Free Republic

At a makeshift refuge camp in the capital Male, a teenager vows never to go back to his tiny coral island after Sunday's deadly tsunami lashed the equatorial nation, killing at least 55 people. Before the disaster struck, the Maldives were the picture-postcard tropical paradise many well-heeled people dreamed about, with coconut palms leaning over crystal-clear lagoons and coral reefs promising great snorkelling and diving. Now a state of emergency has been declared, throwing the classic desert islands into crisis after they were deluged by the freak waves that crippled large swathes of Asia. While the tourist industry has been...

Last week, Juliet Eilperin reported in the Washington Post(1) that "House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) would like to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace the current tax system with either a flat tax, a national sales tax or a value-added tax." As reported, Hastert suggests that a new tax system would increase productivity and "double the economy" over the next 15 years. "All of a sudden, the problem of what future generations owe in Social Security and Medicare won't seem so daunting anymore," The Post reports Hastert wrote. "People ask me if I'm really calling for the elimination...

Like they say about the mail: Neither rain, nor sleet, nor sand . . . You can imagine Joe Huff's and Aloma Adams' surprise when they got a note in the mail several weeks ago from their son, Tony, 20, a U.S. Marine who is stationed in Iraq — written on part of an MRE combat food ration box. MRE stands for Meals Ready to Eat, though some folks joke that it stands for Meals Refused by Ethiopians. The field rations aren't making anybody's list of fine cuisine to be featured in Gourmet magazine. But the box sure works good...

You can write what ever you want on the postcard http://www.ryano.net/iraq/

<p>This romantic postcard was received in a regular mail shipment at the Port Clinton Post Office last week.</p> <p>Information wanted Anyone with information regarding the 1922 Port Clinton postcard or the Roscoe St. Myer family should contact the city post office at 419-732-3322.</p>

Better late than never: 21 years to deliver a Swedish postcard STOCKHOLM (AFP) - A postcard sent from southern Sweden in 1982 arrived at its destination in the centre of the country last month, more than 21 years later, it was reported. But the intended recipients of the correspondence died years ago, and their daughter -- who sent them the postcard 21 years ago -- received the delivery in her mailbox on December 19. The newspaper calculated that the postcard took 7,814 days to travel 830 kilometers (515 miles), averaging a speed of nine meters (yards) per day. The postage...

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