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Dolla, a rapper whose real name is Roderick Anthony Burton II, was shot in the head as he and several other people stood near the center's La Cienega Boulevard entrance, according to police, witnesses and Dolla's publicist, Sue Vannasing. A friend of the rapper's who was at the Beverly Center and a Los Angeles Police Department official also confirmed the victim's identity to The Times. Burton, 21, arrived at LAX from Atlanta earlier in the day and went to the Beverly Center to shop, Vannasing said. After the shooting, Burton was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center a few blocks from...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Times Co. says its first-quarter losses worsened amid a dramatic downturn in advertising revenue at its newspapers. The setback announced Tuesday was even worse than pessimistic analysts had anticipated. The publisher of The New York Times and The Boston Globe lost $74.5 million, or 52 cents per share, in the first quarter. That compared with a loss of $335,000 at the same time last year. That was break-even on a per-share basis. This year's first-quarter results included charges totaling 18 cents per share to cover the costs of jettisoning employees and other special...

The long, painful ordeal of Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson came to a sudden end Wednesday when a jury of seven fellow Marine officers found him not guilty of trumped-up charges that should never have been leveled against him in the first place. As Newsmax reported on Sept. 11, 2007, Grayson earned the enmity of prosecutors when he turned down their offer that would spare him from prison if he would agree to testify against fellow 3rd battalion, 1st Marines. "I was asked by the prosecution to fall on my sword for the greater good of the Marine Corps,'' Grayson,...

We WON

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy ordered Friday that his temporary stay protecting the Mount Soledad cross extend until state and federal courts can hear the city of San Diego's appeal this fall. In blocking a federal judge's order that the city remove the cross by Aug. 1 or face a daily fine of $5,000, Kennedy also indicated that the full court may want to review the controversial case. Kennedy said the court, which refused three years ago to get involved in the dispute, may consider it because of two new factors favorable to cross proponents. He cited legislation to...

Najaf, Mosul and the Iraqi economy: These were the three pillars of President Bush's speech yesterday before the Council on Foreign Relations, and they are three of the best reasons why Howard Dean is utterly wrong to predict American defeat in Iraq. One wouldn't know it from the acrimonious debate in Washington, but the two former trouble spots are rapidly joining the 80 percent or so of Iraq that suffers little or no violence, while the Iraqi economy is looking better than it has in years.

Unocal's board of directors has endorsed a sweetened, $17-billion (U.S.) takeover bid from Chevron, rejecting a higher offer from one of China's state-owned oil companies.

Pristina/Skopje - Two former ethnic Albanian rebel commanders have been murdered in Kosovo and western Macedonia in the past 24 hours, police in Pristina and Skopje confirmed Wednesday. Muhamed Xhemaili, also known by his nom-de-guerre "Rebeli" (The Rebel), was killed in eastern Kosovos town of Gnjilane from a moving vehicle. No other details were immediately available. Xhemaili, a hard-line commander of Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja (UCPMB) units during the 1999-2001 insurgency in southern Serbia, was famous among his compatriots for his uncompromising stance against any kind of dialogue with Serbs. In western Macedonian town of Struga, another...

A city-sponsored survey says the number of adult smokers in New York City fell by more than 100,000 between 2002 and 2003. Health Commissioner Thomas Frieden said the drop - which amounts to 11 percent - is the steepest decline of smokers seen anywhere. Telephone surveys found that 19.3 percent of adults smoked in 2003, down from 21.6 percent in 2002. Overall cigarette consumption declined by 13 percent, suggesting that even those who continue to smoke are now smoking less. Health officials credit the decline to a 2002 tax increase on cigarettes, which raised the tax from eight cents per...

United States troops arrested radical Shiite Islam leader Imam Mukatada al-Sadr on Tuesday.The report came from Hazem al-Araj, his closest associate who is the head of the Baghdad bureau 'Mahdi Army' group.

Okay, folks, here is our chance to record - for all time - the dimwitted comments made by leftwingers in the U.S. regarding the fall of the evil dictator, Saddam Hussein. Imagine that you are in occupied Europe in 1945, and it's your duty to get collaborators commentary out - written down on your trusty Underwood. It's our duty and our privilege. Write on. Here's a sampling of what I've found: Washington (com)Post writer Robin Wright, "this isn't going to transform the situation" Time's Joe Klein, "another terrorist attack on America would completely change this dynamic." Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich,...

Readers are invited to send in the most strained and mealy-mouthed statements from the devastated press and anti-war politicians and activists following the capture of Saddam. First up: Saddam's paid-up British anti-war activist, George Galloway: "This will not stop the Iraqi resistance. if anything, it may set the resistance free, if you like, from the cloud of Saddam Hussein, and transform it into a purely national resistance movement without the charge that it's being controlled from behind by the deposed president." Galloway must be worried sick about what Saddam might tell the coalition. So must Chirac. - 4:23:59 PM

I thought we could get this started before the British papers go out to press..

Dec. 14, 2003 -- Following is a chronology of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's capture by U.S. forces, Saturday, Dec. 13, according to U.S. military officials and NPR reports: 10:50 a.m. Saturday: U.S. military officials receive intelligence that Saddam Hussein may be hiding in one of two locations near the town of Adwar, about 10 miles south of his hometown of Tikrit. About 600 soldiers from the First Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division along with coalition Special Forces units are assigned to kill or capture Saddam. About 6 p.m. Saturday: Under cover of darkness, the...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Former President Clinton praised the capture of Saddam Hussein and said the ousted Iraqi president finally will answer "for decades of tyranny and murder." "I am glad he was captured alive so he can be brought before the bar of justice," Clinton said Sunday in a statement. Clinton saluted U.S. troops, who found the bearded and disheveled former dictator in an underground hide-out on a farm near his hometown, Tikrit. Clinton also congratulated his successor in the White House. "Saddam Hussein's capture is a tribute to the skill and bravery of our troops and the good...

Dec 14, 2003 List of 55 Most Wanted Iraqis and Their Status The Associated Press The 55 most-wanted Iraqis and their status, according to U.S. Central Command. Thirty-nine are in custody, 13 remain at large, two have been confirmed killed and one has been reported killed. -No. 1: Saddam Hussein, president. Captured Dec. 13. -No. 2: Qusai Hussein, Saddam's son. Killed July 22. -No. 3: Odai Hussein, Saddam's son. Killed July 22. -No. 4: Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, presidential secretary, Saddam's cousin. Taken into custody June 17. -No. 5: Ali Hassan al-Majid, presidential adviser, Revolutionary Command Council member. Also known...

Saddam's arrest won't end resistance: HamasThe arrest of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will not end Iraqi resistance against US-led forces, the leaders of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Holy War) said on Sunday, UPI reports. The two organisations had asked the Iraqi people to continue their resistance "until the end of this occupation of Arab and Muslim territory." Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam said by arresting Saddam, "the United States had achieved a very simple symbolic triumph." "But we are certain that this would never end the Iraqi people's resistance against the American occupation that is...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's former Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, in U.S. custody for seven months, helped to confirm the identity of Saddam Hussein after his capture, an official with the U.S.-led administration said Sunday. "He was identified with the help of Tareq Aziz," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. He did not elaborate. The fugitive dictator was dusty, bearded and apparently exhausted when he was found in a narrow hiding hole during a raid on a farm near his home town Tikrit late Saturday. Aziz, who surrendered to U.S. forces after the Iraqi president was...

................................ Saddam Capture 'Painful' for Arabs For many ordinary Palestinians, the TV footage of a dishevelled Saddam obediently submitting to a medical exam by his US captors was painful to watch: it sealed the defeat of the one Arab leader they felt always stood by them. Saddam should have put up a fight or committed suicide, they said, and his surrender is a stain on Arab honour. “It is a big defeat for all Arabs and Muslims,” said Raji Hassan, 29, watching TV with friends in a Gaza City coffee shop. The Palestinian Authority declined official comment. While Palestinian leader...

Having been awakened by a phone call that Saddam had been captured, the first thing that jumped into my mind was "City Line Avenue". It was payback time for all the left wing looney tunes for their snarky remarks and unfounded wacko charges. At about 9 am, I took up my position outside the local NBC affiliate and across from the ABC affiliate there on City Line Avenue. That the stations were there was just a bonus, the main reason is that the intersection sees thousands of cars per hour. It's a main traffic artery west from Philadelphia to the...

Iraq's coalition government claims that it has uncovered documentary proof that Mohammed Atta, the al-Qaeda mastermind of the September 11 attacks against the US, was trained in Baghdad by Abu Nidal, the notorious Palestinian terrorist. Details of Atta's visit to the Iraqi capital in the summer of 2001, just weeks before he launched the most devastating terrorist attack in US history, are contained in a top secret memo written to Saddam Hussein, the then Iraqi president, by Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, the former head of the Iraqi Intelligence Service. The handwritten memo, a copy of which has been obtained exclusively...

Just before dawn, at 5:14 am (1014 GMT), US President George W. Bush got the telephone call he had been hoping for: final word that the bearded man US forces had captured in Tikrit was Saddam Hussein. White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice delivered the message minutes after hearing the news herself from the US civilian overseer for Iraq, Paul Bremer, Bush spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. The US president, who had ordered a strike aimed at killing Saddam in the first minutes of the war in Iraq, "believes this is very good news for the Iraqi people. He...

Yesterday, December the 13th, at around 8:30 PM Baghdad time, United States military forces captured Saddam Hussein alive. He was found near a farm house outside the city if Tikrit, in a swift raid, conducted without casualties, and now the former dictator of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions. The capture of this man was crucial to the rise of a free Iraq. It marks the end of the road for him, and for all who bullied and killed in his name. For the Baathist holdouts largely responsible for the current violence, there will be no return...

STUNNED ARAB MEDIA REPORT SADDAM'S ARREST, WHILE PALESTINIANS TRY TO AVOID THE NEWS By Michael Widlanski Jerusalem 14 December 2003 1:30 PM Arab language media reacted quickly, though sometimes in a somewhat stunned fashion, to American reports that U.S. forces had captured former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, touching off celebrations in Baghdad. But the broadcast media of the Palestinian National Authority which has been very friendly to Saddam, tried to ignore the news, treating it as a marginal news item attributed to rumors linked to a scheduled American press conference in Iraq "An American military spokesman said there would be...

Billionaire Tyrant captured posing as homeless man in RatHole

SADDAM Hussein was no longer in Iraq, the US television network CBS reported today, citing unidentified military sources. A CBS News correspondent in Saddam's northern Iraq hometown of Tikrit, near where Saddam was captured yesterday, said he had learned from military sources that the former Iraqi president was no longer in the country. US Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the top US military commander in Iraq, said in Baghdad that Saddam "is currently under coalition custody and at an undisclosed location".

Texans overjoyed with news of Saddam's capture11:37 AM CST on Sunday, December 14, 2003Associated Press DALLAS - Texans greeted the news of Saddam Hussein's capture with surprise and joy on Sunday, applauding the president and the Texas-based soldiers from Fort Hood that nabbed the elusive former dictator. "I'm not a Republican, you know, but I would applaud George Bush for going out of his way to make sure the country can feel more safe," said Dewayne Bryant, a front-desk clerk at Fairfield Inn in Dallas. Special Forces and some 600 troops from the 4th Infantry Division captured Saddam in a...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) — Saddam Hussein was captured based on information from a member of a family "close to him," Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno said Sunday. Odierno, the commander of the 4th Infantry Division that captured Saddam, said over the last 10 days soldiers have questioned "five to 10 members" of families "close to Saddam." "Finally we got the ultimate information from one of these individuals," he said. About 600 soldiers under his command conducted the raid Saturday night in a farm near the village of Adwar, finding Saddam in a hole covered by Styrofoam and a carpet beside a...

Hours after news broke of Saddam Hussein's capture, Democratic presidential hopeful Joseph Lieberman slammed his party's front-runner Howard Dean as a defacto ally of the Iraqi dictator because of his long term opposition to the war. "If Howard Dean had his way, Saddam Hussein would be in power today, not in prison,” Lieberman told NBC's "Meet the Press." "I always felt he was ticking time bomb,” the Connecticut Democrat explained. While Dean has said in recent days that he was not sure whether Hussein should stand trial for war crimes, Lieberman told "Meet the Press," "This evil man has to...

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials hailed the capture of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, saying Sunday the arrest might blunt the growing insurgency here. They also speculated Saddam's capture after seven months on the run could make it easier to catch the world's other top fugitive - al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden. "This is obviously good news for the people of Iraq who suffered for so long under Saddam's tyrannical regime and it is a warning to all the other outlaws who are at large like bin Laden, (Taliban chief) Mullah Omar and (renegade warlord) Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, who hopefully sooner...

Leading analysts and political commentators agree the capture of Saddam Hussein represents a coup for the US but questions remain about its repercussions. Mustafa Alani, analyst at Royal United Services Institute in London: "There will be a reduction in operations sponsored by former regime loyalists, but this is not the full story because they are not the only group involved. It won't affect those by Iraqi or Arab mujahidin and might increase them because those who did not want to be branded as supporters of Saddam might now join a resistance with a more nationalist dimension. For the Americans, after...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — U.S. officials said they still haven't decided what to do with Saddam Hussein now that he's been captured, but one option is putting him before a special tribunal established just days ago. A member of Iraq's Governing Council said Saddam would face public trial. Iraq's interim government established a special tribunal Wednesday to try top members of Saddam's government for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. At the time, they said Saddam could be tried in absentia. Lt. Gen. Richardo Sanchez said at a news conference Sunday that the U.S.-led coalition was still deciding what...

US President George W. Bush views Saddam Hussein's capture as a major victory, a senior aide said, but the White House refused to predict an end to deadly attacks on US troops in Iraq. Bush first got word of the raid that netted the ousted dictator from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who telephoned the president Saturday at the Camp David retreat in nearby Maryland's Catoctin mountains, a senior aide said. At 5 am (1000 GMT) on Sunday, White House national security adviser Condoleezza Rice gave him "final confirmation" that the man captured was in fact Saddam Hussein, the aide said...

Photos below are for comparison purposes only: they are not the spider hole(s) Saddam was found in. But one can see how the name is derived. First we see a REAL SPIDER's "hole", a trapdoor used for hiding. Next we see a military "spider hole" with a trapdoor for a person to hide in.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac says he is delighted at the arrest of Saddam Hussein by U.S.-led forces in Iraq and believes it will clear the way for Iraqis to rule Iraq. "The president is delighted at the arrest of Saddam Hussein. This is a major event which should strongly contribute to the democratisation and the stabilisation of Iraq and allow the Iraqis to once more be masters of their destiny in a sovereign Iraq," Chirac said in remarks transmitted by telephone by his spokeswoman Catherine Colonna. Chirac strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the issue...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Arabs greeted the capture of Saddam Hussein with divided emotions Sunday, welcoming the arrest of a dictator yet tinged with regret that a symbol of Arab defiance against the United States was behind bars.Some feared Saddam's capture would boost President Bush, who many Arabs believe has waged a campaign against them and other Muslims after the September 11 attacks. But others said the fight against U.S. occupation would go on."It is happy news but we wish it were the Iraqi people who had captured him, not U.S. troops, because this will give Bush a boost in the...

Wall Street to Rally on Saddam's Capture 41 minutes ago Add Business - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Bill Rigby and William Kemble-Diaz NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Stocks look ready to rally when the market opens on Monday after the capture of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites). In fact, analysts believe Saddam's capture will give a general boost to equities around the globe, as well as to the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries. "It's broadly positive for equity markets," said Hilary Cook, director of investment strategy at Barclays Stockbrokers. "Concerns over the situation in Iraq (news...

The retired general and former NATO (news - web sites) commander said Saddam's capture was welcome news that could have an impact on the anti-coalition insurgency in Iraq (news - web sites). "I hope this will see a diminishing in the violence against American soldiers in Iraq," he told reporters as he arrived in the Netherlands. Clark did not say who should try Saddam, but said the trial should be conducted with "the highest legal standards. There can be absolutely no doubt about the rights of the accused." The case "needs to be as public as possible and the...

<p>BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Celebratory gunfire rang out across the Iraqi capital, radios played festive music, drivers honked their horns and passengers on buses and trucks chanted "They got Saddam, they got Saddam," as word of the former dictator's capture spread from car to car and shop to shop on a sun-filled Sunday afternoon.</p>

So what was Saddam's first thought upon his capture? Most likely he was cursing the claims made by the Democrats!! Way to go, Troops!!

In an emergency meeting, Saddam's loyalists ponder their increasingly dim future! : )

Democratic presidential candidates welcomed news Sunday of Saddam Hussein's capture, saying the arrest of Iraq's former dictator marked a great day for U.S. soldiers, the people of Iraq and of the world. "I supported this effort in Iraq without regard for the political consequences because it was the right thing to do," Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt said in a statement from Sumter, S.C., where he was campaigning. "I still feel that way now, and today is a major step toward stabilizing Iraq and building a new democracy." Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who supported the Iraq war but has become increasingly...

U.S. Troops Capture Saddam Hussein at ZZTop Concert. Celebratory gunfire heard in Baghdad, Tikrit and DemocraticUnderground: if he beats the rap, this really throw the nomination up for grabs. Dem Campaign Heats Up As Saddam Tosses Hat In Ring Des Moines, IA - Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his upstart "Straight Talk Jihad" presidential campaign completed the third day of a campaign swing across the Hawkeye State Friday, buoyed by a new Des Moines Register poll showing growing support among core Democratic voters. The latest Register Iowa Poll of likely Democratic caucus voters, conducted between July 27 and July...

Saddam Captured Alive, Iraq Official Says 4 minutes ago BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) has been captured alive in his hometown of Tikrit, a member of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council said Sunday. Council member Dara Noor al-Din told The Associated Press that the council was informed of the former dictator's capture in a telephone call from L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator for Iraq (news - web sites). "Bremer has confirmed to the Governing Council that Saddam was captured in Tikrit," Noor al-Din said. "He spoke on the phone to several members, including Ahmad Chalabi." Chalabi...

Unconfirmed source - Iranian News Source quoting Kurdish news

Iraqi Kurdish ruler: Saddam Hussein captured in Tikrit (Sky News)

SADDAM CAPTURED Tony Blair has confirmed that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been captured alive in his home town of Tikrit. Mr Blair said in a statement that Saddam was seized last night at around 3am this morning.The British Prime Minister said the arrest "removes the shadow" of his return from Iraq and "gives an opportunity for Saddam to be tried in Iraqi courts".Reports say Saddam was "dug out of a cellar" from a house in a poverty-stricken area during a raid by US forces, backed by Kurdish troops.It is claimed that DNA tests have been carried out and...

The Talk Shows Sunday, December 14th, 2003 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Julie L. Gerberding.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT) and former Virginia governor James Gilmore (R). FACE THE NATION (CBS): Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (D-MO). THIS WEEK (ABC): Sen. Zell Miller (D-GA), Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), former senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ), former New York governor Mario Cuomo (D) and Joe Trippi, manager of the Democratic presidential campaign of Howard Dean.LATE EDITION (CNN)...

CNN anchor now reports news conference due at 4 AM PST/7AM EST

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 12/14/03 - Tikrit, Saddam caught, Baghdad, Najaf, link to Atta BREAKING: Tikrit, Iraq - Saddam caught BREAKING: Baghdad - Bremer confirms capture of Saddam BREAKING: Baghdad - Letter found linking al Qaeda and Saddam BREAKING: Iraq - Iraqis cheer capture of Saddam BREAKING: Najaf - more mass graves QFN ==== YE OLDE QUAGMIRE-FREE NEWS ========= Tikrit ========= OPERATION "RED DAWN" - Saddam's caputure by the 4th ID, at 8 PM on 12/13/03 in Tikrit. Three cheers for Teams Wolverine 1 and Wolverine 2 Saddam was hiding in a 6x8 foot spider-hole. The...