Free Republic

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Pentagon must improve long-term reserve planning, report says By David McGlinchey dmcglinchey@govexec.com The Defense Department has been making its recent personnel decisions and reservist mobilizations with a short-term focus that could compromise the nation's long-term military goals, the Government Accountability Office said in a report released this week. "Faced with some critical shortages, [Defense] changed a number of its personnel policies to increase force availability," according to the report (GAO-04-1031). "These changes addressed immediate needs and did not take place within a strategic framework that linked human capital goals with [Defense's] organizational goals to fight the global war on terrorism."...

Controversy has erupted in France after the linguistic authorities gave the @ character a name no French email user has ever heard of. Translations of @ Czech: zavinac (pickled herring) Russian: sobachka (little dog) Italian: Chiocciola (small snail) Hebrew: strudel (Austrian cake) Until now, the French have had a choice between "arobase", a popular word derived from the Spanish, and - for the anglophile - "at". But the General Commission for Terminology and Neologisms - the government body charged with coining new French words - has decided that the proper word should be "arrobe". However there are no guarantees that...

They talk about when — not if — the next catastrophic terrorist attack will happen on American soil. They issue warnings that in all likelihood the next assault will result in even greater casualties and more widespread disruption than resulted from September 11. And they make it clear that in many important respects, America is unprepared. After more than a year without a new attack, they say that there are signs that Americans are lapsing into complacency. And they point to a big distraction ahead, in the shape of a war with Iraq, that could consume all the nation’s attention...

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