Free Republic

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Aug. 4, 2005 – In an effort to support the troops, the Liberty Baptist Church here opened its doors to Marines, sailors of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment and their families during the Family First Seminar. The purpose of the day-long seminar was to provide advice and counseling to couples to help them better cope with the stress brought on by deployments. Those in attendance listened to speakers offer advice on subjects such as love, improving communication skills and the role of spirituality in a relationship. Other speakers quoted passages from the bible and offered personal...

NEW YORK (AP) - A Maryland man was charged with conspiring to help a terrorist organization after describing the time he spent at a terrorist training camp in Pakistan as "one of the better decisions in my life," prosecutors said Thursday. Mahmud Faruq Brent, of Gwynn Oak, Md., allegedly boasted that he had agreed to provide whatever assistance was necessary. Authorities began investigating Brent after they found an address book with telephone numbers for him when they arrested Tarik Shah, 42, of New York. Shah pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges earlier this summer. Brent was charged in a criminal...

When pilots are in an aircraft, the Marines of Aviation Life Support Systems personnel watch over them like guardian angels, working behind the scenes of the flight line to maintain aircraft emergency gear at the station Parachute Loft. ALSS personnel are responsible for providing and maintaining aircraft emergency gear pilots may use as a last resort. They rarely make an appearance on the flight line, so their contributions to pilot safety are seldom recognized, said Staff Sgt. Ryan Schmidt, Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 13 ALSS flight equipment technician. “That's the strange thing about this job,” said Schmidt, a Schenectady, N.Y.,...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Aug. 3, 2005 – Marines of Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment received pocket American flags here 15 July from Brenda Brummer, a volunteer with the Pocket Flag Project, shortly before deploying to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Brummer folded over three hundred flags for the company by herself then drove six hours to Camp Lejeune to deliver the flags to the deploying Marines. “When I look at the flags I have made I think of the people who have given part or all of their lives for this...

BISHKEK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - France has deployed fighter jets in Tajikistan as part of international efforts to boost security during a September parliamentary election in next-door Afghanistan, a French military official said on Wednesday. "Six Mirage fighters have been deployed in (the Tajik capital) Dushanbe," Major Frederic Lemoine, deputy French military attache to Central Asian neighbour Kyrgyzstan, told reporters at U.S.-led air base Ganci near the capital Bishkek. Shortly after he spoke, two large-body C-135 FR refuelling planes landed at Ganci. "These refuelling jets are due to support the Mirage fighters in Tajikistan," he said, adding that the operation...

A federal appeals ruling Tuesday lifting restrictions on candidates for judgeships could turn Minnesota's nonpartisan judicial elections into political battles. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a state rule limiting Minnesota judicial campaigns after deciding that the restrictions violated First Amendment free speech rights. Judicial candidates may now seek political party endorsements, attend political conventions and personally solicit campaign dollars. The ruling handed a victory to the Republican Party of Minnesota and former state Supreme Court candidate Gregory Wersal, who had challenged the election restrictions on judicial candidates. It's Wersal's second victory in challenges to Minnesota's rules...

AL ASAD, Iraq - (August 2, 2005) -- In the small rural towns of Washington County, Ohio the chances of fellow residents serving in the military in the same place overseas may seem almost unheard of. But from that county of almost 64,000, three Marines are contributing to the Global War on Terror from the same unit. For the Marines of Marine Wing Support Squadron 271 the Washington County influence can be felt from the top. The commanding officer, Lt. Col. Jay Johnson, a 1982 graduate of Warren High School is in his second year as the Workhorses’ highest ranking...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 1, 2005 – President Bush praised Boy Scout values of patriotism, integrity and citizenship July 31 at the organization's 16th National Jamboree held at Fort A.P. Hill, Va. The 30,000-plus scouts attending the jamboree from around the world "are carrying on a tradition that dates back almost seven decades," Bush observed, noting that President Franklin Roosevelt came to the first jamboree in 1937. Over the years, millions of Americans have recited the Scout oath, which begins, "On my honor, I'll do my best," said Bush, who was a Cub Scout during his youth Midland, Texas. Bush said he...

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2005 – The aroma of fresh-baked cookies filling the entryway of the small apartment brings a reminiscent feeling of home for many visitors. It does not, however, give an idea of the magnitude of the efforts of the one-woman cookie factory within these walls. Germaine Broussard, also known as "The Cookie Lady," has been baking cookies for troops serving overseas for a year and a half. She has baked thousands of cookies and sent them to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines -- most of whom she has never met. Broussard started her baking ventures around Christmas 2003,...

Freepers in Prince William/Manassas!! Our local National Guard Troops are coming home today, and we are trying to line Route 234 from 95 up to the Armory to welcome them. Here is an announcement from my employer about it, there have been other announcements but I am dissappointed in the lack of news on the radio.: This is a reminder to all employees that tomorrow is the Welcome Home celebration for the A Co. 3/116th Infantry National Guardsmen. The soldiers are scheduled to return home at 2 pm on Thursday, July 28th. The event organizers ask that people line the...

ALWAYS LOYAL IN MY PECULIAR FASHION (With apologies to Cole Porter and his 1948 musical- "Kiss Me Kate") When I see our Nation’s flag It just makes me want to gag – ‘Cause I hate that filthy rag That’s on display – Oh, I’m always loyal In my peculiar fashion To my vision of A Leftist USA. Let me wave a banner bold Scarlet red all trimmed in gold- With a fist all clenched to strike The trembling Foe- Oh, I’m always loyal In my peculiar fashion To my vision of A Leftist USA . Does this song parody sound...

19 July 2005 -- Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov said today that since the threat of Afghanistan for Central Asia has declined, the presence of Western military in the region is not needed. Speaking to journalists in Dushanbe, Nazarov said there was no need for the permanent presence of military troops of the U.S.-led coalition in the region as Afghanistan is stabilizing. Some 200 French Air Force personnel and two transport aircraft are currently based at Dushanbe airport to support operations in Afghanistan. Elsewhere in Central Asia, the U.S. military is using the Khanabad air base near the southern Uzbek...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2005 – Airlift operations continue at a steady clip as the members of the 86th Aerospace Expeditionary Group work to rotate the first of two brigades of Rwandan troops into the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, the group commander told the American Forces Press Service today. Air Force Col. Scott Schafer, commander of the 86th AEG at Kigali International Airport, Rwanda, said the operation is proceeding "just as planned and on schedule." Schafer made his assessment as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in Sudan today, said she found it "heartening" to see the U.S. airlift operation but...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (Army News Service, July 20, 2005) -- Hurricane Emily came ashore July 20 but wasn’t packing the wallop residents and tourists of the South Texas shore area originally expected. While the South Padre Islands still took a beating with high winds and heavy rain, it was not enough of a blow for any of the 126 supply-laden trucks poised at a staging area at Fort Sam Houston to pull out and head south. The trucks, loaded with everything from water and food to cots and generators, packed the field on Wilson Street Sunday night as part...

BALAD, IRAQ, July 21, 2005 – It is always a great feeling for servicemembers to get care packages. Most of the time these packages include small “creature-comforts” that help make life seem a little more like home. However, what better way to make you feel more at home than the gift of communication. Soldiers in the 519th Movement Control Team were adopted by the town of Minden, Miss., and received telephones to help break down the communication gaps, not only between Soldiers in theater, but also Soldiers and their families back home. “These 12 telephones we received are an example...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2005 – The General Services Administration certified its commitment to GSA employees serving in the nation's reserve component forces July 20, as the federal agency's chief signed a "5-Star" statement of support here. Stephen A. Perry, GSA administrator, signed the agreement at the organization's headquarters. Besides serving as a public demonstration of GSA's support, said Bob Hollingsworth, executive director of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, the document confirms that GSA: Promises to safeguard job positions, support continuation of medical and dental benefits for family members, grant leaves of absence for military...

I'm basically looking for advice, support, for my attempt at quitting the habit.

NewsMax.com, one of America's leading online news services, is enabling its readers to petition their US Senators for the appointment of Judge John Roberts to the Supreme Court. NewsMax will provide your petition to the Senators of your state in digital and print form during the confirmation process. Already leading Democrats like Ted Kennedy, Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin have condemned the nomination and say they will launch an all out effort to stop the appointment of Judge Roberts. During this critical period, make sure your voice is heard! Petition to the United States Senate: Senator, I hereby ask that...

SOUTHWEST ASIA, (AFPN), July 19, 2005 – Servicemembers with the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing at a forward-deployed location here are not strangers to receiving letters, mementos and care packages from families, friends and loved ones. However, one sergeant assigned to the 386th Expeditionary Medical Group receives enough mail to keep a fully staffed post office gainfully employed. Tech. Sgt. Michelle Smith’s bioenvironmental engineering office has been inundated with more than 400 letters. “In June, we received a large box containing more than 200 support letters and care packages from various campaigns and supporters,” said Sergeant Smith, the noncommissioned officer in...

Iranian dissidents appealed to the United Nations to support calls for freedom for Akbar Ganji, the brave writer who is being tortured in Tehran for the sin of exposing the murderous activities of the theocratic regime of the Islamic republic. The top dog at the U.N., Kofi Annan, declined to take a stand, claiming he did not know enough to have an opinion. The U.N.’s lapdog at the U.S. Senate, Indiana’s Richard Lugar, similarly declined comment, thereby relegating himself to the honor roll of appeasers of terrorists, murderers, and torturers. With the exception of the New York Sun, no major...