Free Republic

BRIDGEWATER — During 40 years as a veterinarian, Dr. Neal Andelman has removed toys and other items from dogs’ stomachs. But until Thursday, he had never retrieved human body parts, as best the doctor could recall, said Lou Berman, a hospital administrator for the New England Animal Medical Center in West Bridgewater. Thursday afternoon, Andelman operated post mortem on a pit bull that had bitten a Bridgewater woman and swallowed parts of her face. The male pit bull was euthanized and operated upon following a request from the Boston hospital treating the 71-year-old woman, whose face was mauled by the...

S&P downgrades Italy as Greek austerity row forces global stock markets lower Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Italy late on Monday night, on a day when panic gripped global markets as a fresh showdown over Greece renewed fears that the eurozone will be plunged into crisis. The rating for Italy, which has Europe’s second-largest debt load, was lowered from A+, S&P said in a statement. The agency said Italythe country's net general government debt is the highest among A-rated sovereigns, and now expects it to peak later and at a higher level than it previously anticipated. “In our...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 6, 2007 – Deployed servicemembers worldwide have been receiving a steady stream of care packages, e-mail and “snail mail” since 2004 from a group of “Proud Patriots” in Arizona. Proud Patriots, a troop-support group, provides morale and material support to America’s deployed military personnel worldwide through six annual care-package campaigns primarily centered on holidays, Joe Jenkins, the organization’s president, said. “We send care packages to Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Korea, Germany, Italy and Africa.” With three shipping hubs -- in Virginia, Missouri and Arizona -- the group ships packages during its six holiday-centered campaigns. “Our founder was contacted...

Britain 'deserved its own 9/11 attack' By Duncan Gardham (Filed: 28/03/2006) Britain deserved its own September 11 according to one of the leaders of an al-Qa'eda cell planning a bomb attack, a court heard yesterday. Omar Khyam from Crawley, West Sussex, suggested hitting pubs, nightclubs and trains in revenge for Britain's involvement in the Middle East. Court artist's sketch of Omar Khyam Mohammed Babar, who has turned informant on his associates, said he was sitting on the couch in a flat in Lahore, Pakistan, when Khyam told him Britain "needed to be hit." Babar told the Old Bailey: "We were...

Murder trial Briton says Americans 'got what they deserved' The Briton on trial for murdering Daniel Pearl has said Americans got what they deserved on September 11 and chillingly warned: "There is more to come."Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh said the killing of civilians by US forces in Afghanistan and Israeli operations in Palestinian areas would fuel militant anger toward Americans. As his lawyers completed their final arguments in a Pakistani court, Saeed gave them a message. It read: "Following the barbaric bombardment of a wedding ceremony in Afghanistan in which a number of innocent women and children were killed, and...