Free Republic

Wet-nursing makes a comeback in Hollywood By Martin Patience The Web site for Certified Household Staffing appears like a throwback to Victorian times, when the moneyed classes hired teams of servants. The site sports images of butlers with bow ties, nannies in black and white uniforms and gamekeepers dressed in tweeds. But the agency offers another service associated with times long past: wet nurses. Robert Feinstock, 65, the owner of the Beverly Hills, Calif., company, believes his business is one of the few in the United States that offers wet nurses, or women who suckle other peoples' children. He says...

<p>Master percussionists drummed for most of December in Congo Square, in schools, in public housing complexes and at neighborhood centers, calling out for one week of peace -- a moratorium on murders in New Orleans from December 25 through the last second of 2003.</p>

Is 'Lord of the Rings' the U.S. vs Iraq, Etc.? James P. Pinkerton December 23, 2003 What's the real meaning of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"? The filmmakers' intent may not be clear, but the film's reception is clear enough: Audiences love it. Which is a clue that the outward expansion of U.S. power, like the film itself, has yet to run its course. Some say that the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, who published his "Rings" trilogy in the 1950s, was thinking about World War II when he created his saga of good vs. evil. Others...

<p>Listen.</p> <p>The ambitious volunteer project by 10 master percussionists and others will take the drum call to schools, public housing complexes, auditoriums, Armstrong Park and other venues.</p> <p>"It's an African tradition in which the drummer plays the talking drums, using drums as a means of communication. On a spiritual level we're calling on the ancestors to help us in this work," said Luther Gray, leader and percussionist for Bamboula 2000, a band whose West African-influenced music is inspired by the memory of Congo Square, now a part of Armstrong Park, where slaves danced and played African music on Sundays in the 1800s.</p>