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Atty: Chicago terror suspect could have been duped
Prosecutors urged a federal judge Wednesday to deny bond to one of two Chicago men charged with plotting a terrorist attack against a Danish newspaper, while the man's lawyer argued that his client could have been the innocent dupe of an alleged coconspirator.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, was a danger to the community and a flight risk and therefore should not be released on bond, Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Collins told federal Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan.
Nolan said she needed more information and set another hearing in the case for Tuesday, although she said she wouldn't decide the matter then, either.
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CRAIG A. COOPER
These girls call him Papa, everyone else knows him as Lieutenant Craig Cooper with the Department of Fish and Game.
Congratulations on your retirement!
We love you more!
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Chicago Blackhawks (8-5-1) at Colorado Avalanche (11-3-2), 9 p.m.
The Colorado Avalanche will attempt to equal their best home start to a season since relocating to Denver, as they welcome the Chicago Blackhawks tonight to the Pepsi Center.
The Avalanche began a three-game residency on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over the Coyotes. The win improved them to 5-0-0 as the host this year, one victory shy of the 6-0-0 mark the 2007-08 squad started the season with.
Milan Hejduk scored twice and had an assist versus Phoenix, while Marek Svatos and Davis Jones also scored. Colorado, which also got three assists from Paul Stastny, halted a two-game slide and won for the fifth time in seven games.
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Father of Olympic athlete hurt in shootout
The father of a Fresno Olympian may have suffered a flashback to Vietnam when he led police on a high-speed chase Monday that ended in a shootout, his brother said.
Clifford Darrell Finch, 58, owner of Cliff Finch's Topiary Zoo in Friant since 1981 and the father of Olympic snowboarder Andy Finch, was in critical condition Monday night at Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.
Fresno police said Finch was on his way to the home of his wife, who had obtained an emergency protective order against him, when police were alerted Monday morning.
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Leaked video game footage shows terrorist attack
Footage leaked from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" reveals that players of the upcoming video game can shoot innocent civilians in an airport in a realistic rendering of a terrorist attack.
The game, which has an "M" rating for mature audiences, comes out next month in what its publisher hopes may be the most lucrative launch in the history of entertainment, not just for games but counting music and movies too.
In a statement, game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc. said Wednesday the footage was taken illegally and is not representative of the game's overall experience. Instead, the scene is designed to evoke the "atrocities of terrorism," Activision said in an e-mailed statement.
If the most recent forays into the James Bond universe -- with their horribly convoluted plots, far-fetched gizmos, campy scenarios, cheesy villains and Pierce Brosnan -- have disillusioned you about the possibility of a decent new film, then your worries are at an end. Bond enthusiasts now can die another day in peace, knowing the franchise is in good hands with Daniel Craig. His Bond is in dark contrast to the martini-sipping, tuxedo-wearing pretty boy often portrayed in recent films.
In the opening of "Casino Royale," we witness Bond's promotion to "00" agent, via two murders: one done in the typical, calculated Bond style, and the other in an undeniably un-Bond manner -- for your eyes only.
We see Craig beating the living daylights out of a henchman in a bathroom, ultimately drowning him in a sink, revealing the character's flaws as a ruthless and risk-taking thrill-seeker rather than the collected, logical and merciful agent his boss, M, wants him to be. That is the main attraction to Craig: His Bond makes mistakes, misjudges situations and even breaks a sweat more than once, making him a more realistic hero to vie for the audience's emotions.
The intriguing plot of "Casino Royale" also doesn't hurt its prospects as the best Bond movie in decades -- centering around a poker game with mounds of chips worth a million dollars each. Bond is entered into the game to win the money of Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), the new deformed,scar-faced villain, a personal banker to a number of world terrorist groups. Sent by M to keep an eye on Bond (isn't that always the case?) is MI6 treasurer Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), who, in addition, pretends to be his wife in order to distract the other card players.
While this card game may sound like a boring plot device, there still are explosions, fistfights, acrobatics and several exciting action sequences in which Bond uses his license to kill. The poker game provides an equally thrilling experience -- but in the form of suspense, not violence.
For those who disliked Brosnan's Bond, live and let die the past decade of Bond movies, for Daniel Craig should prove a satisfying 007 for years to come.
Chase Stubblefield attends Buchanan High School.
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