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President Obama has new neighbors. The first family's pals next door, Bill and Jacky Grimshaw, closed Wednesday on a $1.4 million deal for their 6,000-square-foot 1906 colonial mansion with an unfettered view of the Obama's Kenwood estate. The new owners, who plan to spend an additional $1 million renovating the house, asked their real estate agent, Matt Garrison, not to reveal their identity. "They want their privacy respected. They're not interested in notoriety. They're just a normal Chicago home buyer who happened to buy next to the president," Garrison said. "They'd probably prefer not being next to the president, but...

There is scope for debate – and innumerable newspaper quizzes – about who was the most influential public figure of the year, or which the most significant event. But there can be little doubt which word won the prize for most important adjective. 2009 was the year in which "global" swept the rest of the political lexicon into obscurity. There were "global crises" and "global challenges", the only possible resolution to which lay in "global solutions" necessitating "global agreements". Gordon Brown actually suggested something called a "global alliance" in response to climate change. (Would this be an alliance against the...

Over the years, I've noticed that most white "progressives" (= liberals) that I've known -- the ones who are on hair-trigger Al Sharpton Alert for the slightest hint of racism in others -- have one feature in common: they live at the corner of Whitebread Avenue and Mayonnaise Lane. The same people who bray the loudest about how "diversity is our strength" and how great the "diverse inner city" is almost always live in the lily-white outer suburbs themselves -- places where a black or Hispanic person had better have a rake or lawn mower in his hands if they're...

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BAGHDAD, May 12, 2009 – A partnership among the local government, Iraqi security forces and the 1st Infantry Division’s 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, has given citizens of northwestern Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighborhood an improved community. Sheik Maqmoud al-Falahi, right, a tribal leader in northwestern Baghdad, speaks to attendees of the “Hurriyah Walkthrough” ceremony in the Kadamiyah district of northwestern Baghdad, May 11, 2009. After the ceremony, civic leaders and members of the Iraqi media walked through a thriving market street in Hurriyah to see security and economic gains in the neighborhood. U.S....

WASHINGTON - "Fore!" The federal government is preparing to spend millions to purchase a fleet of small electric vehicles that critics compare to golf carts. The $838 billion economic stimulus bill that passed the Senate yesterday contains $300 million for the government to purchase a fleet of "green" cars. But the money won't just go to buy fuel-efficient hybrids such as the Ford Escape or Chevy Volt. The cash also can be used to purchase "neighborhood electric vehicles." The NEVs, which resemble streamlined golf carts, scoot at up to 25 mph, operate on battery power and can be plugged into...

A rising chorus of GOP leaders are protesting that the blockbuster Democratic stimulus package would provide up to a whopping $5.2 billion for ACORN, the left-leaning nonprofit group under federal investigation for massive voter fraud. Most of the money is secreted away under an item in the now $836 billion package titled “Neighborhood Stabilization Programs.” Ordinarily, neighborhood stabilization funds are distributed to local governments. But revised language in the stimulus bill would make the funds available directly to non-profit entities such as ACORN, the low-income housing organization whose pro-Democrat voter-registration activities have been blasted by Republicans. ACORN is cited by...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 3, 2008 – In the not-too-distant past, Baghdad’s Sadr City district was considered by many to be one of the worst places to live in Iraq. Violence riddled the district, sewage-filled gutters overflowed onto the roads, and children played on trash piles containing concertina wire and rubble from houses -- the remnants of the violent fighting that drove Iranian-backed criminal elements out of the area. An Iraqi man digs a hole while repairing the sewer system in Baghdad’s Sadr City district. U.S. Army photo by 2nd Lt. Clayton Merkly  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Now, when...

BAGHDAD — Army engineers are making things a lot easier for Iraqi contractors to clean up trash on the streets of Baghdad. The project, in conjunction with 1st Combined Arms Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment’s Task Force Iron Gimlet, calls for engineers to remove large rubble and debris so that Iraqi contractors are able to clean up trash. The 955th Engineer Company, a U.S. Army Reserve unit based out of Missouri, which is attached to the 46th Engineer Combat Battalion, 926th Engineer Brigade, serving with Multi-National Division - Baghdad, has been assigned the vital job of picking up what can’t be...

The Prince George's County Revenue Authority, its tax receipts sputtering as home prices plunge, has adopted a novel way to brake the slide. By cracking down on front lawns that resemble used-car lots and on trucks parked in residential areas, the authority reckons it can collect some of the $15 million in unpaid tickets and make neighborhoods more attractive to potential home buyers and prospective businesses. "A lot of the enforcement is for aesthetics because things are disorderly looking, but we also want to increase property values and make the community more livable," said Troy Thompson, director of parking operations...

Your Neighborhood Can Affect Your Health ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2008) — Research carried out at the Peninsula Medical School, South West England, has found strong links between neighbourhood deprivation and the physical and intellectual health of older people. Two studies were conducted, both using data on participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). The first study investigated over 7,000 individuals aged 52 and older who lived in urban areas across England. The study found that even when individual differences in education and income were taken into account, people who lived in the most deprived areas were significantly more...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers from Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment conducted an operation with the 3rd Brigade, 1st National Police (NP) division, supporting the Iraq Civil Conservation Force and Sons of Iraq (SoI) in Tameem, a small village southeast of Baghdad, Feb. 18. The operation, planned by Salam Bedin, the nahia council chairman, Lt. Col. Emad, commander of the 3/1 NP, and the SoI, led to the establishment of several SoI checkpoints and allowed the Iraqi Civil Conservation Force to conduct cleaning projects in the village. “The future of Iraq is about cooperation between all players...

QAHIRA, Iraq, Feb. 20, 2008 – Citizens in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Qahira play a large role in securing their backyard through local checkpoints. Army Lt. Col Michael Pemrick, deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Multinational Division Baghdad, greets Sons of Iraq members at a neighborhood checkpoint while on a patrol in Baghdad’s Qahira neighborhood, Feb. 14, 2008. Pemrick talked to the group members about their security operations in the area. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Lt. Col. Michael Pemrick, deputy commander of the...

A judge has ruled that a Wal-Mart Supercenter can be built at Northcross Mall, despite the objections of some neighbors. A group of residents called Responsible Growth for Northcross tried to stop the North Austin store by suing the City of Austin and Lincoln Property Co., arguing that the store plans proposed by Lincoln and approved by the city violate city rules. State District Judge Orlinda Naranjo sided with the city and Lincoln in her ruling Friday, saying it was fine for the city to approve a second site plan for the store without holding a public hearing about a...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Nov. 26, 2007 – Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment’s Civil Military Operations Platoon, stopped at the Daklea Market in Baghdad Nov. 18 to take a census of sorts among the shop owners. Army Spc. John Ackerman, a medic with the Civil Military Operations Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, keeps watch as members of his platoon conduct a census of the Daklea Market in the Yarmouk neighborhood of Baghdad, Nov. 18, 2007. Photo by Sgt. 1st Class Robert Timmons,...

BAGHDAD - Twilight brings traffic jams to the main shopping district of this once-affluent corner of Baghdad and hundreds of people stroll past well-stocked vegetable stands, bakeries and butcher shops. To many in Amariyah, it seems little short of a miracle. Just six months ago, this mostly Sunni neighborhood was one of the centers of al-Qaida in Iraq operations. The district in western Baghdad was hit by more than a dozen bombings and shootings some days. Few people dared to venture onto the streets. On Tuesday, women shopped and men drank tea in sidewalk cafes. Occasionally, U.S. soldiers walking the...

BAGHDAD, Sept. 14, 2007 – Families in a neighborhood that sits between Sunni and Shiia areas of west Baghdad are looking forward to the re-opening of their secondary school. An Iraqi construction crew renovates a school in west Baghdad, a project that will double its size. The project is about 30 percent complete. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Thifaf Al Neel School -- near the Baghdad International Airport in the Al Bayaa Beladiya neighborhood -- is being doubled in size, said Maj. Clark Johnson of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing the...

Eastman, Ga., native Staff Sgt. Edrese Johnson of C Troop, 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, hands out some candy to a little girl while on patrol in a poor section of Baghdad's Adhamiyah neighborhood. Photo by Sgt. Michael Pryor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division Public Affairs. BAGHDAD — “How’s business?” is the question on the tip of Capt. Albert Marckwardt’s tongue as he strolls through the main market of the Iraqi capital’s Adhamiyah District. The answer, though, is evident all around him. Business in Adhamiyah is booming. The formerly run-down market is bustling. Merchandise spills out of the...

Mrs. Reaganesque and I are moving to the Baltimore, MD area. Are there any Freepers out there that can give us a good idea of where to look for a home or apartment, either in Baltimore or nearby? We would much appreciate the info! Thanks!

CHICAGO - Barack Obama could have lived anywhere. He was born in Hawaii, had family in Kenya, worked in New York and went to school in California and Massachusetts. But he settled here, in a prominent neighborhood on Chicago's South Side that has a history of influential residents. In many ways, the Democratic presidential candidate is the epitome of the place he calls home: a mix of black and white residents who are wealthy, well-educated and liberal-leaning. Ringed by communities where people are poorer and more likely to have a high school diploma and not a college degree, the neighborhood...