A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....03-01-04....Military Monday

Billie, The Mayor

[The Mayor]

A Few of FR's Finest
....Every Day

FR is a Treasure Trove of talented, compassionate, patriotic, wonderful people who gather every day to discuss the latest news and issues; salute and support our military and our leaders;  tell a few jokes;  learn a new word;  write poetry;  pray for those in need;  and congratulate those who are deserving. Thank you, Jim Robinson, for giving us the vehicle in which we can express ourselves.

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest November 11, 2001

So many people have written me since my original Veteran's Day Tribute, asking how they, or a loved one, could be included in that tribute. Since I could no longer add the photos to the body of the thread, I had been including them in additional posts as I received enough to make another collage.

Still that didn't seem to be enough. I think there's never been a better nor more appropriate time to keep the faces of our own Veterans and Active Military in front of FReepers--every day! That's why I wanted to do yet another Daily Thread .....ABOUT FReepers .....and FOR FReepers. But not only about our Military FReepers; for all FReepers! Wouldn't it be nice to get to know a few of the other FReepers as well? That's why we've created a place for just that. This is a friendly room in JimRob's house where FReeper FRiends can gather every day and just say hello if that's all they want to do.

There's more of course. We sometimes feature different FReepers, with a little background information on who they are and what makes them who they are, along with a few photos you might not have seen on other threads; sometimes others write an essay for us to post as the feature for the day; sometimes our presentation is a human interest story found elsewhere that you might not have read; sometimes special holiday threads; but whatever the topic of the day, it is always with FR's Finest in mind and that is YOU!

If you would like to be featured, or would like to see someone else featured, please send me a private FR mail.

Every Monday we will post the photos of FR's Military Personnel that I have collected and put into groups; these will be available to view through a link the remainder of the week - every day just a click away. :)   If you would like to add a photo of yourself or a loved one in the military, past or present, please let me know; I will hold it until I have enough for a new group.

Thank you, and please have fun with us...every day! ~ Billie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank You For Serving Our Country!

TOP: Logos, SwedeGirl's hubby, Neil E Wright, FallGuy, 1John, Sneakypete
MIDDLE:  T'wit, COB1, LadyX, Dick Bachert, 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub
BOTTOM:  YankeeinSC, Delta21, JoeSixPack1

TOP:  Bosniajmc, AFVetGal, Archy, A Navy Vet
MIDDLE:  4TheFlag, Aeronaut, 68Grunt, Xinga
BOTTOM:  Codger, AAABest, Clinton's A Liar, Duke809, dcwusmc

TOP:  mc5cents, Norb2569, LBGA's son, VanJenerette
MIDDLE:  Jim Robinson, KJenerette, davidosborne, KG9Kid
BOTTOM:  gwmoore, Equality7-2521, SAMWolf

TOP:  porgygirl, Phil V., MudPuppy, NorCoGOP
MIDDLE:  RaceBannon, OneidaM, rdb3, jwTexian
BOTTOM:  USMC Vet, The Mayor, Vineyard, rhododogma

TOP:  g'nad, AgThorn's son Justin, SLB, AgThorn's son Brett.
MIDDLE:  fish70, razorback-bert, CheneyChick,Leroy S Mort, Mark17.
BOTTOM:  Terry's Take, Taxman, DinkyDau.

TOP:  ValerieUSA's son Grant, SK1Thurman, kd5cts, RangerVetNam,
dansangel and .45man's son-in-law Tony
BOTTOM:  rangerX, Old China Hand, Trish, Howlin's dad, Mustang

TOP: ohioWfan's son, MamaBear's father-in-law, MamaBear's dad, ladtx
MIDDLE:  The Mayor's niece, M.Kehoe, Beach_Babe's son-in-law
BOTTOM:  deadhead's dad, HiJinx, Severa's hubby, viligantcitizen's granddad.

TOP:  spectr17, RightOnline, SERE_Doc, Tet68.
MIDDLE:  FutureSnakeEater, RightOnline's wife, CIApilot, Clamper1797
BOTTOM:  usmcobra, onedoug, DiverDave, Joe6-pack

TOP:  Q6-God, Scan59, Mama Bear and JKPhoto's son, ofMagog.
MIDDLE:  Big'ol_freeper, JustAmy's great uncle, Prodigal Son.
BOTTOM:  JustAmy's husband, JustAmy's brother-in-law, JustAmy's brother.

TOP:  dakine's wife, MeeknMing's dad, Auntbee's nephew, MilitiaMan7, AlasBabylon.
BOTTOM:  Joe Brower, Temple Owl, Temple Owl's wife, dutchess' dad, Aomagrat.

TOP:  ladtx #2 son; DiverDave's twin Don; petuniasevan and husband
poorman; Mustard; ladtx #1 son;
BOTTOM:  AlamoGirl's brother Floyd; AG's dad; AG's brother Jim (inset);
WVNan's husband; ladtx' Aunt Eva.

TOP: Mo1's dad; BuffyT's Uncle (right, w/ her dad & grandmother); Armymarinemom's 3 sons.
MIDDLE: ru4Liberty's dad; SheLion's husband, MaineRebel; wirestripper.
BOTTOM: fivetoes; bigghurtt; hurricane; ladtx' dad; Pippin's brother.




                     

THE WEEKEND THREAD 02-27-28-29-04... Week in Review ^

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[Donaeus]

Good morning FReepers and supporters of our Troops! Thank you for all the great reminders of the good our men and women are doing. A salute to those who are gone but will NEVER be forgotten, for all vets still with us and for those serving today--THANK YOU!

[LadyX]

More of The Willing who "Do Not Exist":

Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers practice restraining techniques
while receiving training from soldiers with the
Cuscatian Battalion of the El Salvador Army,
in An Najaf, Iraq.
U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. John M. Foster

[Donaeus]

Congratulations to your family! I was thinking about ya'll earlier today and wondering how things were going. I hope it is a wonderful reunion and will be praying for his safe return.

[MEG33]

Happy News!I know you are thrilled he'll be home soon.I thank him for serving our country.

Thank you for posting your memorial and the moving tribute.Some gave all.

[LadyX]

"Good news on a Military Monday from the ladtx household. Our #2 son should be returning from Iraq this week."

How wonderful that you soon will have a Complete Family Reunion, and he will see his new niece for the first time!

Soon, too, ohioWfan's son, Eric, will be home as well.

We here at The Finest are so glad to share your joy!!
Thank you, Lord, for your mercy in keeping them safe...
Amen.

[FreeTheHostages]

;)

[The Mayor]

[The Mayor]

[The Mayor]

[The Mayor]

C LINTON
L EGACY
I RAQI INSPECTORS OUSTED
N ORTH KOREAN NUKES NEGLECTED
T ECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO CHINA
O SAMA EXTRADITION OFFER AXED
N ATIONAL INSECURITY

Thank you to DrewsDad for this on another thread!

U.S. Marines Land in Haitian Capital

[The Mayor]

Over the top

[The Mayor]

'Passion' hauls in $117.5M in five days
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Mel Gibson's gamble on The Passion of the Christ paid off enormously, riding a storm of religious debate to a $117.5 million haul in its first five days, according to studio estimates Sunday.
A day after The Passion of the Christ is released, Mel Gibson visits Jay Leno. Passion earned $26.3M that first day. By Kevin Winter, Getty ImagesThe Passion, which debuted on Ash Wednesday, rocketed to the No. 1 box-office slot for the weekend with $76.2 million from Friday to Sunday. It was the seventh-best three-day opening ever, behind Spider-Man at $114.8 million and such Hollywood franchises as The Matrix Reloaded and the first two Harry Potter movies.
The Passion put up the second-best five-day figures for a movie opening on Wednesday, behind last year's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at $124.1 million and ahead of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace at $105.6 million.
The first movie released in 2004 to cross the $100 million mark, The Passion easily passed the weekend's No. 2 flick, 50 First Dates at $88.7 million, as the year's top-grossing film.
Once considered a niche film that would appeal mainly to conservative Christians, the bloody chronicle of Christ's crucifixion swelled to blockbuster proportions as Gibson rallied church groups to support it and accusations of anti-Semitism brought mainstream attention.
"It's an event movie," said Bruce Davey, Gibson's partner in his film company Icon Productions. "It all began with the grass-roots campaign we started, but the controversy has obviously helped in creating awareness."
Some Jewish and Christian leaders have said they fear The Passion will revive the notion that Jews collectively were responsible for Christ's death.
Gibson has denied such accusations, and key cast members - including Jim Caviezel, who plays Christ, and Maia Morgenstern, a Jewish actress who plays Mary - said Gibson approached the film with great respect for Judaic traditions.
Gibson put up the movie's $25 million budget and will reap most of the returns. Hollywood studios passed on the movie, so Gibson put it in theaters through independent distributor Newmarket Films, which will get a cut of Gibson's profits.
The Passion provided a box-office jolt for theaters, whose ticket sales were running 7% behind last year's. After four straight weekends of declining revenue, the top 12 movies took in $132.1 million, up 53% from the same weekend a year ago.
The Passion took in more money than the rest of the top 12 combined, with other new movies making barely a ripple.
The Ashley Judd crime thriller Twisted debuted at No. 3 with $9.1 million from Friday to Sunday. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, a prequel to the 1980s hit, opened in fifth place with $5.9 million. The horror spoof Broken Lizard's Club Dread premiered at No. 10 with $3 million.
Playing in 3,043 theaters, The Passion averaged a whopping $25,041, compared to $3,367 in 2,703 cinemas for Twisted.
The success of The Passion is more remarkable considering it was shot in two dead languages, Aramaic and Latin, and plays with English subtitles. The movie's violence, including a savage depiction of Christ's scourging and crucifixion, also did not deter movie-goers, who lifted The Passion to the second-best R-rated opening ever behind The Matrix Reloaded at $91.8 million for its first weekend.
"The Passion is the most unlikely blockbuster I've ever seen. I don't have enough adjectives in my repertoire to describe it," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "Even nonbelievers probably felt the need to see this film because it's undeniably about one of the most important events in history, and everybody is talking about it."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. The Passion of the Christ, $76.2 million.
2. 50 First Dates, $12.6 million.
3. Twisted, $9.1 million.
4. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, $6.1 million.
5. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, $5.9 million.
6. Miracle, $4.4 million.
7. Eurotrip, $4.1 million.
8. Welcome to Mooseport, $3.35 million.
9. Barbershop 2: Back in Business, $3.1 million.
10. Broken Lizard's Club Dread, $3 million.

[MEG33]

This is wonderful.

[Donaeus]

I heard the box office returns this morning as I was getting ready for work and was impressed. I'm blown away after calulating that 1st place earnings are more than six times 2nd place earnings!!

[Billie]

Warm greetings to all our Finest Uniformed Men and Women! Thank you for your service and dedication to our country. We owe you our gratitude.

[JustAmy]

Happy Military Monday!!
Remember our men and women in uniform when you say your prayers.

Thank you, Russ and Billie, for these Military Mondays.

Happy Monday and happy spring everyone!

[Dubya]

Hi everyone. Here is an Illustration that you may like.
.
Praise God, everyone! Welcome to our annual membership recommitment committee. Think of this as a tune up for the soul. We're going to run a diagnostic on your spiritual life to make sure you're still committed. My name?
Call me God's Enforcer. And no, there are no other committee members. Yes, it was sad to watch them go but, alas, they wouldn't measure up to The Standard. Huh? Well, I set The Standard. That's my job.

Shall we begin? So ma'am, you and your husband are separated? Why are you still in church? I don't care if he was beating you. Submit, woman! If you were loving him, he wouldn't do that. You might want to deal with the `Jezebel Spirit' of yours. I don't care if all that makeup is to cover up your bruises and black eye! It makes you look - unchristian. Your membership is suspended.

I realize your son's extended illness has been an economic hardship. I know your wife had to quit her second job to help take care of him but you did sign the Tithe Covenant, didn't you? You're robbing God. Thief, repent! Next?
Sir, I know you're widowed, alone, and your hormones still work. We heard a report from one of our watchers at the computer store that found some pornographic pictures in your computer cache. Is that why you keep coming to the altar to pray? Yes, such things do wage war against the soul, but your membership is still suspended. Well, what about King David? Next!

Certainly, you're a faithful couple. Deacons, no less. Hummm. Tithes in order. Good attitudes, correct clothing.
Still, your children talk during service. If you can't run your own house, how will you run the house of God? I don't care if they are adopted from crack addict mothers. They are an irritation during church. Get your home in order first. Suspended.

Your life is exemplary, to be sure. Still, we've had complaints about, what's this? Your `obsession with torturing and drowning cats' during worship. Excuse me, that charge is incorrect. It says your singing sounds like the torturing and drowning of cats. Way, way off key! Your boisterous braying offends visitors. I don't care if it is `unto God.' Not in this church! Next?

Homeless? Well, take this hard luck form, fill it our and mail it back. Be sure to include your home address for the committee. You say you don't have a home address? Then you might want to get a clue. Try the Salvation Army.
They lack standards.

You still insist the Vision you shared was from God. Yes, I know the Church leadership agreed to help you but we decided in private committee to wait. Well, you could have asked why we decided to wait. Perhaps we could have mentioned this decision to you but it's too late to change things now. Looks like God `changed His mind' again.
Will someone please remove this false prophet? Put a report on her to area pastors as well.

Yes, Reverend. It was a pity, a genuine tragedy. I'm sure your neurotic wife's drug overdose was an `accident.' We just can't use you anymore. People talk. Thanks for the 30 years of selfless service. Might I suggest a career alternative for you in, say, shoe sales?

Sadly, there's no one left but you and I, Lord. Thy will be done. I have successfully weeded the sinners out of our house. Finally, the church is now perfected. Too bad it's just us.

Lord. Lord? Hello? H-e-l-l-o?

[Mama_Bear]

Good evening, friends. Just stopping by to post a graphic for our military and a 'hello' to you all. Hope everyone had a nice Monday.

Thanks, Rus, for posting our weekly tribute to our armed forces.....the Finest in the world!

God bless America,
God bless our military!

[Dubya]

Article published Jan 13, 2004
Sergeant helping Iraqi kids

Last fall, Wilmington native Shawn Jensen, a sergeant serving with the U.S. Army's Second Armored Cavalry Regiment in Iraq, sat down and wrote a letter home.

"I know many of you have big hearts and want to help," the letter read in part, "you just don't know how.
"The children of Iraq learn on the dirty floors in their schools," Sgt. Jensen added. "They need approximately 200,000 desks for their schools. I am trying to build support for a program where the American citizen can buy support for the Iraqi children."

Sgt. Jensen's grandmother, the inspirational author Margaret Jensen, passed a copy of her grandson's letter on to the mother of U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, when the two met in Salisbury. Sen. Dole, in turn, read passages of the letter into The Congressional Record, in a floor statement before the Senate on Oct. 1.

"Shawn Jensen understands what freedom means to the people of Iraq," the N.C. Republican said, in part. "Indeed, he is seeing it first-hand. He is so committed to making Iraq a safe place for his fellow soldiers to complete their mission and for the Iraqi people to live in a free and orderly society, that he and his fellow soldiers are making tremendous sacrifices."

Meanwhile, the senator's husband, former U.S. senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole, arranged for his law firm's Atlanta office to provide Sgt. Jensen with free legal help, to set up a nonprofit foundation.

Barely three months later, ALIVE – Americans Liberate Iraq, Volunteer to Educate – is alive, well and ready to roll.
"Basically, we raise funds," Sgt. Jensen said in a telephone interview last week, while home on holiday leave. "We find a local classroom here in America, high school or elementary, who'll want to help an Iraqi class."
The students can collect money for desks and other needed school supplies, he added. Plus, ALIVE aims to arrange an Internet hook-up for the American and Iraqi classes, so students can find out more about each other.

"It's a marvelous opportunity," Sgt. Jensen said.
Myrtle Grove Christian School has already volunteered to join the project, "It's still in the conception stage," said principal David Wolff, but he hopes that the sergeant can help set up links with his school's second-grade classes. Officials in the New Hanover County Schools and at Topsail High School – where Sgt. Jensen used to coach junior-varsity basketball – have expressed an interest.
"We have the paperwork under way for at least one and, we hope, at least three or four other schools in the county to participate," Sgt. Jensen said.

The 31-year-old Hoggard High school graduate has been deployed in Iraq since April with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. Currently, his unit patrols a sector of Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.

"I noticed there was a great need here," he said. "The schools needed desks and supplies, and they needed a human touch since they haven't had in 20 years," since the Baath Party of former president Saddam Hussein came to power.
Sgt. Jensen said he also found many individual Iraqis – while fearful of reprisals – were friendly and curious about American culture. Still, security requirements often impeded person-to-person contact.

"We could really be blessed to learn from a culture that went through what they did," he said. "Then we'd know we should thank God we live in a country to have the freedoms we have."

The sergeant, a longtime member of Myrtle Grove Presbyterian Church, said he prayed for answers to the needs he saw. Then, he drafted his letter.

"The next thing I knew, Sen. Dole was reading it on C-SPAN," the cable television network, he said. ALIVE soon became a reality, and Mr. Dole agreed to serve as honorary chairman of the board.

The son of Ralph and Christine Jensen of Wilmington, Christopher Shawn Jensen attended Gordon College in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a business degree. He enlisted in the Army on Oct. 31, 2001.

Sgt. Jensen left Saturday to return to his unit, but ALIVE continues to function in his absence. A Web site, www.4alive.org, is in the process of being built, he said.
In the meantime, those who would like to help Iraqi schoolchildren may contact the sergeant at MoreInfo@4alive.org or leave messages at his father's business, The Master's Touch furniture gallery, at 799-4545.
Ben Steelman: 343-2208
ben.steelman@starnewsonline.com