Free Republic

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the media saying things like "no Republican ever won in the last 80 years without carying the Irish vote". What is the meaning of this? Are there not enough unique factors in an election to render this meaningless? We hear this thing every election. Now surely there are some examples of this that are perfectly logical and sound. Such as it's unlikely to win without flordia. That's basic math and pretty clear. So I hear this morning on the radio some commentator saying "no incumbant party has won with such a narrow lead at...

On July 21, 1944 American forces landed on the coral strewn beaches of Guam against fierce Japanese resistance. It was a long awaited and much prayed for day for the suffering Chomorran peoples, who had been brutally repressed by the Japanese occupation forces. It was also poignant due to Guam being the first US territory lost to the Japanese during the dark days of December 1941 to be taken back. The Japanese were known for brutal treatment of conquered peoples, but there was special brutality for the Chamorrans who were American citizens. As many as a dozen Guamanians were beheaded...

(CNN) -- All six airmen aboard the B-52 bomber that crashed Monday off Guam's northwest coast were killed, Air Force officials confirmed Wednesday. Aboard Raider 21 were Maj. Christopher M. Cooper, 33; Maj. Brent D. Williams, 37; Capt. Michael K. Dodson, 31; 1st Lt. Joshua D. Shepherd, 26; 1st Lt. Robert D Gerren, 32; and Col. George Martin. The plane crashed about 30 miles northwest of Guam, the Air Force said in a statement. Air Force crews switched from a rescue operation to a recovery operation over the 7,000-square-mile crash site, said Air Force spokeswoman Sgt. Ashleigh Bryant.

All six crew members aboard a U.S. B-52 bomber that crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Guam earlier this week are dead, the U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday. The plane crashed on Monday, while on its way to participate in a flyover to mark a Liberation Day parade in Guam, a U.S. territory.

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080721/NEWS01/80720010&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Ktal has learned that a B-52 deployed from Barksdale crashed in the waters off Guam this morning. TheB-52 was scheduled to fly in Guam's Liberation Day parade, when for unknown reasons, the aircraft crashed. An extensive search is underway for the 6 crew members aboard that aircraft ...Their conditions are unknown.... we'll bring you more information as soon as it becomes available to us.

Tape of the Crash that happend a few months ago in Guam (B-2)http://gawker.com/tag/clip/?i=5014346&t=first-ever-stealth-bomber-crash-caught-on-tape

The Air Force says the first crash of a B-2 stealth bomber was caused by moisture in the sensors that forced bad readings. The moisture in 3 of the 24 sensors threw off the preflight data calibrations, which caused the flight control computer to force the aircraft to pitch-up 30 degrees on takeoff. That resulted in a stall and subsequent crash on Feb. 23. The "Spirit of Kansas," plunged to the ground at Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. It was en route to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, where the 21-plane fleet is based. The...

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam, May 30, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates paid tribute to a legendary figure here who was retiring from the federal government with 66 years of service. Seikichi Kaneshiro, vertical repair superintendent for the 36th Civil Engineer Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, retired May 30, 2008, with 66 years of federal service. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman T.D. Cooper   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Gates lauded Seikichi "Mr. Paul" Kaneshiro for embodying the principles of Americanism during Kaneshiro’s retirement today as the 36th Civil Engineer Squadron's vertical...

{SNIP}...The mystery man behind the looting of a Bronx charity to finance the startup of liberal radio network Air America was arrested yesterday in Guam. See link

Quote: "It is wonderful to be back in Oregon," Obama said. "Over the last 15 months, we’ve traveled to every corner of the United States. I’ve now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."

The tiny US Pacific island of Guam relished a rare moment in the spotlight Saturday, weighing in on the raging Democratic White House battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.Obama narrowly won the island's caucuses by seven votes, winning 14 of the island's 21 districts and finishing with 2,264 votes against 2,257 for Clinton, local party officials said. Guam has four pledged delegate votes.Voter turnout on the island located more than 8,000 miles (12,900 kilometers) from Washington was 25 percent higher than the 4,000 party officials expected on Saturday. The island's residents, while US citizens, cannot vote in November's presidential...

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) - Barack Obama defeated Hillary Rodham Clinton by seven votes in the Guam Democratic presidential caucuses Saturday. The count of more than 4,500 ballots took all night. Neither candidate campaigned in the U.S. island territory in person, but both did long-distance media interviews and bought campaign ads for the caucuses. Results of the count completed Sunday morning Guam time show delegates pledged to Obama with 2,264 votes to 2,257 for Clinton's slate. That means they'll split the pledged delegate votes. Obama's slate won in 14 of 21 districts. Eight pledged delegates will attend the convention, each with...

HAGATNA, Guam (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton in the nominating contest on the Pacific island of Guam by just seven votes, election officials said on Sunday. With only four votes at the Democratic convention at stake, the contest on Guam, a tiny U.S. territory more than 20 hours by plane from Washington, will barely register in the protracted duel for the party's presidential ticket.

HAGATNA, Guam — With 12 out of 20 districts reporting in Democratic presidential caucuses on Guam, delegates for Barack Obama were ahead with 899 votes to 769 for those pledged to Hillary Rodham Clinton. More than 3,000 votes were expected in heavy turnout at caucuses in the U.S. territory, where neither candidate campaigned. Four pledged delegate votes were at stake on the island 8,000 miles from Washington. Guam also has five superdelegates and some of those are being determined in the caucus voting as well. Slow ballot-by-ballot counting was under way in the territorial legislative building after votes were hand...

HAGATNA, Guam (Reuters) - Counting in Guam's Democratic primary stretched into Sunday after residents of the tiny U.S. territory turned out in record numbers to choose between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. "It's a huge turnout compared to previous elections," Herbie Perez, chairman of the party's nominating committee, told Reuters. The final result is not expected until around 3 a.m. (1 p.m. EDT). With only four electoral votes at the Democratic convention at stake, the contest on Guam, a Pacific island more than 20 hours by plane from Washington, will barely register in the protracted duel for the party's presidential...

Photographer Tech. Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo, United States Air Force Above photos viahttp://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20051129.htm (top) http://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20050822.htm (bottom)

News just coming out (at least I could not find another report here) http://www.kuam.com/news/26596.aspx

Five ex-communist countries sign oil pipeline deal bypassing Russia by Jonathan Fowler 1 hour, 50 minutes ago VILNIUS (AFP) - Five former communist-bloc countries signed a deal Wednesday to extend an oil pipeline that bypasses Russia, in a move that could diversify supplies and cut Moscow's energy clout. ADVERTISEMENT The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine and host nation Lithuania looked on as government ministers and state oil company bosses inked an accord creating the "Sarmatia" consortium, which is to build the new network. Most ex-communist countries -- and much of the rest of Europe -- rely heavily on energy...

Pacific shaken by strong quakes Two high-magnitude earthquakes have hit different parts of the Pacific Ocean, officials in the US and Japan say. A 7.3 magnitude quake struck at 0525 GMT south of New Zealand's South Island, with no reports of injuries. Earlier, the US territory of Guam was shaken by weaker tremor. Islanders in high-rise buildings felt the quake but reported no damage, local media said. The US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said neither quake was likely to cause a destructive tsunami. The stronger tremor hit about 500km (310 miles) off the coast of New Zealand, around the uninhabited...

US denies Russian jets buzzed Pacific base By Paul Willis and agencies Last Updated: 11:19am BST 10/08/2007 America has rebuffed claims by Russia that two of its warplanes buzzed a US military base on the Pacific island of Guam, claiming the bombers were at least 300 miles away. Russia claimed yesterday that US fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the two Tupolev-95 warplanes as they resumed the Cold War era practice of flying over Western offshore military installations. A 1999 encounter between an F15 Eagle and a Tu-95 Bear Seen as an attempt by a resurgent Russia to show off...

The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said Russian bombers never got within 300 miles (500 kilometers) of Guam this week and did not fly over the U.S. territory as a Russian air force general claimed. Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard disputed that U.S. fighters intercepted the bombers. The admiral said the Russian aircraft never got close enough to the Pacific island or the massive U.S. military exercises being held nearby, to warrant such action. "U.S. planes went to an orbit point in preparation for an intercept that never occurred because the Bears didn't get close enough," Willard said in an interview...

Russian bombers buzz US base in Guam By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow Last Updated: 7:36pm BST 09/08/2007 Russian bombers are reported to have buzzed an American military base for the first time since the Cold War when they flew over the Pacific island of Guam. Google Map: The island of Guam in the West Pacific Moscow said that US fighter jets were scrambled to intercept the two Tupolev-95 warplanes as they resumed the Cold War era practice of flying over Western offshore military installations in a mission on Wednesday. The incident, seen as the latest attempt by a revitalised Russia...

Russian bombers have flown to the US island of Guam in the Pacific as part of an exercise this week reminiscent of the Cold War. Two Tu-95 jets flew to Guam, which is home to a big US military base, Maj Gen Pavel Androsov said. They "exchanged smiles" with US pilots who scrambled to track them, he added. The sorties, believed to be the first since the Cold War ended, come as Russia stresses a more assertive foreign policy, observers say.

ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam: To take part in annual exercises with the U.S. Air Force last month, Japan practiced dropping 500-pound live bombs on Farallon de Medinilla, a tiny island in the western Pacific about 240 kilometers north of here. The pilots described dropping a live bomb for the first time, shouting "shack!" to signal a direct hit and seeing the fireball from aloft... Dropping live bombs on land had long been considered too offensive, so much so that Japan does not have a single live-bombing range. These fighter jets could perhaps fly to North Korea and take out...

Jim Hoft reports: Democrats are bringing legislation to the floor this week to pay Guam citizens for the crimes committed against them by members of the Imperial Japanese military forces during World War II! It's true. Here's the bill. Erick at Red State: If the right side of the blogosphere cannot defeat the bill to give reparations to Guam, then we are toast. I've listed every casualty of war who fought to free Guam from Imperial Japan... ...These are the heros of Guam. The men of the United States military who rescued Guam from the Imperial Japanese. These men shed...

SEOUL, April 28 (Itar-Tass) - North Korea has displayed a new ballistic missile capable to hit targets on the U.S. Island of Guam, the South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported on Saturday referring to a South Korean government source having access to U.S. satellite images. A military parade in Pyongyang on Wednesday featured three new missile systems, including the medium-range missile that can travel 2,500 to 4,000 kilometres, and thus is capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam. All three new models are ground-to-ground missiles. The South Korean Defence Ministry has made no comments on the report as...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) -- The Navy will send three aircraft carriers to waters off Guam for large-scale exercises late this summer, the outgoing U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said. The Valiant Shield war games will resemble exercises held near the U.S. territory last June. Those brought together some 28 ships, 280 airplanes and 22,000 troops. Adm. Gary Roughead, announcing the exercises in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday, said the Navy learned a great deal from last year's large-scale exercises and wanted to hold similar drills again to improve on some of the tactics used. "It was very...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2007 – Vice President Dick Cheney thanked U.S. troops serving in Guam today for representing America in a strategically important part of the world during a critical time. Air Force Brig. Gen. Doug Owens, commander of the 36th Wing, greets Vice President Dick Cheney on his arrival Feb. 22 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. White House photo by David Bohrer  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Speaking to servicemembers in a hangar at Andersen Air Force Base, the vice president praised them for showing “the confident spirit of the United States military, our devotion to...

01-23) 04:00 PST Washington -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats plan to push through legislation Wednesday that would increase the size of the 435-member House on most matters by giving votes to delegates from four U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Republicans are outraged by the plan, referring to it as a "greedy power grab'' in a statement from the office of Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio. But they are probably powerless to stop it. The proposal would allow the elected members from Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands a vote...

12/4/2006 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- Airmen from the 36th Medical Group and 734th Air Mobility Squadron played an integral role in treating and transporting six critically injured Sailors Dec. 2 from Andersen AFB to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. The Sailors were transported via a C-17 Globemaster III to Hickam AFB, then onto the Army's Burn Center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where they will receive specialized care. The Sailors sustained injuries as a result of an accident aboard a Navy submarine tender, according to a Naval Base Guam press release. The Sailors...

12/2/2006 - HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE-Hawaii (AFPN) -- The Air Force is currently responding to transport injured Sailors from Guam back to the United States to receive medical attention. Eight sailors were injured, six critically, as a result of an accident aboard a U.S. Navy submarine tender. The Guam Pacific Daily News reports the sailors were conducting routine maintenance in an engineering space in the USS Frank Cable (AS 40) when a steam line from a boiler deck in the lower level ruptured burning the sailors. With the decision made to transport the sailors to the Army's Burn Center at...

For decades, efforts to give the District of Columbia a voting representative in Congress have run into a brick wall. Constitutional amendments failed to win the states' support. Ad campaigns about "taxation without representation" did not help the cause. Now, unexpected political forces are aligning behind a plan to give the district a House vote — along with a new seat in Congress for Utah — when lawmakers return for their lame-duck session in early December. "This is closest we've come in at least 30 years," said Ilir Zherka, executive director of DC Vote, an umbrella lobbying group. "The stars...

Title and link only due to copyright restrictions.

WASHINGTON -- Much of the United States' ground combat might is tied up in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the U.S. is reducing its infantry forces in South Korea. But American air and sea power in east Asia, a key to almost any imaginable military conflict with North Korea, has grown in numbers and reach. These issues arise as the U.N. Security Council considers imposing tougher sanctions on North Korea in response to its announced nuclear test. Rep. Ike Skelton, D-Mo., a close observer of military issues, said in an interview Tuesday that he worries that should a major military crisis...

9/3/2006 - ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam (AFPN) -- Airmen and Sailors from Andersen will sail 1,500 miles to Wake Island to see how well the U.S. territory survived Super Typhoon Ioke. The Air Force evacuated all 188 island residents on two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft Monday before the typhoon arrived Thursday with 155 mph winds and gusts to 190 mph. The residents include Airmen, Department of Defense employees and Defense contractors. Members of Andersen's 36th Contingency Response Group and U.S. Navy Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 will sail Sept. 4 on an expected four-day trip to the island....

The top U.S. fighter aircraft, the F-22 Raptor, will operate frequently from the Pacific island of Guam in coming years, a top general said on Aug. 3, as Washington counters China’s military build-up with enhanced U.S. firepower in the region. Air Force Gen. Paul Hester, commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, said Guam’s Anderson Air Force Base would be host to an early tour of F-22s from a squadron of 18 to be delivered to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, by January 2008. "We will have them rotate into Guam on a frequent basis," probably starting by mid 2008, Hester...

Intelligence services in Seoul and Washington are analyzing suspicions that the seven missiles North Korea test-fired on July 5 include two new intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 2,500-4,000 km. A government source said spy agencies detected electronic signals different from the North’s Rodong or Scud missiles from two of six medium-range missiles the North test-launched on July 5. Intelligence services considered whether they could be Scud-ERs with a range of up to 1,000 km, but additional analysis produced the suspicion that they could be a whole new type of IRBM, the source said. If so, they are...

    The U.S. Air Force is surging ahead with plans to revitalize its bases on Guam from which to project power into the skies over the western Pacific and the islands and continent of Asia.     Bombers are already stationed regularly at Andersen Air Force Base on rotation from the United States, as are aerial tankers essential to long range operations. A wing of 48 fighters is on the way. Perhaps most critical will be unmanned surveillance and intelligence aircraft known as Global Hawk that can remain on station for 24 hours at a range of 1,200 miles from base.     Reconstruction of...

As tensions with North Korea rise, three U.S. aircraft carriers filled the skies with fighters Tuesday for one of the largest U.S. military exercises in decades off this small island in the Pacific. For the first time ever, a Chinese delegation was invited to observe the U.S. war games. As the show of American military power began, North Korea — one of the region's most unpredictable countries — was rattling swords of its own. The maneuvers, dubbed "Valiant Shield," bring three carriers together in the Pacific for the first time since the Vietnam War. Some 30 ships, 280 aircraft and...

The USS Abraham Lincoln, USS Kitty Hawk and USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups steam in formation during a joint photo exercise (PHOTOEX) in preparation for Valiant Shield 2006 on Sunday, June 18, 2006, in the Pacific Ocean. The PHOTOEX featured 14 ships as well as 17 aircraft from Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corp including a B2 bomber. The Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group is currently participating in Valiant Shield 2006, the largest joint exercise in recent history. Held in the Guam operating area beginning June 19-23, the exercise involves 28 Naval vessels including three carrier strike groups,...

About 8,000 U.S. Marines will leave Okinawa for Guam under a proposal approved by Tokyo that is the largest realignment of U.S. forces based in Japan in 50 years, a senior Japanese official said yesterday. The sweeping change approved by the Cabinet will give Japan greater responsibility for security in Asia, said Shinzo Abe, the chief cabinet secretary. Japan and the United States agreed on the plan in April, saying that it would streamline U.S. forces in Japan and alleviate some of the complaints of people in Okinawa, which is host to nearly half the 50,000 U.S. military personnel stationed...

GUAM: Ukraine and friends challenge Moscow Poland supports a new free trade area and international organization which emerged as the leaders of the former Soviet republics of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan signed an agreement in Kiev. GUAM will first of all cooperate on trade and energy security issues. And this initiative could lead the road for improved economical and political relations between these countries and the European Union. Report by Gabriel Stille 26.05.06 Following a summit meeting between Presidents of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan, the cooperation between the GUAM countries have evolved to a full scale economical and...

THE ROVING EYE The Gazprom nation By Pepe Escobar Whatever the results of the EU-Russia summit this Thursday in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, there seems to be one clear winner: the Gazprom nation - Russia. With the United States - the European Union's No 1 trade partner and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally - mired in the Iraq quagmire and the EU with an ongoing constitutional crisis, Russia is exceptionally positioned to have its way in the negotiations leading to the post-2007 "Strategic Partnership Treaty" between the EU and Russia. Former leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in an opinion...

The U.S. Air Force is surging ahead with plans to revitalize its bases on Guam from which to project power into the skies over the western Pacific and the islands and continent of Asia.Bombers are already stationed regularly at Andersen Air Force Base on rotation from the United States, as are aerial tankers essential to long range operations. A wing of 48 fighters is on the way. Perhaps most critical will be unmanned surveillance and intelligence aircraft known as Global Hawk that can remain on station for 24 hours at a range of 1200 miles from base.Reconstruction of runways from...

TOKYO (AP) - Top Japanese officials on Wednesday expressed shock at a U.S. estimate that put the price tag for the planned reshuffling of U.S. forces in Japan at $26 billion or more. "My impression is that's an incredibly huge amount of money," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told a news conference, saying he couldn't comment further because he wasn't aware of the details. "Where did you get that number? Don't tell me groundless stories," a shocked-looking Foreign Minister Taro Aso earlier said on TV Asahi. "We shouldn't overreact over one official's estimate." Japan and the United States are negotiating...

The United States and Japan have struck a bargain over a plan to realign U.S. forces in Japan, with Japan agreeing to pay $6 billion of the $10 billion cost, the Japanese defense chief said Sunday night. Japanese Defense Minister Fukushiro Nukaga told reporters after his three-hour meeting with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that Japan wanted to have an appropriate sharing of costs in transfering 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the Pacific island of Guam. Nukaga said that both sides agreed that the Japan-U.S. alliance is important, not only for Japan but also for the region. The United States...

The Pentagon is engaged in an extensive buildup of military forces in Asia as part of a covert strategy to strengthen and position U.S. and allied forces to deter -- or defeat -- China. The buildup includes changes in deployments of aircraft-carrier battle groups, the conversion of nuclear-missile submarines and the regular dispatch of bombers to areas close to targets in China, according to senior Bush administration officials and a three-month investigation by The Washington Times.

October 13, 2005: The city of Muzafarabad, Pakistan lays in ruins after a devestating earthquake hit the region on October 8, 2005.http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=28889http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/051013-N-8796S-110.jpg Photographer: Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Timothy Smith, United States Navy See also: http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=28890 October 14, 2005, Muzafarabad, Pakistan: I lost my home, but I still have my father and mother. And I'm safe in my Daddy's arms too!http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=28894http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/051014-N-8796S-046.jpg Photographer: Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Timothy Smith, United States Navy See also: http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=28901 and http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=28900 November 21, 2005: Jabba Farm Tent Village in Shinkiari, Pakistan.http://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=30189http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/051121-F-2729L-001.jpg Photographer: Airman 1st Class Barry Loo, United States Air Force "Guam could offer warm...

July 2005: A spectacular up close and personal look inside Andersen Air Force Base located on Territory of Guam (USA), the "tip of the spear" for U.S. forces in the Pacific region. Also visible (and not from afar) are three airborne, fearsome and very deadly modern arrows from U.S. DoD's diverse quiver: the B-2 Spirit Stealth bomber and a pair of F-15E Strike Eagle fighters. They, as well as the base, are looking very fit and very prepared. (Related: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1492277/posts and http://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/060707-F-3961R-003.jpg) The Very Large Imagehttp://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/060707-F-3961R-001.jpgThe PhotographerTechnical Sgt. Cecilio M. Ricardo, 36th Communication Squadron, 36th Air Expeditionary Wing, United...