https://freerepublic.com/tag/by:qwertrew/ en-us Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:48:37 GMT Focus Forum 15 https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1808824/posts WASHINGTON - As he tries to explain how he'll cope with the return of his wife's cancer, presidential hopeful John Edwards is opening up about another family struggle — the death of his teenage son Wade 11 years ago. His family life suddenly in the spotlight, Edwards has responded by speaking about an experience bound to bring him sympathy, humanize his campaign and focus on perseverance after tragedy. The discussion began last Thursday when John and Elizabeth Edwards announced her breast cancer had spread to her bone. It continued Saturday when Edwards was asked if he could balance the campaign... AP/Yahoo https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1808824/posts#comment Thu, 29 Mar 2007 18:48:37 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1748912/posts It was a tense, unsettling time. A mere week after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, anthrax-laced letters began coursing through the mails on their way to several news organs and two U.S. senators, delivering death to five and mayhem to a nation. This first major act of bioterrorism on U.S. soil triggered one of the largest, most complex, and costliest investigations ever undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and still the person who mailed the letters remains at large. This September, Joseph Persichini Jr., acting assistant director of the FBI's Washington field office, acknowledged the major, if unheralded,... Chemical & Engineering News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1748912/posts#comment Tue, 5 Dec 2006 21:31:23 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1715825/posts Darkness forged a bond between Andrea Yates and Dena Schlosser. The two women who killed their children during psychotic religious delusions have wound up roommates and friends at a North Texas state hospital. At night, after lights out, they whisper stories too painful for the light of day. Tales of fear and guilt and memories of how life used to be. In each other, they've found both mentor and peer, a support system outside their court-mandated care that, family members say, just might help them heal. "She is almost my identical personality," Ms. Schlosser told The Dallas Morning News in... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1715825/posts#comment Sun, 8 Oct 2006 14:58:35 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711974/posts Mr. Hernandez is the first to tell you he's no saint. He's got a hefty juvenile record. He cursed and spit at police when they forced him – wearing nothing but boxer shorts – from his girlfriend's bed. < snip > Mr. Hernandez and hundreds of young men like him are casualties of Texas' zero-tolerance sex offender registration laws. Despite low-level sex offenses, they're cataloged as perverts, as monsters, by a system that paints most sex criminals with the same broad brush. An 11-year-old who fondles a 10-year-old classmate could be forced to register as a sex offender for a... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711974/posts#comment Mon, 2 Oct 2006 08:28:40 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681734/posts Last year, Congress approved the Healthy Marriage Initiative, which would spend $150 million a year to promote marriage and active fatherhood nationwide, particularly among low-income and minority families. This year, the federal government is spending $100 million on marriage education for Hispanic couples in particular. There's also an African-American Healthy Marriage Initiative. Mr. Fuentes says his office is working with groups that have developed trust within minority communities. For Hispanics, that means the federal government will contract with predominantly Hispanic school districts, churches and groups, and will start marriage classes on a larger scale this year. "We need to work... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1681734/posts#comment Fri, 11 Aug 2006 11:46:02 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1642731/posts DEAR ABBY: Today I witnessed what may be the end of a marriage, and it was because of a professional health care worker's unwise remark. My wife was having a colonoscopy, and there was one large recovery room where patients coming out of anesthesia were grouped. (There were curtains separating the patients.) While I was waiting for my wife to awaken, I overheard a nurse talking to the wife of the patient next to us. She said, "You know, you can find out anything from them when they're coming out of anesthesia. They are completely incapable of lying." She said... Uexpress.com https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1642731/posts#comment Sat, 3 Jun 2006 11:38:17 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1639058/posts Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson says he has leg-pressed 2,000 pounds, but some say he'd be in a pretty tough spot if he tried. The 700 Club host's feat of strength is recounted on the Web site of his Christian Broadcasting Network, in a posting headlined "How Pat Robertson Leg Pressed 2,000 Pounds." According to the CBN Web site, Robertson worked his way up to lifting a ton with the help of his physician, who is not named. The posting does not say when the lift occurred, but a CBN spokeswoman released photos to The Associated Press that she said showed... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1639058/posts#comment Fri, 26 May 2006 23:38:15 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607930/posts *** In the political culture wars, religious conservatives say they've been electing candidates but not getting the results they want. And leaders worry that they might be about to lose Christian conservatives as a potent political force because of unmet expectations on a host of issues and stumbles by a Republican administration they helped elect. < snip > Those who work to counter the influence of religious conservatives scoff at the notion that their opponents should feel aggrieved. The White House is occupied by the most openly religious president in memory, two new Supreme Court justices hold an expansive view... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607930/posts#comment Sun, 2 Apr 2006 18:12:21 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1596486/posts HOUSTON - Rusty Yates, whose former wife drowned the couple's five children in the family's bathtub in 2001, is getting married this weekend to a woman he met at church. Yates, 41, said his former wife, Andrea Yates, is aware of his upcoming nuptials, which are scheduled Saturday -- just two days before Andrea Yates' scheduled capital murder retrial. *** "Andrea has been aware of it for a couple of months, and she wishes me the best, just as I wish her the best," Rusty Yates told The Associated Press Tuesday in an e-mail. *** He continues to stand by... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1596486/posts#comment Wed, 15 Mar 2006 03:03:19 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1588597/posts Hospital officials pleased but wary about multimillion-dollar reimbursement for ER costs MISSION — Local hospital officials expressed wary optimism Wednesday at news that Texas would receive up to $23 million from the federal government to offset costs of providing emergency care for undocumented immigrants. "I’ll take whatever they can give," said Mission Regional Medical Center Chief Financial Officer Randy Slack. The hospital received a $100,000 payment this week to offset the costs of ER care between May and July 2005.The payment is only one-quarter of the amount requested, Slack said. "It’s a Band-Aid on a big wound." The payments are... McAllen Monitor https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1588597/posts#comment Thu, 2 Mar 2006 17:09:55 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1574176/posts Public employees in San Bernardino County are being asked to cover up tattoos and remove visible facial piercings in the workplace. A dress code adopted by the county Tuesday also bans jeans and T- shirts with logos. "If we have to cover them up, will the county provide bandages, so we have to go around looking like we're burned?" asked DeDe Cruz, 39, who works in a county office in Fontana and has a small tattoo depicting angel wings on her ankle. Some said they shouldn't have to wear long-sleeve shirts to cover their tattoos on hot days, while those... Breitbart https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1574176/posts#comment Wed, 8 Feb 2006 12:23:14 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1554061/posts Chip Beresford says he feels torn. On one hand, he feels loyalty to the business in which he has prospered: the funeral industry. On the other, he thinks he has suffered an injustice from funeral homes that he says have hurt him because they consider his prices too low. Now Beresford — owner of The Pine Box in Houston, one of the largest distributors of caskets in Texas — is considering whether to join an antitrust lawsuit that aims to reduce funeral prices nationwide. The lawsuit, if it succeeds, could force the nation's largest funeral businesses to refund billions of... Houston Chronicle https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1554061/posts#comment Sun, 8 Jan 2006 14:38:42 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1552294/posts I was told of this memorial by email, and I'm curious if any FReepers in that area have read about it or have visited it. Angleton memorial marks fallen troops: A grass-roots group's ceremony draws a crowd to its ever-changing wall of honor Any comments? https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1552294/posts#comment Thu, 5 Jan 2006 13:57:48 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1541824/posts Highland Park residents are battling a unique brand of street crime: small herds of runners who they say block traffic and slow their morning commutes. The quiet, scenic community, with its smooth roads and low crime, has long drawn area runners. And for years, Highland Park police have advised the athletes to move to the sidewalks, sometimes using sirens, lights or bullhorns to get their attention. But police recently escalated the long-simmering feud with a stern warning: If they are going to run in the streets in groups of 30 or more, they must obtain a special events permit. Running... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1541824/posts#comment Fri, 16 Dec 2005 17:30:26 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1540570/posts <p>RICHARDSON - Guess what, kids? There's no such thing as Santa Claus!</p> <p>That was a Richardson music teacher's holiday message to first-graders Monday - a remark that angered parents and prompted the school district to issue a pro-Santa statement.</p> <p>"When you take a 6-year-old and tell him, you've got to spend how much time to get him to believe again? The damage is done," parent Michael Millett said.</p> Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1540570/posts#comment Wed, 14 Dec 2005 23:44:33 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1538498/posts People Are Saying 'Happy Holidays' Instead of Merry Christmas Happy holidays! Merry Christmas! They may sound like simple salutations, but they have become opposing battle cries in a wintry culture war — with conservative Christian groups going up against retailers, municipalities and even the White House. If you receive a card from President and Mrs. Bush this season, you will find the first dogs sitting in snow, a scripture from the book of Psalms and "Best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness." And to some, that is pure blasphemy, because nowhere does it mention the word "Christmas."... ABC News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1538498/posts#comment Mon, 12 Dec 2005 01:15:05 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537771/posts Los Angeles Leaders Call for Peace if Crips Gang Co-Founder Williams Is Executed LOS ANGELES Dec 9, 2005 — Community leaders Friday called for peace in the city if convicted killer and Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams is put to death next week as scheduled. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger heard arguments this week from Williams' lawyers seeking to spare his life but hasn't said if he will grant clemency to the death row inmate condemned for the 1979 killing of four people. Williams' supporters, from political leaders to the rapper Snoop Dogg, say Williams has turned his life around and... ABC News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1537771/posts#comment Sat, 10 Dec 2005 15:26:59 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1531883/posts Tom Cruise hasn't made many friends within the medical community lately. First the American Psychiatric Association slammed the actor for referring to psychiatry as a "pseudoscience," calling Cruise's remarks "irresponsible." Now the American College of Radiology is up in arms over Cruise's admission that he purchased a sonogram machine and uses it to perform at-home ultrasounds on fiancee Katie Holmes. The ACR issued a statement warning that Cruise and Holmes could potentially harm their unborn baby by performing ultrasounds without the benefit of a doctor's supervision "This is a patient safety issue. Untrained people, even if they have the financial... E! News Online https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1531883/posts#comment Thu, 1 Dec 2005 13:59:43 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1529243/posts Val Verde County Sheriff D'Wayne Jernigan has dealt with smugglers and drug gangs for decades, both as sheriff and as a customs agent. But in the last year, the risks of drug-fueled terrorism have raised the stakes to scary levels. Rifles and handguns have been replaced by rocket-propelled grenades, or RPGs, and high-caliber machine guns. "Now the bad guys have more sophisticated training and better equipment," Sheriff Jernigan said. "They're better armed and willing to shoot." This month, Border Patrol officials reported that assaults against agents all along the border nearly doubled from the previous year. As President Bush prepares... Dallas Morning News https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1529243/posts#comment Sun, 27 Nov 2005 13:49:23 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1528350/posts Tom Cruise has already claimed to know the history of psychiatry. Now he's working on getting acquainted with OB/GYN. The couch-jumping thesp has acquired a sonogram machine with which to personally track the progress of the fetus currently incased in his fiancee Katie Holmes' womb. Cruise revealed the purchase during an interview with Barbara Walters taped Oct. 30 for the veteran newswoman's upcoming special, Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2005, scheduled to air Tuesday on ABC. "I bought a sonogram machine," Cruise told Walters. "I am going to donate it to a hospital when we are... E! Online https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1528350/posts#comment Fri, 25 Nov 2005 15:13:46 GMT https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516711/posts DEAR ABBY: I was a soldier serving in Iraq. Last April, I was in a vehicular accident while part of a military convoy and was MEDEVACed to the nearest medical treatment facility. When you're a trauma patient in the United States, you're put in a cubicle in an emergency room, blocked off from the rest of the patients. That is not the case in the military during a war. I didn't mind sharing the trauma room with the Marine who had arrived there before me. He had been shot three times in the face. While I was in the room... Dear Abby https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1516711/posts#comment Sun, 6 Nov 2005 14:03:41 GMT