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This is the live thread for the Space Shuttle Endeavour Landing (despite the missing tools in space). It was a good mission, however, I do have mix feelings about drinking urine..

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Feb. 7, 2008 – In a room lit only by sunlight streaming in, a soldier bites through the plastic wrapper of a package of pencils. With children waiting excitedly in the adjoining rooms, there is not time to waste pulling out a knife. Army Sgt. Jeff Wilkerson, an M1-A2 Abrams tank gunner with Multinational Division Baghdad, “high-fives” a child outside a school in Bayrk, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2008. Wilkerson and fellow soldiers delivered backpacks, pencils and stuffed animals to the school children. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The morning’s...

WASHINGTON, May 25, 2007 – Interruption of the “vicious circle of sectarian violence” taking place in Baghdad is the main challenge facing security forces there, a senior counter-insurgency advisor to Multinational Force Iraq said today. A cyclical pattern of attacks and retaliation between sects is what has done most of the damage in Iraq over the last 12 months, said David Kilcullen on a call with military “bloggers” and online journalists. “The very fabric of Iraqi society was torn as a result of that,” he explained. Sectarian attacks spiked following the February 2006 bombing of a Shiite shrine in...

ROCK HILL, S.C. — Smoking just might have saved Brenda Comer's life. She said she had just finished washing dishes Monday and stepped outside to smoke a cigarette when an 80-foot oak tree crashed through her roof, landing across the sink where she had been standing just seconds before.

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2007 – Covering the rent just got a little bit easier for military personnel in Ohio thanks to Empirian Property Management’s “Service Appreciation Program.” Through the company’s program, military personnel and civil servants can get $50 to $100 off their rent, Julie Yesnick, a senior regional manger in Ohio, said. “We felt that it was a good way to honor people that are serving our country,” she said. The program honors active-duty, reserve-component and retired military personnel, as well as fire and police department employees, Yesnick said. Though the management company would eventually like to offer...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2007 – Terrorists know they can’t defeat the United States militarily, so they seek instead to break the nation’s will, Vice President Dick Cheney told the crew of the USS Kitty Hawk today. Vice President Dick Cheney waves to the audience after speaking to military personnel, family members and Department of Defense civilian employees during a visit to the USS Kitty Hawk, Yokosuka, Japan, Feb. 21, 2007. Cheney is in Japan during a week-long tour of the Pacific. U.S. Navy photo by Seaman Kyle D. Gahlau  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Cheney spoke aboard the...

Nazi Prison Break GameHolocaust? What Holocaust??? In this game, you play the part of an evil American agent, caught infiltrating the gentle, peaceful Nazis. You must use your shrewdness and cunning to escape their comfortable detention center. However, if you are caught, the Nazis will lovingly perforate you. (Hope you enjoy it --- I thought it was relevant given Mr. Ahmedinejibjab's assertion that the Holocaust never happened.) Nazi Prison Break Game

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Thursday night that, "We expected Hizbullah to break the rules, and now we intend to break them. "We do not mean for this event to end when the situation returns to how things were a few days ago," he said. Peretz's comments came before his meeting with Assistant Secretary of State David Welch.

U.S. to allow tax break on retirement accountsBy David Cay Johnston The New York Times MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006 President George W. Bush is scheduled this week to sign into law an extraordinary deal for people with retirement savings accounts. By paying $1 in income taxes before they come due, these investors can ultimately avoid taxes today that are conservatively worth $3.50. Those who cannot afford to take advantage of this deal may think about it differently, however, since the $2.50 of net tax savings is, like all of the Bush tax cuts, being financed with more government debt, which...

General Motors has won the first round of a consumer lawsuit that could set a precedent for other automakers in similar suits pending in several states. A U.S. District Court judge in Dallas has dismissed a suit in which the owner of a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe alleged that GM had been negligent in using tempered glass in its side windows rather than laminated glass.

A Texas jury has found Ford Motor Co. liable for a rollover accident involving a Ford Explorer in another legal setback for the manufacturer of America's most popular sport utility vehicle. On Tuesday, the jury in Zavala County District Court ordered Ford to pay $31 million in compensatory damages in the case, Ford spokeswoman Kathleen Vokes said.

PHOENIX — A special legislative panel is preparing to seek an Attorney General's Office investigation into whether the Tucson Unified School District and a guest speaker broke state laws against using school resources to influence elections. A draft report obtained Friday also concludes that TUSD should remove the audio of what the panel called a "hate speech" by Dolores Huerta from its Web site immediately. It also says the district should apologize to students who were at the April 3 assembly where Huerta spoke — and their parents. The preliminary findings by the House Select Committee on Government Operations, Performance...

Hybrid comet-asteroid in mysterious break-up 09:30 11 April 2006 NewScientist.com news service Jeff HechtThe large, diffuse breakaway object is centred at the 2 o'clock position relative to the nucleus. The image is a negative, with the darkest areas representing the brightest objects. Something substantial has broken off an icy 50-kilometre object beyond the orbit of Saturn, leaving puzzled astronomers trying to figure out why. Comets have been seen breaking up before, but only after heating when passing close to the Sun or a gravitational disturbance following a close encounter with a planet. However, at 1.9 billion kilometres, this object is...

3/31/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- “Service Before Self,” one of the Air Force’s core values, is on the minds of 135 U.S. Air Force Academy cadets who are working during their alternative spring break in areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina. The project is part of the Cadet Service Learning program which centers on community involvement. “CSL takes this core value from theoretical concepts of the classroom and a training environment,” said Maj. Eric Ecklund, of the academy’s Center for Character Development. “It allows cadets to put it to the test in real situations, meeting the needs...

3/29/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Thirty-five tons of apples, oranges, bananas and plums, 1,600 gallons of milk, 16 tons of grilled chicken breasts and 39,040 candy bars. The list of food consumed here in one month goes on and on. “It’s an amazing operation,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Schields, 379th Expeditionary Services Squadron commander, referring to the largest food service operation in the region. “No matter how you slice and dice it, the 379th feeds more people than any other base in the theater.” On any given day, the food service flight serves 14,000 meals at the Manhattan, Independence...

Here's look no. 1 at the city's new pay toilets. The first of 20 new public potties, which will soon offer New Yorkers relief for the price of a quarter, was unveiled in Brooklyn yesterday. The Space Age loos, which look more like elevators from the outside, are self-cleaning and dispense liquid soap and hot water. They are part of the city's joint campaign with a Spanish company to spruce up the streetscape. But while new bus shelters and newsstands may look good, strategically placed comfort stations will be a boon for bladders. "When you gotta go, you gotta go,"...

Many dead in Iraqi prison break The attack was well-planned, the town's mayor said Iraqi insurgents have attacked a police station killing at least 20 people and freeing about 30 prisoners, police say. As many as 100 attackers, armed with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, took part in the raid, which began around dawn. The attack took place in the town of Miqdadiya, near Baquba, 65km (40 miles) north of the capital. Authorities said 10 insurgents were killed in the fire fight - one of the bloodiest clashes of recent months. The gunmen arrived in civilian vehicles and attacked...

Russia 'to break ranks' in Iran nuclear row By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 07/03/2006) Western countries were alarmed last night by signs that Russia was ready to break ranks and agree to Iran's demand to continue nuclear "research and development", fearing that this would make it easier for Teheran to develop nuclear weapons. Briefed about the latest Russian proposals, Mohammed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressed the hope that a compromise could be reached "in the next week or so". Mohammed ElBaradei: diplomacy But Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, was...

(AP) NAPA A series of levee breaks in southern Sonoma County is flooding acres of farmland along the Sonoma Creek. The Nationals Weather service says that a levee gave way on the Schell Creek near Schellville failedcausing minor flash flooding of immediately surrounding areas. According to reports, about 100 acres of farmland are flooded. The are a couple of farm buildings partially underwater, but there do not appear to be any houses or residential buildings affected. However, people near the town of Schellville along Highways 12 and 121 should be alert for rapidly rising waters and follow evacuation orders of...

'Wrecking ball' could break the ice on Mars 11:58 26 January 2006 NewScientist.com news service MAggie McKee Orbital images show what appear to be glacier-like features in the mid-latitudes of Mars (Image: A Nahm/Brown University) A plan to drop a quarter-tonne copper ball through Mars's atmosphere and study the ejecta it blasts away from the planet's surface on impact is to be proposed to NASA. The mission, called THOR, would test models suggesting the planet's tilt – and therefore its climate – swings through extreme changes every 50,000 years. Robotic landers and rovers have previously visited the Red Planet's equatorial...

Royal Navy hopes Argentine visit will break the ice By Oliver Balch in Buenos Aires (Filed: 26/01/2006) A Royal Navy ship has anchored in an Argentine port for the first time since the Falklands conflict. During the goodwill visit to Ushuaia, more than 2,000 miles south of the capital Buenos Aires, by the icebreaker Endurance, British and Argentine officers were joined by veterans as they laid wreaths at a monument honouring those who fell on both sides in the fighting 24 years ago. But the presence of Endurance was not universally popular. A resident held a placard that read: "Murdering...

Mar del Plata, Argentina, Nov 4 (EFE).- A Nobel laureate and a leftist Bolivian presidential candidate - but not, as had been promised, an Argentine soccer icon - led a march of thousands of anti-U.S. protesters through the streets of this seaside resort city Friday, hours before the inauguration of the Summit of the Americas. Retired athlete Diego Maradona, who had vowed to lead the demonstration to "repudiate" the presence of U.S. President George W. Bush, was in town but did not join the vanguard of the marchers. The explanation provided was that the former captain of the national soccer...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A key supporter of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's redistricting measure announced plans Tuesday to form an independent, nonpartisan campaign supporting Proposition 77 - largely over fears the measure will fail if tied directly to Schwarzenegger's other Republican-backed ballot initiatives. Bill Mundell, a Southern California businessman who donated more than $300,000 to help qualify the redistricting measure for the ballot, said his new group would operate separately from the governor's California Recovery Team in support of the initiative. The move comes on the same day the California Recovery Team announced that Steve Poizner, a Silicon Valley billionaire and Republican...

Just broke on CNN about five minutes ago. Rick Sanchez was interviewing the VP of Tulane University Hospital, which is located in downtown New Orleans. She said the water is rising around the hospital at a rate of about one inch per minute. She said if it continues at that rate, she will have to call FEMA to ask them to bring in helicopters to evacuate the hospital. She said there are about 1000 patients in the hospital, and that it has a helipad on the roof. It would be the only way to get everyone out. Hospital officials have...

More rare than BigFoot - a WASHINGTON School district doing the right thing!SEATTLE - It's really just a tiny step. But at this point, I'll take anything as progress. The South Kitsap School Board has decided that the two weeks off from the end of December into January will no longer officially be called "Winter Break." It'll now be known by what most people have always called it: "Christmas Break." I might have missed this appreciated departure from the world of rampant political correctness were it not for the blah-blah-blah e-mails I started getting from folks whining about how this...

With the recent high-profile news reports of ways to circumvent Napster-to-Go's digital rights management (DRM) software, it was only a matter of time before someone targeted iTunes. Hacker Jon Lech Johansen has done just that. Most known for his software that breaks the copy protection of DVDs, Johansen with the help of two counterparts has released PyMusique, what they bill as "a fair interface to the iTunes Music Store."

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Armed intruders broke into a family's house in Britain, only to apologise and leave again, having realised they intended to beat someone up next door instead. A woman was upstairs with her children in Swinton, Yorkshire, northern England, when two men armed with a knife and a plank of wood broke in through a back door. "The intruders made their way upstairs where the occupant was with her two children," a South Yorkshire police spokesman said. "It became obvious the intruders had got the wrong address and they left, apologising. No threats were made, although the woman was in a...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

CLINTONS SEND BACK $14,000 BIKE TO LENO Former American President BILL CLINTON refused a $14,000 (GBP7,775) get-well present from American TV programme THE TONIGHT SHOW, because accepting it would break US Senate rules. Presenter JAY LENO arranged for the tandem bicycle to be sent to Clinton, who is recovering from bypass surgery. But it was swiftly returned because Clinton's wife HILLARY is senator for New York and it is illegal for her to accept gifts valued at more than $50 (GBP28). An insider says, "What is weirder - that Jay Leno can reach in his pocket for a $14,000 gift,...

Dear Abby, I am a crack dealer in Mt. Washington, KY, who has recently been diagnosed as a carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Morehead and one of my sisters, who lives in West Liberty, is married to a transvestite. My father and mother have recently been arrested for growing and selling marijuana They are financially dependent on my other two sisters, who are prostitutes in Covington. I have two brothers, one is currently serving a non-parole life sentence at Eddyville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is currently in jail awaiting...

Syrian Authorities Break Up Rare Protest Monday March 8, 2004 11:46 PM By ZEINA KARAM Associated Press Writer DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) - In a capital awash with Syrian flags, posters supporting President Bashar Assad and pamphlets declaring his party's achievements on its 41st anniversary, a paper banner raised Monday urging freedom for political prisoners did not fit in. Syrian authorities quickly tore it up, broke up the rare demonstration and arrested the small group of activists - who knew that was the most likely outcome of their call for change. A U.S. diplomat observing the demonstration was also briefly detained,...

Saddam's young grandkids break down in tears December 14 2003 at 07:03PM Amman - Grandchildren of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who sought haven in Jordan with their mothers in July, broke down in tears when they were told Sunday of his capture, parents of their schoolmates told AFP. Raghad and Rana Saddam Hussein and their nine children were granted refuge in Jordan, where they live in a former palace of King Abdullah II's late father, King Hussein, on a hill in eastern Amman. Their children attend two exclusive private schools in Jordan, where the families have kept a low...

Police Open Fire to Break Up Iraqi Jobless Protest Wed Oct 1, 1:09 PM ET By Andrew Gray BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Police opened fire on Wednesday to break up crowds of angry jobless Iraqis -- including former soldiers -- demonstrating in Baghdad and Mosul as frustration at the country's economic woes boiled over. In another of the virtually daily attacks on occupying forces, a female U.S. soldier was killed and three of her colleagues were wounded by a bomb near a former palace of ousted leader Saddam Hussein used by the U.S. military as an army base. The violence formed...

SACRAMENTO -- In what could be the foundation of a possible budget agreement, Senate Republicans offered Wednesday ideas for trimming about $2.7 billion in spending -- at least some of which have already been proposed by Gov. Gray Davis. Ranging from the elimination of $1 million in funding to help counties pay for special elections to the reduction of nearly $1 billion in assistance for local government, Senate Republicans are in agreement with the Democratic governor on a wide variety of issues, according to an analysis. Expectations are that the list of more than 100 budget amendments proposed by Senate...

Ok, say a family makes about $75,000 a year (Combined earnings of husband and wife), and has 2 children. What would they get back under President Bush's tax cut plan?

Two oddly similar searches are underway in Iraq these days one for Saddam Hussein and the other for his weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Neither has yet been found. No one has yet argued that because Saddam has not been located, he never existed. But that is what some are saying about the coalition forces' not finding actual WMD. Probably those weapons were well hidden; maybe some were latterly destroyed. What if they are never found does that undercut the rationale for going to war against Saddam Hussein? Hardly. WMD were never the basic reason for the war. Nor was...

<p>CONSIDER a radical idea: Enable a mere majority, not two-thirds, of the California Legislature to pass a budget.</p> <p>Then consider how completely un-radical it is. Majority rule is good enough for Congress to approve the federal budget. Majority rule is good enough for all but two other states.</p>

Iraqi missiles break sanctions, say United Nations weapons experts By David Usborne and Rupert Cornwell 13 February 2003 The United Nations concluded yesterday that Iraq has violated sanctions by developing a missile capable of travelling beyond the maximum range set down in Security Council resolutions. The conclusion, which is certain to be seized upon by Washington as offering a concrete reason for going to waragainst Baghdad, was reached after a two-day conference of missile technology experts in New York. The panel was convened by the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix. Iraq told the inspectors about the Al Samoud missiles...