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WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – It will take 10 years to breed Iraq’s noncommissioned officer corps, the general who oversees training for Iraq’s security forces said today. Often described as “the backbone of the Army,” a noncommissioned officer, or NCO, is an enlisted member of an armed force who has been given authority by a commissioned officer. The NCO corps includes all grades of sergeant, in addition to corporals. “Growing an NCO corps is not a month-long deal; it’s a decade-long deal,” Army Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, commander of Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, told online journalists and “bloggers”...

Do you have children? Do you want to have kids some day? Maybe you have kids and you’re concerned about their future? Take a look at seven ways to ruin your kids. If you avoid these things – you might be taking a step toward a better future for your children.

War On Terror: The steady demise of key Taliban leaders belies the drumbeat of a Taliban resurgence. From the Battle of the Bulge to the Tet offensive, our defeated enemies have often gone out in a blaze of glory. Last fall, an article in USA Today spoke of a "reborn Taliban" and a "Taliban comeback" that, rather than confronting U.S. and NATO forces head-on, had adopted the homicide bombing, beheadings and remote-controlled roadside bomb tactics of the Iraqi insurgency. That mantra has been repeated by others many times since. "We're getting stronger in every province and in every district and...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – Iraqi citizens are steadily rebuilding their lives with help from U.S. provincial reconstruction teams, a team leader said from Mosul, Iraq, yesterday. “Mosul is very well known as sort of a merchant city with a very active retail and wholesale sector,” Jason Hyland told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Iraq’s Ninewah province, about 250 miles north of Baghdad. “I think that the natural drive to do business already exists here.” Hyland’s provincial reconstruction team, or PRT, was the first to be established in Iraq. Each team is tasked with establishing ties...

Fred Thompson has been acting like he has all the time in the world to get his campaign going, with his aides and advisers saying they wanted to get a first-class organization humming before the “Law & Order” actor steps out for his close-up. One adviser, seeking to calm down an excitable reporter, even pointed out that “there will be two World Series” before the 2008 election. But in fact Thompson – who plans to travel the country with his family in a luxury bus emblazoned with the words “Security, Unity, Prosperity” -- is in a race against time that...

RENO, Nev., Aug. 31, 2007 – Enlisted representatives from the five armed services were honored this week by the nation’s largest wartime veterans’ organization. The American Legion presented the Spirit of Service award to Army Sgt. Korey W. Chandler, Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Gaurav R. Patel, Marine Corps Sgt. Matthew W. Stone, Air Force Airman 1st Class Robb K. Hulet, and Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class David B. Edelson on Aug. 28 during the organization’s 89th National Convention here. The award was presented for each of the recipient’s volunteer service in their local communities, American Legion officials said....

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge in San Francisco blocked the Bush administration today from imposing a rule that would require employers to fire workers identified as illegal immigrants in government records or face possible prosecution. U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney granted a nationwide temporary restraining order sought by the AFL-CIO and affiliated unions to keep the government from sending letters to employers demanding that they clear up workers' citizenship status. The order will be in effect until Oct. 1, when another federal judge will consider whether to grant an injunction that would block the rules until a trial on...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2007 – A 17-year Air Force veteran who led vehicles more than 20,000 miles across Kuwait and Iraq during 18 missions -- rolling over streets often flanked with armed insurgents and littered with roadside bombs -- is sharing the message of his service with the American people. Tech. Sgt. Howard L. Watkins served as a convoy commander with the 70th Medium Truck Detachment based at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Through the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” speakers program, he carries the lessons of his military experience and shares them with the American public at speaking events across...

President Bush, along with Vice President Cheney, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and General Peter Pace, had a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff this morning at the Pentagon. (Transcript) After returning to the White House, the president delivered a statement in the Rose Garden about home financing and the recent problems involving the mortgage industry. Accompanying the president for the statement were HUD Secretary Alfonso Jackson and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. (Transcript) But the biggest news today is, of course, the resignation of White House Press Secretary Tony Snow. He will step down on September 14 and will...

War On Terror: Mexico may think its differences with the U.S. and status as a nonaligned country somehow shield it from the global war on terror.... Nearly 11,000 people were evacuated Thursday from Torre Mayor, Mexico City's tallest, ritziest tower, after a terrorist called in a car bomb. The device, which Mexican investigators called "artesanal," was easily dismantled. But the unprecedented evacuation echoed the disruptions Manhattan has seen as an al-Qaida target since 1993. An obscure group called EPR claimed credit the next day, but it doesn't seem to be linked with global terrorist networks.There's reason to worry, however, that...

Trail Of Terror: We've wondered why the Council on American-Islamic Relations director has spurned Senate invitations to answer terror charges. Now we know. Related Stories: Who Are CAIR's Paymasters? | CAIR's Fuzzy Math For the first time, evidence in a major federal terror case puts CAIR's current executive director — Nihad Awad — at a Philadelphia meeting of alleged Hamas leaders that was secretly recorded by the FBI. After the Associated Press last week reported the bombshell, CAIR denied claims of ties to Hamas. "That's one of those urban legends about CAIR," said Parvez Ahmed, CAIR's chairman. "It's fed by...

(Nashville, TN) -- Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander says his longtime associate Fred Thompson's bid for the Republican Presidential nomination is off to a tremendous start. He notes that Thompson is already second and third in most national polls, even though he has yet to officially enter the race. Thompson plans to formally announce his candidacy via webcast on Thursday. He's the fourth Tennessean since 1980 to make a run for the White House. Thompson's mentor, former Senator Howard Baker, sought the GOP nomination in 1980. Alexander and former Vice President Al Gore each ran twice without success. Gore won the...

CATEGORY: SESSIUNCULUM — Fr. John Zuhlsdorf @ 7:02 pm I got a very interesting e-mail.Emphases and comments mine. Bishop Victor Galeone was on the WQOP Live Show today in the Diocese of St. Augustine, answering questions live from callers. I will record the encore show tomorrow (which will air at 12PM EST) and transcribe his response for you to post (if you like) on your blog. [Is the Pope Catholic?]A caller asked the bishop what sort of "qualifications" he will be expecting the clergy to exhibit before they’ll be "permitted" to use the extraordinary form in this diocese. The caller...

Reverse the Public School Brainwashing and Keep Your Kids Safe, by Captain Dave The recent school shooting at Virginia Tech demonstrates a huge underlying societal problem that many of us are either ignoring or are ignorant of. Because society has spent much of the last several decades trying to stamp violence out of schools and out of our children, we end up with kids who are made-to-order victims that will line up to be shot execution style rather than fight back. The answer to school violence is not to arm the campus police, have campus SWAT teams, or class...

Amid all the hand-wringing as housing markets collapse, mortgage foreclosures skyrocket, and financial markets panic, there is very little attantion being paid to the ecomomic and political decisions that led to this mess. The growth in risky "sub-prime" mortgage loans people could not really afford has been a key factor. But why were so many home buyers taking out so many risky loans and lenders arranging so much "creative" financing? Interest-only mortgages, where nothing is paid on the principal for the first few years, enable people to get started with lower mortgage payments at the outset. But it's only a...

Think twice before biting into a chocolate to loose yourself in its taste - you might actually be chewing a wee bit more then you bargained for. On Wednesday (August 29).. worms and moths crawled out of a box of chocolates imitating a popular international brand, and even a few larvae. But by the time this was noticed, a few chocolate balls had been consumed. The chocolates were picked up by a Korean consumer on his trip to China. But local manufactoring experts say it looks as though the contamination happened during the manufactoring process. "It seems to be seriously...

The Economy: We're pleased to see that both the White House and Fed are willing to take action to make sure the subprime lending crisis doesn't get worse. But we're also glad they understand they can't do everything. On Friday, with markets looking desperately for direction, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told a group of bankers, economists and other wonky types that the central bank "will act as needed to limit the adverse effects on the broader economy that may arise from the disruptions in financial markets." It was Bernanke's first public comment on the subprime crisis since the Fed's Aug....

Iraq: The Senate's top Democrat has softened his strategy in the wake of Iraq's undeniable military and political progress. It's a blow for anti-war forces that the Petraeus report later this month is sure to compound. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has backed down from demands for a withdrawal of our troops in Iraq by next spring. Selling voters on cut and run was always tough, but now a new UPI/Zogby Poll finds that 54% of Americans believe the Iraq war is not lost. Beyond the achievements of our forces, the public is obviously impressed that Iraq's five top...

CAMP PENDLETON -- One week before 24 civilians were slain by members of a Marine platoon in the Iraqi city of Haditha, the squad leader allegedly said his men should kill everyone in the area if they were attacked by a roadside bomb, a government witness alleged Friday. Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz made the accusation Friday morning during the second day of a hearing that will determine if the squad leader, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, will face trial on 17 murder charges. Dela Cruz said Wuterich's comment came during a conversation with him and another Marine after they learned a...

Al Gore, a former U.S. vice-president and star of the global-warming warning movie An Inconvenient Truth, will be in Victoria next month. Deirdre Campbell, of Tartan Public Relations, confirmed Gore will speak at the Victoria Conference Centre, on Saturday, Sept. 29. Tickets start at $199. Campbell said Gore's appearance was arranged by three students from the University of Victoria who she declined to name. She promised more details about the event in the near future. Gore was vice president to Bill Clinton for two terms. He ran for president in 2000 but lost, in a controversial election, to George W....