Hero is no ordinary New Hampshire dog.

Hers is a tale that began in war-torn Samarra, Iraq, in early 2007.

Justin Rollins, of 82nd Airborne Division, had found the tiny puppy, one of a litter of eight, living underneath an abandoned portable toilet near his base.

One man and his dog: Justin Rollins befriended a tiny puppy on the night he was killed by an IED in Iraq

Smiling and enjoying the company of the young litter, he and his team-mates took some photos to send home. Just hours later, Justin was killed by an IED.

The happy pictures he had taken and emailed home that night were the last contact he'd have with his girlfriend and family - but the start of an unlikely tale of determination.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066359/Their-son-came-Iraq-puppy-saved-did-The-amazing-story-bereaved-parents-rescued-dog-war.html#ixzz1epo4yUe7

Just two weeks later, Justin was given a military funeral in the U.S. His grieving mother, Rhonda Rollins, was asked if there was anything the U.S. military could do to help. Well, yes, she answered.

She wanted to bring the brown and white spotted dog that Justin had befriended on the night of his death back to America.

Her request was certainly an unusual one, but, with the help of Brittney Murray, Justin's girlfriend, the ball started to roll.

Animal contact: Jason Wheeler, left, and Justin took photos of their new friends and sent them home to family. They were the last images Justin sent home

Happier times: Brittney Murray, Justin's girlfriend, helped his mother Rhonda Rollins with lobbying to bring the puppy to the U.S after Justin's death

The high-school sweetheart made six phonecalls and eventually piqued the attention of former New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes, who took up the challenge.

Skip Rollins, Justin's father, spoke about the million-to-one chance of finding the dog - and then getting the clearance to bring it back to the U.S.

The request had to go along 'the chain of command all the way to to the top and then all the way back to the bottom,' he told Animal Planet.

Rhonda told ABC News' 20/20 show: 'They said one in a million. And I had already said, because Justin was a hero, the dog, whether it was male or female, it going to be named Hero.'

An old friend ran the story in a local newspaper and soon Operation Hero had gained the momentum it needed. With the help of the Congressman, strings were pulled within the chain of command.

Puppy lottery: Jason describes the puppy whimpering and crying after they found him. They gave him a bath in a washing machine and prepared him for the long journey to his new home

Luckiest dog in Iraq: 'No one ever expected for it to actually work' said Jason of the unusual plan to bring the Iraqi dog to the U.S.

Jason Wheeler, one of Justin's friends from 82nd Airborne, had originally found the puppies with Justin.

'No one ever expected for it to actually work...' he said of the audacious plan. But one day, 'the call came down: "Hey, we have to get this dog,"' he recalls to Animal Planet.

Against the odds, he helped find the stray puppy months after that fateful night.

'It was crying and whimpering but we were like "You won the puppy lottery and you don't even know it."

'This dog had to think "What the heck just happened to me? I was living underneath the porta-potty, now I'm in a washing machine getting the dirtiest stuff washed off me,"' he told Animal Planet's Saved programme.

New family: Hero is united with Justin's father, Skip, left, girlfriend, Brittney Murray, centre, and Rhonda, right

United at last: After three long months of battling red tape, Hero was delivered to Congressman Hodes' office

Relieved: The perfect moment was only marred by Hero 'christening' the Congressman's office carpet

On May 25, 2007, after three months of logistical battles, needle-in-a-haystack searches and swathes of red tape, Hero arrived at Congressman Hodes' office.

Skip told the ABC: 'One of the biggest decisions for wanting to get Hero out of Iraq was to honor him by saying, this is the last life that he saved, so that's the importance and the love that we have for this dog.'

His wife echoed his sentiments, describing the joy Hero brought, albeit briefly, to her son. 'She gave him the last bit of happiness, by the smiles on his face, when he was holding her, it's just beautiful.'

'We were expecting a little tiny puppy and she'd gotten so big,' Brittney told Saved. Cramped into the small room, the Rollins family, Brittney and military representatives all greeted the animal to its new home town.

'It's the perfect moment,' Brittney remembers. 'She's finally here... and she squatted and peed on [the congressman's] floor.'

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2066359/Their-son-came-Iraq-puppy-saved-did-The-amazing-story-bereaved-parents-rescued-dog-war.html#ixzz1epntbXWt

Ariz. Guard Squadron to Return Home from Iraq

Watch for the woman at 1:30 on the Video:

Ariz. Guard Squadron to Return Home from Iraq: MyFoxPHOENIX.com

FOR FULL VIDEO, Click link at bottom of Post

Updated: Wednesday, 23 Nov 2011, 6:15 PM MST
Published : Wednesday, 23 Nov 2011, 4:57 AM MST

PHOENIX - An Arizona Army National Guard squadron of soldiers has returned home, on the eve of Thanksgiving -- the final group of Arizona guardsmen to leave Iraq.

The Phoenix-based Company F of the 1-168th Air Traffic Control Squadron returned home Wednesday to a homecoming ceremony at the Papago Park Military Reservation.

Family member and loved ones were there to welcome the returning soldiers.

"It's too much to handle right now, I'm a little freaked out," says Spc. Benjamin Gruler. "It's been a long time coming, and I can't even talk."

The 38 soldiers have been in Iraq since last December.

FOX 10's Dan Spindle has more.

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/war_room/apx-AZSoldiers-Homecoming_62416540-11232011

Pendleton Memorial Cross Under Fire

President Obama Heckled By Occupy Protesters During New Hampshire Speech

Hey, all you people complaining that the Occupy protesters need to start protesting the White House in addition to the evil banks? You just got your day.

In New Hampshire just a few minutes ago,President Obama was the latest to receive the human microphone treatment. Really, though, this was probably just an attempt to invent a new human teleprompter.

Unsurprisingly, unlike some of the other protests of this kind, the protesters shouting at the President of the United States didn’t get to take the attention for that long. Shortly after they began their message (“Mr. President, over 4,000 peaceful protesters have been arrested…”), the crowd turned on them, booing and eventually drowning them out with “Obama!” chants.

Watch the clip from CNN ABOVE

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/president-obama-heckled-by-occupy-protesters-during-new-hampshire-speech/

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is absent, but her House seat is not vacant

By

Sharyl Attkisson, Jillian Hughes

Captain Mark Kelly hugs his wife Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after receiving the Legion of Merit from Vice President Joe Biden during Captain Kelly's retirement ceremony in the Secretary of War Suite in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2011.

(Credit: Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-57326269-10391695/rep-gabrielle-giffords-is-absent-but-her-house-seat-is-not-vacant/

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., has only cast one Congressional vote since she was shot on Jan. 8, 2011, by a deranged gunman in Arizona. On Aug. 1, she voted to increase the debt ceiling. But there's no timetable for her to return to work full time. Yet, her seat in the House of Representatives isn't considered vacant.

Gabrielle Giffords posts message: "I'm getting better"

According to a spokesman in Giffords' office, a seat is only considered vacant if the member dies, resigns, or his seat is officially declaredvacant by a vote.

So who, exactly, is representing the interests of the 8th district of Arizona while Giffords is absent? Spokesman Mark Kimble says Giffords'and her constituents' interests are being represented through other members who "have sponsored legislation on her behalf."

For example, Kimble says Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, introduced the Southern Borderlands Public Safety Communications Act at the request of Giffords' office. The bill seeks to address poor cell phone service near the border. It's in memory of a Giffords constituent who was murdered in a border area reported to have poor cell phone service.

Many members of Congress have taken extended absences over the years. Among the longest leaves we found: Nearly four years absence for Sen. Carter Glass, D-Va.. He suffered age-related illnesses beginning in 1942 but refused to resign and died in 1946. A close second is Sen. Karl Earl Mundt, R-S.D., who was absent more than three years. He, too, refused calls to resign after suffering a stroke in 1969. His wife led staff in Mundt's place, and he remained in office through the end of his term on Jan. 3, 1973.

Other notable absences include former President and then-Senator Lyndon Johnson, D-Texas. He missed five months in 1955 after suffering a heart attack. Vice President and then-Senator Joe Biden D-Del., was out seven months in 1988 after a brain aneurysm. Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., took a month off in 2009 for alcohol addiction treatment.

Lyndon Johnson, Al Gore and Joe Biden

 (Credit: Getty Images)

Read a list of other Congressional absences below.

Senate Absences

1942: Styles Bridges, R-N.H., five months after hip fracture

1942-46: Carter Glass, D-Va., three years 11 months from infirmities of old age (died before return to office)

1947-49: Robert F. Wagner, D-N.Y., one year five months with heart ailment

1949-51: Arthur H. Vandenberg, D-Mich., one year six months after two surgeries (returned briefly before dying April, 1951)

1955: Lyndon B. Johnson, D-Texas, five months after heart attack

1963-64: Clair Engle, D-Calif., absent off-and-on after brain cancer surgeries

1969-73: Karl Earl Mundt, R-S.D., over three years after stroke

1988: Joe Biden, D-Del., seven months after brain aneurysm

1989: Al Gore, D-Tenn., one month to care for injured son.

1991: David Pryor, D-Ark., five months after heart attack.

2006-2007: Tim Johnson, D-S.D., nine months after intra-cerebral bleed.

House Absences (partial list)

1961: Sam Rayburn, D-Texas, over two months for medical care.

1998: Deborah Pryce, R-Ohio, two months to care for sick daughter

2000: Philip Crane, R-Ill., one month for alcohol addiction treatment

2004: Billy Tauzin, Democrat-turned-Republican, La., one month after cancer diagnosis

2007: Charlie Wilson, D-Ohio, two months after colon surgery

2007: Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., one year six months after uterine fibroid surgery

2009: John Sullivan, R-Okla, one month for alcohol addiction treatment

Obama s Great American Roundup

David Letterman Asks Herman Cain If He Will Drop Out If Sexual Harassment Allegations Prove True

Herman Cain appeared on The Late Show last night, and perhaps one of the highlights of the interview was when David Letterman asked the candidate about the accusations of sexual harassment threatening to damage his candidacy. Letterman sympathized with Cain, having gone through a similar situation himself, but asked the Republican candidate if he plans to drop out of the race if any new evidence emerges against him.

Cain told Letterman people are more concerned about the economy and job security than salacious details about his personal life, and he intends to keep the campaign about the issues. Letterman retorted by pointing out that since Cain does not have a previous record in political office, the American people have to judge what kind of a person he is based on the details of his business life.

The candidate then turned specifically to the allegations made against him by several women while he ran the National Restaurant Association. Cain argued that no accusations were even made until he started to dip his toes into politics. Letterman explained this is how it always works in politics, you learn more and more about candidates as they rise in the polls and make more of a national showing.

Letterman mentioned his own sexual scandal of sorts before telling Cain the different scenarios he can expect going forward in the campaign.

“One of two things will happen. You will be proven, you’ll be exonerated, they will all turn… it’ll be like Justin Bieber. All of that’s going away. Or they will prevail and there will be someone else coming forward. ‘Herman did this, this is the money I received, here’s exactly the documentation you need to prove he’s lying.’ Now what happens if that’s the case? Will you drop out of the campaign if that’s the case?”

Cain insisted there was zero evidence to back up any of the accusations, and he clarified for Letterman that there was no settlement, merely a “severance agreement.” Letterman asked Cain if he’d ever been in a situation where he did something in the presence of a woman that he later thought made them uncomfortable. Cain agreed, highlighting the importance of dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/david-letterman-asks-herman-cain-if-he-will-drop-out-if-sexual-harassment-allegations-prove-true/

Wind farms are useless, says Duke (Prince Phillip)

It is NOT about energy, Clean Air and Water, or possible uses of the energy.

For Obama and people like him, Solyndra demonstrated what the process is:

1. You declare you are a company that is going produce  "Green " energy generating device or systems.

2. You get your buddies to invest . Your buddies are contributors to the Obama  campaign.

3. You start a production line, hire 100- 400 people.

4. Since green energy producing systems do not pay for themselves, you go to the Obama Administration for a Loan (Subsidy)

5. You get that loan ( TAX DOLLARS) amounting to billions. 

6. You declare bankruptcy, divide up the money in the company treasury to  the "Investors", lay all them employees off and bank your share of the money 

==============================================================

The Duke's views are politically charged, as they put him at odds with the Government’s policy 

By Jonathan Wynne-Jones

9:30PM GMT 19 Nov 2011

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-philip/8901985/Wind-farms-are-useless-says-Duke.html

In a withering assault on the onshore wind turbine industry, the Duke said the farms were “a disgrace”.

He also criticised the industry’s reliance on subsidies from electricity customers, claimed wind farms would “never work” and accused people who support them of believing in a “fairy tale”.

The Duke’s comments will be seized upon by the burgeoning lobby who say wind farms are ruining the countryside and forcing up energy bills.

Criticism of their effect on the environment has mounted, with The Sunday Telegraph disclosing today that turbines are being switched off during strong winds following complaints about their noise.

The Duke’s views are politically charged, as they put him at odds with the Government’s policy significantly to increase the amount of electricity generated by wind turbines.

RELATED ARTICLES

• Switch-off for noisy wind farms 
   19 Nov 2011
• MP fights wind farms, plans own 
   25 Sep 2011
• Foreign firms reap £500m a year in subsidies from UK wind farms 
   18 Sep 2011
• Wind farm paid to produce no electricity 
   17 Sep 2011

The country has 3,421 turbines — 2,941 of them onshore — with another 4,500 expected to be built under plans for wind power to play a more important role in providing Britain’s energy.

Chris Huhne, the Energy Secretary, last month called opponents of the plans “curmudgeons and fault-finders” and described turbines as “elegant” and “beautiful”.

The Duke’s attack on the turbines, believed to be the first public insight into his views on the matter, came in a conversation with the managing director of a leading wind farm company.

When Esbjorn Wilmar, of Infinergy, which builds and operates turbines, introduced himself to the Duke at a reception in London, he found himself on the end of an outspoken attack on his industry.

“He said they were absolutely useless, completely reliant on subsidies and an absolute disgrace,” said Mr Wilmar. “I was surprised by his very frank views.”

Mr Wilmar said his attempts to argue that onshore wind farms were one of the most cost-effective forms of renewable energy received a fierce response from the Duke.

“He said, 'You don’t believe in fairy tales do you?’” said Mr Wilmar. “He said that they would never work as they need back-up capacity.”

One of the main arguments of the anti-wind farm lobby is that because turbines do not produce electricity without wind, there is still a need for other ways to generate power.

Their proponents argue that it is possible to build “pump storage” schemes, which would use excess energy from wind power to pump water into reservoirs to generate further electricity in times of high demand and low supply.

It emerged last year that electricity customers are paying an average of £90 a year to subsidise wind farms and other forms of renewable energy as part of a government scheme to meet carbon-reduction targets.

Mr Wilmar said one of the main reasons the Duke thought onshore wind farms to be “a very bad idea” was their reliance on such subsidies.

The generous financial incentives being offered to green energy developers have led landowners to look to build wind farms on their estates, including the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen’s cousin.

Prince Philip, however, said he would never consider allowing his land to be used for turbines, which can be up to 410ft tall, and he bemoaned their impact on the countryside.

Mr Wilmar said: “I suggested to him to put them on his estate, and he said, 'You stay away from my estate young man’.

“He said he thought that they’re not nice at all for the landscape.”

The Duke’s comments echo complaints made by his son, the Prince of Wales, who has refused to have any built on Duchy of Cornwallland.

Yet a turbine will be erected opposite the Castle of Mey in Caithness, where he stays for a week every August, if a farmer succeeds in gaining planning permission from Highland Council.

While they are opposed to onshore wind farms, the Royal family stands to earn millions of pounds from those placed offshore.

Last year, the Crown Estate, the £7billion land and property portfolio, approved an increase in the number of sites around the coast of England. The Crown Estate owns almost all of the seabed off Britain’s 7,700-mile coastline.

Experts predict that the growth in offshore wind farms could be worth £250million a year. Britain has 436 offshore turbines, but within a decade that number will reach nearly 7,000. From 2013, the Royal family’s Civil List payments will be replaced, and instead they will receive 15 per cent of the Crown Estate’s profits, although the Queen, the Duke, the Prince of Wales and other members of the family do not have any say over how the estate makes its money.

Mr Wilmar was at a reception last week in Chelsea, west London, marking the 70th anniversary of the Council of Christians and Jews at which the Queen and Duke were guests of honour.

The Dutch businessman’s company describes itself as committed to preserving the planet. Infinergy, which is a subsidiary of the Dutch firm KDE Energy, is planning to build on a number of sites across the country, from the north of Scotland to Totnes in Devon.

Mr Wilmar claims that onshore turbines are less reliant on subsidies and more cost-effective than those built in the sea. “If you go offshore it costs you twice as much as being on-shore because you have to lay foundations in the sea,” he said. “It’s very expensive for very obvious reasons.”

Two-thirds of the country’s wind turbines are owned by foreign companies, which are estimated to reap £500million a year in subsidies.

A spokesman for the Duke said that Buckingham Palace would not comment about a private conversation.