Free Republic

<p>A mild-mannered Manhattan pooch turned into a flying furball when a gust blew him up, up and away off his owner's 11th-floor terrace in TriBeCa and sent him five stories down and 30 feet east to a rooftop.</p> <p>Alfie, a 4-year-old, 10-pound silky terrier, miraculously walked away from the flight with just a few bruises and scratches and a cut lip.</p>

MUNDY TOWNSHIP, Michigan -- On what was supposed to be the unluckiest day of the year, Kevin Conkey felt like the luckiest man alive. On Friday the 13th, he was pulled from his burning vehicle by a total stranger -- and without any injuries. "I'm lucky to be alive," said Conkey of Mundy Township. About 6:15 a.m., Conkey, a 50-year-old who has paraplegia, found himself sitting on a hill on U.S.-23 near I-96 watching his minivan burn. He'd had problems with the van earlier that morning, but was adamant about getting to work. "We'd had layoffs the day before, so...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Congress is considering an apology for slavery, something five states have done in the past year. While it has apologized before, Congress never apologized for slavery, USA Today reported Thursday. "We've seen states step forward on this," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, noting resolutions in Alabama, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia. "I'm really shocked, just shocked" that the federal government hasn't apologized. "It's time to do so." Harkin said he and Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., will propose an apology for slavery and subsequent "Jim Crow" laws that furthered racial segregation. Among...