Free Republic

HALLOWELL, Maine - Jonathan McCullum was in perfect health at 155 pounds when he left last summer to spend the school year as an exchange student in Egypt. But when he returned home to Maine just four months later, the 5-foot-9 teenager weighed a mere 97 pounds and was so weak that he struggled to carry his baggage or climb a flight of stairs. Doctors said he was at risk for a heart attack. McCullum says he was denied sufficient food while staying with a family of Coptic Christians, who fast for more than 200 days a year, a regimen...

Unmanned air vehicle specialist Aurora Flight Sciences is to compete with Lockheed Martin to build an all-composite cargo X-plane for the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). The demonstrator is planned to fly within 18 months under the Advanced Composite Cargo Aircraft (ACCA) programme, to prove structural design and manufacturing technologies that would reduce the cost and weight of a future short take-off and landing transport. ACCA will support the Advanced Joint Air Combat System (AJACS) now being defined by USAF Air Mobility Command as a possible future replacement for the Lockheed Martin C-130 tactical transport. AFRL has awarded Aurora...

Washington -- Indonesian student Dedi Setiadi admits his opinion of the United States has not always been positive. "In the beginning, I was critical of the U.S. and its policies toward different countries," he said. In an interview with the Washington File, Dedi said his views changed after a year of living with a Mexican-American family in the United States. "This country is very diverse. I didn't see prejudice," Dedi observed. He appreciated learning about his host family's culture and sharing with them aspects of Indonesian culture. When he returns home, Dedi plans to help other Indonesian students learn about...