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DAYTONA BEACH, FL - Earlier this month Barack Obama belted out a line from Aretha Franklin’s Chain of Fools to a Detroit crowd that included the Queen of Soul. Today at a event geared towards women in central Florida - his second in as many days - Barack Obama debuted his best Chaka Khan. Complimenting his wife Michelle, Obama joked, “She’s like that Chaka Khan song - “I’m every woman,” he sang.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2006 – Iraqi security forces are becoming more capable every day and are fighting and dying for their country, where the future depends on them and their fellow citizens, the commander of U.S. Central Command said yesterday. “I come to the conclusion that Iraqis are fighting and dying for their country, that the government has pledged their sacred honor and their future to making this work,” Army Gen. John Abizaid said in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “Their lives are on the line.” Iraqi forces now number more than 300,000, and while they still have some...

PHOENIX -- State lawmakers voted Tuesday to tell every public school, community college and state university to put an American flag in every classroom. But who is going to pay for it remains unclear. The legislation given preliminary Senate approval on a voice vote requires each governing board to seek donations of two-by-three foot flags -- made in the U.S. only -- or seek cash to put one in every room. They also would have to obtain flagpoles and other hardware. HB 2583 also says, though, that if the boards can't get the required number of flags by July 1,...

WASHINGTON, March 24, 2006 – Raymond Harris hopes to do something no other performer is doing. The country music singer plans to spend five years on a tour to every possible military installation to support America's troops. America Supports You member Raymond Harris (center) poses with Army Lt. Gen. Russell Honore and Army Col. Angela Manos-Sittnick at Fort Gillem, Ga., Dec. 14. A country music entertainer, Harris is in the midst of a five-year tour of military installations to support America's troops. Photo by Sherrye Ehrenberg   In the past 13 months, Harris has played to crowds at 70 military...

Bill Would Make Every Md. Business Offer Health CareMar 16th - 9:01am By NICHOLAS SOHR Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Conjuring up images of the fierce, partisan fight over the Wal-Mart bill that raged in the opening days of this year's General Assembly session, a Prince George's County lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require every business in the state to provide employee health care. The bill, sponsored by Delegate James W. Hubbard, D-Prince George's, would force businesses with fewer than 10,000 employees to put at least 4.5 percent of their payrolls toward health benefits for their workers, or...

AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (Oct. 31, 2005) -- The golden hour is the amount of time they have to save life, limb or sight. Every second faster they move could mean the difference between life and death. With this mentality, the Greyhawks of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 161 constantly strive to improve the speed with which they respond to urgent casualty evacuations at Al Taqaddum, Iraq, near the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. After three deployments in as many years, the Greyhawks are becoming experts at moving fast to get their CH-46 Sea Knights in the air and save lives, said...

Clinton Library's universal appeal seen in its 365,000 visitors By DAVID HAMMER Associated Press Writer July 15, 2005, 7:07 PM EDT LITTLE ROCK -- The everyman appeal that Bill Clinton peddled in his political campaigns lives on at his presidential library. Among the more than 365,000 visitors who have passed through the library since November, no single demographic stands out. "I just think he is the only president I'll ever see who will really understand me as a person, and that's why I wanted to see more," said Ava Carter, 48, a black Democrat traveling with James D. Stearns, 55,...

One in every 11 people born in Mexico and still alive is a U.S. resident, and about half of these immigrants crossed the border illegally, according to a comprehensive report released Tuesday. In the Pew Hispanic Center study of immigration trends, analysts estimated that in March 2004 about 10.3 million immigrants from around the world were living in the United States without legal documents to be here -- some 24 percent of them in California. About 10.6 million people born in Mexico live in the U.S. -- about 5.9 million of them illegally. "The approach has been to try and...

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!

"The creation of the United States of America is the central event of the past four hundred years." Thus does Walter A. McDougall of the University of Pennsylvania begin the first volume of his acclaimed new American history, Freedom Just Around the Corner (HarperCollins).Not surprisingly, this central event has evoked a wide range of opinions. Tens of millions of immigrants have voted with their feet to slough off prior allegiances and join the boisterous experiment that makes "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" its official goal.The result has been an astounding success. "We dominate every field of human endeavor...