Free Republic

WASHINGTON - The selection of a Chinese sculptor to carve a three-story monument to Martin Luther King Jr. on the National Mall is raising questions about what part of his legacy should be celebrated. King promoted peace and understanding among all people. His primary fight, however, was to win particular opportunities for blacks in the United States by juxtaposing the plight of an oppressed people against a message of freedom and democracy. A loose-knit but growing group of critics says a black artist — or at least an American — should have been chosen to create the King memorial between...

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Margie Scott was devastated when her 9-year-old cat Sammy was diagnosed with kidney failure, but she never could have predicted what would give her comfort during her pet’s last days. Scott, who lives in an apartment just south of Lake Whatcom, had adopted the long-haired white and gray cat when he was just six months old. Last month, Sammy stopped eating his dry food and would sit in a corner for hours. Scott took him to the vet, who treated him for dehydration. But it wasn’t enough. “He was better for awhile, but then he started going...

KATMANDU, Nepal - Just days after a British climber was left to die near Mount Everest's summit, an American guide abandoned his second bid to stand on top of the world so he could rescue a mountaineer mistakenly given up for dead. Not only did Daniel Mazur not scale the world's highest peak from the northern side, he also failed to get his two paying clients to the top. "It was very disappointing for me to miss my chance at the summit, but even more that I could not get my job done," Mazur, of Olympia, Wash., told The Associated...

Chinese face transplant patient healing well 30-year-old received new lip, cheek and nose; tissue rejection still possible BEIJING - A Chinese man who was attacked by a bear and had a partial face transplant is healing well, but could still reject tissue from a brain-dead patient used to give him a new nose, lip and cheek, state media reported Tuesday. Li Guoxing, 30, had much of the right side of his face reconstructed by doctors at the Xijing Hospital in central China’s Xi’an city during a 15-hour procedure on April 14. The hospital said it was only the second time...

Rare conditions could have conspired to create hard-to-see ice on the Sea of Galilee that a person could have walked on back when Jesus is said to have walked on water, a scientist said today. The study, which examines a combination of favorable water and environmental conditions, proposes that Jesus could have walked on an isolated patch of floating ice on what is now known as Lake Kinneret in northern Israel.

Doctors at a clinic in Kragujevac, central Serbia, have removed an 11 centimetre-long intestinal worm from a woman's eye socket. According to preliminary results, the worm taken from the 37-year-old patient's eye belongs to the Ascaris family, a common intestinal parasite in pigs that is also found in humans. No similar case has ever been recorded in Serbia and probably in Europe, Radomir Stojicevic, a doctor at the Kragujevac clinic, told the Tanjug news agency. The parasite had probably travelled through the patient's blood from the digestive tract into the eye socket, doctors at the clinic believe.

Man dies after dog falls onto car from overpass Labrador retriever also killed after crashing through driver’s windshield LIVONIA, Mich. - A dog apparently fell from a freeway overpass and crashed through a car windshield, fatally injuring the driver, police said Thursday. Charles G. Jetchick, 81, died Wednesday of injuries suffered in the accident over the weekend in suburban Detroit. A passenger suffered minor injuries. Investigators do not believe the 60- to 70-pound Labrador retriever was thrown, but rather fell by while trying to avoid a car, State Police Sgt. Michael A. Shaw said. Police questioned the dog’s owner. The...

Wal-Mart Web site makes racial connections DVD shoppers get offensive referrals Wal-Mart apologized yesterday after its retail Web site directed potential buyers of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Planet of the Apes" DVDs to also consider purchasing DVDs with African American themes. The world's largest retailer said in a statement that it was "heartsick" over the racially offensive grouping and that the site was linking "seemingly random combinations of titles." "It's just simply not working correctly," said Mona Williams, vice president of corporate communications for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. The company said it was alerted to the problem early yesterday...

VORHEES, N.J. - Curiosity didn’t kill one cat on a wild ride on the New Jersey Turnpike. The feline, now known as Miracle, hitchhiked a ride on the underbelly of a sport utility vehicle just before Christmas. The gray and white cat traveled some 70 miles on the turnpike Dec. 23.

MINNEAPOLIS - Schools that run bake sales and let teachers reward students with candy risk having more overweight pupils, a study in Minneapolis suggests. That offers some vindication to the schools across the country that have cracked down on cupcakes and cookies on campus. Lead author Martha Kubik, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, acknowledged her research doesn't prove that such food practices contribute to adolescent obesity, but there does seem to be a connection. "I think we all have to step back and look at what we're doing to contribute to practices that might not support children...

SAN DIEGO -- Animal control officers in Hollister, Calif., are a little worried after they received two litters of puppies in the last couple of weeks that show signs of what they consider inbreeding. Some of the puppies were born with no front legs. But one little pup doesn't seem to mind at all. She was seen playing with her mom like any other healthy, happy puppy. With a tail that was constantly wagging, the happy little camper chased her momma and even leaped across the cage onto her momma. This story has a very happy ending for all the...

Warden Loses Job Over Naked Inmate Flap ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. - The warden and four other officers at a state prison lost their jobs after an investigation found that a suicidal female inmate was held naked for several days. Investigators said Wednesday they found no evidence the 27-year-old woman and the only female inmate at Zephyrhills Correctional Institution was sexually abused. It is unclear why the woman held in a psychiatric wing was not given clothing, or exactly how many days she was naked, Department of Corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey said. Warden Gary Thomas; assistant warden Ray Mulally; Col. Donald Leigh,...

Revised Policy Treats Obesity Under Medicare By Richard Simon and Carla Rivera Times Staff Writers WASHINGTON — Federal officials Thursday announced a new policy on obesity that could make weight-loss treatments eligible for Medicare coverage. "Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and to die prematurely," Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of Health and Human Services (news - web sites), said at a Senate subcommittee hearing where he announced that Medicare officials were removing the statement that "obesity itself cannot be considered an illness" from the Medicare manual....

David Bowie fine after heart op Fri 9 July, 2004 01:39 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rock legend David Bowie had emergency heart surgery for a blocked artery last month but is now recovering and hopes to return to work in August, his publicist says. Bowie, 57, sought treatment in a German hospital on June 25 after complaining of a pinched nerve during a European concert tour, publicist Mitch Schneider said in a statement. He underwent an angioplasty operation for an acutely blocked artery and was able to leave the clinic earlier this week. He is now convalescing at home with...

By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - An al-Qaida group said Friday it killed American hostage Paul M. Johnson Jr, posting an Internet message that showed three photographs of a severed head that appeared to be his. The message, in the name of Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, appeared as a 72-hour deadline set by the group ended. "In answer to what we promised ... to kill the hostage Paul Marshall (Johnson) after the period is over ... the infidel got his fair treatment," the statement said. "Let him taste something of what Muslims have long tasted...

Fully Arabized Internet Has Some Way to Go Fri May 28, 8:22 AM ET By Jonathan Wright CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) - Khaled Fattal, a Syrian-born businessman with U.S. citizenship, residence in Britain and an office in Singapore, could qualify as a citizen of the world. And as an Arab with international connections, Fattal is well placed to accelerate a task which has eluded technicians and linguists for the past decade -- enabling Arabs unfamiliar with the Latin script to use the Internet in Arabic alone. Under the present system, inherited from the time when the only members of the Internet...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US government said it would ban homosexuals from making anonymous donations to sperm banks, in the name of preventing transmittable diseases, in a move swiftly condemned by gay rights groups. New Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) rules that take effect May 25 require agencies that collect tissues or cells including sperm to ask the donor if he has had sex with men or used injectable drugs in the past five years. If the answer is affirmative in either case no donation is allowed. The FDA says the rules are just an extension of...

Salt Lake County prosecutors on Thursday charged a West Jordan woman with criminal homicide in the death of her stillborn baby. Prosecutors claim the woman ignored repeated warnings in the last few weeks of pregnancy that the twins she was carrying could die or suffer brain damage unless she had an immediate Caesarean section. Melissa Ann Rowland, 28, had refused medical treatment, saying she would rather die than go to either of the two recommended hospitals, and that being cut "from breast bone to pubic bone" would ruin her life, the county District Attorney's Office alleges in a probable-cause statement...

Sorry for the vanity post, but DAMN. My whole office building was rocking...