Free Republic

(CNSNews.com) - White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest says President Barack Obama understands that “capitalism is a system that brings freedom better than any other one.” “The president is making a concerted effort to reach out to entrepreneurs and to innovators because he understands that capitalism is a system that brings freedom better than any other one,” Earnest said during Monday’s press conference.

President Obama and his family leave Friday for a weekend getaway to Maine, but along with a little rest and relaxation comes criticism that the president is taking it easy with the Gulf of Mexico oil crisis in a critical phase. The Obamas plan to spend the weekend on Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. The trip marks the president's third vacation since the oil disaster began in April. The Republican National Convention launched a website blasting what it considers Obama's "leisure activities or missteps" during the oil disaster, like playing golf, attending concerts and vacationing in Asheville,...

WASHINGTON - New penalties against Sudan — check. More dollars to fight AIDS in Africa — check. A respected internationalist to lead the World Bank — check. Friendly words about tackling global warming — check. George Bush is ready to go to Europe. His bag packed with a pre-emptive agenda he spent all week detailing, the president leaves Monday on a trip that will take him to six countries in eight days. Bush journeys from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, with the centerpiece of his travels a three-day summit in Germany with leaders from Europe, Canada, Japan and Russia....

Combined military operations and a variety of civil service projects serve to deter terrorist attacks in Ameriyah. BAGHDAD, Sept. 18, 2006 — Since the beginning of Operation Together Forward, Baghdad’s Ameriyah neighborhood has seen several social and economic improvements as the Iraqi army and Multi-National Division – Baghdad (MND-B) forces work to rid the area of terrorist violence. The combined military operations in the area includes a variety of civil service projects, such as a large-scale trash cleanup, medical services, and establishing a generally close working relationship with local residents – all of which serve to deter further terrorist attacks....

WASHINGTON - Lawmakers stood side by side on the steps of the Capitol and belted out an impromptu rendition of "God Bless America" after the terrorist attacks five years ago. Democrats and Republicans pulled together, as did the country at large. "We had an astonishing moment of unity," former President Clinton said Monday. But now, the two political parties couldn't be further apart. On the fifth anniversary of the terror attacks, Democrats and Republicans struggled for the upper hand on what has become the main issue of the midterm campaigns — the war in Iraq and its relationship with the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2006 -- At the exact site of the most painful event in the Pentagon’s history -- the Sept. 11, 2001, attack that claimed 184 lives here -- a couple brought together through the tragedy recently became the first to exchange wedding vows in the Pentagon Memorial Chapel. Army Lt. Col. Nora Faust and Heinz Linderman exchange wedding vows in the Pentagon Memorial Chapel Aug. 3 as retired Army Chaplain Bruce Burslie officiates. Courtesy photo   '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “It’s like the phoenix rising from the ashes,” said Army Lt. Col. Nora Faust after...

LONDON - British authorities said Thursday they thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in carry-on luggage. Security was raised to its highest level in Britain, and carry-on luggage was banned on all flights. Huge crowds backed up at London's Heathrow airport as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every form of liquid outside of baby formula. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the terrorists planned to use liquid explosives disguised as beverages and other common products and set them off with detonators disguised as electronic devices. The extreme...

DAHUK, Iraq (Army News Service, July 19, 2006) – Soldiers brought toys and smiles to children in one of Iraq’s northernmost provinces recently with Operation Helping Hands. The humanitarian assistance mission was conducted by Soldiers of the 142nd Corps Support Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. “The 142nd enjoys this just as much as the kids enjoy it,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Green, battalion commander. “This will stay in the minds and hearts of my Soldiers.” Soldiers handed out Beanie Babies, sports uniforms, soccer balls, teddy bears and candy, all donated by a variety of American organizations, said Capt. John Smith, battalion...

Starshade brings fresh hope in search for alien life By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 06/07/2006) The quest to find Earth-like planets where alien life may thrive is boosted today by a professor who has unveiled plans for a gigantic, daisy-shaped space shield. Although large planets, similar to Jupiter, have already been spotted outside our solar system, the orbiting shield should allow astronomers to make out much smaller and more habitable planets. Such so-called "Goldilocks planets" would be close enough to their neighbouring star so as to be not too hot and not too cold to support life. The daisy...

Immigration row brings down Dutch government By Joan Clements in The Hague (Filed: 30/06/2006) The Dutch government is to resign after the smallest party in the ruling coalition withdrew its support in a row over immigration, Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced last night. The party, known as D66, withdrew its support after weeks of tension in the Netherlands over a call by Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister, for a Somali-born former MP, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, to be stripped of her Dutch citizenship over false information she gave to immigration officials. Mr Balkenende reacts during a debate about Ms Hirsi...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 15, 2006) – The Army’s 231st birthday brought hundreds of spectators to the Pentagon Courtyard June 14 for entertainment and remarks from senior leaders. A cake-cutting kicked off the celebration, which was hosted by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, Secretary of the Army Dr. Francis J. Harvey and Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld. “As we celebrate this occasion, I want to thank every Soldier in the U.S. and across the world,” said Rumsfeld. “My thanks to you, and my thanks to your families for all you’ve sacrificed to defend our country...

FORT BELVOIR, Va., June 13, 2006 – A system initially adopted to help the Army Corps of Engineers detect invasive vegetation growing in coastal waterways is giving warfighters an edge in the global war on terror. "Buckeye," a digital imaging system that's installed on an aircraft, gives ground commanders a bird's-eye view of the area in which they're operating, Army Capt. Jed Richards, research and development coordinator for the Army's Topographic Engineering Center here, told American Forces Press Service. Featuring a high-quality digital camera with an extra-large focal frame, Buckeye "looks" nearly straight down from an aircraft and captures images...

VILSECK, Germany — Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts hiked through Grafenwöhr Training Area and fell asleep to the rattle of helicopters and machine guns during Intercamp 2006 — one of the largest Scout jamborees in Europe. Some 2,000 Scouts, aged 11 to 17, camped out at Vilseck Army Airfield from Friday to Monday during the jamboree, which involved troops from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, France and Belgium.

CAMP AL QA’IM, Iraq (June 6, 2006) -- When he joined the Marine Corps in 2002, Cpl. Joshua W. Dale never thought he would be using his welding experience to defeat insurgents in western Iraq. The 23-year-old section leader with A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, brought his ideas to life by inventing a breaching bumper for a humvee in his mobile assault platoon. The breaching bumper is mounted on the front of the humvee and resembles a large arrowhead made of thick steel. The bumper is used to do one thing – tear through anything that gets in...

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2006 – Noticeable changes have taken place in Iraq since the country's national unity government was inaugurated, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman told reporters today in Baghdad. "We've seen a lot of activities and events that give us a lot of hope and encouragement as we watch the leadership of the Iraqi government and the Iraqi (security forces) take greater control," Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said. He noted that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has told Iraqis they all need to be part of the solution to the problems facing the country. Caldwell also addressed...

FORT HUACHUCA — James L. Burke sat in his wheelchair. The retired Signal Corps colonel wept, wiping his eyes with a handkerchief held in his right hand. With his left hand he patted the top of the tombstone on which the name of Mary E. Burke had been inscribed. Mary, his wife, died in 2002. Monday, the 87-year-old Burke, who served in combat in World War II and in Vietnam, was at the Fort Huachuca Cemetery visiting the grave of his wife. He met Mary in Hawaii during World War II, when she was an Army nurse, daughter Bridget Burke...

U.S. Army Maj. Deborah Yarbrough talks with farmers at the Mada-In Co-op near Sadr City, Iraq, May 1, 2006. Yarbrough is a team leader assigned to the 445th Civil Affairs Battalion. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika More photos Co-op Brings New Hope to Iraqi Farmers The benefits of the co-op effort will be seen this season by farmers all over the district. By U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 24, 2006 — U.S. soldiers assigned to the 445th Civil Affairs Battalion are currently working to continue...

LOS ANGELES - It's been called "the skiddiest of all Skid Rows" — 50 square blocks of abandoned factories, burned-out storefronts, rundown hotels, dingy bars and seedy liquor stores, interspersed among hundreds of makeshift homes, most of them built with abandoned cardboard boxes and stolen shopping carts. Located an easy walk from City Hall, police headquarters and other downtown seats of power, this last stop for the destitute has been a fixture of Los Angeles for nearly a century. But with a burgeoning real estate market bringing luxury apartments and condos to the edge of Skid Row, city leaders are...

MANITOWOC, Wis. (NNS) -- Families of crew members who served aboard the World War II submarine USS Lagarto (SS 371) gathered here May 6 to honor the men whose submarine went missing six decades ago and was only recently located by divers. Lagarto was last seen May 3, 1945, in the southern Gulf of Thailand while preparing to strike an enemy convoy. Japanese records later indicated that the minelayer Hatsutaka reported sinking a U.S. submarine on that date. Last May, nearly 60 years to the day after Lagarto was lost, British diver Jamie MacLeod reported finding Lagarto sitting upright in...

U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Rachael A. Loomis, assigned to the 710th Brigade Support Battalion, Task Force Spartan, assists adults and children from the village of Arawara Bandeh, Afghanistan, while they wait to receive medical care, April 23, 2006. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Timothy Kelly ‘Lion’s Pride’ Brings Medical Care to Afghans Afghan and coalition doctors provided medical care for more than 3,100 Afghans as part of Operation Lion’s Pride. By U.S. Army Maj. Eric Zenk Task Force Spartan Public Affairs JALALABAD AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, May 5, 2006 — Afghan doctors and medics, along with coalition members, moved into...