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WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2005 - The servicemembers recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here will receive a unique gift this holiday season: a larger-than-life chess set adorned with signatures and messages of support. The 8-by-8-foot chess set is being donated by Mega Chess, a private company in California, and delivered by Operation Interdependence, an organization that supports regularly scheduled deployments of troops with care packages. This is about the 20th chess set Operation Interdependence is delivering to troops, said Albert Renteria, Operation Interdependence founder and president. Each set is donated by Mega Chess and bears the signatures of hundreds...

No more Patriot Act means Operation Able Danger and 9/11 all over again. Don't let the sun set on the Patriot Act. Call your state senator at 202-225-3121. Freed Iraq. No thanks to Democrat oposition. Cowards cut and run. Marines never do. Stay the course. Peace with God. I believe in a time when Americans had guts. Maximum Effort. Abandon Iraq? NO! Thank you, FreeRepublic, for allowing me to post my work!

BAGHDAD, Dec. 16, 2005 – The day seemed downright festive: children marched in impromptu parades, men wore suits -- on their day off, no less -- and entire families took long walks from their homes to polling sites. The Iraqi parliamentary elections Dec. 15 gave Iraqis a chance to showcase the pride they have in their country and the hope they have for the future, officials here said. "Nationalism is defined by the actions of the people," said Maj. Ross Coffman, 4th Brigade Combat Team executive officer. "It only takes a moment to see their faces as they vote, to...

BOSTON (AP) - Investigators were searching for suspects in one of the city's bloodiest crimes in recent memory after four men were fatally shot in a basement that neighbours said had been set up as a music studio. The dead were in their late teens and early 20s, authorities said. Three men were found dead at the house and the fourth died at a hospital, police Supt. Bobbie Johnson said. Johnson said witnesses told police they saw a heavy-set person fleeing the scene Tuesday night. Police said the people involved appeared to know each other, but Johnson would not comment...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2005 – Iraqi and coalition forces have set the conditions for a successful Dec. 15 parliamentary election in Iraq that will be mostly free of violence, U.S. officials said today. The officials also said a broad and representative cross-section of the Iraqi population, including Sunnis, will participate "By and large, with the exception of the al Anbar province, (we) are very confident that there will be a large turnout and little or no violence," Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of coalition forces in Iraq, said. Even in Anbar, "we expect better turnout this time than...

BAGHDAD, (Army News Service, Dec. 6, 2005) – Coalition and Iraqi security forces continued to disrupt al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist and foreign-fighter activities during more than 450 company-level combined operations throughout the country Nov. 26 through Dec 2. “Fifty percent of the combat operations conducted this past week throughout the Iraqi theatre of operation were combined Coalition and Iraqi security force operations, while another 21 percent were independent Iraqi security force operations,” said Maj. Brandon Robbins, operations officer, Multi-National Corps, Iraq. “The ability of the Iraqi Army forces to conduct these combined and independent operations is significant.” Coalition and...

Farmer set on fire in Zimbabwe By Peta Thornycroft at Ngawarati Farm, Norton (Filed: 28/11/2005) One of Zimbabwe's last remaining white farmers was strangled and burned to death in an attack inside his home yesterday. Don Stewart, 68, was set upon shortly before dawn in the bedroom of his tightly-guarded homestead near Norton, 25 miles west of Harare. He was one of the last 300 white farmers left in Zimbabwe. There were 4,000 five years ago.Police insisted that Mr Stewart's murder was the work of common criminals and had no political motive. His assailants were unable to penetrate the barred...

Oakland grocers set to fight vandals Police say they will have more details this week in the attacks on two liquor stores By William Brand, STAFF WRITER NATION OF ISLAM minister Tony Muhammad, standing in front of Muhammad Mosque 26 in Oakland on Saturday, says the Nation had no part in the destruction inside two West Oakland liquor stores Wednesday night. (GREG TARCZYNSKI) OAKLAND — The president of the Yemini American Grocery Association said Saturday that grocers have the right to defend themselves if their stores are invaded like two West Oakland markets were hit Wednesday night. The association, which...

Palestinian Elections Set For January Elections Were Postpone Due To Gaza Pullout Aug 20, 2005 2:56 pm US/Mountain Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (File) AP (CBS) RAFAH, Gaza Strip Palestinian parliamentary elections will be held Jan. 25, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas announced Saturday. The elections were to have been held in July, but were postponed indefinitely because of Israel's Gaza pullout. In setting a firm date, Abbas was making a conciliatory gesture to his political rival, Hamas, which is expected to make a strong showing in the vote. "The parliamentary election will take place in all of the homeland districts on...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2005 – Almost 900 of the nearly 2,000 detainees held in brigade- and division-level internment facilities in Iraq were released in July, U.S. military officials in Baghdad reported. "The release of detainees is a positive step toward the fundamentals of establishing a democracy," said Army Col. Arnaldo Claudio, the provost marshal for Multinational Corps Iraq, which oversees combat and stability operations in the country. "It is also an indication of Iraqi and coalition forces working together towards a common objective - a free and prosperous Iraq." The colonel emphasized that the detainees had been treated well. "Detainees...

N.C. Hearing Opens on 1979 Klan Killings By TIM WHITMIRE, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago Signe Waller, right, is comforted by Cory Wechler, a friend, on stage as she reads her prepared statement, Friday, July 15, 2005, during the public hearing of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Greensboro, N.C. Waller was at the November 3, 1979 anti-Ku Klux Klan rally when a violent confrontation between Communist Workers Party members and the Ku Klux at Morningside Homes in Greensboro, left five CWP members dead, including her husband Dr. Jim Waller. (AP Photo/Lynn Hey) GREENSBORO, N.C. - The widow...

Despite an upsurge in the frequency and severity of terrorist attacks, the IDF is going ahead with plans to transfer control of five key cities in Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is scheduled to meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the next few days in order to coordinate the IDF withdrawal. The withdrawal, agreed upon at the Sharon-Abbas summit in Sharm El-Sheik, has been held up due to a terrorist attack on a Tel Aviv night club on February 25, which killed five and wounded 50. The suicide bomber came from Tulkarem, one...

'Rattled' Blair to set tough tests for migrants By Toby Helm, Chief Political Correspondent (Filed: 07/02/2005) Tony Blair will try today to recapture ground lost to the Tories on immigration by announcing plans to turn away people who do not bring economic benefits or professional skills to the country. The Prime Minister and Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, will announce the tough new tests for would-be immigrants from outside the EU as part of a five-year-plan to bring immigration under control. Labour's new policy: ‘firm, fair and workable’ The policy, which Labour says is "firm, fair and workable", will involve...

Britain urges Bush to set out Iraq withdrawal timetable By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 20/01/2005) Britain is urging America to announce a timetable for withdrawing coalition troops from Iraq over the next 18 months or more. With a new Iraqi government due to take power after next week's elections, The Telegraph has learned that British officials believe the time is ripe for the coalition to announce an "indicative timetable" for its departure. An Iraqi family watch as a US patrol passes them in Khatoon There would no firm deadline and the withdrawal would depend on the gradual ability...

Gonzales Had Key RoleIn March 2002, U.S. elation at the capture of al Qaeda operations chief Abu Zubaida was turning to frustration as he refused to bend to CIA interrogation. But the agency's officers, determined to wring more from Abu Zubaida through threatening interrogations, worried about being charged with violating domestic and international proscriptions on torture. They asked for a legal review -- the first ever by the government -- of how much pain and suffering a U.S. intelligence officer could inflict on a prisoner without violating a 1994 law that imposes severe penalties, including life imprisonment and execution, on...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Garden's set to rock Final touches in place for one huge party BY MAGGIE HABERMAN DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU Madison Square Garden is ready for a Republican party. The star-spangled balloons are blown up and bagged; the cherry-red carpet is nailed in place; the blue delegate seats are nailed to the floor, and the confetti with pictures of GeorgeW. and Laura Bush is set to go. There's one stage for the speakers and a separate, hydraulic platform for the entertainers. Then there's a secret stage for the President himself that won't appear until Thursday night. That was the view...

Five decades ago, Nazi case set precedent for military tribunals Connie Cass THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tuesday, July 06, 2004 - 12:00 AM WASHINGTON -- A German submarine slipped through dark waters toward New York's Long Island in June 1942, creeping so close it bumped the sandy bottom. A second settled into shallows along the Florida coast. Each sent ashore four men, who dragged crates of explosives up the beaches. They were under orders to blow up American railroads, bridges and factories. But none got the chance. All eight were arrested within two weeks. Within two months, six were executed. They...

Japanese growth set to beat US Japanese consumers are key to an ongoing recovery Japan's economic growth forecasts have been revised upwards as the recovery gathers steam. Bulging demand has pushed estimates to 6.1% for the full year, up from the previous estimate of 5.6%. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew 1.5%, in real terms, in the first quarter up from the previous estimate of 1.4%. Japan is the world's second biggest economy and now looks set to outstrip US growth of 4.4% annualised for the same period of January-March. It is welcome news for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, attending the...

Indonesia set to outlaw sex before marriage Reuters Tuesday September 30, 2003 The Guardian (UK) Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, is drafting regulations that could outlaw sex before marriage, living together outside wedlock, and homosexuality, an official said yesterday. Abdul Gani Abdullah, the director general of legislation, said the draft revisions would also ban witchcraft. Muslim leaders, including experts in Islamic sharia law, had been consulted, he added. But certain criteria would need to be met before a crime was committed under the revisions, he said. "If society chooses not to do anything and has no objection to...