This is a REAL Dad! Love him!

Not many people would risk leaving almost $21 million on the table in order to get their child a few hundred miles closer to medical care that she might not even need.

But that’s exactly what NBA star Derek Fisher did for his infant daughter, Tatum, who is battling a rare form of cancer in her left eye.

In an exclusive interview, Fisher told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer why he feels he made the only decision he could when he asked the Utah Jazz and the league to release him from his lucrative contract after his daughter was diagnosed with retinoblastoma this spring.

Fisher’s decision to walk away from his contract might be a major one for many people, but he felt it was his duty as Tatum's dad to do whatever he had to do to make sure she got the best possible medical care. He did not consider it a gamble.

”I don’t feel that basketball is the only way to make a living,” he went on. “I feel like I’m capable of doing so many things to help people around the country and around the world. I felt confident I could make the decision not knowing what was to come.”

Everything is working out, so far. Tatum’s surgery was successful and she’s completed three rounds of chemotherapy. Now, the 1-year old will be monitored by doctors in case the cancer returns.

As for Fisher, who left the Jazz on July 2, he is now the newest member of the L.A. Lakers, who will pay him $14 million for the next three years of his services.

Thank you, Derek Fisher! If only every man were this kind of a Dad, we would have fewer children growing up to be Lindsay Lohan.

This is supposed to be the new look for women!

This is what the fashion houses have been using for models. Lately, many places are reverting back to healthy looking women. However, there are still many fashion designers who continue to use the very unhealthy women as their models.

They are just too precious

Recently, North Shore Animal League America rescued three Chihuahuas, who we suspect were the inbred litter from backyard breeders. All three of these precious little bundles, only 10 weeks old, have no front legs. Physical deformities such as these are often the result of irresponsible breeding. While we are happy that the breeders chose to surrender these puppies to a shelter instead of fates far worse, we are saddened that the terrible misfortune of the deformities had to happen at all.


The terrible reality of backyard breeding is nothing new. We see it over and over again and the heartbreaking sadness of it never subsides. Backyard breeders are those who breed their animals for various inappropriate reasons. Often, they do not have bad intentions or even realize that they are contributing to a huge problem, but they are. Backyard breeders often breed animals with the intentions of making money or just imagining how cute it would be if their pet had babies, and what wonderful babies they'd make.

North Shore Animal League America rescued the Chihuahua puppies as part of our out-of-state rescue mission. One of our sister shelters, who did not have the proper facilities to care for the pups, reached out and asked for our help. They knew that without the proper care and environment, the puppies would most likely end up being euthanized. Without hesitation, we scooped up the puppies and rushed them to our advanced facility, eager to get them evaluated medically and emotionally.

When you first see these little guys, it seems like a veil of tears. They didn't have to be this way, and it seems so unfair. They are so tiny and seem helpless. How will they ever manage? But after a few moments, those tears of sorrow and dismay turn to a smile of hope and faith. They can manage - they will manage, and North Shore Animal League America is going to help them.

Two females and a male - all in good health - are hopping around, playing, barking, pouncing, and learning to use their back legs to stand upright. We have named them Venus de Milo, Carmen and Pablo. They have no idea that they are disadvantaged and seem very happy to have each other and to be alive. They are as sweet as can be and get around surprisingly well.

North Shore Animal League America is devoted to helping the precious pups strengthen their back legs and is committed to training them to walk upright. We are also looking into some type of apparatus that can assist them in walking. So far, several companies have come forward offering their expertise in front-end carts, and we are working with them to create something that the little Chihuahuas can wheel around in. Eventually, when they are as self-sufficient as possible, we want to place Venus, Carmen and Pablo in their forever homes where they can live out the rest of their lives happy and healthy.

The shame of an unwanted child

Wed Jul 25, 5:36 PM ET
TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian contractor is looking for donations to fund a funeral after finding a mummified baby in the wall of a Toronto home.

Home renovator Bob Kinghorn found the tiny body, wrapped in an 80-year-old newspaper, as he was running a wire through the three-storey Kintyre Ave. home, in one of Toronto's older neighbourhoods.

"I opened it up, looked close and didn't believe it. But then I looked closer and I saw the fingers and the little toes. It was all wrapped up in the fetal position," he said.

"I'm going to take donations, and I want to try to bury the baby. I want to name him Baby Kintyre."

How sad - but 80 years ago, it was not uncommon for this to happen!

For the people who are so sanctimonious and do everything you can to shame women/girls who have children out of wedlock, this is the result of that burden of shame you heap on them.

You are the same people who are avid anti-abortion activists. So, better to have an unwanted child and it end up being dumped or killed. What the heck is the difference? Except one is an embryo who cannot feel pain and the other is a live and kicking human being who can feel pain.

During pregnancy, human life is medically referred to as an embryo during its first 56, 61, or 91 days (sources differ). Later it is called a fetus until it is born.

Many pro-life groups emphasize that embryos start to develop pain sensors a few weeks after conception. Many readers of their literature then assume that embryos can feel pain from this point in pregnancy onwards. However all available evidence shows that even though these sensors develop early in pregnancy, human embryos cannot actually sense pain. Certain major components of the central nervous system that are necessary to feel pain are not present and functioning.

One can only imagine the needless pain and anxiety felt by women who believe -- on the basis of some pro-life literature -- that their embryos have suffered pain during an abortion, miscarriage, or emergency treatment for an ectopic pregnancy.

What a loving Mom!

Wed Jul 25, 11:13 PM ET
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian mother wants to join her son in jail to make sure he receives insulin injections three times a day, as well as anti-rejection drugs for a transplanted kidney.

"I don't want him to die in jail," a tearful Chew Ten Hee, 67, told the New Straits Times newspaper, adding that her son, Sim Chung Mine, 41, would die if he did not get his medication regularly.

"I don't understand how the police can claim he was involved in a robbery when he is so weak, he can't even walk without assistance," she added.

Putting aside the fact that this man may or may not have been involved in the robbery, this is one truly loving Mother!

The tall and the short of it all!

The world's tallest man, Bao Xishun, who stands 2.36 meters (7 feet and 9 inches), shakes hands with He Pingping, who only measures 73 centimeters (2 feet and 5 inches),in Baotou, China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Friday, July 13, 2007. Nineteen-year-old He is applying for the Guinness World Record as the world's shortest man.

World's 'worst Elephant Man case' will have operation to remove shocking tumor

A man from China is to undergo surgery this week to remove a massive tumor from his face which has crippled and ostracised him from society.
Huang Chuncai, a 31-year-old from the southern Hunan province, suffers from the world's worst recorded case of neurofibroma.
Patients who suffer from the disease are often called "elephant" people, as the tumour builds an elephant-like face.

Huang's tumor, which weighs 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds), has put such pressure on his body that it has deformed his backbone, stunted his growth and left him in continual pain. The tumor first became noticable when he turned four and as he grew up, it just became bigger and bigger. Huang quit school when he was 10 years old because his classmates laughed and alienated him because of his condition.
All of his teeth fell off at the age of 25 and thereafter, he found it difficult to speak and eat.

Several years ago, a circus approached his father to buy his son for holding "monster performances" at pier, station and tourist area, but his parents refused. A reporter in Hunan who knew of Huang's case contacted Guangzhou Fuda Cancer Hospital, which has a team of doctors specialised in alleviating the disease. Huang was sent to hospital last year.

Huang Weicai, his 23-year-old brother, told AP Television that he wanted to see his sibling enjoy life more. But he added that Huang was worried that the complicated operation would fail.

The doctor in charge of the operation said that the operation would not be without risk. "There are many large blood vessels in the root of the tumour. If the large blood vessel is broken and becomes uncontrollable, incessant bleeding might occur," Niu Lizhi told AP Television.

Huang's parents are farmers unable to afford the cost of the medical treatment, but the hospital offered to help to reduce the cost of the operation.
The hospital also tries to raise money for Huang.

Baseball coach killed by line drive

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Tulsa Drillers coach Mike Coolbaugh died after being struck in the head by a line drive as he stood in the first-base coach's box during a game.
The Texas League game was suspended in the ninth inning Sunday after the former major leaguer was hit by a foul ball off the bat of Tino Sanchez of the Tulsa Drillers. Coolbaugh, 35, was taken to Baptist Medical Center-North Little Rock, where he was pronounced dead.

What a tragic accident! Baseball has never been known as being a rough sport, so it would never enter anyone's mind that someone would die as result of a play in the game!

Batten Disease

A very heartbreaking story about victims of Batten Disease and their families. Please read!

You can see anything on YouTube

I was browsing through YouTube this evening and I have to tell you, I always felt you could see just about anything there, but what I did find was - well, let's just say it was one of those things that you say to your self "I can't believe that someone put that video out".

It was a complete autopsy in all it's graphic gore. I must admit, at first, I was shocked. However, being the kind of person that thrives to learn, it intrigued me enough to watch the video.

I really thought that I would not be able to handle it. But I surprised myself and was able to view the entire video. I found it very educational.

I really would not recommend it for everyone, in fact, probably not for anyone. But if you have a thirst for knowledge of any kind, you might want to check it out.