arm

Humerus reunion: Doc returns Vietnamese vet's arm

MIKE IVES, AP

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — An American doctor arrived in Vietnam carrying an unlikely piece of luggage: the bones of an arm he amputated in 1966.

Dr. Sam Axelrad brought the skeletal keepsake home to Texas as a reminder that when a badly injured North Vietnamese soldier was brought to him, he did the right thing and fixed him up. The bones sat in a closet for decades, and when the Houston urologist finally pulled them out two years ago, he wondered about their true owner, Nguyen Quang Hung.

The men were reunited Monday at Hung's home in central Vietnam. They met each other's children, and grandchildren, and joked about which of them had been better looking back when war had made them enemies. Hung was stunned that someone had kept his bones for so long, but happy that when the time comes, they will be buried with him.

"I'm very glad to see him again and have that part of my body back after nearly half a century," Hung said by telephone Monday after meeting Axelrad. "I'm proud to have shed my blood for my country's reunification, and I consider myself very lucky compared with many of my comrades who were killed or remain unaccounted for."

Hung, 73, said American troops shot him in the arm in October 1966 during an ambush about 75 kilometers (46 miles) from An Khe, the town where he now lives. After floating down a stream to escape a firefight and then sheltering in a rice warehouse for three days, he was evacuated by a U.S. helicopter to a no-frills military hospital in Phu Cat, in central Binh Dinh province.

"When I was captured by the American forces, I was like a fish on a chopping-board," Hung said last week. "They could have either killed or spared me."

When Hung got to Axelrad, then a 27-year-old military doctor, his right forearm was the color of an eggplant. To keep the infection from killing his patient, Axelrad amputated the arm above the elbow.

After the surgery, Hung spent eight months recovering and another six assisting American military doctors, Hung said. He spent the rest of the war offering private medical services in the town, and later served in local government for a decade before retiring on his rice farm.

"He probably thought we were going to put him in some prisoner-of-war camp," Axelrad said. "Surely he was totally surprised when we just took care of him."

As for the arm, Axelrad said his medic colleagues boiled off the flesh, reconstructed the arm bones and gave them to him. It was hardly common practice, but he said it was a reminder of a good deed performed.

The bones sat in a military bag in Axelrad's closet for decades, along with other things from the war that he didn't want look at because he didn't want to relive those experiences.

When he finally went through the mementos in 2011, "it just blew me away what was in there," Axelrad said at a hotel bar in Hanoi early Sunday, hours after arriving in Vietnam with his two sons and two grandchildren on Saturday evening. "That kind of triggered my thoughts of returning."

It had taken a little luck for Axelrad to reunite Hung with his amputated arm. He traveled to Vietnam last summer — partly for vacation, but also to try to find the man.

He said he wasn't sure Hung was still alive, or where to begin looking for him. Axelrad visited An Khe but didn't ask for him there because he assumed Hung would be living in northern Vietnam, where he grew up.

By chance, Axelrad toured the old Vietnam War bunker at the Metropole Hotel in downtown Hanoi. His tour guide was Tran Quynh Hoa, a Vietnamese journalist who took a keen interest in his war stories.

Hoa later wrote an article in a widely read Vietnamese newspaper about Axelrad's quest to return the bones to their owner. Hung said his brother-in-law in Ho Chi Minh City read the article and contacted the newspaper's editors.

Hoa, now a communications officer for the International Labour Organization, arranged Monday's reunion in An Khe, near the coastal city of Qui Nhon, and served as an interpreter for the veterans.

"It's just time for closure," Axelrad said a day before the meeting.

Hung was surprised to be reunited with his lost limb, to say the least.

"I can't believe that an American doctor took my infected arm, got rid of the flesh, dried it, took it home and kept it for more than 40 years," he said by telephone last week from his home. "I don't think it's the kind of keepsake that most people would want to own. But I look forward to seeing him again and getting my arm bones back."

Hung served Axelrad and his family lunch, shared memories and reflected on all the time that had passed. Axelrad said he was pleased to learn where and how Hung had been living for so many years, and to meet his children and grandchildren.

"I'm so happy that he was able to make a life for himself," Axelrad said.

Vietnam is now a country full of young people who have no direct memory of the war, which ended in 1975 and killed an estimated 58,000 Americans and 3 million Vietnamese. But the war's legacy persists in the minds of combat veterans who still are processing the events and traumas they witnessed in their youth.

John Ernst, a Vietnam War expert at Morehead State University in Kentucky, said he knows of a few American veterans who have traveled to Vietnam to return personal items to former enemy soldiers as a way to bring closure.

"It is a fascinating phenomenon," Ernst said by e-mail Sunday. "I always wonder what triggers the decision to make the gesture."

(he took a guys arm home as souvenir, I suppose it’s better than a necklace of ears but really folks he had a guy’s arm in closet for years! “gee grampa what’s that?” “oh that? Just some guys arm I amputated in the war.”)

 

visit mom it's the law!

Law requires Chinese to visit their aging parents

LOUISE WATT, AP

BEIJING (AP) — Mothers and fathers aren't the only ones urging adult children to visit their parents. China's lawbooks are now issuing the same imperative.

New wording in the law requiring people to visit or keep in touch with their elderly parents or risk being sued came into force Monday, as China faces increasing difficulty in caring for its aging population.

The amended law does little to change the status quo, however, because elderly parents in China already have been suing their adult children for emotional support and the new wording does not specify how often people must visit or clarify penalties for those who do not.

It is primarily aimed at raising awareness of the issue, said one of the drafters, Xiao Jinming, a law professor at Shandong University. "It is mainly to stress the right of elderly people to ask for emotional support ... we want to emphasize there is such a need," he said.

Cleaning lady Wang Yi, 57, who lives alone in Shanghai, said the new law is "better than nothing." Her two sons work several hundred kilometers (miles) away in southern Guangdong province and she sees them only at an annual family reunion.

"It is too little, for sure, I think twice a year would be good," she said. "We Chinese people raise children to take care of us when we are old."

China's legislature amended the law in December following frequent reports of elderly parents neglected by their children. It says offspring of parents older than 60 should see that their daily, financial and spiritual needs are met.

Although respect for the elderly is deeply engrained in Chinese society, three decades of market reforms have accelerated the breakup of China's traditional extended family, and there are few affordable alternatives, such as retirement homes.

Xiao said even before the Law of Protection of Rights and Interests of the Aged was amended, there were several cases of elderly parents suing their children for emotional support. Court officials generally settle such cases by working out an arrangement for sons or daughters to agree to visit more frequently. Typically, no money is involved.

The number of people aged 60 and above in China is expected to jump from the current 185 million to 487 million, or 35 percent of the population, by 2053, according to figures from the China National Committee On Aging. The expanding ratio is due both an increase in life expectancy — from 41 to 73 over five decades — and by family planning policies that limit most urban families to a single child.

Rapid aging poses serious threats to the country's social and economic stability, as the burden of supporting the growing number of elderly passes to a proportionately shrinking working population and the social safety net remains weak.

Zhang Ye, a 36-year-old university lecturer from eastern Jiangsu Province, said the amended law was "unreasonable" and put too much pressure on people who migrate away from home in search of work or independence.

"For young people who are abroad or work really far away from their parents, it is just too hard and too expensive to visit their parents," she said. "I often go to visit my parents and call them ... (but) if a young person doesn't want to, I doubt such a law will work."

——

AP researchers Flora Ji in Beijing and Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report.

(traditional family values it’s the law!)

more different space

NASA's Voyager 1 craft enters unfamiliar space

ALICIA CHANG, AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — New research pinpoints the current location of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft: It's still in our solar system.

Since last summer, the long-running spacecraft has been exploring uncharted territory where the effects of interstellar space, or the space between stars, can be felt. Scientists don't know how thick this newfound region in the solar system is or how much farther Voyager 1 has to travel to break to the other side.

"It could actually be anytime or it could be several more years," said chief scientist Ed Stone of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission.

Stone first described this unexpected zone at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union last year. A trio of papers published online Thursday in the journal Science confirmed just how strange this new layer is.

Soon after Voyager 1 crossed into this region last August, low-energy charged particles that had been plentiful suddenly zipped outside while high-energy cosmic rays from interstellar space streamed inward. Readings by one of Voyager 1's instruments showed an abrupt increase in the magnetic field strength, but there was no change in the direction of the magnetic field lines — a sign that Voyager 1 has not yet exited the solar system.

Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, were launched in 1977 to visit the giant gas planets, beaming back dazzling postcards of Jupiter, Saturn and their moons. Voyager 2 went on to tour Uranus and Neptune. After planet-hopping, they were sent on a trajectory toward interstellar space.

Voyager 1 is about 11 ½ billion miles from the sun. Voyager 2 is about 9½ billion miles from the sun. The nuclear-powered spacecraft have enough fuel to operate their instruments until around 2020.

In the meantime, scientists are looking for any clues of a departure. Given the time it takes to process the data, mission scientist Leonard Burlaga said there will be a lag between when Voyager 1 finally sails into interstellar space and when the team can confirm the act. Then there's always the possibility of surprises beyond the solar system.

"Crossing may not be an instantaneous thing," Burlaga said. "It may be complicated."

 

chat bot!!!

Japan conversation robot ready for outer space

AZUSA UCHIKURA, AP

TOKYO (AP) — The world's first space conversation experiment between a robot and humans is ready to be launched.

Developers from the Kirobo project, named after "kibo" or hope in Japanese and "robot," gathered in Tokyo Wednesday to demonstrate the humanoid robot's ability to talk.

"Russia was the first to go outer space, the U.S. was the first to go to the moon, we want Japan to be the first to send a robot-astronaut to space that can communicate with humans," said Yorichika Nishijima, the Kirobo project manager.

The experiment is a collaboration between advertising and PR company Dentsu Inc., the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, Robo Garage and Toyota Motor Corp.

Tomotaka Takahashi, CEO of Robo Garage Co. and associate professor at the University of Tokyo, said he hopes robots like Kirobo that hold conversations will eventually be used to assist astronauts working in space.

"When people think of robots in outer space, they tend to seek ones that do things physically," said Takahashi. "But I think there is something that could come from focusing on humanoid robots that focus on communication."

Because Kirobo does not need to perform physical activities, it is smaller than most robots that go into space. Kirobo is about 34 centimeters tall (13 inches) and weighs about 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds).

Its land-based counterpart Mirata looks almost identical but is not designed to go into outer space. Instead, it has the ability to learn through the conversations it has.

During the demonstration, Fuminori Kataoka, project general manager from Toyota, asked Kirobo what its dream was.

"I want to create a future where humans and robots can live together and get along," it answered.

Kirobo is scheduled to be launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on August 4, 2013

(chat bot in space!!!)

Riots kill 27 in minority region of far west China

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say riots in a restive far western region of China have killed 27 and left at least three injured.

The official Xinhua News Agency says knife-wielding mobs attacked police stations, a local government building and a construction site Wednesday morning in a remote town in the Turkic-speaking Xinjiang (shihn-jahng) region.

Xinhua says the unrest in Lukqun township left 17 people dead, including nine policemen, before police shot and killed 10 rioters.

Xinjiang is home to a large population of minority Uighurs (WEE'-gurs), but is ruled by China's Han ethnic majority. It has been the scene of numerous violent incidents in recent years, including ethnic riots in Urumqi in 2009 that left nearly 200 people dead.

nk

NKorea demands dissolution of UN command in SKorea

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — North Korea's U.N. envoy blamed the United States for rising tensions on the Korean peninsula Friday and demanded the dissolution of the U.N. command in South Korea, saying it is the only way to guarantee peace and stability.

Ambassador Sin Son Ho told reporters at a rare news conference that the most pressing issue is the hostile relations between North Korea and the United States "which can lead to a new war at any moment."

He reiterated North Korea's offer of wide-ranging senior level talks with the United States which should include a discussion of replacing the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, dismantling the U.N. command and "a world without nuclear weapons." But he warned that North Korea will not give up its "nuclear self-defense deterrent" as long as there are nuclear weapons in the region and the U.N. command exists.

Sin said the U.N. command in South Korea is merely a tool of the United States whose real aim is to transform it into a new multinational force in Asia similar to NATO. He said it "has nothing to do with the unanimous will of the United Nations."

The Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and left the Korean Peninsula divided by a heavily fortified border monitored by the U.S.-led U.N. Command. Washington also stations 28,500 American troops in South Korea to protect its ally against North Korean aggression.

The ambassador's statement marked the latest twist in North Korea's relations with South Korea and the United States under its new leader Kim Jong Un. It follows Pyongyang's surprise offer Sunday for direct nuclear disarmament talks with the U.S.

———

Associated Press Writer Maria Sanminiatelli contributed to this report from the United Nations

ssn?

Mass. man who ordered tie gets SS numbers instead

SUDHIN THANAWALA, AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — With a little more than two weeks to go before their wedding, Emily Dreyfuss' fiance ordered a tie and pocket square from Gap chain Banana Republic's website to go with his Navy blue suit.

What the couple got in the mail instead on Thursday would make an identity thief giddy: the confidential files of about 20 former employees, including Social Security numbers and W4 tax forms.

"We totally laughed," Dreyfuss, 29, said on Friday from her home in Cambridge, Mass.

She had misgivings about the package as soon as it arrived. It was really heavy and didn't say Banana Republic, but Gap Inc.

She and her fiancee have been buying each other presents, and she thought it may have been a really heavy piece of clothing with catalogs, said Dreyfuss, the daughter of actor Richard Dreyfuss.

When he opened the package, inside were three folders sealed with tape and labeled "HR Administration." They contained tax and Social Security information as well as handwritten resignation letters, doctors' notes and salary information — seemingly the employees' entire record at the company. The employees were sales support associates and at least one made $9 an hour, Dreyfuss said.

The resignation letters were mostly from March and addressed formally to "Ms." and then the person's first name. They were polite and positive, expressing thanks for the chance to work for the company and learning so much. Some ended by saying, "God Bless."

Dreyfuss, who runs the home page and also writes for technology website, CNET, said she didn't look through everything.

"I got a queasy feeling and felt like I should stop looking at this," she said.

San Francisco-based Gap Inc. blamed the mix-up on a human mistake.

"We're taking immediate action to evaluate and strengthen our processes to prevent mis-mailings in the future and apologize for the error," spokeswoman Edie Kissko said in a statement.

Dreyfuss said a Banana Republic representative has since responded to a tweet about the mix-up and apologized for what he called a "horrible mistake."

He said clothing and confidential information is sent out in the same gray bag, and the employee information appears to have been mislabeled. The representative said the store would look into what went wrong and informing the former employees, Dreyfuss said. They will send her a self-addressed, stamped envelope to return the information in.

Ironically, Dreyfuss said her fiancee recently received someone else's welcome packet from his new employer, with that employee's salary and Social Security number.

Dreyfuss said the episode with Banana Republic raises concerns about how well the company is safeguarding customer information if even its employees' information can be compromised.

"People should know about this because it's crazy and scary," she said.

In her statement, Kissko said the company takes the confidentiality of personal information very seriously.

Dreyfuss was offered a free tie and pocket handkerchief — a $61 value, but said she declined