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U.S. Pores Over Transcripts to Try to Oust Nuclear Chief The Bush administration has dozens of intercepts of Mohamed ElBaradei's phone calls with Iranian diplomats and is scrutinizing them in search of ammunition to oust him as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to three U.S. government officials. But the diplomatic offensive will not be easy. The administration has failed to come up with a candidate willing to oppose ElBaradei, who has run the agency since 1997, and there is disagreement among some senior officials over how hard to push for his removal, and what the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Don't squash that bug! Cockroaches, beetles, spiders and worms may be the U.S. government's next line of defense in the war on terror. Backed by the Pentagon (news - web sites), scientists are recruiting insects, shellfish, bacteria and even weeds to act as "bio-sentinels," which give early warning of biological and chemical attacks, detect explosives or monitor the spread of contamination. At Virginia Commonwealth University, biologist Karen Kester uses bugs as "flying, crawling Q-Tips" that can check their habitats for noxious materials from anthrax to chemicals more thoroughly, cheaply, and reliably than man-made sensors. "You look at...

1st Lt. John F. Cochran articulated the feelings of many in this letter to his parents while serving in Vietnam. Dear Folks, We have our troubles in American, but what little of the world I have seen doesn't hold a candle to what our country is. Now you may think this all written in a highly emotional state, and if fear is considered a highly emotional state, and it is, then you are right. But I have sat here this might and looked into the faces of eighteen young men -- the oldest is twenty-eight--and I have talked to them...

ROME - Anti-terrorism police arrested the Algerian cleric of a mosque and four Tunisians Sunday in a crackdown authorities said was aimed at preventing an al-Qaida-linked cell from sending suicide attackers to Iraq (news - web sites). The suspects were seized in pre-dawn raids in three cities in the northern Tuscany region, Genoa's Police Chief Oscar Fiorolli said. Genoa, a northern port city, began the investigations that led to the arrests. The suspects allegedly belonged to a cell of Ansar al-Islam, an organization based in northern Iraq with links to al-Qaida, Fiorolli told the Associated Press in Rome in a...

Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall Comes to Grants Pass, OregonLast weekend, June 24th-27th, 2004, the Vietnam Memorial Traveling Wall came to Grants Pass, Oregon. A touching tribute to the over 58,000 fallen heros of the Vietnam War, this Wall is a replica of the one in Washington D.C.The four days of events included a flyover, bagpipers, speeches by local politicians and veterans, and an awards presentation by representatives of various Indian tribes.It was sponsored by Point Man Ministries, The Vietnam Veterans of America - Three Rivers Chapter #867, and former Oregon State Senator Brady Adams.The Wall was open 24 hours a...

Day is done, gone the sun From the lake, from the hills, from the sky; All is well, safety rest, God is nigh. Fading light dims the sight, And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright; From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night. Sun has set, shadows come, Time has fled, we must go to our rest; Always true to the promises we've made. Then good night, peaceful night, 'Til the light of the dawn shineth bright, God is near, do not fear---Friend, good night. Dear one, rest! In the west Sable night lulls the day on her breast; Sweet...

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. - For retired Army 1st Sgt. Richard J. Pinter, playing taps at military funerals is his way of helping the nation give its final salute to veterans. After 38 years of playing taps, the man known as "The Lone Bugler" is all too aware that there are service members who never received the recognition — and the thought leaves him choking back tears. "Our country owes them a debt of gratitude and the least that we could do is provide the most honorable service available to our veterans when they pass away," said Pinter, former bandmaster...

My father, known on here as RANGERAIRBORNE, passed away this morning at 4am alaska time. I don't really know where to post this, so I am putting it here. THank you for all your kind thoughts. his daughter, penelope (rangersdaughter) ps...am using his acct because mine won't work for some "cookie" reason from his computer ---ahhhh, technology

For 35 years, the slow, melancholy notes have poured from George Menefee's bugle, sounding taps. On green cemetery lawns, standing a respectful distance from mourners, Menefee has lulled old soldiers — airmen, actually — to a final rest. Now, the 59-year-old Menefee is facing a different kind of rest — the possible loss of his job as Randolph AFB's honor guard bugler. And like many American workers, the source of his unemployment is new technology. "I never thought a couple of AA batteries would knock me out of a job," he said. The "digital" bugle, a cone-shaped, battery-powered device that...

Bill would encourage students to play bugle at military funerals February 08, 2004 3:20 PM Charleston A state lawmaker wants to help make sure that more veterans have proper military funerals in the future -- with buglers playing the traditional Military Funeral Honors music, rather than a recording. Delegate Larry Williams -- a Preston County Democrat -- is sponsoring a bill to encourage high schools to allow students to play taps at military funerals. The bill would also give buglers a 25 dollar educational voucher every time they play, paid for by the funeral director. Volunteer buglers -- who...

This is the song of the men who have no place, played by a man who has never had a place, and can therefore play it. Listen to it. You know this song, remember? This is the song you close your ears to every night, so you can sleep. This is the song you drink five martinis every evening not to hear. This is the song of the Great Loneliness, that creeps in like the desert wind and dehydrates the soul. This is the song you'll listen to on the day you die. When you lay there in the bed ...

Andy Stanley of Conway plays 'Taps' on bugle during military funerals Special to the Log Cabin Andy Stanley, 15-year-old son of Mackey and Ron Stanley of Conway, volunteers in the community in a variety of ways. Among his latest endeavors is playing "Taps" at military funerals. Dressed in a Boy Scouts of America uniform, Stanley wears a black flight jacket decorated with a medal symbolizing his membership in Bugles Across America, an organization whose mission is to provide buglers for funerals of American soldiers. Stanley first learned to play the bugle two years ago for Boy Scouts. Last year he...

A Fort Huachuca soldier honors the memory of Chief Warrant Officer Christopher G. Nason at a Wednesday memorial service at the Main Post Chapel. Nason, the first post soldier to die in Iraq, was symbolically present by a pair of boots, rifle, helmet and identification tags. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) FORT HUACHUCA -- A pair of boots, a rifle, a helmet and a set of identification tags were placed in the front of the Main Post Chapel Wednesday representing Chief Warrant Officer Christopher G. Nason. In a combination religious and military memorial ceremony, Nason, the first Fort Huachuca soldier to die...

September 04, 2003 Pentagon OKs push-button bugle for funerals By Pauline Jelinek Associated Press Chronically short of musicians for military funerals, the Pentagon has approved the use of a push-button bugle that plays taps by itself as the operator holds it to his lips. Only some 500 buglers are on active duty on any one day, but about 1,800 people with military service die across the country each day and are eligible for honors ceremonies, Air Force Lt. Col. Cynthia Colin, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said Thursday. So the Defense Department worked with private industry to invent the "ceremonial bugle," which...

Underfunded and overshadowed, conservative state Sen. Tom McClintock has kicked off his gubernatorial campaign with a strategy that tries to turn the huge media focus on Arnold Schwarzenegger to his own advantage — appearing on radio and television as the actor's conservative counterpoint. The good news for the veteran anti-tax crusader from Thousand Oaks is that broadcasters have been eager to give him a platform. In the first five days after Saturday's candidate-filing deadline, McClintock has appeared about two dozen times on the electronic media, including half a dozen spots on some of the nation's most visible news-talk programs.

To all who have sacrificed they shall not be forgotten. There are also words to the Bugle: Taps Day is done, gone the sun, From the hills, from the lake, From the sky. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. Go to sleep, peaceful sleep, May the soldier or sailor, God keep. On the land or the deep, Safe in sleep. Love, good night, Must thou go, When the day, And the night Need thee so? All is well. Speedeth all To their rest. Fades the light; And afar Goeth day, And the stars Shineth bright, Fare thee well;...

Area of Operations, Iraq(April 05, 2003) -- A collection of recent imagery from forward deployed Marine Forces in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. (click on photos for larger image) Charlie Company 1st Tank Battalion moves east along Highway 27 while in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo by: Sergeant Paul L. Anstine IIA KC-130 is loaded with Meals-Ready-to-Eat at Jalibah Airbase, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Photo by: LCpl Jason L. Andrade A destroyed T-55 north of the An Nu'maniyah bridge along Highway 27 hit by Marines Photo by: Sergeant Paul L. Anstine IICpl Anthony Murphy and Sgt David...

<p>NEW YORK — While it's not quite time to play "Taps" for the Army bugler, Uncle Sam is having a hard time finding enough musicians to play the ceremonial honor at an increasing number of military funerals.</p> <p>To cope with the shortage, the Pentagon has bought 50 electronic mock bugles — essentially bugle-shaped stereos — that let the traditional funeral tune be played without an actual musician.</p>

October 25, 2002 Pentagon to Test Digital Taps Device By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 12:05 p.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon, chronically short of musicians to play taps at military funerals, is going to test the use of a new ``push button'' bugle that can be operated by an honor guard member. A small digital audio device inserted into the bell of the bugle plays a rendition of taps that the Pentagon says is ``virtually indistinguishable'' from a live bugler. The person using the bugle merely pushes a button and holds the bugle to his or her lips....

OMED: The story below came to the magazine in a forwarded email from a good and steady friend. You will never meet a more honest, more genuine human being -- but he is neither a journalist nor a scholar. The piece has no attached verification trail as a degree paper would. It also lacks the usual simple credits often included in a standard history-based newspaper story. There isn't even a byline with it. It's a heart-tugging tale, though. See if it rings true in the reading for you. We in the United States have all heard the haunting song, "Taps."...