Free Republic

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2008 – The deputy secretary of defense called on Congress to act quickly to pass the fiscal 2008 supplemental legislation for the war on terror. In a May 15 letter, Gordon England told Congress the legislation is urgent and needed before the House and Senate recess for Memorial Day. “Absent additional Congressional action, the Army will run out of military personnel funds by mid-June and operation and maintenance funds by early July,” England said in the letter. Civilian personnel funding and money for the Commander’s Emergency Response Program also is included in the operations-and-maintenance accounts. “CERP funding...

New Soccer Stadium Funding Discussed, Security And Health Issues Addressed AR RAMADI, Iraq - Civil Affairs personnel have made the final payment of $8,600 to fund the construction of a new soccer stadium in Nassir Wa Salaam. Once complete, the project will provide a first-class recreational facility and meeting place for the 153,000 residents of the area. The money distributed was provided by the 82nd Airborne Division's Commander's Emergency Relief Payment program. In an effort demonstrating the Coalition's commitment to the Iraqi Police, civil affairs personnel with 1st Brigade of the 82nd verified completion of a CERP-funded project to...

CJTF-7 Public AffairsBAGHDAD, IraqRelease #040106f Task Force 1st Armored Division’s bulldog fire support elementBAGHDAD, Iraq – After approximately eight months in Baghdad, soldiers of 1st Armored Division have realized that there is more to their role in the Army than their military occupational specialties. Most soldiers have taken on additional duties to support the overall mission in Iraq – from providing driver and gunner support on convoys to pulling guard at their forward operating bases. The Fort Riley, Kansas, based 3rd Brigade Combat Team’s (BCT) fire support element is one example of those countless teams of soldiers who do what...

"The Wildlands Project," published in Wild Earth in 1992, chose a map of Florida to illustrate its concept of core wilderness areas, connected by corridors of wilderness, all surrounded by "buffer zones," managed for "conservation objectives." What are conservation objectives? Reed Noss, author of "The Wildlands Project," says "... the collective needs of non-human species must take precedence over the needs and desires of humans." The humans who live in South Florida are seeing the needs of non-human populations being given priority over the property rights and livelihoods of the people who live there. The entire Everglades is shown on...

Who could have guessed that South Florida's swamps would become the staging ground for what is shaping up to be the biggest battle for property rights this country has ever seen? The immediate target is the CERP – the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The bigger target is The Wildlands Project, but the real target is the basis on which land-use management regulations are formulated. Land-management policy, once the exclusive domain of local elected officials, has been hijacked by environmental ideologues who have devised a new "collaborative" decision process to advance their conservation objectives, leaving the regulated community with no one...