Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Sep. 4, 2006 – U.S. Marines from Regimental Combat Team 5 found hundreds of weapons recently during Operation Rubicon in Mushin, Iraq, west of Habbaniyah, U.S. officials reported. The Marines, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment and 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, seized more than 500 mortar rounds, nearly 100 artillery rounds, more than 130 rocket-propelled grenades, an excess of 120 grenades, 22 mines, 10 mortar tubes, 20 rifles and machine guns, 18 sets of body armor and various other items including binoculars and bayonets. “This area was definitely an insurgent stronghold,” said Cpl. Brandon M. Stair, 25, a team...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – Extremists severely damaged a co-ed school in Afghanistan’s Paktika province today with a makeshift bomb, U.S. military officials reported. The munition caused major damage to the roof and most of the inside of the Malekshay School, whose grand-opening ceremony was scheduled for next week. No one was in the school at the time of the explosion. Afghan National Police secured the area and are investigating the incident. A coalition explosive ordnance disposal team was sent to investigate the site. “This is one more extremist attack on the education system in Afghanistan,” said Lt. Col. Paul...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 28, 2006 – Afghan and coalition forces discovered and disabled multiple explosive devices in three separate locations today, and coalition forces helped save two Afghan boys, U.S. military officials reported. A coalition unit discovered a landmine placed on the side of a road in Paktika province. A coalition explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the mine in place. In Khost province, an Afghan civilian reported a makeshift bomb to the Afghan National Police, who investigated and found it in the Warza Village. Another makeshift bomb placed along the same road hit a separate Afghan police unit responding to the...

WASHINGTON, July 21, 2006 – Iraqi security forces captured 25 suspected terrorists and killed one in multiple operations throughout Iraq July 19 and yesterday, military officials in Iraq reported. Iraqi security forces conducted two separate operations in Baghdad yesterday, capturing four insurgents who may be involved in "extra judicial killing" cells. The first operation by Iraqi security forces, a raid on back-to-back objectives in southwestern Baghdad, netted three primary targets. The first individual was a key insurgent leader believed to plan and coordinate insurgent operations in Baghdad, officials said. The second is allegedly involved in financing operations and supplying weapons...

WASHINGTON, July 6, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi forces have detained nine suspected terrorists and discovered numerous weapons caches over the past several days, U.S. military officials reported. Iraqi police from 8th Brigade, 2nd National Police Division, along with soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, detained seven suspected terrorists and discovered three weapons caches during a search in Baghdad's Doura neighborhood today. The caches included rifles, ammunition, 82 mm mortar rounds, blasting caps, suicide bomber propaganda, a 122 mm artillery round, a rocket-propelled grenade, grenade rockets, unknown rockets, plastic...

WASHINGTON - For the first time since the Abscam scandal a quarter-century ago, multiple lawmakers face criminal and ethics investigations that are tarnishing Congress, already low on public approval. Three separate bribery investigations by the Justice Department were bad enough news for lawmakers. But the woes only increased last week when the House ethics committee broke a 16-month partisan gridlock and announced investigations into the same matters. "We have an entire generation who imagines their member of Congress in an orange jumpsuit," said Paul Light, a New York University professor of public service, referring to the common prison uniform. "It's...

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2006 – Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers seized multiple weapons caches south of Baghdad yesterday and April 5. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, found a weapons cache using a metal detector yesterday. The cache contained Sabo penetrators, boxes of .50-caliber ammunition and high-explosive artillery primers. On April 5, soldiers from 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, discovered a weapons cache while on patrol. The cache consisted of 82 mm shells, 7.62 mm rounds, 82 mm mortar rounds, 60 mm mortar rounds and other...

3/17/2006 - SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFPN) -- Hundreds of physical and mental training hours go into being a part of one of the most advanced careers in the world -- an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot. The F-16’s multiple missions, such as air-to-air and air-to-ground combat, make it one of the most versatile aircraft in the Air Force, said Capt. Charlie Wolfsandle, 55th Fighter Squadron assistant training officer. To be selected to fly the F-16, an individual has to pass a battery of physical and mental tests. Pilots are selected for training when they receive a commission and are...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Jan. 25, 2006) -- In combat, Navy corpsmen are relied on to be ready to treat any type of injury or mass causality situation, sometimes risking their own lives in the process. Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason C. Deguzman, from Santa Rosa, Calif., did this more than once, earning him the Bronze Star Medal for his achievement during combat operations. On May 13, 2005, the corpsman with Company C, 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division responded to mass casualties that happened when a crowded civilian bus collided into the rear of a...

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 29, 2005) -- Iraqi Army Soldiers and U.S. Marines, Soldiers and Sailors of the 2nd Marine Division, discovered 66 weapons caches during the past week in al Anbar province in western Iraq. Blocks of plastic explosives, sticks of TNT, artillery and mortar rounds used in vehicle and roadside bombs along with remote detonators were found by Iraqi and U.S. Forces. Machine guns, assault and sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and munitions were also discovered. In Haqlaniyah, Sunday, Iraqi Soldiers and Marines excavated more than 8,800 heavy machine gun rounds along with 150 artillery,...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2005 – Coalition and Iraqi forces have seized or destroyed several weapons caches around Iraq since Nov. 5, officials announced. Coalition air forces conducted an air strike against an al Qaeda weapons cache in the village of Bu Hardan, near Qaim, early today. Multiple intelligence sources and tips from local citizens indicated a terrorist cell was firing on coalition forces in the area. Coalition forces tracked the cell to a storage building in the village into which mortars and other small weapons were seen being moved. This weapons cache was directly linked to mortar attacks on coalition...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23, 2005 – Coalition and Iraqi forces nabbed 31 suspects and discovered several bombs in operations across Iraq conducted between Oct. 21 and today. During raids on safe houses, coalition forces killed two suspected terrorists in Mosul on Oct. 22, and detained 22 others near Ramadi today. Coalition forces found the safe house in Mosul empty when they arrived. However, they were engaged by terrorists occupying two nearby houses. Coalition forces assaulted both houses and were attacked with grenades and small-arms fire. During the firefight, they killed the two terrorists and several others fled. Based on multiple intelligence...

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!

<p>When Jean Lund, a 51-year-old office manager and mother of three, told her gynecologist the problem, he snickered and said, "You're every man's dream."</p> <p>"I wanted to punch him," she recalled. "I'm suffering here, and he's laughing, `Hardy-har-har.' So I looked him in the face and said, `How would you like to walk around on the verge of orgasm every second?' And he shut up."</p>

Aug. 20 — One morning last April, the New York Times op-ed page ran a piece by the Australian physicist Paul Davies warning readers not to be so gullible as to believe there could be more than one universe. The next month, Scientific American published a long article by the physicist Max Tegmark asserting that, to the contrary, parallel universes almost certainly do exist. Around the same time, bookstores received Are Universes Thicker Than Blackberries?, wherein Martin Gardner dismisses theories of multiple universes as “frivolous fantasies.” If you had seen all this, you may well have asked yourself: Is this...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 April 12 Mercury on the Horizon Credit & Copyright: Juan Carlos Casado Explanation: Have you ever seen the planet Mercury? Because Mercury orbits so close to the Sun, it never wanders far from the Sun in Earth's sky. If trailing the Sun, Mercury will be visible low on the horizon for only a short while before sunset. If leading the Sun, Mercury will be visible only shortly...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 23 Alpha Centauri: The Closest Star System Credit: 1-Meter Schmidt Telescope, ESO Explanation: The closest star system to the Sun is the Alpha Centauri system. Of the three stars in the system, the dimmest -- called Proxima Centauri -- is actually the nearest star. The bright stars Alpha Centauri A and B form a close binary as they are separated by only 23 times the Earth-...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 20 Sunrise Analemma Credit & Copyright: Anthony Ayiomamitis Explanation: Astronomically speaking, at the Equinox on March 21, 0100 UT (March 20, 8:00 PM ET) the season changes. For this Equinox the Sun rises due east as it crosses the celestial equator heading north. In celebration, consider this spectacular sunrise analemma! An analemma is the figure-8 loop you get when you mark the position of the Sun...

<p>WASHINGTON -- To Don Henley's ears, the FM dial has been transformed from a bazaar of choices to a place where "everybody gets the same McDonald's hamburger."</p> <p>Taking issue with the musician on Capitol Hill Thursday, the chairman of a company that operates 1,200 stations said it makes a point of offering a variety of formats, from talk to country to rock to Spanish language.</p>

Widely used cholesterol-lowering drugs could relieve multiple sclerosis, say researchers. The drugs might also work on other diseases where the immune system attacks the body. The drugs, called statins, are commonly prescribed to fight heart disease. The new study shows that they may also work on the immune system, reducing brain inflammation. Multiple sclerosis is thought to arise when the immune system assaults the nervous system. It strikes with unpredictable symptoms including fatigue, tremor and paralysis. Existing treatments can slow, but not stop, the advance of the disease. Scott Zamvil of the University of California, San Francisco, and his team...