Free Republic

Around 1980 my Dad showed me a book someone gave him as a crank gift, its title was 'Everything I know about Women' and every page was blank. I had to laugh because it was so true for me also. I know nothing about 'them' although a few have come into the sphere of my life here and there during my journey into the unknown. My POV is from the place of a 52 never married bach. The torment I suffered at the hands of Women is way to intiimate for this forum, but for some reason I still love...

Nutritional "Boost" Making Westerners Taller, Healthier, Expert Says Erica Lloyd for National Geographic News October 2, 2006 It's no secret that in the past few centuries people in Western nations have been getting taller and living longer. But now experts say that today's Westerners are the product of an accelerated spate of growth that is unique in human history. People in the developed world are taller and more robust than their great, great, great grandparents probably ever imagined. Robert Fogel, director of the Center for Population Economics at the University of Chicago, notes that Westerners are about 50 percent larger...

This year it was the Toll Road lease. Next year when lawmakers return to the Indiana Statehouse, the hot topic will be full-day kindergarten. Governor Mitch Daniels is making it one of his top priorities, and now we know how much statewide all day kindergarten would cost. Daniels has several plans to get it going across the state. One would make it available for the next school year in 2007-2008. The state budget office estimates it would cost about $166 million the first year. The second year would cost about $210 million. The other plans would phase in all-day kindergarten...

In an editorial meeting this morning with the Sacramento Bee, Gov. Schwarzenegger explained the way he has changed his approach to working with the Legislature from last year to this year: “I’m much more inclusive. Last year was one of those situations where…it was the approach that was wrong. To go out in the state of the state (speech) and say, ‘Hey, you do this in the next two months and if you don’t, I go to the people,’ I think that was too harsh. It makes everybody feel defensive: If that’s his approach I’m not going to help him....

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – Coalition training teams with Iraqi military units, police battalions and border guard units are making a tremendous difference in the performance and professionalism of the Iraqi security forces, said the commander of the Iraq Assistance Group today. Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard told the Pentagon press corps in a video teleconference from Iraq that Iraqi forces are well-equipped, but they do need help in sustainment. Pittard confirmed that 100 members of an Iraqi battalion had refused to redeploy to Baghdad. The soldiers were part of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 10th Iraqi Army Division, in...

Bird flu viruses diversifying, making vaccine target harder to pick: WHO 19:23:04 EDT Aug 18, 2006 Canadian Press: HELEN BRANSWELL, The Canadian Press (CP) - The World Health Organization urged influenza vaccine makers Friday to use newer strains of virus when making vaccine to protect against H5N1 avian flu, saying the evolution of the microbe has led to increased variety in circulating strains. While the diversity creates challenges for vaccine manufacturers - and potentially additional costs for the governments paying them to make and test vaccine against H5N1 - it does not mean the worrisome virus has moved closer to...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2006 – About 92 percent of Iraq’s 188,000 Ministry of Interior forces now are trained and equipped, and all Iraqi National Police soon will receive new official uniforms, the commander of the Civilian Police Assistance Training Team told Baghdad reporters today. Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Peterson reported major strides in preparing Iraq’s police elements for their security mission. Among Iraqi police, the largest group of Interior Ministry forces, about 90 percent are trained and 83 percent equipped, he reported. Those operating in nine key Iraqi cities U.S. forces have been working with are about 99 percent equipped....

New Evidence Suggests Longer Paper Making History in China A 2,000-year-old piece of paper inscribed with legible handwriting has been found in Gansu Province, suggesting that China's paper-making and handwriting history are older than previously thought. The 10 square centimeter piece of paper, made from linen fibers, was found during restoration of an ancient garrison near the Yumen Pass at Dunhuang in northwest China. The garrison was in use during the Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-25 A.D.), a report in the Beijing-based Guangming Daily said. "The paper was made in 8 B.C., more than 100 years before the birth of...

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2006 – Afghan security forces are making tremendous strides, but challenges remain, the lead U.S. trainer for the force said today. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, commander of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, speaks to Pentagon reporters July 13. Photo by Helene C. Stikkel.   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Durbin, commander of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, said numbers for both the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police are on track. Equipment is flowing to the entities, and efforts are in place to "professionalize" both forces, the general...

Making sacrifices in Stone Age societies Bruce Bower From San Juan, Puerto Rico, at the Paleoanthropology Society and Society for American Archaeology meeting Double and triple burials at 23,000-to-27,000-year-old sites in Europe and western Asia suggest prehistoric human sacrifices, says Vincenzo Formicola of the University of Pisa in Italy. Of 30 known burials from that time period and area, 6 held more than one person. These graves contain two or three children, adolescents, or young adults apparently buried at the same time, positioned in curious ways, and accompanied by unusually valuable objects, Formicola says. Most of the multiple burials include...

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2006 – The Defense Department has been working hard with Congress for the past several months and has reached some conclusions about how the fee system for military health care should be changed, a top DoD official said here yesterday. "It's universally agreed that there is a serious issue, a serious problem, with the growing health care costs within the Department of Defense, and the potential adverse impact that that might have to sustain our great health benefit," Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in an interview. DoD has had a...

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2006 – Training Iraqi police forces is the most important job in Iraq today, but it is also the most difficult, a senior military police officer involved in that training said today. "Our goal in theater is to have 135,000 trained and resourced Iraqi police officers working on the streets within the 18 provinces by the end of the year," Army Col. Rod Barham, commander of 49th Military Police Brigade, said from Baghdad in a satellite news conference with reporters in the Pentagon. The 49th, a California National Guard unit, is responsible for training police at the...

Hamas risks Israeli action by making 'rocket man' security chief By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem (Filed: 21/04/2006) Hamas defied the international community and risked provoking a violent response from Israel yesterday when it appointed a notorious militant as Palestinian security chief. Jamal Abu Samhadana, who is responsible for a continuing wave of rocket attacks on Israel, will occupy a new position overseeing the dozen or so police forces and security services operating in the Palestinian territories. The Islamic organisation stated its determination to bring order to "end the security chaos", but it is hard to imagine a move more inflammatory...

CAMP AL ASAD, Iraq (March 15, 2006) -- Iraqi soldiers are right on schedule with training requirements that will allow them to eventually relieve U.S. military forces in western Al Anbar Province, according to Marine officials here. Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 7th Iraqi Army Division - one of two Iraqi Army brigades in western Al Anbar Province - have spent months now learning the administrative and decision-making processes they’ll need to function as a military headquarters element to the three Iraqi infantry battalions which will eventually be under their charge. Partnered with a Military Transition Team - groups of...

3/3/2006 - WESTHAMPTON BEACH, N.Y. (AFPN) -- Amid the quiet picturesque towns sprinkled across Long Island, N.Y., are more than 800 Airmen who are a part of history. They are the men and women of the 106th Rescue Wing -- a unit that battled the “Perfect Storm,” witnessed the TWA Flight 800 disaster, supported response efforts after the Challenger explosion and saved countless lives in and out of combat. It is also the oldest Air National Guard unit in America. And with each passing day, these guardsmen remain flexible to meet the needs of any mission. “What is really amazing...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2006) -- The patrol almost screams to a stop, with humvees speeding past the targeted vehicle only to turn suddenly and cordon off the traffic while Marines and Iraqi soldiers quickly climb out and secure the area. While the selected vehicle is rapidly emptied and searched thoroughly, another squad searches the occupants for anything that might link them to the insurgency and asks them if they have information that could prove helpful. It’s called a snap vehicle checkpoint and it has become a successful deterrent against an enemy that blends into the local populace and...

GREEN VALLEY — Speaking in Green Valley Thursday, Maj. Gen. Barbara Fast, commander of the U.S. Army’s intelligence center at Fort Huachuca., said that troops on the ground in Iraq “believe they are making a difference.” Members of the Iraqi security forces are due to arrive at Fort Huachuca for training in late February, she said. Fast served for a year in Iraq, most notably as senior intelligence officer for the coalition ground forces. The major general spoke during a lunch meeting of the Green Valley Lion’s Club to a crowd, the majority of which had served in the military....

Iran plant 'has restarted its nuclear bomb-making equipment' By Con Coughlin, Defence and Security Editor, in Washington (Filed: 11/02/2006) Iran's controversial Natanz uranium processing plant has successfully restarted the sophisticated equipment that could enable it to produce material for nuclear warheads, according to reports received by Western intelligence. An aerial view of the Natanz plant In the past few days Iranian nuclear scientists have reportedly restarted four of the centrifuges required to produce weapons-grade uranium, and have begun feeding them with uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas, a key component in the production of nuclear bombs. This crucial development follows Iran's decision...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Jan. 18, 2006) -- Marines assigned to the 6th Civil Affairs Group, 2nd Marine Division, prove there is another side of the story to tell as they continue to carry out their missions to provide guidance within Al Anbar province, the largest province in Iraq. “The stories that we don’t hear enough about – the good news stories about making lives better and a nation stronger – that’s what the civil affairs Marines do every day in Iraq,” said Col. Paul Brier, commanding officer, 6th CAG. The group arrived in September to help rebuild the infrastructure and...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – A program designed to help wounded veterans find meaningful civilian jobs is paying off by enabling some to use their military expertise to ensure their former comrades are getting the quality weaponry they need in combat. Since becoming a partner in the Defense Department's "Hire a Hero" program last summer, the Defense Contract Management Agency has hired five permanent employees as well as two volunteers who lend their talents while undergoing rehabilitation, Nancy Adams, the agency's program director, told the American Forces Press Service. DoD established the program last December to encourage agencies to develop...