Free Republic

Mayor Adams padded the city payroll with 293 “special assistants” during his first full fiscal year in office — a more than 20% increase over his predecessor Bill de Blasio, The Post has learned. The bloated band of vaguely titled aides, accountable only to Adams, comprised roughly one-third of the Mayor’s Office staff during the yearly period ending June 30 and cost taxpayers $24.3 million, according to payroll records.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M has suspended two assistant football coaches for two weeks for what they described as a "failed attempt at humor" this week at a football clinic for women. Coach Kevin Sumlin announced Friday night that offensive line coach Jim Turner and special teams coordinator Jeff Banks have been suspended without pay and will have to serve 20 hours of community service.

By Pfc. Susan Blair2nd BCT, 82nd Airborne Div. PAO Chaplain's assistant, Spc. Spencer Sprinkman, Task Force 1-73, takes a protective stance in front of Chaplain (Capt.) Brian Koyn, while practicing battle drills before their next mission. NORTHERN IRAQ -- Batman and Robin, Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo, Timon and Pumba, and Starsky and Hutch; these are all famous duos, and they all depended on each other to complete their mission. The Task Force 1-73 Chaplain and his assistant also depend on each other. The relationship between Chaplain (Capt.) Brian Koyn and Spc. Spencer Sprinkman is extremely important in a combat...

ARLINGTON, Va.(Army News Service, Jan. 26, 2006) – The Army is short about 100 physician assistants and is stepping up attempts to recruit both civilians and Soldiers to do the job. This marks the first time that the Army Medical Department, or AMEDD, has recruited civilians for the Interservice Physician Assistant Program, said Capt. James Jones, IPAP program manager. He said the Army’s modularity and high operations tempo contributed to this change. “The Army plans on filling the shortages by increasing the number of students in the IPAP - this year we are training 92 Army students versus 60,” he...

A futuristic world, complete with autonomous household companions, android medics and even robot entertainers, will greet visitors to the Prototype Robot Exhibition in Japan from 9 June, 2005. The exhibition forms part of the World Expo 2005 in Aichi, Japan, which runs from 25 May to 25 September. Several utility robots, including autonomous garbage collectors, vacuum cleaners and security guards, are already patrolling the wider Expo. But the Prototype Robot Exhibition gives academics and commercial researchers a chance to showcase a more distant vision of robot utopia. The exhibition features a mock-ups of homes, streets and workplaces from the year...

MIAMI (AP) - The Florida Department of Health will strip 40 immigrant physician assistants of their licenses on Sunday because they have been unable to pass the state's licensing exam. The assistants, all Cuban and Haitian immigrants, are licensed doctors in their native countries, but are not qualified for medical licenses in the United States. They have worked alongside doctors in Miami-Dade County's poorest neighborhoods for as long as 11 years. After several attempts, all have failed to pass the state's licensing exam for physician assistants. Some will travel to Tallahassee on Tuesday, where they hope to appeal their licenses'...