Free Republic

Firefighter Mike Shepherd, 47, of Squad 41 in the Bronx, is a third-generation New York City firefighter, following in the path of his grandfather and great-grandfather. When there was an explosion at a building in the East Village on Thursday, he raced to the scene. This is his account. “I was having lunch at a restaurant around the corner, on Seventh Street,” Firefighter Shepherd said. He was alone and off-duty. “There was a couple. They were taking a photo. I went out and I said, ‘Would you like me to take a photo of the two of you?’ They said...

TORONTO - An Air France flight from New York to Paris was diverted to St. John's, Newfoundland, on New Year's Day after a passenger checked in baggage but did not board the plane, officials said on Friday. Air France said in a statement that its team in New York realized shortly after flight AF023 from New York to Paris took off that they had mistakenly loaded the bag. "This mistake was the result of a misunderstanding with a passenger at check-in, who canceled his trip because he had excess baggage to pay," the statement said. "Even though this is a...

<p>CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush said yesterday that his recent decision to ease restrictions on Iran after the country's devastating earthquake does not signal a thaw in U.S. relations with Tehran.</p> <p>While the United States is aiding in humanitarian efforts after last week's earthquake that killed more than 30,000 people, the president said Iran would have to meet several crucial demands before his administration would renew relations with the nation he has dubbed a member of an "axis of evil."</p>

<p>The new year marched in yesterday with Mummers parading as Martha Stewart and a shackled Saddam Hussein in Philadelphia and water-squirting elephants and a bubble-blowing octopus entertaining the hundreds of thousands of people who lined the route of the Rose Parade.</p>

<p>THE YEAR 2003 ENDED with some very good news for the United States. The capture of Saddam Hussein, the capitulation of Moammar Khadafy -- and perhaps Iran too -- as nuclear players, and the successful convening of a constitutional assembly in Afghanistan were boosts to the morale of a nation that was beginning to perceive nothing better than the small but steady drip of coffins coming home from Iraq. The news is inherently good for George Bush, whose popularity was beginning to wane as his Iraq adventure slid from initial victory to drawn-out insurgency for which the Pentagon was so dramatically unprepared.</p>

<p>January 2, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - President Bush started the new year with an early-morning quail-hunt with his father at a friend's ranch in southern Texas and a lunch with James Baker III, his special envoy on Iraq's international debt.</p>

More security concerns apparently.

Okay, football fans. Trojans and Wolverines, cheer for your favorite and make your comments here. Will USC remain No. 1 ranked but not be the national champ?

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) - The Rose Parade got under way Thursday to the cheers of hundreds of thousands of bleary-eyed spectators who braved temperatures in the 30s overnight to grab choice spots for the New Year's Day spectacle. Parade watchers stretched five deep along streets littered with confetti from the overnight party, with many families huddled around heat lamps and small stoves. ``We're freezing like icicles, but we are happy,'' said Beatrice Angel, 50, of the Ocotlan in Mexico's Jalisco state. Her family arrived at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday after driving several days to see the Aguiluchos marching band of Puebla,...

Growing up on Madison's South Side, Robert Pierce remembers the traditional black-eyed peas served every New Year's Day. < "It's a tradition that (goes) way back to slavery," Pierce said. "It's supposed to bring good luck." < Pierce, an African-American organic farmer in Oregon, has continued making the traditional dish once prepared by his grandmother and mother and served on Jan. 1. < "My mother made sure we always had the black-eyed peas," Pierce said. < Traditional food on the first day of the year often varies with region and ethnicity, said Ruth Olson, associate director of the Center for...

Just curious. Since I have lived all over the USA, and have a Southern family, I was curious as to what you all serve for New Year's supper. I am making a ham, black-eyed peas, collard greens, ham (of course) and sweet potatoes. When I lived in Pennsylvania everyone are pork roast and sauerkraut. I'd love to learn about other regions and their traditions and to wish all a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) - President Bush plans to spend New Year's Day hunting in southern Texas with his father and U.S. envoy James A. Baker III, who has been circling the globe collecting commitments from nations to forgive Iraq's debt. ``He will have lunch and go on a quail hunt with his father, other family and friends,'' White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Wednesday. ``This group is expected to include Mr. and Mrs. James A. Baker.'' Duffy said he couldn't be sure whether Bush would talk to Baker about the former secretary of state's recent lobbying trip to Asia where...