Free Republic

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- General Motors shareholders blasted the company's chief executive for raking in huge salaries and bonuses while the automaker has struggled financially, but a proposal to give investors a say on executive pay was soundly defeated on Tuesday. Shareholders also defeated a proposal under which at least 75 percent of future stock options and restricted stock awards for senior executives would be tied to the company's performance. John Lauve of Holly, Mich., who sponsored the proposal on performance pay, said GM's market share, stock price and credit rating have decreased in recent years, but management and directors...

Darryl E. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer February 28, 2008 Ray Combs thought he'd witnessed the wildest fishing action that the world had to offer. But that was before the Orlando videographer hopped a military cargo plane to Baghdad. There, as Black Hawk helicopters flew overhead, he watched soldiers cast lines into a man-made lake near where Saddam Hussein reputedly kept his harem. "I have been on boats shooting video as an 18-foot hammerhead ate a 200-pound tarpon mere feet away from me," said Combs, 32. "But . . . it doesn't compare to the surreal feeling of watching soldiers...

Democrats yesterday touted legislation to guarantee troops time at home between deployments to Iraq. snip The measure would require that regular military units returning from the war receive at least as much time at home as they spent in Iraq. Reserve units would get a home stay three times as long as they spent in the war zone

City of Katowice to honor Ronald Reagan with a monument and a square 09.02.2007 The southern Polish city of Katowice may soon rename its central Freedom Square to Ronald Reagan Freedom Square with a monument of this famous US President in the focal point of the square. A group of hundred local public figures and activists from the former anti-communist opposition in Katowice is petitioning the city authorities for this change. The idea is to symbolize both national and individual freedom, as Ronald Reagan’s contribution to Poland’s independence is undeniable and underestimated, say the proponents of the project. The central...

Opponents of Poland's former communist regime reportedly want to pay a posthumous homage to US President Ronald Reagan by erecting his statue in the place of a Soviet-era monument. In an open letter to the mayor of the southwestern city of Katowice, the former anti-regime activists said that the staunchly anti-communist Reagan had been a "symbol of liberty," the Polish news agency PAP reported. As a result, they said, he deserved to become the centrepiece of the city's Freedom Square, replacing a monument to the Soviet troops who drove out the occupying Nazis in 1945. They also said that they...

Polish admirers of Ronald Reagan say they will erect a statue of the late US president in Warsaw to thank him for helping to end communist rule. They say the 3.5-metre (10.5ft) stone and bronze statue will stand opposite the US embassy in the Polish capital. "The statue is a way for his legacy to live on," said Janusz Dorosiewicz, a businessman behind the private project. In 1989, Poland became the first nation in Eastern Europe to defeat communism. Reagan died in 2004 at the age of 93. "This is an entirely private initiative undertaken by Poles in Poland,...

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish admirers of Ronald Reagan plan to raise a statue of the former U.S president in Warsaw, where he is revered for his role in the downfall of communism in Europe. The 3.5-meter (3.8-yard) stone-and-bronze statue will stand across from the U.S. Embassy, the head of the group raising money for the memorial said on Monday. The group includes Poles living in Poland, Canada and the United States. "Reagan was the person who defeated the communists and opened the way for freedom in Poland," Janusz Dorosiewicz said. "The statue is a way for his legacy to live...

Polish admirers of Ronald Reagan plan to raise a statue of the former U.S president in Warsaw, where he is revered for his role in the downfall of communism in Europe. The 3.5-metre (3.8-yard) stone-and-bronze statue will stand across from the U.S. Embassy, the head of the group raising money for the memorial said on Monday. The group includes Poles living in Poland, Canada and the United States. "Reagan was the person who defeated the communists and opened the way for freedom in Poland," Janusz Dorosiewicz said. "The statue is a way for his legacy to live on." Many Poles...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31, 2006 -- A U.S. railroad freight firm has earned the right to blow its locomotives’ whistles in celebration of Defense Department recognition for superb support of its employees in the National Guard and Reserve. BNSF Railway, with headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas, is one of 15 U.S. businesses selected to receive the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award for 2006. “BNSF is very pleased to have been nominated and selected to receive this award,” said Connie McLendon, BNSF’s military staffing manager. “This is an important distinction that very few companies receive, recognizing outstanding support for our...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, July 5, 2006) – Department of Defense ID cardholders are eligible for weekly condominium rentals at 3,500 resorts in 80 countries worldwide. Provided by Morale, Welfare and Recreation and sponsored by Resort Condominium International, the Armed Forces Vacation Club offers space-available condominiums for $299 a week. The program gives Soldiers and other DoD workers affordable accommodations in condominiums that would otherwise go empty, according to Verlin Abbott, RCI director of AFVC. While the program provides low-cost accommodations to vacation resorts across the globe, Abbott stressed that the condos are “space available” only. “Don’t expect to go...

On the flight home this morning, I was unfortunate enough to have a bleeder sit next to me. By bleeder, I mean he was invading my space because he was large and his body was spilling over into my seat. I've seen worse cases than what I had today but let's hear your experiences.

ANNIVERSARIES always bring forth memories, some of them dark and conflicting, and this 60th year since the end of World War II demonstrates that there is no agreed-upon narrative of the 20th century's epic conflagration. We have seen China's violent demonstrations against Japan's teaching of its war history. Even though Japan has apologized many times for its war crimes, it cannot resist whitewashing its World War II past. Contradictory narratives run all through Europe as well. President Bush skillfully navigated the tricky shoals of Russia's commemoration of the ''Great Patriotic War" against Hitler, and the sensibilities of the Baltic States...

“Memory n. 1. The mental faculty of retaining and recalling past experience; the ability to remember. 2. An act or instance of remembrance; a recollection… see smer in Appendix.” “smer – to remember. In Germanic murnon, to remember sorrowfully, in Old English murnan, to mourn.” I remember Chuck Meerholz and the day I was supposed to drive. After four months with B Company, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor; four months of on-the-job-training for a guy trained as an infantrymen, I was being taught to drive our tank. B Company was to participate in a big operation centered on the village of...

A dialogue between two important members of the FARC (Colombian revolutionary Armed Forces), appears to be among the evidence submitted by the Colombian authorities to the Venezuelan Government according to Colombia’s Radio Caracol. Here is the translation of the only written report I have seen on the issue, which suggests that more than one hundred members of the FARC guerillas were in Caracas in early December for the II People’s Bolivarian Congress, financed and organized by the Chavez Government.. I had talked to two reporters who had mentioned this to me, but said they could not talk about it and...

A week ago, Noel Borden was sleeping in a bunker in Baghdad. On Sunday night, he and his fiancée, Sarah Harmon, slept on a pillow-top bed in a luxurious third-floor suite at the Ann Bean Mansion Bed and Breakfast in Stillwater. They lit a fire, tried out the hot tub and ate a gourmet meal — poached pears with a berry compote and vegetable quiche — for breakfast. Borden, a radio operator in the Minnesota National Guard's Delta 216 unit, is home on a two-week leave, and his St. Croix River Valley getaway was free, compliments of the innkeepers. "It's...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - California High Speed Rail Authority officials unveiled a tentative map of routes for the proposed statewide bullet train on Wednesday - a plan that includes a 120-mile, nonstop stretch between Bakersfield and Fresno. That Central Valley section of the line, which was recommended by the authority's staff, bypasses Visalia despite the city's pleas for a stop. The 700-mile system, with 200 mph-plus trains, would cost about $35 billion and carry as many as 68 million passengers a year by 2020. Voters will decide a bond measure in 2006 to pay for part of the project. Construction on...

The old sergeant had been granted leave and it had come as sort of a surprise for the men in his platoon. Even though they had been fighting in Iraq for over a year they had never seen the sarge take leave. “I never even realized sarge had anyone to visit on leave,” one young trooper said. “Yeah, another said, the army is his family. He even has camouflaged blood.”

It will have been 30 days since the death of RR on the 4th of July. We have mourned him and have shown him respect with our Flags at half-staff. Now on the Fourth of July let us once again raise them to the top and celebrate the birth of this great nation.

A few months ago, the commander of the Venezuelan Army, Raul Baduel, described something that worried him (1). Colombia had just purchased 46 AMX-30 battle tanks from Spain. The media claimed the tanks were to fight drug trafficking, but that hardly seemed plausible. Baduel suspected that the tanks were going to end up on the Venezuelan border. This deployment was blandly reported in El Tiempo, Colombia's national newspaper, yesterday (2). The 46 tanks will be part of a new Brigade, especially created, to 'patrol the border'. Four battalions and a Special Forces group form this new Brigade. The tanks are...

A number of people believed in this book from the very beginning.1 Many in this room fall into that category, but two aren't here. One, who was absolutely crucial, is an editor in New York named Cal Morgan. The biggest problem I had with this book was trying to find a publisher. Cal Morgan saw the book and realized its potential right away. Another person who championed the project from the very beginning was the late B. Kenneth Simon, who really would have wanted to be here today. Ken Simon was the first person to support the project. Ken was...

Cheerleaders for TerrorismBy Erick StakelbeckFrontPageMagazine.com | June 17, 2003 Two groups whom Islamic terrorists can count on for sympathy and support are radical lawyers and their counterparts in American law schools. Lynne Stewart is a hero of the National Lawyers Guild and a sought-after campus lecturer. While out on bail under indictment for colluding with a terrorist leader, she has been a sought-after speaker for law school audiences who relish her attacks on Attorney General John Ashcroft as a modern-day fascist and on her country for its imperialist and racist policies. Stewart made national headlines in April 2002 when she...

HOMELAND INSECURITYTexas plant guard sticks to storyMan shot near port facility says FBI doesn't believe him Posted: January 28, 20041:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com The guard shot at a chemical plant near a Texas port is sticking to his story about a Mideast gunman, but he says the FBI doesn't believe him. The shooting in Freeport at a BASF ammonia depot occurred late Friday night in a muddy lot outside the plant. Robert House was working security when he said he noticed a suspect in a white pickup truck taking pictures of the facility's lights. House says when he confronted the...

  Iraq Homecoming Tips I'm an NCO in the USAF (deployed to Iraq) and wanted to pass on a few hints for those family members who's soldiers, airmen, marines, seamen will be rotating out of the AOR as the major rotation has started. This time of transition will not be picture perfect or easy for most, as everyone over here changes a bit, as they have to. If you could pass these homecoming tips on, I'd appreciate it. First of all, don't push your loved one for information. If they want to talk about it, they will, if not, they won't....

  R&R Program funds more travel, fewer flights By Spc. Lorie Jewell WASHINGTON, D.C. (Army News Service, Jan. 9, 2004) – Soldiers coming home on rest and recuperation leave will now have their travel expenses covered to the airport closest to their R&R destination. The policy change came with the Dec. 19 approval to fund the onward travel program by Charles Abell, principal deputy, under secretary of defense for Personnel & Readiness. Congress recommended spending $55 million of the Army’s Operation and Maintenance funds to cover the cost of expanding the program, according to a Department of Defense news...

‘Leaders’ Rest’ Dedicated to Memory of Fallen Iron Soldierby Spc. Chad D. Wilkerson, 372nd MPAD BAGHDAD, Iraq – Freedom Rest, the U.S. Army’s designated location for troop rest and recuperation in Baghdad, opened a new addition last month. Several Task Force 1st Armored Division brigade and battalion command leadership teams joined Brig. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, 1st Armored Division commander, and Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, CJTF-7 commander, for the opening and dedication of the new facility. The building was dedicated to the memory of Pvt. Jonathan Falaniko, son of Command Sgt. Maj. Ioakimo Falaniko, 1st Armored Division’s engineer brigade...

Lt. Christian Dietz, on his way to rejoin his unit in Iraq after two weeks R&R with his family in Washington Township, Mich., assumed he would miss Thanksgiving. Lt. Dietz, 26, was walking to buy a sandwich at a fast food restaurant at BWI Airport yesterday when an employee from Southwest Airlines directed him to an employee's lounge. There Lt. Dietz and his fellow soldiers were given plates piled high with generous portions of turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings. "This is great," said Lt. Dietz, of the 40th Engineering Battalion, as he worked on his food. "This is the...

No phone number, but an address and fax # for the CEO of CBS, Leslie Moonves and a l;ink to the CBS site to leave comments/complaints

Delta, Southwest Let Passengers Donate Miles to Soldiers on R&R; Other Airlines Consider IdeaBy Wiley Hall Associated Press WriterPublished: Oct 22, 2003 BALTIMORE (AP) - Travelers will have an opportunity to donate some of their frequent-flier rewards to help troops on leave from Iraq reach their hometowns. A congressman whose district includes Baltimore-Washington International Airport started "Operation Hero Miles" and asked airlines to help set up the pool of frequent-flier miles. Delta Air Lines said Wednesday it would participate. Southwest Airlines, the No. 1 carrier at BWI, will let passengers donate tickets earned through the airline's reward system, said Christine...

Delta Air Lines Supports United States Military's Rest and Relaxation Program with Discount Fares ATLANTA, Sept. 26, 2003 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) will support the United States military's Operation Iraqi Freedom Rest and Relaxation (R&R) program with special discount fares for soldiers returning home for two weeks of R&R. The special fares are available for travel on Delta, Delta Connection and Delta Shuttle flights. "Delta is proud to help the men and women of our military return home to their friends and family," said Harlan Bennett, Delta's vice president-Revenue Management. From Sept. 27, 2003, until Sept. 15, 2004,...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 September 25, 2003Release Number: 03-09-22 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE U.S. Central Command Unveils R & R Leave Program In a continuing effort to improve the quality of life and readiness of U.S. service members currently supporting operations in Iraq, the United States Central Command has established a Rest and Recuperation Leave program beginning September 25, 2003. Those service members serving in the Iraqi theater of operations with 12-month orders will be eligible for this program. Service members will have the opportunity...

Just broke on Fox......looking for hard copy