizaeth Winstead plays his estranged daughter Lucy; Cliff Curtis plays deputy FBI dir. Miguel Bowman; Justin Long plays Matthew "Matt" Farrell; does $383.5M box office on a $110M budget. Ang Lee's Lust, Caution (Sept. 24) stars Wei Tang as Wang Jiazhi, who gets into a dangerous game with WWII-era Shanghai political boss Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Chiu Wai). Stephen Anderson's animated Meet the Robinsons(Mar. 23) (Walt Disney Pictures) is about 12-y.-o. inventor Lewis (voiced by Jordan Fry and Tom Selleck), who is desperate to be adopted, and his 13-y.-o. time-traveler friend Wilbur Robinson (voiced by Wesley Singerman) , who is trying to prevent the Bowler Hat Guy (voiced by Anderson) from changing his timeline; does $169.3M box office on a $150M budget. Zach Helm's Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Nov. 16) (20th Cent. Fox) stars Dustin Hoffman as 243-y.-o. toy store owner Edward Magorium, and Natalie Portman as his store mgr. Molly Mahoney, a child piano prodigy who doesn't want to inherit the store, causing it to lose all its magic; does $69.5M box office on a $65M budget. Dani Levy's My Fuehrer: The Really Truest Truth about Adolf Hitler (Mein Führer – Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler) (Jan. 9) (X Filme) is the first German movie to satirize Hitler, by a Swiss-born Jewish dir. who lives in Berlin and thinks he has a free pass?; Adolf Hitler (Helge Schneider) is too depressed to give his New Year's 1945 speech, so he calls in a Jewish acting coach. Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton (Oct. 12) stars George Clooney as a New York City corporate law firm fixer, who faces the biggest challenge of his who-cares life; Tilda Swinton plays his hardball-playing co-employee Karen Crowder. Michael Winterbottom's A Mighty Heart (June 22), produced by Brad Pitt is his wife Angelina Jolie's vehicle as Mariane Pearl, wife of kidnapped journalist Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman), showing how Karachi is a very big very wondrous place - but no clue how a futzy Jewish journalist can get a gorgeous babe to give him everything? Frank Darabont's Stephen King's The Mist (Nov. 21) (Dimension Film) (MGM), based on the 1980 Stephen King novel stars Toby Jones, Marcia Gay Harden, Thomas Jane, Laurie Holden, William Sadler et al. as suckers trapped in a supermarket in Bridgton, Maine while a mysterious mist descends bringing horrific Lovecraftian monsters; does $57.3M box office on an $18M budget. Marc Lawrence's Music and Lyrics (Feb. 9) stars Drew Barrymore as plant waterer Sophie Fisher, who is discovered by fading PoP! band member Alex Fletcher (Hugh Grant). Jon Turteltaub's National Treasure: Book of Secrets (Dec. 13) stars Nicolas Cage as treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates, who is told that his great-great-grandfather Thomas Gates was the mastermind behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln from 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, and tries to clear his name, climaxing at Mt. Rushmore, beneath which lies a fabled city of gold; #8 movie of 2007 ($220M/$347.5M). Lee Tamahori's Next (Apr. 27) stars Nicolas Cage as Las Vegas magician Cris Johnson, who uses his psychic abilities to help Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) catch nuclear terrorists. Randall Miller's Nobel Son (Apr. 28) stars Alan Rickman as Eli Michaelson, an SOB who wins the Nobel Prize, after which his son Barkley (Bryan Greenberg) is kidnapped for the $2M prize money, and he refuses to pay. Ethan Coen's and Joel Coen's No Country for Old Men (Nov. 9) (Miramax Films) (Paramount Vantage), based on the 2005 Cormac McCarthy novel set in 1980 Sanderson, Tex. stars Josh Brolin as Vietnam vet and welder Llewelyn Moss, who comes upon a bad drug deal in the Tex. desert and steals a suitcase stuffed with $2M and a devilish transponder (which he is too dumb to find until it's way too late, yet seems to know about as he plays games with it in a motel air duct, one of many plot problems?); Spanish star Javier Bardem plays ultimate hired assassin Anton Chigurh, who wears a silly pageboy haircut and carries a bulky air gun (used in slaughterhouses) because it leaves no bullets behind (like nobody sees him carrying the equipment around?), and who channels the dark morality of the ancient Aztecs while ruthlessly hunting Moss, leaving a trail of corpses who called the coin flip wrong; Woody Harrelson stars as fallible white knight Carson Wells, and Tommy Lee Jones as old man sheriff Ed Tom Bell, who is caught in the middle and fails like an old man, while bad guy Bardem gets away with everything, modulo a few unlikely accidents?; Kelly Macdonald plays Brolin's innocent babe Carla Jean Moss, who is allowed to call heads or tails to save her life, and isn't resolved onscreen until Bardem leaves her and checks his boots for blood on her porch; Gene Jomes play gas station clerk Thomas Thayer, who calls it correctly; Beth Grant plays Carla's mother; the whole flick leaves an impression of an ancient morality play turned inside out?; does $171.6M box office on a $25M budget; "Some of the old-time sheriffs never even wore a gun, some folks find that hard to believe... You can't help but compare yourself against the old-timers"; "There are no laws left. You can't stop what's coming"; "There are no clean getaways." Charles H. Ferguson's No End in Sight (July 27) (Magnolia Pictures) is a documentary critical of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Kelly Reichardt's Old Joy (Jan. 26) stars Will Oldham as Kurt and Daniel London as Mark on a road trip in the Cascades trying to reach Bagby Hot Springs. J.A. Bayona's The Orphanage (EL Orfanato) (May 20) (Warner Bros.) is a Spanish horror film starring Belen Rueda as Laura, who returns to her childhood orphanage and plans on turning it into a home for disabled children until her adopted Simon (Roger Princep) goes missing; Bayona's dir. debut; "There are children who can see a hidden world, whose imagination opens their eyes"; "A disappearance, a dark place, and the games children play when they're alone in the dark"; does $78.6M box office on a $4M budget. John Curran's The Painted Veil (Jan. 19), based on the W. Somerset Maugham novel and shot on location in beautiful S China around the Lijiang River stars Ed Norton as cholera-fighting klutz English doctor Walter Fane, who goes to Shanghai in 1925 with his new wife Kitty Garstin (Naomi Watts), who doesn't love him but needs a free ride, and has an affair with Charles Townsend (Liev Schreiber), is jilted and ends up loving her real hubby, then has the gigolo's baby. Oren Peli's Paranormal Activity (Oct. 14) (Blumhouse Productions) (Paramount Pictures), shot with a home video camera stars Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat as Katie and Micah, who move into a new house in San Diego, Calif. and set up a camera in their bedroom, discovering that they're haunted by a demon; does $108M U.S. and $193.4M worldwide box office on a $15K budget, becoming the highest ROI film to date (until ?). Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (May 19) (Walt Disney Pictures) stars Johnny Deppt as Capt. Jack Sparrow of the Black Pearl, Geoffrey Rush as Capt. Hector Barbarossa, Orlando Bloom as William "Will" Turner Jr., and Keira Knightly as Capt. Elizabeth Swann; #4 movie of 2007 ($309M U.S. and $963.4M worldwide box office on a $300M budget). John Carney's Once (Mar. 23) is an Irish musical starring Glen Hansard of the Frames and Czech singer Marketa Irglova as struggling musicians, performing the hit Falling Slowly. James Foley's Perfect Stranger (Apr. 13) stars Halle Berry as a journalist Rowena Price, who goes undercover to try to smoke out businessman Harrison Hill (Bruce Willis) as her best friend Grace Clayton's (Nicki Aycox) killer along with secret partner Miles Haley (Giovanni Ribisi); a noir with the message of don't leave open windows. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis is a B&W animated film about a girl growing up in revolutionary Iran. Richard La Gravenese's P.S. I Love You (Dec. 21), based on a novel by Cecelia Ahern stars Hilary Swank as Holly Kennedy, and Gerald Butler as her Irish hubby Gerry, who dies suddenly of a brain tumor and leaves her 10 messages, allowing her to accept new Irish love William "Billy" Gallagher (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), sort of - is there a man alive who would pay to go to this chick flick if he didn't have a chick with him? Brad Bird's computer-animated comedy Ratatouille (June 22) (Walt Disney Pictures) (Pixar Animation Studies) is about Remy the chef rat (Patton Oswalt) , who takes off from Granny Farmer's and heads to Paris, where he works at Gusteau's with human chefs Skinner (Ian Holm) and Linguini (Lou Romano), proving his delicate nose; #11 movie of 2007 ($206M U.S. and $623.7M worldwide box office on a $150M budget). Jaume Balaguero's and Paco Plaza's REC (Nov. 23) (Filmax Internat.) (Magnet Releasing) stars Manuela Velasco as TV recporter Angela Vidal, and Pablo Rosso as her cameraman Pablo, who cover the night shift for a fire station in Barcelona, ending up inn an apt. bldg. full of horrors; becoming one of the first successes of the found footage horror genre; does $32.5M box office on a $2M budget; followed by "REC 2" (2009), "REC 3: Genesis" (2012), and "REC 4: Apocalypse" (2014); refilmed in the U.S. as "Quarantine" (2008). Brian De Palma's Redacted (Nov. 16), about the Mahmudiyah killings in Iraq; later Islamist terrorist Arid Uka, who kills two U.S. airmen in Frankfurt Airport in Germany claims that a clip from this movie spurred him on. Mike Binder's Reign Over Me (Mar. 23) stars Adam Sandler as Charlie Fineman, who lost his family on 9/11, and meets old dentist college roommate Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle), rekindling their friendship to help recover from his grief - every white guy nowadays has an old black college roommate he wants to get back with? Sebastian Gutierrez's Rise: Blood Hunter (July 6) (Ghost House Pictures) (Destination Films) (Samuel Goldwyn Films) stars Lucy Liu as reporter Sadie Blake, who wakes up in a morgue and discovers she's now a vampire, vowing revenge on the vampire cult that did her in and hunting them down one by one; Michael Chiklis plays Det. Clyde Rawlins; does $2.85M box office. Tom Hertz's Rules of Engagement (not to be confused with the 2000 film) is a romantic comedy starring Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, and Oliver Hudson. Tom Kalin's Savage Grace (May 18), based on a book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson stars Julianne Moore as actress-model Barbara Daly, who marries plastic heir Brooks Baekeland (grandson of Leo), and has an incestuous relationship with their son Tony (Eddie Redmayne). Christopher Cain's September Dawn (Aug. 24) stars Jon Voight in a recreation of the Sept. 11, 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre of a wagon train by unfriendly Mormons. Antoine Fuqua's Shooter (Mar. 23) (Paramount Pictures), based on the novel "Point of Impact" by Stephen Hunter stars Mark Wahlberg as U.S. Marine Scout Sniper Bob Lee Swagger, who is framed for a murder he was hired to prevent and has to elude a massive manhunt while working with rookie FBI agent Nick Memphis (Michael Pena) and Ky. widow Sarah Fenn (Kate Mara); does $95.7M box office on a $61M budget. Chris Miller and Raman Hui's Shrek the Third (May 18) becomes the #2 movie of 2007 ($323M); Cameron Diaz's salary is $30M. Michael Moore's Sicko (June 22) is a documentary of the sick U.S. health care system that lets people die rather than approve their insurance claims, touting Canada's and Hillary Clinton's socialist alternatives. David Silverman's animated The Simpsons Movie (July 21) (20th Cent. Fox) (Gracie Films), based on the TV sitcom stars the voice of Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, who pollutes the lake in his hometown of Springfield so bad that the EPA encloses the town in a giant glass dome; features the voices of Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson, Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson, Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak, and Harry Shearer as Mr. Burns and Mr. Smithers; #12 movie of 2007 ($183M U.S. and $536.4M worldwide box office on a $75M budget). Garth Jennings' Son of Rambow (Jan. 22) stars Lee Carter (Will Poulter) as an 80s schoolboy who makes a home movie inspired by "Rambo: First Blood". Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 (May 4) shows Spider-Man going dark while battling New Goblin Harry Osborn (James Franco), Sandman AKA Flint Marko (Thomas Hayden Church) (killer of his Uncle Ben), and Venom AKA Eddie Brock (Topher Grace); does $336M worldwide on a $258M budget. Danny Boyle's Sunshine (Apr. 26) is about a spacecraft that travels to the Sun in 2057 to reignite it with a nuclear bomb with the mass of Manhattan; brings in $32M worldwide. Greg Mottola's Superbad (Aug. 17) capitalizes on the success of the "High School Musical" cable-TV movies to pander to the lecherous side of teenies, doing good box office. Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Dec. 21) is a gory adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim musical starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, featuring long orgies of neck slicing and corpse dumping, cooking, and eating. Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, (Sept. 27) based on the 1927 Upton Sinclair novel "Oil!" stars Daniel Day-Lewis as 1911 oilman Daniel Plainview, who moves in and steals a bunch of oil land in Little Boston, Calif. using his young "innocent face" son H.W. as a cover story to systematically take it all under false promises while dueling with flawed fundamentalist Christian preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), finally turning into a total slave of Satanic greed, destroying everybody he loves or who loves him and hoarding his filthy lucre; a 1-note performance and a 1-man show, with jarring screeching violins manipulating your emotions?; the I Drink Your Milkshake Scene (taken from the 1924 Teapot Dome Scandal) becomes an Internet hit ("If you have a milkshake and I have a milkshake, my straw reaches across the room, and drinks your milkshake. I drink your milkshake. I drink it up. And when I'm through with your milk shake, do you know what I'm going to do, I'm going to dance"); "I have many wells flowing in many towns. I look at people, and I see nothing work liking"; "I have competition in me. I want no one else to succeed"; "One night I'm gonna to come to you inside of your house wherever you're sleeping, and I'm gonna cut your throat"; "What was the name of the farm next to the Hill House?" James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma (Sept. 7), a remake of the 1957 movie based on an Elmore Leonard story stars Russell Crowe as outlaw Ben Wade, and Christian Bale as good guy rancher Dan Evans, who must put him on the you know what in Contention to receive a $200 reward. David Fincher's Thriller (Mar. 2), about the 1960s Zodiac killer stars Jake Gyllenhaal as cartoonist Robert Graysmith (b. 1942), who tries to find him even after he stops, detectives shelve the case, and copycats take over; too bad, the movie plays fast and loose wih facts and tries too hard to convict long-deceased Arthur Leigh Allen (1933-92)? Michael Bay's Transformers (June 28), based on the U.S. TV show that aired from 1984-7 about the evil Decepticons, led by Megatron, vs. the good Autobots, led by Optimus Prime stars Shia LaBeouf as nerd Sam Witwicky, who starts it all by buying a beat-up souped-up yellow 1976 Camaro that is actually the Transformer Bumblebee, and ends up on the run with his new jock babe Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox); well-nuanced plot and emphasis on the humans rises it above the TV series; hauls in a record $27.4M in its debut, beating the $15.7M set by "Dead Man's Chest" last year; #3 movie of 2007 ($319M) ($709M worldwide); followed by "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" (2009), which grosses $836M worldwide (#2 in 2009). Michael Dougherty's Trick 'r Treat (Dec. 7) (Legendary Pictures) (Bad Hat Harry Productions) (Warner Bros. Pictures) is set on Halloween in Warren Valley, Ohio, where the mysterious child trick-or-treater Sam (Quinn Lord) enforces the rules; Dylan Baker plays Principal Steven Wilkins, Anna Paquin plays Laurie, and Brian Cox/Gerald Paetz play Kreeg; does $12M box office, becoming a cult film. Julie Delpy's Two Days in Paris (May 17), written and starred in by Delpy is about a romance from Hell with real life ex-boyfriend Adam Goldberg. Hardcash Productions, Undercover Mosque (Jan. 15); exposes violent Muslim extremism in West Midlands, England mosques, pissing-off Muslim groups, who try to make it about the investigators instead of themselves. Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose (La Mome) (Feb. 8) stars first-time actress Marion Cotillard (1975-) as "Little Sparrow" Edith Piaf (1916-63), who dies an early death from alcohol, morphine, and cancer in a typical weepy French talking heads movie; does $86.3M box office on a $25M budget; Piaf becomes the first to win a best actress Oscar for a French-language role. Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (Sept. 7) (Overture Films) stars Richard Jenkins as mild-mannered aging Conn. economics prof. Walter Vale, who gets a whole new lease on life by trying to help illegal Syrian immigrant Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) evade deportation along with his illegal mother Mouna (Hiam Abbass) while learning to play the djembe in solidarity; does $18M box office on a $4M budget. Adrienne Shelly's Waitress (May 25) stars Keri Russell as a piemaker at Joe's Pie Shop; 40-y.-o. dir. Shelly is murdered in Manhattan before the Jan. Sundance Film Festival debut. Jake Kasdan's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story stars John C. Reilly as a Johnny Cash clone. Dimitri Collingridge's The War on Britain's Jews? stars journalist Richard Littlejohn; broacast on BBC-TV on July 9. Walt Becker's Wild Hogs (Mar. 2), written by Brad Copleland stars John Travolta, William H. Macy, Tim Allen, and Martin Lawrence in an aging biker movie; #13 movie of 2007 ($168M). Christian Petzold's Yella stars Nina Hoss as a German babe who leaves a small town for a big city job with her psycho estranged husband Ben (Hinnerk Schonemann), who says "I love you, Yella" as he drives their car off a bridge into the Elbe River. Francis Ford Coppola's Youth Without Youth (Oct. 26), based on the Mircea Eliade novel stars Tim Roth as Dominic Matei, a 70-y.-o. Romanian linguistic prof. who is struck by a bolt of lightning just as he's trying to kill himself, and turns into a rejuvenated Frankenstein pursued by the Nazis. Nonfiction: Diane Ackerman, The Zookeeper's Wife (Sept. 4); the true story of Antonina and Jan Zabinski of the Warsaw Zoo, who save 300 Jews during WWII; filmed in 2017. Peter Ackroyd (1949-), Newton; Thames: Sacred River. Toshiko Akiyoshi (1929-), Life With Jazz (autobio.). Alan Alda (1936-), Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself (autobio.) (Sept. 4). Elizabeth Alexander (1962-), Power and Possibility. Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969-), Infidel; Muslim oppression of women from clitoris removal on up; after hers was removed as a girl in Muslim Somalia she became an aclitheist, er, atheist and was elected to the Dutch parliament, marrying British historian Niall Ferguson. Woody Allen (1935-), Mere Anarchy (essays); The Insanity Defense: The Complete Prose. Lisa Alther (1944-), Kinfolks: Falling Off the Family Tree: The Search for My Mulungeon Ancestors; by the author of "Kinflicks" (1975). Christopher Peter Andersen (1949-), Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve. Patrick Anderson, The Triumph of the Thriller (Feb.); how genre fiction about "cops, crooks and cannibals" has become mainstream. David W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World; proposes the Revised Steppe Theory of the Kurgan Hypothesis, attributing the spread of Indo-European languages about 4K B.C.E. to the domestication of the horse and invention of the wheel in the Eurasian Grass-Steppe. Roy Atkinson (1952-), The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (Liberation Trilogy #2); Where Valor Rests: Arlington National Cemetery; NYT bestseller. Andrew J. Bacevich (1947-), The Long War: A New History of U.S. National Security Policy Since World War II. Carl E. Bartecchi, A Doctor's Vietnam Journal. Ishmael Beah (1980-), A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier; forced to fight for the Sierra Leonan army at age 12, then rehabilitated; only 300K left to go? Alison Bechdel, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (autobio.). Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe, An Inconvenient Book. Jeff Belanger (1974-), The Ghost Files: Paranormal Encounters, Discussion, and Research from the Vaults of Ghostvillage.com (Sept.). Marshall Berman (1940-), New York Calling: From Blackout to Bloomberg. Pope Benedict XVI (1927-), Jesus of Nazareth; internat. bestseller. Carl Bernstein (1944-), A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton (June 5). Michael R. Beschloss (1955-), Presidential Courage: Brave Leaders and How They Changed America, 1789-1989; bestseller. James Riley Blake (1979-), Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life (autobio.); Am. tennis star tells of his struggles with racism, dreadlocks, running into a steel post et al. Bert Boin (1925-2007), A History of the Science and Politics of Climate Change: The Role of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Nov. 17); semi-autobio. Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018), No Reservations: Around the World on an Empty Stomach (Oct. 30). Joe Boyd, White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s; or, if you remember the 1960s you weren't there?; an insider in the folk-rock music biz and how Amsterdam radicals leave white bicycles around for people to ride for free. Pattie Boyd and Penny Juror, Wonderful Tonight. David Bret, Clark Gable: Tormented Star; claims he started out as a gay ho until his daddy called him a sissy, causing him to go straight and adopt a macho image. Douglas Brinkley (1960-), Gerald R. Ford; The Reagan Diaries; Road Novels 1957-1960. Tom Brokaw (1940-), Boom! Voices of the Sixties: Personal Reflections on the '60s and Today. Dan Brown (1964-), The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle (memoir); not the Da Vinci Code Dan Brown (1964-), just a lucky New York City teacher. Mick Brown, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector; "I have devils inside that fight me, and I'm my own worse enemy". Tina Brown (1953-), The Diana Chronicles (June 12); joins 180+ other books on Princess Di, yet goes #1 on July 8 - because she looks like her? Sylvia Browne (1936-2013), The Two Marys: The Hidden History of the Mother and Wife of Jesus. Eugene Buchanan, Brothers on the Bashkaus; 26-day white-knuckle rafting trip in Siberia. Patrick J. Buchanan (1938-), State of Emergency: The Third World Invasion and Conquest of America; how amnesty for the 12M known illegal aliens would end the U.S. as we know it, and therefore Pres. Bush is either too dumb too understand the magnitude of the problem, or you know what - fear-mongering sells, where do I sign? Art Buchwald (1925-2007), Too Soon to Say Goodbye: I Don't Know Where I'm Going; I Don't Even Know Why I'm Here (autobio.); written in summer 2006 on Martha's Vineyard while dying from kidney disease, his doctors giving him weeks but ending up lasting a year. Vincent Bugliosi (1935-), Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy (May 15); claims there is no conspiracy and it's a simple slam dunk case for a prosecutor of his caliber in this 1.5M-word 1,612-page book, devoting much space attempting to shred conspiracy theorists; "The case is a very simple case" - or your mind is a very simple case? Avraham Burg (1955-), Defeating Hitler. Kenneth Burke (1897-1993), Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare (posth.). Nina Burleigh, Mirage: Napoleon's Scientists and the Unveiling of Egypt. Augusten Burroughs (1965-), A Wolf at the Table. Rick Caine and Debbie Melnyk's Manufacturing Dissent (Mar. 10) exposes the cracks in Michael Moore. Fritjof Capra (1939-), The Science of Leonardo: Inside the Mind of the Great Genius; how he anticipates modern complex systems theory. Jimmy Carter (1924-), Sunday Mornings in Plains: Bible Study with Jimmy Carter; Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope; accompanied by a mail campaign begging for donations. Duane Chapman (with Laura Morton), You Can Run But You Can't Hide. Don Cheadle, Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond (May); like he told U.S. Senators in Feb., if the 500K now dead aren't enough to make them roll, "maybe a million is more like the target number". Deepak Chopra (1946-), The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore. Joshua Clark, Heart Like Water: Surviving Katrina and Life in Its Disaster Zone. Bill Clinton (1946-), Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World; his charitable foundation's work in Africa et al. Margaret Coel, The Girl with Braided Hair. Richard A. Cohen (1952-), Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Family Healing. Stephen Colbert (1964-), I Am America (And So Can You (Oct. 9). Paul Collier (1949-), The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It (Apr. 15). Ward Connerly (1939-), Creating Equal; how affirmative action contradicts the principles of MLK Jr. et al. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), The Late Great USA: The Coming Merger with Mexico and Canada (July 4); warns of a horrible apocalyptic North Am. Union. Ann Coulter (1961-), If Democrats Had Any Brains, They'd Be Republicans. Michael J. Coumatos, William B. Scott and William J. Birnes, Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III, A Wargame Scenario; a directed-energy weapon in Tajikistan knocks out satellites. Gary Dahl (1936-2015), Advertising for Dummies; inventor of the Pet Rock. Robert Dallek, Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power; their love-hate relationship and how they insured that the end of the Vietnam war wouldn't hurt Nixon's 1972 reelection chances. Sara Davidson (1943-), LEAP: What Will We Do with the Rest of Our Lives?; the Baby Boomer generation. Thomas M. DeFrank, Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conservations with Gerald R. Ford; his Apr. 17, 1974 admission that he knew Nixon was going to resign. Christopher Deliso, The Coming Balkan Caliphate: (June 30); radical Islamic takeover threatened. Lawrence "Larry" Devlin (1922-2008), Chief of Station, Congo: Fighting the Cold War in a Hot Zone; how he encouraged the Mobutu coup in 1965. Annie Dillard (1945-), The Maytrees. Thomas DiLorenzo, Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe (Nov. 27). Anthony Doerr, Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World. James Donovan (1946-), A Terrible Glory; the Battle of the Little Bighorn and how Custer was part blowhard. Tamara Draut, Strapped: Why America's 20-and-30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead; how the skyrocketing cost of college is killing the new grads with debt, making them become mercenaries looking for big bucks to pay the loans, averaging $20K, so their worthless profs. can make $90K a year in the Internet age when their lectures could be precorded once and played forever, and the bums laid off? Eric Drexler (1955-), Engines of Creation 2.0: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (Feb.); update of the 1986 ed. Dinesh D'Souza (1961-), The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11 (Jan. 16); claims that U.S. leftists and Hollyweird brought it on themselves by exporting their atheism and war against religion along with immorality to Muslim countries, pissing them off and creating ready recruits for al-Qaida; What's So Great About Christianity. Martin Bauml Duberman (1930-), The Worlds of Lincoln Kirstein. Tony Dungy (1955-) (with Nathan Whitaker), Quiet Strength; first African-Am. coach to win the Super Bowl (Feb. 4, 2007). Eve Ensler (1953-), Insecure at Last: Losing It in Our Security-Obsessed World. Joseph Epstein (1937-), In a Cardboard Belt!: Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage. Pepe Escobar, Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War. M. Stanton Evans (1934-), Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies (Nov. 6); claims there was a U.S. govt. coverup of how right he really was. Susan C. Faludi (1959-), The Terror Dream: Fear and Fantasy in Post-9/11 America; how the 9/11 attack caused Americans to return to the frontier mentality of circling the wagons while the men do the fighting and the weak women reload their weapons and put out fires? Sebastian Faulks (1953-), Engleby; Irish Mike Engleby AKA Michele Watts AKA M.K. Watson. James Henry Fetzer (1940-), The 9/11 Conspiracy (Mar. 22); points out the inconsistencies, and claims the U.S. govt. did it with a satellite-based weapon. Robert Finch (1943-), The Iambics of Newfoundland: Notes from an Unknown Shore. Antony Flew (1923-), There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind (Oct. 23). Mick Foley (1965-), The Hardcore Diaries. Stephen Fox (1938-), Homeland Security: Aliens, Citizens, and the Challenge to American Civil Liberties in World Waa II. Vicente Fox (1942-), Revolution of Hope: The Life, Faith and Dreams of a Mexican President (autobio). Richard B. Freeman (1943-), America Works. Gangaji (1942-), The Diamond in Your Pocket: Discovering Your True Radiance. Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir (Feb. 1); Jewish boy turns radical Muslim, then after 9/11 goes Christian and fights terrorism. Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-), Finding Oprah's Roots: Finding Your Own. Jeff Gerth, Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton - cool off with Carrier? Elizabeth M. Gilbert (1969-), Eat, Pray, Love (memoir); bestseller about her divorce, depression, trip to Italy, India, and Indonesia, ' and "lasting experience of God". Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Change; the Nazis started out as liberals?; "What we call liberalism - the refurbished edifice of American Progressivism - is in fact a descendant and manifestation of fascism. This doesn't mean it's the same thing as Nazism. Nor is it the twin of Italian Fascism. But Progressivism was a sister movement of fascism, and today's liberalism is the daughter of Progressivism. One could strain the comparison and say that today's liberalism is the well-intentioned niece of European fascism. She is hardly identical to her uglier relations, but she nonetheless carries an embarrassing family resemblance that few will admit to recognizing"; "Fascism is a religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the will of the people. It is totalitarian in that it views everything as political and holds that any action by the state is justified to achieve the common good"; "Woodrow Wilson was the twentieth century's first fascist dictator." Mary Catherine Gordon (1949-), Circling My Mother: A Memoir. Al Gore (1948-), The Assault on Reason; the negative effects of the politics of fear, secrecy, cronyism and blind faith. Farley Granger (1925-) and Robert Calhoun, Include Me Out: My Life from Goldwyn to Broadway (autobio.); handsome actor reveals his bi love affairs incl. Patricia Neal, Ava Gardner, and Leonard Bernstein. Colin S. Gray, Fighting Talk: Forty Maxims on War, Peace and Strategy; favorite of USMC Gen. Mad Dog Mattis. Peter Gray (1923-2015), Modernism: The Lure of Heresy: from Baudelaire to Beckett and Beyond (Nov. 21); about the modernist rebellion in the arts driven by "the lure of heresy" against the establishment and its rules and by a compulsion to explore the artist's interior world, starting in 1840s Paris and spreading to world capitals incl. Berlin and New York City, incl. Charles Baudelaire, Gustave Flaubert, Oscar Wilde, Georg Kaiser, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Franz Kafka, D.W. Griffiths, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, Walter Gropius, Arnold Schoenberg, Charles Ives, Knut Hamsun, and John Cage, revolting against the bourgeoisie yet relying on them for their market ("If my work is accepted, I must move on to the point where it is not" - John Cage), enduring totalitarianism and surviving until 1960s Pop Art (Andy Warhol et al.) killed the movement after 120 years, "a good long run", with Frank Gehry et al. attempting to revive it. "Every historian has informally an anthropology, without ever using the word." Jan Crawford Greenburg, Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court; "Roe v. Wade" bent the court and sucked its life out? Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World. Germaine Greer (1939-), Shakespeare's Wife. William Norman Grigg (1963-), Liberty in Eclipse: The Rise of the Homeland Security State. Jurgen Habermas (1929-) and Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) (1927-), The Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion. David Halberstam (1934-2007), The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War (Sept.) (posth.) (last book); attempts to shred Gen. Douglas MacArthur's rep. Leor Halevi, Muhammad's Grave: Death Rites and the Making of Islamic Society (May). Thom Hartmann (1951-), Cracking the Code: How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision. Edward T. Haslam, Dr. Mary's Monkey: How the Unsolved Murder of a Doctor, a Secret Laboratory in New Orleans and Cancer-Causing Monkey Viruses are Linked to Lee Harvey Oswald; he was involved in the lab creation of HIV? Rutger Hauer (1944-) (with Patrick Quinlan), All Those Moments (autobio.). Brian Haughton, Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries (Jan. 15). Vaclav Havel (1936-2011), To the Castle and Back (autobio.); the Hradcany Hapsburg Palace (world's biggest) overlooking Prague, residence of the Czech pres., which he traversed on a Big Wheel; "The world might actually be changed by the force of truth, the power of a truthful word, the strength of a free spirit, conscience, and responsibility." Lesley Hazleton, Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen. Chip Heath and Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die; how phony ideas that become widely accepted all follow the "SUCCES" principle: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, (Memorable) Story; a ring of kidney thieves, the razor blades in Halloween apples et al. Chris Hedges (1956-), American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (Jan. 9); Pat Robertson et al. want to build a global Christian empire, and should be taken seriously? Paul Heelas, Spiritualities of Life: Histories and Explanations. Robert Higgs, Neither Liberty Nor Safety. Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011), God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (The Case Against Religion (May 1); "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children" - so start a new one, like Godless Gommunism? Douglas Richard Hofstadter (1945-), I Am A Strange Loop; claims that each human "I" is distributed over numerous brains; "In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference." David Joel Horowitz (1939-), Indoctrination U: The Left's War Against Academic Freedom. Daniel Walker Howe (1937-), What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oct. 29) (Pulitzer Prize); title comes from Samuel F.B. Morse's first telegraph message; praises the growth of the market economy, the rise of dem. organized Protestant churches and other assocs., the emergence of mass political parties, and technological developments incl. mail service, newspapers, books, telegraph, trains, steamboats, canals, roads, but disses slavery, forced relocation of Native Am., and imperialist adventures in Mexico et al. - every day thousands of people just like you are transforming their brains with Brain Beast? Jorg Guido Hulsmann, Mises: The Last Knight of Liberalism. Ed Husain (Mohammed Mahbub Hussain) (1975-), The Islamist: Why I Joined Radical Islam in Britain, What I Saw Inside and Why I Left (May). David R. Ignatius (1950-), Body of Lies; original title "Penetration"; CIA agent Roger Ferris. Laura Ingraham, Power to the People. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Fourth Assessment Report (4 vols.); claims to be the work of 2.5K scientific expert reviewers, 800 contributing authors, 450 lead authors from 130 countries, and 6 years of work; in 2010 it is found to contain erroneous claims on the rate of glacier retreat et al., incl. erroneous claims that natural disasters incl. hurricanes and floods can be linked to global warming. Walter Isaacson, Einstein: His Life and Universe; he wasn't a backward student and didn't flunk math, mastering calculus by age 15; he began to adopt his frumpy professorial look by age 30 (1909). Denise Jackson (with Ellen Vaughn), It's All About Him: Finding the Love of My Life. A.J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically; an agnostic Jew tries to follow all the rules in the Bible. Chalmers Ashby Johnson (1931-), Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic - I warned ya? Mike Jones (with Sam Gallegos), I Had Something to Say: The Man Who Outed Ted Haggard Speaks; a gay relaxation Denver businessman and his meth-loving client Art from Kansas City. Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932-2007), Travels with Herodotus; Encountering the Other: The Challenge for the Twenty-First Century. Garry Kasparov (1963-), How Life Imitates Chess: Making the Right Moves from the Board to the Boardroom. Daren Kemp and James R. Lewis (eds.), Handbook of New Age. Joshua Key (with Lawrence Hill), The Deserter's Tale: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away From the War in Iraq; goes AWOL 4 mo. before the beginning of the Iraqi insurgency; his app to stay in Canada as a refugee is denied. Vaclav Klaus (1941-), Blue Planet in Green Shackles: What Is Endangered: Climate or Freedom?; "The theory of global warming and the hypothesis on its causes, which has spread around massively nowadays, may be a bad theory, it may also be a valueless theory, but in any case it is a very dangerous theory." Edward Klein (1937-), Katie: The Real Story. John Klein, Praise from a Future Generation: The Assassination of JFK and the First Generation Critics of the Warren Report (Sept.). Naomi Klein (1970-), The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (Sept. 4); NYT bestseller; how developed countries incl. Chile, Poland, Russ, and Iraq exploit nat. crises to push through the unpopular neoliberal free market policies of Milton Friedman. filmed in 2009 by Michael Winderbottom. Larry Kolb, America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures, Dirty Money and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election; CIA man Richard Hirschfeld and Bob Sensi, chmn. of Repubs. Abroad plot to "swift-boat" the Kerry campaign by getting Miami-based Turkish money launderer Engin Yesil to merge his co. Radiant Telecom with dummy front Ntera that is run by Kerry's campaign treasurer Robert Farmer, apparently linking him to al-Qaida? Jonathan Kozol (1936-), Letters to a Young Teacher. Morine Krissdottir, Descent of Memory: The Life of John Cowper Powys. Mark Kurzem, The Mascot; his father Uldis (Alex Kurzem), who claims to be a Holocaust survivor; his claims are later questioned. Wally Lamb (1950-), The Hour I First Believed. Anne Lamott (1954-), Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith; "Sin and grace are not opposite, but partners, like the genes in DNA, or the stages of childbirth"; "You've got to wonder what Jesus was like at 17. They don't even talk about it in the Bible, he was apparently so awful"; "God loves them [Dick Cheney and Saddam Hussein], because God loves. This... does not make sense to me." David S. Landes (1924-2013), Dynasties: Fortunes and Misfortunes of the World's Great Family Businesses (Feb.). Barry Lando, Web of Deceit: The History of Western Complicity in Iraq, from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush (Jan. 17). William Langewiesche, The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor; the rise of Pakistani nuke-spreading scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer "Wrath of" Khan; "Nuclear weapons technology has become a useful tool for the weak... The technology has become so simple that there are no technical barriers." Frances Moore Lappe (1944-), Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad. Joe Layden, The Last Great Fight: The Extraordinary Tale of Two Men and How One Fight Changed Their Lives Forever; the 10th round KO of Mike Tyson by 42-to-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas in Tokyo on Feb. 12, 1990, which leads to the demise of prof. heavyweight boxing as a money-making sport when Douglas loses in round 4 to Evander Holyfield then gets diabetes, and Tyson starts getting in trouble with the law? Melvin Leffler, For the Soul of Mankind. Jonah Lehrer (1981-), Proust Was a Neuroscientist. Peter A. Lillback, Wall of Misconception: Does Separation of Church and State Mean Elimination of God from Public Life?; how Thomas Jefferson's phrase is being twisted by the ACLU to subvert the prohibition of Congress from prohibiting the free exercise of religion by adding in their own words "except in public life". Graham Lord (1943-), Joan Collins: The Biography of an Icon. John Lott (1958-), Freedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't (June 25); attempt to refute some arguments in "Freakonomics" (2005). Marcus Luttrell (with Patrick Robinson), Lone Survivor. Heather MacDonald, Victor Davis Hanson, and Steven Malanga, The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today's. Margaret MacMillan, Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World; claims that only skilled and educated Mexicans should be allowed to immigrate from the U.S. George Mandler (1924-), A History of Modern Experimental Psychology. Betty Marden, Captured! The Betty and Barney Hill UFO Experience; niece of Betty Hill writes about the 1961 Zeta Reticuli Incident. Trevor Marriott, Jack the Ripper: The 21st Century Investigation: A Top Murder Squad Detective Reveals the Ripper's Identity at Last! (Sept. 28); claims he's really German sailor Carl Feigenbaum (-1894). Steve Martin (1945-), Born Standing Up (autobio.) (Nov. 20). Joseph Massad, Desiring Arabs; claims there are no gays among Muslims; "Queer is about resistance to Islam"; "There is no Arabic transliteration of queer. It is a judgmental notice of deviance." John Matteson (1961-), Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father (first book) (Pulitzer Prize). John McCain (1936-2018) and Mark Salter, Hard Call: Great Decisions and the Extraordinary People Who Made Them (Aug.); about character in public life, hint hint. John F. McDiarmid, The Monarchical Republic of Early Modern England: Essays in Response to Patrick Collinson. Ian McEwan (1948-), Complete Surrender; the story of his mommy's 1942 indiscretion. William S. McFeely (1930-), Portrait: The Life of Thomas Eakins. Bill McKibben (1960-) et al., Fight Global Warming Now; handbook for activists. John Mearshimer and Steven Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy; "Maybe be a book that anti-Semites will love, but it is not necessarily an anti-Semitic book"; "written in haste... repented at leisure" (Walter Russell Mead). Robyn Meredith, The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China, and What it Means for All of Us; "tectonic economics"; "The two countries have one thing in common, their transformations - and the way they will transform the globe - are as stunning as any the world has seen since America itself emerged onto the world economic stage"; "Farmers were displaced by the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Sweatshop workers lost their livelihoods to assembly lines in the 20th. History is about to repeat itself, sending a spasm through the world's job markets." Ralph Nader (1934-), The Seventeen Traditions; "A love story for my mom and dad." Peter S. Onuf (1945-), The Mind of Thomas Jefferson. Andrew P. Napolitano (1950-), A Nation of Sheep (Oct.). Vali Nasr, The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future (Apr. 17); the reemergence of the 7th cent. Sunni-Shia war. Scott Renolds Nelson, Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend; is the legend of the black Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad man based on 5'1" John William Henry (1851-74), who was railroaded into prison to work in a railroad gang? Michael B. Oren, Power, Faith and Fantasy: America in the Middle East, 1776 to 2006 (Jan. 16); New Essays on Zionism. Suze Orman (1951-), Women and Money: Owning the Power to Control Your Destiny. P.J. O'Rourke (1947-), On the Wealth of Nations: Books That Changed the World; reduces the 900-page original to a 216-page laugh riot? Joel Osteen (1963-), Become a Better You (Oct.). Nicholas Ostler (1952-), Ad Infinitum: A Biography of Latin; argues that it's not a dead language. Elinor Ostrom (1933-), Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice. Elaine Pagels (1943-) and Karen L. King, Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (Mar. 6); how Judas' side to the Gospel story is the Gnostic view that there is a pure spiritual realm beyond the physical world. Michael Parenti (1933-), The Culture Struggle. Trita Parsi, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States. Eboo Patel, Saving Each Other, Saving Ourselves; Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation. Randy Pausch (1960-2008), The Last Lecture (Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams); bestseller based on the Sept. 18, 2007 lecture by a Carnegie Mellon U. computer science prof. who is dying of pancreatic cancer, becoming a dying celeb. Joseph Chilton Pearce (1926-), Death of Religion and the Rebirth of Spirit: A Return to the Intelligence of the Heart. John Perkins (1945-), The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth about Global Corruption; A Game as Old as Empire: The Secret World of Economic Hit Men and the Web of Global Corruption. Francis Edwards Peters, The Voice, the Word, the Books: The Sacred Scriptures of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Ralph Peters (1952-), Wars of Blood and Faith: The Conflicts That Will Shape the 21st Century. James Petras, Rulers and Ruled in the U.S. Empire: Bankers, Zionists and Militants. Walid Phares, The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy. Kevin Phillips (1940-), Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism. James Pearson, Camelot and the Cultural Revolution; the JFK assassination shattered traditional liberalism? Steven Pinker (1954-), The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature (Sept. 10); NYT bestseller that "probes the mystery of human nature by examining how we use words." Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006), A Russian Diary: A Journalist's Final Account of Life, Corrupt, and Death in Putin's Russia (May); the author was murdered in fall 2006 for telling how "lives have been devastated by Putin's policies". Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food. Alvin F. Poussaint (1934-) and Bill Cosby (1937-), Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors. Martha Raddatz, The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family; about Apr. 4, 2004, Black Sunday. Craig Raine, T.S. Eliot. Phil Ramone (1934-2013) and Chuck Granata, Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music (Oct. 9). Marcus Raskin (1934-) and Robert Spero, The Four Freedoms Under Siege: The Clear and Present Danger from Our National Security State. Diane Ravitch (1938-), EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004), The Reagan Diaries; "The diaries show Ronald Reagan as a more active and alert chief executive than his detractors care to admit" (NYT Book Review). Martha Reeves (1941-), The Fire of Your Life; pub. under the alias Maggie Ross. James Reston Jr. (1941-), The Conviction of Richard Nixon: The Untold Story of the Frost/Nixon Interviews. Richard Rhodes (1937-), Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race (Oct. 9). Cal Ripken Jr. (1960-), Get in the Game; then persevere? Andrew Roberts (1963-), A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900; takes up where Churchill's 1956 history leaves off. Jim Rogers (1942-), A Bull in China: Investing Profitably in the World's Greatest Market (Dec. 4). David M. Rohl (1950-), The Lords of Avaris: Uncovering the Legendary Origins of Western Civilisation (Feb. 1). John Ross (1938-2011), Zapatistas! Making Another World Possible: Chronicles of Resistance 2000-2006. Murray Newton Rothbard (1926-95), The Betrayal of the American Right (posth.). Victoria Rowell (1959-), The Women Who Raised Me; black orphan in Maine becomes prof. dancer-actress and advocate for foster children. Joanna Russ (1937-2011), The Country You Have Never Seen. Acharya S (D.M. Murdock), Who Was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ; questions the historicity of Jesus. Oliver Wolf Sacks (1933-), Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain (Oct. 16). Peter Schiff (1963-), Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse; blames U.S. govt. policy for threatening hyperinflation. Peter Dale Scott (1929-), The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire and the Future of America (Sept.). Simon Sebag-Montefiore (1965-), Young Stalin; sheds new light on his own coverups. Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq, Unchecked and Unbalanced: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror; how 9/11 gave Bush an excuse to go for it, expanding his powers by sidestepping the Congress and judiciary. John Selby (1945-), Let Love Find You: Seven Steps to Open Your Heart to Love. Mary Lee Settle (1918-2005), Learning to Fly: A Writer's Memoir (Aug. 17) (posth.); ed. Anne Freeman. Melville Shavelson (1917-2007), How to Succeed in Hollywood Without Really Trying, P.S. - You Can't! (autobio). Ellen R. Sheeley, Reclaiming Honor in Jordan: A National Public Opinion on "Honor" Killings (Mar. 31). Robert J. Shiller (1946-), Bubble Trouble; predicts the late 2008 U.S. housing market collapse, zooming him to the top of the heap among world economists. Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression; did FDR's New Deal prolong the Depression?; "The big question about the American Depression is not whether war with Germany or Japan ended it. It is why the Depression lasted until that war." Walid Shoebat, Why We Want to Kill You: The Jihadist Mindset and How to Defeat It (Mar. 3). Lee M. Silver, Remaking Eden: How Genetic Engineering and Cloning Will Transform the American Family; reprogenetics, the new eugenics, to create "cognition-enhance GenRich". T. Simoncini, Cancer is a Fungus; claims it should be treated with sodium bicarbonate; "There is pressing need for new, life-giving sap to impart vigour to an asphyxiating theoretical structure whose philosophy, research, and practice no longer seems aligned with our times. The advanced and demanding society in which we live is no longer satisfied with the domination, for a limited time, of any disease by using the knowledge of physics and chemistry." Fred Singer (1924-) and Dennis T. Avery (1936-), Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1500 Years (Feb.); "The Earth is warming but physical evidence from around the world tells us that human-emitted carbon dioxide has played only a minor role in it. Instead, the mild warming seems to be part of a natural 1,500-year climate cycle (plus or minus 500 years) that goes back at least one million years." Peter Singer (1946-), Lori Gruen, and Laura Grabel (eds.), Stem Cell Research: The Ethical Issues. Zecharia Sitchin (1920-2010), The End of Days: Armageddon and Prophecies of the Return; Journeys to the Mythical Past. Dr. Ian Smith, Extreme Fat Smash Diet; "All of America needs to lose weight, but African-Americans need it more. Almost 80% of black women and 70% of black men are overweight." David Solway, The Big Lie: On Terror, Antisemitism, and Identity (Mar. 27); links Islamic terrorism with anti-Semitism. Susan Sontag (1933-2004), At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches (posth.). Patrick Sookhdeo, Global Jihad: The Future in the Face of Militant Islam. Thomas Sowell (1930-), A Man of Letters; Economic Facts and Fallacies. Robert Spencer (1962-), Religion of Peace? Why Christanity Is and Islam Isn't (July 17). Paul Starr (1949-), Freedom's Power: The True Force of Liberalism. Robert Stone (1937-), Prime Green: Remembering the Sixties; his days with Ken Kesey; "We were all logrolling down the rapids of the nineteen sixties." John Stossel (1947-), Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out the Shovel - Why Everything You Know is Wrong; bestseller. Rick Strassman, The Spirit Molecule; claims that DMT, secreted by the pineal gland is psychedelic. Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Republic.com 2.0. James Tabor, Forever on the Mountain; the 1967 Mount McKinley tragedy. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (1960-), The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Apr. 17); 2nd ed. 2010; NYT bestseller (3M copies) about how major scientific discoveries tend to be undirected and unpredicted "black swans" (outliers), incl. the PC and Internet, forming counterexamples to the Western idea that "All swans are white" (originated by Juvenal in 82 C.E.); how banks should "avoid being the turkey" by identifying areas of vulnerability. Daniel Tammet, Born on a Blue Day (autobio.); the English savant who sees numbers as colors. George Tenet (1953-), At the Center of the Storm (Apr. 30); causes a Bush admin. backlash with his allegation that his "slam dunk" statement was taken out of context and was actually of little importance, but was later used to cut him loose and make him into a patsy, adding "As if you needed me to say slam dunk" on Apr. 29 on 60 Minutes, where he also claims that the CIA's "enhanced interrogation techniques" gained more valuable intel than any other method. Clarence Thomas (1948-), My Grandfather's Son (autobio.). Kenneth R. Timmerman (1953-), Shadow Warriors: The Untold Story of Traitors, Saboteurs, and the Party of Surrender. Frank J. Tipler (1947-), The Physics of Christianity; tries to prove the Bible using the Omega Point. Emmanuel Todd (1951-) and Youssef Courbage, Le Rendez-Vous des Civilisations; criticizes Huntington's Thesis of a clash of civilizations, predicting that mass literacy and a birth rate decline will result in a "de-Islamicised Muslim world". Jeffrey Toobin, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. Serge Trifkovic (1954-), The Sword of the Prophet: Islam History, Theology, Impact on the World (July 25). Donald Trump (1946-) and Bill Zanker, Trump: Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life (Oct. 23). Laurel Thatcher Ulrich (1938-), Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History; how her slogan in the obscure 1971 scholarly article Vertuous Women Found: New England Ministerial Literature, 1668-1735 went viral in 1976. John Updike (1932-2009), Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism. William T. Vollmann, Poor People; world poverty in the 9/11 age. Ibn Warraq (1946-), Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism; exposes him as a dhimmi imposter. Bruce Watson, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders and the Judgment of Mankind. James D. Watson (1928-), Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science. Diana West (1961-), The Death of the Grownup: How America's Arrested Development is Bringing Down Western Civilization. Drew Westen, The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation; Emory U. psych prof. shows how the Dem. Party can win the White House in 2008 using psychology - and he was right? Reed Whittemore (1919-2012), Against the Grain: The Literary Life of a Poet (Oct. 22); intro. by Garrison Keillor. Stuart Wilde (1946-), The Art of Redemption. Garry Wills (1934-), Head and Heart: American Christianities. Valerie Plame Wilson, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House. Lee Woodruff nd Bob Woodruff, In an Instant: A Family's Journey of Love and Healing; "Look at it this way. They won't be able to call you a 'pretty-boy android' anymore". Richard Wright (1908-60), Big Boy Leaves Home (posth.). Stephen M. Younger, Endangered Species: How We Can Avoid Mass Destruction and Build a Lasting Peace; former head of nuke research at Los Alamos goes pacifist, observing that no two democracies have gone to war with each other? Crystal Zevon, I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon. Philip Zimbardo (1933-), The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. Plays: Hassan Abdulrazzak, Baghdad Wedding (Soho Theatre, London); three Iraqis return to Iraq after the overthrow of Sodamn Insane. Margaret Atwood (1939-), The Penelopiad (Royal Shakespeare Co., London) (July); based on her 2005 novel. Benno Barnard (1954-), Mevrouw Appelfeld (debut). Roger Crane, The Last Confessions; the election and death of Pope John Paul I. Roddy Doyle (1958-) and Bisi Adigun, The Playboy of the Western World; rewrite of the 1907 John Millington Synge play. Jeremy Gable, Garbage Strike; A Dollar-Fifty; Re: Woyzeck; based on the George Buchner play "Woyzeck". Melissa James Gibson, Current Nobody (Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Washington, D.C.) (Oct. 29); set during the Trojan War. Denis Johnson (1949-), Des Moines; Everything Has Been Arranged. Dave Kirby, Lost Soul (Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool) (Aug. 31). Tracy Letts (1965-), August: Osage County (Pulitzer Prize) (Imperial Theater, New York) (June 28); the Weston family in Pawhuska, Okla.; filmed in 2013. Caleb Lewis, Dogfall (Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide) (Nov. 2). Simon McBurney, A Disappearing Number; English mathematician G.H. Hardy (1877-1947) and Indian mathematician Strinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920). Frank McGuinness (1953-), There Came a Gypsy Riding (Almeida Theatre, London). Terence McNally, Deuce (Music Box Theatre, New York) (Apr. 11); stars Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes as retired tennis stars Leona Mullen and Midge Barker, who reunite at the U.S. Open. Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980-) and Quiara Alegria Hudes (1977-), In the Heights (musical) (37 Arts Theater, New York) (Feb. 8) (Rodgers Theatre, New York) (Mar. 9) (1,184 perf.); three days in the Dominican-Am. neighborhood of Washington Heights, New York City. Brendan O'Carroll, For the Love of Mrs. Brown; Agnes Brown looks for a date for Valentine's Day over the Internet. Philip Ridley, Leaves of Glass (Soho Theatre, London) (May 3); stars Ben Whishaw. Sarah Ruhl (1974-), Eurydice (Second Stage Theater, New York) (June). Kelley Ryan, And Carl Laughed; about anti-nuclear activist Faher Carl Kabat. Aaron Sorkin, The Farnsworth Invention; TV inventor Philo Farnsworth (1906-71). Bernard Weintraub, The Accomplices (New Group, New York); about Hillel Look (AKA Peter Bergson). John Weidman (1946-), Take Flight (musical). Michael Weller (1942-), 50 Words; Side Effects, Zero. Robert Wilson (1941-), Brecht's The Threepenny Oppera for the Berliner Ensemble. Poetry: Elizabeth Alexander (1962-) and Marilyn Nelson, Miss Crandall's School for Young Ladies & Little Misses of Color (Sept. 1); about Prudence Crandell and her school for African-Am. women in 1833 Canterbury, Conn. John Ash (1948-), The Parthian Stations. Margaret Atwood (1939-), The Door. Robert Bly (1926-), Turkish Pears in August: Twenty-For Ramages. Jared Carter (1939-), Cross This Bridge at a Walk. Turner Cassity (1929-2009), Devils and Islands. Andrei Codrescu (1946-) and Ruxandra Cesereanu, Sibmarinul Iertat. Michael Crummey (1965-), Went With. Thomas Michael Disch (1940-2008), About the Size of It. Edward Dorn (-1999), Way More West: New and Selected Poems (posth.). Robert L. Hass (1941-), Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005; Now and Then: The Poet's Choice Columns, 1997-2000. Ryszard Kapuscinski (1932-2007), I Wrote Stone: Selected Poetry. Bill Knott (1940-), Stigmata Errata Etcetera. Maxine Kumin (1925-), Still to Mow. John Lithgow (1945-) (ed.), The Poets' Corner: The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family. Mary Oliver (1935-), Our World; photos by Molly Malone Cook. Robert Pinsky (1940-), Gulf Music: Poems. Stanley Plumly (1939-), Old Heart. John Ross (1938-2011), Bomba. Philip Schultz (1945-), Failure. Simon Stephens (1971-), Pornography; Harper Reagan. Mark Strand (1934-), New Selected Poems. Derek Walcott (1930-), Selected Poems. Charles Wright (1935-), Littlefoot. Jay Wright (1934-), Music's Mask and Measure; The Guide Signs (2 vols.). Novels: The Year of the Pensive Woman Cover (PWC) sees the rush to service the market for historical novels created by Dan Brown and Elizabeth Kostova combined with a near-monopoly in book publishing and herd animal thinking, resulting in monotonously similar book covers rushing toward an identity crisis on bookstore shelves? Andre Aciman (1951-), Call Me By Your Name; gay summer romance in 1980s Italy between two Jewish-Ams., one 17 and one 24; filmed in 2017 by Luca Guadagnino. Jonis Agee, The River Wife; 16-y.-o. Annie Lark in the 1811 New Madrid, Mo. earthquake is rescued by French fur trapper hunk Jacques Ducharme, and the fur flies. Catherine Aird (1930-), Losing Ground. Sherman Alexie, Flight; 15-y.-o. Amerindian Zits becomes a time traveller. Martin Amis (1949-), House of Meetings; back to the gulag Norlag? Kurt Andersen, Heyday; "Benjamin Knowles wobbled into the New World"; a young English aristocrat in 1848 escapes mad Paris for New York City, hooks up with Timothy Skaggs and Polly and Duff Lucking, then go on a grand tour of the U.S., ending up in the Calif. gold rush - back when they could get along without a computer? Gwenaelle Aubry (1971-), Our Life is Used in Transfigurations (Notre vie s'use en Transfigurations); the inner monologue of an ugly woman on the aesthetic indifference of the beautiful and the ugly; The (Dis)Taste of Ugliness (Le (Dé)goűt de la Llaideur) (anthology). Louis Auchincloss (1917-), The Headmaster's Dilemma; The Friend of Women and Other Stories. Paul Benjamin Auster (1947-), Travels in the Scriptorium. Richard Bachman (Stephen King), Blaze; written in 1973 and discarded, then discovered and released, reaching #3 on the NYT list. Clive Barker (1952-), Mister B. Gone. Pat Barker (1943-), Life Class; Slade School of Art student volunteers to serve in a front-line hospital in WWI. Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon; last of the Peter Pan prequel trifecta. Ishmael Beah (1980-), Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier; a 13-y.-o. soldier in Sierra Leone. Elizabeth Berg, Dream When You're Feeling Blue (May). Steve Berry (1955-), The Alexandria Link; Cotton Malone #2; Malone finds out that the Library of Alexandria didn't really vanish, and the Promised Land is not in Israel?; The Venetian Betrayal; Cotton Malone #3. Fernando Trias de Bes, The Time Seller. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Whitehorn Woods; a proposed highway cutting through the site of St. Ann's Well pisses-off the locals. Amy Bloom, Away; 3-y.-o. Sophie Leyb disappears in the Russian village of Turiv during a pogrom. Chris Bohjalian, The Double Bind; Vt. bicyclist. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), The Women. Gayle Brandeis, Self Storage. James Lee Burke (1936-), Jesus Out to Sea (short stories); The Tin Roof Blowdown; New Orleans detective Dave Robicheaux during Hurricane Katrina. Stephen L. Carter (1954-), New England White; blacks Vanessa, Lemaster and Julia Carlyle encounter racial discrimination in Conn., "the heart of whiteness". Orson Scott Card (1951-), Empire; Reuben Malich vs. the Progressive Restoration? Mike Carey (1959-), The Devil You Know; "When you look like a pistachio-ice-cream sundae, it's no easy thing to hang tough." Ron Carlson, Five Skies; Darwin Gallegos et al. build a daredevil a motorcycle ramp to jump over a gorge. Michael Chabon (1963-), The Yiddish Policemen's Union (May 1); the U.S. allows Jews to settle in Sitka, Alaska in 1938 after all, and it grows into a flourishing metropolis of 3M; alcoholic dick Meyer Landsman and half-Tlingit partner-cousin Berko Shemets; Gentlemen of the Road. Jim Crace (1946-), The Pesthouse. Nicholas Christopher, The Bestiary; Xeno Atlas, son of greek sailor Theodore and an Italian mother seeks the Caravan Bestiary, describing animals lost in Noah's Flood. Cassandra Clare (1973-), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Mar. 27); Clarissa Adele "Clary" Fray discovers the Shadowhunters, Nephilim who protect the mundies (mundanes) from dark forces; followed by "City of Ashes" (Mar. 25, 2008), "City of Glass" (Mar. 23, 2009), "City of Fallen Angels" (Apr. 5, 2001), "City of Lost Souls" (May 8, 2012), "City of Heavenly Fire" (May 27, 2014). Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Ghost Ship: A Cape Cod Story; I Heard That Song Before. Jon Clinch, Finn; Huckleberry's brutal alcoholic father Pap, who dies in a room filled with a wooden leg, two black masks and women's underwear, among walls covered with grotesque pictures and words. Richard A. Clarke, Breakpoint; cyberattack in five years? Paul Coelho (1947-), Life: Selected Quotations. J.M. Coetzee (1940-), Diary of a Bad Year. Jackie Collins (1937-), Drop Dead Beautiful (June 24); Lucky Santangelo #6; 25th novel, and just as raunchy as the 1st, continuing the bestseller streak (400M copies sold). Michael Connelly, Overlook (May 22); LAPD detective Harry Bosch moves to the robbery/homicide div., and takes on the case of Dr. Stanley Kent. Robin Cook (1940-), Critical. Patricia Cornwell (1956-), Book of the Dead; Kay Scarpetta gets raped? Sandra Dallas, Tallgrass; the WWII Japanese Grenada Relocation Center in Amache, Colo., and its similarities with the Guantanamo Bay prison camp. Marie Darrieussecq (1969-), Tom is Dead (Tom est Mort); a woman who lost her son 10 years earlier and is emotionally destroyed. James Dashner (1972-), The Maze Runner (Oct.); bestseller; filmed in 2014; followed by "The Scorch Trials" (2010), "The Death Cure" (2011), "The Kill Order" (2012), and "The Fever Code" (2016). Jennifer Davis, Our Former Lives in Art (short stories); "A lush grapefruit dances in a top hat, its gloved hand twirling a cane of celery". Angela Davis-Gardner, Plum Wine; Barbara Jefferson in a Japanese college in the 1960s. Don DeLillo (1936-), Falling Man; 9/11 survivor Keith Neudecker, who becomes a prof. poker player. Junot Diax, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Kate DiCamillo, Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise. Tony D'Souza, Whiteman; the wonderful Ivory Coast, where there is a coup-a-minute between 2000-3; narrator Jack Diaz goes there as an aid worker and tries to fit in. David Anthony Durham, Acacia, Book One: The War with the Mein; King Leodan of the Known World is assassinated by the exiled Mein race; first of a trilogy. George Alec Effinger (1947-2002), A Thousand Deaths (short stories) (posth.). Dave Eggers, What Is the What; the civil war in Sudan. Nathan Englander, The Ministry of Special Cases (first novel); the Jewish family of Kaddish and Lillian Pozman in Argentina's 1970s Dirty War. Anne Enright (1962-), The Gathering; "History is only biological. What is written for the future is written in the body." Jane Fallon, Getting Rid of Matthew. Sebastian Faulks (1953-), Engleby; a 1970s Cambridge U. student. Ken Follett (1949-), World Without End; set in the Middle Ages. Margaret Forster (1938-), Over. Jeffrey Frank, Trudy Hopedale; Washington, D.C. during Clinton's last year. Charles Frazier (1950-), Thirteen Moons; the destruction of the Cherokee Nation by Pres. Andy Jackson. Esther Freud (1963-), Love Falls. Jeff Garigliano, Dogface (first novel); 14-y.-o. Loren busts out of rotten Camp Ascendi for kids. Christina Garcia, A Handbook to Luck; Enrique, Marta, and Lelia. Lisa Gardner, Hide. Lisa Genova (1970-), Stil Alice (first novel); 50-y.-o. Harvard U. linguistics prof. Alice Howland is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's; filmed in 2014 starring Julianne Moore. William Gibson (1948-), Spook Country. Barry Gifford (1946-), Imagination of the Heart; Sailor and Lula #7; Memoirs from a Sinking Ship. Newt Gingrich (1943-) and William Forstchen, Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th. Francisco Goldman (1954-), The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? Alan Gordon, The Lark's Lament; court jesters form an internat. secret society to gather intel? Eli Gottlieb, Now You See Him. Deborah Grabien, Cruel Sister; Ringan Laine. Robert Greer, The Mongoose Deception; the JFK assassination set in Denver? James Grippando, When Darkness Falls; Miami atty. Jack Swyteck defends the Falcon. John Grisham, Playing for Pizza; a washed-up NFL QB reinvents himself in Parma, Italy Andrew Gross, The Blue Zone; Kate Raab's father Ben joins the WITSEC (Witness Protection Program), then disappears into the you know what, location unknown. Austin Grossman, Soon I Will Be Invincible (first novel); 35th cent. superheroes New Champions Corefire (AKA Jason Garner), Fatale, Elphin and Lily battle Doctor Impossible. Diane Haeger, The Perfect Royal Mistress (PWC) (Mar.); Charles II's mistress Nell Gwynn. Pete Hamill (1935-), North River. Warren Hammond, KOP (first novel); detective Juno Mozambe in mold-infested planet Lagarto, capital city Koba; "Blade Runner" in a jungle? Matt Haig (1975-), The Dead Fathers Club; 12-y.-o. Philip Noble in England. Peter Handke (1942-), Kali: Eine Vorwintergeschichte; Samara (Die Morawische Nacht). Jim Harrison (1937-), Returning to Earth; Finnish Indian Donald in N Mich. is dying of ALS. Stephen Hawking and Lucy Hawking, George's Secret Key to the Universe (Sept.); a cosmology novel for "middle grade" readers. Carl Hiaasen (1953-), Nature Girl; bipolar Honey Santana vs. crooked telemarketer Boyd Shreave in Fla.; half-white Seminole Sammy Tigertail in Dismal Key. John Twelve Hawks, The Dark River. Charles Higham (1931-2012), The Midnight Tree: A Fairy Tale of Terror. Joe Hill (1972-), Heart-Shaped Box (first novel); by Stephen King's son, causing much hype; Jude Coyne buys a ghost-in-a-box (Craddock McDermott) over the Internet, and gets in an adventure with Goth girlfriend Georgia and two brave German shepherds. Tony Hillerman (1925-2008), The Shape Changer (June); Navajo cop Leaphorn and young partner Chee. Lawrence Hill, Someone Knows My Name; African Muslim Aminata kidnapped and sold into slavery in British colonial Am. Russell Hoban (1925-) and Barbara Strozzi, My Tango. Alice Hoffman (1952-), Skylight Confessions; 17-y.-o. Arlyn Singer and John Moody move into the Glass Slipper. Nancy Horan, Loving Frank; the scandalous love affair of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney. Janette Turner Hospital (1942-), Orpheus Lost. Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns (May 22); NYT bestseller (1M copies); Afghan child bride Mariam, illegitimate daughter of Nana, who grows up admit abuse, and privileged Laila, whom her hubby Rasheed proposes marriage to; "Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam." (Nana) Susan Isaacs (1943-), Past Perfect; ex-CIA agent Katie Schottland becomes a writer for the TV series "Spy Guys". Joshilyn Jackson, The Girl Who Stopped Swimming; Lauren Gray Hawthorne and her estranged sister Thalia in upscale gated Victorianna, Fla. Rula Jebreal (1973-), The Bride of Aswan. Ha Jin (1956-), A Free Life. Denis Johnson (1949-), Tree of Smoke; William "Skip" Sands and Col. Francis Xavier Sands in Vietnam. Miranda July, No One Belongs Here More Than You (short stories). Christian Jungersen, The Exception; genocide researchers Iben and Malene. Millard Kaufman (1917-2009), Bowl of Cherries (first novel) (Oct. 1); by the creator of Mr. Magoo; Yale dropout Judd Breslau and Egyptologist Phillips Chatteron try to redesign human society until Judd falls for Phillips' daughter Valerie and vies for her with an Iraqi sheikh. Thomas Keneally (1935-), The Widow and Her Hero; as told by Grace, widow of Errol Flynn lookalike Leo Waterhouse, who was beheaded by the Japanese in Singapore in WWII. Douglas Kennedy (1955-), The Woman in the Fifth (July 3); Harry Ricks loses his univ. job and marriage after an affair with a student, flees to Paris, and ends up in the squalid 10th arrondissement, hooking up with a mysterious beautiful woman in the fifth; bestseller worldwide except the U.S. Elias Khoury (1948-), Ka'anaha Nae'ma (As If She Were Sleeping). Stephen King (1947-), Lisey's Story; The Gingerbread Girl (pub. in the July Esquire); Emily in Vermillion Key off the Fla. coast and her mad neighbor. Sophie Kinsella, Shopaholic & Baby; Becky Bloomwood shops for two. Aryn Kyle, The God of Animals (first novel); 12-y.-o. Alice Winston in Desert Valley, Colo., horses and lost love. Dominique Lapierre (1931-), Once Upon a Time in the Soviet Union (Il Etait Une Fois l'URSS). Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest; #3 in the Millennium Trilogy. Jeffrey Lent, A Peculiar Grace; loner blacksmith Hewitt Pearce in Vt. hooks up with wandering hippie chick Jessica. Elmore Leonard (1925-2013), Up in Honey's Room. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), You Don't Love Me Yet; a struggling L.A. rock band. Cixin Liu (1963-), The Three-Body Problem; #1 in the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy; English trans. pub. in 2014. Penelope Lively (1933-), Consequences. Kip Longfellow, The Secret Magdalene (PWC) (Mar.); Mary Magdalene takes the name John to pose as a male disciple? Lisa Lutz, The Spellman Files (first novel); the Sopranos of law enforcement? Norman Mailer (1923-2007), The Castle in the Forest; SS officer Dieter as the guiding devil for baby Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), whose mother is also his half-sister and his father is a beekeeper, and conveniently has no Jewish heritage; "On caca, is marriage based." Thomas Maltman, The Night Birds (first novel). Henning Mankell, Kennedy's Brain; the explanation for the suicide of Henrik Kantor in Stockholm leads inspector Kurt Wallander to AIDS-soaked Maputo, Mozambique, the ho Lucinda, and Christian Holloway, who runs an AIDs clinic where they do unspeakable things; "Who cares if some Africans are sacrificed if the outcome is drugs and vaccines that people in the Western world can benefit from?" (Lucinda) David Marusek, Getting to Know You (short stories). Patricia Marx, Him Her Him Again The End of Him (first novel); a neurotic young woman falls for narcissist Eugene Obello. Armistead Maupin, Michael Tolliver Lives; 56-y.-o. gay HIV-positive San Francisco landscaper Michael Tolliver is married younger man Ben, and must visit his born-again mother and spend time with his older brother Irwin, a member of Promise Keepers. Antoinette May, Pilate's Wife. Colum McCann, Zoli; a Gypsy poet walks across Europe. Charles McCarry (1930-), Christopher's Ghosts. Colleen McCullough (1937-), Antony and Cleopatra (Dec. 4); Masters of Rome #7; from the Battle of Philippi in -42 to the deification of Augustus in -27. Thomas McGuane (1939-), Gallatin Canyon (short stories). Ron McLarty, traveller; Jono Riley. Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, Dedication; Kate Hollis and her unworthy rock star beau Jake. Terry McMillan (1951-), The Black Nation's Cry. Larry McMurtry (1936-), When the Light Goes (Feb.); Duane Moore; last of the "Last Picture Show" series (begun 1966). Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse (Aug. 7). Dinaw Mengestu (1978-), The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (Children of the Revolution) (first novel) (Mar.); 17-y.-o. Sepha Stephanos flees Ethiopia and the Derg regime. Arthur Miller (1915-2005), Presence (six short stories) (posth.). Kathryn Miller, The War Against Miss Winter; Rosie the struggling actress works for a P.I. who dies, and is an understudy in a play whose playwright is murdered and his masterpiece stolen. Anchee Min (1957-), The Last Empress; sequel to "The Empress Orchid". Dito Montiel (1965-), Eddit Krumble is the Clapper (Apr.). Christopher Moore (1957-), You Suck: A Love Story; sequel to "Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story". David Morrell (1943-), Scavenger; sequel to "Creepers". Sir John Mortimer (1923-2009), The Antisocial Behaviour of Horace Rumpole. Walter Mosley (1952-), Blonde Faith; 10th and last Easy Rawlins novel? Kate Mosse, Sepulchre. Barbara Mujica, Sister Theresa (PWC) (Mar.). Haruki Murakami (1949-), After Dark; never-sleeping Chinese-speaking Mari Asai, sister of ever-sleeping model Eri comes to a Tokyo Denny's at midnight, and meets musician Takahashi, who gets her a job at a love hotel; Birthday Stories (short stories). Douglas Murray (1979-), Towards a Grand Strategy for an Uncertain World: Reviewing Transatlantic Partnership. John Treadwell Nichols (1940-), The Empanada Brotherhood (Oct. 4). Laurie Notaro, There's a (Slight) Chance I Might Be Going to Hell (first novel); Maye and Charlie Roberts in Spaulding, Wash., known for its Sewer Pipe Queen Pageant. Joyce Carol Oates (1938-), The Gravedigger's Daughter; Rebecca Schwart's father is a you know what in Milburn, N.Y. who shoots himself and his wife, after which she meets brutish travelling salesman Niles Tignor, changes her names to Hazel Jones, and helps her son become a concert pianist. Tawini O'Dell, Sister Mine. Michael Ondaatje (1943-), Divisadero. Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Rant. Paul Park, The White Tyger. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Edenville Owls; Now and Then; Spenser #35; High Profile; Jesse Stone #6; Spare Change; Sunny Randall #7. James Patterson (1947-), Step on a Crack; NYPD detective Michael Bennett vs. the Neat Man. Ridley Pearson, Killer Weekend; Sun Valley, Idaho sheriff Walt Fleming hunts a killer targeting N.Y. atty.-gen. Liz Shaler, a Hillary Clinton clone. Chuck Pfarrer, Killing Che. Arthur Phillips (1969-), Angelica; Constance, Joseph and Angelica Brion, and spiritualist Ann Montague. Christi Phillips, The Rossetti Letter (PWC) (Mar.); a Spanish conspiracy to overthrow the Venetian Republic. Jodi Picoult (1966-), Nineteen Minutes. Paulina Porizkova, A Model Summer (first novel). Thomas Pynchon (1937-), Against the Day; from the Chicago 1893 World's Fair to WWI; Webb Traverse and sons Kit, Frank, and Reef, and daughter Lake; Rev. Lube Carnal, Sloat Fresno, Elmore Disco, and a talking dog; "Your whole history in America has been one long religious war, secret crusades, disguised under false names"; "What North Europe thinks of as its history is actually quite provincial and of limited interest. Different sorts of Christian killing each other, and that's about it." Jonathan Raban, Surveillance; retired prof. Augie Vanags, gay Tad Zachary, Lucy and Alida in Seattle. Kris Radish, The Sunday List of Dreams; uncovering the goddess within? Tariq Ramadan, In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad; author is son of an Egyptian diplomat and grandson of Muslim Brotherhood founder Hasan al-Banna, and is refused a visa to the U.S. 2x even though he was appointed to a prestigious chair at Notre Dame U. Ruth Rendell, The Water's Lovely; Guy Rolland drowns in a bathrub during a flu bout, leaving a dysfunctional family. Alain Robbe-Grillet (1922-2008), Un Roman Sentimental (A Sentimental Novel). Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-), Sixty Days and Counting; Frank Vanderwal of UCSD fights global warming; Science in the Capital #3. Philip Roth (1933-), Exit Ghost; Nathan Zuckerman. Patrick Rothfuss (1973-), The Name of the Wind; #1 in the Kingkiller Chronicle Trilogy (2007, 2011). Rebecca K. Rowe, Forbidden Cargo; genetically altered "Imagofas" Sashimu and Thesini on Mars in 2110. J.K. Rowling (1965-), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (July 21) (7th and last of the series); his 7th year at Hogwarts; 12M copies first printing, making 337M copies total sold worldwide; her income this year is $1B - a new religion in the making? Laura Ruby, I'm Not Julia Roberts (short stories); not everybody is wild about their stepchildren? Richard Russo (1949-), Bridge of Sighs; Louis Charles "Lucy" Lynch in Thomaston, N.Y. Marcus Sakey, The Blade Itself (first novel); Danny Carter in Chicago. Robert James Sawyer (1960-), Rollback; Sarah Halifax decodes an alien radio message, and when a 2nd one comes in she is offered a rollback to make her 60 years younger. Steven Saylor, Roma; cool historical novel of the first 1K years of Roman history. John Scalzi (1969-), The Last Colony (Apr.); Old Man's War #3. Alice Sebold, The Almost Moon; why Helen Knightly killer her cruel mother?; "When all was said and done, killing my mother came easily". Lisa See, Peony in Love; Chen Tong during the 17th cent. Qing Dynasty. Rachel Seiffert, Afterwards; house painter Joe and nurse Alice in England fall in love then learn too much about each other. Brian Selznick (1966-), The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Jan. 30); filmed in 2011 by Martin Scorsese. John Shannon, The Dark Streets; Jack Liffey and film student Soon-Lin. Anita Shreve (1946-), Body Surfing; 29-y.-o. live-in tutor Sydney Sklar, 18-y.-o. tutoree Julie and her two older hot brothers. Dan Simmons (1948-), The Terror. Scott Simon, Windy City; the sudden death of the mayor. Jane Smiley (1949-), Ten Days in the Hills; a modern Decameron set five days after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq; 350 pages of dialogue and 100 pages of descriptions of sex acts? Martin Cruz Smith (1942-), Stalin's Ghost; Arkady Renko #6; Arkady Renko tracks down Stalin ghost sightings in Moscow subways and deals with the Black Berets. Christopher Sorrentino (1963-), American Tempura; art by Derek Boshier (1937-). Nicholas Sparks (1965-), The Choice (Sept.). Danielle Steel (1947-), Sisters; Bungalow 2; Amazing Grace. Mark Stevens, Antler Dust (first novel); Colo. hunter's guide Allison Coil. Charles Stross (1964-), Halting State; about crime in the early 21st cent.; Missile Gap; the surface of 1962 Earth is peeled off and placed on a flat surface, allowing the Soviet Union to conquer W Europe. Duane Swierczynski (1972-), The Blonde. Graham Swift (1949-), Tomorrow; a 49-y.-o. mother in Putney, London on Fri. night, June 16, 1995 rehearses her thought about revealing a family secret. Anthony Swofford, Exit A (first novel); Severin Boxx loves Virginia, daughter of Gen. Kindwall on a U.S. air base in Japan. Peter Temple, The Broken Shore; Melbourne detective Joe Cashin. Brad Thor (1969-), The First Commandment. Colm Toibin (1955-), Mothers and Sons (short stories). J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), The Children of Hurin (posth.) (Apr. 17); ed. by his son Christopher Tolkien; the First Age of Middle Earth, 6.5K years before the Lord of the Rings, when Hurin, and his children Turin Turambar and Nienor Niniel of the House of Hador fight Dark Lord Morgoth, boss of Sauron in Beleriand. Nigel Tomm, The Blah Story (Oct. 22); 11.3M-word novel. Peter Tremayne (Peter Berresford Ellis), Master of Souls; Sister Fidelma and Brother Eadulf at 7th cent. Ard Fhearta conhospitae abbey. Gail Tsukiyama, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms. Brenda Rickman Vantrease, The Mercy Seller (PWC) (Mar.); book illuminators in 15th cent. Prague dabble with forbidden Bible translations? Carrie Vaughn (1973-), Kitty Takes a Holiday; Kitty Norville #3. Susan Vreeland, Luncheon of the Boating Party; Renoir's 1881 painting comes to life, right down to the "touch of cobalt with white for the lit side of the bottles and the grapes". Daniel Wallace, Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician; seven narrators tell about Henry Walker the inept Negro Magician, who is really white. Alison Weir (1951-), Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey (PWC) (Mar.) (first novel). Fay Weldon (1931-), The Spa Decameron. Irvine Welsh (1958-), If You Liked School, You'll Love Work (short stories). Edmund White (1940-), Hotel de Dream. Stephen White (1951-), Dry Ice; 15th Dr. Alan Gregory novel, about his MS-suffering depressed wife Lauren Crowder. Robert Charles Wilson (1953-), Axis. Lawrence Wright, God's Favorite; Manuel Noriega flees U.S. troops all to the way to the Vatican Embassy. William Paul Young (1955-), The Shack (July 1); NYT bestselling (18M copies) Christian novel about Mackenzie Allen Phillips, whose youngest daughter Missy is abducted and found in an abandoned shack in Ore., after which he receives a letter from God inviting him to spend a weekend there; its attempt to humanize God and Christianity makes it more popular? Births: English 160-IQ child Oscar Wrigley on ? in Reading, Berkshire; youngest Mensa member at age 2. Deaths: Am. philanthropist Brooke Astor (b. 1902) on Aug. 13 in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. British firefighter Cyril Demarne (b. 1905) on Jan. 28. Am. jazz bandleader Peggy Gilbert (b. 1905) on Feb. 12 in Burbank, Calif. Am. "mean old man in I Love Lucy" actor Charles Lane (b. 1905) on July 9 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. druggist Charles R. Walgreen Jr. (b. 1906) on Feb. 10 in Northfield, Ill. Scottish scientist Alexander King (b. 1909) on Feb. 28. Chinese Communist leader Bo Yibo (b. 1908) on Jan. 15 in Beijing; dies as the oldest member of the Communist Party of China. Japanese Ramen inventor Momofuku Ando (b. 1910) on Jan. 5 in Ikeda, Osaka (heart attack). Am. "To Tell the Truth" actress-singer Kitty Carlisle (b. 1910) on Apr. 17 in New York City. French writer Julien Gracq (b. 1910) on Dec. 22 in Angers. French Paris police chief Maurice Papon (b . 1910) on Feb. 17 in Pontault-Combault, Seine-et-Marne; convicted of deporting 1.6K Jews to concentration camps during WWII. Am. mountaineer Bradford Washburn (b. 1910) on Jan. 10 in Lexington, Mass. (heart failure). Italian-Am. "The Saint of Bleecker Street" composer Gian Carlo Menotti (b. 1911) on Feb. 1 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Mexican-born Am. physicist Albert Baez (b. 1912) on Mar. 20 in Redwood City, Calif. U.S. First Lady "Lady Bird" Johnson (b. 1912) on July 11 in West Lake Hills, Tex. Am. electrical engineer Chauncey Starr (b. 1912) on Apr. 17 in Atherton, Calif. German nuclear physicist Carl Friedrich von Weizsaecker (b. 1912) on Apr. 28 in Socking (near Starnberg); last surviving member of the loser wacky Nazi A-bomb team. Am. inventor Robert Adler (d. 1913) on Feb. 15 in Boise, Idaho; co-inventor with Eugene Polley of the TV remote. Am. psychologist Albert Ellis (b. 1913) on July 24 in New York City. Am. "Rawhide", "Jezebel" crooner Frankie Laine (b. 1913) on Feb. 6 in San Diego, Calif. (heart failure); sold 100M records and earned 20 golds. Am. writer Tillie Olsen (b. 1913) on Jan. 1 in Oakland, Calif. Italian "Doctor Zhivago" film producer Carlo Ponti (b. 1913) on Jan. 10 in Geneva; produced 151 movies w/34 having roles for wife Sophia Loren. Soviet KGB agent Alexander Feklisov (b. 1914) on Oct. 26. Am. New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger (b. 1914) on Feb. 13 in Princeton, N.J. Am. bridge champ Al Roth (b. 1914) on Apr. 18 in Boca Raton, Fla. Am. Avis Rent A Car founder Warren Avis (b. 1915) on Apr. 24 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Am. Commonwealth Edison CEO (1973-80) Thomas G. Ayers (b. 1915) on June 8 in Chicago, Ill. British historian Norman Cohn (b. 1915) on July 31 in Cambridge. Am. Rice-A-Roni inventor Vince DeDomenico (b. 1915) on Oct. 18 in Napa, Calif. Am. "Silver Bells" songwriter Ray Evans (b. 1915) on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles, Calif.; dies on the 42nd anniv. of the death of Nat King Cole (1919-65), who made his song "Mona Lisa" famous. Am. choreographer Michael Kidd (b. 1915) on Dec. 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. Holocaust advocate Abraham Klausner (b. 1915) on June 28 in Santa Fe, N.M. Am. socialite Elaine Lorillard (b. 1914) on Nov. 26 in Newport, R.I. (MRSA). Am. ML (NL) (1956-75) baseball umpire Shag Crawford (b. 1916) on July 11 in Glen Mills, Penn. Am. novelist-critic Elizabeth Hardwick (b. 1916) on Dec. 2 in Manhattan, N.Y. French PM (1972-4) Pierre Messmer (b. 1916) on Aug. 29 in Paris. British-born Am. "Mr. Whipple" actor Dick Wilson (b. 1916) on Nov. 18 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Calif. Am. composer-conductor George Greeley (b. 1917) on May 26 in Los Angeles, Calif. (emphysema). Am. "Rev. Robert Alden in Little House on the Prairie" actor Dabbs Greer (b. 1917) on Apr. 28 in Pasadena, Calif. Am. climate scientist William Welch Kellogg (b. 1917) on Dec. 12. Am. activist Irene Morgan (b. 1917) on Aug. 10 in Gloucester County, Va. Am. WWII pilot Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal (b. 1917) on Apr. 20 in Rye, N.Y. (cancer). Am. historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. (b. 1917) on Feb. 28 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. dir. Melville Shavelson (b. 1917) on Aug. 8 in Studio City, Calif. Am. "Rage of Angels", "Master of the Game" novelist Sidney Sheldon (b. 1917) on Jan. 30 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. actress Jane Wyman (b. 1917) on Sept. 10 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.; buried in a nun's habit since she was a member of the Dominican Order of the Roman Catholic Church. Swedish film dir. Ingmar Bergman (b. 1918) on July 29 in Faro Island, Sweden; "Probably the greatest film artist... since the invention of the motion picture camera" (Woody Allen). Am. comedian Joey Bishop (b. 1918) on Oct. 17 in Newport Beach, Calif.; last surviving member of the Rat Pack. Am. writer Alfred DuPont Chandler Jr. (b. 1918) on May 9 in Mass. German chemist Ernst Otto Fischer (b. 1918) on July 23 in Munich; 1973 Nobel Chem. Prize. Am. Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt (b. 1918) on Jan. 23 in Miami, Fla. (pneumonia); dies bitter that he did time and Tricky Dicky Nixon didn't; dies after giving his son Saint John Hunt a Deathbed Confession, which is pub. in the Apr. 5, 2007 issue of Rolling Stone, claiming that LBJ ordered a CIA-led hit team to do JFK, incl. Cord Meyer, William Harvey, Antonio Veciana, Frank Sturgis, David Morales, and Lucien Sarti; the Los Angeles Times calls it "inconclusive": "I will always be called a Watergate burglar, even though I was never in the damn place." Am. biochemist Arthur Kornberg (b. 1918) on Oct. 26 in Stanford, Calif.; 1959 Nobel Med. Prize. Indian philosopher U.G. Krishnamurti (b. 1918) on Mar. 22 in Vallecrosia, Italy. Am. "A Wrinkle in Time" novelist Madeleine L'Engle (b. 1918) on Sept. 8 in Litchfield, Conn. Kiwi-born Am. "Casino Royale" actor Barry Nelson (b. 1918) on Apr. 7 in Bucks County, Penn. Canadian psychiatrist Ian Stevenson (b. 1918) on Feb. 8 in Charlottesville, Va. (pneumonia). Austrian diplomat-politician Kurt Walheim (b. 1918) on June 14 in Vienna. French politician Andre Bettencourt (b. 1919) on Nov. 19 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Am. TV evangelist Rex Humbard (b. 1919) on Sept. 21 in Atlantis, Fla. Am. poet William Meredith Jr. (b. 1919) on May 30 in New London, Conn. Japanese PM #78 (1991-3) Kiichi Miyazawa (b. 1919) on June 28 in Tokyo. Am. Grambling State U. football coach (1941-97) Eddie Robinson (b. 1919) on Apr. 3 in Ruston, La. Am. writer Peter Tompkins (b. 1919) on Jan. 23. Am. "Mod Squad" actor Tige Andrews (b. 1920) on Jan. 27 in Encino, Calif. Am. Jesuit activist Rev. Robert Drinan (b. 1920) on Jan. 28 in Washington, D.C. (heart failure). Am. billionaire celeb Leona Helmsley (b. 1920) on Aug. 20; leaves billions to children, but cuts off two grandchildren in her will, while leaving $20M to her Maltese lapdog Trouble: "Only the little people pay taxes." Am. melatonin discoverer Aaron Bunsen Lerner (b. 1920) on Feb. 3. Am. "Marty" dir. Delbert Mann (b. 1920) on Nov. 11 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). English Matchbox Toys designer Jack Odell (b. 1920) on July 7 in London; "In my obituary I want it said I was a damn good engineer". Dutch-born Am. coffee entrepreneur Alfred H. Peet (b. 1920) on Aug. 29 in Ashland, ORe. Canadian women's rights activist Doris Anderson (b. 1921) on Mar. 2 in Toronto, Ont. Australian electrical engineer Ronald Newbold Bracewell (b. 1921) on Aug. 12 in Stanford, Calif. Am. actor Calvert DeForest (b. 1921) on Mar. 19 in West Islip, N.Y. English-born Canadian ballet dir. Celia Franca (b. 1921) on Feb. 19 in Ottawa, Ont. Am. actress Betty Hutton (b. 1921) on Mar. 11 in Palm Springs, Calif. (colon cancer). Scottish actress Deborah Kerr (b. 1921) on Oct. 16 in Botesdale, Suffolk, England. Am. "The Prince and the Pauper" actor Bob Mauch (b. 1921) on Oct. 15 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Am. actor Tom Poston (b. 1921) on Apr. 30 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. Motion Picture of Am. founder Jack Valenti (b. 1921) on Apr. 26 in Washington, D.C.; buried in Arlington Nat. Cemetery. Russian ballerina Nina Vyroubova (b. 1921) on June 25 in Paris. Am. impresario Enrico Banducci (b. 1922) on Oct. 9 in South San Francisco, Calif. Am. baseball player Hank Bauer (b. 1922) on Feb. 9 in Kansas City, Mo. (lung cancer). English WWII Resistance hero Anthony M. Brooks (b. 1922) on Apr. 19 in London (somtach cancer). Am. "Saunders in Soap" actor Roscoe Lee Browne (b. 1922) on Apr. 11 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Canadian "Lily Munster" actress Yvonne De Carlo (b. 1922) on Jan. 8 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Bang the Drum Slowly" novelist Mark Harris (b. 1922) on May 30. Russian-born Am. abstract artist Jules Olitski (b. 1922) on Feb. 4 (cancer). Am. writer-activist Grace Paley (b. 1922) on Aug. 22 in Thetford Hill, Vt. (breast cancer). German-born Am. libertarian economist Hans F. Sennholz (b. 1922) on June 23 in Grove City, Penn. Am. "Slaughterhouse-Five" novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (b. 1922) on Apr. 11 in New York City: "Those who believe in telekinetics, raise my hand." Am. photographer Ernest Columbus Withers Sr. (b. 1922) on Oct. 15 in Memphis, Tenn. (stroke). Iraqi feminist leader Naziha al-Dulaimi (b. 1923) on Oct. 9 in Herdecke. British-born Am. biologist Edward A. Boyse (b. 1923) on July 14 in Tucson, Ariz. (pneumonia). Am. "Cousin Alice in Mayberry: R.F.D." actress Alice Ghostley (b. 1923) on Sept. 21 in Studio City, Calif. Am. family psychotherapist Jay Haley (b. 1923) on Feb. 13 in San Diego, Calif. Am. CIA agent Ray Lehman (b. 1923) on Feb. 17 in Concord, N.H.; originator of the PICL (1961). Am. "The Naked and the Dead" literary lion Norman Mailer (b. 1923) on Nov. 10 in New York City (renal failure). Angolan rev. leader Holden Roberto (b. 1923) on Aug. 2 in Luanda. Am. astronaut Wally Schirra Jr. (b. 1923) on May 3 in La Jolla, Calif. (heart attack); only one to fly on Mercury, Gemini (6 and 7) and Apollo (8) craft; never walks on Moon; of the Mercury Seven only John Glenn and Scott Carpenter remain. Am. Repub. politician Henry Hyde (b. 1924) on Nov. 29 in Chicago, Ill. Am. jazz drummer Max Roach (b. 1924) on Aug. 16 in Manhattan, N.Y. Canadian-born Am. actress Brett Somers (b. 1924) on Sept. 15 in Westport, Conn. Swedish meteorologist Bert Bolin (b. 1925) on Dec. 30 in Daneryd (near Stockholm). Am. columnist Art Buchwald (b. 1925) on Jan. 17 in Washington, D.C. (kidney failure after rejecting medical treatment for a year); leaves a video on the Web saying "Hi, I'm Art Buchwald and I just died." Am. adm. William J. Crowe (b. 1925) on Oct. 18. Am. softball pitcher "Fast" Eddie Feigner (b. 1925) on Feb. 9. Am. "Jeopardy!" singer-TV host and producer Merv Griffin (d. 1925) on Aug. 12 in Los Angeles, Calif. (prostate cancer): "I'd rather play Jeopardy! than be in one"; "I will not be right back after this message" (tombstone). Am. anthropologist F. Clark Howell (b. 1925) on Mar. 10 in Berkeley, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. aeronautical engineer Paul B. MacCready (b. 1925) on Aug. 28 (brain cancer). Canadian jazz pianist-composer Oscar Peterson (b. 1925) on Dec. 23 in Mississauga, Ont. (renal failure). Am. "Drifters: singer Bill Pinkney (b. 1925) on July 4 in Daytona Beach, Calif. Dutch writer-artist Jan Wolkers (b. 1925) on Oct. 19 in Texel. Am. drag racer Art Arfons (b. 1926) on Dec. 3 in Springfield Township, Ohio. Austrian-born Am. historian Raul Hilberg (b. 1926) in Williston, Vt. (lung cancer). Am. "intelligent and nice Tarzan" actor Gordon Scott (b. 1926) on Apr. 30 in Baltimore, Md. (heart failure). Am. actor Robert Symonds (b. 1926) on Aug. 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. (prostate cancer). French soprano Regine Crespin (b. 1927) on July 5. Am. ruby laser physicist Theodore Maiman (b. 1927) on May 5 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Kiwi chemist Alan Graham MacDiarmid (b. 1927) on Feb. 7 in Drexel Hill, Penn. (fall down stairs); 2000 Nobel Chem. Prize. English chemist Leslie Orgel (b. 1927) on Oct. 27 in San Diego, Calif. (pancreatic cancer): "Evolution is smarter than you are." Am. "Renard in Magnum, P.I." actor Andre Philippe (b. 1927) on Apr. 29 in Venice, Calif. (heart failure). Am. "Yakety Sax" musician Boots Randolph (b. 1927) on July 3 in Nashville, Tenn. Russian-born Am. cellist-conductor Mstislav Rostropovich (b. 1927) on Apr. 27 in Moscow (cancer). Am. country singer Porter Wagoner (b. 1927) on Oct. 28 in Nashville, Tenn. Liberian diplomat Angie Elizabeth Brooks (b. 1928) on Sept. 9 in Houston, Tex. English bodybuilder-actor Reg Park (b. 1928) on Nov. 22 in Johannesburg, South Africa (skin cancer). German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (b. 1928) on Dec. 5 in Kurten. French mercenary soldier Bob Denard (b. 1929) on Oct. in Paris. Am. Sen. (D-Mo.) (1968-87) Thomas Eagleton (b. 1929) on Mar. 4 in St. Louis, Mo. Am. "Rosemary's Baby" playwright-novelist Ira Levin (b. 1929) on Nov. 12 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. "Tonight Show" "Vapor Lock" "Mr. Excitement" saxophonist Tommy Newsom (b. 1929) on Apr. 28 in Portsmouth, Va. (liver cancer). Am. soprano Beverly "Bubbles" Sills (b. 1929) on July 2 (lung cancer) (she was a non-smoker); leaves two disabled kids and a hubby who died of Alzheimer's Disease. Am. lyricist Dick Vosburgh (b. 1929) on Apr. 18 in London, England. Cuban rev. leader Vilma Espin Guillois (b. 1930) on June 18; wife of acting pres. Raul Castro. Am. singer Don Ho (b. 1930) on Apr. 14 in Waikiki, Hawaii (heart failure). Am. Coral Ridge Ministries minister D. James Kennedy (b. 1930) on Sept. 5 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (heart attack). Am. Miller-Urey Experiment scientist Stanley Lloyd Miller (b. 1930) on May 20 in National City, Calif. - D. James Kennedy went to heaven, I went back to organic compounds? Am. "Music! Music! Music" pop singer Teresa Brewer (b. 1931) on Oct. 17 in New Rochelle, N.Y. (neuromuscular disease). Am. "Bud Frump in How to Succeed in Business..." actor Charles Nelson Reilly (b. 1931) on May 25 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. philosopher Richard Rorty (b. 1931) on June 8 in Palo Alto, Calif. (pancreatic cancer). Am. folk singer Eric Von Schmidt (b. 1931) on Feb. 2 in Fairfield, Conn. Am. singer Ike Turner (b. 1931) on Dec. 12 in San Marcos, Calif. (cocaine OD); Tina Turner doesn't attend his funeral. Am. football coach Bill Walsh (b. 1931) on July 30 in Woodside, Calif. Russian pres. #1 (1991-9) Boris Yeltsin (b. 1931) on Apr. 23 in Moscow (heart failure). Am. novelist Paul Emil Erdman (b. 1932) on Apr. 23 in Healdsburg, Calif. (cancer). French physicist Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (b. 1932) on May 18 in Orsay; 1991 Nobel Physics Prize. Polish writer Ryszard Kapuscinski (b. 1932) on Jan. 23 in Warsaw. Am. country singer Del Reeves (b. 1932) on Jan. 1 (emphysema). Am. novelist Robert Anton Wilson (b. 1932) on Jan. 11; last words: "Keep the lasagna flying"?: "My goal is to try to get people into a state of generalized agnosticism, not agnosticism about God alone, but agnosticism about everything"; "Animals outline their territories with their excretions, humans outline theirs by ink excretions on paper"; "Whatever the Thinker thinks, the Prover will prove"; "It only takes 20 years for a liberal to become a conservative without changing a single idea"; "I used to be an atheist until I realized that I had nothing to shout during blowjobs"; "I don't believe anything, but I have many suspicions"; "Horror is the natural reaction to the last 5,000 years of history"; "Beyond a certain point, the whole Universe becomes a continuous process of initiation"; "Conspiracy is just another name for coalition"; "Conspiracy is a natural primate behavior"; "I don't know what anything 'is', I only know how it seems to me at this moment"; "The worst that can happen under a monarchy is rule by a single imbecile, but democracy often means the rule by an assembly of three or four hundred imbeciles"; "Belief in external obscenity is the modern form of the witchcraft delusion"; "Consciousness itself is an infinite regress; this explains coincidences". Am. Moral Majority leader Rev. Jerry Falwell (b. 1933) on May 15 (heart attack); Newt Gingrich addresses Liberty U.'s graduating class on May 19, telling them to confront the "growing culture of radical secularism" to honor his spirit: "God is bigger than the abortionists and the homosexual lobbyists" - how much bigger? Afghanistani last shah (1933-73) Mohammed Zahir Shah (b. 1933) on July 23 in Kabul. Chinese Olympic athlete C.K. Yang (b. 1933) on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles, Calif. (liver cancer). Am. mathematician Paul Joseph Cohen (b. 1934) on Mar. 23 in Stanford, Calif. Am. actress Darlene Conley (b. 1934) on Jan. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. journalist David Halberstam (b. 1934) on Apr. 23 (10:30 a.m.) in Menlo Park, Calif. (car crash en route to interview QB Y.A. Tittle); pub. 21 books. English polar explorer Sir Wally Herbert (b. 1934) on June 12. Am. singer-actress Barbara McNair (b. 1934) on Feb. 4 (cancer). Scottish "House of Cards" actor Ian Richardson (b. 1934) on Feb. 9 in London (heart attack). Am. basketball player Woody Sauldsberry (b. 1934) on Sept. 3 in Baltimore, Md.; dies in poverty suffering from advanced diabetes that resulted in the amputation of a foot. Austrian physicist Julius Erich Wess (b. 1934) on Aug. 8 in Hamburg (stroke). Am. actor Ronnie Burns (b. 1935) on Nov. 14 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Carl Levitt on Barney Miller" actor Ron Carey (b. 1935) on Jan. 16 in Los Angeles, Calif. (stroke). Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti (b. 1935) on Sept. 6 (pancreatic cancer). Am. TV host Tom Snyder (b. 1936) on July 29 in San Francisco, Calif. Am. physicist Sidney Richard Coleman (b. 1937) on Nov. 18. Am. jazz musician Alice Coltrane (b. 1937) on Jan. 12 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. R&B singer Luther Ingram (b. 1937) on Mar. 19 in Belleville, Ill. Am. TV host Jack Linkletter (b. 1937) on Dec. 18 in Cloverdale, Calif. Am. motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel (Robert Craig Jr.) (b. 1938) on Nov. 30 in Clearwater, Fla.; 40 broken bones. Am. white supremacist leader Davie Lane (b. 1938) on May 28 in Terre Haute, Ind. (epileptic seizure); dies in federal prison. English mathematician Howell Peregrine (b. 1938) on Mar. 20 in Bristol (cancer). Am. The Platters singer Zola Taylor (b. 1938) on Apr. 30 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. counterculture leader Walter Bowart (b. 1939) on Dec. 18 in Inchellum, Wash. Am. Olympic long jumper Willye White (b. 1939) on Feb. 6. Am. romance novelist Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (b. 1939) on July 6 in Princeton, Minn. (cancer). Am. "Mamas and Papas" singer Denny Doherty (b. 1940) on Jan. 19 in Mississauga, Ont., Canada; only Michelle Phillips (1944-) remains. French computer science (inventor of Ada) Jean Ichbiah (b. 1940) on Jan. 26 (brain tumor). Turkish foreign affairs minister (1997-2002) Ismail Cem Ipekci (b. 1940) on Jan. 24 in Istanbul. Am. artist Elizabeth Murray (b. 1940) on Aug. 12 (lung cancer). Am. folk singer Mark Spoelstra (b. 1940) on Feb. 25 in Pioneer, Calif. (pancreatic cancer). English writer-actor-dir. Sheridan Morley (b. 1941) on Feb. 16 in London. Am. auto racer Benny Parsons (b. 1941) on Jan. 16. Am. televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker/Messner (b. 1942) on July 20 in Loch Lloyd, Mo. (lung cancer); never talks to Jessica Hahn. Irish psychiatrist Anthony Clare (b. 1942) on Oct. 28 in Paris, France. English beer-whiskey critic Michael Jackson (b. 1942) on Aug. 30 in London (Parkinson's). Am. jazz singer Jon Lucien (b. 1942) on Aug. 18 in Orlando, Fla. Am. health care advocate and U.S. Rep. (R-Ga.) Charles Norwood Jr. (b. 1942) on Feb. 13 in Augusta, Ga. (cancer); first Repub. to represent E Ga. since shortly after the Civil War. Am. "Beau Brummels" drummer John Petersen (b. 1942) on Nov. 11. Am. "Beverly Hills Diet" author Judy Mazel (b. 1943) on Oct. 12 in Santa Monica, Calif. (PVD). Am. conservative activist Paul M. Wyrich (b. 1942) on Dec. 18 in Fairfax, Va.: "The real enemy is the secular humanist mindset which seeks to destroy everything that is good in this society"; "If we want to stop or at least reduce outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries, we should tax outsourcing." German-born Am. chef Chef Tell Erhardt (b. 1943) on Oct. 29 in Upper Black Eddy, Penn. Am. "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" writer Richard Leigh (b. 1943) on Nov. 21 in London, England. Am. "Good Morning America" ABC-TV film critic Joel Siegel (b. 1943) on June 29 in New York City. Am. "Shrub" author-columnist Molly Ivins (b. 1944) on Jan. 31 in Austin, Tex. (breast cancer). Am. adventurer Steve Fossett (b. 1944) on Sept. 3 near Mammoth Lakes, Calif. (airplane crash). Dubai emir and UAR PM Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum (b. 1944) on Jan. 4 in Australia. Croatian political leader Ivica Racan (b. 1944) on Apr. 29 in Zagreb. Am. basketball player Jimmy Walker (b. 1944) on July 2 in Kansas City, Mo. (lung cancer). German painter Joerg Immendorff (b. 1945) on May 28 in Duesseldorf (cardiac arrest). Am. Ramones mgr. and real estate broker ("Realtor to the Stars") Linda S. Stein (b. 1945?) on Oct. 30 in Manhattan, N.Y.; killed by her asst. Natavia Lowery with a yoga stick for "yelling at her". Am. mineralogist Richard Kosnar (b. 1946) on Jan. 15 (diabetes). South African "Shaka Zulu" actor Henry Cele (b. 1949) on Nov. 2 in Durban; dies an angry violent man chained to a hospital bed. Am. "Kudzu" cartoonist Doug Marlette (b. 1949) on July 10 in Miss. (auto accident); 1988 Pulitzer Prize. Am. actress-producer Marcheline Bertrand (b. 1950) on Jan. 27 in Los Angeles, Calif. (ovarian cancer). Am. "Boston" lead singer Brad Delp (b. 1951) on Mar. 9 in Atkinson, N.H. (suicide). Am. football player Darryl Stinley (b. 1951) on Apr. 5 in Chicago, Ill. (heart disease and pneumonia from quadriplegia). Iraqi intel chief Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti (b. 1951) on Jan. 15 in Baghdad (hanged). Pakistani PM #12, #16 (1988-90, 1993-6) Benazir Bhutto (b. 1953) on Dec. 27 in Rawalpindi, Punjab (assassinated). Am. singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg (b. 1951) on Dec. 16 in Maine (prostate cancer). Scottish artist Steven Campball (b. 1953) on ? in Glasgow (ruptured appendix). Am. serial killer Carl Eugene "Coral" Watts (b. 1953) on Sept. 21 in Jackson, Mich. (prostate cancer); dies in prison while serving two life sentences for murder. Am. basketball player Dennis Johnson (b. 1954) on Feb. 22 in Austin, Tex. Am. Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow (b. 1955) on Nov. 25 in Las Vegas, Nev. (cocaine OD). Am. author-actress-activist Yolanda King (b. 1955) on May 15 in Santa Monica, Calif. (heart failure). English fashion guru Isabella Blow (b. 1958) on May 7 in Gloucestershire (suicide by Paraquat). German celeb Count Gottfried von Bismarck (b. 1962) on July 2 in London (OD); found in his $10M Chelsea, London apt.; known for being associated with the death of the daughter of a Conservative govt. minister in 1986 and the accidental fall to his death from a roof during one of his wild parties in Aug. 2006 of Anthony Casey (b. 1968). Dutch actor Roef Ragas (b. 1965) on Aug. 3 in Amsterdam. Canadian prof. wrestler Chris Benoit (b. 1967) on June 24 in Fayetteville, Ga. (hangs himself two days after murdering his wife and son). Am. celeb Anna Nicole Smith (b. 1967) on Feb. 8 in Hollywood, Fla. at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino (sudden death); Marilyn went at 36, Jayne at 34, Anna at 39. Am. rapper Pimp C (b. 1973) on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles, Calif. (natural causes?). Am. R&B singer Tony Thompson (b. 1975) on June 1 in Waco, Tex. (OD). Am.-born Kiwi meteorologist Augue Auer Jr. (b. 1940) on June 10 (67th birthday) in Melbourne. Am. security guard Richard Jewell (b. 1962) on Aug. 29 in Woodbury, Ga. (heart failure from diabetes). Mexican-born Am. porno actress Haley Paige (b. 1981) on Aug. 21 in King City, Calif. (OD). Am. football player Darrent Williams (b. 1982) on Jan. 1 in Denver, Colo. (murdered). Am. football player Sean Taylor (b. 1983) on Nov. 27 in Miami, Fla. (shot by home intruders). Am. Va. Tech mass murderer Cho Seung-Hui (b. 1984) on Apr. 16 in Blackburg, Va. (suicide).



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TLW's 2008 C.E. Historyscope, by T.L. Winslow (TLW), "The Historyscoper"™

T.L. Winslow's 2008 C.E. Historyscope

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2008 - The Year of the African-American? The Year of Black Monday and the First Black U.S. President? The Chocolate (Barack Obama), Vanilla (Hillary Clinton) or Strawberry Fruitcake (John McCain and Sarah Palin) Year dominates the U.S. for most of the year, which teeters on the brink of a new Great Depression, then ends in the George Washington Rolls Over in His Grave Not in My Lifetime Think Again Year in the U.S. as a mulatto Abe Lincoln wins the right to move into the Oval Office and kick up his feet and run a Reverse Civil War (Anti-World War I?)? The Here Comes the Sun in China, Mumbai, Wasilla, WaMu and Wachovia Ain't I Greedy AIG Year?

2008 U.S. Presidential Election Map Barack Hussein Obama II of the U.S. (1961-) Joseph Robinette Biden of the U.S. (1942-) Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-) and Michelle Obama (1964-) of the U.S. The U.S. Winners of 2008 John McCain (1936-) and Cindy Lou McCain (1954-) of the U.S. Sarah Palin of the U.S. (1964-) Hillary Rodham Clinton of the U.S. (1947-) Rahm Emanuel of the U.S. (1959-) Sada Cumber of the U.S. (1951-) Ezekiel J. Emanuel (1957-) Henry Paulson of the U.S. (1946-) Lawrence Henry 'Larry' Summers of the U.S. (1954-) Bobby Jindal of the U.S. (1971-) Neel T. Kashkari of the U.S. (1973-) Dmitri Medvedev of Russia (1965-) Serge Sargsyan of Armenia (1954-) Raila Odinga of Kenya (1945-) Raoul Castro of Cuba (1931-) Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan (1950-) Yousaf Raza Gillani of Pakistan (1952-) Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry of Pakistan (1918-) Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan (1955-) Yousuf Raza Gilani of Pakistan (1952-) Muhammad Mian Soomro of Pakistan (1950-) Rwandan Col. Théoneste Bagosora (1941-) Morgan Richard Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe (1952-2018) Fernando Lugo of Paraguay (1949-) Kabiné Komara of Guinea (1950-) U.S. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal (1954-) James David McGee of the U.S. (1949-) Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa (1949-) John Key of New Zealand (1961-) Ed Miliband of the U.K. (1969-) Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium (1947-) Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara of Guinea (1964-) Mohamed Nasheed of Maldives (1967-) U.S. Spc. Joe Gibson 2008 Mumbai Attacks Mohammed Ajmal Aimir Kasab (1987-2012) David Coleman Headley (1960-) Shivraj Patil of India (1935-) Abu Laith al-Libi (1967-2008) Shah Mansoor Dadullah Imad Mugniyeh (1962-2008) Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy (1982-) Abu Izzadeen (1976-) Mamdouh Habib Sant Singh Chatwal Steven Kazmierczak (1980-2008) Vicki Iseman (1967-) Bill Cunningham Frank Woodruff Buckles (1901-) U.S. Adm. William J. Fallon (1944-) David Alexander Paterson of the U.S. (1954-) Eliot Spitzer of the U.S. (1959-) Ashley Alexandra Dupré ¨1985-) Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. (1941-) Geert Wilders of Netherlands (1963-) Aafia Siddiqui (1972-) Douglas Bruce of the U.S. Bob Barr Jr. of the U.S. (1948-) Rod Blagojevich of the U.S. (1956-) Roland W. Burris of the U.S. (1937-) André D. Carson of the U.S. (1974-) Hashim Thaci of Kosovo (1968-) Benjamin Todd Jealous (1973-) Josef Fritzl (1935-) Parvez Khan (1971-) Thomas Beatie Joshua Mauldin (1985-) Hu Jia (1973-) F-35 Lightning II Jerome Kerviel (1977-) Carla Bruni of France (1967-) Aden Hashi Farah Ayro (-2008) Michael Thomas Gargiulo (1976-) Christopher Booker (1937-) Philip Ball (1962-) Tom Brady (1977-) Eli Manning (1981-) David Mikel Tyree (1980-) Rafael Nadal (1986-) LeBron James (1984-) Ryan Newman (1977-) Scott Dixon (1980-) Jason Edward Lezak of the U.S. (1975-) Michael Phelps of the U.S. (1985-) Natalie Coughlin of the U.S. (1982-) Dara Grace Torres of the U.S. (1967-) Nastia Liukin of the U.S. (1989-) Shawn Johnson of the U.S. (1992-) Henry Cejudo of the U.S. (1978-) Usain Bolt of Jamaica (1986-) Hugh McCutcheon of the U.S. (1969-) Kwame Kilpatrick of the U.S. (1970-) Milorad Cavic of Serbia (1984-) Russell A. Baze (1958-) U.S. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody (1953-) Ron Paul of the U.S. (1935-) Saxby Chambliss of the U.S. (1943-) Rev. Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua (1933-2017) Hafiz Muhammad Saeed (1950-) Allen Andrade (1977-) Casey Anthony (1986-) and Caylee Anthony (2005-) Angie Zapata (1988-2008) Victoria Beckham (1974-) Larry Sinclair Five Friendlies Tata Nano, 2008 Sir Nils Olav John Edwards (1953-) of the U.S. and Rielle Hunter (1964-) Ingrid Mattson (1963-) Christopher Ciccone (1960-) Richard Wade Cooey II (1967-2008) Annette Gordon-Reed (1958-) Philip Hoare (1958-) Paul Robin Krugman (1953-) Lord Christopher Monckton (1952-) Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969) David Kernell (1988-) Michelle Malkin (1970-) Osamu Shimomura (1928-) Larry Smith (1968-) Maajid Nawaz (1978-) Mohammed Bello Abubakar of Nigeria (1924-) Martin Chalfie (1947-) Roger Yonchien Tsien (1952-) Gary Coleman (1968-2010) and Shannon Price (1985-) Paul Pierce (1977-) Danica McKellar (1975-) Danica Patrick (1982-) Henrik Zetterberg (1980-) Ana Ivanovic (1987-) Katie Piper (1983-) Daniel Lynch (1976-) and Stefan Sylvestre (1988-) Marc M. Keyser (1942-) Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtissari (1937-) Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (1940-) Yoichiro Nambu (1921-) Makoto Kobayashi (1944-) Toshihide Maskawa (1940-) Osamu Shimomura (1928-) Martin Chalfie (1947-) Günter Faltin (1944-) Roger Yonchien Tsien (1952-) Francoise Barré-Sinoussi (1947-) Luc Montagnier (1932-) Harald zur Hausen (1936-) Robert Charles Gallo (1937-) Paul Robin Krugman (1953-) Laurent Lantieri and Pascal Coler Aravind Adiga (1974-) Anne Burrell (1969-) David Roland Cook (1982-) David James Archuleta (1990-) James Bamford (1946-) Ann Nixon Cooper (1902-) Kate Davis Horace Engdahl (1948-) David Michael Gregory (1970-) Paula Goodspeed (1980-2008) Bernard Lawrence 'Bernie' Madoff (1938-) Bernard Lawrence 'Bernie' Madoff (1938-) Caroline Kennedy of the U.S. (1957-) Oded Galor (1956-) Quamrul H. Ashraf Sheryl Sandberg (1969-) Robin Darwall-Smith Dorothy Stang (1931-2005) Muntadar al-Zaidi (1979-) Thomas Michael Disch (1940-2008) Ben Goldacre (1974-) Suzanne Collins (1962-) Lauren Groff (1978-) Dame Julia Higgins (1942-) Nigel Lawson (1932-) Ali al-Amin Mazrui (1933-) Jane Mayer (1955-) Jon Ellis Meacham (1969-) Herman Rosenblat (1930-) and Roma Radzicky James Arthur Ray (1957-) Clay Shirky (1964-) Victor Thorn 'Never Give Up' by Donald Trump (1946-), 2008 David Stephenson Rohde (1967-) Lindsay Lohan (1986-) and Samantha Ronsom (1977-) Ksenia Sukhinova (1987-) Radhanath Swami (1950-) Marianne Williamson (1952-) Vadim Zeeland Jill Price (1965-) Michio Kaku (1947-) Duffy (1984-) Adele (1988-) Bon Iver Miley Cyrus (1992-) Lady Gaga (1986-) Hyper Crush Ladyhawke (1979-) La Roux Glasvegas Her Space Holiday Markéta Irglová (1988-) The Kominas Millionaires Owl City The Phenomenal Handclap Band Saving Abel The Ting Tings 'Cadillac Records', 2008 'Breaking Bad', 2008-13 'Breaking Bad', 2008-13 ''Fringe', 2008-13 'Man on Wire', 2008 ''The Mentalist', 2008-15 ''Sons of Anarchy', 2008-14 ''True Blood', 2008-14 'God of Carnage', 2009 'Shrek The Musical', 2008 'The Andromeda Strain', 2008 'The Class', 2008 'Cloverfield', 2008 'The Dark Knight', 2008 'The Hurt Locker', 2008 'The Incredible Hulk', 2008 'Iron Man', 2008 'Kung Fu Panda', 2008 'Mamma Mia!', 2008 'Outlander', 2008 'Quantum of Solace', 2008 'Quarantine', 2008 'Revolutionary Road', 2008 Dev Patel (1990-) Rubina Ali (1999-) 'Slumdog Millionaire', 2008 'The Strangers', 2008 'Teeth', 2008 'Valkyrie', 2008 'Vantage Point', 2008 'Wall-E', 2008 Jerusalem Chords Bridge, 2008 John Alexander Thain (1955-) Ken Lewis (1947-) Superthief 'Whos Nailin Paylin?', 2008 Robert Edward Rubin of the U.S. 91938-) Richard Severin Fuld Jr. (1946-) Franklin Raines of the U.S. (1949-) Olympic Dragon Terminal, Beijing, 2008 Lucas Oil Stadium, 2008 Silivri Prison, 2008 Zhu Zhu Pets, 2008

2008 Time Mag. Person of the Year: Barack Obama (1961-); next time 2012. Chinese Year: Rat (Feb. 7). The U.N. Gen. Assembly declares this the Internat. Year of Planet Earth to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences; also the U.N. Internat. Year of Sanitation, declared in conjunction with the Water for Life Decade, setting the goal of reducing the number of people without access to basic sanitation by half by 2015. The Great (Global) Recession (Dec. 2007-?) sees U.S. stock market investors lose $7T this year as the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. peaks at almost 13K in May, then crashes to 6.5K by Mar. 2009, then begins a long slow rise, reaching 8.5K by May 2009; total loses reach $7M in real estate losses, $11T in stock market losses, and $3T in retirement account losses; rising oil prices cause inflation in the U.S., which spreads into a global food crisis (worst in over 30 years) that rocks Egypt, North Korea, Haiti, Indonesia, et al., sparking food riots and spilling into net-producer nations such as Thailand; the whole fiasco is caused by the huge waste of the U.S. Iraq War, or is war good for the economy and it's the fault of global warming, or is it the Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage crisis? Global military spending rises 4% to a record $1.464T, up 45% since 1999 - sounds like a lot until all of the U.S. bailouts? The U.S. poverty rate climbs to 13.2% from 12.5% in 2007. The proportion of malnourished people in poor countries rises for the first time since ?; by next year the number of the world's chronically hungry reaches 1B for the 1st time since 1970, an increase of 100M since this year; meanwhile India and Horn of Africa countries incl. Ethiopia begin leasing farmland to Saudi Arabia et al. in exchange for quick cash, low-paying jobs and lessons in industrialization of agriculture. New immigrants to the U.K.: 590K (vs. 574K in 2007); 427K British people emigrate (vs. 341K in 2007). A record 1,046,539 are naturalized as U.S. citizens this year, with most coming from Mexico, India, and the Philippines; Pres. Bush begins allowing 1K Iraq refugees into the U.S. per mo., which jumps to 19K a year next year, after which in 2009 Pres. Obama signs a bill adding thousands more from Palestine; illegal immigrants in the U.S.: 11.6M (Jan.) (v. 11.8M in Jan. 2007); the illegal immigrant pop. in the U.S. has increased 37% since 2000; the U.S. Border Patrol makes 723K arrests at the Mexican border this year (97% of total arrests) (vs. 1.7M in 1986 and 1.2M in 2005), which drops 27% next year after the ailing economy makes El Norte less attractive; the number of Border Patrol agents increases from 9K in 2001 to 20K by Sept. 2009, with 626 of 661 mi. of planned fencing and walls erected next year; money sent back to Mexico by Mexicans in the U.S. drops from $2.19B this Apr. to $1.78B in Apr. 2009 ($24B in 2007). Turkey has $23.6B in overseas construction contracts this year, up from $750M in 2000; it slides to $20B in 2009. This year the avg. resident of London, England is filmed 300x a day for security by 4.2M surveillance cameras, one for every 15 people in the country. Premium crude oil prices, which broke the $100 a barrel level in 2004 peak at $145 in July, causing a rush to tap new sources of energy that result in breaking U.S. dependence on Middle East oil in ?. The first year that the U.S. adds more wind turbine than coal-fired power generation stations. At the beginning of the year there are 12 women heads of state: Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Helen Clark (New Zealand), Luisa Diogo (Mozambique), Tarja Halonen (Finland), Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Philippines), Mary McAleese (Ireland), Angela Merkel (Germany), Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine), Emily de Jongh-Elhage (Netherlands Antilles), Pratibha Patil (India), and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina). The 2008-2009 Keynesian Resurgence among economists and policy makers is a massive fiscal and monetary response to the 2007-10 financial crisis. On Jan. 1 USC defeats Illinois by 49-17 to win the 2008 Rose Bowl. On Jan. 1 Kenya starts the year out wrong with violent protests over the results of the Dec. 27 election that returned pres. Mwai Kibaki to power for another five years, which his Christian opponent Raila Amolo Odinga (1945-) claims is a rigged election; on Jan. 7 the two rivals agree to end their dispute after 486 are killed and 250K are made homeless, fleeing their homes in the Rift Valley; too bad, the protesters don't go along with them, and protests continue until Jan. 19, when opposition leaders decide to switch to a boycott, after which backroom negotiations by Madeleine Albright result in Kibaki appointing Odinga as PM on Apr. 17 (until Apr. 9, 2013). On Jan. 1 CourtTV (founded July 1, 1991) changes its name to truTV. On Jan. 1 Washington state becomes the U.S. state with the highest minimum wage, $8.07 an hour. Oh won't you stand by me, not? It's curtains for the little remaining goodwill for the George Dubya Bush admin. just as election time is nearing? On Jan. 2 oil reaches the $100-a-barrel mark ($102 on Feb. 27), greeting Americans with the news that the year is probably going to turn into a recession or worse; meanwhile the U.S. Foreclosure Scandal, caused by adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) affects up to 1 in 5 of subprime borrowers; on Jan. 11 the Bank of Am. announces plans to buy Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender in the U.S.; too bad, the lack of regulation of large investment bank holding cos. causes the Great Credit Meltdown of 2008 as they begin the Credit Default Swap, selling each other $60T of CDS's, swap contracts in which the buyer makes a series of payments in exchange for the right to a payoff if a credit instrument goes into default or there is a bankruptcy or restructuring; by the end of the hear former Federal Reserve Chm. Alan Greenspan utters the soundbyte "I made a mistake", referring to 18 years of preaching deregulation. On Jan. 3 the Iowa (pop. 3M) primary gives a V to Barack Obama with 38% of the Dem. vote, with John Edwards getting 30% and former front runner Hillary Clinton 29%; Mike Huckabee wins the Repub. vote with 34%, vs. 25% for big spending Mitt Romney, and 13% each for Fred Thompson and John McCain; Obama's Iowa caucus victory speech contains the soundbyte: "They said or sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year, 2008"; Hillary runs an It's 3 A.M. Ad, with the soundbyte: "It's 3 a.m. and your children are safe in the city, but there's a phone in the White House and it' s ringing... Your vote will decide who answers that call", a campaign ad against Obama; too bad, Obama's campaign co-chmn. Jesse Jackson Jr. (1965-) stinks himself up with the comment "The natural reminder is O.J. How does an African-American candidate attack a white woman." On Jan. 6 (Sun.) three U.S. Navy ships entering the Persian Gulf are chased by five Iranian Rev. Guard speedboats, who drop white boxlike objects in the water in front of them and transmit the message "I am coming at you; you will explode in a couple of minutes"; they veer off moments before an order to fire on them is carried out. The tears of a clown? On Jan. 7 Hillary cries during a Q&A session, causing many face, er, fence-sitting women to come over to her camp after seeing her old image of a heartless bitch apparently melt; the woman who asked the question votes for Obama? - a desperate stage trick? On Jan. 8 Hillary Clinton rides on female support to win a surprise V over Barack Obama in the N.H. primary (pop. 1.3M) (39%), with Barack Obama coming in 2nd (36%), John Edwards 3rd (17%), and Bill Richardson 4th (5%); John McCain saves his campaign with a win (37%), with Mitt Romney 2nd (32%), Mike Huckabee 3rd (11%), and Rudolph Giuliani 4th (9%); too bad, the liberal media gives away their bias when the MSNBC election team laughs derisively at McCain's victory speech, which contains the soundbyte "I'm past the age that I can claim the noun kid no matter what adjective precedes it, but tonight we sure showed them what a comeback looks like." On Jan. 8 15-y.-o. Boy Scout Mohammed Jaisham Ibrahim (1992-) foils an assassination attempt on Maldives pres. Maumoon Gayoom, grabbing his knife after he leaps from the crowd and lunges. On Jan. 8 Sudanese soldiers shoot at a U.N. peacekeeper convoy in Darfur, wrecking a fuel tanker and wounding a local driver. On Jan. 8 Pres. Bush signs legislation aimed at preventing the severely mentally ill from buying guns after the Virginia Tech shootings cause bipartisan agreement; the holy grail of background checks at gun shows is still nowhere in the anti-gun lobby's sights, although Va. gov. Timothy M. Kaine puts in his two cents worth by proposing it now that he's got the spotlight. On Jan. 8 Bill Clinton makes a remark that Barack Obama's solid past opposition to the Iraq War is "the biggest fairy tale I've ever seen", and is jumped on by the PC police, who stretch it into the very idea that a black can be a U.S. pres., with black S.C. rep. James Clyburn saying on Feb. 11 that he might end his neutrality because of the comment. On Jan. 9 the U.S. military reports nine U.S. soldiers killed in the first two days of a new offensive against al-Qaida in Diyala Province, Iraq NE of Baghdad. On Jan. 10 N.M. Dem. gov. Bill Richardson, the one with the most actual executive experience (first Hispanic candidate for U.S. pres.?) drops out of the U.S. pres. race. On Jan. 10 a suicide bomber detonates in a crowd of police officers in a courthouse in Lahore, Pakistan, killing 22 and wounding 58. On Jan. 13 the 2008 Golden Globe Awards are a bare bones affair as the Writer's Guild of Am. strike continues; Atonement wins best picture (drama), Julian Schnabel wins best dir. for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; No Country For Old Men wins best screenplay; Julie Christie wins best actress for The Brave One and Daniel Day-Lewis best actor for There Will Be Blood; Sweeney Todd wins best picture (comedy) along with Johnny Depp for best actor (comedy); Marion Cotillard wins best actress (musical) for La Vie en Rose, Cate Blanchett best supporting actress in I'm Not There, Javier Barden best supporting actor in No Country For Old Men, Ratatouille for best animated feature, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly for best foreign language film. On Jan. 14 a Taliban suicide bomber at the luxury Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan kills six incl. an American and Norwegian journalist; meanwhile U.S. officials announce that they are sending an additional 3.2K Marines to Afghanistan for a spring offensive. On Jan. 14 Repub. becomes La. gov. #55 (until ?), becoming the first Indian-Am. gov. of a U.S. state, and the first non-white gov. of La. since Reconstruction, vowing a "clean break with the past" and to root out corruption; at 36 he's also the youngest sitting U.S. gov.; mean while ex-La. gov. (1972-96) Edwin Edwards misses the ceremony since he's in priz on corruption charges - touch no cow in Louisiana? On Jan. 16 a female Shiite suicide bomber kills nine Shiites and wounds 15 in a marketplace in Khan Bani Saad, Iraq in S Diyala Province during the nutso self-flagellating Ashoura rites of the Shiites (11th female suicide bomber in last 4.5 years), causing a retaliatory attack on Jan. 17 by a Sunni a suicide against a nearby Shiite mosque, killing 11 and wounding 15; meanwhile the U.S. offensive in Diyala rages on. On Jan. 20 the well-written TV show Breaking Bad, created by "The X-Files" producer Vince Gilligan (1967-) debuts on AMC cable TV network for 62 episodes (until Sept. 29, 2013), starring Bryan Lee Canston (1956-) as 50-y.-o. high school chem. teacher Walter White, who has terminal cancer, a handicapped teenie son (R.J. Mitte) and pregnant wife (Anna Gunn), and decides to cook meth with former student Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) to provide for his family when he goes, entering the sleazy criminal world and keeping viewers entertained with what bad thing's going to happen to him next as they slowly drag him down to their level, which doesn't stop you from rooting for him. On Jan. 21 a suicide bomber detonates inside a funeral tent in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 18; his target, a security official escapes unharmed - it's all just a little bit of history repeating? On Jan. 21 Dem. candidates Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards attend a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally in Columbia, S.C., giving him credit for paving the way for their candidacies and promising to further his vision. On Jan. 21 Iraq adopts a new Iraqi Flag that keeps the green Takbir ("Allahu Akbar" motto) but dispenses with Saddam Hussein's three green stars. On Jan. 22 officials of the Dem. Repub. of Congo sign an agreement with rebels to end the decade-long insurgency (begun 1996) that displaced 400K from their homes. On Jan. 22 Fred Thompson drops out of the Repub. pres. race. On Jan. 22 a suicide bomber pushing a cart attacks a high school in Baqubah, Iraq N of Baghdad, killing a bystander and injuring 21; initial reports that the bomber was female prove false - it was found sticking in what? On Jan. 22 the Federal Reserve delivers an emergency cut of the federal funds rate of 0.75%, followed by another 0.5% in its regular meeting on Jan. 30, for a total of 1.25%. On Jan. 23 Hamas militants blast large stretches of the Gaza Wall between Gaza Strip and Egypt, causing a stampede of shoppers into Egypt; the Egyptian military reseals it on Feb. 3 12 days after pres. Hosni Mubarak says they should be first given a chance to spend money there, buying cigs, yeast, mattresses etc.; too bad, terrorists see their chance and cross into Israel? On Jan. 24 Italian PM (since 2004) Romano Prodi resigns after losing a key confidence vote, making govt. #62 since WWII necessary. On Jan. 25 Pakistan successfully fires a medium-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile with a range of 420 mi. On Jan. 25 computer-savvy Frenchman Jerome Kerviel (1977-), a trader with Societe Generale in Paris is caught in the French Gigaeuro Bank Fraud after costing 4.9B Euros. On Jan. 26 the 2008 S.C. Primary is a V for Barack Obama, with 38%, vs. 30% for Hillary Clinton, and 19% for John Edwards; Obama utters the soundbyte "We are hungry for change"; too bad, her hubby Bill Clinton steps on it by trying to connect Obama's win to Jesse Jackson's win in 1984 and 1988; meanwhile John McCain wins the Repub. primary with 33%, vs. 23% for Mike Huckabee, 20% for Mitt Romney, 13% for Fred Thompson (who dropped out), and 4% for Rudy Giuliani, who has been concentrating on Fla. On Jan. 27 Caroline Kennedy announces support for Barack Obama, followed by Sen. Ted Kennedy on Jan. 28, which is a big snub for "co-presidency" candidates Bill and Hillary Clinton, who model themselves on JFK; on Jan. 30 prominent black Calif. congresswoman Maxine Waters counters by endorsing Cinton, while Kan. gov. Kathleen Sebelius endorses Obama; on Jan. 31 Arnold Schwarzenegger endorses John McCain, while his wife Maria Shriver endorses Obama. On Jan. 27 the worst snowstorms in 50 years strike China just before the Lunar New Year, catching 150M+ trying to travel to their family homes. On Jan. 27 pres. (since Mar. 12, 1995) Gordon B. Hinckley (b. 1910) dies, and the First Presidency is dissolved; on Feb. 3, 2008 former First Counselor in the First Presidency (since Mar. 12, 1995) and Boy Scout leader Thomas Spencer Monson (1927-) becomes pres. #16 of the LDS Church (until ?) - they're all so white and so right? Staying al-i-i-i-i-ve? On Jan. 28 U.S. Pres. Bush delivers his lame duck 2008 State of the Union Address, citing the successful surge in Iraq (30K new troops, plus the 90K-man Sons of Iraq (formed in summer 2006), former insurgents now on the U.S. payroll to protect neighborhoods and provide intel) and touting a $150B economic stimulus package of tax rebates while vowing to veto any spending bill that doesn't cut the number and cost of congressional earmarks; he pushes renewal of his No Child Left Behind Act and for permanent extension of the Anti-Terrorism Law, and claims that it's his goal to arrange a deal between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of his presidency, warning that the U.S. will confront Iran if it messes with its troops; Barack Obama snubs a handshake offer from Hillary Clinton, giving mixed explanations. On Jan. 28 a roadside bomb blast in Mosul, Iraq kills five U.S. soldiers, after which gunfire is sprayed at the rest of the unit from a mosque, and the perps flee. On Jan. 28 gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan hold dozens of students and teachers hostage until authorities let them flee unpunished. On Jan. 29 John McCain wins the Fla. Repub. primary with 36%, putting him in the #1 position over Mitt Romney, who gets 31%; meanwhile Rudy Giuliani, who bet everything on Fla. gets 15% and drops out, endorsing McCain; Mike Huckabee gets 14%. On Jan. 30 handsome-smiling John Edwards drops out of the Dem. pres. race in New Orleans, La., the same city where he began it, and begins jockeying for a vice-pres. position, while continuing the massive $1.5M coverup of his sexual affair with Rielle Hunter with money from Mellon heiress Rachel "Bunny" Melon. On Jan. 30 the New Baptist Covenant Celebration meets in Atlanta, Ga. in an effort to unite 30+ Baptist groups representing 20M adherents - at this late, it's time to circle the wagons or the savages will pick us off at will? On Jan. 31 a U.S. missile strike in Waziristan in NW Pakistan near the Afghan border kills Abu Laith al-Libi (b. 1967), a senior al-Qaida cmdr. suspected of engineering the Feb. 2007 bombing of the U.S. military base at Bagram, Afghanistan during a visit by U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney. In Jan. Paraguay has its first outbreak of yellow fever in 34 years. In Jan. record cold sees the global land surface temp dip below the 20th cent. mean for the first time since 1982, along with the largest Jan. snow cover extent on record for the Eurasian continent and Northern Hemisphere, causing record biz for Colo. ski towns. In Jan. vending machines for marijuana and other prescription drugs go into service in Los Angeles, Calif. In Jan. Hasbro, owner of the rights to Scrabble threatens legal action against the popular Scrabulous Web site run by two brothers in Calcutta, Rajat and Jayani Agarwalla, which gets more than 700K players a day - how any co. can own the exclusive rights to simulate one following the rules of a game, as opposed to owning copyrights on physical board designs and trademarks eludes moi? In Jan. English Muslim Ishaq Kanmi (1987-) posts messages on the Internet under the name Shaykh Umar Rabie al-Khalaila, announcing the formation of a British al-Qaida branch and calling on "all Muslims in Britain to join us and prepare themselves for martyrdom operations and not lose this golden chance"; he is arrested in Aug. at Manchester Airport, and pleads guilty on May 10, 2010. In Jan. Muslim convert to Christianity Mohammed Ahmed Hegazy (1982-), who became the first Muslim-born Egyptian to sue the govt. for denying him official recognition of his religion sees a Cairo court rule that it is against Egyptian law for a Muslim to leave Islam, with the soundbyteL "He can believe whatever he wants in his heart, but on paper he can't convert." In Jan. the U.S. Library of Congress establishes the Nat. Ambassador for Young People's Literature position; the first award goes to Jon Scieszka (1954-). On Feb. 1 Hollywood star Wesley Trent Snipes (1962-) is found not guilty of federal tax fraud and conspiracy charges after he refused to file returns from 1999-2004 to protest the legitimacy of the IRS, causing him to become their target; luckily, the jury saves him from felony charges, returning only misdemeanor convictions. Hanging Chad? On Feb. 2 rebels invade N'Djamena, hanging capital of Chad after a 3-day advance across the desert, causing pres. Idriss Deby to hole-up in the pres. palace until Feb. 9, when a ceasefire is reached; meanwhile 500 French nationals are evacuated; Chad is a refuge for 250K Darfur refugees (out of 200K killed) from the horrible janjaweed militas, and a rebel takeover threatens them as well as humanitarian groups trying to help them; meanwhile in the W Kenyan town of Eldoret, rival ethnic groups hunt each other through the streets; on Feb. 10 the Sudanese air force strikes rebels in Darfur, causing 12K "destitute and terrified" refugees to pour into Chad, which accuses Sudan's pres. Omar al-Bashir of putting the rebels up to the N'Djamena attack in order to stop planned deployment of a Euro peacekeeper force in the border region. On Feb. 2 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy quietly marries supermodel-singer Carla Gilberta Bruni (1967-) (who called herself a "tamer of men" and calls monogamy boring) at Elysee Palace 3 mo. after meeting; on Feb. 13 she gives her first interview, saying "I am Italian by culture, and I would not like to divorce, so I am the first lady until the end of my husband's mandate and his wife until death." On Feb. 3 Super Bowl XLII (42) is held in Cardinals (U. of Phoenix) Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.; the underdog 5th-seeded wild card New York Giants (coach Tom Coughlin) defeat the 18-0 New England Patriots (coach Bill Belichick) by 17-14 to deny them the first perfect NFL season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins and become the first NFC wild card team (3rd consecutive) to win a SB; there are a record three lead changes in the 4th quarter; the Patriots, led by QB (#12) Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom" Brady Jr. (1977-) had already defeated the Giants by 38-35 in the final game of the regular season; Giants QB (#10) Elisha Nelson "Eli" Manning (1981-) (little brother of last year's SB-winning QB Peyton Manning) leads "Eli's Drive" to score the winning TD with 35 sec. left in the game, after instant hero David Mikel Tyree (1980-) makes a miracle helmet catch to set it up with 1:15 remaining, before which Manning eludes the grasp of four defenders and pulls free to throw the ball; Fox Network charges $2.7M for a 30 sec. commercial. On Feb. 3 a roadside bomb in Mogadishu, Somalia near a passenger-carrying minibus kills eight and wounds nine. On Feb. 3 the U.S. military announces that an errant airstrike SE of Baghdad, Iraq killed nine civilians (incl. a child) and wounded four (incl. two children). On Feb. 4 a Hamas suicide bomber in a shopping center in Dimona, Israel, 35 mi. from the border with Gaza Strip kills a 70-y.-o. Israeli woman and wounds 11, after which Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades release farewell videos bragging about getting to them via the broken barrier in Egypt; on Feb. 6 Israeli missiles kill eight Hamas militants in the courtyard of a Hamas police station in Gaza City in Christian forgiveness, er, Jewish justice. On Feb. 5 Super Tuesday puts half of the states up for grabs in the U.S. pres. race; John McCain is a big winner (9 states), wrapping up half the delegates he needs for nomination; Hillary Clinton picks up 9 states, incl. N.Y., Calif., and Mass., but remains only slightly ahead of Barack Obama, who wins the South (13 states total); white evangelical Christian Mike Huckabee sweeps the South plus W. Va., threatening to put deep-pockets Mormon Romney out of the race, and on Feb. 6 he drops out, saying "If I fight on in my campaign all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win, and in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror" - duh, a President Lucas McCain would bring on WWIII because he was tortured in the Hanoi Hilton and programmed to be the Manchurian Candidate, or at least isn't all there mentally and will crack under pressure, nuking China without warning to get even for all those bad times and nightmares? On Feb. 5 (night) 50+ tornadoes rip through the SE U.S., killing 44 - the Devil came to Jawjah because who didn't vote for whom? On Feb. 6 Rear Adm. Mark H. Buzby, cmdr. of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba confirms the existence of the formerly top secret Camp 7 for 15 "high value" al-Qaida prisoners. On Feb. 7 U.S. authorities announce the indictment of 62 people associated with the if-you-have-some-crayons-take-a-look Gambino Family of New York, claiming that they're finally shutting it down; simultaneously Italian authorities announce Operation Old Bridge, targeted at Mafia figures who were trying to strengthen ties with the U.S. On Feb. 7 archbishop of Canterbury #104 (since 2003) Rowan Douglas Williams (1950-) causesd a firestorm of controversy by saying that the adoption of Sharia in the U.K. is "unavoidable", with the soundbyte that "There is nor reason why Sharia Law, or any other religious code should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution", adding "It's not as if we're bringing in an alien and rival system"; he is backed-up by Nicholas Phillips, lord chief justice of England and Wales; after PM Gordon Brown said he "believes that British laws should be based on British values", they backtrack to keep their jobs. On Feb. 8 a woman shoots two fellow students then commits suicide at Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, La. On Feb. 9 a bomber strikes a rally in Charsadda in N Pakistan, killing 25 at an opposition secular Awami Nationalist Party rally; police later claim to find the bomber's head - did he give good head? On Feb. 10 English Jewish Britney Spears wannabe (rehab client with a beehive hairdo?) Amy Winehouse (1983-2011) steals the show at the 2008 Grammys, winning five, and giving a tearful speech from London, where she decided to stay to be with her mommy - does she have a short skirt and long long jacket? On Feb. 10 three masked robbers walk into the uninsured E.G. Buhrle Collection in Zurich before closing and walk off with four paintings worth $163M after 3 min. work, becoming the biggest art heist since the 2004 theft of Edvard Munch's "The Scream" in 2004; who's got Paul Cezanne's "Boy in the Red Waistcoat", Edgar Degas' "Ludovic Lepic and His Daughters", Claude Monet's "Poppy Field at Vertheuil", and Vincent Van Gogh's "Blooming Chestnut Branches" now?; perhaps the same dudes who stole Picasso's "Head of a Horse" and "Glass and Pitcher" last week? On Feb. 11 Pakistani authorities (under big Yankee pressure?) announce the capture the capture of Talibean counter, er, Taliban leader Shah Mansoor Dadullah, brother of Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah, who was killed last year by GIs; meaanwhile Pakistan envoy Tariq Azizuddin is kidnapped in the Khyber trival area of Pakistan en route to Kabul. On Feb. 11 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket addresses the 29th Anniv. of the Islamic Rev., vowing not to slow Iran's nuclear program and announcing plans to launch more rockets into space and eventually orbit a domestic satellite. On Feb. 11 the 541-ft. Singapore Flyer opens, becoming the world's tallest Ferris wheel (until 2009). On Feb. 12 the U.S. Senate by 68-29 approves the reauthorization of a law giving the govt. greater powers to eavesdrop in terrorism cases without obtain warrants from a secret courts, along with immunity from lawsuits for telecom cos. cooperating with intel agencies; too bad, the House balks and smashing pumpkins it, allowing the law to expire at midnight on Feb. 16. On Feb. 12 Barack Obama decisively defeats Hillary Clinton in three Dem. primaries (Va., Md., Washington D.C.), seizing the overall electoral lead, causing him to utter the soundbyte "The cynics can no longer say that our hope is false. We've won East and West and North and South and cross the heartland of the country." On Feb. 12 Australian PM Kevin Rudd delivers an apology to the aborigines for cents. of injustice, and promises to make improving their lives a top priority, which is unanimously approved by parliament; Australia joins Canada (1998) and South Africa (1992) in apologizing to the natives they stole their land from after arriving in 1788. On Feb. 12 the bullet-ridden body of Iraqi journalist Hisham Muchawat Hamdan (b. 1980) is found in Baghdad; meanwhile police search for two CBS journalists kidnapped in Basra near the Sultan Palace Hotel, and dozens of Iraqi lawmakers walk out to stop a nat. budget and other laws from being passed. Uh-oh, better get NATO? On Feb. 12 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin on the Fitz warns Ukraine against joining NATO, and threatens to aim its nukes at if it deploys a missile defense system, even though the U.S. has not suggested expanding its missile shield in Poland and Czech Repub. there; in Jan. new Russian pres. Dmitri Medvedev says that Russia will deploy its Iskander missiles (adopted in 2006) in Kaliningrad in W Russia "to neutralize, if necessary, a NATO missile defense system"; meanwhile Russia and China push for a global ban on arms in space at the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, while the U.S. pushes for halting production of fissile material; too bad, the Russian proposal also incl. banning defensive missile shields, causing a deadlock; on Feb. 9 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates says he thinks that Russia wants to resolve its security disputes with the U.S., and predicts that if Kosovo declares independence from Serbia this month, it will "react cautiously". On Feb. 12 English leftist environmentalist newt-loving London mayor Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone (1945-) (known for setting up Britain's first register for gay couples in 2001, hosting a Jewish Hanukkah ceremony in City Hall in Dec. 2005, introducing an annual St. Patrick's Day festival in 2002, reviving the anti-racism Rise: London United music festival in 2001, and can you think of anything else, oh yes, the first "Eid in the Square" Muslim Ramadan celebration in Trafalgar Square in Oct. 2006) announces a new $50 charge for drivers of gas-guzzling cars to enter C London, tripling the original fees set in 2003. On Feb. 12 howling 15-in. Uno becomes the first beagle to win best of show in the 132nd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, beating 2,626 other dogs. On Feb. 12 (night) car bomb in Damascus, Syria kills top Shiite Hezbollah cmdr. I'm A Mad Mugger, er, Imad Fayez Mugniyeh (Mughniyah) (b. 1962), in hiding for years after being suspected for the 1983 Marine Barracks bombing, a 1985 TWA jetliner hijacking, and tons of other dirty work; on Feb. 14 Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrullah threatens to strike Israel anywhere in the world in a borderless war to get them for it, saying "You have crossed the borders" beyond the traditional battlefield of Lebanon and Israel; the CIA and Mossad really really did it? meanwhile on Feb. 13 Danish newspapers reprint Prophet Muhammad cartoons in a solidarity gesture after police reveal the arrest of three Muslims for plotting to kill the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard; remember that the horrible insult showed the prince of peace wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a lit fuse?; do they start the protest all over again? - figure the rules out for yourself? On Feb. 13 the U.S. Senate approves by 51-45 approves a new intelligence bill that bans waterboarding and other torture of suspects, and limits them to a list of 19 U.S. Army Field Manual tactics; Pres. Bush vows to veto it. On Feb. 14 black-dressed Steven Kazmierczak (b. 1980) opens fire on a geology class inside Cole Hall (built in 1968) at Northern Ill. U. in DeKalb, Ill. in suburban Chicago, picking the crowd off from the stage with a shotgun and two handguns, firing 48 bullets and six shotgun shells and shooting 21 people and killing five before committing suicide; it is later found out that he bought gun accessories from the same TGSCOM Web Site patronized by Seung-hui Cho; school officials later demolish the hall. On Feb. 14 Roger Bergendorff is hospitalized from his Extended Stay America Motel near the Las Vegas Strip with ricin poisoning; later vials of ricin are found in his room along with guns and "The Anarchist Cookbook"; after recovering enough to talk, he says he kept it all for self-protection. On Feb. 15-19 Pres. Bush goes on a 6-day tour of Africa. On Feb. 17 a suicide bomber at a dog-fighting competition in Kandahar, Afghanistan kills 80. On Feb. 17 speaking of dogs, the USDA announces a recall of 143M lbs. of beef from Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif. after a video is sent them showing sick animals being forced to their feet with prods and hoses, and/or dragged with ropes or pushed with forklifts into the slaughterhouse, after which USDA spokesmen call for an investigation of other plants, realizing that they take advantage of inspectors by doing the dirty work when they're preoccupied - road kill burger, yum yum? The seeds of WWIII are sewn? On Feb. 17 90%-Muslim ethnic Albanian Kosovo (pop. 2M) declares independence, with capital at Pristina, becoming the first Muslim country in Europe, with former Kosovo Liberation Army leader Hashim "the Snake" Thaci (1968-) as PM #1 (until ?), causing riots in Belgrade, Serbia, during which rioters invade and set fire to the U.S. embassy while shouting slogans about their precious St. Sava (1174-1236); the U.S. is among the first to recognize Kosovo, allegedly because it is allegedly pro-U.S. (and because Russia won't recognize it?), perhaps thinking it can be used as a poker chip against the other Muslim states, while a glance at history shows that for 620 years (since 1389) the poor Orthodox Christian Serbs have suffered one defeat after another in their attempt to unify the Balkans against the Muslim threat, and triggered WWI at the beginning of the 20th cent. over it, so what will happen in the 21st cent., stay tuned? On Feb. 17 John McCain pledges no new taxes if elected pres., while Bill Clinton campaigns in Ohio, saying that the nomination will come down to that state and Texas; meanwhile after it is later revealed that he snuck down to see John Edwards in N.C. to get an endorsement, Barack Obama gives a campaign speech with a soundbyte nearly identical to one given in 2006 by his friend, Mass. gov. Devall Patrick, which is seized on by the desperate Clinton campaign as horrible don't-vote-for-him plagiarism, despite the speech itself being plagiarism of JFK, MLK Jr., and FDR, and little more than a slogan?; "Don't tell me words don't matter. 'I have a dream' - just words? 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal' - just words? 'We have nothing to fear but fear itself' - just words, just speeches?"; Obama rightly downplays it as trivial, and reminds Hillary that she used his slogans in her speeches, like anybody cares - the whole idea that tiny soundbytes can be owned and must carry disclaimers, even in verbal ad libs is stupid, and belongs in backstabbing tenure-hoarding academia not a public arena, so don't vote for Hillary, give her a job at the U. of Colo.? On Feb. 17 the divorce settlement of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills is finalized, with Mills being awarded Ł24.3M plus payments of Ł35K a year for a nanny and school costs for their daughter; the divorce is granted on May 12. On Feb. 18 parliamentary elections in Pakistan deal a big D to pres. Pervez Musharraf's Pakistan Muslim League, the opposition party of ex-PM Nawaz Sharif winning more than half of the 272 seats, a clear signal to back off on the Taliban and al-Qaida and stuff Bush. On Feb. 18 billionaire Egyptian-born Harrods owner Mohammed Fayed (1933-), father of Dodi Fayed claims at the Royal Court of Justice in London (in its 5th mo. of an inquest) that Prince Di told him hours before her Aug. 30-31, 1997 death that she had Dodi's bun in the oven and that they were engaged to be married, and that the convienient accident was arranged by Elizabeth II's Greek hubby Prince Philip, whom he calls a racist Nazi, accusing Prince Charles of being in it too so he could marry Camilla Parker-Bowles - sign right here says Mel Gibson? On Feb. 18 Michelle Obama addresses a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisc., uttering the soundbyte: "What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a comeback. And let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country", causing a firestorm of criticism and causing her to try to 'splain until Laura Bush defuses it in June with the comment "I think she probably meant 'I'm more proud'" - and if she didn't? On Feb. 18 British Pakistani Muslim terrorist Parviz Khan (1971-) is jailed for life for planning to kidnap and execute a British soldier "like a pig". On Feb. 19 Cuban pres. (since Jan. 1959) Fidel Castro (b. 1926) officially retires in favor of his younger whippersnapper brother Raoul Modesto Castro Ruz (1931-), who is rubberstamped pres. on Feb. 24 (until ?), ending the Great Miami Exile Dream of the demise of Communism with his overthrow. On Feb. 19 PM (since 2007) Serge Sargsyan (Sarkisian) (1954-) wins pres. elections in Armenia with 53%, defeating ex-pres. (1991-8) Levon Ter-Petrosian, and succeeding pres. (since 1998) Robert Kocharian (until ?); on Feb. 20 thousands gather in Yerevan to protest the election, calling it rigged; on Mar. 1 15K demonstrate in Yerevan, and and after it turns violent, Kocharian declares a 20-day state of emergency. On Feb. 20 U.S. Navy Aegis cruiser USS Lake Erie shoots down a failing U.S. spy satellite filled with 1K lbs. of hydrazine (launched Dec. 2006) with an anti-missile missile at 100+ mi. alt. travelling 17K mph; when China tried the same thing in 2007, the U.S. got pissed-off, but this is different, because white is still right? On Feb. 21 the New York Times runs a story alleging that John McCain had an affair with lobbyist Vicki L. Iseman (1967-) during the 2000 pres. primaries, timed just as he is wrapping up the nomination; she bears a striking resemblance to McCain's wife (since 1980) Cindy Lou Hensley McCain (1954-) - yawn? On Feb. 21 Turkish forces began incursions into N Iraq to take on Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgents; on Feb. 27 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates warns them to wrap up in the next few days; on Feb. 29 Turkey declares that it has achieved its goals, but on Mar. 5 their warplanes and artillery blast some more guerrillas 15 mi. across the Iraqi border. On Feb. 23 John McCain comments on ailing Fidel Castro, uttering the soundbyte: "I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon." On Feb. 24 U.S. federal judge Richard P. Matsch (who presided over the Okla. City bombing trial) overturns a $51M jury verdict on a patent infringement case, then orders the attys. to pay each others' fees, saying that the entire lawsuit was frivolous because it was filed to stifle competition rather than protect a patent - first time in history they get it right? On Feb. 24 Louis Farrakhan publicly backs Barack Obama at a Nation of Islam convention in Chicago, Ill., with the soundbyte: "We are witnessing the phenomenal rise of a man of color in a country that has persecuted us because of our color." On Feb. 24 the 80th Academy Awards, hosted by Jon Stewart are held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.; 306 films are eligible for consideration; the Coen brothers win the best dir. Oscar for 2007 for No Country for Old Men, which wins best picture, along with best adapted screenplay, and best supporting male actor for Javier Bardem, who says that the Coen brothers "put one of the most horrible haircuts in history on my head"; Daniel-Day Lewis wins best actor for There Will Be Blood, and first-time actress Marion Cotillard (wearing a fish-scale gown by Jean Paul Gaultier) wins best actress for La Vie en Rose (first winner for a French-language performance, first for a non-English language performance since Sophia Loren in 1960, and 2nd French actress to win best actress after Simone Signoret in 1959) (too bad, certain earlier statements about the Twin Towers of 9/11 being impossible to bring down with fire later haunt the voters; orange-haired Tilda Swinton (wearing a black draped velvet dress with one sleeve) wins best supporting actress for Michael Clayton, giving Euros a clean sweep of all four acting Oscars; Ratatouille wins for best animated feature; Falling Slowly from Once, by Glen Hansard and Czech-born Marketa Irglova (1988-) (youngest person to win an Oscar in a musical category until ?) wins for best song; The Bourne Ultimatum wins three Oscars, incl. film editing, robbing a record 4th Oscar chance for the Coen brothers; actresses Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, and Jessica Alba are preggers, with Blanchett wearing a purple embroidered Dries Van Noten gown showing it off; Diablo Cody wins for best screenwriter for Juno. On Feb. 26 Hillary Clinton makes a last attempt to save her failing campaign with yet another debate with Barack Obama in Cleveland, Ohio, attempting to challenge his honesty; meanwhile Conn. Sen. Christopher Dodd endorses Obama, and John McCain apologizes for remarks made at a fundraiser by Cincinnati, Ohio radio talk show host Bill Cunningham, who repeatedly refers to "Barack Hussein Obama", reminding listeners that if this dude becomes president it will rock them to their socks (Saddam Hussein + Osama bin Laden in the White House?); meanwhile a Los Angeles Times poll shows that either would lose to John McCain if the election were held now. On Feb. 27 the U.S. dollar drops to an all-time low against the Euro of 66 cents; meanwhile Fannie Mae of the U.S. reports a $3.55B loss for the last quarter of 2007; meanwhile Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard U. prof. Linda Bilmes pub. The Three Trillion Dollar War, claiming that the Iraq War has cost the U.S. guess how much? On Feb. 27 U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice stops in Tokyo on the final leg of an Asian trip to deal with North Korea's nuclear program, expressing regret over the case of U.S. Marine SSgt. Tyrone Luther Hadnott (1970-), accused of raping a 14-y.-o. Japanese girl and arrested on Feb. 11, which Japanese PM Yasuo Fukuda called "unforgivable"; he is charged on Apr. 24. Shit or get off the pot, no? On Feb. 27 35-y.-o. "Toilet Seat Woman" Pam Babcock (1972-) is found physically stuck to a toilet seat she had been sitting on for two years in Ness City, Kan., her boyfriend Kory McFarren (b. 1971) bringing her food and water while she kept saying "Maybe tomorrow" to requests to leave the bathroom; of course the local authorities press charges for mistreatment of a dependent adult - oh crap, what do I do, this is huge? On Feb. 28 news that Prince Harry has been serving on the front lines in Afghanistan with the British army for 10 weeks (first British royal since Prince Andrew in the Falkland Islands in 1982) leaks on the U.S Web Site Dredge Report, causing him to be quickly withdrawn to avoid an assassination attempt. On Feb. 29 a bus crash in Guatemala caused by bad brakes kills 53. On Feb. 29 John McCain slips at a rally in Tyler, Tex., saying "I'm a proud, conservative, liberal Repub...", immediately repeating it without the bad word "liberal". On Feb. 29 the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless reaches its 1,000th consecutive week as #1 (since Dec. 1988). In Feb. the U.S. govt. budget deficit reaches a record $175.56B. In Feb. black former "Diff'rent Strokes" actor Gary Coleman (1968-2010) (candidate for gov. of Calif. against Ahnuld in 2003, placing #8) reveals his secret marriage last summer to white busty redhead Shannon Price (1985-), claiming until then he was a 40-y.-o. virgin - oral sex doesn't count because it's not going all the way? In Feb. a poll by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life shows declining loyalty to traditional U.S. mainline religious denominations; Protestants now make up only 51%. In Feb. Neb. passes a Safe Haven Law allowing parents to legally abandon their children by leaving them at a hospital, but goofs by not naming an age limit, causing anything up to teenies to be dropped off, incl. a woman from Atlanta, Ga. who dropped off her 12-y.-o. son, causing them to reconvene on Nov. 17 to set the age limit to 3 days like in Colo. On Mar. 1 severe storms hit C Europe, tearing off a roof at the Dusseldorf Airport, disrupting power to 1M in Prague, and killing 10. On Mar. 2 pres. elections in Russia are no surprise as Tsar Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor, Leningrad-born deputy-PM (since Nov. 14, 2005) (converted to Orthodox Christianity at age 23, and became a fan of Deep Purple) Dmitri (Dmitry) Anatolyevich Medvedev (1965-) wins; Putin's men spent months clamping down on all opposition with strongarm tactics, creating a de facto 1-party state, with the approval of most Russians, who are used to cents. of tsarist authority and can't stand the free-falling loose-cannon-on-deck feeling of Western multi-party politics; Putin becomes PM, and wields the real power, since Russia can have only one tsar, and he's it; meanwhile Medvedev claims to be the boss. On Mar. 2 a suicide bomber kills 42 and injures 53 during a meeting of 200 tribal leaders in Zarghon Village in Pakistan being held to discuss a suicide attack two days earlier that killed 40 in the Swat Valley during the funeral for a police officer, and another the day before that killed two in Bajur, all in NW Pakistan; as usual, pres. Pervez Musharraf gets the heat from the U.S. On Mar. 2, 2008 the Heartland Inst. (founded in Arlington Heights, Ill. in 1984, and known for working for Philip Morris to question the health risks of second-hand smoke) holds the first Internat. Conference on Climate Change in New York City, endorsing the Nongovernmental Internat. Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) and pub. the article Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate, criticizing the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), followed by the Manhattan Declaration, declaring that carbon dioxide (CO2) is essential for all life, and calling for an immediate halt to tax-funded attempts to counteract climate change, with the soundbytes: "Assertions of a supposed 'consensus' among climate experts are false", and demanding that "all taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith"; leaders incl. Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (1952-), former adviser to British PM Margaret Thatcher; signers incl. S. Fred Singer, Anthony Watts, David Bellamy, Piers Corbyn, Ian Plimer, Robert M. Carter, and Roy Spencer; by 2017 12 conferences are held. On Mar. 3 Pres. Bush appoints Pakistan-born Tex.-based Muslim Sada Cumber (1951-) as the first U.S. ambassador to the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Muslim U.N. (until Feb. 2010). On Mar. 4 pres. primaries in Ohio, Tex., Vt., and R.I. are a V for Lucas, er, John McCain, who cinches the Repub. nomination and gains the endorsement of Mike Huckabee; meanwhile Hillary Clinton, whose hubby Bill earlier admitted has to win or get out, scores Vs in Ohio and Tex., plus R.I., staying alive after losing 11 straight contests, causing them to head out to Wyo. to stump for the state's few delegates, which Obama wins by 60% to 40% on Mar. 9; meanwhile another poll shows that either would beat McCain if the election were held now. On Mar. 4 Northern Ireland Protestant leader Ian Paisley announces that he's stepping down in May. On Mar. 4 Venezuela and Ecuador reinforce their borders with Colombia after getting pissed-off at its border strike on a leftist guerrilla base in Ecuador on Mar. 1 that killed s enior FARC (Rev. Armed Forces of Colombia) member Raul Reyes (Luis Edgar Devia Silva) (b. 1948), who had a $5M U.S. reward on his head; on Mar. 6 Nicaragua breaks off diplomatic relations with Colombia, while the Rio Group Summit is hosted by the Dominican Repub. to find a diplomatic solution, U.S. spokesman saying they back Colombia's right to defend itself against FARC guerrillas, and wondering aloud what Venezuela has to do with it; the intervention of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is an attempt to revive the Marxist rev. in South Am.? On Mar. 4 the U.S. military announces the crash of an Iraqi heli in N Iraq that killed a U.S. soldier and seven others. On Mar. 4 the 2008 Mardakert Skirmishes see Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of violating the May 5, 1994 Bishkek Protocol (provisional ceasefire agreement), after which on Mar. 14 the 62nd Session of the U.N. Gen. Assembly votes 39-7-100 to adopt U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 62/243, "The Situation in the Occupied Territories of Afghanistan", about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, reaffirming "continued respect and support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Azerbaijan "within its internationally recognized borders", demanding the "immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal of all Armenian forces from all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan", emphasizing that "no state shall render aid or assistance" to maintain the occupation of Azerbaijani territories. On Mar. 5 Xia Tao, armed with explosives takes 10 Australians hostage on a tourist bus in Xi'an N China, and is shot and killed by police. On Mar. 6 two bombs in the Shiite Karada district of Baghdad, Iraq kill 55 and injure 131 in a busy shopping mall, ruining all the talk of emerging from the doldrums of war. On Mar. 6 a Palestinian gunman kills eight students and wounds nine at the Mercaz HaRav, the top yeshiva in Jerusalem before being killed. On Mar. 6 before dawn a small bomb explodes in front of a miliary recruiting station in Times Square in New York City, causing minor damage, after which a video shows a thin white man with graying hair on a bicycle planting it; a big protest against a Marine recruiting station was held on Feb. 1 in Berkeley, Calif.; meanwhile U.S. gen. Victor E. "Gene" Renuart Jr., cmdr. of the North Am. Aerospace Defense Command in Colo. says that al-Qaida may be stepping up efforts to attack the U.S. to maintain their credibility and recruit followers; meanwhile Pres. Bush welcomes 107-y.-o. Frank Woodruff Buckles (1901-), the last known surviving U.S. WWI vet, who met Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing - left behind by the Kaiser's army? On Mar. 7 the new Forbes Billionaire List shows Bill Gates slipping to #2 after Microsoft's unsolicited $44.6B takeover bid of Yahoo was snubbed and his stock slid, allowing Warren Buffett to become #1; meanwhile Facebook.com new kid on the block Mark Zuckerberg becomes the youngest self-made billionaire in history, worth $1.5B, all through the funny money of clicks. On Mar. 7 (7:00 a.m.) a suicide bomber at a police compound in Mosul, Iraq kills four and wounds 17. On Mar. 7 17-y.-o. Tasleem Solangi (b. 1991) is mauled by dogs then shot to death by her Muslim uncle Zameer Solangi in Pakistan in an honor killing for alleged immorality; it is later revealed that it was done to convince her father to sell him some land. On Mar. 9 Spanish Socialist PM (since 2004) Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero wins reelection, an endorsement of his actions of pulling troops out of Iraq, legalizing same-sex marriages and on-demand divorce. On Mar. 9 Chinese authorities claim to have broken up a terrorist plot targeting the upcoming Beijing Olympics; meanwhile a flight crew foils an attempt to crash a China Southern flight from Urumqi. On Mar. 9 (dawn) a passenger train slams into a double-decker bus near Dolores, Argentina 125 mi. S of Buenos Aires, killing 26. On Mar. 10 N.Y. Dem. gov. #58 (since 2007) and former N.Y. atty.-gen. (1999-2006) Eliot Laurence Spitzer (1959-), formerly known as "the sheriff of Wall Street" for aggressive prosecution of securities and Internet fraud (incl. prostitution rings) is named as "client #9" in a federal sting of a high-priced ($4.3K an hour) prostitution ring known as the Emperor's Club VIP; he resigns as gov. on Mar. 12 after info. surfaces that he spent as much as $80K on the classy hos; on Mar. 17 he is replaced by lt. gov. (since Jan. 1, 2007) David Alexander Paterson (1954-) (known for failing the N.Y. bar exam, then blaming it on the testers for not accomodating his disability), who becomes N.Y. gov. #55 (until ?), the first black and first legally blind person to hold the position; the ho Spitzer was caught with is Kristen, AKA Madonna wannabe Ashley Alexandra Dupre (Dupré) (Youmans) (1985-), whose star is now on the rise (Madonna started the same way in the Big Apple?); too bad, on Mar. 18 Paterson admits that he also had affairs with a "number of women", incl. state employees, but is coming clean to avoid a later revelation; like the fashion dicates (McGreevey et al.), he makes the announcement with his zonked wife by his side - does she swallow or spitzer? On Mar. 10 Barack Obama gives a speech in Columbus, Miss. saying that he isn't running for vice-pres., and uttering the soundbyte: "I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice-presidency to someone who is in first place - honey, two shampoos? On Mar. 10 a 5-mo. AP inquiry is announced that detected prescription drugs in the drinking water supplies of 24 major U.S. metro areas. On Mar. 11 the big news breaks that Dawn Wells (1938-), who played Mary Ann in "Gilligan's Island" is serving 6 mo. probation for marijuana possssion, having been sentenced on Feb. 29 after pleading guilty to reckless driving; she claims a friend left the stuff in her car and she was swerving while trying to find the heating controls - while on a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour? On Mar. 11 U.S. Adm. William J. Fallon (1944-), top U.S. military cmdr. for the Middle East resigns amid speculation that his rift with Pres. Bush over Iran was a "distraction"; he had been described as single-handedly stopping an invasion, causing more rumors that now it's a green light to go balls-out to Tehran. On Mar. 11 twin suicide bombs in Lahore, Pakistan kill 24 and injure 200; meanwhile in Iraq eight GIs are announced killed on Mar. 10, and 42 civilians on Mar. 11, incl. 16 bus passengers in a roadside bombing, becoming the most GIs killed since last Sept. 10, when 10 were killed. On Mar. 11 Ind.-born African-Am. Muslim convert Andre (André) D. Carson (1974-) becomes the 2nd Muslim in Congress as a Dem. rep. from Ind. (until ?). It's not even Easter yet and they've got Obama on the cross? On Mar. 12 Geraldine Anne Ferraro (1935-) resigns from Hillary Clinton's campaign after her remarks publicly on Mar. 7 that Barack Obama wouldn't be in the position he's in if he weren't black pisses-off the PC police and causes them to call the PC Posse; meanwhile Obama wins 5 of 5 weekend contests on Mar. 7-8, winning 90+% of the er, black vote and only about one-third of the er, white vote; too bad, the race card starts being played by the opposition, and Obama's longtime (20 years) minister Rev. Jeremiah Alvesta "Jerry" Wright Jr. (1941-) of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill. comes under fire for his black racist statements supporting Louis Farrakhan and dissing whites for their er, history ("blue-eyed devils", "Antichrist", the U.S. govt. invented and spreads AIDS among blacks), Jews ("bloodsuckers", "Satanic"), homos, and America itself ("Great White West", "Racism is how this country was founded and how this country is still run", "God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people"); despite Obama's attempts to distance himself now, the sad truth is that his father is a black Muslim Communist from Kenya who put him through a year of Islamic classes, and it was only through Wright that he was baptized a Christian by him in 1988, having him marry him to his wife Michelle Robinson in 1992 then baptize his two daughters, even titling his book "The Audacity of Hope" from one of his sermons; on Mar. 18 after his campaign reaches a crisis, Obama finally gives up trying to avoid mentioning the subject of race for fear of being labeled the black candidate like Jesse Jackson (1941-), and delivers his Big Race Speech ("A More Perfect Union"), starting "We the people, in order to form a more perfect union", followed by "I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas"; after distancing himself from Wright politically, he adds "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother... who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe"; too bad, on Apr. 28 Wright makes more un-PC remarks at the Nat. Press Club, causing Obama to officially cut his ties on Apr. 29, calling them "a show of disrespect to me", "directly contradicting everything that I've done during my life"; in May 2010 after licking his wounds or two years, Wright sends a letter to the AP, grumbling that Obama "threw me under the bus" - so much for President Obama, and hello President McCain, or is this America's racial turning point? The Almay candidate, starts out white and adjusts to match your skin color? On Mar. 13 body of Chaldean Catholic archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho (b. 1942) is found in a shallow grave in N Iraq two weeks after he was kidnapped by gunmen - I'm ready, let's play, Christians? On Mar. 13 Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas accuses the Israeli govt. of "ethnic cleansing" in Palestinian areas around Jerusalem after four Islamic Jihad members are killed in a raid on Mar. 12. On Mar. 13 a suicide bomber targeting U.S. troops in Kabul goofs and kills six Afghan civilians; meanwhile U.S. forces strike across the bordeer into Pakistan at a suspected Taliban compound, killing four more civilians, pissing-off Pakistani officials. On Mar. 14 riots marking the 40th anniv. of the exile of the Dalai Lama and the coming of the Beijing Olympics rock Tibet, killing two (zillion?); meanwhile 100 Tibetan exiles on a 6-mo. protest march to Tibet defy orders of the Indian govt. to halt; on Mar. 17 the Chinese govt. deadline to the protesters to disperse expires, and they stop being nice, swarming Tibet with troops by Mar. 20, causing Tibetan to become an extinct language before our eyes, while the U.S. does nothing because it owes them so much money?; on Mar. 23 China accuses the Dalai Lama of inciting the unrest to undermine the Olympics, which he calls "baseless", causing 30 Chinese intellectuals to appeal to them to admit that its policy of crushing dissent while blaming the violence on him isn't working; on Mar. 25 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy suggests an Olympic boycott to punish China for its crackdown; too bad, on Apr 29 a Chinese court sentences 30, incl. six Buddhist monks arrested on Mar. 14-16 to prison terms ranging from three years to life - the horror, the horror, of giving them the Olympics in the first place? On Mar. 15 a bomb explodes in the back garden of the Luna Caprese Italian Restaurant in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing one and injuring 11, incl. five Americans (four FBI personnel); the restaurant is known for slipping alcoholic drinks to foreigners (Allah damn them?); on Mar. 16 an unmanned drone flattens a suspected militant safe house in Pakistan's tribal area, killing 20; meanwhile on Mar. 16 the Pakistan parliament convenes, packed with foes of U.S.-backed pres. Pervez Musharraf. On Mar. 15 the 5th anniv. of the U.S. Iraqi War sees total U.S. troop casualties total 29,320 wounded in action and 3,987 KIA; on Mar. 19 clueless Pres. Bush defends the war again, claiming that "the world is better" and the U.S. is safer because of him, er, it. On Mar. 15 a YouTube audio clip of Okla. Repub. rep. Sally Kern saying that "The homosexual agenda is destroying this nation", and "It's the biggest threat our nation has", comparing homosexuality to "toe cancer", and adding the soundbyte that "Studies show that no society that has totally embraced homosexuality has lasted more than, you know, a few decades, so it's the death knell of this country" pisses-off gay activists, bringing death threats along with a slew of anti-Kern YouTube uploads, while Okla. conservatives make her their champion; in 2009 she sponsors an "Okla. Citizen's Proclamation for Morality", blaming U.S. economic woes on "our greater national moral crisis" - make her eat her words? On Mar. 16 the Subprime Mortgage Crisis begins when JPMorgan Chase buys New York City investment bank Bear Stearns (founded 1923), whose stock slid from $170 to $2 because of its giant portfolio of worthless subprime mortgages for a measly $236M, with the U.S. govt. guaranteeing $30B of it, causing rumors of a coming new Great Depression, fueled again on Mar. 17 when the Federal Reserve lowers the prime rate for the 6th time in 6 mo., although the Dow Jones jumps 420.41 points (to 12,392.66) on Mar. 18, the biggest daily point gain in five years; on Mar. 17 the price of gold tops $1,035, the highest in history, then slides to $990 on Mar. 18. On Mar. 16 $15M Our Lady of the Rosary in Dohar, Qatar opens; too bad, they are afraid to display a cross on it or even a signboard for fear of hate-filled Muslim blacklash. On Mar. 17 ABC News announces the discovery of a large blue whale pop. in the Gulf of Corcovado in Chile, and lobbies for making it a Marine Protected Area to keep more salmon hatcheries from being built. On Mar. 17 it's happy St. Patty's Day in Iraq as a female Sunni suicide bomber in Karbala, Iraq kills 43 in front of a Shiite mosque, while another 29 are killed in other attacks, incl. six youths from mortar rounds at a soccer field in E Baghdad, and two U.S. soldiers in a roadside bombing N of Baghdad; the violence was obviously meant to greet U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney and pres. candidate John McCain, who tout recent security gains and reaffirm their long-term commitment. On Mar. 17 former N.J. gov. Jim McGreevey claims that he used to have 3-ways with his wife Dina Matos McGreevey and male aide Teddy Pedersen, the latter confirming it but claiming he didn't know if Sweet Cheeks, er, Big Jim was gay; she denies it all - mommy, what's a menage a trois? On Mar. 18 the U.S. Supreme Court begins hearing a challenge to the 1976 Washington D.C. ("murder capital of the U.S.") law banning handguns, and the justices orally indicate that they are finally going to rule that the in-your-face 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the individual's right to own guns, which the court has avoided for over 200 years; "A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed" -by the government; seems clear, right? wrong, ever since the flintlock was superseded by the Colt 45, yet the one thing Americans believe makes them different than the rest of the world is their right to have a personal arsenal, and if the govt. ever tries to take their guns away, it will be only after prying them from their cold dead fingers? On Mar. 18 Barack Obama gives his Race Speech at the Nat. Constitution Center in Philly, which hearkens to Abe Lincoln's Cooper Union Speech in New York City on Feb. 27, 1860? On Mar. 18 the divorce between will-you-still-need-me-will-you-still-feed-me-when-I'm 65-y.-o. Paul McCartney and 40-y.-o. Heather Mills is finalized, and she gets a tidy $47M of his $850M, acting as her own atty.; the trial reveals that Paul finally took his wedding ring for Linda off for her, and considered it a life marriage, therefore didn't make her sign a pre-nup, and that they stopped using birth control. On Mar. 19 the Mar. 19, 2008 Anti-War Protest is held around the world incl. Washington, D.C. On Mar. 19 (5th anniv. of the U.S. Iraq War) Pres. Bush's approval rating hits a new low of 31%, down 40 points from the start of the war, echoing the drop in LBJ's approval rating during the Vietnam War (74-35); not phased, Bush says "Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home", and "We're helping the people of Iraq establish a democracy in the heart of the Middle East. A free Iraq will fight terrorists instead of harboring them". On Mar. 19 Hillary Clinton calls for Barack Obama to agree to new primaries in Mich. and Fla. which gave her a V back in Jan. but whose delegates were excluded from the Dem. Convention for doing it too early; of course, Obama isn't going to give the nomination to her, so nothing happens? On Mar. 19 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Courts rules 7-2 in Snyder v. La. that prosecutors may not use peremptory strikes to remove African-Am. jurors solely on the basis of race; Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dissent on the grounds that the court is merely second-guessing the decisions of the trial court, and doesn't really know the true reasons. On Mar. 20 a suicide bomber kills five and wounds 11 outside a brigade HQ in the Pakistan tribal region on Afghanistan's border while U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney is visiting Kabul for talks with Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai. On Mar. 20 the Web site JuicyCampus.com is slammed on U.S. network TV after 20-y.-o. Colgate U. student George So (1987-) is arrested for threatening to stage a school massacre; the main gripe is that they rely on the U.S. Bill of Rights to protect anon. malicious gossip posts about real names; it goes out of biz on Feb. 5, 2009. On Mar. 21 Dem. N.M. gov. Bill Richardson endorses Barack Obama. On Mar. 21 it is revealed that the passport files of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain had been breached by low-level U.S. State Dept. employees, embarrassing the brass. On Mar. 21 Thomas Beatie reveals that he's pregnant; he's really a woman named Tracy LaGondino who had her breasts excised and took testosterone and got the govt. to list her as a male so she could marry a woman and not be called a lesbian, causing him/her to become a cause celebre for the gay community since he totally upends the traditional roles, and they think they can score a V with the publicity? On Mar. 21 the Washington Post pub. a photo of Hillary Clinton's welcoming ceremony in Tuzla, Bosnia on Mar. 25, 1996, showing that she didn't have to run from the airplane to a waiting vehicle under sniper fire like she has recently become fond of repeating, causing her to come clean on Mar. 24 and admit she misspoke; proof that women can't face reality and shouldn't become the chief executive? On Mar. 22 it's Happy Easter to the U.S. as a roadside bomb kills three U.S. soldiers N of Baghdad, bringing the Iraq War death toll to 3,996. On Mar. 22 pro-Beijing Nationalist Party oppositition candidate Ma Ying-jeou (1950-) wins the pres. election in Taiwan, promising to work toward unification with China. On Mar. 22 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney visits Jerusalem, and says that the U.S. wants a new beginning for the Palestinians but will never pressure Israel to take steps jeopardizing its security, and that U.S. support of Israel is "unshakable". On Mar. 23 a protest against Chinese rule by Uighur Muslims in Khotan in Xianjiang (NW China) is put down by Chinese police. On Mar. 24 longtime Bhutto aide Yousaf Raza Gillani (1952-) becomes PM #26 of Pakistan (until ?), immediately ordering the release of judges detained last year by pres. Pervez Musharraf, incl. chief justice (since 2005) Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry (1948-), who appears on the balcony of his Islamabad villa to cheering spectators. On Mar. 24 79+% of voters turn out for the first-ever parliamentary elections in Bhutan. a jury rejects his insanity plea. On Mar. 25 Yousuf (Yousaf) Raza Gilani (1952-) becomes PM #17 of Pakistan (until Apr. 26, 2012), the first from the Saraiki-speaking belt in the C and SE. On Mar. 25 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-3 in Medellin v. Tex. that an internat. treaty is not binding domestic law unless Congress enacts statutes implementing it or unless the treaty is self-executing; decisions of the Internat. Court of Justice are not binding domestic law, and without authority from Congress or the Constitution, the U.S. pres. lacks power to enforce internat. treaties or decisons of the Internat. Court of Justice. On Mar. 26 the Iraq govt. expands its anti-militia offensive against Shiite militias in 70% Shiite-controlled Basra, with the U.S. (which claims it was not given advance notice) providing air cover and advisers, giving Shiite groups 72 hours to surrender; too bad, when that doesn't work, the deadline is extended by more than a week; when that doesn't work 1K U.S. and Iraqi forces are called in to take on the 60K Mahdi fighters of Muqtada al-Sadr in the Shiite slum of Sadr City (pop. 3M); a ceasefire begins on May 11. On Mar. 26 Joshua Mauldin (1985-) is sentenced to 25 years for putting his infant daughter Ana in a microwave in his motel room and turning it on for up to 20 sec., causing severe burning, after which he lied that he spilled hot coffee on her. On Mar. 29 a 15-min. film titled Fitna (Arab. "ordeal") by Dutch anti-Muslim-immigrant politician Geert Wilders (1963-), founder of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy brings hate-filled protests in Pakistan, causing Sudanese pres. Omar al-Bashir to call on an Arab summit meeting in Damascus to demand a "binding international charter" prohibiting insults to Islam, er, religions; even more sick, Western leaders seem to conspire to silence those telling the truth about Islam, starting with Brigitte Bardot (1934-), who has been convicted 4x since 1997 of "inciting racial hatred" for pub. articles warning that the Muslims are ruining France - stick those kind of laws up your al-Bashir? On Mar. 29 elections are held in Zimbabwe, and on Mar. 30 dictator (since 1980) Robert Mugabe summons his security apparatus leaders and informs them that he plans to publicly concede the next day to opponent Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (1952-2018) of the Movement for a Dem. Change of a V, but military chief gen. Constantine Chiwenga talks him out of it and promises military support backed by the ruling Zimbabwe African Nat. Union-Patriotic Front; on Mar. 31 it's April Fool's Day in Zimbabwe as opposition foes of touring-facilities-and-picking-up-slack dictator Robert Mugabe claim a V in the Mar. 29 election, only to see official election returns slowly trickle in after Mugabe's Wiki is used to edit them; on Apr. 7 after the election results are still not pub., Mugabe forces several white ranchers and farmers off their land in an effort at a diversion; on Apr. 8 Operation CIBD (Coercion, Intimidation, Beating and Displacement) is implemented; on Apr. 23 as the coverup continues, Mugabe's party offers to form a govt. of nat. unity with Mugabe as pres.; after more violence, Tsvangirai, who is holed-up in the Dutch Embassy drops out on June 22, and on June 27 a rigged runoff election gives Mugabe a V, and on June 29 he is sworn-in for another term wile his country remains a starving hyperinflationary terrorized shithole, with 80 opposition supporters killed, hundreds missing, thousands injured, and hundreds of thousands homeless; meanwhile the U.N. lamely ponders sanctions. On Mar. 30 CIA dir. Michael Hayden appears on NBC-TV's "Meet the Press", and says that al-Qaida is training new operatives in W Pakistan who "look Western", and "would be able to come into this country without attracting the attention others might"; he adds "If there is another terrorist attack, it will originate there". On Mar. 31 gorgeous white blonde babe Katie Piper (1983-) is splashed in the face on Golder Green High St. in London with industrial strength sulfuric acid by hit man Stefan Sylvestre (1988-), hired by her black (South Asian?) former Internet boyfriend Daniel Lynch (1976-) (did somebody say lynch?) (who already raped and beat her), horribly disfiguring her; after 30 mo. of pain, surgeries, and therapy, she goes public; they both get life in priz. In Mar. a consortium of ranchers and loggers puts a $500K price on the head of Austrian Roman Catholic bishop Erwin Krautler, who has been working in the Brazilian state of Para since 1980 helping the indios fight back against oppression; he has been under police protection since last year - I guess the threat of excommunication doesn't work anymore? Speaking of balls out? In Mar. the police chief of Tehran, Iran is caught in a raid of a brothel with six nude women, and arrested. In Mar. after her campaign team circulates photos of Obama wearing a turban during a diplomatic trip to Kenya in 2006, Hillary Clinton gives an interview to Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes, who asks her if she believes that Obama is a Muslim, to which she utters the soundbyte: "No, there is nothing to base that on, as far as I know"; in 2015 despite her team starting the Obama-is-a-Muslim rumor, she slams Donald Trump for not rebuking a supporter who suggests it - what does it matter? On Apr. 2 the U.S. House OKs $50B to battle AIDS, TB and malaria in Africa over the next five years, tripling the previous budget; $41B will go to AIDS, which infects 6K new people each day. On Apr. 2 26-nation NATO rebuffs Pres. Bush's proposal to put Ukraine and Georgia on the path toward membership, which is opposed by Russia; Greece blocks Macedonia from joining by claiming its N region is also called that; Croatia and Albania are issued invitations to join. On Apr. 2 Russia's lower parliament house votes 370-56 to declare that the 1930s Ukrainian famine that killed millions of peasants was not genocide; Alexander Solzhenitsyn backs them, calling Ukrainian claims a "fable". On Apr. 3 Chinese dissident Hu Jia (1973-) (jailed since Dec.) is given 3.5 more years for "inciting state subversion" by posting articles against the intolerant Commie govt. on the Internet. On Apr. 4 it is reported that singers Beyonce Knowles (1981-) and Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) (1969-) were married in a secret ceremony in New York City. On Apr. 5 Syrian Orthodox priest Father Youssef (Faiz Abdel) is killed in Baghdad, becoming the 2nd senior Christian priest killed in Iraq this year. On Apr. 6 protests against the Chinese Olympics in favor of Tibetan independence rock London during the passing of the torch, followed on Apr. 7 by Paris and on Apr. 8 by San Francisco, home of longtime Tibet supporter Richard Gere; meanwhile on Apr. 5 China vows to ramp up its "patriotic education" campaign to force Tibetan Buddhist monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and declare their loyalty to Beijing. The U.S. govt. never could stand Mormon polygamists, and love to stomp them like cockroaches like in Short Creek in 1953? On Apr. 7 after a phone call by "Sister" to Flora Jessop of the Child Protection Project in Phoenix Ariz. claiming she was sexually abused there, Tex. authorities take 416 children into custody from the Eldorado, Tex. Yearning for for Zion ranch of the polygamist slash pedophile Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints of Warren S. Jeffs, where every old billy goat is his own Elvis, with the right to mistreat women as bad as the Taliban and marry them at age 14; after each kid gets his own court-appointed atty., and the mothers show up wearing handmade 19th cent. prairie dresses with weird hairdoes caused by never cutting their hair (the height of the do indicating rank in the marriage), causing a hilarious courtroom fiasco, the puppet state district judge Barbara Walther refuses to release the children to their parents, instead ordering DNA testing, then putting the kids in foster homes, adding more kids after some are found posing as adults, incl. mothers, bringing the total to 440; meanwhile 33-y.-o. Rozita Swinton (1975-) is arrested in Colo. Springs, Colo. for filing a false police report and is suspected of faking the Sarah call; too bad, the five pregnant girls taken into custody who are under 17 give them the excuse to tear all of the kids from their mommies, who cares about the daddies either?; too bad, on May 23 the state appeals court orders the return of the children - call in Lexington Steele? On Apr. 7-8 tens of thousands of pro-Tibet demonstrators protest the Olympic torch relay across India, causing 15K police to be mobilized and hundreds to be arrested. On Apr. 8 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket announces a tripling of the Iranian nuke program, with 6K new centrifuges to be installed in Natanz; it takes 3K centrifuges one year to make one nuclear bomb, and they have had the joy-to-the-Islamic-world Big 3K since Nov. 7, 2007. On Apr. 8 U.S. Gen. David Betrayus, er, Petraus tells Congress that there will still be 100K troops in Iraq at the end of the Bush admin., pissing them off. On Apr. 8 six teenage girls and two teenage boys are arrested for inviting 16-y.-o. Victoria Lindsay in Lakeland, Fla. over, then beating her up on Mar. 30, later releasing a video to the Internet to get famous; they end up getting charged with enough trumped-up charges to get life sentences; meanwhile thousands of other videos are uploaded to the Internet showing other teen girls beating each other up, showing that the future of war is assured? On Apr. 10 Israel cuts off all fuel to the Gaza Strip after a bloody Palestinian raid on the Israeli depot pisses them off. On Apr. 10 the Bush admin. defines a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Deterrent Doctrine, incl. retaliation through resort to all available options incl. nukes on "those states, organizations, or individuals who might enable or facilitate terrorists in obtaining or using weapons of mass destruction"; it is gutted by Pres. Obama in 2010. On Apr. 11 Denver, Colo.-based Frontier Airlines declares bankruptcy, becoming the 4th airline in two weeks to do so after hundred-buck-a-barrel oil cuts their profits to zilch; meanwhile Delta and Northwest Airlines attempt to merge, pissing-off consumer advocates. On Apr. 11 Barack Obama steps in it by claiming that small town Americans "cling to guns or religion" during a speech in Penn., allowing both Hillary Clinton and John McCain to pounce; Hillary then stages a photo opp by chug-a-lugging a boilermaker in a bar to pander to the blue collar crowd. On Apr. 10-13 food shortages in Haiti cause food riots, causing the ouster of PM (since 2006) Jacques-Edouard Alexis on Sept. 5. On Apr. 12 an explosion in a mosque in Shiraz, Iran during a meeting of an Iranian Shiite religious group kills nine and wounds 66; no group takes credit - call me irresponsible? On Apr. 13 the govt. of Iraq sacks 1.3K soldiers and policemen who had deserted during recent fighting against Shiite militias in Basra. On Apr. 13 former U.S. pres Jimmy Carter leaves for a 9-day mission to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. On Apr. 13 Barack Obama compares Hillary Clinton unfavorably to Annie Oakley, with the soundbyte that she has the same talking points as John "the Rifleman" McCain, esp. being pro 2nd Amendment and pretending to pack a 6-shooter. On Apr. 14 a grainy silent 16mm B&W film of Marilyn Monroe giving a beejay on her knees in the 1950s is sold to a private buyer in New York City for $1.5M, resurrecting speculation that the john is JFK, like J. Edgar Hoover once tried in vain to prove - by restaging it personally a thousand times with his boyfriend? On Apr. 14 British journalist Richard Butler is rescued 2 mo. after being kidnapped in Basra, Iraq while on assignment for CBS News; meanwhile car bombings and other attacks in Iraq kill 22 more. The phenomenon of trying to own knowledge as a product and not knowing when to stop is not limited to Bill Gates and Monopolysoft? The dying gasps of the paper-based publishing industry, who don't know how to handle the Internet threat? On Apr. 14 author J.K. Rowling goes to court in New York City to stop pub. of The Harry Potter Lexicon by librarian Steve Vander Ark, saying that she wanted to write her own lexicon and sell a zillion copies and give the money to charity, and that all his work should be discarded and the govt. should force him out of biz and send him to, er; while his lexicon was just a Web site she uttered the soundbyte "This is such a great site that I have been known to sneak into an Internet cafe while out writing and check a fact rather than go into a bookshop and buy a copy of Harry Potter, which is embarrassing", and went nonlinear only when he tried to get his book into that bookshop, which she thinks she owns exclusive rights to, because those who publish on the Internet are losers and she's a winner, with her own literary agent, major publisher and all, who will actually make most of the moolah before the rest goes to charity? Nowhere Man, the world is at your command? On Apr. 15 Pope Benedict XVI arrives for his first U.S. visit, becoming the first pope to be greeted by a U.S. pres. at Edwards AFB in Washington, D.C., where evangelical Methodist cowboy Pres. George W. Bush calls him "the most listened-to man in the world", apologizing for the Church's sex scandals while salivating over the 70M U.S. Catholics, whose numbers grow daily with illegal immigration; popey makes no public statements on Iraq because of the murder of Christian churchmen changing his mind about pulling out too quick?; on Apr. 16 a musical ceremony on the White House Lawn sings happy birthday to him, and he goes on to admit that the clergy sex-abuse scandal has been "very badly handled", then adds "What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?"; on Apr. 17 he meets with victims of sexual abuse in the Boston area, and is given a list of 1K children who were abused going back several decades by Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley of Boston, issuing the soundbyte "No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse"; on Apr. 18 the pope gives an address to the the U.N., saying that respect for human rights and not violence is the key to solving many of the world's problems (what church has more experience?), and complaining about decision power resting in the hands of a few powerful (unnamed) nations; he leaves on Apr. 20 after leading a Mass before 60K at Yankee Stadium in New York City and telling them to be "obedient" to Church authority - a contradiction? On Apr. 15 a dorm fire in Kampala, Uganda kills 21 children. On Apr. 15 a Hewa Bora plane crashes in E Congo, killing 44 and injuring 146 after plowing into a market area in Kinsasha; all 79 passengers and six crew survive. On Apr. 16 the U.S. (Roberts) Supreme Court rules 7-2 in Baze v. Rees that the 3-drug cocktail used by Ky. and most states for legal injections is constitutional under the 8th Amendment. On Apr. 17 British PM Gordon Brown visits Washington D.C. and meets with pres. candidates John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, and talks about the "special relationship" between the U.S. and U.K.; meanwhile his relationship with Bush is frosty, although he adds "The world owes president George Bush a huge debt of gratitude for leading the world in our determination to root out terrorism." On Apr. 17 yet another suicide bomber goes kablooey in Albu Mohammad, Iraq (90 mi. N of Baghdad) at the funeral of two Sunni tribesmen who fought al-Qaida, killing 50. On Apr. 17 ex-U.S. pres. candidate Tom Tancredo (1945-) alleges that Pope Benedict XVI is encouraging illegal immigration to the U.S. in order to boost Church membership. On Apr. 18 Pres. Bush stinks himself up again, finally admitting that he believes in global warming, then calling for a halt in the growth of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, causing critics to complain that he is giving permission to do nothing for almost 20 years. On Apr. 18 (Fri.) oil prices reach $116.69 a barrel. On Apr. 19 Palestinian militants siege the key Kerem Shalom Israel-Gaza border crossing, wounding 16 Israeli soldiers before they kill four of them. On Apr. 19 Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (1973-) issues a "final warning" to the Iraq govt. to halt the U.S.-backed crackdown or he will declare "open war until liberation"; meanwhile U.S. keeps attempting to clear a no-man's zone between Sadr City and the Green Zone in Baghdad, complete with a Berlin-style wall, and the Iraq govt. announces successes in Basra; after Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki tells al-Sadr to disband his Mahdi Army or face a ban from politics, al-Sadr calls him a U.S. sellout. On Apr. 19 (13th anniv. of the 1995 Okla. City Bombing) 30 members of the Nat. Socialist Movement march in Washington, D.C. to protest illegal immigration. On Apr. 19-20 the Battle of Mogadishu sees Ethiopian soldiers enter insurgent-held areas of the city, sparking heavy street fighting which kills 126-142, mostly civilians. On Apr. 20 elections in Paraguay give a V to Fernando Armindo Lugo Mendez (1949-), a suspended Roman Catholic bishop known for wearing sandals, flipping peace signs and admiring Che Guevara. On Apr. 20 a riot in Florence Supermax Prison near Canon City, Colo. started by white supremacists in honor of Hitler's birthday kills two. On Apr. 21 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki appeals for support from his Arab neighbors, calling on them to open embassies and forgive Iraqi debts. On Apr. 21 "Hill-Rod" Clinton, "do you smell what Barack is cooking" Obama and John "McCainiac" appear in a computerized World Wrestling Entertainment wrestling bout on "Monday Night Raw" to settle their differences by force? On Apr. 21 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates calls on the U.S. Air Force to send more Predator drones to the battlefield in Iraq to spot attempts at planting roadside bombs, complaining that they are "stuck in old ways of doing business". On Apr. 21 Repub. Colo. state rep. Douglas Bruce calls migrant workers "illiterate peasants" in a speech against a pending bill authorizing 5K, immediately being kicked off the House podium like a mangy dog by Dem. state rep. Kathleen Curry, who says "How dare you?", followed by efforts at impeachment for exercising his rights to free speech in PColorado, while his opponents make unlimited use of local media air time in the capital of Denver, one of the worse "home rule" police states in the U.S. (home of illiterate peasant TLW); the publicity backfires on Curry, who is flooded with "you're nuts" and "drop dead" type hate mail from the Colo. pop., as Bruce defends his statements as accurate. On Apr. 21 U.S. pres. George W. Bush, Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon, and Canadian PM Stephen Harper open the first annual 2-day Three Amigos (People's) Summit in New Orleans, La., with Bush and Calderon strongly defending the 1994 NAFTA Act for creating hundreds of thousands of jobs on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border - jobs aimed at taking millions of jobs from illiterate peasant Americans, hehe? On Apr. 22 despite Obama outspending her, Hillary Clinton wins the Penn. Dem. pres. primary by 10 points (55-45), closing the delegate gap to about 150 and the popular vote gap to 500K (not counting Fla. and Mich., which would give her a lead); the fight heads to N.C. and Ind. On Apr. 22 a suicide bomber explodes his truck at a checkpoint near the W Iraq city of Ramadi, Iraq, a former al-Qaida stronghold, killing two U.S. Marines and wounding three, not counting civilians (one killed, 24 injured). On Apr. 23 envoys from the U.S. and other nations dash out of a U.N. Security Council meeting after Libyan ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi compares the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to those in Nazi concentration camps - hey I'm Maryann from Gilligan's Island? On Apr. 23 in the case of David Lee Moore of Portsmouth, Va. the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upholds the power of police to conduct searches and seize evidence even if the arrest later turns out to have violated state law, with Antonin Scalia writing "We reaffirm against a novel challenge what we have signaled for half a century", namely that pigs only need probable cause of a crime committed in their presence and that mere laws can't stand in their way of searching for evidence to prove it in court. On Apr. 26 a fire in a mattress factory in Casabalanca, Morocco kills 55 and injures 12 out of 100, mostly women. On Apr. 26 running street gun battles between drug traffickers in Tijuana, Mexico kill 13 and wound nine. On Apr. 26 after U.S. Army Rangers of Co. A 2nd Battalion, 75h Regiment in UH-60 Black Hawks land in a grassy field in rural Iraq and are ambushed by insurgents, Spc. Joe Gibson defeats a suicide bomber with his bae hands, becoming a hero and earning a silver star. On Apr. 27 (Sun.) Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai escapes an attempted assassination in Kabul; three are killed and 10 are wounded. On Apr. 27 Shiite militants hammer the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq with rockets and mortars during a sandstorm, pissing-off the U.S. military; on Apr. 28 militants kill four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad with rockets and mortars as they try to push Shiite fighters farther from the Green Zone and out of range; too bad, after a 4-hour battle that kills 28 in Sadr City, some residents claim that the U.S. was killing civilians not militants. On Apr. 27 the Bush admin. announces a plan to enlist the 80M U.S. recreational boaters in the fight against terrorism by watching for a small boat coming in with a nuke aboard - gee why doesn't that make me feel real safe? On Apr. 27 a 350-acre wildfire near Los Angeles, Calif. forces 1K+ to flee their homes in the foothills. On Apr. 27 John McCain tasks Barack Obama for opposing his idea to suspend the tax on gasoline during the summer, saying it would help low income people with older gas-guzzling cars; Obama responds by pointing to his support of extending tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, saying "He hasn't told us really how he's going to pay for them. It is irresponsible, and the irony is he said it was irresponsible." On Apr. 27 English Islamist Abu Izzadeen (Trevor or Omar Brooks) (1976-) of the banned Muslim org. Al Ghurabaa is convicted of inciting terrorism for comments made in the Saudi-funded Regents Park Mosque in Nov. 2004, incl. "He who joins the British Army, the American Army, he is a mortal kaffir and his only punishment is for his head to be removed"; he is sentenced to 4-1/2 years, reduced to 3-1/2 years on appeal, then released to take up where he left off. On Apr. 28 (4:40 a.m.) a high-speed train en route from Beijing to coastal Qingdao derails and slams into another train near Zibo, China in Shangdong province in E China, killing 70 and injuring 400. On Apr. 28 an explosion in Gaza Strip kills a mother and four kids; Israel and militants point fingers at each other. On Apr. 28 Vietnam responds to allegations of baby-selling and corruption by halting all U.S. adoptions effective July 1 - closed party house? On Apr. 29 a suicide bomber and some gunmen attack a poppy eradication team in E Afghanistan, kiling 19 (incl. 12 police officers) and injuring 40. On Apr. 30 the U.S. troop death toll for Iraq is announced as 50, a 7-mo. high, with more than half in Baghdad. On Apr. 30 several Palestinian groups agree to an Hamas-sponsored Egyptian-mediated temporary truce proposal, but Israeli officials yawn it off, saying they would merely use it as a pretext to rearm and go at it again - it's funny how everything ends in o, like bombo and riflo? On Apr. 30 members of the Hawaiian Kingdom Govt. (founded 2001) storm the old 'Iolani Palace in Honolulu, Hawaii and set up a govt. in exile, seeking to restore the Hawaiian monarchy under queen Mahealani Kahau, who last year fined the Hawaiian state govt. $7T, negotiating a deal to protest daily on the grounds via a public assembly permit (until ?). In Apr. J Street is founded by Tel Aviv-born former Clinton senior domestic policy adviser Jeremy Ben-Ami and funded by George Soros as a rival to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) (founded 1963), claiming they're bad because they're alligned with the political right when in actuality J-Street is filled with traitor leftist Jews who want to see Israel go down the tubes, calling it a "new direction in American policy"? In late Apr. 42-y.-o. Elizabeth Fritzl blows the whistle on her father Josef Stefan Fritzl (1935-) for holding her captive for 24 years (since 1984) in a windowless underground cellar and fathering seven children by her while only visiting her to rape her, not even speaking to her; on Mar. 16, 2009 he pleads guilty incest - she reached 40 and he wanted to trade her in for two 20s? In Apr. the first rumors that Obama was not a U.S. citizen were not spread by the right but by supporters of Hillary Clinton when her volunteer in Iowa was fired for spreading the rumor, her adviser Sidney Blumenthal asked McClatchy Washington bureau chief James Asher to go to Kenya to search for his birth records, and told him in person that he was born there, and her pollster Mark Penn sent her a memo raising the issue of Obama's "lack of American roots"; meanwhile the Obama campaign charges her campaign with publicizing a photo of Obama in traditional Somali garb. On May 1 3,550-ft. Chaiten Volcano in S Chile 750 mi. S of Santiago awakens after 10K years to have a smoke. On May 1 U.S. missiles targeted at his house in Mogadishu, Somalia kill al-Qaida chief Aden Hashi Farah Ayro. On May 1 two suicide bombers attack a wedding caravan in the market district in Dayala Province NE of Baghdad, Iraq, killing 35 and wounding 65, incl. the bride and groom. On May 1 former Dem. nat. party chmn. Joseph J. "Joe" Andrew (1960-) defects from the Clinton to the Obama camp, saying that keeping the race going is only helping John McCain. On May 3 Cyclone Nargis crosses the Bay of Bengal and devastates Myanmar (Burma), killing up to 100K and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, forcing the corrupt govt. to finally break down and accept internat. aid, although they refuse to allow nearby U.S. military forces to enter their country with relief aircraft, and on June 3 the U.S. Navy announces that it is pulling its ships out after failing to get permission to help and being ordered to leave - we know the ships are really full of Rambos and blonde female Christian missionaries? On May 3 the U.S. military fires guided missles into Sadr City, Iraq, goofing up and hitting a building 55 yards from a hospital, wounding 23. On May 5 oil prices hit $120 a barrel; The Futurist claims that this will ultimately be good for the U.S. economy as it causes technology solutions to be found. On May 6 the 2008 N.C. Dem. Primary is a 51-37 200K-vote V for Barack Obama, while the 2008 Ind. Dem. Primary is a slim 38%-34% V for Hillary Clinton, causing calls for her concede, which the wife of the Comeback Kid refuses to do? On May 8 a 6.7 earthquake hits E Japan. On May 8 Sen. Barack Obama drops by the U.S. House allegedly to say hello to superdelegates - blacks have a habit of going in the servant's entrance? A good idea is punished? On May 9 a U.S. soldier is caught using a Quran for target practice, causing a protest in Herat, leading him to be disciplined and removed from Iraq, while his cmdr. kisses a new copy before giving it to tribal leaders in Radwaniyah on May 17 and Pres. Bush apologizes on May 20 to PM Nouri al-Maliki - he should order all Qurans confiscated and burned if he had any guts? On May 11 storms in the U.S. Great Plains and South kill 22 in three states, incl. 15 in SW Mo. and 6 in Picher, Okla. On May 11 the first elections in Serbia since the Feb. declaration of independence of Kosovo are a V for the pro-Western Dem. Party of pres. Boris Tadic over the ultranationalist Serbian Radical Party. On May 12 the 7.9 Chengdu Earthquake strikes W China along the Longmenshan Fault separating the Sichuan Basin from the Tibetan Plateau, killing 70K (incl. 19K students) and leaving 4M homeless; reports of faulty construction of schools, which left thousands of children dead cause angry parents to protest in Dujiangyan on June 3, causing a police crackdown; 9-y.-o. Mao Mao, a prime breeding female panda is killed in the Wolong sanctuary in Sichuan Province; the Chinese govt. exempts their 1979 policy to allow another child to qualifying parents. On May 12 Repub. U.S. pres. candidate John McCain gives a speech on climate change in Portland, Ore., with the soundbytes: "Today I'd like to focus on just one of those challenges, and among environmental dangers it is surely the most serious of all. Whether we call it 'climate change' or 'global warming', in the end we're all left with the same set of facts. The facts of global warming demand our urgent attention, especially in Washington. Good stewardship, prudence, and simple commonsense demand that we to act meet the challenge, and act quickly"; "Some of the most compelling evidence of global warming comes to us from NASA. No longer do we need to rely on guesswork and computer modeling, because satellite images reveal a dramatic disappearance of glaciers, Antarctic ice shelves and polar ice sheets"; "We have many advantages in the fight against global warming, but time is not one of them. Instead of idly debating the precise extent of global warming, or the precise timeline of global warming, we need to deal with the central facts of rising temperatures, rising waters, and all the endless troubles that global warming will bring. We stand warned by serious and credible scientists across the world that time is short and the dangers are great. The most relevant question now is whether our own government is equal to the challenge." On May 13 Hillary Clinton wins the 2008 W. Va. Dem. Primary by 2-1 as white working class Dem. voters won't vote for a nig, er, Barack Obama to sit in the er, White House?; meanwhile on May 14 John Edwards endorses Obama. On May 13 the U.S. Senate votes 97-1 to halt oil shipments to the federal emergency reserve in order to help reduce gasoline prices; a similar measure passes the House by 385-25; the lone dissenter in the Senate is Colo. Een. Wayne Allard, who says that he prefers to expedite oil shale development; too bad, the action only increases the U.S. supply by 0.3% of the total demand of 21M barrels a day. On May 13 Saudi Arabia warns Iran that its support for the Shiite Hezbollah in the "Lebanon coup" (its war with the Sunni-led Lebanese govt.) will damage its relations with other Muslim and Arab countries; meanwhile Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, causing Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad to call it inappropriate and offensive as long as Israel rules over the Palestinians. On May 13 seven Muslim terrorist bombs in Jaipur, India kill 80 and wound nearly 200. On May 14 suicide bombers hit a funeral W of Baghdad plus an Iraq army post S of Baghdad, killing 21. On May 15 the Calif. Supreme Court by 4-3 overturns the ban on same-sex marriage, becoming the 2nd state after Mass. to allow full marriage rights for same-sex partners - Captain Peacock is on his knees? On May 15 John McCain predicts that the U.S. will be out of Iraq by 2013 and that Osama bin Laden won't be a threat, but declines to set a timetable. On May 15 Pres. Bush gives a speech to the Israeli Knesset, warning against appeasing terrorists, saying "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along... We have an obligation to call this what it is, the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history", pissing-off Barack Obama, who calls it a "false political attack", and Hillary Clinton, who calls the remarks "offensive and outrageous, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy". On May 18 Pres. Bush lectures Arab leaders in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, telling them to expand their economies, offer equal opportunity to women and embrace democracy in order to bring peace to the Middle East - life is about more than sex, are you sure? On May 19 Barack Obama responds to criticism by John McCain that he has "reckless" judgment on foreign policy for wanting to talk with Iran, saying that the Iraq War has made Iran stronger; he then goes defensive on ABC News, warning the media to lay off his wife Michelle - or I'll make her wear her veil in public? On May 19 France acknowledges informal contacts with Hamas, which are denounced by the U.S., causing French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner (1939-) to describe them as "contacts, and nothing else, to inform us about the situation, first on the humanitarian front, and then especially the political one". On May 20 Hillary scores a big V (65-30) in the 2008 Ky. Dem. Primary, while Obama cruises 58-41 in the mail-only 2008 Ore. Dem. Primary, achieving a majority of pledged delegates. On May 20 (dawn) Iraqi troops enter Sadr City in E Baghdad, with Shiite militia fighters offering virtually no resistance. On May 20 Double-Decker Bus #188 crashes into a tree near Tower Bridge in C London, killing one and injuring 18. On May 21 Syria and Israel announce the start of peace talks after eight years of futzing around (since 1999). On May 21 David Roland Cook (1982-) beats younger judge favorite David James Archuleta (1990-) for Am. Idol Season 7 57%-43% after Simon Cowell issues a rare apology for all-but awarding the win to Archuleta on the prior show; Cook orginally came to the audition to support his younger brother Andrew, who didn't make it. On May 21 Mass. Dem. Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy (1932-) leaves Boston's Mass. Gen. Hospital after a stroke and a diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor shocks the nation; on May 20 W. Va. Sen. Robert Byrd hillaries, er, cries on the Senate floor over his "dear friend", saying "I love you"; on June 2 Ted K undergoes 3.5 hours of risky surgery at Duke U. Medical Center in Durham, N.C. - how soon till he turns conservative? On May 21 Pres. Bush announces that U.S. residents will finally be allowed to send cellphones to Cubans; the Cuban govt. began allowing its citizens to buy them on Mar. 29. On May 22 oil prices hit a record $135.09 a barrel, then begin a slow slide until June 24, when they go back up to $138, then hit $140 a barrel on June 26. On May 22-26 the 2008 Libertarian Party Convention in Denver, Colo. nominates Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr Jr. (1948-), former Ga. Repub. U.S. rep. (1995-2003), who gained fame as the leader of the movement to impeach Bill Clinton and started out as an ultra-conservative flag-waver until he began to balk at the Bush admin.'s encroachments on civil liberties and joined the LP in 2006 - just in time to steal votes from McCain? On May 23 Hillary Clinton steps on it when she brings up the assassination of Bobby Kennedy on June 6, 1968 to illustrate why it's okay to stay in the race this long, causing the PC police to come out and accuse her of inferring that Obama might be assassinated too and she's waiting like a vulture; Obama himself nixes them, but the controversy rages for days, illustrating the triviality of the campaign all along? On May 23 the city of Vallejo, Calif. files for bankruptcy - to be followed by every city in the U.S.? On May 23 after chef Rachel Ray appears in a Web ad for Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee wearing a thin nylon neck scarf, conservative Am. blogger Michelle Malkin (1970-) compares it to the Palestinian keffiyeh, causing conservatives to begin a boycott Dunkin' Donuts, which pulls the ad and explains the scarf as having no symbolism, causing a backlash against the conservatives by liberal bloggers. On May 25 U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll issues a soundbyte at a news conference that the militants in Iraq "are off-balance and on the run", although al-Qaida remains a "very lethal threat"; meanwhile the 300 attacks by militants in the previous week are the fewest since 2004, compared to 1.6K nearly a year ago. On May 25 former army chief of staff (Marionite Christian) gen. Michel Suleiman (1948-) becomes pres. of Lebanon (until ?). On May 25 Zimbabwe pres. Robert Mugabe threatens U.S. ambassador (since Nov. 6, 2007) (black) James David McGee (1949-) with expulsion for advising his opponent in the June 27 runoff to return to the hellhole country; on June 5 a mob of Mugabe loyalists attack vehicles carrying U.S. and British diplomats as they are investigating the political violence, causing U.S. state secy. Condy Rice to complain about "outrageous behavior". On May 26-27 The Andromeda Strain, based on the 1969 Michael Crichton novel debuts on A&E Network, starring Benjamin Bratt as Dr. Jeremy Stone, Christa Miller as Dr. Angela Noyce, Daniel Dae Kim as Dr. Tsi Chou, and Eric McCormack as Jack Nash. On May 27 a Memorial to the Gay Victims of Nazism is unveiled in Tiegarten Park in Berlin, Germany, complete with a kissing gay couple. On May 28 diplomats from over 100 nations agree to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, banning cluster bombs and requiring the destruction of stockpiles within eight years. On May 28 a new constituent assembly turns Nepal into a repub. and gives king Gyanendra 15 days to leave the palace. On May 28 the North Am. Aerospace Defense Command moves from its longtime home inside Cheyenne Mt. to nearby Peterson AFB in Colo. Springs to save $200M a year; too bad, the Pentagon finds flaws in the security, incl. potential hazards from a nearby airport. On May 29 Tropical Storm Alma hits NW Nicaragua, becoming the first tropical storm of 2008. And in the continuing story of Allah the God of Love and his prophet Badass M? On May 29 a suicide bomber wearing a military uniform detonates in Sinjar, Iraq in NW Iraq among a group of police recruits, killing 16, causing the Iraqi interior minister to remove the police chief. On May 29 leftist activist "Thelma and Louise" actress Susan Sarandon announces that if John McCain is elected pres., she will move to Canada or Italy. On May 30 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin visits France and meets with former pres. Jacques Chirac, who praised his 10 years in the Kremlin as "great years for Russia", saying that there can be no "balance in the world without a strong Russia". On May 30 Jeff Peckman meets with the Denver, Colo. city council and proposes an 18-member Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission to greet them. On May 30 78-y.-o. Angel Arce Torres is captured on a streetlight surveillance camera in Hartford, Conn. being hit by a car that just speeds away leaving him sprawled in the street, after which several cars zoom by ignoring him, while bystanders gawk and do nothing; he ends up in critical condition in Hartford Hospital - three strikes against him: old, Hispanic, poor? On May 31 Barack Obama resigns from the pesky Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Ill. after visiting white Roman Catholic priest Michael Louis Pfleger (1949-) mocks Hillary Clinton as crying over "a black man stealing my show"; Pfleger later apologizes, saying "These words are inconsistent with Senator Obama's life and message." In May U.S. state secy. Condoleezza Rice visits Jerusalem and has dinner with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert, who shocks her by how far he was willing to go for peace, incl. offering to give away nearly the entire West Bank, divide Jerusalem, and allow 5K Palestinian refugees to settle in Israel; too bad, Mahmoud Abbas rejects the offer because he wants all 4M Palestinian refugees to "go home"; on Sept. 18 Olmert offers Abbas a similiar plan incl. a 2-state solution, which Abbas also turns down, killing negotiations. In May the Israeli air force begins a 2-week air war exercise over the E Mediterranean incl. Greece, during which Israeli deputy PM Shaul Mofaz issues the soundbyte that if Iran continues "its program for developing nuclear weapons", Israel "would attack". In May the 2008 U.S. tornado season becomes the worst since 1998. In May the starched-pressed U.S. Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) is phased out in favor of a wrinkle-free cotton-nylon version which features a Mandarin collar, Velcro-attached insignia, and rough-side-out leather boots that don't require polishing; the U.S. Marines changed over to the Marine Corps Combat Utility Unform, with a computer-generated MARPAT (Marine Pattern) on Oct. 1, 2004, the U.S. Coast Guard switched to the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU) in 2004, and in 2007 the U.S. Air Force switched to the ddAirman Battle Uniform (ABU); meanwhile the New Iraqi Army gets to use surplus U.S. chocolate chip camoflauge uniforms, originally designed in 1962. On June 1 an article in Vanity Fair alleges that former pres. Bill Clinton has been engaging in hanky-panky with women incl. actress Gina Gershon, pissing him off and causing him to deny it. On June 1 the 2008 Universal Studios Fire begins, destroying the "Back to the Future" courthouse square, a mechanical King Kong, and up to 175K master tapes belonging to the Universal Music Group (UMG), incl. recordings by artists Louis Armstrong, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Steely Dan, Ella Fitzgerald, Nirvana, R.E.M., the Roots et al.; at first they claim only 40K-50K; the real number is 500K? On June 2 a car bomb in Islamabad, Pakistan kills six and wounds dozens near the Danish Embassy to 'get' Danish newspapers for reprinting the Muhammad carbombtoons. On June 3 the Prague Declaration is signed by C Euro leaders, former Soviet dissidents et al., calling on Europe to have "an honest and thorough debate on all the totalitarian crimes of the past century". On June 3 Barack Obama makes history by becoming the first African-Am. U.S. pres. delegate for a major political party, reaching the 2,118 delegates needed despite Hillary Clinton winning the 2008 South Dakota Dem. Primary by 55%-45% and not conceding until June 7, when she finally gives up trying to figure out how to strongarm him into a vice-pres. nomination and throws her support behind the Man, saying that electing him will achieve her goals of universal health care, a strong economy, and the end of the Iraq War, while calling her 18M primary twats, er, votes "18 million cracks in the glass ceiling" (I'd like to view that ceiling?); Obama also wins the 2008 Mont. Dem. Primary by 56%-41%; virtually all of Africa (not just his daddy's home country of Kenya) goes er, ape-shit with happiness at the big news?; before giving a speech in St. Paul, Minn. to celebrate his V, Obama exchanges a fist bump with wife Michelle, which Fox news anchor E.D. Hill calls a "terrorist fist jab", causing her show to be canned; meanwhile John McCain gives a speech in Kenner, La., claiming that he has stronger credentials to be an independent agent of change than Obama, and a Pew Research Center Poll indicates that only 49% of independents have a favorable impression of Obama now, vs. 62% in Feb.; Obama meets with Hillary on June 5 at the home of Calif. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and informs her that he's not going to ask her to be his running mate, and on June 6 she holds a meeting at her Whitehaven St. home in Washington, D.C. to plan her concession speech; about this time Barack Obama secretly informs Iran that he will be much easier to bargain with than Pres. Bush? On June 3-5 the 2008 U.N. Summit on World Hunger in Rome attended by 180 countries sees world leaders pledge to reduce trade barriers and boost agricultural productivity to fight soaring food prices, while vowing to cut world hunger in half by 2015; U.N. officials claims that $30B a year is needed to resolve the crisis; meanwhile the U.S. Congress sends a $290B farm bill to Pres. Bush for a 2nd time after fixing a printing error that left out delivery of U.S. food aid abroad. On June 4 a truck packed with rockets blows up in a Shiite area of Baghdad, Iraq, killing 18 and wounding 75. On June 5 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (1964-), mastermind of the 9/11 attacks tells the Pentagon's war crimes court that he wants to be put to death to become a martyr - and go to his glass ceiling and get his promised cracks? On June 5 the Turkish Constitutional (Supreme) Court votes 9-2 to declare a Feb. 9 law ending the 80-y.-o. ban on women wearing head scarves at univs. unconstitutional, pissing-off the party of new PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan - the glass ceiling party? On June 5 a top Turkish gen. admits that Iran has been carrying out coordinated strikes with his troops on Kurdish rebels in N Iraq, becoming the first admission of such cooperation. On June 6 the unemployment rate for May is announced as 5.5%, the biggest monthly rise since 1986 (49K jobs cut). On June 6 former Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz warns that Israel will attack Iran if it continues to develop nukes, calling it "unavoidable"; meanwhile Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan says that Iran has a "right to peaceful nuclear energy", and says that if the West and Israel don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons they should give theirs up first, while claiming to be against all nukes. On June 6 Glenview, Ill.-born Michael Thomas Gargiulo (1976-) is arrested in Santa Monica, Calif. after killing up to 10 women, incl. Ashton Kutcher's babe Ashley Ellerin on Feb. 21, 2001, becoming known as "the Hollywood Ripper" and "the Chiller Killer"; he is not convicted of murder until ? On June 7 new Russian pres. Dmitri Medvedev gives a speech in St. Petersburg accusing the U.S. of "economic egotism" that has fueled global troubles, while portraying Russia's growing economic might as a force for worldwide stabilization - I spell Arian with an i instead of a y? On June 8 a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan kills three British soldiers as U.S. First Lady Laura Bush makes a surprise visit to Afghanistan - if you get caught between the Moon and New York City, I know it's crazy, but it's true? On June 10 two bombs rock a train station in Beni Amrane, Algeria, killing 13. On June 10 heavy street fighting in Mogadishu, Somalia kills 20 and injures 80 after Somalian troops begin searching homes for weapons, causing insurgents to flood the streets. On June 10 a Sudanese Airbus (A310) veers off the runway in a thunderstorm in Khartoum, Sudan, killing 100 of 214. On June 10 after leaving Internet posts saying "I am hopeless... What I want to do: commit murder. My dream: to monopolize the tabloid TV shows", factory worker Tomohiro Kato (1963-) goes on a bloody rampage in Tokyo, slamming his rented truck into a crowd and then jumping out and stabbing them, killing three with his truck, four with his knife, and injuring 10; more knives are discovered in his apt. On June 10 protests over high fuel prices erupt in Asia, incl. truckers in Hong Kong and tire-burning demonstrators in India and Nepal; meanwhile a meater protest of 80K in Seoul, South Korea against pres. Lee Myung-bak is staged over his Apr. agreement with Pres. Bush to resume U.S. beef imports, which were banned in 2003 after a case of mad cow disease was discovered. On June 10 Barack Obama delivers a Speech on the Economy in St. Louis, Mo., with the soundbyte that the G.W. Bush admin. is "the most fiscally irresponsible administration in history", citing its record $413B deficit in 2004; too bad, after becoming pres., Obama's annual deficit is never lower than $650B for his entire admin.? On June 11 U.S.-led forces drops more than a dozen bombs in Pakistani tribal regions near the Afghan border, killing 11 Pakistani paramilitary troops. On June 12 a tornado hits a Boy Scout camp in Omaha, Neb., killing four teenage Scouts - be prepared? On June 12 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Boumediene v. Bush that Guantanamo Bay detainees can challenge their imprisonment in federal court, striking down the 2006 U.S. Miliary Commissions Act, an alternative review system set up by Congress that was drafted by John McCain, making him look dumb along with Pres. Bush, whose admin. is dealt a setback. On June 12 police find a 47-y.-o. woman in a filthy room in Naples, Italy, where she had been kept locked up for 17 years after having a son out of wedlock; her brother, sister, and 80-y.-o. mother are put under er, house arrest. On June 13 (Fri.) 30 Taliban militants stage a rocket attack on prison in Sarposa Prison in Kandahar, S Afghanistan, freeing 1.5K prisoners incl. 400 Taliban members. On June 13 a 7.2 earthquake strikes N Japan, killing six; thanks to predictive technology, residents of Honshu were given a 2-min. warning; a 6.7 earthquake hit E Japan on May 7. On June 13 the Big Iowa Flood of 2008 is their worst on record (until ?), supposedly of a magnitude that only happens once in 500 years; on June 17 the flood crest moves down the Mississippi River, while a levee breaks in Gulfport, Ill.; on June 28 another levee breaks in Winfield, Mo. On June 15 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai threatens to send troops into Pakistan if Taliban fighters there continue crossing his border. On June 16 Ariz. Repub. Sen. John McCain flops and calls for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling; meanwhile a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that almost 80% of Americans believe that high gasoline prices (now over the $4 a gal. mark) are causing them financial hardship. On June 16 Pres. Bush visits London, receiving pledges of new financial sanctions against Iran and a commitment for a car bomb's worth, er, 230 new British troops for Afghanistan; meanwhile Taliban fighters take over seven villages on the outskirts of Kandahar, causing residents to flee. On June 17 (Sun.) a car bomb in a busy commercial street in a Shiite area of Baghdad, Iraq kills 51 and wounds 35, becoming the worst blast in the city in over 3 mo.; the U.S. military accuses Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, saying he is trying to rekindle the Shiite-Sunni violence. On June 17 a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan kills 35. On June 18 hijab-wearing Muslim women Hebba Aref and Shimaa Abdelfadeel are refused seats directly behind Barack Obama in Detroit, Mich. by volunteers, pissing them off and causing them to go to the press; Obama spokesman Bill Burton later apologizes. On June 18 hundreds of Afghan and Canadian troops launch a major new offensive against the Taliban in S Afghanistan in Kandahar and other areas. On June 18 the EU passes new guidelines on ilegal immigrants, allowing them to be held in detention centers for up to 18 mo. before being expelled, while being provided with basic rights incl. free legal advice; 500K illegal immigrants pour into the EU every year; 24K N African immigrants were caught trying to sneak into Spain in 2006, and 10K in 2007, and 1K died at sea trying to reach it in 2007. On June 18 white Larry Sinclair holds a press conference, claiming he had a homosexual relationship with Obama in Chicago, and they both smoked crack cock, er, cocaine, and that Obama quit going to gay bars and bathhouses when he began running for the Senate in 2004; the PC press 69s the story. On June 21 the Philippine Ferry Princess of the Stars ferry capsizes from high seas in the wake of Typhoon Fengshen, killing 700+ of 740. On June 21 (Sat.) Pres. Bush gives a Sat. evening radio address, urging Congress to lift its ban on offshore oil-gas drilling, and accusing Dems. of blocking it. On June 23 the PC police blow the whistle again on Don Imus (1940-) after he asks what race oft-arrested Dallas cornerback Adam Bernard "Pacman" Jones (1983-) is, then adds "There you go - now we know"; after the whistle blows, he backtracks, saying "What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason." On June 23 the 2008 Pew Religious Landscape Survey finds that 92% of Americans believe in God, but 70% said that "many religions can lead to eternal life", and 68% said that "there's more than one true way to interpret the teachings of religion"; 55% believe in guardian angels, and 52% in prophetic dreams; only Jehovah's Witnesses (80%) and Mormons (57%) have majorities who believe their religion is the "one true faith leading to eternal life" (else why keep knocking on all them doors?); the percentage who think that many religions can lead to eternal salvation: Evangelical Protestants: 57%, Muslims: 56%, Hindus: 89%, Mainline Protestants 83%, Catholics: 79%, Jews: 82%; meanwhile on June 23 Colo. Springs, Colo. evangelical Focus on the Family leader James Dobson (1936-) accuses Barack Obama of distorting the Bible and trying to govern by the "lowest common denominator of morality", so he can kiss off most of the evangelical vote now. On June 23 John McCain proposes a $300M reward for anyone improving the electric car battery, and $5K tax credits for purchasers of zero-emission vehicles. On June 24 a bomb explodes inside the district council bldg. in Sadr City, Iraq, killing 10, incl. four Amricans; Iraqi officials call it an inside job and finger the Shiite guard force. On June 25 a freak dry lightning storm in N Calif. unleashes 8K lightning strikes and sets 800+ wildfires, threatening tourist mecca Big Sur by July 3. On June 25 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Kennedy v. La. that the 8th Amendment's Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause prohibits a death penalty in all cases except those involving murder or crimes against the state such as treason, and does not permit a state to execute child rapists; on Oct. 1 the court refuses to reconsider after it is informed that it overlooked a recent federal law authorizing capital punishment for members of the military. On June 26 Pres. Bush moves to drop North Korea from a list of countries sponsoring terrorism and lift some trade sanctions after it turned over a report with details of plutonium production, signalling the start of an "action for action" process to dismantle its nuke program - start here, my 24/7 modem? On June 27 after policeman Dick Heller challenges the District of Columbia's de facto handgun ban (a 1976 law requiring handguns to be registered, while never issuing any registrations) the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in District of Columbia v. Heller that Washington, D.C. may not ban personal gun ownership, and that there is an individual right to bear arms independent of militias for self-defense, throwing the zillions of state and local gun laws up for grabs, and giving anti-Second Amendment forces their Roe v. Wade later when Scalia suddenly dies; "Undoubtedly, some think that the Second Amendment is outmoded in a society where our standing army is the pride of the nation, where well-trained police forces provide personal security and where gun violence is a serious problem. That is perhaps debatable, but what is not debatable is that it is not the role of this court to pronounce the Second Amendment extinct" (Antonin Scalia); "Today's ruling recognizes that gun ownership, like the freedom of speech or the right to freely assemble, is a fundamental right" (U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard); "Like most rights, the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner and for whatever purpose" (Scalia); the ruling only applies to weapons "in common use" incl. handguns, and not to dangerous or unusual weapons; the ruling only applies to D.C. until "McDonald v. City of Chicago" (2010); on June 27 the NRA sues San Francisco, Calif. to overturn its ban on guns in public housing. On June 29 Secrets of a Restaurant Chef debuts on Food Network (until ?), starring Cazenovia, N.Y.-born chef Anne Burrell (1969-); on Jan. 3, 2010 Worst Cooks in America debuts on Food Network (until ?), hosted by Burrell; in 2012 she is outed by Ted Allen, and on Dec. 31 she announces her engagement to fellow chef Koren Grieveson. On June 29 Billy Graham and his son Franklin Graham meet with John McCain, after which Franklin issues a statement praising his "personal faith and moral clarity on important social issues facing America today", although neither endorse any candidate. On June 29 an exploding twa, er, female suicide bomber goes off before she can reach her destination, a Sunni council 60 mi. NE of Baghdad, Iraq, becoming the 20th-something female suicide attack this year (vs. 8 in 2007). On June 29 Pakistan's new govt. claims a V against Islamic warlords threatening to overrun Peshawar in the Khyber tribal area in NW Pakistan. On June 29 the Chinese govt. prevents human-rights lawyers invited to a dinner in Beijing hosted by two U.S. congressmen from attending, pissing-off the U.S. govt. On June 30 Pres. Bush signs a bill providing $162B for the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars; meanwhile the U.S. military absorbs $400M a mo. increase in fuel costs, and Iraq opens internat. bidding for eight huge oil and gas fields which they hope will double production by 2013 to 5M barrels. In June the U.S. death military toll in Afghanistan is 28, highest since they arrived in late 2001; meanwhile the Group of Eight foreign ministers meets in Japan to address the issue of opium in Aghanistan, which is financing the Taliban, and agree to create a coordinating body to oversee $4B in aid to the tribal areas to improve police and military training, and implement anti-drug trafficking programs on the Turkish model, which allows farmers to sell their opium to pharmaceutical companies to make legal medicines. In June the poor economy makes finding summer jobs in the U.S. piss-poor hard. In June the number of personal computers in use worldwide hits 1B (822M at the beginning of 2005). In June negotiations begin on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to establish internat. standards on intellectual property rights enforcement; in Oct. 2010 the Senate of Mexico votes unanimously to bow out of it. On July 1 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Denver, Colo. announces a $5.5M settlement in 18 cases of sexual abuse by three priests on young parishioners between 1954-8, incl. defrocked priest Harold Robert White (1933-2006), accused of 30 cases between 1960-81 as the church covered it up and shifted him from parish to parish - for fresh white meat? On July 1 three Iraqi Shiite officials claim that Lebanese Hezbollah instructors trained Shiite militiamen in camps in S Iraq until 3 mo. ago; on July 2 British PM Gordon Brown proposes making it a crime to join or support Hezbollah. On July 2 berserk Muslim worker Hussam Dwayat (b. 1978) (who had a Jewish girlfriend?) kills three and injures 20 in a bulldozer in Jerusalem before being killed by police, causing Israeli PM Ehud Olmert to call for reviving the practice of demolishing the homes of attackers' families (ended 2005), and others to call for rescinding benefits given to the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem; vice-PM Haim Ramon calls for cutting off the attacker's home village in E Jerusalem by rerouting the West Bank wall. On July 2 five people are killed in rioting in Ulan Bator, Mongolia after allegations of fraud in parliamentary elections by the ruling party (the former Commies who ran it as a Soviet satellite), causing pres. Nambaryn Enkhbayar to declare a 4-day state of emergency. On July 2 Barack Obama gives a Speech in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he raises eyebrows by calling for a civilian national security force, adding that "People of all ages, stations, and skills will be asked to serve", and that it "will be a central cause of my presidency"; he is only talking about AmeriCorps, and the right-wingers jumped the gun with baseless allegations?; let's say they are right; not sworn to uphold the Constitution, they could become a bunch of Nazi Brownshirts or Stormtroopers, and include non-citizens?; it's especially kinky since Colo. Springs is the headquarters of a number of mainly white Christian evangelical conservative organizations. On July 3 the New York Times reports that people-hating Leona Helmsley (1920-2007) left $5B-$8B for the care of the nation's (the world's?) dogs in her will. On July 5 the new Madame Tussaud Berlin Branch opens, and the 2nd customer, a 41-y.-o. man angrily rips off the head of the wax figure of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who is portrayed sitting at a desk in his Berlin bunker; it is replaced on Sept. 13. On July 6 Afghan officials claim that fighter aircraft battling militants accidentally kill 27 Afghan civilians walking to a wedding ceremony in E Afghanistan, which the U.S. military denies. On July 6 insurgent attacks in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq kill 16 and injure 15 one day after PM Nouri al-Maliki declares that terrorism has been defeated; meanwhile the UAE cancels $4B in debt owed by Iraq and restores full diplomatic relations. On July 6 after oil prices hit a record of almost $146 a barrel, OPEC chief Chakib Khelil (1939-) says that the high prices are due to a weak U.S. dollar caused by the U.S. decision to lower interests rates to bolster the economy. On July 7-9 the 34th G-8 Summit in Tokyo, Japan is attended by lame duck pres. George W. Bush, and focuses on global warming amid mucho protesters; on July 8 it agrees to a target of halving CO2 emissions by 2050, but sets no actual goals. On July 8 Bush admin. officials announce that they are negotiating with EU govts. to exchange fingerprint, DNA, and racial-ethnic origin data. On July 8 Congressional investigators announce that Medicare has paid up to $92M to phony medical suppliers using IDs of dead doctors. On July 9 the U.S. Congress passes a compromise surveillance bill that shields telecom communities from lawsuits for helping the govt. wiretap phone and computer lines after 9/11 without court permission. On July 9-10 Iran test-fires nine missiles, incl. one capable of hitting Israel to demonstrate to the U.S. not to mess with them. On July 9 Rev. Jesse Jackson apologizes for an off-camera remark about Barack Obama that he is talking down to blacks, and that he "wants to cut his nuts off". On July 9 al-Qaida-inspired gunmen storm the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, killing three police and three assailants. On July 9 200 gunmen in SUVs and on horseback attack internat. peacekeepers in Darfur, killing seven. On July 9 Boulder, Colo. DA Mary Lacy officially clears John and Patsy Ramsey in the 1996 murder of daughter JonBenet based on DNA evidence, and issues an official apology, even though Patsy has been dead for two years and their lives have been wrecked by the "umbrella of suspicion" for 12 years - Colo. authorities are never under an umbrella of suspicion? On July 13 the Battle of Wanat sees 100-150 Taliban guerrillas attack a coalition outpost in Dar-l-Pech district in the E Afghanistan Kunar Province, killing nine U.S. soldiers, most since June 2005, when 16 were killed. On July 13 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy launches the Union for the Mediterranean, consisting of 16 Euro nations plus 16 non-EU Mediterranean states, growing to 43 incl. 28 from the EU and 15 from the Mediterranean; too bad, it gets nowhere? On July 13 New Yorker mag. reveals the cover of its July 21, 2008 issue, portraying Barack Obama and his wife as Muslim terrorists burning a U.S. flag, pissing him off even though they claim it was meant to satirize the false image the right has been giving him; Obama responds that it insults Muslim Americans? - duh, like him? On July 14 the U.S. govt. decides to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac after IndyMac Bank in Calif. collapses. On July 16 a satire video of McCain and Obama by JibJab.com makes nat. news in the U.S. On July 16 Allen Andrade (1977-) beats transgender genetic male Angie Zapata (1988-2008) to death with a fire extinguisher in Greeley, Colo. after sleeping with him and getting a beejay, then finding out the little secret, telling police he "killed it", after which the gay-lesbian movement makes a cause celebre of Andrade for U.S. federal hate crimes legislation; on Apr. 22, 2009 he is found guilty of murder despite a "trans panic" defense, and given life plus 60 years as an habitual offender on May 8. On July 18 MIT-educated female neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui (1972-) allegedly attempts to murder U.S. citizens while being questioned at a police HQ in Afghanistan; after shouting down witnesses, she is ejected from her federal trial; on Sept. 23, 2010 despite a worldwide protest she is sentenced to 86 years by a federal judge in New York City. On July 20 Hurricane Dolly forms, killing 17 on July 21 in Guatemala, then hitting South Padre Island, Tex. on July 23 and doing $1.5B damage. On July 20 Colo. Spam King Eddie Davidson (b. 1973) walks away from a federal prison camp near Florence, Colo., and on July 24 shoots his wife and child and wounds a teenage girl before killing himself near his home in Bennett, Colo. On July 20 the Indian govt. survives a vote of confidence, clearing the way for a deal, with the U.S. giving India access to nuclear fuel and tech. On July 20 U.S. pres. Barack Obama shows everybody that he's not a girlie man by sinking a 3-pointer on the basketball court with troops in Kuwait. On July 24 Dem. pres. candidate Barack Obama gives his A World That Stands As One Speech in Berlin in the same location as JFK (June 26, 1963) ("Ich bin ein Berliner"), Reagan (June 12, 1987) ("Mr. Gorbchev, tear down this wall") and Clinton (July 12, 1994) ("Berlin ist frei") before thousands of adoring admirers; too bad, he acts as if he were already pres. On July 25 seven bombs kill two in Bangalore, India; on July 26 (eve.) 16 bombs go off in crowded neighborhoods in Ahmadabad, India, killing 45 and wounding 161; on July 27 an email from the Indian Mujahideen claims credit, with the soundbyte "Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!" On July 25 Cindy Anthony, maternal grandmother of 2-y.-o. Caylee Anthony (b. 2005) of Orlando, Fla. calls 911 to report her disappearance, and that the car of her mother Casey Marie Anthony (1986-) smells like a corpse, after which she is charged with first-degree murder in Oct. 2008 and pleads not guilty; on Dec. 11, 2008 Caylee's remains are found in a blanket in a trash bag in a wooded area near the home, with duct tape on her skull; in Casey's trial in May-July 2011 the defense claims that Caylee accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool on June 16, 2008 and that Cindy's husband George disposed of the body, and on July 5 the jury finds Casey not guilty of murder or manslaughter, but guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false info. to police, and she is released on July 17, 2011 outraging the public; on Jan. 25, 2013 the Fla. appeals court overturns two of the misdemeanor convictions. On July 27 the U.S. military admits that its soldiers killed three innocent civilians last mo. after opening fire on a car on the high security Baghdad airport road in Iraq. On July 28 unemployed truck driver Jim D. Adkisson (1950-) opens fire on the Tenn. Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tenn., known for liberal and pro-gay views, killing two; he is charged with 1st degree murder; a 4-page letter found in his SUV says he hates the liberal movement and gays. On July 28 suicide bombers, incl. at least three women hit Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad and Kurdish protesters in Kirkuk, Iraq, killing 57. On July 28 Pres. Bush approves the execution of U.S. Army pvt. Ronald Adrin Gray for four murders and eight rapes in Fayetteville, N.C. over 8 mos. in the late 1980s while stationed at Ft. Bragg, making him the 11th to be executed by pres. approval since the 1951 Universal Code of Military Justice was enacted; the last was Pvt. John Bennett in 1961. On July 29 the U.S. Congress issues a milestone apology for the wrongs committed against blacks in the past incl. slavery and Jim Crow segregation laws - only 232 years late? Oh yes, there might be one of them black guys in the er, White House soon? On July 29 U.S. govt. microbiologist Bruce Edward Ivins (b. 1946) commits suicide via Tylenol-codeine OD as the FBI closes in on him for the 2001 anthrax attacks; he is the wrong man? On July 30 Israeli PM (since 2006) Ehud Olmert, under pressure from corruption charges announces that he will not compete in his party's leadership primary in Sept. On July 31 Repub. Sens. Tom Coburn of Okla. and Jon Kyl of Ariz. send a letter to U.S. state secy. Condoleezza Rice asking her to stop funding Muslim Brotherhood entities incl. the Islamic Society of North Am. (ISNA) and the Assoc. of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS). In July the U.S. paratroopers of Chosen Company are attacked by the Taliban in E Afghanistan, losing nine after almost being overrun by 200 insurgents, later causing new loose-mouthed U.S. Afghanistan CIC (June 15, 2009 to June 23, 2010) Gen. Stanley Allen McChrystal (1954-) to change his strategy. In July a high-society man calling himself Clark Rockefeller kidnaps his 7-y.-o. daughter Reigh in Boston, Mass., causing a police manhunt; he is arrested on Aug. 3, and the search for his real identity begins. In July gay ex-con Bradley LaShawn Fowler (1969-) files a $70M lawsuit against Bible publishers Zondervan and Thomas Nelson, alleging that their versions refer to homosexuality as a sin and therefore injure him personally to the tune of you know how much by violating his constitutional rights and causing him emotional distress - as he sucks what and takes what up his what, then wipes his chin on what, but it's no sin, it's what the Founding Fathers died for? In late July the govt. of Zimbabwe cuts 10 zeroes from its currency, allowing a mere 20 dollar coins to buy a loaf of bread on the black market. On Aug. 1 there is a total solar eclipse, causing a double sunset over Zheng, China. On Aug. 2 a battle between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza kills nine. On Aug. 3 a stampede at a Hindu temple in Himachal Pradesh in N India triggered by rumors of a landslide kills 145 pilgrims, incl. 30 children. On Aug. 3 nine K-2 climbers are killed after an avalanche cuts their ropes. On Aug. 4 Barack Obama flip-flops, saying he would support tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to cut gasoline prices, then on Aug. 5 pledges energy independence from imported oil for the U.S. in 10 years. On Aug. 5 the U.S. Govt. Accountability Office reports that Iraq could have a $79B budget surplus this year. On Aug. 6 a coup in Nouakchott, Mauritania ousts pres. (since Mar. 2007) Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. On Aug. 7 U.S. district judge (since 1994) James Robertson (1938-) rules that Am. Indians are entitled to $455M for being cheated out of oil, gas, timber, gas, grazing, and other royalties by the U.S. Interior Dept. since 1887, only 1% of the $47B they had sued for; Blackfeet Indian Elouise Cobell filed the original lawsuit. On Aug. 8 former U.S. Sen. (D-N.C.) John Edwards finally admits having an affair in 2006 with filmmaker Rielle Hunter (1964-), but denies being the father of her baby Frances Quinn Hunter; he can kiss his vice-pres. hopes goodbye; after the dust settles, he finally admits to being the father on Jan. 20, 2010, and on Jan. 27, 2010 it is announced that he and his wife Elizabeth have legally separated. China says Hi, world, we're here, whatcha going to do about it? On Aug. 8, 2008 (8/8/8) at 8 p.m. (the number 8 being lucky to the Chinese) the XXIX (29th) Summer Olympic Games (slogan: "One World One Dream") open in Beijing, China after 400K Beijing residents are forcibly evicted from their homes (end Aug. 24); 11,028 athletes from 204 nations compete in 302 events in 28 sports in the new Feng Shui-approved Bird's Nest stadium and Water Cube swimming pavilion; the mascots are the Eight, er, Five Friendlies, representing China's four most popular animals (fish, panda, Tibetan antelope, swallow); the number 8 (ba) is lucky because it rhymes with fa (wealth); the number 4 (si) is unlucky since it means death in Chinese; the Chinese crowds like to yell "Jiayou!" (pr. jya-yo), meaning "add oil!", "lubricate!"; BMX (Bicycle Motocross) racing makes its debut; the U.S. wins 110 medals (36 golds), China 100 (51 golds), Russia 72 (23 golds), Britain 47 (19 golds); on Aug. 10 32-y.-o. Jason Edward Lezak (1975-) swims a record 46.06 sec. last leg of the 400m freestyle relay, running down French world record holder Alain Bernard (1983-) and breaking his world record of 47.50 by 1.5 sec. and giving the U.S. a gold with a final time of 3:08:24, shattering the world record of 3:12:23, and saving Michael Phelps' gold medal run, causing him to let out a loud victory yell which becomes the games' #1 soundbyte, being touted as the greatest relay of all time; meanwhile on Aug. 10 the Chinese basketball team led by Yao Ming loses by 101-70 to Team USA in the most watched basketball game in history, the crowd cheering wildly as he opens up the game with a 3-point shot; on Aug. 13 6'4" Jim, er, Michael Fred Phelps II (1985-), "the Baltimore Bullet" of the U.S. wins his 5th gold in swimming, giving him a record 11, followed by #6 on Aug. 15, #7 on Aug. 16, tying Mark Spitz's 1972 Munich record, and #8 on Aug. 17, setting the all-time Olympic record for most golds; on Aug. 16 Phelps defeats Am.-born swimmer Milorad Cavic (1984-) of Serbia by only 0.01 sec. in the final, giving Serbia its first Olympic swimming medal, with Cavic claiming he touched first but not with enough force to register; the Space Age Speedo LZR Racer (pr. like laser) swimsuit is used by 94% of the swimmers, bringing all their achievements, esp. Phelps' in question; on Aug. 15 Nastia Liukin (1989-) of the U.S. wins the all-round women's gold medal in gymnastics, with Shawn Johnson (1992-) of the U.S. winning the silver medal; on Aug. 17 Natalie Anne Coughlin (1982-) becomes the first U.S. female athlete to win six medals in one Olympics, and the first to win gold in 100m backstroke in two consecutive Olympics; 41-y.-o. Dara Grace Torres (1967-) becomes the first U.S swimmer to compete in five Olympics (1984-2008), and wins three silver medals; on Aug. 19 flyweight Henry Cejudo (1978-) of the U.S. (son of pesky fly-like illegal immigrants from Mexico) becomes the youngest Olympic freestyle gold winner; on Aug. 16 6'5" Usain "Lightning" Bolt (1986-) of Jamaica wins the 100M with a world record time of 9.69 sec., then on Aug. 20 wins the 200M with a world record time of 19.30 sec., shattering the supposedly unbreakable 19.32 sec. 1996 record of Michael Johnson, and becoming the first man to win both races since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first to set world records in both in the same Olympics; on Aug. 24 (Sun.) the U.S. men's volleyball team wins gold after defeating defending champion Brazil, ending the Olympics on an upbeat, since the father-in-law of Kiwi-born coach Hugh McCutcheon (1969-) was fatally stabbed the day before competition started, and his mother injured, causing him to miss the team's first three games; the U.S. men's basketball Redeem Team (a play on the 1992 Dream Team) features Kobe Bryant, Carmelo Anthony, and LeBron James, plus coach Mike Krzyzewski, and wins gold after defeating Spain 118-109. Russia sees its chance and begins a push to reabsorb its former satellites, starting with Oily Juicy Jawjaw? On Aug. 9 as the Chinese Olympics begin, the tiny country of Georgia (known for its long-past glory with Queen Tamara, and cultural connections with Muslim Persia) declares war on Russia over the breakway nation of South Ossetia; on Sept. 15 after Russia steps up attacks, U.S. Pres. Bush accuses them of being "21st century barbarians", while U.S.-Russian relations slide back in the direction of Cold War days; on Aug. 26 Russia recognizes the breakaway repubs. of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, pissing-off the U.S. more in a strange reversal of rhetoric, since the U.S. has always been on the side of self-determination of peoples until now?; meanwhile virtually all of the 14K ethnic Georgians flee South Ossetia; on Sept. 2 Russian pres. Putin says that Russia will respond to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea, and says he doesn't fear expulsion from the G-8 - did anybody mention Domino Theory again? On Aug. 9 China is rocked by an Olympic murder as a knife-wielding Chinese man attacks two relatives of a coach for the U.S. men's vollyeball team in Beijing, killing one injuring the other, then throwing himself from the 2nd story of the 13th cent. Drum Tower and committing suicide. On Aug. 10 a mudslide in Boussoukoula in Burkina Faso kills 31 at an illegal gold mine, ordered closed by the govt. from June to Sept. 30. On Aug. 13 U.S. atty.-gen. Michael Mukasey announces that he is releasing new rules to turn the FBI into a nat. security agency with streamlined investigative guidelines to protect Barack, er, the new U.S. pres., who will be the first new one since 9/11. On Aug. 14 Poland announces a deal to base U.S. missiles on its territories, causing a Russian gen. to threaten nuclear retaliation, sending shudders through all the former Soviet satellites, esp. Ukraine. On Aug. 14 a UFH20 happens, and is later covered by Farmer's Insurance :) On Aug. 14-16 suicide bombers in Iraq strike Shiite pilgrims headed for Karbala for three days in a row. On Aug. 15 mascot Sir Nils Olav (named after Norwegian Lt. Nils Egelien and Olav V of Norway), a king penguin living in Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland is visited by the Norwegian King's Guard and awarded a knighthood from Harald V; he started out way back in 1972 as a lance corporal and was promoted each time the guard returned to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. On Aug. 16 Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi of the Pakistan People's Party gives pres. Pervez Musharraf two days to quit or face impeachment; meanwhile protesters in Multan carry signs reading "Shame on Bush and Mush", and demand the release of Aafia Siddiqui, accused of attempted murder of U.S. agents in Afghanistan; on Aug 18 hours before the proceedings are slated to begin he resigns, and Sindhi Muhammad Mian Soomro (1950-) becomes acting pres. (until Sept. 9). On Aug. 16 27-y.-o. Ghazala Khamis (1981-) gives birth to septuplets (four boys, three girls) in Cairo, Egypt using fertility drugs. On Aug. 17 Ellen DeGeneres officially marries her 4-year live-in Australian lover Portia de Rossi (1973-) (Nelle Porter in "Ally McBeal") in their Beverly Hills home - what did they have to eat? On Aug. 17 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin promises to begin puttin', er, withdrawing troops from Georgia, but is wishy-washy about specifics; on Aug. 19 NATO says there will be "no business as usual" until it withdraws troops immediately, causing Russia on Aug. 20 to threaten to withdraw from NATO, proving it was all about reconstructing the Soviet Union? On Aug. 19 after six suicide bombing attacks against military and police targets since Jan., an al-Qaida AQIM suicide bomber drives his car into a line of applicants at a police academy in Less Issers, Algiera, killing 48 and injuring 45, becoming the deadliest attack in Algeria since the 1990s. On Aug. 20 (12:20 GMT) Spanair Flight JK 5022 (MD-82) crashes during takeoff in Madrid en route to Las Palmas, Canary Islands after one of the two engines catches fire, killing 153 of 172; why couldn't the pilot survive on one engine? On Aug. 21 twin suicide bombings at the gates of a military ordnance factory in Wah, Pakistan (in Punjab N of Islamabad) kill 70+ and wound 100+, becoming the deadliest terrorist attack on a Pakistani military site (until ?); the site is a nuclear warhead assembly plant? On Aug. 22 coalition forces turn into baby killers when they kill 76 civilians, incl. 50 women and 19 children in a military operation in the Shindand district of Herat Province in W Afghanistan, stinking themselves up. It's like black face in reverse? On Aug. 22 Marc Harold Ramsey (1969-), an Arapahoe County Jail inmate in Colo. is charged in federal court with trumped-up charges of mailing a threatening letter from jail to Sen. John McCain's Denver campaign office with the legend "If you are reading this then you are alread dead! Unless of course you can't or don't breathe"; it contained a harmless white powder, which freaked out the workers, who called in the law, who stunk themselves up by over-reacting, and now must cover up their police action by charging the letter writer with something and put him on trial for exercising his rights to freedom of speech instead of themselves for abuse of power when they know it was an impotent hoax, with the prize five years in a federal priz and a $250K fine so they can go on to great careers and their convicted victim will be prohibited from even voting; if it was a deadly powder, they should arrest the jail officials too for letting it through?; why doesn't everybody clone that letter, dash some talc on it and send it to some politician to choke the stinking system?; duh, on Oct. 29 smart-dumb True American Hero Marc M. Keyser (1942-) of Fresno, Calif. is arrested for sending 120+ envelopes containing a packet of sugar labelled "Anthrax Sample" to test if this is still the Land of the Free or the Home of the Craven, claiming he's doing it as a publicity stunt for a his new novel - just like karioke only a little different? On Aug. 23 (2:45 a.m. EDT) the selection of middle-of-the-road liberal Dem. Del. Sen. (since 1973) (Roman Catholic) Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden Jr. (1942-) (sponsor of the Violence Against Women Act, as a slap, er, sop to disgruntled Hillary supporters) is confirmed via text message, and after it leaks to the press Barack Obama's campaign Web site officially confirms it later in the day, followed by an official announcement, with Obama calling Biden a "friend of the underdog", pissing-off Hillary Clinton supporters, 30% of whom say they won't vote for him; too bad, the idea of him closing the glass ceiling on her for a white man is a giant blunder, especially as he needs every vote she can bring him to have a chance of winning, and just as bad, the sight of Obama and Biden standing side-by-side makes people wonder who's more qualified for pres., the one with peach fuzz on his half-black cheeks or the wise experienced white veteran, playing into the hands of John McCain? On Aug. 25 Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic And Internat. Studies in Washington, D.C. issues a report claiming that "the U.S. is now losing the war against the Taliban", and calling for the U.S. to treat Pakistani territory as a combat zone; meanwhile the U.S. military death toll in Afghanistan this year is 101. On Aug. 25-28 (Mon.-Fri.) after the Dem. Party pulls off a con game in certifying Obama's constitutional eligibility, the 2008 Dem. Nat. Convention in Denver, Colo. is kicked off with the first-ever interfaith prayer meeting on Aug. 24, which scarf-wearing Canadian-born Muslim convert (pres. of the Islamic Society of North Am. since 2006) Ingrid Mattson (1963-) is invited to, pissing many off; meanwhile the pitiful few protesters are outnumbered by the police; on Aug. 26 after United Farm Workers (UFW) leader Dolores Huerta (1930-) places her name into nomination, Hillary Clinton gives a speech, starting out with "I am... a proud supporter of Barack Obama. My friends, it is time to take back the country we love"; too bad, her endorsement of Obama comes off lame and forced, as the obvious fact that he slammed the glass ceiling in her face in order to pick a white man to back him up hurts and it shows; is it to her advantage that Obama lose the election, allowing McCain a chance to stink the country up for four years in order to set her up for the White House?; too bad, if McCain were smart he'd pick Condoleezza Rice as his running mate, to trump the Dems. and win the election by a landslide, since he's got more experience than Biden, and Rice has more experience than Obama, and is 100% not 50% black, and is a woman to boot, giving Hillary supporters someone to vote for, and since McCain is an old fart Rice would have a realistic chance of being pres.?; on Aug. 25 police arrest 106 protesters, a record for the convention; it is later revealed that some of them were undercover Denver cops; on Aug. 27 Barack Obama becomes the 3rd Dem. nominee to give an outdoor acceptance speech (JFK in 1960, FDR in 1936), addressing 75K in Denver's Mile-Hi Invesco Field (home of the Denver Broncos) on a dazzling hi-tech stage complete with fake Greek columns as if he's a god, with a TV audience of 40M+, filled with the same old walk-on-water platitudes he's been giving all along, strung end-to-end, with few if any specifics other than the empty "change" message repeated ad infinitum, mixed with soundbytes about blacks (him) finally cracking through the barrier, incl. "America, we cannot turn back", and "This moment, this election, is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive"; his big celeb backer Oprah Winfrey (1954-) later calls it one of the greatest speeches ever given, saying "Just seeing him on stage, I cried my eyelashes off"; too bad, the thud with which he slammed the glass ceiling on Hillary backfires, causing him to get no convention bounce. On Aug. 25-Sept. 2 Hurricane Gustav starts 260 mi. SE of Port-au-Prince (1958-), Haiti and reaches Category 3 before hitting the U.S. near Cocodrie, La. on Sept. 1 as a Category 2, dropping to Category 1 within 4 hours, and missing New Orleans, which had been evacuated by orders of mayor Ray Nagin, who called it "the mother of all storms", and later changes that to mother-in-law, causing the Repub. Nat. Convention to be delayed one day. Ms. Smith Goes to Washington, or the new White Wonder Woman? Sure winner Obama blunders by sacrificing his queen, and never-give-up McCain responds with a lightning check, causing a key rook to change to his color and threatening checkmate in 60 days? On Aug. 29 (his 72nd birthday) after allegedly dropping his #1 choice Condoleezza Rice begins of rumors that she's a lesbian, John McCain zoom-zoom wastes no time and selects conservative white Alaska gov. (since 2006) (80% approval rating), mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (1996-2002), runnerup in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest, and straight-arrow Pentecostal Christian did-I-say-white-white-white hockey mom Sarah Louise Heath Palin (1964-) (favorite phrase "You betcha"), known as Sarah Barack, er, Barracuda in high school, where she was the star point guard, leading her team to a state basketball championship in 1982 on a fractured ankle (a real-life Maggie O'Connell in Northern Exposure?) as his running mate, becoming the first female Repub. vice-pres. candidate; although she is no Condoleezza Rice, her mediocre experience cancels out Obama's, while McCain's vast experience cancels out Biden's, so call it a push on that issue, while giving Hillary, er, women their big chance to vote one of their own into the er, White House, if that's important to them, duh, despite her conservative stand on abortion and gun ownership (does a frustrated woman voter care whether the mallet that broke through the glass ceiling was red or blue?); too bad, she anonymously quotes right-wing anti-Semitic journalist Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969) in her acceptance speech "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity", bringing out the PC police; college student David Kernell (1988-) hacks her Yahoo email account, and is tried in Tenn. in 2010, facing up to 50 years in federal prison; meanwhile on Sept. 1 the press jumps on Palin for having a Down's syndrome baby in Apr. then going right back to work, and another story that Palin's 17-y.-o. daughter Bristol is 5 mo. pregnant, but Palin fires back that she is not going to abort the baby and will marry the 18-y.-o. daddy Levi Johnston, gaining praise from the pro-lifers and words from Laura Bush, who accuses the press of being sexist and not holding male candidates to the same standard, while even Obama says that the subject should be off limits since his white mommy was 18 when she had him, which doesn't stop the press from harping on it for days; wasting no time, Tina Fey impersonates her viciously on the season debut of SNL, esp. her statement that "I can see Russia from my house", while Darrell Hammond (1955-) impersonates McCain (highest rating since the 9/11 attacks); meanwhile Hollywood actor Matt Damon rips her, saying "I need to know if she thinks dinosaurs were here four thousand years ago... because she's going to have the nuclear code"; Obama is unique in that it's hard to find anything to satirize in his mannerisms?; meanwhile on Sept. 16 the Alaska atty.-gen. announces that state employees are refusing to obey subpoenas in her ethics inquiry - Obama can have the blacks, they're only 13%, I'll take the women, they're 51%, and even if he gets all of the blacks, if I get only 50% of the white men plus 65% of the white women I'm in da White House, stick a feather in that hat and call it macaroni? In Aug. a breach in a dam in Nepal causes the Kosi River in India to overflow, flooding hundreds of villages in Bihar, displacing 2M and becoming the worst flooding in 50 years. In Aug. Mexicans begin returning from the U.S. to Mexico in record numbers after they fail to find work; illegal immigration has dropped 11% since last Aug., indicating that 1.3M have returned to their home countries. On Sept. 1 the U.S. formally returns control of formerly nasty Anbar Province in Iraq to the Iraq govt. On Sept. 1 Allied troops kill three Afghan children and wound seven more in a mistaken artillery strike, then kill two more children and their father in a second incident near Kabul, piling up the wrongs, incl. 60 children plus 30 more killed on Aug. 22 in W Afghanistan; meanwhile Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai openly calls for the U.S. to stop bombing and exercise more caution when operating in civilian areas. On Sept. 1 Japanese PM (since Sept. 2007) Yasuo Fukuda abruptly resigns after a year-long struggle with a deadlocked parliament. On Sept. 1 Palinstan, er, Pakistan opens an investigation into the killings of five women who defied all-male Prophet Muhammad and tried to choose their own husbands, causing them to be shot, thrown into a ditch and buried alive by their own relatives in what the Muslims call honor killings - another Allah akbar, right? On Sept. 1 category 4 Hurricane Ike is sighted W of the Cape Verde Islands, and on Sept. 8 it hits Haiti and Cuba hard, killing 114, then proceeds towards the Gulf of Mexico, hitting Tex. on Sept. 13-14 after 1M are told to flee or face "certain death", killing 28 before heading NE, causing $27B in damage (#3 costliest U.S. hurricane in history). On Sept. 1 Benjamin Todd Jealous (1973-) (white father, black mother) succeeds Bruce S. Gordon as pres. #17 of the NAACP (until ?), becoming the youngest ever. On Sept. 1-4 the 2008 Repub. Nat. Convention in Minneapolis, Minn. is the latest held so far (until ?), and the first one to take place entirely in Sept.; George W. Bush does an LBJ and stays away (first time in 40 years, since LBJ); on Sept. 2 Pres. Bush (remote), Fred Thompson, and (surprise!) former Dem. vice-pres. candidate Joe Lieberman address the convention, taking Obama on and building McCain and Palin up, with Bush saying "If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain's resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry left never will", Thompson calling Obama the "most, liberal, most inexperienced" candidate ever, and Lieberman saying that "country matters more than party", and that "The Washington bureaucrats and power brokers can't build a pen strong enough to hold these two mavericks" (Lucas McCain the Rifleman and Paladin, Have Gun Will Travel?), drawing applause by contrasting Obama's record to Dem. pres. Clinton, "who stood up to some of those same Democratic interest groups, worked with Republicans and got some important things done like welfare reform, free trade agreements, and a balanced budget"; on Sept. 3 Sarah Palin addresses the convention, dressed in a smart pleated skirt with high heels to outdo Hillary and Michelle Obama's pant suits, her eyeglasses projecting the brain babe look, with big smiling beauty queen looks underneath, going on to win over the audience bigtime, making points for her small town roots by comparing herself with Truman, uttering the soundbyte: "I'm not going to Washington to seek their (the media's) good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country", winning them over with a quick joke about the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom (the lipstick), then immediately becoming the Repub. lipsticked pit bull, going after Obama with several great soundbytes, incl. "Don't forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform, not even in the state senate", "Victory in Iraq is finally in sight. He wants to forfeit", "Al-Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America. He's worried that someone won't read them their rights", "Government is too big. He wants to grow it", after which McCain makes a surprise appearance, rhetorically asking the cheering crowd if he picked the right running mate while Heart's 1977 hit Barracuda rocks the convention, after which it is revealed that her TV audience was almost as big or bigger than Obama's, while a big convention bounce brings the McCain-Palin ticket from 8 points behind to a dead heat, incl. a 12-point lead among white women; too bad, the media begins digging up dirt on her, incl. how she got state trooper Mike Wooten fired after he divorced her sister and got in a bitter custody battle, and how she actively sought money from Washington and supported the Bridge to Nowhere (Gravina Island Bridge) before she found out that the state would also have to pay a share, then kept the $223M in federal money after the earmark designation was removed; they also have a field day when the Repub. campaign staff buys her a $150K designer wardrobe; if the dirt doesn't end up sticking, the McCain-Palin ticket is on track for a landslide V, with the Obama-Biden ticket lucky to win their own home states?; meanwhile, is Obama all show, posing as a Messiah but needing a boat to cross water like everybody else?; is he like a chocolate bunny, hollow inside?; in days he went from a probable winner to a sure loser, starting with his er, inexperienced decision to alienate the giant never-lost Clinton vote machine in order to run with a white man who gets him no votes and would be better left in the Senate to help him pass legislation later; is it too late for Obama to switch in Hillary as his running mate to give him a chance, and is he smart enough to try, after all, it's politics not chess, and you can take moves back if you are er, man enough to take the flack?; or is he so confident of winning that he will turn Hillary and her supporters to his side despite the temptation, because he knows that women, unlike men, are known to split ranks, stay tuned?; on Sept. 4 John McCain gives his 49-min. acceptance speech, telling his killer war hero personal story (even the part about cracking and being made to mouth anti-American Commie slogans, although this was after refusing early release because of family connections), repeatedly saying "I'm going to fight for you", adding "Let there be no doubt, my friends, we're going to win this election", and rising to a crescendo at the end, uttering the soundbyte "Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. We're Americans, and we never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history, we make history". On Sept. 3 Hurricane Hannah hits Haiti, killing 61, after which it ends up moving up the U.S. east coast as a tropical storm. On Sept. 3 Kurt Sutter's crime drama series Sons of Anarchy debuts on FX Network for 92 episodes (until Dec. 9, 2014), about the outlaw SAMCRO (Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original) motorcycle club operating in Charming, Calif., starring Steve McQueen-lookalike Charles Matthew "Charlie" Hunnam (1980-) as Jackson "Jax Teller, who begins questioning the club as it fights the rival Mayans of Oakland, Calif. On Sept. 4 U.S. SSgt. Kennith Mayne (b. 1979) of Arvada, Colo. is killed outside Baghdad, Iraq in his Humvee by a roadside bomb two hours after talking to his mother on the phone. On Sept. 4 Pakistan condemns the U.S. for a military raid into its South Waziristan tribal area earlier in the week that killed 15 civilians; the area has been wild and untamable since Alexander the Great - and now they give a shit? On Sept. 4 (night) a U.S. Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin heli crashes off Oahu, Hawaii while conducting search and rescue drills, killing four crew members. On Sept. 6 YACB (yet another car bomb) explodes in I Reek in the NW city of Tal Afar, Iraq, killing six and wounding 50. On Sept. 6 thousands of pissed-off Armenians protest the first-ever visit of a Turkish leader to Armenia, pres. Abdullah Gul, who watches the World Cup qualifying match beside Armenian pres. Serge Sarkisian; Turkey wins 2-0. On Sept. 7 the Bush admin. announces the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Takover, causing Moody economist Mark Zandi to predict that 30-year mortgage rates will dip to 5.5%, although the slumping housing market may or may not get stabilized by the multi-billion-dollar taxpayer bailout. On Sept. 7 (Sun.) Alan Ball's drama series True Blood debuts on HBO for 80 episodes (until Aug. 24, 2014), based on "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" novel series by Charlaine Harris, starring Kiwi actress Anna Hele Paquin (1982-) as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress in Bon Temps, La. who has to deal with vampires, and falls in love with vampire Bill Compton, played by Stephen Moyer (Stephen John Emery) (1969-); after she comes out as bi on Apr. 1, 2010, they wed on Aug. 21, 2010; "It hurts so good." On Sept. 8 (Mon.) Fringe debuts on Fox Network for 100 episodes (until Jan. 18, 2013), about an FBI Fringe Div. team in Boston, Mass. that uses fringe science to investigate a parallel universe incl. a 48-state U.S., starring Anna Torv (1978-) as agent Olivia Dunham, Joshua Carter Jackson (1978-) as consultant Peter Bishop, John Noble (1948-) as mad scientist Walter Bishop, and Lance Reddick (1969-) as agent in charge Phillip Broyles; Mark Thomas Valley (1964-) plays Olivia's secret lover John Scott, whose death causes her to join the div.; they marry for real in Dec. 2008, then separate in early 2010. On Sept. 9 billionaire (one of Pakistan's five richest men, worth $1.8B) Asif Ali Zardari (1955-), widower of Benazir Bhutto becomes pres. #11 of Pakistan (until ?). On Sept. 9 Bolivia expels U.S. envoy Patrick Duddy, followed on Sept. 10 by Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez, who withdraws his ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera (1956-) from Washington, D.C., saying he'll only be sent back "when there's a new government" in the U.S. On Sept. 10-13 the First World Knowledge Dialogue Symposium is held in Crans Montana, Switzerland, led by Dame Julia Higgins (1942-) (pres. of the British Assoc. for the Advancement of Science in 2003-4) to explore uniting the natural and human sciences; of course, they don't make any progress; "The World has problems, and Universities have Faculties". On Sept. 11 the Center for Empowered Learning and Living (CELL) opens in Denver, Colo. as the first museum specifically devoted to the subject of terrorism. On Sept. 12 (Fri.) Metrolink Train 111, driven by gay cell phone-texting engineer Robert Sanchez (b. 1962) runs a red light and doesn't hit the brakes, colliding head-on with another train, killing 25; his last text message was sent 22 sec. before the crash. On Sept. 13 gunmen abduct and kill four employees of an Iraqi TV station in Mosul, Iraq as they film a program about Ramadan. Just when McCain has a sure forced checkmate, his own bumbling king gets exposed for his years of bad moves, throwing the game back in Obama's favor without even having to make a move of his own? On Sept. 14 after months of the fit hitting the shan, and failing to find a buyer, Wall Street broker Lehman Brothers (founded 1850) declares plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and a govt.-brokered $50B takeover of Merrill Lynch, CEO John Alexander Thain (1955-) by the Bank of Am., CEO Kenneth D. "Ken" Lewis (1947-) is also revealed, bringing the brokerage failures to three since the credit crisis began 14 mo. ago, with only Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley remaining; Lewis only went through with it after U.S. treasury secy. Hank Paulson threatened to fire him along with the entire BOA board; news that Am. Internat. Group Inc. (AIG), the world's largest insurance co. needs a $40B restructuring (increased to $150B by Nov. 10) to avoid bankruptcy shakes the U.S. up more, causing the Dow Jones to drop 504.48 points on Sept. 15, AKA Black Monday, the worst day on Wall Street in seven years; on Sept. 15 there is a coordinated withdrawal of $550B from U.S. banks; meanwhile John McCain makes fatal error #1 by repeatedly uttering the dumbass-on-my-forehead statement "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" (which cinches Obama's coming V?), and Wonderless Woman Sarah Palin praises the govt. for not bailing out any more investment (as opposed to commercial and savings) banks, while claiming that her ticket is going to reform them in speeches in Colo., with the soundbyte "We're going to reform the way Wall Street does business and stop the golden parachutes for CEOs who betray the public trust", while McCain tells the press that he doesn't want taxpayers to be "on the hook for AIG"; too bad, on Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. EST news leaks that the federal govt. is going to bail out AIG with an $85B loan (80% share), causing maverick, er, Bush yes-man McCain to flip-flop and state "I didn't want to do that... But there are literally millions of people whose retirement, whose investment, whose insurance were at risk here. They were going to have their lives destroyed because of the greed and excess and corruption"; too bad, the news doesn't stop the Dow from plummeting 449.36 points on Sept. 17 (after recovering by 141.51 points on Sept. 16), until Euro and Asian countries on Sept. 18 announce that they're pumping in $180B to stabilize the world markets, causing the Dow to rebound by 410.03 points; but that still isn't enough to prevent the U.S. economy from continuing into a tailspin, causing Ben Bernanke to tell Congressional leaders on Sept. 18 that the country is days (hours?) away from collapse, with panic withdrawals from U.S. banks and money market accounts totaling $5.5T unless they take emergency action to create a superagency to buy all of the risky mortgages that are at the root of the problem, even though it will cost the taxpayers $700B, and the money goes to the investors not the homeowners; is it because the big investment houses are owned by ahem, Jews that a power play is being tried to get in the wallets of taxpayers, causing all the main candidates to fall in line, when the theory of free enterprise says let them fail, then let new investment houses rise? - it's all really a cover story to pay for the Iraq War while patsy Bushy Baby is still in office, stiffing his successor with the tax collection headaches, then backfiring as the U.S. elects a socialist who sees his chance? On Sept. 14 protesters in La Paz, Bolivia set fire to the town hall and blockade highways to protest gasoline and food shortages; meanwhile 30 are killed in Pando Province, where pres. Evo Morales declared martial law against separatists on Sept. 12. On Sept. 14 three roadside bombs in Jalawla, Iraq (60 mi. N of Baghdad) kill five in an Iraqi police convoy. On Sept. 15 the British govt. announces that Prince William plans to become a search-and-rescue pilot in the RAF. On Sept. 15 Pres. Bush places Bolivia on its counter-narcotics blacklist. On Sept. 16 Los Angeles, Calif.-born Columbia U.-educated Roman Catholic Maryknoll priest Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann (1933-2017) of Nicaragua (former foreign minister of Daniel Ortega, who went on a 2-mo. hunger strike in 1985 to protest U.S. military intervention via the Contras, then took the U.S. to the World Court, which ruled in 1986 that it violated internat. law and must pay reparations) becomes pres. of the U.N. Gen. Assembly (until Sept. 2009), going on to back Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket and Sudanese pres. Omar al Bashir, and accuse Israel of apartheid against the Palestinians. On Sept. 17 al-Qaida militants disguised as policemen denotate two car bombs outside the U.S. embassy in Sana'a, Yemen, killing 16, incl. six Yemeni police, six attackers, and four bystanders. On Sept. 17 Chinese authorities announce that 22 of 109 Chinese dairy firms failed an inspection, with kidney-damaging melamine found in their baby formulas (to make the protein content in watered-down milk seem higher so they can charge more), causing 53K to get sick, 80% of them 2-y.-o. or younger; the contaminant is even found in their tasty White Rabbit milk candy, eaten by adults; they obviously covered it up until the Olympics were over, and now the fit has hit the shan that the Commie country is full of baby killers for Capitalist profits? On Sept. 18 a U.S. Chinook CH-47 heli accident in S Iraq kills seven GIs. On Sept. 18 a rally by mainly Jewish groups is held to protest Iranian pres. Mahmoud Imadinnajacket; too bad, an invitation to Sarah Palin is cancelled, although another one to Hillary Clinton is confirmed, causing a controversy. On Sept. 19 11 Euro and eight Egyptian tourists are kidnapped in Gilf al-Kebir, Egypt, 500 mi. SW of Cairo. On Sept. 20 a suicide bomber at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan kills 53 and wounds 250+. On Sept. 21 high-flying investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs become regular banks. On Sept. 23 redwood treespassing treesitters Billy Stoetzer and Nadia "Cedar" Berg finally come down after 11 mo. in 300-ft. 1.5K-y.-o. Spooner in Nanning Creek in Humboldt County, N Calif. after the new owners Humboldt Redwood Co. agree to spare the trees, ending their 20-year fight with mean Pacific Lumber Co. On Sept. 23 the U.N. Gen. Assembly convenes, giving several world leaders, incl. Brazilian pres. Luis Inacio Lula da Silva a platform to slam the Bush admin. and Wall Street for threatening the global economy with their shenanigans; Bush counters with the lame soundbyte "We've promoted stability in the markets by preventing the disorderly failure of major companies", to which British minister Mark Malloch Brown responds "What you are seeing here is the letting off of some political steam. They are all remembering the very hard, unforgiving advice that they got from American financial institutions to deflate your economy, let your banks go to the wall." On Sept. 23 the U.S. Senate by 93-2 passes a $100B package saving 20M U.S. taxpayers from the alternative minimum tax; it also funds alternative energy incentives, gives tax breaks to businesses and individuals, and gives the same level of insurance benefits to mental health treatments as other medical treatments. On Sept. 23 the police procedural series The Mentalist debuts on CBS for 151 episodes (until Feb. 18, 2015), starring Tasmania-born Simon Baker (1969-) as fake psychic Patrick Jane, who is an adept magician, and becomes a consultant to the Calif. Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to help them track down Red John, the killer of his wife and daughter. On Sept. 24 a new poll indicates that Obama has passed McCain up bigtime because of the economic crisis, leading by 52%-43%. On Sept. 25 John McCain announces that he is suspending his campaign to return to Washington, D.C. and work to pass the economic bailout package; he also bugs out of a scheduled debate with Obama on Sept. 26 (Fri.), and invites Obama to join him in Washington, D.C., then changes his mind after a White House meeting with bipartisan congressmen ends up in failure, with House Repubs. saying they are philosophically opposed to bailing out Wall Street even after Bush folds on limiting exec pay; meanwhile on Sept. 24 the U.S. Senate okays a $630B package to finance the federal govt. for 6 mo., lifting their 25-y.-o. ban on offshore drilling, and Iraqi lawmakers pass a law setting provincial elections by early next year. On Sept. 25 after Thabo Mbeki is ousted over the weekend, Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (1949-) is sworn-in as pres. of South Africa (until May 9, 2009) after being elected by a secret parliamentary ballot, being expected to hold the position for ANC leader Jacob Zuma when a new parliament is elected next year. On Sept. 25 an interview of Sarah Palin by noticeably shorter NBC journalist Katie Couric is aired, in which Sarah exposes her basic ignorance of issues and stinks herself up when she can't name a single newspaper or mag. that she reads, causing many to finally see that she's no Jack Kennedy (as if it matters, since she's only running for vice-pres., but actually does this time, because McCain would be the oldest U.S. pres. in history?). On Sept. 25 50 Somalian pirates seize Ukrainian-operated ship Faina (21 crew) off the Somalian coast en route to Mombasa, Kenya carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and ammo, and demand a $20M ransom; on Sept. 28 first mate Viktor Nikolsky dies from a stroke; on Sept. 30 three pirates are killed in a gunfight with rival pirates. On Sept. 25 the Chinese Shenzhou 7 spacecraft blasts off on a Long March 2F rocket from Jiuquan Launch Center, carrying Zhi Zhigang (1966-), Liu Boming (1966-), and Jing Haipeng (1966), returning on Sept. 28. On Sept. 26 119-y.-o. Washington Mutual (WaMu) ($300B assets) files for bankruptcy after losing $19B on bad mortgages, becoming the largest banking failure in U.S. history, soon being auctioned by the FDIC for $1.9B to JP Morgan. On Sept. 26 the First McCain-Obama Debate, focusing on nat. security sees both bring their A-game, with Obama trying to pin Bush's legacy on McCain, who counters by claiming he's a maverick who took Bush on, recounting numerous insider anecdotes parading his decades of great experience while Obama was doing school homework, and ending by seemingly showing open contempt for the punk, calling an Obama presidency dangerous; Obama walks into it by agreeing with McCain eight different times, making it look like he was getting a diplomacy lesson on camera; meanwhile few minds were changed, but Obama's knack of keeping his cool under pressure and quick learning ability showed many that he could handle the job of CIC after all; too bad, McCain misses Obama's real con game, that he loves to agree with the Dem. Party, and indeed can't say no, and is little more than a front for it, the party hoping he will let them design and pass a whole 21st Cent. New Deal and have him just rubberstamp it, creating a virtual 1-party nation for several years; McCain started out unable to say no to the Repub. Party but has evolved into a maverick to the extent that he can say no to it and work with Dems. when he thinks it's to the benefit of the nation of the whole, or is that just a ploy? On Sept. 27 a car bombing in Damascus, Syria near security offices kills 17, becoming the deadliest attack in decades. On Sept. 29 after days of wheeling-dealing accompanied by popular protest at "bailing out Wall Street", and sneers at its architect, U.S. treasury secy. (since 2006) bald (Treasuredome?) Henry Merritt "Hank" Paulson Jr. (1946-), (former CEO of Goldman-Sachs, who is himself worth $500M+, and is not a Jew but a Christian Scientist), the $700B "economic rescue" program" to buy the toxic mortgages from the banks in the hopes that one day they will make the govt. a profit (as if there won't be a massive vandalism of the "Bush houses", stripping most of them to the ground?) is defeated in the House by 228-205, causing the Dow to drop by 666, er, 777.68 points, costing shareholders $1T, followed by Pres. Bush appealing for them to go back and reverse their votes; every stock on the Standard & Poor's 500 drops except Campbell Soup Co.; too bad, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi goofs by giving a speech before the vote blaming the crisis on the Bush admin., giving several Repubs. an excuse to switch their vote to no; on Sept. 29 Wachovia announces that it is selling its banking operations to Citigroup for $2.2B; on Sept. 30 the House takes off for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), while the Dow rallies by 485.21 points on news that a new House vote will be taken afterwards; Merrill Lynch, which went for $75 a share a year ago, now goes for $29 a share; on Oct. 1 the Senate beats them to it, passing the bailout package by 74-25, even though it is loaded with earmarks (pork), and on Oct. 3 it finally passes the House by 263-171, and Pres. Bush signs it 1 hour later; on Nov. 13 Henry Paulson flip-flops and announces that the govt. will not purchase troubled bank assets - suckahs? On Sept. 29 a Hindu terrorist attack in Malegaon in Maharashtra state is a response to Muslim terrorism. On Sept. 30 a cowlike stampede at the Chamunda Devi Temple in Jodhpur, India kills 168 and injures 425, mostly men and boys, after devotees break coconuts for offerings, making the floor slippery. On Sept. 30, 2008 Swedish critic Horace Oscar Axel Endahl (1948-) top member of the Nobel Lit. Prize award jury utters the soundbyte that it's no coincidence that most winners are Euros, because "You can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world... not the United States", which is "too isolated, too insular. They don't translate enough and don't really participate in the big dialog of literature"; New Yorker ed. David Remnick responds that the Swedish Academy "has historically overlooked Proust, Joyce, and Nabokov... spare us the categorical lectures", and drops the names of Philip Roth (1933-), John Updike (1932-2009), and Don DeLillo (1936-); Nat. Book Awards dir. Harold Augenbraum adds that he'd like to send the bum a reading list of U.S. lit. In Sept. Russian gen. Nikolai Makarov visits Raul Castro in Havana, and offers to modernize their old Soviet-installed weapons systems and reactiatve their electronic eavesdropping station on Lourdes Island in return for using Cuba as a base to refuel Russian bombers and as a port for its warships. In Sept. Nigerian imam Mohammed Bello Abubakar (1922-), who chucked Sharia and married 86 wives and had 170 children and ended up arrested and sentenced to death for violating Sharia, gets out of it by divorcing 82 of them -one time when Sharia almost makes sense? On Oct. 1 Russia permits hundreds of EU monitors to deploy in Georgia, while declaring a 4-mi.-wide buffer zone extending from South Ossetia off-limits. On Oct. 1 the Russian Supreme Court rules that the Romanov family was a victim of political repression, and restores the Romanov name; the Russian Orthodox Church had already canonized Tsar Nicholas II and his family - clearing the way for Tsar Vladimir Putin? On Oct. 2 the Pew Hispanic Center announces that illegal immigration has dropped from 800K a year to about 500K a year since 2005, trailing legal immigration for the first time, while the total number has decreased from 12.4M in 2007 to 11.9M this year - give or take another 12M? On Oct. 2 the widely-viewed (70M viewers) Biden-Palin Debate surprisingly doesn't turn into a fiasco for Palin, who holds her own and shows debating experience, her biggest soundbytes being "Say it ain't so, Joe" and "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear"; while Biden seemingly forgets to boost Obama rather than himself several times; the expected self-destruction of Palin not materializing, the race is back to the pres. candidates. On Oct. 3 Pres. Bush signs the 2008 U.S. Child Soldiers Accountability Act, prohibiting the recruitment or use of child soldiers, designating those who recruit them as inadmissible aliens, and allowing their deportation. On Oct. 3 Canadian-Am. "Bobos in Paradise" Jewish author David Brooks (1961-) calls Sarah Palin a "fatal cancer to the Republican Party", but calls McCain and Obama "the two best candidates we've had in a long time". ' On Oct. 3 British PM Gordon Brown reshuffles the cabinet to create the Dept. of Energy and Climate Change to supervise the decommissioning of the country's nuclear sites, with British Labour Party leader (son of Polish Jewish immigrants) Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (1969-) as secy. of state for energy and climate change #1 (until May 11, 2010), announcing on Oct. 16 that the govt. will pledge itself to cut greenhouse emissions by 80% by 2050 rather than 60% as previously announced; in Mar. 2009 Miliband attends the U.K. debut of the pro-AGW film "The Age of Stupid", where star Pete Postlethwait ambushes him and pressures him into changing the govt.'s policy on coal-fired power stations, requiring them to capture 25% of their emissions immediately, and 100% by 2025; in 2009 he represents the U.K. at the Copenhagen Summit, pledging $10B/year to fight climate change, growing to $100B/year in 2020, blaming China for keeping the conference from reaching a legally binding agreement, which China denies, accusing Britain of a "political scheme". On Oct. 4 after the polls showing Obama making inroads in key battleground states, Sarah Palin gives a speech in Englewood, Colo., saying the "gloves are off, the heels are on", and digging up Obama's past associations with Weather Underground Org. co-founder (hubby of Bernardine Dohrn) William Charles "Bill" Ayers (1944-), who once planned to bomb the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol; Obama responds that his associations were slight and the bad stuff all happened when he was eight years old. Hold on, just a little bit tighter baby? On Oct. 6 Indian-Am. mechanical engineer and Wharton School grad. Neel T. Kashkari (1973-) is appointed by U.S. treasury sec. Hank Paulson as the federal bailout chief (until ?); too bad, despite the big bailout, the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. plummets 800 points, then partially recovers but closes down by 386.88 points, sinking below the 10K mark (lowest since 2004), after which stock markets throughout the world also tank, then on Oct. 7 the Dow Jones (which hit a high of 14,164 on Oct. 9, 2007) plummets another 508.39 points, for a total of 1.4K points in 2 weeks (lowest since 2003), after which the govt. reveals that it actually spent $800B bailing out Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac etc. before the additional $700B bailout for Wall Street was voted in, and injected another $99B into the short term money market before the stock market opened, to no avail; on Oct. 9 (Thur.) it plummets another 678.91 points, closing at 8,579.19, then on Oct. 10 (Fri.) it see-saws by 1K points, closing down another 128 points; meanwhile superthieves incl. Robert Edward Rubin (1938-) of Citicorp, Richard Severin Fuld Jr. (1946-) of Lehman Bros., and Franklin Delano "Frank" Raines (1949-) of Fannie Mae, who made millions as they drove their institutions into bankruptcy get off without criminal prosecution, stinking the U.S. up and stirring memories of the fall of ancient Rome; on Oct. 5 (Sun.) Fuld is punched in the face and knocked out in the Lehman Bros. gym. after the bankruptcy announcement. On Oct. 6 U.S. military judge Col. Ralph H. Kohlmann grants terrorism suspects at Gitmo the right to laptop computers; it is later revealed that they had been using them earlier. On Oct. 6 The Daily Beast (after the fictional newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's 1938 novel "Scoop") U.S. news Web site is founded by Tina Brown; in Nov. 2010 it merges with Newsweek. On Oct. 7 the Second McCain-Obama Debate in Nashville, Tenn. is a boring push overshadowed by the looming collapse of the U.S. and world economies. On Oct. 9 a bomb in Baghdad kills Iraqi lawmaker Saleh al-Auqaeili (b. 1967), former spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr. On Oct. 9 a suicide bomber in Islamabad, Pakistan carrying a box of sweets wrecks a residential bldg. housing anti-terrorism police, injuring six officers; another roadside bomb in Pakistan hits a police bus carrying prisoners, while a U.S. unmanned aircraft kills nine near the Afghan border. On Oct. 9 Russian PM Vladimir Putin receives a 2-mo.-old 20 lb. Ussuri tiger cub for his birthday. On Oct. 10 the Conn. Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage. On Oct. 10 the panel investigating gov. Sarah Palin anounces that she abused her power but didn't break any laws in getting her former brother-in-law fired - here's the new deal, bucko, you do as I say? On Oct. 11 Peru's chief cabinet minister Jorge del Castillo resigns along with 16 colleagues in an oil kickback scandal, and on Oct. 12 leftist Yehude Simon (1927-) replaces him. On Oct. 11 zonked Pres. Bush removes North Korea from its terrorism blacklist, pissing-off Japan, 70-80 of whose citizens were kidnapped by North Korea from 1977-83, giving them a permanent grudge. On Oct. 11 Iraqi officials admit that 3K Christians have fled Mosul to escape Muslim extemist attacks in the past week; on Oct. 24 thousands more Christians flee Mosul, causing the U.N. to send relief. On Oct. 11 Gibson Square Publishing of Britain announces that it is postponing pub. of the novel "The Jewel of Medina" by Am. author Sherry Jones (about one of Prophet Muhammad's wives) after its offices were firebombed. On Oct. 11 (p.m.) a 5.9 earthquake hits Russia's N Caucasus region, killing four. On Oct. 11 the first annual Skepticon convention for atheists and skeptics is held in Springfield, Mo. by Mo. State U. students J.T. Eberhard and Lauren Lane. On Oct. 13 after the U.S. govt. announces that it will buy $250B equity in banks instead of just buying their toxic mortgages, and seven European nations unite to put $2.3T in banks, the Dow Jones rebounds bigtime by 936 points, recouping $1.2T of the $2.4T in lost shareholder equity; meanwhile Morgan Stanley saves itself with a $9B line of credit from a major Japanese bank after its shares plunged 60% last week; meanwhile in just a few weeks Washington D.C. becomes the new financial capital of the U.S., supplanting New York City; meanwhile on Oct. 13 Am. Jewish economist Paul Robin Krugman (1952-) of Princeton U., known for relentless criticism of the Bush admin. incl. the $700B bailout, who calls the Repub. Party "the party of the stupid" and John McCain "more frightening now than he was a few weeks ago" is awarded the Nobel Econ. Prize solo (first time since 2000). On Oct. 13 Barack Obama tells Joe the Plumber that he wants to "spread the wealth around", which the McCain campaign jumps on as proof that he is a Socialist; meanwhile McCain proposes buying up the toxic mortgages from homeowners and letting them renegotiate them, while Obama proposes a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. On Oct. 13 election officials in Ohio begin investigating the Dem. Party pumper-uper ACORN (Assoc. of Community Orgs. for Reform Now) (founded 1970) for voter fraud after one voter admits to signing 73 voter registration forms in 5 mo.; it has registered 1.3M, mainly poor and blacks for the 2008 election, and been investigated in several states. On Oct. 14 Canadian PM (since 2006) Stephen Harper is reelected, but his Conserative Party falls short of a majority in Parliament. On Oct. 14 a U.S. soldier is shot dead in W Baghdad, making news for being the first U.S. combat death in the city in two weeks. On Oct. 14 5'7" 275 lb. Richard Wade Cooey II (b. 1967) is executed for the killing of two U. of Akron students on Sept. 1, 1986, becoming the first to die by lethal injection in Ohio in more than a year; his plea that he was too fat to be executed humanely by lethal injected was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court and Grill. On Oct. 14 the Internat. Conference on Religion in the Modern World opens in Tehran, Iran. On Oct. 15 three New York City police officers allegedly sodomize Michael Mineo with a police baton on a subway platform in Flatbush, Brooklyn and try to cover it up, getting off all charges with a jury, after which Mineo sues the city on May 28, 2009 for $220M. On Oct. 16 the Third (Last) McCain-Obama Debate features McCain's soundbyte "If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago", and both of them dropping the name Joe the Plumber 16x total, really Samuel Joseph "Joe" Wurzelbacher (1973-) of Holland Ohio. On Oct. 18 nine Chinese workers are kidnapped in the Kordofan region of SW Sudan by rebels who want China (which buys two-thirds of all Sudanese oil) out, after which two hostages flee and five are executed on Oct. 27. On Oct. 18 Giada at Home debuts on Food Network (until ?), starring Italian chef Giada de Laurentiis (1970-). On Oct. 19 Colin Powell announces that he's backing Obama, citing McCain's choice of running mate and the rightward turn of the Repub. Party, dissing rumors that Obama's a secret Muslim with the soundbyte: "Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in America?... Is there something wrong with some 7-y.-o. Muslim-American kid believing that he could be president?" - yes, the Quran? On Oct. 19 Taliban militants seize a civilian bus in Kandahar Province and execute two dozen passengers, some by beheading. On Oct. 21 India launches Chandrayaan-1 (Sansk. "Moon Craft") from the Sriharikota Space Center in S India on a 2-year mission to map the lunar surface, plus to prove that backward India has arrived in the Space Race? On Oct. 22 Elizabeth II visits the famous Lipizzaner stud farm in Lipica, Slovenia, and is presented with a Lipizzaner horse. On Oct. 22-29 the 104th (2008) World Series sees the Philadelphia Phillies (NL) (mgr. Charlie Manuel) defeat the Tampa Bay Rays (AL) (mgr. John Maddon) 4-1. On Oct. 23 a suicide bomber drives into a Shiite govt. minister's convoy during morning rush hour in Baghdad, killing 11 and wounding 22. On Oct. 24 the bodies of black singer Jennifer Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson (b. 1951) and her son Jason Hudson (b. 1979) are found inside their S Chicago, Ill. home, followed by the body of her grandson Julian King (b. 2001) on Oct. 27; on Oct. 28 convicted felon William Balfour, estranged husband of Jennifer's sister is suspected. On Oct. 24-25 Barack Obama takes off campaigning to go to Hawaii to visit his ailing white grandmother Madelyn Lee Payne "Toot" Dunham (1922-2008), who went without new clothes to help him pay for college tuition; she dies on Nov. 2, two days before the election; on Oct. 25 he's back it, denying a statement John McCain made that he's like George Bush. On Oct. 25 Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez puts in his two centavos worth and calls Sarah Palin a "poor thing" and a "beauty queen that they've put in the role of a figurine" who doesn't know what she's talking about when she calls him a dictator. On Oct. 26 with a week to go before the elections, a transcript from a Jan. 18, 2001 public radio show is dredged up where Barack Obama muses on using the U.S. Supreme Court to socialistically redistribute wealth, giving the Repubs. a last chance to swing the polls, which are already going against them badly, while Obama's campaign has endless megabucks to spend for mood ads; the Dems. try to spin it as innocuous; is O Mama really promising to take the $10B per mo. going to the Iraq War and, instead of cutting off the expense tab after pulling out, think he's got a mandate to redistribute that to social welfare programs, forever? On Oct. 26 Colombian lawmaker Oscar Tulio Lizcano (1947-) escapes from leftist rebels after eight years in captivity. On Oct. 26 nine policemen kidnapped by Shirani tribesmen in Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan near the Afghan border are released; on Oct. 27 a U.S. missile hits the house of a Taliban cmdr. there, killing 20. On Oct. 26 a U.S. Cobra heli attack on a bldg. in Syria near the Iraq border kills eight, incl. a top al-Qaida operative, pissing-off the Syrian govt., which on Oct. 28 closes the Am. School and U.S. cultural center in Damascus. On Oct. 26 a congregation of 5K Christian Copts are attacked by a hate-filled Muslim mob in Minya, Upper Egypt after trying to repair their church tower. On Oct. 27 severe flooding in Yemen caused by Tropical Depression ARB 02 kills 65 and displaces 20K. On Oct. 27 Am. feminist Erica Jong gives an interview to the Italian newspaper "Corriere della Sera", telling them that if Barack Obama loses the pres. election, "it will spark the second American Civil War. Blood will run in the streets." On Oct. 27 federal agents claim to thwart a plot by two white skinheads to attack an African-Am. high school and kill 88 blacks and decapitate 14 more, as well as assassinate Barack Obama. On Oct. 28 former Detroit, Mich. black mayor (2002-8) Kwame Mailik Kilpatrick (1970-) gets 4 mo. in jail for obstruction of justice for lying about his affair with his chief of staff in a civil lawsuit in 2007 and assaulting a sheriff's detective, and is ordered to pay $1M in restitution. On Oct. 28 Congolese rebels under gen. Laurent Nkunda break a Jan. U.N.-brokered ceasefire and advance toward Goma, sending tens of thousands fleeing, firing on civilians. On Oct. 29 Barack Obama airs a $3M 30 min. infomercial on U.S. TV, viewed by 30M; meanwhile John McCain and Sarah Palin criticize the Los Angeles Times for withholding a 2003 event in which Obama praises Palestinian scholar (Columbia U. prof.) Rashid Khalidi, and McCain claims that an Obama presidency would hurt both the economy and the nat. security, saying "At least when European nations chose the path of higher taxes and cutting defense, they knew that their security would still be guaranteed by America. But if America takes the same path, who will guarantee our security?"; meanwhile the 16M early voters so far go 59-40 for Obama, while U.S. gasoline prices fall 25.8 cents to a nat. avg. of $2.65 (first time to drop below 2007 levels), and oil falls toward $60 a barrel - proof that Obama is a secret Muslim, and his Muslim oil buddies want him to get elected, or he's just lucky like Oswald? On Oct. 29 the 6.4 SW Pakistan Earthquake kills 170 and leaves thousands homeless; meanwhile the Pakistani govt. files a formal protest against U.S. missile attacks in tribal areas and demands that they be stopped. On Oct. 30 a Taliban suicide bomber in a govt. ministry in C Kabul, Afghanistan kills five and injures 12. On Oct. 31 Philip J. Berg became the first to try to get the federal courts to order pres.-elect Obama to produce his birth certificate by Dec. 1 before the electoral college met on Dec. 13; assuming rightly that the U.S. Supreme Court will refuse to hear the case, Obama ignores them, later releasing the infamous computer-generated certification (not certificate) of live birth (and not birth certificate - three different things) that was "filed" (not necessarily accepted) by registrar (or the state) to end the standoff, keeping the real certificate of live birth under lock and key and leaving the issue at the current impasse. In Oct. Am. porno star Lisa Ann (1972-) stars as Repub. candidate Serra Paylin in the XXX film Who's Nailin' Paylin by Larry Flynt's Hustler Mag., featuring her doing the lezzie thing with impersonators of Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice - some kind of historical thread comes full circle here? On Nov. 2 the Chinese govt. destroys 3.6K tons of animal feed tainted with melamine; meanwhile on Oct. 3 the U.S. FDA sets 2.5M ppm as a safe level for melamine in food for adults - enough to make me into a vegetarian? On Nov. 3 a U.S. airstrike in West Baghtu in Kandahar Province hits a wedding party, killing 36, incl. 10 women and 23 children, causing Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai on Nov. 5 to plead the allies to try harder to avoid injuring noncombatants, saying "We cannot win the fight against terrorism with airstrikes", adding "This is my first demand of the new president". On Nov. 3 Israel sends a cable to the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv telling them that they are working to keep Gaza's economy "functioning at the lowest level possible consistent with avoiding a humanitarian crisis", as revealed in 2010 by WikiLeaks. On Nov. 4 (Tues.) (election day) the New Black Panther Party is filmed intimidating voters at polling stations in Philly, causing the U.S. Dept. of Justice to file a lawsuit, which the Obama admin. later drops even though they had won the suit by default when the defendants refused to answer the charges, pissing-off Repubs. - Obama doesn't trust the pigs to patrol polling places and make sure all blacks voted for him and not his white opponent? Another I-remember-where-I-was moment for Americans? On Nov. 4 (Tues.) with the tanking U.S. economy widely blamed on the Repub. Party, and Obama (campaign slogans: "Change we can believe in", "Yes we can", "No drama") running the best-financed pres. campaign in U.S. history ($745M vs. $350M in contributions) ($11 for each Obama vote) after flip-flopping on a promise to take only govt. funding from Sept. on, while McCain kept his promise and had to stop taking contributions in Sept. after accepting $84.1M in public campaign money (spending $150K on clothing for Palin) (while Obama raises $150M in Sept. alone), the 2008 U.S. Pres. Election (first in which neither major party candidate had been U.S. pres. or vice-pres. since 1952) is a V for Hawaii Sen. Barack Obama over Ariz. Sen. John McCain (131M of 197M eligible voters vote) (52.9%-45.7%, 365-173 electoral votes, 28-22 states, 69.5M vs. 59.9M votes) (most votes in history, vs. 62M for Bush in 2004) (first pres. candidate two split the electoral votes of Neb.), marked by joyful tearful celebrations in the streets all over the U.S., esp. by blacks, with only 43% of white voters voting for him, although 60% of Obama supporters are white, and only 74% of the voters in the election are white, and Obama gets 40% of the white men; 95% of black voters go for guess who (don't call it a racist vote, it's a spiritual thing, a first, it's history?), 67% of Hispanic voters, and 78% of Jewish voters (vs. 74% for Kerry in 2004), who were treated to "The Great Schlep", in which Jews flew to Fla. to talk their Jewish grandparents into voting for him; young voters go for Obama 2-1, and the Repub. turnout is the lowest since 1976; for the first time, young black voters ages 25-44 have the highest percentage turnout (64%, vs. 62.2% for white, 47.3% for Asian, and 47.7% for Hispanic); Obama wins contested states Penn., Ohio and N.M., which swings it; the Sarah Palin chess move fizzles with women, as 56% go for McCain-Palin, incl. 82% of Hillary Clinton voters; and Joseph Biden becomes the first Roman Catholic vice-pres. to be elected; a record 70M watch election returns on TV, culiminating with the sight of a 125K (240K) crowd at Grant Park off Lake Michigan in Chicago, Ill. gathering to hear his victory speech, where he utters the soundbytes "Change has come to America", "If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer", and "The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there"; Jesse Jackson openly weeps; John McCain gives a concession speech which shows his big heart, with the soundbytes "The American people have spoken, and they have spoken clearly", "This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight", "I wish Godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president, and I call on all Americans, as I have often in this campaign, to not despair of our present difficulties, but to believe, always, in the promise and greatness of America, because nothing is inevitable here"; he promised his daughters Malia Ann and Sasha a new puppy if he won, making a big deal about it; 106-y.-o. African-Am. Ann Louise Nixon Cooper (1902-2009), who knew MLK Jr. and voted for him in Oct. and was called by him specially is given special notice in the speech, then dies on Dec. 21; the U.S. enters a new era where the young and the increasing numbers of non-whites can swing nat. elections, the culmination of decades of mass brainwashing for the equality of races by Jewyweird, with Obama being their rabbit, a political Sidney Poitier (who always had to be apolitical, asexual to white people and help them out), only now he gets to be political, as long as it's on the left, and has to have a supporting cast of whites and Jews; the grate powah of Hollyweird was rolled out bigtime to elect Obama, evidenced by daytime TV shows "Oprah Winfrey", "The View" et al., plus nighttime shows such "24" (featuring black pres. David Palmer, played by Dennis Haysbert), and "Saturday Night Live", which pulled out all stops to caricature Sarah Palin as an unqualified nitwit; too bad, he has to give his victory speech behind a bulletproof screen, as white supremacists blow their gaskets and vow to kill him; the Obama V causes a massive positive reaction worldwide, changing America's failing image instantly; meanwhile the V causes a run on gun stores as a belief he will outlaw guns spreads (he has promised to outlaw automatics), and Roman Catholic priest Jay Scott Newman of Greenevile, S.C. warns parishoners to refrain from receiving Holy Communion if they voted for Obama because he supports abortion, and claims that voting for him "constitutes material cooperation with intrinsic evil"; in the days before his inauguration the U.S. liberal media began painting his legacy as the new Abraham Lincoln; too bad, I-shake-my-little-tush-on-the-catwalk Obama is what they used to call a mulatto, half-and-half, which until modern times neither the white nor black communities would accept, but luckily he looks more black than white (them ears, them ears), and the black community enthusiastically claims him as their own, although he has no Am. slave ancestry like other U.S. black leaders, and the warm misty feeling even white Ams. have for him conveniently glosses over the massive failure of African-Ams. in crime, education and economic status; meanwhile many Americans are scared of Obama because of his prior alignment with radical extremists, covered-up background, and Socialist leanings; a 100% black slave-descended U.S. pres. still may not happen in their lifetimes, stay tuned? - and where is "there"? Strange bedfellows? On Nov. 4 after enthusiastic support by the Roman Catholic Church and LDS Church, whose members contribute $20M, Calif. Proposition 8 is passed by 52.2%-47.8%, making same-sex marriage illegal, invalidating 18K marriages made over 4 mo. and causing protests to begin; after a court challenge, on May 26, 2009 the Calif. Supreme Court rules the proposition constitutional but lets the marriages stand because it didn't explicitly nullify them; in Aug. 2010 federal judge Vaughn Walker rules the amendment unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment. On Nov. 4 the 2007 U.S. Nat. Elections give Dems. nine more seats in the U.S. House (regaining control) and five more seats in the U.S. Senate, not enough to override Repub. filibusters and steamroller through anything they want, creating a de facto 1-party system at the nat. level, yet - it is time for them to have their turn so they can screw things up too? On Nov. 4-6 Pope Benedict XVI and 25 Catholic scholars meet with 25 Muslim clerics and scholars in the Vatican who are pissed-off at his baptism of a prominent Egyptian-born Muslim last Easter in St. Peter's, his 2006 statements on Islam, etc., with the pope telling them they must overcome their misunderstandings - just give up Muhammad? no, you give up Christ? On Nov. 5 rebels led by Laurent Nkunda capture Kiwanja, Congo, killing 20 and wounding 33, then order the 30K pop. to leave town. On Nov. 5 just hours after Obama is elected pres. Michael Jacques (1984-) and two other white men who are pissed-off at the result set fire to the under-construction Macedonia Church of God in Springfield, Mass. On Nov. 6 pres.-elect Barack Obama selects former Pres. Clinton adviser and board member of Freddie Mac (2000-1), U.S. rep. (D-Ill.) (since 2003) Rahm (Heb. "lofty") Israel Emanuel (Heb. "God is with us") (1959-) (an ardent Zionist) (Ramses Emanuel?) (Rahm wasn't built in a day?) as his chief staff (until Oct. 1, 2010); his pediatrician father Dr. Benjamin Emanuel (former member of Irgun) is reported by The Jerusalem Post as saying the appointment will be good for Israel, adding "What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House" - just when you thought the Jewish conspiracy theory was exploded by "Arab" Obama's nomination and election? On Nov. 6 the Gazan al-Qaida-linked org. Jama'at Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad (Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin) (Armies of Monotheism and Jihad in Palestine) is formed; in Apr. 2006 they staged the Dahab bombings in Egypt; on Feb. 5, 2011 leader Sheikh 'Ahed Ahmad 'Abd Al-Karim Al-Sa'idani (AKA Abu al-Walid al-Maqdisi) posts a fatwa declaring that Jews and Christians may be targeted in 9/11-type attacks because they are "fundamentally not innocent" and "aggressive combatants", and that it's okay to hurt Muslims in such attacks because otherwise "this would mean stopping the jihad"; on Mar. 2, 2011 Hamas arrests al-Maqdisi, and in retaliation on Apr. 14, 2011 they kidnap Italian pro-Palestinian activist Vittorio Arrigoni (b. 1975) in Gaza, then kill him on Apr. 15 when their ransom demands aren't met. On Nov. 6-7 70+ Saudis stage the first hunger strike in Saudi Arabia to protest the jailing of 11 dissidents. On Nov. 6 insurgents in NW Pakistan stage two suicide bombings against counterinsurgents, killing 19 and wounding dozens; meanwhile the Pakistani govt. announces the killing of 15 insurgents in an aerial bombardment. On Nov. 7 a fierce winter storm dumps 4 ft. in the Dakotas. On Nov. 7 a the College La Promesse in Petionville, Haiti suddenly collapses, killing 89, mostly students - it doesn't take much to ruin a moment like this? On Nov. 8 Category 3 Hurricane Paloma slams into S Cuba near Santa Cruz del Sur, causing hundreds of thousands to flee. On Nov. 8 a nuclear-powered Russian navy sub has an accident during a test run, killing 20+. On Nov. 8 Merrill Lynch currency trader John Phillip Key (1961-) of the conservative Nat. Party easily defeats left-wing bad-teeth PM (since 1999) Helen Clark, becoming PM #38 of New Zealand (until ?), promising to undo her greenhouse gas emission trading scheme. On Nov. 8 6K Muslim clerics in India approve a fatwa against terrorism at a conference in Hyderabad; the Indian supreme court issues a ban on fatwas, then lifts it on May 12, 2011 with the proviso that extralegal punishments are still illegal, and that only "propertly educated persons" may dispense fatwas that may be "accepted only voluntarily". On Nov. 9 (Sun.) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan (1933-) gives a sermon titled "America's New Beginning", admitting he kept quiet for 9 mo. to help Obama get elected. On Nov. 9 Canadian reporter Melissa Fung is released after four weeks in captivity in Afghanistan, saying they held her in a small underground cave. On Nov. 10 pres.-elect Barack Obama visits the White House, where Pres. Bush gives him a look around (only too glad to give him the keys and get outta there before the fit hits the shan?); meanwhile Obama's 48 transition advisers reveal a list of 200 admin. actions and executive orders he plans on making to reverse Bush policies on climate change, stem-cell research, reproductive rights et al., incl. abolishing POW camps Delta and Echo at Guantanamo Bay; lame duck Pres. Bush's approval rating stays at a lame 24%, the most unpopular pres. since they're-coming-to-take-me-away-ha-ha Nixon. On Nov. 10 Sarah Palin blames the GOP defeat on the Bush admin., saying "How did we run up a $10 trillion debt in a Republican administration?", and "It's amazing that we did as well as we did." In Nov. 10 New York Times correspondent David Stephenson Rohde (1967-) is kidnapped S of Kabul by the Taliban along with Afghan reporter Tahir Ludin (1964-); they scale a wall and escape next year in the N Waziristan region of Pakistan after 7 mo. 10 days; meanwhile the NYT blacks out coverage to aid them, although they regularly refuse to heed federal govt. requests to black out news on the specific ways in which it combats terrorists. On Nov. 11 Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announce a plan to allow mortgage holders to get reduced interest rates and longer terms to keep them from foreclosure; too bad, this covers only 20% of delinquent mortgages. On Nov. 11 Am. Hollyweird celeb Lindsay Lohan (a supporter) calls pres.-elect Barack Obama America's "first colored president" on "Access Hollywood", pissing-off the PC police; she actually mumbles and might have said good president? On Nov. 11 moderate Muslim Mohamed Nasheed (1967-), founder of the Maldivian Dem. Party becomes pres. of Maldives (until ?). On Nov. 12 U.S. treasury secy. Henry Paulson gives a news conference, saying "The facts changed and the situation worsened", calling for using bailout money to help consumers rather than financial institutions; the news causes the Dow to fall by 411.3 points. On Nov. 12 U.S. authorities announce that a supply convoy for the 65K allied forces in Afghanistan was hijacked by Taliban fighters near the Khyber Pass. On Nov. 12 ex-U.S. Border Patrol agent Jose Alonso Compean (José Alonso Compeán) (1976-) receives a 10-year sentence for shooting unarmed drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila in 2006 and trying to cover it up, causing cries for Pres. Bush to grant him amnesty; meanwhile Davila gets 10 years for smuggling and nobody cares; Compean is granted an early prison release by Bush on Jan. 19, 2009. On Nov. 12 the Taliban attacks Afghan schoolgirls in Kandahar for daring to get educated, splashing battery acid on them and hurting 11 girls and four teachers; after a worldwide outcry, 10 Talibanis are arrested on Nov. 25. On Nov. 12 Reventador Volcano 55 mi. NE of Quito, Ecuador begins erupting; it last revented itself in Oct. 2007. On Nov. 12 Paula Goodspeed (b. 1980), an obsessive fan of Paula Abdul (1962-) (who bears a slight resemblance to her and once tried out for "American Idol" Season 5, displaying a voice like a parrot in pain) commits suicide in her parked car outside Abdul's home; her license plate reads "ABL LV". On Nov. 12 a U.N. Interfaith Conference sees Israeli pres. Shimon Peres shake hands with Egyptian grand shiek Mohammed Sayed Tantawi (1928-2010), causing a firestorm of criticism in the Muslim world, after which Tantawi says he didn't know it was him. On Nov. 13 senior diplomats from Germany plus the five permanent U.S. security members Britain, China, France, Russia, and the U.S. hold a conclave in Paris to discuss fast-tracking new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program that have been stalled. On Nov. 13 (10 a.m.) the pop. of S Calif. stages the Great ShakeOut, an earthquake drill, becoming the largest in history. On Nov. 13 pranksters distribute thousands of free copies of the New York Times with a prank headline that the U.S. Iraq War and Afghanistan War have ended; it is actually dated July 4, 2009 and describes the Obama Utopia with nat. health care, a rebuilt economy, higher progressive taxes, a nat. oil fund to study climate change et al. On Nov. 13 Sarah Palin addresses the Repub. Governors Assoc. meeting in Miami, Fla., admitting that the Repub. are the "minority party", and asking her fellow Repub. governors to keep new Pres. Obama in check, saying that if the new Congress should "err on the side of excess taxes, we have to show them the way"; of course, she is leaving her options open for 2012, saying "It's crazy to close a door before you know what's even open in front of you"; meanwhile Dem. officials leak the info. that Hillary Clinton is being considered by Obama for secy. of state. On Nov. 13 the London Times reports that an 8K-member Bedouin tribe in Bir al-Maksour, Galilee, Israel claims that Barack Obama is a lost member. On Nov. 14 the 15 euro-using EU countries announce that they're in a recession; meanwhile on Nov. 15 the G-20 representing 85% of the world economy and 67% of the pop. meet, and agree to a broad range of solutions, leaving the details to be worked out in the spring - after Obama's first 100 days are over? On Nov. 14 Ann E. Dunwoody (1953-) becomes the first female U.S. 4-star gen., breaking the legendary brass ceiling; the photo opp shows her woo-wooing on the shoulder of her hubby Col. Craig Brotchie? On Nov. 15 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that the House will aid the ailing U.S. auto industry, which has been seeking $25B in loans, as long as it meets new fuel-efficiency standards, begins producing advanced vehicles, and restructures itself "to ensure their long-term economic viability"; too bad, the loan gets hung up after it is revealed that they really need many times that and would be better off filing for bankruptcy to reorganize and try to stay afloat amid global competition, although who would want to buy a vehicle from them when they might not be around when parts and service are needed?; meanwhile foreign automakers employ tens of thousands of workers in dozens of auto plants in the U.S., and are in rosy financial condition - the ultimate oldies but goodies collection? On Nov. 16 Barack Obama officially resigns his U.S. Senate seat, while staying ensconced in Chicago, claiming that he won't exercise his influence until he is sworn-in next Jan. 20 - because he's the fastest blackberry ever? On Nov. 16 after a suicide car bomber hits a U.S. convoy in Herat, Afghanistan, wounding two soldiers, and insurgent attacks go up 30% compared to 2007, Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai invites the Taliban to talks, offering protection, and saying that the U.S. can leave the country or try to oust him if they don't like it. On Nov. 16 the Colombian govt. begins emergency measures to appease irate victims of the Proyecciones DRFE pyramid scheme that suckered 600B pesos by promising 150% returns, and caused rioting in 13 towns when the owner Carlos Alfredo Suarez took the dough and skipped the country. On Nov. 17 Jerry Yang announces that he's resigning as CEO of Yahoo.com after a replacement is found, a probable move to get Microsoft to make another buyout offer. On Nov. 17 Pirate Alley in Somalia heats up again when Somalian pirates dodge warships to hijack Saudi supertanker MV Sirius Star, carrying $100M in oil, causing several major nations to begin rerouting tankers the long way around Africa. On Nov. 17 top Israeli Mafia kingpin "Don" Yaakov Alperon (b. 1955) is killed in Tel Aviv by a car bomb set by a rival gang. On Nov. 18 the Dem. Caucus votes to keep side-switcher Joe Liebermann - Mission: Impossible: Get Obama Elected worked? On Nov. 19 al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri posts a letter on the Internet insulting Barack Obama, calling him, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice "house Negroes" - duh, he's da head of da house now? On Nov. 20 U.S. district judge Richard Leon releases 50 Guantanomo Bay Algerian prisoners after rejecting govt. claims that they are enemy combatants, becoming a first. Speaking of Barack Obama, he's already become president and begun his 100 days before Thanksgiving Turkey Bush leaves office? On Nov. 21 (Fri.) Barack Obama announces that he's picking Hillary Clinton to be his secy. of state (which by now is a woman's job?), and former N.Y. Federal Reserve Bank chief (since 2003) Timothy Franz "Tim" Geithner (1961-) (former chmn. of the Bank for Internat. Settlements) to be his treasury secy., the news causing the Dow Jones to surge upward 494 points, above the 8K mark, which it fell below on Nov. 19; meanwhile U.S. gasoline prices fall below $2 after peaking at $4.11 four mo. earlier. On Nov. 21 hours after a Shia cleric is killed, a bomb explodes at a funeral of a Shia Muslim in Dera Ismail Khan in lawless NW Pakistan (near Waziristan), killing six. On Nov. 22 Rashid Rauf (b. 1981) (a British citizen) and Abu Zubair al-Masri (a Saudi militant) are killed by a U.S. missile raid in N Waziristan near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border; they had been linked to a jetliner bomb plot; meanwhile on Nov. 23 protests are staged in Islamabad calling for the severing of ties with the U.S. On Nov. 22 Barack Obama says that he is crafting a massive 2-year Socialist, er, stimulus program to revive the economy, which in his first of three straight news conferences on Nov. 24 he estimates to be a $500B-$600B bailout, announcing Lawrence "Larry" Summers (1954-) as head of the Nat. Economic Council (more powerful than Tim Geithner), although he was one of the key architects of the policies that led to the financial meltdown, and was the Harvard pres. who made remarks on Jan. 14, 2007 that there are innate differences between men and women that explain why fewer women succeed in science and math, getting him fired - explaining why Obama closed the glass ceiling of the White House on Hillary, because to work up here you gotta know math, witness the mess Bush made, and just think of the mess McCain-Palin woulda made? On Nov. 22 ex-U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter and others are denied entry to Zimbabwe for a humanitarian mission. On Nov. 22 the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announces that talks have fallen through and it will "authorize" members to go on strike. On Nov. 23 the U.S. govt. announces a $306B bailout of Citigroup. On Nov. 24 after it was designated by the U.S. govt. as a terrorist org. and shut down and stripped of assets, and a federal grand jury in Dallas, Tex. indicts it in 2004, causing the largest terrorism financing prosecution in U.S. history (until ?), Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (originally the Occupied Land Fund) (founded 1989) in Richardson, Tex., largest Muslim charity in the U.S. is convicted of funneling millions of dollars to Hamas in 2008-9, a rare V for the Bush admin, giving five officers sentences of 15-65 years in prison in 2009 for funneling $12M to Hamas. On Nov. 24 thousands of protesters surround the Thai govt. HQ in Bangkok demanding the resignation of PM Somchai Wongsawat, who is in Peru for the Pacific Rim conference; on Nov. 25 the protests turn violent, causing the airport to be closed; on Nov. 30 several explosions in Bangkok wound 50 protesters; on Dec. 1 the constitutional court in Bangkok orders Wongsawat deposed and banned from politics for five years, and dissolves his People's Power Party - bad month for Yankee pedophiles? On Nov. 24 Chinese riot police suddenly take up posts in Xiahe, Tibet, while a court sentences a group of Tibetans for anti-govt. protests. On Nov. 25 the U.S. govt. announces that it is pumping $200B into the consumer credit market by guaranteeing securities backed by credit card debt and other loans; meanwhile the U.S. stock market bounces up and down like a rubber ball, and no permanent stability is in sight? On Nov. 26 the Climate Change Act of 2008 by the British Parliament is given royal assent, making it the duty of the secy. of state for energy and climate change to ensure that the net carbon account for all six Kyoto greenhouse gases for the year 2050 is at least 80% lower than the 1990 baseline, aiming to make the U.K. a low-carbon economy with ministers given powers to introduce measures to achieve a wide range of greenhouse gas reduction targets; an independent Committee on Climate Change is established; British journalist Christopher John Penrice Booker (1937-) calls the act "the most expensive piece of legislation ever put through Parliament", with projected costs in the hundreds of billions over 40 years; on Oct. 17, 2009 he pub. the bestseller The Real Global Warming Disaster: Is the Obsession with 'Climate Change' Turning Out to Be the Most Costly Scientific Blunder in History?, denying a scientific consensus on climate change, denying that it is manmade, and calling govt. measures to combat it "one of the most expensive, destructive, and foolish mistakes the human race has ever made", labeling it Groupthink, with British science writer Philip Ball (1962-) (ed. of Nature) in The Observer (a critic) calling it "the definitive climate skeptics' manual... [in which] he has rounded up just about every criticism ever made of the majority scientific view that global warming, most probably caused by human activity, is under way, and presented them unchallenged"; Ball reverses the Groupthink argument with the observation that to accept Booker's position one must believe: "1) Most of the world's climate scientists, for reasons unspecified, decided to create a myth about human-induced global warming and have managed to twist endless measurements and computer models to fit their case, without the rest of the scientific community noticing. George W Bush and certain oil companies have, however, seen through the deception. 2) Most of the world's climate scientists are incompetent and have grossly misinterpreted their data and models, yet their faulty conclusions are not, as you might imagine, a random chaos of assertions, but all point in the same direction." Will them Allah Akbars ever give up trying to go to paradise on the bloody backs of infidels? On Nov. 26-29 (India's 9/11) the 2008 Mumbai Attacks see well-equipped Pakistan-trained Muslim Thanksgiving turkey Lashkar-e-Taiba gunmen attack 10 sites, incl. three luxury hotels, a hospital, train station, and popular restaurant in India's financial capital of Mumbai (Bombay), India, targeting Westerners with U.S. and British passports, esp. Jews, killing 164 (incl. 28 foreigners, incl. six Americans) and injuring 308, holding Western hostages in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel (founded 1903) (scene of horrible carnage) and Trident-Oberoi Hotel, plus the Nairman House Jewish community center (killing five, incl. a rabbi) while demanding the release of fellow Islamic militants before they are captured or killed by authorities; on Nov. 30 India's top domestic security official (patsy?) Shivraj Vishwanath Patil (1935-), home affairs minister since May 22, 2004 resigns, while U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice is sent to India (are you sure you are keeping them nukes safe?); the sole terrorist survivor resigns, while U.S. secy. of state Condoleezza Rice is sent to India (are you sure you are keeping them nukes safe?); the sole terrorist survivor Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab (1987-2012) claims to be a member of Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (Urdu "army of the righteous") (founded in Kunar Province, Afghan; in 2010 he claims that they got training from Pakistan Navy frogmen; on Oct. 19 a report from India claims that Pakistan's intel agency was deeply involved in planning the attack, funding recon missions, incl. to the Bhabha Atomic Research Center. On Nov. 27 the Iraq govt. agrees to allow U.S. troops to stay three more years; on Apr. 11 2015 Lashkar-e-Taiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi (1959-), suspected mastermind is released by the Pakistan courts on bail pending trial, outraging India. On Nov. 29 NATO and Afghan troops kill 53 militants in Afghanistan, incl. Taliban cmdr. Haji Yakub, who was hiding behind a woman's burqa. On Nov. 29-30 the Roman Catholic Church holds its first beatification ceremony on Cuban soil for Jose Olallo Valdes (1820-89) of the Hospitaller Order of St. John. In Nov. the U.S. loses 533K jobs, the highest since 1978. On Dec. 1 (Mon.) the U.S. govt. officially admits that the U.S. economy is in a recession. On Dec. 1 it is revealed that India was alerted to the Mumbai plot in Sept., but gave up its vigilance program; on Dec. 9 alleged mastermind Zaki ur-Rehman (Zaki-ur-Rehman) Lakhavi (1956-) is arrested in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir; on Dec. 11 Pakistan shuts down the Islamic charity Jamat-ud-Dawa for backing the militants; David Coleman Headley (Daood Sayed Gilani) (1960-) of Chicago, Ill. is accused of scouting targets for the terrorists after he is arrested in Oct. 2009 along with Punjab, Pakistan-born Tahawwur Hussain Rana (1961-) of Canada and charged with plotting to attack the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Postn that pub. the Muhammad cartoons in 2005 along with retired Pakistani maj. Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed. On Dec. 2 GM and Chrysler execs tell the U.S. Congress they need a $34B bailout, forecasting doom for the U.S. economy if they are allowed to fail. On Dec. 2 after the Nat. Repub. Trust raises $1M to keep him from losing his seat and giving Obama a filibuster-proof majority, white conservative Repub. U.S. Sen. (since 2003) Clarence Saxby Chambliss (1943-) of Ga. wins a runoff election against Dem. challenger Jim Martin by 57.5-42.5. On Dec. 3 a new U.S.-Iraq Security Agreement is announced, to take effect Jan. 1, with Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. cmdr. in Iraq telling his troops that they will have to start obtaining warrants before searching homes and detaining suspects. On Dec. 4 600 Israeli troops evict 200 right-wing Jewish settlers from a disputed bldg. in Hebron in the West Bank. causing other settlers to rampage through Palestinian areas; the Kfir Brigade, known for wearing camouflage berets proudly refuses to assist. On Dec. 4 Barack Obama uses his hi-tech Internet capability that helped him get elected to mobilize momentum for health reform; on Dec. 5 the Denver Health Care Summit in Denver, Colo. is held, and HHS nominee Sen. Tom Daschle says that the economic collapse is due to high health care costs - therefore he's recommending that more medical schools be built and medical salaries driven down by increasing the number of medical personnel, er, he's recommending that the all-powerful AMA monopoly be bolstered by putting doctors on the govt. dole ahead of other social services so the rich can get richer? On Dec. 6 pres.-elect Obama promises the largest public works construction program since the creation of the U.S. interstate highway system 50 years ago as a part of his economic recovery program; meanwhile he picks U.S. gen. Eric Shinseki (who was forced into retirement in 2003 for telling Congress that more troops are needed in Iraq) as the veteran affairs secy. On Dec. 6-8 leftist youths begin rioting in Athens, Greece after a cop kills a 15-y.-o. boy in Exarchia, spreading to Thessalonica and other Greek cities despite the two officers involved being arrested and charged, and the precinct police chief being suspended; the last time this happened was in 1985. On Dec. 7 Taliban militants attack two transport terminals for U.S. military supplies in Peshawar, Pakistan, destroying 160+ Humvees and trucks. On Dec. 9 a day after telling reporters "Feel free to tape me", Ill. Dem. gov. (since 2003) Milorad R. "Rod" Blagojevich (1956-) is arrested for trying to sell Barack Obama's senate seat for personal profit, causing Obama and his staff to attempt a coverup, er, distance themselves, after which the Ill. state legislature begins efforts to impeach him, which he responds to on Dec. 19 with the soundbyte: "I will fight, I will fight, I will fight until I take my last breath. I have done nothing wrong" (only was caught planning to?), after which on Dec. 30 he coolly appoints look-what-the-tide-washed-in former state atty.-gen. (1991-5) Roland W. Burris (1937-) to Obama's senate seat, bringing in the race card since Burris was the first black elected official in Ill. (1979), and after a bunch of PC flip-flopping he is confirmed, after which it is revealed that he raised money for Blagojevich and had tried to cover it up; meanwhile Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (1957-) asks to be appointed to Sillary, er, Hillary Clinton's N.Y. Sen. seat, causing Rep. Gary Ackerman of Queens on Dec. 10 to utter the soundbyte "I don't know what Caroline Kennedy's qualifications are, except that she has name recognition, but so does Jay-Lo [Jennifer Lopez]"; she drops out on Jan. 23 after problems with taxes and undocumented workers; on June 27, 2011 Blagojevich is convicted on 17 of 20 counts of attempting to sell Obama's Senate seat, and sentenced on Dec. 7, 2011 to 14 years - the Democratic Sarah Palin? On Dec. 9 Pres. Bush addresses the cadets at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, crowing on his great performance in fighting terrorism, saying he has "laid a solid foundation", the U.S. military is "stronger, more agile and better prepared", and "we've laid a solid foundation on which future presidents and future military leaders can build"; he leaves Pakistan with a warning that "We will do what is necessary to protect American troops and the American people." On Dec. 10 a mistaken attack by U.S. forces in Afghanistan kills six Afghan police officers and one civilian. On Dec. 11 nutcase Robert Mugabe (1924-) announces that his govt. has ended the cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe; meanwhile it rages on while he keeps internat. aid at bay. On Dec. 11 (night) a $14B emergency bailout for U.S. automakers falls through in the Senate after the UAW refuses to accept wage cuts commensurate with Japanese-owned auto cos. in the U.S. On Dec. 11 a bipartisan Senate committee releases their Report on Detainee Abuse, which says that former U.S. defense secy. Donald Rumsfeld and other top Bush admin. officials are responsible for abuses at Guantanamo Bay prison and elsewhere. On Dec. 11 Richard Cizik resigns from the Nat. Assoc. of Evangelicals after switching to supporting same-sex marriage; he had just been named one of the 100 most influential thinkers by Time mag. On Dec. 11 a suicide bomber at a restaurant in Kirkuk, Iraq during a meeting of Sunni Arabs and Kurds kills 55 and injures 109, demonstrating the fun future of the Iraq govt. after a U.S. pullout. On Dec. 11 nuclear talks with North Korea by the Bush admin. collapse, causing it to be left for Obama's admin. On Dec. 11 the U.N. Security Council adds the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jamaat-ud-Dawa and four others as terrorist fronts under its 1999 Resolution 1267. So much for a Jewish conspiracy if they steal each other blind? Or maybe it is a Jewish conspiracy, stay tuned? On Dec. 12 the Madoff Investment Scandal begins when Jewish-Am. investment broker Bernard Lawrence "Bernie" Madoff (1938-) is arrested after he reveals to his sons that his massive empire is a Ponzi scheme, and they turn him in; he is accused of making off with $65B from investors, incl. major names like Steven Spielberg, Elie Wiesel and several rich Palm Beach, Fla. Jews; after being allowed to stay in his rich apt. in New York City for months, he pleads guilty next Mar. 12 and is sent to jail to applause; on June 29 he is sentenced to 150 years in prison after his wife is allowed to keep $2.5M in assets; his case causes the Madoff Bill to be introduced into the N.Y. state legislature in July 2009, forcing the rich to pay for their jail stays at $90/; Boston financial analyst Harry Markopolos tried in vain to persuade the SEC since 2000 that Madoff was a crook, and an SEC investigator warned a superior about irregularities with Madoff's financial mgt. firm in 2004, but was ignored; on Dec. 11, 2010 his son Mark Madoff is found hanged in his New York City apt., an apparent suicide; Austrian banker Sonja Cohn is accused on Dec. 10, 2010 of conspiring for 23 years to funnel $9B+ into Madoff's Ponzi scheme; after only $1B is located, the mystery of where the money went becomes the biggest conspiracy theory since who killed JFK? - funneled to Israel? He shoulda been made Federal Reserve chairman? On Dec. 12 the BBC announces that it will not air the Crufts Dog Show (biggest in Britain) over allegations of inbreeding in pedigreed dogs. On Dec. 13 Miss Russia Kseniya Vladimirovna Sukhinova (1987-) of Siberia is crowned Miss World #58 in Johannesburg, South Africa - kiss ya and shiver all over? On Dec. 14 (Sun.) Pres. Bush makes a surprise state visit to Iraq to crow about his success, saying "The war is not over but it is decisively on its way to being won" (4,209 U.S. military dead, $576B spent, 150K troops remaining in Iraq); too bad, during a press conference Iraqi reporter Muntadar al-Zaidi (1979-) hurls his shoes at him (a gesture meaning he's lower than dirt), with the soundbyte "This is a farewell kiss, you dog"; Bush, who displays quick reflexes in ducking the missiles, later jokes "It was a size 10"; a new folk hero is born?; too bad, on Dec. 22 Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki claims he was put up to it by an unnamed militant known for slitting throats; on Mar. 12, 2009 he is sentenced to three years to cheers for being a hero; he could have gotten 15 years - Rosa Klebb in "From Russia With Love"? On Dec. 16 the U.S. Federal Reserve lowers its prime rate to banks to virtually zero in an all-out attempt to jumpstart the stalled economy. On Dec. 16 a bus carrying Russian tour guides crashes in the S Israeli desert near Eilat, killing 26 and injuring dozens. On Dec. 16 French police find five sticks of dynamite in a Paris dept. store along with a demand for the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan. On Dec. 16 the U.N. Security votes 14-0-1 (Libya) for Resolution 1850, reaffirming support for the 2007 Middle East summit in Annapolis, Md. and for the 2-state solution. On Dec. 17 Iraqi officials announce the arrest of 35 Iraq Ministry of the Interior officials for planning a coup; meanwhile British PM Gordon Brown announces that British troops will withdraw from Iraq before June 1, and Iraqi speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani resigns amid debate about a bill to order the withdrawal of all non-U.S. forces by July 31 along with another debate on a Shiite motion to discuss the case of shoe-tosser Muntadar al-Zaidi. On Dec. 18 a nonbinding resolution is passed by the U.N. Gen. Assembly, backed by the 57-nation Saudi-based Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) urging members to take state action against "defamation of religion" and "incitement to religious hatred", particularly Muslim; meanwhile another nonbinding resolution calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality is signed by 66 of 192 U.N. member countries, but the U.S. refuses. On Dec. 18 Col. Theoneste (Théoneste) Bagosora (1941-), ringleader of the 1994 Rwanda genocide is sentenced to life in prison for the massacre of 800K, becoming the highest-ranking officer convicted by the U.N. Internat. Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. On Dec. 20 Continental Airlines Flight 1404 en route to Houston, Tex. runs off the runway in Denver, Colo. in a snowstorm on takeoff, catching fire and injuring 38 of 112 aboard. On Dec. 20 adm. Mike Mullen, chmn. of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff says that the U.S. may double the number of troops in Afghanistan by next summer from 30K to 60K. On Dec. 21 the AP reveals that pay and perks for the execs of the bailed-out banks this year will come to $1.6B. On Dec. 21 U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheny is interviewed by Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday", saying that the pres. "doesn't have to check with anybody" before launching nukes, and "could launch the kind of devastating attack the world has never seen... He has that authority because of the nature of the world we live in. It's unfortunate, but I think we're perfectly appropriate to take the steps we have"; he also ridicules vice-pres. elect Joe Biden for calling him "the most dangerous vice-president", pointing out that it's Article II not Article I of the U.S. Constitution that gives the pres. broad executive powers, and adding that if Biden wants to diminish the office, that's his call. On Dec. 22 Guinea pres. (since 1984) Lansana Conte (b. 1934) dies, and on Dec. 23 after drawing lots twice with two other soldiers, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara (1964-) seizes power in the bauxite-exporting electricity-lacking France-hating Repub. of Guinea, becoming de facto pres. (until ?), ruling from military camps instead of govt. bldgs., deflating any hopes that he will bring democracy to this African stinkhole by massacring 157 on Oct. 1, 2009. On Dec. 24 Bishop Desmond Tutu says that it's time to to threaten Zimbabwean pres. Robert Mugabe with removal by force, citing his misrule and the death of 1.1K from a cholera epidemic; meanwhile Mugabe puts human rights activist Jestina Mukoko on trial for plotting his overthrow. On Dec. 24 Meet the Press gets new moderator David Michael Gregory (1970-) (until Aug. 14, 2014). On Dec. 25 recently-divorced 45-y.-o. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo (b. 1963) dresses up as Santa Claus and arrives at the home of his ex's parents in Covina, Calif., then opens up, killing eight, then accidentally sets his suit on fire while throwing Molotov cocktails, giving him critical burns, after which he commits suicide at his brother's home near Sylmar; he was carrying $17K in cash and a plane ticket to Canada. On Dec. 25 Chinese police arrest 59 in Tibet for downloading banned "reactionary songs" from the Internet at the behest of the Dalai Lama. On Dec. 26 a power failure in a thunderstorm in Hawaii blacks-out Oahu Island (pop. 900K), catching vacationing Pres. Obama. On Dec. 27 (Sat.) Israeli forces begin Operation Cast Lead, an all-out air assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which the Palestinians call "the Massacre of Black Saturday", as Israeli bombs kill 350, incl. 62 women and children, and injure 1.4K by Dec. 28; the Israelis warned them first via phone calls and leaflets; they finally pullout on Jan. 18, 2009 after killing up to 1.4K Palestinians (most on the first day) (incl. 400 women and children), injuring 5K, and destroying 4K and damaging 20K houses, after which Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri declares "We are the winner"; on Dec. 26 Turkish diplomats claimed to be on the verge of clinching a peace deal between Israel and Syria, and when they started the operation without informing him first, Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan began turning on Israel? On Dec. 27 Berkley Books (Penguin Group) cancels the contract for the book Angel at the Fence: The True Story of a Love That Survived by alleged Holocaust survivor Herman Rosenblat (1930-) after they prove it's a hoax; he had claimed that his wife Roma Radzicky was a young Jewish girl pretending to be Christian, who would pass him food through the fence at Buchenwald camp, after which they met in the 1950s on a blind date and got married, fooling Oprah Winfrey, who hosted them and called their fiction "the single greatest love story... we've ever told on the air"; the film adaptation goes on? On Dec. 28 a bomb in the backpack of Li Yan explodes prematurely as he is about to plant it in a coffee shop in Kunming, SW China owned by two Americans and frequented by Westerners. On Dec. 30 Herman A. Van Rompuy (1947-) (Flemish) becomes PM of Belgium (until Nov. 25, 2009), succeeding Yves Leterme. On Dec. 30 Kabine (Kabiné) Komara (1950-) becomes PM of Guinea (until Jan. 26, 2010). On Dec. 30 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. closes at 8,668.39 (up 184.46) (vs. 13,365.87 at the end of 2007). On Dec. 31 a fire in the crowded Santika Club in Bangkok, Thailand kills 59 and injures 180. On Dec. 31 Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour ends the year with a record $408M in ticket sales for a solo artist. On Dec. 31 the U.S. Nat. Debt reaches a record 74.1% of GDP (vs. 68.1% under Clinton on Dec. 31, 1996). In Dec. the U.S. loses 524K jobs (1M in the last 2 mo.), for a yearly net loss of 2.59M jobs (12 consecutive mo., accelerating each mo.), worse since WWII, shutting out even college grads. In Dec. the U.S. Joint Forces Command issues its Joint Operating Environment 2008 Report, listing Pakistan and Mexico as the most likely states to collapse in the near future, causing Pres. Felipe Calderon next Jan. 9 to deny that there is chaos in Mexico or that "the civilian population was being massacred in the streets." In Dec. United We Dream is founded in Washington, D.C. for "the elimination of barriers to higher education for immigrant youth" by working to persuade the U.S. public and legislators to embrace the DREAM Act as enlightened policy rooted in "principles of social inclusion and justice". In Dec. Valerie Jarrett, co-chmn. of the Obama-Biden transition team signs a memorandum of understanding with Clinton Foundation CEO Bruce Lindsey that the foundation's activities will not "create conflicts or the appearance of conflicts for Senator Clinton as Secretary of State", which doesn't stop 180+ persons, cos., and foreign govts. from giving it money while officially lobbying the U.S. State Dept. The U.S. Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2008 is a 10-year aid package to Israel that requires that military aid maintain Israel's "qualitative military edge" over any combination of states and non-state actors. Indonesia issues a ban on followers of the minority Ahmadiyah sect from promoting their activities. Three Kurdish villages led by Turkish parliamentarian Suleyman Celebi start a war on Mor Gabriel Monastery in Turkey, founded in 397 C.E. The first major natural gas discovery in Israel is made off the coast of Haifa, containing 8T cu. ft., followed in Aug. 2010 by up to 1.5B barrels of oil near Rosh Ha'ayin, enough to make Israel self-sufficient for three decades. The U.S. Genetic Info. Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) is passed, prohibiting insurance cos. from using family medical histories or genetic testing to deny medical insurance or set rates, effective next Dec. 7. Bahrain passes a law setting a min. age of 15 for girls to marry, but because of Islamic influence leaves a loophole allowing younger girls to be married with the consent of the courts; meanwhile British PM Gordon Brown and Hazel Blears set up the Nat. Muslim Women's Advisory Group of 19 women to help Muslim women break down cultural barriers incl. forced measures; in Apr. 2010 founding member Shaista Gohir resigns, calling it a "political fad". Pakistani-born Maajid Nawaz (1978-), member for 14 years of the Sharia-loving caliph-desiring Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) suddenly claims to have a change in heart and devotes his life to fighting Islamic extremism, with the soundbyte: "After learning through my studies that Islamism was not the religion of Islam, but rather a modern political ideology, I no longer felt guilty simply for criticising a political system inspired by 7th century norms", founding the Quilliam Foundation in London, which battles "the Narrative", "that the West is waging a war against Islam and Muslims to destroy Islam, and that the only way to stop this war is for Muslims to start fighting back on all fronts against the West"- why don't I believe he's honest, and suspect he's just a Muslim disinfo. expert? Indian-born Sikh Sant Singh Chatwal, founder of Hampshire Hotels and Resorts, and owner of the Bombay Palace restaurant chain raises $100K for Hillary's pres. campaign, becoming a trustee of the William J. Clinton Foundation and good friends with Bill and Hillary; on Apr. 17, 2014 he pleads guilty to illegal campaign contributions to "three unnamed candidates", and is sentenced on July 31 to ?. Sheryl Kara Sandberg (1969-) becomes CEO of Facebook (until ?). The Peter G. Peterson Foundation is founded by Peter George Peterson (1926-), co-founder of the Blackstone Group asset mgt. co., former U.S. commerce secy. (1972-3), and chmn. of the Council on Foreign Relations (until June 30, 2007), with a $1B endowment and a mission to address U.S. fiscal sustainability issues incl. deficits, tax policies, and entitlement programs; the first dir. is David M. Walker (1951-), U.S. comptroller gen. in 1998-2008. The annual $75K Cundill Prize in History is founded at McGill U. in Canada by Canadian investor F. Peter Cundill (1938-2011) for the non-fiction book most likely to have profound literary, social, and academic impact in the area of history, becoming the richest non-fiction historical lit. prize in the world; the first award goes to Stuart B. Schwartz for "All Can Be Saved: Religious Tolerance and Salvation in the Iberian Atlantic World" (2007). The annual Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. Prize for distinguished writing in American history of enduring public significance is established by the Society of Am. Historians, with a $10K award. Beall's List of alleged predatory open-access publishers if ounded by Denver-based U. of Colo. librarian Jeffrey Beall (1960-), becoming widely influential in causing journals to be censored by librarians until flaws are exposed, causing him to discontinue it in Jan. 2017. Harlow, Essex, England-born fashion designer Victoria Caroline Beckham (nee Adams) (1974-) (formerly Posh Spice of the Spice Girls) (wife of soccer star David Beckham) launches her own fashion label, becoming a success despite being a WAG (wife/girlfriend of a high-profile prof. athlete). Band-e Amir ("dam of the commander of the faithful Imam Ali") consisting of five lakes in the Hindu Kush Mts. of C Afghanistan (W of the Buddhas of Bamiyan) becomes Afghanistan's first nat. park. The FEMEN feminist protest group is founded in Ukraine to hold topless protests against sexism. France allows 40 new villages to classify themselves as part of the Champagne wine region. Lindsay Lohan announces a lesbian relationship with Samantha "Sam" Ronson (1977-). The Internet authorizes new "dot anything" domain names. $9 Zhu Zhu (Chin. "little pig") Pets are introduced by Russ Hornsby of Cepia LLC of St. Louis, Mo., becoming a craze during the 2009 Xmas holidays. Sports: On Feb. 17 the 2008 (50th) Daytona 500 is won by Ryan Joseph "Rocket Man" Newman (1977-), who receives a special gold-plated Harley J. Earl Trophy. On Apr. 20 Danica Patrick (1982-) finally breaks the "gas ceiling" and wins the Indy Japan 300, becoming the first female winner in IndyCar history - and how many women were looking for shells today? On May 3 the Kentucky Derby is attended by Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea, and Eight Belles (b. 2005), the race's first filly in nine years finishes 2nd, 4-3/4 lengths behind favorite Big Brown; too bad, she then collapses with two broken front ankles and has to be euthanized on the track - sounds like Hillary's race? On May 24-June 4 the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals see the Detroit Red Wings defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2, becoming their 11th win and 4th in 11 seasons; MVP is Swedish-born 5'11" center Henrik Zetterberg (1980-), who scores the series-winning goal; Niklas Lidstrom becomes the first Euro-born-and-trained team capt. to win the Stanley cup. On May 25 (Sun.) the 2008 (92nd) Indianapolis 500 is won by fastest qualifier Scott Ronald Dixon (1980-) of New Zealand. On June 5-17 the 2008 NBA Finals sees the Boston Celtics (coach Doc Rivers) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) by 4-2, becoming their first win since 1986 (17th overall); small forward Paul Pierce (1977-) (#34) of the Celtics is MVP. On June 16 Tiger Woods wins his 3rd U.S. Open (14th major title) in dramatic fashion, defeating 157th-ranked Rocco Anthony Mediate (1962-) in a sudden-death playoff after surviving on June 14 by making two eagles on the final 9 holes, followed by a 2-ft. birdie putt on the 72nd hole, calling it the "greatest tournament I've ever had"; he is later discovered to have a fractured leg, and is told to lay off for 9 mo. to let it heal. On July 6 Rafael Nadal Parera (1986-) of Spain defeats 5-time champ Roger Federer of Switzerland for the Wimbledon men's singles tennis title in 5 sets in a record 4:47 with two rain breaks, becoming the first Spaniard to win since Manuel Santana in 1966 and the first male since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win the French Open (against Federer) and Wimbledon the same year. On July 8 after seven seasons, two NBA MVPs, and six All-Star picks, superstar 6'8" forward LeBron Raymone "King" James (1984-) leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat (until 2014), as announced in the ESPN special The Decision; the Seattle SuperSonics relocate to Okla. City, Okla., becoming the Oklahoma City Thunder, changing the team colors to blue-yellow-sunset. On Aug. 14 Am. jockey Russell A. Baze (1958-) becomes the first with 10K wins at Golden Gate Fields on Two Step Cat; he passes the 11K mark on Aug. 14, 2010. On Nov. 7 Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan becomes the first in NBA history to win 1K games with the same team with a 104-97 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Nov. 29 the China Speed Horse Race Open becomes the first officially-sanctioned horse race in China since the declaration of the People's Repub. of China in 1949. On ? Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic (1987-) defeats Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open, followed on ? by the Australian Open, achieving #1 world ranking. Architecture: On Apr. 1 the National Harbor, Md. waterfront development S of Washington, D.C. at the junction of the Capital Beltway and the Anacostia Freeway near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge opens. On Aug. 16 $720M Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind. opens as the home of the NFL Indianapolis Colts. The 787-ft. (240m) Bahrain World Trade Center opens, becoming the first skyscraper to integrate wind turbines. The Neal Bridge in Pittsfield, Maine is made of carbon and glass fiber fabric tubes stuffed with concrete. The Olympic Dragon Terminal in Beijing, which looks like a giant sleeping dragon from the sky opens in Feb. in time for the Beijing Olympics, becoming the world's largest airport terminal (until ?). Silivri Prison in Silivri, Istanbul opens, becoming Turkey's most modern penal facility, and Europe's largest, housing 11K of Istanbul's 16K inmates under pink roofs. Nobel Prizes: 2008: The year of Nobel snubs? Big year for Japan? Peace: Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtissari (1937-) (Finland); Lit.: Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (Clézio) (1940-) (France); Physics: Yoichiro Nambu (1921-) (U.S.), Makoto Kobayashi (1944-) (U.S.), and Toshihide Maskawa (1940-) (U.S.) [spontaneous broken symmetry]; Chem.: Osamu Shimomura (1928-) (Japan), Martin Lee Chalfie (1947-) (U.S.), and Roger Yonchien Tsien (1952-) (U.S.) [discovery of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in jellyfish]; colleague Douglas Prasher (whom they owe it all to?) is snubbed, and is found working for $10 an hour in Huntsville, Ala. as a shuttle operator; Med.: Francoise Barre-Sinoussi (Barré-Sinoussi) (1947-) (France) and Luc Antoine Montagnier (1932-) (France) [discovery of HIV] and Harald zur Hausen (1936-) (Germany) [discovery of HPV]; U.S. virologist Robert Charles Gallo (1937-), who disputes credit with the French team is snubbed; Econ.: Paul Robin Krugman (1953-) [U.S.] [New Trade Theory, New Economic Geography]. Inventions: On Jan. 10 the $2,500 bare bones no-frills Tata Nano, the cheapest car in the world is unveiled, creating excitement in India, China, and other poor countries, and causing speculation about whether global air pollution will end up going up or down as they replace smoky motorcyles; it becomes available in the summer. On Jan. 14 NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flies by Mercury at 124 mi. (200 km) above the surface, beaming back photos showing that it's black and white like the Moon, but with red and blue tones; it photographs Caloris Crater, also an unusual Spider Crater. In Jan. Sun Microsystems announces a $1B acquisition of MySQL, an open source database co. that gives away its software to 99% of its customers; the paying 1% incl. Google, Yahoo!, Nokia, and Alcatel-Lucent. On Feb. 7 Space Shuttle Atlantis blasts off from Cape Canaveral with the $2B Columbus Science Lab, donated by Europe; it returns Feb. 20. On Mar. 11 (night) Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-123 lifts off from Cape Canaveral to deliver a robot and the Japanese Logistics Module, the first piece of a new Japanese lab to the ISS. On July 28 the cuil (pr. like cool) search engine is launched by ex-Google employees, featuring the largest index; it shuts down on Sept. 17, 2010. On Sept. 25 the Internet search engine DuckDuckGo is founded in Paolo, Penn. by Gabriel Weinberg, named after the children's game "Duck, Duck Goose", with the goals or protecting the privacy of users and avoiding Google's infamous filter buble of personalized search results; by 2018 it has 40 employees. In Nov. IBM announces Blue Gene, a supercomputer that they will use to explore the frontiers of computing and brain simulation. In Nov. the Conficker (Downup) (Downadup) (Kido) Internet worm begins propagating via the bug-filled Microsoft Windows operating system, infecting millions of computers in 190+ countries, becoming the largest computer worm infection since Welchia in 2003. The $549 ASUS Eee PC 900 netbox is released, with an 8.9-in. display, 12 GB SSD, and 1 GB of RAM, starting yet another techie gadget rev. The Blu-Ray and HDVD formats are locked in competition for HD DVD players this year. The NuVinci Transmission is patented, using rotating and tilting balls to smoothly vary transmission speed. The Octopus Tap increases the flow of beer from a beer tap, allowing up to four spouts. The Bullet Fingerprinting Technique is invented, allowing fingerprints to be recovered from bullets. Science: On Jan. 18 Botanic Gardens Conservation Internat. issues a statement that "400 medicinal plants are at risk of extinction, from over-collection and deforestation, threatening the discovery of future cures for disease"; examples incl. Yew trees, Hoodia, Magnolias, and Autumn crocus. On Jan. 31 British scientists announce the creation of sperm cells from a human female embroyo, opening up the possibility of lesbian couples having children. On Feb. 14 the 124K-member Am. College of Physicians calls for the U.S. govt. to end its ban on research on marijuana as a medicine. On Feb. 14 an article in Nature reveals what we've always wanted to know, whether bats developed their airborne sonar before or after learning to fly, a 52M-y.-o. bat fossil of Onychonycteridae finneyi (AKA "the clawed bat") (found in Wyo. in 2003), showing wings but no sonar equipment, and claws on all five fingers instead of just 1-2 like modern bats - so they got sonar after trimming Lady Five Fingers? In Feb. High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) creates a patch of "artificial ionosphere" using their 3.6MW radio transmitter, leading to a new way to bounce radio signals around the Earth. In Mar. the Heartland Inst. (founded in Arlington Heights, Ill. in 1984, and known for working for Philip Morris to question the health risks of second-hand smoke) holds the first Internat. Conference on Climate Change in New York City, endorsing the Nongovernmental Internat. Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) and pub. the article "Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate, criticizing the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, followed by the Manhattan Declaration, declaring that carbon dioxide (CO2) is essential for all life, and calling for an immediate halt to tax-funded attempts to counteract climate change, with the soundbytes: "Assertions of a supposed 'consensus' among climate experts are false", and demanding that aAll taxes, regulations, and other interventions intended to reduce emissions of CO2 be abandoned forthwith"; signers incl. S. Fred Singer, Anthony Watts, David Bellamy, Piers Corbyn, Ian Plimer, Robert M. Carter, and Roy Spencer; by 2017 12 conferences are held. In Mar. Avraham Trakhtman, a Russian immigrant to Israel who worked as a night watchman becomes a real-life Good Will Hunting by solving the 1970 Road Coloring Problem, proving the existence of a universal map permitting a traveler to reach a given destination whatever his starting point. In Mar. French surgeon Laurent Lantieri of Henri-Mondor Hospital in Creteil performs the first full face transplant on neurofibromatosis sufferer Pascal Coler. On Apr. 24 an article in Science reports that protein derived from T-Rex bones closely resembles the main protein in chicken and ostrich bones and is only distantly related to lizard protein - tastes like chicken jokes here? In Apr. astronomers discover a storm on Saturn's moon Titan the size of India. On May 5 Archives of Gen. Psychiatry reports that 6-year-olds whose mothers breastfeed them have a verbal IQ 7.5 points higher - the next study will show that oral sex raises IQ among adults? On June 16 a Swedish study of 90 adults pub. in the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences Journal finds that gay men and hetero women have brain halves of similar size, while lezzies and straight men have bigger right sides, lending evidence to sexual orientation being genetically determined or influenced - or proof that the once perfect 100% straight human race is degenerating through God's judgment on sin? On June 19 the New England Journal of Medicine pub. a report on a 52-y.-o. Ore. man with terminal skin cancer who was put into remission after an experimental treatment that revved-up his T cells. On June 28 U.S. scientist Mark Serreze of the Nat. Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. predicts that the North Pole may becoming ice-free for the first time in recorded history by the end of the summer; luckily, he was wrong. On July 25 an article in Science shows that in the U.S. girls in grades 2-11 have caught up with boys in math tests in the top 5% echelon, making former Harvard U. pres. Lawrence Summers look lame - but what about at the college and postgraduate level? In July Lord Christopher Walter Monckton, 3rd Viscount Monckton of Brenchley (1952-) pub. the article Climate Sensitivity Reconsidered in the newsletter of the Am. Physical Society, which contains the soundbytse: "More importantly, the conclusion is that, perhaps, there is no 'climate crisis', and that currently-fashionable efforts by governments to reduce anthropogenic CO2 emissions are pointless, may be ill-conceived, and could even be harmful", and "Global warming will not affect us for the next 2,000 years, and if it does, it won't have been caused by us", ramping up the scientific climate change denial movement; on Oct. 18 he posts the online article "More in Sorrow than in Anger, Open letter from The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley to Senator John McCain about Climate Science and Policy" , dissing U.S. Sen. John McCain for a speech he made at a wind farm pushing anthropogenic climate change. In Aug. the $10B 5-mi.-diam. Large Hadron Collider in Meyrin Switzerland begins test runs, hoping to eventually prove the existence of dark matter and dark energy, which make up 96% of the Universe, plus the Higgs boson, which gives mass to matter, not to mention evidence of the 10 dimensions of superstring theory; meanwhile critics warn that it might cause micro black holes to be created which hunker down inside the Earth and gobble it up; an electrical fault in Sept. 2008 causes it to be shut down until Nov. 20, 2009; in 2009 Holger Bech Nielsen of Denmark and asao Ninomiya of Japan pub. a theory that the Higgs boson is so abhorrent to Nature that its creation could ripple back in Time and stop the colider before it could make one. On Aug. 5 the Wildlife Conservation Society reports that the gorilla pop. in the Congo is now 125K, double what they used to believe. On Sept. 1 Google releases Chrome, a free open-source competitor to Microsoft's expensive monopolistic Internet Explorer. On Sept. 5 three studies are pub. in Science and Nature, showing how the cascade of genetic changes that turn brain and pancreas cells cancerous proceed along the same 12 core pathways. On Sept. 16 Vatican spokesman Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi announces that Darwin's Theory of Evolution is compatible with the Bible, but plans no posth. apology to Charles Darwin (1809-82), while announcing a Rome conference next Mar. for the 150th anniv. of his "Origin of Species". On Sept. 28 (Sun.) SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) successfully launches its commercial rocket Falcon 1 into orbit from the South Pacific carrying a dummy payload on the 4th attempt. On Oct. 17 the NASA Cassini spacecraft makes the first observations from within the radio aura of another planet other than the Earth, Saturn. On Oct. 22 India launches its 2-year Chandrayaan-1 ("Moon Craft-1") mission (ends 2008) to map the lunar surface and search for water; it reaches the Moon on Nov. 12; in Aug. 2009 it detects evidence of large quantities of water in the polar regions. In Oct. photos of Mercury sent by the NASA Messenger spacecraft reveal that the planet was racked by volcanoes 3.8B-4B years ago, but fail to reveal the composition of the mysterious blue material all over the planet. On Nov. 12 doctors announce that a 42-y.-o. Am. patient living in Berlin, Germany has been cured of AIDS after receiving a bone marrow transplant 20 mo. earlier, giving AIDS patients hope, although the procedure is costly and dangerous. On Nov. 14 the Hubble Space Telescope captures the first photos of planet Formalhaut B, circling Formalhaut 25 l.y. from Earth in the constellation Piscis Australis (Southern Fish), becoming the first photo of a planet circling another star outside the Solar System. On Nov. 20 Nature pub. the result of a $1M study by Stephen Schuster et al. of Penn State U. which deciphered the genetic code of the woolly mammoth, concluding that they could be recreated in as little as 10-20 years - tell McDonald's to try selling one billion of them burgers? In Nov. the U.S. govt. begins funding the Human Microbiome Project to see if shit from one person's intestines can help another person with antibiotic-resistant C. difficile to fight back - shit happens jokes here? In Nov. scientists announce that they have mapped all of the genes of a person with cancer, incl. normal and cancerous cells. On Dec. 28 Thomas Inge et al. of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital report that stomach stapling can reverse Type 2 diabetes in youths just like in adults. On Dec. 30 China announces the discovery of the largest dinosaur fossil site on Earth in Zhucheng, containing 7.6K fossils. In Dec. Alexey Vikhlinin announces that observations from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory indicate that dark energy, which fights gravity to cause the Universe to keep expanding also keeps clusters of 1K or more bright galaxies from getting too big. In Dec. the first exo-solar organic molecules are detected in Jupiter-sized Planet HD 189733b; next year HD 209458b becomes the 2nd exoplanet with organic signatures detected. Japanese organic chemist Osamu Shimomura (1928-2018) isolates glowing green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the jellyfish, winning him a share of the 2008 Nobel Chem. Prize. Introgen of Houston, Tex. develops Advexin, the first gene therapy for cancer and Li-Fraumeni syndrome, using a form of Adenoirus (common cold) to carry a replacement gene coding for the p53 protein; too bad, the FDA doesn't approve it. Researchers at the U. of Southern Denmark discover that the schizophrenia drug thioridazine kills antibiotic-resistant bacteria incl. Staphylococcus aureus; in 2013 it is found that it works by weakening the cell wall. Seth Lloyd of MIT proposes Quantum Illumination to improve the sensitivity of radar. The Dark Flow of billions of stars racing towards the edge of the observable Universe is discovered by Harald Ebeling of the U. of Hawaii and Dale Kocevski of UC Santa Cruz. Am. neurologists Jack Gallant and Shinji Nishimoto of UCB discover a way to correlate activity in the human brain cortex with static images seen by the subject; next year they extend the technique to moving scenes. Nonfiction: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), Poe: A Life Cut Short. Uri Avneri (1923-2018), 1948: A Soldier's Tale, the Bloody Road to Jerusalem; Israel's Vicious Circle. Andrew J. Bacevich (1947-), The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. Robert Baer (1952-), The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower (Aug. 18); Iran has already half-won its 30-year war with the U.S.? Nicholson Baker, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, The End of Civilization. Russ Baker, Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put it in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America (Dec. 18); George H.W. Bush's suspected involvement in the Kennedy assassination, Watergate, et al. J.G. Ballard (1930-2009), Miracles of Life (autobio.). James Bamford (1946-), The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America; NYT bestseller about how 9/11 turned the NSA from downsizing to mushroom growth, "the largest, most costly, and most technologically sophisticated spy organization the world has ever known", with new tools "Orwell's Thought Police would have found useful"; "Never before in history have so few people wiretapped so many"; the 500K-name Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE), which is used to screw honest Americans up, "sits ingloriously on a dated and inexpensive Dell laptop in the basement of the National Counterterrorism Center". Russell Banks (1940-), Dreaming Up America. Clive Barker (1952-), The Painter, The Creature and The Father of Lies: Essays. Julian Barnes (1946-), Nothing to Be Frightened Of (autobio.). Bruce Baum, The Rise and Fall of the Caucasian Race: A Political History of Racial Identity (July 1). Greg Bear (1951-), City at the End of Time; about the city of Kalpa in 300T C.E., which is fighting the Typhon, and sends psychic messages to three drifters in modern-day Seattle, Wash. Harry Beckhough, Germany's Fourth Reich; German domination of the EU. Peter W. Bernstein and Annalyn Swan, All the Money in the World: How the Forbes 400 Make - And Spend - Their Fortunes (Dec. 2). Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) and Mark Siegel, Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West (Feb. 12); claims that Islam can peacefully coexist with the world, that the Quran promotes female equality, that Islam and democracy are "not only compatible but mutually sustaining", and that Western Islamophobes like Robert Spencer are upset over nothing; too bad, a few days after completing the ms. she is assassinated by er, Muslims. Joseph R. Biden (1942-), Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics (memoir) (Aug. 28); claims that he met with Serbian dictator Slobodan Milsevic in 1993 and told him to his face: "I think you're a damn war criminal and you should be tried as one." Stephen G. Bloom and Peter Feldstein, The Oxford Project; photojournal of Oxford, Iowa, pop. 700. Howard Blum, American Lighting: Terror, Mystery, Movie-Making & the Crime of the Century; the 1910 Los Angeles Times Bldg. bombing. Abraham Bolden, The Echo from Dealey Plaza; the first African-Am. Secret Service agent (1961), who is subjected to racism. Andrew G. Bostom, The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History (June 5); 2nd ed. 2020. Taylor Branch, Wrestling History: The Bill Clinton Tapes; his 80 secret White House conversations with Pres. Clinton. H.W. Brands, Traitor to His Class: The Privileged Life and Radical Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Judith M. Brown, Gandhi and Civil Disobedience: The Mahatma in Indian Politics, 1928-1934. Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-), and Brent Scowcroft (1925-), America and the World: Conversations on the Future of American Foreign Policy. Tom Brown Jr. (1950-), Conversations with Grandfather (7 vols.) (2008-9). Vincent Bugliosi (1934-2015), The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder (May 27); bestseller claiming that it should be done. Charles Bukowski (1921-94), Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook: Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-1990 (posth.). Avraham Burg (1955-), The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise From Its Ashes (Oct. 28); Israeli Jewish politician raises a firestorm of controversy by comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, and claiming that Israel's cloning of that nation-state and wallowing in the Holocaust is Hitler's final victory. Nina Burleigh, Unholy Business: A True Tale of Faith, Greed and Forgery in the Holy Land (Oct.). Vincent Bzdek, Woman of the House: The Rise of Nancy Pelosi. Dana Canedy, A Journal for Jordan: A Memoir of Love and Loss. Jimmy Carter, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. Ha-Joon Chang (1963-), Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism (Dec. 23); claims that history proves that the modern economic superpowers got that way by shameless protectionism and govt. intervention in industry, and are promoting a fairy tale about free trade that the IMF, World Bank, and WTO are ramming down developing countries' throats. Raj Chetty (1979-), Moral Hazard vs. Liquidity and Optimal Unemployment Insurance (Apr.). Pat Choate, Dangerous Business: The Risks of Globalization for America. Deepak Chopra (1946-), The Third Jesus: The Christ We Cannot Ignore; Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment; Jesus studied the Kabbalah and esoteric wisdom? Christopher Ciccone (1960-), Life with My Sister Madonna (July 14); her gay brother and personal asst. exposes all her dirty laundry in order to knock her off her high horse? Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates (1975-), The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood (autobio.). Jenny Cockell (1953-), Journeys Through Time: Uncovering My Past Lives. Steve Coll (1958-), The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century (NYT bestseller). Jennet Conant, The Irregulars (Sept. 9); Roald Dahl's WWII British spy years, and his sexual liaisons with Clare Boothe Luce and Millicent Rogers. Ward Connerly, Lessons from My Uncle James. David Cope (1941-), Hidden Structure: Music Analysis Using Computers. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality (Aug. 1) (NYT #1 bestseller); an all-out attack on Barack Obama, alleging his "extreme leftism", "extensive connections with Islam and radical politics", "naive... foreign policy", past drug use, corrupt backers et al., causing the Obama campaign to issue the 40-page rebuttal "Unfit for Publication" alleging factual errors, causing Corsi to double down that the errors are minor and that his major allegations stand. Dora L. Costa and Matthew E. Kahn, Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War. Robin Darwall-Smith, A History of University College, Oxford (June 18); first treatment in over a cent. John Darwin (1948-), After Tamerlane: The Global History of Empire Since 1405 (Feb. 5). David Brion Davis (1927-), In Human Bondage: Slavery in the New World. Katie Davis (1989-), Awake Joy: the Essence of Enlightenment (Feb. 1). Jay P. Dolan, The Irish Americans. James W. "Jim" Douglass (1937), JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters; he was killed by "unspeakable" forces within the U.S. nat. security state after he changed from Cold Warrior to Man of Peace? Billy Doyle, The Mirage of Separation Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Vintage Jesus: Timeless Answers to Timely Questions; "According to Scientology, Jesus is an 'implant' forced upon a Thetan about a million years ago." Tony Dungy (1955-), Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life; first NFL-related title to become a #1 NYT bestseller. Martin Edmond, Luca Antara. Barbara Ehrenreich (1941-), This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation. Bart D. Ehrman (1955-), God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question - Why Do We Suffer?; Princeton theological student gives up his faith and claims the Bible doesn't really answer anything, but gives his own reasoning on why we should all work to alleviate suffering anyway. Marc Eliot, Reagan: The Hollywood Years; Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood. Per Olov Enquist (1934-), A Different Life (autobio.). Anthony Esolen, The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization (May 27). Gunter Faltin (1944-), Brain versus Capital (Kopf schlagt Kapital); English tr. Feb. 2013. Jonathan Fast (1948-), Ceremonial Violence: The Psychological Explanation for School Rampage Shooting. Tarek Fatah, Chasing a Mirage: The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic State (first book); liberal Pakistani-born Canadian Muslim takes on the ultimate Islamic goal, advocating separation of church and state along with religious tolerance - is that a misdemeanor or felony under Sharia? Drew Gilpin Faust, This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War; how the mass deaths in the U.S. Civil War transformed society. Jules Feiffer (1929-), Feiffer: The Collected Works. Andrew Ferguson, Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America. Niall Ferguson (1964-), The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World (Nov. 3); history of money, ending with Chinamerica, and how an Asian savings glut propelled the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. George Fetherling (1949-), River of Gold: The Fraser and Cariboo Gold Rushes. Eamonn Fingleton, In the Jaws of the Dragon: America's Fate in the Coming Era of Chinese Dominance. Jon Fisher (1972-), Strategic Entrepreneurism: Shattering the Start-Up Entrepreneurial Myths (Sept. 15). Caroline Fourest, Brother Tariq: The Doublespeak of Tariq Ramadan; how he pretends to be pro-West but really wants an Islamic takeover. David Freddoso, The Case Against Barack Obama: The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate; "I don't think you beat Obama by saying that he's Paris Hilton. The more important thing is really to look at is he who he says he is. Is he really this great reformer?"; "He's like all the rest of them. Not a reformer. Not a Messiah. Just like all the rest of them in Washington"; claims he won his Ill. Sen. seat by getting a team of attys. to throw all the other candidates off the ballot on technicalities, incl. a veteran black woman who helped him get his start, then backed mayor Richard Daley and his machine. Jo Freeman (1945-), We Will Be Heard: Women's Struggles for Political Power in the United States. David M. Friedman, The Immortalists: Charles Lindbergh, Dr. Alexis Carrel and Their Daring Quest to Live Forever; Lindy'a attempt to save the life of his heart-damaged sister leads him to work with the tissue culture expert and invent a way to keep organs alive for weeks outside the body. Francis Fukuyama (1952-) (ed.), Falling Behind: Explaining the Development Gap Between Latin America and the United States. John Lewis Gaddis (1941-), Ending Tyranny: The Past and Future of an Idea. James K. Galbraith (1952-), The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too; how the Bush admin. turned govt. over to the big corps. Oded Galor (1956-) and Quarul H. Ashraf, Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusian Epoch. Jan Garavaglia (1956-), How Not to Die: Surprising Lessons on Living Longer; medical examiner tells how 90% of corpses in the morgue died suddenly and unexpectedly from not taking medicine, accidents, bee stings, carbon monoxide, etc.; the #1 day for the morgue is Christmas? Nelson George and Alan Leeds (eds.) The James Brown Reader: 50 Years of Writing About the Godfather of Soul (Apr. 29). Diana DeGette (1957-), (with Daniel Paisner), Sex, Science and Stem Cells: Inside the Right Wing Assault on Reason; Colo. Dem. Rep. known for backing stem-cell research explains how the U.S. religious right has politicized science and hijacked the Repub. Party. Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-), The Story of Israel. Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950; about Pauli Murray (1910-85). Newt Gingrich (1943-), Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World that Works. Malcolm Gladwell (1963-), Outliers: The Story of Success (Nov. 8); duh, the formula is doing meaningful work, working hard, and remembering that reward depends on effort? Caroline Glick, Shackled Warrior: Israel and the Global Jihad (Apr. 20); how resurgent Islamic fundamentalism is the #1 threat to Israel and the West. Herbert Gold (1924-), Still Alive!: A Temporary Condition (autobio.). Ben Goldacre (1974-), Bad Science (Sept.); exposes medical fads and quacks incl. the Brain Gym, and dissing the medical profession for caving into drug co. pressure. Jonah Goldberg, Liberal Fascism. Eva Golinger, Bush vs. Chavez: Washington's War on Venezuela. Annette Gordon-Reed (1958-), The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family (Pulitzer Prize) (first African-Am.); traces the 75 descendants of Elizabeth Hemings, incl. the descendants of Thomas Jefferson. Amit Goswamy, Creative Evolution: A Physicist's Resolution Between Darwinism and Intelligent Design (Sept. 1). Simon Gray (1936-2008), The Last Cigarette: Smoking Diaries Vol. 3; Coda (posth.). Howard Grief (-2013), The Legal Foundation and Borders of Israel under International Law; the de jure soveignty over the entire land of Israel and Palestine was vested in the Jewish People by the San Remo Resolution of Apr. 24, 1920? Robin Griffith-Jones (1956-), Beloved Disciple: The Misunderstood Legacy of Mary Magdalene, the Woman Closest to Jesus; by the master of the Temple Church in London, so he oughta know? Terry Grossman (1947-) and Ray Kurzweil (1948-), Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever; people who are now 60 (like him?) will live to a healthy 120, at which point emerging technologies will kick in for those who can afford it; sugar is "the white Satan" - sounds like Satan is selling sugar, want any, Tim Russert? Mamdouh Habib and Julia Collingwood, My Story: The Tale of a Terrorist Who Wasn't; Egyptian-born Australian Muslim detained at Gitmo for helping to plan 9/11 is later released and proclaimed innocent. David Halberstam (1934-2007), The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever (posth.); completed by Frank Gifford. Judith von Halle (1927-), Secrets of the Stations of the Cross and the Grail Blood: The Mystery of Transformation; how she received the stigmata in 2004 and began to experience visions of events from the time of Christ. Chelsea Handler (1975-), Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea (Apr. 22); bestseller. Donna Haraway (1944-), When Species Meet. Daoud Hari, The Translator (autobio.); memoir of the Darfur massacres; "If American athletes saw what I saw the Chinese doing in Darfur, they would not be able to play sports at the Olympics." Kathryn Harrison, While They Slept: An Inquiry Into the Murder of a Family (June); the 1984 Gilley family murders. Gary Hart (1936-), Under the Eagle's Wing: A National Security Strategy for the United States for 2009; "In the 21st century, we will have increasing difficulty distinguishing the security of some from the security of all... The new twenty-first-century security demands that nations collaborate across cultural and ideological barriers and across national borders to achieve common goals." Thom Hartmann (1951-) and Lamar Waldron, Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination. Brian Haughton, Haunted Spaces, Sacred Places: A Field Guide to Stone Circles, Crop Circles, Ancient Tombs, and Supernatural Landscapes (July 1); Lore of the Ghost: The Origins of the Most Famous Ghost Stories Throughout the World (Sept. 1). Shirley Hazzard (1931-), The Ancient Shore: Dispatches from Naples. Chris Hedges (1956-), I Don't Believe in Atheists (Mar. 4); both the atheists and the religious fundamentalists don't get it, because religion is for making us into moral human beings? Chris Hedges (1956-) and Laila Al-Arian, Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians (June 3). Arthur Herman, Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. George C. Herring, From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776; the U.S. has always been "an active and influential player in foreign affairs" and "aggressively and relentlessly expansionist", "heralds of a novus ordo seclorum, a new world order, in which enlightened diplomacy based on free trade would create a beneficent system that would serve the broader interest of mankind rather than the selfish needs of monarchs and their courts". Esther Hicks (1948-) and Jerry Hicks, Money and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Health, Wealth and Happiness (Aug.); The Astonishing Power of Emotions: Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide (Sept.). Edward Hoagland (1932-), Early in the Season: A British Columbia Journal. Philip Hoare (1958-), Leviathan, or The Whale (Sept. 1); what is the true nature of the whale? Michael Holroyd (1935-), A Strange Eventful History: The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and Their Remarkable Families. Harold Holzer, Lincoln: President-Elect, Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter, 1860-1861; his 16 weeks to prepare, and how he made good use of it. Song Hongbing, Currency Wars; claims that Jews rule the world and were behind Hitler, the JFK assassination, and the 1990s Asian recession; becomes a bestseller in China; claims that the Rothschild family is worth $5T, 100x more than Bill Gates. Mike Huckabee (1955-), Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America. Lynn Hunt, Inventing Human Rights. Andrew Hurley, Diners, Bowling Alleys, and Trailer Parks: Chasing the American Dream in the Postwar Consumer Culture (Dec. 15). Janis Ian (1951-), Society's Child (autobio.). Georg G. Iggers, Q. Edward Wang, and Supriya Mukherjee, A Global History of Modern Historiography; how Western academic historians of the last 2.5 cents. grew out of their Eurocentrism and are developing more of a global comparative view. Clifford Irving (1930-), Phantom Rosebuds (autobio.). Susan Jacoby (1945-), The Age of American Unreason; how post-WWII society created a "crisis of memory and knowledge involving everything about the way we learn and think". Philip Jenkins (1952-), The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia - and How It Died (Oct. 20); claims that the center of Christianity for cents. was in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia all the way to China. Ha Jin (1956-), The Writer as Migrant (essays); his life as a lit. exile. Dr. Richard Johnson and Timothy Gower, The Sugar Fix: The High-Fructose Fallout That is Making You Fat and Sick. Robert Joling and Philip Van Praag, An Open and Shut Case; claims the CIA was behind the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Brian Jay Jones, Washington Irving: An American Original (first book). Marjorie G. Jones, Frances Yates and the Hermetic Tradition; British historian Dame Frances Amelia Yates (1899-1981). Van Jones (1968-), The Green Collar Economy (Oct. 7). Tony R. Judt (1948-2010), Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century. Robert Kagan (1958-), The Return of History and the End of Dreams. Michio Kaku (1947-), Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel - we won't have the ability to travel in time er, anytime er, soon? David Kaiser, The Road to Dallas: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy; blames it on organized crime and Cubans, not CIA; too bad about Oswald being the patsy? Stefan Kanfer, Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando (Mar. 10). Thomas Keneally (1935-), Searching for Schindler; "Had I read [this] before making the film, I may have made it an hour longer" (Steven Spielberg). David I. Kertzer (1948-), Amalia's Tale: A Peasant's Fight for Justice in 19th Century Italy (An Impoverished Peasant Woman, an Ambitious Journey, and a Fight for Justice). Jytte Klausen, The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe. Alec Klein, A Class Apart: Prodigies, Pressure, and Passion Inside of America's Best High Schools; Manhattan's Stuyvesant H.S., where a grade below 99 is considered flunking? Michael Korda (1933-), Ike: An American Hero. Gary A. Kowalski (1953-), Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America's Founding Fathers; claims that the U.S. Founding Fathers were neither devout Christians nor secularists but tried to combine religion with the Enlightenment. Deepa Kumar (1968-), Outside the Box: Corporate Media, Globalization, and the UPS Strike. Wally Lamb (1950-), Wishin' and Hopin': A Christmas Story. Robert Betts Laughlin (1950-), The Crime of Reason And the Closing of the Scientific Mind. Nigel Lawson (1932-), An Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming (Apr. 10); acknowledges global warming but denies that the science is settled, opposing the scientific consensus of the 2007 IPCC Report and claiming that global warming would bring benefits as well as harm, calls for gradual adaptation instead of radical action, with the soundbyte: "I don't question for a moment that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas and that, all things being equal, this will lead to warming of the atmosphere. And that it's true that scientists differ greatly on how big the effect is, but there is huge agreement that there is some effect. But we account for less than two percent of global carbon emissions. And so it is crazy for us–we can't do anything on our own – and if the rest of the world... is not going to go down this route... it's not doing any good. I have long since come to the conclusion... that [climate change] is an economic issue... My judgement is the most cost-effective way of dealing with it is though adaptation, and I believe that is perfectly do-able", pissing-off global warmists incl. Jean Palutikof and IPCC head Robert Watson, and the Hadley Centre, which admits that there has been no global warming since 2000 but blames it on the early 2007 La Nina - circular reasoning or gymnophobia? Edward G. Lengel, To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918. Bernard Lewis (1916-), Islam: The Religion and the People; after all the cents. of blood, a Jewish scholar on Islam pontificates that "At no time did the [Muslim] jurist approve of terrorism. Nor indeed is there any evidence of the use of terrorism [in Muslim history]"; "The emergence of the now widespread terrorism practice of suicide bombing is a development of the 20th century"; "The fanatical warrior offering his victims the choice of the Koran or the sword is not only untrue, it is impossible"; "Generally speaking, Muslim tolerance of unbelievers was far better than anything available in Christendom, until the rise of secularism in the 17th century". Michael Lewis (1960-), The Real Price of Everything: Rediscovering the Six Classics of Economics. Eric Lichtblau (1965-), Bush's Law: The Remaking of American Justice (Apr. 1); how Pres. George W. Bush trampled the U.S. Constitution to go after Islamic terrorists. Jessica Livingston (1972-), Founders at Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days; Steve Wozniak, Mitch Kapor, Ray Ozzie, Max Levchin. Steve Lohr, Go To: The Story of the Math Majors, Bridge Players, Engineers, Chess Wizards, Maverick Scientists, and Ico (Nov. 5). Ben Macintyre, Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal. Crystal Gail Magnum (1978-), The Last Dance for Grace: The Crystal Magnum Story; the Duke U. rape accuser's cash, er, side. Jane Mayer (1955-), The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals. Eric S. Margolis (1947-), American Raj: Liberation or Domination? Resolving the Conflict Between the West and the Muslim World (Oct. 1); predicts an Islamist takeover of Egypt. Ali al-Amin Mazrui (1933-), Globalization and Civilization: Are They Forces in Conflict?; The Politics of War and Culture of Violence; Euro-Jews and Afro-Arabs: The Great Semitic Divergence in History; attempts to explain why "Arabs lagged behind Jews in manifest genius", concluding "Jews have been at their best when they were Europeanized... almost as if you needed a mixture of Jewishness and Europeanness." Mark Matousek (1957-), The Boy He Left Behind: A Man's Search for His Lost Father; his search for the father who boned, er, abandoned him; When You're Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living; how he copes with HIV. Ali al-Amin Mazrui (1933-) et al. (eds.), Islam in Africa's Experience. Andrew C. McCarthy III, Willful Blindness: Memoir of the Jihad; describes a "zealous international network of warriors dead certain that history and Allah are on their side." Scott McClellan (1968-), What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception; Bush's press secy. from 2003-6 accuses Bush of "self-deception" and of maintaining a "permanent campaign approach". Walter Allen McDougall (1946-), Throes of Democracy: The American Civil War Era, 1829-1877. Danica McKellar (1975-), Kiss My Math; why girls should get into it when not watching her as Winnie Cooper in "The Wonder Years". Larry McMurtry (1936-), Books: A Memoir. John McWhorter, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (Oct. 30). Jon Ellis Meacham (1969-), American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House (Nov. 11) (Pulitzer Prize). Michael Mirdad, You're Not Going Crazy... You're Just Waking Up! The Five Stages of Soul Transformation Process (Nov. 3); An Introduction to Tantra and Sacred Sexuality (Nov. 8). Jurgen Moltmann (1926-), A Broad Place (autobio.). Thomas Moore (1940-), A Life At Work: The Joy of Discovering What You Were Born to Do. Jefferson Morley, Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA; the CIA station chief in Mexico in 1963 covered-up CIA operations involving Lee Harvey Oswald? Benny Morris (1948-) (ed.), Making Israel. Benny Morris (1948-), 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War. Charles R. Morris, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown: Easy Money, High Rollers, and the Great Credit Crash (Mar.); "The sad truth, however, is that subprime is just the first big boulder in an avalanche of asset write-downs that will rattle on through much of 2008. There will inevitably be margin calls, panicked selling, clamors from shareholders, and the flight from all risky assets that could double or triple the damage." Andrew Morton (1953-), Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography (Jan.); claims he's #2 in command in the Church of Scientology, and that some true believers claim that his daughter Suri was conceived with L. Ron Hubbard's frozen sperm. Paul Mosley and John Hudson, The Macroeconomic Impact of Aid Volatility. Paul Mosley, Ales Bulir, and Alan Gelb, Introduction: the Volatility of Overseas Aid. Nat. Research Council, The New Americans: Economics, Demographics and Fiscal Effects of Immigration; how Mexican immigrants to the U.S. "are poorer, pay less tax, and are more likely to receive public benefits than American citizens", and cost taxpayers $346B a year after some economic voodoo. William Nordhaus (1941-), A Question of Balance: Weighing the Options on Global Warming Policies (June 24). Christiane Northrup, The Secret Pleasures of Menopause. Michael Parenti (1933-), Contrary Notions: The Michael Parenti Reader. Ron Paul (1935-), The Revolution: A Manifesto; libertarian U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) (1976-85, 1997-) advocates abolishing Social Security, income tax, nationalized health care, the FBI and DEA along with the war on drugs, and ending the Iraq War, starting his own movement. Ralph Peters (1952-), Looking for Trouble: Adventures in a Broken World. James Petras, Zionism, Militarism and the Decline of U.S. Power. Walid Phares, The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad. T. Boone Pickens (1928-), The First Billion is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future (Sept. 2); wants to run all of America's trucks on natural gas and fill the prairies with wind generators. Stanley Plumly (1939-), Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography. Sidney Poitier (1927-), Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter. Samantha Power (1970-), Chasing the Flame Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World. Jill Price (1965-), The Woman Who Can't Forget: The Extraordinary Story of Living with the Most Remarkable Memory Known to Science (autobio.); suffers from hyperthymestic syndrome, never forgetting personal experiences, which weight her down as time progresses; the ultimate OCD? Jon Provost (1950-) and Laurie Jacobson, Timmy's in the Well: The Jon Provost Story; Timmy never fell into a well in "Lassie" but that doesn't stop the popular myth with its own true believers? Ibn Q. Al Rassooli, Lifting the Veil: The True Faces of Muhammad and Islam (Dec. 15). James Arthur Ray (1957-), Harmonic Wealth: The Secret of Attracting the Life You Want (Apr. 8); bestseller; too bad, on Oct. 8, 2009 two die during a sweat lodge ceremony at a Spiritual Warrior retreat in Sedona, Ariz., getting him convicted of negligent homicide - that's the life he wanted to attract? John Rechy (1934-), About My Life and the Kept Woman (autobio.). Andrew Roberts (1963-), Masters and Commanders: How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West. David Roberts, Devil's Gate: Brigham Young and the Great Mormon Handcart Tragedy. Aram Roston, The Man Who Pushed America to War: The Extraordinary Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi. Suze Rotolo (1943-2011), A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties (autobio.); Bob Dylan's girlfriend in 1961-4, who clutches his arm on the cover of his 2nd album "Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"; claims that he may have talent but is no honorable man. Barry Rubin, The Truth About Syria (May 27). Anthony Rudel, Hello Everybody! The Dawn of American Radio. Gus Russo and Stephen Molton, Brothers in Arms: The Kennedys, the Castros and the Politics of Murder. Jeffrey Sachs (1954-), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet; advocates plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Marc Sageman, Leaderless Jihad; former CIA agent says that al-Qaida is in decline and the new generation of radical Islamists is less skilled and effective. Bill Salus, Isralestine: The Ancient Blueprints of the Future Middle East (July 7); uses the Bible to predict the outcome of the inevitable Jewish-Muslim war. Ricardo S. Sanchez (1951-), Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story; U.S. CIC in Iraq in 2003 retires and slams Pres. George W. Bush. Michael Savage (1942-), Psychological Nudity. William A. Schabas (1950-), War Crimes and Human Rights; the Khmer Rouge massacres in 1970s Cambodia lack "the ethnic dimension that is part of the essence of the crime [of genocide]." Simon Schama (1945-), The American Future: A History; a comparison of Barack Obama and John McCain, strongly preferring Obama; aired in four episodes on BBC-TV on Oct. 10-31. Michael F. Scheuer, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq; by a CIA agent who resigned in 2004 in disgust after accusing his superiors of failing to aggressively target Osama bin Laden; "If you want to understand what's going on and if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing the war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer" (Osama bin Laden, Sept. 7, 2007). Peter Schweizer (1964-), Makers and Takers: How Conservatives Do All the Work While Liberals Whine and Complain (June 3). Peter Dale Scott (1929-), The War Conspiracy: JFK, 911, and the Deep Politics of War. Natan Sharansky, Defending Identity: Its Indispensible Role in Protecting Democracy (June 3). David Sheff (1955-), Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction (Feb. 26); NYT bestseller about his son Nic's methamphetamine addiction; filmed in 2018 starring STeve Carell and Timothee Chalamet. Rick Shenkman, Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter. Alix Kates Shulman (1932-), To Love What Is: A Marriage Transformed (autobio.); caring for her brain-impaired husband. John Selby (1945-), Quiet Your Mind: An Easy-to-Use Guide to Ending Chronic Worry and Negative Thoughts and Living a Calmer Life. Jim Sheeler, Final Salute: A Story of Unfinished Lives; a casualty notification officer for the U.S. Iraq War. Philip Shenon, The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Commission; how high-level U.S. govt. people got away with wrongdoing and incompetence. Clay Shirky (1964-), Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations; advocates "crowdsourcing" and other online collaborative efforts; "The Internet runs on love." Peter Singer (1946-), The Future of Animal Farming: Renewing the Animal Contract. Quentin Skinner (1940-), Hobbes and Republican Liberty. Mark Skousen (1947-), EconoPower: How a New Generation of Economists is Transforming the World (Mar. 21). Thomas P. Slaughter, The Beautiful Soul of John Woolman, Apostle of Abolition. Daniel Lord Smail, On Deep History and the Brain; "Where individuals once relied on religion and ritual as sources of dopamine and other chemical messengers, they turned increasingly to items of consumption, giving up God in favor of mammon.” Larry Smith (1968-) and Rachel Fershleiser (eds.), Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure; NYT bestseller; a takeoff of a line by Ernest Hemingway: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." Theodore Sorensen (1928-), Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History (autobio.); JFK's adviser. George Soros (1930-), The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. Robert Spencer (1962-), Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America Without Guns or Bombs. Tori Spelling (1973-), Stori Telling (Mar. 11). George Steiner (1929-), My Unwritten Books; George Steiner at The New Yorker. Michael Sturmer (1938-), Putin and the Rise of Russia: The Country That Came In From the Cold; an admiring bio. by a right-wing German historian? Cass R. Sunstein (1954-) and Richard H. Thaler, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness; govt. should gently force people to be better, incl. putting healthiest foods in front at school cafeterias; marriage should be downgraded to a civil contract like a country club membership. Ron Suskind (1959-), The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism (Aug. 5). Radhanath Swami (1950-), The Journey Home: Autobiography of an American Swami; his journey from Jewish boy in Chicago to Hare Krishna guru in Mumbai, India. M. Wesley Swearingen, To Kill A President: Finally - An Ex-FBI Agent Rips Aside the Veil of Secrecy That Killed JFK (May 28). Michael Taeckens, Love is a Four-Letter Word. Victor Thorn, Hillary (and Bill) (3 vols.); incl. The Sex Volume (Feb. 14), The Drugs Volume, and The Murder Volume. Bruce Thornton (1953-), Decline and Fall: Europe's Slow Motion Suicide. Mary Tillman, Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman (Apr. 29); Pat Tillman's mother disses Stanley A. McChrystal (who was promoted to maj. gen. nine days after the death) for covering up his friendly fire death, calling him the "golden boy" of Pres. Bush and Donald Rumsfeld; "The false narrative, which McChrystal helped construct, diminished Pat's true actions". Kathleen Turner (1954-), Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love and Leading Roles (autobio.); claims that Nicolas Cage was arrested for DWI while filming "Peggy Sue Got Married", pissing him off and causing him to file a lawsuit. Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America; Harlem Children's Zone dir. (1990-) Geoffrey Canada (1952-). Donald Trump (1946-) and Meredith McIver, Trump: Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success (Jan. 18). Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), Armageddon in Retrospect (essays) (posth.). Charlotte S. Waisman and Jill S. Tietjen, Her Story: A Historyscope of the Women Who Changed America; 300 women starting with Virginia Dare in 1587. Barbara Walters (1929-), Audition: A Memoir (autobio.) (May 6); admits affair with black Mass. Dem. Sen. Edward Brooks. Benjamin J. Wattenberg (1933-), Fighting Words: A Tale of How Liberals Created Neo-Conservatism. Jacob Weisberg, The Bush Tragedy; George W. Bush "has been driven since childhood by a need to differentiate himself from his father", leading his presidency to crash and burn? Paul West (1930-), The Shadow Factory. Joan Wickersham, The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order. Frank Wilczek, The Lightnebss of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces. Sean Wilentz, The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974-2008. Laura Lynne Williams, The Storks' Nest: Life and Love in the Russian Countryside. Marianne Williamson (1952-), The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife (Jan.); bestseller. R.C.L. Wilson, The Great Ice Age. Anthony C. Wood, Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City's Landmarks; how the demolition of the Penn Station in NYC in 1963 led to the 1966 U.S. National Historic Preservation Act. James Wood (1965-), How Fiction Works; the "novel exists to be affecting... to shake us profoundly. When we're rigorous about feeling, we're honoring that"; coins the term "hysterical realism". Bob Woodward (1943-), The War Within: A Secret White House History (2006–2008) (Sept. 8); Pres. George W. Bush's 2007 Iraq surge strategy. Lawrence Wright, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Terry Tempest Williams (1955-), Finding Beauty in a Broken World (Oct.). Garry Wills (1934-), What the Gospels Meant. Michael Wolff, The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch. Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World (Apr. 17); how the U.S. will no longer dominate the world economic, cultural or political scene due to the "rise of the rest", incl. China, India, Brazil, and Russia; "This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." Vadim Zeeland, Reality Transurfing (4 vols.) (2008-11); combines quantum physics with the idea of parallel worlds and the Law of Attraction. Philip Zimbardo (1933-), The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life; incl. his Time Perspective Inventory. Phil Zuckerman, Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment; secular society in Denmark and Sweden. Music: Saving Abel, Saving Abel (album) (debut) (#49 in the U.S.); from Corinth, Miss., incl. Jared Weeks, Jason Null, Scott Bartlett, Eric Taylor, Blake Dixon, and Daniel Dwight; incl. Addicted, 18 Days, Drowning (Face Down). The Academy Is..., Fast Times at Barrington High (album #4) (last) (Aug. 18) (#17 in the U.S.); incl. About a Girl. AC/DC, Black Ice (album #16) (Oct. 17); incl. Rock 'N Roll Train, Big Jack, Anything Goes, Money Made. Adele (1988-), 19 (album) (debut) (Jan. 28) (#1 in the U.K.); incl. Chasing Pavements, Hometown Glory, Cold Shoulder, Make You Feel My Love. Christina Aguilera (1980-), Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits (album) (Nov. 7). Akon (1977-), Freedom (album #3) (Dec. 2); sells 600K copies; incl. Right Now (Na Na Na), Holla Holla (with T-Pain). Amon Amarth, Twilight of the Thunder God (album #7) (Sept. 17) (#50 in the U.S.); incl. Twilight of the Thunder God, Guardians of Asgaard (w/Lars Goran Petrov). The Presidents of the United States of America, These Are the Good Times People (album #5) (Mar. 11); first with Andrew McKeag instead of Dave Dederer; incl. Rot in the Sun. David Archuleta (1990-), David Archuleta (#2 in the U.S.) (900K copies worldwide); incl. Crush. Joseph Arthur (1971-) and the Lonely Astronauts, Temporary People (album #7) (Sept. 30); incl. Temporary People. Ashanti (1980-), The Declaration (album #4) (June 3) (#6 in the U.S.); incl. The Way That I Love You, Body on Me (w/Nelly, Akon), Good Good. B-52's, Funplex (album) (Mar. 25); first new album in 16 years, minus the hairdos and Ricky Wilson, and drummer Keith Strickland switching to guitar; incl. Funplex, Juliet of the Spirits, Deviant Ingredient, Eyes Wide Open, Pump, Ultraviolet. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple (album #2) (Mar. 18); incl. Run (I'm a Natural Disaster), Going On, Who's Gonna Save My Soul. Bauhaus, Go Away White (album #5) (Mar. 3); first album since 1983; incl. Too Much 21st Century. Beatallica, All You Need Is Blood (May); in 13 languages. Bun B, II Trill (album) (Apr. 1). Erykah Badu (1971-), New Amerykah (album) (Feb. 26). Marcia Ball (1949-), Peace, Love & BBQ (album). Beck (1970-), Modern Guilt (album) (July 8). Natasha Bedingfield (1981-), Pocketful of Sunshine (Jan. 22); incl. Pocketful of Sunshine, Love Like This. Beastie Boys, The Mix-Up (album). Bell and Sebastian, The BBC Sessions (album) (Nov. 18). Beyonce (1981-), I Am... Sasha Fierce (album #3) (Nov. 18) (#1 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.) (7M copies); incl. If I Were a Boy, Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It), (the video starts a dance craze), Diva. Pet Shop Boys and Xenomania, ?. Billy Bragg (1957-) and The Blokes, Mr. Love & Justice (album #7) (Mar. 3); incl. Mr. Love & Justice, I Keep Faith, The Beach Is Free. Jackson Browne (1948-), Time the Conqueror (album #13) (Sept. 23) (#20 in the U.S.); expresses his disgust with the George W. Bush admin. Buckcherry, Black Butterfly (album #4) (Sept. 12) (#8 in the U.S.); incl. Too Drunk, Don't Go Away< Rescue Me, Talk to Me. Chris de Burgh (1948-), Footsteps (album #16) (Nov.). The Cab, Whisper War (album) (debut) (Apr. 29); from Las Vegas, Nev., incl. Alex DeLeon, Cash Colligan (bass), Alex Johnson (drums), Alex Marshall (piano), Ian Crawford; incl. I'll Run. Mariah Carey (1970-), E=MC^2 (Emancipation = Mariah Carey) (album #11) (Apr. 15) (#1 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.) (2.5M copies); incl. Touch My Body (#1 in the U.S.) (helps her pass Elvis Presley for the most #1 solo pop singles, 18), Bye Bye, I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time (w/T.l.), I Stay in Love; The Ballads (album) (Oct. 17). Tracy Chapman (1964-), Our Bright Future (album #8) (Nov. 11) (#57 in the U.S., #75 in the U.K.); incl. Sing for You. Owl City, Maybe I'm Dreaming (album) (debut) (Dec. 16); from Owatonna, Minn., incl. Adam Randal Young (1986-). Coldplay, Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends (album #4) (June 11) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (10M copies); incl. Viva La Vida (Living the Life) (title named after a Frida Kahlo painting) (Cat Stevens sues for allegedly ripping off his "Foreigner Suite"), Lost!, Lovers in Japan, Violet Hill. David Cook (1982-), David Cook (album) (Nov. 18); incl. Light On, Time of My Life. Coolio (1963-), Stear Hear (album #6) (Oct. 28). Alice Cooper (1948-), Along Came a Spider (album #25). Elvis Costello (1954-) and the Imposters, Momofuku (album) (Apr. 22). Sheryl Crow (1962-), Detours (album) (Feb. 8); incl. Shine Over Babylon. Counting Crows, Saturday Nights and Morning Songs (album #5) (Mar. 25) (#3 in the U.S., #12 in the U.K.); incl. 1492, Washington Square, You Can't Count on Me (#80 in the U.S.), When I Dream of Michelangelo (#7 in the U.S.). Motley Crue, Saints of Los Angeles (The Dirt) (album #9) (June 24) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. Saints of Los Angeles (#5), Mutherfucker of the Year (#29), White Trash Circus (#37). Hyper Crush, The Arcade (album) (debut) (May 1); from LA, incl. rapper Donny Fontaine, vocalist Holly Valentine, and DJ/keyboardist Preston Moronoe; incl. The Arcade, Robo Tech, This Is My Life, Candy Store. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs (album #6) (May 12) (#1 in the U.S., #24 in the U.K.); incl. I Will Possess Your Heart, No Sunlight, Cath..., Grapevine Fires. Miley Cyrus (1992-), Breakout (solo debut) (July 22); incl. The Damned, So, Who's Paranoid? (album #10) (Nov. 17); incl. Little Miss Disaster. Taylor Dayne (1962-), Satisfied (album) (Feb. 5). Panic! at the Disco, Pretty. Odd. (album #2) (Mar. 21) (#2 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. Nine in the Afternoon, Mad as Rabbits, That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed), Northern Downpour; ...Live in Chicago (album) (Dec. 2). Disturbed, Indestructible (album #4) (June 3, 2008) (#1 in the U.S., #20 in the U.K.) (1M copies); incl. Indestructible, Inside the Fire, Perfect Insanity, The Night. Snoop Dogg (1971-), Ego Trippin' (album #9) (Mar. 11). Dokken, Lightning Strikes Again (album #10) (May 13) (#133 in the U.S.); incl. Disease, Point Of No Return. Pussycat Dolls, Doll Domination (album #2) (Sept. 19) (#4 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); incl. When I Grow Up, Bottle Pop, Whatcha Think About That (w/Missy Elliot), I Hate This Part. 3 Doors Down, 3 Doors Down (album #4) (May 20) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. It's Not My Time, Citzen/Soldier. Haylie Duff (1985-), Walk the Walk (album) (debut). Duffy (1984-), Rockferry (album) (debut) (Mar. 3); sells 6M copies; incl. Mercy, Warwick Avenue, Syrup and Honey. Forgive Durden, Razia's Shadow: A Musical (album) (Oct. 28). Enya (1961-), And Winter Came... (album #8) (Nov. 10); sells 3.5M copies; incl. White Is In the Winter Night, O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Trains and Winter Rains, My! My! Time Flies!, Oiche Chiuin. Exodus, Let There Be Blood (album) (Oct. 28). Extreme, Saudades de Rock (album #5) (Aug. 12); first album since 1995; incl. Comfortably Dumb. Marianne Faithfull (1946-), Easy Come, Easy Go (album) (May). Fall Out Boy, Folle a Deux (album #5) (Dec. 10) (#8 in the U.S.) (500K copies); incl. I Don't Care. Maroon 5, Call and Response: The Remix Album (album #3) (Dec. 9). Filter, Anthems for the Damned (album #4) (May 13) (#60 in the U.S.); incl. Soldiers of Misfortune. Fleet Foxes, Sun Giant (EP #2) (Apr. 8); incl. Mykonos, Drops in the River, English House; Fleet Foxes (album) (debut) (June 3) (#3 in the U.K.); incl. White Winter Hymnal, He Doesn't Know Why. Lady Gaga (1986-), The Fame (album) (debut) (Aug. 19); incl. Just Dance, Poker Face (about having to not show a man she's with that she'd rather be with a woman), Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say), LoveGame, Paparazzi. The Game, L.A.X. (album) (Aug. 26); original title "The D.O.C."; incl. Game's Pain, Dope Boys (with Travis Barker). Glasvegas, Glasvegas (album) (debut) (Sept. 8) (#2 in the U.K.); from Glasgow, Scotland, incl. James Allan (vocals), Rab Allan (guitar), Paul Donoghue (bass), and Joanna Lofgren (Löfgren) (drums); incl. It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry, Geraldine, Daddy's Gone; A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like A Kiss) (EP) (Dec. 1); incl. Fuck You, It's Over, Please Come Back Home, Silent Night (Noapte De Vis). Don Grady (1944-), Boomer: JazRokPop (album); songs for the Baby Boomer gen., by Robbie Douglas in "My Three Sons". The Phenomenal Handclap Band, The Phenomenal Handclap Band (album) (debut) (Oct. 28); incl. 15 to 20 (w/Lady Tigra), Baby, You'll Disappear. Jeff Healey (1966-2008), Mess of Blues (album) (Apr.) (posth.). Uriah Heep, Wake the Sleeper (album #21) (June 2); incl. What Kind of God. Her Space Holiday, XOXO, Panda and The New Kid Revival (album); Sleepy Tigers; used in a popular Bassett Furniture TV commercial; "You'll make biscuits and I'll make tea/ We'll curl up close and then fall asleep/ To the sound of no one else, no one else around." Vanessa Hudgens (1988-), Identified (album #2) (July 1). David Ippolito, Crazy on the Same Day (album #9). Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago (album) (debut) (Feb. 19) (#64 in the U.S., #42 in the U.K.); from Eau Claire, Wisc., incl. Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (1981-); incl. For Emma, Skinny Love. LL Cool J (1968-), Exit 13 (album). Alan Jackson (1958-), Good Time (album) (Mar. 4); incl. Small Town Southern Man. Janet Jackson (1966-), Discipline (album #10) (Feb. 26) (#1 in the U.S., #63 in the U.K.) (500K copies); incl. Feedback (#19 in the U.S.), Rock with U, Luv, Can't B Good. Jack Hody Johnson (1975-), Sleep Through the Static (album #4) (Feb. 5) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.); incl. Sleep Through the Static, Hope, If I Had Eyes. Jonas Brothers, Camp Rock Soundtrack (album) (June 17); A Little Bit Longer (album #3) (Aug. 12) (#1 in the U.S., #19 in the U.K.); incl. Burnin' Up, Lovebug, Tonight. Grace Jones (1948-), Hurricane (album #10) (Nov. 3); first album since 1989; incl. Hurricane, Williams' Blood, Corporate Cannibal. Journey, Revelation (album #13) (June 3); incl. Never Walk Away, Where Did I Lose Your Love, After All These Years. Juanes, La Vida... Es Un Ratico (album) (Nov. 25); incl. Me Enamora. Danity Kane, Welcome to the Dollhouse (album #2); incl. Welcome to the Dollhouse, Damaged. The Black Keys, Attack & Release (album #5) (Apr. 1) (#14 in the U.S.) featured I Got Mine, Same Old Thing, Strange Times. Cold War Kids, Loyalty to Loyalty (album #2) (Sept. 23); incl. Something Is Not Right with Me. The Killers, Day & Age (album #3) (Nov. 18) (#6 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (3M copies); incl. The World We Live In, Human, Spaceman, A Dustland Fairytale. The Kominas, Wild Nights in Guantanamo Bay, (album) (debut) (Mar. 14); from Boston, Mass., incl. Pakistani-born Shahjehan Khan (vocals), Basim Usmani (bass), Imran Malik (drums), and Bengali-born Arjun Ray (guitar); got their start after reading Michael Muhammad Knight's 2002 Muslim punk novel "The Taqwacores"; incl. Sharia Law in the U.S.A., Blow Shit Up, and I Want a Handjob. Barenaked Ladies, Snacktime! (album) (May 6); children's album. Ladyhawke (1979-), Ladyhawke (album) (debut) (Sept. 22) (#16 in the U.K.); incl. Back of the Van, Paris Is Burning, Dusk Till Dawn, My Delirium, Magic. k.d. lang (1961-), Watershed (album #5) (Feb. 5); her first #1 album, in Australia. Cyndi Lauper (1953-), Bring Ya to the Brink (album #10) (May 27); incl. Set Your Heart, Same Ol' Story, Into the Nightlife. John Legend (1978-), Evolver (album #3) (Oct. 20); incl. Everybody Knows, Green Light (with Andre 3000). Def Leppard, Songs from the Sparkle Lounge (album #10) (Apr. 25); incl. Go. Black Lips, 200 Million Thousand (album #5) (Feb. 24); incl. Short Fuse. Flaming Lips, Christmas on Mars Soundtrack (album #12) (Nov. 11). Demi Lovato (1992-), Don't Forget (album) (debut) (Sept. 23); incl. La La Land, Get Back; Behind Enemy Lines. Ludacris (1977-), Theater of the Mind (album #6) (Nov. 22) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. What Them Girls Like, One More Drink (w/T-Pain), Nasty Girl (w/Plies). Madonna (1958-), Hard Candy (album #11) (Apr. 25) (#53 in the U.S., #36 in the U.K.); last with Warner Bros. Records; sells 2M copies; cover shows her sucking on a mike; incl. Candy Shop, 4 Minutes (w/ Justin Timberlake) (#3 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.), Give It 2 Me (#57 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.), Miles Away (#39 in the U.K.). John Mayer (1977-), Where the Light Is: Live in Los Angeles (album) (July 1). Martina McBride (1966-), Martina McBride (album #9); incl. Ride. Paul McCartney (1942-) and Youth (AKA The Fireman), Electric Arguments (album) (Nov. 24) (#67 in the U.S., #79 in the U.K.); title taken from the Allen Ginsberg poem "Kansas City to St. Louis"; incl. Sing the Changes. John Mellencamp (1951-), The Company We Keep (album). Metallica, Death Magnetic (album) (Sept.). Steve Miller Band, The Truth About the Lies (album). Millionaires, Bling Bling Bling! (EP) (debut) (July 22); from Huntington Beach, Calif., incl. sisters Melissa Marie and Allison Green; incl. I Like Money, Alcohol, In My Bed. Moby, Last Night (album) (Mar. 10); incl. Everyday It's 1989. Arctic Monkeys, At the Apollo (album) (Nov. 3). Van Morrison (1945-), Keep It Simple (album #32) (Mar. 17) (#10 in the U.S.); incl. That's Entrainment; "Entrainment is when you connect with the music... Entrainment is really what I'm getting at in the music... It's kind of when you're in the present moment - you're here - with no past or future." Motorhead, Motorizer (Motörizer) (album #19) (Aug. 26); Rock Out. Alannah Myles (1958-), Black Velvet (album #4). Nine Inch Nails, Ghosts I-IV (album #6) (Mar. 2) (#14 in the U.S., #60 in the U.K.); released under a Creative Commons license, with price points up to $300; The Slip (album #7) (July 22); released free, with the comment "This one's on me"; incl. Discipline. The National, The Virginia EP (album) (May 20). Nelly (1974-), Brass Knuckles (album #5) (Sept. 16) (#3 in the U.S.); incl. Party People (w/ Fergie) (#40 in the U.S., #14 in the U.K.), Stepped on My J'z (w/Ciara and Jermaine Dupri) (#90 in the U.S.), Body on Me (w/Akon and Ashanti) (#42 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.). Ne-Yo (1979-), Year of the Gentleman (album #3) (Sept. 16); incl. Closer, Mad. Nickelback, Dark Horse (album #6) (Nov. 17) (#2 in the U.K., #4 in the U.K.) (5M copies); incl. Gotta Be Somebody, Something in Your Mouth, If Today Was Your Last Day, I'd Come for You, Burn It to the Ground, Never Gonna Be Alone, Shakin' Hands, This Afternoon. Oasis, Dig Out Your Soul (album #7) (Oct. 6) (#5 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (5M copies); incl. The Shock of the Lightning, I'm Outta Time, Falling Down. The Offspring, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (album #8) (June 17); incl. Half-Truism, You're Gonna Go Far, Kid, Hammerhead, Kristy, Are You Doing Okay? Paris, Acid Reflex (album); incl. Don't Stop the Movement. Square One. Katy Perry (1984-), One of the Boys (album #2) (June 17) (#9 in the U.S., #11 in the U.K.) (5M copies); incl. I Kissed a Girl (June 16) ("I kissed a girl and I liked it") (the 1,000th #1 Billboard hit of the rock era, selling 4M+ copies). Kellie Pickler (1986-), Kellie Pickler (album #2) (Sept. 30); incl. Don't You Know You're Beautiful, Best Days of Your Life. Pink (1979-), Funhouse (album #5) (Oct. 24) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (1M copies); incl. So What (#1 in the U.S.) ("I guess I just lost my husband, I don't know where he went, so I'm going to drink my money, I'm not going to pay his rent"), Sober, Please Don't Leave Me, I Don't Believe You, Glitter in the Air (#20 in the U.S.). Phantom Planet, Raise the Dead (album #4) (Apr. 15); incl. Raise the Dead. Pretenders, Break Up the Concrete (album #9) (Oct. 7). Eric Prydz (1976-), Pjanoo (#2 in the U.K.). Juno Reactor, Gods and Monsters (album #7) (Apr. 22); incl. Immaculate Crucifixion, City of the Sinful. The All-American Rejects, When the World Comes Down (album #3) (Dec. 6) (#15 in the U.S., #48 in the U.K.); incl. Gives You Hell (#4 in the U.S., #18 in the U.K.), The Wind Blows (#113 in the U.S.), I Wanna (#92 in the U.S., #84 in the U.K.); Soundcheck Vol. 1 (EP) (Dec. 16). R.E.M., Accelerate (album #14) (Mar. 31); incl. Man-Sized Wreath, Supernatural Superserious, Hollow Man, Until the Day Is Done. Queen and Paul Rodgers, The Cosmos Roks (album #16) (Sept. 12); incl. Say It's Not True, C-lebrity. My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade Is Dead! (album) (June 30). La Roux, Quicksand (debut) (Dec.); combo of le roux and la rousse; from Brixton, England, incl. androgynous redhead Eleanor "Elly" Jackson (1988-). Primal Scream, Beautiful Future (album #9) (July 21); incl. Can't Go Back. Mr. Scruff (1972-), Ninja Tuna (album) (Oct. 6). Seal (1963-), Soul (album #6) (Nov. 1); incl. A Change Is Gonna Come (by Sam Cooke). Pete Seeger (1919-2014), Pete Seeger at 89 (album). Shaggy, Lucky Day (album); incl. Me Julie w/ Ali G), Hey Sexy Lady (with Brian and Tony Gold). Howard Leslie Shore (1946-) and Henry Hwang (1957-), The Fly (Theatre du Chatelet, Paris) (July 2); based on the 1986 David Cronenberg film, starring Daniel Okulitch as Seth Brundle, Ruxandra Donose as Veronica Quaife, and David Curry as Stathis Borans. Ashlee Simpson (1984-), Bittersweet World (album #3) (Apr. 22) (#4 in the U.S., #57 in the U.K.); incl. Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya), Little Miss Obsessive. Jessica Simpson (1980-), Do You Know (album #6) (Sept. 9) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. Come On Over, Remember That. Carly Simon (1945-), This Kind of Love (album) (Apr.). Hush Sound, Goodbye Blues (album #3) (Mar. 18); incl. Goodbye Blues. Spiderbait, Ghost Riders in the Sky; from the 2007 film "Ghost Rider". Britney Spears (1981-), Circus (album) (Dec. 2); incl. Circus, Womanizer (Sept. 26) (her first #1 single since "Baby One More Time" in 1998, rejuvenating her hot body career). Staind, The Illusion of Progress (album #6) (Aug. 19) (#3 in the U.S., #73 in the U.K.); incl. Believe, All I Want, The Way I Am, This Is It. Ringo Starr (1940-), Liverpool 8 (album #14) (Jan. 14); incl. Liverpool 8; Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band Live 2006 (July 7). Al Stewart (1945-), Sparks of Ancient Light (album #18) (Sept. 15); incl. Hanno the Navigator, Shah of Shahs, The Ear of the Night, The Loneliest Place on the Map. The Rolling Stones, Shine a Light Soundtrack (album) (Apr. 1). Sugarbabes, Catfights and Spotlights (album #6) (Oct. 17); incl. Girls, No Can Do. Donna Summer (1948-2012), Crayons (album #17) (May 20); first original album since 1991; incl. I'm a Fire, Stamp Your Feet, It's Only Love, Fame (The Game). Nada Surf, Lucky (album #5) (Feb. 4) (#82 in the U.S.); incl. Weightless, See These Bones, Beautiful Beat. Taylor Swift (1989-), Fearless (album #2) (Nov. 11) (#1 in the U.S.) (8.7M copies); incl. Love Story, Change. Testament, The Formation of Damnation (album #9) (Apr. 28) (#59 in the U.S.); features original guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Greg Christian, along with drummer Paul Bostaph (1964-); incl. The Formation of Damnation. Therion, Live Gothic (album) (July 25). Seven Mary Three, Day & Nightdriving (album #7) (Feb. 19); incl. Last Kiss. T.I., Paper Trail (album) (Sept. 30); incl. Whatever You Like, No Matter What. The Ting Tings, We Started Nothing (album) (debut) (May 19) (6M copies); from England, incl. Katie Rebecca White (1983-) (vocals), Jules "Jules" De Martino (1969-); incl. That's Not My Name, Fruit Machine, Shut Up and Let Me Go. The Fall of Troy, Phantom on the Horizon (album) (Nov. 28). Six Feet Under, Death Rituals (album #8) (Nov. 11); incl. Shot in the Head, Seed of Filth. Usher (1978-), Here I Stand (album #5) (May 27); sells 1.5M copies; incl. Trading Places, Love in This Club (with Young Jeezy), Moving Mountains. The Verve, Forth (album #4) (first album since 1999) (Aug. 25); incl. Love Is Noise (#4 in the U.K.). Lil Wayne (1982-), Tha Carter III (album). Weezer, Weezer (Red Album) (album #6) (June 3) (#4 in the U.S., #21 in the U.K.); incl. Pork and Beans, The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn), Troublemaker, Dreamin'. Kanye West (1977-), 808s & Heartbreak (album #4) (Nov. 24) (#1 in the U.S.) (1.6M copies in the U.S.); incl. Love Lockdown, Heartless, Amazing (w/Young Jeezy), Paranoid (w/Mr Hudson). Wisin and Yandel and DJ Nesty, Wisin & Yandel Presentan: La Mente Maestra (album) (Oct. 28); incl. Me Estas Tentando (You're Tempting Me). Lil' Zane (1982-), Tha Return (album #3) (Feb. 26). Frank Zappa (1940-93), One Shot Deal (album) (posth.) (June 13); Joe's Menage (album) (posth.) (Oct. 1); The Frank Zappa aaafnraa Birthday Bundle (album) (posth.) (Dec. 21). White Zombie, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (5-disc boxed set) (Nov. 25). Movies: Eric Red's 100 Feet (July 24) stars Famke Janssen as Marnie Watson, who kills her abusive husband in self-defense, is put under house arrest, and is stalked by his ghost. Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. (Mar. 7) stars Steven Strait, Camilla Belle, Cliff Curtis, and other no-names in a mammoth flick. Robert Luketic's 21 (Mar. 28) is about six MIT students who are trained to count cards by Prof. Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), and are sent to Las Vegas to rake in millions, led by whiz kid Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), who gets caught and is roughed up and threatened with murder by Casino goon Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), and turned into a sandbagger; the message of the flick is that all blackjack players are supposed to be dopes who don't use their brains to win and that casino employees are above the law?; anybody can learn card-counting on the Net, and casinos don't have to offer blackjack, or can put more decks in the shoe, so what's the point of the stupid movie except to sucker viewers into the theater if they have any money left after losing at the casino? Anne Fletcher's 27 Dresses (Jan. 18) is a breakthrough for Katherine Heigl, the new Meg Ryan. Hesham Issawi's AmericanEast (Nov. 14) pushes the Islam is a Religion of Peace narrative in a 1-sided way via a speech, trying to explain away the existence of Islamic terrorists while portraying Muhammad as a "cool dude" who has no bad side to emulate, leaving most of real history out and leaving viewers ignorant of the real facts; ironically it suggests a way out for Muslims, viz., conversion to Judaism; stars Sayed Badreya, Sarah Shahi, Tim Guinee, Tony Shalhoub, and Michael Shalhoub. Ed Harris' Appaloosa (Sept. 19) (New Line Cinema), based on the 2005 novel by Robert B. Parker channeling Tombstone, Ariz. stars Harris as lawman Virgil Cole, who is hired along with deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) to protect the lawless town of 1882 Appaloosa, N.M. from rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons); Renee Zellweger plays Hitch's babe Allie French; does $27.7M box office on a $20M budget. Baz Luhrmann's Australia (Nov. 26) stars Nicole Kidman as Lady Sarah Ashley, whose N Australian cattle ranch is threatened by land barons, causing her to lean on her handsome farmhand Drover (Hugh Jackman) in a 2K-head cattle drive, witnessing the Japanese bombing of Darwin at the start of WWII. Uli Edel's The Baader Meinhof Complex (Sept. 25), based on the 1985 bestseller by Stefan Aust is a documentary about the 1960s West German Red Army Faction. Chris Bell's Bigger, Stronger, Faster is a documentary about the weird world of sports steroids, incl. "poster boy for steroids" Ahnuld. Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (Oct. 10), based on the 2007 David Ignatius novel stars Leonardo DiCaprio as CIA operative Roger Ferris, who is sent by his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) (who gained 63 lbs. for the role) to track down a top terrorist in Jordan (really Morocco). Mark Herman's The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Nov. 14), based on the 2006 John Boyne novel stars Laszlo Aron as Bruno, son of Auschwitz concentration camp commandant, who befriends Jewish POW Shmuel, after which he dresses up in striped you know whats, sneaks in to help him, and ends up in a gas chamber - the farther from the real events, the more fake history sprouts up? Rob Reiner's The Bucket List (Jan. 11) stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as Edward Cole, and Carter Chambers, two old farts who escape a cancer ward for a last wild ride through the Seven Wonders of the World incl. Mt. Everest; blacks have come a long way since "The Defiant Ones" (1958)? Ethan Coen's and Joel Coen's Burn After Reading (Sept. 12) stars Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, and Tilda Swinton in a comedy about a CIA agent who writes a tell-all on a disk, which ends up in the hands of two gym employees, who try to cash it in. Darnell Martin's Cadillac Records (Dec. 5), about the early years of Chess Records in 1950s Chicago stars Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf, Mos Def as Chuck Berry, and Beyonce as Etta James; does $8.8M box office on a $12M budget. Clint Eastwood's Changeling (Oct. 31) stars Angelina Jolie as Christie Collins, whose son Walter (Gattling Griffith) is kidnapped in 1928 Los Angeles, and the corrupt LAPD return a different kid and tell her it's him, putting her through hell to come clean. Jon Poll's Charlie Bartlett (Feb. 22) stars Anton Yelchin as a rich kid who becomes the self-appointed pshrink to his high school; Robert Downey Jr. plays Principal Gardner. Roger Spottiswoode's The Children of Huang Shi (original title: The Bitter Sea) (Apr. 3) stars Jonathan Rhys-Myers as British journalist George Hogg in 1938 Nanjing, who rescues 60 orphans with help from Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell), Commie resistance fighter Chen Hansheng (Chow Yun-fat), and wealthy Mrs. Wang (Michelle Yeoh). Arnaud Desplechin's A Christmas Tale (Un Conte de Noel) (May 21) stars Catherine Deneuve as Junon, and Jean-Paul Roussilon as Abel, heads of a dysfunctional French family, whose children incl. Elizabeth (Anne Consigny) try to get them to a Christmas reunion. Steven Soderbergh's Che (Jan. 24) stars Benicio Del Toro as Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the Argentine doctor turned rev. leader who disappeared from Cuba in 1965 and ended up dead in Bolivia in Oct. 1967; comes in two parts. Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (May 18) stars Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian in a flick filled with too many pitiless battle scenes and no obvious Christian message other than that animal-human monsters are just as good as white men?; the Pevensie kids forget the wardrobe and use a train station this time; Sergio Castellitto stars as bad king Miraz of the Telmarines; also stars Peter Dinklage as Trumpkin the Red Dwarf, and Harry Gregson-Williams as the voice of Pattertwig the Squirrel. Matt Reeves' Cloverfield (Jan. 18) (Bad Robot Productions) (Paramount Pictures) (named after Santa Monica Airport, located near the HQ of Bad Robot Productions) debuts, seen through a personal camcorder in the area "formerly known as Central Park" stars Lizzy Caplan (as Marlena Diamond), Michael Stahl-David (as Rob Hawkins), T.J. Miller (as Hud Platt), and Jessica Lucas (as Lily Ford) in an "Omigod" flick about a sea monster attacking New York City, but this time the tables are turned and the viewer only sees dust clouds like in 9/11?; does $170.8M box office on a $25M budget; "Something has found us"; followed by "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016), "The Cloverfield Paradox" (2018). David Fincher's The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Dec. 25), based on a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald stars Bradd Pitt as an infant born in his 80s and aging backwards, and Cate Blanchett as his er, babe; so silly you want your money back? Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight (July 14) stars Christian Bale as Batman, Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon, Heath Ledger as the Joker, Aaron Eckhart as district atty. Harvey Dent, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as his asst. Rachel Dawes; on July 18 it sets a 1-day box office record of $66.4M, then another record of $157M for opening weekend, going on to do $1B box office on a $185M budget; followed by "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012); "Some people just want to watch the world burn" (Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth); "Upset the established order and everything becomes chaos." (Ledger) Scott Derrickson's The Day the Earth Stood Still (Dec. 12) (20th Cent. Fox) is a remake of the 1951 film, starring Keanu Reeves as Klaatu; does $233M box office on a $80M budget. Edward Zwick's Defiance (Dec. 31) stars Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski (1906-87), who helps 1.2K Jews escape to the Belorussian forest and actively holding out against the Nazis, despite all the other Jews meekly submitting like lambs to the slaughter. Yojiro Takita's Departures (Sept. 13) is about young unemployed cellist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), who suddenly decides to become a nakanshi (mortician). Neil Marshall's Doomsday (Mar. 14) is a sci-fi thriller about a plague in future Britain. D.J. Caruso's Eagle Eye (Sept. 26) (Paramount Pictures) stars Shia La Boeuf and Michelle Monaghan as Jerry Shaw and Rachel Holloman, who are thrown into an adventure via cell phone by mysterious voice Julianne Moore, who turns out to be the top secret Autonomous Reconnaissance Intelligence Integration Analysit (ARIAA) computer, which triggers Operation Guillotine, tasked to assassinate the president in favor of defense secy. Curly, er, George Callister (Michael Chiklis); Billy Bob Thornton plays FBI agent Tom Morgan; does $178.1M box office on an $80M budget. Laurent Cantet's Entre les Murs (Between the Walls) (The Class) (May 24), based on the 2006 novel by Francois Begaudeau stars himself as a teacher in Paris dealing with racially-mixed students; first French film to win the Palm de'Or since 1987 ("Under the Sun of Satan"); does $28.7M box office on a 2.5M Euro budget. Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (Feb.) takes on the scientific establishment for systematically suppressing and ruining the scientific careers of creationists and intelligent design advocates incl. Richard M. von Sternberg, evoking memories of the bad ole days when the all-in-one establishment Roman Catholic Church burned heretics, only without the burning part, just their employment and access to scientific resources and journals, with the soundbyte: "Big Science in this area of biology has lost its way. Scientists are supposed to be allowed to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, no matter what the implications are. Freedom of inquiry has been greatly compromised, and this is not only anti-American, it's anti-science. It's anti the whole concept of learning", with co-producer Walt Ruloff adding "People will be stunned to actually find out what elitist scientists proclaim, which is that a large majority of Americans are simpletons who believe in a fairy tale", all of which of course is vigorously denied by its employed spokesmen. Dennis Lee's Fireflies in the Garden (Feb. 10) (Universal Pictures) stars Willem Dafoe, Ryan Reynolds, and Julia Roberts in a story about three generations of an academic family devastated by an automobile accident, causing domineering father Charles Taylor (Dafoe) to have to face his failings; does $3.4M box office on an $8M budget. Andy Tennant's Fool's Gold (Feb. 8) stars Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson as estranged couple Benjamin and Tess Finnegan, who are reuinited by a search for the 1715 Queen's Dowry treasure off the Fla. coast. Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom (Apr. 18) is the first martial arts film teaming Jackie Chan (as Lu Yan the Drunken Immortal) and Jet Li (as Sun Wukong the Monkey King), with hidden wires everywhere; Michael Angarano plays Jason Tripitikas the traveler. Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (Oct. 15), based on the 2006 Peter Morgan play stars Frank Langella as Richard Nixon, and Michael Sheen as David Frost, who turn Nixon's last interview into a 3-round world boxing match, with Nixon winning hands-down until the last round, when Frost battles back and knocks him out, getting him to admit he failed the Am. people and its system of government, making Frost a giant hit with journalists; too bad, Langella lays Nixon on a little too thick, making him look half-drunk all the time, and the shark music is too manipulative? Courtney Hunt's Frozen River (Jan. 18) stars Melissa Leo as Ray Leo, and Misty Upham as Lila, who smuggle illegal aliens across the St. Lawrence River between N.Y. and Quebec in a Mohawk Rez. Matteo Garrone's Gomorra (May 16), based on the book by Roberto Saviano depicts the gory Camorra crime mob in Naples in an artsy fashion. Ramin Bahrani's Goodbye Solo (Aug. 31) stars Souleymane Sy Savane as Winston-Salem, N.C. Senegalese taxi driver Solo, who picks up suicidal Southern good ol' boy William (Robert Gene "Red" West, former bodyguard of Elvis Presley), and forms an unlikely friendship. Zak Penn's The Grand (Apr. 4) is a light comedy about a $10M prof. poker game, starring Woody Harrelson as One Eyed Jack Faro, plus six other players, incl. Chris Parnellas Asperger's case Harold Melvin, who recites the Mentat Oath from "Dune" before every game, Richard King as Andy Andrews, Dennis Farina as Deuce Fairbanks, Werner Herzog as a German psycho, and Cheryl Hines and David Cross as twins whose father Gabe Kaplan makes them compete against each other; the second half of the film doesn't keep up with the first half? Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino (Dec. 12) stars Eastwood as lonely old hoarse cig-puffing Polish-Am. Korean War vet Walt Kowalski, whose Vietnamese Hmong (pr. Mung) teenie neighbor Thao Vang Lor (Bee Vang) tries to steal his prize 1972 Gran Torino, only to have his family force him to pay him back by working for him, after which it turns into a cross-cultural father-son thing; Ahney Her plays Sue Lor, and Christopher Carley plays Father Janovich. Peter Berg's Hancock (July 1) stars Will Smith as a black boozing superhero who dresses like a street bum, and hires PR agent Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) to repair his image; does $107M by July 6, incl. $66M over the July 4th weekend. M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening (June 10) (20th Cent. Fox) stars Mark Wahlberg as Philly h.s. science teacher Elliot Moore, who flees from an airborne neurotoxin; Zooey Deschanel plays his wife Alma; does $16.4M box office on a $48M budget. Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army (July 11) star Ron Perlman and Selma Blair in a sequel that's better than the original. Jimmy Hayward's and Steve Martino's Horton Hears a Who! (Mar. 14) is an animated flick starring Jim Carrey as the voice of Horton, Steve Carrell as the mayor of Whoville, and Carol Burnett as Kangaroo. Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker (Sept. 4), written by producer Mark Boal stars Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Guy Pearce, Jeremy Renner, and Anthony Mackie in an action thriller about the U.S. Army's elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams in Iraq. Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk (June 8) (Marvel Studios) (Universal Pictures) stars Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, William Hurt as Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross; Lou Ferrigno appears as the Hulk's voice; does $263.4M box office on a $150M budget. Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (May 22) sees long-in-the-tooth Harrison Ford return to reprise the 1980s franchise; Cate Blanchett plays Russian villain Irina Spalko; grosses $126M on the 4-day Memorial Day weekend. Iain Softley's Inkheart (Dec. 11), based on the 2003 novel by Cornelia Funke stars Brendan Fraser as booklover Mo "Silvertongue" Folchart, a man who when he reads fiction aloud sees a main chars come to life, at the expense of a person from the real world being sent back to theirs, in particular his wife, who has been trapped in guess what book for nine years; also stars Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, and Jim Broadbent; does $62.5M box office on a $60M budget. Aaron Newman's Iran is Not the Problem is a documentary with the tagline "Will truth be the casualty of our next war?", portraying Iran as innocuous and not worth invading by the U.S., because it's only about oil and U.S. world domination. Jon Favreau's Iron Man (May 2), based on the Marvel Comics char. stars Robert Downey Jr. as hi tech genius Tony Stark, who builds an advanced exoskeleton that makes him into a superhero; Gwyneth Paltrow plays his asst. Pepper Potts; Terrence Howard plays military liaison James Rhodes; Jeff Bridges plays Stark Industries exec Obadiah Stane; brings in $585M on a $140M budget; followed by "Iron Man 2" (2010), "Iron Man 3" (2013). Steven Gould's Jumper (Feb. 14) (Regency Enterprises) (20th Cent. Fox) stars Hayden Christensen as a young man who has a genetic power to jump to any location instantaneously, allowing him to rob banks and live the high life with his hot babe Millie Harris (Rachel Bilson); too bad, he attracts the Paladins, whose mission is to kill all jumpers, led by Roland Cox (Samuel L. Jackson); does $225.1M box office on an $85M budget. John Stevenson's and Mark Osborne's computer-animated action comedy film Kung Fu Panda (May 15) (DreamWorks Animation) features the voices of Jack Black as Po, Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu, Angelina Jolie as Master Tigress, Seth Rogen as Master Mantis, Lucy Liu as Master Viper, David Cross as Master Crane, Jackie Chan as Master Monkey, and Ian McShane as Tai Lung; does $631.7M box office on a $130M budget; sequels incl. "Kung Fu Panda 2" (2011), "Kung Fu Panda 3" (2016). Jean de Sigonzac's Lost City Raiders (Oct. 31) stars James Brolin, Ian Somerhalder, Ben Cross, and Jamie King on globally-warmed 2048 New Vatican, where Cardinal Battaglia wants to use the Scepter of Moses to stop a global flood. Marco Schnabel's The Love Guru (June 20) stars Mike Myers as Am.-born Guru Pitka, who returns to break into the self-help biz with books such as "If You're Happy and You Know It Think Again"; also stars Justin Timberlake as Jacques Grande, Verne Troyer as Coach Cherkov, Jessica Alba as Jane Bullard, and Jessica Simpson, Deepak Chopra, Kanye West, and Rob Blake as themselves in a mediocre comedy filled with penis jokes; "His Karma is huge"; "Get ready for the summer of love". Paul Weiland's Made of Honor (May 2) stars Patrick Dempsey, who is asked to be the maid of honor by Michelle Monaghan, but falls for her and tries to get her to break it off for him. Phyllida Lloyd's Mamma Mia! (June 30) (Relativity Media) (Universal Pictures), written by Catherine Johnson is a musical based on songs by ABBA and named after their 1975 hit, starring Amanda Seyfried as bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan, who invites three of her mother Donna's (Meryl Streep) former beaus to her wedding on Kalokairi Island in Greece hoping to ID one as her father, either Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth), or Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgard); grosses $615.7M worldwide on a $52M budget, becoming the 5th highest grossing film of 2008, highest grossing musical until ?), and the most commercially successful British film (until ?). James Marsh's Man on Wire (Jan. 22) (BBC Storyville) (Discovery Films) (UK Film Council) (Magnolia Pictures), based on his book "To Reach the Clouds" is a documentary about 1974 WTC tightrope walker Philippe Petit; "There is no why" (Petit); does $5.3M box office on a $1.9M budget. David Frankel's Marley & Me (Dec. 25) (20th Cent. Fox), based on the 2005 book by John Grogan about a loveable unruly yellow Lab stars Owen Wilson, Jennifer Anniston, and Eric Dane; Marley is played by 22 dogs; does $247.8M box office on a $60M budget. Spike Lee's Miracle at St. Anna (Sept. 26) (Touchstone Pictures), based on the 2003 novel by James McBride is about four black WWII Buffalo soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Div., incl. SSgt. Aubrey Stamps (Derek Luke), Sgt. Bishop Cummings (Michael Ealy), Cpl. Hector Negron (Laz Alonso), and PFC Samuel "Sam" Train (Omar Benson Miller), who get trapped in a Tuscan village and end up protecting little boy Angelo Torancelli (Matteo Sciabordi) and the Head of the Primavera bust while Stamps and Cummings get it on with hot villager Renata Salducci (Valentina Cervi); Pierfrancesco Favi plays Partisan leader Peppi Grotta AKA The Great Butterfly; does $9.3M box office on a $45M budget. Bharat Nalluri's Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (Mar. 7), based on the Winifred Watson novel stars Frances McDormand as English nanny Guinevere Pettigrew, who ends up working for flashy Am. actress Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams) in WWII London. Gus Van Sant's Milk (Oct. 28) stars Sean Penn as Harvey Milk (1930-78), and Josh Brolin as Dan White (1946-85); "Can homosexuals reproduce?" (Brolin); "No, but God knows we keep trying" (Penn). Sergei Bodrov's Mongol, starring Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano attempts to humanize Genghis Khan and show his good side. George C. Wolfe's Nights in Rodanthe (Sept. 26) stars Diane Lane, Richard Gere, and Christopher Meloni in a storm in N.C. Howard McCain's Outlander (July 2008), a remake of Bewolf set in 709 C.E. Norway stars James Caviezel as ET humanoid soldier Kainan, whose spacecraft wrecks in a large lake, allowing his Moorwen prisoner to escape, causing him to hoodwink local Norse king Hrothgar of Heorot (John Hurt) into helping him hunt a "dragon" while he hooks up with his daughter Freya (Sophia Myles). Tim Russ's Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (June 15) stars geriatric ST:TOS actors in a Lawrence Welk of the 23rd cent., starring aging Nichelle Nicholas as Uhura, Walter Koenig as Chekhov, and Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand. Marc Forster's Quantum of Solace (Oct. 29) (Eon Productions) (MGM) (Columbia Pictures0) (James Bond 007 film #22), the 2nd starring Daniel Craig is a sequel to the 1953 novel "Casino Royale", in which Bond battles Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a member of the evil Quantum org., who poses as an environmentalist to stage a coup in Bolivia and take control of its water supply, with the help of MI6 agent Strawberry Fields (Gemma Arterton); meanwhile Bond seeks revenge for his babe Vesper Lynd ("West Berlin") (Eva Green) (only woman other than future wife Tracy to whom he proposes), while his loyalty is questioned by M; does $586M box office on a $200M budget, incl. $70M office on opening weekend; the Quantum of Solace Theme is performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys. John Erick Dowdle's Quarantine (Oct. 10) (Andale Pictures) (Screen Gems) debuts, set on Mar. 11, 2008, about a mad-dog cannibal Armageddon Virus stolen from a lab by a doomsday cult and let loose as seen through the lens of reporter Angela Vidal (Jennifer Carpenter) and camerman Scott Percival (Steve Harris); does $41.3M box office on a $12M budget. Sylvester Stallone's Rambo (IV) (Jan. 24) (Millennium Films) (Lionsgate) (The Weinstein Co.) stars Stallone as John Rambo, who leads some mercenaries in Burma to rescue a village of Karen tribespeople along with hot babe Sarah Miller (Julie Benz); does $113M box office on a $50M budget. Stephen Daldry's The Reader (Dec. 10), based on the 1995 novel by Bernhard Schlink stars Ralph Fiennes as law student Michael Berg, who encounters his former lover Hanna Schmitz (Kate Winslet) (who likes to be read to) in a Nazi war crimes trial, and discovers her big secret, illiteracy; David Kross plays young Michael; Winslet's best supporting actress Oscar is the first ever for playing a Nazi. Larry Charles' Religulous (Oct. 3) ((Thousand Words, Liongate) is a documentary giving Bill Maher's irreverent take on world religions; "Why doesn't he just obliterate the Devil and therefore get rid of evil in the world? ... He will? What's he waiting for?"; "Senator, it worries me that people are running my country who believe in a talking snake"; "Sir, you would agree that even if a billion people believe something, it could still be ridiculous"; does $13.6M box office on a $2.5M budget. Gotz Spielmann's Revanche (Revenge) (Feb. 10) stars Irina Potapenko as Tamara, yet another hooker with a heart of gold, and Johannes Krisch as her lover Alex, who takes on her mean pimp and robs a bank with her to escape, only getting into more trouble. Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (Dec. 15) (DreamWorks Pictures) (BBC Films), based on the 1961 Richard Yates novel stars Leonardi Di Caprio and Kate Winslow as salesman Frank Wheeler and his wife April, who live at 115 Revolutionary Road in Conn., where their dream marriage crumbles; does $75.2M box office on a $35M budget. Tamara Jenkins' The Savages (Jan. 18) stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as troubled siblings Jon and Wendy Savage, who take care of their ailing father Lenny (Philip Bosco). Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Secret Life of Bees (Oct. 17), based on the 2002 Sue Monk Kidd novel set in the racist Am. South in 1964 stars Dakota Fanning as 14-y.-o. Lily Owens, who lives with the knowledge that she killed her mommy at age 4 and that her racist daddy doesn't love her, and springs her black nanny Rosaleen Daise (Jennifer Hudson) from jail so they can hitchhike to just-as-racist Tiburon, S.C. to pursue her mother's memory, finding three black beekeepers, August, June and May Boatwright (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo), who take them in and help her face her demons and learn that she is loved; their honey labels have a Black Madonna. Gabriele Muccino's Seven Pounds (Dec. 19) stars Will Smith as IRS agent Ben Thomas, who gets religion and sets out to help seven strangers, incl. Emily Posa (Rosario Dawson). Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire (Aug. 30) (Film4) (Warner Bros.) (Celador Films), written by Simon Beaufoy based on the 2005 novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup stars English-born Dev Patel (1990-) in his film debut as Mumbai slumdog Jamal Malik, who faces long odds to go all the way to 20M rupees on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" to save his childhood sweetheart Latika (played by Rubina Ali and Freida Pinto), and ends up in trouble with the police in a complex story with flashbacks of his horrible childhood; the show's MC Prem Kumar is played by Anil Kapoor; after he proves to the police that he didn't cheat because every answer came from a life experience, the lovers do a Bollywood dance at the C.S.T. train station to the song Jai Ho; does $377.9M box office on a $15M budget; on Apr. 22, 2009 allegations that Rafiq Qureshi attempted to sell his 9-y.-o. daughter Rubina Ali (1999-) for $300K are dropped; on May 14, 2009 the home of 10-y.-o. star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail (1999-) is bulldozed for pre-monsoon control. Mark Waters' The Spiderwick Chronicles (Feb. 14), based on the books by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black about an invisible world of magic creatures who are trying to break through the magic circle into the Spiderwick Estate and steal Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You stars Freddie Highmore as twin brothers Jared and Simon Grace, and Sarah Bolger as their sister Mallory; Nick Nolte plays the evil ogre Mulgarath; Martin Short plays brownie/boggart Thimbletack. Adam McKay's Step Brothers (July 25) (Columbia Pictures) stars Will Ferrell as Brennan Huff and John C. Reilly as Dale Doback, two sleepwalking 40-y.-o. bums who still live with their parents Nancy Huff (Mary Steenburgen) and Richard Jenkins (Robert Doback), who get married, making them into brothers and roommates; does $128.1M box office on a $65M budget. Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss (Mar. 28) stars Ryan Phillippe as Sgt. Brandon King, a decorated Iraqi War hero who is forced to do another tour of duty by the Bush admin., forcing him to leave his nice life next door to the Bradys. Bryan Bertino's The Strangers (May 30) (Vertigo Entertainment) (Rogue Pictures), based on the Manson family Tate murders and shot in rural S.C. is about three masked men invading the home of Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman); what really sells tickets are Tyler's nude scenes?; does $82.4M box office on a $9M budget; followed by "The Strangers: Prey at Night" (2018). Pierre Morel's Taken (Feb. 27) is a sleeper hit that ends up doing $226M on a $25M budget, starring Liam Neeson as ex-CIA agent Bryan Mills, who searches for his kidnapped daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) in Paris against a 96-hour time limit; Famke Janssen plays Kim's mother Lenore "Lenny" Mills; the thugs are all from Tropoje, Albania; cements Neeson's rep as an action hero; followed by "Taken 2" (2012). Michael Lichtenstein's horror comedy film Teeth (Jan. 19) (Roadside Attractions) (Dimension Extreme) stars Jess Weixler as Dawn O'Keefe, who suffers from vagina dentata ("It's Latin for teeth"); does $2.340M box office on a $2M budget. Daniel Junge's They Killed Sister Dorothy, narrated by Martin Sheen documents the murder of 73-y.-old Catholic nun and Brazilian rain forest activist Dorothy Stang (1931-2005) in Feb. 2005, causing Brazilian cattle rancher Regivaldo Galvao to be arrested by authorities in Dec. Jeffrey Nachmanoff's Traitor (Aug. 27) (Overture Films) stars Don Cheadle as Sudanese-Am. Muslim Samir Horn, who works undercover for the CIA, getting conflicted over his religion; does 27.6M box office on a $22M budget. Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder (Aug. 13) is a satire comedy about prima donna actors making a Vietnam War film who end up doing it for real, starring Stiller as Tugg Speedman, Jack Black as Jeff Portnoy, Anthony Ruivivar as Platoon Sgt. Shot in Head, and Robert Downey Jr. as Kirk Lazarus, who appears in blackface. Catherine Hardwicke's Twilight (Nov. 21), based on the Stephenie Meyer novel stars Kristen Stewart as Isabella "Bella" Swan, a teenie from Ariz. who moves to Wash. state and falls in love with 100+-y.-o. vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) (who has been 17 since 1918), grooving on his Superman-like abilities, and not having to worry about sex with a stone-cold walking slab, only about getting that way herself?; does $192M domestic and $191M foreign, for a total of $382M worldwide box office. Bryan Singer's Valkyrie (Dec. 25) (Studio Babelsberg) (United Artists) (Bad Hat Harry Productions) (Cruise/Wagner Productions)(MGM) (20th Cent. Fox) stars lookalike profile Tom Cruise as German Col. Claus von Stauffenburg, who unsuccessfully attempts to assassinate Herr Hitler on July 20, 1944 but at least gets close enough to make it exciting; features Kenneth Branagh as Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow, Bill Nighy as Gen. Friedrich Olbricht, Terence Stamp as Col. Gen. Ludwig Beck, Tom Wilkinson as Col. Gen. Friedrich Fromm, Carice van Houton as Stauffenberg's wife Nina, Matthias Freihof as Heinrich Himmler, Harvey Friedman as Joseph Goebbels, and David Bamber as Adolf Hitler; does $200M box office on a $75M budget. Pete Travis' Vantage Point (Feb. 13) (Relativity Media) (Columbia Pictures), written by Barry Levy is a hi-tech thriller about the assassination of U.S. pres. Ashton (William Hurt) in Plaza Mayor in Salamanca, Spain (really Mexico City, dressed up to look like i) as he is about to end the war on terrorism; luckily, he was tipped off and sent a double into the plaza, where Secret Service man Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) (who took a bullet for the same pres. 6 mo. earlier, and isn't told it's a double because he's considered still too shaken up) can't stop it all, but views videos by Am. tourist Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker) and begins chasing the lone gunman, only to be caught in a big bomb blast; the way cool plot then recycles the timeline over and over to show that the real pres. is holed-up in a nearby hotel, the assassins (as in conspiracy) know it, and hit him there and abduct him, but God Bless America, big cowboy hero Clint, er, Thomas Barnes survives superhuman odds and figures it out and saves him anyway; meanwhile subplots abound, involving actors Matthew Fox, Eduardo Noriega, Richard T. Jones, Holt McAllany, Ayelet Zurer, Said Taghmaoui et al.; too bad, it rocks until the ending, which has too many coincidences?; does $151.1M box office on a $40M budget. Woody Allen's Vicky Chistina Barcelona (Aug. 15) stars Javier Bardem as sensitive Spanish painter Juan Antonio Gonzalo, who attempts to romance Am. tourists Vicky (Rebecca Hall) (brunette) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) (blonde) in Barcelona at the same time (preferably in the same bed), only to have his jealous ex-wife Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) butt in; narrated by Christopher Evan Welch; "Only unfulfilled love can be romantic." Oliver Stone's W. (Oct. 16) stars Josh Brolin as U.S. pres. George W. Bush, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, Elizabeth Banks as Laura Bush, Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice, Sayed Badreya as Saddam Hussein, and J. Grant Albrecht as Jacques Chirac; does $29.5M box office on a $25.1M budget. Andrew Stanton's computer-animated Wall-E (WALL-E) (June 23) (Walt Disney Studios) (Pixar Animation Studios) is about cute lovable sanitation bot Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class (last robot on Earth) (voiced by Ben Burtt of R2D2 fame), who falls in love with and follows his robot babe EVE into space; does $521.3M box office on a $180M budget. Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir (June 12) (B&W animation) explores the gappy memory of an Israeli soldier who lost it in the 1980s Lebanese war. Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted (June 12) (Universal Pictures), based on the Mark Millar and J.G. Jones graphic novel series is a high-energy thriller about the Fraternity, a millennium-y.-o. secret society of super-powered assassins whose day job is weaving, starring James McAvoy as Chicago office worker Wesley Gibson, Angelina Jolie as Fox, Thomas Kretschmann as Cross, and Morgan Freeman as Sloan; does $341M box office on a $75M budget; the sequel stalls in development. Joshua Seftel's War, Inc. (Apr. 28) stars John Cusack as hit man Brand Hauser, and Marisa Tomei as reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen in a satire on the role of U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney and Halliburton in the Turaqistan War. Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy stars Michelle Williams as homeless Wendy from Ind., who loses her dog Lucy; also stars Will Patton. Jerome Tanner's Who's Nailin' Paylin (Nov. 4) (election day), a XXX porno spoof film stars Lisa Ann as Serra Paylin, Nina Hartley as Hilly, and Jada Fire as Condi, who get it on in hot lesbian action that's so realistic they didn't have to use actors? Alexander Olch's The Windmill Movie (Sept.) is based on a documentary filmmaker Richard P. Rogers tried to make before his 2001 death about his rich Hamptons lifestyle. Diane English's The Women, based on a 1939 Clare Buth Luce play about a wealthy New Yorker leaving her cheating husband to bond with other society women at a resort features Bette Midler turning Meg Ryan on to pot; Ryan's soundybte "I'm really stoned" is censored in the DVD. Peyton Reed's Yes Man (Dec. 9) (Warner Bros.), based on the 2005 book by Danny Wallace stars Jim Carrey as bank employee Carl Allen, who is mesmerized by Yes! guru Terrence Bundley (Terence Stamp), and can't say no to anything, gaining girlfriend Allison (Zooey Deschangel); Bradley Cooper plays his best friend Peter; does $226M box office on a $70M budget; Dennis Dugan's You Don't Mess with the Zohan (June 6) (Columbia Pictures) stars Adam Sandler as superhuman Israeli commando Zohan Dvir, who fakes his own death to become New York City hairstylist Scrappy Coco ("Half Australian, half Mount Everest"); John Turturro plays his superhuman Palestinian archenemy Fatoush "the Phantom" Hakbarah; does $202M box office on a $90M budget. James L. Frachon's Zombieland ("the other Zombieland") stars Brad Dourif and Arly Jover in a funeral home horror flick. Art: Emilio Lobato, La Charla (The Chat). Robert Rauschenberg, Lotus X; Lotus Bed I. Plays: Jeanine Tesori (1961-) and David Lindsay-Abaire (1969-), Shrek The Musical (musical) (Broadway Theatre, New York) (Dec. 14) (441 perf.); based on the 2001 film and the 1990 book by William Steig; stars Brian d'Arcy James as Shrek, Sutton Foster as Fiona, Christopher Sieber as Farquaad, and Daniel Breaker as the Donkey. Jacob Appel, The Mistress of Wholesome (Little Theatre, Alexandria, Va.) (May 16). Joey Arias, Arias With a Twist (New York) (June 12). Howard Brenton (1942-), Never So Good (Nat. Theatre, London) (Mar. 26); stars Jeremy Irons as Conservative British PM (1957-63) Harold Macmillan. Ethan Coen, Almost an Evening (New York) (Jan.). Lucinda Coxon, Happy Now? (Nat. Theatre, London) (Jan. 24). Don DeLillo, The Word for Snow (Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago) (Oct. 27). Michael Frayn (1933-), Afterlife (Nat. Theatre, London) (June 11); stars Roger Allam as Max Reinhardt. Jeremy Gable, Flying Spaghetti Monster: The Holy Mug of Grog. Gina Gionfriddo, Becky Shaw (Louisville, Ky.). Michael Gow, Toy Symphony; Roland Henning gets writer's block. David Hare (1947-), Gethsemane. Tony Harrison, Fram (Nat. Theatre, London) (Apr. 10); Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his ship Fram. David Henry Hwang (1957-), Yellow Face (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles). Nicholas de Jongh, Plague Over England (Finborough Theatre, London) (Mar.); based on the Oct. 21, 1953 lewd behavior arrest of gay actor John Gielgud. Dan Kwong, Be Like Water (Union Center for the Arts, Los Angeles) (Sept. 17); a young Asian-Am. girl is visited by Bruce Lee's ghost. Tracy Letts (1965-), August: Osage Country; a dysfunctional Okla. family; filmed in 2013. Adrienne Kennedy (1931-), Mom, How Did You Meet the Beatles? Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Her Naked Skin (Nat. Theatre, London) (July 24); first play by a woman writer to be produced in the Olivier Theatre; a love affair between two early 20th cent. suffragettes, played by Lesley Manville and Jemima Rooper. Frank McGuinness (1953-), The Holy Moley Jesus Story (Greash Theatre, Dublin). James Millar and Peter Rutherford, The Hatpin (musical) (Seymour Centre, Sydney) (Feb. 27); based on the story of Amber Murray. Joanna Murray-Smith (1962-), Scenes from a Marriage (Jan.); Ninety (Melbourne) (Aug.). Morris Panych, What Lies Before Us; a railway survey team is stranded in the Canadian Rockies in 1884. Tyler Perry, The Marriage Counselor (Jan.). Yasmina Reza (1959-), God of Carnage (Gielgud Theatre, West End, London) (Mar. 25) (Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, New York) (Mar. 22, 2009) (452 perf.); two children get in a fight in the park, causing their parents to meet to discuss it, but their discussion degenerates as they become childish too; dir. by Matthew Warchus; London production stars Ralph Fiennes, Tamsin Greig, Janet McTeer, and Ken Stott; Broadway production stars Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini, and Marcia Gay Harden; "A comedy of manners... without the manners." Robbie Roth, Robert Cary, and Tom Hedley, Flashdance the Musical (musical) (Theatre Royal, Plymouth) (July); adapted from the 1983 film; stars Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as Alex Owens, and Noel Sullivan as Nick Hurley. Sarah Ruhl (1974-), Dead Man's Cell Phone (Playwrights Horizons, New York); stars Mary-Louise Paker. Nick Stafford, War Horse (Nat. Theatre, London) (Oct. 17); adaptation of the book by Michael Morpurgo. Paula Vogel (1951-), Civil War Christmas. Anna Waronker (1972-) and Charlotte Caffey (1957-), Lovelace: A Rock Musical (Hayworth Theater, Los Angeles). Michael Weller (1942-), Beast. Robert Wilson (1941-), Rumi for the Polish Nat. Opera; Faust for the Polish Nat. Opera. Poetry: Frank Bidart (1939-), Watching the Spring Festival; his first book of lyrics. Andrei Codrescu (1946-), Jealous Witness: New Poems. Billy Collins (1941-), Ballistics. Mark Doty (1944-), Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems; Theories and Apparitions. Reginald Gibbons, Creatures of a Day. Jorie Graham (1950-), Sea Change. John Hollander (1929-), A Draft of Light. Reginald Howard, Without Saying. Ted Kooser (1939-), Valentines. W.S. Merwin (1927-), The Shadow of Sirius. Sharon Olds (1942-), One Secret Thing. Mary Oliver (1935-), Red Bird. George Oppen (1908-84), New Collected Poems (posth.). Kenneth Patchen (1911-72), We Meet; The Walking-Away World (posth.). Karl Shapiro (1913-2008), Coda: Last Poems (posth.). Charles Simic (1938-), Sixty Poems; That Little Something; Monster Loves His Labyrinth. Patricia Smith (1955-), Blood Dazzler; Hurricane Katrina; "None of them talked about Katrina/ She was their odd sister/ the blood dazzler". Gerald Stern (1925-), Save the Last Dance. James Tate (1943-), Ghost Soldiers. Sir Arnold Wesker (1932-), All Things Tire of Themselves. Novels: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein. Aravind Adiga (1974-), The White Tiger (first novel); rickshaw puller's son Balram Halwai in the Ganges River Valley escapes crushing poverty. Martin Amis (1949-), The Pregnant Widow. Jami Attenberg, The Kept Man (first novel); Manhattan party girl Jarvis Miller shops for a kept man. Paul Benjamin Auster (1947-), Man in the Dark (Sept.). Russell Banks (1940-), The Reserve; artist Jordan Groves in the Adirondacks in the 1930s. Clive Barker (1952-), The Scarlet Gospels; Absolute Midnight; Abarat #3. Stephanie Barron, A Flaw in the Blood; the real reason Prince Albert died "almost certainly was not typhoid". CharLes Baxter (1922-96), The Soul Thief; Nathaniel Mason and Theresa visit Lucas Samaras' Mirrored Room in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery of Buffalo, where each reflection shows them aging by a year. Glenn Beck (1964-), The Christmas Sweater (first novel) (Nov. 11). Steve Berry (1955-), The Charlemagne Pursuit; Cotton Malone #4. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Heart and Soul. William Peter Blatty (1928-), Elsewhere (Dec. 22); a ghost is a person who refuses to accept he's dead? Pierre Bourgeade (1927-2009), Ca n'Arrive qu'aux Mourants. C.J. Box, Free Fire; atty. Clay McCann uses a legal loophole to get away with a multiple murder. Dan Brown (1964-), The Solomon Key; Freemasons and the founding of America. Frederick Buechner (1926-), The Yellow Leaves: A Miscellany. James Lee Burke (1936-), Swan Peak. Robert Olen Butler (1945-), Intercourse (short stories). Jan Burke, The Messenger; supernatural thriller. John le Carre (1931-), The Most Wanted Man; surveillance of Muslim terrorists in "guilty city" Hamburg (home of Mohammed Atta and other 9/11 plotters) goes too far? Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Where Are You Now?. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-) and Carol Higgins Clark (1956-), Dashing Through the Snow. Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio (1940-), The Refrain of Hunger (Ritournelle de la Faim); set in 1930s Paris, about Ethel Brown, who must save herself and her parents. Paul Coelho (1947-), The Winner Stands Alone. Jackie Collins (1937-), Married Lovers (June 10); personal trainer Cameron Paradise. Suzanne Collins (1962-), The Hunger Games; 16-y.-o. Katniss Everdeen lives in Panem over the ruins of North Am., ruled by the Capitol, which holds an annual event where a boy and girl ages 12-18 from each of the 12 districts are selected by lottery to compete in a televised battle to the death; bestseller (1.5M copies); filmed in 2012; first of the Hunger Games Trilogy (2008-10). Evan S. Connell Jr. (1924-), Lost in Uttar Pradesh. Robin Cook (1940-), Foreign Body. Stephen Coonts (1946-), The Assassin; Rear Adm. Jake Grafton #11. Patricia Cornwell (1956-), The Front. John Crowley (1942-), Four Freedoms. Mitch Cullin, The Post-War Dream. Clive Cussler (1931-), Plague Ship. Clive Cussler (1931-) and Dirk Cussler, Arctic Drift (Nov.); Dirk Pitt #20. Nelson DeMille, The Gate House; Susan Stanhope Sutter of Long Island shoots next-door neighbor Frank Bellarosa, a mob boss, then divorces her hubby John. Junot Diaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (Pulitzer Prize). Thomas Michael Disch (1940-2008), The Word of God; written in the voice of God; The Wall of America (short stories). Cory Doctorow (1971-), Little Brother. E.L. Doctorow (1931-), Wakefield (The New Yorker, Jan. 14); Homer & Langley; the Collyer brothers, rich Harlem packrats, who die in their trash-filled mansion in 1947. Larry Doyle, I Love You, Beth Cooper; awkward boy falls for cheerleader. Andre Dubus III (1959-), The Garden of Last Days. Tony Earley, The Blue Star; sequel to "Jim the Boy". David Ebershoff, The 19th Wife; a Mormon is murdered, and guess who is accused? Louise Erdrich (1954-), The Plague of Doves; The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories, 1978-2008. Sebastian Faulks (1953-), Devil May Care (May); an authorized 007 James Bond novel set during the Cold War; in Jan. Britain marks the May 28 centennial of the birth of Ian Fleming (1908-64) by releasing James Bond theme postage stamps. Ken Follett (1949-), World Without End; #1 in the Century Trilogy. Paula Fox (1923-), A Portrait of Ivan. Carlos Fuentes, Happy Families; tr. Edith Grossman. Alan Furst (1941-), Spies of Warsaw; Night Soldiers #10. Neil Gaiman (1960-), The Graveyard Book. Kim Gatlin, Good Christian Bitches (Oct. 31); divorced mother of two Amanda moves back to Dallas. Julia Glass (1956-), I See You Everywhere (Oct. 14). Allegra Goodman (1967-), The Other Side of the Island. Thomas Christopher Greene, The Envious Moon. John Grisham (1955-), The Appeal. Lauren Groff (1978-), The Monsters of Templeton (Feb.) (first novel). David Grossman (1954-), To the End of the Land (Sept. 21); Ora, Ilan, Avram, Adam, and Ofer in Israel; English trans. Sept. 21, 2010; on Pres. Obama's summer 2011 reading list. Everette Lynn Harris (1955-2009), Just Too Good To Be True. Jim Harrison (1937-), The English Major. Scott Heim (1966-), We Disappear. Aleksandar Hemon (1964-), The Lazarus Project. Alice Hoffman (1952-), The Third Angel. P.D. James (1920-), The Private Patient; Adam Dalgliesh #14. Sherry Jones, The Jewel of Medina (Oct.); one of the wives of Prophet Muhammad. Hillary Jordan, Mudbound (first novel); the white landowning McAllan family vs. the black sharecropper Jackson family in the Deep South. A.L. Kennedy, Day; WWII RAF turret gunner Alfie Day relives the war as an extra in a movie. John Kessel (1950-), The Baum Plan for Financial Independence and Other Stories. Elias Khoury (1948-), Yalo; the Lebanese civil war produces a likeable rapist? Stephen King (1947-), Duma Key; Edgar Freemantle gets in a construction accident, leases the waterfront house Big Pink in Fla., and takes up painting; N; releases an animated video adaption of this short story in July, getting 1M hits on the Internet by Dec. Jane F. Kotapish, Salvage; a mother and daughter slowly go mad. Rachel Kushner (1968-), Telex from Cuba (first novel). Mark Leach, Marienbad My Love; a free e-book claiming to be the world's longest novel (17M words), about a journalist who tries to produce a new sci-film film version of the 1961 French New Wave film "Last Year at Marienbad" in order to bring about the end of the world. Yann Martel (1963-), A 20th Century Shirt; a talking monkey and donkey in a man's dress shirt discuss the Holocaust. Guillermo Martinez, The Book of Murder. Peter Matthiessen (1927-), Shadow Country; reworking of the Watson trilogy. Colleen McCullough (1937-), The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet. Dennis McFarland, Letter from Point Clear; evangelical preacher Pastor Vandorpe. Bill McKibben (1960-), The Bill McKibben Reader: Pieces from an Active Life. Stephenie Meyer, The Host (May 6); Breaking Dawn (Aug. 2). Stanley Middleton (1919-2009), Her Three Wise Men. Sue Miller (1943-), The Senator's Wife. Toni Morrison (1931-), A Mercy. Katherine Neville (1945-), The Fire; sequel to "The Eight" (1988). Elle Newmark, The Book of Unholy Mischief. Bragi Olafsson, The Pets; Emil Haldorsson suffers from eternal houseguest Havard Knutsson. Stewart O'Nan (1961-), Songs for the Missing. Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Snuff. Sara Paretsky (1947-), Bleeding Kansas; non-Warshawski novel. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), The Boxer and the Spy; Rough Weather; Spenser #36; Stranger in Paradise; Jesse Stone #7; Resolution; Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch #2. Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite. Jodi Picoult (1966-), Change of Heart. Steven Pressfield (1943-), Killing Rommel. Richard Price (1949-), Lush Life. Francine Prose (1947-), Goldengrove (Sept.); suburban teenie Nico loves her older sister Margaret. Annie Proulx, Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3. Jon Raymond, Livability (short stories). Anne Rice (1941-), Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana. Marilynne Robinson, Home. Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), Dead Heat. Boualem Sansal (1949-), Le Village de l'Allemand ou Le Journal des Freres Schiller (The German Mujahid) (An Unfinished Business). Jose Saramago (1922-2010), The Trip of the Elephant (Elephant Journey) (A Viagem do Elefante); Death with Interruptions (Oct. 6); a world where people grow old and frail but never die. John Scalzi (1969-), Zoe's Tale (Aug.); Old Man's War #4. Bernhard Schlink, Homecoming; Peter Debauer grows up in post-WWII Germany, then searches for writer John de Baur. John Burnham Schwartz, The Commoner; Haruko, Japan and the A-bomb. Salvatore Scibona, The End (first novel). Simon Sebag-Montefiore (1965-), Sashenka (first novel). Jeffrey Shaara (1952-), The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II (May 13); #2 in trilogy. Anne Rivers Siddons (1936-), Off Season (Aug. 13); Lily Constable McCall and her rival Peaches Davenport for the love of Jon Lowell. Dan Simmons (1948-), Muse of Fire (Dec. 28); the Earth becomes a mausoleum after the Archons erase its culture except for Shakespeare. Zadie Smith (1975-) (ed.), The Book of Other People. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), The Lucky One (Sept. 30); Logan Thibault of the USMC looks for a woman whose picture brings him good luck. Scott Spencer (1945-), Willing; 37-y.-o. New York writer Avery Jankowsky has a midlife crisis. Danielle Steel (1947-), Honor Thyself; Rogue; A Good Woman. Neal Town Stephenson (1959-), Anathem, about the planet Arbre, where brain people live like monks (fraas and suurs) in concents to pursue intellectual endeavors, and can only communicate with outsiders on the 10-day Apert. Steve Stern (1947-), The North of God. Charles Stross (1964-), Saturn's Children. Elizabeth Strout, Olive Kitteridge (short stories); a retired 7th grade math teacher. Duane Swierczynski (1972-), Severance Package. Brad Thor (1969-), The Last Patriot; NYT #1 bestseller about counterterrorism agent Scot Harvath, who uncovers a big secret about Muhammad via clues left by Thomas Jefferson; pisses-off Muslin convert (ex-Richard Nixon aide) Robert D. Crane for "Islamophobia", causing Glenn Beck to predict that he might be assassinated by Muslim extremists, and the WorldNetDaily to call him "the new Salman Rushdie"; banned in Saudi Arabia, making it more popular? Hannah Tinti, The Good Thief (first novel). Rose Tremain (1943-), The Road Home. John Updike (1932-2009), The Widows of Eastwick (last novel); sequel to "The Witches of Eastwick" (1984). Carrie Vaughn (1973-), Kitty and the Silver Bullet; Kitty Norville #4. Dan Vyleta, Pavel & I (first novel); the feral post-WWI children of Berlin. Joseph Wambaugh (1937-), Hollywood Crows. Charles Webb (1939-), Home School; sequel to "The Graduate" (1963). Alison Weir, Elizabeth, the Queen. Irvine Welsh (1958-), Crime; inspector Ray Lennox from "Filth". Stephen White (1951-), Dead Time (Mar.); Alan Gregory. John Edgar Wideman (1941-), Fanon. Dirk Wittenborn, Pharmakon; 1950s Yale psychologist William Friedrich creates a happiness drug. Tobias Wolff (1945-), Our Story Begins (short stories). Alissa York, Effigy; the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre in S Utah. Births: Am. "I Am Jazz" gay activist (trans) Jazz Jennings on Oct. 6 in South Fla. Deaths: Am. mob boss Salvatore "Bill" Bonanno (b. 1932) on Jan. 1 in Tucson, Ariz. (heart attack). Am. photographer Herbert Keppler (b. 1925) on Jan. 4 in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. Kiwi mountain climber Sir Edmund Hillary (b. 1919) on Jan. 11 in Auckland. Am. cancer researcher Judah Folkman (b. 1933) on Jan. 14 in Denver, Colo. (heart attack). Am. historian Robert Vance Bruce (b. 1923) on Jan. 15 in Olympia, Wash. Am. "The Client" actor Brad Renfro (b. 1982) on Jan. 15 in Los Angeles, Calif. (OD). Am. Carl's Jr. founder Carl Karcher (b. 1917) on Jan. 11 in Fullerton, Calif. (Parkinson's). Am. expatriate world chess champ #11 (1972-5) Bobby Fischer (b. 1943) on Jan. 17 in Reyjkavik, Iceland: "Chess is life" - your move? Am. "Sam the Butcher in The Brady Bunch" actor Allan Melvin (b. 1923) on Jan. 17 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Emily Hartley in The Bob Newhart Show" actress Suzanne Pleshette (b. 1937) on Jan. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif. (lung cancer). Australian "The Joker in The Dark Knight" actor Heath Ledger (b. 1979) on Jan. 22 in New York City (OD); found dead in his apt. of an accidental prescription drug OD, with six drugs in his system 4.5 mo. after breaking up with Michelle Williams (1980-) on Sept. 4, 2007, making him the new James Dean? Am. Marlon Brando's son Christian Brando (b. 1958) on Jan. 26 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia); dies destitute. Am. Mormon Church pres. (1995-2008) Gordon Bitner Hinckley (b. 1910) on Jan. 27 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Indonesian pres. #2 (1967-98) Suharto (b. 1921) on Jan. 27 in Jakarta. Am. writer Margaret Truman Daniel (b. 1924) on Jan. 29 in Chicago, Ill. Mexican Roman Catholic priest Marcial Maciel (b. 1920) on Jan. 30 in Jacksonville, Fla. U.S. agriculture secy. #18 (1971-6) Earl Butz (b. 1909) on Feb. 2 in Washington, D.C. English-Canadian "Lt. Philip Gerard in The Fugitive" actor Barry Morse (b. 1918) on Feb. 2 in London. Am. ABC-TV journalist John McWethy (b. 1947) on Feb. 6 in Keystone Resort, Colo. (runs into tree while skiing). Am. astronomer Robert Jastrow (b. 1925) on Feb. 8. Am. actor Robert DoQui (b. 1934) on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Police Chief Martin Brody in Jaws" actor Roy Scheider (b. 1932) on Feb. 10 in Little Rock, Ark. (cancer). Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido (b. 1925) on Feb. 11 in Xalapa, Veracruz (heart attack); dies after getting a civil union with his gay bud Hector Herrera approved in 2007. Hungarian-born Am. Dem. Jewish Holocaust survivor congressman Tom Lantos (b. 1928) on Feb. 11 in Bethesda, Md. (cancer). Am. "Lt. Lou Escobar in Chinatown" actor Perry Lopez (b. 1929) on Feb. 14 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (lung cancer). Am. "Hot Rod Lincoln singer Charlie Ryan (b. 1915) on Feb. 16 in Spokane, Wash. French writer-filmmaker Alain Robbe-Grillet (b. 1922) on Feb. 18 in Caen (heart failure). Am. "The Green Berets", "The French Connection" novelist Robin Moore (b. 1925) on Feb. 21 in Hopkinsville, Ky. Slovenian pres. (2002-7) Janez Drnovsek (b. 1950) on Feb. 23 in Zaplana. Am. historian George M. Frederickson (b. 1934) on Feb. 25 in Palo Alto, Calif. Am. conservative celeb William F. Buckley Jr. (b. 1925) on Feb. 27 in Stanford, Conn.: "I would rather be governed by the first two thousand people in the Boston telephone directory than by the first two thousand people in the Harvard faculty"; "A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!" Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (b. 1914) on Feb. 5 in Vlodrop, Netherlands. Canadian jazz musician Jeff Healey (b. 1966) on Mar. 2 in Toronto, Ont. (cancer). Am. physicist Frederick Seitz (b. 1911) on Mar. 2 in New York City. Am. Dungeons & Dragons game designer Gary Gygax (b. 1938) on Mar. 4 in Lake Geneva, Wisc. German-born Am. "ELIZA" computer scientist Joseph Weizenbaum (b. 1923) on Mar. 5 in Berlin. Am. geophysicist Richard Doell (b. 1923) on Mar. 6 in Point Richmond, Calif. Am. economist David Gale (b. 1921) on Mar. 7 in Berkeley, Calif. Am. Eckanar leader Darwin Gross (b. 1928) on Mar. 8. Am. poet Jonathan Williams (b. 1929) on Mar. 16. Am. "Kinch in Hogan's Heroes" actor Ivan Dixon (b. 1931) on Mar. 16 in Charlotte, N.C. (kidney failure). Am. LAPD Capt. (1970-6) Mervin Paul King (b. 1914) on Mar. 18 in South Pasadena, Calif. English "The English Patient" film dir. Anthony Minghella (b. 1954) on Mar. 18 in London (cancer). English "2001: A Space Odyssey" sci-fi novelist Arthur C. Clarke (b. 1917) on Mar. 19 in Colombo, Sri Lanka (where he lived since 1956, contracting polio in 1959); pub. 100+ books. English "A Man for All Seasons" actor Paul Scofield (b. 1922) on Mar. 19 in Sussex (leukemia). Am. Popeyes Chicken founder Al Copeland (b. 1944) on Mar. 23 in Munich, Germany (Merkel cell carcinoma). Am. actor Richard Widmark (b. 1914) on Mar. 24 in Roxbury, Conn. Am. novelist Helen Yglesias (b. 1915) on Mar. 28 in New York City. Am. musician Sean Levert (b. 1968) on Mar. 30 in Cleveland, Ohio. Am. "Night and the City" dir. Jules Dassin (b. 1911) on Mar. 31 in Athens, Greece (influenza). Am. writer Johnny Byrne (b. 1935) on Apr. 3. Am. "Ben-Hur", "Ten Commandments", "Planet of the Apes" actor Charlton Heston (b. 1923) on Apr. 5 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Alzheimer's). Irish pres. #6 (1976-90) Patrick Hillery (b. 1923) on Apr. 12 in Dublin. Am. physicist John Archibald Wheeler (b. 1911) on Apr. 13 in Hightstown, N.J. English "The Nice" drummer Brian Davison (b. 1942) on Apr. 15 in Horns Cross, Devon. Am. singer Joe Feeney (b. 1931) on Apr. 16 in Carlsbad, Calif. (emphysema). Am. Butterfly Effect mathematician Edward Norton Lorenz (b. 1917) on Apr. 16 in Cambridge, Mass. Am. artist Joseph Solman (b. 1909) on Apr. 16 in New York City. Martinican poet-playwright Aime Cesaire (b. 1913) on Apr. 17 in Fort-de-France (heart failure). French ethnologist Germain Tillion (b. 1907) on Apr. 18 in Saint-Mande; buried in the Pantheon. Am. "Show and Tell" soul singer Al Wilson (b. 1939) on Apr. 21 in Fontana, Calif. (kidney failure). Am. "Cool Night" singer Paul Davis (b. 1948) on Apr. 22 in Meridian, Miss. (heart attack). Am. jazz musician Jimmy Giuffre (b. 1921) on Apr. 24 in Pittsfield, Mass. (pneumonia). Canadian-born Am. spatial music composer Henry Brant (b. 1913) on Apr. 26 in Santa Barbara, Calif. Swiss LSD scientist Albert Hofmann (b. 1906) on Apr. 29 in Burg im Leimental - don't ask what made him live past 100? Am. "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey (b. 1956) on May 1 in Tarpon Springs, Fla. (suicide by hanging). Am. "Hazel" cartoonist Ted Key 9b. 1912) on May 3 in Tredyffrin, Penn. (bladder cancer and stroke). Canadian-born Am. Baskin-Robbins co-founder Irv Robbins (b. 1917) on May 5 in Rancho Mirage, Calif. Am. country singer Eddy Arnold (b. 1918) on May 8 in Nashville, Tenn.; sold 85M records incl. 28 #1 hits. Am. "Wall of Sound", "A Taste of Honey", "Pet Sounds" audio engineer Larry Levine (b. 1928) on May 8. Polish WWII resistance hero Irena Sendler (b. 1910) on May 12 in Warsaw. Am. ENIAC mathematician Arthur Walter Burks (b. 1915) on May 14 in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alzheimer's). Am. physicist Willis Eugene Lamb (b. 1913) on May 15 in Tucson, Ariz.; 1955 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. folk singer Utah Phillips (b. 1935) on May 23 in Nevada City, Calif. (heart disease). Am. poet-novelist George Garrett (b. 1929) on May 25 in Charlottesville, Va. (cancer). Am. mathematician (ENIAC pioneer) Arthur Walter Burks (b. 1915) on May 14 in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Alzheimer's). Am. "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" comedian Dick Martin (b. 1922) on May 24 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. poet Luis Omar Salinas (b. 1937) on May 25 in Sanger, Calif. Am. frozen french fries king J.R. Simplot (b. 1909) on May 25 in Boise, Idaho. Am. "Tootsie" dir. Sydney Pollack (b. 1934) on May 26 in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Am. comedian Harvey Korman (b. 1927) on May 29 in Los Angeles, Calif. French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent (b. 1936) on June 1 in Paris (brain cancer). Am. rock & roll founder Bo Diddley (b. 1928) on June 2. Am. "ABC's Wide World of Sports" TV host (1961-98) Jim McKay (b. 1921) on June 7 in Monkton, Md. Am. climate scientist Reid Bryson (b. 1920) on June 11. Am. country musician Danny Davis (b. 1925) on June 12 in Nashville, Tenn. (heart attack). Am. "Meet the Press" TV host (1991-2008) Tim Russert (b. 1950) on June 13 (Fri.) in Washington, D.C. (heart attack); after his funeral service a beautiful rainbow appears above Washington, D.C. Am. architect Walter A. Netsch (b. 1920) on June 15. Am. dancer-actress Cyd Charisse (b. 1922) on June 17 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart attack). Japanese serial murderer Tsutomu Miyazaki (b. 1962) on June 17 in Tokyo (hanged). Am. Hardee's founder Wilber Hardee (b. 1918) on June 20 in Greenville, N.C. Am. comedian George Carlin (b. 1937) on June 22 in Santa Monica, Calif. (heart failure): "Dan Quayle is all three: stupid, full of shit, and fuckin' nuts"; "Life is sacred? Who said so? God? Hey, if you read history, you realize that God is one of the leading causes of death"; "If everything that ever lived is dead, and everything that's alive is gonna die, where does the sacred part come in?"; "People say life begins at conception, I say life began about a billion years ago and it's a continuous process"; "Why is it that most of the people who are against abortion are people you wouldn't want to fuck in the first place?" Am. "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" actress Dody Goodman (b. 1914) on June 22 in N.J. Am. "Muppets" costume designer Kermit Love (b. 1916) on June 21 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Russian-born Am. economist Leo Hurwicz (b. 1917) on June 24 in Minneapolis, Minn.; 2007 Nobel Economics Prize (oldest to receive a Nobel Prize until ?). Kazakhstani model Ruslana Korshunova (b. 1987) on June 28 in Manhattan, N.Y. (suicide) (murder?). Am. conservative Repub. sen. Jesse Helms (b. 1921) on July 3. Am. novelist Thomas Michael Disch (b. 1940) on July 4 in New York City (suicide). Am. supermodel Dorian Leigh (b. 1917) on July 7 in Falls Church, Va. (Alzheimer's). Am.-born British philanthropist Sir John Marks Templeton (b. 1912) on July 8 in Nassau, Bahamas. Dutch transvestite singer Charles Lucker (b. 1965) on July 9 (AIDS). Am. Internat. Harvester CEO (1977-82) Archie R. McCardell (b. 1926) on July 10 in Casper, Wyo. Indonesian serial murderer Ahmad Suradji (b. 1949) on July 10 (executed by firing squad). Chilean-born Am. dir. Claudio Guzman (b. 1927) on July 12 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. "The Trolley Song" singer Jo Stafford (b. 1917) on July 16 in Century City, Calif. (heart failure). Am. historian Richard Clement Wade (b. 1921) on July 18 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. actress (Maureen O'Hara's stand-in) Lucille House (b. 1910) on July 21 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Sophia Petrillo in The Golden Girls" actress Estelle Getty (b. 1923) on July 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. composer Norman Dello Joio (b. 1913) on July 24 in East Hampton, N.Y. Am. synthetic diamond process inventor Howard Tracy Hall (b. 1919) on July 25 in Provo, Utah. Am. computer scientist Randy Pausch (b. 1960) on July 25 (cancer). U.S. surgeon gen. #12 (1977-81) Julius Benjamin Richmond (b. 1916) on July 27 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. Am. "Grand Hotel" playwright Luther Davis (b. 1916) on July 29. Am. folk singer Erik Darling (b. 1933) on Aug. 3 in Chapel Hill, N.C. (lymphoma). Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn (b. 1918) on Aug. 3 in Moscow (heart failure): 1970 Nobel Lit. Prize; "Men have forgotten God"; "Let us not forget that violence does not live alone and is not capable of living alone; it is necessarily interwoven with falsehood. Between them lies the most intimate, the deepest of natural bonds. Violence finds its only refuge in falsehood, falsehood its only support in violence. Any man who has once acclaimed violence as his method must inexorably choose falsehood as his principle." Am. "Ferrante & Teicher" pianist Louis Teicher (b. 1924) on Aug. 3 in Highlands, N.C. (heart failure). English playwright Simon Gray (b. 1936) on Aug. 6 in West London (aortic aneurysm). Am. comedian Bernie Mac (b. 1957) on Aug. 9 in Chicago, Ill. (pneumonia). Am. singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes (b. 1942) on Aug. 10 near Memphis, Tenn.; found dead near his still-running treadmill. Am. actor-playwright George Furth (b. 1932) on Aug. 11 in Santa Monica, Calif. Zambian pres. #3 (2002-8) Levy Mwanawasa (b. 1948) on Aug. 19 in Paris, France (stroke). Chinese People's Repub. PM #2 (1976-80) Hua Guofeng (b. 1921) on Aug. 20 in Beijing. Am. country musician Buddy Harman (b. 1928) on Aug. 21 in Nashville, Tenn. Am. "Mac in Magnum, P.I." actor Jeff MacKay (b. 1948) on Aug. 22 in Tulsa, Okla. (liver failure). Am. virologist Thomas Huckle Weller (b. 1915) on Aug. 23 in Needham, Mass.; 1954 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. "Fletch" novelist Gregory Mcdonald (b. 1937) on Sept. 7 in Giles County, Tenn. German-born Am. military advisor Fritz G.A. Kraemer (b. 1908) on Sept. 8 in Washington, D.C. Am. "Talk Back" talk show host George Putnam (b. 1914) on Sept. 12 in Chino, Calif. (kidney failure); "Some people didn't like what he said, some people liked what he said, but everybody listened to George Putnam. That is why he has been one of the most influential commentators of our times." (Richard Nixon) Am. "Infinite Jest" novelist David Foster Wallace (b. 1962) on Sept. 12 in Claremont, Calif.; leaves the unfinished novel The Pale King, which is posth. pub. on Apr. 15, 2011. Am. country musician Charlie Walker (b. 1926) on Sept. 12 in Hendersonville, Tenn. (colon cancer). English Pink Floyd rocker Rick Wright (b. 1943) on Sept. 15 (cancer). Am. "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "War" songwriter-producer Norman Whitfield (b. 1940) on Sept. 16 in Los Angeles, Calif. Canadian actor Peter Kastner (b. 1943) on Sept. 18 in Toronto, Ont. (heart failure). Am. Kingston Trio singer-songwriter John Stewart (b. 1939) on Sept. 19 in San Diego, Calif. (stroke); wrote "Daydream Believer" for the Monkees. Am. mob boss (retired in 1977) Frank J. Valenti (b. 1911) on Sept. 20 in Sugar Land, Tex. Am. "Cool Hand Luke" actor Paul Newman (b. 1925) on Sept. 26 in Westport, Conn. (lung cancer); retired from acting in 2007. Am. "Mr. Clean" actor Robert House Peters Jr. (b. 1916) on Oct. 1 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pneumonia). Am. Kingston Trio singer Nick Reynolds (b. 1933) on Oct. 1 in San Diego, Calif. English-born Kiwi actor Rob Guest (b. 1950) on Oct. 2 (stroke). English scholar Peter Avery (b. 1923) on Oct. 6 in Cambridge, England. Romanian biologist George Emil Palade (b. 1912) on Oct. 7; 1974 Nobel Med. Prize. Scottish-born Am. "Queen Gertrude in Laurence Oliver's Hamlet actress Eileen Herlie (b. 1918) on Oct. 8 in New York City. Jamaican musician Alton Nehemiah Ellis (b. 1938) on Oct. 10 in London, England (cancer). Austrian politician Joerg Haider (b. 1950) on Oct. 11 in Koettmannsdorf. Am. "Cookie in Stalag 17" actor Gil Stratton Jr. (b. 1922) on Oct. 11 in Toluca Lake, Calif. (heart failure). English sci-fi novelist Barrington J. Bayley (b. 1937) on Oct. 14 (bowel cancer). Am. singer Edie Adams (b. 1927) on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. TV game show host Jack Narz (b. 1922) on Oct. 15 in Los Angeles, Calif. (stroke). Am. singer Levi Stubbs (b. 1936) on Oct. 17 in Detroit, Mich. Canadian bodybuilding magnate Ben Weider (b. 1924) on Oct. 17 in Montreal, Quebec. Am. singer Dee Dee Warwick (b. 1945) on Oct. 18 in Essex County, N.J. Am. fashionista Mr. Blackwell (b. 1922) on Oct. 19 in Los Angeles, Calif.: "Unclean and unpleasant, it's also impossible for women over 35" (going braless). Am. "The Aquarius Conspiracy" psychologist Marilyn Ferguson (b. 1938) on Oct. 19 (heart attack). Am. "The Devil in Miss Jones" porno dir. Gerard Damiano (b. 1928) on Oct. 25 (stroke in Sept.). Am. cell phone inventor Amos E. Joel Jr. (b. 1918) on Oct. 25 in Maplewood, N.J. Am. writer Tony Hillerman (b. 1925) on Oct. 26 in Albuquerque, N.M. (pulmonary failure). Am. Joffrey Ballet co-founder Gerald Arpino (b. 1923) on Oct. 29 (prostate cancer). Am. "Birdy" novelist William Wharton (b. 1925) on Oct. 29 in Encinitas, Calif. English film producer John Daly (b. 1937) on Oct. 31. Am. writer Studs Terkel (b. 1912) on Oct. 31 in Chicago, Ill.; epitaph: "Curiosity did not kill the cat." Am. "Mothers of Invention" rock drummer Jimmy Carl Black (b. 1938) on Nov. 1 (lung cancer). Am. nurse Florence Wald (b. 1917) on Nov. 8 in Branford, Conn. Am. "Jurassic Park" novelist Michael Crichton (b. 1942) on Nov. 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). South African singer Miriam Makeba (b. 1932) on Nov. 9 in Castel Volturno (near Caserta), Italy (heart attack during a concert). French poet Charles Le Quintrec (b. 1926) on Nov. 14 in Lorient. English "The Miracle Worker" poet-playwright William Gibson (b. 1914) on Nov. 25. English historian Brian Pearce (b. 1915) on Nov. 25. Am. world's oldest living person (since Feb. 14, 2007) Edna Parker (b. 1893) on Nov. 26 in Ind. Am. guru Adi Da (b. 1939) on Nov. 27 in Naitaba, Fiji (cardiac arrest). Am. psychiatrist Louis A. Gottschalk (b. 1916) on Nov. 27 in Calif. Danish Sydney Opera House architect Jorn Utzon (b. 1918) on Nov. 29 in Copenhagen (heart attack). Am. "Harry Bentley in The Jeffersons" actor Paul Benedict (b. 1938) on Dec. 1 in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. Am. singer Odetta Holmes (b. 1930) on Dec. 2 in New York City (heart disease); doesn't live to achieve her dream of performing at Obama's inaguration. Am. celeb neuroscience patient Henry Molaison (b. 1926) on Dec. 2 in Windsor Locks, Conn. Polish-born Am. psychologist Robert Zajonc (b. 1923) on Dec. 3. Dutch actress Nina Foch (b. 1924) on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "The Judge in The Natural" actor Robert Prosky (b. 1930) on Dec. 8 in Washington, D.C. (heart failure). Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Glazkov (b. 1939) on Dec. 9. Am. model Bettie Page (b. 1923) on Dec. 11 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. prion physician Daniel Carleton Gajdusek (b. 1923) on Dec. 12 in Tromso, Norway; 1976 Nobel Med. Prize; convicted in 1997 of child molestation. Am. actor Van Johnson (b. 1916) on Dec. 12 in Nyack, N.Y. Am. political scientist Samuel Phillips Huntington (b. 1927) on Dec. 24 in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. English playwright Harold Pinter (b. 1930) on Dec. 24 in West London (esophageal cancer); 2005 Nobel Lit. Prize. Am. actress-singer Eartha Kitt (b. 1927) on Dec. 25 in New York City (colon cancer). Palestinian terrorist George Habash (b. 1926) on Dec. 26 in Amman, Jordan (heart attack). Am. "Bonnie and Delaney" singer Delaney Bramlett (b. 1939) on Dec. 27 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. oldest African descent man George Rene Francis (b. 1896) on Dec. 28 (heart failure). Am. novelist Donald Edwin Westlake (b. 1933) on Dec. 31 in Mexico.



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T.L. Winslow's 2009 C.E. Historyscope

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2009 - The "Well, Look" Du Hasst Mich Not You Lie Obama YouTube Twitter Balloon Boy White House Party Crasher Tiger Fooling Around Year? 200 years after the birth of Abe Lincoln, a black man sits in the White House enjoying the adulation of the world and bowing before kings and emperors, another black man dies and is given the treatment of a saint, while the real Abe is rolling over in his monument along with George Washington? The first Global Year, in which the word global dominates the political lexicon? The Mother of Celebration Years, incl. the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the 30th anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Republic, the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, the 60th anniversary of NATO, the 70th anniversary of WWII, the 80th anniversary of the Great Depression, and the 90th anniversary of the Versailles Treaty? YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook become major forces for good or evil that can make music and other reality TV figures into instant celebs or ruin major businesses or sports figures in days? Obama makes Afghanistan his war? A good year for people named Boyle?

Abraham Lincoln of the U.S. (1809-65) Obama as Abe Lincoln Barack Hussein Obama II of the U.S. (1961-) Obama Presidential Ball, Jan. 20, 2009 Obama the Joker Obama as Mr. Spock Baracula Obama the Muslim Obama is Osama? Pres. Obama Bows to Saudi King Abdullah, Apr. 1, 2009 Pres. Obama Bows to Japanese Emperor Akihito, Nov. 14, 2009 Michelle Obama of the U.S. (1964-) Sasha Obama (2001-) and Malia Obama (1998-) of the U.S. Joe Biden of the U.S. (1942-) Jill Biden of the U.S. (1951-) Michael Jackson (1958-2009) Michael Jackson's Kids Hillary Rodham Clinton of the U.S. (1947-) Eric Holder of the U.S. (1951-) Janet Napolitano of the U.S. (1957-) Ken Salazar of the U.S. (1955-) Steven Chu of the U.S. (1948-) Tom Vilsack of the U.S. (1950-) Eric Shinseki of the U.S. (1942-) Ann Duncan of the U.S. (19??-) Tim Geithner of the U.S. (1961-) Leon Edward Panetta of the U.S. (1938-) Mary L. Schapiro of the U.S. (1955-) Kirsten Gillibrand of the U.S. (1966-) Elena Kagan of the U.S. (1960-) Michael S. Steele of the U.S. (1958-) Judd Alan Gregg of the U.S. (1947-) John Andrew Boehner of the U.S. (1949-) Eboo Patel of the U.S. Robert Malley of the U.S. (1963-) Mauricio Funes of El Salvador (1959-) Manuel Zelaya of Honduras (1952-) Joshua DuBois of the U.S. (1983-) U.S. Gen. James Logan Jones Jr. (1943-) Cass R. Sunstein of the U.S. (1954-) Regina Marcia Benjamin of the U.S. (1956-) Van Jones of the U.S. (1968-) John O. Brennan of the U.S. (1954-) Valerie Bowman Jarrett of the U.S. (1956-) Dalia Mogahed of the U.S. (1974-) Hannah Rosenthal of the U.S. (1951-) Kareem Shora of the U.S. Farah Pandith of the U.S. (1968-) Chai Rachel Feldblum of the U.S. (1959-) Dennis B. Ross of the U.S. (1948-) The Reset Button, Mar. 6, 2009 Ricardo Martinelli of Panama (1951-) Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel (1949-) Michael B. Oren of Israel (1955-) Jacob Zuma of South Africa (1942-) Andry Nirina Rajoelina of Madagascar (1974-) Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania (1956-) Sonia Gandhi of India (1946- Saleed Jalili of Iran (1965-) Mir Hussein Moussavi of Iran (1941-) Mehdi Karroubi of Iran (1937-) Zahra Rahnavard of Iran (1945-) Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran (1939-) Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri of Iran (1922-2009) Abdullah Abdullah of Iraq (1960-) Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey (1959-) Saad Hariri of Lebanon (1970-) Najib Razak of Malaysia (1953-) Tshakiagiin Elbedorj of Mongolia (1963-) Sharif Sheikh Ahmed of Somalia (1964-) Jose Mujica of Uruguay (1935-) Rose Francine Rogombé of Gabon (1942-) Yukio Hatoyama of Japan (1947-) Porfirio Lobo of Honduras (1947-) John Atta Mills of Ghana (1944-2012) Johanna Sigurdardottir of Iceland (1942-) Thorbjorn Jagland of Norway (1950-) Richard Blumenthal of the U.S. (1946-) Henry Arnold Waxman of the U.S. (1939-) Edward Markey of the U.S. (1946-) Texas Gov. Rick Perry of the U.S. (1950-) Annise Danette Parker of the U.S. (1956-) Tom Coburn of the U.S. (1948-) Patrick Corvington of the U.S. Susan Elizabeth Rice of the U.S. (1964-) Chesley B. Sully Sullenberger III (1951-) Miracle on the Hudson, Jan. 15, 2009 Zbigniew Brzezinski of the U.S. (1928-) Capt. Richard Phillips Richard Trumka (1949-) Phil Jones (1952-) Tom Wigley Petr Chylek Vivian Maier (1926-2009) Susan Boyle (1961-) Elaine Paige (1948-) Vijay K. Nambiar (1943-) Reaz Zadir Khan (1964-) Carol A. Bartz (1948-) James W. von Brunn (1920-2010) Jiverly Wong (1967-2009) Michael McLendon (1981-2009) Jon Favreau (1981-) Trish Varnum (1975-) and Kate Varnum (1966-) Octomom Nadya Suleman (1975-) Kristen Jeannine Dalton (1986-) Carrie Prejean (1987-) Elizabeth Alexander (1962-) Perez Hilton (1978-) Ivanka Trump (1981-) and Jared Kushner (1981-) Muzzammil Hassan (1964-) Abdullah Hassan al-Asiri (1986-2009) Jay Love of the U.S. (1968-) Elizabeth Warren of the U.S. (1949-) Joshua Cooper Ramo (1968-) Thomas E. Ricks (1955-) Leonard Abess Jr. (1948-) Sam Brownback of the U.S. (1956-) Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan (1950-) Roxana Saberi (1978-) Daniel Andreas San Diego (1978-) Mariana Bridi (1988-2009) Lovelle Mixon (-2009) Patricia Monaghan (1946-2012) Fritz Henderson (1958-) Jennifer Figge (1952-) Shaheen Jafargholi (1997-) Philip Markoff (1985-) Philip Markoff (1985-) and Megan McAllister David Kellerman (1967-2009) Jeff Kepner (1951-) Connie Culp (1962-) U.S. Gen. Stanley Allen McChrystal (1954-) John Demjanjuk (1920-2012) Auric Goldfinger Binyam Ahmed Mohamed (1978-) Father Alberto Cutie Rembert George Weakland (1927-) James A. Young of the U.S. (1955-) Charles Frank Bolden Jr. of the U.S. (1946-) Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. (1954-) Lindsey Olin Graham of the U.S. (1955-) John Boozman of the U.S. (1950-) Cynthia McKinney of the U.S. (1955-) David Vitter of the U.S. (1961-) Howard A. Schmidt of the U.S. Tiffany Toribio (1985-) Carol Ann Duffy of Britain (1955-) Yunus-bek Yevkurov of Ingushetia (1963-) U.S. Gen. Keith B. Alexander (1952-) Richard Gil Kerlikowske of the U.S. (1949-) Eduardo Medina Mora of Mexico (1957-) Mary Robinson of Ireland (1944-) Sergei Lavrov of Russia (1950-) Irina Bokova of Bulgaria (1952-) Glenn Beck (1964-) Neal Wanless (1986-) Angel Cabrera (1969-) Neda Agha-Soltan (1983-2009) Qari Zainuddin (-2009) Baitullah Mehsud (1974-) Hakimullah Mehsud (1981-) Mark Sanford Jr. of the U.S. (1960-) John Eric Ensign of the U.S. (1958-) Michael Clifton Burgess of the U.S. (1950-) Aziz al-Duwaik of Palestine (1950-) Ahmed Bahar of Palestine Khaled Mashaal (1956-) Abu Yahya al-Libi (1963-) Conrad Murray (1943-) Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009) Andrew C. McCarthy III of the U.S. Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-) Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-) Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-), July 16, 2009 Sgt. James Crowley Officer Justin Barrett (1973-) Henry Louis Gates Jr. (1950-) et al. drink beer with Pres. Obama Paul Biedermann of Germany (1986-) Catherine Margaret Ashton of Britain (1956-) Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma (1945-) and John W. Yettaw (1955- Ahmed Aboutaleb of Netherlands (1961-) James Henry Webb of the U.S. (1946-) Kent Conrad of the U.S. (1948-) Parker Griffith of the U.S. (1942-) U.S. Army Specialist Zachary Boyd (1990-) U.S. Marshal Sharon Lubinski U.S. Marine Dakota L. Meyer (1988-) George Sodini Christian Rossiter (1960-) Ross Ulbricht (1984-) Michael Phelps of the U.S. (1985-) Matt Kenseth (1972-) Helio Castroneves (1975-) Evgeni Malkin (1986-) Tim Tebow (1987-) Hal Turner (1962-) Y.E. Yang (1972-) Herta Müller (1953-) Charles Kuen Kao (1933-) William S. Boyle (1924-) Rick Hanson Richard Mendius George E. Smith (1930-) Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (1952-) Thomas A. Steitz (1940-) Ada E. Yonath (1939-) Elizabeth H. Blackburn (1948-) Jack W. Szostak (1952-) Carol W. Greider (1961-) Dambisa Moyo (1969-) Elinor Ostrom (1933-) Kevin Edward Trenberth (1944-) Oliver Eaton Williamson (1932-) Liaquat Ahamed (1952-) Firas Alkhateeb (1979-) Seyran Ates (1963-) Max Blumenthal (1977-) Leonard Downie Jr. (1942-) Jaycee Lee Dugard (1980-) Robert Morse Edsel (1956-) Philip Garrido (1951-) Harlan James Drake (1976-) Richard Joseph Goldstone of South Africa (1938-) Bill Sparkman Jr. (1958-2009) Kimberly Denise Munley of the U.S. (1974-) Sgt. Mark Todd of the U.S. (1967-) Humam al-Balawi (1973-2009) Imam Abubakar Shekau of Nigeria Mark Alan Buehrle (1979-) Cliff Lee (1978-) Hideki Matsui (1974-) Kim Clijsters (1983-) Caroline Wozniacki (1990-) Juan Martín del Potro (1988-) Tiger Woods (1975-) and Elin Nordegren (1980-) Marwa Ali El-Sherbini (1977-2009) Amanda Marie Knox (1987-) William Kamkwamba (1987-) Mark Ndesandjo James M. McPherson (1936-) Hamed Abdel-Samad (1972-) Gustavo Dudamel (1981-) George F. Gilder (1939-) Mike Hulme (1960-) Dominique Moisi (1946-) Vali Reza Nasr (1960-) Kristy Lynn Hammonds (1978-) and Michael Anthony Setzer (1977-) U.S. First Dog Bo Obama (2008-) Nidal Malik Hasan (1970-) Nidal Malik Hasan's Business Card Hosam Smadi (1990-) Nazibullah Zazi (1985-) Abdulhakim Muhammad (1986)- Tarek Mehanna (1982-) H. Rap Brown (Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin) (1943-) Sheik Ahmed Dewidar Hassen Abdellah Balloon Boy Hoax, Oct. 15, 2009) Heene Family David Goldman and Sean Goldman (2000-) Alyssa Bustamante (1994-) Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool (1954-) Rae Armantrout (1947-) Ronald Kessler (1943-) Marc Morano (1968-) Asher Roth (1985-) Tareq and Michaele Salahi Irfan Yusuf (1969-) Seth Grahame-Smith (1976-) Henry Allingham (1896-2009) T.J. Stiles Paolo Bacigalupi (1972-) 'Richard Cevantis Carrier (1969-) Jude Deveraux (1947-) Jackie Evancho (2000-) Adam Lambert (1982-) Justin Bieber (1994-) Cheryl Cole (1983-) Dawes Florence + The Machine I Fight Dragons We Were Promised Jetpacks LMFAO Phantogram Selena Gomez (1992-) Kim Zolciak (1978-) Fergie (1975-) and Josh Duhamel (1972-) Robert Park (1981-) Tony Musulin (1971-) Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (1986-) Sabri Husibi Shlomo Sand (1946-) Melissa Huckaby (1981-) Abraham Verghese (1955-) Lunar Impactor 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert', 2009 'Rasta Got Soul' by Buju Banton (1973-) City of Capitals, Moscow, 2009 'V', 2009 'Castle', 2009- 'Cougar Town', 2009-15 'The Good Wife', 2009- 'Lie to Me', 2009-11 'The Middle', 2009- 'Modern Family', 2009- 'Nurse Jackie', 2009-15 'Parks and Recreation', 2009-15 'Southland', 2009-13 'United States of Tara', 2009-11 'Youre Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush', 2009 '2012', dir. by Roland Emmerich, 2009 'Alien Trespass', 2009 'Antichrist', 2009 'Avatar', dir. by James Cameron, 2009 'The Blind Side', 2009 'Drag Me to Hell', 2009 'Inglourious Basterds', 2009 'Julie & Julia', 2009 'Knowing', 2009 'The Proposal, 2009 'Star Trek', 2009 'Up', 2009 'The Young Victoria', 2009 'Zombieland', 2009 Baikonur Spaceport AT&T Stadium, 2009 Citi Field, 2009 Millennium Tower, 2009 Dubai Fountain, 2009 Dubai Divers Fountain, 2009 Toilet Bowl Waterfall, 2009 Boeing 787 Dreamliner

2009 Chinese Year: Ox. Time Mag. Person of the Year: Ben Bernanke (1953-) (first Federal Reserve head). This year has three Friday the 13ths: Feb., Mar., and Nov. This is the U.N. Internat. Year of Astronomy. The 2009-10 Eurozone Crisis causes the IMF, led by French economists Dominique Gaston Andre Strauss Khan (DSK) (1949-) (IMF dir. in 2007-11) and Olivier Blanchard (1948-) (chief IMF economist in 2008-) to drop neoliberal policy and return to progressive policy. Due to the 2008 global recession, world wealth drops 11.7% to $92.4T; bailouts received: Bank of America $45B, AIG $180B, Citigroup $50B, Gen. Motors $50.4B, Chrysler $12.5B, GMAC $12.5B, Chrysler $1.5B; China surpasses the U.S. as the largest consumer of the automobile, with sales of 12.8M cars and light trucks vs. 10.3M in the U.S., up by 40% since 2008. The percentage of Americans in poverty rises to 14.3%, worst in decades. For the first time 1B (1.02B) people worldwide go hungry according to the U.N. World Food Program (100M than in 2008), and on Nov 11 UNICEF pub. a report claiming that almost 200M children have stunted growth because of malnutrition. More than half of the U.S. Treasury Dept. is owned by foreign lenders, who also own a third of U.S. corporate bonds and a sixth of U.S. corporate assets; the percentage of U.S. treasury notes purchased by China and Hong Kong drops to 9% from a high of 55% in 2006; China's banking system has 25x the reserves of the U.S. Federal Reserves, vs. (1/2.5)x in 1990; the U.S. dollar comprises 19% of the world's money supply vs. 100% at the end of WWII; the U.S. income gap between rich and poor is the widest since 1917, with the top 10% receiving 49.7%; meanwhile China's economy grows 8.7% this year, and China has 130 billionaires, up from 101 in 2008 and zero in 2003, making it #2 after the U.S. U.S. GDP falls 3.9% this year, becoming the worst drop since records began to be kept in 1947; the U.S. loses 4.7M jobs, 3.1M held by men and 1.6M by women, causing U. of Mich. economist Mark Perry to coin the term Mancession; Mexico's GDP drops 10% in the 2nd quarter, worst since 1981; in the 3rd quarter the U.S. economy grows at an annual rate of 5.7%, fastest since the 3rd quarter of 2003, indicating that the recession is ending. This year the U.S. imports 13.1M barrels of oil a day, incl. 2M from Canada, 1.4M from Saudi Arabia, 1.1M from Mexico, 1M from Venezuela, .87M from Nigeria, .55M from Angola, and .52 from Iraq; shale gas is discovered in North Am., creating a new picture vis a vis oil. China's share of world exports reaches 10% for the first time, passing up Germany (9%) to become #1, and up from 3% in 1999; U.S.: 8%. Global CO2 emissions fall 1.3% compared to 2008. The U.S. deports a record 779K this year and next. This year 2,412 Afghan civilians are killed, a 14% increase from 2008, with the Taliban responsible for two-thirds after the U.S. restricts the use of airstrikes; meanwhile the U.S. deploys 75K airborne drones and 12K unmanned vehicles in Iraq, and the USAF trains more pilots for unmanned than manned aircraft this year for the first time. The U.S. delivers $13B worth of arms to Saudi Arabia between this year and 2014. World HIV/AIDS cases: 33.3M. There are 10,999 terrorist attacks worldwide this year (killing 14,971), down from a high of 14,443 in 2006 (killing 23K); meanwhile U.S. prosecutors charge more suspects with terrorism (54) than any year since 9/11. This year the Mexican Drug War causes vicious violence near the U.S. border, combined with massive govt. corruption, with 5.7K deaths last year and over 7K this year, causing the U.S. press to talk of Mexico becoming a failed state like Pakistan, bolstered by a Dec. 2008 U.S. Defense Dept. assessment; 2.6K are killed in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (pop. 1.3M), along with 16K car thefts and 1.9K carjackings. Number of children born to illegal immigrants in the U.S.: 4M (vs. 2.7M in 2003); there are 450K illegal alien criminals in U.S. jails, and ? are deported, vs. 113K in 2008. Muslim pop. in W Europe: 15M, incl. 5M in France, 4M in Germany, and 2M in Britain; in 1950, there were virtually none; there are 200K Somalis in the U.S., incl. 70K in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. area. Total Third World origin pop. in Britain skyrockets from 180K in 1958 to 8M this year. There are now 27M slaves worldwide, most in history? This year Twitter (founded 2006) sweeps the U.S., incl. Congress, becoming a political and business tool; messages are limited to 140 chars. More U.S. women than men receive doctoral degrees this year for the first time ever, 28,962 vs. 28,469. The pop. of Fla. declines for the first time since 1946, dropping by 58K since last year. U.S. women become the chief breadwinners for the first time as 75% of all jobs lost since 2008 were held by men; in homes where both spouses work, 25% of wives earn more than their hubbies. This year the name Barack moves up 10,126 places in the list of U.S. baby names for boys to #2409; Miley moves up 152 places to #127, while Hannah moves down 8 places to #17; top boys names are Jacob, Ethan, Michael, Alexander, William, and Joshua; top girls names are Isabella, Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, and Emily. The U.S. loses 611K private jobs by the end of Mar., creating an unemployment rate of 8.9%. There are 1,595 craft beer breweries in the U.S. (highest since before Prohibition), producing 9.1M barrels/year. On Jan. 1 USC defeats Penn State by 38-24 in the 2009 Rose Bowl, becoming their 3rd V in four straight appearances (except 2006), and 24th Rose Bowl title; USC QB Mark Travis John Sanchez (1986-) scores five TDs and is named MVP. On Jan. 1 the Israeli attack on Gaza continues, stinking themselves up on Jan. 15 by hitting the U.N. HQ and destroying bags of food aid. On Jan. 1 the U.S. officially gives control of Iraq to the Iraq govt., handing over the Green (Internat.) Zone in Baghdad. On Jan. 1 Russia turns off its natural gas tap to Ukraine for unpaid bills. On Jan. 1 Slovakia dumps the koruna for the euro. On Jan. 1 the Sri Lankan army captures Kilinochchi, capital of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, pushing them to the NE then cornering the rebels in a tiny sliver of land on the NE coast by early Apr.; meanwhile on Apr. 17 top U.N. official Vijay K. Nambiar (1943-) meets with Sri Lankan leaders to discuss the estimated 100K ethnic Tamil civilians that have been trapped by the civil war, of which 4.5K have been killed; sadly, it all started with religion, with the majority Buddhist Sinhalese vs. the minority Hindu Tamils. On Jan. 1 after giving him warning, which he ignores, the Israelis bomb the home of hardline cleric and Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan (b. 1959) along with his family for hiding an arsenal, pissing-off the Palestinians. On Jan. 1-Dec. 31 2009 Global Storm Activity incl. a severe drought in SW China along with Bolivia, Venezuela, Spain, Morocco, Mali, and Mauritania; meanwhile Victoria, Australia has a colder summer than usual; in June-Sept. the 2009 West Africa Floods see heavy rainfall cause the Niger, Penjari, Senegal, and Volta Rivers to overflow, affecting 940K in 12 countries, killing 193 and causing $152M damage, with 150K fleeing their homes in the Ougadougou area after one day of rainfall equals 25% of the annual avg. On Jan. 3 the 111th U.S. Congress convenes (until Jan. 3, 2011); it goes on to add more debt ($3.22T) than the first 100 congresses combined ($10,429 per capita); on Jan. 6 the Speaker Nancy Pelosi utters the soundbyte: "We need action and we need action now"' Repubs. pledge cooperation; new black Ill Dem. Sen. Roland W. Burris (1937-) (Obama's replacement) is denied his seat on the excuse that his credentials are not in order (no signature by the Ill. secy. of state) (really the fact that he was appointed by pariah Rod Blagojevich), causing him to threaten a lawsuit and pull in black and PC political muscle, after which he is allowed to sit. On Jan. 6 the U.S. Save America Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2009 is introduced in Congress, providing increased protections and elibility for family-sponsored immigrants. On Jan. 7 John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills (1944-2012) becomes pres. of Ghana (until July 24, 2012). On Jan. 9 U.S. House majority leader Steny Hoyer and minority whip Eric Cantor pub. an opinion piece, quoting Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak, who said "Think about what would happen if for seven years rockets had been fired at San Diego, California, from Tijuana, Mexico", comparing this to Israel's invasion of Gaza. On Jan. 9 Mahmoud Abbas' term as pres. of the Palestine Nat. Authority ends without elections being scheduled, and the constitutional successor, parliament speaker Aziz al-Duwaik (1950-) is elected on Jan. 18, 2006, but is kidnapped and imprisoned by the Israelis on Aug. 6, 2006 to keep Abbas in office, then released on June 22, 2009; meanwhile Bahar's deputy Ahmed Bahar claims that he should succeed in his place. On Jan. 10 Roman Catholic singer Fergie (Stacy Ann Ferguson) (1975-) marries Roman Catholic actor Joshua David "Josh" Duhamel (1972-) (until ?). On Jan. 11 a U.S. federal court orders Microsoft Corp. to stop selling its Word program and pay a Canadian software co. $290M for violating their patent, effective next Jan. 11; on Dec. 22 Microsoft's appeal is denied. On Jan. 13 Yahoo names Carol Ann Bartz (1948-) (CEO of Autodesk in 1992-2006) as its new CEO (until Sept. 6, 2011). On Jan. 13 Chopped debuts on Food Network (until ?), pitting four chefs against each other for a $10K prize. On Jan. 14 a new tape from guess-who Osama bin Laden calls for jihad against Israel, claims that the global financial crisis spells a coming end to U.S. influence in world affairs, and mentions Obama but not by name; meanwhile Obama says that it's no longer important to kill him - he got us umpteen trillion dollars without the people discovering that he's been dead for years? On Jan. 15 the U.S. Senate narrowly approves Barack Obama's request of the remaining $350B financial bailout money to expand lending and reduce foreclosures instead of handing it to the banks. On Jan. 15 the "Miracle on the Hudson" sees U.S. Airways Flight 1549 (Airbus 320) en route from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Charlotte, N.C. run into a flock of geese, damaging an engine, after which capt. Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III (1951-) successfully lands it in the Hudson River, saving all 155 aboard, causing him to become a new post-9/11 New York hero and giving desperate Americans hope of a lucky year to come; he later testifies to Congress how older pilots are treated like merde by the airlines, incl. how his pension was eliminated. On Jan. 15 black U.S. atty.-gen. designate Eric Himpton Holder Jr. (1951-) tells the Senate Judiciary Committee that "waterboarding is torture", cinching his nomination, and he is sworn-in on Feb. 3 as U.S. atty.-gen. #82 (until Apr. 27, 2015), pledging to expand the Justice Dept's civil rights div. (founded 1957). On Jan. 15 a fluke gets former Washington State U. provost Steven Hoch a part-time job at the univ. teaching one class on the 1917 Russian Rev. at $245K a year, vs. an avg. full history prof. salary of $75K - Karl Marx jokes here? On Jan. 17 Barack Obama goes on the Obama Express Whistle-Stop Tour from Philadelphia, Penn. to Washington, D.C. on the exact same train route used by his hero Abraham Lincoln before his 1861 inauguration. On Jan. 18 the 3-week Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip ends; too bad, after claiming for a year that all but 50 of the 1.3K killed by the Israelis were innocent civilians, on Nov. 1, 2010 Hamas interior minister Fathi Hamad admits that 250 Hamas fighters and 150 "security personnel" died in the conflict. On Jan. 18 Diablo Cody's comedy-drama United States of Tara debuts on Showtime for 36 episodes (until June 20, 2011), starring Australian-born Antonia "Toni" Collette (1972-) as suburban housewife-mother Tara Gregson, who is coping with multiple personality disorder., incl. Teenager T, 1950s Housewife Alice, beer-swigging Vietnam Vet Buck, and Gimme. On Jan. 19 (Mon.) the U.S. celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day; the nat. media create a Sunday religious sermon atmosphere in deference to the extraordinary event scheduled for Jan. 20; meanwhile in his last day in office Pres. George W. Bush commutes the prison sentences of U.S. Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos (1969-) and Jose Alonso Compean (1976-), who were serving 10+-year terms for trying to coverup a shooting; they had become poster boys for Americans against illegal immigration. On Jan. 19 Ramzi Binalshibh of Yemen and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (1964-) declare their guilt in the 9/11 attacks in what is believed will be the last session of the Guantanamo war crimes court. On Jan. 19 Britain announces its 2nd rescue plan for its ailing banks incl. the Royal Bank of Scotland to unfreeze lending. On Jan. 19 Morrocan-born Ahmed Aboutaleb (1961-) becomes the first Muslim mayor of Rotterdam, Netherlands (until ?). On Jan. 19 the Glenn Beck Program (on CNN from May 8, 2006 to Oct. 16, 2008) debuts on Fox Network (until ?), hosted by conservative Mormon commentator Glenn Lee Beck (1964-), becoming a nexus of anti-Obama sentiment and conservative commentary and a thorn in Obama's side. The first 99-44/100% pure president, a combination Lincoln, FDR, JFK, MLK Jr., and Gandhi, plus a disturbing Play-Do makeup incl. doses of Osama bin Laden, Idi Amin, Dorothy Gale from Kansas, and the Wizard of Oz from Emerald City? On Jan. 20 (Tue.) the 2009 (64th) U.S. pres. inaguration in Washington, D.C. sees 6'1" 170-190 lb. Hawaiian-born (Kenyan-born?) Harvard Law School grad. (black) (lefty) (Christian) (closet Muslim?) (closet Marxist?) Barack (Arab. "blessed") Hussein (Arab. "handsome") Obama (Kenyan "crooked") II (1961-) (Secret Service codename: Renegade) (known for saying "Well, Look" at the start of his answer to questions, along with "Let me be clear" and "Make no mistake") become Dem. U.S. pres. #44 (until Jan. 20, 2017) (first African-Am. and first urban pres.) (first U.S. pres. to have Internet access at his desk, have a BlackBerry, and use email daily) (first Pacific pres.) (3rd U.S. pres. to win the Nobel Peace Prize) (a stooge of the Zionist Illuminati?) (11th U.S. pres. to grow and/or use cannabis after Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Taylor, Pierce, Lincoln, JFK); Richard Tosaw, a lawyer from Modesto, Calif. sells 4K $20 printed cardboard periscopes called Obama-Scopes that "make you two feet taller" and help improve one's view of the proceedings; Joseph Robinette "Joe" Biden Jr. (1942-) (Secret Service codename: Celtic) becomes the 47th U.S. vice-pres. (until ?) (first Roman Catholic vice-pres.); First Lady is Princeton-educated Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (1964-) (Secret Service codename: Renaissance); first children are Malia Ann Obama (1998-) (Secret Service codename: Radiance) and Natasha "Sasha" Obama (2001-) (Secret Service codname: Rosebud); Second Lady is Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden (1951-) (Secret Service codename: Capri); First Dog is Bo Obama (2008-) (Portuguese Water Dog or Portie), a gift from Sen. Edward Kennedy and his wife Victoria "Vicki" Kennedy, and named after R&B singer Bo Diddley; Obama takes his oath of office on the same velvet-bound Bible used at his hero Abrahama, er, Abraham Lincoln's first (1861) inaguration, and another Bible used by MLK Jr. before a record 1.9M crowd, who brave 17F weather (no arrests?); the inaugural theme is "A New Birth of Freedom", a phrase taken from Lincoln's Nov. 19, 1863 Gettysburg Address allegedly to celebrate the 200th anniv. of his birth year; Sen. Edward Kennedy experiences a seizure during a lunch for Obama, but recovers; Obama's 2009 Inauguration Speech, written by 27-y.-o. white guy Jonathan E. "Jon" Favreau (1981-) doesn't live up to expectations of being full of great JFK-caliber soundbytes, skips past Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln to George Washington, and flip-flops from promising to walk on water to calling for sacrifice and service from the pop., with the soundbytes: "A man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled"; "On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics"; "We must pick ourselves up"; "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist"; Harlem, N.Y.-born black poet Elizabeth Alexander (1962-) recites her inaugural poem Praise Song for the Day, becoming the 4th poet to read at a U.S. pres. inauguration (Robert Frost in 1961, Maya Angelou in 1993, Miller Williams in 1997); Obama becomes the first U.S. pres. to address "the Muslim World", uttering the soundbyte that the U.S. is "a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews, and Hindus and non-believers"; as he assumes office, 79% of Americans incl. 59% of those who voted for John McCain are optimistic about his admin.; the Dow Jones plunges 4%, becoming the worst inauguration day slide (until ?); he inherits a $1.3T deficit from the Bush admin., and by Mar. he increases the 2009 deficit to $1.8T, while his own spending programs will more than double the nat. debt from $8T to $17.3T ($15.4T?) by 2019, equal to 82.4% of the GNP, although he does promise to halve the 2009 deficit by 2014; Obama's look, funny ears, and intellectual style cause him to be compared to Star Trek's Spock; his political philosophy is a combo of Abe Lincoln and John Dewey?; too bad, a growing groundswell of anti-govt. hostility begins by Americans who fear that Obama is plotting to take the U.S. Socialist, Fascist, or Islamic, or foist a OWG on the U.S. complete with concentration camps, causing a fervor of frantic Internet postings by extremists incl. Tex. radio show host Alexander Emerick "Alex" Jones (1974-), leading to Tea Parties in the spring, town hall meeting disruptions in the summer, the Birther Movement, which questions the validity of his birth in U.S. territory, fears that the swine flu virus was manufactured, and fears that he is handing the U.S. over to Muslim Sharia; in the evening Obama hosts the first-ever pres. ball open to the residents of mainly-black Washington, D.C., sweetly dancing with his wife Michelle to music by African-Am. singer Beyonce (Beyoncé) Giselle Knowles (1981-), who sings the 1960 Etta James hit At Last; Obama begins going gray 44 days into his presidency?; after chief justice John Roberts flubs the oath of office, he gives it to Obama again in the White House before nine witnesses; on Jan. 20 Ariz. gov. (since 2003) Janet Napolitano (1957-) (former atty. of Anita Hill, known for being tough on illegal immigration while opposing the $3.9M-per-mi. U.S.-Mexico border fence, with the soundbyte: "You build a 50-ft. wall, somebody will find a 51-ft. ladder)) becomes U.S. homeland security secy. #3 (first woman) (until Sept. 6, 2013), Kenneth Lee "Ken" Salazar (1955-) becomes U.S. interior secy. #50 (until Apr. 12, 2013), Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu (1948-) becomes U.S. energy secy. #12 (until Apr. 22, 2013), Arne Duncan (1964-) becomes U.S. education secy. (until Jan. 1, 2016), former Iowa gov. #40 (since 1998) Thomas James "Tom" Vilsack (1950-) becomes U.S. agriculture secy. #30 (until Jan. 13, 017), and Eric Ken Shinseki (1942-) becomes U.S. veterans affairs secy. #7 (until May 30, 2014); on Jan. 21 Hillary Rodham Clinton (1947-) becomes U.S. secy. of state #67 (until Feb. 1, 2013), vowing to end the paranoia of the George W. Bush era by not worrying exclusively about the safety of the U.S., with the soundbyte "I don't get up every morning just thinking about the threats and dangers, as real as they are. I also get up thinking about who we are and what we can do"; Egyptian-born Dalia Mogahed (1974-) becomes the first veiled Muslim woman to serve in the White House; on June 23 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton appoints Kashmir-born Farah Pandith (1968-) as her special rep to reach out to Muslim communities; on Jan. 21 Pres. Obama signs Executive Order No. 13489, barring release of his birth certficate, fueling rumors that he wasn't really born in the U.S. and thus isn't eligible to become pres., meaning that every act of office he commits is legally void; his refusal to release a long list of other documents adds fuel to the fire and make him a mystery man; no wonder that his name all by itself causes many to think he's a Muslim plant, plus the funny way he hides his birth certificate and the fact that he might have been indoctrinated into Islam as a child (maybe the birth certficate is half and half too?; many note his startling resemblance to Osama bin Laden; in his first year, he receives 30 death threats a day (4x what GW Bush faced), stretching the Secret Service; a poster of Obama as the Joker (as portrayed by the late Heath Ledger) with the word "Socialism" at the bottom becomes a hit with conservatives; it was made by 20-y.-o. U. of Ill. history student Firas Alkhateeb (1979-) using Adobe Photoshop. On Jan. 22 Mary L. Schapiro (1955-), chief of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority becomes chmn. #29 of the Securities and Exchange Commission (until Dec. 14, 2012); Obama appoints Joshua DuBois (1982-) as dir. of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (until Feb. 2013), with the mission of stressing responsible fatherhood and downplaying homosexuality and abortion; on Jan. 20 retired USMC gen. James Logan Jones Jr. (1943-) becomes U.S. nat. security adviser #22 (until Oct. 8, 2010); on Jan. 20 Iranian-born Valerie Bowman Jarrett (1956-) becomes Obama's senior adviser and asst. for public engagement and intergovt. affairs; on Sept. 10 Harvard law prof. Cass Robert Sunstein (1954-) becomes head of the White House Office of Info. and Regulatory Affairs (until Aug. 21, 2012), stirring fears he will become the "Obama's Obama", seeking to use the courts to impose a "chilling effect" on Internet bloggers to stop them from hurting somebody's feelings. Speaking of chilling effect on free speech, Europe is 20 years ahead of the U.S.? On Jan. 21 speaking of hurting somebody, an appeals court in the Netherlands orders Dutch politician-filmmaker Geert Wilders (1963-) to stand trial for "insulting" and "spreading hatred" against sacred cow Muslims in his 2008 short film Fitna, with up to two years in priz as the punishment. On Jan. 21 Lie to Me (me*) debuts on Fox Network for 48 episodes (until Jan. 31, 2011), starring Tim Roth (1961-) as genius psychologist Dr. Cal Lightman, who can figure out what people are thinking via body and facial language - does it work on new Pres. Obama? On Jan. 22 Microsoft Corp. announces 5K layoffs (5% of total workforce), a first for the ever-profitable giant; their cruddy Windows Vista is blamed; meanwhile Sony Corp. announces their first annual loss in 14 years; on Jan. 23 Gen. Electric reports a 44% drop in quarterly profits; on Jan. 26 Caterpillar, Pfizer, Sprint Nextel, Home Dept and GM announce 45K job cuts; on Apr. 21 GM announces that they're dumping their Pontiac brand and cutting 21K jobs, along with a 9-week summer plant closing. On Jan. 23 Pres. Obama orders the closing of the POW detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by Jan. 22, 2010, causing state govts. to complain that they don't want the 240 prisoners to be moved to their states; meanwhile some EU leaders indicate that they will accept them; on Mar. 13 the Obama admin. drops the term "enemy combatant" as a justification for holding them, claiming the authority to hold them comes from Congress and the internat. laws of war, not the wartime powers of the U.S. pres. On Jan. 23 N.Y. Dem. gov. (since Mar. 17) David Paterson chooses U.S. Rep. (D-N.Y.) (since 2007) Kirsten Rutnik Gillibrand (1966-) to succeed Hillary Clinton as Dem. N.Y. Sen., and she is sworn-in on Jan. 26 (until ?). On Jan. 23 20-y.-o. Flemish man Kim De Gelder attacks a children's daycare center in Sint-Gillis-bij-Dendermonde, Belgium, stabbing a teacher and two babies to death and injuring 20. On Jan. 24 Pres. Obama orders yet another Socialist, er, 2009 Economic Stimulus Plan to double U.S. renewable energy capacity within three years and lay down 3K mi. of new electrical lines; it incl. the $4B Broadband Technology Opportunities Program to bring high-speed fiber optic Internet to rural areas; too bad, the tech community has no more clue how to create affordable energy from sources other than fossil fuels and nuclear energy than back in the days of Pres. Carter, whose energy plan created the Synthetic Fuels Corp. and promoted the conversion of corn to ethanol; meanwhile China launches a $586B stimulus plan, which it uses to buy independent steel and other private cos. and turn over to state-owned rivals; $823K ends up getting spent on an African Genital Washing Program for uncircumcised Africans. On Jan. 24 after Congo pres. Joseph Kabila invites troops from neighboring Rwanda in to help end the war in E Congo, rebel leader Laurent Nkunda (a former ally) is arrested along the Congo-Rwanda border, allowing many of his troops to disband, incl. child soldiers. On Jan. 24 a sports center in Barcelona, Spain collapses in high winds, killing four children and injuring 16 others. On Jan. 24 20-y.-o. Brazilian model Mariana Bridi (b. 1988) dies from a bacterial infection that caused her hands and feet to be amputated - the first of billions served by the Rusty Arches? On Jan. 25 an avalanche on 7.2K-ft. Mount Zigana in Turkey kills 11 of 17 hikers. On Jan. 26 after being nominated by pres.-elect Barack Obama on Dec. 1, and er, pacifying her Senate confirmation hearing chaired by Jesse Helms by nursing her infant son while they watched, Stanford-Oxford grad Susan Elizabeth Rice (1964-) (no relation to Condoleezza Rice) becomes U.S. U.N. ambassador #27 (until June 30, 2013) (first African-Am. woman), with Obama restoring the position to cabinet level. On Jan. 26 the impeachment trial of Ill. gov. Rod Blagojevich begins, which he boycotts, calling it unfair, while going to the media instead, dropping the bombshell that he considered appointing black TV host Oprah Winfrey to Obama's Sen. seat; on Jan. 29 he is impeached by a 59-0 vote; on Aug. 17, 2010 a federal jury finds him guilty of one count of lying to federal agents, but deadlocks on 23 other counts, making the feds look like grand inquisitors; he then stages a publicity tour to spin his V, claiming that the feds tried to get him to out Obama, offering him a deal for his cooperation. On Jan. 26 Pres. Obama announces that "It will be the policy of my administration to reverse our dependence on foreign oil", ordering new federal rules for more fuel-efficient cars and allowing Calif. and other states to target greenhouse gases in vehicle emission standards. On Jan. 26 after the country's banks collapsed in Oct. from over-expansion, the Saucepan Rev. (in which protesters clang pots and pans) results in the collapse of the coalition govt. of Icelandic PM Geir Haarde, who resigns. On Jan. 26 after weathering exposure for failing to pay $34K in taxes until his nomination, Federal Reserve Bank pres. #9 (since 2003) Timothy Franz "Tim" Geithner (1961-) becomes U.S. treasury sec. #75 (until ?). On Jan. 27-Feb. 1 the 9th World Social Forum in Davos, Switzerland, attended by five heads of state (Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, Lula da Silva of Brazil, Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Evo Morales of Bolivia) blasts world capitalism, blaming it for the economic chaos, with the official theme "another world is possible", and the unnoficial theme "we told you so". On Jan. 28 despite Repub. opposition, the U.S. House by 244-188 (no Repubs. vote for it, and 12 Dems. vote against it) approves (without being given time to read it?) Pres. Obama's record-busting $819B Stimulus Bill, which is supposed to revive the economy despite its loads of pork, and incl. $275B in tax rebates; in practice it becomes a hog trough for every pet project, incl. a New Penn Station in New York City; U.S. banks reap $38B in overdraft fees this year because of the financial plight of consumers; it's really part of a sinister plan by world bankers to create a OWG controlled by a World Bank? On Jan. 28 Pres. Obama gives a speech, admitting to the U.S. role in toppling Iranian PM Mohammad Mossadegh on Aug. 19, 1953, which doesn't satisfy Iranian pres. Immadinajacket, who calls for a full apology. On Jan. 29 Pres. Obama calls the $18.4B in bonuses paid to Wall Street execs last year "shameful", and signs the U.S. Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to give workers more time to take their pay discrimination cases to court, named after Ala. woman Lilly Ledbetter (1938-), who was denied redress by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2007 in a 5-4 ruling; instead of having to file a claim within 180 days of the first too-low paycheck, they can file within 180 days of any paycheck. On Jan. 29 Turkism PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan utters his famous 56 Words to Shimon Peres in a debate over Gaza in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland: "You are older than me and your voice is very strong. The reason for your raising your voice is the psychology of guilt. I will not raise my voice that much. When it comes to killing, you know very well how to kill. I know very well how you hit and killed children on the beaches." On Jan. 30 former Md. lt. gov. (2003-7) Michael S. Steele (1958-) becomes the first African-Am. chmn. of the Repub. Nat. Committee. On Jan. 31 Sunni Sufi Muslim Sharif Sheikh Ahmed (1964-) becomes pres. of Somalia (until ?). On Jan. 31 after receiving fertility treatments, 33-y.-o. single "Octomom" Nadya (Nadia) Suleman (1975-) (who lives with her parents) gives birth to octuplets, giving her 14 children total, stirring outcries against the medical community as well as her, compounded by revelations that she spent her entire $100K disability on fertility treatments, and some of her children are receiving disability payments. In Jan. the U.S. govt. steps on its own dick again, deciding to begin prosecuting minors for "sexting", i.e., transmitting nude pics of themselves to their boy/girlfriends under federal child porno laws, messing up their entire lives as they are are manufactured into convicted state or federal felons that have to register as sex offenders wherever they go, causing them to spend their lives learning to hate the stinking Land of the Free and the various govt. abusers who did them in with Mickey Mouse abuse of the intent of the law, while real criminals, incl. them get away with major crimes all the time? In Jan. Am.-born freelance journalist Roxana Saberi (1978-) (1997 Miss North Dakota) (Iranian father, Japanese mother) is arrested in Iran for buying a bottle of wine, then accused of spying for the U.S. on Apr. 8, convicted and sentenced to eight years on Apr. 18, causing Pres. Obama to express disappointment with the medieval regime and say on Apr. 19 that he's "gravely concerned"; on May 11 after Mahmoud Ahmadeinejad writes them a letter urging the court to be fair, the appeals court rejects her sentence, allowing her to be freed - did she get wine in prison? In Jan. an election in the N Iraqi province of Nineveh gives control to Sunni Arabs, pissing-off the Kurds, who fight the election and refuse to recognize the new govt.'s sovereignty; on May 8 new gov. Atheel al-Nujaifi is prevented from entering Kurdish-controlled Bashiqa NE of Mosul by Kurdish troops, causing him to turn back. In Jan. the group weblog Stay LDS/Mormon is founded by John Parkinson Dehlin (1969-) et al. for Mormons experiencing a crisis of faith; the Internet becomes home to a wide spectrum of cultural Mormons, incl. New Order Mormons who have ditched the religious tenets but stick with the culture, and Humanistic Mormons, who identify with the history and culture but don't believe in God. In Jan. 598K jobs are lost in the U.S. On Feb. 1 Social Dem. Johanna Sigurdardottir (1942-), known for the slogan "My time will come" becomes PM of Iceland (until May 23, 2013), becoming the first female and first gay/lez. On Feb. 1 Super Bowl XLIII (43) is held in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.; the Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC) defeat the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals (NFC) by 27-23, becoming the first team to win 6 SBs; when the Cardinals were still in Chicago, they merged with the Steelers for one season in 1944 under the name Card-Pitt; an ad featuring devout Christian Fla. U. QB (#15) Timothy Richard "Tim" Tebow (1987-) (first college sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy) claiming that his mother disregarded physician advice to abort him becomes controversial; on Apr. 22, 2010 Tebow is selected as #25 in round 1 of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos in the hope he will become their next John Elway, only to see him become way too controversial from his habit of kneeling in Christian prayer on the field; they let him go after the 2011 season despite winning a playoff game. On Feb. 1 Gaza militants fire 10 rockets and mortar shells across the border nine days before scheduled Israeli parliamentary elections, causing an immediate retaliatory strike; on Feb. 4 armed Hamas police break into a Gaza warhouse and seize U.N. food aid, which the UNRWA condemns. On Feb. 2 Olympic swimming champ Michael Fred "Mike" Phelps II (1985-) is caught smoking a bong, causing his career as a role model to take a fast dive, starting with his Kellogg's cereal endorsement to be ended (not renewed), and thousands of boxes of cereal with his picture to be donated to food banks. On Feb. 3 U.S. Sen. (D-S.D.) Tom Daschle (1947-) withdraws his nomination for U.S. secy. of Health and Human Services after reports that he failed to disclose free limo services as income and owed the IRS $140K in taxes. On Feb. 4 Pres. Obama imposes a $500K cap on senior exec pay bonuses for the financial institutions receiving bailout money, and promises to end the system of "executives being rewarded for failure". On Feb. 5 elections in Iraq give Shiite PM Nouri al-Maliki a big V over the Sunnis and violent Shiites. On Feb. 5 Dem. Conn. atty. gen. #23 (1991-2011) Richard Blumenthal (1946-) along with 17 other states and two cities issue a joint letter calling on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Lisa P. Jackson to comply with an Apr. 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision ordering it to determine whether CO2 is a danger to human health and welfare and must be regulated, with Blumenthal writing the soundbyte: "I urge the new Obama EPA to declare carbon dioxide a danger to human health and welfare so we can at last begin addressing the potentially disastrous threat global warming poses to health, the environment and our economy. We must make up for lost time before it's too late to curb dangerous warming threatening to devastate the planet and human society"; on Dec. 7 the EPA issues its Endangerment Finding that greenhouse gas pollution threatens human health and the environment, putting it under Section 202(a) of the U.S. Clean Air Act, causing Blumenthal to comment: "No reputable climate scientist disputes the reality of global warming. It is fact, plain and simple. Dithering will be disastrous"; New York City-born geoscientist Michael Oppenheimer (1946-) supplies a lone affadavit claiming that CO2 influences sea level rise, going on to smear CO2 as responsible for global warming effects incl. damage to coral reefs and ice sheets, linking climate change to crop yields and U.S.-Mexico cross-border migration. On Feb. 5 Jennifer Figge (1952-) of Aspen, Colo. survives a 24-day ordeal to swim from the Cape Verde Islands off Africa to Trinidad off Venezuela, a total of 2,150 mi., mostly inside a shark cage; after the press reports that she swam across the entire Atlantic Ocean, which would require a 10 mph speed, she comes clean and admits that she only swam about 250 mi. and rode on her crew's catamaran the rest of the way - I don't care a figge jokes here? On Feb. 6 Pres. Obama names Chicago Muslim (of Gujarati Indian heritage) Eboo Patel to his advisory Concil on Faith-based Neighborhood Partnerships, who calls the U.S. an "ideal place for renewal of Islam". On Feb. 7 Ecuadoran pres. (since 2007) Rafael Correa (1963-) orders the expulsion of a top U.S. diplomat after accusing him of suspending $340K in annual aid because Ecuador wouldn't allow the U.S. to veto appointments to his drug-smuggling police. On Feb. 7 a small plane en route to Manaus crashes in the Amazon River in Brazil, killing 16 of 20 aboard. On Feb. 9 a car bomber in Mosul, Iraq hits a U.S. patrol and kills four GIs; meanwhile on Feb. 10 another car bomber in guess-where Mosul, Iraq wounds three policemen. On Feb. 10 (16:56 GMT) two large comm satellites, the 1997 Iridium 33 satellite and a 1993 Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite collide in orbit 500 mi. over Siberia, becoming the first satellite collision in a sea of space junk (until ?). On Feb. 10 the U.S. Senate passes a $838B stimulus plan, while treasury secy. Timothy Geither unveils a strategy to protect banks and clear a lending logjam using $350B of the fall 2008 bailout plus as much as $2T more; on Feb. 11 by a straight party-line 61-37 vote, the U.S. Congress agrees on a compromise $720B economic stimulus bill, of which more than one-third is a tax cut for middle-income families, but dropping a housing tax credit; on Feb. 17 Pres. Obama signs the stimulus bill in Denver, Colo., site of his pres. nomination. On Feb. 10 parliamentary elections in Israel give a V to the Likud Party; on Mar. 31 former PM (1996-9) Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (1949-) of the Likud Party becomes PM of Israel again (until ?), facing leftist and Arab hecklers at his inauguration. On Feb. 11 the Taliban hits the justice and education ministries in the heart of Kabul, Afghanistan, killing 20 and wounding 57, showing how bad the U.S. position is becoming. On Feb. 12 Zillur Rahman (1929-) of the Awami League becomes pres. of Bangladesh (until ?). On Feb. 12 Continental Airlines (Colgan Air) Flight 3407 en route to Buffalo from Newark crashes into a home in Clarence Center (near Buffalo), N.Y., killing all 49 aboard plus one in the house, and injuring four on the ground. On Feb. 12 Repub. N.H. Sen. (since 1993) Judd Alan Gregg (1947-) abruptly withdraws his nomination as U.S. commercy secy, citing "irresolvable conflicts" with Pres. Obama's handling of the economic stimulus and upcoming 2010 Census. On Feb. 12 a special federal court finds no link between vaccines and autism, rejecting 5.5K despite all the evidence that there might be a link and not enough scientific research has been funded. On Feb. 12 after comments by Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X, the Conference of Presidents of Major Am. Jewish Orgs. (founded 1956) meets with Pope Benedict VI to reassert the importance of good Jewish-Roman Catholic relations. On Feb. 12 Pakistani-born Am. Muslim banker Muzzammil Syed "Mo Steve" Hassan (1964-) of Orchard Park, N.Y. beheads his wife Aasiya Hassan (b. 1972) after she files for divorce, then turns himself in; he is charged with 2nd-degree murder; they had founded Bridge TV, the first Am. Muslim TV network broadcasting in English to counter Muslim stereotypes, claiming that Hollywood wasn't accurately portraying them - you can take a Muslim out of the Dark Ages, but? On Feb. 12 U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) admits that the CIA launches drones from bases inside Pakistan, not from across the border in Afghanistan as believed. On Feb. 13 Italian-Am. Dem. politician (Clinton's chief of staff in 1994-7) Leon Edward Panetta (1938-) becomes CIA dir. #3 (until June 30, 2011). On Feb. 13 Hillary Clinton receives an email from her chief of staff Cheryl Mills informing her that the NSA has denied her request for a more secure BlackBerry that she wants to use to circumvent normal classified info. security protocols. On Feb. 14 39,897 people lock lips in Mexico City to set a new world kissing record, besting Weston-super-Mare's 2007 record - if they did that in some Muslim countries, they'd set a new beheading record? On Feb. 14 a U.S. missile strike in Pakistan near the HQ of the Taliban chief near the Afghan border kills three. On Feb. 16 the Pakistani govt. caves in and agrees to implement medieval Sharia Law across a large part of NW Pakistan to placate the Taliban, who are growing stronger while the U.S. grows weaker. On Feb. 16 Obama's Trillion Dollar Week in the U.S. sees Pres. Obama travel to Denver, Colo. on Feb. 17 to sign the $877B stimulus package, putting a whopping $13 a week in each worker's paycheck. On Feb. 16 200 lb. 13-y.-o. Travis the Chimp (1995-2009), who was raised by humans from birth and starred in Old Navy and Coca-Cola ads goes beserk in Stamford, Conn. and rips the face and hands off 55-y.-o. Charla Nash (1953-), then attacks a police car, and is shot dead after his owner Sandra Herold wounds him with a butcher knife and shovel, later admitting to giving him Xanax before the rampage; on Feb. 18 the New York Post pub. a political cartoon caricaturing Obama as a crazed chimp gunned down by pigs, drawing out the PC er, police; Nash goes on to win $4M from the owner Sandra Herold, then sues the state for $150M, which is dismissed. On Feb. 17 Pres. Obama approves 17K more U.S. troops for Afghanistan, which has historically been known as "the Graveyard of Empires"; on Feb. 18 U.S. gen. David McKiernan warns that the new troops will take on emboldened Taliban insurgents who have "stalemented" the allies - and just why does Obama want to keep the U.S. in that wild hellhole when he's committing to pulling out of Iraq? On Feb. 17 Pres. Obama visits Phoenix, Ariz. On Feb. 22 (Sun.) a homemade bomb explodes in a 650-y.-o. bazaar in C Cairo, Egypt, killing a French woman and wounding 21, most of them infidel foreigners. On Feb. 22 a coal mine blast in Gujiao, Shanxi in N China kills 74 and injures 114. On Feb. 22 the 81st Academy Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman are held at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, Calif.; 281 films are eligible for consideration; Danny Boyle wins the best dir. Oscar for 2008 for Slumdog Millionaire, which also wins best picture, cinematography, sound mixing, and four other Oscars; best actor goes to Sean Penn for Milk, best actress to Kate Winslet for The Reader, best supporting actor to Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight, best supporting actress to Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona; Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire wins best original song. On Feb. 23 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. tumbles to its lowest level since May 7, 1997, losing about half its value since its record high in Oct. 2007; meanwhile Pres. Obama vows to slash the deficit by half by the end of his 4-year term - leaving the U.S. set up with debt that triples or quadruples it after his successor is in office? On Feb. 23 the Obama admin. announces $900M in aid for Hamas to help rebuild Gaza after the Israeli attack; meanwhile U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton appoints longtime pres. adviser Dennis B. Ross (1948-) as special adviser for the Persian Gulf and SW Asia (until Nov. 10, 2011). On Feb. 23 Pope Benedict XVI names Timothy Michael Dolan (1950-) (archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisc. since 2002) as the new Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, the 2nd largest diocese in the U.S. after Los Angeles, Calif. On Feb. 23 Russian pres. Vladimir Putin's issues the soundbyte: "Any fourth grade history student knows socialism has failed in every country, at every time in history. President Obama and his fellow Democrats are either idiots or deliberately trying to destroy their own economy", which gets the reply: "We're trying to do socialism better." On Feb. 24 Obama admin. officials announce that Obama plans to order all U.S. combat troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by Aug. 2010, slipping his campaign promise by 3 mo. and pissing-off anti-war activists who voted for him. On Feb. 24 a roadside bomb in S Afghanistan kills four U.S. troops, becoming the deadliest of the year so far. On Feb. 24 Pres. Obama delivers his We Will Recover Speech to a joint session of Congress, promising to lead the U.S. from a "day of reckoning" to a brighter future, saying "The time to take charge of our future is here"; "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before"; "Now is the time to act boldly and wisely, to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity. We are a nation that has seen promise and peril. Now we must be that nation again"; he also pushes his Guaranteed Access Health Care Plan, saying that it "cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year", and asks Congress for legislation that places a "market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America"; he concludes that there is no reason that the 21st cent. can't be "another American century"; a Repub. reply by La. gov. #55 (since Jan. 14, 2008) Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (1971-) is widely panned as inept; meanwhile Obama invites Leonard Abess Jr. (1948-) of City Nat. Bank in Fla. to the speech, calling him a hero for sharing $60M of his bonuses with 471 employees and retirees, making him America's 2nd big hero of the year. On Feb. 24 the rich are getting richer as the 733-piece art collection of Yves Saint Laurent and his gay partner Pierre Berge are auctioned in Paris for a record $484M. On Feb. 24-25 the Dhaka Mutiny sees Bangladeshi border guards mutiny, demanding higher pay, then surrender after 20 hours after being promised amnesty; too bad, after the govt. discovers that they massacred 148 army officers, they withdraw the amnesty and charge 1K+ border guards with murder and arson - because knowing is the first step to healing? On Feb. 25 Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 slams into a muddy field while attempting to land at Amsterdam's Schiphil Airport, killing 9 of 134 aboard. On Feb. 27 Pres. Obama gives a speech at Camp Lejune, N.C., telling U.S. Marines that he'll withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by Aug. 2010 and the rest by Dec. 2011, with his strategy based on the "achievable goal" of a "sovereign, stable, and self-reliant" Iraq. On Feb. 27 the Obama admin. says that Mexican drug violence is a big threat to the U.S., with battles between Mexican authorites and drug cartels killing 6K+ last year and 1K this year. In Feb. the U.S. Peanut Butter Scandal sees cockroach-ridden Peanut Corp. of Am. in Ga. exposed as knowingly shipping products tainted with salmonella, causing a giant recall of 1.9K items and congressional hearings - them Jawjaw cockroaches is as big as unshelled peanuts? In Feb. new U.S. Homeland Security secy. Janet Napolitan launches Operation Vigilant Eagle, an attempt to turn U.S. security upside-down by taking the focus off Islamic security threats to put a magnifying glass on white supremacists, the U.S. military and other patriot non-Muslims; on Apr. 7 she issues a dept. memo. In Feb. the U.S. State Dept. pub. its Human Rights Report on Libya; "Although there is no law prohibiting conversion from Islam, the government prohibits efforts to proselytize Muslims and actively prosecutes offenders." On Mar. 1 the U.S. govt. loans AIG another $30B to go with the $30B already loaned, the $40B purchase of preferred shares, and the $50B in Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds to buy up toxic debt, for a total of $150B; Harvard Law prof. Elizabeth Warren (1949-) chairs the congressional oversight panel for the Trouble Assets Program, and in 2007 developed the idea for a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which Obama pushes; too bad, Congress later can't find out where all the TARP money went? On Mar. 1-4 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Rodham Clinton makes her first official visit to the Middle East, meeting with lame duck Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and PM-designate Benjamin Netanyahu, and declaring U.S. support for Israel "unshakeable" while saying that the Palestinian Authority is the "only legitimate government of the Palestinian people", and going after the Israelis for withholding aid to Gaza. On Mar. 2 the 21st Annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia cruises on the buzz from the 2008 Hollyweird film Milk, and features Am. queen, er, comedian Joan Rivers. On Mar. 3 Pres. Obama commits a boo-boo, saying "profit and earning ratios" instead of price to earnings ratios, causing speculation about his preparation to be you know what. On Mar. 3 Britney Spears launches her Circus Tour, her first concert tour in five years in New Orleans, La. On Mar. 4 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 6-3 in Wyeth v. Levine that federal regulatory clearance of a medicine does not shield the manufacturer from liability under state law. On Mar. 5 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton proposes an internat. meeting on Afghanistan to incl. "key regional and strategic countries" incl. Iran, even though on Mar. 5 she accused its leaders of fomenting divisions in the Arab world, promoting terrorism, threatening Israel and Europe, and seeking to "intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach". On Mar. 5 Pres. Obama holds a Health Care Forum, telling 120 reps "If we want to create jobs and rebuild our economy, then we must address the crushing cost of health care this year"; the U.S. spends $2.5T a year on health care while leaving 46M people uninsured and having higher infant mortality rates than other Western countries; Obama decides to set aside $634B in his 2010 budget for health care reform; the $3.6T budget is titled A New Era of Responsibility: Renewing America's Promise; according to Newt Gingrich, 20-year-olds will owe $114,280.72 for the interest payments on this budget by age 70. On Mar. 5 a car bomb in a crowded livestock market in Hillah, Iraq S of Baghdad kills 12 and injures dozens. On Mar. 6 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton presents her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva with a mock reset button, but the label is misworded to read "overcharge" instead; it was swiped from a Jacuzzi in Geneva; on Mar. 20 a U.S. delegation led by Henry Kissinger meets with Russian pres. (since May 7) Dmitri Medvedev (1965-), calling it an attempt to "press the reset button" on U.S.-Russian relations. On Mar. 8 Pres. Obama announces that 12K U.S. soldiers will leave Iraq by Sept.; meanwhile the acne eruption keeps on as yet another suicide bomber in Bag Dead kills 30+. On Mar. 9 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. bottoms out below 6.5K, rising 20% by June 1. On Mar. 9 the U.S. and South Korea stage annual war games, causing the North Koreans to prepare for an invasion - like they don't deserve it? On Mar. 9 Michael McLendon (b. 1981) goes on a rampage in two counties in S Ala. killing 10, incl. his mother, then himself; he allegedly held a grudge against his former employer Pilgrim Pride. On Mar. 9 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stinks herself up with the soundbyte "We have to pass the [health care reform] bill so that you can find out what is in it." On Mar. 9 the crime drama series Castle debuts on ABC-TV for ? episodes (until ?), starring Canadian-born Nathan Christopher Fillion (1971-) as famed mystery novelist Richard Castle, who suffers from a writer's block, and ends up helping the NYPD solve murders with hot babe detective Kate Beckett, played by Canadian-born Stana Jacqueline Katic (1978-). On Mar. 10 Students for a Free Tibet protesters march in New York City, Europe, and Asia to commemorate the 50th anniv. of the failed uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile. On Mar. 10 a suicide bomber in a market in Abu Ghraib, Iraq in W Baghdad attacks a group of Shiite and Sunni tribesmen and police officers, killing 133. On Mar. 11 17-y.-o. Tim Kretschmer (1991-) goes on a rampage at his former high school in Winnenden, Germany, killing 15. On Mar. 11 the 2009 Forbes Billionaire List is pub., with Bill Gates back at #1 after losing only $18B of his $58B net worth, with Warren Buffett slipping to #2 after losing $25B of his $62B; a record 332 people drop off the list, which falls from 793 to 1,125, with total net worth down from $4.4T to $2.4T. On Mar. 11 Pres. Obama creates the White House Panel on Women and Girls to advise him on the issues, invoking his white single mother and dead white grandmother. On Mar. 11 19-y.-o. Levi Johnston and 18-y.-o. Bristol Palin announce that they have split after he couldn't handle new baby boy Tripp (born Dec. 27). On Mar. 12 police arrest anti-govt. protesters in Islamabad, Pakistan as part of a plan by new pres. (since Sept. 9, 2008) Asif Ali Zardari (1955-) to detain anybody critical of his policies. On Mar. 13 (Fri.) Wall Street has its best week of 2009, with a 3-day rally after reports that the U.S. trade gap narrowed in Jan. to $36B (lowest since Oct. 2002), Bank of Am. reports profits in Jan. and Feb., and Citigroup claims its best quarter since 2007; the Dow gains 53 points (.9%) to close at 7,223, and Nasdaq gains 5 points to 1,431; on Mar. 17 the Dow is up 849 points (13%); the rally continues until ?; meanwhile Chinese PM (since 2003) Wen Jibao (1942-) utters the soundbyte: "We have loaned a huge amount of money to the United States. Of course, we are concerned about the safety of our assets. To be honest, I'm a little bit worried. I would like for you [a Western reporter] to call on the United States to honor its word and stay a credible nation and ensure the safety of Chinese assets"; China has $2T in foreign reserves and is the #1 creditor of the U.S., holding $1T of its debt; he also outlines a $585B stimulus plan for China, claiming that the Chinese economy will grow by 8% this year - mighty capitalist of him? On Mar. 13 thousands of Protestants and Catholics unite at the funeral of constable Stephen Carroll (b. 1960), who was shot on Mar. 7 as he sat in his patrol car, becoming the first policeman shot in Northern Ireland since 1998; on Mar. 5 two unarmed soldiers were gunned down outside their base, becoming the first British troops killed since 1997; on Mar. 14 police arrest three IRA members, incl. Colin Duffy (1967-), "the IRA Godfather of Lurgan", causing more violence. On Mar. 14 (Sat.) bedlam breaks out in Manhattan, N.Y. at a crowded audition for "America's Next Top Model", injuring six and resulting in three arrests. On Mar. 14 a recording of Osama bin Laden is released on al-Jazeera TV, calling the Israeli offensive in Gaza a "holocaust" and lashing out at Arab leaders, accusing them of being hypocrites who are sacrificing Palestinians and collaborating with Israel; meanwhile on Mar. 13 Am. activist Tristan Anderson (1970-) of Oakland, Calif. is hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops in the West Bank, fracturing his skull and putting him in the hospital. On Mar. 14 former DJ Andry Nirina Rajoelina (1974-), head of the opposition emerges from two weeks of hiding and on Mar. 17 declares himself pres. of Madagascar (until Jan. 25, 2014), but pres. Marc Ravalomanana refuses to quit. On Mar. 15 ex-vice-pres. Duck Shooter, er, Dick Cheney calls the actions of the Bush admin. after 9/11 "a great success story", and says that Americans are less safe after Pres. Obama overturned his policies; on ? he says that if his successor Joe Biden "wants to diminish the office of the vice-president, that's... his call." On Mar. 15 leftist former guerrilla Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena (1959-) of the Farabundo Marti Nat. Liberation Front (FMLN) wins elections in El Savador, defeating conservative Rodrigo Avila of the Arena Party. On Mar. 15-21 more than 500 protests against the Iraq War are held, complaining that Pres. Obama is stalling in his promise to pull out. On Mar. 17 Pres. Obama stays true to his Chicago roots and has the water in the fountain in front of the White House turned green; actually his wife put him up to it; meanwhile Congressional Dems. get pissed-off at news that Ain't I Greedy AKA AIG (Am. Internat. Group) has given its employees $169M in post-bailout bonuses, causing them to take emergency action to get them back and consider letting the outfit go into bankruptcy. On Mar. 18 the state of N.M. repeals its death penalty, effective July 1. On Mar. 19 Jewish-Am. Harvard Law School dean (since 2003) Elena Kagan (1960-) (who banned military recruiters from campus over their don't ask don't tell policy, and filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2009 arguing that the victims of 9/11 couldn't sue the Saudi govt. or royal family because they had "sovereign immunity") becomes U.S. solicitor gen. #45 (until ?), the first woman, going on to fight lawsuits questioning her boss Obama's citizenship and get paid back by a Supreme Court nomination. On Mar. 19 Barack Obama is the first guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On Mar. 20 Pres. Osama, er, Obama releases a Special Video Message to the People of Iran: A New Year, a New Beginning, offering a "new day" in U.S.-Iraq relations, calling it the Islamic Repub. to stroke their leaders, who brush it aside with the reply that Washington must show concrete change first, then inaugurate their first nuclear fuel manufacturing plant on Apr. 8; meanwhile a U.S. delegation led by Henry Kissinger meets with Russian pres. (since May 7) Dmitri Medvedev (1965-), calling it an attempt to "press the reset button" on U.S.-Russian relations; on Mar. 6 Hillary Clinton presents her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva with a mock reset button, but the label is misworded to read "overcharge" instead; on May 5 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates assures U.S. allies in the Middle East that their relationships with the U.S. won't be damaged by Obama's naive, er, open dialoguing efforts; meanwhile candidate Obama's aides meet in secret with senior Hamas and other Islamist group figures in Gaza, covering-it up so that McCain can't use it as ammo, and first revealed in Nov. 2011; was one of the aides Robert Malley (1963-), who was let go when his regular meetings with Hamas became public, then put back in the fold after the election? On Mar. 20 the 6th Anniv. of the U.S. Invasion of Iraq sees Sadrists burn U.S. flags and call for immediate pullout - they don't believe them Enzyte ads? On Mar. 21 Antananarivo mayor (since 2008) (former disc jockey) Andry Nirina Rajoelina (1974-) seizes power, becoming pres. of Madagascar (until ?). On Mar. 21 Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry (1948-) is reinstated as chief justice of Pakistan after being fired by ex-pres. Pervez Musharraf in 2007 for challenging his rule. On Mar. 21 Pope Bendedict XVI visits Luanda, Angola, uttering the soundbyte: "In today's Angola, Catholics should offer the message of Christ to the many who live in the fear of spirits, of evil powers by whom they feel threatened"; too bad, on his way to Africa he makes remarks about AIDS and condom use, saying that condoms aren't the answer to Africa's AIDS epidemic and could make it worse, and that the Church should promote abstinence and monogamy, bringing out the PC police, and causing the Belgian parliament on Apr. 2 to pass a resolution calling his remarks "unacceptable", which the Vatican counters on Apr. 17 by calling it an attempt to intimidate him into silence - stick your remarks up what? On Mar. 22 the U.S. Treasury Dept. announces the creation of the Public Investment Corp. to purchase up to $1T of toxic assets from banks. On Mar. 22 black parolee Lovelle Mixon kills four police officers in Oakland, Calif. before he is killed, raising the bar for suicide by cop wannabes? On Mar. 25 responding to U.S. criticism that the EU is not spending enough to stimulate demand, Czech PM (since 2006) Mirek Topolanek (1956-) (head of the EU) says that Pres. Obama's $2T economic stimulus plan is "the road to Hell". On Mar. 25 U.S. treasury secy. Timothy Geithner stuns global markets by stating that the Obama admin. is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the IMF to supersede the dollar. On Mar. 26 stinking corrupt prosecutors in Passaic, N.J. do what we coulda guessed and abused, er, arrested a 14-y.-o. girl on charges of child porno for posting nude pics of herself on MySpace.com, which will end up marking her for life in the system as a sex offender - the prosecutors should be sentenced to go around nude for a year, but who can prosecute a prosecutor in the stinking U.S.? On Mar. 26 Pres. Obama holds the first-ever White House Internet Forum; meanwhile his admin. issuing a warning to North Korea not to launch a rocket in orbit in Apr. after it was seen being put into position on its pad. On Mar. 26 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton admits that the U.S. shares responsibility with Mexico for its drug violence, with the soundbyte that traffickers "are motivated by the demand for illegal drugs in the United States, and are armed by the transfer of weapons from the United States"; meanwhile the U.S. DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act is introduced into the U.S. Congress, providing undocumented immigrant students citizenship after they graduate from h.s. and earn a 2-year college degree or serve in the military for two years; too bad, it fails in the Senate by a 44-52 vote. On Mar. 27 Pres. Obama utters the soundbyte that the U.S. goal in Afghanistan and Pakistan is to "disrupt, dismantle, and eventually destroy al-Qaida". On Mar. 27 8-y.-o. Sandra Cantu is kidnapped in Tracy, Calif. by Sun. school teacher Melissa Huckaby (1981-), who rapes and murders her with a rolling pin, then stuffs her body in a black Eddie Bauer suitcase and thows it into a pond; on June 24, 2010 she is sentenced to life in prison. On Mar. 28 protesters march in London to protest the G20 meeting coming up on Apr. 2, which ends up wanting to bolt away from prior support of the U.S. and its jiffy capitalist system. On Mar. 28 (Sat.) a dam bursts outside Jakarta, Indonesia in the early morning hours, catching many asleep, killing 69. On Mar. 31 Pres. Obama rejects a $22B bailout request from GM and Chrysler after forcing GM CEO (since 1998) George Richard "Rick" Wagoner Jr. (1953-) to resign on Mar. 29, giving GM 60 days to roll-out a new plan that trims brands, jobs and dealers; Wagoner gets a $10M retirement package, effective Aug. 1; on Mar. 31 Frederick "Fritz" Henderson (1958-) becomes the new GM CEO (until Dec. 1); on May 11 he announces that he is open to moving the co. HQ out of Detroit (his birthplace), selling its U.S. plants, and renegotiating its restructuring plan with the UAW, and that GM is likely headed for bankruptcy by June 1 after missing a $1B debt payment; after it survives, Henderson is ousted on Dec. 1 for restructuring the co. too slowly, and is replaced by GM chmn. Ed Whitacre as interim CEO (until ?). On Mar. 31 yet another suicide bomber in Iraq strikes Mosul, Iraq, killing seven and wounding 25, most of them police officers; meanwhile a weekend Sunni uprising in Baghdad bodes poorly for the future of a U.S. pullout, and Britain hands over control of oil-rich S Iraq to the U.S. On Mar. 31 two ships smuggling North Africans to France run into a storm off Libya, capsizing one ship and drowning 200. In Mar. Afghanistan passes the Sharia Personal Status Law, effective in July, requiring wives to obtain their husband's permission just to leave home, granting child custody rights to fathers and grandfathers instead of mothers and grandmothers, requiring a woman to "make herself up" and have sex whenever the husband demands it, and giving the hubby the right to cut off her maintenance if she doesn't, while reducing the penalty for a man raping a child or elderly woman to a mere fine. In Mar. Wash. state by 56.7% passes a Death with Dignity Law, permitting assisted-suicide; on May 21 terminal cancer patient Linda Fleming (b. 1942) of Sequim becomes the first to die under the new law. In Mar. the Obama admin. gives Congress detailed plans behind closed doors to send up to 80 narcs (narcotic agents) to Afghanistan in an attempt to disrupt the main source of financing for terrorists - 80 more drug billionaires in the making? In Mar. the Mexican govt. imposes a retaliatory $2.4B tariff on the U.S. after Pres. Bush cancelled the program allowing Mexican trucks to cross the U.S. border under NAFTA, saying they are old and unsafe. In Mar. former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia Charles "Chas" Freeman withdraws his nomination to head the Nat. Intelligence Council after financial ties to the bin Laden family are revealed, along with board membership in a Chinese-owned oil. co. making deals with Iran; in Nov. he makes a speech to a pro-Arab U.S. group claiming that Israel has long been assassinating peace-loving Palestinian leaders, that the 9/11 attack was caused by U.S. support for Israel, and that if Pres. Obama attempts to pressure Israel, its "American lobby" will use Congress to punish him. On Apr. 1 (April Fool's Day) new U.S. pres. Barack Hussein Obama bows to Saudi King Abdullah at the G20 summit in London, a giant protocol no-no and a terrific insult to his own office, probably an instinctive reaction, he won't do it again?; Saudi Arabia is known for their mutawas (morality police), who throw women into medieval dungeons and beat and gang-rape them for daring to drive a car or go out in public without a male escort, great ally the U.S. has there - imagine any preceding president doing it even to a good monarch? On Apr. 2 after new DNA tests, 72-y.-o. insurance adjuster John Floyd Thomas Jr. (1936-) is charged for murder, after which police say he is suspected of raping and strangling up to 30 older women over a 20-year period. On Apr. 3 Pres. Obama visits Strasbourg, France, where he utters the soundbyte "Instead of celebrating our dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." On Apr. 3 unemployed Korean immigrant Jiverly Wong (Voong) (1967-) kills 13 and wounds four in a rampage at a citizenship class in an immigrant community center in Binghampton, N.Y. before killing himself. On Apr. 3 the Iowa Supreme Court legalizes same-sex marriage, licking the marital problem of Trish Varnum (1975-) and Kate Varnum (1966-). On Apr. 3 Dato Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (1953-), son of PM #2 Abdul Razak and nephew of PM #3 Hussin Onn becomes PM #6 of Malaysia (until ?), going on to launch the 1Malaysia campaign. On Apr. 3-4 NATO celebrates its 60th anniv. with a NATO Summit in Strasbourg-Kehl, welcoming new members Albania and Croatia, and extending an open invitation to Macedonia; the membership of Turkey hotly is disputed, the fact that since 1974 it has occupied 40% of NATO member Cyprus with its army (that would be the 2nd largest in NATO after the U.S.) in point; the HQ of Turkey's EU efforts was seized from the Orthodox Christians in the 1990s? On Apr. 5 North Korea launches the Taepodong 2 comm sat to protests by Japan and the U.S.; too good, the 3rd stage fails, and it falls into the Pacific Ocean - there is only one Lord of the Ring? On Apr. 6 on the tail end of his trip to Europe, Pres. Obama visits Turkey, his first official pres. visit to a Muslim nation, and meets pres. Abdullah Gul, uttering the soundbyte "I'm trying to make a statement about the importance of Turkey, not just to the United States but to the world. I think that where there's the most promise of building stronger U.S.-Turkish relations is in the recognition that Turkey and the United States can build a model partnership in which a predominantly Christian nation, a predominantly Muslim nation - a Western nation and a nation that straddles two continents - that we can create a modern international community that is respectful, that is secure, that is prosperous, that there are not tensions - inevitable tensions between cultures - which I think is extraordinarily important"; he tells the Turkish parliament: "Some people have asked me if I chose to continue my travels to Ankara and Istanbul to send a message. My answer is simple: Evet (yes). Turkey is a critical ally"; he tells a press conference: "One of the great strengths of the United States is... we have a very large Christian population. We do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation, we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values"; during a town meeting in Istanbul he makes a point of finishing a half hour before the Muslim call to prayer, acknowledging that it's no longer such a secular nation. On Apr. 6 an earthquake in C Italy causes bldgs. to collapse in and around L'Aquila, Abruzzo and other towns, killing 50+; six seismologists and a govt. official are charged with manslaughter for not alerting the public in time; on Nov. 10, 2014 six of them are acquitted. On Apr. 7 a gunman opens fire in a court in Landhut, Germany, kiling a woman then himself; in the last mo. crazed gunmen have killed a total of 57 in eight separate rampages, causing many to blame the economy. It takes two, baby? On Apr. 7 Vt. legalizes same-sex marriage, becoming the first state legislature to do it instead of a court - how do you like your sweetcakes? On Apr. 8 a bomb in a plastic bag explodes 100 yards from the Imam Mousa al-Kazim Shiite tomb in Baghdad, killing seven. On Apr. 8 British police arrest 12 men on suspicion of a "very big" terrorism plot, then release them on Apr. 22, seeking to deport 11 of them back to Pakistan while admitting embarrassment. On Apr. 9 Pres. Bush, er, Obama asks Congress for $83.4B for U.S. military and domestic operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing the cost of the two wars to $1T since 9/11; as a candidate, he opposed the same special troop funding. On Apr. 9 Shawn Merriman (1962-) of Aurora, Colo. is charged with running yet another Ponzi scheme, using $20M from 38 investors to fund a lavish lifestyle, incl. Rembrandts, which are soon put up to auction. On Apr. 9 an al-Qaida terrorist cell is arrested in Manchester and Liverpool, England, a few days before a planned Easter terrorist attack on Apr. 12. On Apr. 9 (Thur.) the sitcom Parks and Recreation debuts on NBC-TV for 125 episodes (until Feb. 24, 2015), starring Amy Meredith Poehler (1971-) as Leslie Knope, deputy dir. of Parks and Recreation in Pawnee, Ind. On Apr. 9 (Thur.) the crime drama series Southland debuts on NBC-TV for 43 episodes (until Apr. 17, 2013 afer switching to TNT on Nov. 2, 2009), about the LAPD and its officers' lives, starring Michael Cudlitz (1964-) as Officer John Cooper, who is a closet gay. On Apr. 10 a suicide bomber at a police station in Mosul, Iraq kills five U.S. soldiers and two policemen, and injures dozens, incl. 17 policemen and a U.S. soldier. On Apr. 11 a suicide vest bomber in Al-Iskandariya, Iraq 24 mi. S of Baghdad kills nine and injures 31 members of the anti-al-Qaida Sunni Sons of Iraq movement; meanwhile another suicide bomber in Jbala, Iraq 35 mi. S of Baghdad kills nine and wounds 30. 4/11 (Cry Me a River Day) becomes an anti-9/11 for millions in the Western world, lifting their spirits faster than the Twin Towers fell on 9/11? On Apr. 11 (Sat.) one of the most powerful reality TV moments ever sees Britain's Got Talent rocked by the stunning debut of 47-y.-o. never-married "never-kissed" Scottish soprano Susan Boyle (1961-) (contestant #432), who comes off at first like a frumpy bag lady or mental institution outpatient and endures degrading looks and wolf whistles, shaking her booty and uttering the soundbyte "And that's just one side of me", saying that she'd like to have a musical career like Elaine Paige (1948-) ("First Lady of Musical Theatre"), then displaying a voice like an angel with the discipline and art of a diva, singing a brilliant interpretation of I Dreamed a Dream from the 1980 musical "Les Miserables", bringing the entire audience to its feet and causing the "don't judge a book by its cover" lesson to be learned by millions; her voice is compared to Kate Smith and Barbra Streisand; the Cinderella story that is later revealed of being born with brain damage, losing her 91-y.-o. mother two years ago, and fighting back against insurmountable odds causes millions to weep as they play the video over and over, incl. celebs Demi Moore (1962-) and Patti LuPone (1949-), who first sang the song in London's West End; good sport Elaine Paige offers to sing a duet with her; the Western romantic fantasy of lowly commoner Susan Boyle revealing herself to really be Queen Susan de Balliol, descended from the kings of Scotland, who deigned to grace her audience of commoners with her royal presence causes even historyscoper TLW to weep, recalling less powerful moments in "Shrek" (Princess Fiona), Disney's Fairy Godmother, and Susan Osborne's "What If God Was One Of Us"; she goes on to zoom to the top with 60M+ views of her debut on YouTube by Apr. 19 (most viewed YouTube clip until ?), and 93.2M views on 650 different placements by Apr. 20, with fans worldwide listening to her video many times in a row and telling friends, and Susan Boyle Fan Sites springing up overnight, becoming the biggest music sensation since the Beatles?; ironically British viewers can't access YouTube videos because of a revenue dispute, and Sony Music, owner of the TV show fails to make any money from all the views; she soon signs a recording contract with tight-fisted Simon's Sysco Music Co., becoming the big music story of 2009, the waste of her talent finally ended; her cat Pebbles becomes the world's most famous cat?; her home province of West Lothian becomes an immediate travel destination ("It's a sort of collection of, it's a collection of, uh, villages, I had to think there"); too bad, in 1999 she recorded Cry Me a River and was overlooked, selling only 1K copies for charity, which become instant collectors items; on Apr. 22 she gets a new look, then on Apr. 24 dyes her hair for $50; meanwhile on Apr. 18 12-y.-o. Welsh-Iranian Shaheen Jafargholi (1997-) from Swansea appears on the show, causing a mini-stir with a rendition of "Who's Lovin' You" by the Jackson Five, followed on Apr. 25 by 10-y.-o. Hollie Steele (1999-), but at least the producers tried?; on May 25 buffed-up Susan sings Memory from Cats, the previous situation reversed, with all the hype of this big star putting her under tremendous pressure she isn't used to, causing her to start off-key, then regroup and finish strong again, going on to the finals on May 30 after the paparazzi put her through hell on May 27 in the Wembley Plaza Hotel in London, doing "I Dreamed a Dream" again well, but ending up #2 after the dance troupe Diversity, causing bookmakers to make a fortune with the unexpected outcome, after which on May 31 she is hospitalized, but later recovers and begins her hot career. On Apr. 12 French atheist self-appointed Messiah Rael Maitreya announces to the nation of Israel: "I, Yahweh, through the mouth of my prophet RAEL, your awaited Messiah, am sending you this ultimate message... you all need to unite to prepare the construction of the Third Temple, Our Embassy and the glorious return of our beloved son, our last and ultimate messanger, the Messiah Rael, who will bring centuries of peace on Earth with our return. Every minute counts and remember that you cannot say we did not warn you." On Apr. 13 U.S. Navy snipers kill three Somalian pirates holding freighter capt. Richard Phillips, who was kidnapped from his ship the Maersk Alabama on Apr. 8 and held in a lifeboat, embarrassing the U.S.; he is rescued unharmed; on Apr. 30 he calls for military protection and armed crew officers to thwart future attacks; meanwhile the pirates set up a lair at Haradheere (250 mi. NE of Mogadishu) to attract financiers for future lucrative operations; on Feb. 17, 2011 Abdulwali Abdukhadir Muse, sole survivor of the pirates is sentenced to 405 mo. in U.S. federal prison for his role in the Maersk hijacking. An Apr. 13 after folding to pressure, Pakistani pres. Asif Ali Zardari signs a regulation putting a NW district under Islamic Sharia law, appeasing militants who have been brutalizing the Swat Valley for two years. On Apr. 13 a fire in a 3-story shelter for homeless families in Kamien Pomorski burns down, killing 21. On Apr. 13 the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win, the two largest labor union federations in the U.S. announce unanimous support for a plan to legalize illegal immigrants in the U.S., along with a "worker verification program" and the erection of significant barriers to businesses attempting to bring in new foreign temp workers. On Apr. 15 (Tax Day) neo-Boston Tea Party Rallies are held in several U.S. cities, incl. Denver, Colo. against Obama's bailout policies, with some carrying signs calling him a traitor; Tex. Repub. gov. (since 2000) James Richard "Rick" Perry (1950-) tells a cheering crowd in Austin that the Obama admin. has abandoned the founding U.S. principles of limited govt., and strangled Americans with spending, debt, and taxation, and that if it keeps up the state of Texas might secede - who's had a Jimmy Dean breakfast this morning? On Apr. 15 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano names former federal prosecutor Alan Bersin to be the new "border czar" to oversee U.S. efforts to end drug cartel violence along the U.S.-Mexico border and stem illegal immigration. On Apr. 15 300 Afghan women protest in Kabul a new law that imposes disgusting medieval Islamic Sharia law on women, esp. the right to marital rape; men respond by stoning them - they should have that infidel women's libber crap f*cked out of them? On Apr. 15 Time mag. goofs and sends incorrect eds. of the debut issue of its new mag. Mine, which lets subscribers tailor their issues by selecting five of eight mag. titles (really a printed RSS feed). On Apr. 16 Pres. Obama arrives in Mexico City and meets with Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon, who compares him to JFK, after which Obama says that he will not seek to renew the U.S. assault weapons ban but will instead work to stop their flow to Mexico, saying that the Mexican drug war is "sowing chaos in our communities"; Obama then attends the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, where the restoration of relations with Cuba is on the table, with Calderon wanting to play the matchmaker since Mexico is friendly with both countries, which Obama decides to pass on for now; on Apr. 20 the summit ends with Obama outlining a broad agenda incl. a more central role for the U.S. in global alliances, with the soundbyte "We do our best to promote our ideals and our values by our example"; after Obama calls for a "new beginning" with Cuba, Raul Castro says that he is willing to sit down with him and discuss "everything, everything, everything", causing his retired brother Fidel Castro to tell the press that Obama "misinterpreted" his remarks, and that freeing political prisoners is out of the question; on Apr. 17 Obama shakes hands with Venezuelan pres. (since 1999) Hugo Chavez, who is known for calling Pres. Bush a "devil"; Chavez hands Obama the 1971 book Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent, by Uruguayan author Eduardo Hughes Galeano (1940-), which exposes U.S. and Euro imperialism in Latin Am. for the last five cents., and is written in Spanish, causing Obama to think it was written by Chavez; it becomes an immediate bestseller on Amazon.com, jumping from #54,295 to #2 in three days - did he feel amazingly boxed in or grateful to know what's wrong? Take our word for it, and ci ya later? On Apr. 16 Memos on Torture, a "Holy Grail of torture documents" written by CIA inspector gen. John Helgerson in 2004 during the Bush years describing inhumane torture techniques used by the CIA are pub. after the agents involved are shielded from prosecution; the CIA admits to destroying 12 tapes of particularly devilish interrogations, plus 80 others they claim weren't so bad; a 2005 Justice Dept. memo shows that they gave Abu Zubaydah 83 waterboardings in Aug. 2002 alone, all of which pisses-off lawmakers into calling for more extensive inquiries into the Beat the Bush admin., incl. calls for prosecution anyway, causing Obama on Apr. 21 to say he'll have the new U.S. atty.-gen. look into it, and recommend Congress to set up an independent commission rather than a congressional panel; too bad, ex-vice-pres. Dick Cheney steps in, delaying the declassification of the document until ?. On Apr. 18 after pleas by Pakistani pres. Asif Ali Zardari, who says "I still fear that the understanding of the danger that Pakistan faces does not register fully in the minds of the world... If we lose, you lose. If we lose, the world loses", the U.S., Japan, the EU, and Saudi Arabia promise $5B in aid to Pakistan. On Apr. 19 22 polo horses from the Venezuelan-owned Lechuza polo team collapse and die in West Palm Beach, Fla. shortly before the start of the U.S. Open after being given a botched Biodyl vitamin-mineral prescription, which was illegal to bring into the U.S., so they had it mixed locally. On Apr. 19 a U.S. missile strike in S Waziristan, Pakistan on the Afghan border kills three al-Qaida militants and destroys a truck filled with high explosives that could have been used in a suicide bombing; the incident shows the growing strength of al-Qaida in shaky Pakistan. On Apr. 19 U.S. homeland secy. (since Jan. 21) Janet Napolitano goes on CNN's State of the Union, and says that crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally isn't a crime; too bad, Section 8, Title 1325 of the U.S. Criminal Code says it is - call it on-the-job training? On Apr. 19 Prince Philip, duke of Edinburgh (b. 1921) becomes the longest serving consort in British history, 57 years and 71 days, passing up George III's consort Queen Charlotte. As smooth as a baby's behind? On Apr. 19 Donald Trump's Miss USA 2009 (58th) Pageant at the Theatre for the Performing Arts in Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. (known for not promoting tons of non-whites over the heads of whites but being mostly fair, until now?) is won by blonde-blue Miss N.C. Kristen Jeannine Dalton (1986-) (not to be confused with the redheaded actress Kristen Dalton, b. 1966) after gorgeous blonde-blue Miss Calif. Caroline Michelle "Carrie" Prejean (1987-) (a Bible-believing Creationist) honestly answers a question about same-sex marriage by ugly bigmouth gay celeb Perez Hilton (1978-), saying "I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there", after which Hilton gives away that he voted her down for her beliefs, calling her answer "the worst answer in pageant history", and adding on his blog "She lost not because she doesn't believe in gay marriage, she lost because she's a dumb bitch" (duh, like him?); on Apr. 21 Repub. state rep. (since 2002) Jay Love (1968-) introduces a resolution to the Ala. legislature to praise Prejean for standing by her beliefs; the gays then begin a systematic harassment campaign, announcing that she had breast implants and dredging up old photos to use against her, but Donald Trump intervenes, allowing her to keep her crown; meanwhile the U.S. liberal media takes to calling her comments "controversial"; too bad, after the heat dies down, Trump fires her anyway on June 10 on er, trumped-up excuses. On Apr. 20 British ambassador Peter Gooderham leads dozens of diplomats in walking out of a U.N. Conference on Racism in Geneva after Iranian PM Imadinnajacket calls Israel a "cruel and oppressive racist regime", and says that the state of Israel was created "on the pretext of Jewish suffering" in WWII; protesters dressed in clown wigs disrupt Dinnajacket, shouting "racist" in French and throwing something at him; meanwhile the U.S., Israel, Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands boycott the conference, which soon falls apart. On Apr. 20 Pres. Obama orders his cabinet to find ways to cut spending by $100B, er, $100M, admitting that it's a "drop in the bucket" but that there's a "confidence gap" that needs to be overcome; meanwhile he visits the CIA and gives them a pep talk, saying "I know the last few days have been difficult. You need to know you've got my full support", but adding that they have to follow all his new rules. On Apr. 20 a suicide bomber in Baqouba, Iraq wounds eight U.S soldiers - I'll be baaaq? Last year we had Made-Off, now we have Mark-Off? On Apr. 20 police arrest suspected "Craigslist Killer" Philip "Phil" Markoff (1985-), a medical student accused of contacting escort services in Craigslist then meeting with their hos in upscale hotels and robbing them to mark off, er, pay off gambling debts, collecting their panties as souvenirs and leaving his tracks all over the Internet, making him easy to catch after he went too far on Apr. 14 and killed 26-y.-o. Julissa Brisman, upping his police priority; his babe Megan McAllister stands by him at first, then cancels the Aug. 14 wedding on Apr. 27. On Apr. 21 Bank of Am. Corp. posts a first quarter profit of $2.81B. On Apr. 21 Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act (HR 1388), reauthorizing and expanding the Corp. for Nat. and Community Service (founded 1993); he appoints leftist activist Patrick Corvington as its new head, who is unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Feb. 11 (until ?). On Apr. 21 the College Board, known for its SAT test pub. a report calling on Congress to give illegal immigrants tuition aid to help them become educated illegal immigrants, er, citizens. On Apr. 21 animal rights activist Daniel Andreas San Diego (1978-) becomes the first domestic terrorist to make the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List - where in the world is Daniel San Diego? On Apr. 21 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 in Ariz. v. Gant that police may search the passenger compartment of a vehicle after the occupant is under arrest without a warrant only if it is reasonable to believe tht the person might access the vehicle at the time of the search, or that the vehicle contains evidence of the offense for which they are being arrested, unless there is an actual and continuing threat to officer safety, overturning New York v. Belton (1981) and Thornton v. U.S. (2004); Justices Alito, Roberts, Kennedy, and Breyer dissent. On Apr. 22 the IMF says that the world economy is going to shrink by 1.3% this year, the first shrinkage in 6 decades in a "Great Recession"; in Jan. they predicted 0.5% growth; as of Apr. the U.S. GDP shrunk 2.6% over the past 12 mo., compared to 9.5% for Russia, 9.1% for Japan, 6.9% for Germany, 4.1% for the U.K., and 3.2% for France. On Apr. 22 (morning) Freddie Mac CFO David Kellerman (b. 1967), who was blamed for causing the U.S. mortgage crisis is found dead by suicide by hanging in his $900K home in Fairfax County, Va. On Apr. 22 the FDA bows to a judge's order and agrees to make the "morning after pill" RU-486 available to 17-y.-os. On Apr. 22 the U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments on a reverse discrimination suit by white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., appearing divided; on June 29 in Ricci v. DeStefano they rule 5-4 in favor of the firefighters (even though the appeals court led by Sonia Sotomayor ruled against their case with the "disparate impact" excuse), with the soundbyte "an employer could not cast aside a selection method based on a statistical disparity alone"; Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissents, writing "Relying heavily on written tests to select fire officers is a questionable practice, to say the least." On Apr. 22 elections in South Africa (4th since the 1994 transition to black majority rule) give a V to the African Nat. Congress (ANC); despite corruption investigations and a rape acquittal, Zulu-born ANC pres. (since Dec. 18, 2007) Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (1942-) becomes pres. #4 of South Africa, and is sworn in on May 9 (until Feb. 14, 2018); which of his six wives will be first lady? On Apr. 22-23 a fire in Myrtle Beach, S.C. causes evacuation. On Apr. 23 two suicide bomb attacks in Iraq kill 70; meanwhile the Iraqi govt. finally captures al-Qaida leader Abu Abdaullah al-Rashid al-Baghdadi, leader of the Mujahideen Shura Council, who claims to be head of the Islamic State of Iraq, and shows photos on Aug. 28 to prove it. On Apr. 23 AP announces that it has computed that at least 110,600 Iraqis have been killed in the Iraqi War since 2003; meanwhile an AP poll reveals that 48% of Americans believe the U.S. is on the right track despite the trillions in debt and bailouts, and millions of jobless; 41% disagree; meanwhile the Obama admin. asks the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its Apr. 1, 1986 decision in Michigan v. Jackson that police can't use confessions from suspects unless they have their lawyer present, pissing-off civil libertarians - get me a bent coathanger? What was that about Mexico becoming a failed state, and going to the swine? On Apr. 24 the World Health Org. (WHO) convenes an emergency meeting after reports of a deadly outbreak of 800+ "influenza-like" cases in Mexico caused by a new strain of swine flu combined with bird flu and human flu from a U.S.-co.-owned pig farm near Veracruz that killed 16-60 late in the flu season, incl. some young strong victims, stirring fears of a super pandemic to beat all pandemics like in 1919; Maria Adela Gutierrez (b. 1969), who died Apr. 13 in Oaxaca becomes the first known Mexican swine flu victim; is this the apocalyptic World's Seventh Killer Plague?; on Apr. 26 after 20 cases are confirmed in the U.S., the U.S. govt. declares the 2009 Mexican (North American) H1N1 Swine Flu Outbreak a public health emergency; on Apr. 27 the first U.S. death is a 23-mo. infant in Houston, Tex., which is officially confirmed on Apr. 29; cases are reported in Canada, Britain, Germany, Spain, Israel, Austria and New Zealand, but no deaths (until ?); after the flu proves less virulent than expected, Mexico City lifts its office bldg. and market closures after five days, with the death toll at only 42; on Aug. 11 Costa Rican pres. Oscar Arias (1931-) becomes the first head of state to contract it; on Sept. 4 WHO declares a pandemic, even though the flu has killed only 2,837 and has not mutated yet; did WHO do it to make pharmaceutical cos. billions, or were the latter just lucky? On Apr. 24 two female Sunni suicide purse bombers kill 66 and injure 120+ (incl. 80 Iranian pilgrims) outside the Shiite Imam Mousa al-Kazim Tomb in Kazimiyah, Iraq. On Apr. 24 Pres. Obama commemorates the anniv. of the 1915 Armenian genocide of 1.5M by the Muslim Turks with a written statement calling it "one of the great atrocities of the 20th century", but reneging on a campaign promise to label it as genocide, pissing-off Armenian-Ams.; on Oct. 10 they sign a historic agreement to establish diplomatic ties after a dramatic last-minute intervention by U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton to make it happen; the real reason Turkey wants to improve relations with Armenia is to get it to drop claims to the Nagorno-Karabakh region so they can pipe C Asian gas through Azerbaijan? - Armenians should all get govt.-paid fertility treatments and become octomoms and octodads to make up for the genocide? On Apr. 25 Obama's secretary, er, U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton makes a surprise visit to Baghdad, Iraq, and holds a town hall style meeting in the U.S. embassy, promising the Iraqi people that the Obama admin. will, er, won't abandon them as the U.S. begins pulling out troops; meanwhile four suicide bombings in the last two days kill 160+. On Apr. 26 Iraqi PM (since May 20, 2006) Nouri al-Maliki (1950-) denounces a predawn U.S. raid in S Iraq that killed two Iraqis, vowing to prosecute the soldiers involved, becoming the first such call. On Apr. 26 Pakistan launches a military operation against the Taliban in the Lower Dir region, ending their controversial peace deal. On Apr. 26 the Sri Lankan govt. mocks a unilateral ceasefire declared by entrapped Tamil Tiger rebels, who are balls to the wall with one foot in the Indian Ocean, and on May 17 defeat them in a bloody final battle, killing 250, incl. the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, causing the remainder to surrender, ending Asia's longest civil war (begun 1983) after 70K are killed. On Apr. 26 German voters reject the Pro-Reli program to make teaching of religion in Berlin schools compulsary. On Apr. 27 a 5.6 earthquake hits Mexico City, shaking bldgs. in flutown. On Apr. 27 an Air Force One Photo Opp in Manhattan, incl. a flyover of Ground Zero for 9/11 causes panic, pissing-off New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who calls it "ill-conceived" and a "waste of taxpayers' money", after which Pres. Obama chews out the personnel involved, esp. White House military office dir. Louis Caldera (1956-), who resigns on May 8; after finding that it cost $328K, David Letterman asks them if they ever heard of Photoshop. On Apr. 27 Qasim Ahmed becomes the first Muslim imam to open a session of the Fla. House of Reps with a prayer; he is also the first polygamist? On Apr. 27 the Nelson Mandela Foundation invites the global community to celebrate Internat. Mandela Day (Nelson Mandela Internat. Day) on July 18; in Nov. the U.N. Gen. Assembly formally declares it. On Apr. 28 Penn. Jewish Sen. (since 1981) Arlen Specter (1930-) switches from Repub. to Dem., taking the Dems. to within one vote of a filibuster-proof Senate (60); 200K other Penn. Repubs. migrated to the Dem. Party already this year; meanwhile the Obama admin. celebrates its first 100 days. On Apr. 28 TLW pub. his essay The Megamerge Dissolution Solution on the Internet, advocating the dissolving of the U.S.-Mexico border and the megamerge of both countries into a 75-state U.S. - will it catch on or will Rodin's Thinker get another tattoo? On Apr. 29 Chrysler Corp. declares bankruptcy despite a last-minute deal with Fiat to pool technology and acceptance of a Treasury-brokered rescue package by unions and bank creditors after a group of hedge and investment funds refuse to cancel $6.9B in debt in return for a $2B cash payment; Chrysler plans to build the Fiat 500 minicar at a factory in Mexico; meanwhile on Apr. 27 a massive $30B restructuring plan for GM is laid out, which would make the U.S. govt. and the UAW majority stockholders; the UAW boon is a scandal because they donated over $23M to the Dem. Party and its candidates from 2000-8?; meanwhile China waits in the wings, poised to pass Japan and become the world's largest automaker; too bad, on June 8 U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg bows to Chrysler's creditors and delays the Fiat deal. On Apr. 29 the U.S. House by 249-175 passes the U.S. Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, giving special federal protection to gays and providing state and local authorities with federal funds; a weaker bill died two years ago under a veto threat by Pres. Bush; the bill was spurred by the 1998 killing of Wyo. college student Matthew Shepard; in the wrong hands it could be used to put people on trial for their beliefs and org. memberships?; too bad, it is snuck through the House on Oct. 8 in a defense authorization bill, passing by 281-146, and passed 68-29 by the Senate on Oct. 22, then signed by Pres. Obama on Oct. 28. On Apr. 29 conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court attack a key element of the 1965 U.S. Voting Rights Act, questioning whether Southern states should still be held to account for past racial discrimination; the law forces those states to get special approval before making changes in the way they conduct elections. On Apr. 29 the Wacky Warning Labels award goes to the Original Off-Road Commode, which attaches to a trailer hitch and features the label "Not for use on moving vehicles"; the award highlights how low U.S. manufacturers will go to fend off lawsuits. On Apr. 29 the number of words in the English language passes 1M; either that or on June 9 at 5:22 a.m., according to the Global Language Monitor, "Web 2.0". On Apr. 30 U.S. Supreme Court justice David Hackett Souter (1939-), who was appointed by pres. George H.W. Bush in 1990 for his conservative credentials, then flopped to stop the court from going conservative, becoming known as the liberals' 5th vote announces plans to retire at the end of the court's term in June, causing speculation that Pres. Obama will appoint a woman to fill the vacancy, although he only indicates that he will pick someone with "empathy", adding "I will seek someone who understands that justice isn't about some abstract legal theory or footnote in a case book. It is also about how our laws affect the daily realities of people's lives"; on May 24 after flack over his empathy psychobabble, he adds that they have to understand the "practical day-to-day" implications of rulings - empathetically understand? On Apr. 30 Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri (1966-) pleads guilty to being a sleeper agent for al-Qaida; he arrived in the U.S. on the day before 9/11 - and has had plenty of time to sleep where they put him? On Apr. 30 (9:30 a.m) Georgian citizen Farda Gadyrov opens fire in the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy school in Baku, Azerbaijan, killing 12 and wounding 12 before killing himself. On Apr. 30 four Muslim men from Leeds, England abduct a 16-y.-o. boy over a drug debt, then torture him with a hot iron and boiling water; next Mar. 10 they receive sentences of 5-12 years. In Apr. a YouTube video of two Domino's Pizza workers, Kristy Lynn Hammonds (1978-) and Michael Anthony Setzer (1977-) doing gross things with food in the kitchen while saying "Do it again, do it again" causes an uproar and hurts Domino's business bigtime, after which it is revealed to be a hoax with the food never actually served, but that doesn't stop them from being fired and prosecutors from filing felony charges on them for food tampering. In Apr. three political leaders in Baluchistan, SW Pakistan are kidnapped and killed by Pakistani agents, sparking an insurgency that lasts until ?. In Apr. ex-Peruvian pres. (1990-2000) Alberto Fujimori (1938-) is convicted of human rights violations and sentenced to 25 years in prison for kidnappings and murders by the Grupo Colina, becoming the first elected head of state to be extradited to his home country, tried, and convicted of human rights violations; in July he gets another 7.5 years for giving $15M from the treasury to intel chief Vladimiro Montesinos; in Sept. he gets six more years for bribery, but his sentence is pegged at 25 years max. In Apr. the Dept. of Homeland Security report Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment by Daryl Johnson et al. is leaked, warning that veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan can be drawn to radicalized movements in the U.S., pissing-off conservatives and Fox News, creating the first scandal in the Obama admin., tanking the career of DHS secy. Janet Napolitano and causing the Extremism and Radicalization Branch of the DHS (created in 2004) to be shut down, leaving the U.S. vulnerable for radicalized veterans? In Apr. the Nat. Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders calls for illegal aliens to boycott the 2010 U.S. Census until Congress passes comprehensive immigration reform. In Apr. an image of Our Lady of Guadelupe on a griddle in Calexico, Calif. causes over 100 faithful to flock to see it, incl. a group of masked Mexican wrestlers on Apr. 30 - or just regular wrestlers guarding against the flu? In Apr. mail order DVD rental co. Netflix delivers its 2 billionth movie. On May 1 "Turkish Henry Kissinger" Ahmet Davutoglu (1959-) is appointed foreign minister of Turkey, calling for Turkey to expand its role in world politics, stirring fears of re-Ottomanization. On May 1 hundreds of marchers in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif. brave rain to call for an end to immigration raids and legalization of the umpteen-million undocumented workers (don't say illegal aliens). On May 1 Scottish-born Carol Ann Duffy (1955-) becomes poet laureate of Britain (until ?), becoming the first bi, first woman, and first of the 21st cent. On May 2 a Sunni Iraqi soldier opens fire on U.S. troops, killing two near Mosul before being killed - let me do the work, you just get well? On May 3 news that Notre Dame U. in Repub.-leaning Ind. (which he carried in the pres. election) invited Pres. Obama to its graduation ceremony pisses-off Roman Catholic bishops because of his stand on abortion, and causes protests on three straight Fridays, on the last of which (May 15) black former Repub. candidate Alan Keyes is arrested; meanwhile a Gallup poll shows that 67% of Catholics and 79% of Jews support Obama; on May 17 (Sun.) Obama addresses Notre Dame grads amid abortion protesters shouting "Stop killing our children", calling for "open hearts, open minds, fair-minded words" in the public debate over the issue, and that neither should caricature or demonize the other; 37 protesters are arrested, incl. Norman McCovey, the Roe in the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case, who was used by liberal attys. then came out against abortion. On May 3 grocery mogul Ricardo Martinelli (1951-) is elected pres. of Panama, taking office on July 1 (until ?). On May 4 the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in Flores-Figueroa v. U.S. that undocumented workers who use made-up Social Security numbers can't be prosecuted as identity thieves to make them kowtow and leave the country to avoid federal prison terms unless they knew the ID numbers were from real people. On May 4 the U.S. coalition battles the Taliban in the W Afghan Farah Province, with the Taliban using Afghan civilians as human shields, after which the pissed-off Afghan govt. comes down on the Talibanis, er, U.S. forces, claiming that they killed 147 civilians. On May 5 Brazilian officials announce that floods and mudslides in N Brazil have driven 186K from their homes and killed 19. On May 5 a French judge okays an investigation into African leaders Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of DRC, and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guina for money-laundering of their ill-gotten gains in France. On May 5 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden tells the Am. Israel Public Affairs Committee that the Obama admin. is committed to a new Palestinian state, saying "The status quo of the last decade has not served the interests of the United States, or Israel, very well." On May 5 a 500-man tank battalion in Georgia mutinies, causing pres. Mikheil Sakashvili to accuse Russia of being behind it; the mutiny is ended in a few hours. On May 5 British home secy. Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith (1962-) pub. Britain's first shame list of 16 of 22 people barred from entering the Y.U.K., er, U.K. for exercising freedom of speech by allegedly fostering extremism or hatred, incl. Jewish-Am. talk-radio host Michael Savage (Michael Alan Weiner) (1942-), who told it like it is and called the Queer, er, Quran a "book of hate". On May 6 Maine passes a bill allowing gay marriage, followed by N.H., becoming state #6; of six New England states, only R.I. is holding out. On May 6 the Taliban wars with the Pakistani military over the NW Pakistan town of Mingora (Mangora) (Minagora), causing thousands to flee; the Pakistani military takes control on May 31. On May 6 U.S. Navy vet. (a Colo. resident) Stephen P. Morgan (1979-) guns down and murders Wesleyan U. student (also from Colo., where he met her in 2007) Johanna Justin-Jinich (b. 1987) in a cafe near the campus, after which his notebook is discovered, containing the soundbyte "Kill Johanna", plus notes about his grudges against Jews and "beautiful" and "smart" Wesleyan students; he gives himself up on May 7. On May 6 Pres. Obama meets with leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and states that "The security of Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States are linked", calling for a joint strategy to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaida militants. On May 7 U.S. regulators tell the 19 largest U.S. banks that they need $75B in extra capital to stay viable. On May 7 Manuel "Manny" Aristides Ramirez is banned for 50 games, costing him $7M, just because he took the prescription women's fertility drug human chorionic gonadotropin, which might help increase his testosterone level - real poontang does the same thing? On May 7 ex-police sgt. Drew Walter Peterson (1954-) is finally arrested for the death of his 3rd wife Kathleen Savio, who he claimed accidentally drowned in her empty bathtub in Bolingbrook, Ill., but was reinvestigated after his 4th wife Stacy Peterson disappeared mysteriously in Oct. 2007. On May 8 Pope Benedict XVI begins his First Trip to the Middle East, incl. Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories, becoming the first time that a pope has made an official visit to a Muslim country, Jordan; on May 11 he visits the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, saying the victims "lost their lives but they will never lose their names", pissing-off the Jewish PC police, who wanted him to use the hot button words "murder" and "Nazi" in his speech, and make a stand on Pope Pius XII, whom they claim didn't do enough to save Jews from guess what by guess what on his watch; on May 13 he is welcomed to the West Bank by Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas, since he shares his goal of a separate Palestinian state. On May 8 the May 2009 Southern Midwest Derecho consisting of 39 tornadoes hits SE Kan., S Mo., and SW Ill. On May 10 the Mexican govt. announces that it will not participate in a Shanghai trade fair on May 19-21, calling China's can give you swine flu? On May 10 human rights groups in the U.S. announce that they are investigating reports that U.S. troops have been illegally using white phosphorus as weapons against the Taliban in Afghanistan; it is legal to use it to illuminate a target or create smoke, but innocent civilians can get burned if it is used over populated areas, which constitutes a war crime. On May 10 ex-U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney breaks precedent and attacks the Obama admin., saying the U.S. has become more vulnerable to a terrorist attack since it took power. On May 10 U.S. vice-pres. Joe Biden insults Pres. Obama's new black-and-white (half black and half white?) hypoallergenic Portuguese water dog Bo (2008-), saying that his dog Champ is smarter. On May 11 the cost of a first-class U.S. stamp rises to 44 cents. On May 11 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates replaces gen. David D. McKiernan with lt. gen. Stanley Allen McChrystal (1954-) as top U.S. gen. in Afghanistan less than a year after he took over, indicating that the U.S. is in deeper doo-doo?; McChrystal assumes command on June 15 (until June 23, 2010); on June 21 he announces that the U.S. will sharply restrict airstrikes to situations in which they are needed to prevent coalition troops from being overrun in an effort to reduce civilian deaths. On May 11 after years of legal wrangling, ailing Ukrainian-born suspected Nazi guard "Ivan the Terrible", retired Ohio autoworker John (Ivan) Demjanjuk (1920-) is deported to Germany to face 27.9K counts of accessory to murder even though he's not Ivan the Terrible and at most was a low-level Nazi concentration camp guard. On May 11 stressed-out U.S. Sgt. John M. Russell (b. 1964-) of Sherman, Tex. fires on his comrades inside a combat stress clinic in Baghdad, killing five; meanwhile U.S. Army Specialist Zachary Boyd (1990-) is photographed in E Afghanistan fighting the Taliban dressed in pink boxer shorts reading "I Love NY" and flip-flops, drawing the praise of U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates, who says it takes "a special kind of courage", and "I can only wonder about the impact on the Taliban... What an incredible innovation in psychological warfare." On May 11 the U.S. health care industry agrees to cut $2T in costs over the next 10 years by using more info. technology etc.; in 1977 Pres. Carter got them to promise the same thing, and they never went through with it; meanwhile the White House releases hit-the-fan numbers showing that the U.S. budget deficit will reach $1.84T this year, $89B more than forecast in Feb., increasing the inaugural deficit of $1.2T by $600B; meanwhile in Apr. a Pew poll shows Obama having an overall approval rating of 64%, but just 49% approving his handling of the deficit, and a week earlier worldwide investors demanded higher interest for 30-year Treasury bonds. On May 11 King Abdullah II of Jordan issues an ultimatum, saying that the Obama admin.'s comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace plan must work, else "If we delay our peace negotiations, then there is going to be another conflict between Arabs or Muslims and Israel in the next 12-18 months." On May 11 Space Shuttle Atlantis blasts off on a mission to repair the aging Hubble Space Telescope, and returns on May 22; on May 23 Hubble senior project scientist David Leckrone posts on the NASA Web site, complaining that NASA is abandoning its capability of servicing scientific instruments in space. On May 11 African-Am. comedian Wanda Sykes (1964-) gives a performance at a Mon. night White House Correspondents' Dinner, pissing-off conservatives by accusing Rush Limbaugh of treason, and wishing that his kidneys would fail as a gotcha to his frequent comments that he wishes that the Obama admin. would fail. On May 11 former Minn. gov. (1999-2003) Jesse Ventura (1951-) appears on CNN's Larry King Live, calling George W. Bush the worst U.S. pres. of his lifetime and offering to waterboard Dick Cheney, then asking to be appointed U.S. ambassador to Cuba; meanwhile a CIA inspector-gen. report from May 7, 2004 that is finally being released reveals that waterboarding didn't produce the desired results, and that it is difficult "to determine conclusively whether interrogations have provided information critical to interdicting specific imminent attacks." Priests go for Vitamin P, archibishops for Vitamin D? On May 12 Rembert George Weakland (1927-), former Roman Catholic archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisc. (1977-2002), who resigned in a sex and financial scandal announces that he is gay; meanwhile in May Puerto Rican-born Cuban Miami, Fla. Roman Catholic priest Father Alberto Cutie (1969-) (AKA Father Oprah) is photographed with a divorced woman that he's been hooking up with for two years, causing a firestorm of controversy about pussy power, er, celibacy of non-gay priests; in June he becomes an Episcopal priest and marries 35-y.-o. Ruhama Canellis (1974-). On May 12 the U.S. FDA threatens Gen. Mills Inc. over its Cheerios oats cereal, claiming that since it contains the slogan "You can lower your cholesterol 4 percent in six weeks", that makes it a drug, putting them in charge of approving it, which they haven't, so it's now "unauthorized" and subject to criminal action - this despicable overreaching of a federal regulatory agency makes me want to whinny and send a herd of horses stampeding onto their officials? I'm fed up with the FDA? Fight them all the way to the Supreme Stable? On May 12 up to 12 suicide bombers stage synchronized attacks on govt. buildings in Khost (E of Kabul) in Afghanistan, triggering scattered fighting that kills 20 and wounds three U.S. soldiers. On May 12 Pres. Obama threatens Britain that if it reveals the methods of torture of Ethiopian-born alleged terrorist Binyam Ahmed Mohamed (1978-) (who was arrested in Pakistan on Apr. 10, 2002, detained in Guantanamo Bay Prison until the charges were dropped on Oct. 21, 2008 then released, arriving in Britain on Feb. 23, claiming torture), he will reevaluate his intel-sharing relationship with them; Obama's decision to block the release of photos depicting torture of terrorism detainees causes ex-pres. Jimmy Carter to break with him, saying "I think... most of his supporters were hoping that he would be much more open in the revelation of what we've done in the past." On May 12 on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly (1949-) theorizes that legalization of gay marriage could lead to interspecies marriages, with the soundbyte "You would let everybody get married who want to get married. You want to marry a turtle, you can" - her sleek bristles reach deeper? On May 13 the European Commission fines Intel Corp. a record 1.06B Euros for abusing its dominance in the computer chip market vis a vis its rival Advanced Micro Devices. On May 13 Pres. Obama flip-flops his position, deciding to oppose the court-ordered release of photos of abuse of Muslim ragheads by U.S. forces after all. On May 13 Tiffany Toribio (1985-) of Albuquerque, N.M. smothers her 3-y.-o. son Tyruss "Ty" Toribio in a playground in a park, resuscitates him, smothers him again, then buries him there, the body found two days later, after which she is arrested on May 21, saying that since no one cared about her when she was growing up, she didn't want him to grow up that way. On May 14 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (1940-) claims that the CIA lied to Congress in 2002 about whether waterboarding was being used on terrorists suspects, causing CIA dir. (since Feb. 13) Leon Panetta (1938-) to deny it on May 15, after which Pelosi wakes up and closes ranks with the Obama admin., shifting the blame to the Bush admin. but sticking with her story; too bad, the CIA officials who lied to her were career officials, not working for the Bush admin., and Repub. pundit Newt Gingrich (1943-) calls for her to step down, with the soundbyte, "If you were a young man or woman just starting out today, would you put on a uniform or become an intelligence officer to defend America, knowing that tomorrow a politician like Nancy Pelosi could decide you were a criminal?"; meanwhile White House spokesman Robert Gibbs tells the press he wishes they would focus on the future not the past, causing her to be compared on YouTube to Pussy Galore; the CIA has already been proven to have lied to Congress, so why try to cover for them now? On May 15 Pres. Obama revives the military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees, while promising to make changes to give them stronger legal protections, pissing-off liberal supporters, who accuse him of reneging on campaign promises. On May 15 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder announces that the federal govt. will no longer pursue medical marijuana dispensaries or patients unless marijuana is illegal under both state and federal laws, becoming a V for marijuana legalization and states rights advocates; on May 22 Pres. Obama announces that he will reverse a Bush admin. rule known as preemption, where federal regs override state laws on environment, health, public safety et al., becoming another V for states rights. On May 16 Pres. Obama nominates Repub. Utah gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. as U.S. ambassador to China; he is fluent in Mandarin. On May 17 the Indian Nat. Congress Party of Italian-born Sonia Gandhi (Edvige Antonia Albina Maino) (1946-) (widow of PM Rajiv Gandhi) scores a stunning political coup in India, winning 205 of 543 seats, 12 shy of a majority, its best performance in 25 years. On May 18 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 5-4 in Ashcroft v. Iqbal that high-level U.S. officials incl. FBI dir. Robert Mueller and U.S. atty.-gen. John Ashcroft can't be sued by 9/11 terrorist detainee Javaid Iqbal of Pakistan for alleged torture and humiliation for being a Muslim without initial evidence (sans discovery) that they ordered the abuse personally; liberal justices David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and John Paul Stevens dissent, with Ginsburg saying they "messed up the federal rules" for civil suits, and Souter saying the decision could "upend" the civil litigation system; after hundreds of lower courts begin citing the decision as a pretext to get rid of civil cases they don't like at will, it becomes the most significant U.S. Supreme Court decision of the decade? On May 18 Pres. Obama meets with new Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, hinting at a timetable to resolve differences with Iran over their nuke program, with Netanyahu saying he won't negotiate with the Palestinians unless they recognize the right of the state of Israel to exist; on May 26 Obama meets with Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak, followed on May 28 by Palestinian pres. Mahmoud Abbas. On May 18 Michelle Obama gives a speech at the opening night of the Am. Ballet Theater, saying that the arts can "express, enable and empower Americans of all ages". On May 18 prominent U.S. Civil War historian James M. McPherson (1936-) signs a petition asking Pres. Obama not to lay a wreath at the Confed. Monument Memorial at Arlington Nat. Cemetery, claiming it will encourage the neo-Confed. movement; he does it anyway, receiving praise from the Sons of Confed. Veterans. On May 19 Pres. Obama announces a plan to curb vehicle emissions by 2012 a la Calif. by mandating a fleet avg. of 35.5 mpg vs. 25 mpg this year, saying that the vehicles will cost more but pay off at the pump. On May 19 Sen. Dem. leaders announce that they will not provide the $80M requested by Pres. Obama to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center, and on May 21 the U.S. Senate resoundingly rejects Obama, causing him on May 21 to give a speech at the Nat. Archives in Washington, D.C., giving further details about his plans for Guantanamo detainees, saying that he intends to transfer some to facilities in the U.S., and proposing "prolonged detention" for those who cannot be tried, calling it "the toughest issue we face"; afterward, saying that Obama "deserves an answer", ex-vice-pres. Obi Wan Kecheney delivers his own speech, defending Bush admin. policy along with the Gitmo prisoner camp, calling Obama's nat. security approach "recklessness cloaked in righteousness", and his opposition to torture "unwise in the extreme", with critics being guilty of "phony moralizing" and "feigned outrage", adding that Obama has "found that it's easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo", and that "The administration seems to pride itself on searching for some kind of middle ground in policies addressing terrorism. Triangulation is a political strategy, not a national security strategy", concluding with "When they see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations, the terrorists see just what they were hoping for, our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity"; meanwhile an unreleased Pentagon Report is leaked, which found that about one in seven of 534 prisoners a lready transferred abroad from Gitmo are engaged in terrorism again; the report is a phony, with loose definitions used to make its point? On May 19 British House of Commons speaker (since 2000) Michael John Martin (1945-) becomes the first to be ousted from his job in over 300 years, promising to step down on June 21 after Am. freelance writer Heather Brooke (not to be confused with the porno queen at IDeepthroat.com) uses the new British FOI Act to dig up proof of his and other British politicians' greed, incl. using tax money to renovate and sell properties for profit, and pay for an electrical massage chair and the clearing of a country house moat. On May 19 Colombian lawmakers approve a measure to let voters decide whether popular pres. (since 2002) Alvaro Uribe may seek a 3rd term. On May 19 the U.S. Senate passes sweeping pro-consumer credit card legislation, ending some of the abuses of the industry; too bad, it allows the credit card cos. to continue to charge any interest rate they want, kowtowing to them and refusing to plug up they hole they made in 1979; it also contains a sneaky provision allowing visitors to nat. parks to carry loaded and concealed weapons, causing concerns about it passing the House or Obama signing it, but the House passes it on May 20, and Obama signs it on May 22, saying the new law won't take effect for 9 mo. (next Feb.). On May 19 while Gov. Terminator is visiting the White House, a special election in Calif. rejects measures to keep the reeling state solvent amid calls for a constitutional convention. On May 19 Glee debuts on Fox Network for ? episodes (until ?), about the William McKinley High School New Directions glee club, starring Matthew Morrison as club dir. Will Schuester, Jane Lynch (1960-) as cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, Jayma Mays as guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury, and Cory Monteith as hearthrob club member Finn Hudson. On May 20 an Indonesian Air Force plane carrying 100+ crashes into a residential area in Jakarta, killing 79. On May 20 a car bomb explodes in an ice cream parlor in a Shiite neighborhood of N Baghdad, Iraq, killing 34 and wounding 72. On May 20 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket slaps Pres. Obama in the face by announcing the test-firing of a solid-fuel medium range missile capable of hitting Israel and U.S. bases in the Persian Gulf. On May 20 Burmese democracy advocate and hero Aung San Suu Kyi (1945-), who has been under house arrest for 13 of the last 19 years is put on trial in Rangoon by the cruddy military dictatorship for allowing John W. Yettaw (1955-) of Falcon, Mo. to stay overnight at her house allegedly to help her escape from the military dictatorship shithole, this big crime in Aftershaveland carrying five years for Suu Kyi and seven for Yettaw; on Aug. 11 she is sentenced to 18 mo. detention, bringing internat. condemnation, but getting her out of the way of the 2010 elections; on Aug. 15 U.S. Sen. (D-Va.) (since 2007) James Henry "Jim" Webb Jr. (1946-) (Navy Sec. under Reagan) meets with Burmese military leader gen. Than Shwe and arranges Yettaw's release - hoping to ape fellow military shithole North Korea? On May 20 a 2.6K-page Report on Irish Reformatories released in Dublin reports physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of inmates by priests and nuns from the 1930s to the 1990s - when's the movie coming out starring Brangelina? On May 20 Muslim-Am. would-be terrorists James Cromitie (1967-), Onta Williams (1976-), David Williams (1981-), and Laguerre Payen (1982-) are arrested en route to Bronx, N.Y. synagogues to plant fake bombs after being set up by federal agents, later claiming entrapment; on Aug. 31 at their federal trial audio tapes are played where Cromitie utters the soundbytes "Muslims want to take the U.S. down. Believe me, we can do it with our regular Muslims here" and "I will kill 10 million [Jews] before I kill one Muslim"; next Oct. 18 they are convicted. On May 20 Repub. Pentecostal minister James A. Young (1955-) becomes the first black mayor of Philadelphia, Miss. (until ?), known for the slaying of three civil rights workers in 1964. On May 21 Pres. Obama delivers a Speech on Nat. Security, dissing the Bush admin. for going too far with Islamic (never mentions the word) terrorists, and slapping himself on the back for ending torture and planning on closing Gitmo, with the soundbytes: "My single most important responsibility as president is to keep the American people safe. It's the first thing that I think about when I wake up in the morning. It's the last thing that I think about when I go to sleep at night"; "We know that al-Qaida is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it"; "I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values. The documents that we hold in this very hall, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, these are not simply words written into aging parchment. They are the foundation of liberty and justice in this country, and a light that shines for all who seek freedom, fairness, equality, and dignity around the world. I stand here today as someone whose own life was made possible by these documents"; "After 9/11 we know that we had entered a new era, that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law... Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions... based on fear rather than foresight, that all too often our government trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions"; "Let me be clear. We are indeed at war with al-Qaida and its affiliates"; after trying to wrestle over how to prosecute Islamics who have been detained at Gitmo, and whether to use military tribunals or civil courts, he utters the soundbyte "There may be a number of people who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes, in some cases because evidence may be tainted, but who nonetheless pose a threat to the security of the United States." On May 21 a new French Anti-Internet Piracy Law is passed, to take effect in the summer, allowing the govt. to snoop on Internet users and cut off access of those who download music and movies without paying; luckily on June 10 the constitutional court rules that only a judge can order Web access cut off, calling access a human right. On May 21 after a roundup of 99 of 1K members, and the confiscation of dozens of firearms, U.S. prosecutors charge 145 members of the 50-y.-o. Hispanic Varrio Hawaiian Gardens Gang of Hawaiian Gardens (E of Long Beach, Calif.), known for persecuting blacks and killing a sheriff's deputy in 2005; they call themselves the "Hate Gang" and take orders from the Mexican Mafia. On May 22 Leilani Neumann (1967-) is convicted in Wisc. of 2nd degree reckless homicide for relying on prayer to cure her 11-y.-o. daughter Madeleine of diabetes instead of medicine, after which she died on Mar. 23, 2008 - convict God too? On May 23 Pres. Obama nominates former Marine aviator and Space Shuttle astronaut maj. gen. Charles Frank "Charlie" Bolden Jr. (1946-) as the new head of NASA, becoming the first African-Am; he is confirmed by the Senate on July 15, taking office on July 17 (until Jan. 20, 2017). On May 25 (a.m.) (U.S. Memorial Day - thanks for thinking of us?) North Korea conducts its 2nd underground nuclear test in three years, drawing global condemnation, incl. from Russia, China, and the U.N. Security Council, which votes unanimously on June 12 for Resolution 1874, imposing sanctions on pesky North Korea, incl. authorizing ship searches on the high seas to look for nukes; their Apr. 5 launch of a long range missile compounds the condemnation, which doesn't stop them on May 27 from announcing that it no longer honors the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War, and that it will respond with "a powerful military strike" if any nation tries to stop it from exporting missiles and WMDs, calling such naval actions a "declaration of war"; on May 26 South Korea announces that it would join nations doing just that - they have decided that Obama is another Jimmy Carter already? On May 25 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton announces that partners of gay U.S. diplomats will be given the same benefits as spouses of hetero diplomats - I need to blow that dude, let me through now? On May 26 France opens its first military base in the Persian Gulf in Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi, its first permanent oversease military installation outside its former colonies in Africa in 50 years; in Mar. France returned to NATO after 43 years, signalling that it is trying to become a more active strategic partner of the U.S. On May 26 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules in 5-4 in Montejo v. La. that a defendant may waive his/her right to counsel during a police interrogation even after asserting it at an arraignment or similar court proceeding, reversing Michigan v. Jackson (1986). On May 26 after David Souter announces his retirement (June 29), Pres. Obama nominates New York City-born U.S. Appeals judge (since 1998) Sonia Sotomayor (1954-) (whose parents were immigrants from Puerto Rico, and who is known for ending the 1994 ML baseball strike) for the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Hispanic nominated; Repubs. immediately dredge up her past statements showing she might be a budding judicial activist and/or Latin racist and vow to fight; in 2001 she uttered the soundbyte "Justice O'Connor has often been cited as saying that a wise old man and wise old woman will reach the same conclusion in deciding cases... I am also not so sure that I agree with the statement... I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life", causing Newt Gingrich to call her a "reverse racist" and call for her to withdraw, and Christian televangelist Pat Robertson to call her nomination an "outrage", calling her "one of the most left-wing judges that there is in the United States"; on May 29 the Obama admin. backs down a little, calling her choice of words "poor"; on Aug. 6 the U.S. Senate confirms her by a 68-31 vote, with 9 of 40 Repubs. voting for her, incl. Lamar Alexander of Tenn.; John McCain of Ariz. votes against her, and Jeff Sessions of Ala. says that at least Obama won't nominate any more judges who claim to be guided by empathy; new Dem. Sen. Al Franken presides over the Senate during the vote; on Aug. 8 she is sworn in as U.S. Supreme Court justice #111 (until ?), becoming the first Hispanic and Latina U.S. Supreme Court justice, 3rd female, and 12th Roman Catholic (until ?). On May 27 a Taliban suicide bomb attack at a police bldg. in Lahore, Pakistan kills 30 and wounds 250; a reprisal for the govt. offensive?; meanwhile the Obama admin. asks Congress for $736M to build a new U.S. embassy and housing complex in Islamabad; the one in Iraq cost $740M; on June 16 Pakistani warlord Baitullah Mehsud claims responsibility, and threatens to attack the White House and Washington, D.C.; on Feb. 5, 2013 Pakistan-born Am. Muslim Reaz Qadir Khan (1964-) of Portland, Ore. is arrested and charged with providing advice and financial help to Ali Jaleel, one of the three suicide bombers; on June 26, 2015 he is sentenced to 87 mo. in U.S. prison. On May 28 after Israel rejects U.S. overtures to stop settlement construction on the West Bank, Pres. Obama personally steps in and tries to pressure it while meeting with Palestinian pres. Mahmud Abbas; it was Hillary Clinton who demanded a freeze on new home construction in existing settlements, making a new issue of it, killing all peace talks? On May 28 a bomb in a mosque in Zahedan in SE Iran kills 25 and injures 125; the Iranian govt. blames the U.S. of putting the Sunni rebel org. Jundallah ("Soldiers of Allah") (founded 2003) up to it. On May 30 three white supremacist Minutemen vigilantes invade a home occupied by Mexican illegal immigrants in Arivaca in S Ariz., and kill 9-y.-o. Brisenia Flores and her daddy Raul Junior Flores, and seriously injure her mommy Gina Gonzalez; they were looking for drugs and cash to fund their anti-immigrant org.; police allege that the ringleader is Minuteman Am. Defense dir. Shawna Forde (1968-), who is arrested along with two others. On May 31 late-term abortion provider George Tiller is murdered at a church in Wichita, Kan. by pro-lifer Scott Roeder, who draws condemnation from pro-life groups. On May 31 (Sun.) the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards are stunk up by a stunt where "Borat" comedian (now "Bruno") Sacha Baron Cohen (1971-) flies over the audience dressed as an angel, then crash-lands in the audience, ending upside-down with his bare buttocks exposed in rapper Eminem's face, causing the latter to walk out while cussing. In May in the midst of his feuding with Nancy Pelosi, CIA chief Leon Panetta travels to Israel to "read the riot act" to them, warning them against attacking Iran to stop them from developing nukes; meanwhile the Obama admin. quietly accepts their inevitability, stirring fears of a coming Jewish holocaust. In May U.S. solicitor gen. Elena Kagan files an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court against the victims of 9/11, arguing that they have no right to sue the Saudi govt. or royal family in U.S. court because the latter have "sovereign immunity" - more evidence that Obama, like Bush, is a pawn and puppet of the Saudi royals, I bet he nominates her for the Supreme Court? In May the U.S. loses 345K jobs, bringing the total lost since the economic stimulus was passed 3 mo. ago to 1.5M, causing Sarah Palin to tell Sean Hannity of Fox News, "We told ya so". In May China, the world's #2 exporter records a 26.4% drop in exports since last May, becoming the worst since 1995; imports fall 25.2%. In May the U.S. military burns stacks of Bibles in Afghanistan to avoid Christian proselytizing of precious Muslims. On June 1 Gen. Motors AKA Generous Motors becomes Govt. Motors as GM (founded 1908) declares bankruptcy; the U.S. govt. now owns 60% of the co. in return for $50B, with Canada getting 12%, the UAW 17.5%, and bondholders 10%; on June 1 Pres. Obama gives a speech, calling the U.S. a "reluctant equity owner"; a Ramussen Poll shows support for the plan at 21%, with 67% opposed; meanwhile House Repub. leader (R-Ohio) (since Feb. 2, 2006) John Andrew Boehner (1949-) (pr. BAY-ner) calls the Obama takeover of GM "lunacy", and calls on Congress to create a watchdog oversight body after grumbling that Obama bypassed the Congress unlike with the 1970s Chrysler bailout; after an outcry, GM agrees to cover liability claims despite being in Chapter 11; on July 10 GM surprises by emerging from bankruptcy. On June 1 the land and sea portion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) goes into effect; U.S. citizens are required to have a U.S. Passport Card to reenter their own country, raising the possibility that illegal aliens could kidnap them in the U.S., dump them over the border, and watch them try to get back in without success until they pay the coyotes to bring them in as illegal aliens; the biggest initial impact is at the U.S.-Canadian border, known for allowing crossers to merely state their nationality. On June 1 (4:15 a.m.) Air France Flight 447 (Airbus 330) disappears over the Atlantic en route from Rio to Paris, carrying 228 passengers and crew from 32 countries; it takes weeks to recover the wreckage, which suggests that the plane broke up in the air; on June 30 an Airbus A310-300 en route from Yemen to Comoros crashes into the Indian Ocean, killing 152 of 153 aboard. On June 1 (10:00 a.m. local time) African-Am. Muslim convert Abdulhakim Muhammad (1986-), formerly known as Carlos Leon Bledsoe from Tenn. (raised a Baptist) attacks a recruitment center in Little Rock, Ark. in a drive-by shooting, killing a soldier and injuring another; his father Melvin still calls him Carlos; in Jan. 2010 he writes a letter to the judge presiding over his case, claiming to be a member of al-Qaida in Yemen, and calling his spree a "jihadi attack" to get even for the killing of brother Muslims by U.S. troops - shoot me for treason too? On June 1 Tonight Show host (since May 25, 1992) Jay Leno retires, and Conan Christian O'Brien (1963-) takes over (until Feb. 22, 2010); the final episode of "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" aired on Feb. 20. On June 2 Kim Jong-un (1982-), youngest son of Kim Jong-il is announced as his heir and given the sobriquet "Brilliant Conrade"; meanwhile Kim Jong-il's brother-in-law Jang Song Thaek (Chang Sung-taek) (1946-) waits in the wings. On June 2 anti-Semitic white supremacist N.J. Internet blogger Harold Charles "Hal" Turner (1962-) posts on his blog that three federal judges who are against the Nat. Rifle Assoc. "deserve to be killed', causing the FBI to arrest him on June 3, and he is denied bail to boot; too bad, on Aug. 11 prosecutors admit that Turner had been an FBI informant against radical right-wing orgs. - the FBI should be killed too? On June 2-7 375M people in the EU vote to fill 736 seats in the new European Parliament (EP), becoming the world's 2nd largest election on Earth after India; conservatives dominate the results; the British Conservative Party breaks from the European Peoples Party after two decades to form a new right-wing anti-federalist bloc, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (EGR), becoming the 4th largest bloc in the EP. On June 3 the Obama admin. reverses a Bush admin. rule that illegal immigrants facing deportation don't have an automatic right to an effective lawyer, and on June 10 orders the FBI and CIA to inform terrorists overseas that they have the "right to remain silent" (Miranda warning) before torturing, er, probing them for info. to save perhaps thousands or millions of lives, which U.S. Rep. (R-Ark.) (since 2001) John Boozman (1950-) calls "the craziest idea I've ever heard in my life". On June 4 new U.S. pres. (2009-17) Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-) arrives in Riyadh and meets with Saudi King Abdullah; on June 4 after working with his Cairo-born adviser Dalia Mogahed (1974-), Obama delivers his Cairo Speech (Initiative) to the Arab World, titled "A New Beginning" at Cairo U., hoping to make a fresh start with Muslims by changing perceptions of the U.S. as not out to get Islam itself, making a clean break with George W. "Crusader" Bush, never mentioning the word terrorism, claiming that the U.S. acted "contrary to our traditions and our ideals", and uttering the soundbytes: "Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition. I saw it firsthand as a child in Indonesia, where devout Christians worshiped freely in an overwhelmingly Muslim country"; "As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam - at places like Al-Azhar University - that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe's Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality"; "I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear. But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire"; his grasp of Muslim history is pure moose hockey?; Obama invited the Muslim Brotherhood to attend his speech, which backs women's rights, electrifying many in the Middle East, while others grumble that it's just a speech and they're still waiting for actions; he misquotes the Quran (Sura 9:119), saying "As the Holy Quran tells us, 'Be conscious of God and always speak the truth'", when what it really says is "Fear Allah and be with the truthful", i.e., Muslims, right before Muhammad commands "O you believers, fight those infidels who dwell around you, and let them find harshness in you" (9:123); he remarks that the U.S. has brought legal cases "to protect the right of women and girls to wear the hijab and punish those who would deny it", while saying nothing about protecting the right of Muslim women to not wear it; meanwhile many Jews get pissed-off at his remarks comparing the Israeli persecution of Palestinians with the WWII Holocaust; besides always adding the word "holy" to the horrible Quran, a telling nugget was his reference to Islam as a "revealed" religion, as in revealed by God, something only a Muslim could claim, Freud is showing his slip?; tarting with this speech Obama begins to implement his philosophy of Moral Equivalence, for example, the U.S. invasion of Iraq is morally equivalent to the Russian invasion of Georgia, pissing-off the right, who know that the U.S. is morally superior to the rest of the world, not even close to equivalent. The Aspen Institute promptly launches the Partnership for a New Beginning, headed by Madeleine Albright and incl. Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute, Muhtar Kent of Coca-Cola, John Mack of Morgan Stanley, John Chambers of Cisco Systems, and Kenneth Cohen of ExxonMobil Foundation, with the "common goal of building public-private partnerships in Muslim communities around the world to... help advance President Obama's Cairo vision"; speaking of Freudin slip, in his Cairo Speech Obama made an interesting Freudian slip, with the soundbyte "That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat", which Americans took for charity, when it actually means every Muslim's obligation to contribute to the fortification of the Ummah, incl. violent jihad, in other words, charity to other Muslims only for expanding Islam's worldwide domination. So, our new president is committed to working with American Muslims to betray America in favor of the nationless Ummah that seeks to take over the world, nice. On June 5 former U.S. state dept. official Walter Kendall Myers (1936-) and his wife Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers (1937-) are charged with spying for Cuba for the last 30 years, passing info. over shortwave radio and by switching shopping carts with Cuban agents in grocery stores; Walter's great-grandfather is Alexander Graham Bell. On June 5 Pres. Obama tours the WWII Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, uttering the soundbyte "Today there are those who insist the Holocaust never happened. This place is the ultimate rebuke to such thought, a reminder of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history"; on June 6 Obama visits Omaha Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 65th anniv. of D-Day, uttering the soundbyte "Friends and veterans, what we cannot forget, what we must not forget, is that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century." On June 5 struggling 23-y.-o. white S.D.rancher Neal Wanless (1986-) claims the $232M Powerball prize (9th largest jackpot in game history), vowing to use his $88.5M after-tax fortune (out of the 1-time cash prize of $118M) to help others; he bought the ticket in a town called Winner, S.D. On June 5 "devout Muslim" Kareem Shora is appointed by Janet Napolitano to the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). On June 6 Pres. Obama launches his grassroots campaign for health care reform via his massive Internet friends network; on June 15 he addresses the root of the, er, Am. Medical Assoc. (AMA), kissing, er, allying their fears by promising to curb malpractice lawsuits and cancel a proposed 21% cut in Medicare payments - no call for more medical schools to increase the supply of medical personnel and drive down their prices? On June 7 parliamentary elections in Lebanon result in a V for the pro-Western coalition over the militant Shiite Hezbollah, giving Hezbollah 58 seats and the coalition 70 seats out of 128. On June 8 a North Korean court sentences U.S. journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee to 12 years in a labor camp for illegal border crossing from China, increasing tensions with the U.S. On June 8 Alaska Repub. gov. Sarah Palin gives an interview to Fox News' Sean Hannity, saying that the Obama admin. is steering the U.S. toward Socialism, and that "Our country could evolve into something that we do not even recognize, certainly that is so far from what the founders of our country had in mind for us." On June 8 the medical dark comedy-drama series Nurse Jackie debuts on Showtime for 80 episodes (until June 28, 2015), starring Edith "Edie" Falco (1963-) as Jackie Peyton, an emergency dept. nurse at All Saints' Hospital in New York City. On June 9 10 U.S. banks incl. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase are deemed strong enough by federal regulators to return more than $68B in taxpayer aid, with interest; Goldman Sachs execs receive record bonuses this year. On June 9 a suicide bomb in the Pearl Continental Hotel in Peshawar, India kills five and wounds 70; considered the safest place for foreigners, the U.S. was planning to purchase it for a consulate. On June 9 Pres. Obama's former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright gives an interview to the Va. Daily Press, saying that he hasn't spoken to Obama since he became pres., with the soundbyte "Them Jews ain't going to let him talk to me. I told my baby daughter that he'll talk to me in five years when he's a lame duck, or in eight years when he's out of office"; on June 11 he corrects himself, saying "I'm not talking about all Jews... I'm talking about Zionists". On June 8 world's longest-serving (since 1967) head of state Omar Bongo (b. ) dies of cancer, and on June 10 Rose Francine Rogombe (Rogombé) (1942-) becomes acting pres. of Gabon (until ?). On June 10 (9 a.m.) yet another car bomb in Bathaa, Iraq in S Iraq kills 30 and wounds 65. On June 10 anti-Semitic white supremacist (Navy officer in WWII) James W. Van Brunn (1920-2010) enters the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and shoots and kills a guard before being shot and captured; he later dies in the hospital in which he was incarcerated; it is later revealedthat David Axelrod was one of his targets. On June 10 the U.S. Reuniting Families Act is introduced to the U.S. House of Reps., which would allow gays to sponsor "permanent partners" for residency. On June 10 U.S. rep. (D-Mich.) John Conyers introduces the U.S. Health Care Act, proposing to spend $2.5T to fund an all-govt. health care system. On June 10 the U.S. House of Reps. approves a resolution directing the Capitol architect to engrave the words "In God We Trust" along with the Pledge of Allegiance inside the new Capital Visitor Center (CVC). On June 11 the the U.S. Senate gives the FDA the first-ever official power to regulate cigarettes and other forms of tobacco; 17 Sens. vote against it, incl. top recipients of campaign contributions from the tobacco industry. On June 12 after it test-fires a barrage of ballistic missiles into waters off its E coast, the U.N. Security Council votes 15-0-0 for Resolution 1874, imposing new sanctions on pesky North Korea in an effort to stifle its nuclear ambitions; by Sept. North Korea is going with the Iraqi flow and placing IEDs on roadsides. Iran, where everybody's got dark hair finally starts to get tired of its old non-democratic dinnajacket? On June 12 (6/6+6) Iranian elections result in both pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and right-wing reformist challenger Mickey Mouse, er, Mir Hussein (Hossein) Mousavi Khameneh (1941-) (PM in 1981-9) claiming a V until the govt. ministry gets to work, declaring a 63% landslide for Imadinnajacket, causing 1.3M Mousavi supporters (who like to wear green) to cry fraud and stage violent protests, taking on the govt. in the streets, with protesters shouting "We want freedom", and "Where is my vote?", becoming the biggest demonstrations since the 1979 rev., causing the 2009 Iranian Green Movement (until ?), a mini-rev. pumped up by people using the Internet, incl. YouTube and Twitter to bypass govt. control of the media; too bad, only the urban elite have the hi-tech devices, and the rest of the country doesn't 'get' it, seeing only a Western plot, dooming the budding rev. as the Mobilization Resistance Force (Nirou-ye Moqavemat-e Basij) of hardline univ. students springs into action to kick protester butt; on June 16 the govt. offers a stalling limited recount, which fails to appease the protesters, who stage a massive rally in Tehran on June 17, with the protester death toll reaching 32, and 392-1,135 arrested; on June 17 grand asahollah Hossein Ali Montazeri (1922-2009) (#2 cleric behind supreme leader Ali Khamenei and spiritual leader of the opposition) says that "no one in their right mind can believe" the reported election results, and singles out "evil" Britain as the #1 enemy of the Iranian Islamic Repub., since it controls the BBC, while the U.S. doesn't control CNN, both of which portray the protesters as fighting for democracy, when they're really fighting to demote clerics from ruling the govt. to advising elected rulers; another Green leader is cleric Mehdi Karroubi (1937-), an alleged advocate of women's rights and participation in politics along with Montazeri; meanwhile on June 16 unexplainably passive Pres. Obama says "I have deep concerns about the election. I think that the world has deep concerns about the election", then adds "Peaceful dissent should never be subject to violence", causing him to be criticized for being a whimp that won't speak out for democracy for fear of offending some slimy govt.; too bad, Mousavi is a hardline rightist who helped start Iran's nuclear program, found Hezbollah and direct the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut, but somehow attracts the 20-something pro-Western Twitter crowd, causing observers to tell Westerners to not expect any real change even if he wins; Mousavi's headscarf-wearing wife Zahra Rahnavard (1945-) has a Ph.D in political science, and has urged reforms incl. elimination of morality police and discrimination against women; on June 19 Iran's supreme assahola Ali Khamenei (1939-) (the Evil Emperor of the Shia Sith?) steps in, siding with Imadinnajacket and calling his election "an absolute and definitive victory", blaming the infidel West for the turmoil, and warning protesters to stop or else, while the govt. tries to coverup a bloody crackdown, causing the U.S. Congress on June 19 to condemn the crackdown; on June 20 (Sat.) a protest in downtown Tehran is put down by police with tear gas, water cannons and batons, along with warning shots, causing to Pres. Obama to call on the govt. to "stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people", while Moussavi says that his supporters are "facing unrighteous liars"; on June 21 (Iranian Bloody Sun.) the pigs step it up with shots into the crowd, and protester Neda (Farsi "voice") Agha-Soltan (b. 1983) is shot in the heart in the street by the pigs, and dies in her friends' arms, becoming a martyr for democracy after her death video is put on the Web; on July 9 despite the govt. intimidation, the protests resume; Rafsanjani's followers turn on the Russians for portraying the affair to Imadinnajacket as another U.S.-backed Color Rev. like in Ukraine; Islamic cleric Mehdi Karroubi (1937-) emerges as an opposition figure. On June 12 (midnight) the U.S. switches to digital TV; the date had originally been set to Feb. 17 until Obama gets it extended; too bad, individual stations are left free to decide which date to do the transition. On June 14 (Sun.) replying to Pres. Obama's call to Israel to help create a Palestinian state, Israeli PM (since Mar. 31) Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech in the Knesset where he publicly accepted a 2-state solution and agrees to the establishment of a demilitarized Palestinian Arab state, provided they recognize Israel as a Jewish state; the news causes the Arab world to explode in rage, with aging Egyptian pres. Husni Mubarak, calling this proposal "scuppering the possibilities for peace", and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat warning that Netanyahu "will have to wait a thousand years before he finds one Palestinian who will go along with him." On June 16 a summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia by leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China, to which the U.S. is refused admittance announces the creation of BRIC, a new political bloc to challenge the global dominance of the U.S., incl. 40% of world pop. and 15% of world GDP; economist Michael Hudson calls it "the most important meeting of the 21st century so far", because they are planning on ending the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. On June 16 ex-U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter visits Gaza, and says that he had to "hold back tears" when he saw the destruction caused by the Jan. war. On June 16 U.S. Sen. (R-Nev.) (2001-) John Eric Ensign (1958-) admits to an extramarital affair with Cynthia Hampton, member of his campaign staff, and on June 17 he steps down as chmn. of the Repub. Policy Committee; on June 19 the Las Vegas Sun reports that Cynthia's hubby Doug Hampton had been complaining about it, and on July 9 Ensign admits that his parents had given Cynthia and her family $96K in Apr. 2008, calling them "gifts". On June 16 rabbit-scared South Korean pres. Lee Myung-bak visits the White House, and otains assurances that the U.S. will continue protecting his country from attack by North Korea, with Pres. Obama uttering the soundbyte that he doesn't think that North Korea "will or should be a nuclear power" - watch myung bak, okay? On June 17 Pres. Obama proposes sweeping changes, incl. the creation of a powerful independent Consumer Financial Product Safety Commission to regulate mortgages, credit cards, and other financial products, allegedly in the interests of the consumer not the banks. On June 17 100 Romanian Romas (Gypsies) are driven from their homes in Northern Ireland by racists after they stage a demonstration against racism; most of them announce they're leaving Northern Ireland, and only 14 decide to remain. On June 18 former PM #18 (2004-6) Tshakhiagiin Elbegdorj (1963-) becomes pres. #4 of Mongolia (until July 20, 2017). On June 18 the U.S. Senate approves a resolution apologizing for slavery, which House members of the Congressional Black Caucus promise to block because of its lack of restitution payments; it also passes a $105.9B emergency war-spending bill after the White House assured them that it will bar the release of photos of detained terrorism suspects by executive order if necessary - Obama is morphing into a Bush? On June 18 the U.S. Supreme (Roberts) Court rules 5-4 in Jack Gross v. FBL Financial Services Inc. to reverse a longstanding rule that employees suing employers for firing them because of age discrimination only have to show that age was one of the motivating factors, throwing the employer into the need to prove that it the employer a legitimate reason to fire them other than age, saying that now the employees must bear the full burden of proving that age was the deciding factor. On June 18 it is revealed that two Ohio police chiefs are being investigated for burglarizing the home of a surrogate mother carrying twins for Hollywood stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. On June 19 by 405-1 the U.S. House passes House Resolution 560, titled "Expressing support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and rule of law, and for other purposes"; the sole dissenting vote is Tex. Repub. Rep. Ron Paul, who opposes economic sanctions against the Iranian regime. On June 19 a railroad train carrying ethanol derails in Rockford, Ill., exploding and killing a 41-y.-o. woman at a crossing, and injuring six. On June 19 Pres. Obama gives the keynote speech at the 2009 Nat. Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, promising to work for amnesty for 10M+ illegal Mexican immigrants this year, although 40+ House Dems. are against it, with the soundbyte that the U.S. is a "nation of Christians and Muslims and Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers". On June 21 Pres. Obama's approval index goes negative for the first time ever, with 32% of voters strongly approving of his performance and 34% strongly disapproving; meanwhile Obama says that the U.S. is "fully prepared for any contingencies" with madass North Korea, which is threatening a long-range missile test on July 4 in the direction of Hawaii. On June 21 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu appears on NBC-TV's Meet the Press, and after being asked "If the international community proves unable to stop Iran [for developing nukes], is it your view that Israel will have to?", responds that there's an "American commitment to make sure that that doesn't happen, and I think I'd leave it at that"; meanwhile a poll of Jewish Israelis by the Jerusalem Post reveals that only 6% see the Obama admin. as pro-Israel. On June 22 the New Yorker carries an article carrying a statement by CIA dir. (since Feb. 13) Leon Edward Panetta (1938-) that ex-veep Dick Cheney's criticism of Obama's terrorism policy suggests that "he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point"; after it leaks in advance, current veep Joe Biden tells NBC-TV's "Meet the Press" on June 14, "I think Dick Cheney's judgment about how to secure America is faulty. I think our judgment is correct." On June 22 two Red Line Metro subway trains slam into each other outside Washington, D.C. during afternoon rush hour, killing six and injuring 75. On June 22 Yunus-bek Yevkurov (1963-), pres. (since Oct. 30) of the Islamic Russian Repub. of Ingushetia between Georgia and Chechnya is hit in Nazran by a suicide bomber and seriously wounded; his aide is killed. On June 22 30+ are killed across Iraq, making the weekend total top 100 a week before the June 30 deadline for U.S. troop pullout from urban areas. On June 22 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 9-0 in Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District No. 1 v. Holder that the district qualifies for the bailout provision of Section 5 of the 2006/1965 Voting Rights Act, and rules 8-1 that it is unnecessary to decide whether it is unconstitutional, Clarence Thomas being the dissenter; the language of the ruling causes observers to conclude that most justices feel the section is unconstitutional, signalling a sea change in the court. On June 23 Pres. Obama gives a press conference, toughening up his stance on Iran and trying to explain away his earlier hesitation, saying that he's "appalled and outraged", and "strongly condemn these unjust actions", and uttering the soundbyte: "Those who stand up for justice are always on the right side of history", but can't do much since the U.S. has no formal relations with Iran; meanwhile brave Iranian babes begin the Lipstick Rev., defying the maniacal mullahs by parading around in public sans veils wearing Western makeup incl. lipstick; on June 25 after the assaholah's men brutally crack down on protesters, Imadinnajacket warns Obama to "avoid interfering" in Iranian affairs; meanwhile on June 22 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy makes a speech against the nasty Muslim practice of forcing women to bear head-to-toe burkas, saying that they are not welcome in France, and instead France should force them to adopt Western garb, particularly the miniskirt; in 2004 France banned the Islamic headscarf and other conspicuous religious symbols in public schools; on June 2 al-Qaida in North Africa threatens France with a bloodbath over it; France groans under the weight of 5M Muslims. On June 23 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates establishes the U.S. Cyber-Defense Command, to be led by NSA dir. Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander (1952-), who is to be promoted to 4-star gen.; on Aug. 3 Melissa Hathaway, the White House acting cybersecurity czar resigns - can I get a free decoder ring? On June 23 Pakistani Taliban leader Qari Zainuddin is assassinated by his own men under the orders of rival leader Baitullah Mehsud (1974-) as a U.S.-backed offensive is about to begin, ending hopes by Pakistan and the U.S. of using their rivalry against them; meanwhile on June 23 a U.S. Predator drone fires missiles into a Taliban training center in S Waziristan, then fires again into a funeral procession for the seven victims, killing 80 and maiming dozens, mostly civilians, becoming their deadliest attack so far. On June 23 Tenn.-born Christian Christopher Leggett (b. 1970) is shot and killed in Nouakchott, Mauritania by al-Qaida member Mohamed Abdallahi Ould Ahmednah for allegedly trying to convert Muslims to Christianity; on Mar. 15, 2010 he is sentenced to death. On June 24 S.C. Repub. gov. (since 2002) Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. (1960-), who mysteriously disappeared over Father's Day weekend, making nat. news, admits he has been having an extramarital affair with a 43-y.-o. divorced multilingual Maria Chapur (1966-) in Argentina while on a govt.-funded trip, dashing his hopes of running for U.S. pres. in 2012, and becoming another hit to be absorbed by the reeling Repub. Party. On June 25 the U.S. Supreme Court by 8-1 rules in Safford Unified School District #1 v. Savana Redding that school Ariz. officials violated her rights by strip-searching 13-y.-o. Savana Redding on the strength of a suspicion that she was hiding prescription-strength Advil; they then rule that the officials are immune from damages because they hadn't made it an official rights violation yet. On June 25 former U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North (1943-) gives an interview to Kathleen Walter of newsmax.com, slamming Pres. Obama for his foreign policy, saying that he needs to recognize "that they [the U.S.] have all but won in Iraq", claiming that waterboarding isn't torture because he was waterboarded during Marine training, calling apologizing for the U.S. response to 9/11 "unconscionable", and adding that the U.S. is forgetting the lessons of 9/11 by lowering surveillance of the Internet. On June 25 Hamas chief (since 2004) Khaled Mashaal (Mashal) (1956-) delivers a speech in Damascus, Syria, saying that he likes the "new language" from Pres. Obama; he carefully refrains from mentioning his sponsor state of Iran. On June 25 King of Pop Michael Jackson (b. 1958) dies of a prescription drug OD in his rented mansion in Holmby Hills in Los Angeles, becoming another JFK moment for legions of fans worldwide; he had been preparing for a 50-concert tour to restore his wasted fortune; his doctor Conrad Murray (1943-) finds him in bed not breathing and with a faint pulse, and administers CPR in vain, after which he is scrutinized for prescribing Demerol and/or OxyContin to him, which he denies; Jackson is later found to have OD'd on Propofol, which he illegally used to sleep; on July 7 his funeral at Staples Center in Los Angeles, attended by 18K turns into a Michael Jackson show, with Pastor Lucious Smith followed by Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Lionel Richie, Usher, John Mayer et al., plus eulogies by Berry Gordy (who calls him "the greatest entertainer that ever lived"), Smokey Robinson, Queen Latifah, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Brooke Shields; his $25K bronze Promethean casket is plated with 14-karat gold and lined with blue velvet, and he wears a single white glove on his right hand; Russian security sources allegedly tell pres. Dmitri Medvedev that Jackson was assassinated by the CIA with an electromagnetic pulse; reports later surface that Jackson wanted to clone himself; on Nov. 7, 2011 Conrad Murray is convicted of involuntary manslaughter, and sentenced to four years; meanwhile on June 25 Hollywood glam babe Farrah Fawcett (b. 1947) dies after a long struggle with cancer, making three top U.S. celebs to go down in the same week; on June 28 the 9th BET Awards honors Jackson, and his Queen of Pop sister Janet Jackson gives a speech; on June 30 Jackson's will names his mommy Katherine Jackson as the guardian of his mystery children (of whom it is rumored that he is not the biological father, and his ex-wife Debbie Rowe might not be the genetic mother of the eldest two), and cuts off his father Joe (whom he alleges beat him as a child), along with Debbie Rowe - he must have had a Marilyn complex? On June 26 the U.S. American Clean Energy and Security (Waxman-Markey) Act, sponsored by Dems. Henry Arnold Waxman (1939-) of Calif. and Edward John "Ed" Markey (1946-) of Mass. is passed 219-212 by the U.S. House, establishing a cap-and-trade plan for greenhouse gases to control climate change, becoming the first-ever U.S. legislation on the issue; the Senate approves it on ?. On June 26 Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Cash for Clunkers Act (Car Allowance Rebate System), giving purchasers of a new car up to $4.5K in exchange for having their gas-guzzling clunker disposed of; it starts on July 27, and is set to end on Nov. 1 or as soon as the $1B allocated runs out, which turns out to be July 31, causing $2B more to be authorized, causing Ford to reports its first sales increase in two years; the response is so huge (457K sales) that they end the program on Aug. 24 (Mon.) at 8:00 p.m. EST; meanwhile dealers grumble about late reimbursements from the govt.; the top trade-in is the Ford Explorer SUV; the top-selling new car is the Ford Focus, followed by the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic; the German program it's modelled on has less restrictions and more money ($5B euros); as usual, the Obama plan props up rich automakers while destroying the business of used car and parts dealers? On June 26 the U.S. House by 219-212 (incl. 8 Repubs.) passes the landmark American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) (Waxman-Markey Bill), calling for greenhouse gas emissions to be cut 17% by 2020 and 83% by 2050 (by raising the price of energy), and for 20% of all electricity in the U.S. to be generated by renewable sources and/or more efficient methods by 2020 (via tax incentives), supposedly creating millions of new "green" jobs while costing the avg. U.S. household only $175 a year by 2020; Pres. Obama speaks out against a provision imposing trade penalties that don't accept global warming pollution limits, and adds the soundbyte that the legislation could make renewable energy "a driver of economic growth"; meanwhile House leaders complain that they won't have time to read the 1.2K-page monster before having to vote on it; critics call it a Soviet-style 50-year plan that foists Cap-and-Trade on U.S. industry; too bad, Thomas Crocker, who invented the idea in the 1960s, now says it's not a good idea, causing the Obama admin. to call his skepticism a "straw man" argument; it never reaches the floor of the Senate for a vote. On June 27 al-Qaida militants of the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) detonate two IEDs under an Algerian police convoy escorting Chinese workers to a highway construction site near Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria E of Algiers, then ambush the disabled convoy, killing 18 policemen and one Chinese worker, and sounding six policemen and two workers, becoming the deadliest terrorist attack in Algeria since Aug. 19, 2008; the Islamic terrorists have been plaguing Algeria since 1998 as the civil war was ending. On June 27 the Ulster Volunteer Force and Ulster Defense Assoc., two major Protestant paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland announce voluntary disarmament after killing 1K in their war with the Catholic IRA, which disarmed in 2001-5 after killing 1.8K over 27 years; the way is paved for the 1998 Good Friday Peace Accord to be implemented. On June 27 the English Defence League (EDL) is founded by Tommy Robinson (Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon) (1982-) and Trevor Kelway to fight Islamization of England, using street marches to attract attention; too bad, the leftist media keep trying to frame them as racists while using the pigs to arrest and imprison them on trumped-up charges. On June 28 (6 a.m.) after pushing for a constitutional amendment to allow him to run for a 2nd 4-year term, U.S.-backed Honduran pres. (since 2006) Jose Manuel "Mel" Zelaya (1952-) is ousted by the military, who arrest him in his pajamas and fly him to Costa Rica (without asking Costa Rican pres. Oscar Aras for permission?), causing him to utter the soundbyte: "They are creating a monster they will not be able to contain"; the army insists that it is not a coup but that they had an order by a supreme court judge to remove him for abuse of authority; Roberto Micheletti (1943-) is named interim pres. by the congress; meanwhile Obama calls for his return to office, placing himself in the same camp as a number of nearby leftist govts. incl. allies Venezuela and Nicaragua, along with the U.N., EU, and OAS, causing conservative U.S. pundit Rush Limbaugh to suggest that he is trying to get the 22nd Amendment repealed so that he can serve a 3rd term, pointing to his backing of Zelaya, who wanted to amend his constitution to serve another term, along with his refusal to stand up to the bogus Iranian election, plus the facts that his daddy was a Marxist, and his followers are "cult-like"; on July 26 Zelaya sets up a camp on the Honduran-Nicaraguan border, ignoring the call of foreign leaders to not force a confrontation; his wife Xiomara Castro de Zelaya (1959-) is blocked by Honduran soldiers from joining him; on Sept. 21 (night) Zelaya slips back into Honduras and takes refuge in the Brazilian embassy, claiming to want to talk to the interim govt. to "restore democracy", causing his supporters to demonstrate and clash violently with police; after U.S. diplomatic efforts, on Oct. 30 the Honduran govt. accepts a deal allowing Zelaya to return to power; all along U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton worked against Zelaya. On June 28 Argentine pres. Cristina Fernandez loses her majority in the lower house to the party run by billionaire businessman Francisco de Narvaez, while her hubby, former pres. Nestor Kirchner loses his congressional race. On June 28 Iranian pigs beat demonstrators in Tehran, while arresting nine Iranians working at the British embassy; on June 29 (Mon.) democracy in action not in Iran sees a recount begin, immediately claiming that Imadinnajacket got even more votes than before; meanwhile German chancellor Angela Merkel visits Pres. Obama at the White House, and says that the Iranian election results still need to be substantiated; meanwhile Scottish MP George Galloway stinks himself up by appearing on Iranian TV and blaming the BBC for fomenting unrest in Tehran. On June 28 Taliban fighters ambush Pakistani soldiers in N Waziristan while passing through the village of Inzar Kas, killing 16; the Pakistanis call it an unprovoked attack. On June 29 elections in Mexico return the Institutional Rev. Party (PRI) to power, with leader Beatriz Paredes saying "The PRI has learned from its errors and corrected itself"; meanwhile the Mexican economy is expected to contract by 5.5% this year. On June 30 Iraq celebrates Sovereignty Day as U.S. troops pull out of major cities, but remain available to back Iraqi troops up, with PM Nouri al Maliki uttering the soundbyte "Those who think that Iraqis are unable to defend their country are committing a fatal mistake"; Pres. Obama hails the authority transfer in the East Room of the White House, predicing more violence, with the soundbyte "There are those who will test Iraqi security. I'm confident that those forces will fail. The future belongs to those who build, not those who destroy"; meanwhile a bomb in the Kurdish sector of Kirkuk, Iraq kills 25 and wounds 40; on July 2 the first roadside bomb in post-U.S. Baghdad explodes near an Iraqi army patrol, killing one Iraqi soldier and wounding two soldiers and eight civilians; on July 7 bomb attacks in Baghdad and N Iraq kill 41; meanwhile Kurdistan pushes for a new constitution in defiance of Baghdad, claiming land and oil. On June 30 Al Franken (known for his SNL character "Stuart Smalley") is finally declared the winner of the Minn. Senate race, giving Senate Dems. a filibuster-proof majority of 60; Franken becomes the first comedian Senator; meanwhile a Rasmussen daily tracking poll shows Pres. Obama receiving his first negative approval index. On June 30 a freight train carrying LPG derails and explodes in Viareggio, Italy, killing 16 and injuring 50. On June 30 after the U.S. begins a major offensive in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, U.S. Pfc. Bowe Robert Bergdahl (1986-) of Hailey, Idaho (who wrote that he is "ashamed to be an American"?) goes AWOL, and is kidnapped in E Afghanistan by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani Network, who release a video of him on July 18, saying a "drunken American soldier had come out of his garrison"; another video is released on Xmas. On June 30 the Greek-flagged boat Spirit of Humanity carrying 21 activists of the Free Gaza Movement with humanitarian supplies for Gaza is seized by the Israelis; activists incl. black former U.S. rep. (D-Ga.) (1993-2003, 2005-7) Cynthia McKinney (1955-) (2008 Green Party candidate for U.S. pres., known for striking a Capitol police officer in the Longworth House Office Bldg. on Mar. 29, 2006, then apologizing on the House floor on Apr. 6, then introducing articles of impeachment against Pres. George W. Bush later in 2006), who arrives back in the U.S. on July 7 after a week in jail; the U.S. press stifles coverage? In June Goldman Sachs repays $10B in TARP loans while raising another $8.9B in equity, debt, and asset sales, paying its way out of the govt. bailout. In June the U.S. mortgage market begins rebounding, with a 11% increase in home sales. In JuneU.S. unemployment soars to 14.5M (16.5% counting part-time workers), losing 6.1M jobs since last June, and 467K jobs since Apr., becoming the biggest year-to-year June increase in four decades, up 70%; meanwhile U.K. unemployment reaches a 14-year high of 2.4M. In June a Christian woman is executed in North Korea for the crime of distributing Bibles. In June the world's ocean surface temp sets a record of 1.12F (0.62C), beating the previous high mark set in 2005; records began to be kept in 1880; June is also the 2nd warmest on record, and the Jan.-June avg. temp ties 2004 as the 5th warmest on record. In June the state of Maine fines the Christian Action Network (CAN) for mailings containing an "inflammatory anti-Muslim message", after which CAN goes to federal court and gets Maine to drop it. In June women hold 49.83% of the 132M jobs in the U.S., meaning that they are on the verge of becoming a majority. In the summer former Afghan PM (1995-6) Ahmad Shah Ahmadzai (1944-) brokers a meeting between the Taliban and U.S. Brig. Gen. Edward M. Reeder, where they agree to cut al-Qaida loose but won't accept U.S. access to three airbases. In the summer the JVC Jazz Festival in New York City is not held for the first time in 37 years because of financial difficulties; ditto jazz festivals in Chicago and Miami. On July 1 the govt. of China requires all home PCs to be sold installed with their new $5.8M Green Dam software, which blocks access to porno and anything else the govt. wants to censor, under the label "anti-revolutionary content"; in Aug. China ditches its plans after opposition by manufacturers and users. On July 1 the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announces that it is beginning to investigate workplaces in every state to check if they are hiring illegal workers in order to crack down on employers - Pres. Bush didn't do that because he's pro-business? On July 1 the Ariz. Senate by 16-11 okays an Illegal Immigrant Trespasser Bill, which would make Ariz. the only state to make its 500K illegal immigrants (out of 6.5M pop.) into trespassers; the House rejects it by 26-15. On July 1 three opposition leaders, incl. Mohammad Khatami, pres. candidate Mehdi Karroubi, and Mir Hossein Moussavi step it up and openly defy Iran's govt., vowing to resist the Imadinnajacket presidency. On July 1 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates tells the press that he is directing Pentagon lawyers to find ways to reinterpret the 1993 "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy to prevent gays from being blackmailed by threatening them with outing. On July 1 pregnant scarfed Muslim Egyptian pharmacist Marwa Ali El-Sherbini (b. 1977) is stabbed to death in a court in Dresden, Germany by a German man named Alex W., who was on trial for defaming her in a playground, shouting "You don't deserve to live", becoming a cause celebre among Muslims. On July 1 Pakistani Christian shopkeeper Imran Masih is tortured by a group of Muslims, then arrested for allegedly burning pages of the Quran; on Jan. 11 he is sentenced to life in prison for blasphemy against Allah. On July 1 Eric Lee Garner of Seattle, Wash. threatens a scarfed Muslim women carrying an infant and brandishes a knife, with the comment "You Muslim people scare people when you wear things like that", after which he is arrested, pleads guilty next Mar., and is sentenced to a maximum sentence of 13-17 mo. On July 1 a survey by WorldPublicOpinion.org finds that 80% of Pakistanis now consider terrorist groups a "critical threat" to their country; up from 34% in 2007. On July 1 Calif. begins its fiscal year with a $26.3B deficit, causing it to issue IOUs to state contractors, which on July 20 is handled by a budget deal brokered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that incl. $15.5B in spending cuts plus borrowing and shifting of state funds without raising taxes; on July 26 after a 24-hour session, the Calif. legislature approves the budget after cutting $1.1B and rejecting a measure allowing new drilling off the Calif. coast for the first time since 1969; meanwhile on Aug. 6 a federal court orders the release of 43K Calif. prisoners due to overcrowding; meanwhile Calif.'s budget gets in such bad shape that it begins auctioning state items off on eBay and Craig's List on Aug. 28-29 in the Great Calif. Garage Sale. On July 2 Amnesty Internat. says that Israel inflicted "wanton destruction" in the Gaza Strip during its Dec.-Jan. offensive against Hamas. On July 2 Italy approves a law criminalizing illegal immigration with a heavy fine plus prison terms for knowingly housing them, permitting unarmed citizens patrols to help the police. On July 2 India decriminalizes homosexuality. On July 3 Alaska gov. (since Dec. 4, 2006) Sarah Palin (1964-) announces her resignation effective July 26 after deciding that she won't run for reelection, and doesn't want to "embrace the conventional lame duck status", saying "I'm doing what's best for Alaska", mentioning the need to take care of her family, and adding the immortal soundbyte "We're fishermen. We know that only dead fish go with the flow"; this stuns the press, who expected her to announce a run for nat. office; after rumors, the FBI announces on July 5 that she's not being investigated, and she appears again on Facebook, saying that her move is part of a "higher calling" to "advance this country together". On July 30 journalist Lubna-Ahmed al-Hussein along with 12 other women is arrested in a restaurant in Khartoum for wearing trousers, and sentenced to 40 lashes. On July 4 Iranian diplomats attend 4th of July parties in the U.S. for the first time after the Obama admin. with its policy of "engagement" doesn't have the balls to rescind the invitations. On July 4 visitors are allowed to ascend into the crown of the Statue of Liberty for the first time since 9/11. On July 5 Uighur anti-Han riots in Xiangjian in NW China kill 140 and result in hundreds of arrests; on July 7 hundreds defy a govt.-ordered lockdown, causing the govt. to send in 20K troops on July 8. On July 6 Pres. Obama visits Russia to try and mend strained relations, and on July 6 signs a new nuclear arms control treaty agreeing to cut U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by 25%, saying that the two countries are not destined to be adversaries, but that "Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected"; too bad, Russian pres. Dmitry Medeved immediately visits South Ossetia, which he calls a "new country". On July 6-7 a cyberattack targets govt. Web sites in the U.S. and South Korea; North Korea is suspected. On July 7 U.S. Defense Dept. lawyer Jeh Charles Johnson (1957-) tells a Senate committee that the govt. may keep terrorism detainees even if they're acquitted. On July 7 Warehouse 13 debuts on the Syfy Channel (until ?), about a secret govt. warehouse in S.D. that houses supernatural artifacts, starring Eddie McClintoch (1967-) as Secret Service Agent Pete Lattimer, Joanne Kelly (1978-) as his partner Myka Ophelia Bering, and Saul Rubinek (1948-) as warehouse chief Dr. Arthur "Artie" Nielsen. On July 7-10 the 35th G-88 Summit is held in Italy by the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Canada, and Japan; on July 10 they agree to raise $20B over the next three years for food and farm aid; on July 7 Pope Benedict XIV issues the encyclical Charity in Truth (Caritas in Veritate) for the summit, backing the rights of workers to form unions, and calling for a "true world authority", despite the possibility of "a dangerous universal power of a tyrannical nature"; he is really backing the U.N.? On July 8 a U.S. drone attack kills 25 militants in South Waziristan, Pakistan. On July 8 the climbing jobless rate causes the Obama admin. to put out feelers for yet another stimulus package; on Aug. 10 Nobel laureate economics prof. Paul Krugman tells CNBC that the world economy needs a second stimulus if it wants to avoid the fate of Japan in the 1990s; on July 14 the Federal Reserve predicts that unemployment will reach 10% in the coming months, and that no net new jobs will created in five years; Obama admits that his earlier prediction that his stimulus package would prevent unemployment from exceeding 8% was wrong, and that it will likely reach 10% (vs. 4% in 2000); it takes 2% increase in GDP to reduce the unemployment rate by 1%, so to go from 10% to 5% it would take a $1.5T increase in GDP. On July 8 Greenpeace activists unfurl a banner on Mount Rushmore next to Abraham Lincoln's bust urging climate change action, resulting in their arrest. On July 8 the state of Mass. files a lawsuit against the U.S. govt. over its 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), claiming it undermines same-sex marriages and codifies an animus towards gays and lesbians. On July 8 Britain's Prince Charles gives a speech to industrialists and environmentalists at St. James's Palace, claiming that we have just 96 mo. left to save Earth from "irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse and all that goes with it", hence must give up capitalism and consumerism along with the "age of convenience" via "coherent financial incentives and disincentives", with the soundbytes: "We face the dual challenges of a world view and an economic system that seem to have enormous shortcomings, together with an environmental crisis – including that of climate change - which threatens to engulf us all", and "But for all its achievements, our consumerist society comes at an enormous cost to the Earth and we must face up to the fact that the Earth cannot afford to support it. Just as our banking sector is struggling with its debts – and paradoxically also facing calls for a return to so-called 'old-fashioned', traditional banking – so Nature's life-support systems are failing to cope with the debts we have built up there too. If we don't face up to this, then Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust. And no amount of quantitative easing will revive it." On July 9 Uzi Arad, an adviser to Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel must have "tremendously powerful" weapons to destroy any enemy trying to nuke it, letting the cat out of the bag about its own nuke capability; last week one of its three German-made subs sailed from the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea port of Eilat to send Iran a message. On July 10 Russian pres. Dmitry Medevedev warns the U.S. that if it deploys missile defense systems in Europe, Russia will deploy missiles in an enclave near Poland. On July 10 Pres. Obama visits the Vatican, discussing abortion and stem cell research with Pope Benedict XVI, promising to try to reduce the number of abortions in the U.S.; on July 11 he visits Ghana, where he is treated like a god and rock star, visiting the infamous Door of No Return at Cape Coast Castle, comparing it to Buchenwald Nazi concentration camp, and uttering the soundbytes: "We must start from the simple premise that Africa's future is up to Africans", "The West is not responsible for the destruction of the Zimbabwean economy over the last decade, or wars in which children are enlisted as combatants", and "No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought by drug traffickers", adding "These things can only be done if you take responsibility for your future... But I can promise you this: America will be with you every step of the way, as a partner, as a friend"; too bad, Nigeria feels snubbed. On July 10 U.S. House Dems. announce that they will seek a huge $540B income tax increase to pay for a new Health Care Reform Plan (Obamacare), which they announce on July 14; the same day the Congressional Budget Office predicts that it will add more than $1T to the U.S. nat. debt over 10 years; despite House Dems. claiming that the plan will impose a 5.4% surtax on incomes above $350K a year to pay for it, affecting only the richest 2M taxpayers, U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) (since 2003) Michael Clifton Burgess (1950-) (a physician) predicts that it will boost costs for small business and force more people into the govt.-run health insurance program - can't we just borrow more money from China? On July 10 Alaska gov. Sarah Palin signs the unanimous House Joint Resolution 27, claiming sovereignty of Alaska, joining Tenn., Idaho, N.D., S.D., Okla., and La. as part of a movement to fight federal govt. encroachment, esp. the Real ID Act of 2005, and Obamacare. On July 11 insurgents detonate bombs in Baghdad and Mosul, Iraq, killing six and wounding 67. On July 13 the U.S. Senate begins confirmation hearings for judge Sonia Sotomayor, who claims that her guiding principle is "fidelity to the law"; hostile Sen. (since 2003) Lindsey Olin Graham (1955-) (R-S.C.) (successor to Strom Thurmond) utters the soundbyte: "Unless you have a complete meltdown, you're going to get confirmed", since the Dems. have enough votes to confirm her without Repub. help; four anti-abortion protesters are arrested, incl. original Roe v. Wade "Jane Roe" litigant Norma Leah McCorvey (1947-); on July 14 Graham questions her judicial temperament, saying that she "sticks out like a sore thumb" compared to other judges; she says that she will have an "open mind" on gun rights, adding "I have friends who hunt", says that she considers the question of abortion rights to be "settled law" along with a constitutional right to privacy, and attempts to defuse critics of her "wise Latina" remarks by calling it a "misunderstanding", and uttering the soundbyte: "To give everyone assurance, I want to state up front and without doubt, I do not believe that any racial, gender, or ethnic group has an advantage in sound judgment", adding "Life experiences have to influence you. We're not robots who listen to evidence and don't have feelings. We have to recognize those feelings, and put them aside"; she also contradicts Pres. Obama's "empathy" criterion, with the soundbyte "I wouldn't approach the issue of judging in the way the president does. He has to explain what he meant by judging. I can only explain what I think judges should do, which is judges can't rely on what's in their heart. They don't determine the law. Congress makes the laws; on July 15 it turns into a circus, with Sen. Al Franken asking her in which episode of Perry Mason he lost his only case; answer: The Case of the Deadly Verdict (Oct. 17, 1963) - but Latina women are wiser than white men, and her friends hunt fish with fishing poles? On July 13 after eight British soldiers are killed in Afghanistan, bringing the British death toll to 184, exceeding losses in Iraq, British PM Gordon Brown tells Parliament that the 9K British troops in Afghanistan have the "strongest possible plan", plus enough resources "to do the job". On July 13 the bodies of 12 Mexican federal agents are found dumped along a mountain road in Michoacan, W Mexico, becoming the highest 1-day death toll for federal forces in the 3-y.-o. drug war; on July 14 Mexican authorities blame the La Familia drug cartel. On July 13 a consortium of 20 cos. incl. Siemens, Deutsche Bank, E.On and Munich Re launch an initiative to build the $555B Saharan Mega Solar Plant (Desertec) in North Africa to supply 15% of Europe's electricity needs. On July 13 Pres. Obama nominates Regina Marcia Benjamin (1956-) as U.S. surgeon gen.; being black, which is taboo to discuss, critics focus on her being "too fat"? On July 14 Pres. Obama makes a speech at Macomb Community College in Warren (near Detroit), Mich., which suffers from 14% unemployment, proposing the Am. Graduation Initiative, with $12B to be pumped into community colleges to add 5M new grads by 2020. On July 14 U.S. HHS secy. Kathleen Sebellus announces that $350M is available to help states prepare for the 2009 flu season, adding that Mexican swine flu is "no more lethal than the seasonal flu". On July 15 the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee passes health care legislation written by Ted Kennedy, who calls it "the cause of my life"; too bad, he is too sick to be present, and dies on Aug. 25 of brain cancer. On July 16 Pres. Obama addresses the NAACP, uttering the soundbyte "Make no mistake, the pain of discrimination is still felt in America", with blacks "out of work more than just about anybody else", and "more likely to suffer from a host of diseases but less likely to own health insurance", adding "Government programs alone won't get our children to the Promised Land", and "One of the most durable and destructive legacies of discrimination is the way we've internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community have come to expect On July 16 African-Am. leftist academic Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (1950-) is harassed by the pigs in front of his own home in Cambridge, Mass. and arrested for mouthing off to them, causing the PC police to come out bigtime, after which the charges are dropped and Obama declares that the police "acted stupidly", and invites Gates and the white pig Sgt. James Crowley to a "Beer Summit" at the White House. so little from the world and from themselves, causing some blacks to criticize him for blaming them for the crisis and for resurrecting Daniel Patrick Moynihan's 1965 "culture of poverty" theory. On July 17 the U.S. Senate by 63-28 approves the ain't-he-cute U.S. Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as a rider on the DOD bill, becoming the most sweeping expansion of federal hate crimes law since 1968, extending the definition of protected sacred cows in 18 USC 245 to those attacked because of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability; while noble in intent, its implementation at the federal level all because of one cute one-of-a-kind gay victim in Wyoming raises disturbing questions about Orwellian control of free speech and even thought, and whether the concept of states rights and state criminal codes is kaput; after the House approves it by 281-146, the Senate votes 68-29 on Oct. 22 to send it to Pres. Obama after it is attached to a $680B defense appropriations plan; Obama signs it on Oct. 28. On July 17 nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office dir. Douglas Elmendorf tells the U.S. Senate Budget Committee that Pres. Obama's health care proposals won't rein in skyrocketing govt. health care costs, but cost more, countering Obama's soundbyte that his plan will "bend the curve" with the soundbyte "The curve is being raised." On July 17 bombs detonate in the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton luxury hotels in Jakarta, India, killing eight and wounding dozens, embarrassing recently reelected (July 8) pres. (since 2004) Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (1949-). On July 17 Pope Benedict XVI slips in his bath and breaks his right wrist while on holiday in N Italy. On July 18 oldest known British man so far Henry William allingham (b. 1896) dies in Ovingdean, East Sussex after becoming the oldest surviving member of the British Armed Forces, last survivor of the Battle of Jutland, last survivor of the Royal Naval Air Service, and last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force (RAD), also the 12th known oldest man of all time. On July 19 the New York Times pub. an interview with U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in which she says that she thought the purpose of Roe v. Wade was to rid the U.S. of those "that we don't want to have too many of", causing a firestorm of controversy about whether she meant the poor or a race or ethnic group; too bad, the reporter doesn't follow up. On July 19 a Russian-owned civilian heli crashes and burns after takeoff in S Afghanistan's largest NATO base, killing 16 civilians. On July 19 CIT Group, a U.S. lender to small and midsize businesses obtains a $3B emergency loan. On July 19 former Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin calls on Congress and the U.S. people to use the memory of the Apollo 11 Moon landing (July 20, 1969) as an inspiraton for a manned landing on Mars. On July 20 New York City-born Michael B. Oren (Michael Scott Bornstein) (1955-) succeeds Sallai Meridor as Israeli ambassador to the U.S. 317 (until Sept. 30, 2013). On July 20 after Hillary Clinton's first trip to India paves the way, the U.S. and India sign a defense pact, allowing U.S. arm sales to India, to the applause of U.S. defense contractors. On July 20 U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates bolsters U.S. troops in Afghanistan by 22K; meanwhile four GIs are killed by a roadside bomb in E Afghanistan, bringing the July coalition death toll to 55 incl. 30 from the U.S. On July 21 a report special U.S. inspector gen. Neil Barofsky says that the federal govt. has actually devoted $4.7T to bail out the financial sector, and that this could balloon to $23.7T (vs a U.S. GDP of $14T) under worst case conditions ($80K for every U.S. citizen), pissing-off the U.S. House, whose members vie to utter memorable soundbytes, incl. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) ("one fraud after another"), and Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) ("a brave new world"). On July 21 a British judge rules that Google can't be sued for libel just because libelous comments appear in text blurbs in its search results, saying that it isn't publishing them but just "playing the role of a facilitator". On July 21 Pres. Obama tells PBS, "I think that we have stepped back from the abyss. I think we've put out the fire", but that a lot of work remains to do with "the limited resources" available; meanwhile a USA Today/Gallup Poll reveals disapproval of Obama's handling of the economy by 49% to 47%, and disapproval of his health care policy by 50% to 44%; his overall approval rating is down to 55%, lower than George W. Bush's at the same 6-mo. point into his presidency (56%). On July 21 bombs kill 21 and wound dozens in Baghdad, Ramadi, and Baqubah, Iraq. On July 21 Oakland, Calif. becomes the first U.S. city to tax medical marijuana and have a business tax category for pot merchants. On July 22 a 155-mi. (250km) wide 6 min. 39 sec. solar eclipse (longest of the cent. because the Earth is at the farthest part of its orbit) sweeps across India and China, stirring ancient superstitions. On July 22 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton visits Bangkok, Thailand, saying that the U.S. will consider creating a defense umbrella over the Persian Gulf region if Iran keeps developing nukes, and signing the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, originally drawn up by the Assoc. of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1976, then signed by China and India in 2003, Russia and South Korea in 2004, and Australia in 2005, with the soundybte that it is "a very strong statement on behalf of our administration that the United States intends to be a very active presence in the region." On July 22 despite intensive NRA lobbying, the U.S. Senate by one vote (58-39) defeats a tacked-on provision to their $680B defense authorization bill that would allow certain gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines - shoot? On July 22 Pres. Obama gives a press conference to boost his struggling health care reform program, in which he mentions the July 16 arrest of famed black Harvard prof. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (1950-) in his own house near the Harvard campus after being investigated for being a burglar and cleared after producing an ID, the white policeman Sgt. James Crowley trumping up "disorderly conduct" charges for "exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior" just for mouthing off to him and other trespassing gun-wagging cops who refuse to produce their badge numbers so he could identify them later, Obama saying that the police "acted stupidly"; although the charges were dropped, and no charges filed against the police, Gates goes on to speak out against police racial profiling and demand an apology, raising a nat. firestorm of controversy in the PC press, with Obama sticking to his guns and the police backing each other up, and Crowley calling Obama "way off base", after which Obama calls Crowley and says he should have used different words to avoid inflaming the controversy, but stops short of apologizing to Da Man, and on July 25 Obama invites both of them to the White House for a 1-hour Beer Summit on July 30 in an attempt to get it behind him; the open statements to the press by Crowley that he would arrest anybody who was "loud and boisterous" (i.e., mouths off to him) in the future raises profound constitutional questions (three strikes of mouthing off to a cop and you get life?); Gates goes for Red Stripe, Obama for Bud Light, and Crowley for Blue Moon; on July 30 Boston policeman Justin Barrett (1973-) is suspended for sending an email calling Gates a "jungle monkey", and later fired; meanwhile Lucia Whalen, who made the 9/11 call speaks to the press on July 29, saying she is pained by being called a racist and didn't actually know or describe Gates as black. On July 23 Georgian pres. (since 2004) Mikheil Saakashvili (1967-) asks visiting U.S. pres. Joe Biden for military aid, advanced weaponry and unarmed observers, but Biden won't bite, although he promises U.S. support. On July 23 44 N.J. politicians, incl. three mayors and five rabbis are arrested in a 10-year federal corruption sting called Operation Bid Rig. On July 24 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Ga. predict that up to 40% of Americans could get swine flu this year and next, and several hundred thousands could die without a successful vaccine campaign. On July 25 Pres. Obama tries to get back on track after the Gates incident, with the Congressional Budget Office saying that his program would save $2B over the next decade in Medicare costs. On July 25 Iran's Rev. Guards announce that they will hit Israel's atomic sites with its missiles if attacked first by any of Israel's three German-built subs, with RG CIC Mohammad Ali Jafari uttering the soundbyte that Iran "was not scared" of Israel's nukes, adding "It's part of the pyschological war that the West has launched against Iran." On July 26 supporters of Mir Hossei Moussavi hold rallies in dozens of cities worldwide demanding release of jailed activists and an end to the crackdown. On July 26 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton tells the press that the Obama admin. views Russia as a "great power" in an attempt to defuse statements by vice-pres. Joe Biden that it is saddled with deepening economic problems and backward-looking leadership. On July 26 Pawn Stars debuts on History Channel (until ?), set at the World Famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, Nev., operated by Richard "Old Man" Harrison (1941-), his son Rick Harrison (1965-), his grandson Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison, and Correy's friend Austin "Chumlee" Russell (1982-), becoming the network's #1 show. On July 26-27 the largest gathering of the Scottish clans in 200 years sees 400K kilt-clad Scots from around the world make merry in Edinburgh to celebrate the 250th anniv. of the birth of poet Robert Burns; Prince Charles opens the event; 125 of 500 clans incl. 85 clan chiefs attend. On July 27-30 U.S. drug czar (since May 7) Richard Gil Kerlikowske (1949-) meets with Mexican atty.-gen. Eduardo Medina Mora (1957-) to discuss the Mexican drug war. On July 28 the U.S. and China conclude their first annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue, agreeing on a broad framework of cooperation, incl. maintaining stimulus spending and supporting free trade, with vice-PM Wang Qishan uttering the soundbyte "As a major reserve currency-issuing country in the world, the United States should properly balance and properly handle the impact of the dollar supply on the domestic economy and the world economy as a whole." On July 28 Google reaches an agreement with publishers to make scanned books available online in return for 63% of their revenue. On July 29 the U.S. Health Protection Agency sends a confidential letter to 600 senior neurologists warning that the new swine flu vaccine has been linked to the deadly nerve disease called the Guillain-Barre Syndrome; the public doesn't find out about it until Aug. 15. On June 29 Am. hikers Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal, and Sarah Shourd are arrested at the Iranian-Iraqi border in Iraqi Kurdistan and held in Tehran for 11 mo. before being released on May 21, 2010. On July 30 Nigerian security forces raid the compound of a militant Islamic sect in Maiduguri in N Nigeria, killing 100, incl. Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf (b. 1970); imam Abubakar Shekau Bin Muhammad becomes the leader of Boko Haram (until ?). On July 30 rumors that a Quran had been defaced at a Christian wedding in Korian, Pakistan in Punjab province causes a mob of 800 Muslims on Aug. 1 to attack Christians in the nearby town of Gojra, Pakistan, looting and burning homes and burning eight Christians alive, followed by Christmas death threats; since blasphemy carries the death penalty, they are just doing Allah's work? - another reason not to allow mass Muslim immigration into any Western country? On July 31 bombs explode near five Shiite mosques around Bag Dead during prayer services, killing 29 followers of anti-U.S. cleric Moqtata al-Sadr, who accuses the Iraq govt. of being behind it; between June 30 and Aug. 11 566 Iraqis have been killed, mostly Shiites; meanwhile longtime region underclass Shiites are talking their followers into showing retraint by not responding with violence? In July Pres. Obama nominates Francis S. Collins, co-leader of the Human Genome Project to head the Nat. Institutes of Health (NIH), stirring controversy because of his non-PC belief in God; meanwhile a Pew Research Center Survey reveals that 1 in 3 scientists believe in God, vs. 83% of the gen. pop., about the same as the 1920s. In July Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Corp. launch a 10-year deal to challenge market leader Google with their Bing search engine; when the deal contains no upfront payments to Yahoo, its stock falls 12%. In July U.S. casualties drop to an all-time low of six soldiers and a U.S. Marine, only four in combat related circumstances. In July U.S. personal bankruptcy filings reach 126,434, the highest total since the implementation of the Oct. 2005 U.S. Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. In late July noctilucent clouds begin to be observed S of the the polar regions for the first time, incl. Paris, Seattle, and Omaha; the first were observed in 1885; a scientific explanation is not forthcoming; a sign of global warming? On Aug. 1 Switzerland begins a Big Brother program of intercepting all Internet traffic in real time from a central location. On Aug. 1 100 Iran puts 100+ political activists, incl. several prominent politicians on trial for protesting the election, where several give lengthy confessions praising Imadinnajacket and claiming that his June 12 election was legit - just take that soldering iron out of my anus? On Aug. 1 members of the Iraq-based People's Mujahedeen of Iran, dedicated to the overthrow of the 1979 Islamic rev. govt. in Tehran go on a hunger strike near the White House to protest the death of at least six members (ends ?). On Aug. 2 U.S. treasury secy. Timothy Geithner appears on This Week with George Stephanopoulos on ABC-TV, and reveals that the Obama campaign promise to not raise taxes on Americans earning less than $250K is now being reconsidered, causing the White House to backpedal and reaffirm the campaign promise. On Aug. 2 the White House announces that it will award a Pres. Medal of Freedom to former Irish pres. (1990-7) Mary Robinson (1944-), a longtime opponent of the state of Israel and backer of the 2001 Durban Conference Against Racism that came out against Israel and the U.S. walked out of, creating a firestorm of controversy, incl. the Repub. Jewish Coalition coming out against it. On Aug. 3 a tribal attack in a fishing village in SE Sudan over cattle and territorial rights kills 185+, making 1K for the year. On Aug. 3 a remote-controlled bomb set by the Taliban kills 10 civilians and two police and critically injures a police chief in Herat in W Afghanistan. On Aug. 3 Der Spiegel reveals that the Roman Catholic Pax Bank in Germany bought stocks in defense, tobacco, and birth control cos., causing it to issue a public apology since it had advertised that it never does such things. On Aug. 3 the Chinese govt. seals off the town of Ziketan in Tibet after three die and eight are infected with a pneumonic plague. On Aug. 3 Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez signs a letter of approval giving Iran financial help to build nukes. On Aug. 4 (Pres. Obama's birthday) ex-U.S. pres. Bill Clinton arrives in North Korea on his first diplomatic mission, quickly negotiating the release of U.S. Current TV journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, succeeding where his wife Hillary (who on Aug. 26 called the North Koreans "unruly children") couldn't because old fart Dear Leader Kim Jong-il wanted to be seen with handsome in public, and he wanted a chance to get back in the spotlight, despite torpoeding all efforts at isolating North Korea? On Aug. 4 U.S. Sen. (R-N.H.) Judd Gregg of the Senate Budget Committee utters the soundbyte "We're going to be like a banana republic in 10 years" if the fiscal situation stays on the same track, saying that "Cash for Clunkers" and like programs could consume up to 80% of the total U.S. economic output via federal spending, adding "Sure, Americans want the program, but if you do stop and think about it, is it right to do for our children?" On Aug. 4 (8:15 p.m.) bald love-frustrated George Sodini walks into the LA Fitness gym in Bridgeville (near Pittsburgh), Penn., turns off the lights, and opens fire on a women's Latin dance class, firing 50 rounds and killing three and wounding 10 before committing suicide, leaving a blog at georgesodini.com, telling how no woman has wanted him for many years, and that unless he beds a babe soon he will soon see God and Jesus, and won't go to Hell because "Eternal life does not depend on works... Christ paid for every sin" - he should have been born a Muslim? On Aug. 4 two first-line Akula-class Russian subs are reported patrolling off the E coast of the U.S., raising eyebrows, because ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union the Russian Navy has been nearly kaput - another Hunt for Red October? On Aug. 4 Australian Muslims Wissam Mahmoud Fattal (1976-), Saney Edow Aweys (1983-), and Nayef El Sayed (1984-) are arrested for planning a jihadist attack on the Holsworthy army barracks in Sydney, planning to kill up to 500 before running out of ammo; they are convicted on Dec. 24, 2010; a Muslim who warned the govt. about it is found not guilty. On Aug. 5 Dem. Senate campaign chief Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) tells ABC News' "Top Line" that Repubs. are risking an electoral backlash by opposing the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor in large numbers, and that her "impeccable credentials" have contributed to "a moment of pride for the Hispanic community throughout this country"; she is confirmed on Aug. 6, and when only 9 of 40 Repub. Senators vote for her, Hispanic leaders go to work to make his warning come true? On Aug. 5 Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad takes his oath of office for his 2nd term despite all the protests and repression, incl. shouts of "death to the dictator". On Aug. 5 (1 a.m.) a U.S. Predator drone kills Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud at his father-in-law's house in South Waziristan; it also takes out seven bodyguards, his wife, and 25 others; on Aug. 22 his deputy Hakimullah Mehsud (1979-2013) is appointed the new leader of the Tehrik-e-Taliban by the 42-member shura (until Nov. 1, 2013). On Aug. 5 after resigning in Apr. to hold elections on June 6, Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (1956-) becomes pres. of Mauritania (until ?). On Aug. 5 the Nat. Inst. on Drug Abuse (NIA) makes an offer to produce and distribute large quantities of marijuana cigarettes for purposes other than research. On Aug. 6 on an 11-day tour of seven countries in Africa, U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton speaks in Kenya, saying that it is a "great regret" that the U.S. is not a member of the Internat. Criminal Court that tries people for genocide and crimes against humanity - if it joined then every U.S. politician back to George Washington would be indicted? On Aug. 6 the super-popular Twitter Web site becomes the victim of a denial of service attack, causing a Tweetapocalypse and Tweet withdrawal systems for 45M visitors; as attacks continue for days, it is traced to attempts to shut down the Web pages of a prof. from the Repub. of Ga. who is trying to explain the history of the war with Russia? On Aug. 7 three more regional U.S. banks fail, bring the total to 72, almost tripling the 2008 total of 25. On Aug. 7 Typhoon Morakot hits Taiwan, killing 600 via mudslides. On Aug. 7 before leaving for Mexico, Pres. Obama meets with Hispanic media outlets and announces that he won't push immigration reform until next year despite his promise to do it this year; he also jokes about himself being called an illegal immigrant. On Aug. 7 Sarah Palin posts on Facebook, saying that Pres. Obama's health care plan that incl. regular physician consultations with the elderly will turn into a "death panel" that decides whether they should be euthanized; after many of her supporters call her comments nuts, she backs down a little, claiming she was talking about the Medical advisory Board and forecasted declines in Medicare spending, and tries to change the subject, only to see Sen. (R-Iowa) Charles Grassley tell voters: "You have every right to fear. You shouldn't have counseling at the end of life, you should have done that 20 years before, should not have a government run plan to decide when to pull the plug on grandma"; Rahm Emanuel's physician brother Ezekiel J. "Zek" Emanuel (1957-) (an Obama adviser) is a leading opponent of state-assisted suicide, and a backer of Obama's health care program, and known for a 1996 report in which he proposed that health services should be socially guaranteed to those who are capable of being participative citizens, and not guaranteed to those with dementia; on Aug. 11 Obama gives a town hall meeting in Portsmouth, N.H., claiming that the Am. Assoc. of Retired Persons (AARP) backs his plan, causing them to state that they haven't endorsed it. On Aug. 8 a riot by 1.3K of 5.9K inmates at overcrowded Chino Prison 40 mi. E of Los Angeles, Calif. sparked by racial tensions between blacks and Latinos injures almost 200 inmates; a federal 3-judge panel ordered Calif. to reduce prison pop. less than 2 weeks earlier. On Aug. 8 (11 a.m.) a tourist heli and small plane collide over the Hudson River in New York City, killing nine, becoming the city's worst air disaster of the narrow air corridor there. On Aug. 9 Saudi al-Qaida member Abdullah Hassan al-Asiri (b. 1986) attempts to assassinate deputy interior minister Prince Muhammad bin Nayef bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and is killed by his own 1 lb. anus bomb, leaving the prince with a bandage on two fingers of his left hand - imagine that? On Aug. 9 Mark Burnett's reality series Shark Tank debuts on ABC-TV for ? episodes, based on the 2001 Japanese show "Tigers of Money", featuring investor angels hearing pitches from entrepreneurs than fighting to invest at the lowest possible price; investors incl. Terence Thomas Kevin O'Leary (1954-), Robert Herjavec (1962-), and Daymond John (1969-). On Aug. 9-10 the 4th Annual North Am. Leader's (Three Amigos) Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico is attended by Pres. Obama, Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon, Canadian PM Stephen Harper, who discuss the H1N1 virus problem and trade issues, stirring fears of a horrible secret North Am. Union. On Aug. 10 yet more bombs hit Shiite areas of Baghdad, Iraq, killing 33 more, bringing the total to 100+ in four days in Irock. On Aug. 10 U.S. gen. Stanley McChrystal tells the press that the Taliban have advanced out of their old strongholds in S and E Afghanistan, and are gaining the upper hand as they move N and W; no surprise, in Sept. he releases a 66-page document saying that unless he gets 45K more troops within the next year, the 8-year conflict "will likely result in failure"; on Sept. 21 he orders the troops to pull out of rural areas and concentrate on protecting major urban centers; meanwhile U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, retired lt. gen. Karl W. Eikenberry thinks that more troops should be conditioned on the Afghan govt. meeting benchmarks. On Aug. 10 Hillary Clinton gets ballsy, er, testy after a Congolese univ. student asks what her hubby Bill thinks about a multibillion dollar Chinese loan offer to Congo, replying "My husband is not secretary of state, I am. I am not going to be channeling my husband"; Bill's recent triumph in North Korea has gotten under her skin?; later it is revealed that the translator made a mistake, and should have said Pres. Obama not Bill Clinton; on Aug. 11 she sees evidence of the brutality in E Congo, incl. violent rapes, and is visibly shaken, calling it "evil in its basest form". On Aug. 11 after a public outcry, the House cancels plans to spend $550M on passenger jets for lawmakers and senior govt. officials. On Aug. 11 the U.S. returns $2.4M to Mexico's tax admin. that it seized during an investigation into smuggled oil, revealing that U.S. refineries bought millions of dollars worth of oil stolen from Mexican govt. pipelines and smuggled by Mexican drug cartels, hurting the Mexican oil monopoly Pemex, whose production fell 7.5% in the first half of the year; meanwhile on Aug. 11 a federal indictment is brought against the Salt Lake City, Utah Alcala Law Firm and others for conspiring to get illegal visas for Mexican workers in Utah. On Aug. 11 Yemen launches Operation Scorched Earth in order to end the 5-y.-o. Iranian-backed Zaydi Shiite Houthi uprising in the N province of Sa'da; on Nov. 9 fighting in N Yemen between Shiite Houthi rebels and Saudi border guards erupts when Houthis attack a Saudi border post, killing one guard and injuring 11, drawing the Saudi govt. into the fight, which spends 3 mo. to clear the border area, with 100+ Saudi casualties, causing 240 villages to be evacuated and 50 schools to be closed; the Sunni-Shiite war could eventually drag the U.S. and Russia into war? On Aug. 12 U.S. Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch tells the press that he's urging the military to deploy more unmanned vehicles on the ground to go with the unmanned drones, with the soundbyte "Let's get those kids out of the vehicles" in Iraq and Afghanistan - one day the U.S. military will consist of robot soldiers commanded by human officers? On Aug. 12 a battle between Philippine troops and Muslim Abu Sayyaf guerrillas in Basilan Island kills 53+, incl. 30 guerrillas. On Aug. 12 Bishop Edir Macedo and nine others linked to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Brazil are charged with siphoning billions of dollars in donations from mostly poor followers for personal use. On Aug. 12 Pres. Obama awards the Medal of Freedom to 16 "agents of change", incl. Billie Jean King, Sidney Poitier, Ted Kennedy, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sandra Day O'Connor, homeless medical care leader Pedro Jose "Joe" Greer Jr., Mary Robinson (protested by Jewish orgs.), Stephen Hawking, Chita Rivera, Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, even two posth. ones to Harvey Milk and Repub. rep. Jack Kemp (token white guy?). On Aug. 13 a double suicide bombing in the Kurdish-speaking Yazidi city of Sinjar in a cafe packed with young people in NW Iraq kills 21; four suicide truck bombers already took out the nearby village of Qhataniya on Aug. 14, 2007, killing 500 Yazidis. On Aug. 13 25K demonstrate in Copenhagen, Denmark over the forced deportation of a group of 121 Iraqi refugees, who were arrested by the police as they took refuge in Brorson Church the previous night. On Aug. 14 the govt. of Russian-controlled South Ossetia asks residents to turn in their weapons, prosecuting 50 for illegal possession and offering a $300-$400 reward for each Kalashnikov rifle. On Aug. 14 Pakistan lifts a ban on political activity in its tribal regions near the Afghan border, granting them parliamentary rep in hopes of reducing the influence of the Taliban. On Aug. 14 the militant Islamist Jund Ansar Allah org. (founded Nov. 2008) based in Rafah, Gaza Strip declares an Islamic emirate in the Palestinian territories, causing Hamas to attack it, killing 24 incl. leader Sheikh Abdel Latif Moussa (b. 1959) on Aug. 15. On Aug. 14 Venezuela okays a new education law mandating the teaching of Hugo Chavez' Bolivarian Doctrine (based on Simon Bolivar, featuring nat. self-determination and Latin Am. unity), causing cries of indoctrination in Socialism. On Aug. 14 the Australian high court grants quadraplegic Christian Rossiter (1960-) the right to refuse food and water and die without his nursing facility being held criminally liable. On Aug. 15 a Taliban suicide car bomb near the main gate of the NATO-led internat. mission in Kabul kills three Afghans and wounds 70. On Aug. 15 despite the military retaking the area, a suicide car bomber in the Swat Valley of NW Pakistan kills five. On Aug. 15 Pres. Obama hosts a town-hall meeting in Grand Junction, Colo., being greeted by protesters outside, where a univ. student asks him how private insurers can compete with the govt., causing him to reply that the "public option" (a new govt. insurance program similar to Medicare) is only a small piece of his health care reform program, and he mainly wants to control costs, expand coverage, protect consumers, and improve efficiency; on Aug. 16 U.S. HHS secy. Kathleen Sebelius tells CNN Sun. Morning that the public option "is not the essential element"; too bad, later that day White House health reform comm. dir. Linda Douglass releases a statement saying "Nothing has changed. The president... believes the public option is the best way to achieve those goals"; later U.S. Sen. (D-N.D.) (since 1987) Kent Conrad (1948-) proposes govt.-funded private cooperatives as an alternative to a govt. plan; meanwhile new Canadian Medical Assoc. pres. Anne Doig admits that Canadian patients get less than optimal care, and says that the system is "imploding". On Aug. 17 a Muslim suicide truck bomber at a police HQ in the main city of Nazran, Ingushetia kills 20 and wounds 118, becoming the deadliest attack in the North Caucasus region since 2005; the Muslims are lapping at the S flank of Russia? On Aug. 17 Sunni Muslim Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan militant party leader Ali Sher Haideri is shot and killed in a sectarian attack in Khairpur, Pakistan (150 mi. NE of Karachi). On Aug. 17 Albert Gonzales and two Russians are indicted for stealing 130M+ credit and debit card numbers in 2006-8 in the largest hacking and ID theft case ever prosecuted (until ?). On Aug. 17 John Morton, new head (since May) of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announces that he has ended quotas on illegal immigrants who have ignored deportation orders, and will target those who already have had their day in court. On Aug. 17 the Obama admin. announces that the 1996 U.S. Defense of Marriage Act that denies benefits to gay domestic partners of federal employees and allows states to reject same-sex marriages performed in other states should be repealed, er, repealed. On Aug. 17 Hurricane Bill (first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic season) heads toward Bermuda; meanwhile Tropical Storm Ana dissipates. On Aug. 17 al-Qaida in Indonesia drops a planned Mumbai-style rifle-grenade assault on Indonesian pres. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and other nat. leaders on Indonesian independence day. On Aug. 17 the identity of anonymous blogger of Skanks in NYC is ordered revealed by New York Supreme Court judge Joan Madden for comments about Canadian-born model Luskula Cohen (1972-), incl. "skank", "ho", and "psychotic"; after Fashion Inst. of Tech. student Rosemary Port is unmasked, Cohen decides to drop her defamation suit, saying she just wanted to make a point, after which Port announces her intention of suing Google for $15M because it "breached its fiduciary duty to protect her expectation of anononymity". On Aug. 18 the Armed Dozen, a group of pro-gun rights demonstrators carry firearms outside Pres. Obama's health care rally in Phoenix, Ariz., where "open carry" is legal throughout the state; one named Chris carries an automatic AR-15 rifle, calling it a "publicity stunt", with the soundbyte "We will forcefully resist people imposing their will on us through the strength of the majority with a vote," Chris later tells an Obama supporter in the video... Just because you sic the government on people doesn't make it morally okay to steal money from people. Taxation is theft"; the NRA claims to be embarrassed by then; back in 1996 Pres. Clinton praised law enforcement for arresting the 12-man Viper Militia in Phoenix for doing even less? On Aug. 18 a suicide car bomber kills 7+ in Kabul, while a Taliban rocket hits the pres. palace grounds as violence across Afghanistan precedes the election; on Aug. 19 gunmen storm a bldg. in Kabul and battle police for hours, becoming the 3rd attack in Kabul in five days; on Aug. 20 elections in Afghanistan reelect pres. Hamid Karzai to a 2nd term, although his chief rival Abdullah Abdullah (1960-) also claims a V; Afghan women stay away from the polls; meanwhile the U.S. reveals a plan to make finance minister Ashraf Ghani into a chief exec serving beneath him; too bad, after a U.N. team does a recount and uncovers massive voter fraud of 1M votes for Karzai, lowering his total from 54% to 48.3% on Oct. 19, a new election is called for on Nov. 7, causing Karzai to question the reliability of the U.S. as a partner on Oct. 25; on Nov. 1 Double Abdullah drops out of the runoff election, and calls Karzai's reelection illegal. On Aug. 18 (07:40 GMT) South Korea launches its first satellite, the $400M Naro-1, pissing-off North Korea. On Aug. 18 Pres. Obama holds talks with Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak in Washington, D.C., hoping to unstall the Middle East peace process. On Aug. 18 a senior Iranian official announces that Iran is ready for negotiations with the West on its nuclear program based on mutual respect and without preconditions; meanwhile RPGs and other weapons are found on an Australian cargo vessel en route from North Korea that is searched by the UAE, which Iranian officials deny are bound for them, calling it all a "Zionist plot". On Aug. 19 a series of explosions kills 75+ and wounds 300+ in C Baghdad, Iraq, becoming the deadliest day since U.S. troops left in June, and showing that without the U.S. the Iraq govt. is doomed? On Aug. 19 an ABC News-Washington Post Poll reveals that a majority (51%) of the U.S. pop. thinks that the Afghanistan War is not worth fighting; 47% thinks it is. On Aug. 20 pres. Imadinnajacket picks Ahmad Vahidi as the new Iranian defense minister; he is suspected to be an internat. terrorist connected with the 1994 attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina; criticism of his appointment is called a "Zionist plot" - and now you get to obliterate Israel itself with our new nukes? On Aug. 20 Chilean authorities that they have detected the H1N1 swine flu in turkeys, becoming the first time it's been detected outside humans and pigs - the real Fifth Element? On Aug. 20 after thuggish threats from Muammar Gaddafi (revealed by WikiLeaks in Nov. 2010), Abdel Basset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi, the only person convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie, Scotland jet bombing arrives in Libya to cheers after only serving eight years of his 27-year min. sentence for murdering 270 infidels because he has terminal prostate cancer, drawing criticism from FBI dir. Robert Mueller, U.S. JCS Adm. Mike Mullen et al., along with the victims' families, putting Scottish justice secy. Kenny MacAskill on the grill for making the decision to free the bum; in Dec. it is revealed that he had a Ł1.8M Swiss bank account, raising the suspicion of payoff money, although the evidence wasn't used at his trial; BP (British Petroleum) is later revealed to have lobbied for release of Libyan terrorist (but of course not him) in order to obtain a 2009 oil lease for the huge Rumaila oilfield (partnering with CNPC of China), which compensates them even when oil is not being produced; by 2010 it becomes obvious that the original 3-mo. lifespan prognostication is way off, causing renewed outcries; British ex-PM Tony Blair flew to Tripolo last June 10 to meet with Daffy to arrange a Ł400M arms export deal first?; meanwhile Libyan nutcase leader (since 1969) Muammar (al-) Gaddafi (1942-2011) (celebrating his 40th anniv. in power) plans to visit the U.S. for the first time in Sept., being refused permission to pitch his Bedouin tent in New York's Central Park then settling for Englewood, N.J., pissing-off state residents, who lost 38 in the Lockerbie bombing; meanwhile Daffy Duck quacks, er, calls for the dismemberment of Switzerland for mistreating his son Motassim "Hannibal" Bilal Gaddafi last year, then gives a nutty U.N. speech on Sept. 23, saying that Obama should be pres. for life, and that the H1N1 virus was created by the military, demanding $7.7T reparations to Africa for Euro colonialism, uttering the soundbyte "What's next, fish flu?" - they should have put a bomb on the bum's plane to Libya, and another on Daffy's plane to New York, and a 3rd guess where? On Aug. 20 a new Zogby Poll is released, showing Pres. Obama's voter approval sliding to 45.3%, with only 37.5% of independents approving of his handling of his job. On Aug. 20 Mexico enacts a new Drug Decriminalization Law, setting maximum "personal use" limits for LSD, marijuana, cocaine, meth, heroin et al.; too bad, they still require mandatory treatment if you're cited for a 3rd time, and actually make possession of all but miniscule amounts a prosecutable offense; meanwhile on Aug. 24 the supreme court of Argentina rules it unconstitutional to punish an adult for private use of marijuana. On Aug. 20 Hustler pub. Larry Flynt pub. an article titled Common Sense 2009, calling for a 1-day gen. strike throughout the U.S., with the soundbyte "The American government - which we once called our government - has been taken over by Wall Street, the mega-corporations and the super-rich. They are the ones who decide our fate. It is this group of powerful elites, the people President Franklin D. Roosevelt called "economic royalists", who choose our elected officials - indeed, our very form of government. Both Democrats and Republicans dance to the tune of their corporate masters. In America, corporations do not control the government. In America, corporations are the government. This was never more obvious than with the Wall Street bailout, whereby the very corporations that caused the collapse of our economy were rewarded with taxpayer dollars. So arrogant, so smug were they that, without a moment's hesitation, they took our money - yours and mine - to pay their executives multimillion-dollar bonuses, something they continue doing to this very day. They have no shame. They don't care what you and I think about them. Henry Kissinger refers to us as 'useless eaters'." On Aug. 20 (8:30 p.m.) millions in China claim to see two huge rotating glowing mist-shrouded saucer-shaped UFOs. On Aug. 21 the U.N. Refugee Agency expresses shock at reports that a sinking boat carrying illegal immigrants from Libya is ignored by passing vessels, causing 75 of 77 to die en route to Italy. On Aug. 21 White House press. secy. Robert Gibbs says that Pres. Obama is "quite comfortable" with the prospect of being a 1-term pres. if he gets all the spending, er, issues he's concerned about passed. On Aug. 23 (Sun.) the body of pastor Carol Daniele (b. 1938) is found brutally murdered in Christ Holy Sanctified Church in Anadarko, Okla., riling people up. On Aug. 24 the Obama admin. admits that the 10-year budget deficit will be $2T more than originally forecast, reaching $9T. On Aug. 24 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. wins his argument against CIA dir. Leon E. Panetta, getting cases of suspected torture by CIA officers during the Bush admin. reopened; after former vice-pres. Dick Cheney disses Obama for it, former Repub. U.S. atty.-gen. Alberto R. Gonzales comes out in support; meanwhile on Aug. 25 Pres. Obama renominates Ben Bernanke for a 2nd term as chmn. of the Federal Reserve. On Aug. 24 pres. panel announces that H1N1 swine flu could infect half of the U.S. pop. this fall and winter, causing up to 90K deaths and hospitalizing up to 1.8M. On Aug. 24 the CIA releases its Guidelines for Interrogating High-Value Detainees, detailing methods incl. slamming their head against the wall up to 30x. On Aug. 24 Muslim model Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno (1977-) becomes the first person to be caned in Malaysia for drinking beer, receiving six lashes with a rattan cane. On Aug. 25 a 16-y.-o. neo-Nazi man is arrested in a Moscow bomb plot. On Aug. 25 Britain unveils proposed laws to cut off Internet access to people who repeatedly pirate films and music, raising an outcry. On Aug. 25 Rodolphe Adada of the Repub. of the Congo, head of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur resigns. On Aug. 26 Franklin, Ky. circuit judge Thomas Wingate strikes down a 2006 Ky. law requiring the Ky. state office of homeland security to stress "dependence on Almighty God as being vital to the security of the Commonwealth". On Aug. 27 Taiwan pres. Ma Ying-jeou decides to allow the Dalai Lama to visit, pissing-off China, whom he pleased by refusing the same trip last Dec., saying that it would ease the pain from Typhoon Marakot. On Aug. 27 Iranian supreme assaholla Ali Khamenei says that there is no proof that the reformists are working with the West, pulling the rug from under pres. Imadinnajacket's prosecutors, but plays both sides by adding "There is no doubt that the events were planned, no matter whether their leaders knew it or not." On Aug. 27 Jaycee Lee Dugard (1980-), who was abducted while waiting for a school bus at age 11 in South Lake Tahoe 18 years ago wanders into a parole office in a town near San Francisco, Calif., telling a tale of her abuser, 58-y.-o. Philip Garrido (1951-), who is arrested, and will never get out of priz alive; Voices Are Real, his non-hit song recorded in the 1980s surfaces on YouTube. On Aug. 28 a suicide bombing at the main NATO border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan kills 18+ Pakistani security officials; meanwhile the Taliban make a comeback in N Afghanistan, incl. the Baghlan, Kunduz, and Taqhar Provinces, where mainly German troops guard the N supply route that supplements the more vulneratle routes through Pakistan. On Aug. 29 leaders of 12 Latin Am. nations hold a Union of South Am. Nations (Unasur) Summit in Argentina to discuss expanding U.S.-Colombia military ties; meanwhile Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez accuses the U.S. of plans to topple govts. and steal the region's resources. On Aug. 30 elections in Japan are a giant V for the opposition Dem. Party, ending 54 years of 1-party rule; they were called early by PM Taro Aso after his Liberal Dem. Party (LDP) coalition lost an election on July 12 in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election, dethroning it as the assembly's largest party; the news causes stock markets in Japan (0.4%), Germany (0.7%), France (0.6%), and China (7%) to fall; Yukio Hatoyama (1947-) becomes PM of Japan (until ?), claiming that he's not anti-American and that his vision of a future Asian community doesn't exclude the U.S., but that he is against globalism; his wife Miyuki Hatoyama claims that she was abducted by aliens; too bad, he fights against the moving of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa, and spins U.S. diplomats around to look good to his party? On Aug. 31 Turkey and Armenia agree to establish diplomatic relations despite that little old 1915-18 Armenian genocide thingie. On Aug. 31 Disney announces plans to buy Marvel Comics for $4B, putting Spider-Man in bed with Mickey Mouse. On Aug. 31 on its 6th day after their size doubles overnight, the Calif. Staton Fire N of Los Angeles threaten 12K+ homes and kill two firefighters, burning a quarter of the LA mountain backdrop before finally being extinguised in early Oct. In Aug. a strike wave sweeps Serbia, with 33K striking daily in 40-45 mostly privatized firms that aren't paying salaries or health insurance. In Aug. the Mid-Season Review, Budget of the U.S. Govt., Fiscal Year 2010 reveals that the U.S. govt. will have to borrow 39.9% of its total expenditures in 2010. In Aug. GM signs a $293M (2B yuan) deal with Chinese automaker FAW Group to produce light commercial vehicles in Changchun and Harbin in NE China. In Aug. the SRI Internat. Report on Online Education, commissioned by the U.S. Dept. of Education finds that online education beats classroom education; no surprise, home schooled students in the U.S. outscore other students on the ACT by 22.5 to 21.1. In Aug. the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports (in Sept.) that unemployment increased by 466K, giving the U.S. a 9.7% unemployment rate, highest since 1983; the Calif. rate is 12.2%, highest since 1940. In Aug. the U.S. strikes a deal with Swiss bank UBS to reveal the names of 4,450 secret bank account holders, signaling the beginning of the end of internat. tax cheating? In Aug. the New York Taxi Scam is exposed by Dr. Mitchell Lee, who suspects a rat and reports it, causing $8.3M in inflated fares by cabbies to be exposed, incl. $40K by Lee's driver Wasim Khalid Cheema. In Aug.-Sept. the U.S. and British govt. spend millions of dollars to try to persuade Afghan farmers to give up growing poppies and substitute wheat and fruit, offering them cheap credit and jobs; the poppy planting season begins in Oct. This summer is the 4th warmest in the U.S. on record. On Sept. 1 Category 5 Hurricane Jimena races toward Baja Calif., weakening to Category 1 then killing one, a 74-y.-o. man. On Sept. 1 the FCC prohibits robo-calls on the telephone except when agreed to by the recipient; too bad, there are so many exceptions incl. bill collectors and charities that it won't change anything. On Sept. 2 the Obama admin. proposes using $85B of the stimulus money to extend tax breaks for the working poor over the next decade, causing criticism that he pleged to use it to pay for new policies. On Sept. 2 a 7.0 earthquake in Indonesia kills 33 and forces thousands to evacuate Indonesia's main island. On Sept. 2 a Taliban suicide bomber attacks officials leaving a mosque E of Kabul, killing Afghanistan's chief deputy intel chief Abdullah Laghmani plus 22 others - Afghanistan is becoming Obama's Vietnam? On Sept. 2 a dozen hooded gunmen burst into a rehabiliation clinic in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico near the U.S. border, lining up and killing 17 and wounding three patients because these clinics allegedly protect dealers from rival gangs; 10K troops and police in the city don't stop them. On Sept. 2 Obama health care reform opponent William Rice (1934-) has his finger bitten off by an Obama supporter at a vigil in Thousand Oaks, Calif. organied by MoveOn.org. On Sept. 2 U.S. drug maker Pfizer agrees to a record $2.3B health care fraud settlement - to them that's chickenfeed? On Sept. 3 after Charlie Gibson announces his intention of resigning, ABC-News announces that Diane Sawyer will replace him. On Sept. 4 a NATO air strike against two Taliban-hijacked fuel tankers in Kunduz province in N Afghanistan kills up to 142, incl. civilians who are burned alive in a giant fireball, pissing-off the Afghanis; after Taliban activity drops off, the police force is cut by one-third in 2006, leaving a few thousand German peacekeepers; too bad, they begin a resurgence in 2007; on Nov. 27 former German defense minister Franz Josef Jung resigns as employment minister, along with gen. inspector Wolfgang Schneiderhan and state secy. Peter Wichert. On Sept. 6 after conservative commentator Glenn Beck puts on the pressure, admitted ex-Communist Anthony "Van" Jones (1968-), Obama's special adviser for green jobs (since Mar.) with the White House Council on Environmental Quality resigns after Repub. pressure linking him to the 2004 9/11 Truth Statement by 911Truth.org calling for Congress to investigate whether 9/11 was caused or allowed by the govt., plus derogatory comments about Repubs. On Sept. 6 Li Zhi, secy. of the Communist Party in Urumqi, China is removed after reports of bizarre needle attacks amid the mob violence. On Sept. 7 (Mon.) the U.S. celebrates Labor Day after losing 7M jobs since the start of the recession in Dec. 2007, incl. 12% unemployment in Calif. since July and 9.7% nationwide. On Sept. 8 Pres. Obama delivers his Address to Students Across America, becoming the first U.S. pres. to speak directly to the nation's school children. On Sept. 8 Vietnamese-Am. Yale U. pharmacology student Annie Le (b. 1985) disappears from a lab, with 60 cameras showing her entering but not leaving; on Sept. 13 police find her body stuffed in a wall on the day of her planned wedding. On Sept. 8 four U.S. Marines die in an ambush in the Battle of Gangjal in E Afghanistan; Dakota L. Meyer (1988-) wins the Medal of Honor for his actions during the battle. On Sept. 9 (9/9/09 - lucky day to the Chinese) U.S. defense secy. Robert M. Gates gives his first interview to al-Jazeera TV network, admitting that the U.S. made a "serious strategic mistake" when it turned its back on Afghanistan after the Soviets were defeated there, and pledging that "both Afghanistan and Pakistan can count on us for the long term" - meaning how many months? On Sept. 9 NATO troops free British NYT reporter Stephen Farrell in N Afghanistan; too bad, his colleague Mohammad Sultan Munadi plus a British soldier and civilian are killed during the rescue. On Sept. 9 the French newspaper Le Figaro carries an interview with Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez in which he claims that the 22-day Israeli bombing of Gaza starting last Dec. 27 that killed 1.3K Palestinians was unprovoked, and accuses Israel of genocide, calling for sanctions to be imposed; meanwhile on Sept. 9-10 Chavez visits Moscow, predicting that U.S. influence in the world is "dying" and will be replaced in "the next decades" by a "multi-polar" world led by Russia. On Sept. 9 Uruguay permits same-sex couples to adopt children. On Sept. 9 after speaking at a memorial in New York City to Walter Cronkite and calling on the media to take his lead, Pres. Obama addresses a joint session of Congress to promote his health care reform program, saying it's the "season for action", and invoking the memory of late Sen. Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy, uttering the soundbytes "A bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by John Dingell Sr. in 1943. 65 years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session"; "I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit now or in the future"; "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last"; he gives a nod to Sen. John McCain for wanting to insure the poor against catastrophic medical expenses, and gets applause from Repubs. for endorsing medical malpractice limits, but draws silence with the soundbyte "I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it"; when he asserts that his plan won't provide coverage for illegal immigrants, Repub. S.C. Sen. (2001-) Addison Graves "Joe" Wilson Sr. (1947-) yells out "You lie", breaking House Rules Section 370, and later apologizes amid talk of censure, but only in writing, and on Sept. 15 the House votes 240-179-5 (incl. 7 of 174 Repubs. and 233 of 250 Dems.) for a resolution of disapproval; on Sept. 15 (eve.) former U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter says that much of the vitriol against Obama's health reforms and spending plans is "based on racism"; Pres. Clinton tried a similar speech in 1993, and his plan was defeated sans heckling; too bad, public support for his program (42%) does not improve after the speech; on Sept. 16 Senate Finance Committee Chmn. Max Baucus unveils a $856B health care reform plan sans Repub. support. On Sept. 10 a U.N. report recommends a new global currency to replace the ever-weakening U.S. dollar, stirring fear among Americans who know how being the world's reserve currency gives the U.S. the ability to use it as a weapon. On Sept. 10-11 inmates at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq riot, demanding better living conditions. On Sept. 11 silence is observed at 8:46, 9:03, 9:59, and 10:29 in New York City in observance of the 8th anniv. of 9/11; meanwhile as Pres. Obama is traveling to observe it, an ill-timed Coast Guard training exercise in the Potomac River near the Pentagon pisses people off. On Sept. 11 Iranian supreme you know what Ali Khamenei warns the reformists that they will face a "harsh response" if they don't give up. On Sept. 11 Harlan James Drake (1976-) drives by a school in Owosso, Mich. and guns down abortion protester James Pouillon for carrying a sign showing a fetus, then drives to a grave pit and shoots owner Mike Fuoss, finally being captured before he can pull off a 3rd planned shooting. On Sept. 11 "Lebanese Bernie Madoff" Salah Ezzedine is charged with fraud in connection with his billion-dollar pyramid scheme; he has close ties to Hezbollah, tarnishing its image as a defender of the masses. On Sept. 12 two German merchant ships traverse the fabled Northeast Passage after melting ice opens a route from South Korea along Russia's Arctic coast to Siberia. On Sept. 12 police in Baghdad, Iraq find a bomb hidden inside a Quran outside the Musa al-Khadim Shiite mosque; meanwhile two bombs go off near another Shiite mosque. On Sept. 12 Thabet bin Laden (b. ?), brother of Osama bin Laden (one of 54 children of Yemeni-born Mohammed bin Laden, who moved to Saudi Arabia and got rich in the construction biz) dies. On Sept. 12 U.S. Census worker and schoolteacher William Edwin "Bill" Sparkman Jr. (b. 1958) is found hanged in Daniel Boone Nat. Forest in SE Ky. with the word "fed" scrawled on his chest. On Sept. 12 the Taxpayer March on Washington (9/12 Tea Party) sees 200K-800K march from Freedom Plaza to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., protesting Pres. Obama's positions on federal spending, health care reform, taxation et al. On Sept. 13 200K-500K march on Washington, D.C., incl. 75K down Pennsylvania Ave. to protest the Joker, er, Pres. Obama and the leftward direction being taken by his admin., with many calling him a Socialist or Marxist, pointing to his advisers as proof. On Sept. 13 al-Qaida terrorist Saleh Ali Nabhan is killed by U.S. forces in S Somalia; meanwhile an audio message from Osama bin Laden to the U.S. people on the anniv. of 9/11 is released, warning them to quit support Israel or else al-Qaida will proceed "on all possible fronts". On Sept. 13 the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards are hosted by Russell Brand for the 2nd straight year; 9M watch; the show is dedicated to Michael Jackson, with a video montage tribute and speech by Janet Jackson; Taylor Swift is awarded best female video for "You Belong With Me", defeating Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)", causing cognac-swigging Kanye West to storm onstage and announce that Beyonce deserved to win, then utter the soundbyte "I'mma let you finish." On Sept. 14 Pres. Obama gives a speech at Federal Hall on Wall St. near the NYSE in New York City on the 1-year anniv. of the Lehman Bros. collapse (the end of the most wealthy and happy period in U.S. history, which began with the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, after which the U.S. begins its final slide toward Da End?), pushing for more financial regulation of Wall St., tasking it for "complacency", and uttering the soundbyte "The old ways that led to this crisis cannot stand. History cannot be allowed to repeat itself"; he arrogantly gave the speech while the markets were open? On Sept. 14 after conservative activists Hannah Giles (1989-) and James E. O'Keefe III (1984-) make hidden-camera recordings in its offices being given advice on how to engage in tax evasion, human smuggling, and child prostitution, the U.S. Senate votes to end funding for the Assoc. of Community Orgs. for Reform Now (ACORN) (founded 1973 for working and non-working poor, and growing to 400K members in 100+ cities, backing Obama's campaign last year); the House follows suit on Sept. 17 by a 345-75 bipartisan vote, with #2 House Repub. Eric Cantor of Va. calling it a "corrupt organization"; on Dec. 8 a 2-mo. internal investigation by ACORN finds no evidence of criminal conduct by employees; on Dec. 11 a federal court rules that the resolution cutting them off from federal dollars is unconstitutional; it disbands in Mar. 2010 although a Congressional investigation into alleged mishandling of $40M in federal funds clears them in June 2010. On Sept. 14 Pres. Obama nominates Jewish-Am. atty. Chai Rachel Feldblum (1959-) to the EEOC, becoming the first open lesbian or gay. On Sept. 15 Federal Reserve chmn. Ben S. Bernanke announces that the recession is "very likely over". On Sept. 15 JCS chmn. U.S. Adm. Michael Mullen tells the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee that the U.S. "probably" needs to send more troops to Afghanistan. On Sept. 15 Omar Khalafe (b. 1940) is murdered by Islamic Al-Shabaab fighters near Merca, Somalia (45 mi. from Mogadishu) for distributing Christian Bibles; on Nov. 28 they seize a town close to the Kenyan border, driving out the rival Hizbu-Islam Islamic guerrilla separatist movement and consolidating control over the strategic Juba region, with Sheikh Mukhtar Abdurahman Abu Zubayr, leader of the Islamist group Al-Shabaab warning 5K African Union peacekeepers to leave Somalia or attacks will be intensified. On Sept. 15 after an investigation by the 3-person U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict incl. pro-Palestinian Desmond de Silva, who on Sept. 28 utters the soundbyte "Even if Bin Laden himself was on board the Mavi Marmara, it wouldn't have made the blockade legal", the 575-page Goldstone Report, by the U.N. Human Rights Council led by Jewish South African ex-judge Richard Joseph Goldstone (1938-) is released, accusing both Israel and Hamas of war crimes, saying that both sides had committed violations of the laws of war, and that while Israel had provocation it overreacted with disproportionate force, targeting Palestinian civilians and infrastructure, even using some as human shields, pissing-off the Israelis; it is approved on Sept. 29, after which in Oct. Palestinian Nat. Authority pres. Mahmoud Abbas (a U.S. ally) is accused of colluding with both the U.S. and Israel by deliberately ignoring it; on Oct. 8 Libya asks the U.N. Security Council to consider it in an emergency session; on Oct. 16 British Col. Richard Kemp testifies before the U.N. Human Rights Council that "The Israeli Defense Forces did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare. Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population"; on Apr. 1, 2011 Goldstone recants the report, partly blaming israel for not cooperating with the HRC; meanwhile the Israeli govt. considers restricting travel by its officials and military personnel to Europe for fear of arrest as war criminals, and Hamas asks for postponement of a planned Oct. 24-26 ceremony in Cairo to sign a reconciliation pact with Fatah over the report, while Iranian pres. Inastraightjacket says that the West has been using psychological weapons that coverup how Palestians not Israelis are the real victims; on Oct. 12-16 Turkey pulls out of the EU, citing the Gaza atrocities, signaling the rejection of Kemal Ataturk's pro-Western secular Islam and the acceptance of radical fundamental Islam as it turns against its former allies Israel and the U.S. bigtime and openly courts Hamas, Syria, Iran, Hezbollah, and al-Qaida; the B'Tselem group in Israel, which is against Israeli anti-terror actions supplies info. to use in the study; in Oct. it is revealed that the Goldstone Report was initiated by the anti-Israel Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) (founded 1969), known for trying to criminalize any criticism of Islam or Muslims worldwide as part of a "stealth jihad"; on Nov. 7 the U.S. Congress votes 344-36 to condemn the report, after which the Obama admin. pressures Israel to accept U.N. oversight of its military for the first time ever; on Dec. 14 a London court issues an arrest warrant for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, causing her to cancel a planned visit, after which the British govt. apologizes and foreign secy. David Miliband says that the govt. will change its laws to prevent any more warrants being put out on Israeli officials, causing the Muslim Council of Britain to loudly complain; in May 2010 pro-Israeli activists ban him from attending his grandson's bar mitzvah in Johannesburg. On Sept. 16 Afghan-born Muslim Denver, Colo. shuttle bus driver Najibullah Zazi (1985-) and his aunt Rabia Zazi of Aurora, Colo. are questioned by the FBI about terrorist ties, and their homes searched; after hours of questioning he admits "possible" al-Qaida links, and on Sept. 24 he is charged with a conspiracy to use bombs made from chemicals purchased at beauty supply stores; on Feb. 22 he pleads guilty; on Mar. 5 Afghan-born Queens, N.Y. imam Ahmad Wais Afazli (1970-) pleads guilty to lying to the FBI about tipping them off about police investigation, and is deported - the Al-Shampoo Bomber? On Sept. 16 AFL-CIO head (since 1995) John Sweeny resigns, and his long-time lt. Richard Louis Trumka (1949-) (UMW pres. from 1982-95, who presided over its virtual destruction?) is elected to replace him as pres. #4 (until ?). On Sept. 16 the U.S. military announces the closing of Camp Bucca, a large prison in S Iraq, turning it over to the Iraq govt., who takes custody of all but 180 of the detainees. On Sept. 17 a suicide bomber attacks a convoy of Italian NATO soldiers in the heart of Kaboom, er, Kabul, Afghanistan, killing six, plus 10 civilians; 50+ are injured; the 3rd suicide bomb in Kabul in the last five weeks. On Sept. 17 the Obama admin. announces that it is shelving the Bush admin. plan for a missile defense system for Poland and the Czech Repub., saying that the Iranian Shish-Kebab, er, Shebab-3 ballistic missile isn't developed enough to be a threat, pleasing Russia greatly, with State Duma foreign affairs committee head Konstantin Kosachev uttering the soundbyte "The U.S. president's decision is a well-thought and systematic one. Now we can talk about restoration of strategic partnership between Russia and the United States"; U.S. Navy ships based in the Mediterranean and North Sea will plug the gap; Obama's ties to Gen. Electric are behind the decision? On Sept. 17 U.S. official Bisa Williams meets with Cuban officials to resume bilateral mail service, then is invited to stay for six days. On Sept. 18 suicide bombers from the Islamic Al-Shabaab insurgent group in cars with U.N. logos kill 11 at the main base of African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu, Somalia in revenge for a U.S. raid that killed al-Qaida leader Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in S Somalia on Sept. 14. On Sept. 18 a suicide car bomber in Kohat, Pakistan (100 mi. SW of Islamabad) kills 33 and wounds 80 shoppers stocking up for a holiday. On Sept. 18 Islamic terrorist leader Noordin Muhammed Top is killed in Solo, Indonesia to get even for the Bali night club bombings. On Sept. 18 tens of thousands of opposition protesters march in Tehran, Iran, hijacking a govt.-organized anti-Israel march. On Sept. 18 Obama foreign policy adviser Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski (1928-) suggests to The Daily Beast that Obama shoot down Israeli planes if they fly over Iraqi airspace to attack Iran, and complains that he is "diddling around", trying to reach an "evasive compromise" on the Israeli-Arab problem. On Sept. 19 al-Qaida releases a video warning the German people that unless they elect a govt. that withdraws its troops from Afghanistan on Sept. 27 they will stage attacks in Germany, causing rumor of a German 9/11. On Sept. 20 Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, referring to his 2004 anti-nuke fatwa announces on TV that Iran isn't developing nukes, saying "We fundamentally reject nuclear weapons and prohibit their use and production"; the Obama admin.'s Euro shield was designed to protect against Iranian nuclear missiles. On Sept. 20 the nat. flag of the Communist People's Repub. of China is hoisted on the South Lawn of the White House to celebrate Red China's 60th anniv.; on Sept. 22 Pres. Obama meets with Chinese pres. Hu Jintao in New York City to discuss the new U.S. tariffs on Chinese tires - and we intend to stay? On Sept. 21 U.S. FCC chmn. Julius Genachowski proposes that his agency expand and take control, er, formalize rules to keep Internet providers from discriminating against certain content - the first step along the road to total govt. control of the Internet? On Sept. 21 the govt. of Paraguay names Augusto Noguera as its top diplomatic official in New York City, only to find out that he's an illegal U.S. immigrant and reverse the decision. On Sept. 22 three vans loaded with scores of Mexicans try to run the U.S.-Mexico border at San Diego, Calif., causing U.S. customs agents to fire on the van and close down the station, wounding the driver and a passenger, after which two Mexican men are arrested on federal human trafficking charges. On Sept. 22 the legal-political drama The Good Wife debuts on CBS-TV for 156 episodes (until May 8, 2016), starring Julianna Luisa Margulies (1966-) as atty.-turned-mother Alicia Florrick, whose hubby Peter is in jail for a political corruption and sex scandal, causing her to return to her old job. On Sept. 23 Pres. Obama delivers his first speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, saying that he intends to begin a "new era of engagement" with the world based on "mutual respect", and that the task of solving global crises "cannot be solely America's endeavor"; he meets with Russian pres. Dmitry Medvedev and gets a concession to consider tough new sanctions against Iran and support him on Sept. 27 as he chairs a historic meeting of the 15-member U.N. Security Council (5th time it has met at the heads-of-state level since 1946, and first chaired by a U.S. pres.), which unanimously approves the U.S.-drafted Resolution 1835 calling on nations with nukes to scrap their arsenals; China, who agrees to the resolution also tells everybody that stepping up pressure on Iran isn't an effective way to persuade them to halt its nuclear program, dissing the Sept. 23 resolution of the five permanent security council members that Iran has until Oct. 1 to prepare a "serious response" to its demands to halt or face consequences, which doesn't phase them, since on Sept. 27-28 Iran tests short and long-range missiles capable of hitting Israel and Europe; luckily, on Oct. 1 after a high-level meeting in Geneva, Iran agrees to ship its enriched uranium to Russia for processing so it can be watched. On Sept. 23 Iranian pres. (2005-13) Imajackass, er, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (1956-) delivers a speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, which bashes Israel as usual, causing 11 countries to walk out, and Israeli pres. Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the U.N. for allowing him to speak since he also denies the Holocaust; meanwhile on Sept. 25 Obama, Sarkozy, and Brown accuse Iran of building a secret underground nuke plant, causing him to cave and announce that he will open it to inspection. On Sept. 23 after being forced to live in a Bedouin tent on an estate owned by Donald Trump 40 mi. from the U.N. HQ, Libyan dictator (since Sept. 1, 1969) Col. Madman Daffy, er, Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011) ignores the 15-min. limit to deliver a 100-min. speech to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, his first since 1969, forcing British PM Gordon Brown and other political leaders to wait while he rants and raves, calling the U.N. Security Council the "terror council", blasting the U.N. for failing to stop 65 wars since 1945, and praising "our Obama" while calling for a U.N. inquiry into the assassination of JFK; "After this speech, we will no longer have to obey the resolutions of the Security Council... Either we will continue to work together, or we will split into two camps: equitable united nations with their Security Council, and great powers with their Security Council and the right of veto that they use each other against a friend." On Sept. 23 the sitcom Modern Family created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan debuts on ABC-TV (until ?), about the Pritchett family of suburban Los Angeles, Calif., headed by Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), with an ensemble cast and mockumentary style, incl. his way-younger hot wife Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, played by Colombian-born Sofia Margarita Vergara Vergara (1972-). On Sept. 23 the sitcom Cougar Town debuts on ABC for 102 episodes (until Mar. 31, 2015), switching to TBS in 2013, set in Gulfhaven "Cougar Town", Fla., starring Courteney Bass Cox (1964-) as recently divorced 40-something woman Jules Cobb, who goes out on the dating circle, dating younger men before turning to men her own age. On Sept. 24 an Indonesian woman gives birth to a record 19 lb. baby; the record is 22 lb. 8 oz. in Italy in Sept. 1955. On Sept. 24-25 the 2009 G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Penn. (which the Obama admin. considers a poster boy for economic recovery) works to reform the IMF amid mucho protesters; after it ends, Pres. Obama says that their actions "brought the global economy back from the brink"; Obama surrendered U.S. economic sovereignty by agreeing to submit all economic policies and programs to the IMF for approval? On Sept. 25 after the U.S., U.K., and France expose the existence of a secret uranium enrichment site inside a mountain in Qom, Iran under control of the Rev. Guard, designed to hold 3K centrifuges, enough to make nukes, Pres. Obama appears with French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy and British PM Gordon Brown to discuss it, giving Iran two weeks to admit to its existence; actually they had been dismantled 6 mo. earlier and moved to a new secret spot, causing IAEA inspectors to later find empty tunnels. On Sept. 25 (Fri.) (Dar ul Islam) a Muslim Nat. Prayer Day, organized by anti-Semitic Sheik Ahmed Dewidar and atty. Hassen Abdellah (who defended the Muslim terrorists accused in the 1993 WTC bombing) sees only 5K-8K of 50K promised Muslims show up in Washington, D.C. for a Jumu'ah prayer event in front of the U.S. Capitol, with signs saying "The White House will become the Muslim House" et al.; meanwhile illegal Jordani immigrant Hosam Maher Husein Smadi (1990-) is charged with attempting to use a WMD in Dallas, Tex. to blow up a skyscraper, and pleads guilty on May 25, 2010 in return for a 30-year prison sentence, uttering the courtroom soundbyte: "I truly say it that my dream is to be among God's soldiers, first for the support of Islam and my beloved Sheik Usama, may God give him long life. I don't know what is in me, but I love him as I love my father. I don't want to add to this. Now, my brother, the point is that thousands of Muslims have been killed at the hand of Jews - the dogs - and the silent disloyal backsliders. Those are the Arab kings and, God willing, their end will be the hanging rope and Hell." On Sept. 26 Tropical Storm Ketsana (AKA Ondoy) causing flooding in the N Phillipines, killing 240+ and driving 450K from their homes. On Sept. 27 German elections reelect center-right Angela Merkel, and are a D for the left-center Social Dem. Party, which has gets its lowest vote share since 1932 (32%). On Sept. 28 the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan is greeted with a string of bombings that kill 18 across Iraq, targeting Iraqi security forces, incl. a suicide bomber who slams his tanker truck into a police post in Ramadi (70 mi. W of Baghdad), killing seven and wounding 16. On Sept. 28 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. closes at 9,789.36, up 124.17 points. On Sept. 28 Pres. Obama announces that he's flying to Copenhagen on Oct. 2 to pitch his town of Chicago, Ill. for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, becoming the first time for a U.S. pres.; too bad, Chicago is eliminated in the 1st round of voting, and Rio de Janeiro is picked; the reason given is the "broken immigration system" and "anti-visitor policy" in the U.S., with Pakistani IOC member Syed Shahid Ali saying that entering the U.S. can be "a rather harrowing experience". On Sept. 28 a demonstration against the Dec. 2008 junta govt. by 50K in electricity-poor Conakry, Guinea in W Africa ends in a massacre and mass rape by the troops of dictator Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, killing 157, causing U.S. secy. of state Hillary Cinton to call it "criminality of the greatest degree", adding "Those who committed such acts should not be given any reason to expect that they will escape justice", calling for "appropriate actions" and saying that the Camara govt. "cannot remain in power". On Sept. 29 pop singer Andy Williams makes world news by accusing Pres. Obama of "following Marxist theory" and "wanting the country to fail". On Sept. 29 the U.S. Senate Finance Committee rejects the govt.-run public insurance option for the healthcare overhaul plan; too bad, that means that the rest of the plan is moving toward passage since it will keep Repubs. from mustering 60 votes to block it procedurally. On Sept. 29 a crowded passenger bus hits a roadside bomb in Kanadhar, Afghanistan, killing 30 incl. 10 children, and injuring 30+. On Sept. 29 the U.S. Govt. Accountability Office pub. A Nat. Strategy and Other Actions Would Strengthen TSA's Efforts to Secure Commercial Airport Perimeters, concluding that airport security remains largely vunerable and/or untested. On Sept. 30 the U.S. economy collapses not. On Sept. 30 the London Financial Times calls the rulers of Iran "cheats and deceivers" who "cannot be remotely trusted" in regard to its nuclear program. On Sept. 30 a typhoon causes a series of tsunamis that hit the Pacific island nations of Am. and Western Samoa, killing 100+; meanwhile Vietnam's central province gets its biggest floods in decades, killing 40; on Sept. 30-Oct 1 7.6-8.0 earthquakes hit Indonesia, killing 1.1K; on Oct. 1 another 6.3 earthquake and tsunami near Tonga kills 200. On Sept. 30 U.S. Gen. Ray Odierno tells Congress that 4K troops will be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of Oct. as part of the plan to get them all out by Sept. 2010. On Sept. 30 a suicide bomber rams a military convoy of foreign forces in the Mandozai District of Khost Province in SE Afghanistan, killing one GI. On Sept. 30 U.S. transportation secy. Ray LaHood releases figures showing that 5.8K+ were killed and 515K injured in 2008 in car crashes in the U.S. tied to distracted driving, mainly texting behind da wheel; meanwhile on Sept. 30 (night) Pres. Obama signs an executive order banning federal employees from texting while driving, and encouraging them to pressure contractors. In Sept. 28-y.-o. Venezuelan-born wunderkind Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramirez (1981-) becomes dir. #11 of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (until ?), causing Dudamelomania, a resurgence of interest in classical music; on Oct. 3 he conducts his first concert called "Bienvenido Gustavo". On Sept. 30 the sitcom The Middle debuts on ABC-TV for ? episodes (until ?), about a working-class Ind. family, starring Patricia Helen Heaton (1958-) as Frances "Frankie" Heck (nee Spence), and Neil Richard Flynn (1960-) as her hubby Michael "Mike" Heck Jr.; cute little Atticus Ronald Shaffer (1998-) plays youngest child Brian. In Sept. after the worst crisis since independence, with inflation since 2008 at 231M%, the Govt. of Nat. Unity ie established in Zimbabwe, causing a quick turnaround of the economy; on Oct. 16 Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai suddenly abandons shared rule with pres. Robert Mugabe, citing "persecution" of a top aide; too bad, after four years the Unity Govt is abandoned. In Sept. Joachim Crima, a black watermelon seller from Guinea Bissau bucks the rampant racism of Russia to run for public office in Srednyaya Akhtuba in S Russia, becoming the first black in Russian history to run for office. In Sept. the U.S. unemployment rate rises to 9.8%, and the economy loses 263K jobs despite all them gigabucks of stimulus. In Sept. a Draft Report on Sex Education by UNESCO recommends that children ages 5 and up be taught about masturbation, abortion, same-sex relationships, and STDs - by who, their parents? In Sept. the U.S. trade deficit widens by 18.2%, worst in 10 years. In Sept. King Abdullah U. of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia is inagurated in an effort to catch the backward Muslim Middle East up with the West; too bad, they allow women to mingle with men and drive, pissing-off Sunni clerics - spend a lifetime here filling your head, then they will lop it off? In Sept. the Muslim province of Aceh, Indonesia pauses a Sharia-based law mandating stoning to death for adultery; child rape is punished with 400 lashes. In Sept. Klout.com is launched to calculate peoples' Klout Scores based on their social media influence. On Oct. 1 Communist China celebrates its 60th anniv. with its biggest-ever military parade, incl. hundreds of thousands of soldiers complete with all the hardware - standing between the Chinese people and freedom? On Oct. 1 Tulsa World in Okla. reveals that Sabri Husibi, a Muslim who turned atheist and pub. an article criticizing Islam has received death threats from irate Muslims. On Oct. 2 a suicide bomber hits a U.S. convoy in S Afghanistan, killing two U.S. soldiers; meanwhile officials announce that they got a U.S. and a British soldier on Oct. 1 to say Happy October, Infidels. On Oct. 2 Germany's Turkish community expresses indignation over comments by Thilo Sarrazin (1946-), board member of the German Bundesbank that Germany's Turkish and Arab pop. are unwilling and unable to assimilate. On Oct. 3 (dawn) Egyptian police arrest some Christian Copts in Alexandria for being related to Rafaat Girges Habib (1989-), a father who freed his daughter Myrna Hanna (kidnapped 10 mo. earlier) from her Muslim husband Mohammad Hefnawy's home after she was forced to convert; after beating them they try to arrest their wives until neighbors' protests cause them to back off. On Oct. 3 the British Telegraph reveals that Iranian pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has Jewish roots, his family having been converted to Islam after his birth, and originally having the Jewish name Sabourjian ("cloth weaver"); his denial of the Holocaust is therefore an attempt to coverup his roots? - either that or he's a Jewish mole planted to give Israel an excuse to nuke it? On Oct. 3-4 the 12-hour Battle of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan sees 53 U.S. soldiers defend ammo depot Combat Outpost Keating with no air cover from 350 Taliban fighters after 35 Afghan army soldiers flee, losing eight KIA and 22 injured after killing 150 Taliban, becoming NATO's biggest loss of life since 10 French troops were killed in an ambush in Aug. 2008, causing a Taliban spokesman on Oct. 6 to utter the non-surprising soundbyte "We are prepared for a long fight"; two Army staff sgts. earn the Medal of Honor; the base was poorly defended because troops were being diverted to search for AWOL soldier Bowe Bergdahl. On Oct. 5 (noon) a Tehrik-i-Taliban suicide bomber dressed as a Frontier Constabulary paramilitary soldier asks to use the bathroom then detonates at an office of the U.N. World Food Program in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing five, becoming their first successful attack in Islamabad since June 6, and the first anti-Western attack in Pakistan since June 9, becoming the start of a Taliban guerrilla war on Pakistan (ends ?), with the Taliban linking up with al-Qaida and other militant Muslim groups to come in for the kill and get their hands on Pakistan and its nukes during the whimpy wishy-washy Obama regime, making many reflect on the nightmare film "The Manchurian Candidate" about a planted U.S. president who works for the enemy?; on Oct. 5 Muhammad Aqeel (AKA Dr. Usman), the only militant surviving the attack turns out to be the leader, who led an attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Mar., causing the press to reveal that the Pakistani police had warned the military that he was planning the attack back in July. On Oct. 5 David Letterman surprises his late-night talk show audience by revealing that he was blackmailed for $2M over his sexual affairs with subordinate employees by CBS "48 Hours" producer Joe Halderman (1958-), who was stung and caught. On Oct. 5 Brigitte, Germany's #1 women's mag. announces that starting next year it is dumping super-skinny prof. models for "real women" in order to combat the unhealthy standard of beauty. On Oct. 6 Russia announces that it has struck a $4B-$7B deal to sell its advanced S-400 anti-missile shield to Saudi Arabia, silencing objections by Israel that it was going to sell the less advanced S-300 system to Iran, making it harder for Israel to hit their nuke plants. On Oct. 6 the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term, with the debut of the first Latino justice Sonia Sotomayor. On Oct. 6 Egypt's top Muslim cleric Sheikh Mohammed Tantawi announces that he's going to ban women from wearing the traditional head-to-toe niqab, saying that it "is a tradition, it has no connection with Islam". On Oct. 6 Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel is arrested for inciting a "religious war" in Jerusalem, then released with a warning to stay away for 30 days; on Oct. 7 the Israel govt. announces that it is considering banning his Islamic Movement. On Oct. 6 Algerian Muslim Hadron Collider physicist Adlene Hicheur (1977-) of CERN is arrested after being caught offering to work for al-Qaida in N Africa; he also worked at physics labs in the U.K. and U.S. On Oct. 6 the Obama admin. unexpectedly cuts off funding for the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. On Oct. 7 Am. Muslim Yousef al-Khattab (1968-) (formerly a Jew named Joseph Cohen) posts a pray on his Web site RevolutionMuslim.com calling for the murder of Jews and exhorting Muslims to "throw liquid drain cleaner in their faces", claiming it's a prayer to Allah and protected by the U.S. First Amendment. On Oct. 7 a court in Saudi Arabi convicts Mazen Abdul Jawad of insulting Islam for boasting on a TV program of his sexual exploits, and sentences him to 1K lashes and 5 years in prison. On Oct. 8 (8:40 a.m. local time) a bomb outside the Indian embassy in C Kabul, Afghanistan kills 17 and wounds 76 (2nd embassy suicide attack in 16 mo.), showing that the 8-year war against the Taliban is being lost. On Oct. 8 (11 a.m. local time) a 30-ft.-diam. asteroid explodes over an island region of Indonesia, becoming the biggest since the Marshall Islands fireball on Feb. 1, 1994. On Oct. 8 Pres. Obama snubbs the Dalai Lama during his first visit in 18 years to avoid upsetting China; meanwhile Iranian Rev. Guards official Mojtaba Zolnour tells the press that "Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our country, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel"; meanwhile a Taliban suicide car bomber in Peshawar, Pakistan kills 49. On Oct. 9 (4 a.m. EST) (First Dog Bo's birthday) Barack Obama is unanimously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, surprising the audience in Oslo because he was virtually unknown three years earlier and the Feb. 1 deadline for nominations was less than two weeks after he took office; really only the decision of Nobel Committee chmn. Thorbjorn Jagland (1950-), mainly for his opening of dialogue with the Muslim World, with the coverstory that it's for his work to restart the START agreements with Russia?; the committee praises him for calling for a nuclear weapon-free world in Prague in Apr., and for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples" and for creating a "new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the U.N. and other internat. institutions can play"; being the first black U.S. pres. is not mentioned; 3rd U.S. pres. to win after Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and Theodore Roosevelt in 1906; first to win for what he is going to do, not done?; really a slap on the G.W. Bush admin?; Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid mocks the award, citing Obama's troop hike in Afghanistan, saying he should have been given the "Nobel violence prize"; Am. conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh calls the Nobel win worse than the loss of the Olympics, saying that the Nobel Committee "suicide-bombed itself" over Obama; on Mar. 10 he announces that he's splitting the $1.4M prize money between 10 charities. On Oct. 9 a Uruguayan CASA212 U.N. peacekeeper surveillance plan crashes into a mountain in Haiti W of Fonds-Verrettes near the Dominican Repub. border, killing all 11 military personnel aboard. On Oct. 9-10 the Washington Green Festival in Washington, D.C. features 125 speakers incl. leftist radicals William "Bill" Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, Amy Goodman, and Cornel West. On Oct. 10 Poland signs the 2007 Lisbon Treaty, leaving the Czech Repub. as the only one of 27 EU nations that hasn't done it yet; on ? Czech. pres. Vaclav Klaus finally signs it. On Oct. 10 Iran announces it has given death sentences to two election protesters, identified only as A.P. and N.A. On Oct. 10 Pres. Obama appears at the Human Rights Campaign dinner in Washington, D.C. and renews his pledge to end the military's ban on openly gay service members, with the soundbyte: "You will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman"; on Oct. 11 (Nat. Coming Out Day) (11th anniv. of the murder of Matthew Shepard) the Nat. Equality March in Washington, D.C. (first in the city since the 2000 Millennium March) sees hundreds of thousands march for across-the-board equal federal protection for LGBTs throughout the U.S. On Oct. 10 North Korea fires five short-range missiles off its E coast and declares a "no sail" zone until Oct. 20. On Oct. 10 (eve.) self-described youthful anarchists dressed in black with plastic masks tear up the town of Poitiers, France. On Oct. 10-11 the Taliban sieges the Pakistan army HQ ("the Pakistan Pentagon") in Rawalpindi, Pakistan for 22 hours before being stopped after killing three of 42 hostages; 20 total are killed, incl. nine militants. On Oct. 11 a string of car bombings kill 19 in Iraq's Anbar Province that was once the scene of intense fighting and is now supposed to be a showcase for restored peace. On Oct. 11 after declaring it so poorly-run as to be "unsustainable", Mexican pres. Felipe Calderon makes good on his campaign promises and sends 1K federales in riot gear to occupy the office of the state-owned electricity monopoly Luz y Fuerza del Centro in an effort to clean up its union featherbedding and corruption; its 44K employees and 22K pensioners gobbled $3B a year while losing 30% of its power output to illegal connections and technical failures; no surprise, pissed-off union members take to the streets on Oct. 15. On Oct. 12 a 13-y.-o. Taliban suicide bomber attack on a military convoy in Shangla district near the Swat Valley kills 41 near where the army supposedly flushed the Taliban out after a fierce offensive; on Oct. 15 more brazen Taliban attacks all over Pakistan kill 39, incl. the Federal Investigation Agency in Lahore; on Oct. 16 yet another Allah Akbar Taliban suicide bomber kills 12 in Peshawar, Pakistan, while Pakistani forces pound a Taliban stronghold in South Waziristan in a new major offensive. On Oct. 12 U.S. state secy. Hillary Clinton urges Northern Ireland to push forward with its peace process begun by her hubby Bill. On Oct. 12 the State of Colo. becomes the first U.S. state to lower its minimum wage, from $7.28 to $7.24, one cent lower than the federal minimum wage. On Oct. 13 the U.S. Senate Finance Committee approves the $829B health care reform bill by 14-9, with Olympia Snow of Maine being the only Repub. who voted yes, saying she just wants it to go on through the system but won't necessarily vote for it later. On Oct. 13 thousands of immigrants hold a rally in Washington, D.C. to call for comprehensive immigration reform as U.S. Rep. (D-Ill.) Luis V. Gutierrez introduces a new immigration bill in the House; no mention of TLW's Megamerge Dissolution Solution yet. On Oct. 13 Pres. Obama calls on Congress to approve a $250 1-time payment to the elderly after the negative inflation rate causes them to not get a cost of living increase in their Social Security checks. On Oct. 13 the Pentagon announces that it has met all of its annual recruiting goals for the first time since the establishment of the all-volunteer force in 1973 as the bad economy causes youth to sign up by the hundreds of thousands even as they know they will go to war. On Oct. 13 17-y-o. Rifqa Bary, an Am. Muslim convert to Christianity is ordered by Fla. judge Daniel Dawson to return to her home state of Ohio despite her pleas that her Muslim family wants to kill her for insulting Islam by her conversion. On Oct. 13 Dutch right-wing MP Geert Wilders (1963-) defeats a decision by U.K. home secy. Jacqui Smith to prevent him from visiting to show his new film Fitna, which calls the Quran a "Fascist book", with the new PC word "Islamaphobe" applied to him to justify stifling his right to freedom of thought and speech. On Oct. 13 Russian foreign minister Sergei Viktorovich Lavrov (1950-) tells the U.S. that further sanctions against poker chip Iran would be "counterproductive", adding "all efforts must be focused on supporting the negotiating process"; too bad, on Oct. 23 Iran rejects a U.N.-drafted deal to cut its nuclear fuel stockpile that could be (is?) used to make nukes. On Oct. 13 Pres. Obama picks Minn. policewoman Sharon Lubinski as the first openly gay U.S. marshal - Marshall Dildo? On Oct. 14 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. tops 10K for the first time since Oct. 7, 2008; it hit a 12-year low of 6,547.05 on Mar. 9; meanwhile the Wall Street Journal announces that the major U.S. banks and financial firms are going to hand out $140B in pay this year, 20% from 2008. On Oct. 14 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton announces that the U.S. has reversed its longstanding opposition to an Internat. Arms Trade Treaty, pissing-off conservatives; after joining a 153-1 vote, the U.N. sets a conference to produce a final accord for 2012. On Oct. 14 it is revealed that the Obama admin. cut funding for pro-democracy and human rights programs in Iran, reversing the Bush admin. program, buckling to Iran's leaders who criticized him for seeking to fund a "velvet rev." during the June pres. elections. On Oct. 14 jewelry thieves rob three stores in Baghdad, Iraq in broad daylight, killing eight and wounding nine; at least they aren't terrorists? On Oct. 15 Islamic militants stage a string of attacks in the heart of Pakistan, incl. Lahore and Kohat, killing 31. On Oct. 15 Finland makes broadband Internet access at 1 megabit per sec. a legal right for its 5.2M citizen, with the goal of 100 megabits per sec. by 2015; 95% of the pop. is already wired; in June France declared Internet access a right, but didn't mandate a speed. On Oct. 15 leading British polar scientist Peter Wadham says that global warming will leave the Arctic Ocean ice-free during the summer within 20 years, hurting seals, polar bears et al. On Oct. 15 conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh is unceremoniously kicked out of a group trying to buy the St. Louis Rams after PC police incl. several black NFL players and owners force him out, and racist quotes are falsely attributed to him, stinking themselves up more than him? On Oct. 15 the "99 Red Balloons" by Nena Balloon Boy Hoax sees a home project to build a helium-filled weather balloon in Ft. Collins, Colo. go bad when a 6-y.-o. Falcon Heene (2003-) allegedly gets in it and untethers it when unattended, and the balloon sails across across Colo., causing a military alert and massive law enforcement involvement while viewers across the state watch on preempted TV with bated breath until it lands 50 mi. away in a field with no one aboard, after which a massive search turns up nothing until he is found hiding in a box in his attic, afraid he's in trouble; meanwhile the story becomes world news, and spreads like lightning on the Internet; too bad, after which the cover story that his mad scientist daddy Richard Heene yelled at him for trying to get in and he hid, after which daddy released it with 20-ft. tethers which broke, and the other sons told he he had climbed in, the real story that it was a pre-planned hoax staged by publicity-hound daddy to get his own reality TV show gets him criminal charges, along with former actress mommy Mayumi Heene; comedian Joy Behar calls it a floating Jiffy Pop bag, and says the kid will be grounded until he's 18; on Oct. 23 Mayumi admits in an affidavit that she and Richard planned it for two weeks as a stunt; on Nov. 11 he pleads guilty to a felony and she pleads guilty to a misdemeanor in order to avoid deportation to Japan; on Dec. 23 Richard Heene is sentenced to 90 days and a $42K fine, plus orders to not profit from the publicity for 4 years; even if he has to wait, Richard Heene is going to end up rich because he got maybe $100M worth of free publicity already, he's a self-marketing genius, watch for his bestselling book, true life movie, reality TV show, video game line, etc.? On Oct. 15 Bulgarian politician Irina Georgieva Bokova (1952-) becomes the first woman dir. of UNESCO (until ?). On Oct. 15 Pres. Obama visits a charter school in New Orleans, La., where 4th grade black boy Tyren Scott asks "Why do people hate you? And why aren't they supposed to love you, if God is love?", to which he replies "First of all, I did get elected president, so not everybody hates me. I got a whole lot of votes. A lot of it is what's called politics, where once one party wins, the other party feels like they've got to poke you a little bit to keep you on your toes. So you shouldn't take it too seriously." On Oct. 16 Bosnia, Lebanon, Gabon, Brazil, and Nigeria are elected to the U.N. Security Council for 2-year terms starting next Jan. On Oct. 16 an Allah Akbar suicide bomber hides in a Sunni congregation in a mosque in Tal Afar, Iraq, then sprays them with gunfire and blows up, wounding 95 and killing 15+ incl. the imam, who had spoken out against al-Qaida. On Oct. 18 a Sunni Jundallah suicide bomber kills 42, incl. five senior cmdrs. of the Iranian Rev. Guard in the Sistan-Balochistan Province in the Pishin District near the Pakistani border in SE Iran, pissing-off Imadinnajacket, who threatens retaliation against Britain and the U.S. On Oct. 19 hoaxers one-up Balloon Boy by an email claim that the Chamber of Commerce has announced that it's throwing its support behind climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate, which causes several major media orgs. to fall for it incl. CNBC. On Oct. 20 Saeed Jalili (1965-) becomes secy. of Iran's supreme nat. security council (until ?), in charge of pumping up their nuke program. On Oct. 20 Taliban suicide bombers rock the Internat. Islamic U. in Islamabad, Pakistan twice, killing two and wounding 20; meanwhile the 4th day of the Pakistani offensive in South Waziristan brings the Taliban death toll to almost 80. On Oct. 20 the Vatican surprises Anglicans by announcing plans to make it easier to convert, especially those who don't like female and gay bishops, permitting married hetero priests and other distinctive Anglican traditions; this despite 400 years of Anglicans calling the pope the Antichrist and his church the Whore of Babylon. On Oct. 20 a Muslim protester verbally assaults British Middle East envoy Tony Blair in a mosque in Hebron on the West Bank, saying "You are a terrorist", telling the guards who are cuffing him, "He is not welcome in the land of Palestine." On Oct. 20 a student protest begins at the U. of Vienna to protest the adoption of the Bologna process, growing into a gen. demonstration for free education by 15K-40K, with the slogan "Money for education not for the banks and big business." On Oct. 20 Faleh Almaleki of Glendale, Ariz. runs his 20-y.-o. daughter Noor Almaleki and another woman down in a parking lot for being "too Western", killing her; the prosecutor declines to seek the death penalty specifically because he's a Muslim, and wants to assure "that there is no appearance that a Christian is seeking to execute a Muslim for racial, political, religious or cultural beliefs"; on Apr. 15, 2011 he is sentenced to only 34.5 years after judge Roland Steinle says that he is struck by his lack of remorse - giving all Muslims a blank check? On Oct. 21 after spending two weeks in a militant training camp in Yemen, then returning and translating and posting al-Qaida agitprop, U.S. federal authorities arrest and charge Penn.-born Muslim pharmacist Tarek Mehanna (1982-) of Sudbury, Mass. with conspiring with two others to carry out an Islamic holy war, incl. killing politicians, U.S. troops in Iraq, and shoppers in malls; on Dec. 26 his alma mater Mass. College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences bans Islamic head coverings; in Apr. 2012 he is sentenced to 7 years, arguing that he is being persecuting for his ideas not his actions - and the reason they let masses of non-secular Muslims immigrate to the U.S. is? On Oct. 21 Northwestern Airlines Flight 188 (Airbus A320) en route from San Diego speeds 150 mi. past its destination of Minneapolis, Minn., causing military jets to scramble as a terrorist hijacking is suspected; after the pilots Timothy B. Cheney (1956-) and Richard I. Cole (1955-) finally contact the authorities and land, it is found out that they were illegally using laptops and got so engrossed that they lost track of time, and their pilot's licenses are revoked. On Oct. 21-22 the U.S. Justice Dept. arrests 303 members of the ruthless La Familia Michoacana drug trafficking cartel (known for beheading its enemies) in 19 states in the last two days under 4-y.-o. Project Coronado, becoming the largest arrest of members of a Mexican drug cartel; too bad, no kingpins, only grunts. On Oct. 22 Ethiopia appeals for 159K tons of emergency aid to feed 6.2M hungry people. On Oct. 22 former U.S. vice-pres. Dick Cheney says that Pres. Obama is "dithering while America's armed forces are in danger" in Afghanistan, causing the White House to fire back "The vice-president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan. Ever more curious, given the fact than increase in troops sat on desks in this White House, incl. the vice-presidents for more than 8 mo., a resource request filled by Pres. Obama in March"; meanwhile on Nov. 3 the EU endorses a "step change" in policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, backing Obama's military plans. On Oct. 22 U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg slashes compensation for top earners at seven bailed-out cos. for Nov.-Dec. by 50%, causing them to complain that they can't attract top talent, and rush to pay back their TARP loans without disposing of their original toxic mortgages or lending money to business or consumers in order to get out of govt. regulation and pay the execs their customary big bucks and go back to the risky betting-type loans that got them into trouble? - I'm available cheap? On Oct. 22 yet another Taliban suicide bomber kills eight outside the key Pakistan Aeronautical Complex in Kamra (45 mi. NW of Islamabad); an official denies that the facility contains nukes; earlier in Islamabad militants shoot and kill Brig. Gen. Ahmed Moinuddin, deputy comdr. of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Sudan. On Oct. 22 the Minn. Supreme Court in a split decision rules that bong water is a drug, and possession of 25g or more can be prosecuted as a 1st degree drug felony. On Oct. 22 Islamic militants shell the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, as pres. Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed boards a plane, sparking battles that kill 24 as return fire hits residential areas and a market. On Oct. 23 a fire begins in the Caribbean Gulf Refinery in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. On Oct. 23 Alyssa Bustamante (1994-) leads police to the body of her next-door neighbor, 9-y.-o. Elizabeth, whom she cut and stabbed to death just to see what it was like, burying her in one of two adjacent holes she dug. On Oct. 24 U.S. pres. Barack Obama declares the swine flu a nat. emergency, allowing emergency rooms to be moved offsite to protect non-infected patients. On Oct. 24 the Pakistani army captures the Taliban stronghold of Kotkai, home of Taliban leader Zulfiqar "Hakimullah" Mehsud (1981-). On Oct. 25 Iran sentences five anti-govt. protesters to death; four of them are members of the Iran Monarchy Committee, who were arrested before the elections. On Oct. 25 (Sun.) (8:00 a.m.) over 100 FBI agents raid the tiny town of Kinsman, Ill. (pop. 109) and surround a Muslim halal butcher shop, but do not reveal why for a week, then claim they were plotting to kill Danish anti-Muhammad cartoonist Kurt Westgaard, calling it the Mickey Mouse Project; they are later linked with Black Muslim H. Rap Brown AKA Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, who wants a separatist Islamic Am. state. On Oct. 25 two al-Qaida suicide car bombs detonate in front of the Iraq Justice Ministry and another govt. bldg. in Baghdad, Iraq, killing 155 and wounding 520, becoming the worst terrorist attack in two years (summer 2007); blast walls had been removed from the road a few weeks earlier; on Oct. 28 dozen of Iraqi security officials are arrested for collusion with the bombers - once the U.S. completely pulls out, total civil war? On Oct. 25 Jeffry M. Picower (b. 1942), business partner of Bernie Madoff, who is accused of raking in $7B from his Ponzi scheme is found dead in his mansion swimming pool in Palm Beach, Fla. On Oct. 25 masked Palestianian protesters hurl stones and plastic chairs at Israeli riot police outside the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, holing-up in the mosque for several hours, after which 18 are arrested. On Oct. 25 after converting to Judaism under the name Yael, Ivanka Trump marries New York Observer owner Jared Corey Kushner (1981-) (until ?). On Oct. 25-27 the Showdown in Chicago sees 5K union members and activists protest against the annual meeting of the Am. Bankers' Assoc. On Oct. 26 U.N. inspectors make their first inspection of an Iranian nuclear site in a mountain S of Tehran. On Oct. 26 a U.S. heli crash in W Afghanistan kills seven U.S. troops and three U.S. civilians, and injures 12 Americans and 14 Afghans; meanwhile two U.S. helis collide in flight, killing four and wounding two, all going to make Oct. the deadliest mo. for U.S. troops in Afghanistan, with 55, and 281 for the year. On Oct. 27 a court in Paris fines the French branch of the Church of Scientology 600K euros after finding it guilty of fraud, but doesn't order the org. kicked out of France because of a loophole in the law, although the next time they will be. On Oct. 27 Chinese-Mexican businessman Zhenli Ye Gon is arrested after police find $205M in cash in his Mexico City mansion, after which he confesses that he sold tons of a chemical used to make meth.; meanwhile U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates welcomes a top Chinese gen. to the Pentagon, calling for lasting dialogue after years of "on-again, off-again" talks. On Oct. 27 the Obama admin. unveils his landmark Systemic Risk Bill, incl. a measure for more govt. scrutiny of hedge funds; House Financial Services chmn. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) unveils a plan to force large banks and financial firms to contribute to a "financial superfund" to pay for future bailouts instead of the taxpayers; meanwhile Sen. Dems. introduce a health care reform bill that incl. the govt.-run insurance option, despite lack of support by some Dems. incl. Sen. Joe Lieberman, who says he may join a GOP filibuster. On Oct. 27 Bill and Melinda Gates appeal to U.S. govt. officials to continue funding global health initiatives and commit to half the number of child deaths worldwide by 2025, saying that the $11.9B they have donated is "tiny" in comparison to what is needed; meanwhile on Oct. 27 Pres. Obama announces $3.4B in stimulus funding to smart grid projects aimed at promoting green power. On Oct. 27 the New York Times reports the Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai has been on the CIA payroll for the last eight years despite being involved in the opium trade, helping to recruit a paramilitary force for the CIA in and around Kandahar. On Oct. 27 U.N. human investigator Philip Alston warns the U.S. that its use of drones to carry out targeted executions may violate internat. law against aribitrary extrajudicial executions. On Oct. 27 a 15-y.-o. girl is gang-raped for two hours outside Richmond H.S. in Calif. after a homecoming dance by suspects aged 15-21, with up to 20 either taking part or watching and doing nothing to stop or report it; five are arrested. On Oct. 27 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton breaks with Pres. Obama on his support of the hijacking of the U.N. by Muslims who seek to get a resolution passed against "defamation of religion" (really, only theirs), saying "An individual's ability to practice his or her religion has no bearing on others' freedom of speech." On Oct. 28 a car bomb detonates in the crowded market street of Peepal Mandi in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 100, mostly women just hours after Hillary Clinton arrives and pledges a fresh start in strained relations, becoming the deadliest terrorist attack since the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto. On Oct. 28 (5 a.m.) Taliban militants kill six U.N. foreign staff in an attack on an Internat. Bakhtar Guest House in Kabul, Afghanistan as part of their plan to disrupt Nov. 7 elections. The original John Wick? On Oct. 28 radical Sunni imam Luqman Ameen Abdullah (b. 1956) of the Masjid al-Haqq Mosque in Detroit is shot in a warehouse in Dearbon, Mich. by the FBI after he holes-up and resists arrest for illegal possession and sale of firearms, and allegedly shoots a police dog; 10 of his followers are also rounded up, after which it is revealed that he works for Ummah, a group of mostly Africa-Am. converts to Islam led by imprisoned former Black Panther H. Rap Brown (Hubert Gerold Brown), now known as Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (1943-), who want to set up a separatist Islamic State in the U.S.; the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) jumps in and denounces the FBI sans facts, after which all four FBI agents are cleared by three reviews. On Oct. 28 the U.N. votes 187-3 to denounce the 50-y.-o. U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, with only Israel and 21K-pop. Palau in the Pacific siding with the U.S. On Oct. 29 the govt. announces that the economy has grown for the first time in a year, with a 3.5% increase in GDP in the 3rd quarter; the White House announces that 650K jobs were crated or saved by $150B in stimulus funds. On Oct. 28-Nov. 4 the 105th World Series sees the New York Yankees defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2 for their 27th win; in game 1 (6-1) Phillies lefty pitcher Clifton Phifer "Cliff" Lee (1978-) pitches the first complete WS game with 10+ strikeouts and no walks since Deacon Phillippe in game 1 of the 1903 WS, and first to do so without allowing an earned run; Japanese-born Hideki "Godzilla" Matsui (1974-) (highest paid Japanese player in baseball, first Yankee to hit a grand slam in his 1st game at Yankee Stadium in 2003, and first Japanese player to hit 100 MLB homers on Aug. 5, 2007) is series MVP, hitting .615, with 3 homers, incl. a record 6 RBI in game 6, becoming the first Japanese-born and first full-time designated hitter series MVP, and 3rd player to bat .500 or above and hit 3 homers in a series after Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig; on Dec. 16 he signs with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. On Oct. 29 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveils the 1,990-page Dem. Health Reform Bill (Obamacare), which will cost $849B over 10 years and incl. a public option, allegedly cutting the deficit by $30B in the first 10 years. On Oct. 29 Hillary Clinton winds up her 3-day visit to Pakistan with a broadcast interview in front of a mainly female audience of several hundred, who task her about drone attacks; she surprises observers by asking why al-Qaida's leaders are being allowed to operate in the country, saying "I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are, and couldn't get to them if they really wanted to"; too bad, despite $1.5B in aid, Pakistani leaders don't jump to endorse a friendship or alliance in the war on terror with the U.S., causing Clinton to say "We're not getting through". On Oct. 29 retired British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler, who disappeared on their 38-ft. yacht on Oct. 23 phone to their relatives, telling them that Somalian pirates are holding them for a $3M ransom. On Oct. 30 Columbia and the U.S. sign a military cooperation deal increasing U.S. access to seven Colombian military bases to help with anti-drug and counter-insurgency operations. On Oct. 30 top Taliban leader Mullah Brader Akhund delivers a message to Pres. Obama that U.S. attempts to lure Taliban fighters with money is "an old weapon that has already failed", adding "This war will come to an end when all invaders leave our country and an Islamic government based on the aspirations of our people is formed in the country." On Oct. 30 Pres. Obama signs the reauthorization of the 1990 U.S. Ryan White HIV/AIDS Act, named for Am. hemophiliac Ryan Wayne White (1971-90), who got infected with HIV from a blood transfusion in 1984, and was heavily discriminated against. On Oct. 30 Pres. Obama announces the end of a 22-year ban (since 1987) on travel to the U.S. by people with HIV. On Oct. 30 the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) unanimously approves the use of non-Latin characters in Internet addresses beginning on Nov. 16. On Oct. 30 Typhoon Mirinae hits Manilla, Philippines, killing seven. On Oct. 30 Hillary Clinton says that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has offered "unprecedented" concessions on West Bank settlement construction, but Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas rejects the offer since it excludes 3K housing units under construction and excludes East Jerusalem; the U.S. quietly drops its call for a settlement freeze while calling them illegal; on Nov. 4 after meeting with Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, she clarifies that the settlements are not legitimate but she wants to get talks going to achieve a freeze; on Nov. 5 Mahmoud Abbas announces that he's not going to seek reelection in Jan. after dismay over the whole affair. On Oct. 30 Calif. gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says that the encoded phrase "fuck you" in the initial letters of a line in one of his veto messages was "a wild coincidence". On Oct. 30 (night) a U.S. Coast Guard airplane on a rescue mission collides in midair with a U.S. Marine heli near San Clemente Island off San Diego, Calif., killing nine. On Oct. 30 the U.S. Nat. Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center is officially opened by U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano; it will serve as the central repository of cyber-protection efforts for the civilian side of the federal govt. and its private sector partners. In Oct. the Obama admin. orders the downgrading of intel gathering on China, causing a minor interagency war. In Oct. the U.S. unemployment rte as 10.2%, highest since 1983; the real rate is more like 17.5%, maybe as high as 22%? The month when U.S. home military bases were no longer safe from American Muslims? On Nov. 1 the Taliban blows up a girls school in Kari Gar in the Khyber tribal district, wounding four in neighboring homes; on Nov. 2 yet another Taliban attack in Pakistan close to the army HQ in Rawalpindi by a motorbike bomber in a Nat. Branch bank kills 34 and injures 30, causing Pakistani human rights activist Ghazal Bhatti to bemoan "Islamization" of Pakistan by the Taliban and call for a return to the principles of Pakistan founder Ali Jinnah, who championed freedom of religion. On Nov. 2 Ford Motor Co. announces that it earned a $997M profit in the 3rd quarter, paying off for not accepting govt. bailout funds. On Nov. 2-3 Hillary Clinton attends a forum with Arab leaders in Morocco, praising it as a model for dem. reform, while they diss the U.S. for backing down on the settlement freeze in Israel. On Nov. 3 La. justice of the peace Keith Bardell resigns after he is caught refusing to marry interracial couple Beth Humphrey (white) and Terence McKay (black), and the nat. PC police put on the screws. On Nov. 3 midterm U.S. elections are a V for the Repubs., who see gov. Robert F. McDonnell elected in Va., ending a decade of Dem. advances in the state; former U.S. atty. Chris Christie defeats Dem. gov. Jon S. Corzine in N.J. despite being outspent 3-1; Calif. Dem. rep. John Garamendi (1945-) is elected, immediately hiking to Washington, D.C. to help pass Obama's health care reform bill, giving the Dems. 257 House seats vs. 177 for the Repubs.; meanwhile voters in Maine overturn a same-sex marriage law by 53%-47%, making it the first state where it was approved by popular vote rather than legislatures and judges like in Conn., Iowa, Mass., N.H, and Vt.; 30 other states have rejected it by popular vote; Dominican-born William Lantigua is elected as the first Latino mayor of Mass. in Lawrence ("Immigrant City"), with 53% of the vote, defeating David C. Abdoo; an anti-immigrant measure in Denver, Colo. to force police to automatically impound cars of unlicensed drivers is rejected by 70%. On Nov. 3 an Afghan policeman shoots and kills five British soldiers in Helmand Province, then escapes, proving that the Taliban has infiltrated the police force. On Nov. 3 ABC-TV debuts the V sci-fi TV series for 22 episodes (until Mar. 15, 2011), a refilming of the 1983 Kenneth Johnson series about disguised reptilian aliens led by Anna, played by Brazilian-born Morena Baccarin (1979-) who come to Earth and try to seduce them into being eaten by promising universal health and happiness, causing viewers to see a parallel with Pres. Obama and his universal health care program. On Nov. 4 the 30th anniv. of the U.S. embassy takeover in Iran sees supreme assahollah Ali Khamenei diss Pres. Obama's efforts at reconciliation while the govt. fights anti-govt. protesters in Tehran, with the soundbyte "The American government is a really arrogant power and the Iranian nation will not be deceived with its apparent reconciliatory behavior." On Nov. 4 an Italian judge Oscar Magi sentences 23 Americans to up to eight years in prison and 1M euro fines for the abduction and torture of Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr in a symbolic condemnation of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" flights, which captured terrorism suspects in one country them flew them to another where they could use harsher interrogation techniques; the U.S. tells Magi to take a hike and won't permit extradition. On Nov. 4 U.S. Army SSgt. Amy C. Tirador (b. 1980) of Albany, N.Y. (an interrogator) is shot in the back of the head and murdered in Kirkush, Iraq in a secure area of the base; the govt. covers it up by calling it a "non-combat related incident". On Nov. 4 22-y.-o. U.S.-born Muslim Abdul Walid Hamid (1987-) tears a crucifix from a shopper's neck at Stoneridge Shopping Center in Pleasanton, Calif. and shouts "Allah is power. Islam is great"; meanwhile on Nov. 3 hardcore Muslim extremist Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan (1970-) goes to Stan's Shooting Range in Florence, Tex. for target practice for his big upcoming Yankee infidel safari. On Nov. 4 U.S. maj. gen. Anthony Cucolo issues a rule against women soldiers from becoming pregnant on active duty, punishing them and the male who impregnated them, with the soundbyte that he is "losing too many women with critical skills"; no surprise, the PC police come out, and on Dec. 23 he drops the rule. The first radical Islamic terrorist assault on U.S. soil since 9/11, and the U.S. govt. tries to portray it as pre-post-traumatic stress syndrome? On Nov. 5 Loomis France armored car driver Toni Musulin (1971-) steals his own armored car containing 11.6M euros, stashes it in a garage, rents a motorcycle and flees to Italy, then turns himself in after hearing that the loot was found, and pleads guilty, becoming a Robin Hood in a time of bank shenanigans, and receiving a 3-year prison sentence; 2.5M euros of the loot remains missing. On Nov. 5 (Thur.) after visiting a 7-Eleven store wearing a traditional South Asian chalwar camise popular with al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, devout Muslim Allah-Akbar-shouting U.S. Army psychiatrist (formerly working at Walter Reed Army Hospital counseling returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan) Nidal Malik Hasan (1970-) (son Palestinian immigrants, who was promoted to maj. from col. despite a poor performance review, and who closed his safety deposit box and handed out Qurans ahead of time) stages the Ft. Hood Massacre, pulling out two pistols and shooting 40x+ for 10 min., killing 13 unarmed fellow soldiers and wounding 30 at the Soldier Readiness Center at Ft. Hood, Tex., biggest military base in the world (53K soldiers) after being selected for deployment to Afghanistan before he is wounded and captured, becoming the worst shooting on a U.S. military base until ?; white female police officer Kimberly Denise "Kim" Munley (1974-) becomes an instant first U.S. military heroine as she is claimed to take him down with several shots, paralyzing him from the chest down and putting him into a coma, until it is revealed that Hasan took her down and seiously wounded her, and that it was her black male partner St. Mark Todd (1967-) who ended Hasan's rampage; the press and Pres. Obama purposely downplay if not attempt to coverup the jihadist angle, seeking to portray him as a victim of discrimination and even "pre-post-traumatic stress syndrome", with Obama uttering the soundbyte that "we cannot fully know" why Hasan did it, even after it is revealed that he worshipped at the Dar al-Hijra Mosque in Great Falls, Va. of radical pro-al-Qaida anti-U.S. "skirt-chasing mullah" imam Anwar al-Awlaki (1971-2011) (who fled to exile in Yemen) at the same time as two of the 9/11 terrorists, and exchanged emails with him in 2008-9, and later praises him and says "Fighting against the U.S. army is an Islamic duty today", and that U.S. intel agencies had been aware for months that he tried to electronically contact al-Qaida (hence the govt. is trying to keep them from being punished?); 18 mo. ago he warned senior Army physicians that the military should allow Muslim U.S. soldiers like him to be released as conscientious objectors instead of being sent to kill other Muslims to avoid "adverse events", and says "We love death more than you love life"; he gave a Power Point slide show titled "The Koranic World View as It Relates to Muslims in the U.S. Military", announcing his intentions of jihad in advance; he was recently spotted at the Starz strip club; his business card contains the legend SoA(SWT) (Soldier or Sword of Allah, Sharia Will Triumph); on May 20 he posted on the Internet the message: "Scholars have paralleled (a U.S. soldier's falling on a grenade to save surrounding troops) to suicide bombers whose intention, by sacrificing their lives, is to help save Muslims by killing enemy soldiers", and repeatedly asked his superiors to criminally prosecute U.S. soldiers he claimed had confessed to "war crimes" during his psychiatric counseling; U.S. Army Lt.Gen. Jerry Boykin later tells CBS that the Army knew that Hasan was an Islamic terrorist but was stopped from doing anything about him from the top, after which he is forced to retire; on Mar. 12, 2011 nine Army officers are reprimanded for failing to heed their own warnings about Hasan's behavior and judgment; the U.S. Defense Dept. under Pres. Obama's influence classifies the massacre as "workplace violence", causing U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to blast it on Dec. 8, 2011 for putting political correctness above nat. security; al-Awlaki issues the soundbyte: "Nidal Hasan is a hero. He is a man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people... The U.S. is leading the war against terrorism which in reality is a war against Islam"; on Nov. 8 U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. George William Casey Jr. (1948-) stinks himself up with the soundbyte "What happened at Ft. Hood was a tragedy, but I believe it would be an even greater tragedy if our diversity becomes a casualty here", then later says he doen't rule out the possibility of terrorism, and calls for a "unified inquiry" into the Army's inability to recognize the warning signs of ticking time bomb Muslim jihadists in their ranks, and also calls it for it to be expanded "department-wide"; the U.S. Senate holds its first public hearing on the shooting on Nov. 19; in Oct. 2010 it is revealed that Pfc. Lance Aviles was ordered by his superior officer to destroy two videos he made of the shooting; Obama becomes the first U.S. pres. to be responsible for a jihadist attack on U.S. soil by his lax policy on Islam?; a clear warning of the dangers of allowing mass Muslim immigration?; there are more than 13K Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces; on Nov. 8 Jewish U.S. Sen. (D-N.H.) Joe Lieberman, chmn. of the Senate Homeland Security Committee suggests that the Ft. Hood Massacre was an act of "Islamist extremism", drawing the PC police on him; if he had been outed as gay instead of radical Muslim he would have been removed from the military long before he could do it?; on Nov. 17 Pres. Obama asks Congress to slow down the investigation of the shootings, sparking denunciations from Repubs., who push to speed it up, and on Nov. 22 U.S. Rep. (R-Tex.) John Carter introduces legislation to declare that the soldiers at Ft. Hood were killed "in a combat zone as the result of an act of an enemy of the U.S."; on Nov. 10, 2011 80 victims and family members file a lawsuit seeking $750M from the U.S.Army for willful negligence; it takes until Jan. 15 for an Obama admin. official to officially label the Ft. Hood Massacre "an act of terrorism". On Nov. 5 the U.S. Senate blocks a proposal by Sen. (R-La.) (2005-) David Bruce Vitter (1961-) to ask people on census forms whether they are U.S. citizens so that illegal immigrants can't skew the statistics used for apportionment of congressional seats; critics say that 400M of 600M forms have already been printed, and that it would require a constitutional amendment, which doesn't stop them from voting against it now. On Nov. 5 (4 a.m. local time) a car bomb explodes outside a military barracks in Burgos, Spain, injuring 60+ police officers, their families and neighbors. On Nov. 6 Italian interior minister Roberto Maroni says that Italy is susceptible to terror attacks by the al-Qaida network, and that terror cells have "authorization" to carry out attacks there who are not part of it but allied to it. On Nov. 6 fired engineer Jason Rodriguez (1969-) gets revenge at his old firm, killing one and wounding five before being arrested, saying "They left me to rot." On Nov. 7 (Sat.) (11 p.m.) after the AMA and AARP announce their support, and an amendment by Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) to bar federal funding for most abortions by 240-194 (incl. 176 Repubs. and 64 Dems.) passes, the U.S. House passes the Obama health care reform bill by 220-215; one of the loudest cheers ever heard in the chamber greets the deciding vote of Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); it requires virtually all Americans to obtain health insurance and creates a govt.-run health insurance plan; 39 Dems. vote against it, and only repub. Joseph Cao of La. votes for it; an alternative Repub. plan is rejected by 176-258, with only Repub. Timothy Johnson of Ill. voting against it. On Nov. 7 (the Taliban sets up an ambush for U.S. and Afghan troops in Zabul Province in E Afghanistan in "F.O.B. Nowhere", but they outsmart them, killing 17-20 Taliban instead with no losses of their own. On Nov. 8 Hurricane Ida triggers floods and mudslides in El Salvador, killing 124, then heads toward the U.S. over the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 9. On Nov. 8 the severed head of kidnapped school principal Gabriel Canizares is found in a bag at a gas station on Jolo Island in the Philippines 22 days after he was abducted, causing the Philippine govt. to vow revenge against al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants - if it had been in the U.S. the govt. would have tried to excuse their behavior with psychobabble? On Nov. 8 the Dalai Lama arrives in the Buddhist monastery town of Tawang in N India near the Tibetan border for a a 5-day visit despite Chinese govt. disapproval. On Nov. 8 a suicide bomber in Adazai, a suburb of Peshawar, Pakistan kills 12, incl. anti-Taliban mayor Abdul Malik. On Nov. 8 Brazilian college student Geisy Arruda is expelled for wearing a short pink dress to class, causing her to become a celeb. On Nov. 9 billionaire Sunni Muslim Saad Hariri (1970-), 2nd son of assassinated PM Rafiq Hariri becomes PM of Lebanon (until ?). On Nov. 9 the 20th Anniv. of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin is snubbed by Pres. Obama, becoming "the most telling non-event of his presidency" according to Nat. Review ed. Rich Lowry; Angela Merkel and Mikhail Gorbachev cross the path of the Wall together to shouts of "Gorby, Gorby"; too bad, when it fell, the Communism on the East German side was replaced by naked capitalism not socialism, causing catastrophe and resulting in a generation of unhappy people? On Nov. 9 NATO and Afghan officials claim to have killed 130+ Taliban fighters in N Afghanistan, incl. eight cmdrs. during a 5-day operation. On Nov. 9 a suicide bomber in an auto-rickshaw kills three in Peshawar, Pakistan, while Islamist militants kill four soldiers in South Waziristan. On Nov. 9 Iran strikes again, charging three American hikers, Shane Bauer (b. 1982), Sarah Shourd (b. 1979), and Josh Fattal (b. 1982) who strayed over the border with N Iraq at the end of July with espionage. On Nov. 9 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket gives a speech at a meeting of the Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Turkey, calling for a NWO, claiming that capitalism is dead, and calling Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan his "friend". On Nov. 9 the Danish People's Party begins offering a 100K kroner incentive payment to "anti-social" foreigners who leave Denmark, mainly fundamentalist Muslims. On Nov. 9 10-y.-o. Will Phillips appears on CNN with his father Jay to explain that he will not say the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance again until gays and lesbians are given full rights like the pledge says, "liberty and justice for all". On Nov. 9 a court in Saudi Arabia sentences Lebanese TV journalist Ali Sibat to death for witchcraft for making predictions on TV after he is arrested last year on pilgrimage (hajj). On Nov. 9 Antonio Musumeci (1981-) of Edgewater, N.J. is arrested for taking photos of a federal courthouse in Manhattan; on Oct. 18 a settlement is announced by the N.Y. Civil Liberties Union that the Federal Protective Service will inform its employees in writing that people have a right to photograph the exterior of federal courthouses from publicly accessible spaces. On Nov. 10 Beltway Sniper John Allen Muhammad is executed after the Supreme Court clears the way. On Nov. 10 the North and South Korean navies exchange gunfire, becoming the first time in seven years. On Nov. 10 a car bomber outside a crowded market in Charsadda, 25 mi. N of Peshawar in NW Pakistan kills 20. On Nov. 10 the U.S. govt. announces that it will start using the USAF to combat drug trafficking at the U.S.-Mexico border. On Nov. 10 Pres. Obama gives a speech at Ft. Hood in memory of the victims of Maj. Nidal Hasan, with the soundbyte "No faith justifies these murderous and craven acts, no just and loving God looks upon them with favor", concluding "The killer will be met with justice in this world and the next" - guess he never read the Quran? On Nov. 10 a 5-day conference sponsored by the Vatican on the possibility of extraterrestrial life ends - their missionaries are already learning alien talk so they can move on in? On Nov. 10 Iranian physician Ramin Pouranarjani (b. 1983) dies in the Kahrizak Prison near Tehran after going public with reports of torture of protesters; the govt. takes days to acknowledge his death, and denies that they did it. On Nov. 11 anti-immigrant CNN anchor Lou Dobbs resigns after a massive campaign by pro-immigrant groups. On Nov. 11-22 the Second Continental Congress in Chicago, Ill. discusses the trampling of the U.S. Constitution by the Obama admin. and its unprecedented expansion of federal govt. power. On Nov. 12 Human Rights Watch releases a report accusing China of operating a network of secret "black prisons" in Beijing; the govt. denies it. On Nov. 12 the U.S. govt. begins seizing $500M in assets (incl. four mosques) of the nonprofit Muslim Alavi Foundation, claiming that it's a front for the Iranian govt. On Nov. 12 French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy gives a speech at the Elysee Palace, saying that France is on the verge of losing its soul because of immigration of radical fundamentalist Muslims. On Nov. 13 (6:30 a.m. local time) a suicide car bomber in the Inter-Services Intelligence HQ in Peshawar, Pakistan kills seven and injures 35. On Nov. 12 English ex-Roman Catholic nun Karem Armstrong unveils A Charter for Compassion, which is signed by 83K incl. the city govt. of Seattle, Wash. On Nov. 13 (Friday the 13th) after extensive lobbying by the ACLU, the Obama admin. announces their decision to try 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others in a New York City civil court, which House Repub. leader John Boehner of Ohio calls "irresponsible", and an attempt at "treating terrorism as a law enforcement issue", former Bush admin. atty. John Yoo says the trail would be an "intelligence bonanza" for the enemies of hte U.S., N.Y. Dem. gov. David A. Paterson says "This is not a decision that I would have made", former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani says this proves that Obama's soft on terrorism, Edwin Meese II calls a "tragic mistake", former asst. FBI dir. James Kallstrom says "adds dramatically to the possibility New York will be attacked, and former vice-pres. Dick Cheney says that this will make the Sheikh "as important or more important than Osama bin Laden"; U.S. Rep. (D-Ohio) Dennis Kucinich says that everybody, even Osama bin Laden should be given the same "basic rights", and U.S. Sen. (D-N.J.) Robert Menendez says ditto; U.S. Rep. (R-Ariz.) Trent Franks says that the Dem. idea to house Gitmo detainees in Ill. shows the Dems. have at least come up with "a jobs program"; U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder, who made the decision ignores Article 1 Section 8 Clause 10 of the U.S. Constitution, which gives Congress power "to define and punish piraces and felonies committed on the high sea, and offenses against the law of nations" via military commissions; since the West and the Quranic values of jihadists are totally incompatible, to grant U.S. constitutional rights to them could prove suicidal in the long run?; Obama did it to put the Bush admin. on trial instead of the terrorists?; he did it to show that he's Islam's friend and they should drop their jihad?; a petition urging Holder to move the trial out of New York gains 60+ signatures by Jan. 11. On Nov. 13 Pres. Obama visits Tokyo, calling himself "America's first Pacific president", and vowing that the U.S. "will not be cowed by threats" from North Korea, which he says for decades "has chosen a path of confrontation and provocation, incl. the pursuit of nuclear weapons"; continuing his new style, on Nov. 14 he bows to Japanese emperor Akihito; on Nov. 15 Obama becomes the first U.S. pres. in over 40 years to meet with the rulers of Burma (Myanmar). On Nov. 13 the British Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Act is passed, giving nat. institutions in Britain and Scotland the power to return art stolen during the Nazi era. On Nov. 14 anti-terrorism expert Jean-Louis Bruguiere says that the Pakistani army ran training camps for the Muslim terrorist group Laskhar-e-Taiba with the acceptance of the CIA from 2001 until recently. On Nov. 14 a suicide car bomber at a police checkpoint on the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan kills 11, incl. four children, bringing the month's score to 300+. On Nov. 14 NATO and Afghan forces kill several insurgents in Shinand District in Herat, W Afghanistan, incl. an armed woman. On Nov. 16 (soundbyte day?) Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket utters the soundbyte that "The Iranian nation's nuclear rights are not negotiable"; meanwhile on Nov. 15 Pres. Obama visits Shanghai, uttering the soundbyte: "I continue to believe that the greatest threat to the United States security are the terrorist networks like al Qaeda", along with the soundbyte: "We do not seek to contain China's rise. On the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations", adding that he sees no need to change the One-China Policy of regarding Taiwan as part of Red China; he gives his consent to a plan by the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Singapore to delay a binding agreement on climate change until next year; he also calls for greater Internet freedom in China, but in his Nov. 16 town hall meeting with 40 carefully-selected Beijing U. students, he refuses to discuss China's Internet censorship or meet with liberal leaders, many of whom were put under detention, which he doesn't object, then lets Chinese pres. Hu Jintao control a 30-min. news conference on Nov. 17, making the U.S. look like it's getting weak and whimpy; on Nov. 18 Obama tells the press in Beijing that the U.S. needs to contain its rising deficits (which have passed the $12T mark) in order to avoid "double-dip recession", and urges Hu Jintao to allow the yuan to rise, but is ignored; on Jan. 19 Obama visits Seoul, and says that he's willing to help North Korea with its economy and end its 50-year isolation if they finally move toward nuclear disarmament. On Nov. 15 Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi invites 200 women to a party in Rome during the global food summit, then tries to convert them to Islam. On Nov. 16 PLO leader Ahmed Qurei says that the Obama admin. has reached an understanding with the Palestinian Authority that won't stop efforts to unilaterally create a Palestinian state via a U.N. Security Council resolution, and on Nov. 17 Israel approves the building of 900 new homes for Jews on the West Bank, pissing-off the Obama admin. On Nov. 16 Shiite insurgents dressed in military uniforms kill at least 12 in a pre-dawn attack in the Sunni village of Zauba, Iraq W of Baghdad. On Nov. 16 Australian PM Kevin Rudd issues a historic apology to the 7K survivors of their program to ship 150K improverished British children to Australia for the past 3.5 cents. (until 1969), who were subjected to systematic abuse and neglect. On Nov. 16 internat. inspectors pub. a report, voicing suspicions that Iran has concealed nuclear facilities. On Nov. 16 (eve.) Russian anti-racist activist Ivan Khutorskoi is shot and killed in front of his Moscow apt. bldg.; on Nov. 17 (night) Russian atty. Sergei Magnitsky (b. 1972) dies in Butyrskaya Prison in Moscow of heart failure; he had been jailed after uncovering evidence of police involvement in a $230M theft from the govt.; his Am. partner Jamison Firestone accuses the authorities of murdering him. On Nov. 16 the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force releases new recommendations against annual mammograms for women between the ages of 40-49, pissing-off the Am. Cancer Society, Am. College of Obstetrics and Gynecology et al., whose physicians make a fortune, er, believe they need them anyway, after which the Obama admin. says that the new guidelines don't represent govt. policy. On Nov. 16-18 the 2009 U.N. Food Summit in Rome fails to secure substantial new funds to fight world hunger. On Nov. 17 the EU rejects calls for the Palestinian Authority to declare a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, saying that the conditions "were not there yet". On Nov. 17 Somalian woman Halima Ibrahim Abdirahman (b. 1980) is stoned to death Muslim style after being convicted of adultery. On Nov. 17 the Obama admin.'s Recovery.gov Web site is revealed to have listed non-existent Congressional districts and jobs in order to explain its spending of the billions in stimulus funds, some of which is revealed to be payoffs to its political allies; the bad info. only affects 1% of the data. On Nov. 17 Australian Sen. Nick Xenophon calls the Church of Scientology a "criminal organization" in the Australian federal parliament, citing letters detailing his claims and calling for an official investigation to end its tax-exempt status - no M:I sequels in Australia now? On Nov. 17 Mass. Dem. gov. (since 2007) Deval Patrick releases the New Americans Agenda for better integration of immigrants and refugees into the civic and economic life of the Mass. Commonwealth; too bad, it treats Muslims equally with non-Muslims? On Nov. 17 a dozen Muslim men in "full attire" spread out on AirTran Flight 297 from Atlanta to Houston, causing fears of a hijacking and an aborted flight; the airline later denies that it was an actual or dry run of a Muslim terrorist hijacking. On Nov. 18 a U.S. official reports that Afghan mine minister Mohammad Ibrahim Adel accepted a $30M bribe in Dec. 2007 in Dubai from the Chinese Metallurgical Group Corp. to approve a $2.9B copper extraction province in Logar Province. On Nov. 18 U.S. Sen. Dem. majority leader Harry M. Reid unveils the new Dem. $848B health care overhaul package, claiming it will reduce federal deficits by $130B over the next decade. On Nov. 18 U.S. atty.-gen. Eric Holder endures four hours of hostile questions from 9/11 family members in the U.S. Senate over his decision to try the 9/11 terrorists in a Manhattan civil court rather than a military one, bringing up Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's confession and desire to plead guilty and be executed, telling them it was his own decision not the terrorists', and not to fear them; Sen. Lindsey Graham asks Holder if he could cite one prior case where an enemy combatant like KSM was tried in a criminal court, and is given no response. On Nov. 18 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton visits Afghanistan, telling Hamid Karazi to clean up corruption. On Nov. 19 the Lithuanian parliament begins investigating a suspected secret CIA prison set up in 2004 in Antaviliai, Lithuania in a riding stable. On Nov. 19 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai is inaugurated amid a state of siege in Kabul, with no Western heads of state present, although Hillary Clinton did bring her 18M votes. On Nov. 19 a bill by U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) to subject the Federal Reserve to unprecedented scrutiny passes; meanwhile both the House and Senate show signs of getting fed-up with Obama's handling of the economy and continuing unemployment, with Repubs. on the Joint Economic Committee going after treasury secy. Tim Geither, wich Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R.-Tex) uttering the soundbyte "I don't think that you should be fire, I thought you should have never been hired." On Nov. 19 the U.S. Senate Committee on Ft. Hood, chaired by Joseph Liebermann (I-Conn.) begins public hearings, focusing on the perils of political correctness; on Nov 20 it concludes that Maj. Nidal Hassan is a terrorist. On Nov. 19 a Fla. jury orders Philip Morrisa USA to pay $300M in damages to ex-smoker Cindy Naugle (1948-), who contracted emphysema. On Nov. 19 after ex-British PM Tony Blair's bid fails, Belgian Flemish PM (since 2008) Herman Achille Van Rompuy (1947-) becomes pres. of the EU (until), and British technocrat Catherine Margaret Ashton (1956-) becomes the foreign policy head (until ?); on Nov. 25 former PM (a Christian Dem.) Yves Letermine (1960-) replaces him as PM of Belgium (until ?). On Nov. 19 two Christian converts from Islam, Maryam Rustampoor (1982-) and Marzieh Amirizadah (1979-) are released by Iran from jail after 259 days after worldwide protests and petitions. On Nov. 20 a Taliban suicide bomber in Farah City in SW Afghanistan kills 17 incl. a senior police official, and wounds 29; meanwhile politician Abdul Rasul Sayyaf is targeted by a bomb under a bridge near Kabul, but escapes, although five of his bodyguards are killed; meanwhile a U.S. missile strike near Mir Ali in North Waziristan kills eight militants, a poll by Fritz Wendel finds that 65% of Americans are expecting a Muslim terrorist attack within 6 mo. On Nov. 20 Am. Roman Catholic cardinal Justin Rigali of Philly says that there's "no way" that Catholic members of Congress can support the proposed U.S. Senate health care reform bill as long as it incl. a provision allowing govt. funding of insurance plans covering abortion, causing liberal activist Phil Attey of Church Outing.com to say that he will out gays in the priesthood to "encourage" them to change their views on gay marriage, etc. On Nov. 20 former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs gives an interview to Maria Celeste of Telemundo, softening his stand on illegal immigration and causing hardcore anti-illegal immigration groups incl. Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) to dump him as a U.S. pres. or senate candidate - did the TLW's awesome Megamerge Dissolution Solution start to get to him? On Nov. 20 the Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience, drafted by Watergate conspirator Chuck Colson et al. is released, signed by 150+ U.S. religious leaders, calling on Christians to unite in upholding the sanctity of life, the historic understanding of hetero marriage, and religious liberty, receiving 551K signatures by July 18, 2015. On Nov. 21 a gas blast at the Heilongjiang Coal Mine in China kills 104 of 500; on Nov. 22 11 more are killed in a blast at a pit in Hunan; 3K were killed in mine disasters last year. On Nov. 21 a new U.S. law prohibits a co. from asking employees, a potential employee, or family members for a DNA sample. On Nov. 22 a report commissioned by the British Council claims that Pakistan will face a "demographic disaster" if it doesn't address the needs of its youth, who are split between wanting Western democratic-style and Muslim Sharia govt., and who consider themselves Muslims first and Pakistanis second. On Nov. 22 an overloaded ferry sinks in bad weather off Riao Islands, Indonesia, killing 29 of 274. On Nov. 22 Pakistani security forces attack Taliban forces in the village of Shahukhel in NW Pakistan, bordering the Taliban stronghold in Orakzai, killing 22 militants. On Nov. 22 the 2009 Am. Music Awards shock the audience when gay Am. Idol runner-up performer Adam Mitchel Lambert (1982-) shoves dance team members' faces into his crotch, leads other around on dog leashes, and passionately smooches his male keyboard player. On Nov. 22-26 Iran stages an air defense exercise to prepare against a possible Israeli strike against its nuclear facilities. On Nov. 23 a group of 100 gunmen surround a group of 50 journalists and women, and abduct, rape, torture, and kill (plus behead) 46 in Mindinao in S Philippines, incl. Genalyn Tiamzon-Mangudadatu to prevent her from filing her hubby Esmael (Ismael) Mangudadatu's nomination to run for provincial gov.; Philippine pres. adviser Jesus Dureza calls it "a gruesome massacre of civilians unequaled in recent history"; on Nov. 25 prominent politician Andal Amputuan Jr., a member of pres. Gloria Arroyo's governing coalition is named as a prime suspect by Philippine security forces; Esmael files his papers on Nov. 27. On Nov. 23 after the U.S. raised alarms about lack of security, pissed-off Libya refuses to let Russia take the last of its highly enriched uranium; on Dec. 20 after the U.S. makes concessions, the Russians return and take it. On Nov. 23 Hannah Rosenthal (1951-) becomes dir. of the Obama admin. office to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, becoming known as his anti-Semitism czar (until Oct. 5, 2012); next Jan. after Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren criticizes J-Street in Dec. and she calls his remarks "most unfortunate", the American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) calls for her ouster, but the Obama admin. backs her up. On Nov. 24 the U.K. begins the Chilcot Iraq War Inquiry going back to 2001, chaired by Sir John Chilcot; gen. Sir Michael Rose calls for Tony Blair to stand trial for war crimes; former U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said that Pres. George W. Bush and Tony Blair behaved like 17th cent. witch hunters in their willingness to oust Saddam Hussein, and "misled themselves and then they misled the public", showing "very bad judgment". On Nov. 24 the Voice of Am. announces that it's expanding its audience to Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Nicaragua in order to counter Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, and Daniel Ortega. On Nov. 24 Honduran police arrest two Nicaraguans and two Hondurans along with several rifles, claiming they were plotting to assassinate pres. Roberto Michelette during the upcoming Nov. 29 election. On Nov. 24 Pres Obama holds his first official state dinner, hosting Indian PM Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur; 320 are RSVP'd; too bad, two party crashers, Tareq and Michaele Salahi from Va. make a fool of the Secret Service, who wave them in without checking for invites, making later talk of criminal charges seem ludicrous when it should be talk of firing them; a secret 2003 document detailing 91 Secret Service security breakdowns since 1980 is soon leaked to the press, causing White House social secy. Desiree Rogers to step down on Feb. 26, 2010; the couple have ties to pro-Palestinian prof. Rashid Khalidi (1948-), who is also close to Pres. Obama; later it is revealed that Harvey and Paula Darden from Hogansville, Ga. got into a White House breakfast on Veterans Day despite no invitations as a courtesy because Harvey is a Navy vet - I'll show you my invitation if you show me your birth certificate? On Nov. 24 the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, Penn. upholds a school district's ban on Christmas carols incl. "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World", while approving more pagan, er, secular songs incl. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman"; meanwhile effective Dec. 1 after protests from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, religious holiday symbols incl. nativity creshes and menorahs are banned inside the Wash. state capitol in Mount Olympus, er, Olympia by gov. Chris Gregoire. On Nov. 25 a double bombing in Karbala, Iraq injures 25 civilians gathering for the 4-day Shiite holiday of Eid al-Adha starting on Nov. 27. On Nov. 25 Pres. Obama's grandmother (mother of his father) Sarah Obama (1922-) goes to Mecca on Hajj as a guest of King Abdullah along with Obama's cousin Omran; during his campaign, she was portrayed as a Christian - like him? On Nov. 25 Dubai announces that it's defaulting on $59B in loans for at least 6 mo., after which the govt. denies responsibility for the debts of its flagship conglomerate, and on Dec. 14 Abu Dhabi loans it $10B. On Nov. 25 Iran takes five British sailors hostage from a racing yacht owned by Sail Bahrain; it releases them on Dec. 1. On Nov. 26 Internat. Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) dir. gen. Mohamed ElBaradei says that Iran has stonewalled nuclear investigators, and that inquiry is at a "dead end"; on Nov. 30 he resigns after 12 years. On Nov. 27 Islamic extremists attack the home of prominent Pakistani columnist Kamran Shafi, firing six shots while he and his family are sleeping, but missing; five journalists have already been killed in Pakistan this year; Shafi blames the Pakistani govt. for the attack because he writes for the English-language Dawn paper. On Nov. 28 an amnesty protecting Pakistani pres. Asif Ali Zardari and thousands of others from graft charges expires, causing calls for him to resign; meanwhile he relinquished command of Pakistan's nukes to PM (since 2008) Yousuf Raza Gilani. On Nov. 29 the luxury Nevsky Express is bombed by Muslim Chechen rebels near Uglovka (250 mi. NW of Moscow) en route from Moscow to St. Petersburg, killing 26 and injuring 100 of 682 passengers and 29 crew, causing the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to call for a "powerful reply" by authorities, after which on Feb. 9, 2010 the Russian Supreme Court bans the Caucasus Emirate, largest Islamist separatist group in S Russia. On Nov. 29 Iran vows to expand its nuclear enrichment program to 10 new sites, stirring fears that they're rushing to get their hands on nukes. On Nov. 29 elections in Honduras are a V for conservative opposition candidate (landowner) Porfirio Lobo Sosa (1947-) by 56% vs. 38% for rival Elvin Santos, with a 60% voter turnout, causing the Manuel Zelaya controversy to fizzle as the U.S. and four Latin Am. countries recognize the result; he takes office next Jan. 27 (until Jan. 27, 2014); Hillary Clinton's U.S. State Dept. and U.S. Agency for Internat. Development (USAID) launch the $26M Honduras Convive (Sp. "Hondoruas Coexists") program to reduce violent crimes; it is really about erasing memories of the coup while bolstering the repressing regime that is owned by big corporations? On Nov. 29 leftist flower farmer and former 1970s Tupamaro rebel (who spent 14 years in prison) Jose Alberto "Pepe" Mujica Cordano (1935-) defeats Luis Alberto Lacalle by 52%-44% and is elected pres. of Uruguay, taking office next Mar. 1 (until ?). On Nov. 29 after a Stop Minaret Movement in Switzerland, where 400K Muslims (mainly secular) now live gathers momentum, with MP Ulrich Schuler uttering the soundbyte "They are symbols of a desire for power, of an Islam which wants to establish a legal and social order fundamentally contrary to the liberties guaranteed in our constitution", Swiss voters overwhelmingly approve a ban on minaret construction; four have already been built; no surprise, the Muslim world acts in anger and outrage, claiming discrimination, while trying to get the West to overlook its own gigantic dirty laundry, such destroying over 100 historic Christian churches in Kosovo since 2000; on Dec. 4 a group of Muslims in Turkey threaten to kill a Syriac Orthodox priest unless he tears down his bell tower; on Dec. 6 Muammar Gaddhafi of Libya gives a speech saying that the vote is an open invitation to al-Qaida to launch new attacks on Europe, and calling Switzerland "the Mafia of the world". On Nov. 29 (8 a.m.) a black gunman walks into Forza Coffee Shop near Tacoma, Wash. and guns down and murders four police officers before escaping; on Dec. 1 career criminal Maurice Clemons (1972-) is shot and killed by police; his sentence had been commuted earlier by Ark. gov. Mike Huckabee; in Nov. Swiss politician Daniel Streich, who worked to ban minarets suddenly flops, resigns, and convert to Islam. On Nov. 29 the Greek-flagged Maran Centarus tanker is hijacked 800 mi. off the coast of Somalia by Somalian pirates, along with $20M in crude oil. On Nov. 30 North Korea announces a devaluation of its currency by two zeroes. On Nov. 30 Ukrainian-born alleged Nazi guard John (Ivan Mykolaiovych Demianiuk) (1920-2012) goes on trial in Munich as accessory to forcing 27.9K Jews into gas chambers in Sobibor death camp in 1943; too bad, his role is more minor than ever before before prosecuted, making millions wonder if there's a limit to Jewish desires for revenge, as a whole new class of prosecutions of aging low-level grunts would open up; he dies on May 17, 2012 in Bad Felinbach, Bavaria a legally innocent free man. In Nov. Exxon Mobil and Occidental Petroleum become the first U.S. oil cos. to reach production agreements with the Iraq govt. since the 2003 invasion. In Nov. the 2009 Internat. Religious Freedoms Report of the U.S. State Dept. accuses Israel of "governmental and legal discrimination against non-Jews and non-Orthodox streams of Judaism." In Nov. the Lutheran Church of Sweden begins conducting same-sex marriages to go with the May law giving same-sex couples equal rights with hetero couples. In Nov. Osama bin Laden's son Omar Bin Laden says that he'd like a job at the U.N. - if Barack Obama can be U.S. president? In Nov. Negar Azizmoradi, atheist leader of the Raelian movement in Iran flees Iranian persecution to Turkey, where she is arrested for having no passport, after which authorities discuss returning her to Iran despite facing execution for apostasy. In Nov. Japan begins installing special blue LEDs over Tokyo railway platforms to help stop suicide attempts; the 2003 record was 34,427 deaths; in 2008 2K jumped in front of trains, 6% of all suicides. In Nov. U.S. SSgt. Calvin Gibbs arrives at Forward Operating Base Ramrod in Afghanistan, talking fellow soldiers into forming a "kill team" that goes on to murder Afghans and collect fingers as trophies; Gibbs is convicted by a military jury of 15 counts incl. murder, and sentenced to life in priz in Nov. 2011. On Dec. 1 disbarred Fla. atty. Scott Rothstein surrenders to the FBI after returning from Morocco, where he fled last Oct. to face charges of running a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors of $1B+. On Dec. 1 Pres. Obama gives a speech at West Point Military Academy on Afghanistan, announcing that he's sending 30K new troops to bring the total to 100K, with a time limit of July 2011 to stabilize the country and train the security forces to take over and begin withdrawing (without specifing a time limit for the last withdrawals), with the soundbytes: "I want the Afghan people to understand, America seeks an end to this era of war and suffering"; "I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future", adding that to achieve those goals "We need a stronger, smarter and comprehensive strategy", adding "I do not make this decision lightly. I make this decision because I am convinced that our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the epicenter of the violent extremism practiced by al-Qaida", calling it "our vital national interest" to deny al-Qaida safe bases to plan attacks on the U.S.; also "The struggle against violent extremism will not be finished quickly, and it extends well beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan", and "There have been those in Pakistan who have argued that the struggle against extremism is not their fight, and that Pakistan is better off doing little, or seeking accommodation with those who use violence"; too bad, on Aug. 30 Gen. Stanley McChrystal told him he needed 40K more troops (to be supplied by other nations?), the public setting of a time limit undermines Afghan and Pakistani confidence, and he never mentions the real problem of nuke-packing Pakistan; the key questions of whether the Taliban is a threat to the U.S. and/or is going to invite al-Qaida back into Afghanistan is sidestepped, or the idea of negotiating with the Taliban for an immediate withdrawal if they finally hand over Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida men; on Dec. 4 Rusell Wiseman, may of Arlington (near Memphis), Tenn. accuses Obama of timing his speech deliberately to block the airing of the "Peanuts" Christmas TV special, proving he's a Muslim; on Dec. 2 U.S. House majority leader Sten Hoyer (D-Md.) says that he supports a war surtax to offset the cost of the Afghanistan war; meanwhile since Aug. 30 the U.S. lost 116 troops in Afghanistan since Gen. McChrystal asked for the reinforcements, incl. 17 in Nov., 58 in Oct., and 37 in Sept.; on Dec. 4 NATO leaders pledge 7K troops to back Obama up; on Dec. 8 Gen. McChrystal tells the Afghan govt. that troops will only begin pulling out in July 2011, and it might take several years to complete; U.S. Sen. (D-Mich. Carl M. Levin says that "The surge that is needed is a surge of Afghan troops"; meanwhile on Dec. 3 the New York Times reports that the CIA is expanding its use of drones in Pakistan, incl. in Balochistan Province in S Pakistan where Taliban leader Mullah Omar is believed to be hiding in the provincial capital of Quetta, and U.S. nat. security adviser Gen. James R. Jones delivers a "blunt message" to the Pakistan govt. that it must become more aggressive in going after al-Qaida and the Taliban or the U.S. will do it for them; on Dec. 10 the U.S. conducts its first unmanned airstrike in South Waziristan since the mid-Oct. Pakistani Army offensive, hitting a Taliban stronghold in Tanga in the Ladha region, and killing two Taliban and four al-Qaida fighters. On Dec. 1-Feb. 28 the 2009-10 European Winter sees heavy snowfall and record low temperatures, leading to transport disruption, power failures, and 310+ deaths; meanwhile the 2009-10 North Am. Winter ends in the Feb. 5-6, 2010 Snowmageddon and the Feb. 9-10, 2010 North Am. Blizzard. On Dec. 2 Israeli foreign minister Yigal Palmor rejects a Swedish-led push for the EU to call for the division of Jerusalem and the recognition of East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, saying that "All it can do is to marginalize the European role" and "It will only convince the Palestinians that they can remain in the trenches"; EU foreign ministers meet on Dec. 7 to settle on a Middle East policy statement. On Dec. 2 147 years have passed since U.S. pres. Abraham Lincoln called the U.S. the "last best hope of Earth" (1862). On Dec. 2 Am. filmmaker Michael Moore (1954-) appears on Larry King Live, saying that he feels sorry for Obama for deciding to pump up the Afghanistan War because 15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists were mainly from Saudi Arabia, then turning around and lamenting that the job wasn't done as fast as with Hitler and Mussolini in WWII, and claiming it will become Obama's Vietnam, yet dissing the idea of setting a deadline - although the U.S. actually won the Vietnam War then unilaterally pulled out and let the Commies take the weak South Vietnamese govt. at jet speed while Americans got into disco? On Dec. 2 a suicide bomber explodes outside the Pakistan Naval HQ, killing a guard and critically injuring two navy personnel. On Dec. 2 the N.Y. State Senate rejects a bill to allow same-sex marriage by 38-24 despite over a year of lobbying by gays; meanwhile the first gay marriage in Argentina (first in Latin Am.) is delayed by Buenos Aires officials after conflicting judicial rulings. On Dec. 3 a Muslim Shabaab suicide bomber dressed as a veiled woman in Mogadishu, Somalia kills 19 incl. three govt. ministers at a graduation ceremony in a hotel. On Dec. 3 Pakistani PM Yusuf Raza Gilani says that Pakistan doesn't believe that Osama bin Laden is in their country, and wants more info. from the U.S. on the new Obama surge plan. On Dec. 3 the U.S. House by 225-200 (with 26 Dems. voting no) cancels the proposed repeal of the estate tax, keeping the 45% rate for estates over $3.5M, making the rich work harder to subvert the tax system to pass their wealth to their children; too bad, they give all estates a free pass for 2010, allowing the heirs of Tex. pipeline billionaire Dan L. Duncan (b. 1933-) to inherit his $9B estate tax-free. On Dec. 3 Comcast and NBC Universal announce their $30B merger. On Dec. 3 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano utters the soundbyte that al-Qaida members or followers are inside the U.S. and would like to attack targets in the U.S. and other countries, and that a recent string of domestic arrests should "remove any remaining comfort that some might have had from the notion that if we fight the terrorists abroad, we won't have to fight them here", adding "The fact is that home-based terrorism is here, and like violent extremism abroad, it is now part of the threat picture that we must confront. Individuals sympathetic to al-Qaida and its affiliates, as well as those inspired by their ideology, are present in the U.S., and would like to attack the homeland or plot overseas attacks against our interests abroad." On Dec. 3 the U.S. IRS stinks itself up by auctioning 7.1K acres of Crow Creek Sioux ancestral land in S.D. for $3.1M after legal shenanigans void 1868 treaty protections; the first time in history? On Dec. 4 the U.S. govt. announces that only 11K jobs were lost in Nov., reducing the unemployment rate from 10.2% to 10%, causing Pres. Obama to say "the trend line right now is good". On Dec. 4 a Muslim suicide squad storms a mosque in Rawalpindi near the Pakistani army HQ during Fri. prayers, killing 35 with guns and grenades. On Dec. 4 the Bolivian govt. of Hugo Chavez arrests top banker Arne Chacon and removes his brother Jesse as science minister, broadening his purge of the Boligarchs. On Dec. 4 Google begins personalizing search results, making the Internet shrink as new material is systematically eliminated. On Dec. 4 (midnight) Am. college student Amanda Marie Knox (1987-) is convicted in an Italian court in Perugia and sentenced to 26 years for the murder of her British apt. flatmate Meredith Kercher, along with her former Italian beau Raffaele Sollecito despite lack of evidence, causing the U.S. govt. to call the jury prejudiced by publicity and anti-Americanism. On Dec. 4 Episcopalians in Los Angles, Calif. elect openly lesbian bishop Mary Douglas Glasspool (1954-), who becomes the first since Gene Robinson of N.H. in 2004. On Dec. 4 after telling a fellow student "I feel like just waking up and destroying the world", British Muslim Abdulsalam Al-Zahrani stabs Binghamton U. prof. Richard Antoun to death in the science bldg. On Dec. 5 CIA agent Alan P. Gross (1949-), working for Development Alternatives Inc. is arrested in Havana after being caught handing out laptop computers and cell phones to Cuban dissidents under the $10M 2008 U.S. Cuba Democracy and Contingency Planning Program; he is later revealed to have been helping Jewish groups gain unfiltered access to the Internet. On Dec. 5 former U.S. prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy III (who on Oct. 22, 2008 uttered the soundbyte "I believe that the issue of Obama's personal radicalism, incl. his collaboration with radical, American-hating Leftists, should have been disqualifying") comes out against prosecuting Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in a civilian court, saying "A war is a war. A war is not a crime, and you don't bring your enemies to a courthouse." On Dec. 6 10K+ demonstrate in Athens on the 1-year anniv. of the shooting of 15-y.-o. student Alexis Grigoropoulos by Greek police, pissing them off and causing them to call them "vandals" and sodom, er, brutalize them. On Dec. 6 Human Rights Watch releases a Report on Denial of Women's Rights in Afghanistan, containing the soundbyte: "Eight years after the fall of the Taliban, and the establishment of the [Hamid] Karzai government, Afghan women continue to be among the worst off in the world. Their situation is dismal in every area, incl. in health, education, employment, freedom from violence, equality before the law, and political participation." On Dec. 6 Veronica D. Deramous is arrested in Arlington County, Va. after she kidnaps a pregnant 29-y.-o. homeless woman then uses a razor blade and box cutters to cut out the fetus. On Dec. 7 Student Day in Iran sees anti-govt. protests despite the govt. arresting scores of students and mothers of children killed in the unrest since June 12 in advance and shutting down the Internet. On Dec. 7 a Taliban suicide bomber outside a court in Peshawar, Pakistan kills nine while it hears challenges to an amnesty order covering 8K incl. interior and defense ministers; meanwhile the Taliban bombs a market in Lahore, killing 49 and injuring 100; on Dec. 31 Pakistani police announce the arrest of senior Taliban cmdr. Khalil Ullah, saying he is the mastermind. On Dec. 7 the U.S. Environmental Protection Admin. (EPA) announces that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare, opening the way for the Obama admin. to impose its own curbs on emissions with or without approval from Congress. On Dec. 7 the Hopenhagen.org Web site sponsored by Coca-Cola, Siemens, and SAP corps. opens, inviting the world's citizens to sign a petition demanding world leaders draft binding agreements on climate changes; meanwhile Europe has its coldest winter in 50 years, snowing uninterruptedly starting on Dec. 13; Coca-Cola spearheads a coalition of 100+ cos. pushing a U.N. climate treaty, which commits the world's wealthiest nations to $10T in foreign aid, and possible create an internat. "super-grid" for regulating and distributing electric power; on Dec. 7-18 the 2009 U.N. Climate Change (Copenhagen) Conference attended by 15K reps from 192 nations is held in Copenhagen, Denmark to attempt to reach an internat. agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, with U.N. Climate Change Secretariat head Yvo de Boer uttering the soundbyte: "The clock has ticked down to zero. After two years of negotiations the time has come to deliver"; developing nations will be offered aid to cut emissions; on Dec. 8 a leaked document showing that world leaders will be asked to sign an agreement handing more power to rich countries and sidelining the U.N.'s role in all future climate negotiations causes an uproar, after which African reps. walk out on Dec. 14; on Dec. 14 Al Gore gives a speech, claiming that polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years (summer 2014), rather than in 2030 like other scientists estimate, citing Wieslav Maslowski, who later disclaims it; on Dec. 18 Pres. Obama visits it, originally planning to pledge a 17% emissions cut by 2020, and 83% by 2050, but ending up frantically trying to rescue it from a stalemate after China balks at a real deal, getting snubbed by the Chinese PM then crashing a meeting to work a last-minute toothless deal in order to claim a V; the last day of the conference is blanked with 4 in. of snow; Christopher Monckton, former science adviser to British PM Margaret Thatcher claims that the real purpose of the conference is to lay the foundation for a OWG, but since it was a dud he must have been mistaken?; on Dec. 12 Danish police arrest 968 of 100K pro-global-warming protesters in Copenhagen; next July U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer resigns. On Dec. 7 Iranian pres. Imadinnajacket tells Dubai TV station Al Arabiya that the U.S. is attempting to thwart the return of the Muslim Mahdi, saying "We have documented proof that they believe that a descendant of the prophet of Islam will raise in these parts and he will dry the roots of all injustice in the world." On Dec. 7 the Los Angeles Times reports that the Obama admin. finally admits that the U.S. is confronting a rising threat from homegrown Muslim extremism. On Dec. 7 Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShip Two, their commercial passenger spacecraft set to take its first tourists into space by 2011. On Dec. 7 the Yemeni army begins an offensive against Houthi rebels in Saada. On Dec. 7 after holding up a financial regulation bill supported by Pres. Obama for weeks, the 9-person U.S. Congressional Black Caucus, led by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) gets House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to steer $3B in TARP funds toward mortgage relief for the unemployed, plus $1B for a program to have state and local govts. buy foreclosed properties and use them for more productive purposes; other than Waters, several members continue to claim that Obama isn't going far enough to help African-Ams.; on Dec. 17 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton backs an annual $100B global fund by 2020 to support climate change needs of poor countries. On Dec. 8 (10:15 a.m.) Bloody Tuesday in Baghdad, Iraq sees a string of five bombings that kill 127 and wound 450; al-Qaida later claims responsibility for this attack plus the Aug. 19 attack, and threatens more to come. On Dec. 8 an early morning a U.S. Special Forces raid on the village of Armul in the Laghman Province of Afghanistan results in 13-15 civilians massacred, causing 5K to march on the provincial capital of Mehtar Lam shouting anti-Obama and anti-Karzai slogans, spreading to the neighboring province of Nangarhar, where 3K students occupy the main highway between Kabul and Jalalabad on Dec. 9. On Dec. 8 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erodgan meets with Pres. Obama in the White House, and refuses to support further sanctions against Iran, which it's becoming increasingly friendly with. On Dec. 8 the U.S. House passes H.R. 2278, AKA the U.S. Anti-Incitement Act, directing the U.S. pres. to transmit to Congress a report on anti-Am. incitement to violence in the Middle East, and calling for sanctions against satellite cos. providing services to TV channels that incite violence against the U.S., incl. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV and Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV, as well as Iraqi Al-Rafidayn TV broadcasting from Egypt; on Dec. 9 the bill is read twice in the Senate and then referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. On Dec. 8 Pres. Obama gives a speech on jobs at the Brookings Inst., saying he wants to spur new jobs and give more help to Main St. as opposed to Wall St., incl. tax breaks for new hires by small businesses, along with $50B more for roads, bridges, aviation and water projects. On Dec. 8 Stephen Bosworth, Pres. Obama's first envoy to North Korea arrives in Pyongyang to try and talk them into going back to the nuclear talks it walked out of a year ago - make it work was the answer? On Dec. 8 Biurny Peguero of N.J. pleads guilty to perjury for a false story of a gang rape that sent William McCaffrey to 20 years in prison; he was released in Aug. after DNA tests. On Dec. 8 U.S. gen. Stanley A. McChrystal tells the U.S. Senate that there are up to 27K Taliban in Afghanistan but that they can be defeated; meanwhile a joint press conference in Kabul by Hamid Karzai and U.S. defense secy. Robert Gates is held, in which Karzai predicts that it will take 15-20 years before the Afghan govt. can stand on its own against the Taliban, and Gates responds that "our government will not again turn our back on this country or the region", and "We will fight by your side until Afghan forces are large enough and strong enough to secure the nation on their own", adding that the July 2011 withdrawal date is "conditioned-based" and "gradual", and not a complete pullout but a "gradual change in the U.S. military's role". On Dec. 8 the White House releases a series of mandates requiring federal agencies to post public data online. On Dec. 8 the govt. of Guinea announces the arrests of 60 people for an assassination plot against junta leader Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara. On Dec. 8 the U.S. Supreme Court releases its first four decisions of the term, marking the debut of Sonia Sotomayor, who becomes the first on the court to use the term "undocumented immigrant" intead of the usual "illegal alien" in Mohawk Industries v. Carpenter (#08-678). On Dec. 8 the New York Times pub. a story about the proposed Ground Zero Mosque in Lower Manhattan 600 ft. from Ground Zero; it takes at least 6 mo. for a firestorm of controversy to build after work by heroic blogger Pamela Geller (1958-). On Dec. 8 the CBS-TV daytime soap opera As the World Turns (begun Apr. 2, 1956 airs its last episode, with Helen Wagner, who said "Good morning, dear" in episode 1 saying "Goodbye, dear"; meanwhile ABC-TV's "All My Children" moves from New York City to Los Angeles, Calif. to cut costs. On Dec. 8 CERN's Large Hadron Collider sets a record for highest energies of subatomic particles smashed, which allegedly are beamed via a radar facility in Ramfjordmoen, Norway intothe ionisphere, causing the Norway Spiral, which lights up the Norwegian sky; the Nov. 2010 WikiLeaks dump reveals that Pres. Obama is sent to 2012 ALICE Bunker because of it. On Dec. 9 violent protests by student separatists in Hyderabad, India in Andhra Pradesh, India are shut down by police, after which the govt. caves and agrees to set up a new state. On Dec. 9 British chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling announces a whopping 50% tax on bonuses made by U.K. bankers with 2008 bailout funds. On Dec. 9 a 1983 proposal to audit the Federal Reserve by Ron Paul (1942-) (R-Tex.) is voted on in the U.S. House. On Dec. 9 three British Muslims are found guilty of conspire to murder civilians in a "deadly terrorist attack" on passenger aircraft, incl. Adam Khatib (1986-), Nabeel Hussain, and Shamin Uddin, who were working for a terrorist cell run from Pakistan by Abdullah Ahmed Ali, whose wife Cossor Ali (1981-) writes in her diary is desperate to kill himself for his cause in order to achieve the highest level of Islamic martyrdom and receive 72 virgins in paradise. On Dec. 9 Umar Farooq, Waqar Hussain Khan, Ahmed Minni, Ramy Zamzam, and Aman Yemer, five Muslim men from Alexandria, Va. ages 18-24 who vanished in late Nov. from their homes and arrived in Karachi on Dec. 1 are arrested in Sargodha, Pakistan for possible jihadist ties and seeking terrorist training with the Islamic terrorist orgs. Jaish-e-Muhammad and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (a front for Lashkar-e-Taiba); some of them left farewell videos; both groups rejected their applications; on Feb. 2 they claim that they have been tortured in custody, then after facing life in prison in Pakistan on terrorism charges suddenly claim that they didn't really intend to attack anybody and aren't really jihadists; on June 24, 2010 they are sentenced to 10 years and $823 fines for conspiring against the state, plus 5 years for helping to finance a militant org. On Dec. 9 a report by Human Rights Watch on Brazil is pub., saying that police in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo shot and killed more than 11K suspects since 2003, and frequently carry out extrajudicial executions; meanwhile they are slated to host the 2016 Olympic Games. On Dec. 9 the Washington Post reports that the U.S. Transportation Security Admin. (TSA) accidentally pub. online its secret 93-page operating manual for screening passengers and baggage, complete with photos of govt. officials. On Dec. 9 the govt. of India announces that it's considering forming the new state of Telangana ("land of the Telugu people") in Andhra Pradesh in EC India; on Dec. 23 it tables its own motion (until ?). On Dec. 9 a mysterious Pyramid UFO appears over Moscow's Red Square. On Dec. 10 Pres. Obama delivers his Nobel Acceptance Speech in Oslo nine days after pledging 30K more troops for Afghanistan, incl. the soundbytes "Compared to some of the giants of history who have received this prize... my accomplishments are slight", and "I, like any head of state reserve the right to act unilaterally if necessary to defend my nation", countering objections about being a war president and not being up to par with past recipients with "we can't be guided by their example alone", defending "just wars", with the soundbyte "We must begin by acknowledging the hard truth: We will not eradicate violent conflicts in our lifetimes. There will be times when nations, acting individually or in concert will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified"; he then snubs the Norwegians by cancelling many of the usual events, incl. lunch with the king, pissing them off. On Dec. 10 U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gives a press briefing, admitting to finally dropping the public health care option. On Dec. 10 Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erodan gives an interview to Egyptian journalist Fahmi Huwaidi, saying that if Israel violates Turkish airspace to do recon on Iran, it "will receive a response equal to that of an earthquake". On Dec. 10 the U.S. House by 221-202 approves a $447B spending bill filled with $3.9B in earmarks for 5,224 pet projects; on Dec. 13 the U.S. Senate approves it by 57-35. On Dec. 10 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention releases estimates that H1N1 swine flu has sicked 50M, hospitalized 200K, and killed 10K in the U.S. between Apr. and mid-Nov., equal to an entire winter flu season; previous estimates claimed 22M sickened and 4K killed - my hand shakes so when I'm around you? On Dec. 10 a Pew Forum on Religion and Life Poll finds that elements of Eastern faiths and New Age thinking have been adopted by 65% of U.S. adults, with many Protestants and Catholics getting into syncretism. On Dec. 11 Pope Benedict XVI meets with Irish church leaders and issues a statement that he shares the "outrage, betrayal and shame" felt by the Irish people over the govt. report detailing Church coverup of widespread sexual abuse of children for 30 years, and promising to write a pastoral letter to the Irish people, the first-ever about sexual abuse of children by clergy. On Dec. 11 U.S. secy. of state Hillary Clinton warns Latin Am. countries that getting too close to Iran is "a really bad idea" that could have consequences, saying the U.S. is well aware that Iran has stepped up diplomatic activities with Venezuela and Bolivia, and adding that Iran is "the major supporter, promoter and exporter of terrorism in the world today". On Dec. 11 Muntader al-Zaidi, who became a celeb when he threw his shoes at Pres. Bush a year ago, has a shoe thrown at him by journalist Khayat, who says "Here's another shoe for you". On Dec. 11 oil cos. from China, Russia, Malayasia, Angola, and Europe beat out U.S. cos. for Iraqi oil exploration and development contracts, getting only one out of 10. On Dec. 11 Libyan-born Abu Yahya al-Libi (1963-), likely successor of Osama bin Laden is reported killed by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan; too bad, later reports ID the man killed as Saleh al-Somali. On Dec. 12 the govt. of Uganda bans female genital mutilation, with a sentence of 10 years to life. On Dec. 12 Houston, Tex. elects its first openly gay mayor Annise Danette Parker (1956-); she is sworn-in as Houston mayor #61 on Jan. 2, 2010 (until Jan. 2, 2016). On Dec. 12 (night) dozens of Islamic militants storm a jail in S Philippines, freeing 31 inmates. On Dec. 13 Syria and Iran sign a mutual defense agreement, meaning that if Israel attacks Iran's nuclear facilities they will get in a war with Syria. On Dec. 13 Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi is hit in the face with a statue at a rally in Milan, bringing back memories of the "Years of Lead" in the 1960s-80s. On Dec. 13 Pres. Obama appears on 60 Minutes on CBS-TV, saying "I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of, you know, fatcat bankers on Wall Street"; on Dec. 14 he meets with Wall St. bank heads in person, asking them to loan more to small businesses and approve more mortgage refinancing deals, although he has little power over them. On Dec. 13 Islamic Hizbul Islam militants in Afgoye, Somalia (20 mi. SW of Mogadishu) stone to death Mohamed Abukar Ibraham (b. 1961) for adultery, forcing his fellow villagers to watch, then shoot a man they claim is a murderer, after which a battle with rivals kills three; the woman involved gets 100 lashes. On Dec. 13 a 17-nation Conference on Harassment of Women in the Arab World in Cairo, Egypt ends with grumbling but no action about Muslim-inspired attempts to drive women out of public spaces. On Dec. 14 the U.S. House by 223-202 passes a sweeping financial regulatory reform bill designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 economic meltdown by creating a new consumer watchdog agency and new regulations on everything from credit cards to executive compensation - is this called Socialism? On Dec. 14 Pakistan refuses to crack down on the #1 Taliban warrior in Afghnistan Siraj Haqqani, saying that he's a spy for them in North Waziristan. On Dec. 14 al-Qaida #2 man Ayman al-Zawahri posts an Internet message accusing Pres. Obama of deceiving the Arab world and failing to advance Middle East peace, uttering the soundbyte that real struggle is "a war between Muslims and infidels", calling on all Muslims to join the jihad against the U.S., the West, and Israel. On Dec. 14 a BBC-TV interview with former British PM Tony Blair is broadcast, in which he admits that he would have supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq even if he had known they didn't possess WMDs, saying "It was the notion of him [Saddam Hussein] as a threat to the region, the fact of how that region was going to change whilst he was there", causing calls for him to be prosecuted as a war criminal; USAF Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper (1941-) claims that Iraq sent its WMDs to Syria in the weeks before the 2003 invasion, which is later backed up by satellite photos of a 200 sq. km area near Masyaf in NW Syria? On Dec. 14 the London Times pub. a secret document exposing that Iran was working on testing a nuclear bomb "neutron initiator" as far back as 2007, although Iran claimed to have suspended its nuke program in 2003; on Dec. 21 Imadinnajacket is interviewed by Diane Sawyer on "ABC World News", and he calls the document "a repetitive and tasteless joke", strongly denying that Iran wants the nuke, and saying that if the U.S. wants to impose sanctions "Then go and do it", adding "We don't welcome confrontation, but we don't surrender to bullying either"; on Dec. 28 former CIA counterterrorism official Philip Giraldi says that the document was forged, probably by the Israelis or Brits, blaming Rupert Murdoch for allowing the disinfo. to be disseminated by his chain. On Dec. 14 after hearing arguments from the Obama admin., the U.S. Supreme Court lets stand a lower court ruling that declared torture an ordinary expected consequence of military detention, and introducing a new precedent that anyone who is declared a "suspected enemy combatant" by the U.S. pres. of his designates is no longer a "person" with human rights or legal standing; the U.S. War Crimes Act of 1996 still makes torture a federal crime. On Dec. 14 a confidential U.S. diplomatic cable says that Iran has assassinated 180 Iraqi pilots who flew sorties against it during the Iran-Iraq War; revealed by WikiLeaks in Nov. 2010. On Dec. 15 a suicide car bomber in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul near the home of former Afghan vice-pres. Ahmad Zia Massoud and the pro-West Heetal Hotel (owned by the son of former pres. Burhanuddin Rabbani) kills eight and wounds 40; Massoud's brother Ahmad Shah Massoud was an anti-Taliban fighter killed on Sept. 9, 2001 by al-Qaida. On Dec. 15 Pres. Obama hosts a last-minute meeting with Senate Dems. over the stalled health care reform bill, telling them that they are "on the precipice of an achievement that's eluded congresses and presidents for generations"; after the meeting, Dem. Nat. Committee chmn. Howard Dean says "The best thing to do right now is kill the Senate bill and go back to the House... You have the vast majority of Americans want the choices, they want real choices. They don't have them in this bill. This is not health care reform"; after mucho arm-twisting, on Dec. 21 the Senate votes 60-40 on straight party lines, followed on Dec. 24 (first Xmas Eve session since 1895) by a 60-39 vote, requiring it to be sent to the House to reconcile the two versions; on Dec. 21 (1 a.m.) U.S. Sen. (R-Okla.) (2005-) Thomas Allen "Tom" Coburn (1948-) gives a speech in the Senate, exposing the backroom arm-twisting and sweet money deals made to get the bill passed, saying "This process is not legislation, this process is corruption"; meanwhile the Shanghai Daily announces that China will not fund U.S. deficits. On Dec. 15 Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai gives a speech at an anti-corruption in Kabul, where he tries to defend corrupt Kabul mayor Abdul Ahad Sahibi, calling for his charges to be overturned, showing that the corruption goes to the top and can never be ended, just an act put on to keep U.S. money flowing in? On Dec. 15 the Obama admin. announces its decision to house Guantanamo Bay POWs in the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson in NW Ill. On Dec. 15 the U.S. Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act (CIRASAP) is introduced in the U.S. House of Reps, with 87 co-sponsors led by Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Joe Baca (D.-Calif.), meeting instant death after Dems. balk at amnesty for 12M+ Mexican immigrants and the fact that Mexico's basic problems will generate new waves; they totally ignore TLW's Megamerge Dissolution Solution, as usual. On Dec. 15 (night) after a challenge from Centrepoint, a British homeless youth support org., British Prince William spends a night on the streets of London to understand the plight of the homeless - I'm cool like that? On Dec. 15 the Obama admin.'s Dept. of Homeland Security issues a fact sheet, touting the "Secure Flight" program and how it's protecting Americans from terrorists by pre-screening suspects. On Dec. 16 the U.S. House by 217-212 passes a $154B jobs bill funding more cops and firefighters, along with worker training; the Senate won't vote on it until next year. On Dec. 16 Iran tests the upgraded Sejil 2 missile, with a 1.2K-mi. range capable of hitting Israel and Europe, while dissing attempts to impose sanctions by cutting off gasoline supplies, since they have many more suppliers available. On Dec. 16 the Pakistan Supreme Court strikes down the Nat. Reconciliation Ordinance political amnesty law and orders corruption cases reinstated against pro-Western pres. Asif Ali Zardari and thousands of other politicans, throwing a monkey wrench into the govt.'s fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban; chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was removed in 2007 by Pervez Mushrraf heads a special new monitoring unit to make sure the cases are pursued; it's really a plot by the military to remove the civilian govt. and establish a military dictatorship? - Muslims never forgive and always keep score and get even? On Dec. 16 the British Supreme Court upholds a ruling that Jewish schools can't racially discriminate against students for having non-Jewish mothers, with the soundbyte "There can in future be no Jewish faith schools which give preference to children because they are Jewish according to Jewish religious law and belief." On Dec. 16 Yemeni security forces backed by (U.S.?) warplanes kill up to 30 al-Qaida militants in the S province of Abyan, and foil a planned series of suicide bombings. On Dec. 16 Mexican drug cartel "Boss of Bosses" Don Arturo Beltran Leyva (b. 1951) is killed along with five bodyguards by Mexican govt. forces, becoming a big V for the Felipe Calderon admin.; too bad, on Dec. 21 his gang kills the mother, brother, sister, and aunt of Mexican Marine Melquisedet Angulo, who died after taking part in the raid. On Dec. 16 the U.S. FTC sues chip maker Intel for anti-trust violations. On Dec. 16 Pres. Obama gives an interview to ABC-TV's Charles Gibson, playing his best card of claiming that if his health care reform program doesn't pass, the federal govt. will go bankrupt. On Dec. 16 two senior U.N. officials claim that the #2 U.S. U.N. official in Afghanistan Peter W. Galbraith tried to get the White House to help him replace Afghan Pres. Hamid Karzai in Sept. when the election fraud was being exposed, and that Karzai got pissed-off after hearing about it, causing Galbraith to be expelled and fired; the #1 official Richard C. Holbrooke also clashes with Karzai over the election, but never got caught mentioning replacing him. On Dec. 16 Pres. Obama signs Executive Order - Amending Executive Order 12425, reversing restrictions placed on INTERPOL on U.S. soil in 1983 by Pres. Reagan, placing it beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement agencies incl. the FBI, and making it immune to Freedom of Info. Act (FOIA) requests. On Dec. 16 human rights group Iraq Body Count lists the civilian death toll in Iraq for 2009 at 4,497, lowest since the 2003 invasion; the 2008 toll was 9,226. On Dec. 17 on Pres. Obama's orders, the U.S. launches cruise missile attacks on suspected al-Qaida sites in Yemen, killing 120, showing that he's serious about bringing al-Qaida down wherever they hide. On Dec. 17 the U.S. House of Reps launches an investigation into U.S. funding of the Taliban by U.S. military contractors who are paying them protection money to not attack their convoys. On Dec. 17 U.S. officials admit that Iraqi militants have been using the $26 SkyGrabber software program to intercept live video feeds from U.S. Predator drones, but claim they've fixed the problem with encryption. On Dec. 17 U.S. drones kill 16 in North Waziristan, indicating an escalation to take up the slack caused by the Pakistan military. On Dec. 17 a mob of 1K Muslims storm a Roman Catholic church near Jakarta, Indonesia in order to prevent its construction from being finished. On Dec. 18 the famous 16-ft.-long 90 lb. "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign over the entrance to Auschwitz is stolen; five common thieves are later arrested, and are traced to a militant Swedish Nazi group that wanted to sell it and use the funds to fight Islamization of Europe - it did say free, right? On Dec. 18 the U.S. announces plans to send six Yemenis from Guantanamo Bay prison back to Yemen; 97 of the 210 GB POWs are from Yemen. On Dec. 18 (dawn) Iranian forces sneak into Iraq and occupy a well in the East Maysan Oil Field; after an uproar, they withdraw. On Dec. 18 the U.S. govt. charges three alleged al-Qaida assocs., Oumar Issa, Harouna Toure, and Idriss Abdelrahman in New York City with conspiring to engage in narcoterrorism. On Dec. 18 the DC Marriage Equality and Religious liberty same-sex marriage law for Washington, D.C. is signed in a church during a blizard that blankets the NE U.S. On Dec. 19 the EU opens its borders to 10M Serbs, Montenegrins, and Macedonians, ending 20 years of demanding visas. On Dec. 19 the Iranian govt. acknowledges that three protesters were beaten to death by their jailers, blaming it on low-level grunts not the brass. On Dec. 19 Pres. Obama signs the Brownback Native Am. Apology Resolution apologizing to the Cherokees and all Native Am. tribes for past wrongs, sponsored by U.S. Sen. (R-Kan.) (1996-2011) Samuel Dale "Sam" Brownback (1956-). On Dec. 19 the Vatican declares a copyright on the figure of the pope - so it was about money all along? On Dec. 20 police clash with Maoist demonstrators in Katmandu, Nepal, arresting 70. On Dec. 20 a plane loaded with North Korean weapons is impounded in Bangkok; it is thought to have been heading for Iran. On Dec. 21 Cambodia signs 14 funding deals worth $850M with China; on Dec. 19 they deported 20 ethnic Chinese asylum seekers. On Dec. 21 elections for the gov. body of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt are won by the old guard, ending reform attempts. On Dec. 21 former Bush admin. adviser Howard A. Schmidt is named Pres. Obama's cyberczar (adviser on cybersecurity policy); in May Obama declared U.S. digital networks a "strategic national asset" and called their protection a "national security priority". On Dec. 21 blonde-blue white Diane Sawyer (1945-) (known for her loving eyes and manner - what Marilyn Monroe might have become if she lived?) debuts as anchor of ABC-TV's World News Tonight after Charles Gibson retired on Dec. 18. On Dec. 21 Mexico City legalizes same-sex marriages incl. adoptions by same-sex couples, becoming the 2nd major Latin Am. city after Buenos Aires in Nov.; they approved same-sex civil unions in 2007. On Dec. 21 the Franken Amendment to the 2010 U.S. Defense Appropriations Bill is signed into law, authorizing contracts with defense cos. that "restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court" to be withheld. On Dec. 21 a letter from former U.S. pres. Jimmy Carter to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in New York City is pub., asking the Jewish community for forgiveness for any stigma he may have caused Israel for placing the burden of peacemaking on it, comparing its settlement policies to apartheid, and blaming the pro-Israel lobby for warping U.S. foreign policy. On Dec. 21 the Rasmussen Daily Tracking Poll sees Pres. Obama's disapproval rating at 46%, the first time over 42%; 55% of voters oppose Obama's health care legislation. On Dec. 21 police in SW Houston, Tex. find an AT-4 shoulder-mounted rocket launcher in the apt. of Nabilaye I. Yansane along with Muslim jihadist writings, but decline to file charges, claiming no ties were found to terrorism and there was no threat found. On Dec. 22 a suicide bomber detonates at the gate of the Pakistan Press Club in Peshawar, killing three. On Dec. 22 Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov tells the press that Russia and the U.S. are on the verge of "a radical and unprecedented reduction in strategic offensive weapons"; the 1991 START I treaty, which was set to expire on Dec. 5 was extended while working on a new agreement. On Dec. 22 the FBI releases its Dossier on Michael Jackson, which incl. details of his er, little pedophile problem. On Dec. 22 after mucho internat. publicity and pressure and a 5-year court battle, Am. father David Goldman is granted custody of his 9-y.-o. son Sean Goldman by the Brazilian Supreme Court after his wife stole him away to Brazil then died, causing his well-connected Brazilian maternal relatives to abuse the court system to slow it down; on Aug. 8, 2014 Pres. Obama signs the U.S. Sean and David Goldman Internat. Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act. On Dec. 22 after voting against the stimulus, health care reform, energy bill, equal pay for women, etc., moderate new U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith (1942-) of Ala. switches from the Dem. to Repub. Party; he is known for the soundbyte "We have nothing to fear from radical Islam... if we are strong on our own beliefs... I think America's greatest enemy is America and its materialism." On Dec. 22 (night) Am. Airlines Flight 331 en route from Miami overshoots the runway in Kingston, Jamaica and skids to the edge of the Caribbean Sea, injuring 40+. On Dec. 23 the U.N. Security Council votes 13-1-1 (Libya, China) for Resolution 1907, imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on Eritrea for giving aid to Islamic insurgents in Somalia esp. Al-Shabaab. On Dec. 23 bombs targeted at Iraqi Christians and Shiites kill at least seven and wound three dozen during Shiite celebrations of Ashura. On Dec. 23 Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Aswat reports that Osama bin Laden's 17-y.-o. daughter Eman escaped from her guards in Iran and fled to the Saudi embassy in Tehran about 1 mo. ago. On Dec. 23 Islamic Al-Shabaab militants from Somalia seize five islands near the coast of Kenya, and set up Sharia. On Dec. 24 (early morning) an air strike in SE Yemen by Yemeni forces against an alleged al-Qaida hideout kills 30, incl. leader Nasser al-Wahayshi, his deputy Saeed al-Shehri, and possibly Ft. Hood-connected Anwar al-Awlaki; since al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen, Pres. Obama gave personal authorization for the attack first; too bad, he survives. On Dec. 24 Russian pres. Dmitry Medvedev announces on TV that Russia is working on a new generation of nuclear missiles to keep up with the Amerikanskies. On Dec. 24 the U.S. Senate votes to raise the govt. debt ceiling to $12.4T. On Dec. 24 Pope Benedict XVI is attacked by mentally unstable Susanna Maiolo in St. Peter's Basilica, causing him to fall to the floor, then get back up unhurt; she tried the same thing a year earlier but was stopped by guards; on Jan. 13 he meets with her, and she apologizes and he forgives her. On Dec. 24 a suicide car bomber in Kandahar, Afghanistan kill eight Afghan civilians. On Dec. 24 as Shiite Muslims prepare to celebrate Ashura on Dec. 28, five attacks in and around Baghdad and Karbala in Iraq kill 27 and wound 100+, incl. Iraqi Brig. Gen. Talib Khalil; too bad, since Ashura falls near Christmas, Christians who happen to live around them are treated like merde, and are afraid to celebrate Christmas. On Dec. 24 (dawn) the MV Catalyn B Ferry collides with the 369-ton Anathalia fishing vessel vessel and sinks in Manila Bay, killing 24 of 73. On Dec. 24 an Iranian court sentences prominent reformist Abdollah Ramezanzadeh to six years in prison for post-election protests; meanwhile Iran simmers with disaffected people and the Imadinnajacket regime is at a crossroads? On Dec. 24 the U.K. grants Aso Mohammed Ibrahim (1978-) asylum despite a hit-run murder of 12-y.-o. Amy Houston in Nov. 2003 after his attys. talk the court into giving him the right to a "family life". On Dec. 24 Korean-Am. Christian missionary Robert Park (1981-) crosses into North Korea carrying a letter to Kim Jong Il calling attention to his tens of thousands of political prisoners; he is arrested, becoming another one, then is freed on Feb. 6, 2010 - he'll file the letter on the pile? On Dec. 24 Jamaican-born radical Muslim cleric Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal, who had been jailed in Britain for 9 years for soliciting the murder of Jews and Hindus and deported in 2007 enters Kenya from Tanzania despite being on an internat. watch list, and it takes until Jan. 4 to catch the mistake. On Dec. 24 Polish disc jockey Jakub Rene Kosik (1982-) begins receiving death threats for a YouTube video called Mekka, which he uploaded in tribute to Muslim culture - now he knows what Muslim culture really is? On Dec. 24 the Ft. Jackson Five, five Muslim soldiers at Ft. Jackson, S.C. are arrested for attempting to poison the food supply; it takes until mid-Feb. for it to be made public. On Dec. 25 China's #1 dissident Liu Xiaobo (1956-) is sentenced to 11 years of hard time for "inciting subversion to state power" - the U.S. should free him in a commando raid? On Dec. 25 the Great U.S. Blizzard of 2009 in the C U.S. kills at least 18 and causes a state of emergency to be declared in S.D., Tex., and Okla. On Dec. 25 Pope Benedict XVI delivers his 2009 Xmas Messsage in St. Peter's Square, urging "acceptance and welcome" of immigrants fleeing poverty and intolerance. Merry Christmas from Hate-filled Allah's Fruit of the Boom, You Yankee Infidel Dogs? On Dec. 25 (eight years after Shoe Bomber Richard Reid's failed aircraft bombing attempt) the Obama family spends Xmas in Hawaii in a $4K a night rental house; meanwhile al-Qaida says Merry Xmas to Great Satan as Nigerian "Christmas Burning Man", "Xmas Underwear Bomber", "Panty Bomber", "Condom Bomber" "Balls Bomber" (son of banking exec. Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, who turned him into the U.S. embassy in Nigeria on Nov. 19 for his "extreme religious views", saying that his nickname is "Islamic scholar", causing him to be put on the 400K-name Terrorist Watchlist not the 3.4K-name No-Fly List or 14K-name Selectee List, and who was allowed to board despite having no luggage and paying for the ticket in cash) Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (1986-) (who was allowed to board despite being on the U.S. govt. watch list) attempts to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 (Airbus A330) (278 on board) in Detroit after it arrived from Amsterdam with Shoe Bomber explosive PETN hidden in a condom in his underwear; luckily it's a dud and sets him on fire instead, and after passengers put out the fires and tackle him, he survives, and Allah's paradise will have to wait; after being questioned for 50 min. by the FBI, he is suddenly Mirandized and clams up, then allegedly opens back up in early Feb. after the FBI flies his relatives to the U.S. to urge him to cooperate; on Dec. 26 it is revealed that he was sent on his mission by al-Qaida in Yemen, where he was living from Aug.-early Dec., and whose 200-300 agents are training dozens more to blow up Western jets, causing Yemeni foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi to tell the BBC that Yemen wants to defeat al-Qaida but is hampered by a lack of U.S. support; airport regs. are immediately modified to prohibit passengers from getting out of their seats for 1 hour before landing, although the govt. does no ideological testing of Muslims before letting them board to screen-out those who are radicalized, and it was thanks to the passengers getting out of their seats that the plane was saved, incl. hero (movie producer) Jasper Schuringa; on Dec. 27 U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano stinks herself up by claiming that the system "worked really very, very smoothly", and on Dec. 28 after an outcry admits that it failed miserably, while Pres. Obama after three days of silence finally addresses the press on Dec. 28 after al-Qaida in Yemen claims responsibility for the attack on a Web site, saying that terrorists "must know that the U.S. will do more than strengthen our defenses, we will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us", and will pursue them in "Yemen or Somalia or anywhere else"; too bad, Obama calls Mutallab an "isolated terrorist" despite all the links to al-Qaida; on Dec. 29 Obama speaks at the Hawaii Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, and calls the affair "a systemic failure" that is "totally unacceptable", adding "There was a mix of human and systemic failures that contributed to this potential catastrophic breach of security"; two of the al-Qaida leaders in Yemen behind the plot were released from Guantanamo Bay prison in 2007; U.S. intel agencies stopped the U.S. State Dept. from revoking his U.S. visa; Mutallab had earlier attempted to board the plane sans passport with a mysterious Indian Man in a nice suit who tried to talk the counter agent into it, who was witnessed by passenger Kurt Haskell, who claims a coverup; another PETN underwear bomber Abdullah Hasan Tali al-Asiri from Yemen tried to assassinate Saudi prince Mohammed bin Nayef in Aug.; the Obama admin. decides to try him in federal court and offer him a plea bargain in exchange for telling what he knows about al-Qaida operations in Yemen, and he is indicted on six counts on Jan. 6, the indictment never using the word "terrorism", and pleads not guilty; Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam starts full body scanning for all people travelling to the U.S. within three weeks, followed by Nigeria; neither Pres. Obama nor U.S. Nat. Counterterrorism Center dir. Michael Leitner interrupt their Xmas vacations after the bomber incident; on Jan. 24 an alleged audio message from Osama bin Laden claims responsibility, with the phrase "Peace be upon those who follow guidance" at the beginning and end indicating a possible new attack in the works, but Pres. Obama says that his false claiming of responsibility proves his weakness; meanwhile conspiracy theorists call the whole incident a hoax by the U.S. govt. to give it mojo to invade Yemen et al.; on Aug. 31 a Rasmussen Poll is pub. indicating that 58% believe that Mutallab should be waterboarded to get more info. out of him, and 71% would like to see the crime investigated by military rather than civilian authorities; Internet postings by Mutallab incl. "My jihad fantasy... Muslims will win and rule the world"; he is the 4th pres. of a London student Islamic society (Univ. College London) to face terrorist charges in the last three years; in Jan. it is revealed that a July report by the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security contains the soundbyte "Not all known or reasonably suspected terrorists are prohibited from boarding an aircraft, or are subject to additional security screening prior to boarding an aircraft"; on Jan. 7 it is revealed that Nigeria had full body scanners installed at U.S. expense in 2007, and they didn't catch Mutallab; the 84-page Pentagon Report on the Ft. Hood Massacre completely ignores the Islamic jihadist angle; meanwhile in Feb. the Fiqh Council of North America declares body scanners un-Islamic, and on Feb. 22 Pope Benedict XVI utters the soundbyte: "In every action, it is above all essential to protect and value the human person in their integrity"; five U.S. Army soldiers at Ft. Hood in Va. are arrested for a plot to poison the base food supply, but they are later cleared, although four are discharged for petty crimes - Nigerian email scam jokes here? On Dec. 26 protesters in C Tehran in Imam Hossein Square et al. are attacked by police, incl. the Rev. Guard and paramilitary Basijis; protests continue until ?; meanwhile the Islamic Repub. of Iran stink it up with increasing violence, arresting 1K in massive protests on Dec. 28, the holy day of Ashura, which is also the 7th day after the death of Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, when his death is being mourned, killing some protesters, incl. Ali-Habibi Mousavi, a nephew of former PM Mir Houssein Mousavi on Dec. 27, making them more determined to bring the regime down, shouting "This is the month of blood, Yazid will fall", referring to Ayatollah Khamenei as the new Yazid, the killer of Hussein's son Ali, whose death is lamented on Ashura; meanwhile the govt. calls the protests a foreign-backed "masquerade". On Dec. 26 Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki says that Iran might be willing to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel with the West, but only on Turkish soil. On Dec. 26 the Israeli army kills three suspected Palestinian Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades terrorists in Nablus, plus three more near the Erez crossing, causing Britain to send Ł50M in aid to Palestine. On Dec. 26 Muslims attack Christian worshippers during prayers in Kalar Kahar Town, Pakistan 75 mi. from Islamabad, injuring 65; meanwhile two Pakistani Christians, Imran Masih (1989-) and Khushi Mashi (1985-) are shot with AK-47s by Muslims at their wedding after refusing to convert to Islam, but survive. On Dec. 26 German defense minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says that the West should abandon hopes of creating a democracy in Afghanistan because its backward Sharia-loving Muslims are unsuited to it, and the country's govt. has to incl. the Taliban. On Dec. 26 the Pakistan govt. restricts the activities of Americans, limiting them to Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Internat. Airport. On Dec. 27 another Nigerian on the same Amsterdam-Detroit Airbus 330 flight causes a bomb scare when he locks himself in the restroom; after being arrested, he is released by the FBI after they determine that he was just airsick. On Dec. 27 the first case of highly drug-resistant TB in the U.S. since the 1970s is announced, Peruvian immigrant Oswaldo Juarez (1980-), who came to "learn English". On Dec. 27 Gaza Freedom March of 1K internat. activists from 42 countries organized by U.S. activist group Code Pink sets out by bus from Cairo to Rafah on the Gaza border; too bad, Egyptian authorities stop and mistreat them. On Dec. 27 the govt. of Iran begins posting photos of protesters on the Internet in the hope that informants will finger them. On Dec. 27 the Lebanese TV channel Al-Quds features children holding guns and being taught the glories of Islamic martyrdom, with storyteller Abu Saleh uttering the soundbyte "There is not a single Palestinian village or city whose people do not know how to use a gun. Why? Because they have suckled this with their mother's milk." On Dec. 27-29 the Reviving the Islamic Spirit Convention in Toronto attracts 6.5K-17K Muslims, who cheer after a speaker says that Allah destroyed the Soviet Union for invading Afghanistan, and might do the same thing to the U.S. On Dec. 28 U.S.-led troops are accused of dragging innocent children from their beds and shooting them during a Dec. 27 night raid in Ghazi Khan villege in Kunar, E Afghanistan that killed 10, causing "Death to America" protests in Kabul and Jalalabad; NATO spokesmen initially call the victims insurgents until Afghan govt. investigators ID them as civilians, incl. eight children ages 11-17. On Dec. 28 Yemen announces that it arrested 29 suspected al-Qaida members in response to the Underwear Bomber incident. On Dec. 28 a suicide bomber in a Shiite Muslim procession in Karachi, Pakistan kills 30 and wounds dozen, causing the Shiite Ashura marchers to get violent and throw stones at the security forces for failing to prevent it. On Dec. 28 Christian girl Sarah Edmond Youhanna is kidnapped by an Islamic group at the U. of Mosul in Iraq as a warning to all Christians to leave Iraq. On Dec. 28 Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre of Argentina become the first gays to wed in Latin Am., in Tierra del Fuego. On Dec. 29 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Egyptian pres. Hosni Mubarak, causing hopes of movement in the Middle East peace process. On Dec. 29 Russian PM Vladimir Putin threatens that Russia will go ahead with a new class of advanced offensive missiles if the U.S. continues to develop a defensive missile shield - and even if it doesn't, right, Tsar Vladimir? On Dec. 29 Pres. Obama begins a sweeping classified document secrecy overhaul, saying that "no information may remain classified indefinitely", and ordering govt. agencies to try to make more info. public; this incl. the sensitive Pres. Daily Briefs? On Dec. 29 an Afghan soldier turns jihadist at a military base in Badghis Province in W Afghanistan, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding two Italian soldiers with an explosives-laden vest. On Dec. 30 (10 a.m.) suicide bombers strike Anbar Province in W Afghanistan, ambushing local leaders and killing 24 and wounding 58; meanwhile Kuwait-born Jordanian Taliban double agent suicide bomber (a physician) Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi (b. 1977) is permitted to enter U.S. Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost Province in E Afghanistan sans body search, killing seven CIA employees, five Canadians, one Afghan, and one Jordanian intel officer, Sharif Ali bin Zeid (Zaid), and wounding six CIA officers, becoming the deadliest attack on U.S. intelligence personnel in the war, exposing the CIA fighting a dirty war on the Afghan border alongside its Jordanian allies?; his Turkish wife Defne Bayrak tells the AP that his hatred of the U.S. motivated him, and that the jihad must go on; he leaves a recording bragging on how he capitalized on the "stupidity" of Jordanian and U.S. intel officials, plus a posth. message calling on Muslims to wage jihad and become martyrs like him; CIA base chief Jessica Matthews, who only spent 3 mo. in Afghanistan or served in a war zone is a misguided result of affirmative action at the CIA?; he was paid by the Taliban? On Dec. 30 U.S. House Repub. leaders led by John Boehner of Ohio ask Pres. Obama to halt releases from Guantanamo, citing the news that one or more released detainees were linked to the Xmas Underwear Bomber; meanwhile Obama summons U.S. intel chiefs to a meeting next week at the White House to discuss how to prevent a repeat of Xmas Underwear Bomber, and U.S. homeland security secy. Janet Napolitano announces that she will send senior officials to meet with airport execs around the world to discuss how to screen passengers on U.S.-bound flights. On Dec. 30 it is revealed that India is preparing for a possible 2-front war with China and Pakistan. On Dec. 30 Kosovan-born ethnic Albanian Muslim gunman Ibrahim Shkupolli (b. 1966) kills five in a shopping mall in Helsinki, Finland incl. his ex-girlfriend, then kills himself. On Dec. 30 Islamic insurgents kidnap two French journalists, along with their driver and translator in Kapisa Province 75 mi. NE of Kabul. On Dec. 30 the U.S. govt. gives $3.8B more cash to GMAC Financial Services to help it survive huge loses in its home mortgage unit. On Dec. 30 a white 1992 Dodge mystery van sans license plans in Time Square on Broadway between 41st and 42nd Sts. causes a security scare, causing it to be blocked off from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; it turns out to contain the contents of a peddler's stand. On Dec. 30 the Afghan govt. accuses U.S.-led troops of killing innocent children in Ghazi Khan village in Narang district in E Kunar Province during a night raid that killed 10, causing anti-U.S. demonstrations in Kabul and Jalalabad, with chants of "Death to America"; the U.S. responds that they were part of an Afghan terror cell manufacturing IEDs, and that they killed nine who who were shooting at them from several bldgs. On Dec. 31 (2:00 a.m.) Pakistan commandos raid a private clinic in Wana in South Waziristan, killing four foreign militants and a woman. On Dec. 31 U.S. federal judge Ricardo M. Urbina dismisses charges against five Blackwater Worldwide security guards accused of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007, saying that the govt. improperly used their statements. On Dec. 31 U.S. Nat. Intel dir. Dennis C. Blair sends a letter to the 16-agency intel community saying that he will "commend those who did their jobs well and hold accountable those who did not"; meanwhile Obama's deputy nat. security adviser (since 2009) John O. Brennan (1954-) is granted a special ethics waiver by the White House to conduct a review of the intel and screening breakdown on the Xmas Underwear Bomber. On Dec. 31 China denounces a U.S. trade ruling on steel pipes by the Internat. Trade Commission that subsidized Chinese imports harm U.S. steel pipe manufacturers; between 2006 and 2008 they quadrupled from $681M to $2.8B. On Dec. 31 the high court of Malaysia rules that the Roman Catholic newspaper "The Herald" has the right to use the word Allah for God; on Jan. 6 it suspends the ruling pending appeal as the govt. claims only Muslims should be able to use it, and on Jan. 7 the Metro Tabernacle Christian church in Kuala Lumpur is fire-bombed, followed by several others; on Jan. 6 the High Court in Bombay rules that Islam can be criticized, but not "maliciously". On Dec. 31 Montana becomes the 3rd U.S. state to allow assisted suicide. On Dec. 31 U2 ends the year and the decade with $123M for its 360 Tour of sports stadiums in 16 cities, the only music act to top $100M; Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band comes in #2 at $95M, Elton John and Billy Joel's joint tour comes in #3 at $88M, and Britney Spears' Circus Tour comes in #4 with $83M. On Dec. 31 the Dow Jones Industrial Avg. closes at 10428.05 (down 120.46), up 18.8% for the year and down 9% for the decade; Standard & Poor's closes at 1115.10 (down 11.32), up 23.5% for the year. On Dec. 3-Jan. 3 mudslides in Brazil kill 76+. On Dec. 31 (night) there is a rare Blue Moon. In Dec. claiming the need to push through financial measures to save the sagging economy, Jordanian king Abdullah II dismisses his PM and replaces him with a palace aide, then dissolves parliament and postpones legislative elections for a year. In Dec. 2009 the Pakistan Five, five of members of the large Dar al-Hijrah Mosque located in Falls Church, Va. near Washington, D.C. (home of imam Anwar al-Awlaki) are captured in Pakistan while attempting to join an Islamic terrorist group. In Dec. France confirms the discovery of the richest oil deposit in W Europe (40B barrels), which runs under the Eiffel Tower. In Dec. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. buys natural gas giant XTO Energy Inc. for $30B in stock. In Dec. Russia's first Sapsan (Russ. "peregrine falcon") high-speed train begins operation between St. Petersburg and Moscow; it is built by the Siemens Co. of the U.S. In Dec. U.S. employers unexpectedly cut 85K jobs, leaving the employment rate at 10%. In Dec. Chinese-made Zhu Zhu Pets are the rage in the U.S. for Christmas toys, despite containing antimony. In Dec. the Combating Terrorism Center of West Point pub. Deadly Vanguards: A Study of al-Qaida's Violence Against Muslims, revealing that only 15% of all victims of al-Qaida attacks from 2004-8 were Westerners, and that more Muslims than Westerners were killed. In Dec. the first remains of a house in the ancient town of Nazareth from the time of Jesus Christ are discovered. In Dec. the White House Christmas Tree, designed by Simon Doonan of Barney's New York features an ornament with the face of Mao Zedong, and another with the transvestite char. Hedda Lettuce; Pres. Obama doesn't regularly attend church in his first year, and skips it on Xmas also. In Dec. Polish police announce the foiling of an al-Qaida plot to bomb the Euro 2012 Football Tournament. In Dec. after talks with Dutch sports car maker Spyker fall through, GM announces plans to close down operations at Saab. In Dec. residents of Colo. Springs, Colo. erect a sign reading "Welcome to Obamaville" visible from the main highway. In Dec. the 1.5K San Francisco Sea Lions of Pier 39 suddenly vanish; the first began leaving the day after Thanksgiving. In late Dec. the three top Wall St. banks, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley decide to award $49.5B in year-end bonuses, causing a public outcry; they received a total of $45B in cash under TARP. In late Dec. the Obama admin. announces that it is overturning the Bush admin. policy of automatically arresting immigrants claiming to be fleeing torture or persecution, allowing them to freely live in the U.S. while their applications for permanent asylum are being considered - the Xmas Underwear Bomber did it wrong? In Dec. former lingerie model Angie Sanselmente Valencia is exposed as running one of the world's largest drug rings; a warrant for her arrest is issued in Feb. The U.S. Congress removes longtime budget restrictions preventing officials of Washington, D.C. from implementing a medical marijuana intiative approved by voters in 1998. The U.S. begins building the $400M Iron Dome System for Israel to protect Israeli towns from Palestinian rockets coming from the Gaza Strip (finished 2010). The Rand Corp. pub. a U.S. Army-funded Study on Civil Unrest that recommends an internal U.S. police force to combat unrest, causing 20K troops to be deployed in the continental U.S. in 2011. The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies gives the U.S. govt. a report showing that Iran's greatest vulnerability is inability to refine oil into gasoline, causing them to fold them into the sanctions, with good effect; too bad, Iran begins building facilities to turn natural gas into methane and convert vehicles to run on it. Saudi Sheikh Saleh Al-Fawzan issues a fatwa permitting an employee to kill his co-worker for not praying to Allah. The synthetic drug Mephedrone (AKA meow or miaow) becomes the #4 street drug in the U.K. behind marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy; it is not made illegal in the U.K. until Apr. 16, 2010, and the U.S. until ?. Ben & Jerry's renames its popular Chubby Hubby flavor to Hubby Hubby to commemorate gay rights. Tasmania launches its first bank for women. After pressure by pro-Palestinian activists, Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass. becomes the first U.S. univ. to divest itself from mutual funds tied to Israel. On Aug. 25 the Web site Ancient History Encyclopedia is launched. On Nov. 3 GPal is founded as a competitor to near-monopoly PayPal. The term Muffin top to describe flabby flesh spilling over the waistline of pants is coined in Australia. The first annual Brooklyn Folk Festival in N.Y. is held. Architecture: On Mar. 29 $850M City Field in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, N.Y. opens as the home of the NL New York Mets, replacing Shea Stadium (opened 1964). On Apr. 23 the 645-ft.-tall 58-story blue-gray glass late-modernist Millennium Tower in downtown San Francisco, Calif. in the South of Market district at the N end of the Transbay Transit Center opens, skipping floors 13 and 44 for superstitious reasons, which doesn't stop it from sinking and tilting by 2016. On May 8 the $218M Dubai Fountain on manmade Burj Khalifa Lake in Dubai, UAE opens. shooting water 500 ft. into the air while being illuminated by 6.6K lights and 50 colored projectors and accompanied by music. On May 27 $1.3B Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Tex. opens as the home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys; the first pre-season home game is played on Aug. 21, and the first regular season home game on Sept. 20; on July 25, 2013 it is renamed AT&T Stadium. On Nov. 8 the Flight 93 Nat. Memorial is begun in Stonycreek Township, Penn. (2 mi. N of Shanksville and 60 mi. SE of Pittsburgh) to honor the 40 victim-heroes of Flight 93 on 9/11. 1,811-ft. Chaotianmen Bridge in Chongqing, China opens, becoming the world's longest steel arch bridge (until ?). The Crooked House in Sopot, Poland is based on the works of Polish artist Jan Marcin Szancer and Swedish artist Per Dahlberg. The 24m-tall 4-floor Dubai Divers Fountain in Dubai Mall features fiberglass divers; The 2,265-seat Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Calif., designed by Frank Owen Gehry opens on Oct. 23. The $700M U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq opens on 104 acres of land, with 21 bldgs. and 15-ft. thick walls to protect the staff of 5.5K, becoming the largest diplomatic facility on Earth, 10x larger than the next largest, the U.S. embassy in Beijing. On Nov. 8 the Flight 93 Nat. Memorial is begun in Stonycreek Township, Penn. (2 mi. N of Shanksville and 60 mi. SE of Pittsburgh) to honor the 40 victim-heroes of Flight 93 on 9/11. The 100m x 5 m Toilet Bowl Waterfall (Fountain) in Shiwan Park in Foshan, Guangdong Provice, South China opens, designed by Shu Yong, consisting of 10K recycled toilets and urinals. Sports: On Feb. 15 the 2009 (51st) Daytona 500 is won by Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth (1972-), becoming the first #17 car since Darrell Waltrip in 1989 to win. On May 2 the the indoor practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys in Irving, Tex. collapses in high winds, causing 12 to be hospitalized and permanently paralyzing scouting asst. Rich Behm (1975-). On May 24 (Sun.) the 2009 (93rd) Indianapolis 500 is won by Helio Castroneves (1975-) of Brazil (3rd win). On May 30-June 12 the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals see the Pittsburgh Penguins defeat the Detroit Red Wings 4-3, making Pittsburgh the only city to win the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup in the same year; Pittsburgh becomes the 2nd team after the 1971 Montreal Canadiens to win after losing the first two games on the road; MVP is 6'3" Penguins center Evgeni (Yevgeni) Vladimirovich "Geno" Malkin (1986-), who becomes the first Russian-born and Asian-born MVP. On June 4-14 the 2009 NBA Finals sees the Los Angeles Lakers (coach Phil Jackson) defeat the Orlando Magic (coach Stan Van Gundy) by 4-1: MVP is Kobe Bryant of the Lakers. On Nov. 27 (2:25 a.m.) Am. golf superstar Tiger Woods (1975-) crashes his Cadillac Escalde SUV into a fire hydrant outside his Fla. home, then locks himself up in his house until Nov. 29, when he admits responsibility, with the soundbyte "I'm human and I'm not perfect", after which he admits "transgressions" regarding allegations of extramarital affairs, after which at least 12 all-white mostly blonde babes come out of the er, woodwork to claim affairs with him, incl. high-priced hookers, giving his untarnished image mucho grass between the toes, causing his endorsement career to tank, with Gatorade being the first, dropping its Tiger Woods drink, although it claims it already decided to, followed on Dec. 12 by Accenture Pic, on Dec. 18 by Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer, and on Dec. 31 by AT&T; shareholders in cos. that sponsored him lose a total of $12B; after his Swedish-born white blonde-blue wife (since 2004) Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren (1980-) leaves him, he announces his retirement from golfing until he gets his life back together; she demands half of his $600M wealth plus custody of their two children; meanwhile on Dec. 16 he is voted top athlete of the decade by the AP, with 64 tournament wins incl. 12 majors and 56 PGA Tour wins. Nobel Prizes: Peace: Barack Hussein Obama II (1961-) (U.S.); Literature: Herta Muller (Müller) (1953-) (Germany); Physics: Sir Charles Kuen Kao (1933-) (U.K.) (optical fibers), and Willard Sterling Boyle (1924-) (U.S.) and George Elwood Smith (1930-) (U.S.) (CCDs); Chem.: Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (1952-) (U.K.), Thomas Arthur Steitz (1940-) (U.S.), and Ada E. Yonath (1939-) (Israel) (first Israeli woman) [structure and function of the ribosome]; Med.: Elizabeth Helen Blackburn (1948-), Jack William Szostak (1952-), and Carolyn Widney "Carol" Greider (1961-) [telomerase]; Econ.: Elinor "Lin" Ostrom (1933-2012) (U.S.) (first woman) and Oliver Eaton Williamson (1932-) (U.S.) [economic governance, esp. the commons]. Sports: On Apr. 12 Angela "the Duck" Cabrera (1969-) becomes the first Argentine to win the Masters golf tournament. On May 2 (Sat.) 50-1 gelding Mine That Bird stages one of the most shocking upsets in the 135th Kentucky Derby on a muddy track, winning by 6-3/4 lengths, the largest winning margin in 63 years (Assault in 1946, who won by 8 lenghts); on May 16 Rachel Alexandra (2006-) (sired by Birdstone) (who won the Kentucky Oaks on May 1) becomes the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924, with Mine That Bird coming in 2nd by a length; on June 6 11-1 Summer Bird, another horse sired by Birdstone wins the 141st Belmont Stakes by 2-3/4 lengths, with Mine That Bird coming in 3rd; jockey Calvin Borel (1947-), who rode the winners in the first two races on different horses (a first) is thwarted in his bid to win an unprecedented personal Triple Crown. On July 19 Thomas Sturges "Tom" Watson (1949-) misses an 8-ft. par putt at the British Open, losing his chance to become the oldest major champion in history as Stewart Clink clinks it into the cup to win. On July 23 lefty Mark Alan Buehrle (1979-), #56 of the Chicago White Sox pitches a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays (5-0) at U.S. Cellular Field; on July 28 he strikes out a record 45 consecutive batters; on June 14 he hit his first ML homer off Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Braden Looper. On July 28 after winning the 400m freestyle on July 26, Paul Biedermann (1986-) of Germany defeats Michael Phelps in the 200m freestyle final at the world championships (his first defeat since 2005), wearing the Arena X all-polyurethane swimsuit, while Phelps has to stick with his Speedo LZR Racer due to contractual obligations, throwing the sport into a tizzy, as the Arena X-Glide suit will not be banned until next year. On Aug. 16 at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Usain "Lightning" Bolt (1986-) of Jamaica shatters the 100m world record from 9.76 to 9.58 sec., becoming the largest margin of improvement since the start of electronic timing. On Aug. 16 one of the greatest upsets in golf history sees South Korean golfer Y.E. Yang (Yang Yong-eun) (1972-) defeat Tiger Wins to wood, er, Tiger Woods to win the U.S. PGA title, becoming the first Asian-born player to win a major; Woods had not lost any tournament in nine years and was leading by two shots going into the final round. On Aug. 31-Sept. 14 the 2009 U.S. Open of Tennis (which runs to Mon. because of rain) sees Belgian wild card Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (1983-), who left the game two years ago to start a family then returned to tennis a month ago defeat Serena Williams in the semi-final, who blows up at the end and threatens a judge, drawing a $10.5K fine and other disciplinary action, becoming Williams' 3rd tournament since returning; Clijsters defeats Caroline Wozniacki (1990-) (first Dane in a Grand Slam final in the Open Era) in straight sets 7-6, 6-3 to win her 2nd U.S. Open title (2005), becoming the first unseeded player and wild card to win, and first mother since Evonne Goolagong in 1980; on Sept. 14 Juan Martin (Martín) del Potro (1988-) of Argentina upsets five-time defending champ Swiss maestro Roger Federer in a four-hour match to win the men's singles title. Architecture: On May 27 $1.3B Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Tex. opens as the home of the NFL Dallas Cowboys; on July 25, 2013 it is renamed AT&T Stadium. On ? the 682-ft. (208m) Great Beijing Wheel opens, becoming the world's tallest Ferris wheel (until ?), with passengers able to view the Great Wall of China on clear sunny days - about three seconds a year? The 274m 77-story twin-tower $450M City of Capitals in Moscow is finished, becoming the tallest bldg. in Europe (until ?) - the Russian WTC? The $30M 92.5K sq. ft. Grand Mosque of Marseille is built, with a light that shines during prayers instead of a loud broadcast; Marseille has 200K Muslims. Inventions: In Feb. researchers at the U. of Calif. San Diego (UCSD) demonstrate their Einstein Robot, which incl. the ability to smile. On Apr. 27 IBM announces the Question Answering (QA) system, which they plan to put in a human vs. computer test on TV's "Jeopardy!". In Apr. the Hitachi Ltd. Wooo H001 Cell Phone has a 3-D mode, but is too cumbersome and isn't marketed in the U.S. On May 28 Bing.com search engine is launched by Microsoft to compete with Google. On June 19 Manchester U. physicist Andre Geim announces the invention of Graphene, the thinnest and strongest known material in the Universe, one atom thick, made of pure carbon; it has the potential of beating silicon as the fastest material for computer chips. In June Mas Subamanian and his graduate student Andrew E. Smith of Ore. State U. released the new blue pigment YInMn (yttrium, indium, manganese) Blue. On July 8 Google announces that it is developing the Chrome Operating System in direct competition to Microsoft's bug-filled Windows Operating System for netbooks. On Oct. 22 Microsoft launches Windows 7, hoping to win back millions of pissed-off customers who bought their cruddy Vista Operating System. On Oct. 29 Samsung Electronics Co. displays their 10.1" color electronic paper (e-paper) device, which they plan to produce in 1-2 years. In Oct. the first genetically-engineered "Holy Grail of the plant breeding world" blue roses hit the market in Japan at $22 apiece, 10x the usual price. On Nov. 17 NEC Electronics Corp. and Soundpower Corp. announce a new type of vibration-driven remote control that doesn't require a battery and can be used with home electric appliances, generating electricity from the vibration caused by pressing the button. On Dec. 8 a Plain Paper Battery coated with carbon nanotubes and dipped in lithium electrolyte solution that reduces battery weight by 20% is described by Liangbing Hu. On Dec. 15 the twin-engine widebody 186-ft.-long Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its first flight two years behind schedule. becoming Boeing's most fuel-efficient airliner by making use of carbon composite materials in the airframe, designed to be 20% more fuel efficient than the Boeing 767 that it replaces. On Dec. 24 the first 1-Molecule Transistor is announced in Nature by researchers from Yale U. and Gwangju Inst. of Science and Tech. in South Korea. In Dec. the 5-pasenger BYD E6 electric car from China is introduced, going 250 mi. on a single charge. In Dec. UCSD prof. Ricardo Dominguez announces the Transborder Immigrant Tool, a cell phone app to help illegal immigrants from Mexico find the best locations for food, water, and groups to help them sneak into the U.S. In Dec. MIT develops a new wheel for bicycles that captures the kinetic energy released when it brakes and saves it for when the rider needs a boost. Cloud computing Mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto (1975-) of Japan invents Bitcoin electronic cryptocurrency, inventing the first blockchain database and releasing the source code; in 2010 it is first used for illegal drug purchases on the Internet by hallucogenic mushroom farmer Ross William Ulbricht (1984-) of Tex., who creates the online black market site Silk Road in Feb. 2011 under the name Dread Pirate Roberts, which is shut down by the FBI in Oct. 2013, after which on May 29, 2015 a federal judge sentences Ulbricht to life in prison without parole. begins to threaten software giant Microsoft et al. by providing software as a service rather than a product, with leaders incl. Google. The Ares (Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical System by Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy is swallowed by the patient in 15 separate parts, after which it self-assembles inside the body and helps surgeons carry out procedures. Blue Brain is built by Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, attempting to duplicate the brain in silicon. The Eigenharp, an new electronic combo sitar-bassoon is marketed by Eigenlabs in Devon, England. Israel fields the Guardium unmanned ground vehicle, an armored golf cart. Nepalese science student Milan Karki (1991-) invents a solar panel made of human hair; a Ł23 panel produces 9V at 18W, 4x cheaper than current panels. Jeremy O'Brien, Jonathan Matthews, Alberto Politi et al. of the U. of Bristol build a siicon chip that implements the 1994 Peter Shor algorithm to crack the RSA algorithm, making the govt. and all computer users nervous. The USAF RQ-170 Sentinel is introduced, a stealth reconnaisance jet aircraft flying wing AKA the Beast of Kandahar. The Ceramtek Wonder Battery, built in Salt Lake City, Utah crams 20-40 KWH of energy into a refrigerator-sized package, promising to revolutionize the world and end dependence on an energy grid. The DEKA Arm (AKA Luke after Luke Skywalker of "Star Wars") is developed with funds from the Pentagon. HP Labs announces a project to build the Central Nervous System for the Earth (CeNSE) as part of the emerging Internet of Things. Frank Guenter et al. of Boston U., Harvard U. and MIT develop the first thought-to-speech translator. The ErockIT electric pedal-assisted bicycle from Germany attains speeds of 50 mph. Tire manufacturer Yokohama begins marketing Super E-spec Tires, made with orange oil instead of rubber to save on petroleum. The Nao humanoid robot can surf the Web. British scientist Jon Spratley develops a "telepathic microchip" allowing paraplegics to control computers. Softkinetic and Optima of Belgium invent 3-D Gesture Recognition, allowing TVs and videogames to be controlled by a wiggle of the fingers. The hydrogen-powered Riversimple Car is leased at $315 a mo.; the first vehicles go into production in 2013. Nephelios, a solar-powered blimp is built by high school engineering students in France. Hiroshi Ishiguro of Japan creates a robot twin called Geminoid HI-1, which incl. his personal idiosyncrasies such as tapping its toes and fidgeting. The Bloodhound SSC supersonic car is developed, containing a rocket, a jet engine, and a V-12 gasoline engine; it will try to break the 1600 km/h (1000 mph) land speed barrier in 2011. Julie Sodem et al. of the U. of Ulster invent a Formula Three car made out of cashew nut cells and other recycled materials, which runs on bio-disel and has a top speed of 130 mph. Toyota develops the Brain-Machine Interface, allowing a person to control a wheelchair with his mind; an emergency stop is effected by puffing one's cheeks. The first slime mold biological robot (AKA Plasmobot) is built in Britain. Victor Gura of UCLA invents a portable kidney dialysis machine. Rickard Hederstierna (1982-) invents the Cocoon, a glass cooker that grows a meatlike material for food out of packets containing muscle cells, oxygen and other nutrients. The Rear Projection Urinal is invented by a pub in Melbourne, Australia. The Toyota Flowers, developed from the cherry sage plant and gardenia absorb harmful atmospheric gases and create water vapor on the grounds of their Prius plant in Toyota City, Japan. The YikeBike looks like a bar seat but can be turned into a "mini penny-farthing" that goes 10 mph. Russia announces that it is designing a nuclear ship to fly humans to Mars, and that the design will be ready by 2010, after which it will take nine years and 17B rubles ($600M) to build it. Coca Colla, containing cocaine is manufactured in Bolivia, becoming a hit in the region, but running afoul of internat. drug laws; it has a red-white label like Coca-Cola, and is marketed as an energy drink. Science: On Feb. 3 BioEssays pub. an article by Nick Lane, William Martin et al. of the Univ. College London, rejecting J.B.S. Haldane's 1929 "Primordial Soup Theory for the Origin of Life" in favor of origin in deep-sea hydrothermal vents, powered by hot gases incl. hydrogen, CO2, nitrogen, and hydrogen sulfide. On Feb. 24 NASA's $280M Orbiting Carbon Laboratory, designed to detect worldwide carbon emissions plunges into the ocean after launch from Vandenberg AFB in Calif. when the nose cone fails to come off, weighting it down; on July 2, 2014 NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 is launched to study CO2 concentrations and distribution in Earth's atmosphere. On Feb. 27 NASA launches the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter (LRO), which will look for places where water might be found by astronauts; meanwhile on Oct. 9 the $600M NASA Centaur Lunar Impactor smashes into the Moon at 5.6K mph in a frozen crater believed to contain ice, and on Nov. 13 NASA announces the discovery of a large lunar ice field at the S pole. On Mar. 5 NASA launches the Kepler spacecraft, which will orbit the Sun, becoming the first "planetary census taker", looking for "pale blue dots" (Carl Sagan), planets that could support life in constellations Cygnus and Lyra. On Mar. 8 Pres. Obama overturns Pres. George W. Bush's 8-year ban on stem cell research, limiting scientists to cells culled from fertility clinic embryos that otherwise would be thrown away on Apr. 17. On Mar. 17 the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite is launched by the European Space Agency; in 2011 it becomes the first satellite to detect an earthquake from space, the Mar. 11, 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. In Mar. Christchurch, New Zealand-born Kevin Edward Trenberth (1944-) of the Nat. Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) (lead author of the 2001 and 2007 IPCC Assessment Reports) pub. the article Earth's Global Energy Budget in Proceedings of the Am. Meteorological Society, displaying a Global Energy Flow Diagram that purports to show how "back radiation" of 333 W/sq. m causes global warming, and is quickly adopted by climate scientists, even though the incoming solar radiation is only 341.3 W/sq. m; this is moose hockey because it ignores the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics and doesn't mention that convection overrides radiation in Earth's atmosphere, or that back radiation is mathematical science fiction that creates an imaginary second Sun along with a perpetual motion machine? On Apr. 4 the 3-year Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP) is pub. in the Am. Heart Journal, finding no evidence for divine intervention but detecting a possible proof for the power of negative thinking, with patients who were prayed for and knew it experiencing a higher rate of postsurgical heart arrhythmias (59% vs. 52%). On Apr. 5 the journal Motivation and Emotion pub. an article claiming that those who smile in their high school yearbook photos had a 5x lower divorce rate than those who frowned, not counting ever-smiley Hollywood celebs. On Apr. 10 researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center announce that TB4 (Tymosin Beta-4) encourages growth and repair of heart cells if injected after a heart attack. On Apr. 14 the United Arab Emirates claims the world's first cloned camel, the Arab version of Dolly the Sheep, a 1-humped female called Injaz born on Apr. 8 after five years of work. On Apr. 21 Swiss and French scientists from the European Southern Observatory in Chile led by Michel Mayor announce the most Earth-sized and temperate planet yet found beyond the Solar System, #4 orbiting Gliese 581, a dim red star 21 l.y. away, becoming the first of 340+ planets discovered since 1995 that might be able to support life. In Apr. Washington, D.C.-born former Rush Limbaugh aide Marc Morano (1968-) founds the climate change denial Web site Climate Depot, sponsored by the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) of Washington, D.C. (founded in 1985), going on to spread news of the Climategate scandal, debate Bill Nye the Science Guy on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" in Dec. 2012 and Sierra Club exec dir. Michael Brune on ditto in Jan. 2013, and produce the documentary Climate Hustle on May 2, 2016. On May 4 Jeff Kepner (1951-) of Augusta, Ga. undergoes the first-ever double hand transplant, asking for them to be removed in 2016 after the prove nonfunctional; on May 5 Connie Big Gulp, er, Connie Culp (1962-) (whose lowdown hubby shot off her face with a shotgun, then botches his own suicide and gets a lousy seven years for attempted murder) bravely steps forward in Cleveland, Ohio to show the results of the first U.S. face transplant (last year), by the Cleveland Clinic, uttering the soundbyte "I got me my nose" - transplant his face to his ass and vice-versa, what an ass? On May 21 Science Daily reports reports that so-called "junk DNA" isn't junk but performs vital functions, using genes called transposons to regroup the DNA at key phases in the lifecycle. On May 22 PLoS Genetics announces that HIF-1 (hypoxia-inducible factor 1), which helps an organism survive by turning on when oxygen levels are low plays a role in human cancer, explaining why dietary restriction lengthens lifespan. On May 27 in an article in Nature, scientists in Japan led by Erika Sasaki announce the creation of the first genetically-modified "transgenic" monkeys that can pass their new genetic attributes to their offspring, producing baby marmosets Kei and Kou, whose skin glows green under UV light, causing concerns to be raised of it being used on humans - the answer to race, make everybody into pastel glow in the dark colors? On May 28 a team at the U. of New South Wales in Australia announces that they have used stem cells to help grow contact lenses for corneal patients. On June 9 the journal Genetic announces pub. a breakthrough by a team of scientists in Germany, Russia, and Sweden of locating the set of genetic regions responsible for animal tameness. On June 16 Nature Materials announces that scientists at NYU have created a method to precisely bind nano and micrometer-sized particles together into large-scale structures after overcoming the problem of uncontrollable sticking. On June 19 German scientists announce official approval for Ununbium as chemical element #112; it was first announced in 1996. On June 19 researchers at the Montreal Neurological Inst. announce in Science the capturing of the protein translation mechanism underlying long-term memory formation. On June 19 Evolutionary Ecology pub. the discovery of the first plant that feigns sickness to avoid insect attacks, Caladium steudneriifolium, found in the forests of S Ecuador. U. of Ga. researcher Jason Locklin et al. develop a method of growing molecular wire brushes that conduct electricity, becoming a first step toward developing biological fuel cells for pacemakers, cochlear implants, and prosthetic limbs. On June 24 the Proceedings of the Royal Society B in Britain reports that warmer environments cause faster microevolution in mammals; until now the effect was only shown for plants and ectothermic marine animals. On June 26 Nature pub. research by the Carnegie Inst. in Md. showing that adult rather than embryonic stem cells can be used to treat muscular disorders. On June 27 Nature Biotechnology pub. an article by Australian scientists Jennifer MacDiarmid and Himanshu Brahmbhatt that they have achieved a 100% survival in mice with human cancer cells using a new "trojan horse" therapy. In June students at Cambridge U. create the seven E. chromi strains of Escherichia colia, one in each color of the rainbow using BioBricks, pioneering synthetic biology; MIT later creates a Registry of Standard Biological Parts for them. In June Yale U. physicist Leonardo DiCarlo et al. make the first solid-state quantum processor, which uses quantum entanglement. In June satellite data reveals that the Earth's temp has dropped by 0.74F since former U.S. vice-pres. Al Gore released "An Inconvenient Truth" in 2006, indicating that the Earth's fever has broken? On July 7 English scientists in Newcastle claim to have created the first human sperm in the lab using stem cells; men are doomed to obsolescence? On July 8 U. of Adelaide and Cambridge U. scientists announce a way of genetically modifying crops to allow them to grow in salty water, promising more food for hungry nations. On July 8 the NASA Cassini spacecraft obtains the first direct evidence of liquid methane lakes on Titan. On July 13 Nature Photonics pub. the discovery by a team at Yale U. of a repulsive force of light, which along with the attractive force can be used as mechanical switches on IC chips; the force is caused by two beams out of phase with each other, and is at right angles to the beams; "The light force is intriguing because it works in the opposite way as charged objects. Opposite charges attract each other, whereas out-of-phase light beams repel each other." (Wolfram Pernice) On July 16 Human Mutation pub. a study by scientists in Montreal, Canada that find a difference between the DNA of blood and tissue cells, shaking up the scientific world. On July 20 Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley alerts NASA to the presence of a new scar on Jupiter's atmosphere on July 19, caused by an unseen object hitting it, which turns out to be a Titanic-sized asteroid - Bernie Madoff's gigabuck loot capsule? On July 23 Taylor Perron et al. of UCB pub. an article in Nature that theoretically predicts the topographic wavelength of ridges and valleys, and explains whey they tend to be evenly spaced despite the underlying soil type. On July 23 the the first panda cub is born using frozen sperm, at Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in Sichuan, China; the mother is You You. On July 26 Nature pub. an article describing the Multiplex Automated Genome Engineering Method, which allows multiple genes to be edited in parallel. In July researchers at Northwestern U. report the first successful growing of mature human eggs in the lab. On July 26 Green Pea Galaxies that form stars 10x faster than the Milky Way despite being 10x smaller and 100x less massive are discovered by amateur astronomers. In July Nature pub. a report by Chinese scientists of the first use of induced pluripotent stem cells to clone mice from adult mouse skin cells. The July issue of the FASEB Journal reports the discovery of why bats live longer than closely rleated animals such as mice: proper protein folding. In July Shihui Han et al. of Beijing U. pub. an article in the Journal of Neuroscience reporting research that shows that brains respond less strongly to the pain of strangers whose ethnicity is different compared to strangers of one's own race. In July opthalmologist John Marshall of King's College, London announces a new technique called Retinal Regeneration Therapy to reverse the onset of macular degeneration (AMD) using a laser to clean debris from Bruch's membrance behind the retina. In July Yizhi Jane Tao et al. of Rice U. pub. an article in the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences reporting that they have described the atomic structure of the protein shell carrying the genetic code of hepatitis E (HEV). In July scientists at Oxford U. announce in Nature Physics the creation of transparent aluminium by using a powerful soft X-ray laser; the same material was made-up for the 1986 film "Star Trek IV". In July Moshe Shoham of the Technion Inst. in Israel develops the first micro robot that can crawl through the human body on micro legs. In July an article in Biogeosciences reports that satellite image studies reveal that the Sahara has been slowly regreening between 1982-2002. On Aug. 6 an article in Nature announces that the genetic structure of the HIV-1 virus has finally been decoded. On Aug. 10 researchers at the Feinberg School of Medicine of Northwestern U. announce that schizophrenia is caused by a deficiency in the brain protein kalirin, causing a traffic jam in the frontal cortex. On Aug. 10 scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley Nat. Lab of the U.S. Energy Dept. announce a new high-throughput protein pipeline that determines protein structure in days rather than years. On Aug. 12 astronomers announce the discovery of WASP-17, a planet that orbits a star 1K l.y. from Earth in a direction backward compared to the rotation of the host star, becoming the first ever. On Aug. 12 the Journal of Biological Engineering pub. an article by Todd Eckdahl et al. at Mo. Western State U. describing the use of bacteria to build a computer that can solve the Hamilton Path Problem. On Aug. 17 Joel Smoller of the U. of Mich. and Blake Temple of the U. of Calif. pub. the Big Wave Theory as an alternative to Dark Energy to explain the apparent expansion of the U as caused by an expanding wave in spacetime. On Aug. 17 Vladimir Shalaev et al. of Purdue U. announce the Spaser, the tinest laser ever made. On Aug. 24 Andrew Elefanty, Ed Stanley et al. at Monash U. pub. an article in Nature Methods describing how they have modified stem cells into ErythRED cells, which glow red when they become red blood cells. In Aug. 26 Shoukhrat Mitalipov et al. of the Ore. Health and Sciences U. in Portland announce that they have produced monkeys with DNA from two mothers, raising legal questions for human use. In Aug. Tom Ran and Ehud Shapiro of the Weizmann Inst. in Israel develop a DNA computer that can answer yes-no questions. In Aug. astronomers discover an interplanetary smash-up around young star HD 172555, where an object the size of Earth's Moon slams into a planet the size of Mercury. In Aug. NASA scientists discover glysine in comet Wild 2 (pr. vilt), becoming the first amino acid found in a comet. In Aug. Jay Shendure and Sarah Ng of the U. of Wash. discover the genetic cause of Miller Syndrome, which causes facial malformations et al. On Sept. 3 scientists at the Gladstone Inst. of Cardiovascular Disease pub. an article in Nature tracing the evolution of the 4-chambered human heart to a common genetic factor with turtles and other reptiles. NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) deploys spiderbots inside Mount St. Helens, becoming the first network of volcano sensors that can automatically communicate with each other and with satellites without using a base station. On Sept. 3 an article by Jonathan Morris et al. of the Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy in Berling pub. a paper claiming experimental proof for magnetic monopoles. On Sept. 16 Laboratoire d'Astrophysique in Marseille, France announces the discovery of the first rocky world beyond the Solar System, CoRoT-7b. On Sept. 24 a report in Current Biology announces that researchers can tell what number of dots a person has seen by analyzing brain activity; another report in Neuron announces that they can reconstruct images from recorded neural activity. On Sept. 30 EMBO Molecular Medicine reports that old human muscle can be maintained and repaired by stem cells to restore youthful vigor. On Sept. 30 Nature pub. an article by Hong Sheng Zhao of the U. of St. Andrews in the U.K. reporting that measurements don't support the theory of dark matter. In Sept. the RV 144 AIDS vaccine is found to work on 30% of 16K volunteers from Thailand, becoming the first vaccine that works, although scientists don't know how. In Sept. scientists from Cal Tech report results from NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) (launched Aug. 25, 1997) that cosmic ray concentrations in 2009 are 19% higher than at any time in the last 50 years. On Oct. 2 Tim White of UCLA et al. announce in Nature the discovery of Ardipithecus ramidus AKA Ardi, a female skeleton dated at 4.4M years ago, about 4 ft. tall and 110 lbs., who can stand on two legs and swing through trees with opposable big toes, being 1M years earlier than Lucy and hence our mother, also the mother of chimps, finally ending the debate of whether humans are descended from chimpanzees? On Oct. 3 Anne Verbiscer of the U. of Va. et al. pub. an article in Nature announcing the discovery of a new nearly invisible ring around Saturn. On Oct. 9 (4:30 a.m. ET) NASA crashes the LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite) into the Moon at 5.6K mph to blast a huge hole in search of hidden water, creating a 30-mi.-high plume observable from Earth with a 10-in. telescope; too bad, no plume was seen. On Oct. 10 scientists at Columbia U. announce in the Proceedings of the Nat. Academy of Sciences that they have created the first complex anatomically-sized bone from human adult stem cells, part of a human jaw bone. On Oct. 14 a study is pub. in Nature by Joseph Ecker of the Salk Inst. announcing the mapping of the first complete human epigenome, the first layer of genetic control. On Oct. 27 (8 a.m.) the prototype $450M NASA Ares I-X (Space Shuttle replacement), designed for the Constellation program that will return astronauts to the Moon by 2020 is launched less than one week after a blue-ribbon panel released its final report bringing the future of the human spaceflight program into question, and recommending that it be privatized; a large dent near the base is found on the rocket after it splashes into the Atlantic Ocean. In Oct. Geophysical Research Letters reveals that a vertical hole on the Moon has been discovered that's as big as a city block and as deep as a modest skyscraper. On Nov. 13 the Darwin Was Wrong Conference in Costa Mesa, Calif. presents evidence and arguments blasting Charles Darwin and Darwinian Evolutionary theory, calling him a great writer but not a great scientist, and claiming that the famous Lucy skeleton is really a human. On Nov. 17 Climategate starts when a hacker breaks into computers at the U. of East Anglia in England and finds emails of Climatic Research Unit (CRU) scientists faking global warming data at will and bragging about it, dogging the Dec. Copenhagen Summit; CRU dir. Philip Douglas "Phil" Jones (1952-) is in charge of the two key data sets used by the U.N. Intergovt. Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to draw up its reports, along with Australian climate scientist Tom Wigley, causing them to be known as Jones and Wigley; "Here are some speculations on correcting SSTs to partly explain the 1940s warming blip... So, if we could reduce the ocean blip by, say, 0.15 degC, then this would be significant for the global mean -- but we'd still have to explain the land blip... It would be good to remove a least part of the 1940s blip, but we are still left with 'why the blip'" (Wigley, Sept. 27, 2009); Los Alamos Nat. Lab researcher Petr Chylek sends an email titled "Open Letter to the Climate Research Community" to 100 of his climate research peers, containing the soundbyte that the climate science community has "substituted the search for truth with an attempt at proving one point of view", concluding "Let us drastically modify or temporarily discontinue the IPCC" and appealing for climate scientists to stop making "unjustified claims and exaggerated projections about the future even if the editors of some eminent journals are just waiting to publish them"; on Nov. 22 Climategate II sees another batch of email released, causing Myron Ebell, dir. of the Competitive Enterprise Inst. Center on Energy and Environment to utter the soundbyte: "If there were any doubts remaining after reading the first Climategate e-mails, the new batch of e-mails that appeared on the web today make it clear that the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is an organized conspiracy dedicated to tricking the world into believing that global warming is a crisis that requires a drastic response"; too bad, it comes too near the Copenhagen Summit to stop it, despite U.N. climate scientist panel head Rajendra Pachauri uttering the soundbyte: "The internal consistency from multiple lines of evidence strongly supports the work of the scientific community, incl. those individuals singled out in these email exchanges." On Nov. 20 Washington U. in St. Louis, Mo. announces the decoding of the corn (maize) genome. On Nov. 26 the New Journal of Physics describes a new plama disinfection device which works even on the hospital superbug MRSA. In Nov. Sasha Kashlinky et al. of the Goddard Space Flight Center in Md. announce that they believe that something big beyond the visible edge of the Universe exists that is causing 1K galaxy cluters to stream toward it at high speed. In Nov. NASA scientists reproduce uracil in the lab, becoming the first key component of RNA reproduced. Constantinos Daskalakis of MIT pub. a doctoral thesis in game theory that is a breakthrough on Nash equilibrium, proving that it belongs to the subset of NP called PPAD-complete (introduced in 1994 by Christos Papadimitriou), which is NP-complete with an equilibrium that always exists, becoming the biggest breakthrough in 10 years. On Dec. 2 the U. Bio-Medico of Rome announces a new brain-controlled bionic hand, which works successfully on patient Pierpaolo Petruzziello. On Dec. 14 the NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) is launched from Vanderberg AFB, going on to perform an all-sky astronomical survey in Earth orbit that helps discover the first Y Dwarf and Earth trojan asteroid before being placed into hibernation in Feb. 2011. On Dec. 16 Nature Genetics pub. research from the Babraham Inst. revealing that genes work together by huddling in clusters in the nucleus. On Dec. 16 British researchers Michael Stratton et al. of the Wellcome Trust announce the decoding of the genomes of lung and skin cancers; lung cancer DNA has more than 23K errors, with every 15 cigarettes causing one error; skin cancer (melanoma) has more than 30K errors. On Dec. 16 researchers announce the finding of the first known burial shroud from the time of Jesus in the 1st cent. C.E. in Jerusalem; the dude has leprosy and TB; its simple weave doesn't jive with the Shroud of Turin's complex design. On Dec. 17 Nature describes 4-Dim. Microscopy, developed at Caltech, allowing photons to be filmed with electrons. The ABCA13 Gene is discovered to be partially inactive in patients with severe psychological conditions incl. schizophrenia by an internat. team of scientists led by Edinburgh U. The World Digital Library Project is started by Tadahiro Kuroda et al. of Tokyo U. to attempt to preserve the contents of digital media in semiconductor memory chips that will last 1K years, vs. 10 years for CD-ROMs. George Ellis of the U. of Cape Town and Tony Rothman of Princeton U. propose a new Quantum Block Universe Model in which the past crystallizes out of the future, in which "The arrow of time arises simply because the future does not yet exist." Wasp-18b, a "hot Jupiter" planet orbiting the star Wasp-18 330 l.y. from Earth is discovered, upending the physicists' understanding of celestial mechanics because it orbits so close that it should have been consumed by the star in less than 1M years. Human Genome Sciences of Rockville, Md. successfully tests the Lupus drug Benlysta. Nonfiction: Hamed Abdel-Samad (1972-), My Farewell from Heaven (autobio.); calls for an "Islam Light" version in Europe sans Sharia, jihad, gender apartheid, proselytism, and the "entitlement mentality, dissing the German govt. for appeasing Islam, and predicting Islam's collapse, pissing-off Egyptian imams, who issue a death fatwa on him. Peter Ackroyd (1949-), Venice: Pure City. Sam Adams, Understanding and Surviving Martial Law: How to Survive and even Prosper During the Coming Police State; conservatives fear what Obama's regime might come to. Liaquat Ahamed (1952-), Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World (Pulitzer Prize); from WWI to the Great Depression. Buzz Aldrin (1930-), Magnificent Desolation (autobio.). Ali A. Allawi, The Crisis of Islamic Civilization; why Christian-style Reformation won't work for Islam since it would take too long. Gabriel Calzada Alvarez et al., Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources; Univ. Rey Juan Carlos study finds that Spanish solar energy subsidies "destroyed 2.2 jobs for every 'green job' created". Jonathan Ames (1964-), The Double Life Is Twice As Good: Essays and Fiction. Andy Andrews, The Noticer: A Story of Perspective About Life's Greatest Challenges; goes from homeless to bestselling author. Thomas G. Andrews, Killing for Coal: America's Deadliest Labor War; the 1913-14 S Colo. coal strike. Julia Angwin, Stealing My Space: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America (Mar. 17); Rupert Murdoch's $600M purchase of MySpace.com from founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson. Shari Arison (1947-), Birth: When the Spiritual and Material Come Together; Israel's richest woman says "The old world is collapsing" and a new one arriving in which "the spiritual and material come together". Paul Armentano, Steve Fox, and Mason Tvert, Marijuana is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? Karen Armstrong (1944-), The Case for God; "We are talking far too much about God these days." Reza Aslan (1972-), How to Win a Cosmic War War: God, Globalization and the End of the War on Terror; Islamic terrorists are really just misunderstood and will become lambs after being drawn into the Obama, er, political process? Seyran Ates (1963-), Islam Needs a Sexual Revolution; Turkish-born Kurdish writer in Germany disses Islam's horrible subjection of women. Peter H. Aykroyd, A History of Ghosts: The True Story of Seances, Mediums, Ghosts, and Ghostbusters; father of Dan Aykroyd of "Ghostbusters" fame. Sharlene Azam, Oral Sex is the New Midnight Kiss; white Canadian suburban girls ages 11-up are casual hos? Robert Baer (1952-), Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude (July 15); former CIA officer tells how the center of the global economy is a "kingdom built on thievery, one that nurtures terrorism, destroys any possibility of a middle class based on property rights, and promotes slavery and prostitution", while sitting on one-quarter of the world's oil reserves and enjoying the full support and protection of the U.S. govt.; "An invasion and a revolution might be the only things that can save the industrial West from a prolonged, wrenching depression." Russ Baker, Family of Secrets: The Bush Dynasty, the Powerful Forces That Put It in the White House, and What Their Influence Means for America. Allen Barra, Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee. Diana Butler Bass, A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story; Jesus was really a "religious revolutionary" who led a People's Crusade of "humility, hospitality, and love". Bruce Bawer (1956-), Surrender: Appeasing Islam, Sacrificing Freedom; how the PC leftist establishment is silencing critics of Islam. Alan Beattie, False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World. Cari Beauchamp, Joseph P. Kennedy Presents His Hollywood Years. Glenn Beck, Common Sense; bestseller attacking liberal control of Washington, D.C. C. Fred Bergsten, Charles Freeman, Nicholas Lardy and Derek Mitchell, China's Rise: Challenges and Opportunities. Mary Frances Berry (1938-), And Justice for All: The United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Struggle for Freedom in America. Harold Bloom (1930-), The Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism (Nov. 24). Max Blumenthal (1977-), Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party; channels Erich Fromm, claiming that a "culture of personal crisis" defines the Am. "radical right". Philipp Freiherr von Boeslager et al., Valkyrie: The Story of the Plot to Kill Hitler, by its Last Member (May 12). John R. Bradley, Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis; why the Saudi pop. hates the U.S. even though so many of its elite get their education there. Taylor Branch, The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the President (Sept. 29). Ian Bremmer (1969-), The Fat Tail: The Power of Political Knowledge for Strategic Investing. Lily Burana, I Love a Man in Uniform: A Memoir of Love, War and Other Battles. James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014), Packing the Court: The Rise of Judicial Power and the Coming Crisis of the Supreme Court; "full of memorable details about the byzantine nominations and political peculiarities of famous and obscure justices during the past two centuries", arguing for term limits for Supreme Court justices. Thomas Cahill (1940-), A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green (Mar.); his losing fight to save the dude, who was executed on Oct. 26, 2004 after 12 years on death row. Christopher Caldwell, Reflections on the Revolution in Europe: Immigration, Islam, and the West (July 28); i n a West filled with history ignoramuses, his observations that the horrible Muslims are setting up shop in Europe and how that could lead to a different Europe go unheeded? Thanassis Cambanis, A Privilege to Die: Inside Hezbollah's Legions and Their Endless War With Israel (Sept.). Philip Caputo (1941-), Crossers; the Mexican borderlands of N.M. and Ariz. Peter Carlin, Paul McCartney: A Life. Richard Cevantis Carrier (1969-), Not the Impossible Faith: Why Christianity Didn't Need a Miracle to Succeed (Feb. 10). Jimmy Carter (1924-), We Can Have Peace in the Holy Land: A Plan That Will Work; the 2-state solution is the only way? Rev. Cary Cash, A Table in the Presence: The Dramatic Account of How a U.S. Marine Battalion Experienced God's Presence Amidst the Chaos of the War in Iraq. Juanita Castro (1933-), Fidel and Raul, My Brothers: The Secret History; how Fidel's and Raul Castro's sister broke with them and began cooperating with the CIA before going into exile in 1964. Ron Charles, Charles Dickens, Defender of Civilization. Zev Chafets, Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues and the Inside Story of the Baseball Hall of Fame; built on a foundation of deceit? Henrik Raeder Clausen, The Bloody Truth About Cyprus (Mar.). Andrei Codrescu (1946-), The Posthuman Dada Guide: Tzara and Lenin Play Chess. Len Colodny (1938-) and Tom Schachtman, The Forty Years War: The Rise and Fall of the Neocons, from Nixon to Obama; the role of German-born Fritz G.A. Kramer (1908-2003), mentor of Henry Kissinger and Alexander Haig. Myles J. Connor Jr. and Jenny Siler, The Art of the Heist: Confessions of a Master Art Thief, Rock-and-Roller, and Prodigal Son. Joseph Contreras, In the Shadow of the Giant: The Americanization of Modern Mexico; Monterrey, Mexico and drug violence. Jerome Robert Corsi (1946-), Why Israel Can't Wait: The Coming War Between Israel and Iran; America for Sale: Fighting the New World Order, Surviving a Global Depression, and Preserving USA Sovereignty - covers all the bases? Ann Coulter (1961-), Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America. Harvey Gallagher Cox Jr. (1929-), The Future of Faith. Dave Cullen, Columbine. William Dalrymple (1965-), Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India. John Darwin (1948-), The Empire Project: The Rise and Fall of the British World-System, 1830-1970 (Oct. 30). Nonie Darwish (1949-), Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law. Richard Dawkins (1941-), The Greatest Show on Earth; his own theory of evolution. David Denby, Snark: It's Mean, It's Personal, and It's Ruining Our Conversation. Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin's Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution; ever since his voyage on the Beagle, Darwin set out to prove that all humans are one species? Colin Dickey, Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius. Huw Dixon (1958-), Surfing Economics: Essays for the Inquiring Economist (Dec. 4). Wendy Dobson, Gravity Shift: How Asia's New Economic Powerhouses Will Shape the 21st Century; the rise of China and India. Wendy Doniger, The Hindus: An Alternative History. Dinesh D'Souza (1961-), Life After Death: The Evidence. Stephen Dubner (1963-) and Steve Levitt (1967-), SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance; eat more kangaroo instead of beef to save on CO2 emissions?; global warming can be solved by pumping CO2 to the stratosphere through an 18-mi. hose?; pisses-off global warming scientists with alleged oversimplifications. Tony Dungy (1955-) and Nathan Whitaker, Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance; he retires after the 2008-9 season. Martin Edmond, The Supply Party. Robert Morse Edsel (1956-), The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History (Sept.); filmed in 2014 by George Clooney. Elizabeth Edwards (1949-2010), Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities (autobio.). Timothy Egan, The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America; the 1910 Northwestern Fire. Barbara Ehrenrich (1941-), Bright-Sided; the positive thinking industry. Bart D. Ehrman (1955-), Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them) (Feb. 28); believing that the Bible is infallible is not a condition for being a Christian? Pepe Escobar, Obama Does Globalistan (Jan. 20). John L. Esposito (1940-) and Ibrahim Kalin, The 500 Most Influential Muslims (Jan. 16); first in an annual series (ends ?). Ali Eteraz, Children of Dust: A Memoir of Pakistan (autobio.) (Oct. 13). Steve Farber and Harlan Abrahams, On the List: Fixing America's Failing Organ Transplant System. Craig Ferguson, American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot (Sept. 22). David Finkel, The Good Soldiers; the 2007 troop surge in Iraq and the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Div. AKA the Rangers; followed by "Thank You for Your Service" (2013). Charles Bracelon Flood, 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History; one of a spate of books pub. for the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth. Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals; turns Natalie Portman from a vegetarian into a vegan activist. Burton W. Folsom Jr., New Deal or Raw Deal? How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America (Nov. 17). William R. Fortschen, One Second After; bestseller about electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) and how they can cripple the U.S. Barbara Frale, The Shroud of Jesus Nazarene; claims to find the words "Jesus of Nazareth" in Greek on the Shroud of Turin, proving it's not a fake else it would have included "Son of God" or "Christ". Sarah Garland, Gangs in Garden City: How Immigration, Segregation, and Youth Violence Are Changing America's Suburbs; Latino gangs, incl. Mara Salvatrucha in Nassau County, Long Island, N.Y. P. David Gaubatz and Paul Sperry, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America; the sinister Council on Am.-Islamic Relations (CAIR). George F. Gilder (1939-), The Israel Test (July 22); how support of Israel is the test for supporters of civilization, scientific-technological progress, freedom, etc. vs. barbarism, and that anti-Semitism is fueled by simple jealousy of Jewish success and prosperity. Newt Gingrich (1943-) and Jackie Gingrich Cushman, Gingrich Family's 5 Principles for a Successful Life: From Our Family to Yours; dream big, work hard, learn every day, enjoy life, be true to yourself. Mark Girouard (1931-), Elizabethan Architecture: Its Rise and Fall, 1540-1640. Malcolm Gladwell (1963-), What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures. Charles Glass (1951-), Americans in Paris: Life and Death under the Nazi Occupation, 1940-1944. Jamie Glazov (1966-), United in Hate: The Left's Romance with Tyranny and Terror; the left's romance with militant Islam is a continuation of their love affair with Stalin? Ariel Glucklich, Dying for Heaven: Holy Pleasure and Suicide Bombers: Why the Best Qualities of Religion Are Also Its Most Dangerous; they don't do it out of hatred but out of devotion. Bernard Goldberg, A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media (Jan. 26); accuses the media of liberal bias. Daniel Goldhagen (1959-), Worse than War: Genocide, Eliminationism, and the Ongoing Assault on Humanity (Oct. 6). Gordon Goldstein, Lessons in Disaster; hawkish Vietnam War-era U.S. nat. security adviser McGeorge Bundy. Adam Gopnik (1956-), Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln and Modern Life; because they were both born in 1809, duh? Charles Goyette, The Dollar Meltdown. Robert Greene (1959-) and 50 Cent (1975-), The 50th Law. Steven Macon Greer (1955-), Contact: Countdown to Transformation. David Singh Grewal, Network Power: The Social Dynamics of Globalization; how globalization is changing cultures. David Ray Griffin, Osama bin Laden: Dead or Alive?; did he die of kidney failure in Tora Bora on Dec. 13, 2001? Eliza Griswold (1973-), The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam (Aug. 17). Stanislav Grof (1931-), LSD: Doorway to the Numinous: The Groundbreaking Psychedelic Research into Realms of the Human Unconscious. Ian Halperin, Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson (July 14); in Dec. 2008 author allegedly predicted that Jackson only had 6 mo. to live; his planned concert series at London's 02 Arena in July would have killed him anyway? David Boyce Hamilton, Cultural Economics and Theory (Oct. 22); a collection of his articles on institutional economics which stress the interaction of culture and technology in economic evolution. Victor Davis Hanson (1953-), How the Obama Administration Threatens Our National Security (Dec. 1); how Obama's is turning the U.S. from defender of the post-WWI order into an agent of global change, questioning everything that makes it strong. Rick Hanson and J. Richard Mendius, Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom (Nov. 1). Mark Harris, Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the New Hollywood. Thom Hartmann (1951-), Threshold: The Crisis of Western Culture. Andrew Harvey (1952-), The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism. Elisabeth Hasselbeck (1977-), The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide; Susan Hasset sues her for copyright infringement. Lesley Hazleton (1945-), After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split. Chris Hedges (1956-), Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle (July 14); The U.S. is splitting into a literate minority and non-literate majority; "Those captive to images cast ballots based on how candidates make them feel. They vote for a slogan, a smile, perceived sincerity, and attractiveness, along with the carefully crafted personal narrative of the candidate. It is style and story, not content and fact, that inform mass politics"; "At no period in American history has our democracy been in such peril or the possibility of totalitarianism as real. Our way of life is over. Our profligate consumption is finished. Our children will never have the standard of living we had. This is the bleak future. This is reality." Mark Helprin (1947-), Digital Barbarism: A Writer's Manifesto. Jennifer Love Hewitt (1979-), The Day I Shot Cupid (autobio.); talks about "vajazzling" her "vajayjay" with Swarovski crystal. Esther Hicks (1948-) and Jerry Hicks, Vortex: Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships. Charles Higham (1931-2012), In and Out of Hollywood: A Biographer's Memoir (autobio.). Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, Japanese American Resettlement Through the Lens; photos by Hikaru "Carl" Iwasaki. Peter Hitchens (1951-), The Broken Compass: How British Politics Lost Its Way. David E. Hoffman, The Dead Hand: The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and Its Dangerous Legacy (Pulitzer Prize). James Hoggan (1946-) and Richard Littlemore, Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming (Sept. 29); "Explains how the propaganda generated by self interest groups has purposely created confusion about climate change. It's an imperative read for a successful future." - Leonardo DiCaprio Harold Holzer (ed.), The Lincoln Anthology: Great Writers on His Life and Legacy from 1860 to Now; debunks Lincoln myths. Thomas Horn, Apollyon Rising: The Lost Symbol Found and the Final Mystery of the Great Seal Revealed (Nov. 24); claims the clues are hidden in the occult symbolism of Washington, D.C. and the Vatican, and claims that the Jewish Messiah is predicted in the Zohar to appear in late 2012. Nick Hornby (1957-), Shakespeare Wrote for Money. David Joel Horowitz (1939-), A Cracking of the Heart (autobio.); his parent's grief at his going from leftist like them to rightist; Barack Obama's Rules for Revolution: The Alinsky Model; how Obama is trying to transform Am. society wholesale a la Chicago 1960s Jewish radical Saul Alinsky (1909-72), whose community social org. will lead not to salvation but chaos. Barney Hoskyns, Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits. Mike Hulme (1960-), Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity ' (Apr. 30, 2009); "Climate change is not 'a problem' waiting for 'a solution'. It is an environmental, cultural and political phenomenon which is re-shaping the way we think about ourselves, our societies and humanity's place on Earth. Drawing upon twenty-five years of professional work as an international climate change scientist and public commentator, Mike Hulme provides a unique insider's account of the emergence of this phenomenon and the diverse ways in which it is understood. He uses different standpoints from science, economics, faith, psychology, communication, sociology, politics and development to explain why we disagree about climate change. In this way he shows that climate change, far from being simply an 'issue' or a 'threat', can act as a catalyst to revise our perception of our place in the world." Human Rights Watch, New Castro, Same Cuba; how Fidel Castro's brother Raul is just as abusive of human rights. Tristram Hunt (1974-), The Frock-Coated Communist: The Revolutionary Life of Friedrich Engels. Martin Indyk (1951-), Innocent Abroad: An Intimate Account of American Peace Diplomacy in the Middle East (Jan. 6). Lynne Isbell, The Fruit, the Tree and the Serpent; claims that primates evolved keen vision to avoid snakes. Jonathan Israel (1946-), A Revolution of the Mind: Radical Enlightenment and the Intellectual Origins of Modern Democracy. Martin Jacques, When China Rules the World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World; how the era of U.S. world economic hegemony is ending, and China is getting "willy-nilly drawn" into becoming its replacement as a "reluctant player"; claims that China is a civilization not nation state, and that Communism, a contemporary version of Confucianism was the West's last gasp at worldwide Westernization; doesn't grasp that for China to rule the world it must first have a revolution overthrowing its age-old belief that it is the center of the world, so that leaving its boundaries won't be like going into barbarian Hell? Emmanuel Jal and Megan Lloyd Davies, War Child: A Child Soldier's Story; "There was peace in Sudan for the first three years of my life, but I cannot remember it." Harold James, The Creation and Destruction of Value; how globalization is disintegrating old political parties. Haynes Johnson (1931-) and Dan Balz, The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary Election. Haynes Johnson (1931-) and Harry Katz, Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist; Herbert Lawrence Block (1909-2001), who coined the term "McCarthyism" in 1950. Malalai Joya (1978-) and Derrick O'Keefe, A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice. William Kamkwamba (1987-) and Bryan Mealer, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope; Kamkwamba builds windmills from junk to make "electric wind", becoming a Third World hero. Jeff Kass, Columbine: A True Crime Story, A Victim, the Killers, and a Nation's Search for Answers. Marc Kaufman, Confessions of an Alien Hunter: A Scientist's Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Katty Kay (1964-) and Claire Shipman (1962-), Womenomics (June 2). Robin D.G. Kelley (1962-), Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original. Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy Sr. (1932-2009), True Compass: A Memoir (posth.) (Sept. 14); first memoir by a Kennedy family member; admits to sleeping with 1K+ women and paying $10M+ in hush money, but that part is cut out? John Kessel (1950-) and James Patrick Kelly (1951-), The Secret History of Science Fiction. Ronald Kessler (1943-), In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect (Aug. 4); pisses-off the Secret Service by exposing their hard times in trying to protect presidents and their families; claims that JFK had secret trysts with Marilyn Monroe in a loft above the 5th story office of his brother RFK at the Justice Dept., as well in New York City hotels - that will be zero extra dollars, wanna change your flight? Rashid Khalidi (1948-), Sowing Crisis: The Cold War and American Dominance in the Middle East; attacks U.S. policies during the Cold War, claiming that although they were formulated to oppose the Soviets, they "consistently undermined democracy and exacerbated tensions in the Middle East"; "It may seem hard to believe today, but for decades the United States was in fact a major patron, indeed in some respects the major patron, of earlier incarnations" of radical militant Islam in order to help them win; "The Cold War was over, but its tragic sequels, its toxic debris, and its unexploded mines continued to cause great harm, in ways largely unrecognized in American public discourse." M.A. Khan, Islamic Jihad: A Legacy of Forced Conversion, Imperialism, and Slavery (Jan. 26); why 9/11 was no fluke, and Islam is the West's greatest threat. Tracy Kidder (1945-), Strength in What Remains; a Rwandan refugee rises to doctor. Richard Kim and Betsy Reed (eds.), Going Rouge: Sarah Palin - An American Nightmare; satire of her book "Going Rogue". Jytte Klausen, The Cartoons That Shook the World (Sept.); Yale U. Press chickens out and removes the 12 anti-Islam cartoons, causing criticism. Harvey Klehr, John Earl Haynes, and Alexander Vassiliev, Spies: The Rise and Fall of the KGB in America (May 26); based on opened KGB archives, reveals the extent of KGB spying in the U.S., incl. Alger Hiss, I.F. Stone, and clears Robert Oppenheimer. Aaron Klein (1978-), The Late Great State of Israel: How Enemies Within and Without Threaten the Jewish Nation's Survival. Nancy Koehn (1959-), The Story of American Business: From the Pages of the New York Times. Jon Krakauer (1954-), Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. Jeremy Kuzmarov, The Myth of the Addicted Army: Vietnam and the Modern War. Lisa Lampanelli (1961-), Chocolate, Please: My Adventures in Food, Fat, and Freaks (autobio.). Carlotta Walls LaNier (with Lisa Frazier), A Mighty Long Way: Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School. Matthew Latimer, Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor (Sept. 22); conservative with Washington, D.C. experience tells why they will survive the Obama era; claims that Pres. G.W. Bush was not dumb but smart. Jonah Lehrer (1981-), How We Decide. Carol Leifer (1956-), When You Lie About Your Age, the Terrorists Win (Mar. 10). Mark R. Levin, Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (Mar. 24). Shawn Levy, Paul Newman: A Life; Newman's Luck. Michael Lewis (1960-), Home Game: An Accidental Guide to Fatherhood. Hal Lindsey (1929-), The Everlasting Hatred: The Roots of Jihad. James Lovelock (1919-), The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning: Enjoy It While You Can. Margaret MacMillan, Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History; how she just figured out that history is written by writers with govt. or institutional biases. Eric Maddox (with David Seay), Mission: Black List #1; the U.S. SSgt. who tracked down Saddam Hussein via bodyguard Muhammad Ibrahim. Thomas Maier, Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love. Eric Maisel (1947-), The Atheist's Way: Living Well Without Gods. Alia Malek, A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories (Oct. 6); the lives of a dozen Arab-Ams. from 1948 to 2000. Michelle Malkin (1970-), Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies (July 27); "What I have done is to help shatter completely the myths of hope and change in the new politics in Washington by scouring every nook and cranny, every inch of this administration, and showing how in a very short span of six months they have betrayed every principle and every promise that they have made by installing these influence peddlers, power brokers and very wealthy people." Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall; Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell. Jo Marchant, Decoding the Heavens: A 2,000-Year-Old Computer and the Century-Long Search to Discover Its Secret; the Antikythera Mechanism. of 80 B.C.E. Paule Marshall (1929-), Triangular Road: A Memoir. Gerald Martin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life. Johsh McDowell and Dave Sterrett, O God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah's Spirituality. Virginia McKenna (1931-), The Life in My Years (autobio.). Cindy Meston and David Buss, Why Women Have Sex; interviews with 1,006 women yield 237 different reasons. Stephen C. Meyer, Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design; DNA shows evidence of intelligent design? Ben Mezrich, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal (July 14). Dominique Moisi (1946-), The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope Are Reshaping the World (May 5); reply to Samuel Huntington's "The Clash of Civilizations", adding you know what to cultural, social and economic factors as breeding political conflict. Patricia Monaghan (1946-2012), The Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines (2 vols.). Thomas Moore (1940-), Writing in the Sand: Jesus and the Soul of the Gospels (May). Edmund Sears Morgan (1916-2013), American Heroes: Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America (last book). Benny Morris (1948-), One State, Two States; the 2-state solution won't work, neither will the 1-state solution, but maybe a 3-state solution of a Palestinian confederation with Jordan will? Dick Morris (1948-) and Eileen McGann, Catastrophe: How Obama, Congress, and the Special Interests are Transforming a Slump into a Crash, Freedom into Socialism, and a Disaster into a Catastrophe, and How to Fight Back (June 23); Repub. who used to counsel Pres. Clinton them turned against him and Hillary predicts disaster for Obama too. Dambisa Moyo (1969-), Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa (Mar. 17); NYT bestseller; calls development aid "the single worst decision of modern developmental politics" that encourages corruption, kleptocracy, and aid dependency, creating a vicious downward spiral, with the soundbyte that easy money from other govts. "allows the state to abdicate its responsibilities toward its people", lobbying for micro-financing to build a country from the bottom-up; on May 28, 2013 world's richest man Bill Gates gives an interview to the Sydney Morning Herald, calling her "evil". Mildred Muhammad, Scared Silent; 2nd wife of Beltway Sniper John Allen Muhammad (Williams), who says he was a sgt. in the 84th Army Engineer Co. in the 1991 Gulf War, and suffers from Gulf War Illness, turning him into a Muslim jihadist mass murderer - instead of reading the Quran? Moorthy S. Muthuswamy, Defeating Political Islam: The New Cold War; shows that the "war on terror" is a sham because there is no benign Islam that was hijacked by extremists, and it all comes from the never-changing Quran. Andrew P. Napolitano (1950-), Dred Scott's Revenge: A Legal History of Race and Freedom in America (Apr.). Vali Reza Nasr (1960-), Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the Muslim Middle Class and What It Will Mean for Our World (Sept. 15); a new Arab middle class will counter extremism? Christiane Northrup, The Secret Pleasures of Menopause Playbook. John Julius Norwich (1929-) (ed.), The Great Cities in History (Nov. 2). Gianluigi Nuzzi, Vatican Ltd. (Vaticano Spa); corruption in the Vatican, incl. Mafia connections, bribery, and money laundering. Mark Obmascik, Halfway to Heaven: My White-Knuckled - and Knuckle-Headed - Quest for the Rocky Mountain High; climbing all 54 of Colorado's fourteeners. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (1986-), Influence; the people who influenced them, not the drugs. Suze Orman (1951-), Suze Orman's 2009 Action Plan. Chad Orzel, How to Teach Physics to Your Dog; bestseller; the dog's name is Emmy; followed by "How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog" (2012). Marie Osmond (1959-), Might As Well Laugh About It Now (autobio.). Michael Jason Overstreet, 71 Days: The Media Assault on Obama (Feb. 23). Trevor Paglen, Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World. Elaine Paige (1948-), Memories (autobio.). Sarah Palin (1964-), Going Rogue: An American Life (autobio.) (Nov. 17); bestseller (300K on day #1) describing her Christian faith and conservative views; a nun taught her how to write the letter E, and it "seemed a naked letter to me so I was determined to reinvent it"; "I love meat. I eat pork chops, thick bacon burgers, and the seared fatty edges of a medium-well-done steak. But I especially like moose and caribous. I always remind people from outside our state that there's plenty of room for all Alaska's animals - right next to the mashed potatoes." Ron Paul (1935-), End the Fed (Sept. 21); calls for the Federal Reserve System to be abolished. Carlota Perez (1939-), Technological Revolutions and Techno-Economic Paradigms. Tom Peters (1942-) Re-imagine! Business Excellence in a Disruptive Age. Mackenzie Phillips (1959-) and Hilary Liftin, High On Arrival: A Memoir (autobio.) (Sept.); her struggles with drug addiction; claims that her daddy John Phillips of the Mommas and the Poppas had a long-term incestuous relationship with her, and that when she turned 18 Mick Jagger did her. Robert Pinsky (1940-), Thousands of Broadways: Dreams and Nightmares of the American Small Town. Francis Pike, Empires at War: A Short History of Modern Asia Since World War II. Michael Collins Piper (1960-), The New Babylon: Those Who Reign Supreme: The Rothschild Empire; The Modern-Day Pharisees and the Historical, Religious and Economic Origins of the New World Order; the NWO is really the Jewish Utopia, and the U.S. is the New Babylon? Norman Podhoretz (1930-), Why Are Jews Liberals? (Sept. 8); Barack Obama is the "stealth candidate for the anti-Israel left"? S.L. Price, Heart of the Game: Life, Death and Mercy in Minor League Baseball. Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh, A Safe Haven: Harry S. Truman and the Founding of Israel; despite advice pro and con from his advisers, Truman wanted to recognize Israel because he believed it fulfilled Biblical prophecy? Michael S. Radu (1947-2009), Islam in Europe (World of Islam) (Sept. 15). Raghuram Rajan (1963-), Cycle-Proof Regulation (Apr. 8); proposes a global regulatory system to avoid boom-bust cycles. Joshua Cooper Ramo (1968-), The Age of the Unthinkable: Why the New World Disorder Constantly Surprises Us and What We Can Do About It (NYT bestseller); applies chaos theory to foreign policy. David Reynolds, Waking the Giant: America in the Age of Jackson; the Panic of 1819. Nayef Al-Rodhan, Sustainable History and the Dignity of Man: A Philosophy of History and Civilisational Triumph. Jean Rhodes and Shawn Boburg, Becoming Manny: Inside the Life of Baseball's Most Enigmatic Slugger (Mar. 10); Manny Ramirez (1972-). Joel Richardson, The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth About the Real Nature of the Beast; more on the Antichrist-Mahdi connection. Thomas E. Ricks, The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008. Thomas E. Ricks (1955-), The Gamble: Gen. David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 (Feb. 10). Tom Ridge (1945-), America Under Siege... and How We Can Be Safe Again; how he was pushed to raise the security alert before the 2004 pres. election to help Bush's reelection, then resigned on Nov. 30, 2004 over it. Jennifer Ring, Stolen Bases: Why American Girls Don't Play Baseball. Andrew Roberts (1963-), Masters and Commanders: How Four Titans Won the War in the West, 1941-1945; The Art of War: Great Commanders of the Ancient and Medieval World (2 vols.). Sir Ken Robinson (1950-), The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything (Jan.). Jim Rogers (1942-), A Gift to My Children: A Father's Lessons for Life and Investing (Apr. 28). John Ross (1938-2011), El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City. John F. Ross, War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier. Benjamin Roth, The Great Depression: A Diary; ed. James Leddbetter and Daniel B. Roth. Murray Newton Rothbard (1926-95), Economic Controversies (posth.). Acharya S (D.M. Murdock) (1961-2015), Christ in Egypt: The Horus-Jesus Connection; The Gospel According to Acharya S. Amin Saikal (1950-), The Rise and Fall of the Shah: Iran - From Autocracy to Religious Rule. Kamal Saleem, Blood of Lambs (Apr.); Muslim Brotherhood member tells why he quit. Joel Samberg, Grandpa Had a Long One: Personal Notes on the Life, Career, and Legacy of Benny Bell [1906-99]; by his grandson. Shlomo Sand (1946-), The Invention of the Jewish People (Oct. 19); internat. bestseller causes a firestorm of controversy with its claims that there never was a Jewish "nation-race", that many Jews are really descendants of converted Arabs, Berbers, Khazars, etc., and that Zionists have created the myth for "racist thinking"; "The ideal project for solving the century-long conflict... would be the creation of a democratic binational state between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River" - great idea if they would all give up not Judaism but Islam? Martha A. Sandweiss, Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line; Am. West explorer Clarence King (b. 1842), a white man who chooses to pass as black so he can marry a black woman. William A. Schabas (1950-), Genocide in International Law: The Crime of Crimes (2nd ed.) (Apr. 13); claims that the only real genocides in recent history were the Armenians, Jews, Gypsies, and Rwandans, denying that Stalin qualifies, or even the Slav-Soviet massacres by the Nazis, differentiating genocide from mere ethnic cleansing. Suzanne Schwalb, Tweet Nothings: The Lighter Side of Twitter (Dec. 1). Joan Schenkar, The Talented Miss Highsmith; "Ripley" novelist Patricia Highsmith (1921-95). Amartya Sen (1933-), The Idea of Justice. Maria Shriver (1955-), A Women's Nation Changes Everything. Paul Schneider, Bonnie and Clyde: The Lives Behind the Legend (May 23); pub. on the 75th anniv. of the May 23, 1934 ambush near Gibsland, La. Lars Schoultz, That Infernal Little Cuban Republic: The United States and the Cuban Revolution. Peter Schweizer (1964-), Architects of Ruin: How a Gang of Radical Activists and Liberal Politicians Destroyed Trillions of Dollars in Wealth in the Pursuit of Social Justice (How Big Government Liberals Wrecked the Global Economy - and How They Will Do It Again If No One Stops Them) (Sept. 23). R.A. Scotti, Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa; the 1911 heist. Nicolai Sennels, Among Criminal Muslims: A Psychologist's Experience from Copenhagen; concludes that Muslims can't be assimilated into Danish or any Western society. Harvey Allen Silverglate (1942-), Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent (Sept.). Peter Singer (1946-), The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty. Robert Slater, Soros: The World's Most Influential Investor. Mark Sloan, Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth. Grant F. Smith, Spy Trade: How Israel's Lobby Undermines America's Economy (Nov. 1); clandestine espionage conducted by the Israelis have cost the U.S. economy $71B? Sam Solomon and E Al Maqdisi, Modern Day Trojan Horse: Al-Hijra, the Islamic Doctrine of Immigration, Accepting Freedom or Imposing Islam? (Jan. 29); the 1400-y.-o. Islamic doctrine of hijra and how Western govts. play into their hands. Steven Solomon, Water: The Epic Struggle for Wealth, Power, and Civilization. Thomas Sowell (1930-), The Housing Boom and Bust. Candy Spelling (1945-), Stories from Candyland (autobio.). Tori Spelling (1973-), Mommywood (Mar. 11). Robert Spencer (1962-), The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran; finally Western thinkers are taking it on instead of the Bible. Ralph Stanley (1927-) and Eddie Dean, Man of Constant Sorrow (autobio.) (Oct. 15). Paul Starobin, After America: Narratives for the Next Global Age; promotes multicultural globalism for the world's only superpower because the Am. Century is almost kaput. Leslie Morgan Steiner, Crazy Love: A Memoir. Victor J. Stenger (1935-), Quantum Gods: Creation, Chaos and the Search for Cosmic Consciousness; The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason (Sept. 22); claims that religion will fade away within generations under the light of you know what. Chris Stewart and Ted Stewart, Seven Miracles That Saved America (Oct. 14); Abe Lincoln's prayer saved the Union at Gettysburg? Mark Steyn (1959-), Lights Out: Islam, Free Speech and the Twilight of the West; the looming threat of Islamic takeover of the West with help from misguided Western govts. T.J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt (Apr. 21) (Pulitzer Prize). Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III (1951-), Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters (autobio.). Wafa Sultan (1958-), The God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed the Muslim World Speaks Out Against the Evils of Islam (Oct. 13); "The trouble with Islam is deeply rooted in its teachings. Islam is not only a religion. Islam is also a political ideology that preaches violence and applies its agenda by force"; "No one can be a true Muslim and a true American simultaneously. Islam is both a religion and a state, and to be a true Muslim you must believe in Islam as both religion and state. A true Muslim does not acknowledge the U.S. Constitution, and his willingness to live under that constitution is, as far as he is concerned, nothing more than an unavoidable step on the way to the constitution's replacement by Islamic Sharia law." Cass R. Sunstein (1954-), Going to Extremes: How Like Minds Unite and Divide; On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe, Them, What Can Be Done (Sept.); advocates laws to gag Internet bloggers. Graham Swift (1949-), Making an Elephant: Writing from Within. Stephan Talty, The Illustrious Dead: The Terrifying Story of How Typhus Killed Napoleon's Greatest Army. Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013), Statecraft: Strategies for a Changing World; reverses her earlier belief in global warming. Baylis Thomas, The Dark Side of Zionism: The Quest for Security through Dominance (Feb. 16); paints the Jews as the bad guys and the Arabs as the good guys. Keith Thomas (1933-), The Ends of Life: Roads to Fulfilment in Early Modern England; some Ford Lectures from back in 2000 when he retired. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton (with Erin Torneo), Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption; black Ronald Cotton is unjustly jailed for rape for 11 years, after which his white accuser Jennifer gives, er, becomes his friend. Colm Toibin (1955-), Brooklyn; an Irish woman leaves her fragile mother behind in the early 1950s to live in Dodgerland. James Tooley, The Beautiful Tree; the lack of primary education in India. Norah Vincent, Voluntary Madness: My Year Lost and Found in the Loony Bin; the lezzie who posed as a man goes to the nuthouse. Richard Vinen, Thatcher's Britain. Nicholas Wade, The Faith Instinct: How Religion Evolved and Why It Endures; are humans programmed for religious belief because it conferred an evolutionary advantage? Rembert George Weakland (1927-), A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop (June); former Roman Catholic archbishop of Milwaukee, Wisc. (1977-2002) admits that he's gay; he stepped down in May 2002 after the Church paid $450K to Marquette U. theology student Paul Marcoux to settle a sexual assault suit. Barry Werth, Banquet at Delmonico's: Great Minds, the Gilded Age, and the Triumph of Evolution in America; British philosopher Hebert Spencer, founder of Social Darwinism is greeted as a hero in the U.S. in 1882. Cornel West (1953-) Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud: A Memoir; "When arrested, threatened, or persecuted, I give myself permission to be full of righteous indignation and moral outrage but I try to never allow righteous indignation to degenerate into bitter revenge, or let moral outrage become hateful anger.. I retain a painful smile on my face even as I respond to the undeniable hurt with intense ethical energy." Stuart Wilde (1946-), Grace, Gaia and the End of Days; "Grace is a golden light seen coming from the inner spiritual world that is data-driven and laced with trillions of bytes of fractal information that offers you hope, good fortune and protection." William Julius Wilson (1935-), More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City. Debra Winger (1955-), Undiscovered (autobio.); why she walked away from Hollyweird for 12 years to raise two sons with hubby Arliss Howard. Richard Wolffe, Renegade: The Making of a President; Barack Obama's rise to the White House. Gordon S. Wood, Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815 (Oct. 28). Frosty Wooldridge, America on the Brink: The Next Added 100 Million Americans; 100M more people in the U.S. by 2035? Evan Wright, Hella Nation: Looking for Happy Meals in Kandahar, Rocking the Side Pipe, Wingnut's War Against the Gap, and Other Adventures With the Totally Lost Tribes of America. Robert Wright (1957-), The Evolution of God; how the Bible God starts out in the pits at 1 Sam. 15:3 with Big J ordering the slaughter of the Amalekite tribe, then improves. William Yenner et al., American Guru: A Story of Love, Betrayal and Healing (Aug. 11); former students of Am. guru Andrew Cohen (1955-) speak out about his faults incl. pressuring students to give him large sums of money. Irfan Yusuf (1969-), Once Were Radicals: My Years As A Teenage Islamo-Fascist. Zhao Ziyang (1919-2005), Memoirs (posth.); admits that the May 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and June 3 massacre were illegal, and claims that at the time he openly sympathized with the students. Phil Zuckerman, Faith No More: How and Why People Reject Religion. Art: Banksy (1974-), Devolved Parliament; 4m wide; auctioned by Sotheby's London in 2019 for Ł9,879,500. Robert Delaney (1951-), With (steel sculpture). Music: 311, Uplifter (album #9) (June 2) (#3 in the U.S.); incl. Hey You, It's Alright. 3OH!3, Don't Trust Me. AC/DC, Backtracks (box set) (Nov. 10). a-ha, Foot of the Mountain (album #9) (last album) (June 19) (#5 in the U.K.); they disband in 2010; incl. Foot of the Mountain, Nothing Is Keeping You Here, Shadowside. Lily Allen (1985-), It's Not Me, It's You (album #2) (Feb. 9) (#5 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Not Fair, The Fear, 22, Back to the Start, Fuck You (orginal title "Guess Who Batman"). Tori Amos (1963-), Abnormally Attracted to Sin (album #10) (May 18) (#9 in the U.S., #20 in the U.K.); incl. Welcome to England, 500 Miles; Midwinter Graces (album #11) (Nov. 11) (#66 in the U.S.). Skunk Anansie, Smashes and Trashes (album #4) (Sept. 14). David Archuleta (1990-), Christmas from the Heart (album #2) (Oct. 13). India.Arie (1975-), Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics (album #4) (Feb. 10) (#3 in the U.S.) (325K copies); incl. Therapy, Chocolate High (w/Musiq Soulchild). Buju Banton (1973-), Rasta Got Soul (album #9) (Apr. 21); incl. Magic City; gets a Grammy nomination, which is protested by gay-lez groups because of his war with them. Beatallica, Masterful Mystery Tour (album #2) (Aug. 4); incl. Masterful Mystery Tour, Hero of the Day Tripper, Fuel on the Hill; Winter Plunderband (EP) (Nov. 17). Dierks Bentley (1975-), Feel That Fire (album #4) (Feb. 3); incl. Feel That Fire, Sideways, I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes. Justin Bieber (1994-), One Time (debut) (May 18); My World (album) (debut) (Nov. 17) (#5 in the U.S., #4 in the U.K.); incl. Love Me, Favorite Girl. The Notorious Big (1972-97), Notorious Soundtrack (album) (Jan. 13) (#4 in the U.S.). Mary J. Blige (1971-), Stronger With Each Tear (album #9) (Dec. 18) (#2 in the U.S., #33 in the U.K.); incl. The One, Each Tear (w/Jay Sean), We Got Hood Love (w/Trey Songz), Stronger, I Am. Third Eye Blind, Ursa Major (album #4) (Aug. 18) (#3 in the U.S.); first on their own Mega Collider label; incl. Sharp Knife. Butterfly Boucher (1979-), Scary Fragile (album #2) (June 2); incl. A Bitter Song, For the Love of Love. Susan Boyle (1961-), I Dreamed a Dream (album) (debut) (Nov. 24); sells 9M copies, incl. a record 700K sold in week #1. The Bravery, Stir the Blood (album #3) (Dec. 1); incl. Slow Poison. Backstreet Boys, This Is Us (album #7) (Sept. 30) (#9 in the U.S., #39 in the U.K.) (first group since Sade to have their first seven albums reach the Billboard top-10); incl. Straight Through My Heart. New Boyz, You're a Jerk. The Bravery, The Sun and the Moon (album #2) (May 22) (#24 in the U.S.); incl. Time Won't Let Me Go, Believe. Buckcherry, Live & Loud 2009 (album) (Sept. 29). Colbie Caillat (1985-), Breakthrough (album #2) (Aug. 25) (#1 in the U.S.); incl. Fallin' for You, I Never Told You. Mariah Carey (1970-), Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (album); incl. Obsessed (put-down of rapper Eminem). Cascada, Evacuate the Dancefloor (album #3) (July 6); incl. Evacuate the Dancefloor, Fever, Dangerous. Neko Case (1970-), Middle Cyclone (album #5) (Mar. 3); incl. People Got a Lotta Nerve. 50 Cent (1975-), Before I Self Destruct (album #4) (Nov. 9) (#5 in the U.S., #22 in the U.K.); incl. Baby by Me, Do You Think About Me. Metal Church, This Present Wasteland (album #9) (last album) (Sept. 23); features Rick Van Zandt on guitar; incl. Company of Sorrow, Breathe Again. Owl City, Ocean Eyes (album #2) (#8 in the U.S., #7 in the U.K.); incl. Fireflies. Kelly Clarkson (1982-), All I Ever Wanted (album #4) (Mar. 6) (#1 in the U.S., #3 in the U.K.); incl. My Life Would Suck Without You, I Do Not Hook Up, Already Gone, All I Ever Wanted. Biffy Clyro, Only Revolutions (album #5) (Nov. 9) (#3 in the U.K.); named after the novel by Mark Z. Danielewski; incl. Mountains, The Golden Rule, The Captain, Many of Horror, Bubbles, God and Satan. Cheryl Cole (1983-), 3 Words (album) (debut) (Oct. 23); incl. 3 Words, Fight for This Love, Parachute. Elvis Costello (1954-), Secret, Profane, Sugarcane (album) (June 9). Creed, Full Circle (album #4) (Oct. 27) (#2 in the U.S.); incl. Overcome, Rain, A Thousand Faces. Death Cab for Cutie, The Open Door EP (album) (Mar. 31). Miley Cyrus (1992-), The Time of Our Lives (EP) (#2 in the U.S., #17 in the U.K.); incl. Party in the U.S.A. (#2 in the U.S.), When I Look at You. Dawes, North Hills (album) (debut) (Aug. 18); from North Hills, Los Angeles, Calif., incl. Taylor Goldsmith (1985-), Griffin Goldsmith (1991-), Wylie Gelbert (1988-), and Tay Strathairn (1981-); incl. When My Time Comes. Green Day, 21st Century Breakdown (album #8) (May 15) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (3.5M copies); incl. Know Your Enemy (#28 in the U.S., #21 in the U.K.), 21 Guns (#22 in the U.S., #36 in the U.K.); Last Night on Earth: Live in Tokyo (album) (May 28). Mos Def (1973-), The Ecstatic (album #4) (June 9) (#9 in the U.S.); incl. Life in Marvelous Times, Quiet Dog Bite Hard, Casa Bey, Supermagic, History (w/Talib Kweli). Snoop Dogg (1971-), Malce n Wonderland (#10) (Dec. 8) (#23 in the U.S.). I Fight Dragons, Cool Is Just A Number (album) (debut) (Feb. 6); Nintendo Game Boy/NES band from Chicago, Ill., incl. Brian Mazzaferri, Hari Rao, Laura Green, Packy Lundholm, Chad Van Dahm, and Bill Prokowpow; incl. Heads Up, Hearts Down, Money, No One Likes Superman Anymore, The Faster the Treadmill. Duran Duran, Live at Hammersmith 82! (album) (Sept. 21); recorded on Nov. 16, 1982. The Enemy, Music for the People (album #2) (Apr. 27) (#2 in the U.K.); incl. No Time for Tears, Sing When You're in Love, Be Somebody. Eminem (1972-), We Made You. Eminem (1972-), Dr. Dre (1965-), and 50 Cent (1975-), Crack a Bottle. Enya (1961-), The Very Best of Enya (album) (Nov. 23). Epica, The Classical Conspiracy (first live album) (May 8); Design Your Universe (album #4) (Oct. 16); incl. Design Your Universe, Unleashed. Escala, Escala (album) (debut) (May 25); female string quartet discovered by Simon Cowell. Europe, Last Look at Eden (album #8) (Sept.); incl. Last Look at Eden. Jackie Evancho (2000-), Prelude to a Dream (album) (debut) (Nov. 15). Eve (1978-), Flirt (album #4). Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (album #3) (Jan. 26) (#9 in the U.S., #2 in the U.K.); incl. Ulysses, No You Girls, Can't Stop Feeling, What She Came For; Blood: Franz Ferdinand (album) (June 1). Elysian Fields, The Afterlife (album #5). Ella Fitzgerald (1917-96), Twelve Nights in Hollywood (4 CD boxed set) (posth.); 76 songs sung at the Crescendo jazz club in LA in 1961-2. Foreigner, Can't Slow Down (album #9) (last in 1994) (Oct. 2). The Fray, The Fray (album #2) (Feb. 3) (#1 in the U.S., #8 in the U.K.); incl. You Found Me (#7 in the U.S., #35 in the U.K.), Never Say Never (#32 in the U.S., #87 in the U.K.); The Fray: Live from SoHo (album) (Apr. 7); Christmas EP (album) (Dec. 22). Nelly Furtado (1978-), Mi Plan (album #4) (Sept. 11); incl. Manos al Aire. Lady Gaga (1986-), The Fame Monster (album #2) (Nov. 19); incl. Bad Romance, Telephone (with Beyonce). Melody Gardot (1985-), Live from SoHo (album) (Mar. 24); My One and Only Thrill (album #3) (Apr. 29); incl. Who Will Comfort Me, Baby I'm a Fool, Over the Rainbow. Indigo Girls, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (album #11) (Mar. 24). Lamb of God, Wrath (album #6) (Feb. 23) (#2 in the U.S.) (200K copies); incl. Contractor, Set to Fail. Selena Gomez (1992-) and the Scene, Kiss & Tell (album) (debut) (Sept. 29) (#9 in the U.S., #12 in the U.K.) (800K copies); from Hollywood, Calif., incl. Selena Marie Gomez (1992-), Ethan Roberts (guitar), Joey Clement (bass), Dane Forrest (keyboards), and Greg Garman (drums); incl. Falling Down (#82 in the U.S.), Naturally (#29 in the U.S.). Jay Greenberg (1991-), Skyline Dances: A Terpsichorean Couplet; Neon Refracted (ballet). P.J. Harvey (1969-) and John Parish, A Woman A Man Walked By (album #9) (Mar. 27) (#80 in the U.S., #25 in the U.K.). Men Without Hats, No Hats Beyond This Point (album #6) (last album) (last album in 1991) (Nov. 25). The Heavy, The House That Dirt Built (album #2) (Oct. 13); incl. How Do You Like Me Now?, Oh No! Not You Again!, Sixteen, No Time. Uriah Heep, Celebration (album #22) (Oct. 26). Levon Helm (1940-), Electric Dirt (album #5) (June 30); awarded first-ever Grammy for Best Americana Album. Hoobastank, Fornever (album #4) (Jan. 27) (#26 in the U.S.); incl. My Turn. Whitney Houston (1963-2012), I Look to You (album) (Aug. 31); incl. I Look to You. David Ippolito, Resolution (The Torture Song). Bon Iver, Blood Bank (EP) (Jan. 20) (#16 in the U.S.); incl. Blood Bank. Michael Jackson (1958-2009), This Is It (double album) (Oct. 26); sells 4M copies in the first five weeks. Pearl Jam, Backspacer (album #9) (Sept. 20) (#1 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. The Fixer (#56 in the U.S., #93 in the U.K.). Jay-Z (1969-), The Blueprint 3 (album #11) (Sept. 8); his 11th #1 U.S. album, beating Elvis Presley's record; incl. D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune), Empire State of Mind (w/Alicia Keys), Run This Town (w/Rihanna and Kanye West), On To the Next One (w/Swizz Beatz). We Were Promised Jetpacks, These Four Walls (album) (debut); from Edinburgh, Scotland, incl. Adam Thompson, Michael Palmer, Sean Smith, and Darren Lackie; incl. Quiet Little Voices, It's Thunder and It's Lightning, Roll Up Your Sleeves, and Ships With Holes Will Sink. Jonas Brothers, Music from the 3D Concert Experience (album) (Feb. 24) (#3 in the U.S.); Lines, Vines and Trying Times (album #4) (June 16) (#1 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. Paranoid, Fly with Me. Norah Jones (1979-), The Fall (album #4) (Nov. 17) (#3 in the U.S., #24 in the U.K.); incl. Chasing Pirates, Young Blood. Journey, Journey: Live in Manila (album) (Mar. 14). R. Kelly (1967-), Untitled (album #9) (Nov. 30) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. Number One (w/Keri Hilson), Echo, Religious. Ke$ha (Kesha Rose Sebert) (1987-), Tik Tok (debut) (Aug.); female single record 610K downloads in a single week. Alicia Keys (1981-), The Element of Freedom (album #4) (Dec. 11) (#2 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (4M copies); incl. Doesn't Mean Anything, Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart (w/Beyonce), Put It in a Love Song, Empire State of Mind (Part II) Broken Down, Un-Thinkable (I'm Ready), Wait Til You See My Smile. The Black Keys et al., Blackroc (album) (Nov. 27) (#176 in the U.S.); in collaboration with several hip hop and R&B artists; incl. Ain't Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo) (w/Mos Def and Jim Jones). The Killers, Live from the Royal Albert Hall (album) (Nov 9). K'naan (1978-), Troubadour (album #3) (Feb. 24); incl. Wavin' Flag, I Come Prepared. Adam Lambert (1982-), For Your Entertainment (album) (debut) (Nov. 23). Annie Lennox (1954-), The Annie Lennox Collection (album) (Feb. 17). Leona Lewis (1985-), Echo (album #2) (Nov. 9) (#13 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.) (2.6M copies); incl. Happy, I Got You. The Flaming Lips, Embryonic (album #12) (double album) (Oct. 13); incl. See the Leaves, Embryonic; The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and Whtie Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and the Peaches Doing the Dark Side of the Moon (album #13) (Dec. 22); cover of the 1973 Pink Floyd album. LMFAO, Party Rock (album) (debut) (July 7) (#33 in the U.S.); from LA, incl. Redfoo (Stefan Kendal Gordy) (1975-) and SkyBlu (Skyler Husten Gordy) (1986-), son and grandson of Berry Gordy; incl. I'm in Miami Bitch (Trick), Shots (w/Lil Jon), Yes, Get Crazy. Lindsay Lohan (1986-), Spirit in the Dark (album #3); incl. Playground. Demi Lovato (1992-), Here We Go Again (album #2) (July 21); incl. Here We Go Again. Florence + The Machine, Lungs (album) (debut) (July 6); from England, incl. Florence Leontine Mary Welch (1986-); incl. Kiss with a Fist, Dog Days Are Over, Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Drumming Song, You've Got the Love. Mae, Morning (EP) (Apr. 19); Afternoon (EP) (Sept. 24). Iron Maiden, Flight 666 - The Original Soundtrack (album) (May 22). Marilyn Manson, The High End of Low (album #7) (May 25); incl. We're from America, Arma-Goddamn-Motherfuckin-Geddon, Running to the Edge of the World. John Mayer (1977-), Battle Studies (album #4) (Nov. 17) (#1 in the U.S., #35 in the U.K.); incl. Who Says, Heartbreak Warfare, Half of My Heart, Perfectly Lonely. Paul McCartney (1942-), Good Evening New York City (double album) (Nov. 17). Megadeth, Endgame (album #12) (Sept. 9) (#9 in the U.S., #24 in the U.K.)); first with Chris Broderick; last with James LoMenzo, who is replaced in 2010 by Dave Ellefson; incl. Head Crusher, The Right to Go Insane. Metric, Fantasies (album #4) (#76 in the U.S, #6 in Canada); incl. Help I'm Alive, Sick Muse, Gold Guns Girls, Gimme Sympathy. Mika (1983-), Songs for Sorrow (June 8) (album); incl. Blue Eyes; The Boy Who Knew Too Much (album #3) (Sept. 21); incl. We Are Golden, Blame It on the Girls. Millionaires, Just Got Paid, Let's Get Laid (EP) (June 23); incl. Just Got Paid, Let's Get Laid. Arctic Monkeys, Humbug (album #3) (Aug. 19) (#15 in the U.S., #1 in the U.K.); incl. Crying Lightning, Cornerstone, My Propeller. Van Morrison (1945-), Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl (album) (Feb. 9). Modest Mouse, No One's First, and You're Next (EP) (Aug. 4); incl. Satellite Skin, Autumn Beds, Perpetual Motion Machine. Puddle of Mudd, Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate (album #4) (Dec. 8) (#95 in the U.S.); incl. Spaceship, Stoned, Keep It Together. Mumford and Sons, Sigh No More (album) (debut) (Oct. 5); from England, incl. Marcus Mumford (vocals), "Country" Winton Marshall (vocals), Ben Lovett (keyboard), Ted Dwane (bass); incl. Little Lion Man, The Cave, Roll Away Your Stone, White Blank Page. Twisted Nixon, Mister Sick Money Man. Blue October, Approaching Normal (album #5) (Mar. 24); incl. Dirt Room, Say It, Should Be Loved, Jump Rope. Orianthi, Believe (album) (Oct. 26). Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (album #5) (June 3) (7.5M copies); incl. Imma Be, Alive, Meet Me Halfway. Phantogram, Eyelid Movies (album) (debut) (Sept. 14); from Saratoga Springs, N.Y., incl. Sarah Bartel (vocals, keyboards) and Josh Carter (vocals, guitar); incl. When I'm Small, Mouthful of Diamonds, and Running from the Cops. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (album #4) (May 25); incl. 1901 (Feb. 23) (used in Cadillac commercials), Lisztomania. Pitbull (1981-), Rebelution (album #4) (Sept. 1); incl. Krazy (w/Lil Jon) (#30 in the U.S.), I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) (#2 in the U.S.), Hotel Room Service (#8 in the U.S.), Shut It Down (w/Akon) (#42 in the U.S.), Can't Stop Me Now (w/The New Royales). Placebo, Battle for the Sun (album #6) (June 8); incl. For What It's Worth, The Never-Ending Why, Ashtray Heart, Bright Lights. Iggy Pop (1947-), Preliminaires (Préliminaires) (album) (May 25); inspired by Michel Houllebecq's novel "La Possibilite d'une Ile" (The Possibility of an Island); incl. Les Feuilles Mortes. Raveonettes, In and Out of Control (album #4) (Oct. 6); incl. Last Dance, Suicide, Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed). Lionel Richie (1949-), Just Go (album #9) (Mar. 13); incl. Just Go (w/Akon). Rihanna (1988-), Rated R (album #4) (Nov. 20) (#4 in the U.S., #9 in the U.K.); incl. Russian Roulette, Hard (w/Young Jeezy), Rude Boy, Rockstar 101, Te Amo. Asher Roth (1985-), Asleep in the Bread Aisle (album) (debut) (Apr. 20); I Love College (most annoying pop song of the year?), Be By Myself, She Don't Wanna Man, Lark On My Go-Kart. Eddi Reader (1959-), The Songs of Robert Burns Deluxe Edition (album #9); Love is the Way (album #10). Maxwell (1973-), Black Summer's Night (album) (July 6); incl. Help Somebody; Pretty Wings. Reba McEntire (1955-), Keep On Loving You (album #29) (Aug. 18); incl. Strange, Consider Me Gone. Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe (album #12) (Apr. 20); incl. Wrong, Peace, Fragile Tension/Hole to Feed. Maximo Park, Quicken the Heart (album #3) (May 11) (#6 in the U.K.); incl. Wraithlike, The Kids Are Sick Again, Questing, Not Coasting. Silversun Pickups, Swoon (album #2) (Apr. 14). Iggy Pop (1947-), Preliminaires (Préliminaires) (album) (June 2); "Definitely the weirdest record of the punk godfather's career" (Rolling Stone); incl. Nice to Be Dead. Manic Street Preachers, Album #9 Journal for Plague Lovers (album #9) (May 18) (#3 in the U.K.); features lyrics by disappeared (since Feb. 1, 1995) Richey Edwards; incl. Peeled Apples. Queensryche, American Soldier (album #10) (Mar. 31) (#25 in the U.S.) Red, Innocence & Instinct (album #2) (Feb. 10) (#15 in the U.S.); incl. Fight Inside, Never Be the Same, Death of Me. The All-American Rejects, Gives You Hell: The Remixes (EP) (Feb. 3); Soundcheck Vol. 2 (EP) (Feb. 10); The Wind Blows: The Remixes (EP) (June 2); Rhapsody Originals (EP) (June 2); I Wanna: The Remixes (EP) (Aug. 11). R.E.M., Live at the Olympia (album) (Oct. 27); recorded in Dublin, Ireland on June 30-July 5, 2007. My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade: The B-Sides (EP) (Feb. 3); Venganza! (album) (Apr. 10). Busta Rhymes (1972-), Back on My B.S. (album #8) (May 19) (#5 in the U.S.); incl. Arab Money, Hustler's Anthem '09 (w/T-Pain), Respect My Conglomerate, World Go Round. John Rich (1974-), Shuttin' Detroit Down; "They're living it up on Wall Street in that New York City town/ But in the real world, they're shuttin' Detroit down". Rihanna (1988-), Rated R (album #4) (Nov. 20); sells 3M copies; incl. Rude Boy, Russian Roulette, Te Amo. Guns N'Roses, Chinese Democracy (album) (Nov. 23); released after a hermit-like (since 1993) hiatus by Axl Rose, who ends up firing his mgr. Merck Mercuriadis for claiming his creative juices had dried up; the album costs $13M, and all original group members besides him are gone. La Roux, La Roux (album) (debut) (June 29); incl. In for the Kill (Mar. 16), Bulletproof. Shakira (1977-), She Wolf (Loba) (album #6) (Oct. 9); incl. Did It Again, Give It Up to Me. Harper Simon (1972-), Harper Simon (album) (debut) (Oct. 13); son of Paul Simon (1941-). Slayer, World Painted Blood (album #11) (Nov. 3) (#12 in the U.S., #41 in the U.K.); incl. Hate Worldwide, World Painted Blood, Psychopathy Red. Fatboy Slim (1963-) and David Byrne (1952-), Here Lies Love (album) (Apr. 6); about Imelda Marcos. Black Label Society, Skullage (album) (Apr. 21). Collective Soul, Collective Soul (Rabbit) (album #8) (Aug. 25) (#24 in the U.S.); back with Atlantic Records; incl. Staring Down, Welcome All Again, You. LCD Soundsystem, 45:33 Remixes (album) (Sept. 14). Jordin Sparks (1989-), Battlefield (album #2) (July 17); incl. Battlefield, S.O.S. (Let the Music Play). Regina Spektor (1980-), Far (album #5) (June 22); incl. Laughing With. Cobra Starship, Hot Mess (album #3) (Aug. 11) (#4 in the U.S.); incl. Hot Mess, Good Girls Go Bad (w/Leighton Meester). Al Stewart (1945-), Uncorked (Live with David Nachmanoff (album). Joss Stone (1987-), Colour Me Free! (album #4) (Oct. 20) (#10 in the U.S., #75 in the U.K.); incl. Free Me. Stratovarius, Polaris (album #12) (May 15). Testament, Live at Eindhoven '87 (album) (Apr. 14). Therion, The Miskolc Experience (double album) (June). Timbaland (1971-), Shock Value II (album #3) (Dec. 4) (#36 in the U.S., #25 in the U.K.). Train, Save Me, San Francisco (album #5) (Oct. 27) (#3 in the U.S., #33 in the U.K.); incl. Save Me, San Francisco, Hey, Soul Sister, If It's Love, Marry Me. Cheap Trick, The Latest (album #16) (June 23). The Fall of Troy, In the Unlikely Event (album #4) (last album) (Oct. 6); incl. Panic Attack!, Dirty Pillow Talk, Nature vs. Nurture. Jethro Tull, Jack in the Green: Live in Germany 1970-1993 (album). U2, No Line on the Horizon (album #12) (Feb. 27) (#1 in the U.S. and U.K.) (5M copies); cover photo by Japanese photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto; incl. Get On Your Boots, Magnificent, I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight, White as Snow. Usher (1978-), Monster (album #6). Nouvelle Vague, 3 (album #3) (June 16); incl. Blister in the Sun. The Veronicas, Revenge Is Sweeter Tour (album) (Sept. 1). Lil Wayne (1982-), The Rebirth (album #7); incl. Prom Queen. Sydney Wayser (1986-), The Colorful (album #2) (Apr. 22). Weezer, Raditude (album #7) (Nov. 3) (#7 in the U.S.); incl. (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To, I'm Your Daddy. Westlife, Where We Are (album #10) (Nov. 27) (#2 in the U.K.); incl. What About Now. Great White, Rising (album #11) (Mar. 13); incl. I Don't Mind. The Whitest Boy Alive, Rules (album #2) (Mar. 30); incl. 1517. Wilco, Wilco (The Album) (album #7) (June 30); incl. One Wing, Sonny Feeling, You and I (with Feist). will.i.am (1975-), It's a New Day; celebration of Pres. Obama's election; video features Kevin Bacon; "No, Martin wasn't dreaming for nothing/ And Lincoln didn't change it for nothing/ And children weren't crying for nothing." Wisin and Yandel, La Revolucion (album #7). Yello, Touch Yello (album #13) (Oct. 2); incl. The Expert. Frank Zappa (1940-93), Lumpy Money (album) (Jan. 23). Kim Zolciak (1978-), Tardy for the Party (Sept. 11); talentless blonde "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" bimbo is backed by billionaire "Big Poppa", rumored to be Stefan Lemperle or Joe Francis. Movies: Hollywood resurrects 1950s 3-D movies with all-new technology, but it's expensive? Roland Emmerich's 2012 (Nov. 13) (Columbia Pictures) stars John Cusack and Amanda Peet in a silly Mayan end of the world exploitation flick with good SFX; Danny Glover plays U.S. Pres. Thomas Winslow, er, Wilson; after a threat of violence by Muslims, a scene showing Mecca being destroyed is switched to Rome; after North Korea declares 2012 (100th anniv. of the birth of Kim Il-sung) as "the year for opening the grand gates to becoming a rising superpower", it bans the film; does $769.7M box office on a $200M budget. Franny Armstrong's The Age of Stupid (Mar. 20) (Spanner Films) (Dogwood Pictures) is a documentary starring Pete Postlethwaite as a historyscoper living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching archival footage from guess what year while asking "Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?"; spawns the 10:10 Project in the U.K. to encourage everybody to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% in 12 mo. Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani's Ajami (May 22) tells five stories about the Muslim-Christian community in Tel Aviv. R.W. Goodwin's Alien Trespass (Apr. 3) is a parody of 1950s sci-fi B movies starring Eric McCormack and Robert Patrick. Phil Traill's All About Steve (Sept. 4) (20th Cent. Fox) stars Sandra Bullock as crossword puzzle writer Mary Horowitz, and Bradley Cooper as her blind date Steve Miller, whom she creates a crossword puzzle about while chasing him around the country; "If you love someone, set him free; if you have to stalk him, he probably wasn't yours in the first place"; earns Bullock a Razzie to go with her Oscar for "The Blind Side". Mira Nair's Amelia (Oct. 23) stars Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart, Ewan McGregor as Gene Vidal, Richard Gere as Amelia's hubby George Putnam, and Mia Waskikowska as Elinor Smith. Cherien Dabis' Amreeka (June 17) is about the troubles faced by a Palestinian immigrant family in Ill. Ron Howard's Angels and Demons (May 15), based on the Dan Brown novel stars Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon again, along with Ewan McGregor as the Camerlengo, Ayelet Zurer as Vittoria Vetra, and Stellan Skarsgard as Cmdr. Richter; grosses $485.9M worldwide. Lars von Trier's Antichrist (May 20) (Zentropa Entertainments) (Nordisk Film Distribution) is an erotic psychological horror film staring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a therapist and his wife in Seattle, Wash. whose infant falls out of the nursery window while they're doing the wild thing, then flee to their cabin in the woods called Eden, where they become a Satan-possessed Adam and Eve and begin destroying each other; "A big fat art-film fart" (Variety)); "The spectacle of a director going mad" (Time); does $2.5M box office on an $11M budget; first in von Trier's Depression Trilogy, incl. "Melancholia" (2011) and "Nymphomaniac" (2013);. James Cameron's Avatar (Dec. 10) (20th Cent. Fox) is a 3-D sci-fi flick about the moon Pandora and its Na'vi pop., who get in a war with Earth in the 23rd cent., with Sam Worthington starring as paralyzed Marine vet Jake Skully, who inhabits a 10-ft.-tall blue alien avatar; Paul R. Frommer (1944-) invents the Na'vi language for the film; too bad, it costs $237M to make (most expensive in history to date) and $200M to market, and only takes in $73M at the U.S. box office in the first weekend, plus $159.2M overseas ($232.2M), benefiting from the $3-$5 extra added to each ticket for the 3-D fun, and coming in #1 for the year at $759.563M before reaching $2.788B. Todd Graff's Bandslam (High School Rock) (Aug. 6) (Summit Entertainment) (original titles "Will", "Rock On") stars Vanessa Hudgens, Lisa Kudrow, Gaelan Connell, and Aly Michalka, teenies who share a love of music; does $12.2M box office on a $20M budget. John Lee Hancock's The Blind Side (Nov. 20) (Warner Bros. Pictures), based on the 2006 book by Michael Lewis stars Sandra Bullock as wealthy white Memphis, Tenn. mother Leigh Anne Tuohy, who takes big black homeless Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron) and adopts him, molding him into a pro football offensive left tackle and 2009 first round NFL draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens after conquering his academic problems with the help of tutor Miss Sue (Kathy Bates); Tim McGraw plays hubby Sean Tuohy, and Jae Head plays cute son Sean "S.J. Tuohy Jr.; grosses $256M in the U.S. (#8) and $309.2M worldwide on a $29M budget. Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces (Los Abrazos Rotos) (Mar. 18) stars Lluis Homar as blind writer Mateo Blanco AKA Harry Caine, who lives in the past with dead wife Lena (Penelope Cruz). Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest (Jan. 16) (Thunder Road Pictures) Overture Films) stars Richard Gere as Officer Edward "Eddie" Dugan, Don Cheadle as Det. Clarence "Tanglo" Butler, and Ethan Hawke as Det. Salvatore "Sal" Procida, who take on bad guys Casanova "Caz" Phillips (Wesley Snipes); Shannon Kane plays Gere's ho Chantal; does $36.4M box office on a $17M budget. Larry Charles' Bruno (July 10) stars Sacha Baron Cohen as a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashionista. Jim Sheridan's Brothers (Dec. 4) stars Tobey Maguire as Capt. Sam Cahill, who gets PTSD in Afghanistan and returns to brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) and wife Grace (Natalie Portman). Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story (Oct. 2) goes after Wall Street, the mortgage crisis, and the U.S. govt. bailouts; proposes Ohio rep. Marcy Kaptur and Elizabeth Warren for the 2016 U.S. Dem. pres. ticket; the U.S. debut is at the AFL-CIO convention. Yilmaz Erdogan's A Cheerful Life (Neseli Hayat) (Dec. 25) is the first modern Xmas movie made for audiences in Turkey. Stephen Frears' Cheri (Feb. 10), set in 1920s Paris stars Michelle Pfeiffer as Lea de Lonval, a courtesan hired by Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates) to educate young aristocrat Cheri (Rupert Friend) in sensual pleasures, until he becomes too attached to her. Phil Lord's and Christopher Miller's Cloud with a Chance of Meatballs (Seot. 18) is a computer-animated film based on the 1978 children's book by Judi Barrett; grosses $124.87M. Anne Fontaine's Coco Before Chanel (Apr. 22) stars Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. Sophie Barthes' Cold Souls (Jan. 17) stars Paul Giamatti as an actor performing a monologue from Anton Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanya"; critics call it a "Being Paul Giamatti". Louie Psihoyos' The Cove (Apr. 25) is a documentary about a group of activists exposing dophin abuse in a cove near Taijii, Japan; features Rick O'Barry of "Flipper" fame. Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart (Dec. 6), based on the 1987 Thomas Cobb novel stars Jeff Bridges as down-and-out country music songwriter Bad Blake, who hooks up with young journalist Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Uwe Boll's Darfur (Nov. 6) stars Billy Zane, Noah Danby, and David O'Hara as journalists who get freaked out by the atrocities. Michael Spierig's and Peter Spierig's Daybreakers (Sept. 11), about a plague turning the Earth's pop. into vampires in the year 2019 stars Ethan Hawke as vampire hamatologist Edward Dalton, who tries to create a blood substitute before the human remnant runs out, while the latter, led by ex-vampire Elvis (Willem Dafoe) has a cure in the wings; Sam Neill plays Hawke's boss Edward Dalton of pharmaceutical co. Bromley Marks. Sherry Horman's Desert Flower (Sept. 24), based on the novel by Waris Darie stars Liya Kebede as a Somalian nomad who was circumcised as an infant and fled Africa to London to become a supermodel. Neill Blomkamp's District 9 (Aug. 14), produced by Peter Jackson in a reality show format is about an extraterrestrial race of 6-ft.-tall catfood-loving "prawns" forced to live for decades as illegal aliens in South Africa in an apartheid-style militarized slum by the evil Multinat. United (MNU) Corp., which makes the mistake of trying to evict them, causing Peters Sellers lookalike MNU rep Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley) to get in the middle and cross-over. Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell (Mar. 15) (Ghost House Pictures) (Universal Pictures) stars Alison Lohman as loan officer Christine Brown, who refuses to extend the mortgage of elderly Hungarian gypsy Mrs. Sylvia Ganush (Lorna Raver), causing her to go down on her knees to beg, only to be shamed when security is called, vowing revenge by placing a death curse on her to suffer three days of torment then plunge into Hell to burn for eternity; does $90.8M box office on a $30M budget. Mike Judge's Extract (Sept. 4) stars Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, and Kristen Wiig in a comedy about a manufacturing plant. Dito Montiel's Fighting (Apr. 24) stars Channing Tatum as Shawn MacArthur, who is introduced to the underworld of bare-knuckle brawling by sleazy promoter Harvey Boarden (Terrence Howard). Jonah Tulis' The Flying Scissors stars Keong Sim as Bruce Wong, Devin Ratray as The Rock, Amy Stevens as Kerry O'Malley, Matthew Arkin as Alan Page, and Joseph Stalin as himself. Wyatt McDill's Four Boxes stars Justin Kirk as Trevor Grainger, Terryn Westbrook as Amber Croft, and Sam Rosen as Rob Rankus, avg. joes who run Go Time Liquidators on eBay, and stumble onto Fourboxes.tv, a secret WEbcam into the apt. of weird guy Havoc. Jimmy Nickerson's From Mexico With Love stars Steven Bauer as washed-up trainer Billy Jenks, who takes self-destructive boxer Hector Villa (Kuno Becker) under his wing to the big fight night. Judd Apatow's Funny People (July 31) stars Adam Sandler as comic George Simmons, who contracts terminal leukemia and takes novice comedian Ira Wright (Seth Rogen) under his wing. Hoyt Yeaman's G-Force (July 24), a 3-D animated Disney flick about a guinea pig special force squad does $32.3M on opening weekend, eclipsing Harry Potter. Todd Phillips' The Hangover (June 5) (Legendary Pictures) (Warner Bros.) stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis as Phil Wenneck, Stu Price, and Alan Garner, three buddies who lose their groom Doug (Justin Bartha) in Las Vegas before the wedding; Mike Tyson appears as himself, and when the movie does well financially and Tiger Woods gets in his big troubles, they suggest him for the sequel; grosses $277M in the U.S. and $467.5M worldwide on a $35M budget (#6). David Yates' Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (July 6) (Heyday Films) (Warner Bros.), #6 in the series based on the 2005 J.K. Rowling novels thrills true believers and bores everybody else; #3 for the year (grosses $302M U.S. and $934.4M worldwide on a $250M budget). Ken Kwapis' He's Just Not That Into You (Feb. 6) stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Gigi Haim, Jennifer Aniston as Beth Bartlett, and Jennifer Connelly as Janine Gunders. Tom Six's Dutch horror film The Human Centipede (Aug. 30) (Six Entertainment) (Bounty Films) stars Dieter Laser as mad Nazi, er, German surgeon Dr. Josef Heiter, an expert in separating conjoined twins, who gets the idea of joining three people mouth-to-anus to create a you know what who share a single digestive system, incl. Katsuro (Akihiro Kitamura) (front), Lindsay (Ashley C. Williams) (middle), and Jenny (Ashlynn Yennie) (rear); does $252K box office; "Their flesh is his fantasy". F. Gary Gray's Law Abiding Citizen (Oct. 16) (Overture Films) stars Gerard Butler as Philly engineer Clyde Alexander Shelton, whose wife and daughter are murdered, and the murder gets off in a few years, pissing him off and setting him on a path of vengeance against the whole system while playing cat and mouse with D.A. Nicholas "Nick" Rice (Jamie Foxx) and Det. Dunnigan (Colm Meaney); does $126.7M box office on a $53M budget. John Hamburg's I Love You, Man (Mar. 20) stars Paul Rudd as lonely Peter Klaven, who goes on a series of man-dates to find a best man for his wedding with Zooey (Rashida Jones), ending up with Sydney Fife (Jason Segel), which backfires with Zooey. Glenn Ficarra's and John Requa's I Love You Phillip Morris (Jan. 18), based on the true story by Steve McVicker stars Jim Carrey as gay con artist Steven Jay Russell, who escapes from jail 4x to be reunited with his gay bud Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor); gets too gross and alienates audience?; does $20.7M box office on a $10M budget. Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (May 22) is about a weird travelling theater co., incl. Johny Depp, Heath Ledger, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell, who all play Tony; Christopher Plummer plays Dr. Parnassus, whose deals with the Devil make him desperate to save his daughter Valentine (Lily Cole). Steven Soderbergh's The Informant (Oct. 9), based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald stars Matt Damon as Archer Daniels Midland agribiz whistleblower Mark E. Whitacre (1957-), Melanie Lynskey as his wife Ginger, and Scott Bakula as Brian Shepard. Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds (Aug. 21) (Universal) (2 hours 32 min.) (title taken from a 1978 Enzo Castellari film), the ultimate Jewish fantasy flick (anti-Schindler's List?) about a group of Jewish-Am. Nazi assassins in WWII who stop the Nazis and the Holocaust after starting their own bloody Holocaust of Germans and killing Hitler and his entire high command stars Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, and Austrian actor Christoph Waltz (1956-) as SS Col. Hans Landa "the Jew Hunter", who wins an Oscar for best supporting actor, the first acting Oscar for a Tarantino film and 2nd for playing a Nazi after Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (2008); does $321M box office on a $75M budget; garners eight Oscar nods; the inane lack of security for Hitler and his high command ruins the believability?; too bad, the so-called heroes are portrayed as sinking as low or lower than the Nazis in order to beat them, taking any moral high ground away?; proof that Hollyweird is run by Jews who are as savage and bloodthirsty as Nazis?; the Jews and Muslims are Siamese twins, so how did everybody else get in the middle?; why don't they follow with similar flicks for George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot, or is there no fun in it for da Jews? Tom Tykwer's The International (Feb. 12) (Relativity Media) (Columbia Pictures) stars Clive Owen as Interpol agent Louis Salinger, who with DA Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) tries to expose Luxembourg-based bank IBBC's role in an internat. arms dealing ring; does $60M box office on a $50M budget. Armando Iannucci's In the Loop (Jan. 22) stars Peter Capaldi and Tom Hollander as a British intrnat. development chief, and James Gandolfini as a U.S. gen. in a satire about attempts to stop an Iraq-type war in the Middle East. Robert Gardner's Inside Islam: What A Billion Muslims Really Think (June 3) is a documentary pushing the PC "Islam Is A Religion of Peace" view, with Dalia Mogahed, John Esposito, and Madeline Algright. Ricky Gervais' The Invention of Lying (Sept. 25), narrated by Patrick Stewart is about a world where nobody has ever lied until Mark (Gervais) starts it to get the girl of his dreams Jennifer Garner. Clint Eastwood's Invictus (Dec. 11), named after the 1888 William Ernest Henley poem stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, who tries to unite South Africa by winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup with players Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) et al. Nancy Meyers' It's Complicated (Dec. 25) stars Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin in a silly Xmas chick flick. Karyn Kusama's Jennifer's Body (Sept. 18) stars Megan Fox as Jennifer Check, a cheerleader suffering from demonic possession. Derrick Borte's The Joneses (Sept. 13) is about a team of stealth marketers, incl. Demi Moore and David Duchovny. Nora Ephron's Julie & Julia (Aug. 7) (Columbia Pictures), based on the book by Julie Powell stars Meryl Streep as "bon appetit" Am. French chef Julia Child, and Amy Adams as govt. secy. Julie Powell, who decides to cook all 524 of her recipes in 365 days and blog about it; Stanley Tucci plays Julia's hubby Paul, and Chris Messina plays Julie's hubby Eric; does $129.5M box office on a $40M budget. Alex Proyas' Knowing (Mar. 20) (Summit Entertainment), based on an idea by novelist Ryne Douglas Pearson stars Rose Byrne/Lara Robinson as Lucinda Embry-Wayland, who is visited by ETs in 1959 and puts a sheet of numbers in her school's time capsule, which is opened in 2009 by fellow student Caleb Koestler (Chandler Canterbury), whose father Jonathan "John" Koestler (Nicolas Cage) is an MIT astrophysics prof.; the numbers turn out to be dates and coordinates of major disasters, the last one of which is "EE" (everyone else), after which a solar flare wipes out all life on Earth right before some ETs arrive in spaceships to rescue a lucky few; does $187.9M box office on a $50M budget; "Now, I want you to think about the perfect set of circumstances that put this celestial ball of fire at just the correct distance from our little blue planet for life to evolve, making it possible for you to be sitting here in this riveting lecture. But that's a nice thought, right? Everything has a purpose, an order to it, is determined. But then there's the other side of the argument, the theory of randomness, which says it's all simply coincidence. The very fact we exist is nothing but the result of a complex yet inevitable string of chemical accidents and biological mutations. There is no grand meaning. There's no purpose. What about you, Professor Koestler? What? Well, what do you believe? I think shit just happens. But that's me." Joel Hopkins' Last Chance Harvey (Jan. 16) stars Dustin Hoffman as jingle writer Harvey Shine, who is booted out of his daughter's wedding in London, and hooks up with lonely statistician Kate Walker (Emma Thompson). Michael Hoffman's The Last Station (Dec. 23) (Sony Pictures), based on the 1990 novel by Jay Parini stars Christopher Plummer as Count Leo Tolstoy in his last year (1910), and Helen Mirren as his wife Sofya, who fights Tolstoyan leader Vladmir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti) for the right to keep his copyrights; James McAvoy plays Tolstoy's new secy. Valentin Bulgakov; does $13.5M box office on an $18M budget. Samuel Maoz's Lebanon (Sept.), based on Maoz's experience in the 1982 Israeli-Lebanese War portrays an Israeli tank crew and their illegal use of phosphorus grenades. Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones (Dec. 11) (DreamWorks), based on the 2002 Alice Sebold novel stars Saoirse Ronan as 14-y.-o. Susie Salmon, who was raped and murdered then watches her family from heaven; does 93.6M box office on a $65M budget. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (Feb. 20) stars Perry as gum-flapping Southern grandma Madea Simmons, who goes to jail and meets a bunch of characters. Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats (Nov. 6), Heslov's dir. debut based on a 2005 story by journalist Jon Ronson about the secret U.S. Army First Earth Battalion in the 1970s-80s who believed in the paranormal stars George Clooney as Lyn Cassady, Stephen Lang as brig. gen. Dean Hopgood, and Ewan McGregor as journalist Bob Wilton. Rob Letterman's and Conrad Vernon's Monsters vs. Aliens (Mar. 27) is an animated flick starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Rain Wilson, and Stephen Colbert; grosses $198M in the U.S. (#11). Duncan Jones' Moon (Jan. 23) stars Sam Rockwell as astronaut Sam Bell, who mans a helium-3 mining site on the far side of the Moon, and discovers he's being cloned to avoid paying him; Kevin Spacey plays the voice of GERTY the robot; Jones' dir. debut; does $9.7M box office on a $5M budget. Nick Cassavetes' My Sister's Keeper (June 26), based on the 2004 Jodi Picoult novel stars Abigail Breslin as Andromeda "Anna" Fitzgerald, who sues her parents Sara and Brian (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) to stop them from using her to keep their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate (Sofia Vassilieva) remain alive. Jonas Elmer's New in Town (Jan. 30) (Gold Circle Films) stars Renee Zellweger as consultant Lucy Hill, who tries to save a blue-collar plant in freezing you-betchya New Ulm, Minn. while courting union rep Ted Mitchell (Harry Connick Jr.); Siobhan Fallon Hogan plays Lucy's friend Blanche Gunderson; J.K. Simmons plays Stu Kopenhafer. does $29M box office on a $8M budget. Rob Marshall's Nine (Dec. 18), a musical based on Federico Fellini's "8-1/2" stars Daniel Day-Lewis as famous film dir. Gido Contini, Marion Cotillard as his wife, Sophia Loren as his mother, Penelope Cruz as his mistress, Nicole Kidman as his muse, and Judi Dench as his producer. Bahman Ghobadi's No One Knows About Persian Cats (May 14) is about Iranian rockers Hamed Behdad and Ashkan Kooshanejad, who have to go underground to form a rock band. Sam Taylor Wood's Nowhere Boy (Dec. 25), based on the memoir by Julia Baird is about the teenie years of Beatle John Lennon, played by Aaron Johnson, and his aunt Mimi Smith, played by Kristin Scott Thomas; Thomas Sangster plays Paul McCartney. Walt Becker's Old Dogs (Nov. 25) (Walt Disney Pictures) stars Robin Williams and John Travolta as sports marketers Dan Rayburn and Charlie Reed, and Kelly Preston as Dan's ex Vicki, who reveals that she bore him twins Zach (Conner Rayburn) and Emily (Ella Bleu Travolta); the last film appearance of Bernie Mac; dedicated to him and John Travolta's son Jett, who died in Jan.; Bryan Adams writes and sings the theme song "You've Been a Friend to Me"; does $97M box office on a $35M budget. Oren Peli's Paranormal was made for $15K, and grosses $62.5M in 1 mo., then ? after the Halloween weekend. Steve Carr's Paul Blart: Mall Cop (Jan. 16) stars Kevin James; grosses $146M. Jacques Audiard's A Prophet (Une Prophete) (May 16) is about young Arab Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), who is sent to a French prison for six years with 50 francs, a cigarette and some old sneakers, and becomes a mafia kingpin; "You should leave this place a bit more intelligent than you were before". Lee Daniels' Precious (Jan. 16), based on the 1996 novel "Push" by Sapphire about obese black teenie Calireece "Precious" Jones, who is raped and gets pregnant by her father twice and has a psycho mother does $6M box office in its opening weekend despite a $10K budget. On Nov. 25, 2009 John Musker's and Ron Clements' animated The Princess and the Frog (Nov. 25) (Walt Disney Pictures) is based on the 2002 novel "The Frog Princess" by E.D. Baker, which is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Frog Prince" is about waitress Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) in Jazz Age New Orleans, who dreams of opening her own restaurant before she kisses Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos), a prince who had been turned into a frog by evil witch doctor Dr. Facilier (Keith David), turning into a frog herself; Oprah Winfrey voices Tiana's mother Eudora; features Disney's first black princes, Tiana; a "symbolic reparation" for the 1946 animation-plus-live-action hit "Song of the South"; too bad, having the word princess in the title cuts down the box office in competition with "Avatar"; does $271M box office on a $105M budget. Ron Clements and John Musker's The Princess and the Frog (Dec. 11) set in Jazz Age New Orleans features Disney's first black princess Tiana; a "symbolic reparation" for the 1946 animation-plus-live-action hit "Song of the South" - they should have just refilmed that? Rebecca Miller's The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (July 10) stars Robin Wright, whose much older hubby Herb (Alan Arkin) moves to a retirement community, causing her to slide into a nervous breakdown. Anne Fletcher's The Proposal (June 1) (Touchstone Pictures) (Mandeville Films) (Walt Disney Studios) stars Sandra Bullock as bossy Canadian-born New York book editor Margaret Tate, who is pushed by the INS into marrying her secy. Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) to keep from being deported to Canada, finding out that he's as rich as the Kennedys out in Sitka, Alaska, and falling in luuuv; Mary Steenburgen plays Andrew's mother Grace Paxton, Craig T. Nelson plays his father Joe Paxton, and Betty White plays his grandma Annie; grosses $164M U.S. and $317.4M worldwide on a $40M budget (#16). Michael Mann's Public Enemies (July 1), based on the book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI in 1933-34" stars Johnny Depp as John Dillinger. Harry "Doc" Kloor and Dan St. Pierre's Quantum Quest: A Cassino Space Odyssey (Sept.), an animated flick about the NASA/JPL Cassini Huygens mission to Saturn stars the voices of Scientologist John Travolta, Christian Slater et al. John Hillcoat's The Road (Oct.), based on the 2006 Cormac McCarthy novel stars Viggo Mortenson as the Father, Kodi Smit-McPhee as the Son, Charlize Theron as the Wife, and Guy Pearce as the Veteran, who try to survive in the apocalyptic remains of cannibal-filled Appalachia. Juan Jose Campanella's The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos) (Aug. 13) stars Ricardo Darin as Benjamin Esposito, who tries to solve the rape-murder of a young woman in Buenos Aires in June 1974. Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes (Dec. 25) stars Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson, who is given a more human treatment than previous flicks, and more like Arthur Conan Doyle intended; grosses $209M in the U.S.(#10). Jonas Pate's Shrink (Feb. 9) stars Kevin Spacey as pshrink-to-the-stars Henry Carter, LA's top celeb, who turns into a pothead; starts a trend with him getting saved by pot, starting with "American Beauty" (1999)? Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (Oct. 2), based on the 2003 Dennis Lehane novel stars Leonardo DiCaprio as U.S. marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who investigates the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Boston Harbor in 1954, loses his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), and ends up trapped by sinister head pshrink Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley); "Which is better, to live as a monster, or die as a good man?" Joe Wright's The Soloist (Apr. 24), based on the 2007 book "Musicophilia" by Oliver Sacks and the LA Steve Lopez 60 Minutes Segment stars Robert Downey Jr. as Los Angeles reporter Steve Lopez, who discovers gifted black schizo musician and Juilliard dropout Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx) playing on skid row, and helps him. Brian Koppelman's and David Levien's Solitary Man (Sept.) (Millennium Films) stars Michael Douglas as 54-y.-o. car dealer Ben Kalmen, who goes on a binge of sexual affairs and spins down with daughter Susan (Jenna Fischer) and wife Nancy (Susan Sarandon), hooking up with student Allyson (Imogen Poots); Danny DeVito plays his college friend Jimmy Marino; does $15M box office on a $5M budget. Oliver Stone's South of the Border is a documentary about Venezuelan pres. Hugo Chavez. J.J. Abrams' Star Trek (May 8), an attempt to revive the series by rewinding to the early Starfleet days stars Chris Pine as Capt. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Simon Pegg as Scotty, Karl Urban as Dr. Bones McCoy, John Cho as Lt. Hikaru Sulu, Zoe Saldana as Lt. Nyota Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike, Ben Cross as Sarek, and Eric Bana as Nero; Leonard Nimoy appears as Old Spock, while Young Spock gets it on with Uhura in a horrible twisted time-travel travesty that makes fans of the original series gag?; earns $76.5M in its opening weekend, with glowing reviews saying that they've revived the 40-y.-o. series after all; grosses $257.7M in the U.S. (#7); next year Leonard Nimoy announces his retirement from Spock roles and Star Trek conventions - Trekkie sacrilege or Trekker salvation? Kevin Macdonald's State of Play (Apr. 17) stars Russell Crowe as newspaper reporter Cal McAffrey, who looks into a conspiracy involving Rep. Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) and Della Frye (Rachel McAdams). Cyrus Nowrasteh's The Stoning of Soraya M. (June 26), based on the 1994 novel by Freidoune Sahebjam is about a woman stoned in 1986 Iran after being framed by her hubby for adultery so he could marry a younger babe; shows the horror of stoning. Jonathan Mostow's Surrogates (Sept. 25), based on the 2005-6 comic book series stars Bruce Willias as FBI agent Tom Greer, who lives in a world of humanoid remote control vehicles; grosses $122.4M on an $80M budget. Jonah Tulis' The Superagent is a TV movie starring Matt Servitto as Steve Blank, Eddie Hargitay as Neil, and Devin Ratray as the announcer. Pierre Morel's Taken (Jan. 30) stars Liam Neeson as a former spy Brian Mills, whose daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped in Paris by Albanian sex slave traders, and who uses his super spy skills to rescue her, despite being over the hill; grosses $145M. Tony Scott's The Taking of Pelham 123 (June 12), a remake of the 1974 Joseph Sargent classic based on the 1973 John Godey novel stars John Travolta as criminal mastermind Ryder, who holds a New York City subway train hostage for big bucks, and Denzel Washington as subway dispatcher Walter Garber, who duels with him; grosses $65M in the U.S. Aleksa Gajic's Technotise: Edit & I (Sept. 28) is a Serbian animated film based on Gajic's graphic novel set in 2074 Belgrade about female psych student Edit Stefanovic, who keeps failing the same univ. exam, and has a chip implanted in her body to help, only to see it try to take her over. McG's Terminator Salvation (May 21), set in the year 2018 stars Christian Bale as John Connor, Bryce Dallas Howard as Kate Connor, Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Sam Worthington as mystery man Marcus Wright, and Moon Bloodgood as Blair Williams. Kenny Ortega's This Is It (Oct. 28) wastes no time in exploting the death of "Thriller" superstar Michael Jackson and his planned 50-concert sold-out This Is It Tour at the O2 Arena in London from July 2009-Mar. 2010, featuring half-Greek Australian guitarist Orianthii Pangaris. Rajikumar Hirani's Three Idiots (Dec. 25) is a Bollywood megahit, raking in 1B rupees in its opening weekend. Robert Schwentke's The Time Traveller's Wife (Aug. 14), based on the Audrey Niffenegger novel stars Eric Bana as Chicago librarian Henre DeTample, who has a gene allowing him to time travel, jeopardizing his relationship with his wife Clare Abshire (Rachel McAdams). Michael Bay's Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (June 24); stars Shia LeBeouf as Sam Witwicky, Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes, and Josh Duham as Maj. William Lennox; #2 U.S. box office for the year at $402M. Chris Weitz's The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Nov. 16) (Temple Hill Entertainment) (Summit Entertainment) continues the series based on the Stephenie Meyer novels, starring Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, who turns 18, and Robert Pattinson as her chilly no-fun ever-17 vampire beau Edward Cullen; does $709.7M box office worldwide and $293.8M in the U.S. (#4) on a $50M budget. Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (Sept. 5) (DreamWorks Pictures) (Paramount Pictures) stars suave, well-dressed George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, an expert on termination assistance, who is about to earn 10M frequent flyer miles with Am. Airlines, Vera Farmiga as his ae Alex Goran, and Anna Kendrick as his ambitious young asst. Natalie Keener; does $166.8M box office on a $25M budget. Gregor Jordan's Unthinkable (Nov. 9) stars Samuel L. Jackson as CIA spook Henry Herald "H" Humphries, and Carrie-Ann Moss as Agent Helen Brody, who work over captured Muslim convert Yousef AKA Steven Arthur Younger (Michael Sheen) to make him divulge the location of three nukes he has put in major U.S. cities to force the U.S. to pull all troops out of the Muslim World; lame speculations of the Constitutionality of torture of this mass murderer ring hollow? Pete Docter's computer-animated Up (May 13) (Walt Disney Pictures) (Pixar Animation Studios) features the voice of Ed Asner as elderly widower Carl Fredericksen, who flies to South Am. in a floating house suspended on helium balloons with young Wilderness Explorer stowaway Russell (Jordan Nagai), meeting talking golden retriever Dug (Bob Peterson) and airship explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer), who is chasing a giant colorful flightless bird named Kevin; grosses $277M in the U.S.(#5) and $735.1M worldwide. Jason Reitman's Up in the Air (Dec. 25) stars George Clooney as corporate downsizing expert Ryan Bingham, whose job and 10M frequent flyer miles are threatened by video conferencing expert Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), whom he falls for. Marco Bellocchio's Vincere ("To Win") (May 20) is about Mussolini's 1st wife (1914-5) Ida Dalser (1880-1937) (played by Giovanna Mezzogiorno) and their son Benito Albino Mussolini (1915-42); Filippo Timi plays Mussolini, who marries another woman during WWI, treats them both like merde, and gets them locked up in insane asylums for life, trying to cover up his relationship with them. Zack Snyder's Watchmen (Mar. 6), based on the 1987 graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons set in a parallel Earth in 1985 filled with superheroes stars Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan, Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre, Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II, Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, Matthew Goode as Ozymandias, Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the Comedian, and Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II; does $185M box office on a $130M budget. Woody Allen's Whatever Works (Apr. 22) stars Evan Rachel Wood as a Southerner who marries Manhattan Scrooge Larry David. Spike Jones' Where the Wild Things Are (Oct. 16) is based on the Maurice Sendak children's book about Max (Max Records) in a forest of wild creatures who make him their king. Drew Barrymore's Whip It (Oct. 2), about a roller derby league in Austin, Tex. stars Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar AKA Babe Ruthless, who escapes the beauty pageant plans of her mother Brooke Cavendar (Marcia Gay Harden); also stars Barrymore as Smashley Simpson, Juliette Lewis as Iron Maven, and Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem. Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band: Eine Deutsche Kindergeschichte) (May 21) is about a small village in N Germany before WWI where abused children made to wear white sleeve ribbons after being suspected of sexual thoughts or masturbation form a guerrilla group to fight back with ritual punishment, and are interrupted by the assassination in Sarajevo, after which we're supposed to see the parallels. Farid Haerinejad and Mohammad Reza Kazemi's Women in Shroud is a documentary about Iranian lawyers and activists working against the death penalty, esp. for women. Shirin Neshat's Women Without Men is set in 1953 Iran during the U.S.-engineered coup of Mohammed Mossadegh. Jean-Marc Vallee's The Young Victoria (Mar. 6) (GK Films) (Momentum Pictures) stars Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert, featuring authentic costumes and sets; Jim Broadbent plays William IV; Paul Bettany plays Lord Melbourne; Michael Maloney plays Sir Robert Peel; Mark Strong plays Sir John Conroy; Miranda Richardson plays the Duchess of Kent; Thomas Kretschmann plays Leopold I of Belgium; does $27.4M box office on a $35M budget. Ruben Fleischer's Zombieland (Sept. 25) (Relativity Media) (Columbia Pictures) updates zombie flicks starring Jesse Eisenberg as Austin, Tex. college student Columbus (his preferred destination), Woody Harrelson as Twinkie-loving Tallahassee, who likes to paint "3" on the sides of his vehicles, Emma Stone as Wichita, Abigail Breslin as Little Rock, and Amber Heard as 406; Bill Murray makes a cameo appearance as a non-zombie playing a zombie; Derek Graf plays Clown Zombie; "Rule #1: Cardio; Rule #2: Double Tap; Rule #7: Travel Light"; "Time to nut up or shut up"; grosses $60.8M in 17 days and $102.4M box office on a $23.6M budget to become the #1-grossing zombie film in the U.S. (until ?); "It's been two months since Patient Zero took a bite of a contaminated burger at a Gus 'n' Gulp, just two months and I might just be the last non-cannibal freak in the country." Plays: Richard Bean (1956-), England People Very Nice (Royal Nat. Theatre, London) (Feb.); four waves of immigrants in Bethnal Green. Caryl Churchill (1938-), Seven Jewish Children: A Play for Gaza (Royal Court Theatre, London) (Feb. 10). Zayd Dohrn (1977-), Sick; a Manhattan family goes to extremes to shield themselves from pollution; by the 4-y.-o. kid who lived with Weather Underground leaders Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn in Morningside Heights. Stephan Elliott (1964-) and Allan Scott (1940-), Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (musical) (Palace Theatre, West End, London) (Mar 10); based on the 1994 film about two drag queens and a transgender women who contract to perform a drag show at a resort in Alice Springs; stars Jason Donovan as Mitzi/Tick, Tony Sheldon as Bernadette, and Oliver Thornton as Adam/Felicia; on Mar. 20, 2011 it opens at the Palace Theatre in New York, starring Will Swenson as Mitzi/Tick, Tony Sheldon as Bernadette, and Nick Adams as Adam/Felicia. Margarita Espada, Who Killed Marcelo Lucero? (Stony Brook U.); an Ecuadorian immigrant to Long Island is attacked and killed by an anti-Hispanic teenie group. Will Ferrell (1967-), You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W Bush (comedy) (Cort Theater, New York) (Feb. 5); on Mar. 14 it is broadcast live on HBO cable channel. Pam Gems (1925-), Winterlove (Drill Hall, London); Despatches (Drill Hall, London). Dan Gordon, Irena's Vow (Walter Kerr Theatre, New York) (Mar. 29); about WWII Polish nurse Irene (Irena) Gut (1918-2003), who saved 12 Jews. Adrian Grant, Thriller Live (musical revue) (Lyric Theatre, West End, London) (Jan. 21) (3.3K+ perf.); six actors play singer Michael Jackson. Teddy Hayes (1951-), Obama On My Mind (musical comedy); a flop; incl. the Oink Scene. Tina Howe (1937-), Chasing Manet. Michael Jacobs, Impressionism (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, New York) (Feb. 28); stars Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen. Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, Next to Normal (musical) (Pulitzer Prize). Sarah Ruhl (1974-), In the Next Room (The Vibrator Play) (Lyceum Theater, New York) (Oct. 22); her Broadway debut. Joanna Murray-Smith (1962-), Rockabye (Melbourne) (Aug.). Joe Sutton, Complicit (Old Vic Theatre, London) (Jan. 7); stars Richard Dreyfuss as journalist Am. Ben Kritzer, Elizabeth McGovern as his wife Judith, and David Suchet as his defense lawyer Roger Cowan. Robert Wilson (1941-), Sonnets (Berlin). Poetry: Rae Armantrout (1947-), Versed (Pulitzer Prize). Thomas Michael Disch (1940-2008), Winter Journey (posth.). Rita Dove (1952-), Sonata Mulattica. Mary Oliver (1935-), Evidence. Katha Pollitt (1949-), The Mind-Body Problem (June 9). Peter Dale Scott (1929-), Mosaic Orpheus. George Starbuck (1931-96), The Works: Poems Selected from Five Decades (posth.); ed. Kathryn Starbuck and Elizabeth Meese. Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012), Here. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun (posth.) (May). Charles Wright (1935-), Sestets. Novels: Peter Ackroyd (1949-), The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling. Monica Ali (1967-), In the Kitchen (Apr.). Niccolo Ammaniti, As God Commands. Alaa al Aswany, Chicago; Egyptian grad students at the U. of Ill. live under surveillance by Hosni Mubarak's secret police. Margaret Atwood (1939-), The Year of the Flood; sequel to "Oryx and Crake" (2003); God's Gardeners, survivors of the Waterless Flood caused by the evil corporations. Gwenaelle Aubry (1971-), Person (Personne); about her father who suffered from manic depression and left a diary. Paolo Bacigalupi (1972-), The Windup Girl (Sept.) (first novel); 23rd cent. Thailand is plagued by global warming, megacorporations pushing GMO "genehacked" food, and biotechnology. Clive Barker (1952-), Third Book of the Art. Nevada Barr, 13-1/2; Tulane U. prof. Polly Deschamps, Richard and Dylan Raines. Frederick Barthelme (1943-), Waveland. Greg Bear (1951-), Marisposa; sequel to "Quantico" (2005). Steve Berry (1955-), The Paris Vendetta; Cotton Malone #5. Maeve Binchy (1940-), Heart and Soul; a Dublin health center for heart patients. Chris Bohjalian, Secrets of Eden. T. Coraghessan Boyle (1948-), The Women. Anita Brookner (1928-), Strangers. Dan Brown (1964-), The Lost Symbol (Sept. 15); original title "The Solomon Key"; Robert Langdon and noetic scientist Dr. Katherine Solomon chase Freemason secrets in Washington, D.C. and bad guy Mal'akh; causes millions of people to Google "Apotheosis of Washington". James Lee Burke (1936-), In the Valley of Ancient Rain Gods. Robert Olen Butler (1945-), Hell (Sept.). David Caute (1936-), Marechera and the Colonel. Stephen L. Carter, Jericho's Fall; Rebecca DeForde does a pre-obit for cancer-stricken Jericho Ainsley. Mary Higgins Clark (1927-), Just Take My Heart. Paulo Coelho (1947-), The Winner Stands Alone; the "superclass" who stink up the Cannes Film Festival. Suzanne Collins (1962-), Catching Fire (Sept.); #2 in the Hunger Games Trilogy. Michael Connelly, The Scarecrow; Jack McEvoy. Intervention (Aug. 4). Bernard Cornwell, Agincourt; the big battle on St. Crispins Day, Oct. 25, 1415. Michael Crichton (1942-2008), Pirate Latitudes (Nov. 24) (posth.). James Crosbie, Ashanti Gold (June); Colin Grant. Michael Crummey (1965-), Galore; a "One Hundred Years of Solitude" set in Newfoundland? Sandra Dallas, Prayers for Sale. Diane Mott Davidson (1949-), Fatally Flaky; Goldy Schultz #15. Jude Deveraux (1947-), Lavender Morning; Days of Gold; first in the Edilean Series. Cory Doctorow (1971-), Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (first novel); first novel released under a Creative Commons license. Leonard Downie Jr. (1942-), The Rules of the Game (first novel) (Jan. 13); retired Washington Post exec ed. (1981-2008) dabbles in fiction about Washington, D.C. with Sarah Page of the Washington Capital during the admin. of U.S. Pres. Susan Cameron. Dominick Dunne (1926-2009), Too Much Money (Dec.) (posth.). James Ellroy (1948-), Blood's a Rover; #3 in the American Underworld Trilogy. William R. Fortschen, One Second After; a high-alt. nuke causes an EMP disabling all electrical devices worldwide, causing global catastrophe. Tim Gautreaux (1947-), The Missing. Miriam Gershow, The Local News (first novel); Lydia Pasternak tell about her disappeared brother. Matthew Glass, Ultimatum; the future of the U.S. and China fighting over global warming. Mary Catherine Gordon (1949-), Reading Jesus. Joe Gores (1931-), Spade & Archer: The Prequel to Dashiell Hammet's The Maltese Falcon. Seth Grahame-Smith (1976-), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies; NYT bestseller mixing Jane Austen's classic 1813 novel with zombies; filmed in 2016. Philippa Gregory (1954-), The White Queen; about Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV; #1 in the Cousin's War Series. John Grisham (1955-), The Associate. Lauren Groff (1978-), Delicate Edible Birds (short stories). Paul Harding, Tinkers (first novel) (Pulitzer Prize); George on his deathbed in Mass. channels his dead tinker mystic epileptic minister father Howard. Everette Lynn Harris (1955-2009), Basketball Jones. Steven F. Havill, The Fourth Time is Murder. Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency; two families in Sheffield, England. John Irving (1942-), Last Night in Twisted River. Marlon James, The Book of Night Women; Leo of the ancient Mograns, who possess bodies via sex. Sally Jenkins and John Stauffner, The State of Jones: The Small Southern County That Seceded from the Confederacy; Jones County Miss. Denis Johnson (1949-), Nobody Move. Shelton Johnson, Gloryland (first novel); U.S. Civil War buffalo soldier Elijah Yancy. Stephanie Kallos, Sing them Home. Leslie Kohler, Sins of the Border (first novel). Joan Lehmann, Heaven Below (first novel). Brad Leithauser (1953-), The Art Student's War. Jeffrey Lent, After You're Gone; 50-something Henry Dorn loses his wife Olivia and son Robert to a car crash in Finger Lakes, N.Y., and hooks up with Lydia Pearce in 1922 Amsterdam. Jonathan Lethem (1964-), Chronic City; Chase Insteadman in Manhattan is engaged to stranded astronaut Janice Trumbull; Perkus Tooth. James Lever, Me Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood; fictional autobio. of Tarzan's chimp Cheeta. Elinor Lipman (1950-), The Family Man; gay atty. Henry Archer retires early because his daddy died young . Penelope Lively (1933-), Family Album. Attica Locke, Black Water Rising (first novel); atty. Jay Porter. Shahriar Mandanipout, Censoring an Iranian Love Story; predicts the street death of Neda Agha-Soltan in Tehran?; "The girl does not know that in precisely seven minutes and seven seconds, at the height of the clash between the students, the police, and the members of the Party of God, in the chaos of attacks and escapes, she will be knocked into with great force, she will fall back, her head will hit against a cement edge, and her sad Oriental eyes will forever close." David Marusek, Mind Over Ship (Jan. 20). Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin; about Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in NYC. Colleen McCullough (1937-), The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett; sequel to Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" focusing on Elizabeth's unattractive tone-deaf sister. Anne Michaels, The Winter Vault. Christian Moerk, Darling Jim; Dublin postman Niall Cleary. Nicholas Mosley (1923-), God's Hazard. Herta Muller (1953-), Atemschaukel; German Romanians put in work camps after WWII by the Soviets. Nami Mun, Miles from Nowhere; 13-y.-o. Joon lives on the streets of 1980s New York City. Ralph Nader (1934-), Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! (Sept. 22); twists Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" to make the Warren Buffet types into altruists. Mark Okoth Obama Ndesandjo, From Nairobi to Shenzhen (first novel); half-brother of Barack Obama, who has lived in S China for the last seven years cashes in. Robert Olmstead, Far Bright Star; the hunting of Pancho Villa. James Patterson (1947-), I, Alex Cross. Matthew Pearl, The Last Dickens; Charles Dickens' son Frank, supt. in the Bengal Mounted Police. Ralph Peters (1952-), The War After Armageddon; life after Iran nukes Israel and the U.S. Jayne Anne Phillips (1952-), Lark & Termite. Gary R. Prisk, Digger Dogface Brownjob Grunt (Oct. 1); Vietnam War novel. Danny Scheinemann, Random Acts of Heroic Love (first novel); Leo Deakin must bury his Greek babe Eleni, while Moritz Daniecki and his son Fischel deal with Kristallnacht. Anis Shivani, Anatolia and Other Stories (Oct.). John Shors, Dragon House; Iris Rhodes fulfills her Vietnam War vet father's wish to found a home in Ho Chi Minh City for Vietnamese street children. Nicholas Sparks (1965-), The Last Song (Sept.). Danielle Steel (1947-), One Day at a Time; Matters of the Heart; Southern Lights. Chuck Palahniuk (1962-), Pygmy; a 13-y.-o terrorist moves in with a white middle-class family posing as an exchange student, with a plan to incite racial hatred in the U.S. by building an A-bomb for his Nat. Science Fair project. Robert Brown Parker (1932-2010), Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel; Spenser #37; The Professional; Spenser #38; Night and Day; Jesse Stone #8; Split Image; Jesse Stone #9; Brimstone; Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch #3. George Pelecanos, The Way Home; "Bad" Chris Flynn. Arthur Phillips (1969-), The Song is You; Julian Donahue and Cait O'Dwyer . Jodi Picoult (1966-), Handle With Care. Sharon Potts, In Their Blood (first novel); college Jeremy Strobe backpacks in Europe. Spencer Quinn, Dog On It; K-9 school dropout Chet. Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-), Galileo's Dream (Aug. 6). Joel C. Rosenberg (1967-), Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson and Jesus Are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World. J.K. Rowling (1965-), The Tales of Beedle the Bard; the book that Hermione Granger was bequeath ed by Albus Dumbledore. Richard Russo (1949-), That Old Cape Magic. Jose Saramago (1922-2010), Cain; at the launch of his book in Lisbon, he calls the Bible a "handbook of bad morals". Lisa See, Shanghai Girls; sisters Pearl and May Chin in 1937 Shanghai, the Paris of Asia. Jane Smiley (1949-), The Georges and the Jewels. Patrick Somerville, The Cradle (first novel); Marissa and Matt are expecting in July 1997. Scott Spencer (1945-), A Ship Made of Paper. Brad Thor (1969-), The Apostle. Colm Toibin (1955-), Brooklyn. Lisa Tucker, The Promised World. Barry Unsworth (1930-2012), Land of Marvels. Carrie Vaughn (1973-), Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand (Feb.); Kitty Raises Hell (Mar.); Kitty Norville #5, #6. Abraham Verghese (1955-), Cutting for Stone (first novel); autobio. novel about identical twins Shiva and Marion Praise Stone; on Pres. Obama's summer 2011 reading list. Rebecca Wells (1952-), The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder. Elie Wiesel (1928-), A Mad Desire to Dance; Polish Jew Doriel Waldman survives the Holocaust by hiding in a barn with his father. Dirk Wittenborn and Mike Walsh, Pharmakon. Robin Yassin-Kassab, The Road from Damascus. Births: Deaths: Portuguese's world's oldest person (since Nov. 26, 2008) Maria de Jesus dos Santos (b. 1893) on Jan. 2 near Tomar. Am. basketball player Hank Dezonie (b. 1922) on Jan. 2. Am. "Commissioner James Gordon in Batman" actor Pat Hingle (b. 1924) on Jan. 3 in Carolina Beach, N.C. (cancer). English economist Sir Alan Arthur Walters (b. 1926) on Jan. 3 (Parkinson's). Spanish world's oldest living person (since Jan. 2) Manuela Fernandez Fojaco (b. 1895) on Jan. 6. Canadian-born Am. Roman Catholic priest (advisor of George W. Bush) Richard John Neuhaus (b. 1936) on Jan. 8 in New York City (cancer). French dir. Claude Berri (b. 1934) on Jan. 12 in Paris. Am. journalist Allen Zwerdling (b. 1922) on Jan. 12 in Rosendale, N.Y. Am. "The Bobby-Soxer" novelist Hortense Calisher (b. 1911) on Jan. 13 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. "Edward I Longshanks in Braveheart" actor Patrick McGoohan (b. 1928) on Jan. 13 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. poet W.D. Snodgrass (b. 1926) on Jan. 13 in Madison County, N.Y. (lung cancer). Mexican "Mr. Roarke in Fantasy Island", "Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek" actor Ricardo Montalban (b. 1920) on Jan. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Helga" artist Andrew Wyeth (b. 1917) on Jan. 16 in Chadds Ford, Penn. Am. historian Robert B. Asprey (b. 1923) on Jan. 26. Am. novelist John Updike (b. 1932) on Jan. 26. Am. Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller (b. 1935) on Feb. 3. Am. "Capt. Edward Parmalee in Laredo", "Granny Goose potato chips" actor Philip Carey (b. 1925) on Feb. 6 in New York City (lung cancer). Am. "The Law and Mr. Jones" actor James Whitmore (b. 1921) on Feb. 6 in Malibu, Calif. (lung cancer). Dutch physician Willem Johan Kolff (b. 1911) on Feb. 11 in Newtown Square, Penn. Irish playwright Hugh Leonard (b. 1926) on Feb. 12 in Dalkey. Am. publisher Alfred A. Knopf Jr. (b. 1918) on Feb. 14. Am. inventor John S. Kanzius (b. 1944) on Feb. 18 in Fort Meyers, Fla. (cancer). Am. "Private Benjamin" dir. Howard Zieff (b. 1927) on Feb. 22 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Riverworld" novelist Philip Jose Farmer (b. 1918) on Feb. 25 in Peoria, Ill. Am. basketball player-announcer Norm Van Lier (b. 1947) on Feb. 26 in Chicago, Ill. Am. radio personality Paul Harvey (b. 1918) on Feb. 28 in Phoenix, Ariz. Am. actor Sydney Earle Chaplin (b. 1926) on Mar. 3 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.; 3rd son of Charles Chaplin and 2nd wife Lita Grey. Am. "To Kill a Mockingbird" screenwriter-playwright Horton Foote (b. 1916) on Mar. 4 in Hartford, Conn. Am. video game pioneer Thomas Toliver Goldsmith Jr. (b. 1910) on Mar. 5 in Lacey, Wash. (hip fracture). Canadian "Mrs. Hockey" Colleen Howe (b. 1933) on Mar. 6 in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Pick's Disease). Am. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" singer Jimmy Boyd (b. 1939) on Mar. 7 in Santa Monica, Calif. (cancer). Am. ambassador-philanthropist Lee Annenberg (b. 1918) on Mar. 12 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.; her philanthropic work "left an indelible print on education in the United States." (Nancy Reagan) French writer Pierre Bourgeade (b. 1927) on Mar. 12 in Loches. Am. "The Runner Stumbles" playwright Milan Stitt (b. 1941) on Mar. 12 in New York City. Am. "Malcolm" novelist James Purdy (b. 1914) on Mar. 13 in Englewood, N.J. Am. "Bad Day at Black Rock" screenwriter (creator of Mr. Magoo) Millard Kaufman (b. 1917) on Mar. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart failure). Am. ML baseball player-coach-mgr. Whitey Lockman (b. 1926) on Mar. 17 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Am. Steppenwolf and Blues Image musician Kent Henry (b. 1948) on Mar. 18 in Portland, Ore. English actress Natasha Richardson (b. 1963) on Mar. 18 in New York City (subdural hematoma from skiing accident on Mont Tremblant in Quebec on Mar. 16. Am. political scientist Jeremy R. Azrael (b. 1935) on Mar. 19 in Sherman Oaks, Calif. (lymphoma). Am. historian John Hope Franklin (b. 1915) on Mar. 25 in Durham, N.C. Romanian-born Am. writer Michael S. Radu (b. 1947) on Mar. 25. Am. country singer Dan Seals (b. 1948) on Mar. 25 in Nashville, Tenn. (mantle cell lymphoma). Canadian skier Shane McConkey (b. 1969) on Mar. 26 in Italy; killed parachuting off a cliff in the Dolomite Mts. French "Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago" composer-conductor Maurice Jarre (b. 1924) on Mar. 29 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. photographer Helen Levitt (b. 1913) on Mar. 29 in New York City. Am. "Velda in Kiss Me Deadly" actress Maxine Cooper (b. 1924) on Apr. 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. English mathematician I.J. Good (b. 1916) on Apr. 5 in Radford, Va. Am. Dungeons & Dragons game designer Dave Arneson (b. 1947) on Apr. 7 in Saint Paul, Minn. Egyptian-born Am. Muslim Brotherhood leader Ahmed Elkadi (b. 1940) on Apr. 11 in Tampa, Fla. Am. porno star Marilyn Chambers (b. 1952) on Apr. 12 in Santa Clarita, Calif. (heart disease). Am. baseball pitcher Mark "the Bird" Fidrych (b. 1954) on Apr. 13 in Northborough, Mass.; dies after his clothes become entangled in the power takeoff shaft of a 10-wheeled dump truck at his home. Am. "The Blue Max" novelist Jack D. Hunter (b. 1921) on Apr. 13 in St. Augustine, Fla. French novelist Maurice Druon (b. 1918) on Apr. 14 in Paris. English "Crash", "Empire of the Sun" novelist J.G. Ballard (b. 1930) on Apr. 19 in London. Am. "Mr. Koreander in The Neverending Story" actor Thomas Hill (b. 1927) on Apr. 20 in Bloomington, Ind. Am. street photographer Vivian Maier (b. 1926) on Apr. 21 in Chicago, Ill.; dies unknown after taking over 150K photographs of New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, after which in Oct. 2009 Chicago collector John Maloof publicizes her work on Flickr, making her go viral; on Sept. 9, 2013 Maloof debuts his documentary film Finding Vivian Maier (ITC Films) at the Toronto Internat. Film Festival, which is nominated for a best documentary feature Oscar. English UFO writer John Michell (b. 1933) on Apr. 24 in Stock-Abbott, Dorset. Am. actress Bea Arthur (b. 1922) on Apr. 25 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. country singer Vern Gosdin (b. 1934) on Apr. 28 in Nashville, Tenn. (stroke). English Pluto-naming celeb Venetia Burney (b. 1918) on Apr. 30 in Barnstead. Am. "The Women's Room" novelist-writer Marilyn French (b. 1929) on May 2 in Manhattan, N.Y. (heart failure). Am. consumer protection activist Robert Burnett Choate Jr. (b. 1924) on May 3 in Lemon Grove, Calif. Am. actor-dir.-producer-chef Dom DeLuise (b. 1933) on May 4 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. basketball coach Chuck Daly (b. 1930) on May 9 in Jupiter, Fla. (pancreatic cancer). Libyan al-Qaida member Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi (b. 1963) on May 10 in prison (suicide) (murder?). Am. actor Frank Aletter (b. 1926) on May 13 in Tarzana, Calif. Am. basketball player-musician Wayman Tisdale (b. 1964) on May 15 in Tulsa, Okla. Am. historian David Herbert Donald (b. 1920) on May 17 in Boston, Mass. (heart failure). Am. biochemist Robert F. Furchgott (b. 1916) on May 19 in Seattle, Wash.; 1998 Nobel Med. Prize. U.S. Brig. Gen. Frederick Joseph Karch (b. 1917) on May 23. South Korean pres. #16 (2003-8) Roh Moo-hyun (b. 1946) on May 23 in Yangsan (suicide by leaping from cliff); leaves a note describing his agony over corruption allegations. U.S. Army Col. Leonard T. Schroeder Jr. (b. 1918) on May 26 in Largo, Fla.; first U.S. soldier to land on D-Day. British economist Sir Clive Granger (b. 1934) on May 27 in La Jolla, Calif.; 2003 Nobel Econ. Prize. English actor Terence Joseph Alexander (b. 1923) on May 28. Guinea-Bissau pres. #1 (1974-80) Louis Cabral (b. 1931) on May 30 in Torres Vedras, Portugal. Sudanese pres. (1969-85) Jaafar an-Nimeiry (b. 1930) on May 30 in Khartoum. Am. cultural historian Fr. Thomas Berry (b. 1914) on June 1 in Greensboro, N.C.: "The universe, the solar system, and planet earth in themselves and in their evolutionary emergence constitute for the human community the primary revelation of that ultimate mystery whence all things emerge into being"; "The universe is composed of subjects to be communed with, not objects to be exploited. Everything has its own voice, thunder and lightning and stars and planets, flowers, birds, animals, trees - all these have voices, and they constitute a community of existence that is profoundly related"; "Destroy what man makes, you're a criminal. Destroy what god makes, you're a sportsman." Am. historian Ernest Richard May (b. 1928) on June 1 in Cambridge, Mass. (cancer). Am. "Kung Fu", "Kill Bill" actor David Carradine (b. 1936) on June 3 in Bangkok, Thailand (suicide). French immunologist Jean Dausset (b. 1916) on June 6 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain; 1980 Nobel Medicine Prize. Gabonese pres. #2 (1967-2009) Omar Bongo (b. 1935) on June 8 in Barcelona, Spain (intestinal cancer). German-British political scientist Ralf Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf (b. 1929) on June 17 in Cologne, Germany (cancer). Am. "Love of Life", "The Secret Storm" radio-TV announcer Ken Roberts (b. 1910) on June 19 in New York City. Am. "Heeere's Johnny" celeb Ed McMahon (b. 1923) on June 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "Jill Munroe in Charlie's Angels" actress Farrah Fawcett (b. 1947) on June 25 in Santa Monica, Calif. (cancer); dies before she can marry longtime beau Ryan O'Neal. Am. superstar entertainer ("the King of Pop") Michael Jackson (b. 1958) on June 25 in Los Angeles, Calif. (heart attack from OD); weighs 112 lbs. at death; sold 750M records; leaves three children, Prince Michael Jackson I (1997-), Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson (1998-), and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II (2002-); news of his death rivals the death of JFK for shock value, causing Google, Twitter et al. to crash or bog down; his doctor later reveals that he had been suffering from lupus; a drug stash incl. the fatal anesthetic Propofol is found in his closet; at his funeral Stevie Wonder sings "Never Dream You'd Leave Me in the Summer"; on June 24, 2010 his brother Jermaine Jackson says that if Michael had converted to Islam it might have saved his life; a bust of an Egyptian woman from earlier than 1000 B.C.E. that has been on display at Chicago's Field Museum since 1988 attracts attention as a dead ringer for him - he dies too young after taking too many prescription drugs, like Elvis? Am. "The Seeds" singer Sky Saxon (b. 1937) on June 25 in Austin, Tex. Am. "My Little Margie" actress Gale Storm (b. 1922) on June 27 in Danville, Calif. Am. OxiClean, Orange Glo pitchman Billy Mays (b. 1958) on June 28 in Tampa, Fla.; found dead in his home after a plane he lands in blows out its front tires, and he tells a TV station that some objects "hit me on the head, but I got a hard head". Am. "Wade Gustafson in Fargo' actor-singer Harve Presnell (b. 1933) on June 30 in Santa Monica, Calif. Nicaraguan boxer Alexis Arguello (b. 1952) on July 1 in Managua (suicide?). Am. "Gen. Omar Bradley in Patton", "Lt. Mike Stone in The Streets of San Francisco" actor Karl Malden (b. 1912) on July 1 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "The Mothman Prophecies" writer John Keel (b. 1930) on July 3 in New York City. Am. actess Brenda Joyce (b. 1917) on July 4 in Santa Monica, Calif. Am. football QB Steve McNair (b. 1973) on July 4 in Nashville, Tenn. (shot dead by a woman in his condo, who shoots herself). U.S. defense secy. #8 (1961-8) Robert Strange McNamara (b. 1916) on July 6 in Washington, D.C. English conductor Sir Edward Downes (b. 1924) on July 10 in Switzerland (assisted suicide along with his wife). Am. Civil War historian Kenneth Milton Stampp (b. 1912) on July 10. Am. CBS Evening News anchorman (1962-81) Walter Cronkite (b. 1916) on July 17 at 7:42 p.m. in Manhattan, N.Y.; dies right before the 40th anniv. of the Apollo 11 launch he moderated. Polish anti-Marxist philosopher Leszek Kolakowski (b. 1927) on July 17 in Oxford, England: "We learn history not in order to know how to behave or how to succeed, but to know who we are." British world's oldest man Henry Allingham (b. 1896) on July 18 in Ovingdean, East Sussex. Am. "Angela's Ashes" writer Frank McCourt (b. 1930) on July 19 in Manhattan, N.Y. Scottish "Peter and Gordon" singer Gordon Waller (b. 1945) on July 17 in Norwich, Conn. Am. psychologist Mark Rosenzweig (b. 1922) on July 20 in Berkeley, Calif. (renal failure). Am. New Riders of the Purple Sage country rock musician John Dawson (b. 1945) on July 21 ini San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (stomach cancer). Am. novelist Everett Lynn Harris (b. 1955) on July 23 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. economist Stanley Lebergott (b. 1918) on July 24 in Middletown, Conn. English novelist Stanley Middleton (b. 1919) on July 25 (cancer). British last WWI vet Harry Patch (d. 1898) on July 25 in Wells, Somerset. Am. poet-playwright Turner Cassity (b. 1929) on July 26 in Atlanta, Ga. Philippine pres. #11 (1986-92) Corazon Aquino (b. 1933) on Aug. 1 in Makati (colon cancer). Am. first African-Am. supermodel Naomi Sims (b. 1948) on Aug. 1 in Newark, N.J. (breast cancer). Palestinian ex-terrorist politician-writer Shafiq al-Hout (b. 1932) on Aug. 2 in Beirut, Lebanon (cancer). Am. "On the Waterfront" screenwriter Budd Schulberg (b. 1914) on Aug. 5 in Westhampton, N.Y. Am. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Home Alone" dir. John Hughes (b. 1950) on Aug. 6 in New York City (heart attack). Am. lobbyist Anne Wexler (b. 1921) on Aug. 7 (cancer); first woman to own a lobbying firm (1981). Am. celeb Eunice Kennedy Shriver (b. 1921) on Aug. 11 in Hyannis, Mass. Am. guitar maker Les Paul (b. 1915) on Aug. 13 in White Plains, N.Y. Canadian hockey hall-of-fame player Ted Kennedy (b. 1925) on Aug. 14 in Port Colborne, Ont.; first NHL player to win the Stanley Cup 5x. South Korean pres. (1998-2003) ("the Nelson Mandela of Asia") Kim Dae-jung (b. 1925) on Aug. 18 in Seoul (heart failure from multiple organ dysfunction syndrome); 2000 Nobel Peace Prize. Ukrainian-born Am. economist Rose Friedman (b. 1910) on Aug. 18 in Davis, Calif. Am. TV producer ("60 Minutes" creator) Don Hewitt (b. 1922) on Aug. 19 in Bridgehampton, N.Y. (pancreatic cancer). Am. pastor Rev. Charles E. Blair (b. 1921) on Aug. 20 in Denver, Colo. (7:20 p.m.) Austrian Olympic skier Toni Sailer (b. 1935) on Aug. 24 in Innsbruck (laryngeal cancer). Am. Coors kidnapper Joseph Corbett Jr. (b. 1928) on Aug. 24 in Denver, Colo. (suicide). U.S. Sen. (D-Mass.) (1962-2009) Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (b. 1932) on Aug. 25 in Hyannis Port, Mass. (brain cancer); buried in Arlington Nat. Cemetery close to his brothers JFK and RFK; only Jean Kennedy Smith (1928-) is left from the original Kennedy family; his Portuguese water dog Splash (1997-2010) dies on Dec. 24, 2010. Am. writer-journalist Dominick Dunne (b. 1925) on Aug. 26 in Manhattan, N.Y.; known for covering the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995 and kidnap-robbery trial in 2008. English novelist-newspaper columnist Keith Waterhouse (b. 1929) on Sept. 4 in London. Danish nuclear physicist Aage Niels Bohr (b. 1922) on Sept. 8 in Copenhagen; 1975 Nobel Physics Prize. Am. world's oldest person (since Jan. 2) Gertrude Baines (b. 1894) on Sept. 11 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. "The Basketball Diaries" poet-musician Jim Carroll (b. 1949) on Sept. 11 in Manhattan, N.Y. (heart attack). Am. agronomist Norman Borlaug (b. 1914) on Sept. 12 in Dallas, Tex.; 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Am. "Det. Adam Flint in Naked City" actor Paul Burke (b. 1926) on Sept. 13 in Palm Springs, Calif. (cancer). Am. "Dirty Dancing", "Ghost" actor Patrick Swayze (b. 1952) on Sept. 14 in Los Angeles, Calif. (pancreatic cancer): "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Am. child psychiatrist Leon Eisenberg (b. 1922) on Sept. 15 in Cambridge, Mass. (prostate cancer). Am. "Peter, Paul and Mary" singer Mary Travers (b. 1936) on Sept. 16 in Danbury, Conn. (leukemia). Am. hall-of-fame bowler Dick Hoover (b. 1929) on Sept. 17 in Brunswock, Ohio. Am. "Godfather of Neoconservatism" writer-journalist Irving Kristol (b. 1920) on Sept. 18 in Falls Church, Va. Am. "Ferrante & Teicher" pianist Arthur Ferrante (b. 1921) on Sept. 19 in Long Boat Key, Fla.; dies at age 88, one year for each piano key; released 150 albums selling 88M copies. Am. "The Lone Ranger" actor John Hart (b. 1917) on Sept. 20 in Playas de Rosarito, Baja Calif., Mexico. Am. actor-dir. Robert Ginty (b. 1948) on Sept. 21 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cancer). Am. actor Edward Albert (b. 1951) on Sept. 22 in Malibu, Calif. (lung cancer); dies 18 mo. after his father Eddie Albert. Am. writer-journalist William Lewis Safire (b. 1929) on Sept. 27 in Rockville, Md. Am. Okla. gov. #18 (1963-7) and #23 (1987-91) Henry Bellmon (b. 1921) on Sept. 29 in Enid, Okla. (Parkinson's). Soviet cosmonaut Pavel Popovich (b. 1930) on Sept. 29 in Gurzuf, Crimea, Ukraine. German publisher Reinhard Mohn (b. 1921) on Oct. 3 in Steinhagen. Argentine singer ("Voice of the Voiceless Ones") Mercedes Sosa (b. 1935) on Oct. 4 in Buenos Aires (kidney disease). Ukrainian-born Am. mathematician Israel Gelfand (b. 1913) on Oct. 5 in New Brunswick, N.J. Am. actress Pamela Blake (b. 1915) on Oct. 6 in Las Vegas, Nev. Am. photographer Irving Penn (b. 1917) on Oct. 7 in Manhattan, N.Y. Am. "Blue Cheer" rocker Dickie Peterson (b. 1946) on Oct. 12 in Erklenz, Germany (cancer). Am. activist Tex. judge William Wayne Justice (b. 1920) on Oct. 13 in Austin, Tex. Am. aeronautical engineer Richard Travis Whitcomb (b. 1921) on Oct. 13 in Newport News, Va. Am. "Mayella Violet Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird" actress Collin Wilcox (b. 1935) on Oct. 14 in Highlands, N.C. (brain cancer). Am. record co. exec Alan Wendell Livingston (b. 1917) on Mar. 13 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Am. New Age leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet (b. 1939) on Oct. 15 in Bozeman, Mont. (Alzheimer's). Am. economist John R. Meyer (b. 1927) on Oct. 20. German-born English "The Slits" vocalist Ari Up (b. 1962) on Oct. 20 in Los Angeles, Calif. Am. architect Lawrence Halprin (b. 1916) on Oct. 25. Am. Hawaiian singer George Na'ope (b. 1928) on Oct. 26 (cancer). Am. Sonic Drive-In founder Troy Smith (b. 1922) on Oct. 26 in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Alzheimer's). French anthropologist-ethnologist ("Father of Modern Anthropology") Claude Levi-Strauss (b. 1908) on Oct. 30 in Paris. Spanish novelist Francisco Ayala (b. 1906) on Nov. 3 in Madrid; last survivor of the Generation of 1927. Soviet physicist Vitaly Ginzburg (b. 1916) on Nov. 8 in Moscow; 2003 Nobel Physics Prize. English "The Equalizer" actor Edward Woodward (b. 1930) on Nov. 16 in Truro, Cornwall. Am. world's oldest living person Olivia Patrick "Pat" Thomas (b. 1895) on Nov. 16 in Buffalo, N.Y. Am. comic magician (Lester Gruber in McHale's Navy) Carl Ballantine (b. 1917) on Nov. 4 in Hollywood Hills, Calif. English "Mythago Wood" novelist Robert Holdstock (b. 1948) on Nov. 29. Irish-born British actor Richard Todd (b. 1919) on Dec. 3 in Bourne, Lincolnshire (cancer). Irish folk singer Liam Clancy (b. 1935) on Dec. 4 in Cork. Am. "The Ugly American" writer William Lederer (b. 1912) on Dec. 5 in Baltimore, Md. (respiratory failure). Am. economist Arthur Goldberger (b. 1930) on Dec. 11. Am. economist Paul Samuelson (b. 1915) on Dec. 13 in Belmont, Mass.; 1970 Nobel Econ. Prize (first American): "To prove that Wall Street is an early omen of movements still to come in GNP, commentators quote economic studies alleging that market downturns predicted four out of the last five recessions. That is an understatement. Wall Street indexes predicted nine out of the last five recessions! And its mistakes were beauties"; "A growing nation is the greatest ponzi game ever contrived." Am. televangelist Oral Roberts (b. 1918) on Dec. 15 in Newport Beach, Calif. (pneumonia). Russian economist and PM (1992) Yegor Gaidar (b. 1956) on Dec. 16 in Moscow (pulmonary edema). Am. "The Song of Bernadette" actress Jennifer Jones (b. 1919) on Dec. 17 in Malibu, Calif. English gay Marxist film critic Robin Wood (b. 1931) on Dec. 18 in Toronto, Ont., Canada. Iranian dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri (b. 1922) on Dec. 19 in Qum; his funeral is attended by thousands of anti-govt. protesters wearing green and shouting "death to the dictator". Am. Big Brother and the Holding Co. rock musician James Gurley (b. 1939) on Dec. 20 in Palm Desert, Calif. (heart attack). Am. "Sin City" actress-singer Brittany Murphy (b. 1977) on Dec. 20 in Los Angeles, Calif. (cardiac arrest); on May 23, 2010 her British screenwriter husband Simon Monjack is found dead in his Los Angeles home of natural causes; in 2013 her father claims that the U.S. govt. murdered her. Am. biochemist Edwin G. Krebs (b. 1918) on Dec. 21 in Seattle, Wash.; 1992 Nobel Med. Prize. Am. "New York Review of Books" illustrator David Levine (b. 1926) on Dec. 29 in New York City. Kuwaiti-born Taliban suicide bomber Human Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi (b. 1977) on Dec. 30 in Khost, Afghanistan (suicide). Am. philanthropist Ruth Lilly (b. 1915) on Dec. 30 in Indianapolis, Ind. (heart failure). Am. folk musician Fred Gerlach (b. 1925) on Dec. 31 in San Diego, Calif. Am. Beltway Sniper John Allen Muhammad (b. 1960) on Nov. 10 in Greensville Correctional Center, Greensville County, Va. (executed).



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