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AR RAMADI, Iraq (Jan. 9, 2006) -- Marines from 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, and soldiers from an Iraqi Army battalion recently concluded the last in a series of battalion-sized operations here when they finished Operation Skinner Dec. 8. The operation, a sweep of one of the most dangerous areas of the city known as the Souq, prominently featured the Iraqi Army and is proof of the increasing abilities and growing confidence of the local soldiers, said 2nd Lt. Chris Hopkins, 4th Platoon Commander, Company I. “We went through a couple of weeks where we conducted our business and really...

Blair and Brown hatch plan to make France the EU villain By David Rennie in Budapest and Toby Helm (Filed: 03/12/2005) Tony Blair and Gordon Brown launched a dramatic move to isolate France in the EU budget row yesterday as eastern European nations indicated that they might accept British proposals to cut their funds from Brussels. In a clear attempt to paint President Jacques Chirac as a brake on reform and the only leader unwilling to give ground, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor insisted that reform of Europe's bloated farm subsidy regime - which France opposes - was a...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 1, 2005) -- In an attempt to bring the holiday spirit to deployed Soldiers, students and teachers from a New Jersey school have been sending hundreds of homemade greeting cards to troops with the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division deployed to Baghdad. “We wanted to do something for our American Soldiers who are stationed overseas,” said Dr. Nell Sanders, principal of the Allen W. Roberts School in New Providence, N.J. The school encourages writing in every subject and thought it would be a great idea to combine writing with doing kind...

The program aims to deter Afghan farmers from poppy cultivation, and toward developing a more viable and legal source of agricultural commodity. By Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2005 - Afghan farmers in Ghazni are finding it pays to grow potatoes instead of poppies after they recently received 400,000 Afghan dollars from the Coalition Humanitarian Assistance Department. "The program is very successful. We were able to take care of farmers and to distribute food to returnees coming from Pakistan and Pakistan earthquake victims." U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert Meier The Ghazni Provincial Reconstruction Team met within the...

ABOARD USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (NNS) -- The USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG), along with Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8, has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Maritime Security Operations (MSO) for more than two months, and continues to make a positive impact on the Gulf region. Since departing Naval Station Norfolk, Va., Sept 1., the nearly 7,500 Sailors who make up TRCSG and CVW-8, have used teamwork to successfully support Iraqi oil platform security; Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) operations; and provide support to coalition troops in Iraq. “I am extremely...

U.S. Army Spcs. Elizabeth and Juanita Rodriguez Sisters Make the Most of Deployment By Spc. Laura E. Griffin Task Force Devil Public Affairs CAMP CHAPMAN, Afghanistan, Nov. 2, 2005 — U.S. Army Spcs. Elizabeth and Juanita Rodriguez are sharing more than the same laugh, the same job, and the same last name these days. They are also sharing an experience that has brought them closer as sisters; they are both stationed at Camp Chapman, Afghanistan, during their deployment for Operation Enduring Freedom VI. The Rodriguez’s, both National Guard automated logistics specialists with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 142nd...

NEW YORK (Oct. 20, 2005) -- Two Marines will consecrate their love for one another by taking the vows of marriage in front of the Soldiers’, Sailors’, Marines’, and Airmen’s Club (SSMAC) here, October 27. Cpl. Kelly Orman and his future wife, former PFC. Rachel Cole, will join as one at the very spot they were engaged earlier this summer. Following the service, the newlyweds will have a champagne toast and bouquet toss inside the club. The USO Troupe of Metropolitan New York will also perform a musical tribute to the couple following the ceremony, honoring the young couple as...

Ever since President George W. Bush nominated John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court, legal analysts have said that the 50-year-old jurist is an exceptional lawyer, and clearly he is. Only the most skilled of attorneys could so deftly say so little in such a great expanse of time. But don't fault Roberts for the evasions in his confirmation hearings. He's merely playing by the established rules of America's dysfunctional, overly politicized judicial confirmation process. It's a process for which Roe v. Wade bears much of the blame. On the question of that 1973 Supreme Court ruling, which came up...

Enviro-Elitist Poses As Gas-Pump Populist By Jeffrey, Terence P Sen. Biliary Clinton (D.-N.Y.) sometimes talks as if she wants oil and gas to be cheap and abundant, but she never stops working to make them expensive and scarce. But there's a key to predicting when she will start gushing about America's need for inexpensive fossil fuels. Call it Hillary's hurricane rule: When a storm interrupts oil and gas supplies from the Gulf Coast, she becomes an instant gas-pump populist. Flash back to Sept. 28, 2004. A headline in that day's New York Times read: "Oil Nears $50 As Gulf Storms...

ABU GHRAIB, Iraq (Army News Service, Aug. 18, 2005) – Soldiers in Abu Ghraib district clean up a local soccer field for the children in their sector July 29. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, attached to the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted the humanitarian effort. “It’s really sad when you see kids walk around barefoot playing soccer in a trash-filled lot,” said Spc. Jake Butler of 2/130th Infantry. Armed with two trailers, shovels, rakes, and trash bags, the Solders of 2/130th Infantry began the task of clearing years of neglect from the small lot. Many...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal authorities arrested 582 alleged gang members over a two-week period, officials said Monday, targeting an estimated 80 violent groups they say have spawned street crimes across the country. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the gangs "a threat to our homeland security and ... a very urgent law enforcement priority." Investigators picked up most of the offenders between July 16 and July 28 on immigration violations for being in the United States illegally. Seventy-six face criminal charges, ranging from illegal possession of a firearm to holding fraudulent documents. "For too long, these gangs have gone unchecked...

Archaeologists make major discovery... underwater When most people think about Mayan archaeology they imagine excavations in royal tombs or trenches cut into tree covered mounds. Few of us would expect that a significant find could be made underwater... particularly in a swamp. But Belizean archaeology is a many-faceted field, as the presentations at this year's Archaeology Symposium, now underway in San Ignacio, amply reveal. Among the updates to last year's reports is a startling discovery made by a team from Louisiana State University. It is a find unlike any in all of the Meso-American world, and it was made right...

HELENA, Mont. (AP) - A new policy requires state troopers to stop at least one vehicle an hour, but the driver need not be ticketed, and the chief said the rule steers clear of an anti-quota law. Col. Paul Grimstad said the rule, which took effect Monday, is intended to reduce traffic accidents and drunken driving. Montana had the highest number of alcohol-related deaths per miles traveled in a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report released in December 2003. Officers and sergeants now average 0.88 stops an hour while patrolling highways, Grimstad said. A state law passed this year bars...

WASHINGTON - Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was the Supreme Court's most frequent flier in 2004, taking 28 paid trips to England, Austria and other places, financial reports show. The annual disclosures on Friday painted a picture of a well-heeled group on the nation's highest court, with at least six of the nine justices holding more than $1 million in assets: O'Connor, Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter and John Paul Stevens. None of the justices reported receiving gifts, although three of them - Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy - received more than $20,000 in...

WASHINGTON - Treasury Secretary John Snow on Sunday would not rule out the idea of Irish singer Bono, an activist on debt relief and AIDS, making the short list of potential candidates to lead the World Bank even though an American is expected to get the job. "He's somebody I admire. He does a lot of good in this world of economic development," Snow said. "Most people know him as a rock star. He's in a way a rock star of the development world, too. He understands the give-and-take of development. He's a very pragmatic, effective and idealistic person," Snow...

Ethiopia Archaeologists Make Important Fossil Find Sat Mar 5, 2005 12:03 PM GMT ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Archaeologists studying human origins in eastern Ethiopia have discovered 12 fossils that appear to be older than the famous fossil "Lucy," the team leader said on Saturday. "The discovery of 12 early hominid fossÿil specimens estimated to be between 3.8 to 4 million years old will be important in terms of understanding the early phases of human evolution before Lucy," Ethiopian archeologist Yohannes Haile Selassie told a news conference. "It is hoped that the new discoveries will allow scientists to connect the dots,...

2 county officials make shift to GOP By Kurt Allen/Assistant Managing Editor When Robyn Flowers and Barbara Hale were trying to find their place in the world of politics, it was almost a given it would be the Democratic Party. Growing up in the South, Democrats ruled the region, and there was little thought given to being Republican. "I think probably, like most people my age, if you were born and raised in Texas, you've been a Democrat because that's what your family did," said Hale, Walker County's court-at-law judge. How the times do change. Now the South, and Texas...

Editor's note: Readers may also be interested in New Jersey: An Islamic Murder of Coptic Christians?.Anyone following the investigation into the mid-January slaughter of the Armanious family (husband, wife, two young daughters), Copts living in Jersey City, N.J., knows who the presumptive suspects are: Islamists furious at a Christian Egyptian immigrant who dares engage in Internet polemics against Islam and who attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity.The authorities, however, have blinded themselves to the extensive circumstantial evidence, insisting that "no facts at this point" substantiate a religious motive for the murders.Somehow, the prosecutor missed that all four members of this...

"A suggestion of knitting a representation of her uterus from a popular pattern was suggested, and a campaign for Women's Rights was born!"

There will never be a better time to make the tax cuts permanent than now.Vice President Dick Cheney opened the White House economic confab yesterday with a call to make the 2003 tax cuts permanent, and a good thing too. He and President Bush need to shore up some wobbly Republicans on Capitol Hill and inside their own Administration.GOP bigfeet have been debating their priorities for the New Year, and some want to delay any tax-cut vote until they can fold it into a broader "tax reform" plan. That would mean the autumn of 2005 at the earliest, and perhaps...