Free Republic

Writing for the Associated Press, Bob Christie reports that, "Republican Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer slapped down the right wing of her own party, vetoing a bill pushed by social conservatives that would have allowed people with sincerely held religious beliefs to refuse to serve gays. The conservative governor said she could not sign a bill that was not only unneeded but would damage the state's improving business environment and divide its citizens. Senate Bill 1062 had set off a national debate over gay rights, religion and discrimination and subjected Arizona to blistering criticism from major corporations and political leaders from...

The FBI said it searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago as part of a terrorism investigation Friday. Warrants suggest agents were looking for connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East. FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told The Associated Press agents served six warrants in Minneapolis and two in Chicago. "These were search warrants only," Warfield said. "We're not anticipating any arrests at this time. They're seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism." The homes of longtime Minneapolis anti-war activists Mick Kelly, Jess Sundin and Meredith Aby were among those...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 23, 2009 – In June 1989, Jason Huang – now an Army Reserve major – was among the 5,000 protestors who crammed into China’s Tiananmen Square, pressing the government for democracy and freedom of speech. Maj. (Dr.) Jason Huang, right, an Army Reserve neurosurgeon who’s become a national leader in traumatic brain injury research, discusses his work with Army Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, center, and Dr. Webster Pilcher, a fellow neurosurgeon at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Instead, the Chinese government blacklisted...

Where is the Oversight to AmeriCorps Now? The Inspectors General for the AmeriCorps program (national service program which just received $5.7 billion) received a phone call Wednesday evening, June 10, 2009, from the Whitehouse council’s office who told him Obama would fire him if he did not resign in one hour. He did not resign. The following day the President Obama did inform Congress of the firing but without reason. A new law passed in 2008 said that if the President wants to fire Inspectors General he must give Congress 30 days notice and cause before firing. A co-sponsor of...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU, Iraq, Dec. 7, 2007 – Army Staff Sgt. Obinna Awusah’s peers say he goes the extra mile to accomplish a mission and always places the needs of others before his own, all with a smile on his face and large sense of patriotism in his heart. Army Staff Sgt. Obinna Awusah’s peers say he goes the extra mile to accomplish a mission and always places the needs of others before his own. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Awusah, a native of Nigeria, immigrated to the United States in 1981 to enroll...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9, 2007 – Jack L. Tilley left the Army twice -- first after a tour in Vietnam, then again in 2004. But he still thinks he's a soldier. Then-Sgt. Maj. of the Army Jack L. Tilley (center) speaks with interpreter Behar Gashi (left) and Army Spc. Tom Hanelly of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, outside a Serbian church in the unit’s sector of Multinational Brigade East, in Kosovo, on Oct. 18, 2003. Tilley retired in January 2004 but continues to support soldiers. File photo by Staff Sgt. Jonathan Cole, USA  (Click photo for...

FORT LEE, Va., Oct. 19, 2007 – U.S. Army Spc. Momo S. Larmena Jr. has made a life out of giving back to his country, first to his native Liberia and now to the United States, his adopted country. Larmena, 42, joined the U.S. Army Reserves six months ago as a way to repay the debt he feels he owes to the American soldier who saved his life in Liberia.The former chemist had his first brush with tragedy in 1990 in his native Liberia, a small West African country settled by free American blacks in 1821. More than 200,000...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig defiantly vowed to serve out his term in office on Thursday despite losing a court attempt to rescind his guilty plea in a men's room sex sting. "I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively," Craig said in a written statement certain to disappoint fellow Republicans who have long urged him to step down. Craig had earlier announced he would resign his seat by Sept. 30, but had wavered when he went to court in hopes of withdrawing his plea. The third-term lawmaker issued his statement not long...

WASHINGTON - Tell us, Mr. President, how have things changed since the last broadcasters' dinner? "A year ago my approval rating was in the 30s, my nominee for the Supreme Court had just withdrawn, and my vice president had shot someone," President Bush said Wednesday night during the annual gathering. "Ah," he said, "those were the good ol' days." In keeping with the lighthearted traditions of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner, Bush poked fun at himself and a few others in remarks that drew laughter and applause at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Bush thanked the organization for providing...

WO1 Mick Fraser, Regimental Sergeant Major of the Joint Helicopter Force Iraq. Photo by Cpl. Ian Forsyth, RLC. BASRAH -- After finding out he had cancer four years ago, WO1 (RSM) Mick Fraser was unable to join his colleagues at 3 Regiment Army Air Corps when they deployed to Iraq. Now fully recovered, he is realizing his lifelong ambition to undertake an operational tour. Mick Fraser is an unassuming and reserved man. Talking to him you get no sense of the trauma and pain he has endured as he battled against non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system. He...

WASHINGTON - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blames the U.S. for growing violence in the Mideast, saying fighting has continued in Lebanon because the United Nations only serves U.S. interests. In an interview airing Sunday on "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad said it was Hezbollah that had a right to defend itself in its war with Israel. Even so, he said Iran joined others in calling for an immediate cease-fire only to have it thwarted by U.S. support for Israel. "We are not at all happy with war," he said. "People, innocent people are being killed." Saying the U.N. has failed to provide...

RAMADI, Iraq (June 28, 2006) -- New York City Police Department Detective Evan L. Schwerner had nearly 21 years off active duty in the Marine Corps when in the four-year wake of Sept. 11, 2001, he decided he could better serve his family and country in the global war on terror as a Marine in Iraq. Cpl. Schwerner joined the Marine Corps Reserve in May 2005 as a hazardous material and waste Marine then volunteered to deploy with the 3rd Civil Affairs Group. He was subsequently assigned to the CAG’s Detachment 4, currently based at the Provincial Civil Military Operations...

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Raymond Mathews (left) and Staff Sgt. Jason Parker, assigned to 66th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, cover the windshield to a HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter at Balad Air Base, Iraq, June 20, 2006. Elite, unique and one-of-a-kind in Iraq, the squadron is the only combat search and rescue unit in Iraq and is trained to save the people no one else can reach. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Andrew Oquendo Rescue Unit at Balad Serves as ‘911’ for Iraq Called in for only those facing extreme danger, the pararescuemen are the “911” unit...

PERSIAN GULF (NNS) -- USS Ogden (LPD 5), the Navy’s oldest active amphibious ship, is currently serving as the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB) for the multinational maritime coalition operating in the North Persian Gulf. As the AFSB for Commander, Task Group (CTG) 158.1, the 41-year-old amphibious transport dock is providing logistical support for the various forces that are protecting Iraq’s territorial waters and oil platforms, as well as serving as a training platform for Iraqi sailors and marines. “The crew is having a wonderful time,” said Cmdr. James Hruska, Ogden’s commanding officer. “Everyone understands the importance of keeping these...

U.S. Army Spc. James Burnett, a military policeman, patrols with the Iraqi Police in Hawija, Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cassandra Groce U.S. Army Spc. James Burnett Re-enactor Serves in Iraq By Spc. Cassandra Groce133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment HAWIJA, Iraq, April 25, 2006 — While most families pass on traditions like grandma’s famous recipe, some households participate in something more unique. Spc. James Burnett, a soldier in the 1st Brigade Combat Team’s Military Police Company, 101st Airborne Division, shares Civil War re-enactments with his family. “My mom got us into it, my little sister, me and my...

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Mark Arms is a forward-deployed Air Force chaplain’s assistant with the 40th Air Expeditionary Group in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. This is his third deployment since Sept. 11, 2001. He said he loves God and country and feels very fortunate to be a chaplain’s assistant. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Master Sgt. John Rohrer U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Mark Arms Chaplain's Assistant Serves Third Deployment By Master Sgt. Scott King 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM, April 20, 2006 -- He is well known around this forward operating...

CAMP AL QA’IM, Iraq (Jan. 10, 2006) -- The commander of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, Lt. Col. Julian D. Alford, has his hands full as the senior commander in the Al Qa’im region. Almost daily, Alford moves from battle position to battle position, meeting to meeting … managing and controlling his forces and the reconstruction efforts in his area of western Al Anbar province. Keeping him safe is his personnel security detachment or Praetorian as they’re called. Lexington, N.C., native, Sgt. Phillip J. Michael, is a member of Praetorian. “We’re tasked to escort (Alford) and provide security for him...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Oct. 21, 2005) -- Being a Marine is something Lance Cpl. Joel Mulligan always wanted to be. Coming from a military family, the choice wasn’t hard for the 20-year-old from Stafford, Va. “I’d always wanted to be a Marine,” said Mulligan. “Plus my best friend’s dad was a recruiter, so I learned a lot about the Corps through him.” Mulligan, who eventually left for recruit training Nov. 10, 2003, actually postponed his entry date so he could become a machine gunner in the Marine Corps. “I had to wait more than eight months to get the (Military...

CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Oct. 14, 2005) -- Some people go their whole life wondering if they ever made a difference. Marines don’t have that problem. –Ronald Regan, 40th President of the United States of America. One Marine who says he will never have that problem as well is Cpl. David P. Dees of Loganville, Ga. Dees is a motor transportation operator assigned to Transportation Support Company, Combat Logistics Battalion 8, 2nd Force Service Support Group (Forward), here. At 22 years of age, Dees has just begun his third tour in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. His first stint...

AL ASAD, Iraq (Sept. 20, 2005) -- Hispanic Heritage Month begins Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries. It’s a time to reflect on the ingenuity, creativity, cultural and political experiences of Hispanic Americans and recognize the achievements of a people who have contributed so much to U.S. culture. Corporal Kevin Pineda, an administrative clerk with Marine Wing Headquarters Squadron-2, is an embodiment of the contributions Hispanics have made to U.S. society as he proudly serves at Al Asad, Iraq. Born in Tegucilpa, Honduras, in 1985, he moved to the United States when he was only...