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WASHINGTON, August 6, 2006 – The deployment of more than 6,000 National Guard troops to the U.S. southwest border met a key objective in the government’s efforts to secure the border, President Bush said here yesterday. Bush visited the Rio Grand Valley Border Patrol sector Aug. 3, and saw firsthand how the National Guard troops are working with Border Patrol agents. “National Guard troops are helping with surveillance, construction and logistics,” Bush said in his weekly radio address. “They're building and repairing fences, maintaining vehicles and manning detection equipment on the border and in command centers.” The arrival of National...

DENVER – A 92-year-old man who was attacked by a bull moose while walking to church in a small mountain town was upgraded to serious condition on Monday. Authorities said the adult moose attacked Louis Heckert on Sunday in Grand Lake, a resort village of about 500 year-round residents 50 miles northwest of Denver on the western edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. The nature of Heckert's injuries was not disclosed. He was taken to St. Anthony Central Hospital in Denver, where he was first listed in critical condition. The moose was shot and killed by a state Division of...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2006 – The Army will continue to improve body armor issued to soldiers, and will begin manufacturing side-panel inserts to the Interceptor ballistic armor, officials said here today. The side panels, which weigh 3 pounds, will be made of the same material as the small-arms protective inserts. Army Col. Thomas Spoehr is in charge of fielding body armor. He said the Interceptor body armor now issued to servicemembers protects against most of the threats they face in Iraq and Afghanistan today. "It's the best body armor in the world," Spoehr said. And the proof is in the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2005 – U.S. and coalition initiatives to create well-trained and -equipped Iraqi security forces are paying off, with Iraqis taking on more of the fight, a U.S. Central Command general said Nov. 28 at the Heritage Foundation here. "Iraqi security forces are fighting hard. They're fighting well. They are not cracking under pressure, as you see in some armies, and they are making a tremendous contribution," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, CENTCOM's deputy director of plans and strategy, told the audience. Kimmitt, who divides his time between Iraq and CENTCOM's Tampa headquarters, said Iraq's security forces, which now...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The U.S. military plans to ease conditions for some detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba — housing them in a renovated section with televisions, stereos and a view of the Caribbean, the detention center's commanding officer said in court papers. For the past several weeks, the military has been renovating Camp Iguana for detainees who are deemed no longer a threat to the United States, Brig Gen. Jay Hood said in an affidavit filed late Tuesday in federal court in Washington. The renovations are scheduled to be finished around Aug. 15, and some of those designated...

WASHINGTON - Early in his first term, President Bush (news - web sites) proposed easing immigration restrictions and establishing a free trade zone throughout the hemisphere. His first two foreign trips were to Mexico and Canada, emphasizing their importance. Four years later, both initiatives are unfulfilled, not even on the agenda as Bush meets Wednesday in Texas with Mexican President Vicente Fox (news - web sites) and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin. Instead, the North American leaders will sign a pact pledging to increase border security without hindering the flow of goods or the millions of people that cross the...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Dear precious saints of our Lord Praise be to the Lord Jesus Thank you for your prayers for little Seenath. By God's grace she is improving slowly. Doctors were afraid that she may not live. Now they say that she overcame such situation. Praise the Lord! Thank you Jesus for your mighty power ! Yet doctors have a doubt that either she may be paralised or lose the sight of her eyes. Also she needs a long term treatment.Tahira knows none of these details. Actually I do not know what to do. I don't know how to afford all these....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. machine tool demand in August rose sharply from a year earlier as manufacturers ratcheted-up purchases amid signs the economy is improving, two industry trade groups said in a report released on Sunday. The American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) said U.S. machine tool demand stood at $225.52 million in August, up 54.2 percent from $146.27 million in August 2003. In the first eight months of 2004, machine tool demand stood at $1.779 billion, up 38.4 percent from $1.285 billion in the same 2003 period, according to the report. "Exhibitors...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26, 2004 – As January elections loom in Iraq, Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of U.S. Central Command, said today the country is headed in the right direction. "We are in fact moving in the direction that will allow Iraq to emerge as a democratic and representational state. I think that our military activities there have moved it ahead in a positive manner," Abizaid told host Tim Russert on "Meet the Press." "It's a tough fight, it's a hard fight. But we shouldn't lose heart because there are difficult times. We know that there will be fighting through...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's elementary and high school students are still improving their standardized test scores, but results released Monday indicate they're not improving as rapidly as before, state education officials said. According to the results of the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program, fewer students are moving from the lower scores of basic, below basic and far below basic to the higher levels of proficient and advanced. The test compiles the results of two tests given to students in grades 2-11 and measures how well students are learning California's academic standards. "This is not where we want to be. This...

There’s no question that the U.S. economy is booming. Why isn’t this reflected in President’s Bush poll ratings? Why would Americans think that John Kerry would do anything but ruin the economy? Kerry: the King of All Waflers; the most liberal member of the Senate. He proposes increasing taxes by $700 billion over the next 10 years. Kerry plans to stifle the American economic engine. Faced with good economic times, just what are Americans thinking?Boom Times Yesterday, the Conference Board reported that U.S. consumer confidence reached its best level in two years. 248,000 new American jobs were created in May....

For Immediate ReleaseNovember 8, 2003 President's Radio Address      Audio THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. This week we heard some good news about the effects of tax relief on the American economy. The Department of Labor reported that our economy added 126,000 new jobs in October. And over the past three months, there were 286,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 6 percent. The four-week average for jobless claims has declined in six of the past seven weeks. And manufacturers reported that orders and shipments are both rising. This news comes one week after we heard that economic output rose at...