Free Republic

I have no special knowledge, just have been observing this event from different angles and points of view as all of you have. Listened to Scott Adams analysis quite a bit. Much is unknown and I am only about 70-75% sure about this.

Embattled Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano, under investigation by his own agency for financial issues, threw himself in front of a Metra train this morning and was killed, sources said. It happened in an unincorporated area near Crystal Lake just after 8 a.m.

  By Spc. Blair Neelands 1st Brigade Combat TeamKABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. Soldiers are being changed from inexperienced, nervous privates in the United States Army basic combat training one day, to knowledgeable, qualified mentors for soldiers in the Afghan National Army basic warrior training the next. Many young Soldiers of 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, now find themselves in this new role of teaching basic soldier fundamentals to ANA privates. “Triple Deuce has a unique role here,” said Capt. Brian Retherford, a battalion plans officer. “We are at 19 locations throughout the...

FORT HOOD, Texas, April 1, 2010 – After four years of preparing thousands of Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers for deployment at the Division West mobilization training center here, Army Capt. Brent Middleton soon will be preparing for his own deployment at the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., center. Army Capt. Brent Middleton, left accepts his unit's flag from his battalion commander in a change-of-command ceremony at Camp Mabry, Texas, March 20, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Capt. Marvin J. Baker  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Middleton, a member of the Texas National Guard’s 36th Infantry Division who...

Excerpts:CHARLESTON, S.C. - A water survival instructor at the Parris Island Marine Corps Depot could face trial in the drowning of a 19-year-old recruit, and an investigation report released Tuesday said the death could have been preventedsnipAn Article 32 hearing, similar to a civilian grand jury proceeding, will be held in the Feb. 8 death of Jason Robert Tharp of Sutton, W.Va. Depending on the outcome, the instructor could face a trial by court-martial.snipTharp was in his fifth week of his 12-week Marine training and apparently unhappy. He wrote home seven times that he wanted out of the Marine Corps,...

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Defence Ministry has confirmed the desertion of a student from its prestigious St Cyr military school who left for a holiday in Canada and the United States in August and failed to return. Defence Ministry spokesman Jean-Francois Bureau said on Monday that he could not confirm some media reports that the man had been identified by fellow trainee soldiers from a police sketch of the sniper who has killed nine people in the Washington area since October 2. U.S. authorities have not released a sketch of the sniper to the public. "At this stage, we have...