Free Republic

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2006 – The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is making it easy for anyone to honor America's troops with "Gifts from the Homefront" gift certificates. Anyone, even non-authorized exchange customers, can send these gift certificates to military servicemembers serving in operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom. On May 20, 1950, the first Armed Forces Day was celebrated by parades, open houses, receptions and air shows. It was a day for the military to show state-of-the-art equipment to the civilian population they were protecting, and a day to honor the people of the Armed Forces of the...

Iran raises tension with £30m gift to Hamas By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem (Filed: 17/04/2006) Iran defied America and Europe yesterday when it pledged to give almost £30 million to the new Hamas-led Palestinian government. The one-off payment from Teheran, which was announced by Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, will go some way to plugging the gap in Palestinian finances caused by the recent loss of western aid. Israel vowed to stop the money getting through - a viable proposition given how heavily Palestinian financial institutions rely on Israel. Mr Mottaki appeared to relish announcing the donation, which will...

What Is the Difference Between ‘Gift’ and ‘Remembrance’ in North Korea? Only That Received from the Great Leader Is ‘Gift’ By Han Young Jin, Reporter, Defector from Pyongyang [ 2006-03-26 14:08 ] ▲ North Korean Children in School Uniform ⓒScene from North Korean TV On 23rd, Sankei Shinbun reported “North Korean government was not able to provide gifts for the people on Kim Jong Il’s birthday”. Some carefully speculate that it might be ‘the result of financial sanction by the United States.’ It was presumed that the order from North Korean central government, “this year, the gifts are to be...

SIERRA VISTA — When Jay Record woke up this morning, he already had the gift he wanted — a new kidney. Now the Sierra Vista dad hopes to be starting 2006 with a new lease of life after receiving the kidney from his sister Juliann. The siblings are now recovering from the Dec. 15 operation, which took place at the Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix. “I felt great knowing that I would be getting a healthy kidney, especially coming from a family member. That made it really special,” said Jay, 34, who first learned his kidneys were not...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2005 – A company based in Monahans, Texas, has partnered with a grassroots-level America Supports You organization to distribute 300 gift certificates for tactical gear to deployed servicemembers. Through its AmericaSupportsYou.mil Web site, the Defense Department showcases efforts of American citizens and industries to support the nation's armed forces. Spec.-Ops. Brand provided the gift certificates for its line of nylon tactical gear to the Soldiers' Angels organization to distribute in care packages for deployed servicemembers. "We appreciate the opportunity to partner with Spec.-Ops. Brand to provide holiday gifts of their products that we know our troops will...

W. Douglas Pritchard just wanted to send a book as a Christmas gift for a friend serving in Iraq. Now, it looks as if Pritchard could be helping to send potentially hundreds of books to service personnel in Iraq in the coming months, with the support of a Central Tucson bookstore. The project, tentatively dubbed the "Tucson Book Caravan," began to germinate a few weeks ago when Pritchard asked his friend Mark Ballis what he could send as a gift to Ballis' son, 19-year-old Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Morgan Ballis, who is serving in Ramadi. Pritchard, 66, a retired University...

Each year it gets harder and harder to locate Christmas wrapping paper with a Christian theme. You know, the designs we used to take for granted: Babe in a Manger, the Three Wise Men, Peace on Earth, etc. I thought it would be useful to pool our resources as to what is available out there in stores and on the Web. After a few hours on Google, I've found two designs that fit the bill: Jeweled PeaceWe Three KingsClearly my Google-foo skills are deficient. Anyone else have some good sources?

Looking for the perfect Christmas gift for someone? I am too. I'm asking my fellow FReepers to suggest gifts between $1 and $100 for Christmas 2005.

ANY SOLDIER As the Veterans Day weekend wraps up, a letter-to-the-editor published in today's Nevada Appeal tells about a wonderful program called "Any Soldier" in which all of us across the country can do something a little more substantive than slapping a "I Support Our Troops" bumper sticker on the backs of our cars. http:\\www.anysoldier.com is a Website with a huge database of troop names and units where one may read their messages and choose whomever you would like to adopt," Jessi Winchester notes. "The contact person for each unit has agreed to accept mail and packages for distribution to...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Oct. 20, 2005) -- Good things really do happen to good people. At least that’s what Cpl. Matthew Castaneda found out months after saving a 71-year-old woman from her burning car. Two weeks after being recognized by the city of Oceanside for his heroic efforts Sept. 21, Castaneda, an electronic technician with 1st Maintenance Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, received a good deed of his own. His 2000 Dodge Stratus, which needed more than $5,000 worth of repairs, was going to be fixed for free. “To us as a family it’s a really...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2005 – Soldiers serving in the sands of Iraq but dreaming of fairways on a golf course back home may soon get their wish, thanks to a new program called "The Long Drive Home." The project is a joint venture by Bridgestone Golf and the American Legion, who have teamed up to provide free golf equipment for returning veterans of the war on terror. Just how much equipment is donated will be determined by how well Bridgestone Tour Team member Scott Hend hammers his tee shots. Hend is the driving-distance leader of the current PGA Tour. For...

State Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata went to bat for a West Hollywood billboard company being sued by Caltrans in 2001, and three months later received a $10,000 campaign donation from that company, documents show. The events are detailed in campaign finance records, as well as in documents Caltrans has provided under subpoena to a federal grand jury investigating possible public corruption on the part of Perata, D-Oakland, now California's most powerful elected Democrat. "There is no, nor will there ever be, any inappropriate connection between Senator Perata's legislative activity and any political contributions he happens to receive on...

Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il received a gift from Yehia Jakariya Khairallah, chairman of the Egyptian Committee for the Study of the Juche Idea. The gift was handed to the DPRK ambassador to Egypt by the chairman on Feb. 15. There the chairman said that they wish Kim Jong Il invariable health and happiness in constantly developing and enriching the Juche idea that lights the path of the present times. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Floral Basket to Kim Jong Il from Libyan Leader Pyongyang, February 22 (KCNA) -- Leader Kim Jong Il received a floral basket from Colonel Moammer...

For those of you just waiting for Howard Dean to start making gaffes, see the Saturday Washington Post account of his tour through the party's special-interest caucuses. I'm somewhat shocked the Post publicized this little tour. For pure, unadulterated Dean, you get this: "You are among the most persecuted people in the history of mankind," Dean tells his first audience, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus. Let's hope the African-American caucus didn't hear that. (Not to mention anyone who remembers the Holocaust, the Huguenots, throwing Christians to the lions...) As for what Dean said to the black caucus, he...

LUMBERTON, Texas - A former high school teacher accused of having sexual relations with a 17-year-old student has been indicted on two charges of an improper relationship with a student. Kathy Denise White, 39, was indicted by a Hardin County grand jury Tuesday. White is accused of having at least two sexual encounters in September 2004 with the male student, who is now 18, according to the indictment. The indictment comes after a Lumberton Police Department investigation and White's resignation last month from the school district, where she worked as a resource teacher at Lumberton High School. "She didn't do...

Osama bin Laden tried to purchase the world's largest pearl, the Pearl of Allah, as a gift to Saddam Hussein "to unite the Arab cultures," and Hussein was prepared to accept, according to the pearl's owner. Victor Barbish, who owns sixty-six percent of the pearl on behalf of his daughter, told WorldNetDaily he received an offer in 1999 from individuals who said they were "from bin Laden's group" to purchase the pearl for $60 million to give to Hussein as an overture of unity between al-Qaida and the Iraqi government.

WOMEN IN MINISTRY: A BIBLICAL VISION by Sharon Clark Pearson Wesleyan theological tradition historically has held a “high view” of Scripture; that is a part of the ethos of our community. In a church tradi­tion (with its community) that claims the integrity and authority of Scrip­ture, questions of practice are taken seriously. The question of whether God ordains and blesses women in the practice of ministry (both in func­tion and in office) is crucial to women because their personal and rela­tional lives and their participation in the church have been defined and regulated by the interpretation of Scripture (as the...

LONDON (AP) - It's hairy and smells and will butt you, given half a chance. But the humble goat is one of Britain's most popular Christmas presents, with several charities offering the chance to do something for others by buying one of the animals for an impoverished family in the developing world. The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, or Cafod, said Thursday that in the past five weeks donors paid for 13,000 of the creatures at 25 pounds (US$47, euro37) each; the beasts will go to poor families in Eritrea, Kenya and southern Sudan in Africa. "I think people like...

PITTSBURGH -- After checking three stores, Beth Cohnen finally found a must-have Christmas gift for her 10-year-old daughter to give to her uncle: a Chia Scooby-Doo. It's bound to be $15 well spent - he'd asked for it for about five years in a row. And while the uncle recognizes the humor in the quirky pottery, Cohnen said, Chia Pets aren't for her. ``I think they're kind of odd,'' she said. Over the past two decades, the Chia Pet has grown beyond its marketer's expectations to become a classic kitsch gift. The company began marketing Chia Pets - the Chia...

MONTCLAIR - With his wife leading the way, a blindfolded Lance Cpl. David Battle made it up the stairs of one of the area's largest wedding ring stores Friday night. The 19-year-old soldier, who had chosen his own ring over an injured finger while fighting insurgents in Iraq, was now headed for the surprise of a lifetime - a secret his wife, Devann Battle, had struggled to keep from him all week. Ironically, the ring he fought so hard to save on the battlefield last month was lost in a medical camp in Fallujah, where doctors worked to stabilize the...