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A youngster working on the ranch here expressed interest in becoming a SEAL. I mentioned that I may be of help in his acceptance to Annapolis. He, of course, wondered if he could go directly from Annapolis to BUDS after graduation. I did not have an answer for him. Any FReepers know the answer?

The House passed the administration’s offshore wind power bill Friday amid accusations Gov. Martin O’Malley secured votes on the House Economic Matters Committee with disparity grants to committee members’ districts. “Those of you who have been here longer than two weeks know there’s a lot of complicated pressures that go into making a bill pass or fail,” said House Minority Leader Anthony O’Donnell. “Sometimes it takes a little nudge, sometimes it takes a carrot, and sometimes it takes a stick.” The disparity grant program in Maryland provides subsidies to jurisdictions with income tax receipts that fall below 75% of the...

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland- Joined by Bishops from nearby Baltimore and Washington DC, America's newest Cardinal Edwin O'Brien called abortion the "the civil rights struggle of our time" at the opening Mass of Maryland's annual March For Life. O'Brien went on to criticize the Obama administration's new health care law requirements that would force the Catholic Church to provide contraception drugs including those that cause abortions. He also called Maryland's recent legalization of homosexual marriage an attack on the family and the institution of marriage itself. The Cardinal thanked all those who were working on the pro-life and traditional marriage causes and...

Good grief! A Maryland state legislator has filed a bill that would allow surrogate decision makers to “donate� kidneys and liver lobes. From HB 449: THIS SUBSECTION APPLIES ONLY TO A PATIENT WHO HAS BEEN CERTIFIED UNDER § 5–606(B) OF THIS SUBTITLE TO BE IN A PERSISTENT 8 VEGETATIVE STATE. (3) A PERSON AUTHORIZED TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS FOR ANOTHER UNDER THIS SECTION MAY AUTHORIZE THE DONATION OF A NONVITAL ORGAN IF THE DONATION IS BASED ON: (I) THE WISHES OF THE PATIENT AS PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSED BY THE PATIENT; OR (II) A DETERMINATION BY THE SURROGATE THAT THE DONATION...

Let’s show the losers from Occupy Wall Street how a real rally is held!The Maryland House of Delegates Tea Party Caucus will hold the Rally for Good Government on Tuesday, October 18th from 12:00-2:00PM on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis. Many of Maryland’s great conservative leaders will be speaking including Delegate Mike Smigiel, Ambassador Ellen Sauerbrey, Charles Lollar, Delegate Mike McDermott, MSOP Founder Sam Hale and others! Please join us for what should be an incredible opportunity to show solidarity against the radical liberal gerrymandering, taxes and social change that will be up for discussion in the upcoming legislative special session....

A Senate committee listened Tuesday to the pros and cons of expanding Maryland's sales tax base to include more services, as well as goods purchased over the Internet. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee spent the day in Annapolis receiving briefings on taxes, the federal debt ceiling, education funding and toll increases. Legislative committees meet occasionally between the 90-day General Assembly sessions. Tangible products, but few services, sold by Maryland retailers are taxed at 6 percent. This year, the sales tax is predicted to generate $4.2 billion, about 30 percent of the state's general fund revenue, according to the Department...

Moments before the Maryland March for Life kicked off March 14, I watched a handful of participants move to the front of the line and unfurl a banner with graphic images of aborted fetuses. It was a sharp contrast to the other images that were in abundance that day - pictures of smiling babies, banners with messages such as ”Protect Maryland Women” and bright yellow balloons each stamped with a smiley face surrounded by, “Smile! Your Mom Chose Life.” Someone discreetly told the holders of the graphic banner to step away from the front of the line. They complied, and...

Two packages have exploded in Maryland state government buildings. A government official tells WTOP one package was at the Jeffrey Building in Annapolis and another was at the Maryland Department of Transportation building in Hanover. The official says no one was hurt in either incident, but the packages both gave off a small explosion or flare-up when they were opened. State agencies have ceased all mail operations until hazardous materials crews can investigate....

The Obama administration announced Monday night that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have agreed to resume the peace process by means of indirect negotiations, facilitated by U.S. special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell. Mitchell told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the understandings reached following the 2007Annapolis Conference are non-binding in the current round of negotiations, Haaretz has learned. Mitchell met with Netanyahu Monday, and then went to Ramallah to meet Abbas. Advertisement "I'm pleased that the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships have accepted indirect talks," Mitchell said in a statement last night. "We've...

A top Chinese general will visit the United States this month and tour major U.S. bases as Washington seeks to improve relations and reduce the risk of conlict, offi

Zina C. Pierre, a virtual unknown in Annapolis politics whose primary victory this week put her on track to become the city's first African-American mayor, dropped out of the race Friday evening in the wake of revelations of personal financial problems. Pierre was besieged with questions about the foreclosure of her Bowie home and several state tax liens. "Zina Pierre has decided that for personal reasons she will withdraw from the race for the city of Annapolis," said her spokeswoman, Michael Matthews, who declined to comment further. According to city code, the Annapolis Democratic Central Committee must choose a replacement...

The treatment for terminal cancer that Annapolis resident Mary Ellen Heibel took at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2004 and early 2005 worked beyond anyone's wildest hopes, wiping out malignant tumors in her lungs, liver, stomach and chest. Her doctor did not expect it, nor could he explain it. Surely the outcome was remarkable, but was it - in the sense applied by the Roman Catholic Church in such cases - a miracle? In a few weeks, a committee appointed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore will begin exploring that question, examining 11 witnesses, including Heibel, pressing her doctors, nurses and friends...

The Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead announced in Annapolis recently that "diversity is the number one priority" at the Naval Academy. The Naval Academy superintendent, Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, echoed him. Everyone understands that "diversity" here means nonwhite skins. Fowler insisted recently that we needed to have Annapolis graduates who "looked like" the Fleet, where enlisted people are about 42 percent nonwhite, largely African American and Hispanic. The stunning revelation last week was that the Naval Academy had an incoming class that was "more diverse" than ever before: 35 percent minority. Sounds good, only this comes with a...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Nobody protested President Obama’s commencement address Friday morning at the United States Naval Academy. Nobody told Mr. Obama he was undeserving of an honorary degree. Instead, under a nearly cloudless blue sky, the president was treated to a 21-gun salute, a Blue Angels flyover — and a respite from the controversy that has dogged him at two previous graduation ceremonies.

<p>Want to trim the federal budget and improve the military at the same time? Shut down West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy, and use some of the savings to expand ROTC scholarships.</p> <p>After covering the U.S. military for nearly two decades, I've concluded that graduates of the service academies don't stand out compared to other officers. Yet producing them is more than twice as expensive as taking in graduates of civilian schools ($300,000 per West Point product vs. $130,000 for ROTC student). On top of the economic advantage, I've been told by some commanders that they prefer officers who come out of ROTC programs, because they tend to be better educated and less cynical about the military.</p>

The Netanyahu government is looking good to me. First, Netanyahu studiously avoided giving anything away upfront to the consternation of the EU and Livni. He offered negotiations on "three parallel tracks, economic, security and diplomatic" with the Palestinian Authority. As the NYT put it Netanyahu Offers Conciliation, but Not Concessions His sole position on the peace process was that he would abide by all signed agreements. As Minister Lieberman made forcefully clear today, that didn't include Annapolis. The International community was dying to make discussions under Annapolis binding on Israel but the Netanyahu government would have none of it and...

WASHINGTON – President George W. Bush's foreign policies may be unpopular in the Middle East, but Arab leaders showered his top diplomat with jewelry worth far more than a quarter of a million dollars last year. While Bush himself didn't fare nearly as well, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raked in at least $316,000 in gem-encrusted baubles from the kings of Jordan and Saudi Arabia alone, making her one of top recipients among U.S. officials of gifts from foreign heads of state and government and their aides in 2007.

ANNAPOLIS (AP) — The all-day physical exercises that mark the end of a midshipman's first year at the Naval Academy were never exactly fun. But this year, they've gotten even more serious. Dodgeball is no longer on the program. Parents aren't allowed to gather on bleachers anymore to cheer. And each stop of the exhausting day is dedicated to a fallen service member. The academy has put greater emphasis on wartime sacrifices, hoping to inspire plebes — the term the academy uses for freshmen — to think about what they are doing behind the academy's walls on the picturesque Severn...

It is standard practice for athletes and magicians to fake us out. They distract our attention to mislead us as to their intentions. Politicians do to. It used to be Israel's policy to put facts on the ground to strengthen Israel's hold on Judea and Samaria and to make time work against Palestinians. That was when we considered such lands "disputed territories", when we sought to get agreement on "defensible borders" and believed that Jerusalem would be Israel's undivided capital forever. No more. As a result of this activity, the US declared war on the settlements. The Mitchel Report in...

PM Olmert announced that he expects to reach an agreement with the PA (whatever and whoever that is) by the end of the year, and went on to say it won't be implemented for many years. "We will insist on all the terms of the Road Map, first and foremost among them a cessation of terrorism, as a precondition for implementation of any understanding. But the first step creating a horizon of hope for us and for the Palestinians can be taken, it must be taken, and we will make every effort in order to successfully do so this year."...

Norman Podhoretz, as you will recall, was a staunch supporter of GW Bush, and is staying the course, and was in support of Sharon's Disengagement. He now replies to his critics of both these positions, in his Commentary article, Israel and the Palestinians:Has Bush Reneged?. Anyone interested in the peace process from its beginning in Madrid should read this very informative article. He begins, On June 24, 2002, George W. Bush, having already become the first American President to come out openly and officially for the establishment of a Palestinian state, attached two stern conditions to that new policy. The...

Often our efforts are to no avail and unfortunately we must be reminded of that time and again. American Friends of Likud just held a worldwide conference on "Israel at the Crossroads: The Palestinians and Gaza in the Shadow of Iran" featuring MK Yuval Steinitz, Maj. - Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror and Dan Diker. Their remarks were recorded and available HERE.In essence they advise the current government on its pursuit of peace through the peace process, that "Es vet dir gournisht helphen.". More importantly, they argue it will hurt you/us. Iran, through its proxies Hamas and Hezballah is intent on...

On June 24, 2002, George W. Bush, having already become the first American President to come out openly and officially for the establishment of a Palestinian state, attached two stern conditions to that new policy. The United States, he declared, “will not support the establishment of a Palestinian state until its leaders engage in a sustained fight against the terrorists and dismantle their infrastructure.” This commitment constitutes what I have called the “Fourth Pillar” of the Bush Doctrine, and many friends of Israel now believe that Bush has reneged on it. Paul Mirengoff of the influential “Power Line” blog puts...

The American fight for liberty was not only the domain of John Adams and his fellow Boston patriots — although HBO's miniseries might lead us to believe that. The fight also took place much closer to home in places like Annapolis, where a recently opened archaeological exhibit at the Banneker-Douglass Museum shows how an 18th-century printmaker protested the British Stamp Act tax and how mid-19th-century freed slaves fought discrimination by purchasing brand-name canned goods and bottled libations. "They preferred national brands because of the predictability of price and guarantee of quality," says Mark Leone, founder and director of Archaeology in...

In reality, there is no fundamental difference between the ultimate goals of Hamas and the PLO vis-à-vis Israel: Neither accepts the Jewish state's right to exist and both are committed to its eventual destruction. The only difference between the two groups lies in their preferred strategies for the attainment of this goal. Whereas Hamas concentrates exclusively on "armed struggle," the PLO has adopted since the early 1990s a more subtle strategy, combining intricate political and diplomatic maneuvering with sustained terror attacks. In the candid words of Farouq Qaddoumi, the PLO's perpetual foreign minister: "We were never different from Hamas. Hamas...

For years, countless synagogues and other Jewish institutions in the United States have flown the banner declaring "We Support Israel in Her Quest for Peace." For most American Jews, these words have given voice to a shared love and concern for Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people, and to a hope that the conflict that has raged on and off since even before Israel's founding in 1948, will finally end. For some, this devotion to Israel has been embodied in unwavering support for the policies and actions of her government. For others, it has included criticism of that...

Will the real George W. please stand up? After seven years of fearlessly confronting evil, both rhetorically and militarily, the Bush Administration in Washington seems to have faded away, replaced instead by a meek shadow of its former self. Firm resolve has given way to disappointing frailty, as the shape and direction of US foreign policy increasingly resembles something taken straight out of Bill Clinton's playbook. Across the board, on nearly every major issue of the day, from Iran to Syria to North Korea, the Bush administration is in retreat, abandoning the principled stands of yesteryear and replacing them with...

KURDS VS ARAB 'PALESTINIANS' IT PAYS TO BE ILLEGITIMATE & MURDEROUS "PALESTINIAN" THAN TO BE A LIGITIMATE PEACEFUL KURD   Dec. 2007   As the world's about to give yet another state [Jordan ain't enough?] for the [group of immigrant Arabs into Israel that call themselves as] "Palestinians", that have never behaved and do not merely fight for a 'homeland' which Israel was never theirs anyhow, but have their goal of eliminating Israel, ethnic cleansing and racist genocide, the poor Kurds still sink under oppression by Turkey, by Arab racism in: Syria, Iraq, and by Islamic fascists regime of Iran.   __________________________________________________________________________   THE KURDS REAL...

CAIRO, Egypt — Al-Qaida's deputy leader denounced last month's Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., as a "betrayal" of Palestinians in a new audio message posted Friday on an Islamic militant Web site. It was the first reaction by the terrorist network to the Mideast conference, sponsored by President Bush and attended by key Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt, as well as Palestinian and Israeli leaders. The conference relaunched Palestinian-Israeli peace talks after a seven year hiatus — a key breakthrough in the region's core conflict. "The Annapolis meeting was held to turn Palestine into a Jewish...

Quiz yourself on the Israeli Arab ["Palestinian"] conflict       1) When was the Arab immigration to [the historic Jewish land of] Israel -"Palestine" boosted?   A When they wanted to see Jewish holy sites. B When [anti French and anti British] Arab nationalism spread across the middle east. C When the Zionists Jews came and cultivated the deserted land.     2) What's [Arab "Palestinian" highest "national" icon] Yasser Arafat's country of origin?   A Israel ["Palestine"]. B Jordan. C Egypt.     3) Why were there --initially-- more Arab immigrants ["residents"] than Jewish immigrants (Arab majority)?   A Because...

No message to the Palestinian people is more genuine than the one delivered in Arabic language by the official Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC). Based in the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian Authority leader Machmud Abbas, and operating under Abbas's direct control and supervision, the PBC might fairly be described as the voice of the Palestinian government. This past Friday, this reporter recorded the pre-Annapolis sermon that was broadcast on the PBC radio network from the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and asked an Arabic language expert to translate that sermon. Here is that sermon, in translation. It speaks for itself as a...

Israelis, Palestinians Doubtful Peace Can Be Achieved In a Year By Julie Stahl CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief November 28, 2007 Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Despite optimism in Washington and Annapolis over the re-launch of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Israelis and Palestinians voiced skepticism about the possibility of achieving a final agreement by the end of next year. President Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are meeting on Wednesday kick off the renewed talks that are supposed to resolve the most difficult issues -- Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, final borders and the fate of Israeli settlements in the West...

Last week, a line was crossed. A terrible line was crossed at Annapolis. With the world looking on, the President of the United States sponsored Judeophobia. Jew-hatred was okay, understandable even. Under the auspices of a global "peace" conference, the White House sanctioned Jew-hatred. The Jew is contemptible, inferior, ignorant, politically and socially disenfranchised: separate entrance ways, service entrances for the Jews, refusal to touch or shake hands with a Jew, refusal of audience members to wear the translation earphones when Ehud Olmert spoke. "Saud Al-Faisel's ears, underneath his red keffiyah, were left bare. And no, it wasn't because he...

For the longest time we were told that the US was working to form a coalition of the moderates against the radicals. A week ago in my articles Everyone is switching to the radicals, US included and Of "Moderates" and Radicals I argued the opposite. Now the truth comes out Bush Embarks on Saudi-Brokered Deal with Tehranat Israel's expense, I might add.

At the Annapolis peace talks last month, the Israeli team — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak — didn't have high expectations for making headway on the Palestinian issue, but they were confident of pressing their case on Iran to a receptive White House. Instead, Barak was taken aside by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and told that new intelligence persuaded the Americans that Iran wasn't such a big threat after all.

Washington - Looking to the post-Bush era in American politics, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is attempting to enlist leading presidential candidates to support his renewed push for a settlement with the Palestinians. When Olmert was in the United States for the Annapolis, Md., peace summit, he took the opportunity to call each of the leading presidential candidates to brief them on the plans for engaging in final-status talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. “I found that all the candidates had a lot of good will toward Israel,” Olmert said later in a press briefing. “They were all very friendly...

Israel readies for Gaza invasion The army has completed plans for a large offensive in the Gaza Strip, now controlled by Hamas, and is waiting only for gov't approval, the military said. Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Israel in the meantime would continue with its policy of airstrikes and brief ground incursions to halt Palestinian rocket attacks. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has repeatedly said the time for a ground invasion of Gaza is drawing closer, if not yet imminent.

What a difference a week makes. The depth of the crisis facing the US and Israel may be difficult to fathom, but the Prime Minister of Israel appears hard-put to confront it or even acknowledge it. Back in Annapolis, Ehud Olmert enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and glory, and the fleeting embrace of George W. Bush. But after the Joint Understanding was filed away, and the reporters filed their stories, the Israelis began to realize the extent of the bait-and-switch that had been pulled on them, and what a sea-change in relations with the United States they were facing....

By Ted Belman "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists" Pres Bush said after 9/11. He went on to identify N. Korea, Iran and Iraq, the "axis of evil" and to declare the "war on terror". The last thing he wanted to do was to identify the enemy. N. Korea was included in the list for fear that someone might think, G-d forbid, that Moslems were the enemy or that Islam was the enemy just as Communists and Communism were during the Cold War. It's not that he didn't know who the enemy was. After all,...

Hailed as the cure for ill will toward Washington and other diplomatic problems at the United Nations, the American ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, was taken down a peg over the weekend, as his own — and his country's — prestige were thrown into question. What will one of President Bush's favorite operators do now? Mr. Khalilzad sold to the 15 members of the Security Council a resolution in support of the Palestinian Arab-Israeli negotiations at Annapolis. But he acted like a star quarterback who botched the signals, ran ahead with the football, got the backs and coaches all confused, and ended...

What a difference a week makes. The depth of the crisis facing the US and Israel may be difficult to fathom, but the Prime Minister of Israel appears hard-put to confront it or even acknowledge it. Back in Annapolis, Ehud Olmert enjoyed his fifteen minutes of fame and glory, and the fleeting embrace of George W. Bush. But after the Joint Understanding was filed away, and the reporters filed their stories, the Israelis began to realize the extent of the bait-and-switch that had been pulled on them, and what a sea-change in relations with the United States they were facing....

(IsraelNN.com) In an interview with a media monitoring organization, a senior Palestinian Authority official made a preemptive demand for the release from Israeli jails of all those Arabs who will commit terrorist acts during post-Annapolis negotiations. He said they will be targeting "the occupation," not "the negotiations," and should therefore not remain in jail. In light of the publication on Sunday that the terrorists who murdered Shavei Shomron resident Ido Zoldan, 29, last week are members of the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority security forces, the Independent Media Review & Analysis (IMRA) organization has distributed an interview it conducted on November 27,...

Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners By OREN ALT, Associated Press Writer 31 minutes ago KETZIOT PRISON CAMP, Israel - Israel on Monday began releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in a gesture meant to strengthen moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after the two sides' recent agreement to try to reach a peace deal. The release of the 429 prisoners began a day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was not bound by the December 2008 target for the peace agreement set at last week's U.S.-hosted Mideast summit in Annapolis, Md. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071203/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday reiterated his rejection of Israel's demand to recognize it as a Jewish state. "From a historical perspective, there are two states: Israel and Palestine. In Israel, there are Jews and others living there. This we are willing to recognize, nothing else," Abbas told reporters before leaving for Saudi Arabia where he met Saudi King Abdullah for talks on the results of the Annapolis conference. Palestinian negotiator Ahmad Qurei (Abu Ala) emphasized that that upcoming negotiations with Israel also apply to the Gaza Strip, even though it is under Hamas control. After Abbas's meeting...

"President Bush may take a different course out of Annapolis than either President Clinton or his father took under similar circumstances... Robert Satloff, who has, even as the envoys were palavering, circulated a piece called: "Bush at Annapolis: Hints About the Final Thirteen Months." It might, he reckons, have seemed as 43 were taking a page out of 41's playbook or 42's. Mr. Clinton gambled much of his presidency on seeking an agreement between the government in Jerusalem and the Palestinian Arabs, only to fall short. Bush Pere famously clashed with Israel over settlements expansion." 'snip' "the most significant aspect...

Here’s what I have to say to the Israeli people: Vote Olmert out of office as quickly as possible. Do not, God forbid, assassinate him. President Beinisch: How dare Mr. Jones tell you what to do? Tell him to go to Hell—which is right next door in Sudan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. To Jews and to our supporters and to freedom-loving people everywhere: Hang in, hang on, trust no one. Be prepared for anything.

hat was agreed to at Annapolis will destroy Israel. By Ted BelmanLet me count the ways; 1. Israel consented to being castrated. [That says it all but I’ll continue anyway.} 2. The Bush administration agreed to physically separate the Jews from the Arabs at the Annapolis conference in a manner that aligns with the apartheid policies of the Arab world which prohibit Israelis from setting foot on Arab soil. 3. In accordance with Saudi demands, the Americans prohibited Israeli representatives from entering the hall through the same door as the Arabs. ] 4. Israel gave up all protection afforded by...

Last update - 04:34 01/12/2007 Israel says doesn't want UN to adopt Annapolis decisions By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press In a sudden about face, the United States on Friday withdrew a United Nations resolution endorsing this week's agreement by Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to reach a Mideast peace settlement by the end of 2008, apparently after Israel objected. Israel expressed opposition to the American initiative to pursue Security Council support for the proposed resolution because it does not consider most of the member states of the council to be friendly toward Israel. U.S. deputy...

Washington - US President George W Bush's stepped up determination to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict within a year appears to have an underlying goal of stemming Iran's growing influence in the region. Bush closely tied the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to counter rising extremism in the region during his speech at the Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland this week, where he secured a deal between Israeli and Palestinians to resume negotiations. 'The battle is underway for the future of the Middle East,' Bush said. 'And we must not cede victory to the extremists, with their violent actions...

At Annapolis this week, President George W. Bush buried his doctrine. The Bush Doctrine was based upon a simple statement the president made in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 jihadist attacks on America. “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime,” Bush announced to the roaring applause of both houses of Congress. The message emanating from Annapolis was exactly the...