Free Republic

The song grabs you in the first two seconds: two shots on an E chord, followed by quarter-note hi-hat hits. You know something big's going to happen. No—it already is happening. At five seconds, the hi-hat hits double into eighth-notes as the E chord shots repeat. At seven seconds, the addition of a swung sixteenth-note (played on cowbell with a brush) signals the imminent, exhilarating plunge into a song you've never heard, but which you now want to hear more than anything else. And at twelve seconds, an authoritative, effortlessly-executed drum fill plunges you into what might be rock and...

By ROBERT BURNS, AP Military Writer WASHINGTON - The Army revealed on Monday a redesigned combat uniform with a digital camouflage pattern that looks strikingly different from soldiers' current battle dress uniforms. It marks the first major change in the Army uniform since 1981, said Brig. Gen. James R. Moran, who modeled the uniform for reporters at the Pentagon. He said recruits will be issued the redesigned uniform starting October 2005, and the entire Army will be outfitted by December 2007. The uniform is being produced in a single, universal pattern to replace the two camouflage versions in current use:...

Couple nickel-and-dime it after their lottery windfall Financial security a foremost concern, despite win of millions 05/08/2002 By MARY JUDICE / The Times-Picayune NEW ORLEANS - Since winning the $48.1 million Powerball jackpot last month, Jerry Berggren of Kenner, La., has come to know the upside and some of the downside of becoming an instant millionaire. There's the new fishing boat he'll soon have at his back door and the wedding cruise he and fiancee Cathy DeMuynck will take to Alaska with friends and family. Mr. Berggren immediately gave up his business as an appliance repairman. Ms. DeMuynck, a...