Watercooler Stories

Video shows U.S. hostage beheaded

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- An Islamist Website posted a video Monday purportedly showing the killing of a U.S. hostage in Iraq.

The Tawhid and Jihad group -- linked to Abu Musab al-Zarzaqi, the al-Qaida leader in Iraq -- said it had executed the hostage who was kidnapped from his Baghdad home last week along with another American and a Briton. A 48-hour deadline the group had set for the release of Iraqi women prisoners had expired.

The three hostages were identified as Eugene Armstrong, Jack Hensley and Kenneth Bigley.

The nine-minute video shows the kidnappers cutting the throat of the blindfolded and crying hostage who was not immediately identified.

More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq and some two dozen killed by insurgents opposed to the U.S. and allied presence in the country.

CBS acknowledges flaws in Bush story

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- CBS News, enmeshed in an embarrassing controversy over its claim to documents proving U.S. President Bush shirked military service, backed down Monday.

CBS News said it regretted broadcasting a Sept. 8 story about President Bush's military service based on documents whose authenticity is now widely doubted, saying the source of the material had misled the network.

And Dan Rather, who reported the story and has staunchly defended it, apologized.

"After extensive additional interviews, I no longer have the confidence in these documents that would allow us to continue vouching for them journalistically," Rather said.

"I find we have been misled on the key question of how our source for the documents came into possession of these papers. We made a mistake in judgment, and for that I am sorry."

Rather's boss, Andrew Heyward, hinted the controversy was draining the network's credibility.

"Nothing is more important to us than our credibility and keeping faith with the millions of people who count on us for fair, accurate, reliable, and independent reporting," the CBS News president said.

Electronic voting machines not trusted

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- More than a third of U.S. voters worry about potential problems with electronic voting machines in November, a survey released Monday found.

The poll, conducted for FindLaw.com, a legal affairs Web site, found that 42 percent of the 1,000 adults surveyed nationwide said they were concerned about potential vote tampering in electronic voting machines; 38 percent said they were worried about the accuracy of the machines.

The survey found concerns about accuracy and vote tampering with electronic voting machines higher among adults who were younger, those with lower incomes, and minorities. Fifty percent of non-whites surveyed said they were concerned about possible vote tampering.

Roughly one-third of voters nationwide are scheduled to use touch-screen computer voting machines in the November election, with electronic machines being installed in several states, including California, Ohio, Maryland, Connecticut and Florida, the site of several major vote-tallying controversies in the 2000 presidential election.

The survey interviewed 1,000 adults nationwide, with results accurate to plus or minus 3 percent.

AFLAC duck honored as beloved ad icon

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- The AFLAC duck has been inducted into New York's Advertising Walk of Fame as one of the most beloved U.S. ad symbols.

The duck beat out veteran ad icons Ronald McDonald and the Energizer Bunny for one of five spots on the walk of fame, honors selected by online consumer voters, said a release Monday from AFLAC's Columbia, Ga., headquarters.

The commercial series featuring the well-known duck has generated more than 90 percent brand recognition for AFLAC since its launch in 2000.

"We are very pleased that America has connected so well with the AFLAC Duck campaign in such a short period of time. This win is a great honor and we appreciate the recognition given to us by the voting public," said Dan Amos, AFLAC's chief executive officer and chairman of AFLAC.

The Advertising Icon Award is the most recent honor bestowed upon the AFLAC Duck Campaign, which also has received a 2002 Gold Effie, an award recognizing the year's best advertising campaigns, and a pair of Midas awards for the best in creative consumer communication.