Free Republic

Requesting prayers from all the FReeper prayer warriors out there for the son of friends. His name is Logan and he is 21 and has been trapped in a cave in Maquokata, Iowa since 7 pm last night. He was on a camping outing with friends. He has oxygen and water and his spirits are good. They are the most wonderful Christian family and would appreciate all the prayers. There are multiple ER teams on scene but progress is slow and Logan is stuck good. Please pray for God's protection and comfort for this family and for Logan to be...

In response to the housing crisis, Congressman Phil Hare has called for a moratorium on home foreclosures. During its upcoming session, Congress is expected to consider action on the subprime mortgage crisis. For Hare, the housing problem is personal. When he was child, Hare’s father lost his home after becoming ill. “Losing a home tears a family apart. I know what it does. We have to tackle this thing head on,” he said. Hare said the government cannot bail everyone out, but it has to start by imposing a moratorium on foreclosures, he suggested maybe for 90 or 120 days....

ROCK ISLAND -- Mo likes to twirl fire. A red stripe crosses her face like a mask. The words "Kill Your TV" are written in black from forehead to chin. What appears to be a red nylon bath puff is strapped on top of Harrison's head, like a rooster's comb. It matches his red cutoff T-shirt. "Turn Off Your TV" is in black on his right cheek. He sits on the upper stage of two handmade pontoon boats, strumming an acoustic guitar and singing. Bare feet dangle over the Mississippi River. Sunshine and blue skies welcome their journey here. "Harrison...

In The Feminine Mystique, the late Betty Friedan attributed the malaise of married women largely to traditionalist marriages in which wives ran the home and men did the bread-winning. Her book helped spark the sexual revolution of the 1970s and fueled the notion that egalitarian partnerships—where both partners have domestic responsibilities and pursue jobs—would make wives happier. Last week, two sociologists at the University of Virginia published an exhaustive study of marital happiness among women that challenges this assumption. Stay-at-home wives, according to the authors, are more content than their working counterparts. And happiness, they found, has less to do...

It looks like the housing boom is finally over. If you buy now, the risk is high that you'll get zero or negative returns on your investment over the next few years. What, then, should you do? Easy -- focus on affordability. If you can, choose a house in a market where prices haven't gone through the roof, whether it's Buffalo, N.Y., in the Northeast; Atlanta in the Southeast; Youngstown, Ohio, in the Midwest; San Antonio in the Southwest; Yakima, Wash., in the Northwest; or Riverside, Calif., in the West. You'll get more living space, and you won't have to...

Focus returns to Reynolds murder as Kolb trial opens By Kurt Allemeier, kallemeier@qconline.com Tony Reynolds was first angry, then distraught, when he reported his 16-year-old daughter missing one Friday in January. He looked for her and hoped she would come home. She never did. What happened to Adrianne Leigh Reynolds on that day and the events that followed -- the discovery of the girl's dismembered and burned body and the arrest of three teens -- will be heard in court this week. One of the teens, Sarah Anne Kolb, 17, of 1003 W. 10th St., Milan, is to go on...

So, Mr. Chief Justice, will it be us or them? Given his first case, we'll know soon enough if new Chief Justice John Roberts is with us or them. It's a control case, a who's-in-charge case. Us or them. The people of Oregon -- me and you, 'cept they live there and we live here -- have twice affirmed through referenda that if a mentally-with-it dying person wants to skip the last part, it's OK for the doctor to prescribe and the pharmacist to fill a fatal prescription. The Oregon Legislature, being the servant of the people that it is,...

ALBANY, N.Y. — Jeanine Pirro (search), the high-profile district attorney from suburban Westchester County, will seek the Republican nomination to challenge Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (search) bid for re-election next year, a top adviser said Monday. The adviser, speaking only on condition of anonymity to allow Pirro to make the announcement herself, said the district attorney planned to tour the state Wednesday to formally announce her decision. Pirro began calling top New York Republicans Sunday night to tell them of her decision, said the adviser and another top Republican source familiar with her plans. There was no immediate comment Monday...

Thursday's bomb attacks in London may have been a world removed for most Quad-Citians, but it came too close to home for some in town for the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic. Peter Dixon, sports reporter for the Times of London, and fellow Brit, pro golfer John E. Morgan, were dismayed over the morning rush-hour train and bus attacks that killed at least 37 and injured 700 or more. It also unnerved PGA Tour pro Todd Hamilton, who grew up near Galesburg but is headed to Europe early next week to defend his British Open championship. His flight to Scotland...

Comments this week from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., about the treatment of Al Quaida prisoners at Guantanamo Bay angered the wife of at least one local serviceman who helped guard the detainees. Danette Lemkee said her husband, Brian Lemkee, of the U.S. Army 339th Military Police, couldn't comment about Sen. Durbin's statements in which he compared the actions of Americans at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviet gulags and a "mad regime" like Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot. However, she said the comments upset her. She challenged the senator to come to Arsenal Island where she and her family are stationed...

I am making a request to my FReeper friends for prayers for my husband's cousin and his newborn baby. Baby Ella Mae was born yesterday at a healthy 8 lbs. 3 oz. However she developed an infection which they believe may be a staph infection and has been struggling since birth. She is currently on intravenous antibiotics. Please say a prayer for precious Ella Mae that she will be well and go home with her mother and father soon. Ella Mae is their firts child. Also, can any medical field FReepers fill me in on how serious this can be?...

ROCK ISLAND -- Pacing down the stairs in military attire, U.S. Army Sgt. Allen Porter would soon give his family and 340 theatergoers at Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse a finale to remember. Brett Hitchcock, Circa '21's director of marketing, and owner and producer Denny Hitchcock, managed to secretly sneak Sgt. Porter into the balcony to watch his 12-year-old son, Trevell, charm the audience Wednesday night as Prince Chululongkorn in "The King and I." Neither Trevell nor his family in the audience knew Sgt. Porter would soon spring onstage after the curtain call for a surprise homecoming. Trevell; his sister Sophia,...

Farideh Bazdar may be living part of the American dream in Moline, but she says her life is not settled yet. Even though she has found religious freedom, a home for herself and her family, and runs her own Persian carpeting and artwork store, Treasures Under Feet of Moline, Ms. Bazdar still feels incomplete because it has been so long since she has last seen either her mother or her father. Ms. Bazdar has lived in the United States since 2001, having left her home and family in Tehran, Iran, because of religious tension. Ms. Bazdar grew up as a...

"A hot dog at the ballpark is better than a steak at the Ritz." -- Humphrey Bogart Like lemonade, sun tea, bomb pops and tinkly music wafting from the rusty white vans of Stan's Ice Cream, the humble hot dog offers the best kind of bliss when the weather is warm. Ballparks and back yards alike already are heating up. In a couple of weeks, swimming pools will open, and green-tinged heads will hover over grills, breathing in the fleeting aromas of summer. It's time for the hot dog to have its season in the sun. In fact, the National...

A better way than a gun? Had he lived in Oregon, the terminally ill man who shot himself in the head at Oak Glen Home in Coal Valley last month wouldn't have needed the gun. There would have been no need for someone to put himself or herself at risk of criminal charges by slipping him the weapon. There would have been no possibility that other residents would be harmed by the bullet after it exited his head. There would have been no trauma for the nursing home staff. Instead, he could simply have asked that he be prescribed a...

Meet the Tuminator By Barry Wigmore, Daily Mail 29 March 2005 His bulging muscles made him a five-times winner of the Mr Universe title It took Arnold Schwarzenegger years of pumping iron to build the body that won him stardom in movies such as Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator. But it has taken just two years of good living as the governor of California for the 57-year-old's shape to go somewhat belly-up. Schwarzenegger's hint of a spare tyre where lean muscles used to ripple was evident when he took a dip in the Pacific off Maui, one of the...

Sketch artistry Boulder firm's software lets users design in three dimensions By Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News March 14, 2005 BOULDER - Architects, video-game and movie-set designers, people who make machines, graphic artists - even young students and their teachers - are gushing over SketchUp, @Last Software's sole product. Here's why: The software allows even technophobes to design in three dimensions with the push of a button or the swipe of a mouse. A user can impress a spouse with a home addition designed within minutes or wow a client with a video presentation of a walk-through of a botanic...

ROCK ISLAND -- Good Samaritans helped save an elderly man's dog from a pit bull in Rock Island Wednesday afternoon. The pit bull had apparently broken its leash to attack the smaller dog, a Yorkshire terrier, near the intersection of 18th Avenue and 41st Street. Moline Fire Department paramedic Chad Snook and his partner were on their way back to Fire Station 3 shortly after 2 p.m., after taking a patient to Trinity Medical Center's West Campus, when they thought they saw a pit bull attacking an elderly man. Mr. Snook, of Colona, got out of the ambulance and was...

My uncle was recently diagnosed with bladder cancer. He has refused chemotherapy. My aunt has informed us that he is now spending about 90% of the day in bed. I fear that the end is very near. I would appreciate prayers from FReepers that he not suffer in pain too long and that the good Lord please come and take him home when the time comes. Also, I asked for prayer requests a couple of months ago for my sons teacher who was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In her case, thankfully, the tumor was removed and was benign. She...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy will commission its newest nuclear-powered attack submarine Jimmy Carter on Saturday, Feb. 19, during an 11 a.m. EST ceremony at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Conn. The attack submarine Jimmy Carter honors the 39th president of the United States. President Carter is the only U.S. president to have qualified in submarines. He has distinguished himself by a lifetime of public service, and has long ties to the Navy and the submarine force. Carter graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, served as a commissioned officer aboard submarines, and served as commander-in-chief from 1977...