Free Republic

MOROYAMA, Saitama -- A junior high school teacher who threw stones at the roof of a rice shop here, breaking a tile, was arrested after a police officer caught him in the act, law enforcers said.The 49-year-old teacher, Wataru Shimizu, was arrested for damaging property. Police said six similar stone-throwing incidents had left the rice shop damaged, and they were investigating Shimizu’s involvement.Shimizu said he threw the stones after becoming infuriated that a car belonging to the rice shop had been parked on neighboring land that he owned. “The rice-shop car was parked on my field without permission, and I...

The Mongol mysteries: Are 'deer stones' a clue? By Guy Gugliotta The Washington Post Sometime around 1000 B.C., a Mongolian tribesman climbed on the back of a horse and surveyed the windblown steppe that stretched as far as the eye could see. The weather was turning colder, and there wasn't enough grass for his goats. It was time to move. From the moment that decision was made, a tradition was born. Horses — yesterday's beasts of burden — became a means of escape. Soon they would become the tool of conquest, and the people of the steppe — whether Scythian,...

Christian Designs Found in Tomb Stones of Eastern Han Dynasty [2002-08-02] Studies show that as early as 86 A.D., or the third year under the reign of "Yuanhe" of Eastern Han, Dynasty Christianity entered into China, 550 years earlier than the world accepted time. When studying a batch of stone carvings of Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.) stored and exhibited in the Museum of Xuzhou Han Stone Carvings, Christian theology professor Wang Weifan was greatly surprised by some stone engravings demonstrating the Bible stories and designs of early Christian times. Further studies showed that some of these engravings were made...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- Outside the gates of the U.S. military base at Kandahar airport, Jalat Khan selected a stone from the gravel on the shoulder of the road and swallowed it. Then Khan, a jobless wanderer in a turban and robe, did it again. And again. Pretty soon, a crowd had gathered, oblivious to the U.S. Army Humvees rolling out of the base on routine patrols. Even the clatter and roar of American helicopters and transport planes -- part of the daily base traffic that usually turns heads -- couldn't compete with Khan on Thursday, who invited spectators to hear...