Free Republic

<p>BALTIMORE — A man was shot and killed while pumping gas in a Virginia station on Wednesday night. Authorities are investigating whether or not the murder is linked to the sniper who has terrorized the Washington area for a week.</p>

Marine Lance Cpl. Levi Halford center, of Orlando, Fla., adds a "Don't Tread On Me" flag to the American flag as they prepare to raise both outside the Kandahar International Airport in Kandahar, Afghanistan Monday, Dec. 17, 2001. The Marines of the 15th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units took control of the airfield last Friday. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, Pool)

<p>The Taliban commander of Afghanistan's northern zone, Mullah Dadullah, and Konduz governor, Haji Omar Khan, are willing to surrender to the United Nations, a group of Afghan tribal elders announced in Peshawar, Pakistan.</p> <p>Dadullah and Khan are willing to give up their heavy weapons and all non-Afghan fighters to the United Nations, the elders said, and to let the international body appoint a neutral caretaker and governor for Konduz.</p>

The Damage Missing nose radome: news reports say that the nose radome was ripped of in flight during the mid air collission. As far as it can be judged from the Chinese news photos I assume the radome (or what was left of it) had been removed after the emergency landing. Not only the nose radome but also the equipment it most likely houses is gone. There is no sign of a radar dish. It is hard to believe all this was lost in flight without causing a lot of damage to the forward fuselage. The radome can be opened ...

March 8, 2001, 8:51PM Bill would let principals of rural schools carry guns Associated Press AUSTIN -- Following recent school violence, a lawmaker has filed a bill that would let school principals and superintendents carry guns at rural schools to protect students. The bill by Rep. Suzanna Gratia Hupp, R-Lampasas, applies only to officials with concealed handgun licenses in counties with fewer than 20,000 people. Trey Blocker, Hupp's legislative director, said the bill was filed because several school officials from rural communities asked for it. "Because of the recent school shootings, schools across the nation have looked for ways to ...

New non-lethal energy weapon heats skin Monday, 26 February 2001 21:14 (ET) New non-lethal energy weapon heats skin By KELLY HEARN, UPI Technology Writer WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The Marine Corps is developing a non-lethal weapon that uses electromagnetic energy to heat but not permanently burn human skin. The weapon could help soldiers counter terrorism threats, control unruly crowds and defend airfields and ships. Experts confirmed it was the first time the military had designed a so-called "directed energy weapon" for use against human targets. The weapon concentrates energy into a beam of micro-millimeter waves that penetrate clothes to ...

“I’m not like George Bush,” Al Gore told an aide in 1999, when the campaign was just gearing up. “If he wins or loses, life goes on. I’ll do anything to win.” Bush may not have been quite as driven. “If this doesn’t work out, I’ve got a life,” he told a NEWSWEEK reporter in December 1999, when his campaign seemed to be dragging.