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Yahoo! News - Militants Say They Executed U.S. Soldier in Iraq -TV

Yahoo! News - Report: Iraqi Militants Kill U.S. Soldier

WCPO.com - Army Spokesperson: Tape Is Under Review

There continues to be conflicting reports concerning the status of specialist Matt Maupin.

ABC News reports the parents of Maupin were informed that there may be a tape showing his execution.

ABC News said a source described as a senior official said a tape was delivered to Al-Jazeera TV which appears to show a blindfolded Maupin in a dark room being shot.

This same ABC source said there is no confirmation but that they believe “it’s him”.

Just before 5:30 p.m. Major Willie Harris, Army spokesperson for the Maupin family, addressed the media from the Maupin family home.

Major Harris confirmed the existence of a tape that is currently being reviewed by the Department of Defense. Major Harris did not speculate the contents of the tape.

Major Harris could not stress enough that there is no confirmation that the contents of the tape include Maupin or any other American soldier for that matter.

The status of Maupin has not changed and he remains listed as “captured”.

Maupin, a member of the 724th Transportation Company and a Glen Este High School graduate, was captured April 9 after his convoy was attacked. A videotape of Maupin’s capture was released in mid-April.

A vigil is being held in Batavia at 7 p.m. Monday in support of Maupin and his family. The gathering will be on Main Street at the Clermont County Courthouse.

UPDATE

This morning on 55KRC they mentioned the fact that they hadn’t talked about Maupin. The reason for this is because everything is speculation and they feel it is inappropriate for WCPO to be talking about the story in the way that they are. blah blah blah. Anyway the important part of what I heard this morning was that Maupin’s mother saw that tape and is pretty sure it is not her son in the tape, they have been having a constant prayer vigil since yesterday. I think the important thing right now is to pray for Matt and his family. And that God would continue to protect our soldiers as He has as America helps Iraq achieve the freedom that we have been blessed with and so many of us take for granted.

Given the screaming for joy and pounding that I just heard coming from upstairs, Janet just got the grade for the summer class she took and it was an A. Way to go honey!

And I posted first!

Every year an independent tax watchdog group analyzes the average tax burden on Americans, and then calculates the “Tax Freedom Day“. This is the day after which the money you earn goes to you, not the government.

This year, tax freedom day was April 11th. That’s the earliest it has been since 1991. It’s latest day ever was May 2nd, which occurred in 2000.

Notice anything special about those dates? (HINT: Clinton was elected in 1992 and left office in 2000)

John Kerry gave a speech in which he claimed Americans are actually paying more taxes under Bush, despite the tax cuts. He gave no explanation and provided no data for this claim.

Another interesting fact: Both George Bush and John Kerry are wealthy men.

Bush owns one home, his ranch in Texas.

Kerry owns 4 mansions, all worth several million dollars. (His ski resort home in Idaho is an old barn brought over from Europe in pieces. Not your average A-frame).

Bush paid $250,000 in taxes this year; Kerry paid $90,000. Does that sound right? The man who wants to raise your taxes obviously has figured out a way to avoid paying his own.

Sky News - IRAQ A SOVEREIGN STATE

CNN - Iraq handover of sovereignty completed

Fox News - Iraq Becomes Sovereign Two Days Before Deadline

Tom had a great message this morning at New Life but for me the greatest part was the last sentence…

There isn’t very much that grows on the mountain top, but there is a whole lot that grows in the valley.

There’s a 25 minute sermon in that sentence, guess I got something to work on.