Free Republic

Already under fire for his tax troubles, New York Congressman Charles Rangel put his foot in his mouth on Friday. In an interview with CBS station WCBS-TV Rep. Rangel called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin "disabled." WCBS-TV asked Rangel why Democrats are so afraid of Palin and her popularity. "You got to be kind to the disabled," Rangel said. When WCBS-TV asked for clarification, Rangel confirmed his statement. WCBS-TV: "You got to be kind to the disabled?" Rangel: "Yes." WCBS-TV: "She's disabled?" Rangel: "There is no question about politically. It's a nightmare to think that a person's foreign policy...

Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge. And children with special needs inspire a special love. To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House. — Governor Sarah Palin It would be great to have an advocate for special-needs kids in the White House. It would be even better if that advocate endorsed the most promising reform for improving...

Disabled table tennis star Natalia Partyka gives doubters the elbow Oliver Holt reports from Beijing 14/08/2008 When there were breaks in play in China's match with Greece, the eyes of the crowd and the gaze of the cameras moved to the game on the adjoining table. Polish table tennis player Natalia Partyka is one of the most uplifting stories of these Games because she has overcome being born with a right arm that ended just below the elbow to participate in Beijing. Partyka and South African swimmer Natalie du Toit are the only athletes competing in both the Olympics and...

A girl looks out from the Numaniyah, Iraq, Handicap Association's new facility, soon after it opened, Aug. 8. Photo by Sgt. Daniel West. FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA — The Numaniyah Handicapped Association celebrated the opening of a new facility, Aug. 8. The facility, which was built with coalition funds, will be used by the association for administrative purposes, and will also have rooms dedicated to therapy.Soldiers of El Salvador’s Battalion Cuscatlán supervised construction of the 200 square meter building, which cost about $200,000.“It’s good that it will be open to help people with special needs,� said Ahmed, a local citizen...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2008 – Whether it’s just a nail that’s needed to hang a family photo or a new saw blade for tackling bigger projects, a Dallas-based support group is playing hardware store for deployed troops. G.I. Woodshop, Inc., started when Richard Ireland, the group’s president, began getting odd requests from his brother who’s serving in Iraq. Ireland, a disabled veteran, founded the group with two other individuals: another disabled veteran and a military family member. Ireland’s brother, an Army sergeant first class, is with 1st Sustainment Brigade, from Fort Riley, Kan. He currently serves as noncommissioned officer...

OMAHA, Neb., July 30, 2008 – As disabled veterans tested their limits during the National Disabled Veterans Wheelchair Games, which wrapped up here yesterday, nearly 400 military volunteers provided the behind-the-scenes support that officials said made the games a success. Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Phil Stacey, better known as an “American Idol” finalist during season six, sings the “Star-Spangled Banner” at the opening of the slalom obstacle course competition at the 28th National Disabled Veterans Wheelchair Games. Defense Dept. photo by Donna Miles   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Nebraska Army and Air National Guardsmen, as well...

OMAHA, Neb., July 29, 2008 – About 500 disabled veterans, including recently wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan, are entering their final day of competition here today at the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games. William Kafka, a disabled veteran from El Paso, Texas, prepares to take a shot during nine-ball pool at the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Omaha, Neb. Department of Veterans Affairs photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The event is the world’s largest annual wheelchair sports competition. It brings together veterans with spinal cord injuries, amputations or other mobility or neurological conditions to compete...

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2008 – The hunt for a fulfilling job can be frustrating, but disabled veterans have a new online tool available to help them tackle that task. Job Opportunities for Disabled American Veterans is a nationally based online recruitment application geared specifically to assist disabled veterans find employment. “Our goal here is simple, to connect disabled American veterans with employers who are proactive in hiring them,” said Nicholas Corso, project director of disABLEDperson Inc., Job Opportunities for Disabled American Veterans’ parent organization. “This is a free service to the DAV community.” Employers listing job openings on the...

GOOGLE REMOVES ATLAS HAGEE VIDEOS As bloggers continue to slog through increasing regulation, scrutiny and in some cases deletion (here) I received this from google (big brother, busy suspending anti-Obama blogs). Youtube removed my Hagee video(s)( three 9 minute videos of of the his AIPAC speech - that great inspiring speech from AIPAC 2007. They cited copyright infringement. Whose? There were 6,000 people there. And it was such a great speech. "Israel you are not alone" listen to it here. (You know Atlas is always one step ahead :) Download JohnHageeAIPACSpeech-all-20min.mp3 (I love Hagee, what a friend Israel has. My...

Melbourne, June 9: A paraplegic man was recently denied a church marriage by a bishop in Italy because he was impotent, say reports. The 26-year-old man ultimately had to go for a civil marriage on Saturday in Viterbo. "No bishop, no priest can celebrate a wedding when he knows of admitted impotence as it is a motive for annulment (of the marriage),'' the Australian quoted Salvatore de Ciuco, spokesman for Bishop Lorenzo Chiarinelli of Viterbo in central Italy, as telling SkyTG24 television. The groom has been paraplegic since he was involved in a car accident, said the television report. His...

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius won his appeal Friday and can compete for a place in the Beijing Olympics. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the 21-year-old South African is eligible to race against able-bodied athletes, overturning a ban imposed by the International Association of Athletics Federations. CAS said the unanimous ruling goes into effect immediately. "As you can imagine, I have been struggling to hide my smile for the last half an hour," Pistorius told reporters in Milan, Italy. "I can definitely say the truth has come out. We have the opportunity once again to...

Carol Rudes has not read her son's love letter couched in a short autobiography he has written. He's been waiting for the perfect time to give it to his mom. Today. "My name is Mathew Rudes, and this is my story. When I was brought into this world 21 years ago, doctors predicted that I had less than 24 hours to live. "They had only to look at my warped body, hands bent at odd angles, to know that something was not right. I was quickly whisked away to another room. The doctors refused to let my mother look at...

LA PLATA, Md., April 29, 2008 – At least 60 airmen, soldiers and civilians with the Air and Army National Guard brought Christmas early to a disabled Maryland resident here April 26 by repairing her home on "National Rebuilding Day." Members of the National Guard Bureau, the Air Guard Readiness Center and the District of Columbia National Guard were among the volunteers who repaired the home of Michelle Samuel for what they called a "Christmas in April" event. Known nationally as Rebuilding Day, the annual event's community projects are planned and organized for the last Saturday in April. Orchestrated...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 2, 2008 – Seventy-four-year-old Bob Eiden stood on a snow bank overlooking Snowmass Mountain yesterday, mentally preparing himself for his first experience on skis, 16 months after having his right leg amputated. Bob Eiden, a 74-year-old Korean War veteran, isn’t going to let an amputated leg, failing eyesight and failing hearing keep him from showing newly wounded combat veterans there’s still life after a disability. Eiden donned skis for the first time during the 22nd National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic at Snowmass Village, Colo. Defense Dept. photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 31, 2008 – As disabled veterans test their mettle this week during the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, they’re finding motivation not just on the slopes, but also in each other. Retired Marine Cpl. Jason Poole, severely wounded during a bomb attack in Iraq near the Syrian border in June 2004, called the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic the “most fun, craziest, most beautiful time ever!” He brought his girlfriend, Angela Eastman, to this year’s clinic, his third. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Four hundred disabled veterans, 67...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., March 31, 2008 – Sixty-seven veterans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are among 400 disabled veterans who converged here yesterday to kick off the world’s largest disabled ski clinic. Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Gordon H. Mansfield praises participants at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic for applying the same qualities of dedication, pride and self-worth they demonstrated during their military service to their rehabilitation. Photo by Sgt. KaRonda Fleming, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Gordon H. Mansfield and Robert T. Reynolds, national commander of Disabled American Veterans, opened the...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- It's been a year since the parents of a severely disabled child made public their decision to submit their daughter to a hysterectomy, breast surgery and drugs to keep the girl forever small. Today, the couple tell CNN, they believe they made the right decision -- one that could have a profound impact on the care of disabled children worldwide. "The 'Ashley treatment' has been successful in every expected way," Ashley's parents told CNN exclusively in a lengthy e-mail interview. "It has potential to help many others like it helped our precious daughter." While unwavering in...

Tampa, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The foundation that Terri Schiavo's family created after her death is continuing its efforts to help the elderly and disabled obtain appropriate medical care. The foundation is launching a new radio program on a Tampa station that will be simulcast on the Internet and later expanded to other Florida stations. The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation will start the new America's Lifeline program this weekend life from the Tampa studios of Talk Radio 860 WGUL, a Christian station.Prominent radio health care advocate Cary Hall will co-sponsor the program along with Terri's brother Bobby Schinder and her sister...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER — Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery delivered wheelchairs to several disabled Iraqi citizens Feb. 20, in villages along Butler Range Road, near FOB Hammer. Chief Warrant Officer Chad Barrett, from Hookstown, Pa., targeting and plans officer for the 1-10 FA, said members of the Nissan advisory council had for several weeks asked for Coalition forces’ assistance in providing wheelchairs to some of the area’s disabled citizens. Soldiers from Battery A, 1-10 FA assembled five wheelchairs they received from Soldiers of the 489th Civil Affairs Battalion, from Knoxville, Tenn., currently attached to the 1st Battalion,...

A Delaware woman has become the next Terri Schiavo as her parents engage in a massive legal and philosophical debate about whether to subject her to euthanasia. Richardson is a 23-year-old woman who overdosed on heroin in August 2006 while she was three months pregnant with a baby girl. Doctors kept Lauren on life support until she delivered her baby in February 2007. Shortly thereafter, her parents began a fight that is reminiscent of the battle over Terri's life and death. As in the Terri Schiavo case, physicians have been quick to label Lauren as having a persistent vegetative state...

Yasser Mahmed enjoys a lollipop in his new wheelchair from Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Feb. 7. Despite nerve damage in his legs, 7-year-old Mahmed always waved to Soldiers passing through his neighborhood. Photo by Sgt. Kevin Stabinsky, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs. FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — Despite nerve damage in his legs that confined him to a wheelchair, 7-year-old Yasser Mahmed was always in good spirits, waving to Soldiers passing through his neighborhood in Arab Jabour. The Soldiers of Company D, 1st Battalion,...

WASHINGTON - A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday. The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret. "Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, when asked about the situation after it was disclosed by other officials. "Numerous satellites over the years have come...

CASTLE ROCK, Colo., Dec. 19, 2007 – A disabled Iraq war veteran thought he came here Dec. 14 to pick out colors and tiles for a bathroom remodel, but instead was surprised with the keys to a new home. Disabled Iraq war veteran Brandon Burke, left, is surprised with a new home during a live radio broadcast in Castle Rock, Colo., Dec. 14, 2007. American Military Family, Inc. teamed with 30 contractors to provide a fully remodeled, handicap-accessible mobile home to the former U.S. Army combat medic, who was permanently disabled during a 2005 mortar attack in Baghdad. Photo...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29, 2007 – Disabled veterans looking for employment opportunities have one more resource working for them. Hire Heroes USA, a program of the Georgia-based Health Careers Foundation, is working to link disabled veterans to employment opportunities nationwide. Hire Heroes USA creator John Bardis (left), Justin Callahan (center), the inspiration behind the program, and spokesman Dr. Jeff Poffenbarger participate in interviews with media from across the United States. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “Our mission is to be the bridge to a fulfilling career for our returning heroes with disabilities,” said Bayne E. Tippins, director...

Injured soldiers who lost their limbs fighting for their country have been driven from a swimming pool training session by jeering members of the public. The men, injured during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, were taking part in a rehabilitation session at a leisure centre, when two women demanded they be removed from the pool. They claimed that the soldiers "hadn't paid" and might scare the children. The incident has sparked widespread condemnation. Adml Lord Boyce, a former head of the Armed Forces, said last night the women should be "named and shamed". advertisement "These people are beneath contempt and...

Patty Cooper's landlord normally welcomes tenants who use animals to help them get around, such as guide dogs for the blind. So after the disabled woman bought a 32-inch-tall miniature horse to pull her wheelchair, she asked to keep the animal in her home. When her landlord rejected the request, she filed a human rights complaint. Cooper, 50, paid $1,000 for the 1-year-old gelding named Earl, expecting to use it for trips to the bus stop and into town. The agency that owns the apartment complex in Waitsfield denied her proposal, citing concern about horse droppings, hay storage and lack...

MINEOLA, N.Y — An off-duty police officer and her husband, a volunteer fire chief, rescued a disabled woman from her stalled car seconds before a train smashed into it, police said. The 63-year-old driver apparently mistook the Long Island Rail Road tracks for a road, authorities said. Her car, which had a licensed plate that denotes a disabled driver, got stuck on the rails Thursday evening with a train fast approaching. She screamed that she couldn't get out of the car and needed help, said witness Jennifer Freiermuth, 28. Randi LoCicero, off duty from her job at the New York...

Interesting article about the awareness of vegetative patients. We are not able to post the New Yorker's content, but check out the link. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/15/071015fa_fact_groopman?printable=true

The doctor at the center of a controversial procedure which stunted the growth of a severely disabled girl has committed suicide. Dr. Daniel F. Gunther died from toxic asphyxia from inhaling car exhaust, said Greg Hewett of the King County Medical Examiner's Office. His time of death was listed as 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 30. The 49-year-old was a pediatric endocrinologist at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. In 2004, Gunther and his colleague Dr. Douglas S. Diekema performed a hysterectomy, removed the breast tissue and started...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorOctober 8, 2007Royal Oak, MI (LifeNews.com) -- Assisted suicide crusader Jack Kevorkian has said in a new interview that he will focus on promoting prison reform and civil rights instead of advocating euthanasia. He says his health has recovered following his prison stay for showing a national television audience a video of him killing a disabled patient.He served eight years of a 10-25 year prison sentence for the murder of a disabled patient after killing more than 130 people via assisted suicide in Michigan.Though he is ready to hit the lecture circuit, Kevorkian tells the Detroit News...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorOctober 4, 2007 Gainesville, FL (LifeNews.com) -- Saying it is worried about security in light of concerns at other college campuses, the University of Florida has decided to postpone a controversial speech by euthanasia advocate Jack Kevorkian. The speech would be his first following his release from prison for killing a disabled man and showing the death on national television. Kevorkian was slated to speak to UF students on October 11 and receive $50,000 for the talk, as long as his parole officers approve the trip.Now the speech has been postponed until January 15 as UF officials...

Poland Insists EU "Right to Life" Venture against Death Penalty Should Include Abortion and Euthanasia By John-Henry Westen BRUSSELS, September 18, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A debate in the European Union is simmering over the upcoming World Day against the Death Penalty on October 10. The current EU President from Portugal is requesting that the EU jointly declare an EU-wide day against the death penalty on that date. However, Poland has rightly seen hypocrisy in the venture with regard to the "right to life". The 2006 declaration by the Presidency of the EU on the occasion of the World Day against...

Pro-Life Ruling Overturned -- Grandparent Fights for Life of Mentally Disabled Daughter's Unborn Child By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman PARANA, Argentina, September 17, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The decision to preserve the life of an unborn child in Argentina has been overturned by a higher tribunal, and now the child's grandfather is fighting to preserve the child's life. Judge Claudia Salomon of the city of Parana ruled against an abortion last week for a nineteen year old mentally disabled girl who had been impregnated by a relative, when an attorney in the case made a preventative motion in the interest of the...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorAugust 29, 2007 Rome, Italy (LifeNews.com) -- The investigation has begun in the case of a botched abortion done on a woman carrying twins. One of the unborn children was healthy and the other was afflicted with Down syndrome and the target of the abortion. Now, the mother of the twins and the abortion practitioner are speaking out.The case is raising the ugly specter of abortions done to kill disabled people. Doctors told Italian media that the babies moved during the abortion procedure and changed position compared to their locations during a pre-abortion examination.The mother, who has...

Physical and mental disabilities can be such a burden if not viewed with a positive attitude. I write this as someone who has been using a wheelchair for 20 years and first diagnosed as bi-polar about 24 years ago. This is not everyone's experience, just mine. I do find most of the general things are these same, and there is a clear path to the Lord from here to realize our full potential in service to His kingdom. From Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have...

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2007 – Thousands of disabled military veterans have enrolled in a governmentwide program that’s designed to help them succeed in new careers as business owners, a Defense Department official said here today. The Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Office was established at the Pentagon by an October 2004 presidential executive order and federal legislation that stipulates 3 percent of all annual military contracting will go to small businesses operated by service-disabled veterans, Anthony R. Martoccia, director of the office of small business programs at the Pentagon, told veterans’ service organization members during a conference call today. Military...

LONDON, England, 13 June, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) London, today refused to let wheelchair-user Alison Davis present a petition on the infanticide of disabled babies. Officials told Ms. Davis, leader of the No Less Human disability rights group, that she could not come in because she would need someone to push her wheelchair, and the RCOG would only let one person into its London headquarters. Alison Davis, who has spina bifida, said: “It would be comical if it weren't also tragic that the RCOG, which has asked for a debate on the killing...

SAN DIEGO - Wayne Albert Bleyle confessed to molesting "countless" young, brain-damaged children under his care at the hospital where he worked for 25 years, prosecutors say. On Tuesday, 15 months after his confession, the former respiratory therapist pleaded guilty to abusing four patients - a boy and three girls, including a 2-year-old toddler. The plea leaves unanswered how many disabled children he preyed upon. Bleyle, 55, treated 176 patients during the 10 years of his career at Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Bleyle told investigators he could only remember the names of four children, prosecutors said, hampering efforts...

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2007 – More than 20 veterans injured during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan will join some 600 other disabled veterans next week for the 27th National Veterans Wheelchair Games. The games, sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Paralyzed Veterans of America, will run from June 19 to 23 at venues throughout the Milwaukee area. The games are open to all U.S. military veterans under VA care who use wheelchairs for sports competition due to spinal cord injuries, certain neurological conditions, amputations or other mobility impairments. Participants will compete in 17 competitive events, including track...

There's lazy, and then there's Las Vegas lazy. In increasing numbers, Las Vegas tourists exhausted by the four miles of gluttony laid out before them are getting around on electric "mobility scooters." Don't think trendy Vespa motorbikes. Think updated wheelchair. Forking over about $40 a day and their pride, perfectly healthy tourists are cruising around Las Vegas casinos in transportation intended for the infirm. You don't have to take a step. You don't even have to put your drink down. "It was all the walking," 27-year-old Simon Lezama said on his red Merits Pioneer 3. Lezama, a trim and fit-looking...

Miracles do happen. That's what doctors said about 30-year-old Shannon Malloy. A car crash in Nebraska on Jan. 25 threw Malloy up against the vehicle's dashboard. In the process, her skull became separated from her spine. The clinical term for her condition is called internal decapitation. "I remember the impact and then I had no control over my head," said Malloy. "I wasn't focused so much on the pain. I just kept thinking, 'I have to stay alive.'" Dr. Gary Ghiselli, a chiropractor at the Denver Spine Center, said Malloy's will to survive is what saved her. "I've seen it...

Thanks to Kalam, he can now fight, standing Jaya Menon Posted online: Saturday, May 05, 2007 Tamil Nadu bus conductor lost his legs in an accident, a letter to Kalam on experiment led to new lease of life Chennai, May 4: For P Thangamarimuthu (38), both of whose legs were amputated after an accident more than three years ago, it’s virtually a fresh lease of life. And the person who gave him new hope was none other than President A P J Abdul Kalam. The two had never met before. But Thangamarimuthu, formerly a conductor in a government transport bus,...

Liberalism 101By David StromTuesday, April 24, 2007 Ever notice how the left’s solution to all the world’s ills is to create a bureaucracy? The larger the better. The more government employees, the better. Let’s take the example of providing transportation for people who can’t or don’t drive cars. As we all know, no matter how wealthy we become as a society or even as individuals, there will always be a few people who need help getting around because of economic circumstances, illness, or disability. Or who just plain can’t drive. The solution that liberals have come up with is stunning...

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — A Nebraska woman was charged with neglect of a dependent person after leaving her husband unattended in a car outside a casino. Judy Lea Fairbanks, 52, of Bellevue, Neb., was charged Saturday after she was found gambling at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs. Police said she left her husband in the car and taped a sign to the window, which said "I have a disability. Do not be alarmed. I am resting. Please do not call security."

WASHINGTON, April 4, 2007 – For some participants at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here, it’s not enough simply to make it down the mountain. They’ve set their sights on conquering it — and any other obstacle that stands between them and the U.S. Paralympic Ski Team. Mark Mix, a Navy veteran who became disabled in Baghdad, left, is looking to the example set by Coast Guard veteran Chris Devlin-Young, a three-time Paralympian and head coach for the Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic’s Alpine race and development program. Defense Dept. photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 3, 2007 – As hundreds of severely disabled veterans attending the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here discover new capabilities they never had or thought they’d lost, they’re also learning a thing or two about the giving spirit of volunteers supporting them all the way. Dave Gitchell, a volunteer instructor at the Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass, Colo., shows veteran Ricky Olson how to scuba dive. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson and event organizers say the clinic, now in its 21st year,...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 2, 2007 – Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson opened the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here last night, offering special thanks to wounded warriors of Iraq and Afghanistan and encouraging them to seize the opportunities that await them here. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson and his wife, Suzanne, greet participants in the 21st National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic during a “Taste of Aspen” opening-day event at Snowmass Village, Colo. Veterans Affairs photo by Elaine Buehler  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “There is controversy about this war, but there is...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 1, 2007 – Some 450 disabled veterans converging here today -- about 100 of them wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan -- aren’t looking for April Fools pranks. They’re expecting miracles. The veterans are kicking off the 21st National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, six days jam-packed with activities designed to push them to new heights and enhance their rehabilitation. Veterans of past clinics -- and the people who have watched them show themselves and the world what they can still do — refer to what happens here as “Miracles on the Mountainside.” Participants will learn...

Dorothy Riesing as "Glenda Splenda" and Kelly Hoppe as "Dorothy" rehearse with Debra Patterson, whose character, "Little M," uses a special device to speak.

A national rights group for the blind is vowing action after a vision-impaired South Boston man was denied a visit on the historic USS John F. Kennedy yesterday after Navy officers told him it was too perilous for the blind. “When it happens, it’s a very traumatic experience to be denied the right to participate in something,” said Mika Pyyhkala, 34, who unlike 30,000 other people, did not get a chance to walk the deck of the USS JFK yesterday. Marc Maurer, an attorney and president of the National Federation of the Blind in Baltimore, said the Navy’s denial violates...