|
A
worldwide terrorism warning was issued by the US
government Friday because of what officials call an "imminent
threat." The Pentagon has pulled all US
Navy warships out of ports in the Middle East and elsewhere, and the
State Department has reissued a caution to Americans traveling
around the world of an increased "risk of terrorist action.
In a statement
released midday Friday, the State Department said Americans
traveling abroad should maintain "a high level of
vigilance" and "take appropriate steps to increase their
security awareness."
Military sources
say the threat is serious; they say communication has been
intercepted between two "credible" individuals indicating
an attack on Americans is imminent, adding they believe such an
attack may be against US forces.
Some analysts
say the possible attack could be because of this Sunday's
five-year anniversary of a terrorist attack on a US base in Saudi
Arabia and Thursday's indictment of 14 people in connection with
that bombing.
Less than a
month ago, four men said to have been operatives for fugitive
millionaire terrorist Osama bin Laden were convicted of the 1998
bombings of two US embassies in Africa.
Meanwhile a
videotape has surfaced aimed at recruiting members for bin Laden's
terrorist activities which includes bin Laden praising the bombing
attack on the USS Cole last year.
An
American entertainment icon has died. Actor
Carroll O'Connor, best known for his role as Archie Bunker in the TV
series, "All In the Family," died Thursday after suffering
a heart attack at his home in the Los Angeles area. A family
spokesman says O'Connor was rushed to Brotman Medical Center, where
he was pronounced dead. His wife Nancy was by his side.
It was in 1971
that O'Connor first appeared as Archie Bunker, a bigoted, feisty,
outspoken right-winger on CBS' All In the Family, created by
producer Norman Lear, based on a British series.
Within a year,
the program was in the networks' top ten shows -- reaching number
one and staying there for five years -- and the Bunker character
became something of a national craze spawning books, watercooler
talk and even a series of records on which O'Connor vocalized.
Besides Bunker,
the series featured Jean Stapleton as Bunker's none-too-bright but
sweet wife Edith, hippie-styled daughter Gloria and her husband,
Archie's son-in-law Michael, whom Archie called
"meathead" for his leftist political views.
The series
spawned two spinoffs, "The Jeffersons" and
"Maude."
But America
loved the Bunkers and the series lasted nearly nine years
before shedding all the supporting characters.
Stapleton left
before the series ended, new characters were added and the series
was renamed Archie Bunker's Place, wherein Bunker took over
a neighborhood bar after adopting a girl as his new daughter.
When the series
was finally cancelled in 1984, O'Connor took time off before
tackling another series, In the Heat of the Night, playing
the bigoted sheriff of a small Southern town, a series based on a
popular film.
That series lasted
five years, during which O'Connor's character, like that of Bunker,
softened over the years to become tolerant of -- and even embracing
-- liberal views.
O'Connor had
coronary bypass surgery in 1989 and was angered by the tragic
death of his adopted son Hugh from a drug overdose.
O'Connor publicly
named the dealer who sold his son drugs and waged a campaign to
educate parents on how to tell whether children have drug problems.
He was married to
wife Nancy for nearly 50 years. Carroll O'Connor was 76.
Global100
has shut down. The website acted
as a "rating service" to report the most popular websites.
Arzoo.com,
which set up answers from "experts" to viewer questions,
is closed.
Time
magazine has laid off more
than a dozen employees; editorial
positions are the next to go for a total of at least a six-percent
workforce downsizing.
Internet
rumors: eLaw.com -- the company
that charged law firms to store documents -- is closing up shop,
rumors say.
Job-shopping
website Dice.com has laid off nearly two dozen employees in a
first round of layoffs, rumors say.
Bid.com
joins Salon.com in being
delisted from the Nasdaq because of bottoming stock values.
Traffic.com
fired about 30-percent of
employees in a restructuring that de-emphasizes the Internet aspects
of its service; the company, which in the past has concentrated on
listing city traffic jams on the Internet, is changing its name to
Mobility Technologies.
Legendary
bluesman John Lee Hooker has died at his home
in California of natural causes. His rough voice and rhythmic style
inspired generations of musicians and led to his recording of more
than 100 records.
Hooker's hits
included "Boom Boom," "Boogie Chillin" and
"I'm In the Mood." His popularity coincided with the rise
of Boogie Woogie music after World War II, which eventually led to
rock and roll.
Born one of
eleven children to a Mississippi Baptist minister, Hooker began
playing professionally at the age of 14, moving from Memphis to
Detroit, where he found his first fame in 1948.
John Lee Hooker
was 83.
It's
All In How You Look At It:
President Bush is at roughly the same approval rating at this point
in his presidency as was Bill Clinton,
according to a new New York Times-CBS News poll; 53-percent
of Americans polled like the job Bush is doing.
This is not,
however, how the Times reported the story, which you can
see by clicking here.
The story appeared on the newspaper's front page, so they consider
it that important.
It took the New
York Times reporters eight paragraphs before noting that five
months into their presidencies, Bush and Clinton were at about the
same approval level.
Instead the Times
led with pontification about how Bush's recent European trip
should have increased his approval; about how increasingly
Americans are unsure about his ability to handle international
crises, about his ability to keep his word, about whether Bush is
getting respect from other world leaders, and about a drop in
personal appeal ratings.
The Times
then quoted several people with negative reactions to Bush; one
with a positive. The Times has lately admitted its leftish
political stance; the newspaper has yet to publicly admit any
anti-Bush bias.
The Times even
alleges that more than half of Americans support the Kyoto
agreement, which some say would heavily burden US growth while
leaving nations like China free to do what they wish.
No doubt the
president has a number of potential PR problems with fair-minded,
independent thinking people.
But read the Times
article on Bush's popularity as quantified by the newspaper's
latest house poll and you could believe Bush is one of the least
trusted, most arrogant, egocentric and irresponsible
presidents of the past 50 years.
But the Times
still doesn't realize that distinction still belongs to Mr. Bush's
predecessor.
So help me.
-- Mike Shiloh
|
