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(April 3, 2009) The man who not only epitomized the Ocean City Beach Patrol, but also built it into a serious and professional organization, passed away Saturday. When Capt. Robert (Bob) S. Craig turned 90 last July, a competition, dinner and slide show honored him for his 52 years as a town employee and member of the Beach Patrol. Thousands knew Craig from his years guiding the Beach Patrol and taking it from a small, relatively unskilled group of young men to a large group of highly skilled young men and women. Capt. Butch Arbin, the current head of the...

OCEAN CITY – Ocean City lost a treasured icon this week when Captain Robert S. Craig, who shepherded the Beach Patrol through decades of change and inspired his young charges for half a century passed away at the age of 90. Captain Craig, as he was known for decades not only by the thousands of lifeguards who worked with him and for him but also by the countless millions of local residents and visitors to the resort area, passed away last Saturday at the Coastal Hospice in Salisbury at the age of 90. A former schoolteacher and coach, Captain Craig...

An Iraqi engineer takes a drink of purified water from a Coalition-funded, solar-powered water filter in Lutifiyah, Feb. 28. Photo by Jamie Vernon, 1st Armored Division Public Affairs. LUTIFIYAH — Local shaykhs, villagers and U.S. Soldiers celebrated the installation of a Coalition-funded, solar-powered water filter for this village, Feb. 28.The $5,300 project was funded by the Commander’s Emergency Relief Program.The water purifier was delivered and set up adjacent to a water canal on a farm, as some villagers gathered to view a demonstration on how the purifier works.“This is an important contribution that means a lot to the Iraqi people....

Investing? Here's the Safe Option By EUGENE SILVER Updated 11:12 AM CST, Thu, Mar 5, 2009 Safes are becoming popular again, due to unpredictable financial markets. Afraid that cash isn't secure even behind the thick walls of banks, more people are turning to something that has protected money since the days of Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde: safes. Enlarge Photo Safes are becoming popular again, due to unpredictable financial markets. Safes are Flying Off the Shelves Watch Video Safes are becoming popular, again. The metal vaults are so popular in some part of the country that shopper are depleting...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2009 – Though some of them contain peanut butter, the 660,000 packaged military meals the Defense Logistics Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency are shipping to Kentucky and Arkansas storm victims are safe, officials here said. The meals -- known as “Meals, Ready to Eat,” or “MREs” -- will replace the commercial meal kits that have been distributed to the storm victims. DLA’s Defense Distribution Center in New Cumberland, Pa., is arranging shipment of the meals, scheduled for delivery today. A recent Food and Drug Administration recall of some products containing peanut butter has prompted the Defense...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 30, 2009 – Soldiers should have full confidence in the quality of a particular series of Army-issued body armor plates that has come under recent scrutiny, Army officials said. Scores of Army tests and an independent evaluation have determined the effectiveness of three types of ceramic plates manufactured by Armor Works of Chandler, Ariz., said Army Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, one of the officers who oversees equipment as part of the Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier. “Those plates being worn on the backs and fronts of soldiers all around the world are quality product,” Fuller said in...

Red, white and blue will be waving today in the passenger terminal at Tucson International Airport as members of a local National Guard unit are welcomed home from war. Twenty-eight members of the Arizona Air National Guard's 162nd Fighter Wing are expected to arrive around midday on commercial aircraft, returning from deployments to Balad Air Base in Iraq. The Tucson-based guardsmen, all pilots and aircraft maintainers for the F-16 Fighting Falcon, have been overseas for one to eight months. While away, they assisted members of a Minnesota-based Guard unit in supporting F-16 operations in Iraq.

After years of struggling to get their wages up, the nation’s workers are trying to find jobs that will simply last, least through the deep recession. Fearing layoffs, investment bankers at Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley are joining small Wall Street firms for less pay but with signed employment guarantees. Academics are migrating to community colleges, which are adding teachers as enrollment rises. In Eastern Wisconsin, workers furloughed from paper mill they fear will not reopen are training as truck drivers and welders. “Looking online and in newspapers and talking to my instructors, I’ve decided that trucking and welding stand...

China forex watchdog burnt by WaMu collapse Tue Dec 30, 2008 11:08am GMT By George Chen, Asia Private Equity Correspondent HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's foreign exchange watchdog, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, will cut back on overseas equity buys next year after suffering major losses on the collapse of U.S. lender Washington Mutual, according to sources. Earlier this year, SAFE, which controls around $2 trillion of China's foreign reserves, agreed to invest up to $2.5 billion in fund of U.S. private equity giant TPG TPG.UL -- its first foray into a foreign private equity fund, people close to...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 30, 2008 – About 100 U.S. European Command soldiers, airmen and Marines deployed to Israel to help set up an early warning radar system reported no close encounters with air strikes or retaliatory attacks along the Gaza Strip, a Eucom spokesman said. The Palestinian militant group Hamas refused to renew a ceasefire agreement with Israel when it expired Dec. 19, and began stepping up rocket attacks on civilian targets in Israel. Israel, in turn, began launching airstrikes against Gaza Strip targets Dec. 27 in an effort to eliminate Hamas’ ability to fire rockets into Israeli territory. Air...

CARLISLE, Pa. – President George W. Bush, ever focused on his legacy, said Wednesday "there can be no debate" about his record of preventing another terrorist attack. Evoking harrowing memories of Sept. 11, 2001, Bush said virtually no one could have predicted back then that the country would not be hit again for the rest of his presidency. "It's not a matter of luck," Bush said, defending his security policies.

BEIJING (AFP) – China's top envoy to high-level economic talks with the United States urged Washington Thursday to make sure Chinese investments in the US economy were safe. "We hope the US side will adopt every necessary measure to stabilise its economy and financial markets and ensure the safety of China's assets and investment in the United States," Vice Premier Wang Qishan said. He made the remark in prepared comments at the start of two days of Sino-US economy talks in Beijing that he is co-chairing with US Treasury chief Henry Paulson. At the end of September, China officially became...

The World in Crisis: Where are the Safe Havens? Axel Merk, October 7, 2008 Merk Insights provide the Merk Perspective on currencies, global imbalances, the trade deficit, the socio-economic impact of the U.S. administration's policies and more. We have been warning for some time that “there is no such thing as a safe asset anymore, you have to take a diversified approach to something as mundane as cash.” Unfortunately, the current crisis shows that we may be right. Physical gold is attractive to many investors because of its lack of counter party risk. The only counter party risk with gold...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Oct. 6, 2008 – “Stay alert and stay vigilant,” shouted a chiseled-face soldier during an Oct. 4 pre-convoy briefing at Camp Eggers, Afghanistan. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matt Hildebrand, Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan force protection, drives an armored bus from Camp Eggers to Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, as soldiers in a silver truck provide security for an Oct. 4, 2008, convoy. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace, Combined Joint Task Force 101  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Staff Sgt. Carlos Padilla was one of five servicemembers charged with securing...

Father drops off 9 kids under safe haven law Associated Press - September 25, 2008 8:45 AM ET OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - A hospital spokeswoman say nine children left at Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha by their father under the state's safe haven law were turned over to child protection services. The spokeswoman says the children were left at the emergency room Wednesday night. She had no other details.

Most people say “flight to safety.” I just don’t think Treasuries are the definition of “safety.” Some people say “flight to quality.” I just don’t think Treasuries are the definition of “quality” when they represent the financial condition of this country with its deteriorating tax base, its overleveraged consumer, its increasingly unemployed workforce working in lower quality jobs, its devaluing real estate, its trade deficits, its budget deficits, its excessive government spending, its expanding and underfunded social programs, its expanding list of failed banks, its underfunded FDIC, its underfunded and reckless PBGC, its deteriorating Federal Reserve balance sheet, its nationalized...

President George W. Bush Made Obama Possible By Seth Swirsky People in America feel safe. If they didn’t, a leftist newcomer with little experience – like Barack Obama – would never be considered for the presidency. Americans simply will not elect a liberal when they feel fear. Since President Bush deserves the credit for our security (through the countless actions he’s initiated: tough FISA laws, winning in Iraq, taking on The Taliban in Afghanistan, etc.), he’s made the Obama candidacy palatable. Similarly, Jimmy Carter, could only have beaten Republican Gerald Ford if Americans felt safe. And in 1976, they did....

During a training exercise, Iraqi army Pfc. Waisam Rashash Mohammed, 22, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, locates a possible improvised explosive devise at Camp Mejid, Iraq, Aug. 5, 2008. Soldiers of Iraqi army Seventh Infantry Division have undertaken months of training and practical application by coalition forces to keep the roads of Iraq safe. Photo by Cpl. Shawn Coolman. CAMP MEJID — Protecting Coalition forces from hazards on the roads in Iraq is an enormous task that is undertaken everyday, but now it has become a little easier. Marines with Route Clearance Platoon, Company A, Third Combat Engineer Battalion and...

Some of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds are seeking to scale back their exposure to the US dollar in a sign of global concern about the currency. One big sovereign fund in the Gulf has cut its dollar-denominated holdings from more than 80 per cent a year ago to less than 60 per cent, while China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) has been looking to strike deals with private equity firms in Europe as a part of a strategy to reduce its dollar holdings. Sovereign wealth funds have played a leading role in helping to recapitalise faltering US...

CAMP TAJI — Shi’a pilgrims traveled more than 620 miles round trip, from Najaf to Samarra, north of Baghdad, in order to attend a religious observance, July 6. Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 37th Brigade of the 9th Iraqi Army Division and the 4th Battalion, 17th Brigade, 4th IA Div., closed portions of the Baghdad-Mosul highway as more than 3,000 devoted Shi’a Muslims crossed four governates on their way to Samarra. The recent gains in security and stability enjoyed by Iraqi citizens were demonstrated as the convoy traveled the approximately 300 miles each way without incident. The IA...