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IN a remote corner of rural Java, a blacksmith and his family were astounded last week to learn that the American woman who helped save them from poverty 26 years ago was Ann Dunham, an anthropologist better known as the late mother of the US president. Dunham is still remembered in the central Javan hamlet of Kajar as a generous benefactor whose gifts of money, food and schoolbooks helped numerous villagers. Yet none of them had realised that the woman who paid several visits to research rural crafts in the 1980s had a son who was to become America’s 44th...

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” – Mary worshipping God in Luke 1:46–47 Mary was simply a very godly young woman who loved the Lord and trusted in Him despite great risk to her own reputation. She repeatedly appears as a devout woman who loved God and was a loving mother to Jesus. Contrary to some aberrant teaching, she did not remain a virgin, but mothered other sons such as James and Jude, who visited Jesus with Mary during His ministry (Matthew 12:46; Mark 3:31–35; Luke 8:19–21) and later became pastors who penned...

I believe we are in a war to save our country. I also believe that in order to win it, we need to do 3 things. This is the first in a 3 part series of those 3 things. The first step is to answer these questions for ourselves.... I wake up each morning and prioritize. In May of 2001 I became a single mother of 3 children. My youngest were 2 girls; one less than a year old, a 2yr old, and an 11 yr old son. I have never received a dime of support from my ex-husband. I...

Over 90% of flu cases this year will be caused by the H1N1 strain of virus. As with the most strains of the flu virus, young children, the elderly, those with comprised immune systems and pregnant women are especially at risk. The H1N1 strain of flu carries a greater risk of complications and death compared to the traditional flu. This is due to the fact that the H1N1 virus causes more severe respiratory complications much faster. As a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, I am very concerned that pregnant women understand the dangers of not being vaccinated for both the seasonal flu...

A 46-year-old Burlington woman accused of teaching her teenage son how to shoot heroin was charged Monday in connection with his death from an overdose. Patricia L. Strosina was charged with intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death in connection with the death of her 16-year-old son Raymond Strosina, according to a criminal complaint. The boy was found by his father in the father's home in the Town of Waterford on Sept. 14, slumped over a desk in a basement computer room, according to the complaint. A syringe, a burned spoon and other drug paraphernalia were...

Beyond the grief and sadness, Dmitri's family is shocked and angry that Tremaine's mom, Tarranisha, was allegedly involved. Police and prosecutors say she drove Tremaine to the scene, allowed him to get the gun from under the hood of the car, and then when the shooting was over, drove him away.

When my son graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in May 2006, my husband told friends and family that there would be plenty of tickets for the ceremony. Susan and her fellow mothers, he told everyone, will be busy handcuffing themselves to the White House fence in protest against the war. They won't need theirs. He was kidding, but I wasn't laughing.

Mother Angelica / Bishop Robert Baker Irondale, Ala., Oct 5, 2009 / 05:12 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI has awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal to Mother Angelica, founder of the Eternal Word Television Network and also EWTN executive Deacon Bill Steltemeier. The medal is the highest honor the Pope can bestow upon laity and religious.Bishop of Birmingham Robert J. Baker conferred the awards in a brief ceremony following Sunday benediction at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.Noting that yesterday was the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, Bishop Baker recalled the lasting impact...

Dear Fellow FReepers: You all know, and I freely admit, that I am not the nicest person in the world. However, I know someone who is. That someone is my mother. Three to two years ago we experienced a spate of pet deaths. We had many pets, and they were all old, so it was just time for them to wear out and say good-bye (unfortunately, one of them was "helped along" by the adulterated pet food). Their ages were eleven, fourteen, seventeen, and fifteen. One reason we were able to make it through those dark times was that a...

HAMILTON — A Hamilton mother could face the death penalty on charges that she killed her 5-week-old son and stuffed him in a garbage can because he was the product of sex with a minor. Asuncion “Suzie” Avila-Villa, 25, who lived in an upstairs apartment in the 1300 block of Shuler Avenue, was arrested Aug. 25 and charged with murder, endangering children, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, Aug. 10, 2009 – Deployed soldiers always have kissed their families goodbye and headed off to war with the expectation of learning to handle the constant heartache of missing their loved ones. However, in a rare exception, a mother and her son have found themselves assigned here together. Army Maj. Una Alderman, chief nurse officer for the 452nd Army Reserve, from Wisconsin, tends to a patient at the hospital on Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, Aug. 5, 2009. She is stationed in the same area of operations as her son, Army Staff Sgt. Seth Alderman,...

This doting mother swan has really taken her babies under her wing. Six tiny cygnets could be seen peeking from beneath her feathers as she floated on the pond at the Bicton Park Botanical Gardens in Devon. The swan, who had been swimming with her brood behind was forced to play piggyback after the young birds became tired.Amazed visitors watched as the swan spread her wings to allow the cygnets aboard, before before tucking them back protectively to stop them falling off. She then continued on her way across the pond, occasionally turning her head around to check on her...

When Anisa Borsberry confronted a group of playground bullies she hoped it would finally bring an end to her 11-year-old daughter’s ordeal. But the next day she found she herself was the victim . . . with the forces of law and order lined up against her. Eight police officers in three patrol cars and a van descended on her home and arrested her. Anisa Borsberry with daughter Taylor, 11 The 40-year-old was marched out in handcuffs even though a claim that she had hit one of the bullies had already been withdrawn. She then had her fingerprints and DNA...

A mother has been banned from a primary school after confronting a bully who used her five-year- old son as a 'human punch bag'. Christine Hart, 38, calmly asked the pupil to 'please stop hitting' her son Arthur after he endured months of bullying despite several complaints to teachers. But a teaching assistant saw and hauled her off to the headmistress, who told her not to cross the school gates and to attend a hearing with the governors to discuss her conduct.

Capt. Dorothy Watkins and Spc. Joshua Watkins, both of Hazleton, Pa., are deployed to Camp Taji, a base camp north of Baghdad, with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard. Photo by Jon Soles, Multi-National Division – Baghdad. TAJI — One Pennsylvania National Guard Soldier has two ways he can address Capt. Dorothy Watkins. He can call her ma'am or he can call her mom. Spc. Joshua Watkins and his mother, Capt. Watkins, are both serving here with the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division. The mother and son from Hazleton, Pa., are...

A woman left her baby on a Metra train Tuesday but immediately called police when she realized her mistake, allowing officers to reunite mother and child soon afterwards. The woman stepped off a Union Pacific North Line train at 6:11 p.m. in North Chicago and quickly realized she had left her baby on the train in a stroller, said Judy Pardonnet, a spokeswoman for Metra. "She just said she forgot to take the stroller off the train," Pardonnet said. She called North Chicago police and the train was stopped a few minutes later, she said. North Chicago police called Waukegan...

In Memory Of Pearl Rose Tank http://crosshairs.archangelsandwitticism.com/2009/05/23/in-memory-of-pearl-rose-tank.aspx

Controversy keeps following Miss California USA Carrie Prejean: Now a woman claims to have had a lesbian relationship with the "opposite marriage" crusader's mother. Valerie Vetrano of Corona, Calif., told Star magazine she and Prejean's mother, Francine Coppola, "dated," and the relationship ended shortly before Carrie Prejean was in the Miss USA competition. "I did date her," Vetrano, who is openly gay, told ABCNews.com. "I'm not going to deny it, but I'm not going to say anything else." Both Coppola and Prejean declined to comment on the ABC story.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A mother playing with her children at a park spotted a little black sneaker sticking out of the sand underneath the playground equipment. Figuring a youngster had lost his shoe, she bent down to pick it up. It was strangely heavy. She had made a ghastly discovery: a dead little boy, buried in the sand.

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2009 – When Army Staff Sgt. Melissa K. Dion logged on to her computer to nominate her own mother for Operation Homefront’s Military Motherhood Award, she found that her mother, Carol Dion, had nominated her first. Army Staff Sgt. Melissa K. Dion, pictured with her son, Ryan, was selected as Operation Homefront’s 2009 Military Motherhood Award winner. The troop-support group and sponsor Lockheed Martin recognized Dion for her commitment to her country and her family. Photo courtesy of Operation Homefront  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The combat medic was listed as a finalist. She and...

BAGHDAD, May 11, 2009 – Army Sgt. Anne M. Mitchell misses her children in Montana while she’s deployed here, but those her serve with her say she brings her mothering instincts to their unit, 143rd Military Police Detachment. Army Sgt. Anne M. Mitchell misses her children in Montana while she’s deployed in Iraq, but those her serve with her say she brings her mothering instincts to their unit, the 143rd Military Police Detachment, Baghdad, 2009. U.S. Army photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Mitchell admits it’s hard being a mother and deployed soldier, but she says it doesn’t...

The news is a downer, Obama's socializing everything, Pelosi's crazy and we're now involved in "overseas contingency plans." With all of that going on, here's a little something to make you laugh and provide a funny distraction. NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please do not copy the toon within this thread. Thank you much!!

Dearest Mother, Though I feel no premonition at all, events are moving rapidly and I have instructed that this letter be forwarded to you should I fail to return from one of the raids that we shall shortly be called upon to undertake. You must hope on for a month, but at the end of that time you must accept the fact that I have handed my task over to the extremely capable hands of my comrades of the Royal Air Force, as so many splendid fellows have already done. First, it will comfort you to know that my role...

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. and Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed;...

On this third anniversary of his Mom's passing -- and with Mother's Day close at hand here in the States -- the "Chaplain to the Senate" Fr Milt Jordan recalls her last day here below: The day my mother died I was a little more than upset that I had not been called ahead of time when there were clear signs that something unusual would happen. As I drove to the nursing home where she was, I kept saying to myself, "Why, why didn't she answer the phone calls the night before as I drove home from burying my...

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Mother Gets 3 Months for Hitting Sex Offender with Baseball Bat Good for this Mom ...yes, an un provoked attack on a sex offender, and while that is a little over the top ...I say good for her. Isn't it amazing that criminally harmless gays are aware enough to find "gay friendly" communities and thus self segregate themselves ...but these sex offenders drop in where ever they want and bring fear to the life of families and young kids around them. Oprah needs to interview this woman and comp her 1M ...for her "statement" on behalf of society and our...

TACOMA, Wash. – A judge has sentenced a mother to three months in jail for hitting a convicted sex offender with an aluminum baseball bat. Before her sentencing Friday, Tammy Lee Gibson told Pierce County Superior Court Judge Susan Serko that laws were needed to keep convicted sexual predators away from children. Gibson, 40, who has two daughters, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of third-degree assault in January. She initially was charged with second-degree assault and felony harassment, which could have meant an eight-month jail sentence if she'd been convicted. Court papers said Gibson hit William Allen Baldwin, a...

An Open Letter From Gold Star Mom Debbie Lee To President Obama It is with a heavy heart for my country that I write to you today. I pray that you will be inspired, challenged, and that you will reconsider decisions that you have made in the past week since you took the oath to preserve, protect and defend our constitution. Many in my family have taken a similar oath in the military including my sons Kristofer & Marc, my son-in-law Chris, my brother Jim and my Father. “I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and...

The mother of the notorious Waco sect leader David Koresh has been found stabbed to death at the house of a sister in Texas, police say. Bonnie Clark Halderman, who was in her sixties, was found dead at the home of Beverly Clark who has been taken into custody pending a court appearance. Police say they have no idea of a possible motive for her death.

Sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree, and sometimes that's a good thing. You may not know the name Rebecca Walker, but she is a woman who learned, in a very harsh way, the often stark difference between theory and fact. She is the daughter of The Color Purple author Alice Walker, a militant feminist who, in deference to her belief that children enslave women, treated Rebecca as a burdensome cross.The younger Walker discussed her feminist-model upbringing in a May 2008 Daily Mail piece entitled "How my mother's fanatical views tore us apart." She recounts how her mother...

A tiny baby girl gaining strength in an incubator in England is named “Aya” — Arabic for “miracle.” The name is not only beautiful but also descriptive of her birth: She was born two days after her mother was declared brain dead. Jayne Soliman, a former British figure skating champion, was 41 years old and looked to be in perfect health as she carried the child she and her husband, Mahmoud, had dreamed of having. She was 25 weeks pregnant and working at her job as a skating coach on Wednesday, Jan. 7, when trouble signs appeared, according to a...

FRESNO, Calif., Dec. 31, 2008 – Like many high school seniors, Megan Schlotthauer wasn't sure what she wanted to do after graduation. Her grades weren't the best, and college is expensive. Megan Schlotthauer, left, and her mother, Lisa Altoon, enlisted together in the Army Reserve. U.S. Army photo by Al Laxamana  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Searching for a purpose, the 17-year-old decided to explore her options in the Army Reserve. "I was looking at the community colleges, and thought I would go there," she said. "Then I was talking to some people I know who are in...

In what may be the start of more such battles during the waning months of the Bush administration, about 30 demonstrators and elected officials rallied outside a Chicago federal immigration office Monday in hopes of stopping the deportation of a mother of six. Francisca Lino, 41, was scheduled to leave the country this week after she entered illegally in 1999 and was arrested in 2005 during a hearing for her application for legal permanent residency. A petition to delay the deportation for another year that was delivered Monday by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Lino's attorney temporarily halted the...

A mother has told how she was mauled by two pitbull terriers and her baby knocked to the ground in his pram. Concert pianist Mary Duella, who was left with deep wounds to her arm and leg, is due to have a skin graft and faces permanent scarring. She is also unsure if she will be able to play the piano professionally again but is determined to resume her career. The 35-year-old was walking home with her 19-month-old-son Daithi after playing at a jazz concert nearby to raise awareness for an arts cafe. She was metres away from her home...

I'll be the first to admit that there is more than a little cognitive dissonance on my behalf (as well as many thoughtful conservatives commenting on articles and calling radio talk shows), regarding a mother of five being second in command to the "leader of the Free World". Largely because we all know women (my own wife included) who have found greater fulfillment being stay-at-home mothers than they ever did in the workplace. I had some thoughts. Been known to happen. Sarah Palin is really more like a mother of three at this point. Though raising a down syndrome child...

Naivete" is a euphemism for Ann Dunham's motivation. Friends describe her as a "fellow traveler", that is, a communist sympathizer, from her youth, according to a March 27, 2007, Chicago Tribune report. Many Americans harbor leftist views, but not many marry into them, twice.... Barack Obama is a clever fellow who imbibed hatred of America with his mother's milk, but worked his way up the elite ladder of education and career. He shares the resentment of Muslims against the encroachment of American culture, although not their religion. He has the empathetic skill set of an anthropologist who lives with his...

On Feb. 2, 1961, several months after they met, Obama's parents got married in Maui, according to divorce records. It was a Thursday. At that point, Ann was three months pregnant with Barack Obama II. Friends did not learn of the wedding until afterward. "Nobody was invited," says Abercrombie. The motivations behind the marriage remain a mystery, even to Obama. "I never probed my mother about the details. Did they decide to get married because she was already pregnant? Or did he propose to her in the traditional, formal way?" Obama wonders. "I suppose, had she not passed away, I...

The family of an Orlando toddler missing for more than a month won't answer questions about a tip that a new concrete slab was poured in the grandparents' backyard over July 4 weekend, shortly before they reported the child missing. Caylee Marie Anthony's grandmother would neither confirm nor deny the tip about the fresh concrete received by local WFTV Eyewitness News in Orlando, according to the station.

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - A Mexican woman and her three American daughters have been caught smuggling $1.16 million worth of cocaine into Texas from Mexico, a rare case of a mother and her family trafficking drugs, U.S. customs said on Friday. The four women stashed the cocaine under their clothes and inside their 2006 Mercedes Benz and tried to cross through the Brownsville, Texas entry port from eastern Mexico. A sniffer dog alerted customs agents to the smell of cocaine emanating from the car and agents also noted unusual bulges under their clothes, finding cocaine packages on three of the...

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. -- A Hall County mother has been sentenced to a year in jail after taking desperate measures to keep her son's teenage girlfriend from having his baby. Officials said Cindi Cook, 44, found the Northside Women's Clinic for a 16-year-old girl. Cook paid for the abortion and signed a parental notification form saying she was the girl's mother. "This is reprehensible conduct and it will not be tolerated," said DeKalb County Solicitor General Robert James. James told WSB-TV Channel 2 he had never seen a case like the one involving Cook. "It's terrible when one parent takes...

She's revered as a trail-blazing feminist and author Alice Walker touched the lives of a generation of women. A champion of women's rights, she has always argued that motherhood is a form of servitude. But one woman didn't buy in to Alice's beliefs - her daughter, Rebecca, 38. Here the writer describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a cultural icon, and why she feels so blessed to be the sort of woman 64-year-old Alice despises - a mother.

CAMP ATTERBURY, Ind., May 15, 2008 – Many mothers sit at home and wonder what their deployed son or daughter is doing, hoping everything is all right and waiting for the next phone call. Some might see a mother deploying with her son as a great thing, but what onlookers might not think about is what is left back home. Army National Guard Spc. Roschell Eaton and her son, Spc. Jason Hutchins, both from 3175th Military Police Company, train at Camp Atterbury, Ind., for their upcoming deployment as part of Kosovo Force 10, Multinational Task Force East. U.S. Army...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child. Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins. "We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing. The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old. The fast-growing family lives in Tontitown in northwest Arkansas in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, May 5, 2008 – The daily stresses of being a mother can make it a difficult, full-time job. Factor in the burdens of serving multiple deployments to a combat zone, and “Army Strong” takes on a new meaning for many military mothers. Army Spc. Ocie Terry, an administration specialist serving in Multinational Division Baghdad and assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Company B, Special Troops Battalion, is a single mother of three girls. Her children -- Samantha, 6, Amari, 4, and Sunnieday, 2 -- are living with her mother in Jacksonville, Texas, during her deployment. Terry,...

Easter Sunrise Services and Our ServicemenKT McFarland The only people in the history of the world who have sacrificed their lives for people they didn’t know have been Jesus Christ and the American soldier, sailor, marine and airman…Read Full Story Here

I just saw a picture on the front page of my local paper showing an Anti-Iraq war protestor holding a sign with a picture on it that said "President Bush, You Killed My Son", with a photo of a man in an Army Dress Uniform. As a Veteran and a Navy Retiree, it just made my blood boil. This person,(the Soldiers Mother I guess)should have realized that when her "Little Boy" joined the US Military, that he was not going to be going to a regular 9 to 5 job! The contract that every Military Recruit signs states that the...

CHICAGO (AP) — Treffly Coyne was out of her car for just minutes and no more than 10 yards away. But that was long and far enough to land her in court after a police officer spotted her sleeping 2-year-old daughter alone in the vehicle; Coyne had taken her two older daughters to pour $8.29 in coins into a Salvation Army kettle. Minutes later, she was under arrest — the focus of both a police investigation and a probe by the state's child welfare agency. Now the case that has become an Internet flash point for people who either blast...

FL mom uses pressure washer on toddler; caught on tape Security video of mom using pressure washer on toddler There is some disturbing video coming out of Florida of a mother spraying her daughter with a high-powered hose. She has now turned herself in to police to explain what happened. Chilling surveillance tape of a mother and her child at a car wash in Orlando shows a mother turning a high powered hose on her 2 ½-year old daughter as punishment, police say. "It looks like the girl probably had an accident - urinated or spilled a drink." Police say,...

Mother-daughter Conflict, Low Serotonin Level May Be Deadly Combination ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2008) — A combination of negative mother-daughter relationships and low blood levels of serotonin, an important brain chemical for mood stability, may be lethal for adolescent girls, leaving them vulnerable to engage in self-harming behaviors such as cutting themselves. New University of Washington research indicates that these two factors in combination account for 64 percent of the difference among adolescents, primarily girls, who engage in self-harming behaviors and those who do not. "Girls who engage in self harm are at high risk for attempting suicide, and some of...