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CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Sept. 28, 2005) -- Most Marines in Iraq consider themselves lucky when they walk away from one improvised explosive device attack, but two, or even three? Sergeant Matthew P. Dalrymple, team leader, 2nd TOW Platoon, 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, is just like any other Marine in his unit. Except for the slight scarring on his right hand, the large bruises on the underside of his arm or the small, freshly bandaged shrapnel wounds, no one would guess he is recovering from his third IED attack. It’s business as usual now for the Chillicothe, Ohio native....

RACINE - Eddie Eagle - a feathered National Rifle Association cartoon character who teaches children how not to handle guns - could actually be harmful, says an alderman opposed to a Police Department plan to use Eddie in programs for children. The City Council will decide Tuesday whether the Racine Police Department can order hundreds of coloring books from the NRA for no charge and use them in conjunction with lectures the department holds with children. Among other things in the books, children would be coloring in images of guns and of children finding guns in their homes. You can...

Size doesn’t count at the World Dwarf Games PARIS: Aside from the pursuit of gold medals competitors at the World Dwarf Games being held in France this week wanted to be treated as serious athletes, and not pitied because of their height. The fourth edition of the championships at Rambouillet, south of Paris, has drawn together 135 dwarves measuring between 80cm and 1.40m with the largest delegation coming from Britain. Other countries represented are the United States, Belgium, Denmark, New Zealand, Spain, Morocco, Kosovo, and hosts France. Arthur Dean, president of the International Dwarf Athletics Federation, believes these championships send...

Gore, Women and Social Security: He Still Doesn't Get It April 10, 2000 Vice President Al Gore's proposal to increase some Social Security benefits for women "is the equivalent of choosing a new china pattern for the Titanic," said Michael Tanner, director of the Cato Institute's Project on Social Security Privatization. "Clearly, Gore still doesn't understand the need for fundamental reform." On April 4 Gore proposed to eliminate what he terms the "motherhood penalty" by offering an earnings credit for women who leave the work force to raise their children. The change would give about 8 million women who leave...

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It Jim Wallis HarperSanFrancisco 01/05 Hardcover $24.95 Book Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat Read an excerpt on hope. In a Nutshell: Many in America yearn for a fuller, deeper, and richer conversation about religion in public life and especially about the role of faith in politics. The major political parties, however, as evidenced by the Presidential election of 2004, have failed to articulate "the prophetic voice of religion." According to Jim Wallis, the Right has focused its energies mainly on sexual and cultural issues while...

FEWER GUNS = MORE CRIME by Rod D. Martin, 11 July 2000 Four years into the British and Australian gun bans, the verdict on gun control is in: disaster. Those who argue for the right of self-defense have always said that banning guns would disarm the law-abiding while encouraging the criminals. Yet even by the standards of most pro-gun arguments, the actual results of total gun control have been startling, leaving anti-gunners and government officials at a loss to explain the debacle. Take Australia. Just over one year ago, the Australian government spent more than $500 million to confiscate 640,381...

Oil-for-food scandal actually pretty dull By Rachel Campbell "First of all, this isn't a movie. Second of all, even if it was, none of us could exactly pass for Tom Cruise; so he would be the one screaming that, not us. We would be lucky to be cast as Mute Juror No. 6." ------------------------------------------------------ The Journal Times has gotten a bit of flak lately for not covering the oil-for-food scandal as prominently as some would like. Personally, I haven't covered it thus far because, frankly, there isn't much to report. But in the name of fairness and balance, here's what's...

I was just thinking about the Jeremy Glick episode. O'Reilly may be moderate politically, but that doesn't mean unbiased these days. His problem is that he isn't neutral when it comes to the United States. He is pro-American. To the left, that's biased.

Sarcasm doesn't tickle children's funny bone January 24 2003 at 09:53AM Calgary - When parents use sarcasm to playfully tease their young children, do the kids see the humour? Not likely, according to a Canadian researcher who has completed a study showing that children need to be 10 or older before grasping the idea that sarcasm can be funny or even insulting. The results have implications for everything from the content of children's television programmes to the interpretation of abusive behaviour, Penny Pexman, a psychologist from the University of Calgary, said on Thursday. "Our study suggests that the five-year-olds are...