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Staff Sgt. Omar Jackson, 82nd Airborne Division, patrols a small market in al-Ma'mel in southeastern Baghdad, Aug. 18. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Burrell, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. BAGHDAD – Recently, U.S paratroopers were attacked by an improvised explosive device here outside of Joint Security Station Cleary. According to 1st Lt. Steven Kelly, a platoon leader in the unit attacked, it was the first time anything like this happened to them in more than nine months in Iraq. On Aug. 18, the paratroopers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and their Iraqi Army (IA) counterparts donned their...

A thread with this title was posted about 10 years ago. The top choices were JohnHuang2 and kattracks (who sadly died of cancer a couple of years ago). My current favorites are governsleastgovernsbest for posting his great commentaries from newsbusters here (this is NOT an ad). I also like RobinMasters, he finds great articles to post. Also, kudos to Cindy for her relentless research. And of course, Jim Robinson who makes this all possible. This thread is dedicated to kattracks, a true friend of FR. May she rest in peace.

No more than five or six minutes elapsed from the time the police were alerted to the possibility of a break-in at a home in a quiet residential neighborhood and the awful clamping of handcuffs on the wrists of the distinguished Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. If Professor Gates ranted and raved at the cop who entered his home uninvited with a badge, a gun and an attitude, he didn’t rant and rave for long. The 911 call came in at about 12:45 on the afternoon of July 16 and, as The Times has reported, Mr. Gates was arrested,...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

President Obama swept to office on the promise of a new kind of politics, but then how do you explain last week's dismissal of federal Inspector General Gerald Walpin for the crime of trying to protect taxpayer dollars? This is a case that smells of political favoritism and Chicago rules. A George W. Bush appointee, Mr. Walpin has since 2007 been the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that oversees such subsidized volunteer programs as AmeriCorps. In April 2008 the Corporation asked Mr. Walpin to investigate reports of irregularities at St. HOPE, a...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Their loyal nature, their eagerness to please, are the very qualities that make pit bulls easy prey for dog fighters. And now, Best Friends Animal Society and other animal welfare groups have joined forces to help future canine victims of this organized crime. On April 8, representatives from Best Friends, Bad Rap, ASPCA, National Animal Control Association, Maddie’s Fund, Nevada Humane Society, Spartanburg Humane Society and the Humane Society of the United States met in Las Vegas to address the matter of dogs seized as a result of cruelty investigations into animal fighting rings. The meeting was in response to...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan , March 4, 2009 – Task Force Spartan soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division’s 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, have been working closely with the local populace and security forces in Afghanistan’s Vardak province since their deployment to Regional Command East two months ago. The “Catamount” battalion has had recent success with the Afghan security forces in the province’s Jalrez and Sayed Abad districts. This partnership signifies a commitment to helping the Afghan government become better connected with outlying provinces, officials said. Team Comanche, whose area of operations extends into eastern Vardak, conducts daily patrols over rugged...

3/2/2009 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) -- When the Australian servicemembers of Force Support Unit 1 at an air base in Southwest Asia passed a bucket around at their last barbecue to raise funds for the victims of the Victoria wildfires, they had hoped for some loose change from their Air Force guests. What they got surprised them. Between the Australians and the assembled guests, they managed to raise more than $1,600. "Through the generosity of those Australians at (the Joint Movement Coordination Centre, also known as 'Billabong Flats') and our coalition partners, just over $1,620 was collected towards the Victorian...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

The message that popped into Laurie Gale's Facebook inbox last month seemed harmless enough -- a friend had seen a video of Ms. Gale and had sent a link so Ms. Gale could view it. The link led to a video site that prompted her to update her video software, which she did. "Within seconds, everything started shutting itself down," says Ms. Gale, a 37-year-old lamp-works artist from Versailles, Ky. Ms. Gale's new Dell Inspiron laptop had been infected with malicious software, or malware, that has spread through social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. "I cried for an hour,"...

By Mike Farquhar Watching our President-elect attempt to put together a working cabinet, it finally dawned on me what he was struggling with. He’s got no peeps! Having sprung so suddenly and so successfully onto our national – even the world stage — he’s been abruptly confronted with success he for which he is woefully unprepared. So he went on vacation. In the course of a normal politician’s life, he or she would have come up through the ranks, serving at local and state level—perhaps even in the military or in law enforcemen— before seeking national office. Then that...

Thank You For Being A Friend ( Andrew Gold ) Thank you for being a friend Traveled down a road and back again Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant I'm not ashamed to say I hope it always will stay this way My hat is off, won't you stand up and take a bow And if you threw a party Invited everyone you knew You would see the biggest gift would be from me And the card attached would say Thank you for being a friend Thank you for being a friend If it's a car...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )