For example: The name Hillary Clinton becomes Hereford Hop Curd Nokkelost.)
Hey, if that's too much, just pick a few cheese names and have fun! : )
Posted on 12/30/2002 10:17:34 PM PST by American Preservative
Hey, if that's too much, just pick a few cheese names and have fun! : )
Kaseri Ricotta String
I know the new year has arrived somewhere in the world, so...
Happy New Year, all!
Hope this one finds us all happy, healthy, and enjoying the company of family and friends.
Knockalara Mascares Raschera
(the FReeper formerly known as Ms. Grit)
everyone ready to party!
TOMKOW, Look out! I'm rested anod ready to ring in 2003.
MoJo, are you ready?
Let's ROCK the place!
Story Number: NNS021231-11
Release Date: 12/31/2002 11:28:00 AM
By Journalist 3rd Class (SW/AW) Mat Sohl, USS Carl Vinson Public Affairs
BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- This holiday season, the men and woman stationed aboard USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) are reaching out to serve their community through various holiday-themed service projects in the local area.
One of the key community service projects Vinson Sailors participated in this holiday season was the Kitsap County Resources’ (KCR) Christmas Angel Program, which provides gifts to more than 3,000 children of low-income Kitsap County families.
The Christmas Angel Program takes flight with the support of members of the local Kitsap County community. Donations of toys and clothing come from various local businesses, labor groups, civic organizations, churches and military organizations.
Nearly 50 volunteers from Carl Vinson’s supply department gave their time and skills to assist with the program this year. For many of the Vinson volunteers, who handle the ship’s vast supply inventory, unloading and cataloging the thousands of gifts came as second nature.
“It’s important for us as Sailors to connect in a positive way with the community that we live in,” said Lt. Cmdr. Dave Nystrom, Carl Vinson’s assistant supply officer and the ship’s coordinator for the Christmas Angel Program. “Getting involved and making a difference helps instill a sense of community.
Manpower for the program was provided by KCR employees and various volunteers. “It’s all about the volunteers — without them we couldn’t get this done,” said Pamela Varner, KCR program coordinator.
“This is Carl Vinson’s first year involved, and we love them,” said Varner. “The work that they completed in one day normally takes us four or five days to do.”
Aside from organizing and helping distribute the gifts, many of the Sailors had the chance to interact and play with the children they were helping.
“I love to see smiling kids’ faces,” said Ship's Serviceman 3rd Class Kirsten Davis, who donned a Santa suit and handed out wrestling dolls and stuffed animals to all of the children at the event. “This is definitely a new experience for me, but it is a lot of fun being Santa for the day.”
Along with the Christmas Angel Program, other groups of Carl Vinson Sailors spent the holiday season spreading good will to the local Puget Sound area.
Various Carl Vinson clubs and organizations supported several toy and food drives. Dec. 23, a number of Vinson Sailors donned their dress uniforms and visited Seattle’s Children’s Hospital with a truckload of toys donated by the ship’s spouses clubs.
“It’s important for the ship and all of the Sailors in the area to try their best to let everyone in the area know that we are here to help, especially during the holidays.” said Storekeeper 1st Class (SW/AW) Lester Wright.
For related news, visit the USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Navy NewsStand page at www.news.navy.mil/local/cvn70.
Just peeking in during my lunch hour. I'll be back later.
It's afternoon in my part of the country, but since I didn't get a chance to say good morning, I just did! LOL!!
To get serious for a moment, I just headr on Fox News that the 3rd Army inventry Division, stationed in Georgis, as weel as the 2nd bregade, have jusy been given thier orders to get ready to deploy to the Persian Gulf.
Let's send up our prayers for the men and women in these two divisions.
HAMPTON -- The last memories Inayatullah Ahmadzai has of Afghanistan are of his legs being blown off by a grenade and having to use his bloody hands to push the brakes on his truck.
Extreme pain is all he recollects of a month in a German hospital.
Memories of the seven months he's lived in America are more vivid. He remembers the dozens of caretakers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., who eased his suffering and taught him how to move around without his legs.
Ahmadzai, a native Afghan who helped America fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida, arrived in Hampton Roads this month, with a wheelchair, several Army T-shirts and cut-off pants. He is under the care of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond's Hampton Refugee and Immigration Office.
About a dozen Afghan soldiers who fought in the war on terrorism now live in the United States. Ahmadzai is believed to be the only one not related to Afghan president Hamid Karzai, said James Michael Hoffman, an attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network.
Ahmadzai never thought of coming to America when he joined the war back in February. Nor did he envision being disabled and alone.
The basics of American life, such as running water, telephones, televisions and computers sadden him.
Such was unheard of in Afghanistan. And he misses his parents, wife and four children. He wants to get a job to help them, but they don't know about his injuries.
``I don't tell them,'' Ahmadzai, 23, said.
The muscular man, who looks much older than his years, turned his head.
His gaze grew distant. His soft voice faded, his eyes welled with tears.
He tried desperately to remember how his wife, mother and father looked.
But he couldn't.
War is all Ahmadzai knows. His family fled its hometown of Lowgar, Afghanistan, shortly before his birth and found refuge in neighboring Pakistan. They lived in refugee camps for 15 years while the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan.
The fighting left his family with nothing when they returned home.
Ahmadzai worked as a truck driver, traveling between Pakistan and Afghanistan, to make money. He married at 17 and lived with his wife in his parents' home.
Ahmadzai and his father often talked about the group of factionists, calling themselves Muslims, who took over Afghanistan.
But Ahmadzai and his father didn't believe the Taliban were Muslims.
Muslims don't believe in killing, Ahmadzai said.
Muslims want each other to get a good education and achieve prosperity. They don't believe in oppression.
``These guys are crazy,'' Ahmadzai said.
Ahmadzai's concern for his country led him to fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida.
He met American soldiers in February near the Shah-i-Kot valley _ an area about 100 kilometers away from his hometown.
Their strategy was to sneak up on Taliban and al-Qaida forces by barricading several exit points.
But American forces weren't prepared for the size of the combatative forces -- four times what military officials had anticipated. Intense fighting in freezing weather and altitudes that reached as high as 12,000 feet killed as many as 800 enemy soldiers.
The battle of Shah-i-Kot killed eight Americans and injured 70. Three Afghan ally soldiers died and 18 were wounded, including Ahmadzai.
On April 8, Ahmadzai was driving 10 soldiers to an area that needed to be secured. They were supposed to set up a checkpoint on a bridge leading into the Shah-i-Kot valley.
They were traveling down a hill when two men on a motorcycle threw a grenade inside the truck. An Afghan friend sitting near Ahmadzai was killed. Others were wounded.
Ahmadzai remembers hearing his fellow soldiers yelling for him to stop the truck. Continue + audio interview
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.