America has now fought its sixth significant war since the battleship Maine blew up (by accident, it now seems) in Havana harbor in 1898. The war with Spain and two world wars and Korea and Vietnam and the Gulf War are only America’s largest combat experiences since the explosion in the Maine. That explosion showered sparks on the dry tinder of American nationalism and detonated the “splendid little war” that made a president of the Rough Rider of San Juan Hill....
But as smart as you are, you still need a “leading” analyst like me to help you make sense of the year that’s about to start. That’s why I have always dedicated my last column of the year to a preview of the big stories that are certain to dominate the news next year. Full disclosure: My predictions are not always accurate. Sure, I correctly divined that Bill and Hillary Clinton would spend exactly zero nights in the same bed in 2003 (that was easy), but my assertion last year that Vice President Dick Cheney would resign to join an all-nude auto-body shop has, alas, proven inaccurate (so far)....
A few years later, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City entered the frame with the latter having had more success at breaking the mould by winning two PL trophies in the last five years. What about the rest of the 14 teams in the Premier League? Most of these ‘mid-table’ teams showed little ambition in terms of challenging the top clubs for the coveted top 4 spot in the early years of the 21st century....
It is the most important position on the ice. However, it is also hard to evaluate. Few goalies maintain sky-high save percentages each year, and oftentimes a guy near the top of the league one year can be middle-of-the-pack or worse the next. The reverse can happen as well. MORE: Suter sits for two | Yeo the fall guy? Generally, it seems wiser to avoid paying goalies without first seeing if they can maintain their numbers over a multi-year stretch....
They had hoped to have those images out of Basra weeks ago. They even had plans to fly in TV crews to film it. But that city proved a tougher nut than they anticipated. There were reports from southern Iraq of retribution against Iraqis who were filmed beating on Hussein posters and celebrating his imminent demise. Fear, the Coalition argued, was keeping people in check. Officials here tried to lower expectations as troops headed into Baghdad early this week....
NORTON: Incredible. It started off exciting and only got more so. When I was a medical student, people tried to convince me not to go into cancer medicine. Their reason was that they thought a cancer cell was so aberrant, with so many things wrong with it, that we’d never find a successful drug to attack it. But what we’ve been hearing here all week is direct proof that these people were wrong....
Human genetic engineering, also known as gene therapy, is based on the premise that our genes are the defense and healing system of our body. It is our genes that protect our body from the assaults of nature; it is our genes that repair the damage caused by disease and restore us to health; it is our genes that, when they function abnormally, bring on not only such traditionally understood “genetic” diseases as sickle cell anemia and Huntington’s disease, but also contribute to cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and mental illness....
Eisner heard them, sort of. In a late-day deal with the board, Eisner agreed to relinquish his role as chairman but stay on as the company’s CEO. In a certain sense, this was a dramatic step. For years, Eisner had been Mr. Disney, ruling over every inch of the House that Walt Built with an iron fist. But some observers said the new arrangement wasn’t really addressing the core problem, pointing out that Eisner’s replacement as chairman would be former Senate majority leader George Mitchell, an Eisner pal....
“I think there is an Osama bin Laden look-alike,” Gen. Hamid Gul, the influential former head of Pakistan’s intelligence service (ISI) told the BBC. It is a sentiment widely shared within Arab countries. “[The tape] is a sort of high-tech gimmick,” the general continued. Gul, who told NEWSWEEK in September that he believed the attacks were an Israeli-engineered coup attempt against the U.S. government, suggested that the Bush administration had released the tape because of “a pervasive sense of guilt” for the bombing campaign in Afghanistan....
The average sea level rise along the coast of Bangladesh has been 3.8-to-5.8 millimeters a year over the last 30 years, according to a recent study. And that continues. In fact, without changes to global behavior, Bangladesh would see annual economic costs due to global warming equal to 2 percent of its Gross Domestic Product by 2050, widening to 9.4 percent by 2100. The people most impacted would be the poorest Bangladeshis....
The Tetrapleura tetraptera tree, commonly known as the Aidan tree, is found in rainforests in West Africa. The tree stands about 80 feet tall and grows a fruit that belongs to the pea family. The fruit emits a strong odor and is often used as a spice in Nigerian and other West African dishes. The fruit is commonly sold in markets for its medicinal properties. Aidan fruit is known for its antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory properties....
OWEN LOCKWOOD. FAIRFIELD, CONN. Invest long-term money primarily in stock-owning mutual funds and leave this cache alone to grow. Time is your friend; you can raise a fortune in 40 years. Retirement funds can also be tapped for intermediate needs, says Margaret Gault of Personal Financial Services in San Francisco. For example, if your 401(k) allows loans, you could borrow to buy a house in 10 years or so....
The best-selling book on the current crisis is Jean P. Sasson’s “The Rape of Kuwait” (Knightsbridge. Paper, $4.95), with 1.2 million copies in print. An account of Iraqi atrocities in Kuwait, the book is written so simple-mindedly that the real horrors it describes seem to evaporate in the prose style. The second biggest seller, with 800,000 copies in print, is by far the more useful purchase. Judith Miller, a reporter for The New York Times, and Laurie Mylroie, a Middle East specialist at Harvard, were among the first writers out of the gate when Iraq invaded Kuwait....
How to View Full Email Headers in Gmail To display a message’s full email headers in Gmail: Open the email message in Gmail, then select the More menu to display additional options. Select Show original from the menu. Gmail opens a new tab that shows the full message. In the original message view, Gmail offers two links—one to download the email as an .EML file (a plain-text format that many email programs can read) and another to copy the message to the clipboard....
It’s well known that Bill Gates co-founded the Microsoft Corporation in 1975 with childhood friend Paul Allen. It’s not as well known that Melinda Gates, then Melinda French, was a general manager at Microsoft when the pair met and began dating in 1987. Their origin story goes like this: After flirting a bit in the parking lot at work, Bill asked Melinda out for a date two weeks in advance....
On Wednesday night the Times published a story suggesting that McCain might have done legislative favors for the clients of the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, who worked for the firm of Alcalde & Fay. One example it cited were two letters McCain wrote in late 1999 demanding that the Federal Communications Commission act on a long-stalled bid by one of Iseman’s clients, Florida-based Paxson Communications, to purchase a Pittsburgh television station....
On Thursday, Dec. 8, President Joe Biden confirmed the news, adding that he has spoken with Griner, who is safe and on her way home. Griner’s detainment began in February when she was arrested after the Russian Federal Customs Service claimed it found hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow. The news of her detainment first surfaced in early March and instantly became the biggest off-the-court storyline in the basketball world....
K.C.’s heart isn’t into detective work. He moonlights as a yoga instructor whose students, every one of ’em, are lithe young women eager for some after-school instruction. But what he really wants to do is act. The haggard, debt-ridden Joe also has a sideline selling real estate, resulting in many desperate cell-phone negotiations that always come at comically inappropriate times, i.e., while chasing bad guys. The villain of the piece is power-hungry rap mogul Antoine Sartain (Isaiah Washington), who has a bad habit of offing his own talent when they stray from the fold....
