News, Prophecy and other

[nChrist]

Sister Maria,

          ROFL!  I don't know a thing about any law allowing the beating of wives, AND I can't imagine the logic or purpose of that one.   

[Soldier4Christ]

Speaking of laws. Here is a new one that just passed the state senate in Oklahoma.



Death Penalty For Repeat Sex Offenders Passes Senate

 OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A bill to allow the death penalty to be assessed against a person who commits a second sex offense against a child under 14 years old passes the state Senate.

The measure heads to the House and will go to the governor if passed by tomorrow's adjournment deadline. Governor Brad Henry has not indicated whether he will sign the measure.

The new proposal outlines specific crimes that on a second offense against a child under 14 could subject a person to life in prison or the death penalty.

[Soldier4Christ]

Report of gunfire sounds at House building
Capitol was briefly in lockdown mode after sounds coming from garage

Police briefly sealed off the Capitol on Friday amid reports that shots were fired in the garage of a House office building.

Capitol police were investigating “the sound of gunfire in the garage level of the Rayburn House Office Building,” said an announcement on the internal Capitol voice alarm system.

The Senate was in session at the time, but the House was not.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., conducting a House Intelligence Committee hearing, interrupted a witness to request those attending the meeting to remain in the room and said the doors must be closed.

“It’s a little unsettling to get a Blackberry message put in front of you that says there’s gunfire in the building,” he said.

No confirmation
There was no confirmation of gunfire.

Shortly after police sealed off the Capitol, four ambulances arrived at the garage entrance to the Rayburn House Office building and police expanded the area being sealed off.

“They said they heard gunfire in the Rayburn garage but this is a huge building, I’m guessing it’s a car backfiring or balloons popping,” said Gene Smith, chief of staff to Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., who has an office in Rayburn.

U.S. Capitol Police Department’s Containment & Emergency Response Team maintains an indoor shooting range in the basement of the Rayburn building, according to the department’s Web site.

Jeff Connor, a spokesman for Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Mo., said Capitol Hill police notified the office that gunfire was heard in the Rayburn building garage.

“They specifically said there was the sound of gunfire on one of the garage levels of the Rayburn House office building and asked staff to remain in their offices,” Connor said.

While the House was adjourned for the Memorial Day weekend, at least one committee was meeting.

Few attacks in past
Incidents of violence inside the Capitol and its office buildings are rare.

On July 24, 1998, a man with a history of mental illness shot and killed Capitol Police officer Jacob J. Chestnut at a first-floor Capitol entrance. He then charged into an adjacent suite of offices occupied by Tom DeLay, then the House Republican whip, and exchanged fire with officer John Gibson, who also was killed. The gunman was wounded and captured.

In 1983, a late-night bomb, possibly set by someone protesting U.S. military action in Grenada and Lebanon, exploded just outside the Senate chamber. No one was injured.

[Soldier4Christ]

Capitol building reopens after scare
House office was locked down after report of possible gunshots

The largest office building on Capitol Hill was reopened after being locked down for nearly five hours following a report of gunfire, officials said Friday.

Guns drawn, police briefly sealed off the Capitol Friday and launched a floor-by-floor search of the Rayburn House Office Building after an unidentified caller reported hearing gunshots. Amid chaos and confusion, police said there were no injuries, arrests or confirmation of the gunfire.

“The report is that shots were fired” at 10:30 a.m. ET in the garage of the Rayburn Building, said Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider. A single telephone call from an unidentified individual triggered the massive police deployment.

The rest of the Capitol was reopened within an hour, then sealed back off by police, and eventually opened to the public again about 12:30 p.m. ET.

On high alert during the lockdown, police lined the street between the Capitol and the Rayburn building, rifles prominently displayed, and four ambulances, two firetrucks and other emergency vehicles were on standby outside the office structure. Police methodically searched the sprawling building, where congressional staff had locked themselves into their offices as a precaution.

Senate in session amid search
"Every square inch of the Rayburn building is going to be cleared out today” as police make sure everyone in the structure belongs there, Schneider said at a second news conference.

An Associated Press reporter overheard a dispatch on a police radio saying police were looking for someone who was about 6 feet tall. It was not known whether the dispatch was related to the incident at Rayburn.

“Right now we want to err on the side of caution,” Schneider said. “Lives could be at risk. If we have a gunman in the building we certainly want to find him. It’s premature to assume that it may not be a gunman.”

The Senate was in session at the time, but the House was not as most lawmakers had left for the Memorial Day recess.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., conducting a House Intelligence Committee hearing, interrupted a witness to request those attending the meeting to remain in the room and said the doors must be closed.

“It’s a little unsettling to get a Blackberry message put in front of you that says there’s gunfire in the building,” he said.

Indeed, one congressional staff member was taken to a hospital after suffering a “panic attack” during the lockdown and search, Schneider said.

The search was a complicated one. The building, which covers an entire city block, is connected to a second office building by an underground tunnel. That building, in turn, is connected to the Capitol by a second underground tunnel.

The Rayburn House Office Building was completed in early 1965 and is the third of three office buildings constructed for the U.S. House of Representatives. It sits across the street from the Capitol. The building has four stories above ground, two basements and three levels of underground garage space.

Nearly two hours after the first alert, Capitol police sent an e-mail message to occupants of the office building saying they would soon begin a floor-by-floor search.

“During the search, the police officers will knock three times on each office door, announce ‘United States Capitol Police,’ knock three additional times,” and then confirm their identity by speaking a code word, it said.

'Run and don't look back'
Steven Broderick, press spokesman for Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., was in his car in the Rayburn garage Friday morning getting ready to drive his boss to the airport, when he was ordered by a Capitol Police officer to park the car and put his hands on the steering wheel. The officer then told him to run toward an exit where other officers where gathered.

“He just told me to run and don’t look back,” Broderick said.

A second Associated Press reporter heard noise outside a Rayburn press room and peeked out the door. A police officer, gun drawn, shouted, “Get in the room. Get in the room.”

The U.S. Capitol Police Department’s Containment & Emergency Response Team maintains an indoor shooting range in the basement of the Rayburn building, according to the department’s Web site. Eleanor Holmes Norton, the District of Columbia’s delegate to Congress, raised the possibility that noises from a nearby construction site were mistaken for gunfire.

“No one’s panicking, everyone’s calm,” said Charles Isom, spokesman for Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. “It did ruin some people’s lunch plans.”

At the Capitol, police quickly closed all doors, stopping people from either entering the building. Tourists were herded into a first-floor chamber in the middle of the building.

The Capitol was reopened within an hour, then sealed back off by police, and eventually opened to the public again about 12:30 p.m. ET.

[Shammu]

EU prepares for separate accession of sovereign Montenegro
23.05.2006 - 17:40 CET | By Ekrem Krasniqi
Brussels has begun preparations for Montenegro to join the EU separately from Serbia after 55.5 percent of Montenegrans voted for independence in a historic referendum over the weekend.

But regional Serb factions might still challenge the result, Balkans agency DTT.NET.COM reports.

A 1910 coin bearing the two-headed eagle
of an independent Montenegro. The country last enjoyed
sovereignty in 1918. (Photo: wikipedia)

"The European Commission will now prepare two proposals for the council of ministers: a proposal for a new Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) negotiating mandate for the independent Montenegro and a proposal for a modified SAA mandate for Serbia," enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn said on Tuesday (23 May).

The EU's top diplomat Javier Solana and the Austrian EU presidency also gave their seal of recognition to the referendum result, with Vienna praising the orderly conduct of the vote in line with OSCE standards and saying "The EU calls on all sides concerned to accept the result. For its part, it will fully respect the decision of the people of Montenegro."

Out of 419,236 participants in the vote, 230,711 choose independence and 184,954 wanted to preserve the state union with Serbia, Podgorica's Republican Referendum Commission announced on Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile the pro-independence government of Milo Djukanovic organised celebrations and braced itself for talks with Belgrade on disentangling the two states.

Kosovo next?
"I am convinced Montenegro [will] be the next country from this region to join the European Union, after Romania, Bulgaria, and Croatia, which are further along in the process," Mr Djukanovic said, adding that his main priorities will be completing SAA talks with Brussels by end-2006 and redefining cooperation with Serbia.

The EU in May froze SAA talks with the united Serbia and Montenegro after Belgrade failed to meet deadlines on handing over war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic to the UN tribunal in The Hague, the ICTY.

The UK's new Europe minister, Geoff Hoon, also congratulated Podgorica, saying "The people of Montenegro have expressed a clear desire for an independent state" and calling on "all sides in Montenegro, and the Serbian authorities [to] work together to determine the way forward."

Commenting on the preliminary results on Monday night, Russia's EU ambassador, Vladimir Chizhov indicated "Of course, we will respect the will of the Montenegran people whatever the result."

Albania, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo also welcomed the outcome, with Kosovo's separatist ethnic Albanian prime minister Agim Ceku saying "This is the last act of the historic liquidation of Yugoslavia...this year Kosovo will follow in Montenegro's footsteps."

Belgrade wary
Serbian prime minister Vojislav Kostunica told EU envoy Miroslav Lajcak on Tuesday that Belgrade will recognise the result only when it is formally established at the end of the week, after the expiration of a deadline for any official complaints to the referendum commission.

Pro-union Serb politicians in Montenegro have alredy begun calling for a recount of the narrowly-attained result, which just scraped past the EU-recommended legitimacy threshold of 55 percent.

"The preliminary results of the referendum process should be double-checked and ballots from all the polling stations should be recounted,'' unionist bloc leaders said in a statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, ethnic Serb groups in neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina plan to demand from the international community a referendum on the independence of the Republika Srbska province, Croatian daily Vecernji List has reported, citing the leader of a regional Serb NGO, Branislav Dukic of Spona.

Separatism fears
Mr Dukic said Montenegran independence and the prospects of Kosovan independence have set a clear precedent for Republika Srbska's secession, echoing the words of Russian president Vladimir Putin who in February warned that an independent Kosovo could become a "universal precedent" for separatists in, for example, Cyprus, Moldova or Georgia.

Parliamentarians from the separatist Catalan region of Spain were among the OSCE observers in Montenegro over the weekend, but the EU's Javier Solana poured cold water on fears the Balkan situation could impact Catalonia or Spain's other separatist region, the Basque territory.

"I have my doubts there ever would be a referendum in the two countries [sic] you [the press] mentioned," he stated.

EU prepares for separate accession of sovereign Montenegro

[Shammu]

EU ready to offer Iran a nuclear reactor
17.05.2006 - 09:50 CET | By Helena Spongenberg
The EU is considering adding a nuclear reactor to its offer on sharing advanced nuclear technology with Iran in return for Tehran to stop uranium enrichment, while the Islamic Republic continues to say it will reject anything that requires Iran to stop the process.

"The EU3 and Solana are planning an offer of a European light-water reactor to Iran in return for a suspension of its enrichment programme," an EU diplomat told Reuters.


The EU3 – France, Germany and the UK – and EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, are set to discuss the proposed plan with their Chinese, Russian and US counterparts in London on Friday.

China has already said it welcomes the EU's plan to offer incentives to Iran to resolve the nuclear dispute. And Iran has repeatedly said it is enriching uranium for the country's increasing energy demand.

A light-water reactor would help this energy demand and is considered less likely to be misused for nuclear proliferation than the heavy-water facility Iran is currently building and expects to be ready in 2009.

"Illogical and unacceptable"
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Monday (15 May) rejected the principle behind the European package requiring Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment in exchange for support on a civilian nuclear programme.

He added, however, that Tehran would welcome a solution that recognized the Islamic Republic's right to produce nuclear fuel under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

"Any demand for suspension of, or halt to, [our] peaceful nuclear activities is illogical and unacceptable and will undoubtedly be rejected," Mr Motaki said during a televised speech according to press reports.

Iran's hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also repeatedly said he will reject any new EU offer requiring the Islamic republic to halt uranium enrichment.

The EU continues to offer sweeteners while maintaining the threat of an UN security resolution in the background, something which Russia and China are reluctant to endorse.

On Monday (15 May) Mr Solana said the EU could help with "the best and most sophisticated technology" for civilian nuclear use, if it really was the case that Tehran's aim was to produce energy only.

Speaking on behalf of the EU, Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik said the bloc is "committed to a diplomatic solution."

"The intent is not to push Iran into further isolation," she added

EU ready to offer Iran a nuclear reactor

[Soldier4Christ]

Iran 'martyrdom' volunteers threaten U.S.
Recruits warn of suicide bombings if nuke facilities attacked


More than 100 "martyrdom-seeking volunteers" affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps gathered to warn the U.S. they would blow up American interests around the world if their country's nuclear installations came under attack.

Mohammad-Ali Samadi, spokesman for a government-orchestrated campaign to recruit suicide bombers, said more than 55,000 volunteers had been registered, reported Iran Focus.

At Thursday's event, a huge banner depicted the coffins of American and British troops in Iraq.

The group – called the Headquarters to Commemorate the Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement – was established in 2004 to carry out suicide attacks against three targets: "The infidels occupying Iraq," Israel and author Salman Rushdie.

In February, it launched a new recruitment drive to fight "global blasphemy."

Iran estimates Israel will strike Tehran's nuclear facilities within a year and has been planning retaliatory attacks against Israeli, American and British interests, according to senior Lebanese political sources who spoke to WorldNetDaily on condition of anonymity earlier this week.

The sources said while Iran is expecting lone Israeli military action, Iranian intelligence estimates the Jewish state is coordinating a planned attack with the U.S.

As WND reported in January 2005, Iranian political leader Ali Khamenei and Revolutionary Guards Gen. Shabani praised the culture of martyrdom and jihad and urged students to become martyrs themselves in order to resist enemies, particularly the United States.

Speaking to the 8th Congress on Martyred Students, Khamenei said Iran's enemies have tried to humiliate and diminish the value of martyrdom and the culture of jihad in the eyes of the youth, particularly students."

He explained that martyrdom, or "shahada," means "the giving of one's greatest material asset for an ideal, the revival and fertilization of which are for the good of humanity."

"This is one of the most beautiful human values, and when this ideal is pleasing to Allah as well – and is the aspiration of all Allah's messengers – this value is the supreme human virtue, and cannot be measured by any material criterion," he said.

Khamenei urged students to continue to promote the culture of jihad and martyrdom among themselves as "a source of national strength and a characteristic of pure worship.

"When we encounter the name of a student who committed martyrdom we are confident that the acceptance of martyrdom and of the jihad that led to this martyrdom stemmed from [the martyr's] self-awareness and clear desire, and this intensifies the value of the act," Khamanei said. "Sanctify and praise your exalted martyrs and place your trust in the help and support of Allah."

Shabani, who is in charge of Iran's Security Forces Staff and Command College, also spoke at a memorial service for "the martyrs from the University of Qom."

He said Iran is "the third [largest] power in the region in the field of ballistic missile production, following China and Russia."

Shabani said Iran "must educate and train forces ready to commit martyrdom attacks in order to counter the enemy."

"In the event of a war with the U.S. we must fight them asymmetrically," he said. "As of now, we have manufactured weapons systems and we have attained nuclear capabilities. What has caused the U.S. great concern is the fact that the Iranian young [generation] attained this technology by themselves."

Shabani stressed the need to be prepared always for the enemy's moves.

"Through its plans, the U.S. is trying to generate a change in the behavior of Iran's high-ranking officials, and it is aware that it will not succeed [in doing so] through a military offensive," he said. "If the enemy wants to put Iran in danger, we will leave [the enemy] with no security whatsoever."

[Soldier4Christ]

Michael Douglas backs
U.N. gun ban
TV commercial 'spotlights the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons'

Actor Michael Douglas – who for many years has been designated by the United Nations as a "U.N. peace messenger" – is backing the global body's upcoming conference on small arms trafficking.

In a public service announcement, Douglas "spotlights the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons and promotes an upcoming U.N. conference aimed at addressing the problem," according to the U.N. News Center.

The controversial conference wins the prize for having the longest name in memory: "The U.N. Conference to Review Progress Made in the Implementation of the Program of Action to Prevent, Combat and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons." It is scheduled for July 26 through July 7 in New York City.

"The conference is an opportunity for U.N. member states to build on the Program of Action and to encourage countries to strengthen their laws on the illicit trade," says Douglas. The plan was adopted in 2001.

Douglas's public service announcement is part of a U.N. public information campaign, and "calls attention to the dangers posed by the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, including their humanitarian and social impact on children and the civilian population in general," says the U.N. website's story.

Douglas was appointed a "messenger of peace by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1998. His focus has been primarily on disarmament – from nuclear on down to small arms.

Last month Douglas presented Annan, who has been besieged with corruption complaints in recent months, with an award for his dedication to ridding the world of land mines.

Although an effort by the U.N. to control Americans' guns seems far-fetched and improbable to some, as WorldNetDaily has reported in a major investigation, that plan has its roots back in the early 1960s with a 20-page State Department pamphlet titled "Freedom From War: The United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World."

More recently, National Rifle Association Vice President Wayne LaPierre warns that the U.N. is concerned about banning a lot more than just land mines and illicit weapons in African hot spots. He says the global body also wants the firearms of American citizens as well.

In fact, says LaPierre in the just-released book, "The Global War on Your Guns," the U.N. is so sure it can commandeer the Second Amendment that it chose the Fourth of July, 2006, to hold its global gun ban summit in New York City.

In the book, LaPierre claims a 1997 land-mine treaty actually molded the U.N.'s new anti-gun strategy; that the U.N. funnels Americans' tax dollars to anti-gun member nations; that U.S. gun-control advocates are investing in the U.N.'s activities; and that even the most extreme U.N. gun laws can be enforced on Americans, without the benefit of a new treaty.

In exposing the labyrinth of international connections and cash flow that have made the controversial U.N. plan possible, LaPierre also spotlights global billionaires like George Soros, as well as an extensive coalition of domestic and worldwide gun-ban and animal-rights groups led by the International Action Network on Small Arms.

[Soldier4Christ]

'Ranger' who boasted of murdering
Iraqi civilians debunked by Army
Man claiming soldiers 'plow[ed] down entire families'
also kicked out of anti-war vet group for being fraud


The U.S. Army says it has no record of a man who claimed to have "slaughtered" hundreds of civilians while serving with the Army Rangers in Iraq.

Jesse MacBeth, appearing in a 20-minute video produced by Randy Rowland, a 1970s antiwar activist, claimed to have personally killed 200 people, many of them at close range, while on patrols with the Army Rangers during his 16 months in Iraq before being discharged due to wounds he received.

Wearing a green camouflage overshirt, MacBeth said he was telling his story to atone for killing innocent civilians. The tape, titled "Jesse Macbeth: An Iraq Veteran Speaks Out," first aired in April on Seattle public access television on the show "Indymedia Presents" and has since been posted online.

"Do whatever it takes to make them fear you," he claimed commanders told him and his fellow soldiers in the 3rd Ranger Battalion. "You won't be charged."

According to MacBeth's claims, Rangers would lie in wait in mosques to slaughter hundreds who came to pray, and children were regularly executed in front of their parents in order to extract information.

"We would go into people's houses and plow down entire families," he said. "We would interrogate people. If we didn't like the answers that they gave, then we would kill the youngest child. If they gave more answers that we didn't like, then we'd move on to the rest of the family. They could've been innocent people.

"They would actually feel the hot muzzle of my rifle on their forehead," MacBeth said.

Now the Army is saying there is no record of MacBeth or his service with the Rangers or Special Forces.

Army spokesman Paul Boyce noted several red flags in the videotape.

"There are also numerous wear and appearance issues with the soldier's uniform – a mix of foreign uniforms with the sleeves rolled up like a Marine and a badly floppy tan beret worn like a pastry chef," Boyce told Stars and Stripes.

A phototograph of MacBeth appearing in the video shows him wearing his beret with the insignia centered over the wrong eye, said Boyce.

MacBeth defended the picture, saying he purposely donned the beret backwards in the video interview because of military regulations prohibiting veterans from wearing their uniforms at protests.

"They did the same thing to John Kerry," MacBeth said, when asked why the Army found no record of his service as a Ranger.

Sen. John Kerry came to national attention in 1971 when he spoke before Congress as a Vietnam veteran claiming to have participated in massacres of civilians while serving aboard a U.S. Navy swift boat. Kerry's testimony gave credibility to anti-war groups like Vietnam Veterans Against the War by confessing to actions classified as war crimes.

MacBeth, following a similar path, spoke at a March 19 anti-war rally in Tacoma, Wash., sponsored by Iraq Veterans Against the War and other organizations.

In the interview, MacBeth claimed to be a member of IVAW, a claim the organization denied shortly after the video appeared online. Since that denial, IVAW has reputiated MacBeth in a statement on its website:

"Questions have been raised about Jesse MacBeth and his claims of service in Iraq. MacBeth came to Iraq Veterans Against the War in January 2006 asking for help, and the organization and its members extended itself to help him in various ways. Assisting veterans is one of the founding principles of IVAW and it is a mission that we take seriously. After looking into his recent claims, we have learned that Jesse is not what he represented himself to be. Accordingly, IVAW does not in any way endorse Jesse MacBeth or any of his accounts involving military service. He – and he alone – is responsible for them. IVAW was not aware of the creation of the video program featuring MacBeth, and did not authorize use of our logo in the program."

IVAW member Garett Reppenhagen called MacBeth a "troubled kid."

"I'm not sure why he would want to be fraudulent to IVAW," Reppenhagen said.

According to United Press International, MacBeth told Socialistalternative.org in an April interview he currently works for Wendy's fast food restaurant.

"When I was growing up, everyone thought I'd be a criminal, but they were wrong. I'm gonna be one of the leaders of the revolution," Macbeth told the leftist website.

Questions and Observations, a blog that has covered the story closely, today claimed to have posted a copy of MacBeth's official DD214 military discharge document.

"It shows that he lasted all of one month and 13 days in the Army. It also shows he that he never had a primary specialty nor any awards and decorations. None. It also shows he was an E1 when discharged," wrote Bruce "McQ" McQuain.

"The bottom half of the form is just as revealing. Block 19 says 'Service Member has not completed first full term of service.' Block 24, as noted earlier, shows his service as 'Uncharacterized' which is only given to those who are discharged as trainees. Block 25 is key. It shows he was discharged under the authority of AR 635-200 Chapter 11. That means he was found to be unfit to remain in the Army and was dicharged for the good of the service. Or as many have said, a boot camp washout. We've been through the code for discharge in the next block, but the narrative reason for his discharge is found in block 28, which says 'Entry level performance and conduct,' or, he couldn't cut it."

Despite the rejection of his story by the Army and the IVAW – and it's relentless dissection by many in the blogosphere – MacBeth insisted he served in Iraq with the Rangers and believed he had been betrayed by IVAW.

"When the heat gets on them they stab me in the back," he said, adding he would no longer defend his credibility.

"I'm not going to follow this battle no more. The right wing won," he said.

Randy Rowland's PepperSpray Productions, makers of the MacBeth video, has removed the video from its website. A posted message reads: "A formal statement from Pepperspray on the Jesse Macbeth situation is pending."


_________________________

Another wannabe reject trying to cause trouble. I wouldn't doubt that someday he will be running for President of the U.S.

[Soldier4Christ]

Military honors are easy to fake

Both medals and uniforms readily available for sale

For a few hundred bucks or less, you too can be outfitted in authentic military dress blues and a rack full of shiny medals to boot.

Order them by Internet, over the phone or drop by the local pawn shop or military surplus.

"Most of the time, what we see is a vet trying to replace an original they lost, or a collector" looking for a nice find, says Dave Barth, owner of Pekin Gun and Sporting Goods. "We could order all new medals, but they're just not in that high of demand."

Barth said most of the medals they come across and turn around and sell are from auctions or estate sales. On Wednesday, the military surplus shop had a handful of dusty medals lining the bottom of a display case, including two Distinguished Flying Crosses and a World War II Marine Corps good conduct medal. Prices range from $20 to $50.

In another area of the shop, patches and pins of various ranks and branch of military abound. Only from time to time do they have a uniform for sale "whatever someone might find in their attic," Barth said.

And there's nothing wrong with what they sell.

Nothing is illegal, until someone pins on the medals, purchases a uniform and impersonates a military officer or represent themselves as earning awards they haven't.

The claims of a Dunlap man who purported to be a retired colonel from the U.S. Marines and awarded a Navy Cross, a four-time Defense Distinguished Service Medal recipient, a three-time Silver Star recipient and an eight-time Purple Heart recipient have come under question.

Military organizations and experts say Ted Bantis' claims of service and award are false. Bantis - who attended a number of Marine Corps functions including annual Marine birthday balls, funerals and at least one local public speaking engagement on Sept. 11, 2004 - never served a day as a Marine in his life.

Because of this incident and others, some argue that the ease with which these medals can be attained can invite some to impersonate genuine members of the military, retired or active.

"It's absolutely too easy," says Thomas A. Richards, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and National Junior Vice Commander of the Legion of Valor, a nationally chartered organization for recipients of the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, and the Air Force Cross.

Richards said the manufacturing of several medals was allowed to privatize in the early 1990s, thereby allowing more retailers to sell the awards which increased the medals' availability, including increasing the chances of ending up in the hands of more imposters. He noted three people were spotlighted in the past week as claiming to be Navy Cross recipients when in fact they were not.

Still, not all buyers have false intentions.

Linda Foster, co-owner of Medals of America, likely the largest authorized dealer in military awards in the U.S., says most of their customers consist of veterans or family members of a veteran who simply want to preserve the honor they earned.

"It's a very special thing to these people," Foster said of the medals, ribbons and other awards they sell. "That's not saying we're perfect, you can't police everybody."

The company, which estimates shipping 20,000 to 30,000 full-size medals each year, employs veterans who take the retail orders and question the suspicious. Some proof is required for purchase of the nearly dozen valor medals they sell, Foster said. Other companies may not.

Still, FBI Special Agent Thomas A. Cottone Jr., who has tracked down more than 100 phony veterans, said the opportunities to impersonate a member of the military is not difficult.

Purchasing the medals and the uniforms are not illegal, "you can buy or collect the medals all you want as long as you realize it's not jewelry, not a fashion," Cottone said.

There are federal laws against impersonating military officers and wearing medals that were never earned. In Illinois, a new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2007, making the act a petty offense.

But with blank award certificates and military documents that are downloadable from the Internet, "it's almost an invitation to put your name down and say 'I was awarded this medal,'" Cottone said. "It's stolen valor. When someone represents themselves as having done an act of service or act of valor when they haven't is when they cross the line, that's when it becomes a crime and disgusting."

[twobombs]

Thursday, May 25, 2006 7:42 PM EDT

U.S. GOV'T PLACED "RUSH" ORDER TO TRUCK MAKER "INTERNATIONAL" FOR FIFTY-THREE THOUSAND (53,000) ARMORED TRACTORS (AS IN TRACTOR TRAILERS)!
GARLAND, TX MANUFACTURING PLANT COMPLETELY RE-TOOLED TO MAKE THESE NEW VEHICLES EXCLUSIVELY - WORKING 24/7
According to a reliable source, these tractors are TWICE THE SIZE of tractors seen on the roads of America! They are totally armored, with four-inch-thick bullet-resistant glass for the windshelds and side windows. Steel re-bar cages also protect the front windshields.


The vehicles have interior sleepers with three (3) beds which can accommodate a total of four drivers for continuous operation.

The tires of these new vehicles contain interior foam to seal any bullet holes. According to the source, the vehicles are painted cammo tan and are a small message is spray painted in the corner of the windows which reads "For Export Only, Not To Be Used In USA."

The vehicles are slated to be shipped to IRAQ as soon as possible, leading the source to believe they are gearing up to invade IRAN and need massive new transportation capability to transport equipment into a new war with the Iranians! Developing. . . . .

[Soldier4Christ]

Actually it is the West Point Industry that are making the cabs and shipping them to Garland, TX to be mounted on a heavy duty frame there. This contract and design has been in the works for many years now, the original contract with the government took place on 2001 which is definitely prior to the problems in Iran coming to the surface. It is not currently known exactly where these vehicles are to be shipped ( such information is condiered classified ) but it is known that they will not all go to the same place.

A lot of the vehicles made for the military have that label placed on them as the vehicles do not meet fuel requirements and emission standards for use in the U.S. That is standard procedure.

[twobombs]

Photo 

[Soldier4Christ]

  No I don't have a photo but what does that prove or disprove  ....  nothing.  Do you know how many U.S. defense contracts that International Trucks of Garland, TX has and what they are for?

Have you driven or even ridden in U.S. government trucks to know what kind of labels are put on them?

Have you worked with anyone connected to U.S. defense contracts?

[twobombs]

The above 2 postings are not my own opinion, yet are cut and pasted from a non-english communication channel.
Quit further hostilities, i'm your friend in Christ.