Joe Frazier Has Liver Cancer, Under Hospice Care ? CBS New York

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has liver cancer and is under hospice care.

The 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago, Frazier?s personal and business manager said Saturday. Leslie Wolff told The Associated Press that doctors have not yet told Frazier how long he has to live.

?We have medical experts looking into the all the options that are out there,? Wolff said. ?There are very few. But that doesn?t mean we?re going to stop looking.?

Wolff, who has been Frazier?s manager for seven years, said the boxer had been in out and out of the hospital since early October and receiving hospice treatment the last week.

?We appreciate every prayer we can get,? Wolff said. ?I?ve got everybody praying for him. We?ll just keep our fingers crossed and hope for a miracle.?

Frazier?s illness was first reported by the New York Post, citing an unidentified source.

Frazier was the first man to beat Muhammad Ali, knocking him down and taking a decision in the so-called Fight of the Century in 1971. He would go on to lose two more fights to Ali, including the epic ?Thrilla in Manila? bout.

Frazier was bitter for many years about the way Ali treated him then. More recently, he said he had forgiven Ali for repeatedly taunting him.

Smokin? Joe was a small yet ferocious fighter who smothered his opponents with punches, including a devastating left hook he used to end many of his fights early. It was the left hook that dropped Ali in the 15th round of their ?Fight of the Century? at Madison Square Garden in 1971 to seal a win in a bout where each fighter earned an unheard of $2.5 million.

While that fight is celebrated in boxing lore, Ali and Frazier put on an even better show in their third fight, held in a sweltering arena in Manila as part of Ali?s world tour of fights in 1975. Nearly blinded by Ali?s punches, Frazier still wanted to go out for the 15th round of the fight but was held back by trainer Eddie Futch in a bout Ali would later say was the closest thing to death he could imagine.

Frazier won the heavyweight title in 1970 by stopping Jimmy Ellis in the fifth round of their fight at Madison Square Garden. Frazier defended it successfully four times before George Foreman knocked him down six times in the first two rounds to take the title from him in 1973.

Frazier would never be heavyweight champion again.

In recent years, Frazier had been doing regular autograph appearances, including one in Las Vegas the weekend of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight in September.

?I was very sad to hear the news. It?s a tragedy,? leading British promoter Frank Warren said. ?He?s one of the greatest fighters of his generation and one of the best heavyweights in history. It?s a sad thing and I know everyone in boxing will be wishing him well.?

Source: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/11/05/joe-frazier-has-liver-cancer-under-hospice-care/

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APNewsBreak: Safeway drops sandwich theft charges

HONOLULU (AP) ? The Safeway supermarket chain is declining to press charges against a Honolulu couple whose arrests over stolen sandwiches led state workers to take their 2-year-old daughter and sparked nationwide outrage.

Safeway told Honolulu police Tuesday that it won't press charges against Marcin and Nicole Leszczynski, company spokeswoman Susan Houghton told The Associated Press. The couple were arrested last week when Nicole, who is 30 weeks pregnant, ate a sandwich while shopping and walked out without paying.

Their daughter Zofia was taken away by state Child Welfare Services officials. She was returned to her parents 18 hours later.

Karl Schroeder, a Safeway division president, called Nicole Leszczynski on Tuesday, and, "He apologized for what she's been through," Houghton said.

Houghton said management followed routine shoplifting procedure by contacting police, but Safeway regrets not foreseeing that doing so would cause a child to be separated from her parents.

"We want to do the right thing here," Houghton said. "Families are important to us."

Nicole said she was surprised to get the call because the incident was nearly a week ago.

"I feel relieved that the charges are being dropped and he kind of did make an apology," she said. "Now that we have our daughter back and we're not in jail, that's our biggest concern."

The incident at the store near downtown Honolulu is prompting Safeway to examine how managers and employees are trained. "In this case, it was not handled in the appropriate manner and we wanted to correct that," Houghton said.

Nicole, 28, and Marcin, 33, forgot to pay for two sandwiches that together cost $5. They were handcuffed and searched, and later released on $50 bail each.

The family had moved to an apartment near downtown Honolulu from Monterey, California, two weeks ago. Still settling in, they ventured out Wednesday to stock up on groceries, took the bus, got lost, and ended up at a Safeway supermarket, Nicole said.

Famished, the former Air Force staff sergeant openly munched on one while she shopped, saving the wrapper to be scanned at the register later. But she said they forgot to pay for the sandwiches as they checked out with about $50 worth of groceries.

"When the security guard questioned us, I was really embarrassed, I was horrified," Nicole told AP on Monday. They were led upstairs, where the couple expected to get a lecture, pay for the sandwiches, and be allowed on their way.

But store managers wouldn't allow them to simply pay, she said.

Four hours later, a police officer arrived and read them their rights. A woman from the Child Welfare Services arrived to take Zofia away.

Leszczynski called the incident "so horrifying. It seemed to escalate and no one could say, 'this is too much.'"

The pregnant mother said she tried to keep her composure until Zofia, who turns 3 in December, left the store.

"I didn't want Zofia to be scared because she's never spent a night away from us. She didn't have her stuffed animal. She didn't have her toothbrush."

But as soon as her daughter left, "I got completely hysterical. I went to the bathroom and I threw up," she recalled.

A Honolulu police spokeswoman said it was routine procedure to call Child Welfare Services if a child is present when both parents are arrested.

The couple were handcuffed and driven separately to police headquarters a few blocks away, where they were searched, had their mug shots taken and then released after paying bail.

Nicole said that the morning after the arrest, she emailed Safeway to say not paying for the sandwiches was an honest mistake. "It was just a slip, a mommy-brain moment, I guess," she said. Houghton said Safeway accepts her assurance that she simply forgot to pay.

Nicole said she and her husband were told they were banned from the store for one year.

Houghton said she wasn't sure who would have told them that, but Safeway welcomes the family back.

Grocery shopping is a chore that now bring some anxiety, Nicole said, adding that she has read countless comments online criticizing her for eating before paying.

"I didn't know it was such a taboo thing," she said. "Where I grew up in a small town it's not seen as stealing for sure."

The Leszczynskis had hired a criminal defense lawyer to fight the charges but are unsure about whether to pursue legal action against Safeway.

"I haven't even considered it because I was just so worried about the charges," Nicole said. "I do feel like something went terribly wrong and we were abused in some way."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2011-11-02-Sandwich%20Arrest/id-326306781d87432a8abe810d188ab486

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Thiago Alves blows weight on first try for UFC 138

Another trip to England meant another gaffe at the scale for welterweight fighter Thiago Alves. At the weigh-ins for UFC 138, Alves weighed in at 172 on the first try, one pound over the welterweight limit for a non-title fight. He needed an extra hour to drop the last pound.

Alves also missed weight for his UFC 85 win over Matt Hughes and his UFC 117 fight Jon Fitch. After the loss to Fitch, Alves began work with noted MMA nutritionist Mike Dolce, and had no problems at the scale for bouts at UFC 124 and UFC 130. This weekend's bout with Pappy Abedi seemed to be a chance for Alves to correct his course after losing to Rick Story in May, but not making weight on the first try is not a great way to impress for Alves to impress his bosses.

Even with Dolce's help, Alves is still a muscle-bound fighter who only can drop so much fat and water weight before a bout. He is also not getting any younger, and fighters generally have a tougher time cutting weight as they age. Anthony Johnson struggled to make welterweight for years, and has finally made the decision to move up to middleweight to face Vitor Belfort. Should Alves do the same? Tell us your thoughts in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/Thiago-Alves-blows-weight-on-first-try-for-UFC-1?urn=mma-wp8997

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Scientology church appeals French fraud conviction (AP)

PARIS ? The Church of Scientology's appeal of its fraud conviction opened Thursday in a court in France, with defense lawyers planning to argue that Scientologists' freedom of religion and association were curtailed by the ruling.

In 2009, a court convicted the church's French branch, its bookstore and six of its leaders of organized fraud. The group was accused of pressuring members into paying large sums for questionable remedies and using "commercial harassment" against recruits.

The group and bookstore were fined euro600,000 ($830,000). Four leaders were given suspended sentences of between 10 months and two years. Two others were fined.

While Scientology is recognized as a religion in the U.S., Sweden and Spain, it is not considered one under French law.

In the original complaint, a young woman said she took out loans and spent the equivalent of euro21,000 ($29,000) on books, courses and "purification packages" after being recruited in 1998. When she sought reimbursement and to leave the group, its leadership refused to allow either. She was among three eventual plaintiffs.

In that trial, prosecutors had tried to get the group disbanded in France and fined euro2 million ($2.8 million). But the court declined, in the end, to even take the lesser step of shutting down its operations, saying that French Scientologists would have continued their activities anyway "outside any legal framework."

The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. It claims 10 million members around the world, including celebrity devotees Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/religion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111103/ap_on_re_eu/eu_france_scientology

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Kyrsten Sinema: Standing with Roosevelt and Salazar: No New Yellowcake Uranium Mining in the Grand Canyon

I am proud to be an Arizona State Senator. I am even prouder to be a native Arizonan, an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast and to be in the state which is home to the magnificent Grand Canyon. Like most Arizonans I stake a personal claim to our treasured monument. President Teddy Roosevelt said it best in a 1903 speech delivered at the Grand Canyon, saying in part:

"In the Grand Canyon, Arizona has a natural wonder which, so far as I know, is in kind absolutely unparalleled throughout the rest of the world. I want to ask you to do one thing in connection with it in your own interest and in the interest of the country -- to keep this great wonder of nature as it now is.

I was delighted to learn of the wisdom of the Santa Fe railroad people in deciding not to build their hotel on the brink of the canyon. I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a summer cottage, a hotel, or anything else, to mar the wonderful grandeur, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the canyon.

Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you, as one of the great sights which every American if he can travel at all should see.

We have gotten past the stage, my fellow-citizens, when we are to be pardoned if we treat any part of our country as something to be skinned for two or three years for the use of the present generation, whether it is the forest, the water, the scenery. Whatever it is, handle it so that your children's children will get the benefit of it."

Now, more than 103 years after President Roosevelt declared the Grand Canyon a national monument, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has taken an important step towards heeding the former president's admonition to "leave it as it is" by announcing a 20-year ban on new uranium mining on one million acres of federal land around this national treasure.

As a State Senator and native Arizonan, I can say without hesitation that this was the right thing to do.

The Grand Canyon has played a central role in the American family for generations. Today, more than 4 million people visit what Roosevelt called an "unparalleled," "natural wonder" each year.

A 20-year ban on new uranium mining confirms what many of us here in Arizona have been saying for years: uranium mining doesn't belong here. It would wreak havoc on our local economies, our water supply, and our beautiful, quintessentially Western landscape all while putting tens of thousands of jobs in jeopardy at a time when so many continue to struggle.

Beyond raw numbers, the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River connect us with our history and to the land. Some things are simply priceless, like preserving the cultural, historic, sporting, hunting and fishing traditions thousands have enjoyed here for generations. That is why this decision is so important.

Secretary Salazar's intention to protect this national treasure won't be set in stone for another month -- after that he will "make and issue a final decision." Because this issue is of such great importance, I've already encouraged my friends, neighbors, and colleagues here in Arizona to contact Secretary Salazar and thank him for making such a bold move to protect our Western culture. Some have even taken to Twitter and Facebook to express their thanks.

With the Grand Canyon at the center of Arizona's outdoor-recreation industry, Salazar's move protects the Colorado River and Arizona's fragile economy. Grand Canyon National Park itself supports 12,000 jobs and fuels $680 million into northern Arizona's local economies every year. Statewide, tourism generates $16 billion annually while tourism businesses account for 82,000 -- or one in ten -- Arizona jobs.

It is plain to see why preserving this region is of such vital importance, though that hasn't stopped some from attempting to lay waste to our region's sensitive landscape and economy -- or Roosevelt's memory for that matter.

In anticipation of the Secretary Salazar's decision to ban new uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Orin Hatch (R-UT) along with Representatives Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Rob Bishop (R-UT), announced legislation intended to allow new uranium mining. This despite the fact that scores of local Arizona elected officials, small business leaders, sportsmen, ranchers and farmers stand with Secretary Salazar and the 20-year ban.

Protecting the Grand Canyon is good business -- doing anything otherwise in times like this would be absurd. If you agree that new uranium mining is a risk we simply can't afford to take, I hope you'll join me in showing your support and thanks for Secretary Salazar's decision.

Let's protect Roosevelt's gem so that American families can continue to enjoy it for generations to come.

?

Follow Kyrsten Sinema on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kyrstensinema

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kyrsten-sinema/grand-canyon-uranium-mining_b_1072766.html

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Fears of Fission Rise at Stricken Nuclear Plant in Japan

[unable to retrieve full-text content]After telltale radioactive elements were detected at Fukushima, workers raced to stop a chain reaction, and the plant?s owner admitted bursts of fission were probably continuing.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=9219beac960a8149fb64fba3d209ecfe

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From Nebraska Lab To McDonald's Tray: The McRib's Strange Journey

Enlarge Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Fast food giant McDonald's has brought back the McRib until Nov. 14. The sandwich has gained cult acclaim over the past three decades because of its limited availability.

Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Fast food giant McDonald's has brought back the McRib until Nov. 14. The sandwich has gained cult acclaim over the past three decades because of its limited availability.

Since McDonald's announced the seasonal revival of its popular McRib sandwich last month, there's been a round of reports about what's in the sandwich that have ranged from glib (on its 70 ingredients) to McFib (on the alleged inhumane treatment of the pigs that go into it).

But even though there's not a rib to be found inside the sandwich, that pork patty drenched in barbecue sauce actually represents one of the greater innovations in meat science of the last century.

Roger Mandigo is an emeritus University of Nebraska animal science professor credited with the technology that made the McRib possible. And here's its story, straight from the meat scientist's mouth.

? Courtesy of University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Roger Mandigo earned induction into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for his invention of "restructured meats."

Back in the 1970s, Mandigo tells The Salt, he was approached by the National Pork Producers Council (the folks who later brought you "the other white meat") to create a product with pork trimmings that could be sold to the fast food giant.

"The pork producers wanted to see more pork on the menu, and they were targeting McDonald's," Mandigo said.

Mandigo went to work in the lab and came up with a new take on an old-fashioned technology: sausage-making. Instead of just stuffing pork meat inside a casing, Mandigo used salt to extract proteins from the muscle. Those proteins become an emulsifier "to hold all the little pieces of meat together," he says.

"All we did was reuse the technology that had been around for hundreds of years and emphasize that we could shape products to shapes people wanted," he says.

And here is where our story takes an interesting twist: Seems the McRib was not born in the shape of its current pork patty. The original concoction Mandigo made was formed as a faux pork chop.

McChop? Maybe not.

"[McDonald's] chose the shape," Mandigo said. "They wanted it to look like the boneless part of a backrib."

That's why Mandigo is adamant that he was not the father of the McRib, despite getting the credit for it all these years.

"We developed the concepts and technology to make the process work," he said. "They developed the sandwich and the form that it's in. That gets a little touchy and sensitive to people, as you might guess."

Despite his modesty, Mandigo's invention of what's called "restructured meats" was important enough to earn him induction into the Meat Industry Hall of Fame, among big names like Colonel Sanders and Wendy's Dave Thomas in the 2010 class.

The restructured meat technology has since been used to make, among other things, chicken nuggets and many other products you see in the grocery store. The largest buyer of restructured meat is the U.S. military, Mandigo said, as the beef, chicken and pork products are convenient for feeding large numbers of people every day.

Now 30 years after his invention in a Nebraska lab, Mandigo is retired. He's good-natured about all the attention he gets every time the McRib comes back on the McDonald's menu ? which this year includes a rogue Twitter account @McRibSandwich, which mocks the 70 ingredients found in the pork product.

"It's true. I have 70 ingredients," reads a tweet from Oct. 28. "Ingredient #47 Loch Ness Monster flipper."

Peggy Lowe is a reporter for Harvest Public Media.

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/11/04/142018151/from-nebraska-lab-to-mcdonalds-tray-the-mcribs-strange-journey?ft=1&f=1007

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