from ap: t wasn't the preferred way to enter the Knoxville Museum of Art, but Richard Anthony Smith told police he was on a mission. The 25-year-old Knoxville man called 911 from his cell phone before dawn Wednesday saying he was trapped in an air conditioning duct leading from the museum roof, Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. Police and firefighters reached the roof, found a rope and cable and followed them to a vent shaft. Peering inside, they spotted Smith about 45 feet down. "Mission failed," he told them.
Hoisted up and read his rights, Smith told police he was a "special agent from the United States Illuminati, badge number 0931" and had rappelled onto the museum from a helicopter, a police report said.
He said he was following orders to "defuse and confiscate" a Soviet-made nuclear warhead, specifically a "MERV6SS-22AN" warhead, according to the report. The bomb supposedly was hidden in a blue, plastic cow sculpture in the museum basement, he said.
However, Smith told officers his "agency" called while he was in air-vent limbo to say it made a mistake and the bomb might be in a Memphis museum instead.
Police charged Smith with aggravated robbery. He was being held on $2,000 bond at the Knox County Jail. Authorities said he did not have a lawyer. "Fortunately he was able to reach his cell phone," DeBusk said, "or he may not have been found for quite some time."
study of jfk assassination bullets honored from upi: Three Texas A&M University faculty members were honored for a study challenging the lone-gunman theory in the assassination of U.S. President John Kennedy. Statistics Professors Cliff Spiegelman and Simon Seather along with research chemist William James analyzed the makeup of bullets that came from the same production batch as the ones recovered after the 1963 shooting in Dallas.
The trio received the 2008 Statistics in Chemistry Award from the American Statistical Association for their work showing that the metallic compounds of the fatal bullets weren't as unique as originally thought. "Using new compositional analysis techniques not available in the 1960s, the team determined that the bullet fragments involved in the assassination are not nearly as rare as previously reported, leading to the recommendation that the bullet fragments be reanalyzed," the university said in a written statement.
'the making of a president': jfk's growth as a politician shown in well-timed exhibit at jfk library
from wbz: The early chapters in Pres. John F. Kennedy's story are on display at the JFK Library and Museum. The exhibit, called "The Making of a President," shows experiences that shaped Kennedy's life.
And for the first time, we're seeing journals he kept as his traveled around the world. "I was struck by what a curious mind he had," said Jim Wagner of the JFK Library.
His journals revealed how much he learned while abroad – not only from dignitaries, but ordinary people as well. "Wherever he was, he would take time to talk to shopkeepers and people he met in restaurants and hotels and get their sense of what they thought was happening in their part of the world," said Wagner.
Worldly views and war service are only a few of the themes that shaped the former president. These are the same themes we hear today as we get ready to elect the 44th president. "At the convention, so much of it is about biography and learning about the candidates running for office. What is it about them that's prepared them to be president," said Wagner.
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from ap: t wasn't the preferred way to enter the Knoxville Museum of Art, but Richard Anthony Smith told police he was on a mission. The 25-year-old Knoxville man called 911 from his cell phone before dawn Wednesday saying he was trapped in an air conditioning duct leading from the museum roof, Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. Police and firefighters reached the roof, found a rope and cable and followed them to a vent shaft. Peering inside, they spotted Smith about 45 feet down. "Mission failed," he told them.
