The completion expected in June 2013

Arlington National Cemetery Breaks Ground for Columbarium By J.D. Leipold Army News Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2011 - Arlington National Cemetery began its first major construction project in nearly eight years today with a ground-breaking ceremony for a 20,000-niche columbarium that will extend the life of the cemetery's inurnment space to 2024. Officials break ground for a new 20,000-niche columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., Nov. 30, 2011. The columbarium, scheduled for completion in June 2013, will extend the life of the cemetery's inurnment space to 2024. U.S. Army photo by J.D. Leipold  A columbarium is a structure that holds urns containing cremated remains.Construction on the cemetery's ninth columbarium begins in January, with completion expected in June 2013, said Army Col. Victoria Bruzese, the cemetery's chief engineer. The new structure will dwarf the previous eight columbariums, she added, the largest of which contains 8,000 niches and the smallest 3,000. "This will be 540 feet long, 116 feet wide, and at its highest elevation about 11 feet tall," Bruzese said following the ground-breaking. "We'll have more than 20,000 niches, which gives us the ability to have three to four inurnments within each niche -- service member, spouse, children -- so we're looking at more than 60,000 inurnments, so that's significant." The new columbarium will be almost the length of two football fields. Kathryn Condon, executive director of the Army National Cemeteries Program, told the audience of mostly cemetery grounds-keepers and staff workers that construction of the new columbarium would "extend the life of our inurnment space out to 2024." Officials also plan to expand the cemetery's grounds on two sides by another 70 acres. That will further extend the cemetery's ability to handle inurnments, burials and possibly mausoleums out to the 2050s, Bruzese said. She noted the biggest challenge to overcome will be the lack of attention paid to the infrastructure over the years. "There are two expansion opportunities here on the horizon -- our Millennium Project, which is a 30-acre combination of land we acquired from Fort Myer and the National Park Service, and already existing [cemetery] land that will increase our in-ground and niche burial capability," Bruzese said. The second expansion includes a 40-acre plot that's now occupied by the Navy Annex on the cemetery's south side. Bruzese said she requested the chief engineer position at the cemetery following a deployment to Afghanistan. One reason she cited was that her father and her grandfather are inurned there. "But when I heard about the challenges going on here, I wanted to be part of the solution," she said. "I think that's what you'll find with anybody who's on the staff here. ... They want to be part of the solution in returning the dignity and honor not only to the cemetery, but [also] to the veterans who lie here." �

Related Sites: Arlington National Cemetery

Biden Trip Marks New Alliance with Iraq

By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2011 - Troops may be leaving Iraq by year's end, but meetings yesterday between Vice President Joe Biden and Iraqi leaders promise continuing civilian engagement between the two sovereign nations, a senior administration official said in Baghdad. Vice President Joe Biden talks with troops after a ceremony at Victory Base Complex, Iraq, Dec. 1, 2011. The ceremony commemorated the sacrifices and accomplishments of U.S. and Iraqi service members. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo  After co-chairing a meeting of the U.S.-Iraq Higher Coordinating Committee with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Biden held separate meetings with Maliki, President Jalal Talabani and Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi."They covered a broad array of issues in these meetings, including the transition to a civilian lead in Iraq for the United States [and] the security relationship going forward," the official told journalists traveling with the vice president. "They talked about the resolution of some of Iraq's remaining international issues," he added, including obligations under Chapter 7 of the Charter of the United Nations placed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of and war with Kuwait, and its current relationship with Kuwait. Biden and the Iraqi leaders, the official said, also discussed regional issues, including those involving Syria, Turkey and Iran. On the topic of Iran, the vice president "made clear something that we've made clear repeatedly, which is, one, we fully expect Iraq to have a relationship with Iran," the official said. "There's a long border and a long history [between the countries]," the official added, "and that is fully understood. But what is not acceptable and not understood would be to in any way allow Iran to use our presence in Iraq as a target." The United States has committed in the past not to use Iraq as a staging ground to act against other countries, he said, and that includes Iran. "Reciprocally," he added, "it is fully our expectation that the government of Iraq not allow Iraq to be used as an area to target U.S. personnel." Biden and the Iraqi leaders also discussed Arab-Kurd relations, internal security -- especially the need to keep pressure on violent extremist groups -- and Maliki's visit in Washington with President Barack Obama later this month. "All of this is very powerful evidence that the United States is not disengaging from Iraq," the official said. "Rather, the nature of our engagement is changing from what has been a military lead to a civilian lead." The United States has "moved, as the vice president put it, from the security agreement that governed our military operations in Iraq to the strategic framework agreement, which is the basis for this comprehensive new relationship." As is the case at other embassies around the world, the official added, an Office of Security Cooperation has been established in Iraq to help Iraqis acquire and then learn how to use military equipment they buy from the United States. In Iraq, that office will include 157 people assigned to the U.S. embassy and under the authority of the ambassador, he said, and some who might come in on individual contracts for two or three months at a time to help the Iraqis train on U.S. equipment. "What we're talking about going forward as possibilities of training beyond the Office of Security Cooperation includes things like ... doing ongoing training of Iraqis outside of Iraq in other countries [and] integrating Iraqis into regional exercises," the official added. Today at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, Iraq, Biden spoke at an event hosted by the Iraqi government and held to honor the sacrifices of U.S. and Iraqi forces. "History will record that the liberation of our country was not only an important turning point in Iraq, but it was an important beginning for the region," Talibani said, referring to events of the Arab Spring. Maliki thanked former President George W. Bush for signing the U.S.-Iraq status of forces agreement, which established the parameters for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq. He also thanked Obama for seeing the agreement through. "Because of you and the work those of you here have done, we are now able to end this war," Biden said, adding that the Iraqi people have not and will not yield again to any kind of external domination. Biden was presented with a medal called a "shield of commitment," as were Army Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commanding general of U.S. Forces Iraq, Jeffrey D. Feltman, assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, and ambassadors from other countries who fielded coalition forces. After the ceremony, Biden met privately with troops for photos before traveling to Erbil in northern Iraq, 50 miles east of Mosul. There Biden met with Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani at the official's ceremonial residence before boarding his aircraft for Ankara, Turkey, the first stop on a four-day trip to Turkey and Greece.

Related Sites: U.S. Forces Iraq Photo Essay: Biden Attends Iraq's Day of Commitment Ceremony Related Articles: Joint Statement Affirms Strong U.S.-Iraq Partnership

Left rally and demonstration against FDI

Rally also condemned Pb Govt’s welcome to the FDI

Ludhiana//Kalyani Singh and Rector Kathuria// December 1, 2011

The district unit of Communist Party of India (CPI)  and CPI (M) held a rally at the Railway Station Ludhiana followed by demonstration to the Clock Tower Chowk to protest against the decision of the union cabinet to allow 51% FDI in retail as it is going to hit hard the small producer, trader as well as the consumer. This has been done at a time when the Parliament is in session and this decision has been taken without taking the Parliament into confidence. This is in complete violation of democratic principles. The reaction is obvious as not only the opposition or the UPA allies but a section of the congressmen have also opposed the decision. Various speakers addressing the rally warned that as per the latest reports the GDP  growth rate has further gone down belying all the claims of economic growth by the government; and rupee is continuously falling to its lowest ever. The decision to allow FDI in multi brand retail sector will further jeopardize the economy of our country. The speakers also condemned the Punjab Government’s welcome to the FDI when most of the states have opposed it. The international experience has shown that with the entry of these big players in the retail business the small businessman is hit hard as it is unable to compete with the big fish. Their sales have gone down in all such areas around the globe. In India 33-60% of the traditional fruit and vegetable retailers reported 15-30% decline in footfalls, 10-30% decline in sales and 20-30% decline in incomes across the cities of Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, the largest impact being in Bangalore, which is one of the most supermarket penetrated cities in India.

There is also loss of jobs. The experience in Vietnam has shown that the supermarket expansion also leads to employment loss in the value chain as compared to 18 jobs created by a street vendor, 10 by a traditional retailer and eight by a shop vendor in Vietnam, a supermarket like Big C needed just four persons for the same volume of produce handled.

The small farmers will be hit  as supermarkets will buy only ‘A ‘grade produce, that too on open market-based prices, and only a part of the output of farmers, who end up going to an APMC mandi to dispose of the remaining/rejected produce. Moreover there will be no commitment to buy regularly as they do not want to share the risk of growers. What is the guarantee that they will buy from the farmer at prices higher than they are being offered to them now?

So far as the role of FDI-driven food supermarkets in containing food inflation is concerned, the evidence from Latin American (Mexico, Nicaragua, Argentina), African (Kenya, Madagascar) and Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, India) shows that the supermarket prices for fruits and vegetables and other basic foods were higher than those in traditional markets. Even if it is accepted that supermarkets are able to offer lower prices, the low-income households may face higher food prices because of reasons of distance from supermarkets, and higher prices charged by supermarkets in low-income areas. How will these super markets solve the problem of food security and security of livelihood of the peasants of our country the speakers asked?

Those who addressed the rally include Com Kartar Singh Bowani-Distrtict Secretary CPI, Com. Sukhwinder Sekhon-Secretary CPI(M), Dr Arun Mitra, Com O P Mehta – City Secretary, Com Jatinder Pal singh, Com Jagdish, Com Gulzar Gorea, Com Ramesh Ratan, Com. Vijay Kumar, Com Gurnam Sidhu, Com  Gurnam Gill, Com.Mewa Singh Raikot, Com Raghbir Singh Venipal, Com Tersem JOdhan, Sukhminder Singh, Ragbir Singh, Dev Raj, Amarjit Mattu, Sudey Singh, Manjit Singh, Mahinder Parsad Dubey

Combined Force Captures Taliban Leader

From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command  News Release KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 28, 2011 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban leader and some suspected insurgents in the Marjah district of Afghanistan's Helmand province yesterday, military officials reported. The insurgent leader was involved in narcotics trafficking and roadside-bomb attacks and other operations in the province, officials said. In other Afghanistan operations yesterday: -- A combined force detained two suspects during a search for a Taliban facilitator in the Kunduz district of Kunduz province. The facilitator distributes roadside bombs and directs attacks against Afghan forces. -- A combined force captured a Taliban leader and some suspects in the Dand district of Kandahar province. The leader distributed roadside bombs for use in attacks throughout the area. -- A combined force detained several suspects and seized 50 blasting caps, a bottle containing high-explosive material, a rocket-propelled-grenade container, a video camera, six videotapes, wiring and a hand-held radio in the Dilah district of Paktika province. �

Related Sites: NATO International Security Assistance Force

Marine Gives Back to Community

By Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew D. Johnston

2nd Marine Division

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C., Nov. 25, 2011 - An active duty Marine Corps noncommissioned officer was recognized for his outstanding service to the city of Jacksonville, N.C., during a Nov. 22 ceremony at the municipality's town hall..

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Stoy, assigned here to the 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, received a standing ovation when he received the city's Outstanding Veterans Award.
Stoy, who earned three Purple Hearts from wounds he received in Iraq, serves as the sergeant-at-arms for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Beirut Memorial Chapter 642.

Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Daniel G. Stoy, a Hudson Falls, N.Y., native and infantry unit leader with 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C., receives the Outstanding Veterans Award presented by the city of Jacksonville, N.C., at the municipality's town hall Nov. 22, 2011. Stoy was recognized for his outstanding work in the community. Courtesy photo

"Each of the different veteran chapters here in Jacksonville was allowed to put up one nominee for the award, which is basically for your service in the community," said Stoy, who hails from Hudson Falls, N.Y. "This the first time that The Military Order Of The Purple Heart has had an active duty member up for the award in two or three years.

"Basically [the award is for] all of the volunteer work I've done after the tornados hit," he added. "I had my whole [team] out there working with me."

Some tornados struck the Jacksonville area in late summer, Stoy said, destroying homes and leveling businesses. He gathered up a group of Marines to help out.

"If there is any time that we need help, Staff Sgt. Stoy always gets his troops for us," said Verl H. Matthews, senior vice commander of the local Purple Heart Chapter. "He asks for volunteers and he and his guys always come and help.

"These guys are some of the hardest workers," Matthews continued, "and I just got done signing about 20 appreciation letters this morning. He has just done so much for us and the community."

Stoy, a married father of three children, said he juggles his duties as a Marine, a community volunteer and husband. He said his wife makes it all work.

"I wouldn't have been able to do this without the support of my wonderful wife," Stoy said. "She has fully supported me in everything. She's here taking care of the home front while I'm out volunteering. It's that basic love and your basic husband and wife support -- she has been great."

Stoy said was very humbled to receive the award. He attributes his love for community service to his late father.

"It feels good to be honored like this because my father, who just passed in October, always used to tell us, 'What you give is what you get,' so it meant a lot to get it," Stoy said. "Between the balance of work and the balance of volunteering it was tough. But just being able to see the looks on people's faces, when you're out there helping just makes it all worth it in the end."