Free Republic

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chopped cardboard, softened with an industrial chemical and flavored with fatty pork and powdered seasoning, is a main ingredient in batches of steamed buns sold in one Beijing neighborhood, state television said.

2004 Year-Ender By Gwynne Dyer The world has been on hold this year. Interesting and important things have happened in many countries, and most people have scarcely noticed that international politics is becalmed - but it is. The normal business of the planet has pretty much slowed to a halt and we are all gently drifting downstream together while we wait to see what becomes of the United States - and, as a result, of the rest of the world, for the US is still a key player in almost every game. We may be waiting some time. The war...

Pop prince Michael Jackson's former plastic surgeon has reacted with horror at pictures of him in court this week showing his nose appearing to be held together by a sticking plaster. The surgically-altered star provoked gasps from onlookers at a Santa Monica, California court - where he is being sued for $21 million for allegedly pulling out of two millennium concerts - when he removed his face mask to reveal a swollen face and surgical tape covering a badly damaged nose. The extent of the damage to Jackson's face also sent the plastic surgery community into an uproar, prompting the...