Crawford, Texas, gets ready for dueling rallies
Thousands of Bush supporters coming as Sheehan followers plan ceremony
08/27/05 12:35 PM, EDT
The one-stoplight town of 700 residents, Crawford, Texas, located near President Bush's ranch, braced for thousands of visitors Saturday, most in a cross-country caravan for a pro-Bush rally and others to support Cindy Sheehan's anti-war demonstration.
FULL STORY - from CNN.com

(click the cartoon to see larger version)

Operation Valour-IT has made it to Chris Muir's Day by Day....thank you Chris!

Can't say enough about how wonderful this project is....If you haven't already, please consider donating, lending your talents, or helping to get the word out....

If you have already done one or more of those, my thanks.

Launching surveillance
KIRKUK AIR BASE, Iraq -- Senior Airman Jonathan Hobbs pulls a Desert Hawk surveillance plane back in preparation to be launched with a bungee cord. The force protection airborne surveillance system flies missions recording still and video images for intelligence purposes. Airman Hobbs is an FPASS administrator and is deployed from Moody Air Force Base, Ga.

If I ever begin to seriously lose my mental faculties, your first sign that things are very, very bad will be that I'll be reading this book.

NEW! - CODEPINK Book
ORDER TODAY
How can we humanize each other and act as responsible global citizens? Stop the Next War Now, edited by renowned peace activists Medea Benjamin and Jodie Evans, shares expert insight on the issues and powers-that-be that can lead us to war - including the media, our elected politicians, global militarization, and the pending scarcity of national resources. It aims to educate and reflect on the effectiveness of peace-movement activities and offers hope, through shared ideas, action steps, and practical checklists to transition from a culture of violence to a culture of peace.

Purchase a copy for your local library or buy a case and have a CODEPINK Book/House party!


I just don't know whether to laugh or....well....laugh harder.

It hurts us, Precious.

CONVOY — U.S. Marines aboard light armored vehicles conduct a convoy while rehearsing reactions to enemy contact, ambushes and improvised explosive devices near Camp Wilson in Iraq. The Marines are assigned to Alpha Company, 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Michael S. Cifuentes

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
1,000 SECURITY DETAINEES RELEASED FROM ABU GHRAIB
Sunnis offer new proposals on constitution
Assembly may see Iraq constitution Sunday
U.S. hits suspected terror base in Iraq
FOREIGN TERRORIST FACILITATOR KILLED IN MOSUL GUN BATTLE
Myers: Troops' Morale Remains High
Iraqi Election Security Plans in Place Transcript

Operation Enduring Freedom
Afghan IED Blast Kills One GI
ANP DETAIN 5 ENEMY IN EASTERN AFGHANISTAN
Scottish Native a Pillar of Dependability

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Hamas Leader Resurfaces
Hamas Bombmaker vows to continue attacks
(proving once again that it ain't about accomplishing Palestinian freedom, it's about hate)
Hamas issues videotape of bombmaker
Tourists flock back to Sharm el-Sheik
Saudis say suspected militants arrested
Australia may toughen citizenship

Gaza Pullout
Israel humiliated by pullout-top Hamas leader
West Bank settlers fear more withdrawals
Palestinians may rename some settlements

BRAC News
Panel Spares Ellsworth AFB

Fox News
Sunnis Offer Proposals On Iraqi Constitution
Talabani to Visit United States
Kalpoe Brothers Re-Arrested in Aruban Holloway Probe
Dueling Crawford War Rallies
Child Porn Charge for Airman
Army Probes DNA Tester
Katrina Upgraded to Category 3 Storm

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: War on Iraq
Iraqi president to visit U.S. next month
Group struggles to feed refugees in Sudan
Envoy says Iran won't budge on uranium
Egypt TV airs criticism of Mubarak regime
Egypt police withdraw from mountain range
U.S. commander: Iraq violence could worsen
Jordan's constitutional monarchy on hold

Reuters: Top News
Hurricane Katrina gains power in Gulf, moves west
U.S. appeals 22-yr sentence for 'millennium bomber'
UN rights chief to visit China
Panel deals Pentagon base-closing setbacks

Yahoo! News: War with Iraq
Bush Calls for Patience on Iraq Mission
Iraq's Shiites split violently
Hussein Supporters Rally Against Constitution

CENTCOM: News Release
SUCCESSES THIS WEEK IN IRAQ (19-25 AUG., 2005)

Department of Defense
Iraqi Police Service Graduates 282 Officers — Story

ON THE GROUND
Combat Engineers Keep U.N. Compound Safe — Story
Iraqi Finishes Project Despite Personal Risks — Story
Long-haul Truckers of the Sky Save Lives — Story

IN IRAQ
'Mechanics of All Trades' Maintain Equipment
Women Soldiers Contribute to Iraqi Freedom
Stryker Soldiers Secure Iraqi Neighborhoods
Iraqi, U.S. Soldiers Bring Goodwill to Horajeb

FACE OF DEFENSE
Engineer Serves Second Tour in Iraq — Story

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Soldier's Brother Entertains — Story
Comic Carries Message to Troops
Soldiers Receive Makeovers

TOP NEWS
IN IRAQ
Iraq, U.S. Forces Capture Terrorists
Insurgency Not Affecting Progress
Army Colonel Receives Medal
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps
Iraq Daily Update
Multinational Force Iraq
Iraq Progress Fact Sheet (pdf)
Weekly Progress Report (pdf)

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Daily Update
Maps
Afghan Reconstruction Group Recruiting

WAR ON TERRORISM
Troops Involved in Noble Causes
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

MILITARY NEWS
Vice Chairman Shares Priorities
Chairman: Troops Have High Morale
Officials Explain Prevention Report
National Guard, Reserve Update

CASUALTIES
Officials Identify Army Casualties — Story

Weather
Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
26 BC - Origin of Egyptian Era
1667 - Jamestown, VA is the site of the earliest recorded U.S. hurricane.
1776 - The British defeat the Americans in the Battle of Long Island.
1783 - The first hydrogen balloon flight (unmanned) reaches an altitude of 900 m.
1789 - The French National Assembly issues the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen."
1859 - Near Titusville, PA, the first successful oil well is drilled.
1883 - Mt. Krakatoa explodes with a force of 1,300 megatons.
1896 - Zanzibar loses to England in a 38 minute war (9:02 AM-9:40 AM).
1913 - In Kiev, Lt. Peter Nestrov of the Imperial Russian Air Service performs the first aerobatic maneuver in an airplane - a loop in a monoplane.
1918 - Dr. Joseph L. Johnson is named minister to Liberia.
1927 - America's oldest aviation school opens (Parks College).
1928 - Sixty nations agree to outlaw war, signing the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
1939 - Erich Warsitz, in a Heinkel He-178, makes the first jet-propelled flight.
1940 - The Caproni-Campini CC-2, an experimental jet plane, makes its maiden flight in Milan.
1945 - Following the Japanese surrender, U.S. troops land in Japan.
1962 - Mariner-2 launched; it becomes the first probe to fly by Venus.
1966 - Francis Chichester begins the first solo sail around the world.
1981 - Divers begin to recover a safe found on the Andrea Doria.
1982 - Soyuz T-7 returns to Earth.
1984 - President Reagan announces the "Teacher in Space" project.
1985 - The 20th Space Shuttle Mission (51-I - Discovery 6) is launched.
1990 - 52 Americans arrive in Turkey from Iraq.

Birthdays
1809 - Hannibal Hamlin, 15th VP (1861-65)
1865 - Charles Gates Dawes, 30th VP (1925-29), Nobel Prize winner (1925)
1882 - Samuel Goldwyn, pioneer film maker/producer (MGM)
1908 - Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th Pres (1963-1969)
1941 - Yuri V. Malyshev, cosmonaut (Soyuz T-2, T-11)
1952 - Pee-wee Herman (aka Paul Reubens), actor (Pee-wee's Big Adventure)
1963 - Patty Duffek, Playboy playmate (May, 1984)

Passings
1576 - Titian, Italian artist
1840 - William Kneass, 3rd US chief engraver (1824-40), dies in office
1879 - Sir Rowland Hill, introduced postage stamps
1958 - Dr. Ernest O. Lawrence, inventor (Cyclotron), Nobel Prize winner (1939)
1963 - W.E.B. Du Bois, scholar / founder of the NAACP
1975 - Haile Selassie, depossed Ethiopian emperor
1979 - Earl Mountbatten, British Admiral of the Fleet, assassinated by the IRA
1990 - Stevie Ray Vaughan, blues guitarist, in a helicopter crash at age 35

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Coker, Georget T., USNR (NJ); A6A shot down (BN, w/Fellowes), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Commander - alive and well as of 1998

Fellowes, John H., USN (VA); A6A shot down (pilot, w/Coker), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

1967
Bacik, Vladimir Henry, USMC (TX); A6A shot down (pilot, w/Boggs), presumed KIA

Boggs, Paschal Glenn, USMC (GA); A6A shot down (BN?, w/Bacik), presumed KIA

1968
Pick, Donald William, USAF (WA); F4D shot down, KIA, body not recovered

1970
Rogers, Lyle D., US Army; AWOL

1972
Everett, David A., USN (GA); F4B shot down (pilot), released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998