An Afghan border policeman killed six American servicemen during a training mission Monday, underscoring one of the risks in a U.S.-led program to educate enough recruits to turn over the lead for security to Afghan forces by 2014.The Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the gunman had joined their forces. Six American soldiers dead. Prayers to their families at this tragic time....
The shooting in a remote area near the Pakistani border appeared to be the deadliest attack of its kind in at least two years.
WYTHEVILLE, Va. — He was wed in a graveyard, is allergic to nearly everything, and vacationed in the caves and jungles of Myanmar, studying bats. His favorite beverage is an obscure, high-caffeine citrus soda called Dr. Enuf.In-depth article by AP political writer Bob Lewis on the newest Virginia congressman, Morgan Griffith, heading to D.C.
In January, when Congressman-elect Morgan Griffith joins the huge Republican freshman class that ended four years of Democratic rule in the U.S. House, Capitol Hill will take on an earnest, quirky small-town lawyer who is a wonkish fanatic about parliamentary protocol and who laughs off his own nerdiness.
"I do know I'm a little nerdy, and that's just who I am," said Griffith, 52, a legislator since he won his Virginia House of Delegates seat from Salem in 1993.
The Shenandoah Valley Governor's School Electric Vehicle Team won first place in the Design Category with their converted electric mail delivery truck and third place in the Modified Division of the acceleration event with their electric-powered Porsche 911.Congratulations to students and instructors!
Augusta County's team is supervised by Byron Grove-Humphries, Electric Vehicle Engineering Instructor, and participating team members were James Copeland of R.E. Lee H.S., Sean Ratliff, Buffalo Gap H.S., Ethan Wade of Fort Defiance H.S.; Eric Waller, Riverheads H.S. Team members Sean Ratliff and Eric Waller took first place in the Jeopardy Game testing their knowledge of automotive science and electric vehicles.
St. Louis-based Energizer Holdings Inc., which also owns the nation's No. 2 razor company, the Schick and Wilkinson Sword business, purchased American Safety for $301 million, completing the deal just before Thanksgiving Day.That's good news to local employees and offers hope that the company will be able to right itself after filing for bankruptcy:
American Safety Razor, founded in 1875 and based in Verona, sold about $330 million worth of razors and other products last year. It had a positive operating cash flow of about $76 million and was the third-biggest razor firm in the U.S. and in Europe.The bankruptcy came on the heels of the discovery that an employee had stolen $750,000 from the company. Energizer's purchase of ASR sounds like good news for the company and Augusta County.
But the loss of its biggest customer at the start of this year, which accounted for about 15 percent of its business, hit the heavily-indebted company hard, J. Andrew Bolt, executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in an affidavit this summer.
Efforts to work out easier terms with holders of more than $422 million of IOUs didn't work out, and the company filed for bankruptcy in July.
UPDATE: The victim has been identified as 21-year-old Elias Lehman from Dayton located southwest of Harrisonburg. He was accompanied by four companions and reportedly went beyond the barrier to take photos when he fell about 300 feet. When rescuers reached him, he was still alive but suffered head trauma and a broken leg. He died during the 3 1/2 hours it took to carry him out. The mall's new owner, Staunton Mall Realty Management LLC, is based at a real estate company in the Long Island neighborhood of Little Neck. In courthouse records, Mehran Kohansieh is listed as a principal....When Books-A-Million pulled out of the mall two years ago and moved to Waynesboro, it took a much business with it.
"I'm hoping we'll see some new energy at the mall," said Greater Augusta Chamber of Commerce president Linda Hershey.
A light rain was falling on Friday morning, November 22, but a crowd of several thousand stood in the parking lot outside the Texas Hotel where the Kennedys had spent the night. A platform had been set up and the President, wearing no protection against the weather, came out to make some brief remarks. “There are no faint hearts in Fort Worth,” he began, “and I appreciate your being here this morning. Mrs. Kennedy is organizing herself. It takes longer, but, of course, she looks better than we do when she does it.” He went on to talk about the nation’s need for being “second to none” in defense and in space, for continued growth in the economy and “the willingness of citizens of the United States to assume the burdens of leadership.” The warmth of the audience response was palpable as the President reached out to shake hands amidst a sea of smiling faces.May that never happen again in America....
Back inside the hotel the President spoke at a breakfast of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, focusing on military preparedness. “We are still the keystone in the arch of freedom,” he said. “We will continue to do…our duty, and the people of Texas will be in the lead.”
The presidential party left the hotel and went by motorcade to Carswell Air Force Base for the thirteen-minute flight to Dallas. Arriving at Love Field, President and Mrs. Kennedy disembarked and immediately walked toward a fence where a crowd of well-wishers had gathered, and they spent several minutes shaking hands. The First Lady was presented with a bouquet of red roses, which she brought with her to the waiting limousine. Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, were already seated in the open convertible as the Kennedys entered and sat behind them. Since it was no longer raining, the plastic bubble top had been left off. Vice President and Mrs. Johnson occupied another car in the motorcade.
The procession left the airport and traveled along a ten-mile route that wound through downtown Dallas on the way to the Trade Mart where the President was scheduled to speak at a luncheon. Crowds of excited people lined the streets waving to the Kennedys as they waved back. The car turned off Main Street at Dealey Plaza around 12:30 p.m. As it was passing the Texas School Book Depository, gunfire suddenly reverberated in the plaza. Bullets struck the President’s neck and head and he slumped over toward Mrs. Kennedy. The Governor was also hit in the chest.
The car sped off to Parkland Memorial Hospital just a few minutes away. But there was little that could be done for the President. A Catholic priest was summoned to administer the last rites and at 1:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy was pronounced dead. Governor Connolly, though seriously wounded, would recover.
The President’s body was brought to Love Field and placed on Air Force One. Before the plane took off, a grim-faced Lyndon B. Johnson stood in the tight, crowded compartment and took the oath of office, administered by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Hughes. The brief ceremony took place at 2:38 p.m. Less than an hour earlier, police had arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, a recently-hired employee at the Texas School Book Depository. He was being held for the assassination of President Kennedy as well as the fatal shooting, shortly afterward, of Patrolman J.D. Tippit on a Dallas street.
You think that autumns in New EnglandSaturday afternoon's State Central Committee meeting lasted about 3 1/2 hours in a room jam-packed with visitors. Got a chance to say hello to Tyler Whitley from the Richmond Times-Dispatch but no time to talk with anyone else before the meeting began. Never saw Jeff Schiparo who can usually be found at these events.
Are the greatest of them all
But give me sweet Virginia for the fireworks of fall.
The prettiest October in all the fifty states
Just drive up to the Skyline
Park the car and wait.
Stacy has greased the skids here, but there will be a hiatus in regular blogging activity for the Smitty portion of this blog duo at the close of this post. I hold orders to activate in mid-November and report to Kabul, Afghanistan in time for Christmas. Bandwidth, and latitude for skylarking online will not exist until the end of 2011.With an outpouring of thanks, good-natured jostling, and bids for safe travels, bloggers responded to the news that "Smitty" aka Chris Smith was deploying to Operation Enduring Freedom by doing what they do best: write.
But don’t thank me; thank Americans, from the Founding Fathers forward to the Tea Parties, to my electrician brother-in-law who just runs around fixing things all day. The exceptional American dedication to individualism, the ideals of the Constitution, and the courageous soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in whose bigger footsteps I follow make it all worth it. I’ve benefited so much from the American people, educationally and otherwise. Thus, it’s with a sense of gratitude to you that I depart on this set of orders, finishing out my Navy Reserve career in active duty style.In a follow-up "thank-you" post, Smitty was appreciative to everyone for the "outpouring of well-wishing concerning the deployment." He added that his mother called him and broke down at the sheer volume of responses from the blogosphere. He deserved it. One blogger called him an officer and a gentleman. He's all that and more.
Republican Congressman and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (VA-7)In "Young Guns," Cantor said he became a rarity -- a Jew in the Republican Party -- because "it was the Republican Party that gave my father the opportunity to provide a better life for me and my family."
He said that in the 1950s and 1960s his father was turned off by the segregationist policies of Virginia's ruling Democratic Party.
...
"All [my grandmother] wanted was an opportunity to succeed," Cantor said at his well-attended victory party Tuesday night at the Hilton in Short Pump. "She took responsibility for her family. And, through her hard work, she saw to it that her two boys had a college education. She was a great believer in the promise of America."
