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Ol' Blue Eyes sings "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"... 1957

Scientists digging in the Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores years ago found a tiny humanlike skull, then a pelvis, jaw and other bones, all between 60,000 and 100,000 years old. The fossils, the scientists concluded, belonged to individuals who stood just three feet tall — an unknown species, related to modern humans, that they called Homo floresiensis or, more casually, the hobbits. On Wednesday, researchers reported that they had discovered still older remains on the island, including teeth, a piece of a jaw and 149 stone tools dating back 700,000 years. The finding suggests that the...

The Midgets are under attack. Freeburg High School, in the Metro East area of St. Louis, was approached last week by members of the Little People of America and asked to change their nickname. The athletic teams at Freeburg have been known as the Midgets since the 1930s. The Little People were in the area for their convention in St. Louis and made a trip to Freeburg to let school officials that they were offended by the school's nickname. The Little People of America posted a petition on change.org asking that Freeburg change its mascot. "The term ‘midge' dehumanizes and...

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) compared companies and workers to a “cage fight” between a “giant” and a “midget” on Wednesday night. By Thursday, he publicly expressed regret to “abnormally small people” for using the “m-word”. Johnson was discussing the right-to-work enacted in Michigan on Wednesday when he said, “What happens when you put in a cage fight a giant in with a midget? Well, the midget will not win the fight, I’m going to tell you that. Why? He just doesn’t carry enough weight to do so.” …

New York - Little people are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to ban the use of the word "midget" on broadcast TV. The group Little People of America said Sunday the word is just as offensive as racial slurs. The request was prompted by an April episode of NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" that the group said was demeaning. In the episode, contestants created a detergent ad called "Jesse James and the Midgets." The contestants, including Joan Rivers, suggested bathing little people in the detergent and hanging them to dry. Calls to the FCC and "Celebrity Apprentice" host Donald Trump were...

NEW YORK - Little people are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to ban the use of the word "midget" on broadcast TV. The group Little People of America said Sunday the word is just as offensive as racial slurs.

Two Mexican Midget Wrestlers Killed by Fake Prostitutes Friday, July 03, 2009 * Print * MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities say two professional wrestlers found dead in a low-rent hotel in the capital may have been drugged to death by female robbers. Autopsies are being performed on the two midget wrestlers, one of whom went by the name "La Parkita" — or "Little Death" — and wore a skeleton costume in the ring.

Two professional midget wrestlers found dead in a low-rent hotel room may have been drugged by female robbers, according to Mexican authorities. Relatives of twins Alejandro 'Espectrito' and Alberto 'La Parkita' Perez Jimenez pay their last respects. Post mortems are being carried out on La Parkita - or Little Death - who wore a skeleton costume in the ring and Espectrito Jr. The twin brothers, real names Alberto and Alejandro Jimenez, reportedly had been entertaining two prostitutes on the night of their deaths. Police said two women were seen leaving the men's hotel room shortly before the bodies were discovered...

Issue: 6 November 2004 Do little people go to heaven?If the three-foot-tall hominids of Flores were rational, did they have immortal souls? asks Christopher Howse When they showed on television the cave on the island of Flores where the remains of little people had been found, I felt, I admit, a Yeatsian frisson that the world of politics cannot give. It was not delight at a new branch on the hat-stand of anthropoid evolution, but the thought that in the thick Indonesian rainforest there were (or had been, perhaps as recently as the time when dodos lived) creatures with whom...

<p>An accused midget-menace and welfare cheat walked out of court yesterday, calling the accusations against her — that she and her husband cruelly likened their neighbors to the munchkins of Oz — "all lies."</p> <p>Minutes after Brooklyn Supreme Court Judge John Walsh released Elizabeth Izzo on a conditional discharge of the welfare-fraud charges against her, her lawyer, Susan Mitchell, said Izzo intends to rescind her guilty plea on the more serious hate-crime charge after one of the alleged victims backed off the claim.</p>

A grand jury made short order of a Brighton Beach man yesterday, indicting him for terrorizing his neighbors — a midget mother and daughter. The Brooklyn Criminal Court indictment is still sealed, so it's unknown what charges Joseph Izzo, 40, will face. He was busted last month on hate-crime charges for singing, "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go," and spewing racial epithets at 3-foot-8 Debra Shea and her 3-foot-6 daughter, Concelean Pegues.

19th Annual O’Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Saturday Night results. A record turnout of 249 cars and drivers competed, starting with the first ever "J" Mains and set the field for the final Main Event. Congratulations to Tracy Hines who won a close feature victory over last years winner Cory Kruseman and third went to Dave Darland. Hines won a $10,000 bonus from Mopar for winning with a Mopar powered entry. Notable mention in the field was a 6th place finish in the 2nd "E" Main for Warsaw Mo's Jessee "The Rocket" Hockett which was short of the transfer to...

Think you've seen it all with reality shows? Wait until Fox's "The Littlest Groom." It's a reality show that's more than just a little, well, strange. The wacky short-run series will have 12 female little people contestants competing for the affections of a 4-foot-5 bachelor. But in the second episode, things take an "Average Joe"-like turn when women of normal stature show up to compete with the vertically challenged contestants. In short, this show gives new meaning to the term "miniseries." "The Littlest Groom," which airs Feb. 16 and 23 at 8 p.m., is another sign of how reality has...

Riot in Sierra Leone Over Midget No-Show Sat Dec 6, 2:32 PM ET By CLARENCE ROY-MACAULAY, Associated Press Writer FREETOWN, Sierra Leone - Thousands of fans rioted at Sierra Leone's national stadium Saturday when authorities substituted two local dwarf comedians for a widely anticipated out-of-town midget duo. Police arrested 30 people, amid damage and dozens of injuries. Daylong radio ads had whipped up excitement and ticket sales for Friday night's scheduled performance by the two Nigerian entertainers, Aki and Paw Paw. The Nigerian performers failed to show by early morning. Organizers put the two local dwarf comedians on the stage...

A 2ft 4in circus performer has disputed claims he has been pipped to the post for the title of world's shortest man.Hungarian Pitchu To'th, who is employed in Britain by Cottle amp; Austen Circus, believes he inherited the mantle in 1997 following the death of 1ft 10in Indian Gul Mohammed.But the Guinness Book of Records states the world's smallest man is now quot;believed to bequot; a Jordanian, Younis Edwan, who measures 2ft 1.5in.Mr Edwan has not been proved to be the world's shortest man, however, because his height was measured only once, and record book rules state contenders must be...