Free Republic

Her minuscule feet poking pathetically through a doctor's fingers, few believed that she could possibly live. Born only 21 weeks and six days after conception, Amillia Taylor weighed just under 10oz and was only 91/2 inches long. Medical staff, however, were given a clue to her fighting spirit when the tiny scrap tried to cry and breathe on her own. And now, four months later and weighing 4lb, she has been allowed home – the world's most premature baby to have survived. Her parents Sonja and Eddie, from Homestead, Florida, were visiting friends in Miami when Mrs Taylor went into...

CHICAGO (AFP) - A clash over of their son's circumcision has landed the parents of an eight-year-old Illinois boy in a US court where there is no apparent precedent. A Cook County judge ordered the mother in the case not to have her son circumcised until the court can hear arguments from the child's father, who opposes the operation, and decide if it is in the boy's best interest. Jews and Muslims circumcise their sons for religious reasons. But this case instead involves shifting medical and cultural preferences, which have recently become a matter of debate in the United States....

In a scheduled speech Thursday about the war on terror, President Bush will focus on a foiled attack in 2002 in which plotters planned to use hijacked commercial airplanes to strike the West Coast. Bush has referred to the plot before, but White House officials said he planned to provide more specifics in a speech Thursday. The president will speak this morning at 9:55 a.m. ET at the National Guard Memorial Building in Washington. In an address last October, Bush said the United States and its allies had foiled at least 10 serious plots by the al-Qaida terror network in...

I am looking at a possible job in the Allentown area of PA. I need so info on schools, community, crime, cost of living, etc., etc. Forgive the vanity, but this is only my 3rd vanity in over 4 years and I know my fellow freepers are a source of knowledge. If you have any input, please provide. Thanks!

Town of Wallkill – If you're a 7-year-old kid with cerebral palsy and autism, you have to take your laughs anywhere you can get them. Just don't have too much fun at the local movie theater, or you might get thrown out. That's what happened to young Anthony Pratti this week. To say his parents are upset about it would be an understatement. Anthony, who uses a wheelchair, was with his parents, his sister and his grandmother at the Loews Cineplex theaters in the Galleria at Crystal Run Sunday, watching a 1:15 p.m. matinee of the G-rated film "March of...

Leader: Terrorists Planned To Attack Vatican On Christmas Security Tightened Around Vatican In Recent Weeks POSTED: 10:05 AM EST December 27, 2003 UPDATED: 10:28 AM EST December 27, 2003 ROME -- Terrorists planned to attack the Vatican with a hijacked plane on Christmas Day, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said in a newspaper interview published Saturday. Berlusconi told Milan's Libero newspaper of a "precise and verified news of an attack on Rome on Christmas Day." "A hijacked plane into the Vatican," Berlusconi is quoted as saying. "An attack from the sky, is that clear? The threat of terrorism is very high...

CBS) Two ex-managers for a clothing chain accused of discrimination say corporate representatives of the chain, Abercrombie & Fitch, routinely had them reduce the hours of less attractive salespeople. The two former managers - who say they were hired for their good looks - appear in a Morley Safer report on the trendy retail chain on 60 Minutes, Sunday at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Dan Moon and Andrea Mandrick say Abercrombie & Fitch were after a certain "look" for their sales force, and the less a salesperson had of this look, the less they worked. "I was sick of getting my...

AL QURAIN, Kuwait - Hazem Jaber lifts his arms in the shape of a rifle, points out at the street below and squeezes an imaginary trigger. This is where he shot at Iraqi troops, he recalls. Then, pointing to a gaping hole beside him, he shows where an Iraqi tank fired back. During the final days of the Persian Gulf war, Jaber was one of 19 Kuwaiti resistance fighters cornered inside a three-story brick home by Iraqi troops. During a 10-hour gunbattle, Iraqis peppered the house with tank, rocket and machine-gun fire. Twelve men were killed. Jaber was one of...

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Ratings for "The West Wing (news - web sites)" have tumbled this fall -- but that's not all bad news for the folks at NBC or the show's producer, Warner Bros. TV. For NBC, the weakening of an anchor show is hardly a cause for celebration, particularly given the so-so performance of its new comedies and the potential exit of "Friends" this May. Yet the timing of "West Wing's" decline is actually perfect for NBC, since the network is just a few months away from starting talks with Warner Bros. over extending the Emmy-winning White House drama's...

Brutal Milwaukee: Man brain dead after being beaten by mob of 20 children Mon Sep 30 2002 23:09:57 ET A mob of 20 kids beat a man brain dead with bats, boards, shovels and rocks after he punched one of them in the mouth for throwing an egg at him Sunday night, police in Milwaukee said. Three suspects, ages 10, 13 and 14, were in custody Monday, Milwaukee police said. The victim, 36-year-old Charlie Young Jr., remained on life support. The gang chased Young onto the porch of a house on the city's north side and pummeled him, leaving blood...

Sorry to do this, but Freepers have at their command more sources than any other group of people I know. Recently a news magazine, I believe both Time and Newsweek, ran a story on the differences between the sexes. I am in the middle of a debate with a co-worker and need to reference that article. Does anyone have a link or the date and publication the article appeared in?

CLEVELAND (AP) - U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr., facing a bribery trial next week, has sued the government for $250 million alleging that his civil rights were violated and asked that the trial be put on hold. Traficant, a Democrat and non-attorney who plans to defend himself on the criminal charges, filed the complaint late Wednesday in U.S. District Court in his hometown of Youngstown. He alleged that federal agents conspired against him and "engaged in a long-term vendetta to selectively prosecute" him in retaliation for his acquittal in 1983 on federal corruption charges. The FBI declined comment and ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The FBI (news - web sites) has turned down family requests that it release the cockpit voice recording from an airliner hijacked on Sept. 11 that crashed in a Pennsylvania field, saying the horror captured on the tape would do little to assuage their grief. ``(FBI) Director (Robert) Mueller has personally listened to the recording from the hijacked flight and advised that the FBI will not be releasing the tape at this time,'' FBI spokesman John Collingwood said in a letter to U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher (news - bio - voting record) that the congresswoman's office ...

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - A man in a Santa suit set aside his bag of gifts, drew a gun from his trademark black belt and shot a woman on a Sao Paulo street, wounding her in the wrist and face. The unidentified Santa was handing out candy to motorists stopped at a traffic light when he yanked the draw strings on his bag of sweets, pulled a revolver from his belt and fired at a woman who was entering her car parked nearby, said a spokesman at the Sao Paulo police department. "The woman was wounded in her wrist and ...

Dear Civilians, We know that the current state of affairs in our great nation have many civilians up in arms and excited to join the military. For those of you who can't join, you can still lend a hand. Here are a few of the areas we would like your assistance with: 1) The next time you see someone (an adult) talking during the playing of the National anthem.....kick their @ss. 2) When you witness firsthand someone burning the American Flag in protest...kick their @ss. If you see this on television, as many of us have, you are simply required ...

If I can, I would like to tell you about an extraordinary week I had. On Monday the 17th, my Marines conducted military honors for Maj Horracks. He was the co-pilot of the aircraft that hit the 2nd towers. We began honors by standing next to a memorial table set up in the church. We stood guard (if you will) while the family (wife and two very young children and his brother) received visitors and well wishers. The entire procession was too much for his daughter to bear. After the mass, a bag piper played the Marines Hymn and we ...