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Marine kin brace for pickets Wednesday, June 22, 2005 By ETTA WALSH ewalsh@repub.com The parents of Marine Capt. John W. Maloney, who was killed last week in Iraq, face the possibility that a church group will picket his funeral in an effort to promote its anti-gay agenda. According to their Web site, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., plans to picket funerals of soldiers killed in the Middle East, including that of Maloney's, saying their deaths are God's punishment for America's tolerance of homosexuals. Maloney, 36, died June 16 in Iraq when a roadside bomb tore through his Humvee....

Capt. John W. Maloney, 36, who was born in California but grew up in Chicopee, and Lance Cpl. Erik R. Heldt, 26, of Hermann, Mo., were conducting combat operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq, on Thursday when their vehicle hit an "improvised explosive device," killing them, according to a statement released by the Department of Defense. Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, their unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

CANNES, France (Reuters) - A British documentary arguing U.S. neo-conservatives have exaggerated the terror threat is set to rock the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday, the way "Fahrenheit 9/11" stirred emotions here a year ago. "The Power of Nightmares" re-injected politics into the festival that seemed eager to steer clear of controversy this year after American Michael Moore won top honors in 2004 for his film deriding President Bush's response to terror.

Please forgive me if this post isn't in the correct place. I am a first-time poster - long-time reader. Lanny Davis representing Robert Parton? A Clinton advisor is representing the one man who could take Kofi out of the U.N.? I smell something bad here. Is this a way for Clinton to try to slide into secretary general - by using his own advisor to cut off Kofi's head? I'm confused. Again, I apologize if this post is incorrect. Please have mercy on the newbie!!!