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While the decency wars continue to rage in Washington, the MPAAMPAA has okayed the most profane PG-13 pic ever. Palm PicturesPalm Pictures won its appeal Thursday of the original R rating given to Iraq war docudocu "Gunner Palace." Pic is the Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein-helmed docu following U.S. soldiers living in a bombed-out palace formerly owned by Saddam Hussein's son Uday. "Palace" was picked up by Palm last year at the Toronto Film Festival via the Submarine and Cinetic MediaCinetic Media sales banners. "Palace" contains no gory footage, but the docu does contain numerous instances of soldiers cursing, including...

WE HAVE TWO CANDIDATES WHO BOTH WANT TO BE PRESIDENT.  I HAVE THE PERFECT SOLUTION.  MR BUSH HAS BEEN PRESIDENT FOR FOUR YEARS, SO LET'S RE-ELECT HIM AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIS EXPERIENCE AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF.

President Bush to visit The Palace on Wednesday 10/22/2004, 12:19 p.m. ET The Associated Press AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — President Bush will hold a rally at The Palace on Wednesday evening, campaign spokesman John Truscott said Friday. The campaign hopes to begin handing out 15,000 tickets on Saturday for the event at the Auburn Hills home of the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons. The visit will be the first of several the Republican president plans to make in the final week of the campaign. "There will be other stops in Michigan before election day, but we don't have those...

Donated Tackle Helps Troops Fish at Saddam's Private Lake By Spc. Andy Miller, USASpecial to American Forces Press Service BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 29, 2004 -- The large man-made lake between Camp al-Tahreer and Camp al-Nasr here was once stocked with fish as part of Saddam Hussein's private hunting reservation, and has since become one of the largest overseas American military bases built since the Vietnam War. Army 1st Lt. Kevin Black (left), executive officer for 1st Cavalry Division's headquarters company, shows off a fish he caught at Camp al-Tahreer in Baghdad, Iraq, with Capt. Sean Tyson, headquarters company commander....

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Sept. 18 - Nine months after American troops pulled him disheveled and disoriented from an underground bunker near his hometown, Tikrit, Saddam Hussein is living in an air-conditioned 10-by-13 foot cell on the grounds of one of his former palaces outside Baghdad, tending plants, proclaiming himself Iraq's lawful ruler, and reading the Koran and books about past Arab glory. American and Iraqi officials who have visited the former Iraqi leader say he wears plastic sandals and an Arab dishdasha robe, eats American soldiers' ready-to-eat meals for breakfast, and is permitted three hours' daily exercise in a courtyard outside...

St. Poelten. Public prosecutors have reopened investigations into the mysterious death of a trainee priest from the seminary in St. Poelten at the heart of a recent child porn scandal. The body of 53-year-old Ewald S. was recovered from the Old Danube lake in Vienna in October 2003. The dead man was a former student from the seminary in St. Poelten but at the time police excluded possible foul play and closed the file as a suicide case. The head of the seminary at the time Ulrich Kuechl spoke of an “accident.” The case was reopened in February as a...

Earliest palace city discovered in Henan www.chinaview.cn 2004-07-25 09:57:20 The undated file photo shows part of the Erlitou site in Yanshi, central China's Henan Province. Archaeologists said that the palace city discovered last spring at the Erlitou site may be the earliest palace city ever discovered in China. (Xinhua Photo)> The undated file photo shows part of the Erlitou site in Yanshi, central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua Photo) The undated file photo shows relics unearthed from the Erlitou site in Yanshi, central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua Photo) ZHENGZHOU, July 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Archaeologists said that the palace city discovered last...

Australian troops in Baghdad spend their nights sleeping in a lavish and opulent shag palace. Well, that's what the soldiers say - and it may be true. The vast Presidential Palace North, now christened Camp Victory, features hundreds of ornate buildings with Aussie troops locating their headquarters and accommodation in buildings on the edge of a huge artificial lake. "You know what this used to be?" mused one soldier relaxing in the early evening outside what's called the round house. He's delighted to explain. The story goes that the round house was used for love trysts by Uday Hussein, the...

Priceless Picture: U.S. Troop in Iraq ... fishing

Curmudgeon Emeritus -- Francis W. Porretto March 18, 2004 "Those who have not swords may still die upon them." -- Eowyn of Rohan, in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings. They can do more, much more. And some of them do. Now and then, your Curmudgeon frets over his contribution to the security of the nation. A 52-year-old man isn't normally expected to take up arms and cross the seas to do battle with evil, regardless of the Left's repeated cries of "chickenhawk!" at those of us who have counseled all-out war but would not have to...

US troops demolish Saddam’s palaces Baghdad, Iraq Press, February 28, 2004 – US occupation forces have hired Iraqi contractors to level down at least ten magnificent mansions the ousted leader Saddam Hussein had built for his family. The villas, though not among the main presidential palaces Saddam built for himself, are unique in their architectural design. Experts say their demolition, expected to start soon, will be a great loss both from the artistic and financial point of view. Even the Iraqi contractors who won lucrative deals to bring the palaces down are said to be reluctant to go ahead. The...

<p>TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- There's a 24-hour gym with aerobic classes, an indoor swimming pool and even a driving range. And for troops who over exert themselves, a masseur is on hand to soothe aching muscles.</p> <p>U.S. soldiers stationed at a riverside palace complex here that once belonged to Saddam Hussein face constant danger from Iraqi insurgents whenever they leave the base.</p>

BAGHDAD, Iraq - On the grounds of Saddam Hussein's former presidential palace, near an ornamental pond and fountain, a few dozen Iraqi workers are engaged in one of the most crucial military undertakings in the country: putting armor on U.S. Army Humvees. Banging, sanding, welding and painting, laborers who earn $6 daily are creating from steel a lifesaving skin for American soldiers traveling in a dangerous country. The workers returned to the U.S. occupation headquarters less than a week after 16 of them were injured and one of their colleagues was killed in a Jan. 18 car bombing in front...

TIKRIT, Iraq -- The Super Bowl parties for U.S. troops in Iraq will start hours before dawn, and there won't be any beer. But at least in Tikrit, soldiers have a lavish venue: They'll be watching a cinema-sized screen in a former palace of Saddam Hussein. At bases across Iraq, the 130,000 American troops will be able to catch the game between the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots live (starting at 2:25 a.m. Monday, Iraqi time) in mess halls and recreation centers. If waking up in the middle of the chilly Iraqi night is too daunting, many bases...

TIKRIT, Iraq -- The Super Bowl parties for U.S. troops in Iraq will start hours before dawn, and there won't be any beer. But at least in Tikrit, soldiers have a lavish venue: They'll be watching a cinema-sized screen in a former palace of Saddam Hussein. At bases across the country, the 130,000 American troops will be able to catch the game between the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots live (starting at 2:25 a.m. Monday, Iraqi time) in mess halls and recreation centers. If waking up in the middle of the chilly Iraqi night is too daunting, many...

UJA, Iraq - U.S. authorities on Wednesday prepared to demolish Saddam Hussein's five palatial homes in the village where he was born, having stripped them of expensive marbles, tiles and valuable furniture. The 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, based in Tikrit, received permission from coalition authorities Tuesday to go ahead with the demolition in Uja village, said the commander, Lt. Col. Steve Russell. For the past couple of months, contractors hired by the U.S. forces have been removing valuable materials from the homes including hand-cut Italian bricks and polished marble tiles, Russell told reporters taken on a tour of the...

When he was forced to fashion statues of Saddam Hussein on horseback, the Iraqi sculptor, Kalat, had no idea that someday he would melt them down to create a memorial for American Soldiers. The two original statues -- which adorned a gate at the palace complex where 4th Infantry Division’s headquarters group is located -- were removed with explosives in early July, said 1st Sgt. Mark Anderson, Headquarters and Headquarters Company. The statues were cut into pieces by the 555th Engineer Group and shipped to Kalat who reshaped the chunks of bronze into a likeness of an American Soldier. A...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Behind tall concrete barriers and rolls of razor wire, the United States Army has converted a former Iraqi Republican Guard officers' club here in the heart of Baghdad into a little American oasis for war-weary soldiers. The sprawling complex has been stripped of portraits of Saddam Hussein and Baath Party paraphernalia. It now serves as the First Armored Division's version of a five-star hotel for as many as 100 soldiers at a time who are lucky enough to get a three-day, two-night pass. More than 1,800 troops have cycled through since the hotel opened in mid-October.Called Freedom...

January 11, 2004 G.I.'s Enjoy Plush Respite of Iraqi Army By ERIC SCHMITT AGHDAD, Iraq — Behind tall concrete barriers and rolls of razor wire, the United States Army has converted a former officers' club of the Iraqi Republican Guard into a little oasis for weary G.I.'s. The sprawling complex here in the heart of Baghdad has been stripped of its portraits of Saddam Hussein and its Baath Party trappings. It now serves as the First Armored Division's version of a five-star hotel for as many as 100 soldiers at a time who are lucky enough to get a three-day,...

Malacañang will help deposed President Joseph Estrada secure a United States visa to allow him to undergo knee surgery in California, a ranking Palace official said yesterday. Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Michael Defensor told The STAR he personally called up Estrada to assure him of assistance in securing a US visa. "I told him, ‘Mr. President, if you have any visa problems with the US Embassy (in Manila), please let us know and we will give you a line to them’," Defensor said. Malacañang made the offer after the Sandiganbayan on Tuesday allowed the former leader...