Free Republic

I died because I'm poor. I'm floating in the water. My Mom is accross from me. Mosquitos swarm around us. They're our only friends. I'm in the United States. Of, America. Not Vietnam. I'm not on T.V. It's really me. I'm dying 'cause I'm poor. Mama's eyes are fluttering. Like a butterfly. This is real. Please, people. Not a photo op. I'm dying 'cause I'm poor. I spit on Mama's lips, to give her moisture. Her face turns cold. I'm crying 'cause I'm poor. Oh, Mama! Dear sweet Mama. I wail into the sky. Where's that promising Bush? Mama didn't...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is poised to throw his star power, and political clout, behind tax breaks for the entertainment industry aimed at keeping film productions in the state. ``It is extremely important that we continue supporting our motion picture industry and that we, as a state, do everything that we can,'' he told a mostly entertainment-industry crowd at a glittery, Hollywood-style premiere Tuesday night. To help the state create jobs for everyone from caterers and janitors to make-up artists and gaffers, Schwarzenegger said, ``we are working right now through the legislators on a bill to give tax credits,...

After three years of meticulous research, Brenda and J.C. Lyons took their savings and built a prawn and fish farm. They bought a house and barn in Sandoval, Ill., 60 miles east of St. Louis, and went to work. Two years later, with $180,000 invested, the Lyonses run a prawn hatchery, a nursery and raising ponds. They have buyers both for juvenile and full-grown prawns - large or fresh-water shrimp. They also market and sell fish from other Illinois farmers. They've applied for a federal Department of Agriculture grant to begin raising three types of fish - hybrid striped bass,...