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CHICAGO, Sept. 26, 2006 -- The Army and the Marine Corps’ top enlisted leaders took part in a poignant Gold Star Mothers Day ceremony at Chicago’s Navy Pier on Sept. 24. Gold Star Mother Sandra Miller fights back tears after placing a yellow rose at the base of the Marine Corps flag. Photo by Master Sgt. Gerrold Johnson, USA  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston and Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps John L. Estrada read the names of 23 servicemembers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the global war...

America Supports You: Patriotic Pillows Offer Comfort to Wounded TroopsBy Ashleigh CovingtonAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, August 4, 2006 – Passion for sewing and a desire to show support for the military combined to inspire a Chicago woman to launch an effort she calls the “Patriotic Pillow Project.” “The pillow project came out of my love for sewing, which my mother taught me and I taught my daughter,” Christina Finn said. “I just wanted to reach these individual servicemembers one at a time to say thank you and to empower a nation to participate the same way.” The Patriotic...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Eleven Sunni insurgent groups have offered to halt attacks on the U.S.-led military if the Iraqi government and President Bush set a two-year timetable for withdrawing all foreign troops from the country, insurgent and government officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The demand is part of a broad offer from the groups, who operate north of Baghdad in the heavily Sunni Arab provinces of Salahuddin and Diyala. Although much of the fighting has been to the west, those provinces have become increasingly violent and the attacks there have regularly crippled oil and commerce routes. The groups...

THE American secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has offered to sit down in person with Iranian officials if it will help Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment work. Holding out the prospect of the highest level face-to-face contact since the 1979 Islamic revolution which overthrew the Shah, she said: “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the ministers meet at some point.” Charles Kupchan, an expert on Iran at the Council on Foreign Relations, said: “It’s a big deal for the secretary of state to say we’ll talk to you. There has been a big changing of the guard in...

Italy's most famous porn star Cicciolina has offered herself to Osama Bin Laden. The 55-year-old actress said it was about time somebody tackled the terrorist and claimed she could be just the woman for the job. Speaking at an erotic fair in Bucharest, Romania, Cicciolina said: "It is time someone did something about Bin Laden, and I am ready to do it. "I am ready to make a deal, he can have me in exchange for an end to his tyranny. My breasts have only ever helped people while Bin Laden has killed thousands of innocent victims." The blonde porn...

Bill Would Make Every Md. Business Offer Health CareMar 16th - 9:01am By NICHOLAS SOHR Capital News Service ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Conjuring up images of the fierce, partisan fight over the Wal-Mart bill that raged in the opening days of this year's General Assembly session, a Prince George's County lawmaker has introduced legislation that would require every business in the state to provide employee health care. The bill, sponsored by Delegate James W. Hubbard, D-Prince George's, would force businesses with fewer than 10,000 employees to put at least 4.5 percent of their payrolls toward health benefits for their workers, or...

Pentagon papers offer insight into al-Qa'eda's hidden world of terror By Anton La Guardia (Filed: 22/02/2006) It could be any employment contract setting out salary, paid holidays, home leave and grievance procedures - except in this case the employer is al-Qa'eda and the recruit's job is "carrying out jihad". By signing the contract, the recruit commits himself to al-Qa'eda's objectives: "Support God's religion, establishment of Islamic rule, and restoration of the Islamic Caliphate, God willing." Osama bin Laden with Ayman al- Zawahiri, leaders of al-Qa'eda An al-Qa'eda "mujahed brother" is paid a monthly wage of 1,000 Pakistani rupees (about £10...

Zimbabwe muddle at offer to white farmers By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 11/02/2006) The fate of Zimbabwe's dispossessed white farmers was uncertain yesterday after the regime publicly contradicted private assurances that some landowners would be allowed back to their properties. Ministers close to President Robert Mugabe are considering a partial reversal of the land grab. Assurances have been given that some farmers will be allowed to lease back their holdings. After this was disclosed in The Daily Telegraph, Didymus Mutasa, the security minister also responsible for land reform, denied any U-turn. "We are not going to change our land...

Farmers wary of Mugabe land offer By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 10/02/2006) By the time Vernon Nicolle lost his farm in Zimbabwe to a High Court judge, all his equipment had been looted and an irrigation system for 4,000 acres lay in ruins. His fertile fields were reduced to neglected wastelands. The disclosure that president Robert Mugabe's regime will give some dispossessed white farmers back their land fills him with suspicion and incredulity. "I had a gem in Zimbabwe, a real gem, and it's all been vandalised," Mr Nicolle said. "I find it very difficult to even consider going...

Kenyans are 'insulted' by dog food offer By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi (Filed: 01/02/2006) A New Zealand businesswoman has provoked outrage in Kenya by promising to ship 42 tons of dog food mix to feed starving children. "It is immoral. It is unacceptable," said John Munyes, Kenya's special programmes minister, who is co-ordinating the response to the drought that has put up to four million people at risk of starvation. He added: "I am offended. It is demeaning." Christine Drummond, a pet-food manufacturer, said she planned to send Kenya 6,000 emergency packs of Mighty Mix dog biscuit containing freeze-dried pork,...

MILLINGTON, Tenn., Jan. 24, 2006 - Through a Department of Defense (DoD) initiative, children of active-duty and Reserve Sailors and Marines can receive free memberships to their local Boys and Girls Club of America (BGCA), effective immediately. “These free memberships allow our Sailors to stay focused on the Navy’s mission because they know their children are in good hands while they’re away from home,” said Larrie Jarvis, Child and Youth Programs analyst for Commander, Navy Installations Command. “We are very fortunate to have this partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.” According to Jarvis, every Navy youth center...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2006 – Military members and their families can now file their taxes for free, thanks to a partnership between a group that helps military people deal with financial issues and a civilian financial services company. "Military OneSource" has partnered up with Intuit, a financial services company, to provide the TurboTax basic product for federal and state returns at no cost. Military members can download this program and also benefit from tax consultations and have access to appropriate resources. The Military OneSource Web site will provide annual upgrades to the TurboTax software at no cost. "This tax consultant...

Let’s Call It a Draw Osama’s generous offer. He’s still got it! With the release of his latest audiotape, Osama bin Laden took complete control of the news cycle. He was the top story on every news channel, front-page headline in print. His words seized the world’s attention, and demonstrated that the public fascination with him remains his greatest power. His terrorist armies are scattered, his state sponsors overthrown, his safe havens reduced to a slowly diminishing cluster of temporary sanctuaries on the Afghan-Pakistan frontier. But with ten minutes of rambling into a tape recorder he can take over the...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2005 – A human rights specialist from Europe has accepted the U. S. offer to visit the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba, a senior Defense Department official said here today. Anne-Marie Lizin, a Belgian politician and a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, will be able to tour the facility and ask questions of its command and staff, but she'll not be permitted to visit with detainees, DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. "She'll have access similarly to what you guys have when you go down there and observe...

US offer would allow Teheran to enrich uranium in Russia By Philip Sherwell in New York (Filed: 20/11/2005) President George W Bush has backed a plan to allow Iran to enrich uranium in Russia. The sudden change in tactics over Teheran's controversial nuclear programme has angered hawks in Washington and surprised European diplomats. Mr Bush, who met President Vladimir Putin at a Pacific Rim summit on Friday, told him he would support Moscow's plan to offer Iran the chance to conduct nuclear enrichment at facilities in Russia. The US was previously against any deal that would allow Iran to enrich...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2005 – Combat veterans dealing with readjustment issues as they return home have a place to turn, thanks to a Department of Veterans Affairs initiative. The Vet Center program provides returning veterans with someone to talk to who can relate to their experiences. Former Army Cpl. Rafiq Raza of Orlando, Fla., is one of about 100 "global war on terror outreach technicians" working for the Vet Center program. Like his colleagues, he is a combat veteran, which gives him an edge in his job, he said. Raza said his two tours in Afghanistan as an intelligence analyst...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2005 – Two of the nation's largest home-improvement retailers are recognizing Veterans Day by offering discounts for military personnel. The Home Depot and Lowe's companies both are offering a 10 percent discount for all active-duty military, reservists, retirees and their families Nov. 10 to 13. At Home Depot stores, the offer is good on purchases of up to $2,000, for a maximum discount of $200. The offer applies to purchases at Home Depot stores, Home Depot Floor Stores, Home Depot Landscape Supply stores and Expo Design Center locations. "This Veterans Day, our nation will honor the brave...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 19, 2005 – The Defense Commissary Agency and the Fisher House Foundation have teamed up again to offer educational scholarships to children of military families and retirees. The Scholarships for Military Children Program is marking its sixth year, DeCA spokesman Kevin Robinson said. The goal, he said, is to provide at least one $1,500 scholarship for each of DeCA's 268 commissaries worldwide. "It's important for us to give back to the military community that we serve," Robinson said. "This is one of the ways we do that, in addition to providing a commissary benefit to our customers." He...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2005 – Defense officials vowed this week to keep DoD civilian employees affected by Hurricane Katrina as up-to-date as possible on benefits and other entitlements and to help these employees continue to contribute to the department's mission. "Our DoD civilian employees are a valuable resource and an essential part of our total force structure," Marilee Fitzgerald, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for civilian personnel policy, wrote in a Sept. 3 memo to department employees. "As we move forward to restore operations interrupted by the storm and its aftermath, we must do all that we can to assist...

TEHRAN - Iran's oil ministry on Wednesday fiercely denied reports it had offered oil to the United States as aid for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, asserting that US policies and sanctions made such a gesture impossible. "Moves by the United States to establish economic sanctions and other pressure against the Islamic Republic of Iran are the main barriers to Iranian aid," said Iran's envoy to the oil cartel OPEC, Hossein Kazempour-Ardebili. "If the US removes these sanctions, the barriers will be removed too. If US economic sanctions against Iran did not exist, and if there were no barrier for...