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September 2005, Marine Gunnery Sgt. Michael Burghardt, a 35-year-old native of Huntington Beach, California, who had served with the Marine Corps for 18 years (the last 15 of them in bomb disposal), was called upon to disarm some improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near Ramadi, Iraq. As a member of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit, Sgt. Burghardt was tasked with locating, identifying, disarming and disposing of the IEDs that Iraqi insurgents have increasingly been using as offensive weapons against U.S. troops. ... The Omaha World-Herald photograph of Sgt. Burghardt displayed above — taken in the aftermath of the bomb blast...

Study pegs Democratic presidents as brighter By RICHARD ORR Herald Correspondent It´s really not all that hard finding GWB´s brain. It´s right there in the files of the Lovenstein Institute of Scranton, Pa., which has been publishing its research on each new president since 1973. The GWB study published in October 2004 took four months to complete and compared him to all the presidents from Franklin Delano Roosevelt through Bill Clinton. Based on the report´s findings, Democrats are smarter than Republicans -- quite a bit so, in fact. The three smartest Democrats were -- in order of intelligence -- Bill...

Men. I can not confirm this with any searching/Googling yet but: It seams that the new recruits of Paris Island (Marine boot camp), will be issued a "sress card" to be used when a drill instructor stresses them out enough. All they need to do is pull out the card and wave it in the instructors face and the instructor needs to back off. Also, the thing called the crusible (hell week)is no more. I know this because I just needed to send back a PFC new Marine on Christmass day. We droped him off at Philly air port to...

Some of the following points (see comment below) are just a sarcastic reference to old religious practices. However, it is difficult for me to square the Bible's tolerance for slavery and violence with what it is supposed to be: a foundation for Judaism and Christianity (true religions of peace). Why does the Bible simply regulate slavery instead of coming out against this clear evil? And why does it prescribe such draconian measures (like stoning) for infractions against the Faith? Almost sounds... Islamic. You can't claim homosexuality is wrong with Biblical verses then ignore the Bible's tacit endorsement of slavery. How...

A video clip shows home Christmas lights synchronized to flash in time to a musical score, in this case Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizard in Winter" (from The Lost Christmas Eve album). I'm lousy at pasting web links, but it's worth your time to see what this guy has done to his house for the holidays. Essentially, some guy named Carson Williams, of Mason, Ohio, put together a little 'festival of lights', and using a combination of light controllers and a low-power radio station, choreographed the whole shebang to the score of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 'Wizard In Winter'. The video is available...

Claim: The character 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' was created for the Montgomery Ward group of department stores. Status: True. Origins: To most of us, the character of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer — immortalized in song and a popular TV special — has always been an essential part of our Christmas folklore. But Rudolph is a decidedly twentieth-century invention whose creation can be traced to a specific time and person. Rudolph came to life in 1939 when the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward company (operators of a chain of department stores) asked one of their copywriters, 34-year-old Robert L. May, to come up...

School Buses Claim: Photograph shows school buses caught in a flooded New Orleans parking lot. Status: True.

Richard D. Lamm was a Democrat who served as governor of Colorado for twelve years from 1975 to 1987. Of the above-quoted third person account regarding his speech on the perils of multiculturalism, he told us in mid-June 2005: A Frightening Analysis We all know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an immigration-overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to capacity by many of American's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant college professor named Victor Hansen Davis talked about his latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration —...

WHAT SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID > > > Things that make you think a little: > > > > There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq in January. > In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the > month of January.That's just one American city, > about as deadly as the entire war-torn country of Iraq. > > > > When some claim that President Bush shouldn't > have started this war, state the following: > > > > a. FDR led us into World War II. > > b. Germany never attacked us; Japan...

With barely a word about it, workers at the Justice Department Friday removed the blue drapes that have famously covered two scantily clad statues for the past 3 1/2 years. Spirit of Justice, with her one breast exposed and her arms raised, and the bare-chested male Majesty of Law basked in the late afternoon light of Justice's ceremonial Great Hall. The drapes, installed in 2002 at a cost of $8,000, allowed then-Attorney General John Ashcroft to speak in the Great Hall without fear of a breast showing up behind him in television or newspaper pictures. They also provoked jokes about...

"Recently Marines in Iraq wrote to Starbucks because they wanted to let them know how much they liked their coffees and to request that they send some of it to the troops there. Starbucks replied, telling the Marines thank you for their support in their business, but that Starbucks does not support the war, nor anyone in it, and that they would not send the troops their brand of coffee. So as not to offend Starbucks, we should not support them by buying any of their products. As a war vet writing to fellow patriots, I feel we should get...

...Venezuelans would prefer at this time if the Carter Center stayed away from our country. The role the Center played in the recall referendum, before and after it, left a very bitter taste in all of those like me, who are certain that the outcome was fraudulent. ... Carter ... did not demand that the CNE do the “hot audits” on August 16th. ... There are lies in the reports from the Carter Center, such as that the boxes containing the ballots never left their sight. Thus, Venezuelans in the opposition think the Carter Center failed them completely by being...

Bwahahahah!!! Gasp! Bwahahahahahahah! (tears of laughter, blogger convulsing on the floor subject to one of the biggest laugh attacks recorded in blogdom). (Breathe, breathe deeply, garner composure, start writing again) Today we learn that Jennifer Mc Coy of the Carter Center will brave Venezuela to offer help in consolidating peace and democracy! The nerve! What is in store for us? Are they going to approve the new judicial system whose near uniform composition will ensure "peace" through a "uniform justice" (pun intended)? Will they offer to monitor the 2006 elections to validate yet another "fair" Chavez victory? ... I have...

Rumor: Osama bin Laden was captured long ago, but the U.S. government is keeping this news under wraps until just before the 2004 Presidential election. [snip] Yet to believe there is anything to the whispers of a previously-jailed Osama being served up as the 2004 U.S. presidential election's October surprise is to believe that any number of folks have kept news of such an arrest secret. Although the conspiracy-minded could convince themselves the American forces involved in such an operation could have been ordered to hold their tongues and all the paperwork associated with the mission and detainment destroyed, nothing...

The author of this stat was just interviewed by Fox TV: Ever since 1936 (in Boston) and when they became the Washington Redskins in D.C. in 1940, the outcome of their last home game before Election Day has predicted the winner. When they win, the party in office stays. If they lose, the party out of power takes over. Their record? 17 correct outcomes of 17. October 31st they play Green Bay. Both teams won their 2004 season opener and both have since lost 4 in a row. From Snopes...On 30 October 2000 the Washington Redskins lost a Monday night...

Claim: The outcome of Washington Redskins football games has correctly predicted the winner of every U.S. presidential election since 1936. Status: True.

Snopes attempts to cast John Kerry's egregious anti-Military voting record in a positive light. Ignoring his votes, for a moment, what has John Kerry said over the years that worries any security-conscious citizen? And what do these statements say about his track record on military and intelligence issues -- and the future safety of a country in his hands? Rest here

In recent weeks, The Heinz Endowments has been accused of using its funding of the Tides Center of Western Pennsylvania to advance a laundry list of partisan causes and fringe political groups. This accusation is simply wrong. It originated in an opinion column written by a researcher for the conservative, Washington, D.C.-based Capital Research Center. The crux of CRC’s argument is that money directed by the Endowments to Tides is "fungible." By supporting projects through Tides, CRC alleged that Heinz has secretly funneled money to every other organization that has ever received funding through Tides Center and the separate Tides...

Claim: The Communist Party USA is endorsing John Kerry for President. Status: Multiple — see below.

Here is the letter I sent to snopes.com Hello, I just wanted to tell you that you need to edit the entry http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/snuff.htm dealing with the existance of snuff films. It was last edited in 1999 and in case you missed it, since that date snuff films have become available in great quantity. Now through the technological miracle of the internet and our new global economy, we have easy access to middle eastern cinema. People being butchered on camera has become quite a common thing. The Here is good article on the subject. These snuff films are sold commercially in...

Dan Rather came under criticism after it was revealed by the Washington Post that he had given a keynote speech at a fund-raiser for Texas Democrats: GERALDO RIVERA: Let me just read you this news account, April 5th, USA Today: "Conservatives and pundits had a field day at Dan Rather's expense Wednesday after the CBS anchor apologized for being the star attraction at a recent Democratic fundraiser in Texas that raised 20 grand." Was that one of the worst mistakes you've made at least recently? DAN RATHER: Well, it certainly was one of the dumbest mistakes I ever made. But...

September 9, 2004 Documents Suggest Special Treatment for Bush in Guard By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE and RALPH BLUMENTHAL ASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard came under renewed scrutiny on Wednesday as newfound documents emerged from his squadron commander's file that suggested favorable treatment. At the same time, a once powerful Texas Democrat came forward to say that he had "abused my position of power" by helping Mr. Bush and others join the Guard. Democrats also worked to stoke the issue with a new advertisement by a Texas group that featured a former lieutenant colonel,...

Have at him!

Excerpts.... The Kerry end is near? At this precise time every four years, the most media-savvy members of the Gang of 500 begin to think about their roles in the premiere post-election forum that revisits the actions and players of the presidential race. But if nothing changes in the race as it now stands — with President Bush winning a decent-sized victory — much of the talk will be about the greater technical proficiency of the Bush-Cheney effort.Democrats, who deny up and down that they had anything to do with the documents, tell ABC News that they plan to continue...

<p>September 10, 2004 -- THE populist revolu tion against the so- called mainstream media continues. Yesterday, the citizen journalists who produce blogs on the Internet — and their engaged readers — engaged in the wholesale exposure of what appears to be a presidential-year dirty trick against George W. Bush. What the bloggers and their audiences did was call into profound question the authenticity of four documents proudly trumpeted by CBS News in a much-heralded investigative report on Wednesday night's edition of "60 Minutes" about the president's National Guard service in the early 1970s.</p>

This is a serious crime, altering military records to not only slander a war-time President, but that also suggest criminal activity. These forged memos suggested serious charges against our President, and should not be taken lightly. Whenever the Democrats suggest the Republicans might have done something wrong, they demand a full-scale congressional investigations. These memos are linked to sources inside the DNC, and it is important to get to the bottom of this. Whomever did this commited a serious crime. Our limp-wristed Representives must grow a backbone and demand that this be thoroughly and quickly investigated. I can guarentee you,...

Here is a pretty good current summary of the situation: The Shot Heard Round the World   The echoes of the big Internet bang which annihilated a 60 Minutes story in under 12 hours are still resounding. The key riffs apparently started at Powerline and as Samizdata notes, the distributed intelligence of the Internet took over. Under the scrutiny of thousands of analysts, the CBS story began to melt down.   The start of it all:  Documents Suggest Special Treatment for Bush in Guard   -more- The Thread that broke the Camels Back:Post 47, and the Freepers who busted C.B.S. Let us...

(CNSNews.com) - The White House says the Kerry campaign is "coordinating" the attacks on President Bush's National Guard record, just as the Kerry campaign accused the Bush administration of coordinating with the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. "You absolutely are seeing a coordinated attack by John Kerry and his surrogates on the president," White House press secretary Scott McClellan was quoted as saying on Thursday. "The polls show Senator Kerry falling behind, and it's the same old recycled attacks that we've seen every time the president has been up for election." McClellan's comments drew a huffy response from former Clinton...

The White House yesterday accused John Kerry of "coordinating" attacks on President Bush's National Guard service in response to the president's widening lead in the polls. "You absolutely are seeing a coordinated attack by John Kerry and his surrogates on the president," White House press secretary Scott McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One. "The polls show Senator Kerry falling behind, and it's the same old recycled attacks that we've seen every time the president has been up for election." Mr. Kerry refused to denounce Texans for Truth, a group known by its tax code classification as a 527, for...

<p>More than six weeks ago, an opposition research staffer for the Democratic National Committee received documents purportedly written by President George W. Bush's Texas Air National Guard squadron commander, the late Col. Jerry Killian.</p> <p>The oppo researcher claimed the source was "a retired military officer." According to a DNC staffer, the documents were seen by both senior staff members at the DNC, as well as the Kerry campaign.</p>

DOCUMENTS CITED Wednesday by 60 Minutes in a widely-publicized expose of George W. Bush's National Guard Service are very likely forgeries, according to several experts on document authenticity and typography. The documents--four memos from Killian to himself or his files written in 1972 and 1973--appear to indicate that Bush refused or ignored orders to have a physical exam required to continue flying. CBS News anchor Dan Rather reported the segment and sourced the documents this way: "60 Minutes has obtained a number of documents we are told were taken from Col. Killian's personal file," he said. The 60 Minutes story...

ONE MORE ARGUMENT As much as the Kerry Spot has tried to keep up with this, PowerLine has been on top of this story all day long. That site just presented what ought to be the straw that breaks the camel's back: In the August 18, 1973 memo "discovered" by 60 Minutes, Jerry Killian purportedly writes: Staudt has obviously pressured Hodges more about Bush. I'm having trouble running interference and doing my job. But wait! Reader Amar Sarwal points out that General Staudt, who thought very highly of Lt. Bush, retired in 1972. Okay, CBS. The ball's in your court....

Proof the CBS document BushGuardaugust1.pdf is a FAKE: Original text, slightly adjusted for rectangular fit: Same text, screen capture of document written in MS Word 2002 with no effort to match original aside from document width: Overlapping images, with original as B/W negative: Aside from slight warping presumably due to distortion introduced by a low-quality photocopier, the two texts line up exactly. The "30+ year old proof" against Bush is a fraud.

Friend who works in newsroom at 400 North Capitol Street in DC just called. There is now a huge, handwritten sign printed on teleype roll paper stretched across newsroom ceiling. It reads: "What's The Typeface, Kenneth?"

(scroll down to the bottom of the article for the update section): UPDATE: NEW PROOF OF FORGERY Following the Little Green Footballs blog lead, CB decided to test the pantograph replication technique on another of the CBS documents to see if it held true. Using Microsoft Word on its factory default settings with 12 point Times New Roman font we copied the address line of CBS memo #1 and overlapped the two for comparison. As you can see the test worked and, in doing so, inadvertantly uncovered more proof that the document is a forgery. The new evidence revolves around...

Claim: John Kerry's Vietnam War service medals (a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts) were earned under "fishy" circumstances. Status: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet 2004]

As Swiftboat Vets Against Kerry continue to cast innuendo at the Democratic nominee, the validity of these vets claims is laid open by a number of interesting circumstances. John O'Neill's attack on Kerry goes back to the Dick Cavett Show in the early 1970s on which O'Neill did not fair too well in proving some of his points. In fact, O'Neill arrived in Viet Nam after Kerry had left. None of the vets accusing Kerry of lying actually served with Kerry or near him. The experiences Kerry spoke of, whether true or not, could not be disproven by the vets...

John Kerry's Vietnam War service medals were earned under "fishy" circumstances Status: False

E-mail Author Author Archive Send to a Friend <% printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%> Print Version July 21, 2004, 8:30 a.m. Where Urban Legends FallSnopes.com, the ultimate debunker. Many people have attacked Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 by now; my favorite description comes from Christopher Hitchens, who called it "a load of nauseating, boring rubbish from start to finish." But long before the familiar pundits began touring the Michael Moore media circuit, urban-legend debunkers Barbara and David Mikkelson, of the indispensable Snopes.com, were on the case. The husband-and-wife team are not professional folklorists. She describes herself as "just a housewife;" he's a...

Whoopi Goldberg, the vile and disgusting supposed comedienne who put on an over the top display at Radio City Music Hall, is a known liar. Even the lefties at SNOPES dot com know that. Among the foolish things she said was the following: "Anybody who could wave to (blind singer) Stevie Wonder isn't fully there," she said to howls from the audience. That was debunked in 2002 by Snopes, but Whoopi was too busy Xeroxing her butt to notice. =============================================== Claim: Hoping to attract the singer's attention at the March 2002 Presidential Gala, George W. Bush waved at Stevie Wonder....

Claim: Hillary Clinton was named after world-famous mountain climber Sir Edmund Hillary. Status: Probably not. Examples: Taking a weekend break from official duties on her Asian tour, the first lady escaped already-remote Katmandu and traveled two hours by prop plane, land rover and rowboat to the Tiger Tops Jungle Lodge. Later, she got to meet Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to reach Mount Everest's summit in 1953. Sir Edmund Hillary, a frequent visitor and benefactor of Nepal since his historic trek, had a brief Hillary-to-Hillary handshake at the Katmandu airport before Clinton departed Sunday for Bangladesh. The first lady...

Claim: An American flag should be burned if it has been allowed to touch the ground. Status: False.

WHEN John Knoll created Photoshop in 1989, he knew he was designing an image-editing program that could be used in good ways and bad. But even Mr. Knoll, who wrote the software with his brother, Tom, was unprepared for how outlandish photo manipulation would become. "When we worked on it, mostly we saw the possibilities, the cool things," said Mr. Knoll, 41. "Not how it would be abused." The same tools that can be used to crop, retouch and otherwise edit digital images can be used just as easily to distort, alter and fabricate them. With Photoshop and similar programs...

Claim: John Kerry's Vietnam War service medals (a Bronze Star, a Silver Star and three Purple Hearts) were earned under "fishy" circumstances. Status: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet 2004] This was written by a retired admiral and Annapolis graduate. The item offers no direct testimony about Kerry, but it does provide informed background useful in assessing what Kerry seems to have claimed for himself. It confirms information I have received from other sources. Our media should be demanding that Senator Kerry open his service records in the same way they demanded that of President Bush regarding his NG service....

<p>Claim:   Statistics demonstrate that crime rates in Australia have increased substantially since the government there instituted a gun buy-back program in 1997.</p> <p>I thought you all would like to see the real figures from Down Under.</p> <p>It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced by a new law to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed by our own government, a program costing Australia taxpayers more than $500 million dollars.</p>

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/kerry2.asp

Right on, Andy Rooney! Andy Rooney said on 60 minutes a few weeks back: I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the United Caucasian College Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and see what happens. Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door. Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a...

Claim:   Imam is questioned about Islamic attitude toward infidels. Status:   Undetermined. Example:   [Mathes, 2003] Allah or Jesus? Last month I attended my annual training session that's required for maintaining my state prison security clearance. During the training session there was a presentation by three speakers who represented the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Muslim faiths who explained their belief systems. I was particularly interested in what the Islamic Imam had to say. The Imam gave a great presentation of the basics of Islam complete with a video. After the presentations time was provided for questions and answers....

HOAXBUSTERSTarget stores painted as anti-veteranBut e-mail making rounds mischaracterizes company's policy Posted: December 19, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com An e-mail circulating the Internet claiming Target stores refuse to donate to veteran charities, saving their money for "social actions," is not true. The e-mail contends: We asked our local Target store to be a sponsor of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall during our spring recognition event. We received back a reply from Target management that "veterans do not meet our area of giving. We only donate to the areas of arts, social actions and education." So I'm thinking, if the Vietnam...

Please don't trust anything you get in your e-mail, unless it checks out at Snopes. For example, the Target e-mail hoax has been posted here a million times. In closing, your inbox is not an accurate source for news.