The United States is drawing up plans to keep Russia and other countries from being spooked into millenium bug-related "nightmare" military scenarios, according to a top Pentagon official. In a stark warning about the Y2K "computer glitch threat," Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre cited a need to "calm Russian nuclear forces." He told the Senate Armed Services Committee that cash-strapped Russian forces were relying more and more on nuclear weapons as a safeguard for their national security. Such systems are heavily reliant on computers to monitor impending threats such as missile launches and unidentified aircraft. He added the idea was to share data not only with Russia, but with other unspecified nations.

Air Force Lieutenant General Kenneth Minihan, head of the ultrasecretive National Security Agency, told the panel that the Y2K problem would complicate an already-constant threat to the US information infrastructure. "Peace, as we've traditionally thought of it in the industrial era, really doesn't exist," he said. "Like our body's immune system... we're just constantly under attack" from those seeking to exploit computer network vulnerabilities. Senator Robert Bennett (R-Utah), who heads a new nonpartisan Senate panel studying the millenium problem, predicted widespread turmoil as a result of possible disruption of essential services such as power grids and water supplies.

What kind of unrest will occur is of great concern, according to Bennett. Calling the Y2K glitch the electronic equivalent of El Ni�o, Hamre said "This is going to have implications in the world and in American society we can't even comprehend... I will be first to say we're not going to be without some nasty surprises."

In case you missed it, Dateline NBC did an investigation of 100 grocery stores around the US to find out what's really in "ground beef." Mixing meats and calling it ground beef is adulteration, and the federal government and every state considers this a health hazard, and have made it illegal to do this. The reason is that cooking temperatures that make ground beef safe are lower than the temperatures recommended for poultry, pork, and lamb. Some people even eat their burgers a little rare, putting them at risk if their beef is not pure. Using hidden cameras they purchased meat from all kinds of stores, and had it tested at a laboratory. The results were pretty sickening, pardon the pun. The tested meat came from Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C., Miami, Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco. The biggest problem actually seems to be when meat department employees fail to disassemble, wash, and sanitize the meat grinder when switching from one meat to another. Cleaning the grinder is federal law, and yet several acknowledged that the grinder was not cleaned properly or employees just failed to follow safety regulations for whatever reason. Some stores questioned the lab results, and others improved their operating practices.

In New York, Mayor Giuliani is ordering disabled welfare mothers to work in exchange for their welfare. Over 800 physically and mentally disabled women had to report to city offices over this past weekend to be screened for job placement. These women suffer from such things as seizures, severe arthritis, and mental illness - city doctors already had certified these individuals as permanently or temporarily unemployable. Now they must work in jobs "suited to their abilities." About 12,000 disabled mothers will be required to clock in for 20 hours a week workfare jobs within two months, and another 21,000 could follow if the program is successful.

At their big convention, the National Rifle Association voted in Charlton Heston as their new president. In a speech, Heston said, "Mr. Clinton, sir, America didn't trust you with our health-care system. America didn't trust you with gays in the military. America doesn't trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns." The group is split into two factions. One side wants the NRA to fight for absolute Second Amendment rights. The other side, which Heston supports, believes some compromises to gun opponents make sense.

In Jasper, Texas, a black man was beaten, dragged by a truck and decapitated. Three white men, two of whom may be linked with the Aryan Nation, are being held and may be formally charged soon. James Byrd, 49, was last seen walking home from a friend's anniversary party early Sunday morning, according to his sister, Clara Taylor. She added that he was disabled and did not work but did not elaborate.

The intestinal viral epidemic in Taiwan has killed at least 31 children and now US experts have joined in the battle against the disease. The bug, identified as enterovirus 71, is known to have infected at least 10,000 children across Taiwan. Dozens have needed hospitalization. Adults have not been sickened. Department of Health spokesman Hsu Kuo-hsiung announced, "All the cases are declining dramatically and the disease is under control." US disease experts visited a military hospital in Taipei where some of the kids were treated. They plan to stay there up to four weeks to investigate the virus, which has also been detected in Bulgaria and Malaysia. The US scientists also were meeting with Taiwanese health officials to discuss "preventative measures."

After astronauts said their final goodbyes, space shuttle Discovery unlocked from Mir on Monday, marking the end of America's three-year partnership with the Russian space station. Now we begin our transition into a new era of space flight with the International Space Station (ISS). After separating, Discovery was going to circle around the Mir station to see if they can detect the glow-in-the-dark gas which was pumped into Spekter, which was damaged in a collision with a supply ship last year. It was hoped that the glowing gas would help pinpoint the location of small leaks. During the emotional goodbyes between astronauts, the Mir commander, Talgat Musabayev, presented shuttle commander Charles Precourt with a huge wrench that was used in space walks outside the Mir.

Thirty-eight 60-quart slightly radioactive cooking pots were delivered to the Navy. The EPA, which investigates cases where the source of radioactivity is unknown, said tracking the metal's origin will be difficult. Seventy percent of all the steel produced in America is recycled from scrap, so multiple sources of metal are involved in making each batch of finished steel. One official said that it would take around-the-clock hands-on contact for 446 years for the pots to produce a "worrisome" level of radioactivity in people.

The head of India's nuclear program dismissed claims by a group of teen hackers that they had broken into computer systems at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center, which coordinated last month's nuclear tests.