Free Republic

'Nothing but devastation and debris' as earthquake strikes Iran By Angus McDowall in Kerman and Anne Penketh 27 December 2003 Reza Jordani was in shock as he sat at the bedside of his 10-year-old son who was badly injured in the earthquake that devastated the historic Iranian city of Bam. The quake struck at dawn yesterday, killing thousands as they slept in their mud-brick houses. As dawn broke, Iranian television showed aerial footage of a sea of rubble where the city had stood. "I don't know what has happened to the rest of my family," said Mr Jordani, a middle-aged...

Ex-NASA Worker Sentenced in Debris Theft Tuesday November 11, 2003 2:31 AM ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A former NASA employee was sentenced Monday to a year of probation and fined $2,000 for stealing a 3-inch piece of shuttle debris while helping to recover parts of Columbia in Texas. Michael Pankiewicz pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft. His attorney, Paul Byron, said Pankiewicz exercised ``uncharacteristic bad judgment.'' ``He has demonstrated true remorse,'' Byron said. A quality-assurance specialist at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Pankiewicz has since left the agency. He was among hundreds of NASA employee sent to Texas and Louisiana...