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3/20/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The Air Force deputy chief of chaplains traveled to Southwest Asia in March to meet Airmen and to speak at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing's annual National Prayer Breakfast. Chaplain (Brig. Gen.) Cecil R. Richardson was the guest speaker during the breakfast, delivering a message on the United States national motto: 'In God we trust.' The National Prayer Breakfast is "an opportunity for Americans to demonstrate what it means when our Constitution says we can freely exercise our faith," said the chaplain, who assists the Air Force chief of chaplains in overseeing a corps...

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden will be issuing a new message timed to the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a militant Web site with close connections to the group said Wednesday. "Urgent, very soon by the will of God," read the announcement of the new message "the response is what you see and not what you hear, by the warrior sheik, Osama bin Laden." Iraq marked the fifth anniversary of the war on Wednesday. The announcement was text only and showed no pictures of the elusive militant leader. The message would be bin Laden's...

NEW YORK (AP) - New York City police say a father whose daughter's burned body was found stuffed in the boiler of his apartment building killed the girl because he was upset with her for text-messaging a boy. Police say 34-year-old Miguel Matias (muh-TY'-uhs) called 911 yesterday morning and claimed he strangled the 14-year-old the night before and dumped her body in the woods. Police aren't sure whether the girl was dead before she was stuffed into the boiler. The medical examiner's office is trying to determine the cause of death. Matias is separated from the girl's mother but had...

It didn't take long for Egypt to get the message. After Israeli ministers openly talked about transferring responsibility for Gaza's energy and humanitarian needs to Cairo for not closing the blown-up Rafah border, Egypt responded today by forcing the border closed. They put up barbed wire and shot water cannons at Gazans who attempted to defy the closure: Egypt began closing its breached border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Friday, using barbed wire and water cannons to keep Palestinians from crossing into Egypt in defiance of an Israeli blockade. Israeli air strikes overnight killed four Palestinian militants in the...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2008 – When Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ralph Chavez volunteered for a deployment to Afghanistan, he didn’t really know what he was getting himself into. It ended up being one of the best experiences of his military career. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Ralph Chavez. Defense Department Photo.  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Chavez, a yeoman, or administrative specialist, decided to volunteer for an individual augmentation deployment in 2006 while stationed in California. He said it was important for him to volunteer because he knew soldiers and Marines who were on their second or...

FORT HUACHUCA — For Alyzia and Keyana White, the upcoming holidays will be sad. Their father, Army Staff Sgt. William White, is in Iraq. The two girls have only heard their dad’s voice once since he left in August. But on Thursday, the two cut a disc to be sent to their air traffic controller dad, and he will not only be able to hear them but see them, too. The Southern Arizona Chapter of American Red Cross project, supported by Raytheon and radio station 104.1 The Truth, recorded family messages as part of Operation Message. Amanda Thomas, spokeswoman for...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2007 – Serving in the military was something Jose Munoz always wanted to do, but it wasn’t until after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that he was spurred to enlist and fulfill that dream. Army Sgt. Jose Munoz is telling the military’s story to the American people at community and business events, veterans organizations and other gatherings as part of the Defense Department’s “Why We Serve” public outreach program. Defense Department photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Munoz, now a sergeant with five and a half years in the Army, said a lack of...

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Message in the Stones Why transport 82 two-tonne megaliths across more than 250 miles of mountain, river and sea to build a stone circle at Stonehenge? This is one of the greatest mysteries of Britain’s best-known, but least understood, prehistoric monument. Now Tim Darvill thinks he has the answer: the famous bluestones had healing powers, and the builders of Stonehenge were creating a prehistoric Lourdes. The latest issue of CA tells all. Despite centuries of study, we seem no nearer to answering such basic questions as what is Stonehenge, who built it and why. The publication in 1965 of Stonehenge...

A CONVENT in southern Italy is being shut down after a quarrel among its last three remaining nuns ended in blows. Sisters Annamaria and Gianbattista, reportedly upset about their mother superior's authoritarian ways, scratched her in the face and threw her to the ground at Santa Clara convent near Bari in an incident in July that was kept quiet until now. Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri tried to reconcile the nuns but finally decided in late August that they had "clearly lost their religious vocation'' and asked the Vatican for permission to close the convent. Sisters Annamaria and Gianbattista moved to...

Early yesterday morning, a South Carolina Web designer who works at home managed to scoop al-Qaeda by publicly unveiling its new video, a feat she has accomplished numerous times since 2002. Within hours, cable news stations were broadcasting images of Osama bin Laden commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and crediting the 50-year-old woman, who uses the pseudonym Laura Mansfield. The bin Laden video that surfaced Friday was promoted on several Islamic Web sites in messages posted by al-Sahab, a group that produces some of al-Qaeda's propaganda videos. U.S. officials now believe the video was intended for release on...

A central factor in how Ronald Reagan won the Cold War, and did so with greater support along the way than the current president, was his ability to find means to undermine the enemy without losing thousands of American lives. An intriguing example, one that has eluded history, is the Farewell Dossier. This top-secret effort was part of the devastating strategy of economic warfare pursued by Reagan and a handful of intimate advisers—a strategy so sensitive that those involved publicly denied that a campaign was underway. A central architect of that effort, National Security Adviser Bill Clark, was confronted on...

North Korea deal 'a message to Iran' By Richard Spencer in Beijing and Toby Harnden in Washington Last Updated: 9:00pm GMT 13/02/2007 Audio: Alex Spillius on America's compromise Video: Con Coughlin on a groundbreaking deal Analysis: US frees itself to pursue other wars Q & A: North Korea's nuclear ambitions In pictures: North Korea's nuclear quest Sanctions to halt Iran's nuclear programme will fail America has described a dramatic deal aimed at reining in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as a “message to Iran” that the world would stand firm against atomic proliferation. After marathon six-party talks in Beijing saw an...

Veil-wearing Muslim woman backs out of Channel 4 alternative to Queen's message By Richard Alleyne Last Updated: 1:41am GMT 16/12/2006 A muslim woman who was due to deliver Channel 4's alternative Christmas message wearing a full veil backed out yesterday after criticism from inside and outside her community. Khadija Ravat has worn the full veil since she got married Earlier this month, Khadija Ravat agreed to front the six-minute slot that is broadcast as the Queen delivers her own thoughts on Christmas Day. She said she wanted to argue that women should have the right to cover their faces if...

I am looking for a site (fee-based is fine) that will allow me to set up a message board with lots of features such as that provided on FR (threading, password protection, private messaging, etc) with the whole site also being password protected (no lurking w/o password). I realize I could host this on my own site but frankly I don't have the time but I am willing to pay say the $10/month you see on http://www.bulletinboards.com/ I also don't want to deal with popups/ads etc. This is intended to be a simple no nonsense site. This site appears to...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2006 -- Amid the thousands of walkers at the Pentagon yesterday commemorating the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, and the nation’s past and present veterans, was a group that looks to help those veterans in a very tangible way. The American Legion’s “Heroes to Hometown” program, which was represented at the end of yesterday’s America Supports You Freedom Walk, is a group that works to provide a seamless transfer for severely injured veterans from the hospital to their hometowns. “We wanted to be a part of this, of course,” David L. Marsh, assistant director of...

State Sen. Tom McClintock still wants the governor's job, he admitted Thursday, but there's already a well-known Republican in line for that seat. For now, McClintock hopes Californians will choose him for the No. 2 job and confirm his belief that the state is at a "crisis or turning point." As long as voters are paying attention to the state's spending problems and education and infrastructure woes, he thinks they'll see things his way and pick him as lieutenant governor. "I believe this election will determine whether the recall of 2003 was a passing fluke," he said during an editorial...

Why the West should never kowtow to al Qaeda's demands on Darfur.IN HIS MOST RECENT audio taped message, Osama bin Laden succinctly restated his rationale for international terrorism. This is worth understanding for several reasons, not the least of which being that it provides a much-needed refutation to the often-stated argument that al Qaeda and its supporters are driven and strengthened only by the actions of the United States in general and, more narrowly speaking, the Bush administration. As bin Laden makes clear, his grievances are by no means limited to the U.S.-led invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan or the...

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2006 – A case in which several sailors face charges for arranging sham marriages to foreign women to boost their military housing allowances sends an important message to all servicemembers, a Navy lawyer told the Pentagon Channel. "You're putting in a claim for money that you are not entitled to, and that is a crime. And if you commit a crime, you can expect to be held accountable for it," said Capt. Jennifer Herold, the Navy's deputy assistant judge advocate general for criminal law policy. "This is something that each of the services take very seriously." On...

March 19, 2006 – Outside of my office in Washington, D.C., sits a small American flag, one of many distributed by a local Boy Scout troop to many of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who serve our country. The flag is accompanied by a note that reads: "Here is a flag for your pocket, so you can always carry a little bit of home. We are praying for you and are proud of you. Thank you for defending our country and freedom." That small flag is a reminder that so many Americans -- even the young -- recognize the...