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WASHINGTON, April 4, 2006 – A grassroots group in Chicago hopes to help create a better system of support for servicemembers returning from the global war on terrorism. America Supports You member group Wounded Heroes Foundation Inc. is finding ways to smooth bureaucratic issues for wounded troops. Here, Anna Sherony, the group's co-founder, poses with Marine 1st Sgt. Brad Kasal at the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., Jan. 1, 2005. Kasal was wounded in Fallujah, Iraq, in November 2004. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "Why should a family that has given so much already...

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) – Ramstein Airmen deployed to Iraq for five months to train Iraqis to fly and maintain C-130 aircraft; standing up the first Iraqi airlift squadron under the country’s new regime. A Ramstein pilot, navigator and enlisted maintainers deployed from August of 2005 through January to train their Iraqi counterparts to fly and maintain the Iraqi 23rd Squadron’s three C-130 Es on Ali Base, Iraq. “This was the world’s toughest training environment,” said Capt. Jeremy Smith, 37th Airlift Squadron navigator. “We were teaching Iraqis to fly in a hostile environment with a language and culture barrier.”...

Bettis closes with storybook ending By Kevin Smith TRIBUNE-REVIEW SPORTS EDITOR Monday, February 6, 2006 DETROIT -- Jerome Bettis wanted to roll out of the NFL with a Super Bowl title in his hometown of Detroit. Sunday, he got his wish, as the Steelers gave him a championship send-off with a 21-10 victory in Super Bowl XL at Ford Field. Bettis announced his retirement from the NFL after the game and finishes as the league's fifth-leading rusher with 13,662 regular-season yards and 91 touchdowns. Padding those numbers didn't mean

SAN FRANCISCO — Some of California's most forward-looking thinkers gathered the other day to offer their assessments of where the state is headed, and the conclusions were pretty depressing. They described a state with a short attention span and a dysfunctional political leadership incapable of dealing with the complex problems of the 21st century. And the experts don't see things changing anytime soon. Their hope is that Californians — so far disengaged in any comprehensive discussion of the state's future — will meet the challenge by demanding more from their elected representatives. But until that happens, California's problems will be...

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he would consider supporting a voter-approved bond to help repair California's aging levee system. Hurricane Katrina's horrific damage and the subsequent levee break in New Orleans have focused attention on the Central Valley's century-old levees, which protect thousands of homes and millions of acres of prime farmland. A Record investigation in May found that in San Joaquin County alone, more than 30,000 new homes have been built or approved by local governments in flood-prone areas since 1997, when the last major flooding hit. In an interview Tuesday with The Record, the governor softened...

MEGA FIX N.Y. Times continues to avoid TWA 800 connection Posted: August 18, 2005 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Yesterday, the New York Times reported that State Department analysts had warned the Clinton administration in July 1996 about the dangers of Osama bin Laden's impending move to Afghanistan. Deep in the article, the Times reports that the State Department assessment was "written July 18, 1996." Nowhere in the article does the Times mentioned what happened the day before. What happened on July 17, 1996, is that TWA Flight 800 exploded on a beautiful summer night only 12 minutes out...

Rush just a little while ago was talking about Africa and the effort to fix it. Talked about the live 8 concerts and how they got lobster and stake and got goodie bags with ipods etc. These kinds of things do nothing but help celebs feel better about them selves. There they are yelling at us to give money while they themselves are hording their money, why don't they give their money to Africa. Over the last 40 years the US has give over 500 billion dollars to Africa and what is there to show for that expenditure, nothing. Its...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has jeopardized a deal to get $400 million in federal funds to fast-track adding a critical car-pool lane on the northbound San Diego Freeway into the San Fernando Valley, Rep. Howard Berman charged Monday. Schwarzenegger aides acknowledged that the administration is more concerned with the Alameda Corridor East project and fears that throwing its full support behind easing congestion on the 405 Freeway might jeopardize funding for the effort to move freight more quickly out of the harbor area. But Berman, D-Van Nuys, said the 405 funding is extra money the state could get to dramatically...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Democratic Assembly and Senate leaders announced Friday they have reached an agreement on a state budget, delaying a debate on the thorniest spending issue - public education. The spending plan approved Friday by the conference committee doesn't raise taxes and is balanced, according to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. However, not all legislators agreed that it is, indeed, balanced. "When you have a budget and the largest part is education, to suggest that you've balanced this budget is absurd," said Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin. "This is about narrowing the differences that...

HILL MAN HAD ME 'FIX' $$ By KENNETH LOVETT Post Correspondent May 19, 2005 -- LOS ANGELES — **SNIP** Bretta Nock, a hired event planner, said Clinton's former national finance director, David Rosen, also ordered her to obtain an invoice that she believed low-balled part of the cost of the event in 2000. **SNIP** She testified that Rosen told her that "the overall [budget] figure needed to project a lower cost, so hence, items were adjusted accordingly," she testified. The altered budget, she said, "was to their liking." The budget documents that Nock prepared were circulated to various people involved...

WASHINGTON - Breaking with party leaders, a Democratic congressman plans to introduce Social Security legislation, saying his first commitment is to his constituents. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., said Friday: "I have the largest amount of Social Security recipients of any Democrat anywhere in the country. My allegiance to seniors is greater than my allegiance to the Democratic Party." While Wexler is proposing tax increases that would clash with President Bush's pledge not to expand the existing payroll tax, his legislation was heralded by the White House in part because Democrats had steadfastly refused to offer an alternative to Bush's plan....

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Some lawmakers are taking another shot at fixing a funding flaw in Missouri's concealed carry law. Although not a top tier issue, Republican lawmakers pledge the bill will get considerably more attention than last year, when a similar measure never received debate in either chamber. "It's something we're going to deal with," Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons, R-Kirkwood, said Wednesday. Republican Gov. Matt Blunt also supports the bill, a spokesman said. The legislation got a hearing Tuesday before a Senate committee, which could vote as soon as next week to send it to the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst warned Wednesday that while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $111.7 billion budget plan solves next year's problem, the state still faces big deficits in the future because spending remains out of balance with tax income. But Analyst Elizabeth Hill also advised against Schwarzenegger's proposed long term solution to the problem - a constitutional amendment that would trigger accross-the-board cuts when revenues fail to meet spending obligations. Hill said the measure, which Schwarzenegger wants to put before voters in a special election this year, would put even more spending "on cruise control" while undermining the Legislature's...

Microsoft has announced that it will release three patches for its Windows operating system next week. The fixes, which will carry a maximum threat rating of "critical," will be issued Tuesday, the company said. Under its two-month-old advance notification program, Microsoft typically gives the public early notice of the number of updates it plans to deliver and of the severity of the vulnerabilities the updates fix. The only other detail the software giant revealed Thursday was that people may have to restart their Windows systems for the patches to take effect. Microsoft did not say whether the patches will fix...

Congress's Paperwork HumveesFirst, fix the military's failed acquisition system.When an Army reservist in Kuwait gave Donald Rumsfeld an earful Wednesday about inadequate armor for Iraq-bound Humvees, the Defense Secretary responded by paying the soldier the compliment of candor. "You go to war with the army you have. They're not the army you might want or wish to have," he said.That's at least an honest answer, and the Secretary's forthrightness seems to have been appreciated by the troops at the town hall meeting, who gave him a standing ovation. But back in Washington, candor has gotten more than one official...

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!

ABA Journal Report Friday, August 20, 2004 INSURANCE COVERS AUTOEROTIC DEATH, COURT SAYS 2nd Circuit Panel Vacates Earlier Decision, Orders Benefits in Asphyxiation BY STEPHANIE FRANCIS WARD Rock climbing and skydiving can be dangerous, yet death from those activities is often covered by life insurance policies. Considering that, a case of death from the practice of autoerotic asphyxiation should also be covered, says the New York City-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The decedent in the 2nd Circuit case was insured by an accidental death policy provided by his employer. First Unum Life Insurance Co. of America had denied...

TWISTED: LA Times Poll Had Sample With 38% Democrats, 25% Republicans Tue Jun 15 2004 10:13:47 ET Sen. John Kerry "has taken big lead," according "to an L.A. Times poll." But the Times poll that showed Kerry "beating Bush by 7 points" has created a controversy over whether the poll's sample accurately reflects the population as whole, ROLL CALL reports on Tuesday. "Not counting independents, the Times' results were calculated on a sample made up of 38 percent Democrats and 25 percent Republicans -- a huge and unheard-of margin," ROLL CALL claims.

A meeting on Middle Eastern studies is becoming an annual event here at The Washington Institute. I spoke alone on this podium two years ago, when I launched my book, Ivory Towers on Sand. I was joined last year by Professor Lisa Anderson, then-president of the Middle East Studies Association, for a very interesting session. And I'm pleased to be joined this afternoon by Dr. Stanley Kurtz, who's had such a profound impact on the public debate. I am grateful for the podium, because in the grand scheme of things, the state of Middle Eastern studies isn't exactly at the...

5 Cranbrook Teachers Allegedly Smoke Pot On CampusNo Students Involved, According To ReportsPOSTED: 8:30 a.m. EDT September 17, 2003Five faculty members of Cranbrook schools are accused of smoking marijuana during a campus event. Three teachers from the Cranbrook Upper School and two teachers from the Brookside Lower School were fired for the allegations, Local 4 reported. Sources told Local 4 that the alleged incident happened Labor Day week, before school started. No students were involved.