In 1972, I was halfway home with a flat tire and walked into a bike shop that was just closing. Sheldon stayed late to fix it. That's how I first met him.

There were 46 bicycles in or around his house "with a few shared wheels", by his recent count, mostly in his basement. He didn't buy bicycles off the shelf -- as a challenge to his mechanical ingenuity, and a way to spend less money and spend more time doing what he liked to do, he cobbled up customized bicycles from parts he acquired mostly through special deals, barter or secondhand, to suit himself or someone in his family. He often came up with a something unique, clever and useful. You may read about his bicycles on his Web site. He had an eye for style, but also, one or two rusty clunkers hung out by the back door getting rustier, for the quick ride to the convenience store, and several old hulks of bikes lived under the front porch.

Children’s testimony from Borderline Slavery: Child Trafficking in ...

My friend had an aunt in Gabon, and she came and saw the conditions we were living in. She said she had a good job in Gabon, so I should accompany her there and work with her. My mother was very seriously ill, and my friends aunt said that when we got to Gabon, she would find me a job as a trader so that I could send money to my mother for medicineI was willing to go because of how she spoke about it. She never said how much money I would be making.
Dado K., age twenty-nine, trafficked to Gabon when she was sixteen

I was going to school here, but things werent going well. We were poor and had no money, so I decided it would be a good idea to go to Nigeria. Life was hard, and a friend told me I should go, so I decided to because I wasnt doing anything here. I thought if I could go to Nigeria and get rich, I could come back and learn a trade.

Apology fails to take heat off Hain

And fading quietly into the background we see Tony Blair... our recently appointed 'Merchant of Peace' in the Middle East and architect of NuLabour deceit and spin... getting into bed at a $million per annum (part time at that) with the Morgan Chase Bank of New York. Neither were his apologies, sincere or otherwise... self humiliating, so why should Peter Hain or for that matter our own dear little Wendy not get off 'Scot free'. No pun intended! .

Archbishop faces calls to quit over Sharia row

It has come as the Synod prepares to meet at Westminster on Monday; on the agenda will be the crisis over homosexuality and the pending schism between liberals and conservatives.

Turkish military sees better weather, steps up campaign against ...

More than 40 military trucks ferried troops toward the Iraqi border on Wednesday after a heavy snowfall slowed down Turkey's ground incursion against Kurdish rebels. F-16 warplanes and helicopters were seen flying over the border town of Cukurca toward Iraq. Iraq has demanded an immediate end to the operation, which started last week. Turkey, however, says it will continue the incursion until it achieves its military goals. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, ahead of his arrival in Turkey later Wednesday, said in India that he will tell Turkish leaders they need to wrap up their military operations in northern Iraq quickly, and that the ongoing assault must not last longer than a week or two. .

On Native Ground

DUMMERSTON, Vt. -- If these were normal times, the thought that President George W. Bush would launch a war to preserve his party's grip on power would be dismissed as lunacy.

Unfortunately, these are not normal times and the current occupant of the White House is not a rational man.

We know that, barring an October Surprise, the Republican Party could lose its control of Congress after the Nov. 7 election.

We also know that the GOP's political strategy is all about fear and endless war, so the possibility that the Bush Administration will launch an attack on Iran's nuclear research facilities in late October suddenly doesn't seem that far-fetched.

The Bush Administration has painted Iran as a grave threat to national security because of its nuclear ambitions and its support of international terrorism.

Mission recovery: Injured Iraq vet focuses on future

The rocket-propelled grenade that exploded about 13 inches from Spc. Kevin Spangler's face shortened his Army career.But the blast that almost killed the 21-year-old soldier, leaving him deaf in his left ear, failed to make a dent in his cheerful spirit or vibrant sense of humor.An Alaska native who settled in Shelbyville after marrying an Army buddy's sister, Spangler received a medical discharge in June.Spangler, now 23, considered staying in the Army but decided to return to civilian life because his handicap might put other soldiers in danger."I didn't want to be a liability," said Spangler, now 23. "If there was another attack, and I didn't hear something, someone might be hurt because I didn't hear."Spangler had been in Iraq just six weeks when an insurgent took aim at him from a nearby rooftop.A member of 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Spangler was serving as top gunner on a Humvee in a small town northwest of Baghdad on Feb.

Traversing the cost of paths, sidewalks

Bruce Steidinger gives the Rockford area high marks for its network of bike paths that snake along more than 20 miles of the Rock River, Willow Creek and Perryville Road. There's just one problem. There are a lot of gaps in the system. "For most people who live in and around Rockford, you're stuck in your neighborhood if you want to ride your bike," said Steidinger, owner of Shosie's Cyclery in Loves Park. "We've got a lot of great paths. We need to get them connected. Even when I get the chance to leave the shop and go biking, I've got to put the bike on the car rack and drive out to where I can ride." Steidinger's critique comes as no surprise to local transportation planners. Rockford Area Transportation Study — the region's transportation planning group — meets today to adopt a study that recommends construction of nearly 228 miles of sidewalks and 425 miles of bicycle and pedestrian paths and on-street bike lanes throughout the Rock River Valley.