Welcome to my conference, Arlette. Please let me know somthing about you... You may wish to check Geo 8 before continuing. Alas, my volcanoes do not produce blue clay nor anything more aesthetic than olivines, the non-gem form of Peridot. They are pretty , and a whole beach of glistening green jewels is lovely, but not vauable in the monetary sense,

NPR reported earlier that the Taliban had called a news conference for "tonight," topic unknown. The Reuters story on Masood: LONDON (Reuters) - Jane's Intelligence Review quoted ''intelligence sources'' on Tuesday as saying Ahmad Shah Masood, the main guerrilla enemy of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, was assassinated in a suicide bombing. Uncertainty surrounds the fate of Masood, 48, who was the target of an assassination attempt in northern Afghanistan on Sunday by two Arab suicide bombers posing as journalists. Jane's, citing intelligence sources, said Masood died within minutes of the blast at his Khwaja Bahauddin headquarters on the Tajikistan border. It said one of the bombers detonated a bomb concealed in a video camera. ``The assassins are understood to have been Algerians affiliated to the al-Qaeda organization of indicted Saudi terrorist Osama bin Laden, a major supporter and financier of the Afghan Taliban,'' Jane's said on its Web site. Jane's said the two bombers reportedly traveled from Europe and had claimed that they worked for an organization called ''Arab News International.'' It said associates of Masood had undertaken a ``desperate cover-up effort'' by insisting he had only been wounded. Also, NPR is now saying that the section of the Pentagon that was hit had been recently renovated and was largely unoccupied when the plane hit this morning.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Terrorists struck the United States Tuesday morning in harrowing, widespread attacks that included at least three commercial jet crashes into significant buildings. � In the first attack, a plane hit the north tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan shortly before 9 a.m., followed by another plane into the second tower about 20 minutes later. Both towers later collapsed. � About an hour later, a plane crashed into the Pentagon, part of which later collapsed. � American Airlines told CNN that it lost two planes in "tragic accidents:" Flight 11 from Boston with 81 passengers and 11 crew aboard and Flight 77 from Washington Dulles airport with 58 passengers and six crew aboard. Both planes were en route to Los Angeles � United Airlines Flight 93 airliner headed from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, crashed near Somerset, Pennsylvania -- police said initial reports indicated no survivors. United also confirmed the crash of Flight 175 from Boston to Los Angeles. � The Pentagon, the White House, the State Department, the Justice Department, the Capitol, the CIA and all other government buildings in Washington evacuated. � President Bush cancelled an appearance in Florida to return to Washington, calling the crashes "apparent terrorist attacks" and "a national tragedy." � In the first ever national ground stop of aircraft, all flights nationwide have been stopped at their departure airports. � All international flights were diverted to Canada. � Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, said in reaction to the news of the terror attacks that "we want to tell the American children that Afghanistan feels your pain and we hope that the courts find justice." � In New York, more than 10,000 rescue personnel rushed to the scene. The entire downtown area of Manhattan was evacuated as far north as Rockefeller Center, according to an official at an emergency command post. � Israel has evacuated all its missions around the world. � The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta was evacuated. CDC was preparing bioterrorism teams in case they become necessary. � Philadelphia landmarks were also evacuated. � In Chicago, the Sears Tower was evacuated; United Nations in New York evacuated. � The New York Port Authority said it had closed all bridges and tunnels into the city. � U.S. stock markets were closed after the New York attacks. � NATO sent home all non-essential personnel from its Brussels, Belgium, headquarters. � The Immigration and Naturalization Service has put the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada on highest state of alert. � Los Angeles International Airport has been evacuated. � Disney World in Orlando, Florida, has been closed.

They are shutting down railways now... National Monuments in cities such as Philadelphia and Honolulu evacuated. They say it looks like a war zona. Guess what, gang, it IS a war zone!!!

STARBULLETIN.COM BREAKING NEWS: Posted on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 - 6:13:09 AM HST MAINLAND TERRORIST ATTACKS AFFECT HAWAII Authorities closed Honolulu Airport and Mayor Jeremy Harris activated the Oahu Civil Defense command center and put emergency crews on alert in the wake of terrorist attacks on the mainland. State airports official Earl Hashitate said that all flights out . . . Full story at http://starbulletin.com/database/breaking/ Complete Hawaii coverage later at http://starbulletin.com

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Sikander, this is where I will post how to make sapphires on your lava flows. I find that fascinating.