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America Supports You: ‘Project Ark’ Sets Sail in HawaiiBy Monique ReubenAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Aug. 25, 2006 -- As Cheryl Janus reflected on Project Ark, a program for military teens she helped organize this summer, she realized the “ark” did in fact float. Project Ark participants and chaperones take time for a group photo on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri. Project Ark brought teenage children of deployed servicemembers to Hawaii in July to interact and develop skills for coping with their parents’ deployment. Courtesy photo   '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The “ark” in Project...

Jul. 3, 2006 0:15 | Updated Jul. 3, 2006 4:57Documentary sets new date for Exodus By ETGAR LEFKOVITS A new documentary by a Canadian Jewish filmmaker argues that the Exodus did happen, but that it took place a couple of hundred years before the commonly-accepted time frame. The Exodus Decoded, a two-hour documentary by award-winning Israeli-born filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, suggests that the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt as recounted in the Bible occurred around 1500 BCE, about 230 years before the date most commonly accepted by contemporary historians. The 10 plagues that smote the Egyptians, according to the Bible,...

MCLEAN, Va., June 26, 2006 – America Supports You member organization "Our Military Kids," a nonprofit group based here that's dedicated to funding essential extracurricular activities for children of deployed Reserve and National Guard military people, organized an outing for 30 children and 20 adults to attend T-Ball on the South Lawn of the White House on June 23. A team member of the Dolcom Little League Indians from Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Conn., has his sight on the ball during the opening T-Ball game of the 2006 season on the South Lawn of the White House,...

BAGHDAD (June 16, 2006) – A week after the death of al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, Iraqi security forces, with the support of the Coalition, have beefed up operations aimed at improving security throughout Iraq. In fact, on June 14, only a week after Al-Zarqawi was eliminated, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced a new plan to improve security conditions in Baghdad. During his address, the prime minister emphasized that Iraq’s new constitutionally based, representative government is in charge and providing security. He further noted that he will ensure that Iraq’s security forces are professional, impartial, and continue...

A participant with the Make-A-Wish Foundation set a record by being the youngest person to sit in the U.S. Air Force's newest fighter and to fly the F-22A Raptor simulator. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., Feb. 23, 2006 – Team Edwards and the 411th Flight Test Squadron welcomed its "newest pilot" and his family to Edwards Feb. 14. Reilly Koyl, also known as "Raptor 00," may need a set of telephone books on the seat of the F-22A Raptor to see over the canopy rail, but that didn't deter the intrepid aviator from getting into his new "office." At 5...

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Daisi Eyerly pumps fuel into a B-52. She is deployed to a forward operating location and hopes to pump 1 million gallons of fuel in just 60 days. U.S Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Doug Nicodemus U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Daisi Eyerly Airman Sets Refueling Goal By Master Sgt. Scott King 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, Feb. 10, 2006 — She’s well on her way, 160,000 and counting every day. Senior Airman Daisi Eyerly, a national guardsman arrived here with a lofty goal – to pump 1 million...

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3, 2006 - LOS ANGELES, Jan. 3, 2006 – The Defense Department's "America Supports You" program and Shauna Fleming, 16, founder of "A Million Thanks," launched the "2.6 in 2006" letter-writing campaign Jan. 1. The goal of the new campaign is to increase the number of letters of thanks sent to servicemembers through the "A Million Thanks" program to 2.6 million -- the total number of people in the armed forces, including the Guard and Reserve -- with the bulk of the letters coming from school-aged children. The initiative invites America's youth to make it their New...

WASHINGTON — Charles Schumer may be New York's less-famous senator, but he managed to keep a hand — or quote — in almost every major congressional battle in 2005, expanding his role in national politics even as he trumpets local issues. On Wednesday, Schumer, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, will complete his annual circuit of visits to all 62 counties in New York state. The appearance marks the end of his first year in a more powerful role and the beginning of a new year that will put him to the test. Schumer is counting on his time-tested...

US sets Saddam's scientists free Huda Ammash was educated in the US Eight former aides to Saddam Hussein - including two women accused of making biological weapons - have been released from US custody in Iraq. The freed detainees no longer pose a security threat, a US spokesman said. They include Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, nicknamed by the US "Mrs Anthrax" and Rihab Taha, also known as "Dr Germ". Reports have been circulating of a pre-election deal to free former regime figures in order to appease Iraq's Sunni Arabs, correspondents say. A US military spokesman in Baghdad said eight detainees...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2005 – The Defense Department has a new policy in regard to detainee interrogations. DoD Directive 3115.09, "DoD Intelligence Interrogations, Detainee Debriefings, and Tactical Questioning," takes the lessons learned in the global war on terrorism and consolidates them into one overarching document, officials said. The bottom line, according to the document, is that "all intelligence interrogations, debriefings, or tactical questioning to gain intelligence from captured or detained personnel shall be conducted humanely." "Acts of physical or mental torture are prohibited," the directive states. The policy also requires all non-DoD personnel conducting briefings of detainees under DoD control...

ABOARD USS IWO JIMA (NNS) -- USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) successfully got underway from its current berth in downtown New Orleans Sept. 21 as Hurricane Rita raged across the Gulf of Mexico. With the successful onload of supplies and personnel, including 647 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24 MEU), Iwo Jima began its trek down the Mississippi River to safer, open waters. The multipurpose amphibious assault ship has been moored in downtown New Orleans since early September, serving as a command and control hub and providing relief and recovery efforts as part of Joint Task Force (JTF)...

BEIJING - North Korea's main envoy said Tuesday his country won't give up its nuclear weapons until an alleged U.S. atomic threat against the communist nation is eliminated, the first public comments from the North after eight days of six-party negotiations. Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said "differences in opinions" remained between the North and the United States. "Our decision is to give up nuclear weapons and programs related to nuclear weapons if the United States removes its nuclear threat against us and when trust is built," Kim said outside the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. The North has...

A bag packed with explosives on his back, the bus bomber sets out on his mission of death By John Steele, Home Affairs Correspondent (Filed: 15/07/2005) The teenage terrorist who blew up a double-deck bus in Tavistock Square, London, killing 13 people including himself, was caught on closed-circuit television two and a half hours earlier. Hasib Hussain: the bus bomber Hasib Hussain, bearded and wearing jeans and a jacket, was pictured at Luton railway station as he and three other bombers headed for the 7.20am train to London last Thursday. In his rucksack was the 10lb bomb that exploded at...

LONDON (June 17) - An e-mail between a highly paid lawyer and a secretary over a tomato ketchup stain has become the talk of legal circles in London, leaving the sender distinctly red-faced. British media reported with glee the tale of Richard Phillips, who e-mailed the secretary to ask her to pay a four-pound ($7.30) dry-cleaning bill after she accidentally spilled tomato ketchup on his trousers. The secretary, who had just returned to work after her mother died, was so irate she forwarded the e-mail to several colleagues at the firm of Baker & McKenzie, who in turn passed it...

Bush Sets Up Social Security 'War Room' 43 minutes ago By LAURA MECKLER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A new Social Security war room inside the Treasury Department is pumping out information to sell President Bush's plan, much like any political campaign might do. It's part of a coordinated effort by the Bush administration. The internal, taxpayer-funded campaigning is backed up by television advertisements, grass-roots organizing and lobbying from business and other groups that support the Bush plan. The president's opponents are organized too, though they do not enjoy the resources of the White House or Treasury to sell their...

The Navy has set minimum bid prices and deposit requirements for the planned auction of the old El Toro Marine base, scheduled to begin Jan 5. The minimum averages range from about $125,000 to just under $300,000 per acre but are expected to ascend quickly although the federal government reckons it will fall short of the nearly $1 million per acre that Tustin air base land fetched. That’s because plans for the 3,700-acre base call for large sectors to be left as wilderness areas or developed as parks. Still, interest in the land is expected to be intense. It will...

SACRAMENTO — Facing persistent criticism over his fundraising practices, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is imposing new limits on how he collects campaign money, pledging to turn away donations from workers' compensation insurers, energy companies and Indian gambling interests. Schwarzenegger's political team this week returned a $25,000 contribution that came in last month from Liberty Mutual, citing a guideline under which the governor will refuse contributions from insurers that underwrite workers' compensation policies. One of Schwarzenegger's main priorities has been overhauling the workers' compensation system in a bid to curb costs. Schwarzenegger, though, will not give back earlier donations that he received...

Rover sets Mars distance record Spirit can navigate over yellow and green colored terrain, but not red. The US space agency's robotic Mars explorer Spirit has broken a record for the distance travelled by a robot rover in one day on the Martian surface. Spirit travelled nearly 21 metres (70 feet) across the rock-strewn surface of Gusev Crater, where it is looking for past or present signs of liquid water. Scientists said Spirit's twin rover Opportunity had experienced slips during 50% of its drive on Tuesday. This is thought to be due to loose soil at its Meridiani Planum landing...

Rumsfeld sets his sights on 'unfinished business' By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 10 April 2003 As the Bush Administration yesterday savoured the fall of Baghdad, Vice-President Dick Cheney warned that the "extraordinary" Iraq campaign sent a clear message to "all violent groups" that the US had the will and the power to win the war on terrorism decisively. The Vice-President and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary took pains to warn of the potential troubles, especially in President Saddam's family stronghold of Tikrit, and in the oil cities of Mosul and Kirkuk, which yesterday were still held by the regime. Mr...

France sets up Muslim council Jon Henley in Paris Monday April 7, 2003 The Guardian Amid mounting fears that the US-led war against Iraq could trigger violence among France's 5 million Muslims, French Islamic leaders voted yesterday to elect the members of a new national council aimed at giving the faith's diverse factions a unified voice and represent their views to government.Islam is the second biggest religion in France after Roman Catholicism. One recent poll showed nearly one in three of the population as a whole did not want to see an allied victory in Iraq, while a poll of...