U.S. Military Deaths in Afghanistan

As of June 30, 2006, at least 251 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.

Of those, the military reports 153 were killed by hostile action.

Outside the Afghan region, the Defense Department reports 56 more members of the U.S. military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, two are the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations as: Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, Djibouti, Eritrea, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey …

Review: Wii gets rare shooter in 'The Conduit'

The alien invasion has begun, and Washington is its epicenter. One guy, Secret Service agent Michael Ford, is apparently the only earthling who can save the planet. At the behest of a shadowy organization called The Trust, Ford is given this directive: If it moves, shoot it.

No, "The Conduit" (Sega of America Inc., for the Wii, $49.99) doesn't have the most original premise for a video game. Fans of the dozens of other alien shooters that have come out over the years, from "Doom" to "Halo" to "Resistance: Fall of Man," may not see it as anything special.

But if you live in a Wii-only household, and you're sick of Xbox …

New Europe Democracies Say EU Not Much Help

PARIS Nearly five years after they rebelled against their Sovietmasters and brought down Communist regimes like dominoes, the newdemocracies in central and eastern Europe are complaining thatWestern European nations are leaving them stranded without a securepolitical or economic destiny - and next to a Russia wherenationalism is growing.

The Eastern Europeans say a $24 billion aid program by theEuropean Union and its member states has lapsed into cynical farce.The lion's share of the money has found its way to Western banks andenterprises in the form of loans at standard interest rates,rescheduled debts and payments to technical consultants. Only afraction of this …

Missouri 1 win away from home perfection

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — If No. 22 Missouri can beat No. 2 Kansas on senior day, it will finish unbeaten at home for the second time in three seasons.

However on the road, the Tigers struggle to get wins.

It's a riddle coach Mike Anderson and players no longer have to worry about solving. After Saturday's finale, the rest of the season will be on neutral courts.

Missouri (22-8, 8-7 Big 12) is 17-0 at home, winning by an average of 22.5 points.

"You don't want to go undefeated all the way at home until the last game," junior forward Laurence Bowers said.

Anderson's team has an RPI of 31, and might be safe for a NCAA tournament berth.

But the Tigers will be …

Vice presidential debate quotes from Biden, Palin

Quotes from Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Republican Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska during their vice presidential debate Thursday at Washington University in St. Louis:

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On the Iraq war:

BIDEN: "Barack Obama offered a clear plan. Shift responsibility to Iraqis over the next 16 months. Draw down our combat troops. Ironically the same plan that (Nouri al-) Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq and George Bush are now negotiating. The only odd man out here, only one left out is John McCain, number one. Number two, with regard to Barack Obama not quote funding the troops, John McCain voted the exact same way. John McCain voted against …

It's not easy knowing she's alone . . . out there

"Big news, Fran. He bit the bullet and decided to let her go on to Tuscany without him."

"He ruled in her favor? She's been spared? Praise the Lord."

Can you hear it? That tone in her voice?

"Ease up, babe. There's no need for that. She's going. He's flyingback to work and she's taking the train to Rome and then on to thatfancy beet farm for a few days of R&R. Alone."

We're talking about my pal who wasn't sure he wanted to let hiswife stretch the Italian holiday out without him.

I understood completely, of course. Any man would. Have you seenthe shoes those guys wear in Italy!

Fran didn't agree.

"Men don't get to let or not let women do …

PREACHING TO THE CHOIR; Gibson's Passion is all pain, no gain

First of all: don't believe the hype. All the inane local and national newscasts portraying Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ as an organic extension of "Christianity" as a whole are as misguided as they are shallow. The Passion is a specific, sectarian interpretation in which all Christians outside of Gibson's inner circle should be hesitant to let speak for them. Yes, Gibson puts all the right King James version catch phrases in the right places to make his Jesus seem familiar, but his "A day in the death" vision is more telling in what it leaves out than what it includes.

The most obvious and eerily prophetic reference with which to begin dissecting The Passion is a 2000 …