Latest B&C blog: Timeline February 2003
My February news-in-review column, along with my two cents on I am Sam:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/books/features/weblog/030303.html

My B&C blog archive

Not every headline fits the theme or space of my month-in-review, so here's my
FEBRUARY TIMELINE BONUS

More on Columbia:
The shuttle's muddled history and future, from the New Yorker
Wanted: Cooperative rugged individualists to be astronauts, from the NY Times.
Latest findings in investigation don't clear up the mystery, from USA Today.
Bush's comforting words and the Houston memorial service , from the Wash. Post.
Debris theft, from the Washington Post, here and here.

More on Iraq:
President Bush earmarked zilch in war funds in his 2004 budget (to avoid giving the public a figure to fixate on).
Also in economic news, Bush's tax cuts were criticized by Alan Greenspan.

And more on terrorism jitters: transatlantic travel is down.

For the cynical who think our military presence in Iraq is just about oil, how do you explain that we only sent 3,000 troops (third item here) to protect another cherished resource: chocolate, in the Ivory Coast? USA Today framed this story of death and suffering overseas as a bummer for Valentine-minded Americans.

Speaking of Valentine's Day, ABC and CNN called off their marriage on Feb. 14, while NBC announced the latest gimmick in reality TV: Who Wants To Marry My Mom. Canada announced that off-the-air marriage is also on the rise.

In a month in which the Chicago and Rhode Island nightclub stampedes showed the harsh side of the public square, bystanders were seen doing nothing to report or tend to a homicide victim in at a Washington D.C. gas station.

More random news:
One former presidential candidate, Pat Robertson, had surgery, as did a current one, John Kerry.

Charlton Heston again played Ben Hur, this time in a cartoon.

A fleet of limos from Yugoslav dictator Tito went on auction block

White House disclosed installation of solar panels

Berliners welcomed American film stars at festival

A Texas student picked on for his creationism

Labor protests erupted in China, where one prominent activist was convicted.

Anti-Iraq hackers were called off by the U.S. government

Idaho reinstated the death penalty, and court ruled that states can give a death row prisoner antipsychotic medication to make him sane enough to execute.

60 percent of meat plants were declared to be unsafe

War worsened in Colombia

A fire ravaged a South Korean subway

Yahoo considered a French court ruling that banned access to Nazi memorabilia online auctions

Police found stolen Beatles tapes

AMF bowling was put up for sale

The Pentagon mulled cremations for Gulf casualties

The Saudis were found to have aided a terror suspect's wife's escape

An explosion rocked a Lagos bank

Australian animal welfare officers raided the setting of the TV series 'Skippy', to save neglected animals

The EU invited controversial Zimbabwe President Mugabe to come to Paris

BP announced plans to form a Russian oil company

The IMF approved a loan to Ecuador

Martina Hingis hinted about leaving tennis, while Jane Pauley announced she was leaving NBC

In the column I talked about sports greats, but one future great had a bad month; LeBron James was ruled ineligible and his school pulled the plug on ESPN game coverage.

The death of the 113-year-old man mentioned in the column leaves Fred Hale Sr., 112, the oldest American man.

Other obituaries:
Amy Bess Williams Miller helped found a Shaker village and museum. Sigmund Timberg was a lawyer for New Deal agencies. Felice Marks Lippert founded Weight Watchers 40 years ago. Dr. Neville Colman was a DNA expert and founded a Manhattan youth soccer league. John Westergaard founded the mutual fund. Clyde Douglas Dickerson was a Watergate doorman and saxophone performer.

Fred Hudson, president of the Frederick Douglass Creative Arts Center, was a mentor to African-American writers and actors.

January timeline bonus:
Sharon wins big in Israeli elections