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The Army tells NBC News its Criminal Investigation Division is looking into an Australian broadcast report with video that allegedly shows U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan burning the bodies of two Taliban fighters, then using the incident to taunt Taliban forces. SBS, an Australian public broadcast network, aired the story Wednesday night. U.S. Army officials confirm that a free-lance cameraman working for the network was embedded with the 82nd Airborne at the time of the alleged body burning. According to the network report, one American, one Afghan soldier and two Taliban fighters were killed in a firefight near the village of...

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. (Sept. 15, 2005) -- The main body of Marine Wing Support Squadron 371 returned to the station Sept. 8 after a seven-month deployment to Al Anbar Province of Iraq. The Marines and sailors arrived at 6 a.m. at Hangar 220, where a crowd of family and friends, including Marines from the two MWSS-371 advance parties that returned Aug. 30 and Sept. 1, greeted them. During the deployment, MWSS-371 performed all of the standard duties of a wing support squadron, including heavy equipment operation, motor transportation, aircraft rescue and firefighting, weather services, expeditionary airfield operations,...

Sands dunes on Mars imaged by MGS (Nasa) Sands dunes: Another part of the water story on Mars Scientists have found evidence that large amounts of water-ice hide within massive sand dunes on Mars. One of the dunes, which spans 6.5km and rises 475m above the Martian surface, may be the single largest sand dune in the entire Solar System. The icy dunes could be a valuable resource for any future manned missions to the planet, said Dr Mary Bourke. The researcher presented her results to a science conference in Dublin. "If you're looking for a source of water...

The linked source above provides the article and a link to a full-size image. Here's the smaller version: Here's a "where is it?" context map: and here are various images from Farewell Spit (apparently -- not absolutely certain in the case of the first two, but very likely). This appears to be one of the world's ultimate natural beaches. and finally, found on the page that provided the last image above, these "Pancake Rocks" are somewhere in the vicinity:

Drivers in the drink after beer truck flips TORONTO (Reuters) - A truck hauling 2,000 cases of beer flipped over and unleashed a sea of suds onto Canada's busiest highway on Wednesday, in a scene that could have been lifted from the Canadian cliche handbook. The early morning accident brought rush hour traffic to a standstill on highway 401 in north Toronto, as rescuers worked to free a woman trapped in the small car that collided with the tractor trailer. "Believe it or not with this crushed car, the young lady driving it is going to be okay," Ontario Provincial...

Dust in the wind: A wall of sand moves through Al AsadSubmitted by: 2nd Marine Aircraft WingStory Identification #: 2005426134811Story by Gunnery Sgt. Shannon Arledge AL ASAD, Iraq (April 26, 2005) -- A dust storm similar to special effects on the big screen bellowed across the western desert of Iraq on April 26. The storm was spawned near the border of Syria and Jordan. Forward Operating Base Korean Village experienced tornadoes around 2 p.m. The storm moved in a northeasterly direction until it reached Al Asad, around 6:45. Weather forecasters here described the storm as a downburst. "A downburst...

Scientists Interrupt Search for the “Mayan Atlantis" in the Caribbean. Cuban Newpaper: GRANMA Mexico City, November 6, 2004 Forwarded by David Drewelow This story updates this prior story . - A group of scientists searching for a hypothetical “Mayan Atlantis" found a pyramid of 35 meters under the waters of the Caribbean, but it had to interrupt the mission due to technical problems, as reported by the Mexican newspaper Millenium, today. After 25 days of work in the sea, near the southwestern end of Cuba, the investigations deeper than 500 meters had to be abandoned due to problems with the...

The Sand Dune Forgotten by Time Archaeologists working in the extreme desert terrain of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have moved a step closer to unraveling the mystery of a 40-century-old civilization. They unearthed 163 tombs containing mummies during their ongoing and long excavation at the mysterious Xiaohe tomb complex. And it's all thanks to the translation of a diary kept by a Swedish explorer more than 70 years ago. "We have found more than 30 coffins containing mummies," said Idelisi Abuduresule, head of the Xinjiang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute and the excavation team. The complex is believed to...

Season 9 of South Park begins this Wednesday on Comedy Central!Time: 10:00pm / 9 CentralRerun: Sunday, 11:00pm / 10 Central For a description of this week's episode, please see the website. As usual, the season will be split into two parts. However, this season will have 16 episodes instead of the usual 14 episodes of past seasons. That's right, two extra episodes. Updated schedule: Already available! - Season 5 on DVD (US) Mar 9 - Season 9 starts on Comedy Central Mar 29 - Orgazmo: Special Edition on DVD May 17 - Team America on DVD (I understand that this...

Sudarsan Patnaik of Orissa thought of a novel way to greet fellow artists and spread the message of Christmas. On Thursday, Patnaik crafted a image of Jesus Christ in sand. "The image, build on the sands of Puri beach, is about 15-foot-high and it took us 20 hours to complete," Patnaik, who hails from Puri in Orissa, told rediff.com. The sculpture will remain till the New Year. "The world is facing tumultous times and we want peace. Under such circumstances, we must remember Jesus' messages," he said. Patnaik, who has already represented India in 23 international sand sculpture festivals, recently...

Powerful poem for the holidays ~! Please pass on, and Merry Christmas to you and yours, wherever you are this season ~! THE SANDS OF CHRISTMAS By Michael Marks I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh, and looked across the table where the bills were piled too high. The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix, My stocks were down another point, the Chargers lost by six. And so with only minutes till my son got home from school I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool. The burdens that...

I just got this, this morning. Thought some of you might be interested.

Link post: go to the thread below for images and discussion/commentary. The article link is to the Washington Post article about the now-official upgrade of Great Sand Dune National Monument to Great Sand Dunes National Park. Geology Picture of the Week, September 12-18, 2004: Great Sand Dunes National PARK

The link to the Washington Post article above is about the new designation, promoting Great Sand Dunes from National Monument to National Park. The picture below I found searching on Google; it's not from the WashPost. I'm sure that I've done a previous Geology Picture of the Week on Great Sand Dunes (one of the most fascinating places I've ever visited, but I didn't get to see the pulsating Medano Creek - best time to see it is during spring melt season - I was there in January. So here's a really nice picture of creek, dunes, and mountains: Link...

In a state which went for George Bush in 2000 with 61%, can two young and attractive Republican candidates raise the funds to upset a couple of Democrat incumbents? Duane Sand, doing well in fund raising, a 1990 Naval Academy graduate with a creditable Senate race behind him is opposing Democratic At-Large Cong. Earl Pomeroy...who in 2002 made it through with just 52%, and was held to 53% in the 2000 election. Sand has a real chance, for information see: http://www.duanesand.com/index.html Perhaps a bit more under the radar screen is Mike Liffrig, 45 year old Republican candidate for Senate against...

I discovered freerepublic.com today when searching to find any ap news related to the source photos. When I came across the photos, I wanted to know what I missed in the media news. I had not seen or heard anything about burried MIGs being found in Iraq. Apparantly our media did not bother to widely carry the story, as I have not been able to find anyone locally that already knew about it. Freerepublic did have a post of an ap article though! www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/956445/posts There, many of the posts wanted to see pictures. So, here they are. Http://216.162.108.58/Forms/Default.asp?*105087 Click on...

Saudi Arabia has reportedly imposed strict border checks to enforce a ban on the export of sand. There are fears that the growing demands of the construction industry could lead to a shortage in the desert kingdom. The Arab News newspaper reports that neighbouring Bahrain needs to import large quantities of sand for reclaiming land from the sea. Demand is also expected to grow as the process of reconstruction in Iraq gathers pace. Although sand remains plentiful in Saudi Arabia, construction experts say the high costs of bagging and transporting make exploiting it difficult. Experts have told the newspaper that...

Link post (provided to direct interested parties to the Geology Picture of the Week in the FR "chat" section): Geology Picture of the Week, August 17-23, 2003 Reply if you would like to be added to the ping list.

I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and kept it in mind for a Geology Picture of the Week. I think this is one of the most fascinating National Monuments in our country. I've been here, but I haven't been to White Sands NM. Link to page with larger versions of the image: Image of the Week: February 23, 2003

Just now on MSNBC: Military source says war may not start for at least two more days, largely due to high winds and sandstorms. Developing...