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Archive - 2009
Disturbing: War thirsts for blood. Soldiers in demand. Pressure on recruiters: 17 died by their own hand since '01
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Amanda Henderson's husband Patrick worked as a recruiter at the army's recruitment station in Longview, Texas. A veteran of the Iraq war, Sgt. 1st Class Henderson struggled with the pressures placed on recruiters, who until recently were ordered to enlist at least two new soldiers each month. Forced to work long hours at a task he didn't want, Henderson hanged himself in a shed behind his house in September, 2008.
Sgt. Henderson's situation was not atypical. The Hendersons met at recruiting school and were married in January 2008. She worked at a recruiting station in Nagadoches, Texas, 70 miles away from the station in Longview where Patrick was assigned. Henderson was forced into a second recruiting assignment he didn't want after he returned from a combat tour in Iraq.
Thomas Jefferson (13April1743 – 04July1826), principal author of Declaration of Independence, the 3rd President of US 1801-1809
Thomas Jefferson: "A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government."
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Thomas Jefferson, (Born April 13, 1743, at Shadwell, Virginia; died July 4, 1826, Monticello), author of the Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, third president of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia, considered as “the first cultured President” of the United States.
Hail to hero! Captain who saved 19-crew's lives when US-flagged, Danish-owned freighter hijacked by pirates
Somali pirates in a drifting lifeboat with hostage Capt. Richard Phillips want $2 million for his release. How decisively wise it would be to settle the piracy issue not at the risk of a life, a hero’s life who after all has saved other 19-crew’s lives and a valuable freighter, and 400 containers of food aid for hungry people.
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The US-flagged, Danish-owned freighter, Maersk Alabama, hijacked by pirates off Somalia safely reached a Kenyan port at the price of a volunteer hostage, Capt. Richard Phillips. When asked by a journalist how it felt to arrive in Kenya, a member of the 19 remaining crew who did not give his name said it was "terrifying and exciting at the same time." Asked about his captain, he said: "He's a hero." read more »
Antarctic ice shelves (some intact for 10k yrs) loss may shift axis of Earth. Wilkins Ice Shelf diminished by 30%
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The Wilkins Ice Shelf has been cracking in new places recently and images released by the European Space Agency show that it will probably very soon break off entirely. A 62 square mile piece broke off in May 2008.
Angelika Humbert of Muenster University stated, “During the last year the ice shelf has lost about 1800 square kilometers (694 square miles), or about 14 percent of its size.” The Wilkins Ice Shelf is currently about the size of Jamaica, though it has already been diminished by about 30 percent.
Love and A Question - poem by Robert Frost
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A stranger came to the door at eve,
And he spoke the bridegroom fair.
He bore a green-white stick in his hand,
And, for all burden, care.
He asked with the eyes more than the lips
For a shelter for the night,
And he turned and looked at the road afar
Without a window light.
from Love And A Question - Poem by Robert Frost
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Courage! Australian PM Kevin Rudd admits going to war with Iraq was wrong, pulling all AU troops back home
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Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said there had been a "failure to disclose to the Australian people the qualified nature of the intelligence - for example, the pre-war warning that an attack on Iraq would increase the terrorist threat, not decrease it".
Mr Rudd, a former diplomat, also dismissed his prede- cessor's argument that Australia had been obliged to send troops to Iraq because of its long-standing alliance with the United States.
He said while he valued the alliance highly, it did not mean that Canberra should automatically accede to US requests for military support.
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Photos courtesy of AP and defenselink.mil/HomePagePhotos/
Original Source: Telegraph
Leadership: when many governments busy bailing out big business, Australian banks to give mortgage help to jobless
To keep Jobless from becoming Homeless in the midst of economic turmoil, millions need direct financial aid. Australia now takes action though its unemployment rate stood at 5.2% in February, while in comparison, unemployment rate in U.S., for example, rose to 8.5% in March and homelessness rates across the States is soaring...
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The Australian government announced Sunday that the country's biggest four banks will give people who have lost their job up to a year free of mortgage repayments. After returning from G20 meetings in London, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told an employment conference in Melbourne the mortgage assistance plan would alleviate the "anxiety and fear" the jobless feel when faced with ongoing payments.
Australia's big-four banks, which dominate the home loan sector, include the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU); National Australia Bank (NAB.AU); Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) and the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ.AU). read more »
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