Free Republic

CAMP DAVID, Md. - President Bush on Friday criticized a federal court ruling that said his warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional, declaring that opponents "do not understand the nature of the world in which we live." "I strongly disagree with that decision, strongly disagree," Bush said, striking his finger on a podium to underscore his point. "That's why I instructed the Justice Department to appeal immediately, and I believe our appeals will be upheld." U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit on Thursday was the first to find the National Security Agency surveillance program unconstitutional. The program involves monitoring...

8/16/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- The faces on posters that call attention to a number of worthwhile volunteer causes are often lost in the hustle of accomplishing the daily mission. However, the association of one poster to a deployed Airman at a recent drive in Southwest Asia put a face on the critical need for all to register as bone marrow donors. The base-wide campaign drew 685 new registrants to the C.W. Bill Young Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program. It was held in memory of Cavion Holloway, the son of Staff Sgt. Danielle and Billy Holloway, who passed...

KENT ISLAND, Md. (Army News Service, Aug. 14, 2006) – About a dozen wounded warriors paddled outrigger canoes with military precision Aug. 13 on the Chesapeake Bay at Kent Island, Md., as a supplement to the ongoing medical care they receive at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The outing was sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project and the Kent Island Outrigger Canoe Club. “Outrigger canoeing sets itself apart as a therapeutic sport because it lends itself particularly to those who are physically challenged and it’s easily adaptable,” said Julia Ray, Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project manager. Volunteers from...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Jim Snoddy and other NASA engineers didn't just go to the drawing board or a warehouse when they needed ideas — and parts — for America's next lunar rocket. They went to space museums. Facing tight deadlines and uncertain budgets as it works on President Bush's plan to send astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars, NASA is both cannibalizing and analyzing pieces of its glory years, namely the Apollo program that first put humans on the lunar surface in 1969. Snoddy, a manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, has been removing valves and...

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas, Aug. 10, 2006 -- An improvised explosive device may have robbed Delaney Rocky Perez of his military career, but an Army program has given Perez an opportunity to serve again -- this time as a civilian. Delaney Rocky Perez, administrative officer for the Fort Sam Houston garrison commander’s office, is the first civil service employee hired at the base through the Army Wounded Warrior Program. Photo by Elaine Wilson  '(Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Perez is the first civil service employee hired at Fort Sam Houston through the Army Wounded Warrior Program. The program,...

8/7/2006 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- They gave something that they can never get back, and a group here does its best to ensure these heroes smoothly move on to the next phase of their lives. Palace HART -- Helping Airmen Recover Together -- is a program that assists Airmen injured in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Many of them have amputations and other handicaps. The program assists them in staying on active duty, if possible, but it also helps injured veterans transition to life in the civilian world. The program started in 2004. "Place HART...

WASHINGTON, August 4, 2006 -- The Defense Department this month kicked off a program to help prevent activated reservists and National Guardsmen from facing financial hardships. The Reserve Income Replacement Program will pay eligible National Guard and reserve members mobilized for extended or frequent periods the difference between their monthly civilian pre-mobilization income and their current total monthly military compensation. “RIRP is designed to assist those mobilized Guard and reserve members that are experiencing a loss of income while mobilized,” said Tom Bush, principal director of manpower and reserve affairs for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense...

FORT BELVOIR, Va. (Army News Service, Aug. 1, 2006) – The U.S. Army Materiel Command provides more than spare parts, bullets and food to warfighters – it provides jobs, too. The Always a Soldier program provides disabled veterans opportunities to seek employment within AMC, career advancement, job mobility, family wellbeing and greater financial security. “The goal of the program is to provide continuing support to warfighters beyond their active-duty service,” said Jonathan Herst, program coordinator. “By providing jobs for these veterans, AMC can clearly benefit by tapping into the valuable experience and commitment that our men and women in uniform...

The Lebanese Crisis and Iran’s Nuclear Program Witnessing the latest round of barbaric violence against Lebanon, many have been wondering as to why Israel has decided to end its normally limited reactions to Hizbullah’s aggression and to ferociously and widely escalate its response. Many analysts and spectators have been wondering what could happen next. Is the US initiative in the Middle East over? Will the US and the UN be forced to cut a deal with Syria and/or Iran to curb Hizbullah, and would such a deal bring Syria back to Lebanon? Will Israel invade Lebanon, again? When will this...

  Rakkasan Armament Program Saves Lives Welders add armor to Humvees to protect troops from improvised explosive devices. By U.S. Army Sgt. Waine D. Haley 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment TIKRIT, Iraq, July 20, 2006 -- A safety innovation has hit the battlefield in the form of heavy armor added to Humvees and is now on the roads of Iraq. The 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, created the Rakkasan Armament Program, known as RAP, in January 2006. This program is intended to provide shielding between the soldiers and the number one killer of...

More than half of California's K-12 public education students enrolled in free or reduced-price meal programs last year, the first time that the majority of youngsters were approved for assistance, according to state and federal officials. California was one of a dozen states where the majority of students were certified for such programs, said Jean Daniel, a U.S. Department of Agriculture spokeswoman. In Contra Costa, almost a third of all students signed up for the federally subsidized lunch and breakfast programs, the third school year in a row the county has seen an increase in the percentage of students. Nearly...

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. (Army News Service, July 17, 2006) – Mention the MARS Station to retired service members and they’ll probably tell you about how they were able to talk with loved ones back in the United States while serving overseas through this system of phone patches, high-frequency radios and volunteer radio operators. The U.S. Army Military Affiliated Radio System is still going strong with morale and welfare phone-patching and MARS messages. Today, it’s also a critically important backup emergency-communications system. “MARS has evolved into emergency-communications support not just for the Army, but for other government agencies, as well,” said...

This web site provides information to US citizens covered by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) If you are not a UOCAVA citizen, and wish to vote absentee as a regular state voter, please click here for links to State Election Sites. If you wish to vote in person, please contact your local county election official (listed in the Government Pages of the telephone book). Only 113 days until Election Day!

Court: Father Can't Raise Child Despite Mother's Deception Woman Lied, Saying Baby DiedPOSTED: 7:06 am EDT June 21, 2006 RALEIGH, N.C. -- A biological father should lose his parental rights because he did not establish himself as a caregiver, even though the mother deceived the man by claiming she had a miscarriage, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. Pernell Ingram argued that he had provided sufficient care to the mother to qualify as the legal father of a child born out of wedlock. The Newton Grove man said he had provided "consistent care" by frequently caring for the mother's...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A House panel voted Tuesday to throw a roadblock in front of an Internal Revenue Service plan that would use private collection agencies to chase unpaid tax debts. The House Appropriations Committee voted 29-27 to prevent the IRS from using money appropriated to the agency for fiscal 2007 to set up the program. President Bush had asked lawmakers to give the tax collectors $54 million to get the operation running. Rep. Steve Rothman, D-N.J., who wrote the amendment, said the program should be stopped to protect taxpayers from exposure to privacy breeches.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 2, 2006) – Staff Sgt. Jarod Behee was patrolling in Iraq last spring when his life forever changed, courtesy of a sniper shot to the head. The bullet left the California National Guardman critically wounded, and he’s since endured numerous surgeries to decrease the swelling of his brain and repair damaged blood vessels. Enter the Army Wounded Warrior Program, which has assisted Soldiers who’ve been severely injured while supporting the Global War on Terror since April 2004. Their injuries range from loss of limbs and sight to extreme burns and brain injuries. “We want them...

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2006 – America and its allies have laid the groundwork for "an effective international response" if Iran chooses not to suspend its uranium enrichment program, President Bush said today. Yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, at the President's instruction, announced that the United States wants to solve the Iranian nuclear issue with diplomacy. However, after welcoming the offer to talk, Iran rejected the demand that it first suspend its nuclear program. "The choice is theirs," Bush told reporters at the White House after a meeting with his Cabinet. "I want to solve this problem diplomatically, and...

HOUSTON - Martin Saucedo, an illegal immigrant from Michoacan, Mexico, would like to participate in a guest worker program like one Congress is considering as a part of sweeping immigration reform. But he's worried whether a proposal to grant millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship is really just an effort to find and deport them. "It's not a good idea. It won't give us what we need, to be able to come back," Saucedo said in Spanish during a break from clearing tree branches from power lines while working at a landscaping company. A bill before the Senate...

Texas Pre-Kindergarten Limited English Proficient (LEP) Pilot Program The following applications have been preliminarily selected to receive a grant for the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Pilot Program. Revised 4/12/06 Contacts: Carlos Garza(Funding) Discretionary Grants Phone: (512) 463-9269 carlos.garza@tea.state.tx.us Roberto Manzo (Program) Office Education Initiatives Phone: (512) 936-6060 roberto.manzo@tea.state.tx.us Program Description: The purpose of the Texas Pre-Kindergarten Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Pilot Program is: To implement multi-age programs serving 3-, 4-, and 5-year olds that assure that English language learning children receive appropriate activities to enter school prepared to succeed. The pilot program must provide many opportunities for the...

JALALABAD AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, May 10, 2006 – Defying estimates of a low turnout, more than 6,300 patients were treated during a historic six-day medical civic assistance program conducted by the Afghan National Army and coalition forces in Kunar province's Korengal Valley in Afghanistan recently. U.S. Navy Cmdr. Sandra Hearn of the cooperative medical assistance team for Combined Joint Task Force 76, treats an Afghan girl with a head injury during a six-day medial civic assistance program run by Afghan and coalition forces in Afghanistan''s Korengal Valley. More than 6,300 patients were treated. Photo by Capt. Dan Huvane, USMC  (Click photo...