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Woman Crashes When Teaching Dog to Drive Aug 28, 8:13 AM (ET) BEIJING (AP) - A woman in Hohhot, the capital of north China's Inner Mongolia region, crashed her car while giving her dog a driving lesson, the official Xinhua News Agency said Monday. No injuries were reported although both vehicles were slightly damaged, it said. The woman, identified only be her surname, Li, said her dog "was fond of crouching on the steering wheel and often watched her drive," according to Xinhua. "She thought she would let the dog 'have a try' while she operated the accelerator and brake," the report said. "They did not make it far before crashing into an oncoming car." Xinhua did not say what kind of dog or vehicles were involved but Li paid for repairs. Filed under: News

I'll be writing soon about why I haven't been writing much. I promise! Meanwhile, enjoy this... Filed under: Pictures

Aug 12, 4:24 AM (ET) NEW YORK (AP) - A woman has filed a lawsuit against a pet cremation service and a photo agency, claiming they used a picture of her posing with her dogs without her permission. Gina Cecala filed the lawsuit in Manhattan state Supreme Court against Matthews International and Getty Images. The photo, showing Cecala holding her sweater-clad pooches, Chickie and Tiny, was taken in 1992 by an amateur photographer in Cecala's Manhattan apartment. It was later sold to Getty, which in turn sold it to Matthews for use in a national ad campaign, according to court papers. Cecala said in the complaint she was "outraged, embarrassed and traumatized" after she learned the photo was used in an ad that began appearing in 2004 in a funeral industry newspaper and a philanthropy magazine. "She makes sure they eat right, get plenty of exercise and that their sweaters always match," the ad says. "So what is it worth to offer their owner a little peace of m...

Robot Shopping Carts Follow You Around Aug 10, 7:18 AM (ET) By RON WORD GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - It looks almost like any other shopping cart, except sensors allow it to follow the shopper around the supermarket and slow down when needed so items can be placed in it, and it never crashes into anyone's heels. Gregory Garcia dreamed up the robotic cart to solve a childhood peeve of being accidentally hit with shopping carts by his sister. His cart, also known as B.O.S.S. for Battery Operated Smart Servant, was one of about 30 robots on display Wednesday by students at the University of Florida, who worked the past semester on the projects using their engineering backgrounds. "The immediate thing that jumped to my mind was all those times as a kid when my sister would accidentally hit me with a cart," Garcia said. "It seems like the public would really want this since everybody shops. Jeremy Greene, 23, of Panama City, created a robot named Atlas, which balances a blue ...

Aug 9, 12:23 AM (ET) By LINDA A. JOHNSON TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A huge study found that patients on antidepressants rarely get the psychiatric therapy needed right after they start the drugs, a time when risk of suicidal behavior can rise temporarily. Two-thirds of children and even more adults did not see a doctor or therapist for mental health care once within a month of beginning drug treatment, according to the study by Medco Health Solutions Inc., which manages prescription benefits for health plans. Experts suggest the cost of therapy, a lack of follow-up by busy family doctors, and a shortage of psychiatrists in some parts of the country might help explain the problem. Medco's study of 79,488 adults and 5,026 youngsters reviewed prescription and doctor visit records from July 2001 through September 2003. That was before the government urged drug makers to put warnings on their products calling for close monitoring of suicidal thoughts or violent behavior in the early weeks aft...

Antidepressants Prove Addictive to Some Aug 6, 12:43 PM (ET) By MATT CRENSON When Gina O'Brien decided she no longer needed drugs to quell her anxiety and panic attacks, she followed doctor's orders by slowly tapering her dose of the antidepressant Paxil. The gradual withdrawal was supposed to prevent unpleasant symptoms that can result from stopping antidepressants cold turkey. But it didn't work. "I felt so sick that I couldn't get off my couch," O'Brien said. "I couldn't stop crying." Overwhelmed by nausea and uncontrollable crying, she felt she had no choice but to start taking the pills again. More than a year later the Michigan woman still takes Paxil, and expects to be on it for the rest of her life. In the almost two decades since Prozac - the first of the antidepressants known as SRIs, or serotonin reuptake inhibitors - hit the market, a number of patients have reported extreme reactions to discontinuing the drugs. Two of the best-se...

Aug 3, 11:10 PM (ET) HUNTINGTON STATION, N.Y. (AP) - A family's dog is being lauded as a heroine after waking an 8-year-old girl when a fire broke out at their home. Katarina Scholz jumped from her bed about 4 a.m. Thursday and followed her barking 2-year-old bull mastiff, Daisy, downstairs to alert the rest of the family, Suffolk County fire officials said. The girl and her dog plus mom Teresa, dad Paul and brother Jake, 4, fled the home uninjured. Another brother, Paul Jr., 10, was sleeping over at a friend's house. "Daisy is definitely going to get filet mignon for dinner, and Katarina can have as much ice cream as she wants," Teresa Scholz told Newsday. "My husband always yelled at the dog for going in the flower beds, but now we're going to build one just for her. She deserves it." Two other family dogs, Chihuahuas, died in the blaze, which was being investigated by the county's arson squad but wasn't considered suspicious. The home was seve...

Dog Destroys Elvis' Teddy Bear at Museum Aug 2, 4:11 PM (ET) LONDON (AP) - A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum. "He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney. Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff. The collection, valued at more than $900,000, included a red bear made by Farnell in 1910 and a Bobby Bruin made by Merrythought in 1936. The bear with Elvis connections was owned by English aristocrat Benjamin Slade, who bought it at an Elvis memorabilia auction in Memphis, Tenn., and had lo...