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My mother in law has been ill for several weeks now and last Tuesday she was admitted to the hospital for intestinal bleeding. Three nights ago we almost lost her when a section of her small intestine burst. She has gone through four hours of surgery and is now hooked to a ventilator and heavily medicated. Things are touch and go at the moment. She is like a mother to me and she is the kindest soul that I have ever met. A huge Buckeye fan, I know she would want us to root for her team, even when she...

Tikrit, Iraq -- Iraqi officials say a body found near Tikrit is not that of a Japanese hostage. Initial reports that a bullet riddled Asian body had been found had upset Japan. An Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman says the body turned out to be an Iraqi man and has been returned to the victim's family. The official says the death appears to have been due to a crime. Tuesday, Islamic militants threatened to kill their Japanese hostage within 48 hours unless Japan withdrew its troops from Iraq. Japan's prime minister has refused to meet the demand. The deadline passed early...

South Toledo, Ohio — (10/25/04) -- A seventh child has died after a massive apartment fire in south Toledo on Sunday afternoon. Toledo Fire Chief Mike Bell says the fire broke out around 2:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Norwich Apartments on Norwich Road near Airport and Reynolds. Seven children were trapped upstairs in a townhouse when the flames broke out. Chief Bell says firefighters responded within one minute of the 911 call. Witnesses say they heard a woman running from the building screaming. "The girl next door asked me if I could come help her get her...

My husband and I recently moved into our new home. We moved next door to my in-laws (which isn't an issue)and we have been settled and happy here. We got the news last week that my husbands brother will be moving into the small garage apartment on the back of my in-laws property due to a job loss very soon. As in several weeks. He will be taking his 20 year old son with him to this apartment. My step nephew is a real punk. I am not being mean or flippant, he is the one kid that you never...

Detroit — (09/28/04)-- Police say a shooting at an in-home day-care center in Detroit left two adults and a three-year-old child critically wounded. Police initially reported a fatality. But Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings says the three were hospitalized in critical condition. Police got the first calls about the shooting on the city's west side about 10 o'clock Tuesday morning. The victims were taken from the scene by ambulance. Bully-Cummings says a seven month-old child at the home was not shot, but suffered trauma possibly from being dropped. Two other children at the home were taken to a hospital for...

The assumption that homeschooling parents somehow lack awareness of their children's progress, and therefore require formal evaluation of that progress, is related to the fact that homeschoolers function beyond the arena of the schools, and our philosophies and methods are not always well-understood. How do homeschooling parents know their children are learning? The answer to this question is, to put it most simply, direct observation. I have only one child. If a teacher had only one child in her classroom, and was unable to describe the reading skills of that child, everyone would be dismayed -- how could a teacher...

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) -- Outspoken actress Whoopi Goldberg lost her Slim-Fast gig for agreeing to speak at a Democratic fundraiser. Goldberg reportedly used the president's name as a sexual reference at a fundraiser for presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry. Goldberg has endorsed Democrats many times in the past and is known for her political views in her comedy routines. The actress released a statement saying, "While I can appreciate what the Slim-Fast people need to do in order to protect their business, I must also do what I need to do as an artist, as a writer and as an...

<p>President Bush has governed in a dishonest fashion, trampling values on every issue except fighting terrorism and leaving voters ``clamoring for restoration of credibility and trust in the White House again,'' John Kerry and John Edwards said in an interview. ``The value of truth is one of the most central values in America, and this administration has violated'' it, Kerry said in an interview with the Washington Post aboard the Democrats' campaign plane Friday. ``Their values system is distorted and not based on truth.'' The Democratic nominee and his running mate said it was that kind of anger toward the president that prompted entertainers at Thursday's Democratic fundraising concert in New York to attack Bush as a ``cheap thug'' and killer. ``Obviously some performers in my judgment and John's stepped over a line neither of us believes appropriate, but we can't control that,'' Kerry said.</p>

Friday, June 11, 2004 Godspeed Mr.Reagan My mother called me when Mr.Reagan died. I knew in an instant why she made the phone call. The call was made to make a point, to get a reaction that most likely would not agree with her political stance. I come from a long family history of democrats. The hard core democrats that would vote for a horse if he said he was liberal, just to get the republican out of office. This is not a statement of sarcasm, it is merely the truth. She rejoiced in his death. Not because she knew...

Lexington, KY One of the men suspected in a violent home invasion--who's facing a possible 45-year prison sentence if convicted--was on the loose Tuesday evening. But he didn't escape from jail. He was allowed to leave on a five-day pass...and didn't come back. When Teddy Hawkins walked out of the Fayette County Detention Center last Wednesday, he was a free man for five days--five unsupervised days. Tuesday marked day six...so where is he? One terrified family would like to know. "I'm in fear for my life--my family's life," Chris Manley told LEX 18 News. "We've had to stay in a...

A California man who killed another man in a gunfight is looking to repent of his evil deed and be baptized. There's only one problem – the local jail housing him is denying his request. "I would like to do it before I go to prison," Ramzee Johnson told the Bakersfield Californian, saying he's getting daily death threats from gang members associated with his victim. "I might not make it to prison." Johnson has been studying the Bible recently with David Garner, a minister at the Oildale Church of Christ who thinks the Lerdo Jail's refusal to allow the baptism...

This thread is for those who homeschool, those who want to homeschool, and those who support homeschool families. I know that we face many obstacles, and this is a place for support. Let's create a true "haven" for us to gather and discuss homeschooling within our FR home. This weeks topic is: The "S" Word I know that many if not all of us have heard the socialization argument voiced by friends and family. Many of my friends that have recently started homeschooling have been at a loss in terms of what to say or how to handle this....

(snip from letters sent today) Dear Mr. George: I have long contended that it was religious zealots who put you in office--people who were unable to think for themselves and see beyond a singular issue. I believe there were people in the last election who would have rather not voted for you, but did so--as sheep led by misguided shepherds--based on the abortion issue alone. O.K. I get that. I can be a single issue voter myself. (Great job on overturning Roe v. Wade, by the way.) But here's the rub. Why single out embryos and fetus'? I value lives...

AP) — A statement by Michael Berg, the father of slain businessman Nicholas Berg, on the killing of Paul M. Johnson Jr.: "We, the family of Nicholas Berg, extend our sympathies to the families of Paul M. Johnson, Robert Jacobs, Kenneth Scroggs, Bassam Salih Kubba and Kamal al-Jarah. We hope they will find the strength to endure the pain of their losses. We also extend our sympathies to all the families and friends of all the victims of this war, including United States military, other coalition military, contractors, and the 11,000-plus innocent Iraqi victims. We have been silent until now...

ATLANTA - A best-selling rapper filmed an unauthorized video at the Fulton County Jail, where he has been held since April on a probation violation charge, embarrassed city officials said. The video for jailed rapper Clifford Harris, whose stage name is T.I., was being shot Thursday night, around the same time as another inmate escaped, authorities said. They said the two events were unrelated. An Atlantic Records spokesman for the rapper did not immediately return calls for comment.

Liberals have found a new hobby: belittling the dead. They find the term “Rest in Peace” objectionable. Counterpunch.org published a piece by Phil Gasper called "Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004: Goodbye and Good Riddance." "Ronald Reagan has finally died at age 93," Gasper wrote. "Predictably, politicians from both major parties have issued gushing tributes to this venal and vicious man, who was happy to slash workers' wages, see families thrown onto the street, support sadistic death squads and bomb other countries, if this was in the interests of the American ruling class." Political cartoonist Ted Rall, when asked about a previous statement...

The singer who brought us Nipplegate feels that she’s the victim of “a plot by conservative forces” in the U.S. according to the Sunday Express of London. “I was used just to take the attention off what was really going on in the world,” Jackson told the paper. “A lot of things that actually happened, the after-effects, all that was already on the desk but everyone’s trying to point the finger, ‘See what you did, see what you did.’ I didn’t do anything. It was going to happen at some point with someone, it just so happened to be me....

Summer is right around the corner and family vacations are being planned. We will soon hear the chorus of "Mom are we there yet?" and "Dad I need to go to the bathroom". In honor of the homeschoolers who have worked so hard this year, we are having a beach party! Bring your sunscreen and sunglasses...we are going to get sand in our shorts. :) CurriculumLearn About The Sun NASA Lesson About The Sun Identifying Seashells CraftsFoam Sun Visors Beaded Sunglass Strap Bring Your Sandcastles Home! I am sure that so many of you had more to add to...

I have had many freep mail me about starting a thread just for homeschoolers. Well I am taking the plunge. This thread is for those who homeschool, those who want to homeschool, and those who support homeschool families. I know that we face many obstacles, and this is a place for support. Let's create a true "haven" for us to gather and discuss homeschooling within our FR home. Monday always seems to be the most hectic. I thought if we started this group on Monday that the start of the week wouldn't be so hard to handle. :) So...

My husband and I are moving back to the city (Columbus traffic..yuck) but the house we are buying has some great potential in terms of the front and back yard. The problem is that there are two huge elm tress that completly shade the front and back. Some dappled sunlight is available in the early afternoon. What can we grow? There is no landscaping to speak of and we would like to add some color and depth to the yard. Right now there are some overgrown bushes and some ivy growing up the back of the house. That is all....