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DOVER, Del., Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden bid a safe farewell on Friday to 112 "citizen soldiers" headed to Iraq, including his son, and told them "thank you for answering the call of your country." "God bless you and may He protect you," Biden said a day after his debate with his Republican rival Sarah Palin, who as Alaska's governor saluted her 20-year-old son off to war last month. In brief remarks at a departure ceremony outside the Delaware state capitol, Biden made no mention of his showdown in St. Louis with Palin.

Reports that Track Palin vandalized school buses aren't true, says pal By NANCY DILLON DAILY NEWS WEST COAST BUREAU CHIEF Wednesday, September 10th 2008, 7:55 PM Despite snowballing reports and rumors, Sarah Palin's eldest son, Track, was not part of the gang of four teenagers who criminally vandalized 44 Alaska school buses in 2005, a key culprit told The News. "Track wasn't with me. Track had nothing to do with it," participant Deryck Harris, 20, said Wednesday in an exclusive interview. Citing an anonymous judicial source, the Anchorage radio station 1080 KUDO was the first to report last week that...

The ENQUIRER has learned exclusively that Sarah's oldest son, Track, was addicted to the power drug OxyContin for nearly the past two years, snorting it, eating it, smoking it and even injecting it. And as Track, 19, heads to Iraq as part of the U.S. armed forces, Sarah and her husband Todd were powerless to stop his wild antics. THE ENQUIRER also has exclusive details about Track's use of other drugs, including cocaine, and his involvement in a notorious local vandalism incident. “I’ve partied with him (Track) for years,” a source disclosed. “I’ve seen him snort cocaine, snort and smoke...

81% Say US on Wrong Track, 48% to Stay Anyway by Scott Ott for ScrappleFace · 3 Comments (2008-04-04) — The most recent New York Times/CBS News Poll indicates that while 81 percent of Americans think “things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track“, roughly 48 percent have decided to stay in the United States anyway. The survey also indicates that more than 70 percent said their personal financial situation was “fairly good or very good“, but only 21 percent think “the overall economy is in good condition” thanks to the well-known economic principle that individual prosperity produces...

More than 80 percent of Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the highest such number since the early 1990s, according to a new survey. The CBS News-New York Times poll released Thursday showed 81 percent of respondents said they believed "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track." That was up from 69 percent a year ago, and 35 percent in early 2002.

BALAD — As the ramp slammed down in the muck, the rain came howling in drenching the men who leapt off the back of the Chinook helicopter. The troopers hurried into the field of sloppy mud where they slipped and slid through the landing zone to reorganize in the pitch black Iraqi night. Not even the moon was friendly on this mission, which would prove to be a testament to the guts of Army Infantrymen and to the determination of Charlie Company Soldiers to make even the most remote hamlets in the Salah ad-Din province safe from al Qaeda. Soldiers...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2007 – Members of North American Aerospace Defense Command are gearing up to track Santa Claus’ travels on Christmas Eve, providing detailed information about his whereabouts on the command’s Web site and through a toll-free telephone line. Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, delivered a tongue-in-cheek assessment of the Santa-tracking mission. He reported a “consistent phenomenon” the command has tracked for decades. “Sometime around the 24th of December, this individual begins to take flight, and he makes a very rapid trip around the globe,” he said. When Continental...

OSAKA, Japan - In his first big race as an American, Bernard Lagat won the world championship that had long eluded him. His stirring victory in the 1,500 meters Wednesday night was something he never quite accomplished as a Kenyan. "This is a dream come true," the 32-year-old runner said. "I'm a champion for the United States of America." Lagat, an American citizen since 2004, became the first U.S. runner to win a world 1,500-meter championship. "When you're carrying this flag, it means a lot," Lagat said. "You're representing everybody, the victims of Katrina, everybody. Those who are serving in...

MEXICO CITY - A pilot program to allow Mexican trucks into all areas of the United States should be in place by July, a top U.S. trade official said Tuesday. Access to the U.S. by Mexican trucks has been delayed for years by safety and environmental concerns and resistance from U.S. truckers. "To my mind Mexico has lived up to its responsibility" in addressing safety concerns raised by the U.S. Congress, said Franklin L. Lavin, undersecretary for international trade for the U.S. "We fully intend to go ahead with liberalization in July. So we're on track." Lavin spoke to U.S....

LA JOLLA – To explore the link between climate change and air pollution, a La Jolla scientist and his colleagues will launch a trans-Pacific journey Tuesday with an unusual goal: to maneuver the nation's most advanced environmental research plane into the middle of a giant cloud of dust and soot. This and other plumes of polluted air from Asia can be the size of California. Their increasingly frequent appearance in recent years has generated substantial scientific scrutiny. But the latest venture is believed to be the first in which researchers will follow a plume across the Pacific and take air...

A recent spot check by federal agents found that 59 street gang members in Southern California jails are illegal immigrants subject to deportation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement named the deportable gang members during a first-of-its-kind screening of some inmates last month. The review is continuing, and in the first year officials expect to identify up to 800 gang members who are in this country illegally, said Jim Hayes, director of the Los Angeles field office. The focus on inmates' immigration status comes as Los Angeles pushes for federal agencies to help crack down on gang crime. The report has...

U.S. companies will need to keep track of all the e-mails, instant messages and other electronic documents generated by their employees thanks to new federal rules that go into effect Friday, legal experts say. The rules, approved by the Supreme Court in April, require companies and other entities involved in federal litigation to produce "electronically stored information" as part of the discovery process, when evidence is shared by both sides before a trial. The change makes it more important for companies to know what electronic information they have and where. Under the new rules, an information technology employee who routinely...

DEL MAR, Calif., Aug. 24, 2006 -- Del Mar Thoroughbred Club pulled out all the stops yesterday as it saluted more than 1,000 sailors of the USS Ronald Reagan just returned from a deployment to the Persian Gulf. Petty Officer 1st Class Anthony Balasa and his daughter Sabrina, 6, watch the horses and trainers warm up prior to the start of a race at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., Aug. 23. The racetrack opened its gates to the sailors assigned to the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan who returned from a six-month deployment just six weeks ago....

SACRAMENTO State lawmakers were poised to approve a $130.9 billion spending plan Tuesday that uses a tax windfall to fund one of the largest-ever increases for California schools and sets aside billions to pay down debt and build up reserves. Leaders of both parties say they expect it to pass with the required two-thirds vote, setting the stage for California's first on-time budget in six years. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office said if it passes, officials will work around the clock to complete the governor's line-item review of the budget bill in time for him to sign it before midnight Friday,...

/13/2006 - KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- Air Force reservists from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron’s “Hurricane Hunters” began flying the year’s first storm missions June 10 into Tropical Storm Alberto. The Hurricane Hunters found that the center of the cyclone had abruptly reformed near the deep convection and was relocated some 60 nautical miles to the northeast of its previously estimated position during a flight June 12. The Hurricane Hunters are flying the new WC-130J model, with dual heads-up displays for pilots and technological advancements such as improved weather radar. These features significantly improve the situational awareness...

ROME - The U.N. food agency said Thursday it is considering a plan to fit wild birds with tiny backpacks and monitor their annual migrations to help combat the spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu. The project would rely on communications satellites and a network of computers to track the birds' movements, and would cost $6.8 million, the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization said in a statement. "All we have now is a snapshot. We need to see the whole film," said Joseph Domenech, the organization's chief veterinary officer. Evidence on the role of wild birds is not always...

WASHINGTON - The federal government is on pace to have 11 top-priority reforms in emergency response completed by the June 1 start of hurricane season, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday. But much of the success or failure in responding to disasters will depend on how well state and local officials work with Washington and have their own emergency plans in place, Chertoff said. "This is a case where we ... all hang together or we hang separately," Chertoff told The Associated Press. "We've got to be operating jointly, we've got to be in partnership." The 11 must-do reforms...

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2006 – Restoration of the flood protection system in New Orleans is on track and by June 1 will be equal to or better than it was before Hurricane Katrina, the Army general in charge of the program said here yesterday. To date, 100 of the 169 damaged miles of levee have been repaired, and 85 percent of pumping capacity is restored, Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, commander and chief of engineers, Army Corps of Engineers, said at a White House news conference. In meeting President Bush's June 1 commitment, the Corps of Engineers will restore all damaged...

3/2/2006 - LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- When U.S. forces get to Iraq and Afghanistan, they’re finding dry, featureless terrain with no real landmarks or points of reference to use when they travel across these wide-open and often dangerous landscapes. In the past, maps and a compass were the decisive tools used by servicemembers to track down the enemy and find their exact location in theater. That’s no longer the case. Warfighters are now turning to a 12-channel device known as the Defense Advanced Global Positioning System Receiver, or DAGR, to get vital information. A screen about...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2006 – U.S. forces in western Anbar province have made great progress in the fight against insurgents and efforts to secure the Iraq-Syria border, a U.S. commander in the area said today. U.S. Marines recently took an important step in making the area more prohibitive to insurgents by enclosing the city of Rutbah in berms and establishing entry-control points, Marine Col. Stephen Davis, commander of Regimental Combat Team 2, said at a news conference. Rutbah, which sits astride two major supply routes, was the object of Operation Western Shield, Davis said. "This town had the unfortunate occurrence...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2006 – The United States will push ongoing efforts to train more capable Iraqi police to provide internal security across the country, President Bush said here today. U.S. commanders say Iraqi soldiers and police are gaining in numbers and capability to take on the terrorists, Bush told members of the Veterans for Foreign Wars. But more needs to be done, the president said. "The Iraqi police still lag behind the army in training and capabilities," Bush said, "and so one of our major goals in 2006 is to accelerate the training of the Iraqi police." Bush said...

US vows to track down hijacker freed early By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 23/12/2005) The United States has vowed to track down and bring to trial a Lebanese hijacker who has been secretly released after serving 19 years in a German prison for seizing an airliner in 1985 and killing a US navy diver. The Bush administration said it had asked Germany not to release Mohammed Ali Hamadi, who was jailed for life for his role in the hijacking of TWA's Flight 847 from Athens to Rome and the shooting of one of the passengers, Robert Stethem. Despite...

HUSAYBAH, Iraq (Dec. 8, 2005) -- Western Iraq, along the Syrian border, is a far cry from the mountains of Washington and sunny days and summer afternoons partying on a lake. The physical distance is measured in thousands of miles, but the difference in atmosphere, environment and mentality may as well be a galaxy away. Corporal Jason L. Johnson, a reservist from Auburn, Wash., closed that gap when he volunteered for mobilization and assignment June 2005 to 6th Civil Affairs Group, out of Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. It brought him to this small, dusty city in Iraq’s Al...

TORONTO - A U.S. security official said Wednesday it will use wireless technology at five border posts with Canada and Mexico to track foreigners driving in and out of the United States. Bob Mocny of the Department of Homeland Security said wireless chips for vehicles would become mandatory at designated border crossings in Canada and Mexico as of Aug. 4. Border authorities will provide a chip that drivers will put on the dashboard of vehicles. Antennas have been installed at the border crossings at Thousand Islands Bridge in Alexandria Bay, N.Y., and Blaine, Wash. crossings for the Pacific Highway and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities in Los Angeles said Sunday they will begin tracking inmates in the nation's largest jail system using new radio-linked wristbands to pinpoint their location within a few feet. Los Angeles County plans to spend $1.5 million to tag about 1,900 inmates in one unit of the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, beginning early next year. If it works well, the program may be expanded to the 6,000 inmates at the county's central jail and then to other facilities, said Marc Klugman, chief of the sheriff's department's Correctional...

The four girls who had been tearing up Western Pennsylvania high school track had been brought to tears, their hopes of defending their district and state championships in the 400-meter relay dashed by a fallen runner on Wednesday. But a goodwill gesture by some opponents has given Penn Hills High School another chance. Three teams that finished ahead of them decided to step aside, giving the Penn Hills girls a shot at the championships after all.

KALAMA, Wash. -- A javelin impaled a 12th-grader during track practice at a South Sound school on Monday, one of two incidents that left students hurt, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported.One of Dodson's friends snapped a photo of the javelin impaling him, but Dodson says that he was in shock and he did not feel any pain. "[It]felt weird and exciting at the same time," said Dodson.His friends were shocked and worried."It's not fun to see one of your friends on the ground with a javelin through his chest," said Brent Hopkins, student.Minutes later, a seventh-grader was hit in the...

BRADENTON, Fla. - Retired Gen. Tommy Franks has signed on to be the spokesman for a company that uses global positioning system technology in teens' cell phones to let parents know how fast they're driving. Franks will be the official face of Teen Arrive Alive. The organization aims to get teens to carry a cell phone containing a GPS chip that sends out regular signals letting parents know where they are and how fast they're going. If a certain predetermined speed limit is passed, an alarm will go off in the cell phone and parents will be notified. A bumper...

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!

WASHINGTON--Next time you make a printout from your color laser printer, shine an LED flashlight beam on it and examine it closely with a magnifying glass. You might be able to see the small, scattered yellow dots printer there that could be used to trace the document back to you. According to experts, several printer companies quietly encode the serial number and the manufacturing code of their color laser printers and color copiers on every document those machines produce. Governments, including the United States, already use the hidden markings to track counterfeiters. Peter Crean, a senior research fellow at Xerox,...

Israel is not mentioned in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. But when Moore showed up as a journalist at the Republican National Convention, the conventioneers were none too pleased. Earlier this summer, a coalition of Jewish Republicans researched his stands on Israel over the past two decades. Michael Moore dedicated his 2003 book, Dude Where's My Country? to Rachel Corrie, an International Solidarity Movement volunteer who was accidentally killed when she climbed in front of a caterpillar bulldozer destroying tunnels used by Palestinian terrorists to illegally smuggle weapons from Egypt into Gaza. Moore expressed his understanding for other victims of the...

Hurricane Frances Advisory Number 13 Statement as of 11:00 PM AST on August 27, 2004 ...Frances on track...eye getting larger... interests in the northern Lesser Antilles and the northeastern Caribbean Sea should closely monitor the progress of Frances over the next several days. At 11 PM AST...0300z...the center of Hurricane Frances was located near latitude 16.3 north... longitude 50.5 west or about 750 miles...1205 km... east of the Leeward Islands. Frances is moving toward the northwest near 12 mph...19 km/hr. A motion between northwest and west-northwest is expected for the next 24 hours or so. Maximum sustained winds are near...

NEW YORK (AP) - Federal agents and city police are keeping tabs on people they say might try to cause trouble at the Republican National Convention, questioning activists, making unannounced visits and monitoring Web sites and meetings. The law enforcement effort has been going on quietly, overshadowed in public by talk of counterterrorism measures planned for the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 event. "We're not engaging in surveillance of groups or individuals without legal predication," said Jim Margolin, spokesman for the New York office of the FBI. Ann Roman, a spokeswoman for the Secret Service, said agents expect to respond to an...

BEIJING (Reuters) - Pushing ahead with a space program that has won international acclaim, China launched a satellite on Tuesday as part of its first joint initiative with the European Space Agency to help track storms in space. Probe No. 1, an equatorial orbiting satellite, blasted off atop a Long March 2C/SM carrier rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan province, the official Xinhua news agency said. China's highest orbiting satellite ever launched, part of the Sino-European Double Star Project, was expected to remain in orbit for 18 months to track space storms and help improve...

Some people no doubt raise an eyebrow that North American Air Defense Command, or NORAD, for the 49th consecutive year is undertaking the annual task of tracking the global progress of Santa Claus starting Dec. 24 and continuing through the early hours of Christmas Day. Rest assured that Santa certainly knows who you are and has duly placed you upon the infamous "naughty" list. And so close to his yearly visit. Tsk. Tsk. "Our tax dollars at work," various of you have been heard to comment. "Shouldn't they be keeping an eye on North Korea?" others have asked with dripping...

TEL AVIV — Israel's air force has employed unmanned air vehicles for targeting in airborne counter-insurgency operations against Hamas and other groups. For the first time, Tuesday, Israel went public with footage taken during the operation. In an unusual move, details of the UAV operation were disclosed on Tuesday in wake of five air attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources said 12 people were killed in the strikes on Gaza City and the Nusseirat refugee camp. The UAV video disputes Palestinian claims that the Apache fired missiles in a crowd of people that surrounded the car....

The track season is winding down, and soon the sound and fury of this unusually exciting season (thanks, Funny Cide) will fade into memory. Fans here in the area will trudge through a Capital Region winter drawing nourishment from sunny recollections of mimosas in the clubhouse, adventurous hats and the all-too rare trifecta score. The Spa City will once again revert ownership to the full-time residents and Skidmore students, as the dedicated day-trippers and summering city folk return to their own routines.

<p>"If information about clients is shared across providers, these systems can be used to reduce the number of times that clients are required to complete intake forms and assessments," it says. "They also allow providers to coordinate and track activities and services more effectively within a locality, streamline the referral process, and improve case management for homeless clients."</p>

Late last week the State of Idaho held its State track meet in Boise at the Boise State Stadium. My son and several of his team mates from Emmett were in attendance. Emmett took overall 3rd place at State and my son came home with three medals, 5th in the open 400M, 4th in the 4X400M relay and 2nd in the Medley relay. I got a lot of great pictures but will not bother you with all of them taken by a proud dad. I did think you would find these two interesting though ... THE THRILL OF VICTORY Emmett...

NOGALES, Ariz. - Some Mexican nationals say they are suspicious of a new U.S. security plan that will eventually track all foreign visitors as they enter and leave the United States. The Department of Homeland Security's National Security Entry-Exit Registration System will be implemented by next year at the 50 largest land ports of entry in the United States, including Nogales, Ariz., and Douglas. Its ultimate goal is to allow the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to track - through a registration system - the arrival and departure of every foreign visitor. Once implemented, the system will allow the government...

They sat there behind the microphones in the Jerry West Lounge within the Coliseum, the executioners of five sports programs at West Virginia University. They explained their reasoning in terms of dollars and no sense, in terms of scholarships and percentages, but they could not explain away how many lives they dismantled, how many dreams they slaughtered. They had answers for the most pressing questions, questions like these: How can you find $7 million for Rich Rodriguez (with a $2 million buyout) and not $600,000 to keep five sports and the scholarships of 53 athletes going? How can you do...

Texas Creates DNA Database To Identify Missing Persons Texas' new missing persons DNA database is generating a fresh sense of hope for people involved in the search for missing persons, including families worried about a missing loved one, detectives and medical examiners. The DNA Identity Lab at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth developed the database over the past two years and started accepting DNA samples Jan. 1, 2003. Its staff of forensic geneticists will use a direct link to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to expand the search beyond Texas' borders. The lab's forensic...

      | |     Smith, Sununu go mano a mano for first time Debate lively on trade and civil liberties Tuesday, August 13, 2002By AMY McCONNELLMonitor staff The Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate dropped their usual frosty politeness last night in a series of testy exchanges over issues including free trade, immigration policy, domestic oil exploration and constitutional concerns in prosecuting suspected terrorists.In a one-hour debate on WNDS-TV, incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Smith and challenger U.S. Rep. John E. Sununu responded to - but in many cases didn't actually answer - questions from the audience....

If you travel to another country, because you are a US citizen, the government does not check your passport to document when you leave. We believe in liberty in America, and free people can travel freely. But, since 9/11, there has been a shift in that thinking. Some in government are now calling for total tracking of all US citizens who leave the country. In many other countries, citizens are already tracked as they move about within their country, and certainly if they exit the country, their governments know all. For instance, in New Zealand, the government diligently monitors the...

<p>The Federal Drug Administration has ruled that an implantable microchip used for ID purposes is not a regulated device, paving the way for the chip's immediate sale in the United States, the manufacturer announced today.</p> <p>For the past several weeks, Applied Digital Solutions has worked to get its VeriChip -- a biochip containing personal data that is similar to devices used to identify lost pets -- classified as a non-regulated device. On Thursday, the company's wish was granted.</p>