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I thought I'd be domestic for a bit and explore state parks in Montana. Obviously it's a state famous for mountains and glaciers and geysers (well, most of those are in Wyoming, but still), so I wondered what would be at the "state park" level. Found some next stuff. Each picture comes with a link to the page on the Montana state parks Web site. 1. Giant Springs State Park 2. Medicine Rocks State Park (click this one for full-size 3. Lewis and Clark Caverns (Montana's first state park) A very good image of the caverns (I can't share this...

Coalition forces in Afghanistan are going to have to adopt a "dramatically different" strategy to ensure success, the top US general there says. In his first speech since submitting a report calling for more troops, Gen Stanley McChrystal also said the operation had been "under-resourced". The success of the military operation could not be taken for granted in the face of a growing insurgency, he said. Meanwhile, a Nato strike in Helmand has killed at least six civilians. Women and children are believed to be among the dead. Nato has said it will investigate the incident. It said it had...

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Obama, Pelosi May Be On Different Pages Here’s the deal: Nancy Pelosi’s the deal. She's the speaker now. Mr. Obama won't be president for more than 70 days "from" now.

There once was a woebegone situation that begged for change. The natives were restless, tired of the same old thing year after year after year. President after president failed to inspire, and failed even more miserably to produce the results the people wanted. Everyone agreed it was time to go in a different direction, and to find a different kind of president. And along came just such a man. When he appeared on television, talking about the right way to do things, he was a star. He had never been an executive decision-maker at any level, but he had been...

Although we all know that Islam literally means "Peace" and in practical [ terms of expression ] it stands for " Terrorism" or " Mass Murder of Innocents". Followers of Islam are muslims or Momineen. According to the behaviour , there are 13 types of Muslims. 1) Suicide Bombers : These are the most dangerous type of Muslims , they are willing to die in order to take lives of innocent non muslims.They are filled with deep hatred to massacre non muslims and are willing to go to any extent to do it.Examples : Sept 11 Hijackers Mohammad Atta &...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2008 – The situation in Iraq has improved significantly over the past year, and that progress is enabling some U.S. troops to return home, President Bush today told reporters in Kuwait. President Bush reaches out to troops at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, Jan. 12, 2008. White House photo by Eric Draper   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Iraq is now a different place from one year ago. Much hard work remains, but levels of violence are significantly reduced,” Bush, who is continuing his week-long trip across the Middle East, told reporters at Camp Arifjan. The...

Migraine suffers have 'different brains' By Nick Allen Last Updated: 11:01am GMT 20/11/2007 Scientists have discovered structural differences in the brains of people who suffer from migraines. The researchers found variations in the cortex area that processes pain and other sensory information from the body. They said it was unclear whether the anomalies actually cause migraines or are themselves caused by severe, recurrent headaches. Brain scans were carried out on 24 people who had a long history of migraines and 12 who did not. The area of the brain that detects pain, touch and temperature, known as the somatosensory cortex,...

Cowboy sets out to show a different America Associated Press FREDONIA - When rancher Bill Inman decided to show there's more to America than what's seen on the nightly news, he hopped on his horse Blackie and started riding.And riding, and riding.Weary of the daily drumbeat over war, crime, poverty and assorted social ills, he and his wife are burning through their life savings to tell the stories of hardworking, honest everyday people in rural America. Inman soaks it all in atop Blackie, a 16-year thoroughbred-quarter horse mix who's averaging 20-25 miles a day along backroads from Oregon to...

Source: Washington University in St. Louis Date: August 26, 2007 Gambling Addiction Assessment Tool Applies Equally For Different Races Science Daily — "With African-Americans and other minority groups having both problem and pathological gambling rates that are 2-3 times higher than Caucasian gamblers, accurate diagnosis is essential to treat gambling addiction," says Renee Cunningham-Williams, Ph.D., a leading gambling addictions expert and visiting associate professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis. Unfortunately, as with other mental health disorders, African-American and other minority groups receive disparate care from symptom recognition and diagnosis through treatment. In a first step to...

That was Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's message to conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh during a spirited, but largely predictable, 15 minute on-air discussion this morning. For those who haven't breathlessly followed how we got here: in an NBC interview this week, Schwarzenegger was asked about criticism from conservatives like Limbaugh. The governor called Limbaugh "irrelevant." Limbaugh later fired back, calling Schwarzenegger a "sellout". This morning, the governor...extending the shelf life of this story... spent 15 minutes on Limbaugh's show engaging in a verbal jousting match that seemed to end in a draw. Schwarzenegger began by trying to squelch talk of...

We know teens are having sex and opting for oral sex over intercourse because they think it's safer. Now a team of UCSF researchers may be the first to analyze how it makes adolescents feel. Ninth- and 10th-graders surveyed at two California high schools between 2002 and 2004 revealed mixed emotions that for many included guilt and feeling manipulated. Girls were more likely than boys to feel bad about themselves afterward and to "feel used." Boys were more likely than girls to say sexual activity made them feel self-confident and popular. "We tend to focus on the health consequences of...

California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are embracing two different approaches to fighting global warming as the new Democrat-led Congress prepares to take action on the issue. Feinstein has attracted industry support with a bill targeting the electricity sector that would allow trades of pollution credits. Boxer, who chairs the Senate's environment committee that will hold hearings on the issue, has signed onto legislation aiming for more dramatic cuts of heat-trapping emissions. Both Democrats are citing California's landmark anti-global-warming law, passed last year, which imposed the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. They're also both optimistic about the...

Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Moody, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, visits with Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, while Staff Sgt. Bradley Hoy, command personal security detachment team leader, pulls security during a mission in southern Baghdad. Photo by Spc. Jason Dangel. By Spc. Jason DangelSpecial to American Forces Press Service FOB PROSPERITY -- In the early morning hours, a Soldier awakens as a stern voice blaring over his radio instructs the leader to rally his men and be ready to move into Southern Baghdad in less than 30 minutes.Fifteen minutes...

7/3/2006 - SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) -- Last year Airman 1st Class Samantha Riddle spent Independence Day floating down a river and watching fireworks. The day meant nothing more than a chance to hang out with friends and to enjoy a day off from the daily grind of working in the medical field. Now, as a graduate of Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, one of the Air Force's newest members has a new respect for the holiday. "As a member of the military I have a greater appreciation of what this holiday means. In the future,...

Environmentalists trying to push a green agenda through the Legislature will face a decidedly different atmosphere in 2007. The Senate has long been the friendlier of California's two legislative houses to environmental legislation, but Tuesday's primary elections swept a small cohort of pro-business Democrats into the upper house. That, combined with the replacement of moderate Assembly Democrats with more liberal counterparts, looks to have shifted the legislative landscape for environmental legislation. "The Senate is less green and the Assembly has gotten more green," said Bill Magavern, the Sierra Club's senior legislative representative. According to the California League of Conservation Voters...

Building near WTC entombs toxins, remainsBy AMY WESTFELDT, Associated Press Writer 7 minutes ago AP Photo: In this Sept. 30, 2001, file photo NEW YORK - While debates rage about why more buildings have not gone up at the World Trade Center site, there is one, shrouded in a web of black netting and full of trade center dust, that can't seem to come down. The vacant 41-story former Deutsche Bank AG building looms above ground zero, contaminated with toxic waste and still holding tiny body parts more than four years after the trade center collapsed onto it on Sept....

WEST OF NACO, Sonora, Mexico — Grupo Beta agent Waldo Montiel had just finished a brief off-road spin through a gully known to be a waiting area for migrants when the red Chevy Suburban roared past, headed west along the dusty border road. “Do you recognize that truck?” asked fellow agent Bertha Alicia De la Rosa from her seat beside Montiel. “No,” he said. “It’s not from one of the ranches around here?” “I don’t think so,” he answered as he pulled the bright orange Dodge Ram truck back on to the road and took up pursuit of the Suburban....

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (March 15, 2006) -- Most businesses have no need for policemen and radio technicians to get the same job done. Nor would one expect to see a gunsmith's work compliment a truck driver's long journey. In the Marine Corps, cooperation among various job fields like these is crucial to keeping Marines on the frontlines supplied. Every day in Iraq, the 1st Marine Logistics Group sends out combat logistics patrols that leave the relative safety of the base to deliver supplies to Marines throughout the Al Anbar Province. From the Marines who order and load the supplies onto...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2005 – As Iraqi security forces grow and develop increased combat capabilities, U.S. forces will shift from a focus on combat operations to a focus on supporting the Iraqis as they take the lead in operations, two Defense Department officials said at a Pentagon news briefing today. American units already are partnering with Iraqi units, helping them with training, logistics, and other combat support operations, said Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, operations director on the Joint Staff. This partnering will continue, with an increased focus on developing the Iraqis' combat support capabilities so they eventually will...

SACRAMENTO - There are 16 million women in California, and Maria Shriver is only one of them. But as she strode past the potted palms and the oil paintings of aging gray-haired former governors earlier this month to address the Legislature - the first time in modern history a California first lady had taken the rostrum without her husband - it was difficult not to sense the symbolic import of the state's alpha female. "We have a lot in common," Ms. Shriver told 120 rapt "women of the year" being honored by the lawmakers, a group upon whom her husband...

Throughout the 1990s, Turkish foreign policy analysts had an easy job. After all, Turkish foreign policy was predictable. Ankara cooperated enthusiastically with Washington, whether in the Middle East or in the Balkans. Turkey aligned itself with Israel and kept at arms length from Middle Eastern neighbors such as Syria and Iran. In Europe, Ankara traded heavily with the European Union (EU) but did not allow the EU to dictate foreign policy. The European Union's frequent allegations and criticism of human rights abuses in Turkey, especially with regard to Turkey's fight against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK, Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan) terrorists, soured...

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!

Maori men and women from different homelands Thursday, 27 March 2003 "A New Zealand Warrior and his Wife", an engraving from the journal of Captain James Cook's 1784 visit on Endeavour (Pic: State Library of NSW) The male and female ancestors of today’s Maori people of New Zealand originated from different parts of the world, molecular biologists have said. Their claims, made by Masters student Adele Whyte, the Tuapapa Putaiao Maori Fellow at Victoria University in Wellington, and her supervisor Professor Geoff Chambers, will be aired on ABC-TV’s science program Catalyst tonight. By comparing the DNA of people from Asia,...

The San Marcos Record (Texas) 1/14/03 Sen. Lieberman says he’s a ‘different kind of Democrat’ STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) Sen. Joseph Lieberman jumped into the 2004 race for president Monday, criticizing President Bush while promising to “talk straight to the American people” and show them he is “a different kind of Democrat.” Lieberman, who could become the nations’ first Jewish president, told students at his old high school that during the Bush campaign two years ago, “we were promised a better America, but that promise has not been kept.” He also reminded them that he and Al Gore won the popular...

HAS ANYONE SEEN THE HONDA ELEMENT? I drove it today at an automotive press event and I am trying to decide if it is unique or too boxy to be attractive. It is built on a Honda Civic platform. The ELEMENT will be available in December, and a fully-loaded 4WD model will be about 22K. It will start at about 16K. The interior is made with a special material that allows you to actually wash it out with a hose.

Men and women's brains use different strategies to remember highly emotional images, according to a new brain imaging study. The discovery helps explain how women manage to remember emotional events better than men, something psychologists have known for years. "It's hard evidence that there are differences in the brains of men and women," says Stephen Maren, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, commenting on the research. He thinks that evolution may explain the differences. Women tend to be caregivers, more empathetic and more verbal: "Those traits are reflected in brain mechanisms." In the study, Turhan Canli, at the...